… “My physical helplessness is equal to ‘Omnipresent Darkness.’ My mental helplessness is equal to ‘Omniscient Darkness.’ My spiritual helplessness is equal to ‘Omnipotent Darkness.’ I will explain all this in the sahavas.”
– Meher Baba [ 18 January 1958 ]
… It is said that the universes pour out of the Godhead; they are like God’s hair. Your head may symbolize God and your hair the universes.
-Meher Baba
… When approaching a Perfect Master with the object of deriving material benefit, one would be better off requesting him for his curse, because a blessing from him — if at all he gives it — is likely to uproot one’s sanskaric links from his worldly surroundings with a view to making him One like the Master.
– Meher Baba [October 1922]
… Know you all that if I am the Highest of the High, my role demands that I strip you of all your possessions and wants, consume all your desires and make you desireless rather than satisfy your desires. Sadhus, saints, yogis and walis can give you what you want; but I take away your wants and free you from attachments, and liberate you from the bondage of ignorance. I am the One to take, not the One to give what you want or as you want.
– Meher Baba [7 September 1953]
… I like qawaali songs best. There is a depth to what the qawaals utter and to the words they use. The qawaali songs are all based on me — about my greatness and about my work. Qawaalis are not religious but spiritual songs. They are devotional songs and have nothing to do with religion.
– Meher Baba
Kali Kali Zulfon Ke Phande Na Dalo
Live in concert 1988, UK
https://youtu.be/QPA0HToz3oU
Kali Kali Zulfon Vol. 27, OSA Ltd
https://youtu.be/lsqsggtTZfs
Kali Kali Zulfon (Rare Version)
https://youtu.be/7vCyRH0nvCI
हुस्न वाले वफ़ा नहीं करते, इश्क़ वाले दगा नहीं करते
ज़ुल्म करना तो इनकी आदत है, ये किसी का भला नहीं करते
जो नजर आर-पार हो जाये, वो ही दिल का करार हो जाये
अपनी ज़ुल्फों का डाल दो साया, तीरगी खुशगवार हो जाये
तेरी नजरों को देख पाये अगर, शैख़ भी मय-गुशार हो जाये
तुझको देखे जो एक नजर फौरन, चाँद भी शर्मसार हो जाये
आइना अपने सामने से हटा, ये ना हो ख़ुद से प्यार हो जाये
भूल हो जाती है यूँ तैश में आया न करो
फासले खत्म करो यूँ बात बढ़ाया न करो
ये निगाहें ये इशारे ये अदाएं तौबा
इन शराबों को सर-ए-आम लुटाया न करो
शाम गहरी हो तो कुछ और हसीं होती है
साया-ए-ज़ुल्फ़ को चेहरे से हटाया न करो
काली काली ज़ुल्फ़ो के फंदे न डालो
हमें ज़िंदा रहने दो, ऐ हुस्न वालों
Zulf – a curling lock (of hair) hanging over ear, tresses
करार – आराम, चैन
तीरगी – darkness, gloom, अँधेरा
तैश – anger, rage
आप इस तरह तो होश उड़ाया ना कीजिए
यूँ बन सवर के सामने आया ना कीजिए
काली काली जुल्फों के फंदे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
करें क्या हुस्न वालों से मुहब्बत
हमें मालूम है अंजामे उल्फत
तुम्हें अच्छी तरह हम जानते हैं
करो हमसे न तुम ऐसी शरारत
काली काली जुल्फों के फंदे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
ना छेड़ो हमें हम सताए हुए हैं
बहुत जख्म सीने पे खाए हुए हैं
सितमगर हो तुम खूब पहचानते हैं
तुम्हारी अदाओं को हम जानते हैं
दगाबाज़ हो तुम सितम ढाने वाले
फरेबे मोहब्बत में उलझाने वाले
ये रंगी कहानी तुम्ही को मुबारक
तुम्हारी जवानी तुम्ही को मुबारक
हमारी तरफ से निगाहें हटा लो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
काली काली जुल्फों के फंदे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
मस्त आँखों की बात चलती है
मैयकशी करवटे बदलती है
बन-सवरकर वो जब निकलते हैं
दिलकशी साथ साथ चलती है
हार जाते हैं जीतने वाले
वो नज़र कैसी चाल चलती है
जब हटाते हैं रुख से जुल्फों को
चाँद हँसता है रात ढलती है
बादाकश जाम तोड़ देते है
जब नज़र से शराब ढलती है
क्या क़यामत है उनकी अंगड़ाई
खिंच के गोया कमान चलती है
यूँ हसीनों की ज़ुल्फ़ लहराए
जैसे नागन कोई मचलती है
काली काली जुल्फों के फंदे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
लुभाओ न दिल हुस्न की दिलकशी से
जो कहना है कह दो मगर दूर ही से
ये नाज़-ओ-अदा हम न देखेंगे देखो
करो बात लेकिन बड़ी सादगी से
काली काली जुल्फों के फंदे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
सम्भालो ज़रा अपना आँचल गुलाबी
दिखाओ ना हस हस के आंखे शराबी
सुलूक इनका दुनिया में अच्छा नहीं है
हसीनों पे हमको भरोसा नहीं है
उठाते हैं नज़रें तो गिरती है बिजली
अदा जो भी निकली क़यामत ही निकली
जहाँ तुमने चेहरे से आँचल हटाया
वहीं अहल-ए-दिल को तमाशा बनाया
खुदा के लिए हम पे डोरे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
काली काली जुल्फों के फंदे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
आवारा हुई जाती है जुल्फों को संभालो
दिल मेरा उलझ जायेगा जाल ना डालो
काली काली जुल्फों के फंदे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
काली काली …
काली काली जुल्फों के फंदे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
अपनी इस ज़ुल्फ़ें परेशां को संभालो वरना
ऐसे गुस्ताख़ को हम चूम लिया करते है
काली काली जुल्फों के फंदे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
उलझा है पाँव यार का ज़ुल्फ़-ए-दराज़ में
लो आप अपने दाम में सय्याद आ गया
काली काली जुल्फों के फंदे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
संभले तो ये आशिक को सँभलने नहीं देती
डस ले तो ये फिर ये पाँव बदलने नहीं देती
हम जानते हैं इसकी अदाओं को ये नागन
इंसान को उलझन से निकलने नहीं देती, हमें
काली काली जुल्फों के फंदे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
उल्फत के बुरे हाल से डर लगता है
हर मोड़ पे इस चाल से डर लगता है
हमसे इसे दो चार कदम दूर ही रखो
ज़ुल्फ़ों के सियाह जाल से डर लगता है
काली काली जुल्फों के फंदे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
सदा वार करते हो तेरे जफा का
बहाते हो तुम खून एहले वफ़ा का
ये नागन सी जुल्फे ये ज़हरीली नज़रें
वो पानी ना मांगे ये जिसको भी डस ले
वो लुट जाए जो तुमसे दिल को लगाए
फिरे हसरतों का जनाज़ा उठाए
है मालूम हमको तुम्हारी हकीकत
मुहब्बत के परदे में करते हो नफरत
कहीं और जाके अदाए उछालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
काली काली जुल्फों के फंदे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
ज़ंजीर में जुल्फों की फस जाने तो क्या कहिए
दीवाना मेरा दिल है दीवाने को क्या कहिए
काली काली जुल्फों के फंदे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
दुनिया के हसीनों से बलाई नहीं मिलती
उल्फत में किसी को भी खुदाई नहीं मिलती
ज़ुल्फ़ों में न उलझाओ खुदा के लिए हमको
इस कैद से आशिक को रहाई नहीं मिलती, हमें
काली काली जुल्फों के फंदे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
ये झूठी नुमाइश ये झूठी बनावट
फरेबे नज़र है नज़र की लगावट
ये सुम्बुल से गेसू ये आरिज़ गुलाबी
ज़माने में लायेंगे इक दिन खराबी
फ़ना हमको करदे ना ये मुस्कुराना
अदा काफिराना चलन जालिमाना
दिखाओ ना ये इशवा-ओ-नाज़ हमको
सिखाओ ना उल्फत के अंदाज हमको
किसी और पर ज़ुल्फ़ का जाल डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
काली काली जुल्फों के फंदे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
अपनी ज़ुल्फ़ों का पर्दा बना लीजिये
हुस्न-ए -मासूम अब फितनागर हो गया
बर्क गिर जाएगी तूर जल जायेगा
रुख तुम्हारी नज़र का जिधर हो गया
काली काली जुल्फों के फंदे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
जिसको चाहते हो लूट लेते हो
तुम किसी का भला नहीं करते
काली काली जुल्फों के फंदे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
किसी की जान गयी आप की अदा ठहरी
काली काली जुल्फों के फंदे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
काली काली जुल्फों के
ऐ हुस्न वालों, ऐ हुस्न वालों, ऐ हुस्न वालों, ऐ हुस्न वालों
ऐ हुस्न वालों, ऐ हुस्न वालों, ऐ हुस्न वालों, ऐ हुस्न वालों
काली काली जुल्फों के फंदे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
काली काली जुल्फों के फंदे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
ऐ हुस्न वालों, ऐ हुस्न वालों, ऐ हुस्न वालों, ऐ हुस्न वालों
ऐ हुस्न वालों, ऐ हुस्न वालों, ऐ हुस्न वालों
ऐ हुस्न वालों, ऐ हुस्न वालों, ऐ हुस्न वालों
हुस्न वालों हुस्न वालों हुस्न वालों
काली काली जुल्फों के फंदे ना डालो
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों
हमें जिंदा रहने दो ऐ हुस्न वालों …
25 December 1927,
. . . In reference to the number seven, Baba elaborated:
There are seven worlds [planets in evolution], seven skies, seven suns, seven moons, seven planes and seven heavens [in involution]. Why this figure seven? And sanskaras too are of seven colors. Why? Because in the very beginning, when Energy (Pran) clashed with Matter (Akash), it created seven divisions.
Each individual human being is a universe unto himself. In the head there are seven openings: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, and one mouth. In the body there are seven parts: two arms, two legs, two openings (front and back), and one trunk.
But all this explaining of the universe and creation relates to the hair and has nothing to do with the head. So first try to get hold of the head, because out of it comes everything.
Baba drew a figure of a man’s head with hair and added:
The barber’s work is to shave the head. And who is the barber in this case? Mahapralaya! For when it occurs, all the hairs (universes) on God’s head are shaved off.
It is said that the universes pour out of the Godhead; they are like God’s hair. Your head may symbolize God and your hair the universes.
https://www.lordmeher.org/rev/index.jsp?pageBase=page.jsp&nextPage=875
In the bond of His (the Beloved’s) tress, how happy is the Heart ! If Wisdom know, –
In pursuit of our tress-chain, the wise will become distraught(परेशान)
– Hafiz
Since Thy beauty called Thy lovers to union with Thee,
They have, soul and heart, fallen into calamity from Thy tress and mole
– Hafiz
zulf (tress) signifies :
(a) An attraction of attractions.
The tress is the name of the attraction of God’s grace. The heart that became bound by it is absolute Life.
(b) the concealment(छिपाना) of the divine essence ;
(c) or the world, which for the faithful is a prison full of affliction.
(d) the attraction of love to lovers.
(e) the hidden divine essence which refers
to the up-springing of the world,
and to the torment(यातना) of its vicissitudes(उलटफेर). Because in the world of non-existence, the divine essence appeared.
Diwan of Hafiz, page – 47, 58
Diwan of Hafiz, Translated By H. WILBERFORCE CLARKE,
(from Persian to English):
https://archive.org/download/thedivan01hafiuoft/thedivan01hafiuoft.pdf
https://archive.org/download/thedivan02hafiuoft/thedivan02hafiuoft.pdf
The Beloved has hidden all knowledge in a lock of hair;
Only sight of his face can give certainty and end despair.
– Francis Brabazon
Annotation:
The mystery of Being can be revealed in the beauty of a lock of hair.
This is essentially the beauty of the Beloved found in the dark of emptiness rather than the beauty of the flesh.
https://francisbrabazon.org/dust-sing-annotated-presentation-ghazal-21/
In Dust I Sing
https://ambppct.org/Book_Files/InDustISing.pdf
September 1954,
A Persian record of Hafiz’s poetry was played, and Meher Baba translated its meaning:
Do not procrastinate. Start to love from this very moment.
Do not forget the Beloved even for one instant.
Baba explained about Hafiz’s Master, Attar. He had long tresses of black hair, and Hafiz would comb his hair. The songs revealed what Hafiz said of him:
Do not let your hair flow freely,
As my heart receives an arrow from every hair.
Hafiz also said of Attar:
O Beloved Master! These tears that I shed
Are tears of blood so precious
That you should consider them as pearls
and wear them as earrings.
Also by Hafiz:
God says, O lover of mine, if you want to enter my lane,
First let your head roll under my feet and be kicked by me as a ball.
The lover replies: I have been killed by your love,
And yet, you cruel Beloved, you do not even glance at me.
https://www.lordmeher.org/rev/index.jsp?pageBase=page.jsp&nextPage=3590
Sufi terms Naaz and Niaz
(shama and parvana [candle and moth]):
https://meherbabasongslyrics.wordpress.com/saadgi-to-hamari-zara-dekhiye/
BLESSINGS OF A PERFECT MASTER
Once Meher Baba very good humouredly remarked that:
“People coming to see me almost always ask me to pray for them. These simple souls do not know that Masters neither bless nor curse anyone. The fulfilment of their worldly desires from approaching a divine personality, is in direct proportion to the faith they bring towards him and their prayers are answered by the divine Shaktis (Tajalliat — Powers) active around him.
A Perfect Master (Sadguru) works in the spiritual domain, while the Mahatmas (those on the Path) can be said to bless for it is their spoken word that brings about the desired result.
When approaching a Perfect Master with the object of deriving material benefit, one should rather request him for his curse, because such an one’s blessing, if at all he spends it in a particular case, is likely to uproot him from his worldly surroundings with a view to making him one like himself.”
TWENTY YEARS WITH MEHER BABA, p. 92,
by Dr. Abdul Ghani Munsif
http://www.avatarmeherbaba.org/erics/likehimself.html
January 1947,
Meher Baba loved the poetry of Hafiz for, like no other, he said “it reveals the secrets of the spiritual path.” Hafiz did not actually write poetry, but recited his inspirations or sang them. Baba was familiar with the following well-known ghazals, which Hafiz recited the very night he became God-realized:
Praise be to God, what wealth I possess tonight;
For suddenly my Beloved came to me tonight.
When I saw the Loved face, I made obeisance;
By the grace of God, I am blissfully happy tonight.
My ceaseless longing has achieved this union,
I am reaping the reward of that longing tonight.
My slumbering fortune has awakened at last;
The most auspicious night of my life is tonight.
My blood will write “Anal Haq” [I am the Truth] on the earth
Even if I am crucified like Mansur.
You [the Beloved] possess divine wealth, and I am the needy one;
Give me the alms of your Glory, and make me blissful tonight.
Hafiz has lost himself in this ecstasy
Which he possesses tonight.
This is the other poem Hafiz recited after he was made Realized by his Master, Attar:
Last night before dawn
I was given relief from all suffering,
I was given the water of everlasting life.
I drank from the divine goblet,
and I was overpowered by the glory of Divinity.
What a supremely fortunate dawn it was,
and what an auspicious night —
the night of Qadr when I was given the authority of Godhood.
As I swooned away with awe and wonder
at the sight of the Loved Face,
The true meaning of lat and manat was revealed to me.
If my longing is fulfilled, then I am in bliss.
What wonder? For I received what I deserved!
Henceforth, I see my Self reflected in the mirror of the Beloved;
For in it, I see my Real Self.
All this sweet music which pours forth from my pen
Is the reward of my patience, and my quill has become a rod of sugar.
Gabriel [the archangel] gave me the best of news:
I was relieved from the tyranny of material existence.
What a wondrous miracle it is to be the slave of the Master!
I became the dust [of his feet], and he raised me to the Highest!
The Master raised me to the state of Eternity —
He verily gave me Eternal Life.
The moment I fell into the snare of the tresses of the Beloved,
The Master said, “You are relieved from all misery!”
It was by the grace of my Master,
the good wishes of my fellow disciples
that I was given Eternal Release.
Rejoice, rejoice, and again rejoice,
For Hafiz has realized the Divine Beloved!
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January 1958,
… On the 18th, Baba spoke to the mandali about the “dark cloud”:
There are three factors which greatly threaten the bursting of the dark cloud. The first is the burden of the Universal working. The second is the burden of all my lovers, which is more threatening than the first. The third and the most threatening factor is of the intimate lovers — of whom seven intimate ones might leave me against my wish. Holding them to me is my suffering, and this is my most threatening burden.
On account of these threatenings of the outburst of the dark cloud, there is 100 percent physical suffering and 50 percent mental suffering. There is also spiritual suffering, too.
Therefore, I want my most intimate ones to hold fast to me, at least until 10 July [1958], under any circumstance. There are 56 such intimate ones who will be informed accordingly. I will name them. From 10 July, I will free the lovers in proportion to their existing bindings.
Baba added: “My physical helplessness is equal to ‘Omnipresent Darkness.’ My mental helplessness is equal to ‘Omniscient Darkness.’ My spiritual helplessness is equal to ‘Omnipotent Darkness.’ I will explain all this in the sahavas.”
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May 1958,
… In India, Baba had circulated his message about the “dark cloud” that hovered overhead. Baba continued to explain:
The dark cloud is approaching very fast. Only a few will hold on to me. Those who are near me, not in space but in love. The rest will leave me. The age-old experience will be repeated. In this incarnation, I have a large following, but again I shall be left with a few. It is as if around me there are many beautiful buildings. It took years to build them, but when an earthquake comes, they are destroyed in a few seconds. Only a few survive.
The doctors have said: “Don’t go to the West; this is a bad time.” But I replied: “No, I must go to meet my lovers and tell them these things.”
If you love me 100 percent, you will be able to hold on to me. Obey me at all costs — especially until July 10. You will never see me again in the flesh. All will come to pass in quick succession as I have said, anytime after the 10th.
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20 May 1958,
… Baba reiterated how they must hang on to his daaman, and how difficult it would be: “If six cobras came into this room suddenly from out there, would you just sit still here with me? No, you would be flying out the doors and windows as fast as you could in sheer panic. You would forget all about Baba!
“Peter denied me when I was Jesus. The dark cloud of which I have been warning you is very, very near. It will happen suddenly, from an unexpected angle, just like I have mentioned the sudden onrush of the cobras. You will not expect it from such an angle, and you will feel justified in leaving me. Each will be tried by his own psychological weakness, but try to hang on.”
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19 May 1957,
… Referring to his recovery from his injuries, Baba commented, “The fractured hip bone is becoming well-set. In the surgeon’s opinion — who happens to be a colonel in the army — my progress is unexpectedly rapid. He told me that even a stout, young soldier would have required at least six months to recover to this extent.”
Deshmukh requested him to take care of his body, to which Baba replied, “I have to come again and again in flesh and blood to bear the sufferings of humanity.”
After a few more preliminary statements, Baba began:
I want to tell you one important thing which each of you must remember well. It is a fact that I am the Lord of the universe. I am omnipresent. Now the time is fast approaching and I clearly see the “dark cloud” hovering; I see its picture. By this I am not referring to the recent motor accident that has already come to pass. The humiliation that I was referring to for many years is within sight. During that phase of my life, there is every possibility that I may slip out of your hands.
Now let me first explain what I mean by humiliation. Suppose you are loved by someone very dearly for several years and one day when you happen to meet him, he suddenly begins to abuse you, kick you and spit in your face. In the context of your previous relationship with him, your plight becomes an example of humiliation. In the same way, if some persons who have previously adored me and raised me up to the skies in adoration for years suddenly turn against me and express extreme disdain for me by throwing me in filth, it will be another example of humiliation.
I will also give you an example of circumstances under which this kind of a thing can happen. You are worshiping me for so many years. Suppose you suddenly find me eating rubbish and roaming about naked in the streets, behaving like a madman. What will be your reaction to this behavior of mine? I do not want anyone of you to think or say that Baba is going to become mad! On the contrary, I have come to make the whole world mad after God and Truth.
Only the Avatar, whenever he lives amidst mankind, has to undergo humiliation. When there are five Perfect Masters, who are God Personified and who control and look after the affairs of the universe, what need is there for them to precipitate the incarnation of God on earth? They bring Him down to shoulder the sufferings of humanity. The five Perfect Masters are not as much scandalized or humiliated as the Avatar. I have been made to take this human form by the five Perfect Masters of this age, to bear the cross and to undergo humiliation.
You have read in the Gospels wherein Christ had said to his apostles: “You will deny me.” This did happen when Peter, the chief apostle, denied Jesus. The thing is that during the phase of humiliation, the circumstances will go so awry that you will not be aware when my daaman has slipped out of your hands! At that time, you may even feel justified in leaving me.
But if you feel that this should not happen, there is one remedy. You should grasp well all of what I say and understandingly live up to it. You should also tell everything that you hear today to those who are not present.
In short, I clearly see the dark cloud. I do not wish to make a mere mention of the dark cloud without any reason, but this is my loving warning to you so that my daaman may not slip out of your hands.
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8 September 1957,
… Here, Dhake interjected, “There is no question of conviction for those of us who have accepted you once and for all, because our acceptance is absolute.”
In response, Baba commented at length:
It is all for the best if that acceptance remains unshaken under all circumstances. The world, in general, accepts the existence of God, without caring much about the reasons for believing so. It is a fact also that there are a few in the world who do see God as He is to be seen, and fewer still who do know God as He really is to be known.
I have already warned you of the dark cloud that I clearly see hovering over me. I have been referring to it in one way or another for many years. In fact, only the shape of things changes every time I come, and that is why I say the same things again and again in different ways. At the time of Jesus, I uttered many warnings, yet none could grasp in advance about my crucifixion.
The dark cloud is very, very near to bursting, and I have to take the whole force of it upon myself. You can have no idea of what that will mean for me. It will be like hell itself bursting upon me on earth! Be resolved to hold fast to my daaman even when this cloud bursts. You will, thereby, share in my work.
Let me tell you the tale of the mast and the mullah [Muslim priest]. The mast, his consciousness focused upon the intimate nearness of his Beloved God, was virtually oblivious to everything else. The mullah, since he could not understand this mast’s state, would pester the mast with learned parroting, and eventually became so exasperated that one day he cursed the mast, saying that he would go to hell.
The mast happened to hear and understand exactly what had been said and retorted that the mullah’s heaven contained everything except God! But that since God was everywhere, he would be quite happy in hell, where he might share his Beloved’s sufferings.
Look at the weapons of destruction science has evolved. Nation accuses nation of preparations for war, and the world catastrophe might come without warning at any moment. World events reflect the results of my inner working. At the time of [Noah and] the flood, hell was let loose in the world. Scientists and statesmen now solemnly declare that if total war comes, the whole world may perish. They are just echoing me, but the whole world cannot perish because I have to come down again after 700 years.
During my recent short stay in Poona, I was happy to let the Poona bhajan group sing before me. I also paid visits to the homes of some of my men and allowed a few to call on me; but it was in connection with the continual pain in my injured hip joint that I went to Poona and also paid a flying visit to Bombay.
The hip joint is now said to be almost healed so that full weight-bearing and almost normal use are advised by the best available consultants. But the fact remains that I still have intense and continual pain, even while resting. Those of you who keep watch by turns throughout the night at my bedside know how I suffer; so much so that at the moment I am handicapped to the extent that I must depend upon the loving help and care of those near me. But all this is as nothing compared to what I shall have to endure when the dark cloud bursts upon me.
To fulfill all that is ordained, I work, and this work releases the tremendous force that stamps my advent. The impact of this force on groping humanity is an awakening, in general, and the realization of Self, in particular.
Work has a charm of its own when the forces of opposition are faced and eventually overcome. For the present, I face the dark cloud, and yet, I continue to do my work ceaselessly. Besides this, I have to do many things. I have, for instance, to see to the arrangements for the sahavas and shall also have to give sahavas to hundreds of my followers.
But how difficult it is to overcome all hindrances and complete the work in hand when there are distractions to be reckoned with. The pain in my hip joint, for example, is just one of the many distractions that I must endure while doing my work. If this pain should vanish or even lessen to some extent, my work will be fulfilled, in spite of the onslaught of the dark cloud that threatens to jeopardize fulfillment.
Just as I am now quite incapable of doing many physical things unaided, in spite of an otherwise healthy body, I may, at the time of the impending crisis, become even mentally helpless, but without being mentally deranged in the least.
You may then not be able to continue to hold on to my daaman because circumstances will seemingly justify your letting it go. I am infinitely merciful, and so repeat the same theme again and again, so that you may remember my words and try your best to cling to me. For example, in a sudden and terrifying earthquake any man, in the blind hope of saving his life, is likely to run, forgetting in an instant his family and all his possessions, and thus forsake them before he realizes what he has done.
Whatever is to happen will happen. This is the principle, or as I call it, the Law of Must, the law on which universal illusion thrives. It is as if the ready and complete film of illusion, from the beginningless beginning to the endless end, is being projected continually. If it is destined that my daaman should slip from your hands, it will. But it is for me to warn, and for you to remain alert. In illusion, you may die at any moment. The illusory life has no guarantee because no one can know for certain what will happen the very next moment. Except God, everything is illusion. This world and all its affairs are so insubstantial that it is meaningless even to say that they have no substance!
It is no joke to realize me! Those who develop inner sight, and even those who are established saints, fail to fathom me. This is because fana [total annihilation] stands between all illusion, from the lowest to the highest, and the One Reality. The practice of shariat, that is, living in strict compliance with the laws and precepts of one’s religion, may lead one to tariqat, the Path of Gnosis, which has six stages. But tariqat has its end in fana.
Imagine, for example, that your body is your shell and that your body must be totally consumed by you in the course of the six stages of Gnosis. You will have to do this with your own mouth, piece by piece, at every stage. Ultimately, in the last stage, your own mouth must eat itself! This is what I mean by the final fana, and this is why I tell you that it is impossible to realize me without my help.
Although I appear to be quite different in every Avataric period, I always am and always remain the same from beginning to end. I live the worldly life that is lived by the people, in order to help them live the divine life that I live simultaneously. To be established in the hearts of the people, I need no religious organizations. On the contrary, religious organizations need me in order to be established after me. Those who do not love me fail to understand me; and those who do not realize my divinity fail to understand it.
I am often touched by the outpourings of love, faith, sacrifice and service on the part of the growing number of those who believe in me here and in the West, and I do not mind the attitude of those who remain unconcerned about me, or even of those who oppose me. But I am constantly eyeing your obedience to me, because it is futile to have love from the whole world in the absence of the required degree of obedience from you.
I do not mean that you intend to disobey me or that you disobey me deliberately, when I insist so often on obedience. On the contrary, I do not forget your sense of duty.
Recently, for example, Pophali and Kutumba Sastri, and also their family circles, have given ample proof of their sense of duty to me. Pophali’s son, a brilliant M.Sc. [master’s degree in science], died in the prime of life after a short illness. In order to fulfill what he considered his duty to my cause, Pophali reached his dying son too late. In spite of this, Pophali’s younger sons write to me that while they are still waiting to have my sahavas, their elder brother has come to me already.
Kutumba left his home for my work immediately after his young brother had died in the house. Kutumba, as the elder brother, did not even wait to perform the funeral rites demanded by custom. When questioned by visitors, the family replied by repeating what Kutumba Sastri had told them: that the man loved Baba and had merely dropped the coat of his gross body. Kutumba had felt certain that his young brother would have wanted him to go ahead with Baba’s urgent work, at once, because he had always looked upon the service to Baba as infinitely more important and rewarding than any ritual.
The point I wish to drive home is that it is never too late to obey me; that you should obey me to the end; that you should obey me with a courage undaunted by any disaster. And that, above all else, you should obey me when I stand face to face with the dark cloud.
For six months, you take care of what I say to you, and after that, I shall take care of you. I say again, do not leave me and live to repent later, when there will be no remedy for your loss. For six months, do not give up obeying me at any cost — come what may — remember me and do as I say. Make all other thoughts subordinate to your resolve to please me with all your heart.
Although to let go of your hold on my daaman is always easy, it is never easy to hold on to it, and it may, during the next six months, be more difficult than ever before. But if you try with all your heart to do so, I shall surely help you. Once you let go, remember that it will be very difficult to grasp my daaman again.
Bayazid, who is known as the Sardar [Chief] of Sufi Masters, realized God at a very advanced age and also became one of the five Perfect Masters of his time. Once, he asked the two disciples who loved him most what was their greatest desire. One said: “I want the Master.” The other said: “I want the Master’s state of Perfection.” Both wanted the same thing, yet, there was a world of difference in their approach. The first desired, above all, the pleasure of his Master, because he did not want to let go of his hold on the Master’s daaman to the end.
Baba then issued the following instructions:
Now, for six months, up to March 1958:
- Be ready and determined to do whatever I ask you to do.
- Do no lustful action whatsoever; even husband and wife had better remain celibate.
- Be honest. Honesty demands that you deceive no one, give no false hope or empty promise.
- Try your very best not to hurt the feelings of others, but not to the extent of doing any lustful action.
Those who have not surrendered to me or who cannot do so, but would, nevertheless, like to obey me, should consider the last three injunctions as my orders to them.
In conclusion, Baba exhorted those present: “Take the decisive step of resolving, here and now, that you will try 100 percent to obey me for these six months and that, while embracing me silently, you will concentrate on that resolve and remain faithful to it.”
Baba embraced each man, reminding them before his embrace to concentrate on their resolve. Each of the mandali was given individual duties for six months, and the sahavas arrangements were further discussed. All left after having lunch at Meherazad.
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29 September 1957,
… Baba repeated some of what he had conveyed at an earlier meeting:
The work I do, to fulfill all that is ordained, releases a tremendous force that stamps my advent. When the Infinite and Changeless works through the finite and changing, the channels are necessarily varied and unlimited. The opposing forces created are tremendous, but also serve my work. In spite of the dark cloud facing me, I do my work ceaselessly. Part of my work, by June 1958, is to give my sahavas to hundreds of my followers.
Do not try to understand the method of my working. Do not worry or question. Just obey. The pain I have in the hip joint is one of the many distractions I have to reckon with while doing my work. [Because] unquestioning obedience and 100 percent willingness to happily carry out my instructions and abide by my decision, help in my work. Do not worry if [my instructions] seem contradictory or oscillating. I know what has to be done. I know how it is to be done. It is for you to do what I say. Do not be concerned with anything else.
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17 February 1958,
… As the train that Manohar and Mona Sakhare were traveling in was about to pass Meherabad, Baba had the sides of the pandal raised so that he could wave to them. Then, before leaving the pandal, Baba sipped a little water, which made him cough. He recalled that the day before, at the same time, he had also coughed while drinking water. He remarked, “What is the significance of this? It shows that the dark cloud remembers me.”
The Poona bhajan group sang Baba’s arti, after which, at 5:30 P.M., Baba was driven back to Meherazad. Accordingly, Bhau then explained to those attending the sahavas about the program for the following day, and also about the special train that had been arranged to leave from Meherabad directly for the first time.
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18 February 1958,
… Arriving at 8:00 A.M., on the morning of Tuesday, 18 February 1958, Baba went straight to his Interview Cabin opposite the hall. In the meeting pandal, the devotees had already begun singing. A few minutes before Baba’s entrance, Godavri Mai arrived with two of the kanyas. When Baba came and took his seat on the dais, she and the nuns took darshan. Godavri seated herself on a chair on Baba’s right. Prior to Baba’s arrival, she had been sitting on the dais itself and would not occupy the chair, despite the mandali’s request.
The Poona bhajan group sang Baba’s arti in Hindi, during which Baba’s fingers telegraphed his unknown and invisible messages. Baba remarked to Godavri Mai that daily at 5:00 P.M., when he drank a little water, he coughed, which reminded him of the dark cloud. He then asked her to be present until noon and to come back in the afternoon at three. Baba informed her of all the work that had gone into making this sahavas possible, and of the harassment the arrangements had caused the mandali who managed the event. He praised Pendu who, in spite of his disability, was carrying on like a machine, moving from place to place on painful legs, supervising every detail. Baba also told her about himself, how he was suffering a fever for the past several days, but from his outward, cheerful appearance, those attending the sahavas truly thought he was not suffering. “Baba looked healthy, happy and glowing — his old self again!” Age noted, “But behind his smiling moon-like face was hidden infinite suffering. No one could see it.”
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22 February 1958,
… Raja Muhammad and his wife Rahimatbi from Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu met Baba. As his introduction, Baba observed, “He was deputy superintendent of police in Madras. He is a true Muslim. Then he was the inspector-general of police in Pondicherry. He has great love for me. His wife is my devotee. They have written their experiences about me and sent them to Adi. Anyone who wants to can read what they have written.”
When Dr. Kanakadandi Suryanarayana came for Baba’s embrace, Baba praised him, “This Dr. Kanakadandi is our everything — doctor, cook, servant, lover, everything!”
When Baba sipped a little water at 5:00 P.M., he again coughed. He commented, “Even in the first group I got this cough at this hour. Who is remembering me?” Eruch said that when Baba put this question to the first group, they could not answer. But Baba repeated that it was the “impending dark cloud” that remembers him. Baba confirmed this by remarking, “It is a fact that the dark cloud is coming and that cloud is remembering me.”
When Ramalingam Sastri approached him, Baba stated, “I have given him the name Baba Sastri. From childhood he has been inclined toward visiting saints. He comes wherever my darshan program takes place. For my darshan, he came all the way from Andhra to Sakori, to Hamirpur, and so on.”
The darshan concluded with the singing of the arti at 6:00 P.M. After leaving the pandal, Baba went to his room, where, after a discussion with the mandali, he departed for Meherazad.
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24 February 1958,
… After the gathering had dispersed, Baba again coughed while drinking water at 4:35 P.M. When the third group came to see him five minutes later, Baba mentioned this and added, “I am feeling within my heart that this body will leave me soon. The dark cloud is fast approaching and has been remembering me for the past few afternoons. I enjoyed sitting with the previous two groups. Let us not talk on serious subjects. We are here for some informal conversation.”
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31st January 1969,
… Most lovers, whether they were in the East or West, could not believe the news when they received the telegram. They thought it was a cruel hoax, as they were planning to come to Poona for darshan in a few months. All that night Adi’s office was overwhelmed with telegrams and telephone calls from those seeking to verify the news. When they discovered it was true, a dark cloud descended over their world.
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March 1953,
… On the morning of the 21st, Baba revealed to the mandali and other disciples that whether the long-awaited end of material bondage and the beginning of spiritual freedom, which he had of late repeatedly emphasized as drawing near, came by the end of April 1953 or at some other time, there are four events which must come to pass before he finally drops his body. Four incidents were to occur as preordained by God. He explained:
It is an absolute certainty that before leaving my body I will have to face universal humiliation, apparent universal defeat and violent death, culminating in universal Divine Glory. By “violent death,” I mean that I will suffer great physical violence preceding the glorious victory of Divine Truth, and this violence endured by my body will ultimately be the cause of my physical death. The manifestation of the Divine Truth will go hand in hand with the breaking of my silence.
Let those sitting here with me today, and those away from me at this moment, beware and be ready. The time is close at hand — the moment has almost arrived when your sincerity and your utter surrender to your Master will be put to the extreme test. It is not I, personally, but circumstances that will test the extent of your self-dedication to me, your Master.
Baba further explained to the group that those who had adhered to him, and those who were at present with him, must be fully prepared for the necessary forthcoming humiliation, apparent utter defeat, and bodily violence, even at the cost of their lives:
On the other hand, humiliation, defeat and physical violence will not necessarily be encountered by all who are connected with me.
Those fortunate ones who will face these onslaughts unhesitatingly and bravely and withstand their tests unflinchingly will ultimately be co-sharers and inheritors of the divine glory. And those who will flee from these apparent but imperative calamities will testify by their own actions whether their surrender was sincere and wholehearted, or whether it was heavily encumbered by selfish motives.
People generally have a very superficial understanding of what is actually meant by complete surrender of one’s all — namely, one’s possessions, body and mind — to a Perfect Master. The complacent belief of a disciple that he has completely surrendered to a Master is due to ignorance and hypocrisy. Because, if the significance of the words were weighed literally and pondered over deeply, it would be seen that if one’s possessions, body and mind — the very core of one’s existence — were entirely submitted to the Master, there could then be no room given for even a single thought of one’s own, the mind now belonging to the Master.
It would be hypocritical even to move. Even to breathe would be hypocritical, because the body has been surrendered. But this literal and impossible surrender is not required by the Master from his disciples. What is demanded of a disciple is his complete and absolute surrender to the will of the Master, however contrary it may be to the dictates of the disciple’s temperament, however opposing to his natural inclinations or beliefs, however difficult to admit within the restricted precincts of his mind.
Pointing to one of them, Baba cited as an example:
Supposing I were to make you into an emperor tomorrow, and the very next day bring you down to the level of a sweeper; you should accept the extremes with unswerving faith in my judgment. You must always try with undisturbed equanimity to fit into any given role, at any given time, concerned only with the carrying out of your Master’s wishes.
Turning to the others, Baba continued:
For a disciple it suffices to obey. Your duty as a disciple is to obey as if you were not your own self, which is indeed literally true when you have completely dedicated your self to the Master. Never try to match your limited intellect or your reasoning against your Master’s will. Spontaneous acceptance by you of anything the Master says or does, and your unquestioning obedience to him, will safely steer you through any so-called crises that you may have to face.
Be brave, therefore, and be honest to yourselves. Obey the Master, giving willingly whatever he demands of you. Play your parts well, as I too shall play mine, fulfilling all that is ordained for me by God. Whether I bring about this fulfillment by the end of April, or by the end of any other year, it all rests with the will of God. And, although it is not for you to concern yourselves with what is to come, I will tell you this much, that if it is not at the end of this April, then it will be between July 11 and October 16 of any coming year.
At the outset of my Fiery Free Life, I had said that I desired to bring about the climax by the end of April 1953. But to be honest with you all, I must say that, as matters stand today, I find that there is a 50 percent setback in my preordained task. I will, however, with the remaining 50 percent, try to precipitate the Great Moment by working intensively for 21 days, commencing from March 24. During this period, I will exert myself with concentrated intensity to force the climax as I had planned and repeatedly declared to all my people these past few months. If my work, Inshallah [God willing], is accomplished to my complete satisfaction, then you will see the end of April bring either an end to all chaos, or the beginning of a betterment for the good of all.
But if, on the other hand, the desired results are not obtained by the end of April, then take it from me that the opportune moment has not yet arrived, and that you and humanity at large will have to tax your endurance to the utmost and your forbearance a little longer for this Ordained Hour of the Age, which will come suddenly and when least expected.
I ask you therefore not to be disheartened by my frequent procrastinations, and not to despair, and I warn you all to be alert and vigilant, ready to meet humiliations and difficulties with faith and confidence in the eternal victory of the Divine Truth.
Baba further told the mandali:
In all honesty, in God’s name, I am longing for this period infinitely more than any of you. Until such time, have patience, have courage and face the hardships with fortitude. By doing this, you will be helping me. What I have been telling all of you, there is no doubt God will fulfill it to the very letter. In June and July, I will do my work very intensely.
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October 1922,
… Once a stranger came to Manzil-e-Meem and narrated his long list of problems to Baba. He begged Baba to bless him, and bowed to the Master. After he had gone, Baba remarked:
People coming to see me almost always ask me to bless them. These simple souls do not know that Masters really neither bless nor curse anyone. The fulfillment of their worldly desires gained by approaching a divine personality is in direct proportion to the faith they manifest toward him, and their prayers are answered by the divine powers active around him.
A Perfect Master works in the spiritual domain. Those on the planes can be said to bless, for it is their spoken word that brings about the desired result. When approaching a Perfect Master with the object of deriving material benefit, one would be better off requesting him for his curse, because a blessing from him — if at all he gives it — is likely to uproot one’s sanskaric links from his worldly surroundings with a view to making him One like the Master.
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August-September 1953,
… For seven days, from 25–31 August 1953, Baba would come every night to the mandali’s quarters and bow down to each of the men after they had repeated God’s name seven times as they had done before during the first week of August. Kaikobad continued his duty of repeating Baba’s name 100,000 times a day, as he had been doing for years. On 31 August, he had another “glimpse” of Baba’s divinity and almost fainted.
Kaikobad described seeing an inexpressibly bright light with Baba in the midst and “worlds” emerging from the light. “Now I know what you are,” he told Baba, “and there is no greater happiness to wish for!”
Baba commented to the mandali, “If it wasn’t for my physical presence near him, he could not have retained his body.”
On Sunday evening, 6 September, after Baba had sent the mandali for their food, Eruch was with Baba when a car pulled up and stopped outside their house. Out of the car came a few men carrying a young woman who seemed disturbed and almost out of control. They brought her and laid her down at Baba’s feet, imploring him to cure her. Baba looked at her, caressed her, patted her and assured them: “Take her; my nazar is on her. My blessings are there. Take her back.”
After this incident, Baba was upset that those people had come for such a thing. “Don’t they realize who I am?” he remarked to Eruch. “They approach me for such things — that which I have ordained for their benefit, they want to be rid of!”
Distressed by this incident, the next morning, Monday, 7 September 1953 (which also happened to be Zoroaster’s birthday), Baba spontaneously dictated his wonderful and important message, “The Highest of the High”:
Consciously or unconsciously, directly or indirectly, each and every creature, each and every human being — in one form or the other — strives to assert individuality. But when eventually, man consciously experiences that he is Infinite, Eternal and Indivisible, then he is fully conscious of his individuality as God, and as such experiences Infinite Knowledge, Infinite Power and Infinite Bliss. Thus Man becomes God and is recognized as a Perfect Master, Sadguru or Qutub. To worship this man is to worship God.
When God manifests on earth in the form of man and reveals His divinity to mankind, He is recognized as the Avatar — the Messiah — the Prophet. Thus God becomes Man.
And so Infinite God, age after age, throughout all cycles, wills through His Infinite Mercy, to effect His presence amidst mankind by stooping down to human level in the human form. But His physical presence amidst mankind not being apprehended, He is looked upon as an ordinary man of the world. When He asserts, however, His divinity on earth by proclaiming Himself the Avatar of the age, He is worshiped by some who accept Him as God, and glorified by a few who know Him as God on earth. But it invariably falls to the lot of the rest of humanity to condemn Him, while He is physically in their midst.
Thus it is that God as man, proclaiming Himself as the Avatar, suffers Himself to be persecuted and tortured, to be humiliated and condemned by humanity, for whose sake His Infinite Love has made Him stoop so low, in order that humanity, by its very act of condemning God’s manifestation in the form of Avatar should, however indirectly, assert the existence of God in His Infinite Eternal state.
The Avatar is always one and the same, because God is always One and the Same, the Eternal, Indivisible, Infinite One who manifests Himself in the form of man as the Avatar, as the Messiah, as the Prophet, as the Ancient One — the Highest of the High. This Eternally One and the Same Avatar repeats His manifestation from time to time, in different cycles, adopting different human forms and different names, in different places, to reveal Truth in different garbs and different languages, in order to raise humanity from the pit of ignorance and help free it from the bondage of delusions.
Of the most recognized and much worshiped manifestations of God as Avatar, that of Zoroaster is the earliest — having been before Ram, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad. Thousands of years ago, he gave to the world the essence of Truth in the form of three fundamental precepts — Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds. These precepts were and are constantly unfolded to humanity in one form or another, directly or indirectly in every cycle, by the Avatar of the age as he leads humanity, imperceptibly, toward the Truth.
To put these precepts of Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Deeds into practice is not as easily done as it would appear, though it is not impossible. But to live up to these precepts honestly and literally is apparently as impossible as it is to practice a living death in the midst of life.
In the world, there are countless sadhus, mahatmas, Maha Purushs, saints, yogis and walis, though the number of genuine ones is very, very limited. The few genuine ones are, according to their spiritual status, in a category of their own, which is neither on a level with the ordinary human being nor on a level with the state of the Highest of the High.
I am neither a mahatma nor a Maha Purush, neither a sadhu nor a saint, neither a yogi nor a wali. Those who approach me with the desire to gain wealth or to retain their possessions, those who seek through me relief from distress and suffering, those who ask my help to fulfill and satisfy mundane desires, to them I once again declare that as I am not a sadhu, a saint or a mahatma, Maha Purush or yogi, to seek these things through me is but to court utter disappointment, though only apparently, for eventually this disappointment is itself invariably instrumental in bringing about the complete transformation of mundane wants and desires.
The sadhus, saints, yogis, walis and such others who are on the via media, can and do perform miracles and satisfy the transient material needs of individuals who approach them for help and relief.
The question therefore arises that if I am not a sadhu, not a saint, not a yogi, not a Maha Purush, nor a wali, then what am I? The natural assumption would be that I am either just an ordinary human being, or I am the Highest of the High. But one thing I say definitely, and that is that I can never be included among those having the intermediary status of the real sadhus, saints, yogis and such others.
Now, if I am just an ordinary man, my capabilities and powers are limited; I am no better or different from an ordinary human being. If people take me as such then they should not expect any supernatural help from me in the form of miracles or spiritual guidance, and to approach me to fulfill their desires would also be absolutely futile.
On the other hand, if I am beyond the level of an ordinary human being, and much beyond the level of saints and yogis, then I must be the Highest of the High. In which case, to judge me with your human intellect and limited mind and to approach me with mundane desires would not only be the height of folly but sheer ignorance as well, because no amount of intellectual gymnastics could ever understand my ways or judge my Infinite State.
If I am the Highest of the High, my Will is Law, my Wish governs the Law, and my Love sustains the universe. Whatever your apparent calamities and transient sufferings, they are but the outcome of my Love for the ultimate good. Therefore, to approach me for deliverance from your predicaments, to expect me to satisfy your worldly desires, would be asking me to do the impossible — to undo what I have already ordained.
If you truly and in all faith accept your Baba as the Highest of the High, it behooves you to lay down your life at his feet, rather than to crave the fulfillment of your desires. Not your one life but your millions of lives would be but a small sacrifice to place at the feet of One such as Baba, who is the Highest of the High; for Baba’s unbounded love is the only sure and unfailing guide to lead you safely through the innumerable blind alleys of your transient life.
They cannot obligate me who surrendering their all — body, mind, possessions — which perforce they must discard one day, surrender with a motive; surrender because they understand that to gain the everlasting treasure of Bliss they must relinquish ephemeral possessions. This desire for greater gain is still clinging behind their surrender, and as such the surrender cannot be complete.
Know you all that if I am the Highest of the High, my role demands that I strip you of all your possessions and wants, consume all your desires and make you desireless rather than satisfy your desires. Sadhus, saints, yogis and walis can give you what you want; but I take away your wants and free you from attachments, and liberate you from the bondage of ignorance. I am the One to take, not the One to give what you want or as you want.
Mere intellectuals can never understand me through their intellect. If I am the Highest of the High, it becomes impossible for the intellect to gauge me, nor is it possible for my ways to be fathomed by the limited human mind.
I am not to be attained by those who, loving me, stand reverentially by, in rapt admiration. I am not for those who ridicule me and point at me with contempt. To have a crowd of tens of millions flocking around me is not what I am for. I am for the selected few who, scattered among the crowd, silently and unostentatiously surrender their all — body, mind and possessions — to me. I am still more for those who, after surrendering their all, never give another thought to their surrender. They are all mine who are prepared to renounce even the very thought of their renunciation and who, keeping constant vigil in the midst of intense activity, await their turn to lay down their lives for the cause of Truth at a glance or sign from me. Those who have indomitable courage to face willingly and cheerfully the worst calamities, who have unshakable faith in me, eager to fulfill my slightest wish at the cost of their happiness and comfort, they indeed, truly love me.
From my point of view, far more blessed is the atheist who confidently discharges his worldly responsibilities, accepting them as his honorable duty, than the man who presumes he is a devout believer in God, yet shirks the responsibilities apportioned to him through Divine Law and runs after sadhus, saints and yogis, seeking relief from the suffering which ultimately would have pronounced his Eternal Liberation. To have one eye glued on the enchanting pleasures of the flesh and with the other expect to see a spark of Eternal Bliss is not only impossible but the height of hypocrisy.
I cannot expect you to understand all at once what I want you to know. It is for me to awaken you from time to time throughout the ages, sowing the seed in your limited minds which must, in due course and with proper heed and care on your part, germinate, flourish and bear the fruit of that true knowledge which is inherently yours to gain.
If, on the other hand, led by your ignorance you persist in going your own way, none can stop you in your choice of progress; for that too is progress which, however slow and painful, eventually and after innumerable incarnations, is bound to make you realize that which I want you to know now.
To save yourself from further entanglement in the maze of delusion and self-created suffering which owes its magnitude to the extent of your ignorance of the true Goal, awake now! Pay heed and strive for Freedom by experiencing ignorance in its true perspective. Be honest with yourself and God. One may fool the world and one’s neighbors but one can never escape from the knowledge of the Omniscient — such is Divine Law.
I declare to all of you who approach me, and to those of you who desire to approach me, accepting me as the Highest of the High, that you must never come with the desire in your heart which craves for wealth and worldly gain, but only with the fervent longing to give your all — body, mind and possessions — with all their attachments. Seek me not to extricate you from your predicaments, but find me in order to surrender yourself wholeheartedly to my will. Cling to me not for worldly happiness and short-lived comforts, but adhere to me, through thick and thin, sacrificing your own happiness and comforts at my feet. Let my happiness be your cheer and my comforts your rest. Do not ask me to bless you with a good job, but desire to serve me more diligently and honestly and without expectation of reward. Never beg of me to save your life or the lives of your dear ones, but beg of me to accept you and permit you to lay down your life for me. Never expect me to cure you of your bodily afflictions, but beseech me to cure you of your ignorance. Never stretch out your hands to receive anything from me, but hold them high in praise of me whom you have approached as the Highest of the High.
If I am the Highest of the High, nothing is then impossible for me; and though I do not perform miracles to satisfy individual needs — the satisfaction of which would result in entangling the individual more and more into the net of ephemeral existence — yet time and again at certain periods I manifest the infinite powers in the form of miracles, but only for the spiritual upliftment and benefit of humanity and all creatures.
However, miraculous experiences have often been experienced by individuals who love me and have unswerving faith in me, and these have been attributed to my nazar or grace on them.
But I want all to know that it does not befit my lovers to attribute such individual miraculous experiences to my state of the Highest of the High. If I am the Highest of the High, I am above these illusory plays of maya in the course of the Divine Law. Therefore, whatever miraculous experiences are experienced by my lovers who recognize me as such, or by those who love me unknowingly through other channels, they are but the outcome of their own firm faith in me. Their unshakable faith often superseding the course of the play of maya gives them those experiences which they call miracles. Such experiences derived through firm faith eventually do good and do not entangle the individuals who experience them into further and greater bindings of illusion.
If I am the Highest of the High, then a wish of my Universal Will is sufficient to give, in an instant, God-realization to one and all, and thus free every creature in creation from the shackles of ignorance. But blessed is Knowledge that is gained through the experience of ignorance in accordance with the Divine Law. This Knowledge is made possible for you to attain in the midst of ignorance by the guidance of Perfect Masters and surrenderance to the Highest of the High.
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“God and Cosmos” (“The Head and the Hair on the Head.”):
Before the Hindi group went for lunch, Eruch read out what Baba had dictated at Meherazad the previous evening about The Head and the Hair on the Head:
God is Infinite Reality, whereas the cosmos is infinite illusion. But both are not infinite in the same sense. God is One Infinite and illusion is infinite in numbers. God is Infinite Unity and illusion is infinite duality. Always God is. All along illusion is not. Illusion or no illusion, God remains beginningless and endless, while illusion has a beginning in illusion and it also ends in illusion.
The infinite illusion includes an infinite number of suns, stars, moons, planets and worlds. The whole of the creation goes on evolving ad infinitum in illusion.
Take for instance the head of a man with innumerable hairs growing over the same skull. When all hairs are shaved off, the growth of hair does not cease; the hairs reappear and cover the head all over again. Even when the head becomes bald, it is only the hairs which disappear; the head remains a head.
Compared to the one head, the hairs, although innumerable, have next to no value. They may appear and disappear without any difference to the value of the head as such. The value attached to the hair is mostly decorative, as a means of attraction and as a lure of self-satisfaction.
Similarly, the individual mind that generates infinite thoughts may be compared with the individual head that has a growth of innumerable hairs.
The individual mind is capable of containing, emanating and absorbing an infinite number of thoughts. In fact, all energy and all matter are but the outcome of the mind itself.
To understand the all-importance of God, Who is the only Reality, let us now compare Him with the mind, and let the hair over the head be compared with the creation. The illustration would at once suggest that compared with the hair on the head, the mind alone is infinitely valuable. Similarly, I say that God is infinitely valuable when compared with the whole of creation, which has no value other than that of hair — the hair that lures and the hair that creates illusory self-satisfaction.
When Eruch finished, Baba jokingly remarked, “I remembered these points last evening when I happened to notice Kumar’s head, which is tending to become bald.”
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1 June 1929,
… Baba’s mood changed and he then asked those present, “Have you ever examined my feces?”
Some replied, “Yes,” and some said, “No.” But none could give a description which satisfied Baba.
So he himself explained: “You have no idea what my feces contain. In the beginning of creation, I defecated — and all the suns, moons, stars and universes came out. They are all my excrement! But just imagine! When this dirty thing is so beautiful, how can you ever imagine my real splendor? You will lose your senses if you ever see even a glimpse of it.”
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1926,
… On 30 June, explaining to the mandali about maya, Baba expounded:
God as Ishwar uses maya and her attributes to conduct the affairs of the universe, whereas Paramatma is far, far beyond Ishwar and uses only Dnyan — that all-pervading Power, that Source from which all other powers emanate. The Sadguru uses maya to make others free from maya.
Suppose Arjun is Paramatma and his cane is God. And suppose you wrap a seven-colored string (maya) around this cane. The string has only touched the cane (God) and not Arjun (Paramatma), who remains aloof.
Using another example from Angal Pleader’s kirtan the previous Sunday, Baba continued:
Suppose you come along and mistake a string for a snake. This mistake creates maya. But, if you see that the string is only a string and nothing else, is maya gone? No, because the accompanying suppositions and fears — “What sort of a serpent is it? How long? Will it bite?” — these are maya. In the end, when it is found that it is only a string, you laugh at your false presupposition because your fears are gone — the illusion is removed. In the same way, when one attains Realization, he laughs at these false notions of maya — the world and all its connections — for he knows that they are totally false and not real.
If any desire, passion, or anger enters your head, take it that it is maya, the source of all worries, troubles, and anxieties. The moment it enters your brain, throw it out! Don’t let it in at all!
If a mad dog happens to enter your room, you would stand up and shout to drive it away. If, on the other hand, you give it milk and bread, it will linger there and will not go away. Similarly, maya is like a mad dog. Drive it away as soon and as forcibly as you would drive away a rabid dog! Only then will you be saved from maya’s clutches!
Continuing, Baba explained:
People say that God created maya, but that is not so. For example, take the hair on the head. The hair is maya and the head is God, the Creator. Although the hair grows on the head, the head does not know how, why and where it comes from. Then how can it be said that the head created hair, or God created maya? But in a way, the very creation of maya itself is dependent on God.
Maya is sheer illusion — the force of imagination. Where there is lust, there is maya. Where there is anger, there is maya. Where there is greed, there is maya. He who renounces maya finds everything! Do not be a slave to maya. Subjugate maya and you will see God in all His perfection.
But it is next to impossible to realize God. One must die to gain this state, not by drowning or committing suicide, but by renouncing maya and freeing oneself from its deluding allurements. And this maya is so tyrannical and powerful that even the best of persons succumb to its lures. The real heroes who eat her up are very rare. So hold tightly to my feet to ease your way or else you will not get even a whiff of Reality and your strenuous efforts to reach the Goal age after age will not bring you any nearer to it.
When someone mentioned doing yoga, Baba remarked:
For you, no yoga and no bhoga [worldly enjoyment]! All at once — quite in the dark and completely unknown to you — you are being taken UP!
What the Sadguru does for the members of his circle is to weaken and “clear away” their intellects and egos gradually, establishing a permanence to their eventual annihilation. He allows the minds of his circle members to remain because the Sadguru’s working is continuously going on “behind” their minds, though he keeps them in the dark.
Baba then distinguished between maya and sanskaras:
Suppose you are assailed by anger, lust, and greed or any undesirable emotion or feeling. This is maya’s work. But suppose you feel hungry, thirsty, or sleepy, which is due to sanskaras. If you eat, drink, and sleep, it doesn’t matter because these are essential to life. But anger, lust, and greed are to be driven away the moment they enter your mind. Say, “Maya, get out! I don’t want you!”
During this explanation, Shankarnath entered. Baba joked, “Shankar, turn into kankar [stone] so that you may remain unaffected by the wiles of that witch Maya!”
Baba then added, “A stone may be worshiped with flowers or it may be smeared with refuse, but it remains unaffected. Remember, the real yogi is he whom nothing of the world can touch; he remains unconcerned and unaffected in all surroundings and circumstances.”
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Meher Songs 