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

378 THE GOD-MANHe appears to exert no power; instead, he shows defenselessness or a sort of helplessness, which may seemto contradict what has just been said; for he certainly has an air of authority, yet never gives the slightest signof being inflated with personal importance. He never poses or appears to be taking up an attitude, on thecontrary, he is simple, even humble: what I say is unmistakable. There flows from him warmth,understanding and humour. There is no spiritual pride. His bowing down to others, washing the feet of lepersand the poor, and his taking upon himself menial tasks, are genuine, and sometimes involve severe physicaldemands, borne always as matters of course, and scrupulously carried out. There is transparent radiance andcertainty. He is the very opposite of the immobile, passive, and remote. He can be severe, uncompromising,and angry, but never petulant, irritable or ill humoured.At the sahawas gatherings, some of which I have described, he appeared like a sun, open to those whohave come to him, as he bids them to be open to him. Yet in this openness he does not 'say' more than therecipients can bear. The really notable thing about him is that while the greater part of his 'work' is secret, heis not secret in manner. Indeed it is as though everything were laid bare. At times, however, he withdraws asbehind a curtain, and seems not to be present, even when in company. And, of course, most of his life is inseclusion.(4)Meher Baba is unmarried and has never had anything to do with women, not that he ever made a vow ofchastity. He has women mandali who are completely devoted to him; they are kept in seclusion, at one timeon the hill at Meherabad, now in the house, Meherazad, near the small village of Pimpalgaon, in the Deccan.He regards them with extreme tenderness.(5)As will have been observed from the preceding chapters, Baba fasts frequently for long and short periods.During these times of fasting he usually sees no one except the few disciples appointed to attend upon him;neither, as a rule, does he attend to any outside affairs, though he does not neglect any detail concerning themandali around him. The fasts consist of entire absence from solid food, and he takes as a rule only a littleweak tea, sometimes a little milk. In such periods of fasting he is engaged, he declares, upon his 'work'.