FIRED WITH AN INTENSE ENTHUSIASM FOR THE PATH

 
The Bombay phase is associated with the memory of Manzil-e-Meem — the name given to the bungalow by Baba himself and it is characterized by two notable features for all concerned. Firstly, after the divulgence of the secret of his esoteric circle, Meher Baba automatically came to be accepted by most of the members as a spiritual Master besides being a friend or a benefactor; and secondly, Baba's devotees and admirers who till then had been contacting him infrequently for short periods in Poona and elsewhere, were for the first time taken out of their worldly settings and were afforded the first experience of its kind towards a life of non-attachment and self-discipline under Baba's personal care and supervision.

In fairness to the early members in Manzil-e-Meem, it must be conceded that one and all were fired with an intense enthusiasm for the Path, as a direct result of which they were in a mood to do and dare anything that Baba would have desired of them at the time.

But Meher Baba like a past Master in the Knowledge of human nature, took particular good care not to push matters to extremes. He did everything possible to keep the interest and enthusiasm of the mandali for a spiritual life alive and burning, but at the same time, prepared them for the reaction which he anticipated by explaining that an aspirant of the Path has always to pass through the three stages of the mind, viz., enthusiasm, indifference and despair. And when despair or disappointment reaches its extreme limit, the unexpected happens.

In the light of this explanation, the import and significance of Meher Baba's oft-repeated injunctions to the mandali 'not to leave him at any cost and to stick to him through thick and thin to the end', becomes self-evident. And who amongst the early members today does not recall to mind with poignant interest and significance the words of Hafiz when he said, "Oh Saqi, (cup-bearer), pass round the cup of wine; the one in the beginning, but now I know better — it is surcharged with unimagined difficulties, trials and tribulations."