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VEGETARIAN AND NON-VEGETARIAN
Sam Kerawala
In the early years of Beloved Baba's stay at Guruprasad, all
the food for Him and the mandali came from Bindra House.
But Baba called more and more people to stay for lunch,
and the pressure on Naja and the family to provide the food,
became too much of a burden. So Baba decided that only
His food should come from Bindra House, and the rest was
to come from an outside source. Jal Dorabji offered to send
the food, and Baba accepted the offer, but insisted that some
payment be made. This was set at Rs. l per head, and
delicious meals of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes were
hence provided.
One day Baba expressed tiredness, and announcing that He
was retiring, told all there to have their lunch. Now our Parsi
community is fond of jokes and pranks, and Nariman and
Meherji decided to tease Sadshiv Patel, a Hindu by birth and
therefore vegetarian. So as they went to the lunch, they lightly
prodded Patel, saying, 'Patel, why are you still eating
vegetarian food?! You have been with Baba for so many
years, and you still cling to your vegetarian food! Come on,
have a change, have some non-vegetarian food.'
Patel said, 'No, it is not religious scruples that make me stick
to this food, but from my childhood I have never eaten
non-vegetarian food, and it just doesn't appeal to me. But if
you want me to do so, then I'll have some right now.'
Nariman and Meherji immediately backed off, saying, 'No,
no we are only teasing you. We are not serious.'
But Eruch, sitting nearby writing letters, overheard the
conversation, and when Baba returned to the Hall, brought
up the subject of food. You know, when Beloved Baba
would come into the Mandali Hall and sit, He would then
fold His hands to us, and gesture to us to sit down. And
sometimes as He folded His hands, such beautiful hands, I
would see an expression of pensive sadness, and I would
think: there is the very Heart of eternity, and I do not have
the courage to enter it.
After Eruch had narrated what had been said about food,
Baba replied, 'No one sitting here is so very important that
God is standing behind your chair watching what you are
eating.' These were His very words. On the spiritual Path
vegetarian and non-vegetarian food has no meaning at all
except that a vegetarian should not take pride in that, nor a
non-vegetarian look down on a vegetarian.
THE DIVINE HUMANITY OF MEHER BABA, vol 2, Bill LePage, pp. 175-177
1999 © Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust
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