a man with an immense compassion for all mankind

“But behind all that strength, and behind what appears to be ruthlessness, I saw something else. If need be, he could probably be brutal and ruthless, but only in the way that a surgeon is ruthless and brutal when he has the job of removing a malignant growth. Behind all that decision, and all that strength, I caught a glimpse of a man with an immense compassion for all mankind. There is a gentleness, patience and compassion there, as well as a great strength. There is also plenty of mirth and laughter as well as determination and decision. But the word which came to my mind first and which remained with me all the time that I was with him, was the word ‘compassion’. He made me think of the Buddha as he sat cross-legged on that divan and, for me, Buddha is a wise teacher, very richly endowed with compassion.”

Dr. Kenneth Walker

you had an extraordinary impression

With him, you had an extraordinary impression. When he was speaking with you, you continually had the impression that you were, for him, the only person who existed in the whole world. That is something very rare. One second later he would shift his attention to someone else and you no longer existed but that was normal. It seemed very normal to us. It’s something that everyone, to some extent, has a taste of - this potential which is impossible to realize by oneself - it appeared when you saw that man; when you saw him in himself, complete, missing nothing that was happening, noticing even the tiniest details. It was visible in his carriage, in the way he held himself, he was always very calm, quiet, completely and precisely corresponding to what the moment demanded.

Maurice Desselle