Avatar Meher Baba Pearls- II · Avatar Meher Baba Pearls- II 2011 4 | P a g e ‘UP’ FOR...

Avatar Meher Baba Pearls- II Book II

Meher Baba

Avatar Meher Baba Pearls- II 2011

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THE WALL OR THE MIRROR

Sarosh once asked Baba “Why do you sometimes get angry with us?”

Meher Baba replied:

“I am never violent or angry. For me anger, pride, lust, happiness or misery do

not exist. Nothing like that exists for me. But when I appear angry at someone,

it is His that expresses itself through me. I am the medium through which both

your good and bad show themselves. You see your own face reflected in the

mirror. Whatever you look like – this is what you see in the mirror. The image

is not only there in the mirror, but in the face itself. The mirror is unchanging. If

the face is not good, can it appear differently in the mirror? What you see in the

mirror is your exact likeness – it is not the likeness of the mirror!

A ball thrown against a wall rebounds to you with the same force with which

you throw it. The wall is always at a standstill – absolutely stationary. You

receive whatever resulting force you use in throwing the ball against the wall.

In conclusion, however I appear to you, it is only your own reflected image.

I am always still and unchangeable – like the wall or the mirror.”


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OF FIRE & GRASS: SADGURUS & SANSKARAS

“So I have been telling you: control your mind, live a pure and clean life, discard

desires and follow a Master who is God-Realized. Then alone you will be safe.

Following a Master does not mean giving up your religion. You should

renounce your mind!

If you try to set green grass on fire, it will not burn. But if you set a match to a

haystack, it will immediately catch fire and burn to ash. The haystack

symbolizes the accumulation of sanskaras. In order for green grass to dry, it has

to be kept near a fire. This means that in order to destroy one’s sanskaras, a

person should stay with a Sadguru in whom the divine knowledge is always

burning. In his contact and company, sanskaras not only accumulate but also

dry. Finally, with the flame of His Grace, he sets fire to and uproots all one’s

sanskaras. Even red sanskaras of lust and anger, which are the fastest growing

and most deeply rooted, are nothing to worry about if you have contact with a

Sadguru. “


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‘UP’ FOR REALIZATION

“If I wished, I could give Realization to the members of my circle immediately.

But giving this experience abruptly does not enable them to come down for

duty. And then who would do it? Suppose you give Realization to your hand

and then, mystified, it stops working as before. What would do its work? This is

why Sadgurus always prepare their circle members gradually and what is being

done is unknown to them – taking them up for Realization.”

When someone mentioned doing yoga, Baba remarked:

“For you, no yoga and no bhoga! No spiritual exercise and no worldly

enjoyment! All at once and quite in the dark, completely unknown to you, you

are being taken up!

What the Sadguru does for the members of his circle is to waken 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.”


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‘GET THE HELL OUT!’

Baba then distinguished between maya and sanskaras:

“Suppose you are assailed by anger, lust and greed or any bad 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 engage in innocent enjoyment,

it is not wrong because these are necessary to life. But if you become

overpowered with any bad attacks from maya, then you have to drive them

away, saying, ‘Go away! Get the hell out! There is nothing for you here.’

“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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WHY FIFTY-SIX?

“The number 56 denotes perfection. God has to take human form to do the

work of maintaining a balance in the universe, and if only one Perfect Master

existed he would not be sufficient for the purpose. For instance, a toddy

shopkeeper needs several helpers – one to prepare the toddy, another to serve

it, another to collect payment, etc. But if there is no shop, what is the use of

helpers? Therefore, the universe must be maintained, and to carry out the

affairs of the universe in an orderly manner fifty-six God Realized persons are

required.

The view of one eye is limited. This infinity of illusion requires the fifty-six

people for the orderly management of the universe. All this is beyond your

intellect. It is of no avail until Knowledge dawns and such Knowledge is not easy

to come by. Such talk is all air – empty air – which one tries to grasp but cannot.

As Hafiz says:

‘This knowledge is never grasped by the intellect’s noose; destroy the noose

and you will obtain it. ‘

For example, there is a boat with a man in it on the surface of the ocean. But if

the man himself turns into the ocean, what is the use of the boat? When the

man was without Knowledge, he enjoyed the ocean by going out in a boat;

when he himself has become the ocean, he has no pleasure in going out in a

boat – and the boat floats on the surface of the ocean without a rower! This is

the state of the majzoob.

I am Prabhu – the Lord. I am all Knowledge-Power-Bliss. You see me, talk with

me and touch me, but I dwell in Infinity. My state is indescribable. Forget about

my state, but just think about what I can give you! If I am not playing with God

as God twenty-four hours a day, how can I be able to give the Infinite

Experience?

This is beyond your limited understanding. You have intellects and I have

come down to your level of understanding to make you understand; but as I

said, it is all beyond human understanding.”


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SANSKARAS & A GOD-CONSCIOUS GURU

“It is the same with sanskaras. Every thought, word and action of a human

creates sanskaras, and all sanskaras are interplaying between opposites. Good

thoughts, words and deeds create good sanskaras, and bad ones create bad

sanskaras. But sanskaras are always being created. They can never be

stopped unless one is fortunate to have the grace of a Sadguru and become

Realized.

Even the great yogis with their years of penance – even those who have reached

the sixth plane – are unable to rid themselves of their sanskaric impressions.

What they can do during meditation and samadhi is to stop the production and

growth of new sanskaras. But what of the past store of sanskaras accumulated

for years and ages? They remain with those saints even on the sixth plane.

Even a great yogi (of the fourth plane) cannot destroy them with all his might

and power. They can only be destroyed by the Grace of a God-Realized Master

who destroys them by uprooting the mind and thus making a person Realized.

When such great yogis cannot manage to destroy their past sanskaras, what of

you ordinary human beings? If you ask me I would say, ‘Do nothing’. And if you

do anything, do it without caring about the result.

Over the ages you have collected a mixture of good and bad sanskaras like the

black and white hairs on one’s head and beard. Yogis can erase sanskaras

superficially as done when shaving, but a Sadguru can root them out completely;

and when they are plucked out permanently, advancement on the path is

possible. All sanskaras must be eradicated in the mind so that they may not

reproduce again.

So to stop the creation of new sanskaras and to destroy the past ones, have the

company and sahavas of a Guru who is Realized. A Guru who is God-Conscious

is like a living furnace, burning away everything – good, bad, past, present and

future – all sanskaras.”


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OF CHILDHOOD, SPIRITUALITY & POWERS

“Childhood is the ideal period of life in which to take interest in spirituality. The

impressions received at a young age become deeply ingrained. Divine beauty,

grandeur and bliss should always be impressed upon children, so much so as to

fire their imaginations to the highest pitch about God and His greatness.

Adults rarely attain lasting enthusiasm or longing. When I give a fascinating

discourse or logical explanation about divine grandeur or spiritual bliss, even

adults certainly become fired up with a longing to search for Truth and to

fathom the secrets of the universe. But unhappily, their ardor and enthusiasm

do not last long. The impulse of the moment rises and falls quickly in the

absence of instant results. However, if a man were to advance towards Truth,

experiencing different aspects and novelties of the path, his enthusiasm would

remain pitched at the same level.

Seeing extraordinary sights or having extraordinary experiences maintains the

longing for Truth, puts great obstacles in front of real advancement. A strong

tea provides a very good stimulant to the tired nerves, but it causes no real

improvement in health; on the contrary, the general health is usually

undermined with strong stimulants. Therefore, a person should not strive after

the novelties, lights and powers of the path which are many. The goal of life,

the Realization of Truth, should always be the only longing or desire of

anyone.”


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MIRACLES: AVATARS, SADGURUS & YOGIS

“Divine miracles are generally attributed to Avatars, Sadgurus, or Realized

human beings, while occult powers belong to yogis. The former is the outcome

of extremely high and unselfish motives, while for the latter the mainspring is

invariably the worst kind of selfishness. An Avatar or Sadguru performs

miracles when he intends to give a general push to the world towards

spirituality, but a yogi generally enacts his supernatural powers to serve his own

needs.

For example, a child is tightly holding a parrot by the neck to the point of

strangling it. Now in order to save the bird’s life it will not be advisable to try to

snatch it from the hands of its young captor because there is the chance of his

tightening his grip. The child must therefore be offered a coin which will make

him let go of his hold on the parrot. In this instance, the offering of the coin

means performing a miracle, and saving the parrot from the child’s grip means

saving the mind from ignorance and maya’s grip. Such is the way of Avatars and

Sadgurus. However, if a yogi sees a very beautiful woman and desires her, he

will materialize gold jewelry in order to attract her. It is evident that there is a

world of difference in the motives involved in both these actions.

To give another example, a man has put on spectacles of white glass which

makes him see everything white though in reality all things are colorless. A

yogi’s power consists in putting red or green spectacles before the man’s eyes,

and to the man’s amazement everything appears red or green. A Sadguru,

knowing that everything has no color, not even white, and that everything is

nothing, does not believe in wasting time over changing the color of glasses. He

works towards removing a man’s spectacles that he is wearing, thereby

enabling a person to see things as they are; however, the yogi only adds to the

illusion which a person sees by putting yet another pair of glasses before his

eyes.”


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DEATH & EXCREMENT: BODY & SOUL

“You eat food and to keep yourself healthy and fit, you pass out the residue as

excrement. But do you ever shed tears for the waste you eliminate? Do you

ever think about it?

You preserve and protect your body to feed your soul. The body is the medium

of the soul’s progress. When your excrement is eliminated, you eat fresh food.

Similarly, with the disposal of the old body, you take a new body. So why worry

and weep over that which is the law of nature and cannot be altered?

Sadgurus and the Avatars consider human death to be absolutely

unimportant. They do not feel sad about anyone’s death. For them, the whole

universe is a very, very small thing – a small point.

The human body can be compared to the fibers on the outer shell of a coconut.

Hundreds of such hairs fall off, but the coconut water remains safe inside.

Similarly, thousands of human bodies may fall, but the soul is immortal; it

never dies. It is always living and eternal.”


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THE BODY & PLANES: CITIES & STATIONS

“Corresponding to the seven planes are seven parts of the physical body:

1st plane - the navel 2nd plane - the left part of the chest 3rd plane - the right part of the chest 4th plane - the lower part of the throat 5th plane - the centre of the throat 6th plane - the third eye (between the two eyes) 7th plane - top or center of the head The parts corresponding to the seven heavens are quite different and are in the

back part of the body. The parts corresponding to the seven planes are in the

front. The 1st heaven – back of the navel; 2nd heaven – back of the left chest;

and so forth up to the 7th heaven at the back of the head.

The yogis take the path through the heavens, but it is a path fraught with

obstacles which are next to impossible to overcome. Marvelous splendors exist

in the heavens and it is virtually impossible not to be drawn into them. The

seeker becomes enchanted in the beauty of the heavens, with the result that his

progress comes to grinding halt.

Every plane is like the railroad station of a city, and every heaven is like the

actual city. For this reason, the way through the heavens is longer and has the

additional risk of the seeker’s becoming engrossed in the attractions of the city.

The example of a man who is quite penniless, a beggar; however, he has forty-

five children! While wandering with his family, he thinks that if he could beg one

dollar he would manage the food for his children for the day. In the meantime,

he comes across a pile of jewels. Now tell me will he stop? He cannot help but

stop! But if there is a Sadguru he would enable him to proceed – to go to the

station instead of the city.


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However much you may try to persuade a drunken man that a small puddle of

water is nothing, he does not believe you and sees it as an ocean. He staggers

while walking under the delusion that he is flying. He sees things magnified as

double or sometimes triple, and much as you try to convince him that there is

only one of a thing, he sees two or sometimes more.

In the same way, you all have the false belief that the world is real. You cannot

digest this truth, this fact, when I tell you that everything is false – a dream, an

illusion. But just have faith in me. Listen to me, love me, and one day you will

have the awareness that God alone is the Reality; He is the Truth, and

everything else is illusion.”


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DOGMAS & DOCTRINES: LOVE & TRUTH

“So my best advice to you is to create love for God. Earn something in my

contact; otherwise, if you spend your time in discussions on religious doctrines

and dogmas, it will take you nowhere toward Truth. It is all rigmarole and will

waste your precious time, which might better be used in thinking of God,

meditating and creating love. Love is the sum and substance of all religions

and the only essential of all creeds. Leave the rigmarole alone.

For example, this alphabet board which I use may be given to a child to make

him begin to learn the ABC’s. But if he merely learns the alphabet without any

efforts at proceeding further, he will learn practically nothing. It is the same in

religion. The shariat, doctrines and dogmas are given as a preliminary beginning

– like the alphabet – to reach the ultimate aim of the Realization of the Truth.

After one learns to master the fundamentals, one advances; but if a person

merely sticks to religious ceremonies and rituals and believes that religion is that

alone, then he does not advance at all. God and Truth are far, far above shariat

– doctrines and dogmas, ceremonies and rituals.

Suppose A comes to me at noon and says that he is thirsty and that I should give

him a cold drink, considering the weather conditions and time. Now suppose B

comes at night in the cold, chilly weather and says that he is thirsty. I may

prescribe hot coffee for him, considering the prevalent cold temperature. Now

if B remonstrates and mentally argues about why A was given a cold drink, it is

nonsense. He may only obey.

It is the same with saints and prophets who have set down different doctrines

and rules for attaining the same Goal of Truth, for these doctrines were given at

different times and under different conditions. These doctrines are, therefore,

not to be mistaken for any error or superiority of importance of one over the

other. They are ways to reach the Goal. Therefore, no argument, no

discussion, no remonstrance.


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So you should listen; always listen to my command. Obey my orders and each

of you will eventually gain something – each according to his own worth. The

spiritual Ganges is now flowing at Meherabad! So wash your face and feet with

its waters if you are not destined to drink it.

Time is passing and vain discussions will take you nowhere.”


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THE NUMBER SEVEN & MARRIAGE

“If you marry, you incur seven more new births and it is for this reason that

Saints and Realized Masters advise their devotees to lead an unmarried life.

These seven births go on multiplying as you proceed, lifetime after lifetime. For

example, 7 X 7 = 49 X 7 = 343 X 7 and so on. How many former husbands or

wives you have left in your past lives and how many new ones you will come

into contact with in the future! None of the past husbands or wives do you

remember……”


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FRIENDS, LOVERS & OUTSIDERS

When someone complained that life with Baba was nothing but harassments

and full of hardships. Baba responds:

“It is my Grace. This is my mercy which descends on a very, very select few.

These are my friends. They are my lovers to whom I give the gift of sorrow and

distress. It is a gift much greater than gold – of incalculable value – and not

given to all. The gift is only for my beloved children. We Masters can grant a

world of gold, of happiness and prosperity to others by our blessings, but this

rare and great gift of privations, troubles and suffering is destined for only a

few.

So, don’t be anxious. Remember that I love most those whose hearts I pierce

and who, though their hearts are wounded, stay with me and stick to me

through thick and thin. Were I to use my dagger to outsiders, they would not

dare approach me. I keep them happy with praise and encouragement so that

they may be in my contact and gradually be fit ……”


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ANGELS, HUMANS & REALIZATION

“There is an Ocean of Infinitude in God. In this Ocean there are waves which

produce the creation of drops. The drops in the waves, which were created in

the beginning with the whim in the Ocean, do not pass through the seven stages

of evolution as others do, but immediately assume the form of Angels instead.

These Angels are in the same state for cycles and cycles – for eons and eons.

They have subtle forms and reside in the second heaven in the third subtle

plane. They unconsciously thirst for human form, even though they are in the

highest state of happiness. But this bliss is of no use to them without full

consciousness.

It rarely happens, but after millions and millions of years one Angel is born as a

human being in order to realize its Real Self. Why? In order to gain

consciousness which up to now it lacked, though it has passed numerous years

in the subtle world as an Angel. After an Angel is born as a human being, it does

not have to pass through human incarnations, but becomes Realized in that very

first human birth. These Angels are not born on the gross plane together, but

one at a time.

Therefore, from a spiritual point of view, man is far superior to Angels because

the Angels, in spite of enjoying millions of years of bliss in heaven, have to

take human form before attaining liberation.”

Love in its purest state can only be experienced through the human form.


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TWO MAIN THINGS TO REMEMBER

“There are two main things in this path for devotees or aspirants to remember:

first, carry out every word of the Master. Second, do not feel disgusted or

depressed with the result or outcome of any work, however negative it might

appear, or feel upset about any taunts of the Master.”

“I have special reasons for doing it, which you can never understand.”


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UNIVERSAL WORKING

“My work is universal; hence I have to come in contact with all kinds of people

of all religions, countries and creeds in the East as well as in the West. And

while working, I have to be very careful to consider the feeling and impression

created on all who come in my contact, especially those whom I wish to work

for me immediately, or later in the future. If I do not do that, no one would

enter my work, or would be induced or persuaded to do the work as I want him

or her to do it. In my great, universal divine plan I require men and women of

all castes, creeds, cults and denominations in life – from the poorest peasant to

the richest Rockefeller – each to fit in to a particular type of work in his or her

class or community. Accordingly, I find the person willingly inclined.

Thus with me, there are Hindus, Mohammedans, Parsis and Christians,

Easterners and Westerners, each with certain tendencies, temperaments,

inclinations, and fitness or fondness to do certain type of work. Each has at the

time certain weaknesses and prejudices side-by-side with good qualities, and

it is all these things and factors which I have to observe and consider if I want a

particular person to fit in somewhere for certain work of mine.

Therefore, whenever a person is introduced or comes into my contact, I watch

over him closely, and for a certain period in the beginning, even pamper his

prejudice of cast, creed or religion. I tolerate his other weaknesses in nature

and temperament until he is gradually trained and prepared to give these up

one by one. And then he begins to understand things in a better and broader

angle of vision, all the while trained through explanations, discourses and direct

references to others, which are really meant for him. It is a very delicate and

difficult task, involving so many problems for a number of persons concerned in

a particular question; consequently, some have to tolerate and suffer

unnecessarily for others who are thus being trained.

Therefore, if a Hindu comes to see me, I have to look at his caste – Brahmin or

Untouchable – and deal with him accordingly, and similarly in the case of a

Mohammedan, a Parsi or a Christian. I explain as the person likes best – seeing

to his or her temperament, inclination or prejudices – so that he will digest


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what I want to impress on him, and then try to learn to overcome and rise

above his prejudice gradually.

In this manner, so many have trained during all these years so that the Hindus,

Mohammedans, Parsis and Christians in all of the mandali have learned to live

as one family.

Their religious and social prejudices have been practically destroyed, and they

are convinced now that all their weaknesses and prejudices were false and

unreal, and the real religion is one of universal brotherhood and love for all

alike. This they are taught after years of training and careful tactics observed

by me, handling each case separately according to the temperament of each. I

know and have tactfully brought them all through the path of prejudices and

religious orthodoxy and bigotry to an understanding of a toleration for all

religions, and to the true spiritual aim and goal of life, which is my only mission.

But if I were to teach these spiritual truths from the beginning, disregarding

your human weaknesses and religious or caste prejudices during the preliminary

stage of training, not one of you would have stayed with me, much less been

trained to the discipline and understanding of life as you are now.

There are so many different kinds and types of persons with hundreds of

varieties of weaknesses and prejudices which I have to deal with and handle

tactfully and delicately during the first stages, tolerantly overlooking their many

faults, even persuading them in spite of their own mistakes and deliberate

wrong actions – thereby suffering myself intensely and at times making others

also suffer unnecessarily, for which they again blame me, become annoyed or

upset. Then I have the additional task of explaining to them again why I do

certain things at certain times.

There are always complications in such universal work as mine, wherewith there

arise so many questions and factors concerning and involving hundreds or

thousands of people at one time. Consequently, there is always the chance of

my actions, words or explanations being misinterpreted and misunderstood in

one way or the other.

In trying to please everybody, one pleases nobody! Yet, I have to try to please

everybody in turns or, on certain occasions, simultaneously, through different

moves, actions and words as required for certain persons at certain places.”


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GOOD & EVIL

“As good is necessary, likewise bad is also necessary – just as positive and

negative; both are essential for action and evolution. If only good were to

prevail everywhere, life would end! Both good and bad done to the extreme

would lead to Self-Realization; for instance, absolute evil with no trace of

good, or absolute good with no trace of bad at all – both are equally conducive

to the attainment of the goal of Self-Realization.

If this is so, naturally it can be asked, ‘Why is good preferable to bad?’ both

good and bad are zero, being non-existent for those who are God-Realized.

Both are terms of duality. But Masters and Avatars give preference and

advocate good over bad. This is only because good is really, spiritually speaking,

easy for reaching the goal; through apparently, materially speaking, it is the

reverse.

For example, bad is apparently easy – difficult, really! But the underlying

principle in life being spiritual progress – true existence – comes against the

material progress which is only apparent and not real. Thus, Masters advocate

good, being truly easy for mankind, as the better course to follow for true

progress in the march of life to the goal of Realization.

Another reason for preferring and advocating good is that in evil, although

apparently easy, while thinking about and actually committing a bad act, there is

always a sort of torture to the mind which inevitably happens after committing

the act. For instance, illicit sex or murder.

Whereas in good, which though apparently difficult, there is nothing of the kind

– no torture to the mind. On the contrary, there is a constant feeling of a sort

of happiness not only in thinking but also doing a good act, although it is always

more difficult apparently to do good rather than bad.

Besides, pursuing the course of doing bad to the extreme would not succeed or

endure until the end. A man’s body however bold, indifferent, healthy and

robust would not be able to withstand prolonged indulgence in bad vices – such

as lust, drinking liquor or violence to the extreme.”


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WORKING UNIVERSALLY

“The universal mind and infinite consciousness have infinite ways of working

universally. Whatever work One who has a Universal Mind or Infinite

Consciousness does is reverberated through the universe and produces reflex

actions. If he fasts, the result of fasting is felt throughout the universe

spiritually. A Master’s working is always for the spiritual end. If he observes

silence the same result is brought about.

Now, the world is laboring under terrible economic chaos. To follow the

spiritual path and to enable the mind to accept the spiritual, the material needs

must, to some extent, be satisfied. Consequently, when I with my own hands

give food and clothing to the poor, the result will be that the world will gain

economic and material welfare. When I wash the mad and lepers, the effect will

be that; those subnormal or abnormal consciousnesses will gain normal or

supernatural consciousness, and the lepers will either get cured or their future

births will be lessened.

When I ask any one of you to bathe a leper; you’re doing so serves a dual

purpose. In the first place you are trained to tackle difficult work which

ultimately, from the spiritual standpoint, results in the gradual elimination of

your ego; and secondly, the habit of obeying my orders implicitly and

unquestioningly is developed.

For example, if I ask you to observe silence and if your obedience is sufficiently

grounded in that respect, I can then rely upon you to obey me in other similar

difficult tasks. Also, since you are near to me and connected with me, your

observance of the fast or silence, bathing of the lepers, etcetera, will affect the

whole range of your work for me.”


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THE INNER PATH AND THE PLANES

“The spiritual path is the inner planes. There are three main types of persons on

the path – on the planes: the intoxicated ones called masts, the sober called

saliks, and those who strive on the own efforts called the yogis. The masts are

the individuals absorbed in the ecstasy and bliss of the heavens of the planes.

The saliks are stationed in the planes and guided by a Qutub or Sadguru. The

yogis go through the heavens to the planes and sometimes are guided by a

Sadguru. These persons are on the inner path, who are journeying inwardly

within their own being to realize God while crossing through the subtle and

mental planes and heavens.

Each of the seven planes has a section called heaven. The seven lanes and

fourteen by-lanes of the seven planes and seven heavens make up the inner

path. The seven lanes are in between the planes, and the fourteen by-lanes are

through the heavens of each of the seven planes. A heaven is to a plane as a

city to its central train station; one journeys on the path from station to station,

from plane to plane by way of seven lanes – tracks connecting one train station

with another. To reach the next station (plane), one must pass through the city

which has fourteen by-lanes through the city (heaven) – fourteen streets leading

in and through the city to the next train station (plane). If a person lingers in the

city and becomes enchanted, lured by the city’s (heaven’s) multiple attractions,

one cannot journey further and find the train station – to advance to the next

plane.

The Sadgurus and Qutubs guide the individuals they are connected with

through the cities (the heavens) to the train stations (the planes) ensuring that

they continue to progress, from one lifetime to the next, toward the real goal

of realizing God. Those individuals who attempt to go on alone, in an attempt

to go forward, without the direct help of a Perfect Master are inevitably

trapped in the city by the enchanting diversions of the heavens of each subtle

plane up to the fourth. Those enchanted are in a state of hairat, and it is these

intoxicated masts who dwell absorbed in the heavens. But the individual who

remains sober, the salik, who journeys into the inner realms with the help of a


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Qutub, is safe-guarded from becoming enmeshed in the coils of the heavens.

The salik is taken out of the heaven through one of the fourteen by-lanes and

brought directly to the next plane through a main lane connecting one station to

the next station.

Up to the fourth plane there exist inner stages called kadams, gams and

muqams, along the inner path. A kadam is a step along the crossing in any

subtle plane. A gam is breathing space in crossing any subtle plane. A muqam is

a place of rest while crossing the subtle plane. After so many steps (kadams)

comes a breathing space (a gam), and after so many gams comes a muqam

(resting place) on the way to the mental planes where one is safe from

enchantment. In the seven lanes in between the planes and in the fourteen by-

lanes through the heavens, there are forty-nine muqams in each subtle plane up

to the fourth plane and fourth heaven.

There are thousands of steps (kadams) in each subtle plane and heaven up to

the fourth, and there are several gams (breathing spaces) between each subtle

muqam (resting place). There are less kadams (steps) travelling through the

planes, so it is more a direct journey for a salik, and there are more kadams in

the heavens so it is a more indirect journey for a mast. Masts abide in the

heavens (cities) and are completely absorbed in the bliss of enchantment.

Saliks dwell in the planes (at the stations) and have their own bliss and

ecstasy, but they do not leave the lane to the next plane; thereby they by-pass

the allurements in the heavens – they by-pass the city.

The Perfect Master takes individuals who are ready through the planes, but

they are usually veiled from the conscious experience of the planes and

heavens. In this sense, they pass by the planes. The yogis, masts and saliks

travel the path of the inner planes unveiled, passing through the heavens

consciously by their own efforts and when they get help from a more advanced

soul. Heavens are the experience of the powers (siddhis) and ecstasies (haal) in

the subtle planes. When an individual reaches the next plane (station) without

having moved about in the heaven (city), one is in the plane, and stationed

therein. That experience is the muqam of the plane. However, if one moves

about in the city and is caught by its allurements, then one is in a heaven of the

plane. That experience is called haal.


25 | P a g e

While in the ecstasy of heaven one does not move, advance to the next plane

because one is in the state of enchantment or hairat. Progress through the

heavens for a mast is slow and there is always danger of divine enchantments.

Enchantments are dangerous because they are overpowering; this over-

powering is called jazd. Jazd means that instead of absorbing the experience of

the heaven; one becomes absorbed in the experience. A mast is so intoxicated

that he does not want to leave the heaven. Jazd eventually causes a divine

coma or stupor.”


26 | P a g e

HALLUCINATION, IMAGINATION & CONTACT

“Subconscious experiences, although on the same plane, vary. Some are mere

dreams, some visions, some the foretelling of the spending of impressions – but

even the subconscious can be hallucinated. This is very interesting.

Now what is hallucination? Let us not play with mere terms. Let us see whether

you really understand. It is not a dream; it is like a delusion. The difference can

be understood by examples. You sit relaxed and in your mind pictures of your

home, your mother, family, come to your mind. This is imagination. You

imagine yourself being in America – talking, eating, etcetera; that is imagination.

Now, in this imagination you think that you actually see your home, your

mother, family, etcetera, and feel their presence. This is hallucination.

Now what is the difference between hallucination and spiritual experience? In

hallucination you see things – extra-ordinary things – but you never feel blissful

or peaceful. This is the only sure sign of differentiating between hallucination

and spiritual experience. When it is hallucination, bliss and peace are not

possible. In the state of delusion too, bliss and peace are not possible, but this

confusion as to whether it was hallucination or spiritual experience does not

remain. In hallucination you see figures, giant figures, or pygmies, etcetera, yet

you doubt as to whether they exist or not. But in delusion you take things as

existing which really do not exist. Hallucination is like a conscious nightmare!”

‘How can you imagine things you have not seen?’

“You have seen things far back, ages, back. You can never produce what you

have not seen. Imagination is infinite. But sometimes you see in your dream

events that occur years after, and all of a sudden you remember having

dreamed it. Sometimes you see such funny, weird thing – having no meaning.

Or you see persons you have never seen in this life, but you have either seen

them in the past or will see them in the future.”

‘When you have dreams of future events, have you seen that?’

“You will see it later even if you have not seen it yet. Imagination is always

something you have seen or will see in future.”


27 | P a g e

“Astral journeys are taken by persons consciously and unconsciously, but those

that really matter are the ones done consciously. You actually experience being

aloof from the gross body and having a subtle body, and seeing with the eyes of

the subtle body, and smelling with the nose of the subtle body.

In a dream when you sleep, this physical body is not used, and yet you see,

smell, hear, taste, etcetera. You do it all with the subtle body, but not

consciously. When you do it consciously you actually experience being aloof

from the body. You smell, you eat, you hear, you feel, doing it all as concretely

as you do with the gross body, not vaguely as in dreams. You can then actually

feel the body as a cloak – you take it off and put it on like a garment. Actually,

this is not just imagination.”

‘What happens when you establish a direct, mental contact with you, Baba,

thinking of you?’

“Now, this is very important. The difference is so subtle between imagination

and contact, yet there is a world of difference. When you imagine, you have no

purpose; when you contact you have purpose.”

‘It’s clear, but even in contact don’t you use imagination?’

“Yes, imagination is the background.”


28 | P a g e

HELL & GHOSTS

“Hell and heaven are mental states, not places. In these states the mind’s

desires and the capacity to receive become extremely intense. For example;

you die – you’re dead. That means you leave the body, but you, as soul,

continue. Your mind and your ego also continue and the impressions in your

mind are there.

One of these impressions is of drinking alcohol. Now this impression has to be

wiped out by drinking. But here is this state without the body; the drinking

process is only by thought and desire. The mental enjoyment is much more

intense, however; and it lasts longer. Here the thought is drink. Now you can

enjoy drinking, just by thinking. But since the gross vehicle is not attached, you

cannot get drunk.

‘What is meant by possession?’

“There are certain cases where the gross body is compelled to drop before the

person’s sanskaras are completely used up. Such is the case when a person

commits suicide. The body is gone but the momentum of all the (gross)

impressions goes on. This person is now a ghost.

The ghost wants to drink, eat, etcetera, very, very badly; so much that it takes

unnatural resources by entering someone else’s body. It awaits its opportunity.

When it finds you drinking it satisfies its desire by drinking through you – your

body. When it has to experience anger, then, when you are angry it experiences

it through you – your body. This is a fact.”


29 | P a g e

TIME TO DIE!

“It is time we started dying; Dying not the ordinary death, but the death of low

desires. It is all bliss everywhere, but all people are miserable because of

ignorance which forces them to fulfill desires. Yet the goal of each and everyone

is to attain the state of desirelessness. Is it clear? It is really all happiness,

infinite unfathomable bliss when you desire nothing. Let desire die – but how?

You want millions of things. You say, ‘I want this, I want that’. If you were to

keep an account of you wants – oh God! Needs are not wants. Everything

beyond needs is wants. And wanting inevitably leads to suffering.

So try your best, your very best to want less and less of that which is beyond

your needs. Try loving more and more, and then you will want less and less

which is beyond your needs and want more love. Try seriously. It will be bliss if

you do not want anything. But you must try consciously. The stone wants

nothing, but wants nothing unconsciously.

Let us begin dying! The more you want the more miserable you are. If you

think seriously for just five minutes of all the things you have wanted during

your life, of what you have gotten, and what you did not get and today ask

yourself if you are satisfied with life. All that you enjoyed in the past, is today

nil! All you have suffered today is nil! It was illusion!

So, when it is our right to be happy, why try to be unhappy by wanting things?

Don’t worry, be happy. If you want, the wanting makes you restless. If you do

not get it, you are disappointed. If you get it, you do not want it – you do not

enjoy it.

Therefore, long and be restless for one big thing. Long and want the one thing

that will kill all the millions of other wants; long for union. How clear and

simple. Try with all your heart. Do not say yes and then not do it. Begin

seriously now.


30 | P a g e

So begin by wanting less. Try to love more. Try to have more tolerance. It is

sublime happiness all around and yet everybody is sad, miserable and suffering.

So, do you promise to begin dying?”

“If I find disharmony and find you are not prepared to die, then it is better you

all pack up and go. You have not come here for name and fame. I have so many

disciples from the west. I do not need anybody. I am always alone and will be

until eternity. It is you who need me until you become me. But if you do not

try, what is the use?

Therefore, all should begin to try now, or seriously I tell you all to leave. Be

honest in your trying. There must be harmony, love and peace. Real harmony,

love and peace – not forced. Unless you are what I want you to be, I cannot give

you what I want to.

Do not keep the doors closed (pointing to the heart). Keep them open so that

when I want, I can enter. Every time I intend entering, I find the doors closed, all

because of useless wants.

Begin dying by loving. Promise me. If you cannot love one another, how could

you love those that torture you? Look how Jesus loved! He saw himself in all.

See Baba within. If I say, ‘No!’ do not get angry! When someone says no, think

it is Baba who says no. It is all want, pride, ego-satisfaction – all wants.”

‘How can we differentiate between needs and wants? Some claim, ‘I need all I

want.’ What is the difference?’

“If you are dying of thirst in the desert, you need water – not lemonade. If you

ask for water, it is your need. If you ask for barley water, it is a want. Is it clear?

But if you can drink good water, it is not necessary to drink muddy water to kill

your desire for drinking. Drink good water. Neither lemonade nor muddy

water, but pure, simple water.”


31 | P a g e

SO CALLED ‘HOLY SCRIPTURES’

“If a lecturer speaks today before a gathering of five hundred, and the same

subject is repeated by five hundred listeners to others, there would be five

hundred different interpretations – some never dreamed of by the speaker!

Therefore, what about the teachings of Masters like Jesus interpreted after him,

perhaps a thousand times through different interpreters in the past? The

original though is sometimes lost sight of, or made irrelevant, but yet each

clings to his own different interpretation as the original.

That is why many today hesitate to believe in the Bible and other such books,

where interpretations do not appeal to them. There is more of the writers in

the Bible than Jesus Christ!

Thus it is that there are always quarrels between fanatic followers of different

religions, over words and explanations that the Prophets never uttered but

were written in the so-called holy scriptures by over-enthusiastic disciples and

priests, which quite naturally creates a revolt in the minds of others.”


32 | P a g e

TRUTH, GOD & SELF

“Truth is infinitely simple and to realize it is naturally also easy. Complications

are not natural to unity because duality is based on complications. Books,

philosophies and different terms, all lead to confusion and contradiction if not

applicable to one’s spiritual tendency. God-Realization means living in and

with God in every thought and action – to be so spontaneous as to naturally

express divinity through every thought and deed consciously. It is divinely and

consciously automatic.

When you are awake, conscious or unconscious, eating or not, with people or

alone, amidst activities or in solitude, you continue breathing automatically.

Your breath is constant and always with you. So must God be in and with you

automatically, and at the same time consciously, in every aspect of your life.

It is to be simple, practical and livable in the ordinary run of life, natural and

easy to maintain in all your worldly activities.

Belief, trust and faith are all illusory phenomena if not based on conviction

through personal experience. Ignorant persons seek to point out the faults and

weaknesses in others instead of finding them in themselves; and for some, to

criticize Truth is their life’s work, for when they fail to gain it, they grow

despondent and turn against it.

The apparent is not real. Under many a life’s complicated problems are

hidden some of the simplest truths which the veil of ignorance obscures from

human vision.

Do not bother about believing in me. Be prepared to believe in your Self. Have

faith in you own capacity for longing for Truth. Only then will you know Truth in

its pure and infinite simplicity. Only then will you come to know who I am.”


33 | P a g e

DETACHMENT & PETTY THINGS

“I am in all – in both great and petty things. All are nothing, so why give

importance to anything? I take as much enjoyment in looking after the mad,

being with the mandali, ordering my agents, looking after great universal work,

as in bringing eggs to Hedi (Mertens) and mail for you all. You cannot escape

petty things, because everything except God is petty. What you can do is to

be detached. Use the petty things, but know they are petty and so remain

unattached to them.

For example, false teeth are for eating; they are attached in your mouth. You

know they are false and you can take them out; attached and detached, you

make use of them.

The dirty body, which I call the walking latrine, is used for the soul to realize

itself. Can you escape from it? You cannot escape its perspiration, so what you

do is wash away the sweat. But if all day you go on brooding, ‘Why do I

perspire? I must not perspire.’ You cannot escape, but you can become

detached.”


34 | P a g e

WHY DO WE SUFFER?

“Why should we be born? To take birth means to suffer. When suffering leads

to real eternal happiness we should not attach importance to this suffering. It is

to eliminate suffering that suffering has to be. Most of this suffering is

unnecessary and self-inflicted. Ninety-nine percent of the world’s suffering is

self-inflicted. Yet, they ask, ‘why must we suffer?’ Great suffering means great

liberation.

What is ignorance if not suffering? War is no special suffering. Don’t people

suffer all the time? It is universal suffering which leads to war. People suffer

because they are not satisfied; they want more and more. Ignorance gives rise

to greed and vanity. If you were to want nothing, would you then suffer? But

you do want. If you did not want anything you would not suffer even in the

jaws of a lion! Even without war everyone suffers physically.

Mental suffering is worse than physical suffering. What the people of the

world with limited vision thinking of suffering as only physical. They draw

pictures of bomb-stricken person, nose off, arm off, leg off etcetera. Sometimes

physical suffering tends to ease mental suffering. The world’s idea of suffering

and of happiness is entirely limited.

Happiness – you have no idea of that real happiness – is worth all the physical

and mental suffering of the universe! Then all suffering becomes as if it were

not; it was due to ignorance. Ignorance makes you flinch at the sight of a cock-

roach; real happiness does not make you feel the teeth of a tiger in your body!

Even those who are not God-Realized and have not absolute knowledge they

can control their minds to such an extent that nothing makes them feel pain and

suffering – even being alive. One yogi, who had not even the smell of

knowledge, had himself thrown into a tub of boiling oil. Through his yogic

power, not only did he not feel the pain, but his skin was not even a little

burned. This is not the mind’s control over matter, it is even lower – it is breath

control.


35 | P a g e

When I talk of knowledge, it not ordinary knowledge: it is experience of

Godhood. Knowledge of God means becoming God – then all else is zero.

When the Master comes down from Godhood to normal consciousness, the

Master brings down God. He is not aloof from God for one second, but he has

to be on the same level of all, so he eats, drinks and suffers. All this does not

affect him personally but universally.

Sacrifice is sweet when it is for a good cause. Suffering should be for something

worthwhile, and not for selfishness or weakness.

Even cowards suffer, as do heroes, but there is a great difference between the

suffering of the two. The wounds of the arrows which the brave bear, and the

worldly arrows that pierce you, are as different as the earth and the sky.

Cowards go on being miserable by the arrows of maya, while heroes endure

their lot for love of God.”


36 | P a g e

GREED LUST & BACKBITING

“One of the three most important things to be eliminated before God-

Realization - greed, lust and backbiting – backbiting is the worst and the most

disastrous. One can overcome greed, and even lust, though both are very hard

to get rid of; but by far the worst, and most difficult habit of all to eliminate is

that of speaking ill of and trying to find faults or flaws in others.

And why must it be eliminated? Because this particular act or vice incurs the

burden of sins and sanskaras of others, which is spiritually very dangerous and

reactionary.”


37 | P a g e

SUFFERING & EGO: LOVE & BROTHERHOOD

“When suffering leads to real, eternal happiness, we should not attach

importance to suffering. It is to eliminate suffering that suffering has to be.

People suffer because they are not satisfied. They want more and more.

Ignorance gives rise to greed and vanity. If you want nothing, would you then

suffer? But you do want. If you did not want anything, you would not suffer

even in the jaws of a lion.

The widespread dissatisfaction in modern life is due to that gulf between theory

and practice, between the ideal and its realization on earth. The spiritual and

material aspects of life are widely separated instead of being closely united.

There is no fundamental opposition between spirit and matter or, if you like,

between life and form. The apparent opposition is due to wrong thinking – to

ignorance.

The best and also the easiest way of overcoming the ego and attaining Divine

Consciousness is to develop love and render selfless service to all humanity in

whatever circumstances we may be placed. All ethics and religious practices

lead to this. The more we live for others, the less we live for ourselves, and

thus the more debased desires are eliminated. This in turn reacts upon the

ego, suppressing it and transforming it proportionately.

The root of all our difficulties, individual and social, is self-interest. Eliminate

self-interest and you will solve all your problems – individual and social.

The world will soon realize that neither cults, creeds, dogmas, religious

ceremonies, lectures and sermons on the one hand, nor on the other hand

ardent seeking for material or physical pleasures, can ever bring about re al

happiness. Only selfless love and universal brotherhood can bring happiness”.


38 | P a g e

THOUGHT ATMOSPHERE & PILGRIM CENTRES

“By my living presence, I clean the tangled atmosphere of the shrines of the

dead saints, Sadgurus and Qutubs. This complicated atmosphere is of the

thought world. Thought force is really very strong and powerful. Chaitanya did

not go to places of pilgrimage for the sake of pilgrimage, but for cleaning their

atmosphere which were full of the sanskaras of thoughts of worldly people.

For my work, a pilgrim on the third plane is more helpful than the place of a

dead Master of the seventh plane; but a well-known dead saint or Master may

have strong influence due to the multitudes going to his tomb. That is why I

thin down the effect of this complicated thought atmosphere by visiting such

places.”


39 | P a g e

LOVE & LIVING IN HARMONY

“Mend your ways or go. You leave your home, your family to dedicate all to me,

yet live a life of binding. You have no freedom to go to cinemas or theatres. In

every way, you sacrifice your love. You all love me, take me to be God – and I

really am God – but the one thing that is shortcoming in you all is this complete

lack of control! If you had control, you would be jewels as disciples! But

control in all of you is disastrously lacking that it makes it very difficult for me to

adjust all your other good points. This one lack makes the whole thing a farce.

Here, only twelve of you and yet no harmony. You all do not love each other.

You cannot tolerate each other. The slightest provocation demonstrates your

weakness to the highest. You say, ‘We live with the greatest Master of the age!’

But you do not say, ‘we stay with him and fight like dogs and cats!’ I warn you

all very seriously, East and West – control.

Very seriously, whenever you get excited, or feel others are unjust, or you feel

they pass remarks, or you feel you are in the right and they in the wrong – the

very moment you feel all this, remember me and get control. Pinch yourself,

go aside. You must take practical steps. The moment you feel excited, make a

fuss, remember me and begin singing or dancing – very practical solution. You

will at once turn it into laughter. If you cannot get control, then take this

practical step; if not, you are lost. The slightest advantage given to the ego, with

the help of the mind (emotion), bursts with all fury.

Spiritually, it is not cowardice to give in. If you cannot love at least have the

courage to give in. All this I have said a million times, but it goes in one ear and

out the other. This is the last time I will tell you. If it goes out, all go. You all

fight for no reason but lack of control. This is not yoga but bhoga. Bhog means

taking; it means selfishness. Yoga implies giving; it means selflessness.”


40 | P a g e

WHERE IS GOD?

Baba abruptly started asking each one in the room, “Where is God? Where is

God?”

All replied spontaneously. Wankadia said, ‘Everywhere’.

Nilu pointed to the chest and said, ‘In the heart!’

Vishnu said, ‘In the soul!’

One expressed his inability to give a proper answer, saying, ‘It is the eternal

question’.

Finally Baba asked Donkin, who replied ‘In Baba! Baba is God.

For a moment all were taken aback. Donkin’s answer was so simple, so natural.

Baba then spelled out, explaining:

“If you take me as your Master and believe me to be Perfect and one with the

Infinite, if you believe this is all faith, then Don’s is the only correct and logical

answer.

God is where you are not! By you is meant your false ‘I’, your illusionary life as

Kaka, Adi, Eruch, Baidul. Where you are, God is not! To think yourself separate

from God is all imagination. Your false ego makes you think you are such and

such and leads you to believe that God can never reside within you! When

your false ego disappears and your ‘I’ goes, God comes!”

Referring to the group’s various answers, Baba further explained:

“To say God is everywhere is a generality and nothing new. Pundits and priests

the world over say that, and Vedanta is full of this explanation. To merely say it

is of no use. You must seek God everywhere, find God everywhere, feel God

everywhere and experience God everywhere.

To say that God is in the heart is again only part of the truth. If God is

everywhere, as you all know and say, then why should you confine Him within

the limits of your cardiovascular system? Why can’t He be in your head, your

finger, your toe? Why should you try to see Him in one particular part and not

in another!


41 | P a g e

It is a common mistake and characteristic human weakness to raise the eyes to

the skies and try to view the Highest and most Beloved and revered up above,

somewhere in the heavens. Or, when sought in the body, to find Him only in

the parts men like best: that is the heart or the eye, as if He did not exist equally

elsewhere in other parts – in the back or bones, in the nails or flesh. Is God in

the rose and not in the thorn? Or in flowers and not in dirt?

This weakness of seeing God in things you like and shuddering at the idea of His

existence in things you don’t like or abhor must be overcome. It is only when

you rise above all these ideas of good and bad and recognize, see and feel

flowers and dirt alike, and find God equally in all, that you could be said to

have known and learned something real. Otherwise, it is all parrot-like, a false

conception, an illusion.

Besides taking it for granted that the best and most ideal abode for God to dwell

in the human body is the heart, it must be remembered clearly that even in the

best abode dedicated by human beings to God to dwell, He who is Purest of the

Pure would not come in unless the abode of the heart, however spontaneously

and lovingly offered, is absolutely clean, empty and devoid of any foreign

element. The slightest defilement and obstruction in the form of impurities of

mind or body prevents Him from entering! Therefore, those who truly want

God to dwell in their heart must have them utterly clean and empty, devoid of

selfish desires, lust, anger, greed, hatred – empty of all desires either good or

bad.

To say that God is in the soul is again incomplete, vague and high sounding

unless and until it is actually experienced. Vishnu tells others that Baba is God.

He says it whole-heartedly and with depth of feeling; but when I myself ask him,

“Where is God?” he points to his soul!

This is all philosophy, dry and of little use. Vedanta is full of it. The pundits

everywhere babble it to the orthodox sections of each community, who

tenaciously cling to their pet beliefs and do not want to go beyond the four

walls of rites and rituals. The pundits die babbling, without the slightest clue

about the meaning of their words. And the masses are so misled by their blind

faith in the clergy that they refuse even to talk or listen to the facts from the

ones who have actual experience, and consider it blasphemy even to think of it.


42 | P a g e

They are only interested in philosophical talks and learned discourses and are

quite satisfied with them. That is why I say it is all pure humbug without

experience. It is all dry philosophy and of no use. One must try not only to

learn and know, but to feel and experience.”

Wankadia again states, ‘It is an eternal struggle to realize God’.

“This is true. But this does not mean one should sit idle and not try! One should

not grow despondent that the problem is impossible to achieve and make no

efforts to attain it. The struggle and search for God should be continued with

added energy, determination and vigor at every step. And the longing should

become so intense that there should be no other thought of anything else in

the world, except of seeking Him. The aspirant should go forward to achieve

his aim, leaving no stone unturned in investigating all sources of Enlightenment.

But the best, easiest and quickest way is to find a Master who has realized

God. This, however, is not easy for all since some, before coming across a

Perfect Master, come under the influence of false gurus and saints. Yet, if the

longing for that eternal search is kept up in all faith and with all enthusiasm,

the aspirant assuredly finds the Perfect One who leads him straight to the

goal.

Those living in the company of a Master should not feel content and merely say

that they have found everything because they are staying with a living Master.

For, even though it is true, they lack actual experience of Realization. And

without effort, the experience of Realization is never gained. So try, all of you,

to see your Master as he really is and not as he appears to you. Even in your

Master try to find the Infinite Existence that pervades everywhere.”

Baba then aksed each, “Where is God not? Where does God not exist?”

This set them thinking again, and none could give a satisfactory reply. At last

Chanji said, ‘Nowhere!’

Baba explained, “God is not where you are! God does not exist where there is

duality!”


43 | P a g e

PURE LOVE & SELFLESSNESS

Once, a lawyer, quite frankly and gently, told Baba, ‘I have heard many people

talk about love, but I still don’t know what love really is.’

Baba asked, “Are you married?”

‘Yes.’

“Do you have children?”

‘Yes’.

“Do you love them?”

‘Yes, in the ordinary way. But I cannot say that is real love. My object is to have

real love, not this worldly affection and attachment. I visited saints, in the hope

of experiencing love, but so far have not succeeded in any way.’

Baba praised the man’s longing for true and divine love, and dictated the

following.

“You must first understand what real love means. Selfish motives, even in what

people call love often deceive them, and they mistake selfish feelings for love.

I will make the point clear with an example. A person talking of love will say, ‘I

love my beloved. I want my beloved to be with me’, and so on. In all the

expressions of love, the ‘I’ and ‘my’ are predominant.

Another example: suppose you find your child running about in tattered clothes

and feel unhappy about it. It will pain you, and you will really feel for him. You

will do all in your power to see that he has good clothes and to make the child

happy.

On the other hand, if you see someone else’s child in the street in a similar state

would you feel the same and act as readily as you did in the case of your own

child? If not, it shows how your attitude toward you own child is merely a result

of your selfish feelings.


44 | P a g e

Your feelings could be called the outcome of true love, only if your attitude

toward the unknown child of a stranger in the street were the same as toward

your own child, under the same conditions.

Complete absence of selfishness is, therefore, the true characteristic and real

test of pure love.

Pure love is not something which can be forced upon somebody nor is it

something which can be snatched away from another. It is attained after the

aspirant has succeeded in overcoming selfishness, when the false ‘I’ in him does

not exist.

It is difficult to attain the zero state of selfishness, as long as the aspirant has

not resolved to reach it. In the absence of a firm determination, the external

attachments connected with the lower self prove to be too strong to overcome,

with the result that the aspirant does not find it possible for him to attain his

goal.

On the other hand, if the aspirant with a strong will decides, once and for all, to

achieve his aim at any cost, he finds his task easy. For example, if you have an

old coat which you like very much. You cannot get rid of it, until you make up

your mind and boldly take it off to throw it away once and for all. Such bold

decision methods make a task easy, which would otherwise be difficult.

Self-renunciation is absolutely essential to experience pure love. This

renunciation does not mean that one has to leave the worldly connections and

affairs and go off to the jungle. On the contrary, it means remaining in the

world and discharging one’s duties faithfully, yet, at the same time, keeping

aloof from all attachments. This is not an unattainable ideal, but a practical goal

which can be attained with ease, provided of course, that the aspirant sincerely

and boldly resolves to reach it.

Just as a man when very hungry feels the desire for food intensely, similarly,

when an aspirant deeply desires to experience pure love, he feels the longing

for it. At the proper time, he gets the necessary direction and help from a

Master to attain the goal of selflessness. He is then able to enjoy, finally, the

bliss of divine love.

This state of divine bliss is to be experienced, not to be intellectually

described.”


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A MISSIVE OF COMFORT & INSPIRATION

Baba’s letter to a western lover during World War II:

“I know every inch of you. Realize me and you will know God. No other

pursuit is worthwhile, when you have met the Beloved. Everything then centres

around Him. You will see beauty through Him, be it expressed through poetry,

art, music or through life itself. All work, whether of your hand or academic, is

done for Him and your only attachment is your Beloved. All service then

becomes selfless, whether done for friends, family or a stranger.

To please Him, the Beloved, is to know Him. There is no other knowing.

Feeling - is not knowing: To please me is to do; but to do what?-: That which

your Beloved commands you.

My way with you all is the shortest way to union, which, I long for infinitely

more than you can ever long. Although the game is of my own making, still I

must suffer to enjoy my realization of Myself consciously in all creations.

But it is up to you – my loved ones who know me in the flesh as none other can

– to lessen the suffering and give me all the happiness of which you are capable.

Will you do this for me? Help me in thought, words and actions. Let your

thoughts be always of me, your words spring always from love, and your actions

be expressive of one who seeks in all she does to please Him, who is ever

present in the heart of his beloved Leyla.

This thought will give you eternal happiness and bliss in the midst of the sad

times through which the world is now passing and must face up to. The

suffering of all will be terrible, but remember underneath are the ‘Everlasting

Arms’. So, keep happy in your faith and love to the very end. I will never fail

you and never leave you.”


46 | P a g e

AN INTERVIEW WITH A NEWSPAPER REPORTER

Do you accept the principle now usually accepted in the West that science and

religion deal with different spheres?

“It depends upon on how it is understood. If science deals only with material

advancement, then such science would be said to have nothing of spirituality.

But when the same science is expressed to make the meaning of life clear, then

it is also a branch of spirituality – just as art, if expressed rightly, is spiritual, if

expressed wrongly, material.”

You mean scientific truths and principles are valid so far as they go, and are to

be fitted with spiritual doctrine!

“They can be fitted in. What is the gross world, after all, but the medium of

realizing spirituality? For example, the body is purely material, physical and

gross, but it is the medium for the soul to know itself, provided it is dealt with

and handled rightly; otherwise, it becomes a hindrance to spiritual progress.

Similarly, scientific principles and truths, if used rightly, help in the spiritual

progress of the universe, but if improper use is made of them, they are bound to

be a source of hindrance in the spiritual path.”

But, what about astrology? Astrology is not part of science.

“Everything has something to do with spirituality. It depends on how it is

worked out, and that again results in either advancing or retarding spiritual

progress.”

“Science is a general thing, while astrology is individual, so science itself cannot

be proved to be wrong. If a truth is established scientifically, you do not think of

doubting it. It does not occur to you to doubt it. If you are told that the earth is

round and if it is proved to you, you never think that it is flat. But if an

astrologer tells you will get a million rupees after some time, you will think of it

a million times.”

“Spirituality has no room for doubts. For example, if someone were to ask me,

‘Are you sure you are one with God?’ I would ask him, ‘Are you sure you are a

man and not a dog?’ He would say that he is a man because he cannot think of

himself as anything but a man. In the same way I am equally sure that I am one


47 | P a g e

with God. Even if the whole world tells me otherwise, I do not feel anything

about it. Spiritual certainty is something which nothing affects.”

Is it impossible to understand spiritual matters intellectually?

“Spiritual doctrines can be stated in intellectual terms. Intellect is a great help

in the experience of the heart. If someone who never had a headache asks you

to explain it to him, you will try to explain intellectually what it is. But to make

him understand it, you would have to hit him over the head. He gets a

headache and knows what it is.”

“There is nothing irrational in spirituality. Explanation can be made so practical

that it can be lived.”

“Jesus Christ said, ‘Leave all and follow me’. It means leave your limitations and

live my life. He never meant that it was the practical way.”

“Mysticism is thought to be somehow supernatural and out of human grasp. It

is not so. You may be doing all your worldly duties and at the same time be

mystic. It depends on how you arrange your actions and whether you lead a

proper life.”

Mahatma Gandhi, for example?

“Gandhi is a mystic in a way. Everyone is a mystic in his own way. A real

mystic’s life is practical: for everybody it means leading life properly”.

“Mysticism has connection with every phase of life, if properly expressed. It

not, there is a reaction which cannot be called mysticism. Thus love that is

handled badly through jealousy is converted to hatred. Mysticism if adjusted

rightly can help all nations now in war, while if handled otherwise it would make

matters worse.”

“Mysticism means experience of the soul on higher planes. And the highest is

attained through this experience. “

But what is needed to bring peace is material adjustment among nations,

economic and political changes. Has this doctrine any relevance to that?

“Material adjustments can be made with spiritual understanding. If people

were made to realize that all the trouble is due to self-interest, then

automatically material adjustments would follow.”


48 | P a g e

Is economic adjustment possible so long as human beings are what they are?

“Economic adjustment and human nature are co-dependent. If it is realized

that the trouble is due to self-interest, the problem will be solved. It is easy and

simple. Yet because of this ease and simplicity, the task is so difficult.”

“For example, if praise and insult do not affect you, you would be always happy.

If not, you are bound to be unhappy. How easy the remedy is, yet the simplicity

itself makes it difficult.”


49 | P a g e

THE CIRCLE OF MASTERS

“There is a difference in the Avatar’s or Sadguru’s attitude towards their circle

and towards the general public. The members of the circle are like the sons of

the Master, and the general public is like non-family members. For example, if

a newsboy turns into a millionaire, he would teach others the ways he became

so, and tell them that if they followed him, they too, would become millionaires.

But to his sons, he will give the riches – not description of how he acquired the

riches.

In the same way, the Avatar and Sadguru never explain to the members of their

circles the ways and means of the path. They just place them right on the path

to God-Realization itself; while to ordinary people, they explain the ways and

means to achieve it. The circle members do not need these explanations,

because they are the inheritors of the divine wealth, the heirs. When the

wealth itself is in hand, what is the necessity for explaining the ways to obtain

it?

There are special rules for my circled members. I put up with and forgive thei r

serious faults. It is a universal law for the masses that the punishment for

murder is death by execution. But there is a special rule for my circle members.

They are always saved from execution.

There should be no misunderstanding about the Avatar or the Sadgurus. They

are like fire. If you touch fire, you will be burned. If you seek to use it from a

distance, it will give you warmth, cook your food, warm your water and be

useful to you in every way.

I repeat, the Avatar and Sadguru are like fire. Those outside the circle should be

wary of them. They should not be misled by their talks and outward behavior.

Sai Baba was a Sadguru, but occasionally his behavior was strange. Once, on

seeing a naked child, he inquired ‘Is it a boy or girl?’ He also used to ask for

money from those who came to him. Seeing such behavior on the part of

Sadgurus, people doubt them, misunderstand them and take them for ordinary

beings. This is the downfall of those who so misunderstand.

If I were to lose rein to someone and permit him to do whatever he liked,

however improper or impractical it may appear from a worldly viewpoint, I do it


50 | P a g e

with an object in view, with a farsightedness which is beyond the grasp of the

mind. It may be that I wish that the person concerned should do it only as a

pastime, or to avoid a particular situation. So, by leaving the rein loose to divert

his mind to other things, I am just giving a plaything, because I know that in the

end, he will get tired of it and throw it away.

If the Avatar or Sadguru wishes his disciple to Ranounce something, he resorts

to one of two methods. One way is that he snatches the thing away from him or

has it stolen. Another is that he gives it such an importance that the person

himself becomes fed up and gives it up.

I have activated maya’s machine for a definite purpose. I permit humanity to

have a thousand and one experiences by passing through various acts. The

masses will come out of it; they will find that all this was a part of a great play,

which God, in His unbounded cleverness, has staged with the objective of

extricating humanity from maya, through maya.

The generally accepted idea of renunciation or detachment is an illusionary way

of getting away from maya, because you miss the main point by running away.

The inner reaction to such renunciation is such that the mind soon goes out of

control, leaving the person concerned in a morass, which only creates more

complications. To overcome these new complications is still more difficult. The

real remedy lies in remaining in maya, but not being of it.”


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GOD-MAD STATE; BATHING AND FEEDING THEM

“These men may be called yoga-brashtas. Apart from the circle, who are taken

to the Goal blindfolded, there are very few who receive the Grace of a Master

and who are pushed to even the sixth plane. All this depends mostly on past

sanskaras. It is very little of this present life which brings one in contact with a

Perfect Master. These souls you see here had been on the path in their past

lives, but were entirely lost as yoga-brashtas, and became spiritually dazed.

Among many examples, one man held on to the fruit of a tree for four years,

remaining in the same position until a Master came and gave him the

experience, so that he released his hold on the fruit and branch he had been

holding.

All of you have three bodies – gross, subtle and mental. Ordinarily everyone

uses the first two – gross and subtle – for experiencing the gross and subtle

worlds, the former in the awake state and the latter in the dream state.

After a soul is spiritually advanced and is stationed on the spiritual planes, he

assumes a body which is called karana sharir (mental body). When in this state,

the soul has immense powers in proportion to the stage of advancement which

he has attained. The power itself sustains the physical body even in the hardest

strains or trials. That is how, even oblivious to the world and their own physical

needs, they keep living as fresh and strong as ever. Otherwise, an ordinary man

would drop the body even under a thousandth part of the strain on the physical

body they experience.

Material happiness is a millionth shadow of the true, divine bliss.

It is not strain; nor suffering. It is a pleasure in performance of a mission and its

fulfillment. Besides, those who come down to the world for a duty after God

Realization bring with them the infinite powers, which sustain the physical body.

Their mind is a universal mind, and the body mahakaran - a universal body.

With the help of the universal body and mind the Perfect Ones can approach

and contact anyone at anytime, anywhere. Time and space do not exist for

them.”


52 | P a g e

ON MUSIC - GOD’S VOICE & LOVE

“There are one hundred and thirty two tunes in music. The singing, by an expert

musician or maestro, is wonderful. But they are very rare. There was a blind

singer in Delhi, who is now dead, whose performance was quite superb.

God is infinite Naad. Kabir calls it Anhad Naad or Infinite Voice. In each subtle

and mental plane, there are seven tunes. Thus, there are forty-three tunes,

forty-two in six planes, and one of God’s Tune. Even the best and most

exquisite true voice of the gross plane is only the seventh shadow of that voice

which is God’s, and which Christ, Zarathustra and Kabir have called the ‘Word of

God’. The voice of the best singer, which makes the rain fall, lights play and

people weep, is only the seventh shadow of that voice which is God’s.

If the tune of the sixth shadow is heard, it will make one completely forget the

universe. This happens on the first plane. If the pilgrim keeps listening to that

note, which is continuous in the first plane he cannot go on. On the second

plane, when the pilgrim hears the fifth shadow of the Eternal Voice, he neither

eats not sleeps. The second plane is far more powerful than first. It is called the

naad, which means tune.

Do not take the example cited literally. How can it be explained? The Hindus

call the Word of God ‘Om’ if you close your mouth, you cannot say anything, but

you can utter, ‘Ommmm…..mmm….mmm’ – the seventh shadow of the Voice of

God.

God is Infinite Voice, Infinite Light and Infinite Love. On the first plane they hear

with the subtle ear; on the fourth and fifth planes, with the mental ear; and on

the seventh plane, they become the Voice itself.

How can you grasp it? Impossible. How can you understand God as Voice and

your becoming that Voice?

It means three things in one: first love God so much that you forget yourself,

second sacrifice your carnal desires for the soul, and third, complete

resignation to God’s will.


53 | P a g e

And when you love too much, you forget yourself. Now how to do that

practically? Love for other things like men, women, cars, dogs, etc, comes

spontaneously. It is no gift, but spontaneity; it is natural. Loving God comes by

practice and by process to a certain point. But loving God mostly is a gift. To

love Baba you need to think Baba. If you think of Baba, you do not think of

yourself. The more you think of Baba, the less you think of yourself. So, to love

God so much that you forget yourself means that you think of God so much that

you can no longer think of yourself! By thinking continually, you become what

you think of deeply. The mind makes one become what one thinks of deeply .

If you think of Baba all the time, you cannot think of yourself. If you don’t think

of me, you will remain unmoved. Mediation classes do not impart love.

Meditation creates peace, not love. Thinking brings about love when done

continually and deeply. In meditation, you try to stop thinking. The stoppage

gives peace. But to love, you must think of the Beloved! If your mind becomes

still, your Beloved does not exist anymore. The how can there be love where

there is no Beloved?

This is a very important point, this differentiation. When you meditate, you try

to forget everything, even yourself. In loving you forget everything and self, but

you remember the Beloved! In real and perfect meditation, which is rare, you

forget your body, yourself and everything else. In loving also you forget self,

body, and everything, but you remember the Beloved. In meditation the

Beloved does not exist! That is why it is said that in meditation, the most you

can get is samadhi – forgetting everything and deriving peace. But never God-

Realization! It is only attained by love.”


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GHOSTS

Why be afraid of ghosts? A ghost means a human being without a body, and in

that bodiless state he has to remain as long as the sanskaras of his previous

birth lasts. Then he takes another birth. Ghosts are miserable. They have

desires like any of us. They try to come in contact with human beings to fulfill

their desires. When it is dark and silent, their subtle, smoky bodies become

transparent. You have gross, subtle and mental bodies. They have only subtle

and mental bodies, but these are not as limited as the gross. When stretched

out, their subtle body stretches out in all directions; upward and sideways. That

makes you shiver and scream, when you see them like that. Depending on

surroundings, darkness and quietude, they can be seen. Their bodies can

enlarge and shrink. That is why in dreams subtle bodies go anywhere,

stretching out and out. They can also be photographed in certain conditions,

depending on the surroundings, time, light and photographer.

These disincarnate spirits wish to contact living human beings. If Rano, a heavy

smoker has no body and for some reason becomes a ghost, she does not get

another physical body until certain sanskaras are spent. They may be spent in

one year or a million years. All depends on the contacts made to spend one’s

sanskaras. For instance, Rano has her craving for smoking cigarettes. She sees

Kitty smoking. She, too, wants to smoke and tries to contact Kitty to have a

cigarette. But contact with a gross body is almost impossible. Kitty feels the

presence of the subtle body and is scared. But poor Rano only wants to have a

smoke.

In some instances, Rano the ghost becomes so desperate that she waits until

Kitty nods to sleep even the tiniest little bit, and then smokes through Kitty’s

gross body. The subtle can enter any gross body or thing. When it enters you,

you don’t even know it, and are not at all affected. But it can only entre your

body when you are not conscious, when you are sleeping.

How many spirits have been drinking tea through Norina when she is not

conscious? But the spirit has no hold; it does not reside in you or possess you,

but just goes like the wind. And it only happens sometimes. Don’t think about

it, or you will go mad! It is of no importance, so trivial, so insignificant!


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Sometimes you feel angry for nothing. This might be some spirit wanting to

spend sanskaras through you. But this is so unimportant, not worth thinking

about. If we did and tried to picture it in our minds, we would go mad. Masters

are so bothered by these spirits ; you have no idea. They want to touch me for

liberation, and they do.

Always keep one thought in mind: that only God is real. Who is God? That

which is One in existence. All things that exist are that One. If you say That

exists, then That One is God. Everything else is automatically nothing. And if

Nothing exists, then that Nothing, too, is that One God.

Can you grasp this? All this is nothing. The only thought you must have in mind

is that nothing exists; zero exists. This nothing, too is God. One God exists;

nothing else exists. When you say nothing else exists, you mean nothing too

exists!

What is Nothing? That too is the same One God! To call God ‘One’ is not really

right. God cannot be two. God is not One; it is all God; everything is God!

Nothing is God! Think about it!

And now we come to this: it is the same God playing different parts at one and

the same time. He plays the part of the Universal God who is beyond

everything that is conscious. He plays the part of being falsely conscious of

being this body. He plays the part of the Creator. He plays the part of being

Himself consciously in creation.”

Kabir said:

‘One God is the Avatar; One God is the Soul of every being; One God creates all; And one God is everything.’

Avatar Meher Baba Pearls- II · Avatar Meher Baba Pearls- II 2011 4 | P a g e ‘UP’ FOR...

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