Before Baba arrived, Bill's family vacated the house for Baba's use. Most of the Australian group attending Baba's stay were accommodated in a large shed and three tents next to Meher House. The remaining people stayed in two houses within half a mile from Meher House.
During that first night of Baba's visit, Baba sent word that the children should be adequately covered with blankets against the cold.
The next morning, Friday, 10 August 1956, Baba called a "work meeting" with Eruch, Francis, Bill Le Page and Robert Rouse. He asked Francis for an account of the work he had been doing in his name, and discussed what he wanted regarding the spreading of his message of love and service.
During a pause in the discussion, Baba suddenly asked, "Francis, where is my book?" — referring to the accounts Francis and Don Stevens were both supposed to write on the 1955 Indian Sahavas.
Francis was about to defend his nonaction (he had of course been incredibly busy) but held back and answered, "I'm sorry, Baba. I will start immediately after you have left."
Baba gazed off as if into the future and replied, "Good."
The nature of this exchange propelled Francis and the Rouses to reassess what was going to be a simple diary-like account of the 1955 Sahavas and produce instead the magnum opus Stay with God .
Baba then stated the reasons for his visit to Australia: "First I have come to sow the seed of love in this country; secondly, to visit and stay in the house you have built for me with so much love; and thirdly, to gather those who love me just a little and have done a little work for me, deeper into my love."
Baba was seated on his bed, rubbing his feet into the rug on the floor.
During the session, he said, "Bill [Le Page] is Francis' right hand. Robert [Rouse] is Francis' left hand."1
At the end of the meeting, Baba stated, "I know that you three will never leave me. I know that you will be with me until the end."
Baba had Bill Le Page's three children, Ruthie, Jenny and Michael, called in along with others and played with them.
Footnotes
- 1.Robert Rouse worked closely with Francis Brabazon on Francis' various books, especially Stay with God, and was later the initial caretaker/manager of Avatar's Abode. Bill Le Page played a major role in spreading Baba's message in Australia and developing Avatar's Abode.