ChaptersChapter 16Page 2,287

Chapter 16: Wartime Travel For Masts

1942Page 2,287 of 5,444
"Do you have a guru?" Eruch asked.
"No, I don't; they talk too much. I want a guru who doesn't talk!"
Eruch said, "I know of a guru who has not spoken for the last seventeen years. His name is Meher Baba."
The boy at once replied, "I have heard of Shri Meher Baba; he is staying somewhere nearby, isn't he? But ..." pausing for a few moments, "But, Meher Baba is too great to accept me as his disciple."
Touched by his words, Eruch then took the lad to Baba. Upon seeing Baba, the boy was overcome with happiness.
Baba told him, "I will be your guru. This is the first and last time that we will meet. You will never see me again physically. However, if you want me to accept you as my disciple, you must carry out four orders. If you agree to obey, then one day you will find me in your heart."
Baba gave him these four orders:
1. You should be free from lust, and, until your dying day, you should never touch a woman.
2. Instead, you should only think continuously of realizing the Divine Beloved.
3. You must never touch money, and you must beg for your food.
4. As a mantra from me, you must keep repeating night and day God's name — whichever name you wish.
Without the least hesitation, the boy accepted the four orders and thus obtained the guru of his heart's desire.
Baba left, and the next day sent Eruch back to the boy with a locket of his image, a book on Baba's life, a mat to sit on, and some flour to make into chapatis and eat as his prasad. The boy was extremely thankful for Baba's gifts. Without evincing the least fear, he continued to live in the woods of Rishikesh, which are famous for their deadly black scorpions, numerous snakes and occasional tigers. Now that he had found his true Master, there was nothing to fear!
Baba and the group left Rishikesh on Tuesday, 30 June 1942. For the previous two to three days, it had been raining heavily in Rishikesh, and the Ganges was flooded.
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