"I also intend to go to Benares," Baba said.
Keki invited him to come to his home in Katni (which is on the way from Jabalpur to Benares), and Baba accepted the invitation to go there after two weeks.
Baba explained to him, "This hide-and-seek of the Masters [Maharaj and Baba going to similar places but not seeing each other] is significant and will soon end." He added, "Upasni Maharaj is going to drop his body soon."
After Keki and his family had left, Baba again repeated this prediction to the men mandali saying, "In six months, Maharaj will drop his body."
Deshmukh went to see Upasni Maharaj in Nagpur, and presented him with a copy of his new Marathi book on Baba's life. Maharaj placed a garland on Meher Baba's photograph on the book's cover, and handed it back to Deshmukh as his prasad.
When Baba heard of this incident on the 7th in a letter from Deshmukh, Baba remarked, "The old man is again falling head over heels in love with me."
On Thursday, 5 January 1939, Keki Bajan again came with his family to see Baba. Explaining to them about surrender and grace, Baba stated:
To surrender is not as difficult as people think. It must not be external, but internal. You must do your duty toward your dear ones — your wife, children and others who depend on you. You must not shirk or avoid your responsibilities. But while doing these duties, one must not be attached to maya.
One must remain detached, whatever the result may be. Even if one of your dear ones dies, you should not think about it, much less worry about it, but dedicate all to the guru. You should dedicate every thought and every act, both good and bad, at his feet. It is very easy, but because it is so easy, it is difficult. Once dedicated, you should forget everything, and if you cannot forget them [your thoughts and actions], how can you say that you have surrendered them?
The rain falls on both rocks and the soil. But the water flows away down the rock, while the earth soaks it up. The rock does not derive any benefit from the rain, while the soil does. Although the rain falls equally on both, only the soil takes advantage of it.