It is rarely and reluctantly that a true master will give personal interviews. He finds that so many enquirers come either with an idealized preconceived picture of what he looks like (or ought to look like) or with certain prejudices which are activated when they see him, that in many cases the good work done by his writings may be nullified by the disappointment consequent on the meeting. This is because few persons are sufficiently nonmaterialistic to look behind physical appearances for the mental reality of the man interviewed. Most come carrying a preconceived picture of some perfectly wonderful, perfectly handsome, perfectly saintlike Perfect Friend. The ideal is not realized. They leave the meeting disillusioned. It is better for their sakes that he remain behind the barrier of written words and not let them meet him face to face. How many prefer pigmentation to proficiency as a standard of spiritual wisdom, as shown by the numbers who cannot accept a dark-skinned Indian for teacher! How many are held prisoners by their preconceptions! How many reject both a teacher and his truth merely because they dislike the shape of his nose! What hope could a bandy-legged master have to find any disciples? Of course, the seeker who confounds him with his body is really still unfit for philosophy and ought not be given any interview until life and reflection have prepared him to take proper advantage of it. It is unfortunate that this human weakness is so common. This is one of the lesser reasons why the philosophic discipline has to be imposed on candidates for philosophy as a preliminary to be undergone before its threshold can be crossed. The real teacher is hard to behold. For he can be seen partly with the heart, partly with the mind, but rarely with the eye of flesh. He is the invisible man, whom they can recognize only by sensing, not by seeing him.
-- Notebooks Category 1: Overview of the Quest > Chapter 6 : Student-Teacher > # 830
