PRAYER
Meherwan Rinpoche
Meherwan Rinpoche
Meherwan Rinpoche (1894-1969) would from time to time
explain a little about prayer to his companions.
He composed a number of prayers for them, a
few of which have been collected here. Sometimes
he would arrange a prayer meeting and join them
in prayer. The Master, who is also known as
Meher Baba, explained that, being one with Truth,
he did not pray for himself, but on behalf
of others who were in need.
For a Key to Abbreviations, scroll
down to the bottom of the page.
Padri: God is omnipresent and omniscient, so why
pray for his blessing?
Meher Baba: God is omnipresent, but he plays with
closed eyes. He is inattentive, so
he needs to be awakened by prayer.
26 December 1951, Meherabad
LM10 p3754
"I am the one who listens to your prayers."
Meher Baba
GG6 p52
SEVEN NAMES OF GOD
"Meher Baba had given the following one line prayer
to be recited by the Mandali
every afternoon for an hour and a half:
Khuda
Paramatma
Allah
Ahuramazd
Ram
Yezdan
Hu
"This was to be preceeded and followed by the
singing of the Arti which he had
composed at the toddy shop in Kasba Peth years
before."
Bhau Kalchuri, LM2 p607 (April 1924,
Meherabad)
A second version was given later:
Hari
Paramatama
Allah
Ahuramazd
God
Yezdan
Hu
"The following couplet was composed by Baba to be
jointly recited by the ashram boys
daily at the appointed hours:
'Hari, Paramatma, Allah,
Ahuramazd, God, Yezdan, Hu.'"
G. L. Pawar, RD p518 (16 June 1927,
Meherabad)
"On June 16th this simple prayer of seven names of
God, representing the world's
religions, was composed by Baba for the ashram
boys to recite every day:
'Hari, Paramatma, Allah,
Ahuramazd, God, Yezdan, Hu.'
"In the morning, one boy would first recite the names
of God alone, and then all the
boys would join in together, chanting the prayer for
fifteen minutes or half an hour.
"The prayer would be recited for five minutes before
and after classes, all the boys
standing with folded hands and facing the sun."
Bhau Kalchuri, LM3 p948
(16 June 1927, Meherabad)
Part of the boys' schedule:
"5 a.m.: Rise from bed. After washing, they were to
chant the Seven Names of God
prayer (This prayer was also sung before each meal
in the dining hall)."
Bhau Kalchuri, LM3 p960
More than 170 boys were enrolled in the school in
1927 (LM3 p960)
"... Baba had instructed his lovers to chant the prayer
of the different names of God,
'Hari, Paramatma, Allah, Ahuramazd, God, Yezdan,
Hu,'
for a certain period every day. Baba had given the
melody for this prayer, and it held
great significance."
Bhau Kalchuri, LM8 p2759
(December 1941?)
BUJAVE NAAR
An Arti is a devotional song sung to a Perfect Master.
Meher Baba's Mandali wanted
an Arti in Gujerati that they could sing before Baba.
Baba told them to write one.
Several were attempted, but none of the songs
satisfied Baba. Finally Baba wrote a
Gujerati arti on January 11, 1926, entitled Bujave
Naar. These is an English
translation:
O God, command that the fire of our ignorance be
extinguished.
Your lovers yearn for you to bestow upon them the
light of faith.
O Murshid Meher Baba, we lay our heads at your
feet.
O Meher Baba, you have made yourself perfectly
aware of your Godhood.
You are the lord of Truth, you are the beloved and
lover in one.
Being the torrent of infinite knowledge, you are the
ocean of oneness.
O Master, bestow upon us, the wayfarers, the
knowledge of Ezad
(the only one worthy of worship)
For you, O Paramatma, are omniscient, and are
divine knowledge itself.
Give us to drink of the cup of God's love that we
become intoxicated.
O Saki, we offer our lives in sacrifice to you - give us
this draught.
Only if you steer our ship while in mid-ocean can we
remain afloat.
O Meher Baba, the captain of our ship, you are our
protector.
O Meher Baba, the captain of our ship, you are our
protector.
translated by Adi K. Irani
From a booklet, 'Avatar Meher Baba's
Arties with Translations'
Another English translation:
O God, command that the fire of ignorance be
extinguished.
Bestow upon your lovers the light of faith for which
they long.
O Master Meher Baba, we lay our heads at your feet.
O Meher Baba, you are the one who knows the
original state of God.
You are the lord of truth,
You are the lover and beloved in one.
You are the torrent of infinite knowledge
and the ocean of oneness.
O beloved, bestow upon us seekers the knowledge
of Ezad.
For you, Paramatma, are omniscient, divine
knowledge itself.
Intoxicate us by making us drink from the cup of love
divine.
O Saki, promise us a cup of wine -
We offer our lives in sacrifice to you.
Our ship founders in mid-ocean -
Only if you steer can we remain afloat.
O Meher Baba, you are our captain and protector.
translated by Bhau Kalchuri?
LM3 p773-774
TUKARAM, TUKARAM
"On April 30th, a group of Hindu pilgrims passed by
Meherabad chanting loudly,
'Tukaram... Tukaram... Tukaram.' They were on
pilgrimage to Pandharpur. Hearing
their chant, Baba remarked,
"Even if those people were to dance and sing
bhajans for a hundred years, it would
have no value. What is essential is deep devotion,
without which all else is worthless.
'Tukaram' comes out of their mouths, but he is not in
their hearts."
"Baba nevertheless directed the Mandali to feed the
pilgrims."
Bhau Kalchuri, LM3 p790
(30 April 1927, Meherabad)
I AM EVERYTHING
I am the worshipper
I am the worship
and I am the one
worthy of adoration.
I am the fire
I am the spark
and I am the smoke.
I am everything.
"I repeat this prayer every night. I pray to myself and
bow down to myself. Why? For
worldly people, so that God may make them worthy
of emancipation. And who is God?
I myself.
Meher Baba, 4 December 1927, Meherabad,
LM3 p991
PEOPLE DON'T WANT GOD
"During this period, Padri once brought a qawaal
singer to the P. W. D. bungalow to
entertain Baba. Baba met with him for awhile, and
the man said,
'How good is my luck that I have met you today. I
wish someday to compose ghazals
and sing them before you, Hazrat.'
Baba replied, 'If you want to sing, sing now, as I am in
the mood to listen to music.'
But the man said, 'Hazrat, forgive me. Now is the time
for my namaz (prayers). I must
leave or I'll be late.'
Baba motioned, 'Then go and offer your prayers.'
The qawaal left to go to the mosque, and Baba
caustically remarked,
'People don't want God, they want namaz. What can
poor God do? God wants to give
them God, but they want to pray.'"
Bhau Kalchuri, LM7 p 2307
(August? 1938, Ahmednagar?)
YOU ARE FORMLESS, PARVARDIGAR
Baba gave a chant to be sung daily
by his women Mandali:
You are formless, Parvardigar, Ahuramazd, Allah, Hu
You are Yezdan, you are God, Ahuramazd, Allah, Hu
You are Paramatma, Parabrahma,
You are almighty God, Ishwar,
You are Parameshwar, Ezad, Ahuramazd, Allah, Hu.
Meher Baba, October? 1940
Meherabad, LM7 p2622
Referring to this prayer-song, Baba explained:
"Ezad means the one who is the first - God the
omnipotent, omniscient and
omnipresent. There are millions of names of God, But
those that have a sound effect
are few. Every sound you make, every thought you
think, good or bad, stays. But that
sound which results in feeling has force behind it
which helps or hurts others.
"All this noise of guns, bombs and airplanes, etc., of
war, will be utilised for the spiritual
life of the world in the future. Yes, it all stays. It cannot
go. Where can it go? It is like
water which evaporates, forms into clouds, and then
comes down again as rain. But
you all must sing the song of God's names together
with rhythm and timing to produce
an effect.
"When the name of God is sung with feeling and
rhythm, it even has the effect of
temporarily bringing down the Majzoobs from their
superconscious state. Abdul Baba
of Bombay was a known Majzoob. He was always
unconscious, did not eat or drink
anything, simply lay unconscious. But when one
singer would come to his door every
day singing 'Allah Hu, Allah Hu' in rhythm, within half
an hour Abdul Baba would come
down to consciousness, begin to look about, talk, eat,
and then again merge into his
former state."
Meher Baba, ll October 1940
Meherabad, LM7 p2622
I AM THE ONE WHO LISTENS TO YOUR PRAYERS
"Kohiyar's father was a very devout Zoroastrian who
habitually spent long hours in
prayers. He had heard of Baba as far back as the
1930s, and though not devoted to
Baba, he did regard him as a saint. It was another
fifteen years, however, before he or
any of his family saw Baba in person.
"This good fortune finally befell them in August 1947,
when Baba was giving darshan
in a villa in the cantonment area of Satara... By the
time they reached the villa in the
early afternoon, a good-sized crowd had gathered in
the hall where Baba was seated.
Singers were entertaining Baba with bhajans as the
darshanites lined up to great
him...
"Baba called Kohiyar's father to him. As he
approached, Baba raised his right arm and
put his thumb to his index finger, (a gesture) meaning
'a good person.' Baba gave him
an orange as prasad. Then, without using the
alphabet board, but relying on gestures,
Baba conveyed to him,
'I am the real one. I am the one who listens to your
prayers. I am very happy to see
you. Remember me.'
"In this way Baba responded to the old man's long
years of devotion."
Bal Natu, GG6 p51-52
(The man's last name was Satarawalla, and his son
Kohiyar became a close devotee
of Meher Baba.)
GREAT SECLUSION PRAYER
May God,
whom the Muslims call Allah,
whom the Zoroastrians call Ahurmazd,
whom the Hindus call Ishwar Paramatma,
and whom many others call by many other names,
may he whose union the lovers seek in self-
annihilation,
whom the seers see as the only reality,
and whom the knowers know as their own real self,
may this supreme conscious being,
this conscious soul of souls,
who eternally manifests as Avatar and Perfect
Masters,
may he through his all-merciful act bestow on us his
grace,
and may he solve all our difficulties by the end of this
year,
and may he decide everything for us by the end of
this year,
and may he, according to Baba's circular of 1949,
finish everything by the end of this year,
to enable Baba to break his silence in the beginning
of next year,
to speak the one and the last word of all-embracing
divinity.
Amen
Aamin
Tathastu
Meher Baba, July 1949, Meherazad
'Meher Baba in the Great Seclusion'
by Ramjoo Abdulla, p17
Also GG2 p45
* Amen, Aamin, Tathastu = So be it.
This prayer was read out in Baba's presence before
a gathering at Meherazad on
August 1, 1949 in English, Marathi, Gujerati and
Urdu. A number of people who had
observed silence and a partial fast during the month
of July had been invited. After the
reading of the last translation, all those present
ended their individual silence with
Amen, Aamin or Tathastu. Baba distributed rava, a
sweet dish, to all, thus ending their
fasts.
TOMORROW BE DAMNED
"For saying good night before retiring, Baba has
asked Dr. Ghani to repeat in a sing-
song voice the following words in Urdu language:
"Old life has passed in different ways.
Today also has passed somehow.
Tomorrow be damned - who cares?"
Abdul Ghani, November 1949
'Diary of the New Life of
Meher Baba and His Companions'
by Abdul Ghani Munsiff, p85-86
Another version:
Yesterday passed somehow.
Today passes by this way.
To hell with tomorrow!
Aw 19:2 p9
PRAYER OF SURRENDER
"O God, I leave my fate in your hands."
Jamnadas, the mahant (headman) of the village of
Manjri Mafi, had been sentenced to
prison for shooting and killing two villagers in a
dispute. He was released temporarily
because he was sick with tuberculosis. He was to
report back to prison on June 17,
1950, to continue serving his sentence.
On April 20, 1950, Baba asked Jamnadas, "Would
you sincerely and faithfully carry out
two instructions I give you?"
Jamnadas said he would. Baba continued,
"Then don't worry in the least about your permanent
release from prison until the very
last minute of your going back to prison on June
17th. And every night, before going to
bed, offer this heartfelt prayer:
O God, I leave my fate in your hands."
Jamnadas agreed to follow the two instructions.
Baba told him,
"I feel inwardly that if you obey these instructions
faithfully, God will not fail you."
On June 14th a government order was received that
Jamnadas had been permanently
released from prison. Baba was the one to tell him
the news. Baba left for Kalyan and
Satara the same day.
Manjri Mafi (now Meher Mafi)
near Dehra Dun, LM10 p3596
A PRAYER BEFORE SPEAKING
"Baba sent me and Pendu on a tour of six months to
India and Pakistan for Baba work,
beginning from the 1st April 1953, at Meherazad.
Baba told me to repeat the following
prayer before addressing the people each day:
"O God
Baba is sending us
both in your name and Baba's,
and we ask that your will be done in this work."
Eruch Jessawala, Aw 19:2 p12
TO ALL AVATARS
To all Avatars
all God's Messengers
all Perfect Masters
all Sadgurus
all Qutubs
all Walis
all friends of God
all Saints
all lovers of God
I bow down
Meher Baba
1953, Dehra Dun
Aw 19:2 p12
OBEISANCE TO THE FIVE PERFECT MASTERS
Baba had one of the Mandali read out the following,
and then he would bow down:
"O Ahura Mazda, please accept the obeisance that is
from Baba to his five Perfect
Masters: Sai Baba, Babajan, Upasani Maharaj,
Tajuddin Baba, and Narayan
Maharaj."
Meher Baba, 1953
SALUTATIONS
"My salutations to all the past, present and future
Perfect Masters, Qutubs, Majzoobs,
masts, lovers and seekers of God. I today remember
with my love, in accordance with
their love and faith, the following physically departed
lovers of mine..."
Meher Baba, 19 June 1953, Dehra Dun
Eruch Jessawala explained that after this statement
was read, "a complete list of
departed Baba lovers was read out while Baba stood
silently with the other Mandali."
(Aw 19:2 p12) For the list of names read out, see
Book Three: Followers.
PRAYER FOR THE ROAD
"As for some of the different prayers he gave us, here
is one written in Gujerati. Its a
'Prayer for the Road During Manonash Wandering,'
given to us in November 1951.
Who will now translate this into English? It would
take a lot of time... but it's so
beautiful... It shows us how he became a simple
human being aspiring for God. Do you
know what Manonash means? It means the
annihilation of the mind. Who annihilates
the mind? A person who has a mind, who is striving
to seek God, who is a seeker and
is imploring the Lord to help him. So you see, Baba
becomes all that. He is all,
everything, on all planes. He's here, and he as a
seeker now dictates the following
prayer.
So there was a period of four months when we were
traveling when Baba began the
Manonash phase and came here. We had to recite
the prayer here in the Manonash
Cabin. So now you see the conditions for such
prayers. See how Baba became a
seeker, see how he implores the Lord to help him."
Eruch Jessawala, 1980, Meherazad, Aw 19:2
p8-9
PRAYER FOR THE ROAD
DURING MANONASH WANDERING
O Parvardigar
O ocean of infinite mercy
Baba, with great humility, implores you
that you bestow upon him courage and help him
so that he would not retrace his steps
during the phase of Manonash.
Forgive him for his trespasses
due to weakness of his mind
and give him such courage
that he will never tell a lie
never hurt the feelings of anyone
will not do any injustice to anybody
and that he will not harass his companions
who are serving him faithfully and wholeheartedly.
And bestow upon him such grace
that while abiding by all the conditions and fulfilling
them
he brings about the end of the endless New Life
in four months through the Manonash phase.
Meher Baba, November 1951
original in Gujerati, Aw 19:2 p8
PRAYER OF REPENTANCE
We repent
O God most merciful
for all our sins.
For every thought that was false
or unjust or unclean
For every word spoken
that ought not to have been spoken
For every deed done
that ought not to have been done.
We repent for every deed and word and thought
inspired by selfishness
and for every deed and word and thought
inspired by hatred.
We repent most specially
for every lustful thought
and every lustful action
for every lie
for all hypocrisy
for every promise given but not fulfilled
and for all slander and backbiting.
Most specially also, we repent
for every action that has brought ruin to others
for every word and deed that has given others pain
and for every wish that pain should befall others.
In your unbounded mercy
we ask you to forgive us, O God
for all these sins committed by us
and to forgive us for our constant failures
to think and speak and act
according to your wish.
Meher Baba
November 1951, Khuldabad
LA p703, also LM10 p3738
"The last word, 'wish,' was changed at one point,
because a devotee printed
thousands of copies of the prayer but accidently
changed or misprinted the word 'wish'
to 'will,' which became the accepted norm."
LM10 p3738fn
In one early version of this prayer, the word 'harm'
appears instead of 'ruin' in line 22.
Editor
PREFACE TO THE PRAYER OF REPENTANCE
When Baba had the Prayer of Repentance recited in
his presence, he had this preface
read out:
"O eternally merciful Paramatma,
Allah,
Most merciful benevolent God,
Most merciful God almighty,
Yezdan, the bestower,
you are absolutely independent.
O infinitely merciful Paramatma,
knowing that you are so absolutely independent
I have taken hold of your independence
and I am approaching you.
I, Baba, with absolute humility,
on my behalf and on behalf of all who love me,
and on behalf of all worthy penitents,
I wish to express my repentance.
Please accept what I now say on behalf of all:"
(Then the Prayer of Repentance was read out)
Meher Baba
2 May 1953, Aw 19:2 p12
Eruch Jessawala commented: "So at that moment we
thought and felt that we all were
absolutely absolved from all our sins." (Aw 19:2 p12)
THE MASTER'S PRAYER
O Parvardigar
the preserver
and protector
of all:
You are
without beginning
and without end
non-dual
beyond comparison
and none
can measure you.
You are without color
without expression
without form
and without attributes.
You are unlimited
and unfathomable
beyond imagination
and conception
eternal
and imperishable.
You are indivisible
and none can see you
but with eyes divine.
You always were
you always are
and you always will be.
You are everywhere
you are in everything
and you are also
beyond everywhere
and beyond everything.
You are in the firmament
and in the depths,
You are manifest
and unmanifest,
on all planes
and beyond all planes.
You are in the three worlds
and also beyond
the three worlds.
You are imperceptible
and independent.
You are the Creator,
the lord of lords,
the knower of
all minds and hearts.
You are omnipotent
and omnipresent.
You are knowledge infinite
power infinite
and bliss infinite.
You are the ocean
of knowledge,
all-knowing,
infinitely knowing,
the knower of the past,
the present,
and the future,
and you are
knowledge itself.
You are all-merciful
and eternally benevolent.
You are the soul of souls,
the one with infinite attributes.
You are the trinity
of truth, knowledge, and bliss.
You are the source of truth
the ocean of love.
You are the Ancient One
the highest of the high.
You are Prabhu
and Parameshwar.
You are the Beyond God
and the Beyond Beyond God also.
You are Parabrahma
Allah
Elahi
Yezdan
Ahuramazda
and God the Beloved.
You are named Ezad,
the only one worthy of worship.
Meher Baba, 20? August 1953
Dehra Dun (original in Gujerati) LC p33-34
SAT-CHIT-ANAND PARAMANAND
Keshav Nigam asked Baba to send one of his
Mandali to the laying of the cornerstone
of a temple to be built at Nauranga, Hamipur. The
temple was called Meher Mandir;
later the name was changed to Meher Dham, which
means 'Meher's abode.' Baba
sent Bhau Kalchuri, and gave him a 'message' for
Baba's lovers:
Sat-Chit-Anand
Paramanand
Meher Baba
Vidnyanand
R. S. Singh Baghel of Ichhaura put the words of the
'message' to music, and it has
been sung ever since.
January 1955, GG6 p218
PRAYER FOR THE MANDALI
I am not the body.
I am not the mind.
I am not this.
I am not that.
I am nothing but a living lie
of that truth that is me
and unless the lie is dead
the truth cannot be.
Meher Baba
Q. What about the Mandali's prayer? Was it given by
Baba?
Eruch Jessawala: Yes. He gave it. But we didn't
recite this out loud in his presence. It
was given to the Mandali as their personal prayer.
1980, Meherazad, Aw 19:2 p8-9
PRAYER FOR BABA'S
LOVERS AND MANDALI
Beloved God
help us all to love you
more and more
and more and more
and still yet more
until we become worthy of union with you
and help us all
to hold fast to Baba's daaman
till the very end.
Meher Baba
25 August 1959, Meherazad
Aw 19:2 p12
I have been told that the original version of this
prayer read,
Beloved God
help us all to love you
more and more
and more and more
and still yet more
until we are no more
and help us all
to hold fast to Baba's daaman
till the very end.
The story was that one of the Mandali had suggested
that some of Baba's followers
would not be happy with the words, 'until we are no
more.' So Baba substituted the
words 'until we become worthy of union with you.'
Anyone who knows if this is true,
please communicate with me.
The Editor
ANOTHER PRAYER FOR THE MANDALI
"Each of the Mandali was asked by Baba to repeat
the following prayer whilst he
bowed down to the feet of each of us:
'Almighty God
help Baba to finish his work by December end
and help us all to hold on to Baba's daaman to the
very end
and to share both his humiliation and glorification.'
Eruch Jessawala, Aw 19:2 p13
(22 November 1959, Meherazad)
YOU ARE THE BELOVED OF EVERYONE
O Meher
you are the beloved of everyone.
You are the life and heart
of every soul.
You are the guide,
you are the follower.
You are the path,
you are the abode.
You are the winegiver
and the wineshop,
You are wine;
you are the lover.
You are Majnun
and Leyla.
You are the caravan
and the palanquin.
You are worship
and the worshipper.
You are sadhana
and sanyasi.
You are Tulsidas
and Mira.
You are Surdas
and Ajamil.
You are the desert
and a grain of sand.
You are the Moon
and the Sun.
You are a drop
and you are the sea.
You are the ocean
and the shore.
You are
because you are being itself.
If you sleep
the universes will disappear.
You are the cup
and the bottle.
You are the guests
and the host.
Bhau says you are everything.
You are God infinitely conscious
and God infinitely unconscious.
You are butter
and you are stone.
You are innocent
and you are most knowing.
Meher Baba, 1968, Meherazad
dictated to Bhau Kalchuri in Hindi
'Meher Sarod' ghazal 72
Note: In ghazals the poet 'signs' his name in one of
the last verses. In this case Baba
dictated Bhau's name, though Baba wrote the ghazal
himself.
CHRISTIAN PRAYER
This prayer seems to have been assembled from
several Christian prayers at Meher
BabaÕs direction. Parts of it appear to have been
dictated by Baba.
In the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost
O Lord, hear my prayer
and let my cry come unto thee
Thou who are the God of the God
the Father almighty
art the Father everlasting.
O God
almighty Father
the Lord of lords
the king of kings
All the earth doth worship thee
To thee all Angels
to thee the heavens and all powers
to thee all saints and all beings
with unceasing voice do cry
'The holy, the holy of holies'
Full are the heavens and the earth
of the majesty of thy glory
Thou the glorious
Thou the exalted effulgence
Thou the praiseworthy
in the assemblage of the Prophets
Thou the celestial beauty
art the eternal song of thy lovers
Thou who art acknowledged, praised
and worshipped throughout the world
in all churches, synagogues,
mosques, temples and pagodas:
to thee I most humbly bow down
Thou of unbounded majesty
art the Father of the creation
Thy true adorable
and only-begotten son,
the Christ
art the king of glory
the saviour of mankind
the Ancient one
the highest of the high
O Christ
the Messiah
Thou of the Father everlasting
art the Son everlasting.
Thou most merciful Lord
has taken upon thee
to deliver man
from bondage to eternal glory
O the Ancient one
the redeemer
Thou, having first overcome
the sting of ignorance
didst open to all the kingdom
of bliss, knowledge and power
I most humbly praise thee
O my God.
I most firmly acknowledge thee
O my God.
O my soul of souls
I believe in thee
because thou art Truth itself.
I worship thee
O highest of the high
because thou art the only one
worthy of adoration.
I love thee
above all things and beings
because thou art love divine itself.
I beseech thee
because thou art mercy itself.
I offer thee
all my thoughts, words and actions,
my sufferings and my joys
because thou art the only beloved.
I therefore beseech thee
my God
my Lord of lords
the highest of the high
the Ancient one
to have mercy on me
according to thy unbounded mercy
and let my cry come unto thee:
O my beloved
suffer me not
to be separated from thee
for ever and ever
Amen
Aw 19:2 p11
PRAYER TO THE FIVE PERFECT MASTERS
"This is the poem read out at 6.45 pm, 7th October
1954. It is the occasion when he
gave up the alphabet board. It is the last thing he
dictated on the board"
O Sai Baba
O Upasani Maharaj
O Babajan
O Tajuddin Baba
O Narayan Maharaj
You, the five in one
and the one in five,
the divine beings representing the absolute one,
I bow down to you in perfect homage.
It is due to you five Men-Gods
that I am what I am,
the Ancient one,
the everlasting one.
May the beloved God
with whom you five are one,
for whom you five are working universally,
give me in your names
the strength, the power and the wisdom
to fulfill all that I have taken this form for,
and see that all I have declared
at the last Meherabad gathering
comes to pass.
I am now giving up using the board,
it being my gesture before God
for breaking my silence soon.
Meher Baba, 7 October 1954, Meherabad
commentary by Eruch Jessawala, Aw 19:2
p10-11
YOU ALONE EXIST
O priceless treasure of knowledge
you are within and without
and you are the ocean of mercy.
You are in all the worlds
you are the ocean of attributes
O Meher, God incarnate, you alone exist.
You are Yezdan, you are Ezad,
you are Allah and Ishwar.
You are Ram and you are Buddha,
you are beloved Lord Krishna,
who with one finger lifted the mountain.
You alone exist.
You are the Beyond God
and the Beyond Beyond God also.
O ocean of kindness,
you alone exist.
You are Muhammad,
you are Perfection personified,
you are knowledge itself,
and you alone exist.
You live in everyone
and you are everyone.
O beloved, you are the enlightened one
and you alone exist.
You are with attributes
and without attributes.
You are the sole player
in the divine game.
You alone exist...
You are man,
you are birds,
you are fish and animals,
for you alone exist.
You are bugs and gnats,
you are snakes and scorpions,
you are ants and mosquitoes,
for you alone exist.
You are insects.
You are lice.
You are dogs, asses and pigs.
You alone exist.
You are deer and elephants.
You are cats and monkeys.
You alone exist.
You are the Moon and the stars,
the dawn and the night,
and the Sun,
and also the light.
You alone exist.
You are wind and water
and the animals of the water.
You alone exist.
You are silver and gold.
You are copper and iron.
You are brass and stone.
You alone exist.
You are tea and coffee
and the sugar also.
You alone exist.
You are paper and the book.
You are the school and office.
You alone exist.
You are pen and ink,
and you are the gifted writer.
You alone exist.
You are the door and window.
You are the marble floor.
You alone exist.
You are the medicine and the disease,
and the doctor also.
You alone exist...
You are the soldier, the army,
and the supreme General.
You alone exist.
You are the sailor, the ship,
the wide ocean.
You alone exist...
You are mother and father.
You are master, brother and friend.
You are family and relatives.
You alone exist.
There is no one besides you.
Eternally you are,
for you alone exist.
You are pran* and you are heart.
You are also the beloved of the heart.
You alone exist.
You are the beloved and the lover,
and you are the nectar of love,
as you alone exist...
You are Khwaja.
You are Qutub.
You are Pir and Qalandar.
You alone exist.
You are Hafez.
You are Sanai.
You are Dara and Alexander.
You alone exist.
You are Jesus Christ.
You are Elahi.
You are the ocean, infinite and pure.
You alone exist.
You are the Koran
and the one who prays.
You are Vali
and you are the Messenger.
You alone exist.
You are the beginning
and you are the end.
You are also beyond the beginning
and beyond the end.
You alone exist.
You are infinitely beautiful
and infinitely close.
O Meher, God incarnate,
you alone exist.
You are Brahma and you are Vishnu.
You are the guileless Shankar.
You alone exist.
Bhau says,
'O beloved Meher,
you are the word
and you are the letter.
You alone exist.'
Meher Baba
pran = energy.
source: 'While the World Slept' by Bhau Kalchuri,
p70-72
'You Alone Exist' was dictated in Hindi in 1959 and
1962 in India. Later it was
translated into English (not by Baba?). It was written
to be sung in Hindi. Bhau Kalchuri
also wrote eleven couplets for this prayer which are
not printed here. For the complete
prayer including Bhau's verses, see 'While the World
Slept p70-72, or NE p xii-xix.
Bhau's couplets were in the places marked with '...'
Bhau was criticised for putting such things as snakes,
scorpions, mosquitoes, bugs
and gnats in the prayer. Actually it was Baba who put
them in. Bhau told Baba,
"Baba, we should change that prayer. It is not so
good. We should use other words to
describe God's attributes. It offends some people,
and they do not like it. People are
laughing at this prayer, Baba!"
Baba replied, gesturing,
"No, do not change a single word. The prayer is from
me... It is all right. You have no
idea of the importance of this prayer. In the future, this
prayer of mine will be sung in
every house throughout the world."
Later Baba gestured,
"It is important, very important, that people find God in
disagreeable things, that they
find me in disagreeable things. I am there in
everything, and in every creature. I am
there in the dirt, the scorpion, the snake, the elephant
and the mosquito, everything.
"Do not pay heed to what people think. I like this
prayer because it tells people who I
am, what I am. People do not know who or what I am,
and so they need this prayer to
know me, to understand me. I gave this prayer to
them, not you. You wrote what I
ordered you to write. A day will come when they will
know this."
1962, Guruprasad, NE p xii-xiii
For more about the background of this prayer, see
NE p xii-xiii
ONE HUNDRED AND ONE NAMES OF GOD
An ancient Zoroastrian prayer, translated by Meher
Baba
"If you repeat this prayer with love, no other prayer
remains to be said...
"Anyone can repeat these names with love,
irrespective of the religion he belongs to.
Meher Baba, 2 April? 1963, Poona
from a printed prayer-card
1. Yazad Worthy of Worship
2. Harvesp-tawan All Powerful
3. Harvesp-Agah All Knowing
4. Harvesp-Khoda Lord of All
5. Abadeh Without Beginning
6. Abi-Anjam Without End
7. Bun-e-stiha Root of Creation
8. Frakhtan-taih Endless Bliss
9. Jamaga Primal Cause
10. Prajtarah Exalted One
11. Tum-afik Purest of the Pure
12. Abaravand Detached from All
13. Paravandeh In Touch with All
14. An-ayafeh Unattainable
15. Hama-Ayafeh Attainer of All
16. Adro Most Righteous
17. Gira Upholder of All
18. A-chem Beyond Reason
19. Chamana Sovereign Reason
20. Safana Bountiful One
21. Afza Ever Prolific
22. Nasha Reaching Equally to All
23. Parwara Nourisher
24. Ianaha Protector of the World
25. Ain-aenah Never-changing
26. An-aenah Formless
27. Kharoshid-tum Most Steadfast Among the
Steadfast
28. Mino-tum Lord Invisible
29. Vasna All-pervading
30. Harvastum All-in-All
31. Hu-sepas Worthy of Our Profound Thanks
32. Har-Hamid All-embracing Goodness
33. Har-naik-faraih All-embracing Holy Light
34. Baish-tarana Remover of Affliction
35. Taronish Beyond Affliction
36. Anah-aoshaka Immortal
37. Farasaka Fulfiller of Holy Desires
38. Pajohdehad Creator of Holy Attributes
39. Khwafar Compassionate Judge
40. Avakhshiaea Merciful Giver
41. Abaraja Bountiful Giver
42. A-satoha Unconquerable
43. Rakhoha Freest of the Free
44. Varun Deliverer from Evil
45. A-farefah Never Deceiving
46. Be-farerftah Never Deceived
47. A-dui One Without a Second
48. Kam-rad Lord of Desire
49. Farman-kam Decreer of Sovereign Desire
50. Aekh Tan Soul Supreme
51. A-faremosh Never forgetting
52. Hamarna Just Accountant
53. Sanaea Knowing All Things
54. A-tars Fearless
55. A-bish Devoid of Pain
56. A-frajdum Most Exalted One
57. Ham-chun Ever the Same
58. Mino-satihgar Invisible Creator of the
Universe
59. A-minogar Creator of the Profoundly
Spiritual
60. Mino-nahab Hidden Within the Spirit
61. Adar-bad-gar Transmuter of Fire into Air
62. Adar-nam-gar Transmuter of Fire into
Dew
63. Bad-adar-gar Transmuter of Air into Fire
64. Bad-nam-gar Transmuter of Air into Dew
65. Bad-gail-gar Transmuter of Air into Earth
66. Bad-gerd-tum Supreme Transmuter of
Air into Dust
67. Adar-kibritatum Supreme Transmuter of
Fire into Divine Sparks
68. Bad-gar-jae Spreading Air Everywhere
69. Ah-tum Creator of Lifegiving Water
70. Gail-adar-gar Transmuter of Dust into
Fire
71. Gail-vad-gar Transmuter of Dust into Air
72. Gail-nam-gar Transmuter of Dust into
Water
73. Gar-gar Master Craftsman
74. Garo-gar Rewarder of Sincere Desires
75. Gar-a-gar Creator of All Humanity and its
Actions
76. Gar-a-gar-gar Creator of All Human and
Animal Life
77. A-gar-agar Creator of All the Four Elements
78. A-gar-a-gar-gar Creator of All the Planets
and All Other Worlds
79. A-guman Never in Doubt
80. A-jaman Ageless
81. A-Khuan Eternally Awake
82. Amast Ever-Alert
83. Fashutana Ever-Protecting
84. Padmani Recorder of Man's Actions
85. Firozgar Victorious
86. Khudawand Lord of the Universe
87. Ahuramazd Lord of Life and Wisdom
88. Abarin-kuhan-tawan Preserver of
Creation
89. Abarin-nao-tawan Renewer of Creation
90. Vaspan Embracing All Creation
91. Vaspar Giver of All Things
92. Khawar Infinitely Patient
93. Ahu Lord of Existence
94. Avakhshidar Forgiver of Sins
95. Dadar Divine Creator
96. Raiyomand Rayed in Glory
97. Khorehmand Haloed in Light
98. Davar Lord of Justice
99. Karfaigar Lord of Just Rewards
100. Bokhtar Liberator
101. Farsho-gar Awakener of Eternal Spring
"One of the prayers is so intriguing, so beautiful. The
prayers were given to us, but he
(Baba) would also participate while we recited them.
Why he wanted us to recite them
we did not know. They were not just for writing down.
They required active and sincere
participation on our parts.
"We were asked to recite the '101 Names of God'
according to the Zoroastrian prayer
book. We used to recite them without knowing the
meaning behind them, for they are
in a dead language of ten thousand years ago.
"Baba translated each one of the 101 names of God,
what each name meant. For
example, Ezad means the one worthy of worship."
Eruch Jessawala, 1980, Meherazad, Aw 19:2
p8
A ZOROASTRIAN PRAYER
translated from Gujerati (?) by Meher Baba
In the name of God almighty
I praise and utter
almighty God
full of glory
full of radiance
all-knowing
preserver of all
God of gods
king of kings
protector of all
creator of all things created
bestower of bounties
and giver of food to all
Lord of nature
almighty God
the Ancient one
forgive us
bestower of grace
O merciful
O omnipotent
O omniscient
O Lord of all
O nourisher of purity
Aw 19:2 p13
"This prayer is from the Avesta, the Zoroastrian book
of prayer. Meher Baba said it is
the heart of that book, that it came from Zoroaster
himself. He also said that when he
was Zoroaster he sang this song."
Elaine Cox, from the liner notes of
the recording 'Song of Huma 2'
MAY THY WILL BE DONE
May thy will be done, O Perfect one,
my will not prevail.
It's of no avail
where union with thee is concerned.
I will toil and I will strive
while I am alive
to love and obey
all night and all day
till union with thee I have earned.
Meher Baba
4 October 1959, Meherazad
AO p174
PRAYING WITH BABA
"When we were in Poona last summer, in
Guruprasad, the Parvardigar Prayer and the
Prayer of Repentance had to be recited. The men
would be on one side, and the
women on the other.
"Baba would come to the men, and then Eruch would
recite the prayers. All the men
stood up, and Baba stood up every time with joined
hands.
"And then he would come to the women Mandali.
They would all stand up, I would
recite the prayers, and again Baba would stand with
hands joined.
"Even then it didn't strike us, because this was the
first time he did that. And Baba said
that such a prayer had never been seen before, and
never will be, and that his
'reciting,' his participating in the prayer while we said
it (he stood only because he
would not utter the words; it was him praying, really),
his joining in the prayer with us
would mean benefit for each one who recited this
prayer. And after he dropped his
body, the benefit would be great for them."
Mani Irani, Poona, 14 April 1969, HM p 609-
610
"When a prayer was given by him... some words
were in Gujerati, Urdu, some in Hindi
or Persian, most in English. Then we'd do a little
dressing-up in English, and read it
out to Baba, and he'd approve what he'd dictated. He
also inspired the ones who were
doing the dressing-up. The whole thing was 'rattled
out' in the first place, given quite
spontaneously...
"Then there were the traditional 'orthodox' prayers
Baba wanted us to recite. I still
remember them: a Christian prayer, a Zoroastrian
prayer, a Sikh prayer. These were
sorted out for special occasions. A Christian woud be
asked to read a Christian prayer,
a Hindu a Hindu prayer, a Muslim a Muslim prayer, a
Buddhist a Buddhist prayer.
Followers of Guru Nanak would be asked to read a
Sikh prayer...
"We were asked to recite the '101 Names of God'
according to the Zoroastrian prayer
book. We used to recite them without knowing the
meaning behind them, for they are
in a dead language of ten thousand years ago. Baba
translated each one of the 101
names of God, what each name meant. For example,
Ezad means 'the one worthy of
worship.'
"... Whenever Baba expressed his desire, his
pleasure that we should collect
ourselves and gather for prayers, it was a serious
and solemn affair. It was not as we
now are, in good humor, talking in a lighter vein
about this solemn and serious matter.
"We still have that water pot and that blue basin here
in Mandali Hall which he used to
wash his hands and face before the prayers. He
would not only participate with us in
the prayers, but prepare himself for such prayers. He
didnÕt say anything to us, that we
should keep prepared for prayers. But knowing his
ways, and how he would want us to
keep clean and tidy for prayers, we also remained
prepared, not knowing when he
would ask us to recite the prayers. We would keep
our feet ready, washed and clean,
for who knows when he would want us to put our foot
forward for him to bow down to.
With the God-man putting his head on our feet, we
couldnÕt stand around dirty or with
wet feet. We had to keep ourselves clean and
prepared for all such occasions. But
many times we were caught unawares. Then he
would say, 'It's all right, it doesn't
matter.'
"He would be the first one who kept himself prepared
for the prayers. After having
washed his hands and splashed water on his face,
and after properly drying his face
and hands with a napkin, he would call the rest of the
Mandali in his presence. He
wouldn't want anybody to miss the occasion. He
wanted all his Mandali around him at
the time of prayers. Then he'd start. He would stand
up and gesture, 'Say the prayer.'
"Naturally, in the beginning, we had to read it out, the
Master's Prayer. It came to my lot
to read the prayer aloud while all would remain
silent. All present had to be silent,
while any one person would recite or read the prayer.
Baba would stand up, and
remain standing, during the whole prayer, and all of
us would be standing around him
in a circle. He remained the central figure, either here
or at Guruprasad or anywhere in
the country, wherever he chose to pray.
"At the time of reading aloud the Master's Prayer, I
once felt that Baba would want me
to recite it instead of reading it out. So I tried to learn
it by heart. Also just in case no
prayer book was available. I felt confident that I could
now do away with the book.
When Baba called as usual for the prayer book
printed by Warren Healy. Remember
him? A beautiful soul. He lived a dedicated life
printing so many Baba booklets.
"I replied, 'Baba, I have learnt it by heart.'
'So you learned the prayer?'
'Yes, Baba.'
'Good. Recite.'
'O Parvardigar, the preserver and protector of...'
"I couldn't even remember a word beyond this. So
Baba waited for awhile, and I tried
again³ Eventually he gestured 'Go get the book.'
"Never again did I attempt to recite it by heart. I
always read the prayer in front of him.
To this day, I don't know any of the prayers by heart.
"So I had to read them out from the prayer book
every time he asked for the prayers.
All would be there. Baba would join his hands and
stand as one of us in our midst, and
his look and his gaze woudl be of one deep in the act
of adoration, totally absorbed,
participating in the prayers... After the prayer ended
with 'You are named Ezad - the
only one worthy of worship,' he would bow down, like
this, in the act of worship. After a
minute of this, Baba would want the prayer to be
followed by the Prayer of
Repentance. Everyone would be in readiness as I
would begin to read out 'We repent,
O God most merciful...'
His gesture for the Repentance Prayer was that he
would begin to softly slap his
cheeks with both hands. Now this is the gesture
denoting repentance (Eruch slapped
his cheeks). It's not just this... patting your cheeks.
Among the worshippers, may they
be Muslims, Hindus, Zoroastrians, while they pray for
repentance, it is customary for
the one to slap one's cheeks with both hands while
saying, 'I repent, I repent.'
"The Mandali were there with Baba for the prayer, but
he didn't want the Mandali to
slap their cheeks as a mark of repentance, because it
was he who did it on our behalf.
We could hear him constantly slapping his cheeks
during the entire prayer, but this
was not at all disturbing, as he slapped softly but
audibly.
"Once Baba guided me to say at the end of this
prayer, 'Amen.' So I do it every time I
end the prayer..."
"The sequel to the Prayer of Repentance in presence
of Baba was very thought-
provoking. This is how it was: he would sit down in
Mandali Hall after the prayer on his
sofa chair, and some sort of high footstool would be
improvised in front of Baba, so that
he could easily bend down while sitting and place
his forehead on the foot of the
Mandali. He would gesture,
'Put your right foot here. At the moment of contact,
when my forehead touches you, you
call aloud one name of God that's dear to you, as
many times as my forehead touches
your foot.'
"So Zoroastrians used to call out 'Ahuramazda' at the
moment of contact...
'Ahuramazda' would be heard by the rest of the
Mandali each time Baba made
contact. It might be six or seven times - we wouldn't
know the number of times he'd
want to do it. The Muslims say 'Allah' at the moment
of contact. Christians called out
'God the Beyond.' And some called out 'Parvardigar.'
The Iranis called out 'Yezdan.'
The Sikhs were heard saying 'Wahi-Guru,' which
means God in the Beyond Beyond
state.
"We were a cosmopolitan group around Baba. It
would not be a crowd, but just a few
Mandali, about ten, eleven or twelve of us around
him, that's all, but we were a
cosmopolitan group.
"So this would happen day after day. Sometimes for
months together, there would not
be such prayers, and sometimes it would be a daily
affair. There was no set schedule,
no such thing as a daily repetition. Yet, if it was his
pleasure, you had to present
yourself at the time of the prayer call, when you had
to leave everything and be in
attendance....
"But in later years, in 1968, when his health was
visibly deteriorating, going from bad
to worse, he ordered for the prayers to be read out
daily... At the time of the prayer,
Baba would ask someone to help him stand up,
because one must stand up for
prayers, and he said he had to participate in the
prayers. So he started with one
person helping him stand up. Then I would begin to
read the prayers. Often he would
gesture, 'Let's finish it off soon.'
"Now the prayer he had dictated for humanity is
meant for human beings to say with all
their heart and soul, so you can't rush through any
prayer, much less the Master's
Prayer. Yet the author, while he participates as one of
humanity, says 'Finish it off
soon.' So naturally I say it out a little bit more rapidly,
knowing that his health condition
does not permit him to stand up for a longer time.
"Then, with the passage of time, as months passed
by, it wasn't possible for him to
stand alone; someone had to hold him. And all the
time he remained standing with
hands folded and joined like this (Eruch
demonstrated). The time did come when each
day he gestured, 'Read it faster.' So I read the prayer
faster and more rapidly each day.
"Then a time came when two people had to hold him,
and he looked as if he wasn't
there with us - far away, somewhere else... but he
continued to participate solemnly as
ever before. Then he'd say, snap-snapping his
fingers, 'Hurry up, hurry up, read it
faster.' Later on, at the very end of this period, I'd
read it very, very rapidly, skipping
periods, commas, and so on.One day it came to such
a pitch, when he gestured 'Do it
(snap) - fast! I can't stand up longer.'
"I rattled off the prayer at such high speed that it
echoed in my mind as if I were an
express train going through a station without any
stops. I'm in the midst of reading like
this, and all of a sudden I burst out laughing,
because it was so ridiculous to me to pray
like that. I could hear my own voice echoing as if I
were rattling through all the stations.
The picture came to me of a speeding express train,
and I laughed loudly halfway
through the prayer. Then I controlled myself and
resumed my reading of the prayer.
"Baba didn't say anything. He just stood there.
Everyone around me was serious. After
the prayer ended, he sat down in his chair.
Everything was finished and we settled
down. After awhile, he asked, 'What made you
laugh? What made you do that in that
prayer?
"So I said, 'It happened uncontrollably, because I
could hear my own voice rushing
through the whole prayer. It appeared to me I'm a
railroad train rattling through all the
stations without stopping, without caring for
passengers. Something happened in my
mind and gave me that picture. The situation was so
ridiculous that I burst out
laughing.
"He gestured, 'You're mad. You have no idea what is
happening here. To you it seems
ridiculous. For me it is no joke, in this state of my
health, to participate in this prayer. I
have given it to humanity, to posterity, to say it. And
whenever anyone recites it after I
pass away, because of my participation now, it will
help the one who repeats this
prayer.
"'So that's why I want the prayer said. It has nothing
to do with your speed or how you
read it out, or anything of this sort. All that matters is
my having participated in the
prayer. So every time anybody repeats the prayer, I
am there with him. My presence is
there."
Eruch Jessawala, 1980, Meherazad, Aw 19:2
p8, 13-17
Another version of part of this talk is in IT p84-
85
"We had a wonderful talk with Eruch yesterday on the
other side of the garden wall
(mandali quarters), and he told us many things. One
was that at a certain time Baba
would have him read the Master's Prayer and the
Prayer of Repentance to the
mandali.
"Each day Baba would say, 'Read them faster and
faster,' until Eruch realised that
Baba would always stand for the prayers, and that
his hip must be paining him to
stand.
"Eruch said, 'Baba, why don't you sit? After all, they
are your prayers, and there is no
need to stand.'
"Baba replied, 'I must stand. I want to put life into
these prayers so they will go on
forever.'
Elizabeth Patterson, in a letter to
Jane Haynes, 11 February 1970
LL p463-464
An interesting story told by Eruch about Dr.
Deshmukh and his reaction to Baba's
prayers can be found in Aw 19:2 p14-16, and
another version in IT p85-87
PRAYING TO MEHER BABA
"Baba said that we should pray to him without any
expectation of material or spiritual
reward.
"Prayer is just to remember him wholeheartedly with
deep love for him. And if you
happen to ask him anything after praying, you can do
so with love for him and faith in
him; but do not expect any answer from him to your
asking. Just leave it to his sweet
will and compassion. That is what beloved Baba told
us about prayers."
Mani Irani, 23 October 1980, LF2 p84
Eruch Jessawala remembered some of the things
Meher Baba had mentioned about
praying to him. These are not direct quotes, but a
paraphrase:
'About prayers, Baba has always said, pray. It is good
to pray. But the prayer that
reaches me is not a long list of your wants.That will
never reach me. But just say my
name. Even if it be just my name, it will reach me.
'But then, man's heart is such, when it pours out, it
pours out in many words. So let
those words help you to glorify me. And even if there
is a long, long list of all the
glories that you attribute to me, that will reach me.
'But when you pray asking me for something, that
prayer does not reach me. But if you
ask me and don't expect an answer, then that
reaches me too.
'Sometimes we follow him the way he wants us to,
and sometimes we make him follow
us, and that's where the trap is... Religions crop up,
dogmas form, churches, temples
and mosques are built, trying to edify him. But we
forget him and adore the mansion of
the Lord.
'As Baba himself has put it, very humorously, you
pray, you pray with great devotion,
but you pour your devotion into the prayer, and you
forget the Lord to whom you pray.
You remember the prayer and forget the Lord.'
from a tape recording,
November 7, 1977
The Love Street Lamppost,
January-March 1998, p.8
OTHER PRAYERS
MONAJAT
"... One day Baba said to Naja, big Khorshed and
myself, 'Come, girls, bring a pad and
pencil and sit down.'
"We sat in front of Baba with our pads and pencils,
and Baba asked, 'What prayers do
you say?'
"We told him, 'Our sacred thread prayers, Baba.'
Baba knew this prayer only took five
minutes to say.
"What,' Baba said, 'you only give five minutes to
God? All day long you are eating and
talking and washing and sweeping and enjoying
yourselves. All day you're tending to
yourselves, and you can spare just five minutes to
remember God and to praise him?
That's not enough. I'm going to dictate a prayer to
you, and you write it down.'
'I had had my schooling at a convent where we had
learned to write in English, not in
Gujerati. And while I spoke Gujerati fluently, I wrote it
very slowly. However, I started
writing. It took Baba about five minutes to dictate the
prayer.
"When he had finished, Baba took big Khorshed's
pad to see if she had taken the
prayer down properly. He corrected it, and gave it
back to her. He then took Naja's pad,
corrected that, and gave it back to her. It was my turn,
and I was still struggling with the
first line.
"Baba looked at my pad and said, 'You've written
only one line. Why is that?'
"I replied, 'Baba, I have had very little practice in
writing Gujerati. I went to a convent,
and not a Parsi school, and before that I studied
Gujerati for a very short time. All these
years I've had no practice writing it.'
"Baba was all smiles, and he said, 'All right, give me
your pencil.' He took my pencil
and wrote down the whole prayer for me. I was very
glad that I did not know how to
write Gujerati, because now I had the prayer in
Baba's own handwriting.
"The prayer is a very beautiful one called 'Monajat.'
When Baba was a young boy at
his parents' house, he would get up early every
morning, and with his beautiful voice
sing this prayer with his parents. It must have been
so lovely to hear Baba's voice
singing this beautiful prayer."
Mehera Irani, M p50-51 (1924, Quetta)
SAINT FRANCIS' PRAYER
'Why were the saints saints?
Because they were cheerful
when it was difficult to be cheerful,
patient when it was difficult to be patient,
because they pushed on
when they wanted to stand still,
kept silent when they wanted to talk,
and were agreeable
when they wanted to be disagreeable.'
"Then he'd* say, this is Saint Francis' prayer... That
was all. It was quite simple. I don't
remember why it was written."
Eruch Jessawala, Aw 19:2 p10
(It's not clear who wrote this prayer)
*Baba
MAY WE BE WORTHY
Beloved Avatar Meher Baba ki jai
May we be worthy
of your most beautiful, precious love,
Baba darling.
May we keep loving you
more and more
through good thoughts,
good words,
and good deeds,
and may we please you
by remembering you always.
Mehera Irani
1960s?
KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS
A........ The Answer, edited by Naosherwan Anzar
AA....... Avatar of the Age Meher Baba Manifesting, by Bhau Kalchuri
AD....... The Andhra Diary, by Kishan Singh, unpublished
AL....... A Love So Amazing, by Bili Eaton
AM....... Avatar Meher BabaÕs Final Declaration, Clarification, etc. (booklet)
AO....... The Ancient One (by Eruch Jessawalla), ed. Naosherwan Anzar, 1985
Av....... Avatar, by Jean Adriel
Aw....... The Awakener, magazine, ed. Filis Frederick
B........ The Beloved: The Life and Work of Meher Baba, by Naosherwan Anzar
Be....... Beams from Meher Baba on the Spiritual Panorama, ed. Ivy Duce
BG....... The Best of the Glow, ed. Naosherwan Anzar
BL....... Because of Love, by Rano Gayley
CC....... Civilisation or Chaos, by Irene Conybeare (2nd edition, 1959)
CF....... Meher Baba the Compassionate Father, ed. Hoshang Bharucha
Da....... Darshan Hours, by Meher Baba, ed. Jessawalla and Chapman
DH....... Determined to be His, (by Eruch Jessawalla) ed. Steve Klein
Di....... Discourses, by Meher Baba, 5 volumes (1940s)
DL....... The Dance of Love, by Margaret Craske
DV....... Divya Vani, magazine, ed. Swami Satya Prakash Udaseen
EN....... The Everything and the Nothing, by Meher Baba, ed. Francis Brabazon
FF....... Filis Frederick
FL....... 82 Family Letters, by Mani Irani
fn....... footnote
GG....... Glimpses of the God-Man Meher Baba, by Bal Natu, 6 volumes
Gl....... Glow International, magazine, ed. Naosherwan Anzar
GM....... The God-Man, by Charles Purdom
GO....... Gift of God, by Arnavaz Dadachanji, 1996
GS....... God Speaks, by Meher Baba (2nd edition)
GT....... God to Man and Man to God, by Meher Baba (1st edition) ed. C. B. Purdom
HC....... How to Choose a Guru, by Rick Chapman
HM....... How a Master Works, by Ivy Duce
IL....... Meher Baba on Inner Life, ed. K.K. Ramakrishnan?
IS....... It So Happened, ed. William Le Page
IT....... Is That So? (by Eruch Jessawalla)
JH....... Joseph Harb
JT....... Just to Love Him, by Adi K. Irani, ed. Stephen Berry, 1985
LA....... Love Alone Prevails, by Kitty Davy
LB....... Life at its Best, by Meher Baba, ed. Ivy Duce, 1957
LC....... The Life Circulars of Avatar Meher Baba, ed. Swami S. P. Udaseen
LF....... Letters from the Mandali of Avatar Meher Baba, ed. Jim Mistry
LF2...... Letters from the Mandali of Avatar Meher Baba v.2, ed. Jim Mistry
LH....... Listen Humanity, by Meher Baba, ed. Don Stevens.
LJ....... Life is a Jest, published by R.P. Pankhraj, 1969 ed.
LL....... Letters of Love for Meher Baba, the Ancient One, ed. Jane Haynes, 1997
LM....... Lord Meher, by Bhau Kalchuri (14 volumes)
M....... Mehera, (by Mehera Jehangir Irani) ed. Janet Judson, 1989
MB....... Meher Baba, by his Eastern and Western Disciples: article 5
MD....... Meher Baba: Messages Delivered During Andhra Tour, 1954 (booklet)
Me....... Messages of Meher Baba, East and West, ed. Adi K. Irani
MF....... The Moving Finger Writes, part 2, ed. A.K. Arjani
MG....... Meher Gazette, magazine
MJ....... Meher Baba Journal, magazine, ed. Elizabeth Patterson
ML....... My Life With Meher Baba, by W.D. Kain
MM....... Meher Baba and his Mandali, by Naosherwan Anzar
Ms....... Meher Message, magazine, ed. K.J. Dastur
Mu....... Much Love, by T.K. Ramanujam, 1994
N........ refer to notes for the chapter
NE....... The Nothing and the Everything, by Bhau Kalchuri
NG....... Norina's Gift: Messages from Meher Baba received
...........through Norina Matchabelli, ed. Wilson/Haynes, 1997
NW....... Not We But One, ed. William Le Page
OL....... oral, unpublished or lost written source
PL....... The Path of Love, by Meher Baba, ed. Filis Frederick
PM....... The Perfect Master, by Charles Purdom
PS....... Practical Spirituality With Meher Baba, by John Alister Grant, 1985
Pu....... Meher Baba to Pukar (Parameshwari Dayal Nigam)
Q........ questionable
QA....... Shri Meher Baba the Perfect Master, Questions and Answers
QM....... Questions Meher Baba Answered, part I, ed. K.K. Ramakrishnan (?) 1975
RD....... Ramjoo's Diaries, by Ramjoo Abdulla, ed. Ira Dietrich
S........ Sai Baba, The Perfect Master
Sa....... The Sayings of Shri Meher Baba, 1933
Si....... Silent Teachings of Meher Baba, by Ramjoo Abdulla
Sp....... Sparks from Meher Baba, ed. Delia deLeon
SS....... Sufism Speaks Out, ed. Ira Deitrick? 1981
ST....... Sparks of the Truth, ed. C.D. Deshmukh (1967 edition)
SW....... The Silent Word, by Francis Brabazon
SG....... Stay With God, by Francis Brabazon
T........ Treasures from the Meher Baba Journals, ed. Patterson/Haynes
TH....... That's How It Was, by Eruch Jessawala
TK....... The Turning of the Key, by William Le Page
TY....... Twenty Years with Meher Baba, by Dr. Abdul Ghani Munsiff
U........ The Talks of Sadguru Upasani Baba Maharaja (6 volumes)
W........ The Wayfarers, by William Donkin
Wo-a..... The Work of Meher Baba with Advanced Souls, by William Donkin, 1948
Wo-b..... The Work of Meher Baba with Advanced Souls, by William Donkin, 1949
WD....... What Am I Doing Here, by Ivy Duce
Page references are for the particular edition listed above only. Some of these books have been published in several different editions. For instance there are three versions of 'God Speaks.' Quotes used here are all from the second edition. The same quotes in the first and third editions have different page numbers.
In the case of 'Discourses,' all references are to the 5 volume edition above, except when marked Di (7th ed.), in which case the one volume 1987 version edited by Eruch Jessawala, Flagg Kriss and Bal Natu is indicated.
To reproduce a quote, you need permission from the holder of the copyright. Generally quotes of Meher Baba are copyright the Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust, Kings Road, Ahmednagar, M.S. 414001, India. Quotes from 'God Speaks,' 'Life At Its Best,' 'Beams from Meher Baba on the Spiritual Panorama,' 'What Am I Doing Here,' and 'How a Master Works' are copyright Sufism Reoriented, 3500 Boulevard Way, Walnut Creek, California 94595.
This web page is copyright The Eastern School of Broad Buddhism, 12 June 2000, all rights reserved. All previously published material remains copyright the original copyright holders. Feel free to download and print out one copy of this page for your individual use. Other than that, it may not be reproduced in any manner without written permission. Address: Aerna O. at aernadrome@aol.com