Two days later, a three-hour meeting of the mandali and 32 men from Bombay, Poona and Ahmednagar was held at Meherazad on Sunday, 8 September 1957. The meeting was held, ostensibly, to discuss the upcoming sahavas and arrangements for the invited Westerners. At the start of this “half-term” meeting (meaning this period was half of his 75 days of special work), Baba distributed sweets, remarking: “Let me sweeten your mouths before I make you swallow some bitter pills.”
He then reminded them:
What I have to say to you is not only for those now before me, it is for all who love me and persevere in trying to obey me. At first, I had thought of inviting a representative from each and every center and group in the country for the day. But then, I took into consideration the expense and trouble of long journeys and the inconvenience to all concerned, because the facilities here are so limited, even for those who live near me all the time.
I intend to tell you things straight from my heart, and I expect you to let them reach your hearts and not just your ears. The friends of Hoshang [Bharucha] tell me that for all his good qualities he generally lets things go in one ear and out the other, but I know he loves me and will listen to me seriously. If anyone now present believes he may take what I say lightly, he had better leave this meeting at once.
I am no saint. Because I am Beyond, I am, therefore, beyond all saints. The world, once it knows who I am, will understand then what I want you to understand now — that from the beginningless beginning I am the Ancient One, immutable and eternal. You may wholeheartedly believe me to be the Avatar, but belief, however deep, does not amount to absolute conviction.
Here, Dhake interjected, “There is no question of conviction for those of us who have accepted you once and for all, because our acceptance is absolute.”
In response, Baba commented at length:
It is all for the best if that acceptance remains unshaken under all circumstances. The world, in general, accepts the existence of God, without caring much about the reasons for believing so. It is a fact also that there are a few in the world who do see God as He is to be seen, and fewer still who do know God as He really is to be known.
www.lordmeher.org, p4199
8 September 1957; Â Meherazad