I refuse to let others regard me as a superior being and I will not meet them, either in person or by correspondence, on any other terms than those of equality. Since I make no pretensions on my own behalf, it would be inconsistent to let them do it for me. It is unfortunate that the reputation I enjoy is so exaggerated! And it is amazing how often people want you to be dishonest with them, just to satisfy their delusive preconceptions of you. How many have tried to induce me to become their personal master, or the head of an ashram, or the leader of a cultist following! How firmly have I had to detach myself from their pressures and become deaf to their importunities! No matter what I insisted to the contrary, they clothed me with qualities, powers, and knowledge I did not possess. I became very uneasy. It was of no avail that I denied the reputation fathered on me. Finally, I saw that I was lending myself to this false position by answering letters, granting interviews, and getting involved with friends who were seekers after help. All this was a kind of insincere posing, although it did not appear so on the surface. So I brought it to an end, cut off nearly all contacts with others, and made myself inaccessible. With that, many turned to the spiritual guides who were quite willing to collect a following, lost interest or faith in me, and left me in peace. If it be criticized that I have adopted a selfish attitude, I must defend myself by first recalling the Tibetan saying about a half-developed guide being like a half-blind man leading his credulous disciples into a ditch and falling in with them too and then pointing out that yielding to misconceived importunities is a weakness even when it takes on the semblance of compassionate service. To allow others to thrust upon me the role of personal teacher when no mandate for it has been received from within myself, my higher self, would be wrong. It is therefore my duty to resist their pleading.
-- Notebooks Category 12: Reflections > Chapter 4 : Reflections On Truth > # 78
