I was sitting in a restaurant in Bombay enjoying a dosa masala for lunch when David popped in and asked if I would be interested in going to Ahmednagar with him. I explained that I was expecting money to be wired to American Express and that if the money was not there by tomorrow afternoon I would join him. Well, as fate would have it, when I checked the following day there wasn’t a cent awaiting me. So I borrowed a few rupees and off I went.

What followed was an intense emotional and spiritual uplifting. For ten days, I lived with Avatar Meher Baba’s mondoli (disciples) and Baba devotees from throughout the world who had come this week to Baba’s birthday celebration. Al­though Baba had dropped his body a few years earlier his presence was overwhelming. As the days drifted by I more and more began to come in touch with my newly discovered self. I understood with greater clarity the idea of my consciousness rising beyond body and mind; beyond the duality of pleasure vs. pain, happy vs. sad and into a level of consciousness filled with bliss. A spiritual awakening was evolving throughout my entire being and each second the absolute joy of just being alive and having the capacity to share my love with everyone was giving me an inner sense of freedom I had never before experienced.

Oh yes, when I returned to Bombay to check on my money I discovered that it had arrived two days prior to my leaving for Ahmednagar. Sometimes things are just meant to be.