Then we arranged for an old woman to come with a child in her arms and a bandage over her eyes, and we taught her to say to him, "I will come when I am well, as now you can see I'm ill." She was taken to Mohammed, and on seeing her, he said, "Oh, you have grown old," and she played her part well.
So Mohammed is happy, because I kept my word. He advised her to put surma [eyeliner which has cleansing properties] in her eyes, and then forgot about her completely. There and then he bent down to gather stones. Now he is satisfied I did not lie to him. He is just like a child. Unless you become like a child, you cannot enter the Path.
Sitting under the tin shed after they had played some games that day (the 22nd), Baba called for paper and pencil, and drew three faces, which he stated represented Hitler, Mussolini and Neville Chamberlain:1
"Here [pointing to the gross sphere], they fight," stated Baba. "Here [pointing to the Vidnyan Bhuvan (The Infinity of Reality)], they are one. But whatever happens, happens according to God's will. If you have this firmly embedded in your mind, then you will understand that this war business is nothing but God's game."
For three days, from 27 September 1940 through the 29th, Baba ordered the women to keep silence from 8:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. There was to be complete silence for these four hours, and even the servants were given this order for three days. After this, from the 30th, Baba stated he would have a warning bell rung five minutes before he would be starting his work, and for half an hour all were to remain absolutely silent. He encouraged them that it would be best if they meditated and did not even move their limbs during this time.
During Baba's seclusion, he had instructed the women to send the puppy Warrior to him for a certain period, and Baba himself fed the pup in the mast ashram. After this, Warrior was not well, and Elizabeth, who was looking after him, took him to the veterinarian for medicine and treatment. But Warrior did not recover, and at 10:00 A.M. on Saturday, 28 September 1940, died on Meherabad Hill.
Footnotes
- 1.Mani was interpreting Baba's board, and the sketch below is how she drew the diagram Baba drew on paper (which was not preserved).