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Darshan 153
On arrival at the ashram, I quickly found a seat next to the path that Baba would take when he came out for darshan. A brief wait in the warm sun—and then an electric hush signaled his presence. Opening my eyes, I saw him approach, smiling and looking so fresh and lovely this clear morning. How immediate and spontaneous was his smile. Coming closer, he said, “Sandweiss, why are you still here? Go get the psychiatrists.”
“1 am leaving after darshan, Swami. I have come for your blessing,” I replied, holding the garland up to Baba. Playfully and with a mischievous smile, he reached out. But instead of taking the garland, he began to play with my fingers. The more I tried to maneuver the garland into his hand, the more he jumped from finger to finger, playing a teasing game of tag.
“Go get the psychiatrists,” he said with a smile, blessing the garland but not taking it. Then on he moved, to his devotees and into the day.
When Baba disappeared into the house, I stood and walked to the Krishna statue on the grounds. Here Krishna was playing his magic flute, calling his devotees to him and bathing them in his music of love.
If you have the capacity to draw the Lord to yourself, he will himself come to you and be with you. Be like Krishna’s flute: a hollow reed, straight, light, with no substance to hinder his breath. Then, he will come and pick you up from the ground. He will breathe divine music through you, playing upon you with delicate touch. He will stick the flute into his sash. He will press his lips on it; he will fondle it, favor it and flourish it. In his hand, the infinitesimal will be transmuted into the infinite; the anu (microcosm) will be transformed into the ghana (heavens). One day Krishna pretended to be fast asleep, with the flute carelessly thrown aside by his side. Radha (a great devotee) approached the fortunate flute and asked it in plaintive terms, “Oh lucky Murali (Krishna’s flute), tell me how you earned this great good fortune. What was the vow you observed, the vigil you kept, the pilgrimage you