HOW LUCKY THOSE GARLANDS ARE

 
We were in Andhra, but whether this was '53 or '54 I don't know.... While we were there Baba traveled from place to place. And wherever we went, there was one man, a Baba lover, who used to follow Baba and attend all the programs. There was more than one man who used to do this, there were many who took advantage of every opportunity they could get to be in the company of the Avatar, but there was one man in particular that this story is concerned with.

Now, some of you may have seen films, or been here when some of our family from Andhra have visited, so you have some idea of the way in which the Andhras express their devotion. Nothing is too good for Baba as far as they are concerned. They used to serve Baba out of silver trays. Really, I am not exaggerating. Andhra is a prosperous area, unlike the North which is so poor. It is fertile, and there are rivers and there are many well-to-do people there. And they would do things on a grand scale for Baba.

So you can just imagine the garlands they would have for Baba. They had every imaginable type of garland. They had garlands made just out of roses, they had garlands made out of camphor, they had garlands of sandalwood chips, gold and silver threads, cloves and cardamoms, and even garlands of rupee notes. So many garlands that I used to have to be quick to remove them so Baba wouldn't be smothered under their weight.

At practically every darshan program Baba used to allow people to garland Him. And at every program, this man that I am telling about would stand in the crowd and gaze at Baba lovingly and think, "How lucky those garlands are. How fortunate that they get to adorn His neck, even if only for a few moments. Their petals get to caress His cheeks. They are able to embrace His form!"

This man had been allowed to have Baba's darshan, he too had had Baba's embrace, but for some reason it got into his head to think about how fortunate the garlands were. He was right. The garlands were fortunate, but how much more fortunate he was to consciously adore the God-Man.

That is the supreme blessing of this form, of human form, that we can consciously adore and love God. In no other form can one love God. Baba has told us that even angels envy us because they do not have form and cannot love Him. None of the beings who inhabit the higher worlds can love God. It is only in the human form that we are blessed with this opportunity and capacity.