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37

 

hands joined together in silent namaskar. One curved his arms around where Baba's shoulders would have been and kissed him first on one 'cheek' then the other. Idly, a bee droned in the jasmine taking its own darshan . . . I sat in front watching it all . . . the current of Baba's love streaming out was so strong I did not, could not move. But then I, too, rose, touched the chair and brown leather chappals, that had shielded His Lotus-Feet from His own earth.

 

Thence to the room where Baba did His Universal work in the yellow stuffed chair. Nearby His pink jacket and white sadra hung on a rack, His water glass and soap towel handy. Another pair of chappals were tucked under his bed. Here, too, the atmosphere was heavy with His presence. It was a perfume. And one had to cry a little at the fragile physical objects left behind by God-man. Relics? There is, there can be, no relic of the God-man. The whole universe, His creation, has been left behind as His relic and especially His own, His dear souls, His children, now crowding through. Again the mixture of grief and joy, laughter and silence, outgoing love, inbrooding awareness flowed about the halls and verandas of Guruprasad. Happy reunions. East-West greetings, new and old acquaintances. And the faces of all those dear youngsters, so full of love of Him! I started to cry again thinking how they missed seeing Baba in His physical form. Yet how happy they were . . . they opened the heart of a lot of us "old lovers" to a new nobility . . . the ability to love Baba beyond His human form. They are the new ones, the ones that will have to carry on, loving Baba in his formless Love . . .

 

Darshan? What was darshan? A Baba love-in, and agape, love feast, in the old Victorian halls of Guruprasad. The name means, Master's Love-gift! It was.

 

Out on the veranda I chatted with Swami Udaseen, who said to me "The Awakener must stay awake!" And also with Dr. Deshmukh who recorded the priceless 'discourses.' He is now a retired professor of philosophy. In the room where Baba used to sit with the men Mandali, was Baba's chair, a glass of water, a bowl and fresh flowers in a glass. While albums of Baba photos were being passed about, Dr. Deshmukh told me why he wears a dot of sandal paste on his forehead: — Avatar Lord Krishna once had stomach pains, for which the cure was: dust of the feet of a perfect Master. There was no perfect Master about, so Krishna's lovers were asked for the dust of their feet. But they were afraid of the karma. Only the gopis said "anything for our Beloved," and they gave the dust of their feet. So in memory you wear a dot of sandal paste, on the third eye. Groovy!

 

Board the buses! Board the buses! And back to luncheon, the peppery vegetables at the long "boarding school" table at the Poona Club.

 

Brother Jal comes to visit bringing a big pile of beautiful photos done by brother Beheram— what a treat! I get out my tape recorder, and ask him to say a few words;—

 

"Jai Baba! I'm Jal, Baba's younger brother, speaking to you Western Baba Lovers. Many people ask me how is it possible Baba left his body without uttering a word. I told them Baba has started speaking now, not with the tongue, not with this piece of flesh, but with the Divine Tongue that has love in it — . I gave them an explanation — that his Lovers from India, Persia, Africa, Europe and especially America, — those coming from 10,000 miles away or going back 10,000 miles, spending money to come to Guruprasad just to have Baba's darshan; — (there were so many men and women — young and old, sick, pregnant who came). They came just to have Baba's darshan. They appeared to be taking darshan of Baba's photo and His chair. In reality they were kneeling before Baba and bowing down at Baba's feet. We had to lift some of them up, and we saw the carpet wet with their tears of love for Beloved God. This is how Baba speaks from the heart; that is His love flowing from their tears. This is Baba's Divine Tongue speaking of love in the hearts of his lovers.

 

"When Baba dropped the body and we got the news we were shocked. There were only fifteen or twenty of us there, just near Baba's Tomb, where His body was laid, two or three doctors and a few

 

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