Suppose a man slaps someone. He does so out of anger because of his mind and ego. His action reacts and creates bad impressions on the person slapped and makes him angry, too. But a slap from the God-Man does not create any sanskaras, because he is beyond them. On the contrary, this action done by such an Infinite Power on someone who is finite has a very definite purpose behind it. This action wipes out the impressions of the person slapped, so that he is greatly benefited spiritually.
Baba then humorously remarked:
You have all come to me with cartloads of illusory sanskaras and are sitting on my chest with all your problems! Neither can you free yourselves from me, nor can I free myself from you! Your burdens are on my head, and also those of the universe!
But don't worry. From February 1942 onward, I will start speaking to myself and afterwards to the public. Be ready to hear me speak.
On the evening of Monday, 21 July 1941, Baba sent everyone back to their homes and prepared to enter seclusion. Vishnu was sent to Bombay for a week and returned to Meherabad on the 27th. Chanji also returned and saw Baba briefly on the 28th morning, before returning to Bombay. On the 25th, Piroja was permitted to rejoin the women's group and stayed for two months.
Before entering seclusion, Baba instructed Padri to cut a small piece of bamboo from the partition in the cage-room (built originally for the mast Karim Baba), so that Baba could communicate on the alphabet board without being seen. His seclusion this time was to be much stricter than before. Baba entered seclusion in the cage-room on Meherabad Hill on Friday, 1 August 1941, exactly a year to the day since his previous seclusion. Despite his seclusion, Baba continued working energetically with Chatti Baba — the only mast in Meherabad — but saw no one else.1
It was absolutely still. Pendu, Padri, Kalemama, Masaji, Chhagan, Vishnu and Baidul, while on watch, were most cautious and saw to it Baba was not in the least disturbed. They prevented the dogs from barking and shooed away any birds that happen to be chirping nearby. The women mandali on Meherabad Hill would also tread lightly and not let the slightest sound escape their lips.
"The graveyard silence made the hill seem uninhabited!" Age described. "But maya would have nothing of this peace and quietude. It grew irritated and jealous at the faithful observance of Baba's orders by his men and women mandali, whom it was incapable of affecting.
Footnotes
- 1.Mohammed Mast had been staying in Bombay for nine months, in the care of Ali Akbar Shapurzaman (Aloba).