way to Ahmednagar, to Adi Irani's office, where the previous evening's conversation was repeated.

Adi didn't think I had much chance of seeing Baba, but also said I should try. He sent a note to Meherazad (about nine miles north of Ahmednagar), and back came a note saying to come there, but there was little chance of seeing Baba. I went, expecting absolutely nothing — if He wanted to see me, wonderful, and if not, His Will. I planned to stay in India for several years, and perhaps later He would consent to see me.

I was taken by motor-scooter to Meherazad, up a dry, dusty road (this was mid-November). Small hills stretched away into the distance; the earth was brown, and in many places looked like it had been burnt by the sun. (In fact, I read in the newspapers that this was the time of the worst famine in Maharashtra State in two hundred years). Soon we turned off onto a private dirt road. In the distance shimmered the reservoir near the village of Pimpalgaon, and to the left a prominent hill etched its shape in the mind. This was Tembi Hill, or Seclusion Hill, where Baba had several times stayed long in seclusion.

We came to the gate isolating this small community from the intrusions of the outside world. I thought "strait is the gate, and narrow is the path" — this is the 'gateless gate' through which one passes to one's Self. A bench was pointed out to me (fortunately in the shade), where I was directed to sit. In a few minutes, a gentle, soft-spoken man came and sat next to me, and we began talking. His name was Eruch — he had spent his entire adult life under Baba's wing, and had served his Lord with all his strength, all his heart, and all his mind. This was reflected in all his movements. With what peace and compassionate understanding he spoke. We talked for about forty-five minutes, in which, I told him of my trip, inner and outer. He asked me to wait, and a few minutes later returned with a smile on his face to say that Baba would see me in the morning, and related with some astonishment in his expression that I was to stay that night in the blue bus, adding that this was a rare privilege indeed. The "blue bus", now on blocks, was the bus Baba used while travelling on the mast tours all over India, and in which He stayed for forty days during the "Great Seclusion". I was very happy, to say the least, on hearing this.

We went to Eruch 's cabin to talk, where some of the Mandali (close disciples) joined us. They were eager to know of how I had heard of their Beloved. When I got to the part of Allan's telling me of Baba, Eruch jumped up and came back a moment later with a letter they had received from him (via Kitty Davy) some months before, in which Allan had written from Millbrook while on an acid trip, had said how far out it was, and what relation did LSD have to the spiritual path? I might add, at this juncture, that in my knapsack I had with me two caps of Sandoz pharmaceutical LSD, which I was intending to take on New Year's Eve in Nepal, to bring in the new year colorfully and gloriously. Baba had not, at this time, made any public statements regarding drugs, and though I had stopped smoking, I was not at all sure where LSD fit in. I was soon to learn.

The mandali asked me if I knew what this "LSD stuff" was, and I hesitantly replied that I did. Had I taken it? — oh, yes. Well, what was it like? I could see at this moment a large karmic snowball about to engulf me. I briefly told them as well as I could what a "trip" was, adding that my friends and I used to refer to LSD as "reality capsules", at which they broke out laughing, saying "only in the West." Here they had been with Baba thirty to forty years, and we in the West had invented a pill that brought one the instantaneous experience of "reality"! Were many young people taking this pill? — yes, many, to which they replied "Achcha" or "mm-hmm". Eruch left us, and returned a few moments later to ask if I wanted to see Baba now — as if I were going to say "well, no — I 'll wait until