Joanna Smith and Olivia Maugham. Joanna Smith was from Westchester, New York. She was a large, strapping woman who had become very involved in the Vedanta movement in America. When she came into the Lagoon Cabin to meet Baba, he asked her, “Tell me all about your studies of spiritual things.” Joanna, who was intellectually inclined, began speaking on and on about Vedanta and related subjects. But, as she was talking, her mind seemed to get more and more scrambled. Her hair became ruffled, her glasses slipped crookedly down her nose, her speech became confused. It was amazing to those who observed her how “unglued” she became. Finally, Baba interrupted her, “These are all words, words, words! Nothing else! Don’t you know that all that matters is God and love for God?” With that, Joanna threw herself at his feet and was on the verge of tears. Her heart had spontaneously taken over and calmed her mind.
Lord Meher (First Edition), p5411
May, 1958; Myrtle Beach