After stopping at the Post Office to inquire whether any letters or telegrams had been received, Baba ordered the tonga driver (himself half-mast, Chanji thought) to drive through the most crowded area of the city. Baba pointed out a particular man in the street, who looked to Adi and Chanji like a beggar. The man was standing, gazing upwards, seemingly unaware of his surroundings. In this instance, Baba ordered Adi to give the man a coin. Chanji described the contact:
No explanation was offered at the moment, nor did we question Baba then as he seemed mentally preoccupied and "busy" elsewhere. After a while, after driving through many thoroughfares, Baba abruptly called for a turn, to return home. Simultaneously, Baba's expression changed with a "hum" typical to him. As the tonga traced its way homewards, Baba seemed to come down from his preoccupied (mental) state and began looking around with apparent interest. We took this opportunity to ask for an explanation about some of his significant gestures, and he readily replied that the man was spiritually dazed and "stuck-up" [stuck] on a certain place (like those inmates of our ashram of the God-Mad at Meherabad) and that the man needed a push onwards which he gave [from the second plane to the third plane]. The two-anna coin was a medium for this contact and significant for the planes Baba helped the man to cross.
Baba took the women to Sarnath on Thursday, 19 January 1939, where he spoke to them about Gautama the Buddha. Sarnath is where the Buddha first preached after he became enlightened.1
Baba reminisced about his incarnation as Buddha and then remarked, "Buddha is now silent."
Dal had been cooked that day in an earthen pot, but it began leaking out, so it was emptied into and served from a pail.
Baba kidded them, "Take care of your pots [meaning their hearts]. If they get holes in them all your love will leak out!"
The group returned to Benares in the evening, and remained there for three days more. Baba was engaged in contacting masts, and also in searching for boys fitting his ideal. On the 21st, Baba went out in a tonga with Norina and two of the men. After getting down and walking some distance, they spotted a man squatting on the street, dressed only in a loincloth. Baba stood far away and signaled to give him two paisa. The mandali did so, and when the man looked up, he looked radiant, but dazed. Baba later explained that the person was on the first plane and at that moment Baba pushed him to the second.
Something similar happened next. Baba began walking fast and then stopped suddenly and pointed to a revered person sitting on a boat surrounded by his disciples. The mandali approached him and said, "We have come from Meher Baba." The man repeated three times, "Meher ... Meher ... Meher."
Baba commented: "He was on the fifth plane and I pushed him to the sixth."
Chhagan would look for boys and bring them to Baba, but Baba would always send them back and criticize Chhagan at length, "For goodness sake, what sort of boys do you bring me? Are you blind? Can't you find even one to my liking?"
Footnotes
- 1.Sarnath is a sacred city to Buddhists all over the world. The central place of pilgrimage is a large temple which houses the Buddha's hair.