Baba laughed and commented, "Yes, you are right. I am ever-changing."
I realized after a long time what he meant by "ever-changing" for it is life itself — the Divine Play!
On another occasion, Baba remarked to the group at Harmon, "I am eternally happy ... "
Anita interjected, "Oh, you needn't tell us that! You must be with this face of yours. What bliss! Look at his eyes. They speak more than words — so radiant, so penetrating, how understanding and compassionate. Without a doubt, you look eternally happy." Anita was a welcome addition to the group because her lively nature kept Baba entertained.
Visitors to Harmon on Thursday 12 November 1931 included Louise Skey, the young Canadian girl from the Roma ; a "trance medium" and author named Nancy Fullwood (who had experiences similar to Edgar Cayce); and another psychic Theosophist, Dora van Gelder Kuntz, 27. A well-known nutritionist, Norman Walker, 45, met Baba on the 13th, as did Dorothy Louise Norris and Mrs. Percy Stewart.1
Baba saw nine more visitors at Harmon the next day. Among them was Kitty's younger sister Angela Lambert, who had missed seeing Baba in London. Henry Steigner also met Baba that day.2
On Sunday, 15 November 1931, Baba was driven to Manhattan concerning travel documents for his return to Europe and India. He stopped first at the home of the president of City College New York, Dr. Frederick B. Robinson, at 280 Convent Avenue, where he met with several new people.3 He then went to stay for two days at the Stokeses' residence at 88 Grove Street. Among those he saw in New York were Milo Shattuck, Grace Mann, Julian Lamar and Anita and her mother Jacqueline de Caro, a strict Catholic who nonetheless felt something special when she saw Baba in person.
Anita's mother was quite ill and had been afraid of death, but she later told her daughter, "Since I met Baba, I realize what the spirit is," and Anita wrote to Baba, "The spiritual change in [my mother] is amazing. Your name is always on her lips and your photograph is always on her pillow."
Kitty had written Chanji about two close musician friends of hers and Herbert's in New York named Miss Valentine and David Sherry. Both met Baba while he was in the city.
Footnotes
- 1.Norman Walker wrote many books on the benefits of a raw-food diet and invented a popular juicer; Dora's husband Fritz Kuntz was a close associate of Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater. He was also associated with the Krotona Institute with Catherine Gardner and others; Dorothy Norris was the daughter of a wealthy stockbroker, Alfred E. Norris; Mrs. Percy Stewart was also well off, as she donated $1,000 towards Baba's cause, much more than anyone else at the time.
- 2.Henry Steigner delivered lectures at Hyperion House in New York City on "Practical Mysticism." The talks were later published as Mysticism in Action (1941). Steigner noted, "Man's greater journey is the quest within."
- 3.Dr. Robinson had written a preface for one of Swami Yogananda's books, Songs of the Soul. His wife, Julia, had driven to Harmon and met Baba the week before, on 8 November 1931.