Baba in Andhra tour
[This incident happened in Baba’s second Andhra visit of 1954. Baba wished the local organizers to reconsider a particular request to visit another place which was not included. Then a heated debate started. Bal Natu gives a beautiful example that Baba gave earlier on why He sometimes starts a debate among his lovers.]
This reminds me of the time when one of Baba’s disciples was distressed to notice that after living with Baba for some time, instead of becoming more composed, he seemed to flare up periodically. When he brought this to Baba’ s attention, Baba smiled and replied that in a sense this was true, but it was not without reason. He then explained this by using the analogy of boiling sugar cane juice.
When farmers in India want to make raw sugar, they squeeze the juice out of sugar cane stalks and then boil the liquid for hours until it becomes very thick. Then they pour the liquid into molds and, as it cools, it hardens into a solid mass of raw sugar which is then used in cooking.
Baba asked the disciple, ” What happens when the sugar cane juice is boiled?” The disciple replied, “Scum rises to the surface.” “And then?” “And then it is scooped off.” Baba gestured that similarly, with some of His lovers, He uses this “boiling technique” to cleanse their hearts and in the process the “scum” (impurities caused by sanskaras) rises to the surface where it can be scooped off. Baba added that although this happens in some cases, His lovers should not use it as an excuse to refrain from restraining their behavior or controlling their moods.
-Glimpses of the God-Man, Vol 5, Bal Natu, p117