(Told by Padma)
It had been about a year since Ananda Publications became Crystal Clarity Publishers. I was in charge of this aspect of our work, and had had to do a lot of work to change our public identity. Finally, our new name had begun to take hold.
I was talking to Swamiji about some other aspect of the business, when suddenly he said, “I got a note today suggesting a name that might be even better than Crystal Clarity Publishers.”
I responded instantly with intense, emotional opposition to the mere suggestion, explaining from every angle I could think of why changing our name again was a terrible idea.
Then, in the midst of this tirade, I looked into Swamiji’s eyes. I realized all at once that I'd been completely off-center. I saw no judgment in those eyes, just calmness and peace. His eyes were like a clear mirror. Suddenly I felt like a person acting in a surrealistic movie: I saw myself as a huge, flapping mouth!
Thoughts which, a moment before, had seemed so important to express, now seemed foolish. I simply dropped the subject. Swamiji never mentioned it again.
He had no commitment to changing the name. He had just brought up that person's comment as an interesting fact. But he was also testing my flexibility, and allowing me to see my own attachment to the status quo. He then helped me to find my own center in calmness again.
“A skier standing at the top of a hill,” Swamiji explained on another occasion, “may not be able to see all the way to the bottom. To stay on course and not fall, he has to be able to turn at a moment’s notice. We must learn to move through life like a skier going downhill, committed to our general direction, but able to adjust specific decisions in a moment as the need arises.”
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