It was an obstruction to the old man's progress on the Path. The son was, unknowingly, a thorn in his father's side, and so I opened the door to the Path by removing his son.
"Now, you tell me who was blessed and who was cursed?"
When Baba finished this story, the truth about Jamboo dawned on everyone present. His "curse" was in reality a blessing. As a consequence, Jamboo overcame his grief and became profoundly closer to Baba from that time on, remaining surrendered to the Master's will.
Jamboo Mama, who had been curious as to what occurred at night in the hut, would have been startled to hear of Baily's experiences. Baily continued his nightly writing work inside the hut, but he was often disturbed by strange sounds and even stranger occurrences. For instance, as he was about to dip his pen in the inkpot one night, the inkpot, of its own accord, lifted about four or five inches, as if dancing up and down, left and right. It lasted for a few seconds and then settled back to its original place. Sometimes, there would be heavy knocking on the Jhopdi door from outside, as if someone wanted to enter and was trying to force open the door. This noise would last for a few seconds and then subside. Other times, Baily heard whispering outside the door; or he would hear footsteps coming from afar, approaching close to the Jhopdi, and then the sound would stop. Baily reported that at times he heard "painful wailing, loud shrieks and screams" as if someone had accidentally fallen in the ditch behind the Jhopdi. Other times, it sounded "as if someone is sitting just behind my back inside the Jhopdi and crying and wailing at someone's death ... [or] behind my back the laughter of a delicate lady would be heard, and when I turned around, no one would be there ... [one time I heard] two dogs fighting within the Jhopdi and then nothing."
Baily once had this strange experience:
One night after locking the door of the Jhopdi from inside at the appointed time of 9:00 P.M., Baba and I chatted a while and then as usual Baba lay down on his mattress and covered himself with a white sheet. After about two hours, I finished my writing for the day, and I lay down on my mattress and immediately went to sleep.