But what a way of loving! Yes, you do love me; otherwise, why should you leave all — your families, homes, comforts, et cetera — to be with me. And it is because I love you that I keep you near me.
This year of my working is very important. You all are so lucky to be with me now. The universe is now in such chaos. That is why I gave the list of orders to my disciples. If not, the reaction would have been such that even the closest of my lovers would have left me.
But why do you always want to do what you want? You must do what I want! You must either do only what you want, or only what I want! But what is this in-between thing to please both yourselves and me? That's impossible.
If you love me, you must be happy in my happiness. But I try to make it easier for you too, for I also let you do what you want. If I asked you to do only what I want, you would not stay with me for a minute! I tell you not to fight, not to criticize, but you do what you want. So try your best to obey these orders during this important period of my work. For nine months, you all must stay with me during my important working.
To lighten the mood, Baba then described an incident in the town, which he found amusing:
I accompanied Norina and Elizabeth yesterday in the car when they went for their passport work. Elizabeth forgot to park the car in the shade. I was feeling very hot, sitting in the car waiting for them. An Englishman came up and asked, "Excuse me, are you Shri Meher Baba?" I nodded and he turned to the three Ceylonese standing by and told them, "He is a great person. Go bow to him," which they did. I had never seen him before, but he must have seen my face red from the sun and thought it to be a spiritual glow!
It had been raining constantly since their arrival in Ceylon and all, including Baba, felt depressed. (Baba had a bad cold, as well.) One night Norina had a bad dream. The next morning, she was irritated and in a bad mood.
Baba looked at her sharply and remarked, "She is upset because of a dream. Fool! A dream may be good or bad, but in it sanskaras are spent. In the awake state when sanskaras are spent, new ones are accumulated.