ChaptersChapter 34Page 4,504

Chapter 34: Total Seclusion

1959Page 4,504 of 5,444
Everyone gave a small rose to Baba, who embraced each. All went near the One who is the very basis of love, but whom their physical eyes could not see. Baba's fathomless love for them was obvious and truly touching, and their sightless eyes wept at his touch. Each blind person's face was transformed as Baba embraced him, as though an inner light had been switched on.
One person asked Baba why he was so unfortunate as to be blind. Was it because of some misdeeds he had committed in a previous birth?
Baba replied: "In a way you are very fortunate not to see the evils and sufferings of the world. All are blind. Even those you think can see are truly blind, for they see what is not real.
"You do not see the real either — it is only your desire to do so that binds you. Therefore, do not ask for physical eyesight, but ask that you be given the true Sight which will make you see the only thing worth seeing, the only thing which IS. Take my name all the time. Think of me constantly. I give my love and blessings to you all."
According to Baba's wish, Pukar spoke briefly about Baba and his message of Love and Truth for humanity. Baba was shown how the blind men wove cloth and made cane baskets and chairs, and he was most happy to hear their orchestra perform for him. The honorary secretary, Captain H. J. M. Desai, thanked Baba for coming and blessing them. Baba rose, and amidst acclamations, returned to Ashiana at about 6:00 P.M.
Ramjoo was in Bombay at this time preparing drafts for the creation of the Avatar Meher Baba Trust, which was shortly to be registered as a charitable trust. It is believed that during his stay, and according to Baba's instructions, Ramjoo removed the handwritten papers of Baba's book (which he had written in 1925–26) from the Bombay bank where it had been kept. Although he supposedly turned it over to Baba, what Baba did with it or what happened to it afterwards is not known.
At 2:00 P.M. on Sunday, 15 March 1959, Baba left Bombay for Poona. As he had told Arnavaz, his one-week visit to Bombay would prove to be his last. Thereafter, every year Baba would go to Poona and spend the three months of summer at Guruprasad, passing the remaining nine months of the year in Meherazad. This routine lasted until the end.
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