vhile we were sitting inside our cars discussng and arguing. At last I said, “I must go to ;rirangapatnam. Ifthere is no place to sit and •alk, I willjust greet people. “As it transpired, he kitchen pandal was completely destroyed, orcing the guests to eat dinner in the rooms )fa nearby school. The meeting pandal itself imazingly, had not been damaged, and the lectricity and sound system were in proper vorking order. Everyone in the procession had :hanged their clothes and was waiting for me n the meeting pandal. It was ajoy to see how inxious they were, and, had I not come, they vould have been very disappointed. How ac we Beloved Baba was in every heart! Forget•ing their own happiness, the guests were feelngjoyin the suffering caused by the rain. The vorld was not present for them, only the Beoved. The Srirangapatnam Baba lovers pre ented a musical program and dances by their :hildren. After the program, I gave a nice talk, md then, late that night, I returned to ajahmundr When I returned to Srirangapatnam the blowing day, I gave a five-hour talk on God peaks. Actually, God speaks and I can’t hear! ; how can I tell people about God Speaks? 3od Speaks means God is speaking, and He peaks eternally, but we can’t hear because we ire deaf The words He gives are in the God Vlan’s Silence, not in God’s Silence, and these vords create in us the longing to hear the One vvo1i of God’s Silence. The words from the ;ilence of God are the words of Truth, and hey can be heard when the ears of the heart eceive the capacity to hear. In fact, there is )nly One Word, and that is the Word of vVords, and this Word can be heard when vords stop speaking.TheWord is in God, and vords are in illusion, and in order to hear that Alord, the words of illusion must be totally orgotten. Mother M., Mother OM, Swami 3roomanand, Dr. Anne and Shiva were with ne at the talk Dr. Anne is my Direct Doctor tnd had accompanied me to take care of me mm the medical point ofview. She was very :oncerned about my health, and would carelilly morntor myrest and diet.Though I would iot interfere with the dietary restrictions, still was playing mischief. I would ignore her in;ofar as my talk was concerned and would go )n speaking. Shiva had heard the Divine Voice nstructing him that Bhau should continue :alking. Dr. Anne was very much upset. As I vas watching her, what did I find? While I vas giving my talk, she had put a banana in er mouth. Because I was speaking, I could :iot laugh, though I thought it was good that he was eating. Because the banana was in her riouth, she would not look at me, but would
still send signals through someone else, instructing me to stop. ButI continued. Not only that, but when my talk was finished, I asked everyone to line up. First the women, then the men. I greeted each one personally, all 1,500 people. I felt quite strong and ftill of energy I did notthinkabout myself only about the Beloved in those who were attending the program. His presence was very active in everyone’s heart, and they were very, very happy. Therefore, I, too, was very happy.
We returned to Hyderabad bytrain, reaching the Jubilee Hills Centre in the morning. The bus strike still had not yet been settled. Nevertheless, many people came to meet me. I gave one talk in the morning, and then in the evening, another taik to all the workers. Dear M.B.G. Shastri also came to see me that day, and a few days later, he expired. It was good for him, as he was relieved from all his physical suffering. The following evening, we all returned by train to Ahmednagar. Several Baba lovers from Hyderabad, including Rajendra Meher and A. Jamardhan Rao, also accompanied us. As I always do after returning from a program tour, I visited Baba’s Sa madhi. I prayed for all those whom I met, and whatever I had received from them, I laid at Beloved Baba’s feet. There had been no rain, and Ahmednagar was very warm and humid. Now there will be drought, which happens every three years. Other than that, the situa tion in India is more or less normal, though thoughts of the tragedy of the 11th of Sep tember linger in the minds of everyone here. Because ofthis, the economic situation is very much disturbed. Pilgrims are not coming, and the Trust also is severely affected. There have
been many cancellations for September, Oc tober and November, too. Only a few Amencans are expected, leaving the residents to stay here. The kitchen workers have been relaxing for the last two months, which reminds me of a story Mark Palmer once told. There was a man sitting in an armchair in the park. He had a long beard, and someone came up to him and asked, ‘Axe you Kripal Singh?” “No,” the man replied, “I am not Kripal Singh. I am relaxing.”WheneverAlan goes to the kitchen, he sees the workers relaxing. We, however, are restless, because we have to pay the workers. The amount in the kitchen account is fixed. If the Pilgrims are not here, we have to pay the workers from the Trust accounts. Because ofthis situation, the Trust is becoming thatte gal-u [“empty pockets”]. Though I would like to visit the U.S.A., I cannot do it because of all my work here. It keeps on increasing and increasing. In fact, I wanted to go to the United States after visiting France. Itwas good that I did not go, oth erwise I would not have seen Eruch. Still, I had the feeling that after returning from France, it would become impossible to again go abroad. This indeed has come to pass, and I realize I cannot visit the United States or any other country. Therefore, I request Baba lovers to come to Ahmednagar and have Beloved Baba’s darshan in His Tomb. Beloved Baba’s Manifestation is going on, and though it is gradual, it is gaining more and more mo mentum.When the tragedytookplace in New York and Washington, the whole world became alert and aware ofGod. This is only the beginning. This awareness is momentary at present, but it will be lasting at the end, when He manifests Universally. So on one side, there is tragedy, and on the other there is awareness towards spinitualit When the end comes, all the chaos of all the tragedies will be forgotten, and humanity will at last breathe peacefilly. We are fortunate that we have recog nized Him as the Highest ofthe High. The latest news is that he is coming. man knocked at the doot “\‘Vho is there?,” saidGod.”Me,”repliedthe man.”Goawaythen,” said God. The manleftandwanderedin the arid desert until he realized his error and returned to the door. Heknockedagain.”Who’s there?”, said God. “You,” answered the man. “Then come in,” replied God. “There’s no room here for two.” Sufi Teaching Tale in Timothy Freke, Ed. The Wisdom ofthe Sufi Sages, N. Clarendon VT: Charles. E. Tuttle, 1998, p. 34