Those of you who are absolutely willing and prepared to share my present universal burden and to help me in my work have to obey my following order implicitly:
Things are happening and will happen, as they ought to happen, by the Divine Will, and so, whether war ends now or next year, or whether there is truce now or peace next year, having no thought in mind whatsoever of war or peace, you will have to stay here or go wheresoever I may send you, and do whatsoever I may tell you, at the cost of supreme self-sacrifice, from August 1, 1940 to July 31, 1941.
I definitely will speak on the 1st of August 1941. It will be the Divine Word that I shall utter first, which will resurrect the dead world.
This is my last war, peace and manifestation message to my disciples.
When Baba returned to Meherabad on the 22nd, this message was sent to approximately 240 close lovers, asking them to reply whether or not they were prepared to follow Baba's instructions.1 The instructions were to be sent later and followed for one year.
At Meherabad, Baba again began working in the mast ashram on Meherabad Hill. Chanji was called back from Bombay, and he arrived on Sunday, 23 June 1940. He was told to book a third–class compartment to Ranchi for the mandali. Accordingly, he reserved two bogies (railroad cars) for the journey. Adi Sr. arrived the same day from Bangalore and saw Baba the next day on the hill and then returned to Bangalore. Don too was "recalled" and he arrived at Meherabad on the morning of the 26th. Chhagan was wired on the 28 th to come with Eruch and Swamiji (who had returned to Bangalore on 13 June). Ghani was informed he was to remain at Bangalore for another twelve months, running the Meher Baba Journal office.2
On 29 June, Baba informed the women:
From August 1, 1940, doomsday will start for the whole world. Not for one moment will [people] feel safe in any part of the world for one year. All over the world there will be earthquakes, floods, famine and new diseases. Those killed in war will be nothing compared to those who will be killed by floods, famine, plague, and so forth. There will be a terrible famine like the one in Persia where millions died in a single year. Half the world will be affected by this famine. People will forget war, victory and defeat.
Footnotes
- 1.In addition, the message, titled "Meher Baba's Message for the Future," was printed and mailed from Bangalore by Adi Sr. and Eruch to prominent Indians across the country. An additional 5,500 copies were ordered for distribution in Mysore State.
- 2.The mandali residing in Bangalore (Ghani, Donkin, Chhagan, Dattu) had had to move out of their quarters at No. 4 Palace Road on 12 June 1940 into new ones at No. 5 Tannery Road, where they stayed for six weeks before having to shift again.