Each one of us likes to be in the company of people who are nice to us. It's natural, isn't it? When anyone cares about us, we like to be with that person. And Baba is no different. Anyone who remembers Him, He remembers, anyone who loves Him, He loves that person. The more we want to be in His company, to obey Him, to please Him — the more He wants to be with us. It's natural that we want to be with those who love us and likewise Meher Baba wants to be with those who love Him. If the prime concern of our life is to experience His love, to be in His company, we will experience His love and His company. This is His promise to us.

Mani told this story: taken from Gulmai's diary (Gulmai was Adi’s mother). In the early 1920s, before Baba observed silence, Baba and the mandali were staying in Quetta (N. India) in a 2-story house owned by Dr. Goher's parents. There was an in-house telephone connecting the ground floor with the second floor. One time Gulmai was passing by the phone and she heard it ring; it was Baba. She said, "Oh Baba, it's you!" Baba was upstairs, Baba said, "Can you see Me?" She said, "No." "But can you hear Me?" "Yes." Baba said: "Remember if you always keep connected with Me, even though you may not see Me, you will always be in communication with Me; I will always be with you."

Mani realized when she read that story it was a message for us today. We may not see Baba with our eyes but if we stay connected to Him we will be with Him, and experience His love. If the "phone" of our heart is connected to other people, if it's engaged in conversations with others, then naturally, we will not be able to "hear" Him, so we must keep our heart open and connected to Him always.

When Meher Baba says "Don't worry, be happy", He doesn't mean 'Don't worry, be happy in the world'. There is no happiness in the world. He means 'Don't worry, be happy in My love'. Eruch explains that when Baba says "Don't worry, be happy" this is the assurance of His bliss, His joy. This is the process of Him giving us His happiness.

When Baba says "I love you, love Me", this is the process of His giving His love to us. If we want the world, then we will go after the world. But who has found any happiness in the world? It doesn't mean that we can't be happy while we are in the world but we can only do so if we establish an inner communion with Him. If we make Baba the burning issue of our lives, then we can be happy in the world. Because the source of our happiness won't depend on the events of the world happening according to our desires; it will come from the ever-increasing increments of the flow of His love in our hearts.

By the "world", I mean, making one's sense of identity, one's sense of self worth, dependent on the opinion of others, on success in one's career, or having a happy marriage; i.e., depending on anything externally, as compared to being dependent on Meher Baba's love in one's heart.

Meher Baba has said that He loves us. When I was in Myrtle Beach recently I conveyed the love of one of the mandali to one of the Baba lovers there. She was so happy to hear this. I could just see her heart melting as she reflected on the message. This was outward confirmation of Baba's love for her through one of the mandali. And of course when Baba embraced someone, saying how much He loved that person, the heart of the lover was overwhelmed with love.

In hearing this, naturally one’s mind might think "That’s fine for someone who met Baba or who gets messages of love from the mandali, but what about me?" Meher Baba