With a happy look, Baba told them:
I want you all to know that I have stayed in many, many places. In India, when I went on mast trips to different places, I stayed sometimes in palaces, sometimes in dharamshalas or special rest houses, sometimes in temples or huts, and sometimes under trees or on station platforms, where the sweepers or Untouchables would follow me. But here [gesturing toward his house], Elizabeth has built a very comfortable house for me. Everything here is her contribution to me. She has given the whole 500 acres as a gift to me. She has made everything possible just through her love for me. Tomorrow is Elizabeth's birthday. I am just in time to celebrate her birthday. Tomorrow I will have to embrace her seven times! None of you must give any gifts, however.
Now the house is open. Go in and see everything, but do not run away with anything! Don't slip, the floor is very slippery. It is some kind of special carpet.
They laughed, and Baba added, "Of all places in the world, I feel most comfortable in this house, even though the climate here is hot and humid, I like this place."
Baba stood on the porch like a gracious host, as each of his lovers filed past him, one by one, into the house. One man tried to take off his shoes and enter barefoot, but Baba stopped him. When all stood in his bedroom, Baba sat on the edge of his bed and chatted with them for a little while.
Once again outside, as they were about to depart, Baba said, "Go back to your rooms, go swimming, rest, eat, fight, live, and with all that fighting and living, remember to love me!"
That evening, several more "spontaneous" guests joined them at the Center by Baba's invitation: Stella Ferenz (of New York City) and her daughter Bobbi; the ballet dancers Bunty Kelley and Peter Saul; and Harold and Virginia Rudd.
Later that night, there was a terrific electric storm. Bolts of lightning plunged into the lake, similar to the storms experienced during Baba's first visit to Myrtle Beach.1
On the morning of Thursday, 26 July 1956, Baba walked to the Guest House and was greeted by five of the women staying in the nearby Lantern Cabin: Filis Frederick, Adele Wolkin, Bili Eaton, Beryl Williams and Sylvia Gaines. Baba appeared tired, and Ivy said, "Baba, you worked all night ..."
Footnotes
- 1.The heavy rainstorm in Myrtle Beach coincided with a famous maritime disaster the same night: the sinking of the Andrea Dorea off the coast of Massachusetts, in which 46 people died.