At noon on 12 October, a place, enclosed with bamboo
matting, was made for Chhota Baba to stay underneath Baba's Table
Cabin. Baba mentioned that a European man, who was inclined toward the
Path, was coming the next day and would be staying in Chhota Baba's
room. From that day Baba began staying in Meher Manzil at night, instead
of in the Table Cabin. Two other boys, Rajaram and Baban, who had been
appointed as Baba's orderlies, were accommodated in a room adjoining
Chhota Baba's room.
On Saturday, 13
October 1928, the thirty-fourth day of Baba's fast and the fourth
day of his seclusion, all gathered at five o'clock near the entrance
of the Manzil for the lighting of the dhuni. Afterwards, the boys and
mandali were served tea and sweets. Baba cautioned the boys that during
the cold weather they should sit near the dhuni in the morning. He
ordered that the dhuni be lit at seven in the morning; then, after some
hours, it should be extinguished and again lit in the evenings. Jalbhai
was to prepare the fire, Chhagan to light it, and Baidul to extinguish
it.
At about noon the same day, Adi Sr. and
Nusserwan arrived, bringing with them a gray-haired Russian called Sadhu Christian Leik . He was the European that Baba had
mentioned, and Leik was overjoyed at finding the atmosphere in Toka so
congenial and uplifting, as he had been searching a long time for a
guru. Vishnu accommodated him in the room previously occupied by Chhota
Baba. "There is something here," Leik said. "I feel it. After 20 years of longing and worship of such departed
Masters as Ramakrishna, today I have finally met and seen a living
Master!"
Leik was 58 when he came to
Toka. Born in the Russian province of Estonia in 1870, from childhood he
had a contemplative, scholarly nature, and he became interested in
Western and Eastern philosophy at an early age. As a young man, he had a
lucrative position as the manager of a business firm in Moscow, but in
1902, he quit his job and traveled to England and France seeking
knowledge of spirituality. During the subsequent years, he became a
naturalized British subject, served as a naval officer and met Meredith
Starr with whom he shared similar interests.
After reading about Sadguru Ramakrishna and his
chief disciple Vivekananda, Leik traveled to India in 1910 and began
staying in Ramakrishna monasteries.
