"Having dealt with the foregoing four types of OBEDIENCE, the last mentioned one is the real type of Obedience—the willing obedience of a lover. Even in this last mentioned type of a lover's obedience, there are different stages of what is called 'willing obedience.' They are as follows:

"(a) The first stage: the lover uses his common-sense and discrimination in obeying. Example, take G. who loves Me very much and wants really to obey Me willingly. If I, Baba, tell G., You must cut your only son D’s head' (D. the son of G. is sitting by the side of G. and in front of Baba), G's common-sense would tell him to hesitate and G. would begin to think, 'How can Baba say that, and ask me to kill my son? Baba would not have meant it seriously.' Then I, Baba, remind G., 'I am telling you very seriously and in all earnest. You cut your son D's throat.' Again, G’s common-sense and discrimination comes to play, and G. gets up and goes in search of a blunt blade and thinks, 'Baba must have meant that I should just inflict a small cut on my son D's throat and Baba would not have meant that I should kill D. Just inflicting a small cut with a blunt knife or blade will satisfy Baba; Baba has not ordered that I should actually separate the head from the trunk, Baba only asked me to cut.' Thus G. neither disobeys Baba nor does he do any serious harm to his son D. This is one stage of willing obedience.

“(b) A still higher stage, that is, one stage forward. Baba calls G. and tells him, 'Cut the throat of your son D.' G. gets up with no cheer in his heart and shuts his eyes and cuts the throat. This is called 'castor-oil obedience.' He does not use his common-sense or discrimination, he does not like obeying. He is not willing to do it cheerfully. You know what is meant by 'castor-oil obedience.' When I was a child, I remember that My mother used to give Me castor oil and that I would gulp it down My throat, closing My eyes and nose and I would do it quite unwillingly with no option but to