The mandali corroborated Espandiar's statements, saying that the boy was often found crying without being able to give any reason for doing so.
Baba replied kindly, "All right. I will grant you that, but only if you listen to what I tell you and you obey me."
Baba urged Espandiar to try to concentrate on his studies and to begin observing silence.
Another Persian, a Muslim orphan of seventeen named Abdulla Rokneldin Pakravan, arrived the next day.1 Abdulla was a seeker and seeing an article about the Meher Ashram in a newspaper, he had an intense urge to go there, ostensibly to further his formal education. Because he was raised an orthodox Muslim, when he met Baba he did not bow down. But he later wrote: "I was led to a room and asked to remove my shoes before entering. I complied and found myself in the presence of a luminous person with a rosy face and beautiful long curls of hair. In that instant I felt in my heart a glimpse of his greatness."2
Baba admitted him to the Hazrat Babajan High School, and shortly after, Abdulla's orthodox mentality was transformed and he would be christened Chhota Baba.
On 10 August, Baba gave this analogy about God-realization:
Suppose the ocean equals God. But in the beginning, the ocean did not know that it was a mighty ocean. This desire to know itself is the wind which created a bubble. The bubble is an atom, and the water in the bubble is the soul. After gradual advancement, the bubble becomes a wave, which represents the human form. Now the wind gives the human form a small boat, meaning lifetimes, and the sea air is sanskaras.
The state of the man in the boat is that his hands are tied and hence he cannot take an active part in moving the boat (his life). He only breathes in and out; in other words, he creates sanskaras, which moves his boat. If he breathes in a good way and creates good sanskaras, the wind blows in such a way that his boat is led to a Boatman (the Sadguru). The Boatman has dived into the ocean and now again swims to the surface of the water. He grasps the helm of those boats which come to him.
The Boatman unties the man's hands and actually drowns him in the ocean. The moment the man is drowned, he realizes that "I myself am the ocean." Now instead of remaining in the ocean, he surfaces and takes command of the boat — over which previously he had no control, but which now comes under his control — and he begins to move it wherever he wishes.
In this Realized state, the soul has no further need of the boat, for his aim and object has been fulfilled. But in order to guide other ill-fated men in boats who have not yet drowned in the ocean, this Experienced Swimmer, grasping his boat from under the water, steers and drives his vessel in such a way that all other boatmen, whose wrists are still tied and who are thus still inexperienced, may be drawn and attracted towards him.
Footnotes
- 1.Abdulla Pakravan at the time used the surname Ahwazi.
- 2.Glow International, Fall 2018, p. 21.