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

THE FINAL DECLARATION 227of the hill on the road into town, a bus full of passengers had seen Baba descending, and stopped to paytheir respects to him; and other men and women from nearby also congregated to greet him. Then a privatebus drove up and fourteen of Upasni Maharaj's women disciples from Sakori descended. All entered theashram, where the women prostrated themselves in turn before Baba, taking the dust from the ground on totheir heads. One of them was Godavri Mai, who was Upasni Maharaj's favourite disciple, now in charge ofMaharaj's ashram in Sakori, where thirty of Maharaj 's women disciples were living. Baba, through Eruch,spoke to us and to them, saying, 'I am the One Reality'.Next Baba led us out to the little wooden hut, on legs, so small that one could not stand up straightinside, where he spent a number of months in seclusion in 1925, writing the account of his spiritualexperience, which no one so far has seen.Alongside this hut is Baba's dhuni, or sacred fire. Vishnu, one of Baba's mandali, related how in thedrought of 1927, which was so severe that in desperation the villagers came to Baba imploring him to sendthem rain; whereupon he lit the dhuni, and by the time the villagers had returned to their village, whichwas close by, it was raining. 'They call it a miracle', said Baba, 'but it was only a coincidence. I shallperform only one miracle - when I speak the Word - the Divine Word. That really will be a miracle.'Then he took us to another hut, the first into which he had retired in seclusion. Afterwards we walkedback up the hill, he motioning the women to take it in leisurely fashion. Once on the way he gathered theWestern group about him under a tree, throwing stones in oblique directions, which they were supposed tocatch. As we continued up the hill, he bent down several times to pick up stones, which he threw into thefields. On arrival at the retreat, he took the women up the steps to see our quarters, then led them into thetomb, and to other places, after which he sent them back, advising them that he would come with us oneday to Sakori.Then we went into the lounge where he said, through Adi, that the room had been constructed as awater reservoir - there was then only the opening now above the door; he used to let himself in through thewindow, close it after him, and stay there in seclusion. Baba moved over to the divan and beganconversing, through the alphabet board, Eruch and Adi translating. He stressed again the idea of our beingperfectly natural and frank with him.'I am your Master', he said, 'but I am also your friend. I am one of