Because it was Baba's birthday (according to the Zoroastrian calendar), prasad was distributed to all who came for darshan. After nearly five hours, by 5:00 P.M., the crypt was filled with earth. The floor of the Tomb was swept and cleaned. Baba's seven-colored flag was draped over the earth. The women mandali returned to the shrine again to offer flowers to their Beloved who is never born and who never dies, who is eternal and immortal and besides whom there is none. After coming in physical form to make God's infinite love and compassion tangible to us, he became imperceptible so that we may seek his Impersonal form which is real.1
On 8 February 1969, after conferring with the mandali, Adi sent this telegram throughout the world:
Despite Baba's physical absence those lovers who desire to visit Guruprasad, Poona, to honor Baba's invitation for darshan up to 10th June can still come abiding strictly to the scheduled dates and conditions as per Family Letter dated 1st November [1968]. Journey will now include a half-day visit to Meherabad to pay homage at Baba's Tomb.
After 10th June anyone can make pilgrimage to Poona and Baba's Tomb individually or collectively. Understand that all arrangements must be made on one's own. Inform all concerned in your area. Jai Baba!
From April until June 1969, the "Darshan of darshans" was held at Guruprasad as Baba wished, and people from all over the world began coming to Meherabad on pilgrimage.
Age declared, "The Ancient One drew back his bow and released the arrow carrying his Word. The arrow lodged in his lovers' hearts and made a deep wound, through which the Word can be heard. The wound knows that Meher Baba is everlasting, and longs to attain that state. As time passes, the wound makes itself deeper and deeper, seeking to grasp the meaning of the Word. It prays to the Beloved to put more salt on it, so that it can fathom the profundity of His Word.
"Beloved Baba, truly you did not come to teach but to awaken, and this Word of words that you have dedicated to the world will gradually penetrate its heart and awaken it to your Truth! May our heads remain forever bowed at your feet, and may our memories of you become our every breath."
Bhau says, "O my Beloved! Your mercy is infinite, your love is infinite, your Self is infinite! You have given me tears, but it is no less your mercy — tears that have their source in my heart, which my heart alone knows."
Footnotes
- 1.During the one-week period from 31 January to 7 February 1969, Mecca in Saudi Arabia was deluged with heavy rains. The Grand Mosque was closed for ten days to remove almost two feet of mud from around the Kaaba. So during Baba's interment, no Muslims were able to circumambulate the Kaaba. To Aloba (and many of Baba's Muslim followers), because this coincided exactly with Baba's seven-day entombment on Meherabad Hill, it symbolized the transfer of world pilgrimage from Mecca to Meherabad.