Chapter 36: Interested In Remaining Disinterested
1961Page 4,740 of 5,444
Sometimes, Baba would send certain persons to Hamirpur or Andhra for his birthday celebrations, and the love and splendor they witnessed there changed their lives. In this Avataric advent, Hamirpur and Andhra have replaced Mathura and Vrindavan — the sacred places of Krishna's advent. For ages to come, they will remind the world of Avatar Meher Baba's love.
On the morning of 3 March 1961, Baba was taken for a drive in the DeSoto to Bhingar and back. Don and Padri came to Meherazad on the 6th and 12th, and Adi and Ramjoo came on the 15th, to discuss the Trust's tax status. Kutumba Sastri, the Chairman of the Avatar Meher Baba Trust, was also in Ahmednagar at this time, meeting with different income-tax officials.
At 7:30 A.M., on Wednesday, 22 March Baba left Meherazad for Poona with the men and women mandali. They traveled in three cars: the DeSoto, Meherjee's Chevrolet and Adi's car.1 That year, at first a silent peace reigned in Guruprasad as no visitors (except for Meherjee) were permitted to visit. Nariman Dadachanji and Jim Mistry were allowed to stay on weekends, as were Arnavaz and Katie Irani — but Baba's disinterestedness continued.
Our seeking of personal pleasure, instead of keeping his, was the cause of Baba's disinterest. It is for us to merge our individual likes and dislikes in his pleasure, because only by keeping happy in his happiness can we keep him from his mood of disinterest. During Baba's seclusion, his silence gradually silenced individual pleasure, and his will, by degrees, established its supremacy in his lovers' hearts.
As Age explains, "During this period, the restrictions enforced by Baba about not disturbing his seclusion were not restrictions, but a beautiful reflection of his will, whose every aspect we must absorb in our lives. By following his will and not disturbing his seclusion, his lovers helped in lessening his disinterest and, in turn, his suffering."
In Guruprasad, as a diversion for Baba, Francis, Pendu, Meherdas and Vishnu played Ping-Pong, cards and carrom with him. To play Ping Pong, Baba would perch on a high stool, as standing for any length of time tired his injured hip. In the evenings, he would sit on the front verandah with the women, or go for a drive.
Footnotes
- 1.Usually when Adi Sr. was in Poona, he would spend the night with K. K. Ramakrishnan. But that year, Adi was instructed to spend two nights at Guruprasad before returning to Ahmednagar.