THE SECRET TO REAL HAPPINESS

 
Not that we would be rude to people when they came. That would not have pleased Baba either. We would sympathize with people, and it was no lie, we did feel for them, we understood their plight, their longing, but we were helpless; there was nothing we could do for them. Baba's "orders" means what, after all? We couldn't just disregard them, so we would explain the situation, our helplessness, and beg the people to have patience, to be resigned to His will.

Usually people understood and took it well. Sometimes, however, people used to get wild with us, accuse us of being jealous, of not wanting anyone else to see Baba. They would abuse us like anything and we had to accept it. What else could we do?

And if such altercations came to Baba's attention, He would always take the other person's side. He would express surprise and astonishment that we had been trying to keep someone from Him, and make that person feel that of course it was all right that they had come to see Him. That He had been waiting for them for a long time. Baba might even turn to us and gesture, "What! My lover came and you didn't even tell Me!" And we had to keep quiet.

Baba might have told us only ten minutes before that even if God came to the door we should keep Him out, yet here He was rebuking us for keeping away one of His lovers. But we could just accept it all. That was our duty. To accept whatever Baba gave us, whether it be abuse or praise. And that made it easier for us to learn to accept whatever the world gave us, whether it be abuse or praise. It is that acceptance of Baba's will, of His whim, that ultimately allows us to ignore the buzzing of our minds. And I'll tell you something else, the secret to real happiness lies in that acceptance as well.