The more inattentive you are to my orders, the longer I will remain aloof from you. But if you wish to see me playing, eating, chatting and working in your company, then you had better take all my orders seriously and obey them sincerely.
— Merwan
23 December 1922
At 11:00 A.M. on 24 December, Baba called fourteen of the men to his room and told them, "My seclusion is because of spiritual reasons. Maharaj has recently imprisoned himself in a bamboo cage at Sakori and is suffering for the good of his mandali. Now that my real spiritual work has started, many of the present mandali will leave me. You will see."
The fourteen men again solemnly promised Baba that, in every situation, they would stay with him for the stipulated period.
During this period, a rumor was circulating in Poona that Meher Baba and his followers were in Bombay for illegal purposes. People said he had gone there to deceive and rob the public. It was rumored that Manzil-e-Meem was a trap laid by the Irani saint and his companions to lure the unsuspecting and swindle them out of their possessions.
Thus, from the outset of Baba's work, opposition had begun. But Baba was not concerned about it. Only later did the mandali realize that opposition was a definite part of his spiritual working. At times, Baba would encourage his enemies and critics to speak their minds, and he often remarked that opposition was beneficial to his work.
On 27 December, Baba called all the mandali to his room. It was the fifth day of his seclusion and fast; he was not eating or drinking anything. He inquired whether they thought he should relieve them of the day-to-day small orders. After a long discussion, it was settled that, except for 28 specific orders, all of the Master's previous instructions would be void.
Until then all his orders had been verbal, but he instructed, "These 28 orders and the seven previous orders should be typed out and a copy given to each of you."1
After this was decided, he added, "This evening I will come down and eat with you. But, I will eat only once every 24 hours, and this half-fast will continue until further notice."
Baba then told Ghani, "Tell Mirza [the bookbinder] that it would be better if the qawaal, who he was to send this evening, could come early tonight."
Footnotes
- 1.The "seven previous orders" refers to a list of orders each had been given in June 1922 before moving in to Manzil-e-Meem.