Baba then stood up and with a soft smile began His walk back to the cottage followed by His brood. Rudra put water to boil, and now when he picked up the piece of coal to be heated he held the coal with greater respect than he ever had before.

One has to work for everything in life. Nothing ever is free. Remember this always. There are no free meals in the cosmos. We all have to work for each meal of ours.

THEY WERE ON the mountain, in another village and here everybody was busy in their work. There was a lot of noise and hustle and bustle but Rudra noticed that there was stillness in this sound. No matter what each individual did, the person was deep within the moment and completely absorbed in whatever it is they were occupied with. Children played with abandon but with complete Oneness with their game. The adults worked in the farm, fixated on whatever they did. Rudra could make out those who were with The One in the moment, with One in the moment, those who were chanting, and those who were trying their level best to be one with their chore. The vibration enveloping them was an obvious indicator of their involvement with the moment. The greater the Oneness the more released the person was of all thought, burden, anxiety and tribulation. Yes, there were a few who seemed absorbed but were far away from the moment and their aura showed their non-centredness. It did not matter what the individual was occupied in or not, the aura never lied. Those who fought to be in the moment were far away from the moment and those who were just calmly absorbed in whatever they did, their aura shone a beautiful radiance. There was a certain difference in this village. Not that the individuals were purer or more righteous, but there was definite calmness in this village that Rudra had never experienced before. The stillness enveloped him and made him calm and still too. The noise no longer disturbed him and in fact dissolved into the background of the fragrance of stillness. Rudra did not want to leave this simple village. He wanted to be here with Baba forever.

Baba and he walked through the lanes of this little village. They sat in the shade of a banyan tree, Baba lit a chillum and passed it to Rudra.