Even saints and swamis of great repute would say the same if they were to see me indulging in such pastimes. But the Vedantists are quite well-versed intellectually and should understand that Perfection means in each and every thing — all round, in the highest and the lowest — quite unique and above all.
The West is supposed to be materialistic. Many of my lovers there take me to picture houses [cinemas], dress me finely; they never have thoughts which Easterners have. They take me as the Spiritual Master, 100 percent like Christ. They know how Christ behaved.
The West too has saints, but they never feel the way Easterners feel. Take Filis Frederick of America. She loves me 100 percent and has deep faith in me and is quite learned. She came to Myrtle Beach when I was there with the mandali. She would always call me "Baba darling" and would say, do this, do that, take fish, eat meat, come to the movies, and so on and so forth.
Baba explained about Jesus and Muhammad:
The life of Christ was like the life of a saint. Saints and monks also lead saintly lives, but there is a world of difference between the saint-idea, the Christ-idea and the Baba-idea! Suppose we drink a good amount of wine today and girls are dancing in front of us. The mandali would not mind such actions, since they grasp their insignificance. But if some two or three swamis or Shivananda happen to see us, what would they think of it all? They will forget that Masters are always free and would begin having critical thoughts. But if a philosopher from the West were to see us, he would join in the party willingly, though he knows as much about spirituality as the swamis.
Muhammad enjoined marrying four wives, though he himself had seven. He had children. But were I to marry a woman and have children, our people [Indians] would say it does not behoove me and it is not true spirituality. If we tell them about Muhammad having seven wives and children, they would answer "You cannot reach that state; he was the last Prophet!" Those who love me truly never care for such things. This all is an indication of the spiritual downfall of the East.