11 October 1922
The tense atmosphere in the Manzil dissipated, and all heaved a sigh of relief. Thumps and Bumps was played. When it was over, Baba told Ghani to write on the notice board:
I beg you all not to express your bad intentions by your mean actions and words amongst yourselves.
— Merwan
Age reflected, "It is virtually impossible to understand the Avatar's love and mercy. For those whom he loved and brought close to him, Baba had a dagger unsheathed ready to slit their egos! To tread the spiritual path is like walking on the edge of a sword. There the intellect does not count. Regarding his orders, there is no need to reason or analyze.
"The Avatar always does that which is of the utmost benefit to all concerned. His only 'weakness' is that he can never harm anyone. The Master had to do his work, and his apparent expression of extreme cruelty was, in fact, an expression of his extreme mercy. By rending the walls of his disciples' obstinate egos, he was showering his blessings. Pounding the rock of the ego into dust, or cutting the thick veil of ignorance, results in suffering. His work is the annihilation of the ego-mind and that operation leaves scars, but the suffering eventually leads to infinite bliss."
At 4:30 in the morning on 12 October, before the mandali began their usual prayers of repeating God's name, Baba gave the following discourse:
There are two states, internal and external, divided or separated by a mental curtain or veil. To purify the internal state is not in the hands of any mortal being. It is impossible without the help of a Sadguru. Therefore, unless a person comes across a Perfect Salik or Sadguru, he should try his best to keep his external body clean. This is what every religion teaches. By perfectly carrying out the tenets of one's religion, one has a chance of coming into contact with a salik or Perfect Master. By paying attention to external cleanliness, the internal to some degree also gets purified.
Thus, to realize God, one of either two ways should be adopted — there is no in-between. Since the work of cleaning the internal is only in the hands of a Perfect Master, in his absence, the second-best method is to look after the external as laid down by the teachings of one's religion.