On reaching the hotel he made up his mind that on the following day he would not succumb to his emotions and would have a good strong talk with Baba and expose him as a fraud. Arrangements had been made for buses to take lovers from Poona to Mahabaleshwar. When they reached the meeting place they saw Baba giving a bath to the great mast Ali Shah. When all had assembled, for some hours Baba stepped into His "Old Life." Baba's sermon was read out. This time Baba had permitted His lovers to contribute, if they really desired to do so, for His work with the poor and the masts. The man began to remove his clothes before the crowd and gave them all, along with his purse, to Baba; finally he stood there in his underpants. The very presence of Baba had changed the heart full of doubts and he gave up all he had, including his clothes, as a sign of his complete surrenderance to Baba. Baba gave him back his clothes and since then he has become a staunch lover of Baba and is now in the mandali. The work he has done to spread the message of Baba is tremendous.

23rd October. During the course of a talk Baba said, "What can you achieve through talks? Reading also does not help. Any amount of reading or hearing has no value. Real understanding comes in a flash:" Baba then told us that he had called us to Meherazad not for a sahavas but to help Him in His work. He said, "This seclusion time is depressing; I spend very bad nights. Even the day is spent badly. Your being here during this critical period is a matter of great fortune for you. I play cards, go for walks, etc., but that is only external. People from all over the world want to come here even for a minute, but I do not allow them, and you have so much time with Me! Obey me, that is all I want." During the talk Baba also remarked, "Experience is not the goal, vision is not the goal, but Union with God is the goal. In order to attain this goal, My grace is necessary. For My grace you should resign to My will, i.e., when the climate is cold it is good to take wine, but if it is hot and you get sweaty and you take wine, you may get high blood pressure Therefore do not ask for it; I will give it at the right time."

We went for the usual walk. Some snaps of Baba were taken with Harry and us and Baba said that they were excellent.

That evening one of the mandali related the great difficulties he had encountered in bringing Gulab, the 6th plane mast, to Baba. When he was brought to the ashram, Baba went to see him. Gulab shouted at the man who had brought him, "You have put me in a fix; He is Allah." Baba ordered food to be brought and held it near Gulab but he refused to eat. He said that before he ate Baba should give the food to the man who had