Farthest from Thee I depart, nearest I come to Thee; Most forgetting Thee, most I remember Thee. Rose of the world, whatever nightingale singeth, Sing what he may, that nightingale singeth to Thee.
The one individual whom this "wireless connection" most affected was Meredith Starr. Starr (described by K. J. Dastur as "a well-known figure in English occult and mystical circles") was to prove useful and significant in Baba's future work. As Johnston stated, unbeknown to Rustom, it seems Meher Baba had sent him all the way to England solely to establish a link with the West.1
On his return to Meherabad at the end of April, Rustom received Baba's permission to send for the boys from England, and he made all the necessary arrangements for their voyage with Starr to be their escort.
In late April 1928, Baba again entered seclusion. He was in the underground crypt and gave orders that no one was to be sent up the hill. One day three groups of visitors unexpectedly arrived at Meherabad for Baba's darshan. The first group was a large number of Parsis from Bombay who had come to Ahmednagar for a few days. Since they were close to Meherabad and had heard of the "Irani Saint," they decided to visit and arrived at about ten o'clock one morning. Only a few of them sincerely wished to take Baba's darshan; the rest merely wanted to sightsee.
Just before the group arrived, a Hindu couple also came to Meherabad with the explicit intention of having Baba's darshan. The couple and the group of Parsis were told that Baba was in seclusion and was not seeing anyone or giving darshan. On hearing this, those who had come to sightsee merely laughed cynically and decided to go back. The sincere Parsis who had come for darshan were disappointed but decided to stay, hoping that Baba would come down the hill or call them up. They sat with Chanji and inquired about the Master, listening attentively to his stories. They left around four o'clock, after six hours of waiting.
Also deciding to wait, the Hindu couple sat near Baba's gaadi by the dhuni and began meditating. They continued meditating, waiting patiently until nine o'clock that night in hopes of having Baba's darshan. Finally, believing it was God's will that they not see Baba, they left with heavy hearts.
Footnotes
- 1.In relation to Meredith, Baba later referred to John Caldwell-Johnston as "his Master." Both Meredith and Johnston were considered notable "occultists" of the day and each had published articles in a British magazine, The Occult Review, so it seems certain they knew each other. By the time Baba journeyed to England in 1931, Johnston was living in Exeter. As far as is known, Johnston never had any direct contact with Meher Baba.