“How you will miss the companionship of a wife in your old age!” he had said. “Do you not agree that the family man, engaged in useful work to maintain his wife and children, thus plays a rewarding role in God’s eyes?” “Sir,” I had protested in alarm, “you know that my desire in this life is only for the Cosmic Beloved.” Master had laughed so merrily that I understood his words had been uttered merely to test me. “Remember,” he had said slowly, “that he who rejects the usual worldly duties can justify himself only by assuming some kind of responsibility for a much larger family.”
