Baba smiled and stated, "Say I, not we."
Lud thought Baba was displeased with him and said something to that effect, and appeared deeply distressed.
Baba reassured him: "I love you and will never be displeased. Speak from your heart. If you hide what you feel, you will not be honest. I love you for being honest. I really love you. Say whatever you feel, but say always I, not we . Do you feel happy?"
Lud replied he did, and Baba stated, "What else is necessary?"
Philippe Dupuis told how deeply impressed he was with Baba's darshan on the 12th, and said something to the effect that it must have been a great strain on his body.
"Before I drop my body," Baba stated, "I will have to go through violent attacks on the body. What has to happen will happen, and I will gladly undergo all this for the sake of humanity. My only happiness lies in making people understand, not through the mind but through experience, that God alone is the Beloved for whom we exist. In the meeting, I will make this clear as never before, and any of you who are strong enough to carry out the message will do my work. It is only for this meeting that I have called you."
Joseph Harb said, "It is a privilege and great joy to be here with Baba, and I hope I will be made a fit instrument to carry on your work."
Fred Winterfeldt said, "When the heart is full, the mouth runs over, and I scarcely believe that I am really here. How can we attain to the love you describe?"
Frank Eaton remarked, "I am deeply impressed by the fellowship of Baba's disciples."
Bill Le Page and John Ballantyne, from Australia, said, "Except you, we do not want anything."
Baba replied, "One who wants nothing, gets everything. Nothing means nothing, and one who wants nothing is never disappointed."
He asked Malcolm if this wasn't so, and Malcolm nodded.
Francis Brabazon declared, "I want God-realization!"
Hearing this, Baba quoted this verse from Hafiz:
Do not ask for Union with God,
and do not bewail separation.
Seek only the will of the Beloved.
Baba continued: "Before I met my Beloved in Union, I lost everything — ego, mind and the lower consciousness. But thank God I did not lose my sense of humor!"
Darwin said something which reminded Baba of an incident in New York in 1952 when he called Darwin to him, while his wife and children remained seated outside in the car. They were thirsting for sight of Baba, but Baba would not see them. Finally, some days later, Baba met them, and so many days of great disappointment resulted in great joy.