The teachings that are being followed by Christians are not the real teachings that Christ gave. The priests have altered his words, added to his teachings and spoiled them.
Baba had chosen Rustom to go to England to bring some boys back to India.
On 7 March, Baba gave final instructions to him about his trip, telling him, "You may go to as many cricket and football matches as you like; you can go to the cinema. Just accept all the invitations that come your way, and speak about me to those you meet. Then my work will be done."
Rustom left Meherabad that evening and sailed from Bombay three days later. He was the first of the Master's mandali to contact the Western world.
The first English biographical booklet about Baba was published in March 1928, and Rustom carried some of the booklets with him to England. Written by K. J. Dastur (and Ramjoo), it was titled His Holiness Meher Baba and Meherashram .1 One thousand copies were printed, and they soon sold out. Another thousand copies were printed in June that year, and 2,000 more in August.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the ashram was undergoing a transformation. The soil of Meherabad that was once wet with tears was no longer so. On Monday, 19 March, Baba explained:
These sparks of love once ignited can never be put out. But to feed it, some kindling of individual efforts is required. Once the fire is sufficiently fed, instead of being extinguished, it will go on increasing automatically without the aspirant's even thinking about it. The fire increases to such a degree that a time comes when the aspirant cannot bear its heat and wants nothing but to cool it down.
Look how Ali Akbar has changed. He was so often repeating, "I don't want God! I don't want anything; only cool down this all-consuming fire in my heart!" But to put out the fire means to render the boy unconscious; this is the intermediate state between the fire and the light. But I am not going to extinguish it yet.
To bear the burning of the fire is necessary in order to see the light, and once the light is seen, the pain of burning disappears. There are no more sufferings and agonies after that.
Let us see what comes of Rustom's trip to the West. It [the love] will not be as it was in January. No more "spark-sprinkling" now. It will be done in another way. By turning the eyes of the newcomers inward they will be shown the light, but without making them pass through the fire of love.
Footnotes
- 1.The booklet had been read to Baba and corrected on 19 February 1928. (Ramjoo had also been writing The Combined Diary.) A second edition of 1,000 copies was published in June 1928 and a third edition of 2,000 copies, titled His Divine Majesty Meher Baba and the Meherashram Institute, was published in August 1928.