Two: The tree of my Divine Manifestation is to be planted at Mashhad [Meshed, Iran], where it will grow and spread, ultimately covering the whole world.1
At first, I had intended to do the two spiritual workings in the order given above, viz., the first in August and the second in November. But due to causes and circumstances (self-created, of course) of every kind, both internal and external, a change has been necessitated in the order of the working. I have decided, therefore, to do the second working in August 1943 and the first in November 1943.
In pursuance of this modification in plans, I shall be visiting Iran in August, and this journey will be via Lahore, Quetta, Duzdab and Baluchistan. I therefore want you to be prepared to join me for one full month, commencing from the 1st of November 1943.
Treating this as a final intimation, and awaiting no further circulars, you will be well-advised to arrange and adjust from now all your affairs concerning business, service, leave, and so forth. It is presumed you shall in no way interpret this as another postponement. You will plainly see in this a mere interchange (for my own reasons) of the time and period of the two spiritual workings.
I want you to have full faith in the definite accomplishment of what I have stated, and to be brave in heart. Treating this as the final phase of my working, I call upon you to be ready to die for God and live as God!
As Age noted: "This was all Meher Baba's divine game! It had started from December 1942, when his 99 workers began tasting Wine through his instructions to make people aware of the opening of the Tavern. Baba was creating an inclination in the minds of these workers to practice real renunciation, whereby, though living in the world, they might not be of the world, and carry on their work in a fitting and proper way.
"Thus, instability and changes in Baba's plans took place for this purpose; it was true preparedness. The work of turning the world's consciousness toward spirituality had begun, and by degrees, went on increasing in the East and West as the pace of the Master's activities quickened."
Baba boarded the Punjab Mail train for Lahore with the men and women mandali on Sunday, 4 July 1943, at 11:00 A.M. They arrived in Delhi the following night, where they halted for a few hours.
Footnotes
- 1.In June 1931, Baba had spent a few hours each night for three nights in seclusion in a large sacred shrine in Mashhad.