from Baba. Part of it is with the Sufi group in California. Leopard Prasad! As I listened to her describe her “Daddy” I found qualities in him that reminded me of Baba. She spoke of him as a “quiet man”, a man of few words. He only used words when they were called for. He controlled his temper. He was a father first and a doctor second. He would say to his family, “You are the most important things in my life.” He described his work as, “Taking care of sick folks”. He was very generous as she recalls the day she returned home and discovered he had given away their beds to a family who hadlost everything in a fire. She was grateftil that the entire familywas there for her father’s peaceftil passing. How did these Baba people affect her life? She delighted in the regularletters from Mani andwomen in Myrtle Beach.Throughout the ‘60s, Baba lovers would appear at their door, usually from California. Ifthe front doorbell rang, they knew it was one of those Baba people: their friends and neighbors knocked at the back. As she grew into adulthood, she moved from Oklahoma to New Mexico. She reflects on these years as herselfbeing a “sim mering pot ofsoup”. All the events in her life would come together in Baba’s perfect time and place. In 1991, she realized she was on a spiritual journey. This was a time in her life when she was completely broke and called for help through prayer. Julia Margaret miraculously found herself with $800. Following this event, she had a dream. She was by a bus that had stopped at the Grand Canyon. She realized the bus was leaving, so she jumped and grabbed hold of the back of it. The bus bumped along with her holding tightly. She experienced a pain in her chest and didn’t think she could hold on any longer. She figured out it was a school bus and suddenly she was inside the bus holding on to the metal bar that holds the seat cushion in place.There was no bottom to this bus! She shouted to an East Indian man who was sitting in the seat next to her, “Tell Baba to stop the bus!” With closed eyes, he shakes his head, no, She realizes that all the passengers think that Jesus is driving the bus. Again she asked, and he shook his head, no. Finally she desperately yells “Tell Baba it’s Margaret. He knows me. I can’t hold on much longer.” He finally taps the person in front of him and then each person taps the next person. Finally the Christians in the front tap the driver. He turned around and it was Baba, Julia Margaret exclaims. He was glowing in a pearlescent pink light, like the inside of a seashell. But Baba had no smile
on His face. He pointed to her and said, “Pull yourselfup by yourself!” Just over 10 years later, she received a letter inviting her to the Oklahoma Sahavas. She agreed under the condition that she would have her own car, so as to remain independent. “IfI don’t like any ofthem, I’m coming home” she thought to herself We joined her with lovinglaughter. Leatrice had told her “This was no accident in Oklahoma. Baba set your family up big time!” While at the Oklahoma Gathering last May, she closed her eyes to sleep and there was Baba right above her head looking down at her with a big grin. Then she admitted, “I was smiling from ear to ear and tears were running down my cheeks!” She shared her observation that current religions have lost their fire and everything has become exter nalized. She explained, “Baba has brought God inside for me”. Leatrice mentioned that it was wonderftil to watch the pot boil over, in reference to Julia Margaret’s metaphor for coming to Baba. As her time drew to a close, a voice from the audience spoke up, “Tell us about meeting Baba!” Shejumped a bit and said with laughter, “Oh, I almost forgot to talk about meeting Baba!” She went on to recall the day Baba sent for her sister and her. Her mother announced, “Baba wants to see you girls at 2pm. Take a bath and put on a clean dress.” A tomboy at the time,Julia Margaret rolled her eyes and sighed. But she complied, and with freshly braided hair, the two went to meet Baba. Adi was interpreting, though she remembers only the visual delights. She recalled saying to herself “Ah, so this is Baba!” then she described the moments, “Baba turned His head and smiled. His eyes were piercing. There was depth in His eyes. He had us come over to the bed. He had an alphabet board, though I don’t remember words. He called us over to be next to Him. He touched my right hand. The whole time I was thinking, ‘Why won’t He talk to us?’ That’s all I remember of that day. When Baba and Mehera were well enough to return to Myrtle Beach, I recall being very aware that “India left today!” Margaret ended her talk with the ques tion that has crossed her mind many times, “Why us? Why did India come to Prague?” She had always yearned for the Love ofJe sus. In the Book ofJohn, she compared her experiences to the writings that describe how lives are different after people met J esus. “I feel Baba’s Love through all of you!”
Rcmaiiiiiiq iii tltc Comjrniiy ofjod As Lee and I cleared our cabin, packed the car and bid farewell to old and new friends, I recalled the desire I had, when leaving India, to remain with Baba. How can I maintain this sensation of love and comfortable connection with others, in the world? Reminders of Mehera’s garden, Mandali Hall, arti, the Pilgrim Center, Katie’s kitchen and the hot dusty days brought on that familiar tug to return to His home. Someday...
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n 1992, manyBaba Lovers were taken in by the psychic predictions ofsome guy named Scallion, Scaffiwag or somesuch. He had pur portedilypredicted the Northridge earthquake, and was now proclaiming that California was gorng to tumble into the sea and L.A. wouldbe a blank spot on the map come June of’92. Now Bhauji happened to be visiting us that
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J une, and when asked about the impending disaster, he explained that there is no death except the one real death when one dies in the Beloved. “Even if California falls into the ocean, you cannot die,” he said, “So eat ice cream and die in L.A.” And so eating ice cream came to be a metaphor for “Don’tWorry Be Happy.” But with his diabetes and heart problems, Bhau has been forbidden to eat ice cream for the past several years, until this visit when we discovered sugarfree, fat-free ice cream (made by Dreyers) and this delighted him! Every night and sometimes atlunch too, he would enjoy this new found delight. Before Bhau left he said “I really love L.A. Everyone is very open-hearted and everything is very free, including fat-free, sugar-free ice cream!”