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tomorrow." He led me around the buildings separating the men's from the women's quarters to where Baba had his room.
Suddenly, there He was! Sitting on his bed, unclothed from the waist up, beaming — the Emperor of emperors. What occurred then I shall never forget — a great loosening, a shaking from within. I am not given to visions or "seeing things" or hallucinations (aside from thinking all this that we see is real), but on beholding His form, what I saw was His resplendent face at the center of an effulgence so brilliant, of a light so complete in its all-encompassing radiance, that tears blurred my vision in rivers of delight. Here He was, the One who in His compassion had granted this speck of His imagination a glimpse of the sun! He gestured that He was happy to see me (happy to see me!), that I looked tired and dusty, and I should have a hot bath, read a certain section of God Speaks, have a good dinner, and get a good night's sleep, and He would see me in the morning. I nodded, speechless before His silence. Eruch gently turned me round, and led me back to the men's quarters. I followed Baba's directions, took a hot bath (Indian fashion via the pail and mug), read in the sun for an hour, had dinner and conversation with some of the mandali, and then went early to bed, at the end of what had certainly been a full day.
Early to bed — another example of Baba's perfect timing. Previous to that night, I had spent over a month sleeping only on concrete floors and the wooden hold of the ship, with not so much as a cushion between my tender bones and concrete 'reality'. And now, the first bed in a month was Baba's own bed, which He had slept on while doing the "great Seclusion" in the blue bus. I slept very well.
At sunrise, Eruch gently awoke me by tapping on the door. I arose, washed, and sat down to a simple but delicious breakfast with a few of the mandali. Drinking chai (tea), they narrated some anecdotes from their years with Baba. And then, it was time to see Baba. We walked over to the hall where Baba met with the mandali in the mornings. Following example, I removed my shoes before entering the hall — thus one does not bring the dust of the world into a home.
In the right-hand corner, quite close to the door was Baba's blue armchair. Seated on the floor, along the wall, were the mandali. From the other end of the hall, Baba entered. I stood up — Baba smiled at me and waved that I should sit down. He then slowly walked the length of the hall three times, his hand resting lightly on the arm of the disciple accompanying Him. Baba then came and sat down — I had been seated directly opposite Him, on the floor.
He smiled, and then made a gesture that Eruch didn't have to translate. I crossed the distance to my Self, knelt down to touch His feet (a gesture of surrendering the ego), rose and embraced Him. We kissed each other on the cheeks, and then I backed up to where I was sitting. In the following I will simply give some highlights of our verbal-nonverbal exchange. Baba began by "saying" that He was in very strict seclusion, and that I was most fortunate to be with Him. He added that the seclusion was necessary for His work.
After a few more comments, Baba queried if there was anything I wanted to know? I replied "No, Baba," knowing that all questions were from my head. What I wanted to know, no words could ever tell me. Baba then smiled, and gestured was there anything I wanted? To this I immediately replied "Yes, Baba. I want to love You as You should be loved. I want to see and love You in everyone and everything, always." Baba: "If you want this prema (love) for the service of others, you must obey Me. It takes great daring to obey Me." And then, in His compassion, He added "Don't be afraid, I am with you. I am God in human form."
Baba continued, stating that the world and its affairs is "nothing into nothing", and that "God alone is real". Baba then asked if many young people
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