On 10 December, while mentioning how much Aga Ali must be suffering in Bombay, Baba remarked, "I know that he is troubled. All are troubled, yet I will leave nothing unturned in troubling you. All here are harassed, but no one is as harassed as I am!"
Baba then narrated this true tale:
The spiritual path is not a bed of roses. After fourteen years of fasting, the great yogi Farid Shakkar Ganj had reached the fourth plane but only knew how to kill sparrows.1 Once a Sadguru was sitting in the shade of a tree observing him. Seeing the birds, Farid said, "Let all the sparrows drop dead!" Instantly all the sparrows were dead. Then Farid, by his command, made them come alive again.
The Sadguru taunted him, "That is nothing! Learn fakiri [control over desires]."
Once Farid found an old woman lowering a bucket into a well and drawing it back up again empty. This happened several times and he expressed his surprise. The old woman, who was a saint on the fifth plane, replied, "It is better than your commands of 'Die and come alive!' "
Hearing this, Farid was awakened to the reality of his powers and began searching for a Master. He found one, and by the Master's grace became a Perfect Master himself.
You say you are troubled, but it is nothing. Your troubles and harassment will eventually result in your gaining the power of not killing sparrows, but of killing your self! There is no use in my describing to you the effulgence of God. One day you will experience it.
K. J. Dastur was busy arranging for the publication of the first issue of The Meher Message and informed Baba about it.
On 11 December, Baba told Dastur many things in connection with this publishing work: "If Meher Message deals only with spiritual subjects, my nazar [sight] and blessing will always be on it."
Baba warned Dastur to steer clear of social and political issues and not to publish such articles in what was to be solely a spiritual journal.
On Wednesday, 12 December 1928, Baba issued a new timetable for the boys' classes, adding history, geography, and debating to their English studies. Dr. Sathe was summoned to treat one of the boys, and Baba asked him to begin coming to Meherabad once a week on Sundays, to treat anyone who was ill.
Footnotes
- 1.Farid Shakkar Ganj (circa 1188–1280) is also known as Baba Farid Ganjshakar.