BABA IN THE BARN ON OPEN DAY

 
During Baba's visit, [1952] there was one "Open Day," on May 17 from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., to which more than fifteen hundred had been invited. Elizabeth was with Baba, and as Norina was not able to be there due to ill health, Baba asked Margaret and Delia to marshal visitors in and out of the Barn. Filis, Adele and the two Shaw sisters, Leatrice and Renee, were asked to assist them.

So that visitors would not ask too many questions, they were handed before entering the Barn a two-page mimeographed sheet entitled, "Baba Explains." Matters concerning His Silence, miracles, healing, and other topics were briefly touched upon. To quote one:

"God is not to be learned, or discussed or studied or argued about. God is to be contemplated, felt, loved and lived."

And another:

"The purpose of every kind of Yoga (search for Truth), Karma Yoga, Dynan Yoga, Raj Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, is to lose the limited self by forgetting that self through selfless service to others, through meditation through love for God, and gain the unlimited self."

Baba asked that each visitor should see Him, touch His hand and pass on. He was sitting in a large chair facing the far end of the Barn. Elizabeth, sitting on Baba's right, said, "How can you help each when they pass by so quickly?"

Baba answered, "If they linger longer, the mind begins to work and I want to touch the heart." (Another time Baba said that the mind works infinitely quicker than the heart, hence the one must be slowed down and the other quickened.)

John Bass also sat with Baba in the Barn on Open Day. He later said, "I believe this was one of the greatest experiences of my life, to see them embrace Baba. I learned more in that day than reading a whole library."

There was a constant stream of men and women and children passing by. Some were deeply moved and left weeping, feeling Baba's divine Love and compassion that shone forth from His penetrating eyes. Among the group, there were a number of black people, and it was remarked by those present that Baba always rose from His seat when a black visitor entered the Barn.