"In the spiritual path, there is no compromise," Baba said. "Raise your hands who cannot obey me."
No one except for a young man in his mid-twenties named Simon Thorpe raised a hand.
"Now raise your hands who will try to obey me."
Everyone except one of Margaret Craske's ballet dancers raised his hand.
Thereupon, Baba stated:
Age after age, when the Avatar comes, he has only a small group of followers. In this cycle it is different. This cycle is something special. Now thousands in the south of India follow me. Recently the government approved a textbook on my life for use in the schools. The Zoroastrians were once opposed to me, but now they come and love me. Several saints came to the sahavas and loved and respected me, and many yogis came, too. Shuddhananda Bharati, a famous yogi from the south of India, also participated in the sahavas, dressed in a yellow robe with a long beard. He came and sat on the platform with me. He said he too wished to take upon himself the duty of spreading my name.
In India, Baba had circulated his message about the "dark cloud" that hovered overhead. Baba continued to explain:
The dark cloud is approaching very fast. Only a few will hold on to me. Those who are near me, not in space but in love. The rest will leave me. The age-old experience will be repeated. In this incarnation, I have a large following, but again I shall be left with a few. It is as if around me there are many beautiful buildings. It took years to build them, but when an earthquake comes, they are destroyed in a few seconds. Only a few survive.
The doctors have said: "Don't go to the West; this is a bad time." But I replied: "No, I must go to meet my lovers and tell them these things."
If you love me 100 percent, you will be able to hold on to me. Obey me at all costs — especially until July 10. You will never see me again in the flesh. All will come to pass in quick succession as I have said, anytime after the 10th.
Baba mentioned that a Gujarati newspaper that used to print articles against him published an astrological prediction that a great Parsi Saint would manifest this year [1958], adding, "But I am not a saint! I am the Ancient One, and I tell you the time has come."