Baba did not laugh; in fact he did not even smile in acknowledgement.
"Not at all, Don. When you are breathed in [by God], you are in effect stored in exactly your present situation until creation is breathed out again.
"Then, when some planetary system has reached the proper stage of development, you are reincarnated and proceed with your involution from the point where you had left off [before Mahapralaya]."1
"Incredible," Don thought, "not the slightest loss or waste in God's creation."
After completing the editing of God Speaks with Ivy Duce in 1954–55, and Listen, Humanity in 1955–56, Don had taken quite a long time off before involving himself with any creative work with Baba's words.
On a previous visit, one of the first things Baba had said to him after they embraced was: "Don, what are you doing with Baba's words these days?"
Don knew exactly what Baba was driving at, and in fact had felt guilty about taking life easy. Nevertheless, he replied, "Baba, I actually haven't been doing anything with your words; I have just been basking in your love!"
Baba looked pleased, smiled, changed the subject and went on.
But after half an hour, all of a sudden he looked directly at Don and repeated the question, "But seriously, Don, what are you doing with Baba's words?"
At that point, Don stopped being evasive and confessed, "Baba, really I have done nothing. I do feel ashamed of myself. I have had the feeling that I should get back and start reading your words and studying them again now that all the other editing work is finished."
Baba simply said, "Do that," and changed the subject again.
On Don's next visit, again one of the first things Baba asked was, "Well now, Don, what have you done with Baba's words?"
Don had forgotten the previous episode, and felt sick inside himself over his negligence. He sincerely replied, "Baba, I am ashamed. Life has been so busy, it just completely skipped my mind. But I promise you that I won't come back without having done some good homework." Baba smiled, nodded in agreement, and quickly changed the subject. Soon the visit was over.
When Don returned to America, he dug out Deshmukh's five-volume edited version of Baba's Discourses . When he had originally read them seven or eight years before, they had not struck him as spectacular, and he had often thought that he should re-read them. When Stevens did, he was struck by the tremendous meaning and pungency of virtually every sentence. He wondered how he could have read them before and failed to be excited by all the magnificent things they contained.
Footnotes
- 1.For further explanations about Mahapralaya, the Great Dissolution or Great Absorption, refer to God Speaks, pp. 119 and 248.