Before leaving, Baba looked at Oswald's paintings.1 When it was time to go, Baba clapped him on the shoulder as if to say: "Let's hit the road." Oswald drove Baba back the 20 miles to the O'Briens.
In the car Baba remarked to him, "You are a good driver. You do not know how fortunate you are to be driving the Avatar."2
Baba was driven through some of the most picturesque eastern suburbs and nearby country scenery, which at that time was a mix of forests and paddocks. At a place by the road through the semi-rural shire of Eltham, which was full of native bush and some large old gum trees, Baba commented that the area was similar to parts of the Indian countryside.
Baba pointed out the landscape with a slow sweep of the hand and commented, "It is beautiful. Very beautiful! It all came out of me. But it is all illusion."
Francis Brabazon was sitting in the back seat of the car with Eruch.
Baba had been stern with him, but during the journey he said gently to Oswald, "Francis is very dear to me."
At another stage, Baba touched Oswald's arm and pointed out some white, snowy-looking hens pecking away on a hillside in a shaft of sunlight. Oswald spoiled the idyllic moment by saying cynically, "Yes, but they keep the lights turned on the hens all night so they will lay more eggs." Baba's expression, Oswald recalled, seemed to harden.
On the way back, Baba had the cars make an unscheduled stop a few houses down at Joan O'Brien's parents' home (2 Fairmont Avenue), where Joan's brother Norman Radcliffe lived, and from where Baba's meals were coming. Ena got out of the car and went to inform those inside that Baba had come. Baba walked in and went up to Norman Radcliffe and embraced him — catching him quite unawares in a passageway. This was significant because it was through Radcliffe that Ena and all of the group had met his sisters and come into contact with Sufism through Baron von Frankenberg, and later with Meher Baba. Radcliffe was not interested in Baba and therefore had not come to see him, so Baba himself came to meet him!
Returning to the O'Briens' home at 5:00 P.M., Baba invited Ena inside. He sat and talked with her and Francis, and at one point kissed Ena on the cheek.
The next morning, Monday, 13 August 1956, the entire group assembled before Baba. He had told them to bring their children. Baba's eyes were directed slightly upwards. Absorbed in his inner work, he appeared immense, but he also seemed removed from those gathered around him.
He then remarked: "I was very busy during the night doing my Universal work. Even now I feel burdened with the work. I do not feel fresh and bright. You will not be able to understand or realize this."
Footnotes
- 1.Oswald Hall (1917–1991) was an artist of some fame in Australia.
- 2.Baba indicated the same thing to each who drove him during this trip to the West. To one he observed, "This mere act of driving me will ensure that when the time comes and you are traversing the planes, you will not get stuck in them!"