… I am the Avatar, Sadguru, anything. I am what I am and beyond that, too. Consequently, because you love Baba, this is the result. Whoever loves Baba suffers, because in that destruction emerges the real construction, in the barbadi [total ruin] emerges the real abadi [prosperity].
– Meher Baba
ऐ इश्क़ न छेड़ आ आ के हमें हम भूले हुओं को याद न कर
पहले ही बहुत नाशाद हैं हम तू और हमें नाशाद न कर
क़िस्मत का सितम ही कम नहीं कुछ ये ताज़ा सितम ईजाद न कर
यूँ ज़ुल्म न कर बे-दाद न कर
ऐ इश्क़ हमें बर्बाद न कर
हम रातों को उठ कर रोते हैं रो रो के दुआएँ करते हैं
आँखों में तसव्वुर दिल में ख़लिश सर धुनते हैं आहें भरते हैं
ऐ इश्क़ ये कैसा रोग लगा जीते हैं न ज़ालिम मरते हैं
ये ज़ुल्म तू ऐ जल्लाद न कर
ऐ इश्क़ हमें बर्बाद न कर
जिस दिन से बँधा है ध्यान तेरा घबराए हुए से रहते हैं
हर वक़्त तसव्वुर कर कर के शरमाए हुए से रहते हैं
कुम्हलाए हुए फूलों की तरह कुम्हलाए हुए से रहते हैं
पामाल न कर बर्बाद न कर
ऐ इश्क़ हमें बर्बाद न कर
जिस दिन से मिले हैं दोनों का सब चैन गया आराम गया
चेहरों से बहार-ए-सुब्ह गई आँखों से फ़रोग़-ए-शाम गया
हाथों से ख़ुशी का जाम छुटा होंटों से हँसी का नाम गया
ग़मगीं न बना नाशाद न कर
ऐ इश्क़ हमें बर्बाद न कर
ये रोग लगा है जब से हमें रंजीदा हूँ मैं बीमार है वो
हर वक़्त तपिश हर वक़्त ख़लिश बे-ख़्वाब हूँ मैं बेदार है वो
जीने पे इधर बेज़ार हूँ मैं मरने पे उधर तयार है वो
और ज़ब्त कहे फ़रियाद न कर
ऐ इश्क़ हमें बर्बाद न कर
बेदर्द! ज़रा इंसाफ़ तो कर इस उम्र में और मग़्मूम है वो
फूलों की तरह नाज़ुक है अभी तारों की तरह मासूम है वो
ये हुस्न सितम! ये रंज ग़ज़ब! मजबूर हूँ मैं मज़लूम है वो
मज़लूम पे यूँ बे-दाद न कर
ऐ इश्क़ हमें बर्बाद न कर
ऐ इश्क़ ख़ुदारा देख कहीं वो शोख़-ए-हज़ीं बद-नाम न हो
वो माह-लक़ा बद-नाम न हो वो ज़ोहरा-जबीं बद-नाम न हो
नामूस का उस के पास रहे वो पर्दा-नशीं बद-नाम न हो
उस पर्दा-नशीं को याद न कर
ऐ इश्क़ हमें बर्बाद न कर
उम्मीद की झूटी जन्नत के रह रह के न दिखला ख़्वाब हमें
आइंदा की फ़र्ज़ी इशरत के वादों से न कर बेताब हमें
कहता है ज़माना जिस को ख़ुशी आती है नज़र कमयाब हमें
छोड़ ऐसी ख़ुशी को याद न कर
ऐ इश्क़ हमें बर्बाद न कर
क्या समझे थे और तू क्या निकला ये सोच के ही हैरान हैं हम
है पहले-पहल का तजरबा और कम-उम्र हैं हम अंजान हैं हम
ऐ इश्क़! ख़ुदारा! रहम-ओ-करम मासूम हैं हम नादान हैं हम
नादान हैं हम नाशाद न कर
ऐ इश्क़ हमें बर्बाद न कर
वो राज़ है ये ग़म आह जिसे पा जाए कोई तो ख़ैर नहीं
आँखों से जब आँसू बहते हैं आ जाए कोई तो ख़ैर नहीं
ज़ालिम है ये दुनिया दिल को यहाँ भा जाए कोई तो ख़ैर नहीं
है ज़ुल्म मगर फ़रियाद न कर
ऐ इश्क़ हमें बर्बाद न कर
दो दिन ही में अहद-ए-तिफ़्ली के मासूम ज़माने भूल गए
आँखों से वो ख़ुशियाँ मिट सी गईं लब को वो तराने भूल गए
उन पाक बहिश्ती ख़्वाबों के दिलचस्प फ़साने भूल गए
इन ख़्वाबों सी यूँ आज़ाद न कर
ऐ इश्क़ हमें बर्बाद न कर
उस जान-ए-हया का बस नहीं कुछ बे-बस है पराए बस में है
बे-दर्द दिलों को क्या है ख़बर जो प्यार यहाँ आपस में है
है बेबसी ज़हर और प्यार है रस ये ज़हर छुपा इस रस में है
कहती है हया फ़रियाद न कर
ऐ इश्क़ हमें बर्बाद न कर
आँखों को ये क्या आज़ार हुआ हर जज़्ब-ए-निहाँ पर रो देना
आहंग-ए-तरब पर झुक जाना आवाज़-ए-फ़ुग़ाँ पर रो देना
बरबत की सदा पर रो देना मुतरिब के बयाँ पर रो देना
एहसास को ग़म बुनियाद न कर
ऐ इश्क़ हमें बर्बाद न कर
जी चाहता है इक दूसरे को यूँ आठ पहर हम याद करें
आँखों में बसाएँ ख़्वाबों को और दिल में ख़याल आबाद करें
ख़ल्वत में भी हो जल्वत का समाँ वहदत को दुई से शाद करें
ये आरज़ुएँ ईजाद न कर
ऐ इश्क़ हमें बर्बाद न कर
दुनिया का तमाशा देख लिया ग़मगीन सी है बेताब सी है
उम्मीद यहाँ इक वहम सी है तस्कीन यहाँ इक ख़्वाब सी है
दुनिया में ख़ुशी का नाम नहीं दुनिया में ख़ुशी नायाब सी है
दुनिया में ख़ुशी को याद न कर
ऐ इश्क़ हमें बर्बाद न कर
हर दम अबदी राहत का समाँ दिखला के हमें दिल-गीर न कर
लिल्लाह हबाब-ए-आब-ए-रवाँ पर नक़्श-ए-बक़ा तहरीर न कर
मायूसी के रमते बादल पर उम्मीद के घर तामीर न कर
तामीर न कर आबाद न कर
ऐ इश्क़ हमें बर्बाद न कर
– Akhtar Shirani
https://www.rekhta.org/nazms/ai-ishq-hamen-barbaad-na-kar-ai-ishq-na-chhed-aa-aa-ke-hamen-ham-bhuule-huon-ko-yaad-na-kar-akhtar-shirani-nazms
Aey Ishq Hamein Barbaad Na Kar
by Nayyara Noor
https://youtu.be/WCRvHmqoVZk
https://youtu.be/INFl7RPRCRw
8 May 1960,
… Later a visitor requested that Baba give him his blessings. Baba replied:
It is very easy for me to give blessings.
It is very difficult for me to give love.
It is very, very rare for me to bestow grace. Why?
It is very easy for me to give blessings, because you are eager to receive them. The necessary receptivity is already there. But it is not so with love, because no one really wants to receive it as it should be received. The “warmth” of love is so unbearable that one who receives it has his whole being “blistered” and “blasted!” If you withstand this, your heart becomes clean. Then it is filled with love.
The one who receives my love is completely ruined in the eyes of the world. To receive love, you have to lose everything — even your own self! You have to give up all desires to such an extent that you become dead to yourself and the world. Then you are eligible to receive love. Rarely has one the longing to receive love. I am the Ocean of love. I am ready to give love to such a one, but where is the one to receive it? No one is ready, as he should always be, to receive love.
As for my grace, I bestow it when I get the whim to do so. Grace means grace, and it is perfectly independent of merits and demerits. When grace descends, instantaneously you become what you ever are — God. But this is very rare.
https://www.lordmeher.org/rev/index.jsp?pageBase=page.jsp&nextPage=4674
… The time is rapidly approaching when a tidal wave will rise in the ocean of grace. Then the usual process by which the water in the rivers flows into the ocean will be reversed and the ocean water will rush through the river beds. Be prepared to receive this overflow of grace.
– Meher Baba (November 1955)
LISTEN, HUMANITY, page 52
… My work at Meherabad is like digging numerous canals and placing as many people as possible on the banks, so that when the spiritual flood is let loose, they may benefit by having the divine overflow within their reach.
– Meher Baba (12 July 1927)
https://www.lordmeher.org/rev/index.jsp?pageBase=page.jsp&nextPage=831
July 1961,
… On the morning of 12 July, Baba was driven to Bund Gardens where Babajan used to sit. Eruch, Francis, and Jalbhai accompanied him. Baba stood against a railing and watched the river below, and Jalbhai took some final shots, though Baba’s sensitive sinuses were bothered by the windy conditions. Baba pointed to the river and then, moving his hand in a sweeping motion, remarked, “The waters will rise and overflow, and everything will be submerged — washed away.” After walking around for some time, Baba dipped his feet in the waters of the Mutha River.
This was surprising to Francis and Eruch, inasmuch as Baba did it suddenly. They returned to Guruprasad, and a few hours later a Baba lover high up in the public works department telephoned warning that the Mutha River would burst an earthen dam and flood waters would pour into the city.
To quote from a Times of India article:
Floods from the river — worst in living memory — hit the city twice in four hours. The first wave came in the forenoon when the raging river destroyed the Panshet Dam. Another mass of water cascaded into the city when the Khadakwasla Dam gave way in the afternoon. The entire city is without water supply and electricity. Although some prior warning was available, the people had to take the full fury of the swollen Mutha River.
The men and women and Baba moved to the top floor of Guruprasad. Although the floods had inundated the business and residential areas of the city, the waters stopped some distance from Guruprasad, leaving the bungalow unaffected.
However, the railing at Bund Gardens that Baba had leaned against was completely submerged and there were boats on the spot where he had stood. Nearly half of Poona was under six feet or more of water. Shinde’s shoe shop was completely flooded, as were V. M. Pandit and Ali Ramjoo’s homes. Pandit was a schoolteacher at whose house (by the riverbank) weekly meetings were held in Baba’s name. While all the neighboring houses had collapsed in ruins, Pandit’s home remained intact, though many of his belongings were lost. But the most astonishing thing was that the water that submerged the area stopped rising just beneath the framed picture of Baba that hung on his wall.
Similarly, at Ali Ramjoo’s house, though the flood waters surged in carrying away tables and chairs, his collection of Baba books on a high shelf was spared. He also had a large stack of literature which belonged to the Poona Center. He was anxious that he would be liable for its cost if it were all ruined, but that material too was undamaged.
However, at Shinde’s shoe shop his entire stock of shoes, boots and sandals was damaged. When the waters receded, Baba went to the shop and sat among the debris. Slimy mud covered the footwear, but Baba assured Shinde not to worry. Shinde had every pair cleaned and disposed of at half-price. (The following year, Baba himself performed the opening ceremony of his new shop, and his business prospered.)
Naja had to have her tonsils removed, and the operation had been performed by Dr. B. P. Apte prior to the flood, at his clinic on Jangli Maharaj Road. Baba had been to see Naja on the 12th and had instructed her to return immediately to Bindra House, despite the doctor’s advice that she remain at the clinic for another day or so. Naja had been staying on the first floor of Apte’s clinic and the flood waters had risen to the second floor.
Hearing of the critical situation in Poona over the radio and with telephone lines not working, Adi arrived at Guruprasad on the 13th, bringing drinking water, bread, food and kerosene. But when he found all were safe he returned to Ahmednagar the same night.
Due to the shortage of drinking water, those few who had wells in their houses made them available to the public. Outside Baba’s childhood home, where Jalbhai and Beheram and his family were residing, there was a virtual mob every morning wanting to use the well there. From 4:00 A.M. a queue would form and Jalbhai and Beheram and Beheram’s sons would help people draw up the water and carry it to their homes. Beforehand, Baba had visited and taken a sip of water from the well and then poured the remainder back in; thus, those who came for water were unknowingly receiving Baba’s prasad. For several years no one had used the water, though it was suitable for drinking. Years before, Baba had dropped a live turtle in the well and it had kept the water clean from algae.
On 27 July 1961, Baba and a few of the mandali paid their respects at Babajan’s tomb. Gajwani and Siganporia had a two-hour audience with Baba on 1 August. Adi arrived that same evening.
During those days in Poona, Eruch used to spend the day at Guruprasad and return to Bindra House in the evenings. Baidul would also stay with his family at night. Naja would always stay at Bindra House to cook, as food for Baba and the women came from there. The men’s food came from Jal Dorabjee’s guest house. Once Eruch brought mangoes from Bindra House. They were delicious, but the next day Baba complained to him, “The mangoes are sour.”
Eruch replied, “They are sweet, Baba. I bought them myself after tasting them.”
Sending for Mani, Baba asked her whether they were sweet or sour. Mani answered they were somewhat sour, and Eruch could only remark, “Well, perhaps they are.”
One day Baba remarked to Eruch about his mother and sister, “I was thinking of calling Gaimai and Manu to Guruprasad, but after consulting the women, they said that if I called them, I would have to call others also.” Eruch kept quiet and Baba added, “I am so guileless! All are fooling me!”
Eruch replied sardonically, “You are not guileless, Baba, but ghag [cunning]! You are ustad [masterful]!” Eruch’s remarks made Baba laugh.
https://www.lordmeher.org/rev/index.jsp?pageBase=page.jsp&nextPage=4766
Meher Baba – Walking with the Master – Volume 7
[Bund Garden, River in Monsoon, Babajans Tree]
https://youtu.be/bYe84q_C8dE
26 February 1954,
… As in Eluru, Baba visited the homes of ten of his lovers in Tadepalligudem. Bapiraju had lost his job and was facing financial ruin. At his house, to console him, Baba stated:
I am the Avatar, Sadguru, anything. I am what I am and beyond that, too. Consequently, because you love Baba, this is the result. Whoever loves Baba suffers, because in that destruction emerges the real construction, in the barbadi [total ruin] emerges the real abadi [prosperity].
The man of the world with average means of comforts feels himself apparently having a stable stand on the earth, but he is quite ignorant that this so-called comfortable stand of his drags him down more and more, as if he were standing on the surface of quicksand or fire.
That is what we find in the world. A man of the world, apparently comfortable, seeks more comforts, and there is no end to his seeking and stabilizing his position. But, in order to have a permanent stand, it is absolutely necessary that his apparent stand be totally removed. This means his apparent comfortable environs must be withdrawn.
It is invariably found in the case of lovers of God that they have no place which they can correctly claim as their own. For the sake of the overwhelming love of their Master, his lovers are unmindful of calamities and sufferings. Their whole stand on this earth is completely shaken to such an extent that nothing is left to cling to but the love for their Beloved Master. They seem to be like dust particles floating in the air.
Ultimately, as soon as the love for the Master is established, that love places them on a rocklike foundation. The lover finds himself established on a rock of unshakable faith in the Master and he no longer craves for the apparent comforts and position which would have otherwise dragged him to destruction.
Baba also went to a few institutions, temples and schools in Tadepalligudem. At the local Divine Life Society, a woman bowed to Baba in obeisance. Returning the homage in like manner, he observed, “I do not like others bowing down to me. It is a fact that I feel awkward because, in truth, it is I who bow down to myself! I am in you by my actual continual experience, and so when someone bows down to me, that means I am bowing down to myself. So why this unnecessary exercise to myself?”
In the Ganesh Rice Mill, Dr. Dhanapathy forgot to introduce some of his family members to Baba. Baba remarked to him, “No one in the world is forgotten by me, and here you forget a few of your close ones.”
After examining Dhanapathy’s sister-in-law, who had had a nervous breakdown, Baba rhymed: “Nothing wrong; she’ll get strong!”
Another feeding of the poor was done in the Rice Mill factory, and Baba remarked, “Those who serve the poor serve me, because I am the poorest of the poor.”
Bhaskara Raju’s home had not been included in the list of house-visits that morning, so he and his wife had proceeded to Dhanapathy’s to meet Baba. Meanwhile, irrespective of the scheduled plan, Baba had gone to his house first. Not finding them at home, Baba was miffed and left for the next stop.
Nearby, Bhaskara Raju caught up with Baba’s car. Baba, with a piercing look, demanded, “Where did you go while God Himself came to visit your house?”
Bhaskara replied, “Baba, I was misled. I was waiting at Dhanapathy’s for your darshan.”
Seeing him tremble with fear, Baba tickled him to make him laugh and then directed him, “Now, go wait at your house. I will come again after visiting all the other houses.”
Baba did return to Bhaskara Raju’s residence. While getting out of the car, he remarked, “I have come twice to your house.” Baba entered, sat on a folding cot and ordered Bhaskara Raju: “Sing a sweet song to me; I have to go soon.”
Bhaskara sang a song in Hindi which he had composed, apparently based on Baba’s return to his home, titled “Phir Apna Ghar (Again Our House).” Baba expressed his happiness and, pointing toward him, told his wife, Govindamma, “Listen! He is mine, not yours. I hand him over to you. Look after him carefully.”
The neighbors had gathered to have Baba’s darshan. Baba asked for a glass of water. Govindamma brought it, and Baba dipped three fingers in it, directing her, “Distribute this water as my prasad to the ladies who have come.” Baba then instructed Bhaskara Raju to follow him to Gopalapuram.
https://www.lordmeher.org/rev/index.jsp?pageBase=page.jsp&nextPage=3482
Meher Songs 