employed for turning to GOD, BABA said, "These ceremonies, such as reading aloud from the scriptures, audible repetitions of the various Names of GOD, and other supplications made to GOD from time to time by me, and for me, are and should all be carried out with the greatest possible sincerity, humility and devotion. From the highest to the lowest, religious symbols and rituals of Shariat (the external side of every religion) are all dry as dust when performed in the spirit of mere drill or just for show; still, these must be performed properly. Although all the religious practices are like ABC for the Life Divine, when you do them for me and on my behalf, you must do so with the utmost sincerity and seriousness."

The most important function was the congregation which was held on November 8th, of about three hundred persons, who were specially invited from different places to Meherabad. Standing before the gathering, BABA solemnly spelt out the following introduction by means of his alphabet board, "Today is a very important day for me and for my work in the Fiery Life, which begins on the 15th of November, and for this reason I have called you, a few selected ones, to be with me on this day. To begin with, I will now bow down to your love and faith for having responded to my call."

After bowing down to the gathering, BABA took his seat and continued his explanations: "I want you all to patiently hear what I declare and what I have decided. But before I make clear my Fiery Life, I will explain to you the stand of a devotee which I have adopted today.

"For an ordinary devotee, there exists attachment of every kind. Ignorance being the predominating factor, desires and duality persist; and due to this ignorance, virtue, sin, good, bad have their meaning. Worries, doubts, upsets, miseries are the products of this ignorance. Birth and death, which in Dnyan* are superfluous, have their existence in ignorance, they have meaning. Therefore, for a devotee, good, bad and all forms of duality exist till Dnyan comes. And so today I am taking the stand of an ordinary devotee who seeks forgiveness of GOD for his mistakes."

The following statement was then read out for BABA: In a few moments, I am going to repent to GOD and ask His forgiveness for my sins and also for the sins of everyone connected with me.

"Because I shall include myself in this repentance and prayer, it is important

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*Dnyan: Spiritual Knowledge or Enlightenment; Dnyani: one who possesses such Knowledge or Enlightenment.