HIS LOVING COMPASSION

 
In November 1962, my mother and I were very excited to be able to attend the East-West Gathering in Poona. Although we left our hotel well before the scheduled time for the darshan program, by the time we reached Guru Prasad, we found that many others had already arrived. The first six or seven rows of chairs were completely occupied.

Disappointedly, my mother and I sat in the next row and then waited anxiously for Beloved Baba to appear on the dais. Before long, amidst cheers of "Avatar Meher Baba Ki Jai," Baba, looking divinely radiant, entered and took His seat.

The fresh pink roses in the garland that was delightfully dangling around His neck could not compete with the glow emanating from Baba's complexion and beautiful face. Our hearts were filled with joy and our eyes overflowed with tears as we beheld Him, our Lord and Father in one.

After the first rapturous moments, I began to feel a little upset that we were so far from the dais. I grumbled to my mother that it was very sad that we hadn't been able to get a seat in one of the front rows because, although we could see Baba sitting on the elevated dais, there was no way He could see us amidst that huge crowd of five thousand.

My mother chided me, saying, "Baba is God; He knows everyone's heart and He sees us all." This answer did not satisfy me, however, and I continued to be disgruntled at having to sit so far from Baba, at least twenty-five feet away.

As I sat there, I saw Beloved Baba take a thin multi-colored thread garland. He gracefully wound it around His long shapely fingers and made it into a ball. Then He suddenly looked at us and before I could think about what was happening, He tossed the garland and it fell like a shot right into my lap.

How Baba could manage to toss such a light object so far, and with such accuracy I still do not understand, but at the time this aspect didn't even occur to me. I was too stunned at what had happened to think about it much. Then Baba waved endearingly at us, as if to say, "I know what you are feeling."

Such was Baba's solicitude for an insignificant person like me who often failed to understand His Godhood! That garland remains, even to this day, my most precious possession, a reminder of Baba's omniscient divinity and His loving compassion.