The man had a mental breakdown four years back for which he consulted a doctor. The day after this he came to me for the first time and embraced me. During the eight days that followed this embrace, he said it brought him peace and tranquility of mind and also inner experiences like hearing celestial music, smelling unearthly smells, seeing circles, colors and lights. He has been telling and discussing these experiences with others. He felt that he was very near the Goal. I told him not to discuss these experiences, as they have no significance and are illusory. I gave him instructions to awake at 3:00 A.M., as was his usual practice for meditation, but to remember me before beginning the meditation.
Had I not exhorted him [to do so], he would have been an addition to the present-day hypocritical saints! Getting enamored by such experiences is rawness on the path. Love for God is something quite different. In love there is no compromise. Either you love God, or you do not!
Hafiz says: "In the school of God and in the company of the Perfect Master, try, try and try again so that one day you also become perfect.
Wash your hands of this coppery existence so that one day you get the alchemy of love and become gold."
Hafiz adds: "Even to think of being united with God is sheer madness, because it is almost impossible!
But if you must persist in your madness, then become the dust under the feet of a Perfect Master, for only then may it become possible."
Lata Limaye sang another ghazal, and Baba explained a few lines:
On the inner journey, there are seven planes of consciousness, and every plane has its muqam [abode] and manzil [destination]. The lover says: "I am making an effort to make my heart pure, but I do not expect any reward. I feel that all life is meaningless, and now the fear of death has also gone away!"
In love there is no fear. For those who are earnest, the path and the goal become the same. Therefore, continue trying.
Baba added, "Hafiz consoles the lover that if all efforts fail in bringing him to the Beloved, the lover should leave everything to the Beloved's Will."
Adi played the harmonium and sang a ghazal, and Baba explained its meaning:
Those who step into the domain of love think that they have reached the destination. God alone knows what a foolish thought that is. Hafiz says that at first, when he placed his feet on the "beach," he thought he had already got the "Pearl." But little did he know that he had to face the waves, the storms and the whirlpools, and dive deep into the Ocean before getting the Pearl.