"That means try, and God will help you do that. I know what you want in life, and maybe something bigger may come to you from God ... It is to be a huge Universal Center, and you can help."
"I will do all I can. What plans, ideas do you have?" Terry asked.
Baba replied in detail: "I will come back on June 15 and stay for one month and see no one. I will see every inch of this place and chalk out the four centers within one, representing: service, renunciation, devotion and worldly life with love for God. In the service aspect will be a hospital, leper asylum and other such things. I have an estimate that it will cost for construction and maintenance ten million dollars.
"I am the poorest of the poor and the richest of the rich. I don't touch money since my silence. But if this is to be done honestly for humanity, it will need ten million dollars, and God will give it to me. That is why I said I will not need monetary help from you.
"This is going to be so big that someone like you should manage it as I want. I will need your help for plans and construction. So I said one year you will have to stay here and help. I have been very plain and frank with you as one of my own men. So, you decide. But, foremost, I would like you to go to Arabia as soon as possible, and from July 1953, help me for one year in my plans."1
A few of Ivy's Sufi mureeds from New York had come to Myrtle Beach for the "open house" darshan to be held in the Barn the following day, 17 May. They also saw Baba on the afternoon of the 16th.
Stella Du Fresne asked Baba to protect her only son, nineteen, who was a sailor fighting in the Korean War. Baba directed Meherjee to tear off a small corner of the pad he was using to take notes of the interviews.
Baba folded it into a small wad, held it in his hands and, after concentrating on it for a moment, handed it to Stella and stated, "Have him wear this at all times, for exactly one year," and added, "Love me more if you can, and God will grant you everything that is good."
Footnotes
- 1.Being an experienced businessman, Baba wanted Terry Duce's help in the development of the Myrtle Beach Center, but these ideas did not manifest into actuality.