The New Life: Kumar – from Non-believer to Believer (Part -2 of 2)

In the early morning, long before dawn, he heard the rattling of keys outside his cell, and a jail officer suddenly opened the door and handed him a note on which was written, “Mr. Kumar, get yourself ready with your bag and baggage.”

As if in a dream, he was escorted to the prison office where he saw the prison superintendent seated behind his desk, though it was unheard of for the head of that prison to be in his office at such an early hour!

The superintendent continued to go through some papers, then looked up and told Kumar that he was officially released from prison and was to wait outside the gates to receive his railway pass. The interview ended with no further explanation.

Thus, Kumar found himself, before 5:00 a.m., on the prison road with railway pass in hand and the overwhelming feeling that a whole new life was opening up before him. “What a humorist God must be!” he thought.

His release took place in 1945, four years before Baba began the New Life. Kumar met Meher Baba at Manjri Mafi on January 12th, 1950.

Years later, in 1954, Kumar was called to be with Baba for almost a year. Then many restrictions and bindings were imposed upon him by Baba and after several months it occurred to Kumar that his life with Baba was similar to being in prison. He became harassed by thoughts of leaving, until one day, while Kumar was with Baba searching for masts, Baba asked him, completely out of the blue, “How long were you in prison?”

Kumar said that he had been in for more than ten years.

“How did you get released then?” Baba gestured. “1 requested God to release me,” he said, suddenly remembering that period of his life and his bargain with God.

“Only requested,” Baba gestured, smiling, “Didn’t you say something more to God? In what manner did you request God, and what was your promise to Him?”

Kumar replied that he had not known how to address God properly, so he had said, “Mr. God, if there is any God, I request you, please get me released from this jail, and in return for this, I promise to abide by any binding and restrictions whatsoever imposed on me outside of jail.”

Suddenly, Baba became serious and asked Kumar to repeat that promise three times. Afterwards, Baba said, “Don’t break this promise. I am God. I am that God to whom you made the promise. I have kept my side of the bargain, now you keep yours.”

-“Meher Baba’s New Life”, Bhau Kalchuri, p304

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