Living with Baba

During Baba's tour to Israel in 1979, I noticed that He was in an exceptionally light and jolly mood at the Haifa airport. For us who have been exposed to His dark and work-until-you-die-working moods, this was indeed a pleasant diversion, a bonus of sorts. I really could not understand the reason for His happy mood.

After His lunch, the reason for His happiness became clearer. He told us, "This country has a lot of dynamism, energy and spirit."

He said that the Jews were the original Semitic race with their own unique language and culture. He revealed that many things of spiritual value lay hidden in this deeply mystical land. In olden times, many mystics used to meditate on the top of the hills at midnight. Israel was, in fact, the land where the original concept of madhur sadhana was born.

Madhur sadhana is a very sweet and devotional form of spiritual practice taught by Baba to accelerate the speed of spiritual progress. It is done only by renunciates. In the olden times, the systematic form of madhur sadhana did not exist. However, spiritual aspirants practised a form of meditation at midnight, which was similar to madhur sadhana. The madhur sadhana that Baba invented for the present spiritual aspirants is, of course, more systematic and advanced, keeping with the evolutionary changes in society over time.