Ram Dass tells the story of Maharaji arranging the reunion of a barber and his son by appearing in two places at one time
“More profound than miracles is the quality of His presence – His unconditional love was so intense that it cut through cynicism, doubt and separation. Imagine a place where someone is living in that presence of unconditional love all the time with everyone – and everyone you see is their Beloved. A fully conscious and realized being is that – there are no conditions and no attachments.”
Show Notes
On the other hand we all live within limits which prevent us from loving freely – we are conditional lovers. How do we transform? Not by destroying our bodies, thoughts or emotions but by getting beyond the attachments that prevent us from being free and unconditional lovers.
Dada Mukerjee tells the story from his perspective in his book By His Grace:
It would be such a problem for the barber to give him a shave.
In Kainchi we had some old barbers who knew Babaji very well. While shaving would be going on, he and they would be talking to each other and they would actually be basking in his grace. It would take only about half an hour or so to do the shaving, but they would not be in a hurry and would stay the whole day.
In Allahabad also an old barber would come and there was no problem. He understood Baba and was not in a hurry.
The problem came in Brindavan when Babaji said, “I shall have a shave.”
We did not know any barber and Kishan Singh’s son, Bapu, was asked to find one. He got a young man who ran a small shop in the bazaar.
When that barber came, he was in a hurry because he had left his shop. The shaving was to be done in my room where there was an adjoining bathroom. The barber came and I went to get the hot water and other things.
When I returned, I found that Babaji had taken the bedsheet from my bed and wrapped it around himself. Maharajji held the sheet tight and said, “You never give me this. Do not snatch it away.”
I said, “I will not.” So the shaving began. The greatest difficulty was that Baba would take the mirror in his hands and make faces in it. The old and expert barbers knew how to deal with this, but the young man in a hurry was having trouble.
I said, “Baba, sit straight and let him shave you” But he kept moving and there was a cut. The barber was upset.
Maharajji said, “What is that? What is that?”
“Of course, it is a cut. This is what you have done. The poor fellow is embarrassed; he feels it is his fault. It is yours. You would not allow him peace to shave you ”
Some alum was put on – it was only a small cut. The barber finished and went away. Babaji asked me, “Dada, will the hair grow here again.”