Baba has so many ways of bringing you closer to him. Some he humors; to others he seems to be very lenient. And then, after a while, you realize that he has been humoring an innate weakness in order to make you conscious of it. So, beware! You need to be very careful of any continual praise Baba may give you on one particular point.

If your mind is alert, you find out easily what Baba is after and can start "putting your house in order." But, I was slow in the uptake and had to learn the hard way.

For example, Baba had been saying for some time when the group was together—"and Kitty tries only to please me." I suppose I thought that was what I was doing. Sometimes Baba holds up to us an ideal. Now see what happened!

Baba had taken us—about 24 in all—to Panchgani, a hill station in India, for the summer months. Baba, as he was departing for a month for outside work, left us with this order: "Every Sunday you will keep silence all day, eat only one meal at 3 p.m. consisting of tea, bread and butter, The servants are to have a holiday. Kitty, the housekeeper, will prepare tea and see that my order is carried out."

The first Sunday all ate bread and butter, and drank tea. The second Sunday I was approached by one of the group the evening before, saying, "I cannot digest this soggy bread. Could I have toast? I will make it myself."

I thought the matter over and came to the conclusion that, under the circumstances, Baba would not mind.

The third Sunday four or five more were eating toast, not bread, and, before Baba returned, half the group had appealed to me, complaining they could not eat "plain bread—it gave them pains," and so were enjoying on their "fast" nice, hot, buttered toast without any guilty qualms of conscience. Hadn't I said "Yes, it would be all right?"

Baba returned. No mention was made of the "fast." A month later, when we were all back in Meherabad, Baba called us together at 7 in the morning. He started handing out an orange to each, then sent us all off for ten minutes to reassemble in the compound (courtyard), at 7:30 a.m.

Baba starred with the orders of the day and then, spelling out on his board, said, "And Kitty thinks more of pleasing others than she does of