THREE INCREDIBLE WEEKS WITH MEHER BABA

  Baba then asked each of us to say something. Malcolm quoted one of the songs of Kabir, which ran, "Where is the need for words when Love has made drunken the heart?"

John Bass said, "I really don't know what to say. My mind is a blank."

"To be blank is an excellent thing," Baba replied.

Lud Dimpfl was next, and he said something about being tongue-tied, ending with, "And we sit here like a bundle of sticks!"

Baba smiled, and replied, "Say 'I', not 'we.'"

Lud thought Baba was displeased with him, and said something to that effect. He was greatly distressed. Baba reassured him.

"I love you, and I will never be displeased. Speak from your heart. If you hide what you feel, you will not be honest. I love you for being honest. I really love you. Say whatever you feel, but say 'I' not 'we.' Do you feel happy?"

Lud said he did, and Baba asked, what else was necessary?

Philippe told how deeply impressed he was with Baba's darshan on the 12th, and said something to the effect that it must have been a great strain on His body.

"Before I drop My body," Baba replied, "I will again go through violent attacks on the body. What has to happen will happen and I will gladly undergo all this for the sake of humanity. My only happiness lies in making people understand, not through the mind, but through experience, that God alone is the Beloved for Whom we exist. In the meeting, I will make this clear as never before, and any of you who are strong enough to carry out that message will do My work. It is only for this meeting that I have called you."

Joseph Harb, said something to the effect that it was a privilege and a great joy to be here with Baba, and that he hoped he would be made a fit instrument to carry on the work.

Fred Winterfeldt said that when the heart is full, the mouth runs over; that he could scarcely believe that he was really here; and asked by what grace we could attain to the love which Baba described.

Frank Eaton spoke of being deeply impressed by the fellowship of Baba's disciples. Bill LePage and John Ballantyne said something that escaped recording, but it evoked from Baba a profound comment.

"One who wants nothing, gets everything," He said. "Nothing means nothing, and one who wants nothing, is never disappointed."

He asked Malcolm if this were not so, and received an affirmative reply. Then He turned to Francis Brabazon, whose remarks also escaped recording, but in response Baba quoted a verse from Hafiz, which runs as follows:

"Do not ask for union with God, and do not bewail separation. Seek only the Will of the Beloved."

"Before I met My Beloved in union," Baba continued, "I lost everything . . . ego, mind, and lower consciousness; but thank God I did not lose My sense of humor. That is why I appear amongst you on your level."

Darwin Shaw said something that reminded Baba of an incident in New York in 1952, and asked Darwin if he remembered what had happened to Keith MacGaffey and himself in the Bronx Zoo.

Max Haefliger said, "I don't understand anything about you, but I like your people."

"That means you don't like Me?" asked Baba.

Max said something about liking Baba sometimes.

"So you like My people all the time," said Baba, "And you like Me sometimes."

Fred Frey said that he was up in a cloud; that Baba was just what he had expected; that he felt warmed inwardly by Baba's people; and that if he could bring Baba's love back to America it would make him most happy.

Will Backett said that his heart had echoed everything that had already been said, and that of course he was blissfully happy to be with Baba.

Charles Purdom said, "When you were speaking about the three types of conviction, I was reminded about what Jesus said in relation to seeing God — that only the pure in heart can see God. Would you explain that to us sometime?"

Baba promised that He would explain from tomorrow on. Then He turned again to Max. "Max, you don't like Me," He said. "Anyway, I like you all the same, all the time." Baba then repeated what He had said before, and elaborated on it.

"Before I met My Beloved in union — I lost everything, ego, mind, and lower consciousness, but thank God, I did not lose my sense of humor. That is why I appear amongst you like this, on your level. Yogis, saints, sadgurus in India you will usually find in meditation, with long beards. You would not be allowed in their presence with shoes on, or smoking, but with Me you can do all these things because I am one with you and one of you. From tomorrow I will work in order that this visit of yours will not be merely a picnic or a sightseeing trek."

Baba then turned to a description of the three types of lovers of God. "The first type," He said, "is the mast, who loves and knows only God. He loses all consciousness of self, of body, of the world. Whether it rains or shines, whether it is winter or summer, it is all the same to him. Only God exists for him. He is dead to himself and to the world. He exists no longer as an individual, for, after thus annihilating himself, he becomes one with God, the source of infinite love.

"The second type of lover is one who lives in the world, attends to all worldly duties one hundred per cent, yet all the time in his heart he knows that this is temporary, that only God exists, and he loves Him internally, without anyone knowing it.

"The third type, which is the highest, is very rare. Here the lover surrenders completely to the Christ, to the Avatar, to the God-Man. He lives, not for himself, but for the Master. This is the highest type of lover. Unless you have such love, just to criticize and judge will take you nowhere."

Baba then sent us to luncheon, and later joined us there, sitting first at one end of the table, and then at the other. He questioned each of us as to whether the food was to our liking, and received unanimous expressions of approbation. Then He took up His alphabet board.

"I wonder if you understand how fortunate you are to have Me with you in this way? Think of those people at the darshan on the 12th, who fought so to have a chance to touch My feet for just a fleeting second; who wanted so earnestly to receive prasad, which means 'a gift of God.'

"They are the ones who really love Me. The others, the social people, the political people, the intellectual people, they make their speeches and they leave the platform."

"In Andhra for fifteen days we had two or three darshan programs every day, with thousands of people coming from surrounding villages in bullock-carts and on foot. They would not understand your being here with Me this way. In India, they have traditions. As I told you before, yogis, saints and sadgurus are supposed to be sitting in silent meditation, with long beards. You could not make effective contact with them. Remember always that I am your Master, but that I am also your friend; that I am one with you, and one of you. Therefore you can be completely natural with Me, and tell Me frankly whatever is in your mind.

"When I am with sadhus, no one is more serious than I am. When I am with children, I play marbles with them. I am in all, and one with all. That is why I can automatically adapt Myself to all kinds of people, and meet them where they are."