(May 1953) WHILE IN DEHRA DUN, another seeker from Uttar Pradesh called Swami Paramananda unexpectedly arrived, requesting an interview with Baba. Well educated, formerly he had been a professor of English, but he had left his position to pursue a life dedicated to finding God. Baba allowed him to come inside and Paramananda bowed down to him.
Baba inquired, “How did you happen to come here?”
Paramananda replied, “I heard of you during a visit in Uttar Kashi and felt drawn to meet you. I have resolved to give up all worldly attachments and lead a life under your spiritual guidance.”
“There are many gurus and teachers here and in Rishikesh,” Baba pointed out. “What made you come to me?”
“I feel that you are the One who can lead me to the Goal,” he replied.
“Many come to me seeking material gains, relief from physical suffering or for a suitable wife or husband. I am happy that you have come solely for spiritual guidance.”
Baba continued, “You want to stay with me, but that is not easy – it requires great daring. And above all, those who stay with me have to obey me implicitly.”
The swami replied, “I am ready to obey you.”
Baba instructed him to sit outside the room for fifteen minutes to reconsider. Paramananda did so, and when he returned he said, “My decision to obey you remains unchanged.”
Baba looked very serious and spelled out emphatically, “Remember one thing carefully. It is easier to sit naked on a snowbound peak of the Himalayas doing meditation, japa and tapa than to live with me and obey me implicitly!”
Baba then stated, “Listen attentively. There are three orders that I want you to follow: For the present go back and stay wherever you want to, but without fail come to see me after exactly one month.
“During this month, read my books and messages, and do not touch any woman.
“Will you do it?”
Paramananda said yes. “One more thing,” Baba added. “When you come back after a month, come alone; do not bring anyone else with you.”
Paramananda gladly agreed and left. How well Paramananda obeyed these three seemingly simple orders was to unfold . . .
Lord Meher, Original Publication, Bhau Kalchuri, Vol. 11, pp. 4106 – 4107.
. . . MEANWHILE IN MAY, Baba directed Eruch that he wished Swami Paramananda to visit him after two months instead of one month. (He was the swami from Uttar Pradesh to whom Baba had given the three “simple” orders). Eruch went to Dehra Dun but learned that Paramananda had gone to Delhi. He telephoned him, and Paramananda informed him that he had recently suffered a severe heart attack and had been bedridden for weeks. As the date of his interview with Baba approached, he had begun worrying as to how it would be possible for him to make it. Hearing this news, he said to Eruch “Baba is truly compassionate and all-knowing”
At the end of May, Paramananda came to Mussoorie but along with him he brought a young woman. Baba’s first question to him was: “Have you come alone?”
Paramananda explained that when he was ill, this young woman had nursed him so well that he thought to bring her for Baba’s darshan. Baba sternly spelled out, “I had asked you to come alone; you could not follow even this small order?” Baba, however, called the woman inside and complimented her for her efforts in serving the swami. He gave her a rose petal as prasad and asked her to wait outside.
Continuing his interview with Paramananda, he asked, “Did you read my books?” Paramananda replied that because he was so sick, he had not been able to read anything.
“What about not touching any woman?” Baba inquired. Paramananda said that this directive too had not been adhered to, as the woman had to touch him in the course of his illness.
Baba summarized, as he folded three fingers one after another, “You did not come alone. You did not study the books I asked you to read, and you could not keep yourself from touching a woman for just two months. That is why I told you in the beginning that it is easier to sit naked on a snowbound peak of the Himalayas than to carry out my instructions.
“However, I forgive you for your failures in obeying my orders. Forget what has happened in the past. I give you one more chance. This time no more reading of any special book or books, no restriction about touching any woman. Just one thing: Come and see me on July 9th, but come alone.” Paramananda agreed and left.
Swami Paramananda did return on the appointed day, but this time also he was not alone. The same woman and several others were with him. Paramananda explained that she was now his “spiritual sister” and the other young women were members of her family. “They are all interested in you Baba,” he said.
“I have no concern with that,” Baba chided him. “My only concern is with my order.”
Paramananda asked Baba if he and the woman could live a dedicated life together by his side.
But Baba replied, “With me there is room only for one. It is better that you go back and live the life of your choice. Know well that it is impossible to obey my orders unless I will it.” This ended the contact with Paramananda.
Lord Meher, Original Publication, Bhau Kalchuri, Vol. 12, pp. 4124 – 4126.