Chapter 36: Interested In Remaining Disinterested
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Niranjan Singh shook his head in agreement. Then he said, "Baba, that was during your visit to Delhi. Now I am staying in Bombay. Will you pay a visit to Bombay?"
Baba replied, "Yes, next year — maybe in February.1 But you know my way of making promises! Will you be staying in Bombay until then?"
An influential man, the Deputy Director of Medical Services of the Army's Southern Command stationed in Poona, Major General B. N. Bhandari, 55, heard of Baba that year. Since he was living just a few miles away, he came one afternoon with his wife, Kamla, 42, who was a physician. Their first meeting made a tremendous impact on them. They said they felt "transported by the overflow of love emanating from his Divine Being."
When Kamla Bhandari approached Baba, he asked her, "How are you?"
"Thank you, I am all right," she said.
"Are you happy?"
"Yes, Baba."
"What do you want?"
"I am in search of God."
"Your objective will be realized."
Baba's reassurance drew the couple close to him, and they became his devoted followers.
The Khilnani family also came to see Baba one evening.
One retired judge had been on a pilgrimage to Badri Narayan, a sacred Hindu shrine in the Himalayas.
As he told Baba about his visit, Baba asked, "Did you see me there?"
The man was silent.
Baba then stated:
The fun is, although I am with you and within you all, you travel far and wide to find me. I am the Infinite One, infinitely near to everyone, but because of this infinite nearness, it becomes infinitely difficult for you to find me. Until you see the world as worthless, you cannot see me. Once you have a glimpse of my divinity, you have an infinite longing to see me as I am. Owing to this intensity you get 'painted' unawares spiritually.
Baba quoted these lines of Kabir in Hindi:
One very, very slowly gets painted spiritually; Mind takes a very, very long time to vanish completely; And the man who has slept for ages [in ignorance] Gets awakened very, very gradually.
Footnotes
- 1.As it turned out, Baba never visited Bombay again.