"Who is Baba?" Yvonne asked.
At once the woman gave her a small piece of paper on
which was printed: "Shri Meher Baba, write to Meherabad, India or to
Princess Matchabelli, New York."
During World War Two they were not allowed to write to
foreign countries, but in 1945 when the war ended, Yvonne immediately wrote to
Baba and received a reply through Adi Sr. in which Baba conveyed: "I know
you and have been protecting you."
When Yvonne finally met Baba, she recalled: "We
proceeded toward a small lounge where Baba was waiting for us, seated on a sofa.
When I caught sight of him, I had the impression I was seeing a radiant Being;
there was a bright white light in the room."
Robert Antoni was feeling disheartened in his job,
working with juvenile delinquents. Baba told him: "You should not be
brought down by them, but on the contrary you should uplift them and look for
God in their hearts. As long as the heart speaks, language does not matter. God
is in all. He is everywhere. He needs no words or language. He does not listen
to the prayers from our mouths but from our hearts. Remain happy always, even in
adverse circumstances. If there were no turmoil, you could not test your ability
to remain calm. One must try to remain happy always. One must try to make others
happy."
Andrée recalled, "Robert was as moved as I
was. We were both crying, even with all the joy." After their interview,
the Antonis flew back to Paris the same evening.
With families, Baba's approach was individual and yet
comprehensive, and when he embraced both a husband and wife together, the couple
often felt that they had entered a new era in their marriage.
Tom Hopkinson, a journalist, had first met Baba in 1952.
This time when he embraced Baba, he recalled: "I remember giving him a hug
and feeling this strange feeling that you always felt when you embraced him, of
mingled lightness and solidity as though it were very real and yet
intangible."
Hopkinson was asked if there was anything he wished to
say. He said, "Baba, I am happy to see you but I cannot accept you as God.
My mind is not equal to the task of recognizing you as God, but I thank you for
what you have done for me."