Baba -- as a beggar in the town of Shirdi -- used to hit up all the people walking in the village for just two rupees. sometimes, even if a person wanted to give him more money than two rupees, he would refuse it.

it's a deep mechanism -- he was really asking for only two things from the people -- Shradda and Sabbhuri -- 'faith and patience.'

(contrasted with later in his life, when he became famous as a healer and demanded thousands of rupees from people who wanted healing before he'd even talk to them! this was another deep mechanism -- burning peoples' karmas in the form of their money. if it was a stretch for them to get such huge sums of money, he would 'arrange' their life circumstances -- on the subtle -- that suddenly someone would lend them so much money, etc., and they were then able to pay him whatever he asked in exchange for healing. it's a deep principle in healing -- there should ALWAYS be an energy exchange between healer and healee. Western people have a really hard time with this concept because we prize money so much and are terribly suspicious of gurus who ask for it. )

Alx