How did the devotees' internal conflicts and behavior affect their relationship with Sai Baba after he left?

After Sai Baba's Mahasamadhi, his devotees felt immense repentance, believing their own behavior caused him to leave. Chapter 43 describes how they lamented ignoring Baba's saying, "It is not good to harass anyone; that gives me pain." They acknowledged that by fighting amongst themselves and "harassing devotee after devotee," they had effectively "lost Sainath." This realization brought a painful feeling that the one who was a causelessly compassionate friend had become distant, and this sorrow was a direct result of not taking his teachings to heart while he was physically present with them.