LOVE'S CALL

 
Seeing him, Norina said, "Wait here; maybe Baba will see you for a moment." Then she walked quickly over to meet Baba, spoke to him, and pointed over at us. Baba nodded yes, and they came directly over to us. Norina introduced us, and we shook hands with Baba. As he and I shook hands, we looked into each other's eyes.

For me, it was an indescribably glorious moment. This was our first glimpse into the infinite pools of Divine Love that were Meher Baba's eyes. His handshake might have reached down through some two thousand years to clasp mine at that moment. I saw him as the Christ, and no words can adequately describe what poured forth from my heart as I recognized the Beloved — the living Christ. I felt instant rapport with him and experienced a great spiritual upliftment. It was like the fulfillment of an "impossible dream."

I was overjoyed. Baba's Beauty, the sweetness of his love, which could not be expressed in words — the joy, the sparkling wonder of his Being! One could not prefigure him. One could not imagine how it would be, what he would be like. He was more than one could imagine — much more, immeasurably more. Although this meeting with Meher Baba was very brief, it seemed for an instant as though time stood still, and I caught a feeling of timelessness in the presence of the Timeless One.

Jeanne, on the other hand, was somewhat distracted by seeing Baba in those Western winter clothes and did not have the same wonderful reaction I had when meeting him. As we parted, with Baba and Norina walking toward the elevator, and Jeanne and I walking toward some chairs in the hotel lobby, Jeanne was irresistibly impelled to turn, in order to get another glimpse of him. To her surprise, just as she turned, Baba, whose back was to us, also turned and, looking directly at her, folded his hands and bowed slightly to her. Jeanne turned quickly away, feeling that she had been caught trying to sneak a look at him, but then she could not resist turning twice more to look at him. Each time, Baba also turned as she was turning, folded his hands and bowed to her. As a result of these rather furtive intimate exchanges, with Baba responding to her as he did, Jeanne realized that Baba was, indeed, an exceptional being.

We both had much to think about as we sat down. We were soon joined by a little elderly lady, Bessie Allen, whose appointment with Baba for that day had also been canceled. She had baked a cake for him, and she felt confident that we would all get to see him that afternoon. We, on the other hand, were content to have seen Baba as we had, and we did not dare to hope to see him again that afternoon. Great feelings had already been awakened within us, and we were very happy as it was.

As it turned out, however, Bessie Allen was right. After a while, we noticed Elizabeth Patterson coming from the elevator toward us. When she reached us, she said, "I guess you are the 'three people sitting in the lobby' that Baba wants me to bring up to see him." We were surprised, but gladly followed her to the elevator. On the way up to Baba's suite, Elizabeth explained that in the midst of a string of interviews, Baba suddenly held up his hand, indicating that there should be an interruption. Then he held up three fingers and, pointing them downward, conveyed, "Go down to the lobby and bring up the three people who are waiting there."

After waiting a few minutes in the living room of Baba's suite, we were told that we could go in to see Baba, who was receiving people in his bedroom. As we entered the room, we saw him sitting on the far side of the bed. This time he looked completely different. His long, dark hair was hanging down to his shoulders; he wore a long, white Indian sadra and had sandals on his feet. Norina stood nearby, and Chanji was there to read Baba's alphabet board. Baba looked very beautiful, and he greeted us with a smile and motioned for us to sit beside him on the bed. Bessie Allen sat on Baba's right, and Jeanne sat on the left side of Baba, with me sitting next to her. Such close proximity to Baba was too much for Bessie, and she threw her arms around him and exuberantly exclaimed, "My Master, at last I've found you!"

Meantime, Jeanne started to weep uncontrollably. She became quite distressed about this, thinking that this was spoiling our time with Baba. Baba quickly responded to her dilemma by disengaging Bessie's arms and then reaching over with his right hand and placing it on Jeanne's left wrist. Immediately, Jeanne's tears stopped, as if (as she described later) a water tap had been turned off, and she became calm and poised.

While still holding Jeanne's wrist, Baba looked past her and into my eyes. He went to work right away: I felt that he was looking over my inner consciousness and at the same time planting seeds for future work that I would be doing for him.

There was little conversation. We did not come with questions or for an intellectual contact, but to offer ourselves in his Cause and to be accepted by him. He said, "I am very happy that you came" and "I have been helping you always."

Simply being in his presence was quite enough for us. He was already working with us at the heart level while we, like sponges, were soaking up the Divine Love that enveloped and permeated us. I could also feel Baba putting me to work right away on inner levels; it was as though he was rearranging my sanskaras (impressions) and programming me for work to be done for him in the future.

Baba turned to Norina, who was leaning against the heat radiator, and told her to make an appointment for us to see him again on Friday, two days hence.

"But Baba," Norina said, "there is no room!"

"Make room." Baba said.

Later on Norina arranged the time for the appointment with us. We were actually with Meher Baba for just a few moments, but they were timeless and priceless. Baba filled our hearts with his love and beauty. We were exposed to a spiritual greatness such as we could never have anticipated. Truly, there is no such thing as a "brief contact" with the Infinite: It is a timeless moment measured in eternity, and it stays with one forever.

...Friday, December 15, in the afternoon, together with Donald Holloway and Faith Valentine, we went to keep our appointment with Meher Baba at the Shelton Hotel. As we were entering Baba's suite of rooms, we noticed Tallullah Bankhead, a well-known movie star at that time, as she was leaving. After depositing our winter coats and hats in the entrance room, we were directed to a large living room. There we saw Baba, standing to greet us, looking radiantly beautiful, wearing a white sadra and Indian sandals. His abundant, wavy hair flowed down to his shoulders. Baba's secretary, Chanji, was the only other person in the room.

Although it was a sunny afternoon, with sunshine streaming in through the windows, there seemed to be a special light in the room that emanated from Baba. As I looked at him, this lightness became, for me at least, a luminous glory, and it was thus that I beheld the Christ, in the glorious radiance of Divine Love.

Baba sat down on a wide sofa and motioned for us to sit on either side of him. Donald and Faith sat on Baba's left side, while Jeanne and I sat on his right side. But I felt that somehow I must get closer to him. The instant that I felt this, the idea flashed into my mind that I could kneel and sit back on my heels on the carpet right in front of him. I have since come to believe that Baba flashed that idea to me in response to my longing to be nearer to him.

So, there I was at the feet of Christ. He was so beautiful, and being so close to him was truly heavenly. As on the previous occasions with him, there seemed to be no need for words, but he did speak to us — via the alphabet board, with Chanji reading — about love.

Baba said, "Through love you will come to see me as I really am." At that time we already saw him as the Christ and were almost overwhelmed by what we were beholding, so we could not imagine his unveiled spiritual splendor.

Baba sat with one foot on the carpet and the other leg crossed over his knee, and this placed his raised foot just a few inches in front of me. I could scarcely believe my eyes as, looking at his lovely foot, I realized that here was the sacred foot of Christ. Scenes of Mary of Bethany washing the feet of Jesus and wiping them with her hair came to mind, and I was consumed with a longing to kiss Baba's foot. But as I looked up, I felt a bit awkward about it with everyone looking.

Then, a moment later, to my surprise, I noticed that everyone seemed to be preoccupied and not noticing me. Even Baba was looking away. Instantly recognizing this as my opportunity, I bent forward and most gently and lovingly kissed his foot. As I straightened up, it seemed as though no one had noticed, but then Baba reached forward and drew me close to him. Not knowing what he intended, I bowed my head, but Baba gently lifted my chin and kissed my forehead.

While we were with Baba, time seemed to vanish far, far from our consciousness, but we actually were with him on that occasion for about twenty minutes.

The experience of being there with Baba was so incredibly wonderful that I found myself thinking, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if Baba gave us something to keep as a memento of this occasion?" Instantly, Baba motioned to Chanji to bring a rose from a nearby vase. Then he gave each one of us a pink petal, saying, through Chanji and the alphabet board, "This is something for you to keep as a memento of this occasion." I was truly amazed and very grateful.

Baba filled our hearts with love and light. Being with him was a taste of Heaven itself. We left him, feeling secure in the sanctuary of his love and knowing that somehow, someplace, we would see him again in the future.