The following morning, Wednesday, 16 September 1931, between six and seven, Baba instructed Herbert about his future. As mentioned, Herbert had accepted a job in China as Professor of English Literature under the League of Nations, and Baba directed him to proceed to China immediately. Herbert grasped Baba's feet and wept like a child. He told Baba, "I could not do anything for you. I had promised you, but I could not fulfill my promise." Baba calmed him, assuring him that there was no cause for worry; everything would be all right.
Baba then gave Herbert the following instructions: "Be a vegetarian. Do not smoke or drink. Meditate for one to two hours daily. In your spare time, mingle with the Chinese people and make friends with them. Besides this, whatever else you are to do with them, you will be impelled to do inwardly. Never take opium.
"Be friendly with the English as well as the Chinese. Lead a simple life. You should hold a meeting at least once a fortnight to talk about me to those interested. Do not worry and discharge your duties conscientiously. I will come to see you in China."
In the afternoon Baba went to the beach with Herbert, Meredith, Margaret, Kitty, Zilla, Rustom, Ali and Chanji, and played cricket and other games for a few hours.
In the evening there was a tea party in the open compound and photographs were taken. The weather was splendid as the sun shone throughout the days of Baba's visit. Baba played with a kitten and his love of animals and nature impressed everyone in the group. Relaxing, some of the ladies casually stretched their legs towards Baba, which in the East is considered bad manners and disrespectful to a guru. The mandali, however, had to keep quiet and Baba did not correct the women, either.
At quarter to eight, Baba took a small number of the group — Herbert, Kitty, Zilla, Meredith and Margaret Starr — and sat in the open, listening to the distant lapping of the waves and enjoying the beauty and calm of the solitude around them. In the august presence of the Master, in this ideal surrounding and beautiful silence of nature, these five individuals soon began weeping and continued weeping for three hours, from eight until eleven.