"My outward silence is no spiritual exercise. Once a devotee asked a Perfect Master why He fasted. The Perfect Master replied, 'I am not an aspirant. I am Perfect. So I am not fasting to attain perfection. It is for others that I fast.'

"A spiritual aspirant cannot act like One who has attained to perfection, but One who is Perfect can, for the sake of others, act like an aspirant. One who has received a Master of Arts degree can write the alphabet on a board to teach children, but it does not mean he is no longer a Master of Arts. So my silence has been undertaken and maintained solely for the good of others."

Baba's answer: "Twelve years after I speak. These twelve years of my silence were in preparation for it."

Q.: "What will be the effect of this manifestation?"

A.: "Convincing."

Q.: "At once or gradually?"

A.: "Gradually . . . like crops and rain. Rain falls spontaneously in showers, but crops take time to grow. So the fruits of my work will grow gradually during the twelve years of my manifestation."

Q.; "Will there be a war before you speak?"

A.: "Yes."

Q.: "Necessarily?"

A.: "Yes, unavoidably. But none will win, none will lose. Rather it will awaken a desire for a better and higher ideal of life. All the existing ideals of race, nationality, religion, etc., will be eradicated and destroyed, and the ideals of human brotherhood established."