Going still further, again the car had to stop. Rama Shanker of Bokhar village in Hamirpur was about to leap in front of it. Had Eruch not sharply applied the brakes, Rama Shanker would surely have been run over.
Baba asked him sternly, "Why did you do that?"
"Baba, I am not satisfied ... Embrace me one last time."
Such was the condition of his lovers. Baba embraced him and then drove to Meherazad. At the beginning of the two-day meeting, rain had flooded Meherabad; now rivulets of tears flowed everywhere!
Those who attended the meetings felt lost and confused by Baba's sudden separation. Buses and trucks stood ready to transport them to the railroad and bus stations, but the men seemed to be in another world. Pendu, Padri and Aloba repeatedly told them to take their seats in the buses, and Pappa Jessawala was comforting them as best as he could. But it had no effect and did not ease their bereavement. After much delay, they were finally sent to the station at 8:00 P.M.; only the Hamirpur and Madhya Pradesh groups left the next day. That night Sidhu, Rustom Kaka and Madhusudan entertained them with songs, but the lovers continued to suffer an inner death from the pangs of separation.
The Westerners left on the evening of the 30th, as requested by Baba. They were sent by bus to the railway station and proceeded by train to Bombay. Their time in India had been "the most remarkable experience of our lives," wrote Charles Purdom and Malcolm Schloss. They had drunk deeply at the fountain of the God-Man's love, and now knew the sweet taste of his prolonged company.
Before leaving, Lud Dimpfl had been given the manuscript of God Speaks to present to Ivy and Don Stevens for editing and publication.1
The Westerners learned many lessons during the "three incredible weeks" (as they later called their stay in India), lessons which stayed with them throughout their lives. Asked by Filis Frederick to summarize his trip for The Awakener magazine, Philippe Dupuis wrote: "The main teaching I got from India was that spiritual life is no fun, no adventure, no part-time excitement. It is like the modern wars. It is total!"
On his way back to England, Will Backett wrote to May Lundquist:
The more one sees of Baba the more wonderful every occasion becomes. New people, fresh and entirely new conditions — individual interview or mass darshans — throw fresh light and reveal new depths and vision upon his unfathomable love, wisdom and resourcefulness. Surrounded by many different conditions, each demanding and receiving his close detailed attention, he yet stops to remember some insignificant happening affecting oneself. Nothing is too small to be overlooked by his love.
His overwhelming burden at times seemed insupportable, yet his divine love surpasses all else. He sat in the large room on the hill at Meherabad day after day, radiating love, humour, wisdom and understanding. I can see him now in my mind's eye saying, "You see me here, but can you imagine I am also everywhere. I know everything, I cannot help it."
Footnotes
- 1.Charles Purdom was also given a copy of the manuscript but did not work on the book, later explaining to Baba that it would take two years to edit it properly.