"Even at this early stage, I had begun to see that Baba was quite different from other Masters that one had heard of or read about, in his working and treatment of his disciples. He was a continual surprise. His moods and plans (apparently) changed with lightning rapidity. He builds up and then destroys. He would stage a dramatic situation to bring about an upheaval and so cause a complete change of plan and teach some resistant disciple or disciples a needed lesson. Although befuddled and bewildered at the time, in retrospect we were usually able to see more clearly the lesson he was trying to teach or why the plans had been changed. He sometimes referred to the whole thing as a divine game in which he leads us slowly and imperceptibly towards the goal.

"He keeps all those in close contact alert and on tip-toe for his slightest order or look , in a state of receptivity, with the focus of their thought on Baba and his work. The value of this is that it makes for one-pointedness. the introvert and the extrovert disciple are being taught to live outside of himself, and the false personal ego in which everything is "I" is being worn down so that the binding sanskaras are gradually unwound. Baba once told us that if from the moment we woke in the morning we would preface everything we did with "Baba's doing this," etc.; it would be a wonderful spiritual exercise. I don't think any of us had the perseverance to do it regularly.

“In the West, in an odd sense, Baba seemed Western; in the East, Eastern. It was amazing the different roles he could assume to fit in with any given situation — a child with children, father, friend, spiritual lover, and the wisest of the wise. So humorous, charming, courteous, and even in his sternness, just. The pace that he set for his disciples was terrific, and those who could not stand the tests fell away because of inherent weakness of character. Others, in spite of weakness, cling doggedly on.

"During the periods in between Baba's visits to the West, Kim and I had started work on a Mystical Anthology. (It is now at Myrtle Beach Center.) We read bought books, visited libraries, and learned a great deal. The Anthology was never properly finished as Kim turned for a while against Baba and, as the years went on, we both moved and our lives drifted apart, to be linked again when we met in America in 1948."

Now to continue from my diary with the events which followed our return to London from Lugano:

Margaret and I had arrived home at supper time on Sunday evening, May 8th, and started to search for accommodations for Baba and the party who were to arrive the next day. The only possible place (owing to color prejudice) was the Fellowship Club, Lancaster Gate. Rooms were not expensive, and they took in Indians. Here we had our own dining room and vegetarian meals, which were not