Now a fly had entered my mouth and stationed itself in my throat. I had a very bad tickling sensation. I went red and wanted to cough it out. But I dared not as the meeting was in progress. I was very unhappy and in great discomfort.

Just then Baba looked at me. Our eyes met. Baba gestured, pointing to His eyes that He had seen the fly entering my mouth and coming out of it and that there was no fly in my throat. I alone knew what He had meant though others were looking at us. So when I was assured that there was no fly in my throat, the uneasy sensation at once disappeared and I was my usual self once again.

The fly was quite near my eyes — just half-inch away. But I could not see it either getting in or going out of my mouth. Though I was seated far away from Him among a cluster of devotees, Baba could observe it. This was how Baba would keep a constant eye upon us every moment.

The meeting being over, I bowed down to Baba who enquired if I was alright. I replied that He had made me very happy.

[Complete]

Love is a gift from God to man, obedience is a gift from master to man, and surrender is a gift from man to master. The one who loves, desires to do the will of the beloved, and seeks union with the beloved. Obedience performs the will of the beloved and seeks the pleasure of the beloved. Surrender resigns to the will of the beloved and seeks nothing. (33)

The easiest and safest way to lose one's finite ego is by completely surrendering to the Perfect Master.... Such complete surrenderance to the Perfect Master is, in itself, Freedom. (34)

A unique surrender to the Master occurs when

the lover surrenders completely to Christ, to the Avatar, to the God-Man. He lives, not for himself, but for the Master. This is the highest type of lover. (35)

The notion of surrender may be disturbing to seekers who value their independence. However, when an aspirant realizes that true liberation is

surrenderance of the false and the inheritance of the Truth,

surrender becomes consistent with independence and real freedom of choice. "To be a disciple of a Perfect One never involves the surrender of the right to think and feel and act by oneself. It does not mean ceasing to be true to the inner voice of the Highest Self within. On the contrary, discipleship of a Perfect One facilitates the pursuit of that Higher Self." (36)

Understandably, Meher Baba invited his lovers to try to surrender to him:

If you seek to live perpetually, then crave for the death of your "deceptive self" at the hands of "Complete Surrender" to me. This Yoga is the Essence of all yogas in one. . . . To realize this Truth of Unchangeable, indivisible, All-pervading Existence, the simplest way is to surrender to Me completely; so completely that you are not even conscious of your surrender.... (37)

Completely surrender yourselves to me so that my wish becomes your law and my love sustains your being.... He who succeeds, ultimately not only finds me, but becomes me and realises the aim of life. (38)

To his lovers, Baba suggested ways of practicing surrender:

I want you all to listen very carefully to what I say. It appears so simple, yet it is so very important for My lovers. To love Me is to lose yourself in Me and to find Me as your own Self is to leave all your pleasures and pains to Me. (39) Be resigned completely to my Will and my Will will be yours. (40) If you do wrong, think Baba is doing wrong. If you get a pain, think it is Baba having a pain. If you do all this sincerely, you will know something and forget yourself and do all for Baba. (41)

There are three interrelated elements in the aspirant's attempted surrender to Meher Baba. The first includes a resignation to everything as Baba's will. Such resignation does not imply passivity or apathy — Baba usually encouraged enthusiastic energy in worldly duties. It means being able to leave the results of one's best efforts to Baba, trying not to get ego-involved in success or failure. It also includes trust in Baba, a confidence that all events, positive or negative, can be helpful for spiritual growth:

I want you to remain undisturbed and unshaken by the force of life's currents, for whatever the circumstances, they too will be of my own creation. If you endure your lot with patience and contentment, accepting it as His will, you are loving God. (42)

A second facet of the process of surrender involves making Baba the nucleus of one's activities, creating a "provisional ego" — adopting the attitude of doing things for Baba, not for oneself. The objective is not to enhance the ego, but to give it up:

Seek me not to extricate you from your predicaments, but find me to surrender yourself wholeheartedly to my Will.... Do not ask me to bless you with a good job, but desire to serve me more diligently and honestly without expectation of reward. Never beg of me to save your life or the lives of your dear ones, but beg of me to accept you and permit you to lay down your life for me. Never expect me to cure you of your bodily afflictions, but beseech me to cure you of your ignorance. (43)

A third aspect involves realizing the near impossibility of total and complete surrender to Baba while aspiring to surrender, starting to build the creative habit of resignation, fostering internal dependence on Baba as one's real Self. Surrendering to the Avatar has always been a private, internal process. It need not be affected by Meher Baba's physical passing.

Taken together, the trinity of love, obedience, and surrender forms a basic unity on the path of the God-Man:

One who loves, is the lover of the beloved. One who obeys is the beloved of the beloved. One who surrenders all — body, mind and all else — has no existence other than that of the beloved, who alone exists in him. Therefore greater than love is obedience, and greater than obedience is surrender. And yet, as words, all three can be summed up in one phrase — love-divine. (44)

[Complete]

The Way of Love is a continual sacrifice; and what gets sacrificed are the lover's thoughts of "I", until at last comes the time when the lover says, "O Beloved! will I ever become one with you and so lose myself forever? But let this be only if it is your Will." This is the stage of love enlightened by obedience.

Now the lover continuously witnesses the glory of the Beloved's Will; and in the witnessing does not even think of union. He willingly surrenders his entire being to the Beloved, and has no thought of self left. This is the stage when love is illumined by surrender.

Out of millions, only one loves God; and out of millions of lovers, only one succeeds in obeying, and finally, in surrendering his whole being to God the Beloved.

[Complete]

Baba: He has. But the ego of the God-realized is altogether different.

When you say, "I am so and so," it is the false ego asserting the false self.

When you become "God-merged" (a perfect Majzoob or Brahmibhoot), you have no mind and you are conscious only of being God. This is the state of Super-consciousness. But when, retaining that state, you come down to normal consciousness, you have "ego," and it is the Real Ego.

If you read God Speaks you will know the details about the different stages and states of consciousness. Also, you must bear in mind that mere intellectual understanding has very little value by itself. Whether one understands the details of the Path or not, it is just the same. Only Love counts.

To learn God is to unlearn yourself. It is a rare privilege to meet a Sadguru and still more rare to love Him as God-in-human-form.

It is well said, "One who has the knowledge of God is not known to others." God alone exists.

[Complete]

The first master could realize God without a master in the human form, whereas the subsequent masters always and invariably need some master for God-realization. The reason is simple. God-realization implies inner poise as well as adequate adjustment with the universe (which is the shadow of God) along with everything that it contains. The first master (who is also the first incarnation of the Avatar) attained both these things, because it is the very goal of the initial urge seeking fulfillment. He did not have a master in the human form.

With regard to those souls who attain God-realization subsequently, the two requirements stand, viz. inner poise and adequate adjustment with everything in the universe. But there is one great difference. For example, for the soul who is second in attaining God-realization, one of the important factors in his spiritual environment is the existence of a human God-realized soul. Hence, while adjusting himself with everything in the universe, this second candidate for God-realization is confronted with the problem of adjusting himself to the first master or God-realized soul who, as we have seen, is indistinguishable from the eternal Avatar.

In this case the only adequate adjustment possible is unreserved acceptance of the bountiful help which comes from the first master. Refusal to accept this help is maladjustment to a tremendous factor in the universe; and this prevents God-realization. This is why the first God-realized person did not need an incarnate master, while all subsequent masters inescapably need some master or masters in order to realize God. They cannot do so by their own independent efforts.

[Complete]

God is to be loved, and not studied. God is to be loved, and not argued about. God is beyond intellect, so intellect can neither see Him nor understand Him. Only the heart can approach the threshold of the Beloved. Therefore, even the poorest of beings and the most illiterate can all find God within their selves through love.

This love demands no riches, no powers, no fame, no learning and no ceremonies. We have to love God as our Beloved, and this love must be so intense that, just as we cannot live without air, we should not be able to live without God — the love of God.

So, even the poorest and most illiterate ones should know that they have an equal right to know God though love, just as intellectual giants have. And you must also know that in everyday life, too, God can be loved. If you attend to all worldly duties, keeping yourselves detached and dedicating the results to God, you are loving Him.

God can be loved and seen just as you see gross things. So, be hopeful of life because we are all meant to love God, and see Him within ourselves. And I give you my blessing for this love so that some one of you may be worthy of loving God.

And I want to stress this point, that we are all One. In spite of our suffering, poverty and helplessness, we are in God.

I give you all my love.

[Complete]

Books and discourses will not bring about one's spiritual regeneration. Mind cannot be annihilated by mind, for one cannot jump over oneself. Only by loving me as I ought to be loved, can the mind be destroyed. Anyone may have love for me, but not the love I want.

My lovers may be likened to one who is fond of lions and admires them so much that he keeps a lion in his own home. But being afraid of the lion he puts him in a cage. The lion is always encaged; even while he feeds the lion, he feeds the pet animal from a distance and from outside the cage. Baba is treated like the lion by the lovers. There is love; there is admiration; there is an intense desire to see Baba comfortable and happy; and Baba is also frequently fed by love of the lovers. But all this is done, keeping Baba segregated from one's own self.

What is wanted of the lovers is that they should open the "cage" and, through intense love, throw themselves inside the cage to become food for the lion of love. The lover should permit himself to be totally consumed through his own love for the Beloved.

In spite of all explanations and reading of books, words remain mere words. They do no take one any further than intellectual satisfaction. Only love for God works the miracle, because love is beyond mind and reason. Where then is the necessity to read? I authoritatively say: I am the Ancient One. I have been saying this to all the world. If you love me with all your heart, you shall be made free eternally.

[Complete]

Oh humanity, listen!
Hear the Song of Spring being sung in the Tomb of Avatar Meher Baba.
Keep away from Illusion's summer by finding the Song in the Tomb.
The Divine Treasure is there — the Tomb is the Divine Treasure.

You were in the deep sleep of ignorance when the Beloved visited the earth.
How infinitely He suffered to awaken you from that sleep.
Now keep awake and find the Song in the Tomb — the Tomb is the Divine Treasure.

The Beloved walked on earth and visited many places.
He felt fed up with the noise of Illusion and chose to remain silent.
He worked in the Tomb in seclusion — the Tomb is the Divine Treasure.

He walked on earth with those who were longing for His company.
He gave His Darshan to those who were slightly awake.
And for the rest He has left His Tomb,
for them to take Darshan there — the Tomb is the Divine Treasure.

He worked to awaken all and has kept a gift for each one in the Tomb.
Each time His pilgrims visit the Tomb, they receive a part of their gift.
He has made His Tomb the Wineshop — the Tomb is the Divine Treasure.

He has kept the Divine Lamp burning in His Tomb, and He is inviting the moths.
The moths are flying to the Lamp, and each time they go near it they get a little more burnt.
The Tomb is the Divine Lamp — the Tomb is the Divine Treasure.

The Divine Lamp is such that it burns the moths little by little, not all at once.
The moths, therefore, have to visit it many times to become completely burnt.
The Divine Lamp attracts them to the Tomb — the Tomb is the Divine Treasure.

The Beloved's Darshan there is open to all without any restrictions.
The Beloved gives Wine to those who carry empty cups.
The Tomb is the Beloved's Wineshop — the Tomb is the Divine Treasure.

Apparently the Beloved is taking rest in the Tomb.
Yet He is infinitely active in distributing wine to those who go to Him for His Darshan.
The Tomb is His Abode — the Tomb is the Divine Treasure.

Each one has a share of Divine Treasure in the Tomb.
Whether one wants to or not, each must visit the Tomb to take his share,
as destined by Beloved Baba's work.
The Tomb is now the center of His Work — the Tomb is the Divine Treasure.

He is responsible for each one from beginning to end.
His duty, which never ceases, is to change one's drop-life into the Ocean.
In the Tomb, He is free from only the physical suffering — the Tomb is the Divine Treasure.

He crushed His physical body for His Universal Work
and gave it to the world as a sacrifice.
He worshipped the world and now He continues to worship it without the physical body.
The Tomb is His physical symbol — the Tomb is the Divine Treasure.

He is breaking His Silence and giving the message:
"Wake up and come all unto Me! I am here to give you Wine!
This Tomb is for you all" — the Tomb is the Divine Treasure.

We failed to see Him and follow Him when He was moving on earth.
Now we should not fail to see Him in the Tomb where He is restlessly resting.
We must not forget He is eternally awake — the Tomb is the Divine Treasure.

If you have not seen Him physically, do not worry.
If you are now awake, see Him speaking in His Tomb through Silence.
He is eternally alive and actively distributing Wine.
His Tomb is glorious and beautiful — the Tomb is the Divine Treasure.

He had said just before dropping His body,
"I will now be more powerful."
He is truly most powerful, now using His Infinite Power and Bliss
along with His Infinite Knowledge.
He is very powerful in the Tomb — the Tomb is the Divine Treasure.

He had said before He dropped His body, "I will give My Darshan
while lying down, and once I begin I will not stop."
He is fulfilling His divine promise; He is manifesting Himself to the world.
He is giving His Darshan continuously in the Tomb — the Tomb is the Divine Treasure.

He has said just before He dropped His body, "Now the shop will be opened."
He has really opened His Wineshop in the Tomb,
and He is inviting humanity to come there to drink.
What a beautiful place His Tomb is — the Tomb is the Divine Treasure.

Oh humanity!
Don't miss the opportunity to drink when the Wineshop is open.
The Beloved is distributing Wine ceaselessly without a break.
What a gift is given at His Tomb — the Tomb is the Divine Treasure!

Oh humanity!
Go to His Tomb at Meherabad and taste the Wine.
That taste will enable you to receive His message through His Silence.
The Tomb is the place of complete silence — the Tomb is the Divine Treasure.

Eternal Life is ever silent; eternal Life hears the soundless Word.
The Word has soundless Sound; the Beloved's Silence is very active.
The message of the Beloved is vibrating in the Tomb — the Tomb is the Divine Treasure.

[Complete]

Although Nariman and I never fought, we did argue, sometimes over personal matters, but we tried to help each other to please Baba. Once he wanted to dismiss an employee, a Baba lover, who was causing a great deal of trouble at work, spoiling the atmosphere for everyone. Baba had told him to employ this man, and I advised Nariman to be patient, that Baba would take care of the situation. Nariman was convinced, and after only a couple of months the man told Baba that he wanted to leave Bombay for another job, and he quit working for Nariman of his own accord.

We also had to deal with the little irritations that every married couple must face. We were, after all, two different personalities. Nariman's focus was on Baba and his business, and he wasn't interested in spending time on such activities as shopping. I bought all his clothes for him with the exception of shoes — those he had to try on. I used to have to remind him again and again to buy shoes when he needed them, sometimes for months, and when he finally agreed to go shopping for them, I would try to get him to buy three or four pair so that we wouldn't have to go through this process very often.

I had my own weaknesses and shortcomings, which Nariman endured with love and tolerance. Because of illnesses and deaths in my family, I sometimes stayed with them for extended periods. Nariman wouldn't say anything, and sometimes he would come and stay with me, but then he would gently prod me to come back to Ashiana. I realized later that he felt neglected when I took on too many responsibilities for my family or other Baba lovers. While the many deaths we had to face brought us closer to one another, there were also problems to face as we adjusted to the losses.

Despite our little difficulties, however, we had periods of great harmony in our marriage. After Nariman's business had become successful and he had more time, I looked forward to him coming home in the evening. We would have long talks, both of us enjoying the companionship that I feared we had lost in the early years of our marriage. Above all, we were good friends.

Baba wanted to develop a selfless, unattached love between us, and true love always involves both pain and joy. Baba said that true love is sacrifice, and sacrifice in marriage means learning to want to please one's partner. The ego does not want to please the other, but rather to please itself, and selfishness makes us want to satisfy ourselves rather than consider the needs of others. Choosing another's happiness over our own does not come easily, so Nariman and I, like anyone else, had to make a real effort.

Love is a partnership; if each partner remembers to think of the other, then neither will fear being taken advantage of. And Baba will not allow one person to take from another indefinitely. He will see to it that the one who is being spoiled eventually learns how to give also.

No marriage is easy, but the difficulties show us where our weaknesses are and challenge us to change, to choose to give, yield, be honest, and try to understand the other. If instead of being demanding and critical, we ask Baba for His help in understanding how to love the way He wants us to, He will show us the way. I knew I had to discipline myself every day to make choices befitting a married woman. Despite the fact that I had not wanted to marry, believing the path of spirituality to lie outside of marriage, I obeyed Baba, and I have thanked Him again and again for giving me such a wonderful man as my husband.

[Complete]

Krishna replied that prasad was for his lovers and none else. This consisted of laddu or Indian sweetmeat balls.

At last the Rishi, who was very intelligent, begged Krishna's favourite disciple, Pendya, who was a cripple, to ask Krishna for him. This Krishna permitted (because he was the slave of his lovers) and as a result the Rishi gained illumination.

[Complete]

If two persons have had headaches, they can cooperatively examine their experience of headaches and make it explicit to themselves through the work of the intellect. If a person has never experienced a headache, no amount of intellectual explanation will suffice for making him understand what a headache is. Intellectual explanation can never be a substitute for spiritual experience; it can at best prepare the ground for it.

Spiritual experience involves more than can be grasped by mere intellect. This is often emphasized by calling it a mystical experience. Mysticism is often regarded as something anti-intellectual, obscure and confused, or impractical and unconnected with experience. In fact, true mysticism is none of these. There is nothing irrational in true mysticism when it is, as it should be, a vision of Reality. It is a form of perception that is absolutely unclouded, and it is so practical that it can be lived every moment of life and expressed in everyday duties. Its connection with experience is so deep that, in one sense, it is the final understanding of all experience.

When spiritual experience is described as mystical, one should not assume that it is something supernatural or entirely beyond the grasp of human consciousness. All that is meant is that it is not accessible to the limited human intellect until the intellect transcends its limits and is illumined by direct realization of the Infinite.

Jesus Christ point out the way to spiritual experience when He said, "Leave all and follow me." This means that man must leave limitations and establish himself in the infinite life of God. A real spiritual experience involves not only realization of the nature of the soul while traversing the higher planes of consciousness but also a right attitude toward worldly duties. If it loses its connection with the different phases of life, what we have is a neurotic reaction that is far from being a spiritual experience.

The spiritual experience that is to enliven and energize the New Humanity cannot be a reaction to the stern and uncompromising demands made by the realities of life. Those without the capacity for adjustment to the flow of life have a tendency to recoil from the realities of life and to seek shelter and protection in a self-created fortress of illusions. Such a reaction is an attempt to perpetuate one's separate existence by protecting it from the demands made my life. It can only give a pseudo solution to the problems of life by providing a false sense of security and self-completeness. It is not even an advance toward the real and lasting solution; on the contrary, it is a sidetrack from the true spiritual path. Man will be dislodged again and again from his illusory shelters by fresh and irresistible waves of life, and will invite upon himself fresh forms of suffering by seeking to protect his separative existence through escape.

Just as a person may seek to hold on to his separative experience through escape, he may also seek to hold on to it through uncritical identification with forms, ceremonies and rituals, or with traditions and conventions. Forms, ceremonies and rituals, traditions and conventions, are in most cases fetters to the release of infinite life. If they were pliant mediums for the expression of unlimited life, they would be an asset rather than a handicap for securing the fulfillment of divine life on earth. But they mostly have a tendency to gather prestige and claims in their own right, independently of the life they might express. When this happens, any attachment to them must eventually lead to a drastic curtailment and restriction of life.

The New Humanity will be freed from a life of limitations, allowing unhampered scope for the creative life of the spirit; and it will break the attachment to external forms and learn to subordinate them to the claims of the spirit. The limited life of illusions and false values will then be replaced by unlimited life in the Truth; and the limitations, through which the separative self lives, will wither away at the touch of true understanding.

[Complete]

In the same way, if you "need" or have a "desire" for "God Realization" (Realization of Self), go and surrender to a Sadguru, body and soul. Go whenever, wherever and however he likes and orders you to, and have every word of His carried out, and your "need" (object of Self Realization) will be served — sooner or latter, according to your own actions and deserving. That is to say, if you do not hesitate to "surrender" to an ordinary "Barber" to get your object of shaving, being served, then why not "surrender" to a Sadguru, if you desire such a great gift and attainment as Self-Realization?

[Complete]

The new consciousness of this age will be therefore that all men shall have a far deeper insight, such as Intuitive Understanding.

Intuition is a mental condition whereby man can understand the inner organic structure of his whole mind. When we say his whole mind, we must understand the Eastern viewpoint that the whole mind is all that is, was and ever will be the universally apparent world; we cannot figure it out in any different way, because this is exactly what men will have to realize in this new evolutionary epoch through their insight, which is the equivalent term for Intuition.

All these terms will also have to be rectified in the future through the actual immediate experience of the individual who will be capable of feeling within through the intuitive sense the right term. Terms and name are superfluous viewed through criticism and diversion of opinion, when once the Experience is synonymous to any kind of a term. Those who can read mystical language are those who feel the inner meaning of no matter what term or work the writer is using.

The mystical language altogether will in the future be much more appreciated, as the human being will have the real feeling for whatever is the sense or meaning within the term or word.

The new age is apparently developing towards unification of thought creativeness and a pure feeling. These two diversive ways of understanding and knowledge will never be any more a matter of dispute, when once the head and the heart will have united in experience of the deeper meaning or sense which is a mystical fact that men of the intellectual type can not deal with.

The new age can no more be defined than by the new Awakening within the spiritual understanding! This new awakening within can no more be consciously developed by man himself through study or the ordinary three-body-yoga science, and here is the point where enters ... the new Avataric power of rhythm as the Awakener of the new spiritual side of man.

Whatever we may call yoga science, has its end when the fourth body, named the Ethereal body, is stirred, brought to awareness into the realm of the mind in the self-conscious individual.

This is namely what I call ... Yoga of Truth.

The Yoga of Truth means the actual awareness of the spirit body as the Soul substance of man. This the so-called fourth body, which is the Christ body. It is the only Form which the Avataric figure will use in this world, the Earth, in this new dispensation of realized Truth. It is not to be an uttered word in the ordinary sense that will be a Divine Personification of the Avataric Appearance; it will be the Rhythm as Power, that will do the awakening appeal to the general world as mankind.

The rhythm as power will have to be so strongly experienced that it will subdue the intellectual reaction, and make men realize within, through the intuitive awareness of the creative universal mind that it is endowed with Divine Light. Man shall therefore, then really and truly, become conscious of what he talks and thinks ... the Divine Light. As I have said in my previous discourses, the Divine Light can not be realized by man until he has realized within himself the inherent fact of the awareness of the Soul.

[Complete]

On one occasion, Eruch said, we were in our as usual overcrowded car, and Baba asked him: 'Which is more beautiful — sunrise or sunset?'

'Sunset.'

'Correct,' replied Baba.

'And which are people more aware of — sunrise or noon?'

'Sunrise.'

'Correct,' said Baba.

'It is like My Advent — with its dawning, people are aware something great is to happen. Yet when I am in your midst, few are aware of Me. But after I drop the body, then there will come the Glorification, and that will be so beautiful and stupendous that many will notice it and come flocking to Me.'

[Complete]

"I bring out your weaknesses because I love you. Be honest. Weaknesses there are. Do not be afraid of them. You must be afraid of dishonesty.

"Who does not get bad thoughts? They are the foundation of life. No house can stand without its foundation.

"Thoughts can be good or bad, one should take care of one's action. Had it not been for the weaknesses of everyone, there would have been no difference between Me and you."

[Complete]

Chance is based on karma: that Law of Cause and Effect which governs the events of our present life as well as those of our future lives.

Through evolution the soul receives, by means of the spirit, the impressions or sanskaras. The processes which create the experiences and later the elimination of these impressions, can be called Chance. Destiny, or the goal that souls have to attain, is Realization of God; but actually Chance is different for every individual.

We can compare Destiny to a load of (let us imagine) seven hundred tons of happiness and unhappiness, vice or virtue, which every soul has to carry throughout its existence. One soul carries seven hundred tons of iron, another soul the same weight in steel, others — lead or gold; the weight is always the same. Only matter changes. The impressions of each individual vary and the acquired Sanskaras form the structure and the condition of the future life of every individual.

[Complete]

Every day, usually following his bath, he would sit in any place where loose earth was to be found, and raising cupped hands laden with soil, would release it over his head. It affected one strangely to see this old man toss handful after handful of soil over his bowed head, and watch the crumbling fragments of earth tumbled over his shoulders to the ground.

It seemed as if he must be suffering in a way that we might never fathom, and that this apparently childish play soothed and gave him comfort. In view of this habit, Baba had instructed Krishna, who was his personal attendant, to put fifteen baskets of earth in Chatti Baba's room every day.

Prior to his spiritual awakening, Chatti Baba had apparently been a station master, and the memories of his earlier profession would be revived from time to time in disjointed ways.

He used, for example, to tap out morse messages with the hook that held his window, and at irregular hours of night or day he would shout orders in English or Tamil to imaginary railway subordinates, as if he were digging some rusty relics out of the depths of his memory. At other times, he would call out "Allah hu Akbar, Allah hu Akbar" (God is most great, God is most great).

He used to say that Baba was his elder brother, and he one day told Krishna that Baba was a great and rich man, and that there was no one like him in the whole world.

The period at Meherabad in 1940 was the black hour of the devastating and terrible occasions in Europe, when France fell....

For several weeks in Meherabad, Chatti Baba had repeatedly told Krishna that the people of Europe were undergoing great sorrow and suffering, but that they would survive to enjoy happy days again.

Chatti Baba, though literate, never, as far as anyone knew, read a newspaper, and he was apparently quite out of touch with current events of any sort, but in spite of this he seemed aware of the terrible things that were then going on in Europe. He said, one day, while pouring earth over his head, that there would be much anguish and privation, and that many would die of starvation, but that Baba would finally assuage the suffering of the world....

Baba, who is all too rarely communicative about his masts, told the mandali one day in Ranchi that there was no equal to Chatti Baba in the whole world, and that he was inestimable for the help he gave him in his work.

The moods of this great man were extraordinary, and would fluctuate from a sunny expansiveness to a truculent attitude, without apparently much provocation. He was like a child, quick to change for a very little thing, but he had a bewitching enchantment about him that made him loved by all.

The other important masts have all had their charm, and some sort of disposition that made them attractive, but there has been no one who has so unanimously commanded the affection of others.

In this way Chatti Baba was unique, and today [1948], years after he has been separated from Baba, the mandali, and Baba himself, often recall with delight his little ways, and especially the lightness and captivating spell of his laugh.

Baba has since explained that Chatti Baba was a perfect jamali mast, with a few traits of a jalali, and was a very high mast of the sixth plane....

In March 1941, in Quetta, he said, "There will be so great a calamity in the world that no one can imagine it, even brother will kill brother and there will be great tribulation; then all the world will think of my big brother (Baba); at that time Baba will draw aside the veil, and all will pay obeisance to him."

In June or July 1941, in Ajmer, he told Krishna, who was in a bad mood at the time, "You want to leave don't you, but what's the good of it; all the world is in Baba's power, so where will you go to? Serve him now, he is the Ocean, because, one day when lots of people throng to see him, you may never get the opportunity of meeting him, so take your chance now."...

[Complete]

The difficulty is not resolved even if you try with true honesty to express true humility. Inevitably, obstacles arise, such as the thought of what others may think of your expression of humility.

No sooner is humility given expression than it is no longer humility. It is nonsense to give deliberate expression to humility. A life of humility is lived spontaneously, and should not give rise to thoughts of either humility or modesty.

As an example, suppose you start to clean a latrine, but you cannot help noting the smell. A janitor who has cleaned them all his life remains unaffected. The person who parades humility is like the one who notes the smell while cleaning a latrine. The person who lives the life of humility is like the sweeper who is immune to the odor and completely unworried about what others think of him. He actually lives the life of a janitor.

To have to try to be humble is also nonsense. You must be so natural that your life becomes humility personified, which means all strength freed from all weakness.

So, whatever you are, express it unmindful of public opinion and the reaction of others. Be natural. If you are dishonest, do not try to hide yourself behind the curtain of honesty. This does not mean though that you should be dishonest.

Above all else, be content with your lot, rich or poor, happy or miserable. Understand that God has designed it for your own good, and be resigned to His will. Remember the present in the frame of the past and the future. You eternally were and always will be. You have had innumerable forms as man and woman, beautiful and ugly, strong and weak, healthy and sickly, powerful and helpless, and now you are here again in another form.

Until you gain spiritual freedom you will be invested with many such forms, so why seek temporary relief now which will only result in further bindings later? Do not ask God for money, fame, power, health or children, but seek His grace and it will lead you to eternal bliss.

[Complete]

Baba then explained further: "A four-year old child has to be shown a picture of a table and chair with the word written under the illustration. It is only then that the child can name the objects correctly.

"On the other hand, an illiterate man knows all about tables and chairs, but does not know how to read and write the words."

[Complete]

On their return, after a five week honeymoon, Baba called them and was very disappointed to learn that Roshan was not pregnant. Again Eruch interceded, 'Baba, why place such a burden on young shoulders?'

Baba replied: 'Look at your cousin [Sam] — what worry has he got? It is I who am carrying the worry of the whole universe, the whole creation. He has no worries — so keep quiet!'

A little later Baba went to the West, May 15th 1958, and the whole family went to see Him depart. The moment He saw Roshan, He gave a sun-smile and put his hand on her head. Then He gave Sam His hand to kiss, and Sam felt, in those moments, that Roshan had already conceived.

Before their first daughter, Mehera, was born, Baba told Roshan to stitch a dress so naturally the whole family accepted that the child would be a girl. When Roshan was again pregnant, Baba did not say anything, so the family assumed that this time the child would be a boy. Before returning to sea, Sam was sitting amongst the mandali with Baba and the conversation was proceeding smoothly, when He suddenly turned to Sam and gestured, 'Would you be disappointed if it's a girl?'

Sam replied cautiously to God, 'No, Baba, I don't think so.' Immediately the conversation continued as though there had been no question. Sam returned to sea, and a couple of months later, he received the news that a second daughter had been born.

The words of Baba to Eruch that He carried the worry of the universe, reminded Sam of a very beautiful story in the life of Prophet Mohammed: It was during the early years of Mohammed's Advent, and He was still in Mecca where the people sought in every way possible to humiliate and denigrate Him.

One day He was standing near the Kaaba, and an elderly woman returning from a journey asked of the people there if a porter was available to carry her luggage to her home. Seeing this as an opportunity of belittling Mohammed, they pointed Him out to the woman as a porter. When she approached Mohammed and asked if He was indeed a porter, He replied: 'Yes, Mother. I am the One who carries the burden of all.'

Not understanding His words, but happy that He was a porter, she had Him carry her goods. As they walked, she expressed surprise that He was a porter. 'You are such a fine upright man, you do not seem to be the usual porter — surely you could do better than this work.'

But Mohammed simply replied to her concerns: 'No, Mother, I am the One who carries the burden of all.'

So they walked and then the woman said: 'Well, you are not like that scoundrel Mohammed that I have been told about — what a terrible man He is, so intent on destroying our religion. But you are obviously different.'

So the walk continued with the woman still speaking against Mohammed. They reached her home and the woman sought to pay Mohammed, but again He only said: 'No, Mother, I am the One who carries the burden of all.'

Then she said: 'At least tell me your name that I may thank you personally. Your company has given me joy.'

Mohammed replied: 'I am Mohammed.'

With that the woman fell at His feet, weeping: 'Forgive me, Lord, I did not know You.' She wept and Mohammed comforted her. She and her whole family became Mohammed's devoted followers.

[Complete]

Baba composed this couplet in answer:

Some seek money
Some seek name,
Some seek power
Some seek fame.

Some want children
Few want God,
Life is a joke
And all is a Game.

Baba then explained the use of the word "seek" in the couplet: "What one seeks with all one's heart, one gets. When you say you sought and did not find, it means you did not seek as you ought to have sought. When God is found, if sought, why then should you not get the trifles you seek, if you seek them wholeheartedly?

It is said that if you carry your life in the palm of your hand you can enter the Path of Divine Love. If you say 'I want to see God,' it means you want to become God. It is like an ant saying, 'I want to become an elephant.'"

[Complete]

In the beginning, I didn't want to get married at all. Then I became acquainted with Khodayar and he was speaking of Baba. Gradually the love that Baba inspired in my heart became the nucleus of our married life and, also, the love in our marriage. In the beginning, as Khodayar would tell me about Baba, although there were times I would believe what he would say, there were other times that I could not believe what he said, especially when he would speak of these extraordinary things of Baba. Those I could not believe. I would say to myself he was lying, maybe it was just pretense or something.

Finally, though, I started to hit the books — Hafiz, this one, that one — and I gradually advanced. All of these became so familiar to me that I got acquainted with Baba. It was such that whatever I would ask of Baba he would give me, he would arrange it. I did not have a mother from very young childhood and my relatives were very distant relatives. When I was distressed and there was something that I wanted, I would only approach Baba. Baba is my father, Baba is my mother, Baba is my everyone. Whatever I would ask, he would give me.

When I was in Shiraz, I didn't know anyone. When I would get ill, I would just think of Baba. I would then see that Baba was sitting in the chair next to me. He would come from above to down here. He would tap me over the head and my face, like someone restoring my health. Then I would get well and get up and go to my work.

One day I got very ill. I was really sick. I could only expect Baba to come and take me away. I had gone to the doctor, but it had not been effective. I was just waiting for Baba. In that state of sleep and wakefulness, I saw Baba at my side. He took my skin off just like when you take the sheep's skin off. He took off my skin and I didn't say anything. I became well after a few days.

After one or two years we went for Baba's darshan. I asked Baba, if it was his will, he would arrange everything so that I could come, too. Of course, it was very hard for me to believe I could go. All I said was, "Baba, if you really want me to come to your darshan, arrange it so I can come." He arranged it and I went. It was very beautiful. We were there for the four days. We got to know all the Baba lovers and all the new things there.

The first time that I met Baba, I did not know where I was. The state that I was in was very good. I cannot say that I left consciousness. When I would see him, I would tell him I was in that state. I would say to myself, "O God, all the people throughout history, all the Zoroastrians, who know that a great person is to come — they should know our father. Where are they? They should raise their heads from their graves and see that the person they have been expecting for many years has come now. But unfortunately they are old now, immaterial. They don't know this great one who has come owns the two worlds ..." I can't explain any further, all of this was in my mind at that time.

We were very happy. We had Baba's darshan in Bombay Centre and we kissed his feet. Then we went to Guruprasad. There, at Guruprasad, Baba asked for all the people from Iran. He touched everyone with his touch of grace and then told us to go. When it was time for us to leave, I told Baba, "Baba, we can't leave you and we can't live without you."

Baba said, "Don't worry. Just remember me at all times. I am with you. Think of me."

When the darshan was over and everyone was leaving Guruprasad, I was there and I just couldn't leave. This feeling was so strong in me that I did not want to leave Guruprasad. I did not want to leave Baba. It was very difficult for me. Everybody was saying good-bye and I was constantly telling Khodayar, "I don't want to leave. How can you possibly go to Iran? How can you make yourself leave Baba? Let us stay and remain here." But we had to leave.

In Bombay, whenever they would ask me to go here or there — I would say, "I don't want to go anywhere." We stayed at the house of Kasaho Asaree. I told him, "This is the way that I feel. I can't go back to Iran. I am going mad." (Now that I am telling this, I am beginning to feel just the way I did then.)

He told me, "Don't worry. We'll go back to Baba." Kasaho Asaree soothed my feelings a little bit with what he said. He told me if I was very upset I could go back to Baba. It so happened that everyone had gone for Baba's darshan except Kasaho Asaree. He said, "Okay, we can go together," and so we went together.

When we reached Poona, they told Baba that a few of the Iranians had come to see him. It was in the evening. Baba gave us permission to go and visit him. When we saw Baba, we saw he was much more beautiful and much more radiant than before. He looked just like an angel. We all had his darshan again ... Khodayar and Khodadar, Kasaho Asaree and myself. When I saw Baba looking so beautiful, like an angel, I thought of circling him seven times. It didn't take seven times. After going around him two times, Baba gestured for me to come and bow down to his feet, I kissed Baba's feet, then we left. This was a little bit of solace to my heart. There was nothing else we could do. We had to go. When we returned to Iran, we would have letters from Baba and write in return.

During the four days of darshan at Poona, one day about 9:30 a.m., Baba sent his own car — to the Zoroastrian Hotel where the Iranians were staying. Parichaar, a lady from Pakistan who know our language, had come to tell us that all the ladies who wanted to, could go and see the women mandali. But it so happened that there was nobody else there, I was the only one left. I told Parichaar I didn't know the language but Parichaar said, "Come, I will help you." So she came with us to Guruprasad.

It was Baba's own doing. They told me that Baba was in his room there, so I fell behind his door and kissed the threshold of the door. Then all of a sudden, I couldn't feel myself anymore. I lost my normal consciousness. All the ladies came — Mehera, Dr. Goher, Mani, Baba's sister. They patted me ... they raised me and sat me in the chair. Baba's sister went and made a cold drink for me. I couldn't understand anything. I only wanted Baba. I didn't know where I was. They would constantly keep asking me what my name was, and I would answer "Iran." But they thought I was telling them I was from Iran. They asked this 2 or 3 times. Finally, I managed to tell them my name was Iran. With their speech and their kind pattings, they gradually got me out of the state that I was in. Then in the afternoon, they brought us back to the hotel in the same car.

After we returned back to Iran, every now and then I would sit and remember Baba and think of Baba. Khodayar was translating Baba's work. While I was a wife with children, difficulties would arise. I would remember Baba's name and he himself would take care of it all. He was God who knew Himself; whenever I have needed help, he himself has helped me a great deal. My love is all his. We're all his and he himself has taken us ahead.

There is no way I can speak the words that I want. Suffice it to say that whenever I have needed help, I have thought of him and he has helped me. Many times in this very house as I would work, I would be thinking of Baba. I would see that Baba was following me. I would also see Baba in the yard, here and there, with Eruch he would be walking and speaking; he would be gesturing to me and things like that.

I have dreamt of him many times. Before I went to Baba's darshan, I was pregnant with my third child. I had a dream of Baba one night. I saw that Baba was at the well with some sort of an Indian there. I had not yet seen Baba. As soon as I saw Baba I was very happy I had finally managed to see him. I asked him, "Baba, when did you arrive? You didn't let us know that you were coming. Khodayar is very anxious to see you."

He told me, "My nazar is constantly with Khodayar and I am with him. He can't see me but I am seeing him now." It was just like this. All of our lives he himself is guiding all of our actions. Whenever we need help, he helps, and he has helped me so much. There are no words to express it. What else can I say?

This point I am going to make is very important because some people say Baba died and he passed away. But Baba is not dead; he is living in everybody. Baba is living in everybody; he is not dead. For example is this incident, when you were going to come here. Twenty-four hours before you arrived, I was sitting in our yard. As I usually sit and think of Baba, then I was thinking to myself, "Oh Baba, if we could just see, for an instant, what you see behind your own eyes; if we could know what goes on behind your eyes, how good that would be. If you would show to us, how nice it would be ... this world and Baba are nothing but love."

All of a sudden my head bent over and I went into a mood. I don't want to pretend that I saw anything — no, I didn't see anything — but it was just that my eyes turned up to the sky — just like this, for a moment — and I gazed there for a minute so that I might see something. But I didn't see anything Yet after twenty-four hours, your telegram arrived saying you were coming. Then Baba gave me nothing but Love.

In this way he proved to me that Baba is Love and is service. He guided you into our house. I am very grateful to you for coming to our house and for you to take movies of us and tape our conversations. I am very grateful. Your steps, which are steps of love which Baba has guided to our house, I kiss them and I say Jai Baba to all the Baba-lovers and to all the listeners and viewers.

Recorded by Irwin Luck; translated by Farhad Shafa

[Complete]

Baba considered this and then asked, "Do you know any of these writers and poets?"

"Yes, I've heard of them," I answered. "They're very popular."

"All right," said Baba."Write to them about me, and if they are interested I may call them." So I wrote letters to several well-known poets and writers.

Baba appeared anxious to bring them in his contact, and I naively thought that they would definitely come because Baba was showing so much interest in them. After a few days, polite letters were received from a few of the people that I had written to. Their letters were read out to Baba, which he was happy to hear, but he did not give any instructions to be conveyed to them.

I felt disappointed. I was convinced that some of these writers and poets would come in Baba's contact, so I sent them Baba's messages and also wrote personal letters to them on my own.

Again I said, "Baba, I'm sure some of these famous literary people will definitely come to you, and if they come they will write very sublime things about you."

Baba listened and inquired, "Do you have any of their writings?" When I answered that I did, he asked me to bring them and read them out to him.

I did so, and Baba commented, "What is there in these writings? It is mostly dry. Only the language is good, nothing else. Is there any flow of love? Tell me the truth."

I kept quiet and Baba gestured, "Never write to them again. They will not come to me."

He then continued, "Do you think I ask you to write in vain? Do you have any idea about your writing? There is a flow of love in it; it flows and flows. Remember that I like your writing. What more do you want?"

After that I just kept quiet and continued writing.

[Complete]

However, when the illusion exists, there are within it six ingredients viz., time, space, law, nature, cause and effect. Of these six factors, law and nature are most important. Evolution depends on these six factors and its working is clocklike and without any deviation because of the unfailing interplay of these six factors. Although illusion is the product of imagination, the evolutionary working within that illusion goes on exactly as it should. The determinism is complete.

On the seventh plane the mind does not exist. Hence there are no places, states nor experiences in God-realization, just as such places, states and experiences are absent in the infinite unconsciousness. What exists in God-realization of the seventh plane is just uninterrupted and indivisible consciousness, without any form of burden or limitation.

With his back to the false and evanescent and his gaze firmly fixed on the goal of shoreless Divinity, an aspirant traverses the Path through spiritual planes with security if he has the help of a master of wisdom. And when he sheds his illusion completely, he finds that his mysterious sojourn has been from eternity to eternity, from God to Himself. But it is not an arrival at the same point. In the shoreless Divinity of the eternal reality, there are no dividing points or lines. So you cannot call it a "return." It is a return only in the sense of his having realized his initial limitlessness, but not a return to some imagined point or terminus.

It has been a flight from eternity to eternity, from the shoreless Divinity to the shoreless Divinity, from the unending to the unending. It is a fulfillment that can never become stale. No one may put the seal of finis on this story of the invincible eternal but every one may disappear in it and share its unending and ineffable glory. Through the incident of imaginary creation God overtakes Himself, only to discover that He is limitless in all dimensions.

[Complete]