What was the author's personality like before he began writing this book, based on his own description?

The author provides a very candid and unflattering self-portrait in Chapter 2. Before this spiritual undertaking, he describes himself as being mischievous, talkative, cynical, and critical. He admits to being arrogant about his knowledge, possessing a logic-driven mind that was always proud of its own wisdom and prone to argumentation. He explicitly states that he knew nothing of a Satguru's greatness and had a "bad intellect." This self-description serves to highlight the transformative power of his eventual devotion to Sai Baba.