Baba cited the examples of the saint Gadge Maharaj, and his followers Kaikadi Maharaj and Namanand, who of late had taken up his cause and were doing their best to carry Baba’s message of love far and wide: These men are moving from place to place to better the lot of humanity; they have built dharamshalas, schools, hospitals. They undergo all sorts of hardships out of love for God. They love Baba. Gadge Maharaj took me to Pandharpur where thousands of pilgrims took my darshan, though Gadge Maharaj himself is worshiped as a saint throughout Maharashtra.Then there is the example of an ordinary man like Vinoba Bhave going about barefooted against all odds, out of his love for man. There are many such persons in India who are doing selfless service. Some of you too are doing the same thing, though you may not know it.
Selfless service is service without the least tinge of ego. The slightest egoistic thought would undo everything. Only one out of many can succeed in doing this type of service for humanity – even for saints it is impossible!
In the West, too, there are men rendering such service. One is a doctor in charge of a leper asylum. He is always with the lepers and so engrossed in his work that he has no time to think about himself. He does not know who Meher Baba is.
Such persons can do selfless service, but even they cannot come near me. Why? It is because the mind is there. The most subtle thought creates binding, and this prevents them from knowing Baba. Despite this, as soon as such persons drop their bodies they come to me because their thought is not for themselves but for advancing and improving on their work. And so they come to me.