NOTES FROM A DIARY

 
The Center here at Pimpalgaon would look from the air like a small green oasis in a desert, because of its clump of trees. There were no flowers or vegetables in the garden, as water from the well could not be spared. The shortage except at the monsoon time is always particularly acute in this district; but the trees, shrubs and plants in pots were a refreshing glimpse to eyes tired of the parched landscape.

The Center was looking just the same as a year ago when I had been privileged to visit Baba a few days before he came out of His Man-O-Nash Seclusion, ending his "New Life Phase" and starting the dawn of fresh activities.

This time I had been called as Baba wished to discuss the publication of Is There A Dawn? And I was certainly anxious to have my manuscript properly edited at headquarters!

Baba was not celebrating his birthday in 1953, and was only taking a much-needed rest, before going south on further strenuous darshan tours. So there were no visitors, only the regular inhabitants of the Retreat.

As Baba was born at 5 o'clock in the morning, he was having breakfast at that hour, so we all got up extra early. The women mandali were looking lovely in special saris (they usually wear European clothes).

After we had garlanded Baba, we all stood at attention on the porch while the men mandali, exactly at the hour, called out from over the compound wall, the Name of God in seven different languages.

Later in the morning, Baba took me around to the men's quarters, as he was going to wash the feet of Nahars gathered together from neighboring villages. These untouchables lead a miserable semi-starved existence and it is an important part of Baba's work to raise their status and break down the caste distinctions. There are, so I understand, some fifty millions of these people, and Baba tells me that the recent legislation will make little difference, it is the people of India who must change their attitude towards them.

I stood by Baba as I wanted to study the Nahars, that is to say, their reactions, for their faces somehow reminded me of weather-beaten boarding, as if they had suffered so much that their emotions were exhausted. The first to come forward was a feeble little old man; he had to be helped on to the stone seat round the large tree where Baba's ministrations were taking place. He was pitifully aware of the inadequacy of his attire, and gave several little tugs to his old shirt in a vain attempt to lengthen it. I felt I wanted to pat him on the back and tell him that God loved him far more than those who despised him. I think Baba felt the same way as he gave him a reassuring touch on his chin.

The women came after the men, as is the Indian custom, and I noticed that some of them were distinctly overcome with emotion. I wondered how much they could understand of the spiritual significance of Baba's work. It was a most poignant occasion for me.

At Pimpalgaon, there was an opportunity to ask questions, for Baba was at leisure, without visitors. So now was my chance.

"Baba!" I said boldly, "Where do the 'Flying Saucers' come from?"

Baba's face relaxed into a broad smile. "I would not answer that question for anybody, but to you only! They do not come from another planet..."

The rest of the answer, I feel, should not be given out at present, but as books are being published to prove that the "Saucer's" come from Venus, etc., this part of the explanation can be given.

Next question: "Baba! How old is Adam?"

Baba again smiled. "If I answer that the first man to come on this earth was 84 million years ago, what would that mean to you? But if the whole explanation will make you understand — about the first man evolved, and that this first evolved man has been repeatedly, millions of times, not only on this earth, but has appeared on millions of earths, and so is ageless, timeless — this has to be explained properly; and if Ramjoo, my disciple, has kept a diary, he might find out the explanation!

The book which I have personally written when I had just stopped speaking and which I wrote in one year [1926] — (and which now lies in _______ Bank, to be touched only when I order) explains this point clearly. It is important for the world and the scientists to know, and therefore I have explained, — about cycles; about the position of the earth for Realization; about the earth dying, and the simultaneous evolution of another earth (not any other planet)..."

"When the first human being evolved, first Realized being... whether 'egg comes first or chicken,' etc., etc....all has been written in detail in that book..."

Baba has also written many other details from the spiritual, metaphysical and saintly standpoints. This will be, needless to say, the greatest Book of the age, since it is written by One, Who, in all fullness and completeness, knows as well as feels Himself to be the One and the Many, at one and the same time, from beginningless Beginning to the endless End.

Like the Master Nanlana Niaz Ahmed, He can say:

"Every time my Friend bears a different name, manifests different signs, yet through all times, the same Face assumes different forms of beauty and grandeur."

One might well read many philosophical accounts, but still remain ignorant, as illumination would be necessary to enable one to realize that Creation might be likened to an immense motion panorama, and that one is in it, and yet, not in it; inside, and yet outside it all.

When some, in the coming Awakening and general push in spiritual consciousness, are made Perfect, and given All-Knowledge, they will be able to look back in time to the days of Adam, and before that, to when they were strange ape-like men, and before that, to when they were the elephant, the horse and the dog; and before that, to when they were some amphibious reptile, and to still before that — they may be able to see the millions of worlds in which they lived, and be able to sing of the millions of Christs! Like the Guru Nanak, they will sing:

"At His Throne a million prophets,
And millions upon millions of Ramas,
And millions of Wayfarers, each clad in a different garb.
He, the Lord of All, is One, the Chief of all Lords!
He is the Creator of all that is.
He is beyond conception and speech;
His qualities are unnumbered and endless!"