… 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.
– Meher Baba
… This Path is not for the weak and the faint-hearted! Where even the Mard-e-Khuda is unsuccessful [in gaining my grace], what to say of you people here? My nazar is always there on all of you, but it is an entirely different nazar, a different grace from the Grace which makes one realize the Self in a fraction of a second.
– Meher Baba
… As in the world there are many wine-shops where new and unracked, and even adulterated, wine is sold for a small price, and which brings madness upon those who drink it and destroys their bodies and minds, so on the Spiritual Path there are saqis who have not let the wine of love they have got from the Saqi-ul-Irshad mature, but have used it straightway themselves to obtain the intoxication of cheap spiritual experiences, and even added pure spirits to it to increase its potency; and they sell it to anyone for the coins of small services.
… The Saqi-ul-Irshad is the Qutub, the Perfect Master, who is the Pivot of the Universe. He is All-power and has the authority to use it as he wills. He never gives one intoxication (masti), but causes one to see God face to face, and some he makes one with God. As Hafiz says: One who is Saqi-ul-Irshad can, with his mere glance or wish transform dust into the alchemy-stone that transmutes base metal into gold.
– Meher Baba
… 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
Mast Nazaro Se Allah Bachaye
(Husn Walo Se Allah Bachaye)
by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Qawwal & Party
https://youtu.be/zXdk8uoSFMI
https://youtu.be/gNwyW6FbDo8
https://youtu.be/HjdnGQoKO-8
नज़र ऊँची की तो दुआ बन गई
नज़र नीची की तो हया बन गई
नज़र तिरछी की तो अदा बन गई
नज़र फेर ली तो कज़ा बन गई
रौशनी को शराब कहते हैं
जाम को आफताब कहते हैं
रुख को पर्दे में ढापने वालों
हुस्न को बेनकाब कहते है
पत्ती पत्ती गुलाब हो जाती
हर कली महव-ए-ख्वाब हो जाती
तुमने डाली ना मय-फ़िशाँ नज़रे
वरना शबनम शराब हो जाती
ज़ुल्फ़-ए-बरहम सम्भाल कर चलिए
रास्ता देख भाल कर चलिए
मौसम-ए-गुल है अपनी बाँहों को
मेरी बाँहों में डाल कर चलिए
रोज़ कब तेरी दीद होती है
एक ही दिन तो ईद होती है
कोई बदली उमड़ ही आती है
जब भी गर्मी शदीद होतो है
हाय कासिद की दिल शिकन सूरत
जैसे ख़त की रसीद होती है
हम कलंदर जो नोश करते है
उस नज़र की कशीद होती है
तुलु-ए-सुबह तेरे रुख की बात होने लगी
तुम्हारी ज़ुल्फ़ जो बिखरी तो रात होने लगी
तुम्हारी मस्त नज़र का खुमार क्या कहना
नशे में गर्क सभी कायनात होने लगी
साक़ी ने मस्त-ए-नरगिस-ए-मस्ताना कर दिया
ऐसी पिलाई आज के दीवाना कर दिया
अर्ज़-ओ-समां को सागर-ओ-पैमाना कर दिया
रिंदो ने कायनात को मैखाना कर दिया
रूठे हुए यारों से मेरा ज़िक्र न करना
बे फैज़ बहारों से मेरा ज़िक्र न करना
जिन राह गुज़ारों में मेरे साथ थे तुम भी
उन राह गुज़ारों से मेरा ज़िक्र न करना
मौजों का तलातुम कहीं आवाज़ न सुन ले
खामोश किनारों से मेरा ज़िक्र न करना
फूलों की नज़ाकत को कहीं ठेंस न पहुँचे
हसरत ज़दाखारों से मेरा ज़िक्र न करना
शायद मैं ‘अदम’ अब न खराबात में आऊं
अब बादा-गुसारों से मेरा ज़िक्र न करना
उम्र जलवों में बसर हो ये जरूरी तो नहीं
हर शब-ए-गम की सहर हो ये जरूरी तो नहीं
नींद तो दर्द के बिस्तर पे भी आ सकती है
उनकी आग़ोश में सर हो ये जरूरी तो नहीं
आग को खेल, पतंगो ने समझ रखा है
सबको अंजाम का डर हो ये जरूरी तो नहीं
शैख़ करता है जो मस्जिद में खुदा को सजदे
इसके सजदों में असर हो ये जरूरी तो नहीं
सब की साकी पे नज़र हो ये जरूरी है मगर
सब पे साकी की नज़र हो ये जरूरी तो नहीं
कोई दिल में लिए अरमान चला जाता है
कोई खोए हुए औसान चला जाता है
हुस्न वालों से ये कहदो के ना निकले बाहिर
देखने वालों का इमान चला जाता है
मस्त नज़रों से अल्लाह अल्लाह बचाए
मस्त नज़रों से अल्लाह अल्लाह बचाए
मस्त नज़रों से अल्लाह बचाए
महजमालो से अल्लाह बचाए
देखा किये वो मस्त निगाहों से बार बार
जब तक शराब आई कई दौर चल गए
मस्त नज़रों से अल्लाह अल्लाह बचाए
बेसाख़्ता उठी जो वो तौबा शिकन निगाह
खुद मुझको शक हुआ के मुसल्मा नहीं रहा
मस्त नज़रों से अल्लाह अल्लाह बचाए
अक्ल सर्द शोला है, इश्क गर्म पानी है
आपकी जवानी फिर आपकी जवानी है
लोग इस बहाने से बादा-कश ना हो जाए
आपकी निगाहों का रंग अर्गवानी है
मस्त नज़रों से अल्लाह अल्लाह बचाए
मस्त नज़रों का असर हमने यही देखा है
रंग बरसायें तो मौसम को गुलाबी कर दे
रिंद फिर रिंद है रिन्दों की हकीक़त क्या है
ये अगर चाहें तो जाहिद को शराबी कर दे
मस्त नज़रों से अल्लाह अल्लाह बचाए
जलवा-ए-माहताब से पहले
रंग महके गुलाब से पहले
अपना कैफ-ओ-सुरूर दिखला कर
होश लूटे शराब से पहले
मस्त नज़रों से अल्लाह अल्लाह बचाए
मयकशी में डूब जाये और चिल्ला छोड़ दे
मस्जिदों में बैठने वाला मुसल्ला छोड़ दे
क्या से क्या हो जाए तेरी मस्त नज़रे देख कर
काफरी अपना ये जाहिद अल्लाह अल्लाह छोड़ दे
बिगड़े वो यूँ के जैसे मोहब्बत गुनाह थी
झोली फ़क़ीर की थी के मेरी निगाह थी
महशर के तज़्किरे तो बहुत सुन के आये थे
देखा तो एक हसीन की तिरछी निगाह थी
मस्त नज़रों से अल्लाह बचाए
महजमालो से अल्लाह बचाए
हर बला सर पे आजाए लेकिन
हुस्न वालों से अल्लाह बचाए
खुदा बचाए तेरी मस्त मस्त आँखों से
फ़रिश्ता हो तो बहक जाए आदमी क्या है
जिससे हँस कर कलाम करते हैं
काम उसका तमाम करते है
आंख उठाते हैं हुस्न वाले जिधर
दूर तक क़त्ल-ए-आम करते है
मस्त नज़रों से अल्लाह बचाए
महजमालो से अल्लाह बचाए
हर बला सर पे आजाए लेकिन
हुस्न वालों से अल्लाह बचाए
इनकी मासूमियत पर ना जाना
इनके धोखे में हरगिज ना आना
लूट लेते हैं ये मुस्करा कर
इनकी चालों से अल्लाह बचाए
लूट लेते हैं, ये लूट लेते हैं,
ज़रा बच के चलना, सम्भलना सम्भलना
क्योंकि ये लूट लेते हैं
झलक रुख की दिखा कर मुस्कुरा कर
ये लूट लेते हैं
निगाहों को निगाहों से मिला कर
ये लूट लेते हैं
अच्छी पर्दादारी है ये अच्छी दिलनवाजी है
हँसा कर लूट लेते हैं रुला कर
ये लूट लेते हैं
ये लूट लेते हैं
ये लूट लेते हैं
ये लूट लेते हैं
अमीर इस रास्ते से जो गुजरते हैं वो कहते हैं
मोहल्ला है हसीनो का, के कज्जाको की बस्ती है
ये लूट लेते हैं
ये लूट लेते हैं
ये लूट लेते हैं
इश्क वाले दगा नहीं करते
हुस्न वाले वफ़ा नहीं करते
जुल्म करना तो इनकी आदत है
ये किसी का भला नहीं करते
ये लूट लेते हैं
ये लूट लेते हैं
ये लूट लेते हैं
लूट लेते हैं ये मुस्कुरा कर
इनकी चालों से अल्लाह बचाए
भोली सूरत है बातें हैं भोली
मुह में कुछ है मगर दिल में कुछ है
लाख चेहरा सही चाँद जैसा
दिल के कालों से अल्लाह बचाए
दिल में है ख्वाहिश-ए-हूर-ओ-जन्नत
और ज़ाहिर में शौक-ए-इबादत
बस हमें शैख़ जी आप जैसे
अल्लाह वालों से अल्लाह बचाए
इनकी फितरत में है बेवफाई
ये जानती है ये सारी खुदाई
अच्छे अच्छों को देते हैं धोखा
भोले भालों से अल्लाह बचाए
दुनिया में हसीनों से कभी दिल ना लगाना
ये लोग किसी से भी मोहब्बत नहीं करते
अच्छे अच्छों को देते हैं धोखा
भोले भालों से अल्लाह बचाए
मस्त नज़रों से अल्लाह बचाए
महजमालो से अल्लाह बचाए …
13 January 1963,
… At one point, explaining about divine love, Baba observed:
Divine love is the gift of God to man. It can be compared with the grace of the Sadguru which enables man to realize God in a flash. The true lover of God [Mard-e-Khuda] is he whose whole life has become like dust. The agony of love is so dear to him that, although it burns him to ashes, he will not part with it for anything! Though it may make him an outcast from society, a stranger to sleep, hunger and comfort, he prizes this blissful torture above all things in creation. Only God can implant this divine love in the human heart.
The lover continually burns within himself in the fire of divine love. But the wonder is, that despite leading such a life of consummation, the real lover keeps it hidden within himself as an invaluable treasure. He does not want to give it up. His burning within is blissful, although in its fire he ultimately becomes the very dust!
Even such heroes don’t obtain my grace. Out of millions, only a rare one gets this nazar, this grace. This Path is not for the weak and the faint-hearted! Where even the Mard-e-Khuda is unsuccessful [in gaining my grace], what to say of you people here? My nazar is always there on all of you, but it is an entirely different nazar, a different grace from the Grace which makes one realize the Self in a fraction of a second.
Explaining the meaning of surrender, Baba continued:
I do not mean the kind of surrender offered by a poor man who came to Meherabad years ago and said he wished to surrender everything to me. When I asked what the “everything” was, he replied: “Myself, my wife and four children!” I could not accept such “surrender”!
Then, when I was in Toka [in 1928], one sadhu in quest of the Truth wished for God-realization. I told him no suffering or sacrifice was too great for it, and advised him to sit under a tree without food or water. He sat there for ten days, but thereafter, one night he abruptly disappeared.
God can never be fooled by outward show of church [ceremonies], [ritualistic] prayers, kusti [sacred thread] and ringing of bells [in temples]. He is deaf to all that and is not fooled. Only love, true love, can move Him. Love is a gift from God to man, and Realization is only [gained] by the grace of the Perfect Master.
God is nearer to you than your own self, but you are not aware of it because of the seven veils. If one veil is removed, another is there to be removed, and so on it goes. Up to the fourth plane, the pilgrim on the Path is liable to succumb to worldly temptations. Only the nazar of a Perfect Master can save him because, at every step, the seeker on the Path meets with obstacles.
On the experience of God-realization, Baba said:
Man realizing God is like a drop of water swallowing the Ocean — no less! This is beyond your intellect. When, after the kiss from Babajan, I knew I was the Ocean, I did not want to come back to the ordinary “drop” consciousness from that blissful state where I alone was. But despite my resistance, the five Perfect Masters kept “pulling me down” to ordinary consciousness for my destined manifestation as the Avatar.
And, in the excruciating agony that I went through during this tussle, I used to knock my forehead on a stone on the floor of my room at home, during the nine months before Upasni Maharaj brought me down to normal consciousness. Much blood has flowed from my head onto that stone, which is still in the room as it was then [at Baba House in Poona], and which will be worshiped universally in years to come.
Baba concluded:
I am fond of hearing qawaali singing, and Sai Baba and Babajan were fond of it, too. They used to keep time to the tune and remain absorbed listening to the singing by physically swaying back and forth to the music.
https://www.lordmeher.org/rev/index.jsp?pageBase=page.jsp&nextPage=4908
5 May 1963,
… Quite a concourse of lovers was present in Guruprasad on the morning of Sunday, 5 May 1963, including Amar Singh Saigal, who had contacted Jawaharlal Nehru as directed by Baba.
At one point, Baba told Vinoo Kher:
Obedience is higher than love. If I ask you to leave tomorrow, you must immediately accept my wish and depart. If you tell me that you have two more days of leave and would like to stay, that is not obedience.
None of you sees me as I am. In order to find me as I am, you must lose your self. It is very difficult to find even one who has found me. What you see is only my hands, feet and body. The Real Baba is Infinite!
During the morning musical program, Baba remarked to Girja Khilnani (a Sindhi lover who also worshiped the Sikh Perfect Master Nanak), “I loved Guru Nanak very much, for souls like him are quite rare.”
He further said:
The Beloved rarely gives a lover the cup of divine Wine to drink. If he ever gives it, the “drop” instantaneously becomes the “Ocean.” The time has come when I shall break my silence. The whole world will get a spiritual push; but the hearts of my intimate lovers shall be opened then. Such a time will not come again, and has not come in the past.
Today, the anti-spiritual element is at its height. Tibet, once known as the seat of God, is now a Chinese military camp! Hypocrites and false saints abound in this time. Science has advanced in the last ten years much more than it has ever done before. Hence, when all these factors are at their highest, spirituality will also be at its highest in order not only to balance these factors, but to overrule them.
The time for breaking my silence is very near; so hold fast to my daaman. I shall break my silence in nine months’ time. What has never happened will happen after the breaking of my silence.
At one point, Baba inquired about a devotee’s personal troubles, and then commented, “I am the Highest of the High, and yet I descend to your level and inquire about your everyday problems. But I am simultaneously conscious of all seven planes, and am also beyond them.”
A sadhu came to see Baba. Baba asked if he had anything specific to say. He said he had come for Baba’s blessings, and the sadhu expressed his plans to start a new universal spiritual center.
Baba replied, “Your idea is very good; but do everything with 100 percent honesty. Let no hypocrisy enter into your doings. Do not allow your ego to be tickled. Do it with the thought that you are not doing it, but that it is being done because it is God’s will. Only then will my nazar be on you.”
Baba explained to one of his lovers, “You may have a family and live in the world, but be completely detached. What do I mean by being detached? It means that if your wife and children are to die suddenly, or you were to lose all your money, or you were to become a leper, you should take it as God’s will and not feel concerned about it.”
Baba’s words held particular significance for a new lover from Calcutta named Panchu Gopal Nandi, 45, a devout Hindu who was a divisional engineer. After a very difficult ordeal, his wife died a year and a half ago, and Nandi turned to God to show him the way. A friend lent him God Speaks, and later he contacted the local Meher Center. When his turn came that day to have Baba’s darshan and touch Baba’s feet, he recalled:
I gazed and gazed and gazed at his radiant, exquisitely handsome and compassionate face with an unusually broad forehead. I forgot the time and the place. It appeared to me as if I was seeing the sunrise. My eyes got dazzled and I lowered them to his feet. I glanced at the sole of his foot which was partly pointing toward me. I looked intently at it to find out if there were signs of lotus, conch shell, flag, et cetera, which I had read Lord Krishna had. Since such an opportunity would never come to me again, I was struggling to look at the partly exposed surface of Meher Baba’s sole, when he immediately turned the full surface of it toward me so that I could have a better view. He had read my thoughts. Even then, I could not see any signs; but signs or no signs, this little incident convinced me that nothing passes unnoticed, unheeded and uncared-for by him, the omniscient and ever-merciful One.
During the period after the death of my loving wife, and before my coming in contact with Meher Baba, my life was dry and wretched, completely shattered to pieces and devoid of all values, or any sense of beauty and joy.
I shunned society. I became completely aloof and distant from all. Inside, I was dying every moment. But after I came in contact with Baba, a complete metamorphosis took place in my life. The dark despair left me entirely and was replaced by his loving, sweet remembrance.
A three-year-old girl was sitting opposite Baba. He called her; she went to him at once and bowed down. Baba mentioned the girl came to Poona to see him from Sagar (in Central India) without her parents. The family’s neighbors were coming for his darshan, and she insisted on joining them.
Madhusudan then sang a few ghazals, and afterwards the group dispersed for lunch.
In the afternoon an Irani woman with her children approached Baba. She requested Baba to cast his nazar upon them. After she left, Baba observed, “My nazar is on everyone all the time; however, it does not fall upon just anyone. Once it falls on a person, he would instantaneously become infinite power, infinite knowledge and infinite bliss!”
https://www.lordmeher.org/rev/index.jsp?pageBase=page.jsp&nextPage=4979
May 1960,
… Zal Aidoon, a friend of Jalbhai’s, was one of the Poona lovers who had permission to spend the entire day at Guruprasad. Once, when Baba was sitting with the mandali and close lovers, Baba asked, “How do I look?”
All except Zal said he looked splendid. Zal, being a simple, guileless person, said, “Baba, to me you look old.”
“Do I really seem old?” Baba (who was 66) asked with an astonished expression. “Just think twice before answering. Then give me your opinion.”
Zal considered a moment and said, “Yes, Baba, you do look old!”
Baba asked him to leave the hall, think the matter over carefully and then come back and answer him. On his return, Zal innocently repeated the same thing. Baba sent him out, and on his return to the hall, he again said that Baba looked old. But when for the third time he was told to leave the hall, after “deep” thinking he came back and replied, “Baba, you look young!”
Baba beamed, gesturing, “Now you have come to your senses! Sit down.”
The same thing happened with Pukar. One day Baba asked him, “How do I look?”
Pukar replied frankly, “You look somewhat old today.”
“What?” exclaimed Baba, “Pack your things and immediately leave for Hamirpur!”
Pukar hastily reconsidered, “You look young, Baba!”
“That’s better. Remember this, I never grow old. I am eternally young.”
Daily, Baba would make Zal repeat this verse (in Gujarati) in his presence, which Zal did with all appropriate acting:
Nanak says: “Listen, Bharthari, it is good to act as directed.
If not, then you will be beaten with a pumpkin, and we will not give a damn about you.”
(
Kahta Nanak soono Bharthari, kahna maana accha hai
Nahi man-e-tau kaddu maari, ham-e garaj kya parvah hai!
Raja Bharthari is the hero of many North Indian folktales and is sometimes referred to as Sant Bharthari.
)
https://www.lordmeher.org/rev/index.jsp?pageBase=page.jsp&nextPage=4674
August 1952,
What else is life meant for but to love God and become one with Him? God is the Only Reality; we have to go on and on until we arrive at a stage, when we must love God, because we know all life leads to Him.
When one loves God, one is eternally young, because God is eternally young, infinite, and everlasting, and to love Him and know Him as He is is the goal of life. To love God, to feel God, to know God, to be one with God, is the only thing that matters in life.
– Meher Baba
https://www.avatarmeherbaba.org/erics/oneseeks.html
June 1929,
… Soon after his return to Meherabad, one day Baba went to the Family Quarters near Arangaon. He sent for Vishnu, who came running barefooted to Baba. After a brief discussion, Baba directed Vishnu to summon Raosaheb. Vishnu was about to leave when Baba directed him, “Don’t walk barefooted; take my chappals.” Vishnu picked up Baba’s sandals, touched them to his forehead and put them down again by Baba’s feet. “Master,” he replied, “I could never wear your holy chappals.
Thereupon, Baba bitterly remarked to the others present, “How unlucky Vishnu is! When I give him my chappals to wear, he just touches his forehead to them and puts them back. This type of worship and reverence pains me. By disobeying me, Vishnu does not worship me; he punishes me. And the sad part is that he thinks he is revering me.
Not to keep my word and to worship one’s own sentiments is sheer disobedience. Vishnu does not revere me. He reveres his own emotions, and to him, they are apparently superior to my orders. Such things deeply pain me.”
Disturbed, Chhagan asked, “Are we not to consider your sandals as sacred?”
“Every belonging of mine is sacred,” Baba replied, “and to have a feeling of reverence for them is good. But they are not more important than I am. My word is the most supreme! For that reason, revere my word rather than my things. While carrying out my wishes, let there be no room for the expression of your own emotions and feelings.”
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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January 1957,
… Just after midnight on 19/20 December 1956, the saint Gadge Maharaj died on his way to Amraoti. And, as hinted by Baba, seven days later, on the 27th of December, the mast Ali Shah passed away in Meherabad at 4:15 P.M. Two of Baba’s favorites had passed on.
Don rigged up a special kind of cot for Baba, to which Baba was moved on the 23rd. The bed was built to enable Baba to lift up his body by clutching two hanging straps, which gave him a little exercise. It proved much more comfortable for him, as he was not yet allowed to turn on his side, which added to his discomfort. Mani described the bed in a letter to Don Stevens (dated 4 January 1957): “There are all sorts of pulleys and gadgets on the new bed, and I just love to watch Baba ‘showing off’ (like a schoolboy on his first bike ride) how he can partly lift himself up on one of the ‘swings’ when his back needs attending to.”
From the morning of the 24 December, the pain in Baba’s leg diminished considerably; he was also able to sit up for a few minutes at a time, and bend his injured leg slowly. The other usual pains and discomforts continued, along with an occasional low fever.
As Bhau wrote to Jagindar Singh (on 31 December), “Now Baba’s leg is free, kept between sandbags to avoid jerks. Though Baba looks much improved, he often complains of pain in one part or another. As usual, he looks very cheerful sometimes, as if nothing has happened to him; and then, at other times, he looks in great pain.”
Adi Sr. and Don came at 9:00 A.M. on Saturday, 5 January 1957 and delivered the crutches and folding wheelchair Baba had used after his first accident, and also a large carpet from Meherazad sent by Kaka. Baba was sitting up in bed against a backrest, his legs outstretched. He gave Adi instructions for three programs for the poor that he wished to be held in February. Adi was also told to see Sadhu Vaswani in Poona and to go to Sakori with certain messages for Godavri Mai, who had been invited to attend the sahavas program. Gadekar was permitted to see Baba on the 6th.
To speed Baba’s recovery, a masseur and physiotherapist named Mr. Nair was hired. From the 5th, Nair began giving Baba daily leg and back massages, and also leg exercises to prevent formation of adhesions in the joints. Although the prescribed exercises were painful, Baba did them.
Deshmukh arrived in Poona and saw Baba at Salisbury Park on the afternoon of 6 January. Baba allowed Deshmukh to be with him for only a few minutes, instructing him to contact Gadekar.
Vishnu Chavan also came to Baba’s bungalow. Although he had been in Baba’s contact for years, Baba did not see him. In fact, none of the Poona lovers were permitted to see Baba, since he was still in seclusion. But Chavan persisted and sent word to Baba that he did not desire anything except his blessing. So, for the purpose of receiving his blessing, Baba instructed him to go to Meherabad in a few weeks, on a certain date.
On the appointed day, Chavan went to Meherabad and then came to Meherazad, where Baba was staying by then. Baba warned him, “To digest my blessing is infinitely difficult. You do not understand the meaning of it. You do not know what it is. You will have to face tremendous hardships. Do you know what my grace means? You will be stripped of everything you own! You will be on the streets! Those who dare to seek and are privileged to receive my grace are stripped of everything. They have no roof over their heads. They wear only loincloths.”
Baba again warned him, “Great courage is required to assimilate my blessing. So don’t ask for it. Ask for something else.”
“I only want your blessing,” Chavan insisted.
Solemnly Baba gestured, “All right, take it. I give you my blessing.” And with it, Chavan left to return to Poona. In a short time, true to Baba’s words, Chavan fell on very hard times and gradually life got worse and worse. Chavan was married with a few children. Some months after this meeting, he found himself homeless and penniless.
For some time, he and his family lived in the local Gadge Maharaj dharamshala in Poona. After a while, they were forced to vacate, and Turekar, a Baba lover in the police force, took pity on them and allowed them to stay in a storeroom at his bungalow. Months passed. Chavan, unable to bear the conditions of his life brought on by Baba’s “blessing,” contemplated suicide. By chance, he met Eruch on a street and disclosed what had happened to him. The news reached Baba, and Chavan was called to Guruprasad.
Chavan came and prostrated himself before Baba. Baba lovingly inquired about his family and then stated, “When you first came to me, I warned you that courage was needed to assimilate my blessing. You do not have that courage. Now, what do you want?”
“Baba, help me. The landlord evicted me and my family from our house and removed all our possessions. I don’t have a single paisa with me, and the children are starving.”
“All right. I will take back my blessing and give you some monetary help. But always be honest and don’t forget me.” Baba asked Nariman to give Chavan Rs.1,000, and Chavan took the money and left, pleased.
The following year, when Baba was again in Poona, he asked K. K. Ramakrishnan, “Do you know Vishnu Chavan? Have you asked for or taken any money from him [for the Poona Center work]? I know you are mad with your Center project.”
Ramakrishnan told Baba, “Yes, I know him. He appears to be a big man now. He has acquired the Bombay agency of an industrial or mercantile company and has become quite rich. He lives behind the railway station and goes everywhere by taxi. But I have not asked him for a donation. His wife sends two rupees to the Center every month. That is all they give.”
Baba warned Ramakrishnan not to take any money from Chavan. “It is all right if you accept one or two rupees for the Center work, but no large sum, even if he gives it on his own. Beware.”
Again, some time passed. One day in Guruprasad, when Maharani Shantadevi was sitting by Baba, Chavan arrived in a very sad mood. Baba instructed him in Gujarati to tell the truth and asked what was troubling him. Chavan equivocated, professing innocence about some accusations against him, and left. But soon afterwards, he was arrested and sentenced to prison for fraud. Despite having failed to follow Baba’s advice about remaining honest, Baba lovingly saw to the welfare of Chavan’s wife and children while he was in prison, and thereby Chavan learned an invaluable lesson in following the Master’s orders.
A similar incident involved Vadrevu Ramarao, a South Indian Baba lover who was living in Bilaspur working for Indian Railways. Charges were brought against him for stealing railway property. When he visited Baba he too professed his innocence. Baba told him not to worry, if he had done nothing illegal. “Truth will always prevail,” Baba stated. “My nazar is on you. Now go home and relax. Nothing will happen to you.”
But Ramarao was tried, found guilty and sentenced to several years in prison. When he was in prison, Baba asked his lovers to look after the maintenance of Ramarao’s family. Upon release, Ramarao came to see Baba, and Baba asked him again, “Tell me the truth. Did you commit the theft?” He finally admitted his guilt. “I told you that Truth will always prevail,” Baba said. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth the last time when you came?”
Baba tweaked his ears and admonished him, “I forgive you, but never do so again.”
Dr. Chatterjee continued to treat Baba’s fracture, which was healing well. Apart from his steadily improving condition, Baba was anxious to get out of bed as early as possible and resume his activities as usual. On Monday, 7 January 1957, he remarked, “I have to get well soon, for there is a great amount of active work to be done in the near future.”
Eruch and Pendu were also recovering. Eruch was discharged from the Satara hospital on the 7th and brought to Rosewood. Although Pendu was still incapacitated, his condition was improving steadily.
A lengthy police inquiry was held about the accident. Eruch’s driver’s license was temporarily suspended, and statements were taken from all, including Baba. The case dragged on for months, as the authorities could find no apparent cause for the accident. Eruch was finally acquitted on 28 September 1957. The judge pronounced, “It was an act of God.”
Kaka was called to Poona for a day. Sarosh brought him on Monday, 21 January 1957. The dog, Bhooty, had had puppies and Baba had sent a message to Kaka to bring one of the male puppies that most resembled the mother. Baba played with the puppy and instructed Kaka to keep him and give most of the other puppies away. When Baba returned to Meherazad, he named the puppy Mastan.
More X-rays of Baba’s pelvis were taken on 19 January, which showed the bone was healing properly. The next day at 6:30 P.M., Dr. Chatterjee came and said that Baba could sit up for a few minutes in a wheelchair Don had brought. So, for the first time since the accident more than six weeks earlier, Baba was lifted from his bed and placed in the wheelchair. Then Baba was pushed in it around the house while smiling brightly. In the days that followed, Baba began sitting in the wheelchair for as long as his hip did not give him too much pain. Although the crutches he had used after the first accident were brought from Meherabad, he was not allowed to use them yet.
Baba was still having recurring pains, but as Goher told him, this was bound to happen from increased movement, as the torn and unused muscles were put to use. So Baba still experienced pain, but not as intense as before. On the evening of 23 January, however, the pain was terrible and he commented, “The accident has been a blessing for the universe and a curse for Baba!” But the next morning, the pain was practically nil, and he was able to sit in the wheelchair for over two hours.
Baba had decided not to return to Satara. On the 27th, Rano and Naja traveled to Satara to pack all their belongings, so these could be transported to Meherazad, where Baba would be going from Poona.
Beginning Tuesday, 29 January 1957, Baba was taken daily for a short ride in the car, in preparation for the journey to Ahmednagar. Eruch had come to Poona and was staying in Bindra House. He and Meherjee would usually accompany Baba. Baba’s hip joint was still terribly painful at times, and he could not yet stand or use crutches. His wheelchair would be taken to the car and, supporting himself on his good leg, Baba would slip onto the seat.
All of those who were treating Baba — Dr. Chatterjee, the army major who would take X-rays and Mr. Nair the masseur — were attracted to him. One day Nair said to him, “Baba, I am looking forward to the day when all your pain will vanish.”
Baba smiled and gestured, “That day I will embrace you.”
“Then I hope it will be soon!” Nair replied earnestly.
One day Goher told Don that Baba was in so much pain he could not move his leg. Don immediately went to the military hospital and brought Chatterjee. When he arrived, Baba smiled at him. Chatterjee asked, “What is the trouble?”
“Nothing,” Baba replied. He sat up in bed and brought his legs up on the side and started dangling both legs over the edge, as if there were no injury at all! Holding him, Chatterjee helped him stand up, and Baba indicated there was no pain. Baba appeared to be in a cheerful mood and again he sat up in bed. Before Chatterjee had arrived, Baba could not even move his leg — much less sit up in bed!
Dr. Chatterjee looked at Goher quizzically and asked, “What is the matter with you, doctor? Why did you send for me? There is nothing wrong. Baba is all right.” Goher felt like a fool, and so did Don. (Later Don even chastised her for bothering Chatterjee.) It was all Baba’s game to give his contact to Chatterjee — and to make Goher pass through such humiliating experiences.
On Sunday, 3 February 1957, Pendu was brought to Poona by ambulance, accompanied by Sidhu and Aloba. He was taken to Silver Oaks to see Baba, and when Pendu saw a few close lovers from Bombay and Poona who were visiting, he was overcome and wept. Baba came out in his wheelchair to see Pendu; he joked and chatted with him and thereby gave him courage. “We will both be up and walking together,” Baba assured him.
“But you suffer it all in silence,” Pendu commented.
Baba replied, “You will be all right and walk again, but I will not be able to walk normally again ever. My hip joint, too, will never be normal.”
After having a checkup at the military hospital, Pendu was driven to Ahmednagar, where he stayed with the Satha family at Akbar Press to recuperate. The plaster casts were removed from both legs, but Pendu, too, could not yet stand. Aloba was appointed to look after him, and treatment was arranged. A month later, Pendu was sent to Meherabad, as was Vishnu. Thus the stay in Satara came to an end. Baba would never return there.
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The Wine-seller
THE EVERYTHING AND THE NOTHING, page 27
by Meher Baba
Sufi poets use the figure of wine and its effects to describe the Way of Love and the condition of the lover. Saqi is the wine-seller, Rind is the customer and Maikhana is the wine-shop. Saqi-ul-Irshad is the vintner who makes and wholesales wine – the Wineseller to the wine-sellers.
As in the world there are many wine-shops where new and unracked, and even adulterated, wine is sold for a small price, and which brings madness upon those who drink it and destroys their bodies and minds, so on the Spiritual Path there are saqis who have not let the wine of love they have got from the Saqi-ul-Irshad mature, but have used it straightway themselves to obtain the intoxication of cheap spiritual experiences, and even added pure spirits to it to increase its potency; and they sell it to anyone for the coins of small services.
And again, as there are wine-shops where only good vintage-wine is stocked for connoisseurs, so there are Saqis who are saints and perfect saints (walis and pirs) who have the mature wine of love for God alone, the price they have paid for which is the sacrifice of all that is near and dear; and this price they, in their turn, require from those who go to them.
Among those who have paid this price through many lives, one has the rare fortune to be invited by the Saqi-ul-Irshad to visit his cellar. And he gives this one a little glass from his special cask, and this overpowers him completely and he becomes merged with God. And out of many such intimates he makes one as himself – a Saqi-ul-Irshad.
The Saqi-ul-Irshad is the Qutub, the Perfect Master, who is the Pivot of the Universe. He is All-power and has the authority to use it as he wills. He never gives one intoxication (masti), but causes one to see God face to face, and some he makes one with God. As Hafiz says:
One who is Saqi-ul-Irshad can, with his mere glance or wish transform dust into the alchemy-stone that transmutes base metal into gold.
And sometimes it happens that there is one who has served the Saqi-ul- Irshad faithfully in previous lives and now has not even the price of the cheapest wine, and the Master remembers him and calls him and gives him the little drink of the Wine which gives Realization, and, perhaps, makes him a Saqi-ul-Irshad.
https://avatarmeherbabatrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Everything_r.pdf
8 May 1960,
. . . 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.
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Meher Songs 