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Compiled & Published

by.

Avatar Meher Baba Poona Center

To Commemorate the 36th Anniversaryof Avatar Meher Baba's Silence

10th July 1961

By kind permission from

Shri Adi K. Irani,

Sole licensee of Avatar Meher Baba Copyright

Printed by ;

J. S. Tilak, Kesari Press, 568 Narayan Peth,Poona 2.

For 36 years now, Meher Baba hasbeen observing silence, which began on10th July 1925. " WHY MEHER BABAIS SILENT ? " - is a guestion that puzzles the mind of many-both amongstHis lovers and followers and amongstthose yet outside His fold. The ordinaryhuman mind is bewildered at the wayBaba has been fixing and putting olfdates for the breaking of His silence. Andthis has caused various speculations inthe minds of His lovers, as to when Baba

will break His silence and what it will

reveal. This has also invited various

kinds of criticism from sceptics. Duringthe second half of 1960, the attention ofmany was focused on the breaking ofBaba's silence for He had said He woulddo so before the end of that year; but

when 1960 passed and His silence continued, one of the mandali wrote to someof Baba's lovers :" those who are and have been

with Baba, have not felt He has beensilent and are therefore not ' craning theirnecks' to see the breaking of His silence-they have Him; they hear His silencespeak in their hearts and their lives unceasingly. But those who have only ofHis silence, eagerly await what the breaking of it will reveal. They are the belie-vers-of-His-Silence, and time and again

they remind the believers - of - Babaabout His silence.

"And there are still others who areconcerned wholly and solely about Hispromise to break His silence - concernedthat He should be breaking His promisetnskd of His Silence ! And finally there

are those selfish fish-in-the-shell who praythat Baba will once again and yet againpostpone the day, for although it will

herald the dawn of Universal Unity andHarmony, it will be at no little cost toHis beloved person." And of course, He will break it just

when the moment is right. As Pharoahsaid some 1,300 years before Christ (inreference to Moses) ' One day, in Hisown good time. He will speak the wordthat cannot be misunderstood.'

' Baba has said. The one WORD full

of meaning has produced innumerable

meaningless words and when 1 utter thatWORD all words will have meaning.'" Some seem to feel in regard to His

Silence-breaking promises that He has tobreak His word many times before Hebreaks His Silence to utter the WORD

And there are. some who wonder if Baba

will ever break His Silence after all! To

this Baba has said, ' Of course I willbreak My silence. Otherwise, why wouldI have observed it ? '

"The delay we feel to be made byBaba in carrying out His word is but thereflection of the delay within us in ourpreparedness to accept His WORD ofwords. This delay on his part thereforeis nothing but the exercising of the Avatar's infinite compassion. "To know God as God and His ways

one has to become God. So to know

Baba as Baba and his ways one has tobecome Baba. Till then all efforts to ex

plain Him and His ways remain a figmentof our imagination. A right understandingof the essential spirit of Meher Baba'sutterances would result not from the study

of discourses and definitions, but fromthe resolution earnestly to follow theway of life He sets before us and to devote our lives to His service. One canread all the books that are written inBaba's name by heart and yet knownothing about Baba. For Baba teaches bybeing as HE is and we learn by lovingand obeying Him to be as He is. Oneshould always remember what Babarepeatedly declares to the world that Heis not to be looked upon as a sadhu ora saint, or a yogi, or a teacher. With Hisdivine authority He asserts that He isthe Highest of the High. When He is theHighest of the High., it is impossiblefor man to measure Him or to understand His ways. When we face MeherBaba we are facing the sphere of the infinite in which there is no "order" in the

natural sense. So Baba says, " Do notexpect to understand Me or what I do,as you understand the life around you.. .he who would deeply ponder over theTruth which I declare, shall eventually beinitiated into the Life Eternal."

It is for the sincere seekers of Truth

and honest lovers of God to read and

ponder over, the following illuminatingstatements made by Baba regarding Hissilence which have been compiled andare offered to them on this auspiciousoccasion of the 36th anniversary ofAvatar Meher Baba's Silence.

May you be awakened to hearthe voice :of His Silence speakingin your heart.

Avatar Meher Baba Poona Centre.

' What is the time ?

Is that all ?

( Mehsr Baba ges

turi

ng)

Meher Baba con

vers

ing wi

th His

mandali by means of His

alph

abet

-boa

rd

■ ECHO OF SILENCE ^

I . . V In the beginning was the Word,I [ .- and: Word was with God." [

■ -^St. John. '

• When from the depths ;of hisheart, man desires, something morereal than, material power, the^ wave ofdestruction will recede. Thence peacewill;come, joy will come, light willcome.

• The breaking of My silence- thesignal of My public manifestation - ishot far olf.- I bring the greatest treasurewhich it is possible for man to receivea treasure which includes ail other

treasures, which will endure. for ever;

which increases when shared byothers. Be ready to receive it.

• I am not limited by this form. Iuse it like a garment to make Myselfvisible to you; and I communicate withyou. Don't try to understand Me. Mydepth is unfathomable. Just love Me,I eternally enjoy the Christ-state(Aham Brahmasmi-&i^.tQ ) of consciousness, and when I speak I shallmanifest My true Self; besides givinga general push to the whole world, Ishall lead all those who come to Me

toward light and truth.

• I intend, when I speak, to revealthe ONE Supreme Self which is in all.This accomplished, the idea of the selfas a limited, separate entity will dis-

appear, and with it will vanish self-interest. Co-operation will replace competition, certainty will replace fear,generosity will replace i gretd.Exploitation will disappear. Thebenefits that shall \,accrue to different

nations and countries when I bringabout the spiritual upheaval^ will belargely determined by the lamontof energy each possesses. The greaterthe energy - however misapplied - thegreater the response.

• When (the God-man) speaks.

Truth is more powerfully manifestedthan when He uses either sight ortouch to convey it. For that reasonAvatars usually observe a period ofsilence lasting for several years, break;

in'g it to speak only when they wisla tomanifest the Divine Will and world

wide transformation, of coriscidusness

then takes place. '• I am never silent. I speak ^eter

nally. The voice that is' heard deepvvithin the soul is My voice...the voiceof inspiration, of intuition, of guidance.Through those who are- receptive tothis voice, I speak.

• My outward silence is no spiritualexercise. It has been undertaken andmaintained, solely for the good; ofothers. ^ ■

• Things that are real are always-given and received in silence.i • God has been'everlastingly working in silence) unobserved, unheard,

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except by those .who experience :HisInfinite Silencp. ■ ■

"..I# People have' asked'; Me ̂ when Iwould break My silence, d, in turnasked them, "If My silence ^cannotspeak,; of what avail would be speechesmade, byt|he tongue ? •" When Godthinks My speaking would; be hearduniversally, He will make Me breakMy silence. However, silence 'or nosilence, he who would deeply ponderover the Truth which I declare, shall

eventually be initiated into the LifeEternal.,;

• Time, implying a beginning andan end,: like space, has no existence, inthe eternity of God. For us here, timedoes , exist, and the present is fast

approaching a junction that is the endof an old and the beginning of a hewcycle. The time is thus almost ripe fora fresh Universal Divine Manifestation

that will infuse new vitality in thebody of the old and time-worn truths.

• Although political, economic andsex problems are not directly connectedwith the Divine Theme, the momentGod speaks, all problems, all ovbr theworld, will by themselves get solvedand adjusted.

• This much I can say now, thatsoon God will make Me break Mysilence and then it will mean God

manifesting Himself; and within ashort period, humiliation and glorification will come and then will follow

My violent physical death. I will comeback again after 700 years; this I cansay now.

• Before the end of this year, Godwill make Me sing the first originalSong, and those who love Me will belost in that Song and find Me to be inevery one. When I break My silence,the greatest miracle of all times willhappen. Be worthy to receive theDivine Grace - and for that be preparedto receive that Grace now.

• Although I appear to be silent, Ispeak through you alh I am ever silent: nd 'everlastingly speaking, but thetime has arrived when soon I willbreak this apparent silence and tlien

g;

those "who love Me will see My- RealSelf .

• I feel very happy to hear music.It reminds Me of the first Song thatwas sung ages ago, and that Song produced this phenomena called the Universe. God will make Me soon breakMy silence and that first original Songwill be sung again, and the world willrealize that God alone is real and thateveryone of us is eternally orie withGod.

• When I say that My Manifestation is connected with the breaking ofMy silence, people should not expectan outpuring of verbosity. I will utterthe Word of words that will irresistibly'impart to those who are ready the

' I-am-God ' Anal Haq ' or ' AhamBrahma — Asmi' state,

• My mission is to utter this wordof Truth which will pierce the mind of

world and go to its very heart. It willconvey the simple Truth in its utterand indefinable simplicity. It will markthe moment of fulfilment of the DivineLife. It will throw open new gates toEternity. It will bring new hope todespairing hvmanity

• The word that I will speak will goto the world as from God, not as froma philosopher,* it will go straight to itsheart. With the dawn of the realisationof the Unity of all life, hatwd anddissension will come to ;an end.There will be unfaltering love and un-

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failing understanding and men shall beunited in an inviolable brotherhoodbased on the- realised Oneness of God.

• The moment I break My silence

and utter that Original Word, the firstand last miracle of "Baba" in this lifewill be performed. It will be such amiracle as I never have performed.When I perform that miracle, I wpn'traise the dead; but I will make thosewho live for the world dead to the world

and live in God. I won't give sight tothe blind, but will make people blindto illusion and make them see God as

Reality.

• I must break My silence soon.When I do, all who have- come into

contact with Me will have some

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glimpse of Me. Some will see a littleof it, some a little more and some stillmore. It will be as when the "power:house " is switched on; wherever bulbsare connected to it, there will be light.From the bulbs that are of smallcandle-power, the light will be dim;from those that are of high pandle-power, the light will be bright. If thebulb is fused there will be no light atall. I perform no miracles, but when Ibreak My silence, the first and the lastmiracle will be performed. The timefor the "power-house" to be' switchedon is so near that the only thing thatwill count now is love.

• Remember, that although I do notnerform miracles, I will give anything

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to whosoever asks from the bottom of

his heart. But this I tell you, too - thatthe one who asks for My love will bethe chosen one. The time is very near

when I will break My silence, andthen, within a short period, all willhappen. My humiliation, My gloiifica-tion. My manifestation and My dropping this body. All this will happensoon and in a short period. So, fromthis moment, love Me more and more.

• If you were to ask Me why I donot speak, I would say I am not silent,and that I speak more eloquentlythrough gestures and the alphabetboard.

• If you were to ask Me why I donot talk, I would say mostly for three

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reasons. Firstly, I feel that through youall I am talking eternally. Secondly,to relieve-, the boredom of talking incessantly through your forms, I keepsilence in My personal physical form.And thirdly, because all talk in itselfis idle talk. , ^Lectures, messages,

statements, discourses of any kind,"spiritual or otherwise, spoken orwritten are just idle ' talk ' when notacted upon and lived up to.• If you were to ask Me when I

will break My silence I would say,when I feel like uttering the only realWord that was spoken in the begin-ningless beginning, as that word aloneis worth uttering. The time for thebreaking of my silence tO utter thatWord is very near. ' ■ .

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• My Word of words will touch thehearts of all mankind and spontaneously this divine touch will instil inman the feeling of oneness of all fellowbeings. This feeling will supersedethe tendency of separateness and ruleover the heaits of all, driving awayhatred, jealousy and greed that breedsuffering, and happiness will reign.

• I have come to sow the seed oflove in your hearts so that in spite ofall superfii ial diversity, which your lifein illusion must experience and endure,the feeling of oneness through love isbrought about amongst all the nations,creeds, sects and castes of the world.

In order to bring this about, .1 ampreparing to break My silence. When I

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break My silence it will not be to fillyour ears with spiritual lectures, I shallspeak only One word, and this Wordwill penetrate the hearts of all menand make even the so-called sinnerfeel that he is meant to be a saint,while the saint will know that God isin the sinner as much as He is inhimself.

• Ages and ages ago, I did performone great miracle and the whole of thisillusion of creation came from Me. Iwill perform another such miracle atthe time when I break My silence.That will be My first and last miraclein my present incarnation. Expect noother miracle from Me,

• The time is rapidly approachingwhen a tidal wave will rise in the

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Ocean of Grace. Then the usual ,prp.ce5.gby; which the water in the ■rivers fhowsinto the oceans: will be reversed'.andthe.ocean.water- will rush through theriver-beds., , Be prepared tO; receive thisoyerflow of Grace, ■„• I;have come hht to teach but to

awaken. .Understand, therefore, that Ilay down no precepts.I Throughout eternity I have laid do-wn

principles and precepts, but mankindhas ignored them. Man's-inability' tolive God's words makes the Avatar'steaching a mockery. Instehd of practis-ing the compassion He taiight', manhas waged crusades in His ' name."Instead of living the huniiiity, pUrityand truth: of His Words, man 'has givenway to hatred, greed and violence.

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Because man has been deaf to the

principles and precepts- laid down'byGod in the past,- in- this presentAvataric Form 1 observe Silence. You

have askqd for and been given ;enough

words - it is now time to live them.

Tp get nearer and nearer to God youhave to get further and further awayfrom "I", "My", "Me" and "Mine."You have; iiot to renounce anything butyour owii self; It is as simple as that;though found to be almost impossible.It is possible for you to renounce yourlimited self by My Grace. I have coineto release that Grace.'

Come prepared to receive not somuch of My'^ords, but of My SilenCei.I repeat, I lay dowh no precepts.

When I release the tide of Truth which

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to give a spiritual push to thfe world by;His physical Presence on eaTth; ; Heuses the Body for His universal work,to be discarded in final: sacrifice as

soon as it has served its purpose. ;

• God has coriie again and "again finvarious Forms, has spoken again'aridagain in different words and differentlanguages the same one Truth-buthow many are there that live UFto it ?Instead of making Truth theT vitalbreath of his life, man compromisesby makiiig over and ovef again .amechanical religion of it, - aS a handystaff to lean on in times of ̂ adversity,as a soothing balm .for his ob'nsdienceor hs a traditionrtp bei followed in'thefootsteps of the-past' Man's;:iinahUity

Meher Baba communicating through the alphabet-boardwhile in Hollywood ( U. S. A. ) in 1932.

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to live God's words, makes them amockerj'. How many Christians followChrist's teaching to " turn the othercheek or to love thy neighbour asthyself ? " How many Muslims followMohammed's precept to "hold Godabove everything else ? " How manyHindus " bear the torch of righteousness at all cost ?" How many Buddhistslive the "Life of pure compassiohexpounded by Buddha ? " How manj''Zoroastrians " think truly, speak truly,act truly ? God's Truth cannot beignored; and thus by mankind's ignorance and weakness a tremendousadverse reaction is produced - and theworld finds itself in a cauldron of

suffering through wars, hate, conflict-

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ing ideologies, and nature's rebellion inthe form of floods, famines, earthquakesjand other disasters. Ultimatelj' whenthe apex is reached, God manifests

anew in human form to guide mankindto the destruction of its self-created

evil, th;it it may be re-established inthe Divi(.e truth. My Silence and theimminent breaking of My Silence is toSave makind from the monument 1

force of ignorance, and to fulfil thedivine Plan of universal unity. Thebreaking o f My Silence will reveal to

man the universal oneness of God,

which will bring about the universalbrotherhood of man. My Silence h«d tobe. The breaking of My Silence has tobe - soon.

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• My Humiliation, and My Glorification :

In the stage of Humiliation, themeasure of your love for Me and yourpreparedness to obey Me will be tested,not by Me but by the phase of humiliation itself. Blessed will be thoseamong you who will hang on to My' daainan ' through it all, emergingtriumphant in the divine glory of Mj'Love.

The stage of Glorification to follow,will be when I break My silence withthe divine word - THE WORD that

will indisputably assert the existenceof God, in the mind and heart of man;that will make the world know that

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God not only exists, but that HEALONE exists, infinitely and ete'nally.

• Diown all sound in My silence, if

you would hear My Word of words.

■ I want you toknowth^t I willdefinitely break My Silence; and Iwant you to cling to My ' daaman 'till the very end, irrespective ofwhether I speak or not. I am theHighest of the High, and want youto love Me not for any spiritualor material gain, nor for the impending breaking of My Silence and Mymanifestation, but I want you to loveMe for Myself, as being God inhuman form.

I want you to remain undisturbedand unshaken by the force of life's

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currents, for wbateverthe circumstances

they too -will be of My own creation.I want you to remain absorbed as

much as possible in thinking of Meduring My Seclusion of six months,when circumstances will be so createdduring this period that they will try todrift you away from Me. This is thereason why I have repeatedly stressed,while at Guruprasad, that the timehas come when I want you all tocling to My ' daainan' with bothhands - in case the grip of one hand islost, your other hand will serve ingood stead.• Hold fast to My daaman.

• My Silence must break. There isno escape for it. I shall not lay down

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My body until I have given the WORDto the world.

Of My own I shall not break Mysilence; Universal Crisis will make Medo so. When the Crisis reaches its

absolute culmination, it will make Meutter the WORD at that moment.

Circumstances are converging and fastgathering momentum towards precipitating the right moment, which willcome completely unawares - at anytime, any hour, any day. That Momentis not far away.

• As I am the PIVOT of the Uni

verse, the full pressure of the universalupheaval will bear on Me, and corres- .pondingly My suffering will be so

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infinitely overwhelming that the WORDwill escape from out of the Silence.• Remain completely resigned toMy WILL, and do not let any circumstance or situation shake your gripfrom My ' daaman I shall not comeout of My Seclusion until I break MySilence. The Divine Moment for My

giving the WORD is not far off.

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