I should like to give you a brief idea of the tremendous influence Baba has created in the West. All who have met him have loved him, adored him and worshiped him — men and women, young and old, rich and poor — all alike. And there is such a variety of people who have met him — from all walks of life. They have all come and seen Baba and gone away immensely impressed by the divine influence radiating from him. Many of them could not utter a word in his august presence; they were simply benumbed, fascinated, amazed. Many, many wept tears of divine love, and have come again and again to [partake of] this divine bath. Their whole lives have been transformed; they all have had wonderful experiences they never had before, nor had ever expected — strange experiences that have made them radiant with love.
Their letters of love are pouring in every day — living testimonies of Shri Baba's divinity and subtle influence over those who could never be influenced; positive proofs that would throw thousands of scandals by Dastur and others into oblivion.
We have been so used to the words wonderful ... marvelous ... beautiful ... amazing and so on, that these all have lost their charm for us. For everyone who comes out of Baba's room after a brief visit of a few minutes simply cries out, "Oh, wonderful! He is so marvelous! Amazing! Charming! Beautiful!"
Imagine from this brief sketch what Baba has done here. I have no words to give others an actual idea of what he has done. It must be seen and experienced personally. Some say, "He is the fountain of love and bliss." Some have seen him as Jesus the Christ; some call him "Lord of the New Creation." They say to Baba, "America needs you; it is blessed in having you." And all wholeheartedly want him, implore him, to stay here, and it is with such heavy hearts they have accepted his going back to India. But he has given a hopeful promise to be in their midst again soon.
Many more prominent New Yorkers met Baba at the Astor Hotel on the 27th and 28th of November 1931, including the Rumanian princess Henriette Sava-Goiu (who had hosted readings at her apartment by the Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran, before he died earlier that year); I. Sheldon Tilney, an automobile inventor; Dr. Albert Grier, 67, a sincere New Age spiritual minister; and the librettist Minette Hirst.1
Footnotes
- 1.Albert Grier had founded the Church of Truth, dedicated to helping people realize the Oneness with all life and that "Jesus came to Earth to awaken humanity to the Truth that Christ Consciousness was within every human being."