THE GOD-MAN The Life, Journeys and Work of Meher Baba with an ...

THE PERIOD OF WORLD TRAVEL 103forms the best foundation for the spiritual upheaval I shall bring about in the near future."America has tremendous energy, but most of this energy is misdirected. I intend to divert itinto spiritual and creative channels."I am now going to California for a few days. From there I must go to the Far East for one dayfor spiritual reasons, but I will be back in California by the end of June and will speak on 29 June.But ifI should be delayed, I will return on 12 July and will speak on 13 July."My work and aims are intensely practical. It is not practical to overemphasize the material atthe cost of the spiritual. It is not practical to have spiritual ideals without putting them intopractice. But to realize the ideal in daily life, to give beautiful and adequate form to the livingspirit, to make Brotherhood a fact, not merely a theory, as at present-this is being practical in thetruest sense of the word."My work will arouse great enthusiasm and a certain amount of opposition-that is inevitable.But spiritual work is strengthened by opposition, and so it will be with mine. It is like shooting anarrow from a bow-the more you pull the bow-string towards you, the swifter the arrow speeds toits goal."It should be noted that the above, like all the statements or messages or talks given by Baba,was not written or spoken by him. Sometimes Baba dictated statements on his alphabet board;more often he would allow others who wanted on their own initiative to do so to preparestatements in his name, which he would have read to him, and would indicate his assent orotherwise; but in the main he would permit people to say what they wished. That was not becauseof carelessness on his part, for no one is more punctilious on every matter of detail than Baba, butbecause he allows people to express themselves as they wish: he respects freewill in others. Thisdoes mean, however, that these statements are to be received with some caution. I have more tosay about this effect of Baba's silence later on.After an extremely busy time, when he saw people all day and was present at a large receptionin his honour, Baba went to Harmon, after four days to Chicago, and so to Hollywood, where heremained for six days, seeing many people including a number of film stars, the visit being a'meteoric advent that crashed the front-page headlines of every paper in the land'. At theParamount studios Baba was received by some of the directors and shown the place at work. Onone of the sets Tallulah Bankhead, Gary Cooper, and Charles Laughton were playing, and one ofBaba's disciples who had known Miss Bankhead and