Baba asked him, "Have I given you any other promise that you remember?"
"Yes, to visit my house."
"That can be fulfilled even if I drop my body."
Baba explained to Niranjan Singh the various experiences Kaikobad had undergone, but observed, "Although these might seem important to you, they are the experiences of illusion. Even those experiences of the spiritual planes are of illusion; but they are higher experiences, which emancipate one from illusion."
"Please take complete charge of my mind," Niranjan Singh pleaded.
"Leave it to me," stated Baba.
Baba embraced him, and Niranjan Singh asked, "Is this embrace for my wife?"
Baba embraced him a second time, saying, "This is for your wife."
At 8:45 A.M., accompanied by all his lovers, Baba led the way up Meherabad Hill. Baba was walking so swiftly that both elders and youngsters were left behind. One could not keep pace with him except by running. After going half the distance, Baba sat down under a tree and leaned against its trunk, and all sat down before him. Several photographers and those taking films took advantage of the picturesque scene.
Reaching the hill, Baba went straight to his crypt, and stood on the platform just outside of it. The Westerners came, and all sat down facing Baba. Pointing to his Tomb, Baba stated:
This is my last resting place. In 1927–28, I had stayed here for six months continuously. You will find a trench-like pit where I remained day and night in seclusion. I never left this place even for calls of nature or a bath, which were done only here. Sometimes, I would stretch my legs over the sill of the window, but my body was inside. The window was open in those days [no screen], and termites had eaten the framework. When I used to sit there, the Prem Ashram boys would gather outside on the platform before me. At that time, a boy named Abdulla had an experience, rendering him unconscious for three days.1
During this seclusion, I never took solid food, but remained on only two cups of coffee a day, which a Harijan boy named Lahu would bring from [lower] Meherabad. Before beginning the seclusion, I had asked my women mandali to send me a full flask with Lahu twice — once in the morning and again in the evening.
Footnotes
- 1.This Persian teenager, Abdulla Pakrawan, was later nicknamed "Chhota Baba," meaning Little Baba. He was stationed on the sixth plane for a period of time in 1928, during the Prem Ashram.