Tom relates what happened next: "The beauty of [Baba's] love was so singularly present in my heart in those moments that I as a separate personality ceased to exist and, at that instant, I heard myself cry out wildly, 'O God!' I threw myself before him, pressing my head upon his feet."
It almost happened a second time, during a morning meeting when the other Westerners had come.
Baba stated: "Nothing at all can compare with this love which I offer. It is only for those who are willing to risk everything. There can be no compromise in this."
Tom recalled: "What [Baba] was saying was so clearly related to what he revealed to me at mandali hall [in Guruprasad] several days before. The beat of my heart quickened. I felt him within me, his love crowding out everything superficial and extraneous. I felt so strongly at that second the need to cry out and express the intensity of this love presence. In that instant, in the midst of 300 people listening to him and gazing at him, and yet, unknown to anyone of these people, he caught my eyes with a stern look and said so vividly in my mind, 'Don't make a display of love!' "
After Tom Riley, Fred Marks of London and a fellow Englishman were the second and third persons to arrive in Poona. Brynar (Jimmy) Mehl and Enid Corfe of America, and Delia DeLeon of London were the next to arrive. About 100 people were coming from America, 33 from Australia, 17 from Europe, Carrie Ben Shammai alone from Israel, 50 from Pakistan and 4 from Iran.1 In addition, there were almost 3,500 people from various parts of India, and 1,500 from Poona, Ahmednagar and Bombay. After several postponements, the long-awaited East-West Gathering was about to take place.
Brynar Mehl, 25, had first heard of Meher Baba in Los Angeles, in August of 1956, when he had happened to pick up a copy of God Speaks from his dance instructor. When Brynar asked for more information, his teacher directed him to another student, Joyce Romney. Surprised by Brynar's interest, Joyce exclaimed, "You just missed Baba! He left Los Angeles the day before yesterday." Joyce was an acquaintance of Malcolm Schloss, and she, along with her teacher, had met Baba at the Roosevelt Hotel. She mentioned Sufism to Mehl, who eventually went to San Francisco and became a Sufi under Ivy Duce. He had been financially unable to come to Myrtle Beach in 1958 and since then had longed to meet Baba.
Footnotes
- 1.See Appendix H for a fuller listing of Westerners who attended the East-West Gathering.