BABA'S LAST TIME AT THE BEACH

 
In the afternoon, we all went to the beach with Baba. Baba rode in a car, but his special carrying chair was brought along, and he was carried in it from the car over the dunes to the beach. Baba was being carried toward the ocean, where we supposed he would indicate that he wanted to stop. But instead, he motioned for the ones who were carrying his chair to continue.

At that point, for a split second, I wondered what Baba was up to, as we were all walking beside him right into the ocean, with our shoes and all of our clothes on. But immediately following that split second's hesitation, I thought "Who cares?" and kept on walking into the ocean, socks, shoes, clothes and all.

Actually, we did not go very far into the water, about up to our knees, but we were prepared to go as far with Baba as he would go. As it turned out, Baba just wanted to be carried far enough to dip his feet into the water, and then he called a halt. We did not know what work Baba was doing by dipping his feet in the ocean, but through this situation, Baba took us through a psychological barrier. This was an opportunity to cast aside our innate sense of self-preservation and willingly go as far as Baba wanted to lead us.

In the morning, before starting out from his house, Baba had indicated that those who were with him then — including the women who went every day to clean — should stick close to him during the day. Leatrice, who was among them, intuitively thought that she should take along her wool bolero (a short sweater).

Now at the beach, when Baba was brought back to a dry sandy spot on the beach, Leatrice suddenly realized why she had been impelled to bring along her bolero. She quickly threw it to someone next to Baba to dry his feet. We gathered around Baba for a few minutes while pictures were taken; then groups of women, then men, took turns carrying Baba to the car that brought him back to the Center.