Chapter 36: Interested In Remaining Disinterested
1960Page 4,720 of 5,444
The next day, Baba had soup, buttermilk, toast and biscuits. The right side of his face became more painful, and though the tongue blisters were sloughing, the pain increased, eventually penetrating into the right ear and root of the tongue. Daily injections from Goher continued, and Don came each day to assist.
All this time, Baba refused to listen to the pleas of those near him that he stay in bed, or at least confine himself to his room and rest. He insisted that everything go on routinely. He would walk about in the main house and be taken in the chair to the men's quarters, where he would do his Universal work.
On Wednesday, 12 October 1960 (the original date for the end of his fast), Baba had some rice and dal, and also buttermilk and soup. But eating the food only made his pain greater, because swallowing hurt terribly.
Strangely, Baba slept well that night. However, the next day, 13 October, the pain was the same all over his face. It was more concentrated on the right temple, ear lobe and root of the tongue. Scabs were forming on the blisters. These areas were fomented and ointment was applied. Two vitamin injections were also given. Baba would complain of a "screwing" type of pain inside his right ear that made him feel as if he were now going deaf.
While discussing matters in the hall with the mandali later that day, Baba expounded on the purposelessness in infinite Existence:
Reality is Existence infinite and eternal. Existence has no purpose by virtue of its being real, infinite and eternal. Existence exists. Being Existence it has to exist. Hence, Existence, the Reality, cannot have any purpose. It just is. It is self-existing.
Everything — all the things and all the beings — in Existence has a purpose. All things and beings have a purpose and must have a purpose, or else they cannot be in existence as what they are. Their very being in existence proves their purpose; and their sole purpose in existing is to become free of purpose — meaning, to become purposeless.
Purposelessness is of Reality; to have a purpose is to be lost in falseness. Everything exists only because it has a purpose. The moment that purpose has been accomplished, everything disappears and Existence is manifested as self-existing Self.
Purpose presumes a direction, and since Existence, being everything and everywhere, cannot have any direction — directions must always be in nothing and lead nowhere.