ChaptersChapter 7Page 975

Chapter 7: Toka

1928Page 975 of 5,444
This was not the only coincidental meeting of the two Masters during this trip. On his return to Ahmednagar two days later on 5 October, Baba again stopped at Akbar Press. A special room had been kept there for Baba to rest, and he went there while the mandali had their meal. Within moments, Baba came out into the compound and sat in a chair on the verandah by himself. Thinking that the Master was sitting in solitude for his special work, the mandali and devotees purposely kept silent and at a distance. Again to their utter surprise, they saw a car drive up with Babajan inside and stop on the road exactly opposite to where Baba was seated. His face looked wonderfully joyful. There was an exchange of glances between the two Masters which signified some incomprehensible "message" between them. After only a few minutes, the car with Babajan drove off.
This was the second meeting between Babajan and Meher Baba.
Asked about the significance of these meetings, Baba enigmatically replied, "Babajan met me today for the second time. It means that I am now free."
Perhaps Baba was referring to Aga Ali. Coincidentally, on the very same day that Baba left Toka for Nasik, Aga Ali began his second escape from Bombay to Toka. More significantly, Ali arrived at the exact time that Babajan and Meher Baba met at Akbar Press. At seven in the evening, Baba and the group arrived back in Toka where Baba happily welcomed Ali back, embracing his "hero" tenderly.
Baba intended to proceed to Aurangabad and farther north to Nagpur that very night. Leaving Raosaheb and Ali Akbar in Toka, he started for Aurangabad with Chhota Baba and Khak Saheb, but the car got stuck in the mud after covering only four miles. Baba and the group spent the night in a wayside shelter and returned to Toka the following morning at eleven o'clock.
Baba had transferred the responsibility of the ashram to Rustom and was now wholly occupied with the Prem Ashram boys. The boys were eating only once a day and sleeping only three hours a night, but they were remarkably healthy and energetic. Baba would discourse every day to them on God, divine love, the spiritual path, obedience to and faith in the Master, and many other themes, inspiring them to tread the path of wholehearted devotion to God. The atmosphere was surcharged with the Master's presence, and the wine of love was smiling through the boys' joy.
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