As a child, Donald’s (Swami Kriyananda’s) health was precarious. “I was thin as a pencil and always coming down with something unusual,” he recalled.
When he was nine and living with his parents in Rumania, he nearly died of colitis. The doctor recommended that he be sent to Switzerland where, he said, the mountain air would make him healthy. Unfortunately, it didn’t work as hoped. Donald spent many weeks in bed.
What he generally had were kidney infections, which were sometimes quite severe. More than once he was confined to his bed for three days on a diet of zwieback (crisp sweetened bread) and Vichy water. The lack of food, plus the infection, left him so wea, he could barely stand.
A schoolmate coveted some object Donald owned. Seeing his weakened condition, the boy assumed it was his for the taking. He entered Donald’s room, snatched the item, and ran away.
To his surprise, Donald jumped out of bed and ran after him, catching him on the landing. He snatched the article back, then staggered upstairs to bed.
“I don’t even remember what the item was,” Swamiji said. “If the boy had asked for it, I would probably have given it to him. But I couldn’t accept his taking advantage of me when I was weak and vulnerable, because it wasn’t good for him to commit such an injustice, or to think he could mistreat others and get away with it.”