Satya Mang made it a practice to be present at Meherabad every Thursday and take part in the gatherings there.
Faith in Meher Baba's divinity was born in him and he changed completely. At one word from Baba, he was ready to sacrifice his life. On one occasion, he begged the Master for the chance to serve him.
Baba replied, "When the appropriate time comes, I will surely give you the opportunity to serve me."
Boman B. Irani was married to Baily's sister, Tehmina. Bomanji became a disciple of Meher Baba, and he, his wife and their two daughters had been staying at Meherabad since 1925. Duties were given to him of ploughing the fields and drawing water from the well for the community. A few years later, when Baba went to Persia in 1929, the Bomanji family was left alone in Meherabad. Bomanji became friendly with Satya Mang who helped the family a great deal. Satya Mang also kept watch for some years at Meherabad.
At this time, Baba began fasting, eating only one meal a day at three o'clock. To enable the mandali to share in his fast, which he had indicated would last until February 1927, Baba ordered them to start a rotating fast. Each man was to fast one after the other. They were to begin at 8:00 P.M. on 19 June 1926 and continue until 3:00 P.M. of the following day and rotate in turns for nineteen hours each day. Mohan was appointed as the "Fast Manager" to schedule the rotation to make certain that the mandali took their proper turns during the six months.
June 21st was the Muslim holiday of Bakri-Id, celebrated in memory of Abraham's offering of his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God.1 The holiday was observed at Meherabad, and two of the Muslim mandali, Karim and Barsoap, were made to stand up and explain the significance of the holiday as best they could.
Remarking about the Muslim custom of slaughtering a goat on this day, Baba conveyed, "They feel that if the Prophet killed a goat on this day, they should do it, too. They should try to kill their minds instead of goats! What is the use of slaughtering defenseless animals?"
Baba added, "If I ordered the mandali to wear hats and not to go out in the sun bareheaded, after some years it will be considered a religious practice to always wear a hat in the sun."
In the beginning, the holidays of every religion were strictly observed at Meherabad.
Footnotes
- 1.Some theorize that Abraham was, in fact, Zoroaster (i.e., the same historical figure memorialized in two different traditions).