Coming Attractions 1 Pt.1

COMING ATTRACTIONS

Part One

Meher Baba

From the very beginning, I have a Circle consisting of a fixed number of men and women. In the near future these individuals will gain the ultimate experience of Truth and knowledge.

Out of millions of souls, only one becomes Perfect. Perfection entails unimaginable hardships and sufferings. The Perfect man can bestow divine consciousness - the experience of infinity - upon anyone in the twinkling of an eye. The Perfect man bestows conscious divinity at the right moment upon those who have an age-old connection with him...

To acquire the gift of divine knowledge, a person must have a close connection with a Perfect Master. It was because of this spiritual relationship between myself and Babajan that she, without my asking, striving or longing for it, bestowed on me the experience of God I now have. And it is this intimate spiritual relationship which will make me, in the very near future, share the infinite treasure with twelve of my first disciples.

26 January 1922,
Mandwa,
LM2 p337

Another version of the last paragraph:

"In spiritual affairs, too, one must have a connection with the Master to receive the highest state of existence. It was this connection with Babajan that gave me the experience in a second, without any striving or longing for it. And it is the connection again that will make me share this infinite treasure among twelve of my Circle in the near future.

RD p35-36

My every word will come true, but I alone know how, when and where. You will not be able to understand them. To talk about and understand such subjects requires special ears and a different tongue.

14 October 1922,
Bombay,
LM2 p442

Another version:

The world is against spirituality, and so against me, as I have so often told you. Don't be hasty in forming opinions regarding my words and deeds. My words will prove to be true, but I alone know how, when and where. You will not understand them, because to understand mystical statements supernatural intelligence is required.

1922,
Bombay,
PM p57

And another version:

All my words will come true, but how, where and when, that I alone know. You would not be able to understand them. To understand and talk on such subjects, special ears and a different tongue are needed.

SW p111 and RD p108

There will be religious hostilities, riots, wars and natural disasters. These events will cause the shedding of blood of millions of people throughout the world in general, and throughout India in particular. But thereafter peace and brotherhood will come back into the world.

There will be another world war. It will be much more destructive and extensive than the one before. Rivers of blood will flow. I will dip my kerchief in that river of blood and tie it around my head. Not until the world cries out for God will I give up my silence.

9 July 1925,
Meherabad,
LM2 p731

The troubles of the world are due to thinking. Soon I shall take this thinking upon myself, when my health will, most probably, be seriously affected. This is essential for my future working, which will affect the whole world.

March 1927,
Meherabad,
PM p113

Of the 56 God-realised souls on earth, the five Perfect Masters are the most important. And the one who is the highest of all is the Avatar, myself. I come every 700 to 1400 years, and it is undoubtably a very rare and lucky thing for each of you to have the opportunity of loving me individually, since even the Sadgurus long to touch the Avatar physically.

When the world is in the grip of pain, misery, suffering and chaos, I manifest myself. Spirituality then reaches its pinnacle, and materialism is at its lowest level. Then again, with the passing of time, spirituality diminishes and materialism increases. From the beginning of time, this game has been going on, and it will go on for an eternity.

I have a law of my own for managing the affairs of the universe. But when I speak, that law will be kept aside, because the spiritual push will be universal. So the law which I have created for the universe will be set aside.

But again the law establishes itself. Then the spiritual power gradually diminishes, and materialism increases, just like a seesaw.

(Baba tilted his alphabet board up and down like a seesaw)

Material unrest and chaos will have to reach a climax. Then I shall manifest. When I manifest, spirituality is at its highest.

3 June 1927,
Meherabad,
LM3 p944

There will be a terrible war in the future, and it will be more destructive and horrible than the last one. America will play the most important role in it. Millions will die, and the war will be so horrendous that there will not even be time to dispose of the heaps of corpses. It will be then that I manifest myself as the Avatar.

18 June 1927,
Meherabad,
LM3 p949

... The real reason underlying these communal riots, as well as the general restlessness all over the world, is the near approach of the spiritual outburst that occurs at long intervals. It will all end in unity and peace.

One feels great disturbance and pain in the abdomen before having an unusually satisfactory motion. It is just like that. These very disturbances are the indication of the coming peace. The combination of Islam, Hinduism and Zoroastrianism in my person is not a coincidence - it has great significance.

July 1927,
Meherabad,
SW p400

India will have independence, but the reaction of all the agitation will greatly harm the country. The rashness of modern youth will prove a calamity. Such impudence and impetuosity are greatly harmful to the path of spirituality.

In all religions, the beginning of opposition against the priest class is welcome, because at present the priest class is the greatest obstacle in the path of spirituality. The rigid and deep-rooted beliefs and prejudices of age-old customs, rites and rituals, which the priests have inherited and nourished in the name of religion, are intolerable and the greatest impediment.

So if the downfall of this junta is brought about, the firmly embedded prejudices and rites will be destroyed. Although there is the risk of people becoming indifferent to God and religion, these can still be revived afterward, once these rotting prejudices are uprooted.

3 April 1930,
Meherabad,
LM4 p1296

Be prepared to hear of bloodshed. There will be severe tension between the Hindus and Muslims. Antagonism between the higher and lower caste Hindus will prevail. Religious feelings will cause differences between the two communities, resulting in bloodshed.

10 April 1930,
Tiger Valley,
Panchgani,
LM4 p1302

Great upheavals are coming soon throughout the world, particularly in India. There will be great tension in India between the British and the Indians on the one hand, and between the Hindus and the Muslims on the other, resulting in terrible bloodshed and massacres. Hindus will kill Muslims, the Muslims will kill Hindus, and the British will kill both.

Rivers of blood will flow in India, and there will be corpses everywhere. Civil war will break out in India, and all the parties will clash against one another. Nothing but chaos and confusion will reign everywhere. Out of this cry and clamor for independence, quite a new situation will arise, with others intervening and abruptly appearing.

Besides this violence, a great war will break out and rage between the Western countries -- Russia, America, England, Italy, Germany and others. There will be such chaos and confusion throughout the world that not one leader will understand what to do. And out of this confusion and chaos, the Avatar will appear, to guide misguided humanity onto the path of peace and prosperity -- toward eternal bliss.

But that will take time and require great upheavals throughout the world. These disorders, disturbances and unrest are necessary to make the world turn its face toward spirituality, and ensure its future salvation.

28 May 1930,
Meherabad,
LM4 p1314-1315

I will come back to America to pour out my love to you, and to spiritualise America.

December 1931, on the ship S. S. Narkunda
en route to India from Marseilles
to Malcolm and Jean Schloss

The bird-form enriches (enlightens) consciousness with new experiences since, as a feathered vertebrate, it is capable of flying in the air, and, with the help of its two legs, of maintaining an erect stand in the Gross world.

Meher Baba, before 1955, GS p31-32

The world will soon realise that neither cults, creeds, dogmas, religious ceremonies, lectures and sermons on the one hand, nor, on the other hand, ardent seeking for material welfare or physical pleasures, can ever bring about real happiness -- but that only selfless love and universal brotherhood can do it.

1932? Me p5

James Douglas: Is there evil in the world?

Baba: No, there is nothing like evil.

Douglas: What do you mean?

Baba: There is nothing except bliss everywhere.

Douglas: How could that be?

Baba: In reality, that is the case.

Douglas: Then how would you explain the thousand and one evils in the world, such as theft, murder, rape, treachery, dishonesty, immorality, torture? Can these wickednesses not be considered as evils?

Baba: Not necessarily.

Douglas: Then what do you call them? What are these to be considered?

Baba: They are more or less of a degree of good itself.

Douglas: Oh God, how wonderful. Why couldn't the poets and metaphysicians have explained it in such a straightforward and intelligible manner?

Baba: As I have said, there is nothing but bliss in the world. What the world calls evil is an extremely lower aspect of good.

Douglas: Of course, of course. How easy. Why the people of the world cannot understand such a simple thing is surprising. Could you enlighten us as to when the world will understand this simple truth?

Baba: When its angle of vision has changed.

Douglas: But when?

Baba: It is going on internally.

Douglas: Thank God. What do you say about the delicate and dangerous situation the world is facing? The world's financial condition today is such that countries are ready to strangle one another. Restlessness is everywhere. When will this calamitous period end? When will this situation improve?

Baba: Not until there is a change of heart.

Douglas: A change of heart? What a sovereign remedy. But when will the heart change?

Baba: It will start after about a year.

Douglas: Christ took three years to complete his work. How long will it be for you to complete your work?

Baba: Thirty-three years.

.......

Douglas: What is your mission?

Baba: To bring about a spiritual regeneration of mankind, of all, the East and the West.

Douglas: Have you the confidence to do that, especially in the West?

Baba: With as much confidence as that which you possess in thinking you are now talking to me, and believing that you are doing so. In truth, with this objective, the spiritual regeneration of mankind, I have taken this birth. This is the purpose of my taking human form.

9 April 1932, London,
from an interview with James Douglas.
An edited version of the interview was published
April 10, 1932 in the London Sunday Express.
LM5 p1557-1564.
Other versions:
PM p162-165, GM, Gl

I intend bringing together all religions and cults, like beads on one string, and to revitalise them for individual and collective needs. This is my mission in the West. The peace and harmony that I talk of, and that will settle on the face of this worried world, are not far off.

10 April 1932, London,
part of a message to
Paramount News Reel, Me p84

(Baba described an experience he had when he was five years old. He saw circles within circles of shining light and brilliant colors, became dazed and fainted.)

I have the actual experience of it all today, and feel the universe and creation emanating and projecting out of me. I feel all today that which I had a mere sight of then. Creation involves, only to re-evolve again. It is a never-ending game.

I have explained it all in detail in my book.* Even scientists will be astonished to learn the secrets I have explained there. For these will not be vague talks, but facts that are substantiated and supported by scientific arguments. It will be the future Bible -- not in the literal sense, but a book of understanding for people of all religions.

5 May 1932, Lugano, Switzerland, LM5 p1606-1607
*The book Baba wrote by hand at Meherabad in 1927-28, which
has not yet been published.

Q. What spiritual work (training) do you suggest for modern Europe?

Baba: There is existing at the moment a universal dissatisfaction, and an indescribable longing for something that will end this terrible chaos and misery that is startling the world just now. I am going to satisfy this craving, and lead the world to real happiness and peace by making mankind more introspective, and see more to the inside of things than what they have hitherto been accustomed to.

Q. Do you help individually or collectively?

Baba: As a rule Masters help individually according to the temperament and preparedness of the aspirant, but this being the Avataric period, i.e. the end of the previous cycle and the beginning of a new one, which occurs every seven or eight hundred years, my spiritual help to humanity will be both individual and collective. The period of junction of the old and new cycle usually connotes the advent of a Master who rejuvenates and infuses new life and meaning into the old order of things, and besides imparting the highest state of spirituality, the state of oneness with the infinite ocean of bliss, knowledge and power, to the select few, a general spiritual push is given to the whole universe.

Q. Do you think a possible spiritual revival (happiness) will be the outcome of individual effort, or rather a collective movement of nations (like the great religious movements of the past)? Will certain nations achieve it sooner than others, and which?

Baba: The spiritual revival that you ask about is not very far off, and I am going to bring it about in the near future, utilising the tremendous amount of misapplied energy possessed by America for the purpose. Such a spiritual outburst that I visualise takes place every seven or eight hundred years, at the end or beginning of a cycle, and it is only the Perfect One who has reached the Christ state of consciousness that can appeal and work so very universally.

Q. Will you deal with such problems as politics, economics, sex?

Baba: My working will embrace everything. It will affect and control every phase of life. Perfection would fall far short of the ideal if it were to accept one thing and eschew another. In the general spiritual push that I shall impart to the world, problems such as politics, economics and sex, although they have no direct connection with the original theme, will all be automatically solved and adopted; and new values and significance will be attached to matters which appear to baffle the solution at the present moment.

All collective movements and religions hinge around one personality, for without this centrifugal force all movements are bound to fail. Societies and organisations have never succeeded in bringing Truth nearer. Perfect Masters impart spirituality by personal contact and influence, and the benefit that will accrue to different nations when I bring about the spiritual upheaval will largely depend upon the amount of energy each one possesses. The more the energy, however misapplied, the more the response. The Master merely diverts the current in the right direction.

.......

Q. Why does one talk in connection with you of performing miracles? Don't you think this may lead people into the most materialistic and cheapest kind of beliefs?

Baba: In the West I find people very keen on the question of miracles. I must explain that the ability to perform miracles does not necessarily connote high spirituality. Anyone who has attained Perfection and enjoys the Christ consciousness can perform miracles. Healing the sick, giving eyes to the blind, or raising the dead to life, is mere child's play to him. Even those who have not become one with the infinite, but are only traversing the planes, can perform miracles, and are able to do and undo things. It is not, however, to be understood that spiritual Masters perform miracles in order just to satisfy idle curiousity. Miracles have come to be performed, and will be performed, according to existing circumstances. Masters have sometimes performed miracles when it was intended to give a universal push toward spirituality. I shall perform miracles when the time and situation demands it, and not for mere sensational mongering.

Q. Have you been in touch with other Masters spiritually only, or even in physical contact?

Baba: Yes, I have been in touch with spiritual Masters, even physically, before Realisation. It is almost impossible to reach the highest state of consciousness without a Master. It was the physical contact of my Master Hazrat Babajan of Poona, a single kiss on my forehead, that gave me the consciousness I now eternally enjoy. I now take orders from no one; it is all my supreme will. Everything is because I will it to be. Nothing is beyond my knowledge. I am in everything. There is no time and space for me; it is I who give them their relative existence. I see the past and future as clearly and vividly as you see material things round about you.

Answers to questions by Rom Landau, sent him in a letter,
May 1932, London, A p37-40
Another version: LM5 p1612
(Note: Some of Baba's answers to Rom Landau's questions
seem to have been incorporated into the following message)

I am not come to establish any cult, society or organisation, nor even to establish a new religion. The religion I shall give touches* the knowledge of the one behind the many. The book that I shall make people read is the book of the heart, which holds the key to the mystery of life. As for ritual, I shall teach humanity to discriminate, express and live, rather than utter it. I shall bring about a happy blending of the head and heart.

* In another version, 'teaches.'

Societies and organisations have never succeeded in bringing Truth nearer. Realisation of the Truth is solely the concern of the individual.

Every being is a point from which a start could be made towards the limitless ocean of love, bliss, knowledge and goodness already with him.

No spiritual Master brings religion to the world in the form which it eventually assumes. His very presence is a blessing, and radiates spirituality. He imparts it to others by personal contact.

The so-called religions are an effort to commemorate the association with a great spiritual Master, and to preserve his atmosphere and influence. It is like an archeological department trying to preserve things which only resuscitate the past. The living spirit being absent, religions or organisations gradually lose their glamour. The result is a mental revolt against the established order. Something more substantial and practical is required, which expresses the life of the spirit.

There exists at the moment a universal dissatisfaction, and an indescribable longing for something that will end the chaos and misery that is holding the world in its grip. I will satisfy this craving, and lead the world to real happiness and peace, by making people look more into things than hitherto.

As a rule, Masters help individually according to temperament and fitness of the aspirant. But this being an Avataric period (which means the end of the previous cycle and the beginning of a new one), my spiritual help to humanity will be both individual and collective.

The period of junction of the old and new cycle usually connotes the advent of a Master who rejuvenates religious thought, infusing new life and meaning into the old order of things. Besides imparting the highest state of spirituality to a select few, he gives a spiritual push to the whole world.

The West looks at things only from the standpoint of reason and logic, and is sceptical about things which baffle the intellect. Intellect is the lowest form of understanding, and is developed by reading, hearing, reasoning and logic. These processes create an illusion of real knowledge.

The higher state of understanding is permanent Illumination, through which one experiences and sees things as they are. In this state, one feels in harmony with everyone and everything, and realises divinity in every phase of life, and is able to impart happiness to others. Here one attends to all duties and material affairs, and yet feels mentally detached from the world. This is true renunciation.

The last and highest state of understanding is the merging of the soul into the limitless ocean of infinite bliss, knowledge and power. One who has himself attained this freedom can make thousands Perfect like himself.

I intend bringing about a great spiritual revival in the near future, utilising the tremendous amount of energy possessed by America for the purpose. Such a spiritual outpouring that I visualise usually takes place at the beginning or end of a cycle, and only a Perfect one who has reached the Christ state of consciousness can make such a universal appeal.

My work will embrace everything. It will permeate every phase of life. Perfection would fall far short of the ideal if it were to accept one thing and eschew another.

The general spiritual push that I shall give to the whole world will automatically adjust problems such as politics, economics and sex, though these are not directly connected with the original theme. New values and significance will be attached to things which appear to baffle solution at the moment.

The benefits that shall accrue to different nations and countries when I bring about the spiritual upheaval, will be largely determined by the amount of energy each one possesses. The greater the energy, however misapplied, the greater the response. The Master merely diverts the current into the right channel.

It will be one of my greatest miracles to bring together and blend the realistic West with the idealistic East, and the West, at the zenith of its intellectual and material attainment, and the East at the height of its spiritual manifestation in the shape of a Perfect Master, will meet without shaming or looking down upon each other.

I repeat, materialism and spirituality must go hand in hand. The balance of head and heart must be maintained (the head for discrimination, the heart for feeling), whereby it is possible to realise infinite consciousness in art, science, nature, and every phase of life.

I have become one with the infinite source of everything. This is the state of Christ-consciousness. If people call me messiah, saviour or redeemer, it does not affect me. Terms and names do not matter. What really matters is the state of Christ-consciousness that I eternally enjoy, and towards which I shall lead all who come to me.

When I speak, my original message will be delivered to the world, and it will have to be accepted. The ability to perform miracles does not necessarily connote high spirituality. Anyone who has reached the Christ-consciousness can perform them. People must not come to me merely for help in their physical infirmities, or for material purposes. I shall perform miracles when the time and situation demand, and not to satisfy mere idle curiousity. Spiritual healing is by far the greatest healing, and this is what I intend to give. The highest is latent in everyone, but has to be manifested.

19 May 1932, New York,
a printed message given
to reporters who came on board the ship Bremen, Me p84-87
Other versions: PM p165-168,
LM5 p1616-1618

... I do not intend to found any religion, cult, creed or society. There are already far too many of these organisations. I have come to help people realise their ideals in daily life...

America represents the vanguard and the synthesis of the white races, and hence forms the best foundation for the spiritual upheaval I will bring about in the near future. America has tremendous energy, but most of this energy is misdirected. I intend to divert it into spiritual and creative channels.

I am now going to California for a few days. From there, I must go to the Far East for one day for spiritual reasons. But I will be back in California by the end of June, and then I will speak on June 29th. But if I should be delayed, I will return on July 12th and speak on July 13th.

When I speak, there will be many proofs of my spiritual power, and of my ability to bestow Illumination. People will then realise that Truth, which is the source of all love and existence, rules supreme in all departments of life.

My work and aims are intensely practical. It is not practical to over-emphasise the material at the cost of the spiritual. It is not practical to have spiritual ideals without putting them into practice. But to realise the ideal in daily life, to give a beautiful and adequate form to the living spirit, to make brotherhood a fact - not merely a theory as at present - this is being practical in the truest sense of the word.

My work will arouse both great enthusiasm and a certain amount of opposition. That is inevitable. But spiritual work is strengthened by opposition, and so it will be with mine. It is like shooting an arrow from a bow. The more you pull the bow string towards you, the swifter the arrow speeds to its goal.

message read out at a reception at 88 Grove Street, Me p88-90
Other versions: PM p169-171,
LM5 p1626-1627

I eternally enjoy the Christ state of consciousness, and when I speak, which I intend doing in the near future, I shall manifest my true self. Besides giving a spiritual push to the whole world, I shall lead all those who come to me towards light and Truth. This, in short, is my mission in the world.

29 May 1932,
Hollywood, part of a message
to reporters, Me p93
Also PM p174 and LM5 p1644

Q. What do you hope to accomplish in the United States?

Baba: A general spiritual awakening which will affect the whole of mankind, and will eliminate depression and dissatisfaction existing in the world today.

30 May 1932,
Los Angeles,
interview
with a reporter,
LM5 p1648

I intend, when I speak, to reveal the one supreme self which is in all. This accomplished, the idea of the self as a limited, separate entity will disappear, and with it will vanish self-interest. Cooperation will replace competition. Certainty will replace fear. Generosity will replace greed. Exploitation will disappear...

In order to convey thought to others, man uses speech or writing, or some other physical means of expression. Or in some cases, as in telepathy, thought is transmitted and received through and by the Subtle body.

The God-man does not convey thought, but Truth, which he either awakens in the individual whom he is helping through deep inner experience, or which he transmits directly from the superconscious to the conscious, from the spiritual to the physical, by means of either the physical eye, the physical touch, or the spoken word.

When he speaks, Truth is more powerfully manifested than when he uses either sight or touch to convey it. For that reason, Avataras usually observe a period of silence lasting for several years, breaking it to speak only when they wish to manifest the Truth to the entire universe. So when I speak, I shall manifest the divine will, and a worldwide transformation of consciousness will take place.

31 May 1932,
Hollywood,
part of a message read out
at a reception at
the Knickerbocker Hotel
Me p95

.... The depression is not an accident, nor is it purely the result of overproduction and inflation. Those, although the immediate causes, are merely the instruments which were used to bring the depression about. The depression itself was caused by those entrusted with the evolution of humanity.

Man has to be stripped of his material possessions in order that he may realise, through actual experience, that his true base is spiritual and not material. Then he will be ready to receive the Truth which I have come to bring.

This Truth consists in the knowledge that man, instead of being a limited, separate individual, completely bound by the illusion of time and space and substance, is eternal in his nature, and infinite in his resources. The world-illusion is a dream of his imagination, a play enacted in the theatre of his consciousness, a comedy of which he is at once author, producer, director, star. But his absorption in the role which he has chosen to enact has made him forgetful of his true self, and he stumbles now as creature through the part he has created.

He must be awakened to his true nature. He must see that all material expression depends upon and flows from spiritual being. Then he will be steadfast and serene under all circumstances. There will be no further need, then, for the depression, and it will disappear...

1 June 1932,
Beverly Hills, California,
part of a message read out at a
reception at Pickfair,
Me p98-99

Scientists cannot go beyond space. What is beyond is infinite. Only where space exists is height of material power.

The movies will undergo great changes. The actors, when they get and feel (from the inner plane), then that feeling which no scientist can control will be felt intellectually by the audience.

But then the time will come for this world to disintegrate. One of the inventions will be when one can shoot another at a distance of a thousand miles.

Very soon people will be smaller with bigger heads, and all flying about with machines. They will talk less, as they will read each other's minds.

It is all nothing, only love and one existence.

undated, from Elizabeth Patterson's diary,
HM p654

Q. Why do you not bring the salvation now?

Baba: Yes, I know. The world needs it very badly. But still there is a need for some of its greater evils to be eradicated, and then it will be very soon. I know it because I work it out.

Q. Will salvation be felt by anybody and everybody?

Baba: Mostly by all, but in degrees. To some more, to others less. But it will be a universal spiritual push.

1934, Zurich, Switzerland, A p9

The internal spiritual message of love will reach every heart. Because it is the same infinite one in the Swiss, in the German, as in all peoples. It should be unlocked and opened. My love will do that.

1934,
Zurich, Switzerland,
A p19

The knowledge that all have the same beginning and the same end, with life on earth a happy interlude, will go a long way in making the brotherhood of man a reality on earth. And this, in turn, will strike at the root of narrow communalism and rigid exploitation.

February 1937,
Nasik,
Me p9

The present world chaos is the beginning of spiritual manifestation. To illustrate: If a man develops a cataract in his eye, the cataract raises a curtain over his vision, and he cannot see properly. The only remedy is to remove the curtain, which means an operation by an eye specialist. But not before the doctor sees that the cataract is ripe enough for the operation - otherwise, he allows it to grow ripe.

Similarly, the present chaotic condition of the world is due to materialism, which has developed self-interest and greed in mankind, raising a curtain which obstructs spiritual vision and development. It has grown so bad now as to create chaos all over the world, a clear indication that the cataract is ripe, and ready for the operation.

The operation over, the disease of ignorance, greed and lust will be removed, and the spiritual vision of the world will once again be restored. The doctor - Master is ready for the operation, awaiting only the ripening of the cataract.

1937,
Nasik,
Aw 10:2 p40

Chaos and destruction are essential for reconstruction. It is the spiritual law - create and destroy. Create chaos, confusion and misery - then destroy it, so that it may all be built anew. How can an old house be rebuilt unless it is demolished?

26 September 1937,
Cannes, France,
to Mr. Siebert,
LM7 p2224

Avataric periods are like the springtide of creation. They bring a new release of power, a new awakening of consciousness, a new experience of life, not merely for a few, but for all. Qualities of energy and awareness, which had been used and enjoyed by only a few advanced souls, are made available for all humanity. Life as a whole is stepped up to a higher level of consciousness, is geared to a new rate of energy. The transition from sensation to reason was one such step. The transition from reason to intuition will be another...

The wave of destruction must rise still higher, must spread still further. But when, from the depths of his heart, man desires something more lasting than wealth, something more real than material power, the wave will recede. Then peace will come, joy will come, light will come.

1938? Di v1 p3-4, 6

Conditions in the world are going from bad to worse, and the outbreak of war is definite. Everything will be chaotic, and millions will die. It will not be due to hate and hostility between mankind, but will be due to I-ness. It is all a divine game.

April 1938,
Bangalore
to Eruch Jessawala,
LM7 p2282

In January 1939 Meher Baba was questioned by a reporter from the Associated Press. This is part of the interview:

Reporter: How long will the present chaotic state of affairs continue in the world?

Baba: As long as selfishness exists, because it is the root cause. In all this chaos and confusion my work is done. It is a cleaning process.

...

Reporter: What is your holiness' opinion about Mahatma Gandhi?

Baba: He is a great and noble soul, and trying to serve humanity with all his heart.

Reporter: When do you think India will be given its' independence?

Baba: When the Hindus and Muslims cease quarreling.

Reporter: Will the Jews, the most oppressed nation in the world today, be able to withstand the onslaught that is being perpetrated on them by Hitler and Mussolini?

Baba: Jews or not Jews, whosoever sticks to the Truth, or is on the side of Truth, can withstand any onslaught.

Reporter: Will your holiness kindly give me a message that I may broadcast to the world?

(Baba repeated an explanation he had given previously.)

"When suffering leads to real, eternal happiness, we should not attach importance to this suffering. It is to eliminate suffering that suffering has to be. People suffer because they are not satisfied. They want more and more. Ignorance gives rise to greed and vanity. If you want nothing, would you then suffer? But you do want. If you did not want anything, you would not suffer, even in the jaws of a lion.

"The widespread dissatisfaction in modern life is due to the gulf between theory and practise, between the ideal and its realisation on Earth. The spiritual and material aspects of life are widely separated instead of being closely united. There is no fundamental opposition between spirit and matter, or, if you like, between life and form. The apparent opposition is due to wrong thinking - to ignorance.

"The best and also the easiest way of overcoming the ego and attaining divine consciousness is to develop love and render selfless service to all humanity in whatever circumstances we may be placed. All ethics and religious practices lead to this. The more we live for others, the less we live for ourselves, and thus the more debased desires are eliminated. This in turn reacts upon the ego, supressing it and transforming it proportionately

"The root of all our difficulties, individual and social, is self-interest. Eliminate self-interest and you will solve all your problems -- individual and social.

"The world will soon realise that neither cults, creeds, dogmas, religious ceremonies, lectures and sermons, on the one hand, nor on the other hand ardent seeking for material or physical pleasures, can ever bring about real happiness. Only selfless love and universal brotherhood can bring happiness."

9 January 1939,
Jabalpur,
LM7 p2362-2363

England and France are weak. They are not firm enough. Now America is strong.

The Prime Minister* has made a broadcast. He is a thorough gentleman, and noble, and no match for these rogues.** The German head*** is mad. No one but a madman could have done what he did to the Jews.

But it all had and has to happen. It is nobody's fault. It is all just right.

It is like a game of chess - they are the figures, and I play the game.

The last war was not good enough. They were too tired to fight any more, and so they made up. But the coming war will remove many factors of mischief, and there will be real friendship.

Meher Baba,
26 January 1939, Agra,
Gl Aug 1996 p12-13
* of England
** Hitler and Mussolini
*** Hitler

Mysore will surely realise, at no distant date, its singular good fortune in possessing, amongst many progressive features, the spiritual capital of the world as well.

17 December 1939,
Byramangala,
Bangalore,
Me p10

Baba: You should write down all my statements about the war, and have them printed and distributed.

Ghani (smiling): What effect will a booklet have? It doesn't look proper to distribute booklets when you are the Avatar.

Baba: If the Avatar has to resort to distributing leaflets, it shows the shocking condition people have come to. Yet I have to do it. It is the preliminary preparation. This is the beginning. I'm preparing the ground. You are fools. This war was preceded by correspondence. Meetings were held. Thereafter, there were protests and opposition. Then when the war started, and all these were of no avail, the bombs came.

So these explanations of mine about the war are a sort of communication, to give the public a chance to listen and improve. If they won't, then there will be spiritual bombs. Don't you know me after so many years of contact? One who does not care for the world, and publicly declares in America, 'I will come here and speak,' and does not - don't you understand him yet? I do not care what the world will think or say. I will do anything for the sake of my work. Even if the whole world goes against me, I will do what I have to do. But all in its time. I will teach and strike, both.

But India nowadays is sadly lacking in spirituality, by indulging in too much politics and maya. The old spiritual glory is gone. It is sad, yet it is a fact.

December 1939,
Bangalore,
LM7 p2484-2485

If Italy joins the war, there will be world war. There will be utter destruction and chaos, just as I want. Then people will feel the hollowness, the emptiness of it all, and turn to God. Since I am in India, India will suffer a great deal also.

10 June 1940,
Meherabad,
LM7 p2565

There has never been such a war, and never will be another like it. But when this is over, peace will reign for 400 years. From this mass destruction, I will build life anew, and quite different from now, much happier, better. All who die in this war will take form again, and enjoy this peace.

11 June 1940,
Meherabad,
LM7 p2565

The present world crisis, chaos, and the universal suffering are absolutely necessary for the eventual spiritual upliftment and for a new world, wherein peace, love and divine aspirations will reign supreme. None should therefore feel scared and dismayed, bearing in mind the certainty of this bright future...

So this apparent world catastrophe is, by divine will, essential for a divine manifestation of love and real peace in the near future, in which I have to play the greatest part.

Meher Baba's Universal Message for
the Future, 21 June 1940 (pamphlet)

After August of this year, conditions will worsen. Developments in the war will take a serious turn, become complicated, and the flames will spread far and wide until the war will embrace not only the whole of the West, but also the East.

Besides, a time will come when people will even forget the war and the terrible destruction it has caused in life and property, for there will be further disasters, more voracious in their destructive power, like plagues and pestilences, fire and famine, floods and earthquakes of immense magnitude and force, all of which will take more toll of life and property than machine guns and bombs.

Then, too, civil wars will complicate the political situations among nations, and make things even more chaotic, until it will create a deadlock. Even millionaires will be starving for food. There will be chaos everywhere and all will be helpless.

6 July 1940,
Ranchi,
LM7 p2574

The conditions that prevail in the world today are the cause of its suffering. But this misery and suffering are not for emancipation. Only love can achieve that...

How does this all work? We are all nations. Each one of you represents a nation. Mansari is a small nation, Nadine is a big nation, and so on. Each one, according to her greatness or smallness, her greed, her longing for power and possessions, tries diplomatically to get what she wants. But when one loses in war, one tries to get into the next war. The mentality is like that.

For example, what will you fight with? With arms. The only solution for it is to cut off everybody's arms. Then they will find themselves armless, and come to the conclusion that this armlessness has come about because of their showing the strength of their arms. Then they will promise each other from the bottom of their hearts to maintain weapons, but never to use them on each other. Then they help each other and become like members of one family. This is what is being done. All will be exhausted, just go limp. No one wins, no one loses; all will be half dead. There was never such a war...

Religion has to go, and God has to come - definitely. Gandhi tells Britain to be non-violent; to let Germany take over England, to let themselves be killed, to be destroyed and not to fight. What he says is 100% right and true, but absolutely impossible and impractical. Hitler and Gandhi are both right in their way of thinking, according to their own conceptions, but both are stark mad to think so. Both are extremes. Extreme violence, when it reaches the zenith, becomes non-violence, and vice versa...

The world will never be non-violent. It will always be more than non-violence, and more than non-violence is love. Non-violence means eternal resistance to the longing to retaliate. Love needs no efforts. It is different from resistance to longing. Love demands self-control and spontaneous happiness for the beloved. This effort is necessary for love, but it is not dry. Non-violence is not the self-control that is needed in love; it is a continuous resistance to the longing to retaliate. One is effort for transformation, the other is an effort for repression...

7 July 1940,
Ranchi,
to his women disciples,
LM7 p2579-2580

Kill to defend without hate. France will hate England. Of what use is democracy if it cannot help? So neither it nor totalitarianism will remain. Both will go...

8 July 1940,
Ranchi,
LM7 p2580

England will find it very difficult to find food. They will all starve. They will eat rats, bats, cats and even old men and women - mark my words.

12 July 1940,
Ranchi,
LM7 p2588

England will be worse than defeated, it will be made helpless. But it will be a good world later when, just as we saw in the circus the other night when the lion, goat, and cow all ate together out of the same plate - the Germans, Indians and English will all eat out of one plate - with no trainer, but with my help.

16 July 1940,
Ranchi,
LM7 p2589

Baba had an article prepared on the war. He came to the women's quarters and had it read aloud. All liked it, but one commented that science should not have been mentioned in it. Baba explained:

"Science must arise, as it plays a great part in the present war. Science can be put to good use, and science can be put to bad use. Chloroform can be used for operations, for healing. But robbers also use it on their victims to steal things. In war, science is used for destruction. But destruction ultimately means renewal and improvement. What happened when they burned London during the Black Plague? They rebuilt it later, and it was better than before.

"So when the world is destroyed, a new and better world must spring up from the ashes. There will be chaos and destruction all over the universe. But after that there will be no war for 800 years. Therefore, isn't all this present misery worth that long period of happiness? Those who die in this war will be reborn to enjoy the new world and peace. Now they want power and possessions and hate each other.

"How can it all end? In only one way. They must get sick of it all, sick of wanting, sick of hating, sick of fighting.

"Suppose you like milk, and you drink and drink it, so excessively that eventually you get sick of it. Then what do you do? You stop drinking milk. In the same way, hate, greed, anger and so forth will reach such a height that everyone will be simply sick of it all. And then what will the alternative be? To stop hating and to love, to stop wanting and to give, to stop fighting and be at peace. The world of the future will be very marvelous."

One of the women said: 'But it is all zero.'

Baba nodded and continued: "Yes, but this is a supreme understanding. Even the present is all zero, and therefore the future of zero can be nothing but zero. It is all zero. Nothing exists but God. One day, my nearest disciples will realise it. Now the most you can do is to think, 'Yes, nothing exists, all is zero.' But when you realise it you will feel it."

11 October 1940,
Meherabad, to
his women Mandali,
LM7 p2621

Every sound you make, every thought you think, good or bad, stays...

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.

11 October 1940,
Meherabad,
LM7 p2621

All are killing one another now. From March onwards, it will increase. Besides killing, there will be floods, earthquakes, fires, famine and diseases - all of which will take a great toll. Nature killing them, and themselves killing each other. And God does all this. Why?

The root of the evil is so deep-rooted that unless drastic and worldwide remedies are applied, it cannot be uprooted. It has to be knocked from every side, and then only can it be exterminated. Then real peace and happiness will be permanent. It will be automatically established. People will then learn to love one another, to help one another.

How is it possible for the greatest sinners to become saints? Because their penance is so drastic and complete. The transmutation is real and full.

The world is miserable. And India, too, is miserable, although not directly involved in the war.

24 January 1941,
Jaipur, to his women Mandali,
LM7 p2656

America will play a very great part in the battle of humanity in the future.

Meher Baba,
15 March 1941,
Quetta,
LM7 p2682

The breaking of my silence will also be as sudden and unexpected as the passing away of Upasani Maharaj. The difference will, however, be in the general feeling, which will be very strong when I speak. All will feel it. It will shake the world like an earthquake. People will feel the shock in different degrees in different parts of the world. Thus they will experience it in different ways.

23? December 1941,
to Gulmai Irani,
Meherabad,
LM8 p2745

Two kinds of forces are operative in the present war:

1. The forces which make for love, justice, harmony and the well-being of mankind, taken as a whole, and

2. The forces which, in alliance with narrow racial or national loyalties, work towards the selfish exploitation of others.

This war is bringing a vast amount of suffering and destruction to millions of people. But all this will not be in vain. Out of this chaos there will emerge a new world of freedom and happiness and understanding.

War can at best be only a means to an end. It can never be an end in itself. It is therefore imperatively necessary for the war lords to search their own hearts, and to make sure that the ends for which they are fighting are a reflection of the divine plan, which is to lead humanity to a spiritual brotherhood cemented by an inviolable sense of the unity of all human beings, irrespective of the distinctions based on class, color, nationality, race, religion or creed.

War effort will be justified or stand condemned, not by the results which it produces, but by the ends by which it is inspired. The world has to face this war and go through its ordeal of fire, even at the cost of irreparable damage and unredeemable suffering. It is a necessary evil.

Even in itself, war is not an unmixed evil, since it calls forth and releases, under the stress of imminent danger, much action which is regardless of the limited self, and which is inspired by the impersonal spirit of welcoming sacrifice and suffering for the safety and prosperity of fellow-beings.

It is better that such unselfish action be released under the stimulus of danger than that it should not be released at all. It is better that men should forget their petty selves under the pressure of a collective calamity than that they should be permanently encased in the ignoble pursuit of personal safety, and in the ruthless attempt to perpetuate separative existence and interests.

War-effort generates and fosters many qualities of spiritual importance. It is therefore not altogether without spiritual significance, even when it is considered in itself. And when war-effort is forced upon a nation or a people for the sake of higher values and impersonal considerations of general well-being, it becomes not only spiritually defensible but inevitable.

People ought to face the incidents of war with courage and equanimity, in the faith that no sacrifice or suffering is too much when the call of duty is clear and imperative. In the event of a direct and aggressive attack, the clear duty of all is to resist it, even by direct participation in war, if there is no other alternative.

But in offering such resistance, they shall make sure that they are prompted solely by the sense of duty, and that they have no hatred or bitterness towards the aggressor, who is acting out of spiritual ignorance. Further, they shall not be callous to the physical and mental suffering inflicted by air raids or warfare on land or sea. On the contrary, they shall render to the wounded and desolate victims of war every possible service, according to their individual ability and aptitude...

As a rule, spiritual aspirants are indifferent to purely material well-being. They are prone to be indifferent to war, as well as war-effort, on the ground that most wars are actuated by purely material considerations. But it is a mistake to divorce spirituality from material considerations. Material considerations do have a spiritual aspect and importance. Even spiritual aspirants, who are wrapped up in the supersensible realities of inner life, can ill afford to ignore war, particularly when they are directly involved in it. Spiritual aspirants take their stand upon the reality and the eternity of the infinite soul. It should therefore be easy for them to stake everything for the sake of a duty which springs from the claims of the spirit...

The soul remains untouched and unscathed by the loss and destruction of material things and possessions, and death is only a gateway to further life. Those who would play their part in the divine game shall remain unmoved by any bereavements or losses, and they shall also impart to others the spirit of cheerful resignation to the divine will. The un-understood sufferings of war will embitter many souls. They need to be helped in the restoration of unassailable faith and imperishable sweetness of life. Those who are initiated into the eternal values of inner life shall bear the burden of dispelling unwarranted gloom and depression, and cheer up those who are in anguish.

In the hour of trial, let the thought of everyone be not for the limited self, but for others - not for the claims of the ego-life, but for the claims of the divine self, which is equally in all. It is a mistake to ignore human suffering as merely a part of the illusory universe. Not by ignoring human suffering, but by handling it with creative love, is the gateway opened for life eternal. And not through callous indifference, but through active and selfless service, is secured the attainment of that transcendental and illimitable Truth which is at the heart of the illusory universe.

The last but not the least duty of those who would stand by reason and love, is to see war as well as war effort in the right perspective, as being only the means for the goal of peace and understanding. It is not possible to justify war apart from the end which is sought through it. War does not stand justified merely by the spiritual qualities which it generates and fosters; these qualities can also be developed in times of peace. It is time that humanity is imbibed by the spontaneous spirit of love and service, needing no stimulus of danger for the release of impersonal and unselfish action.

Though it seems difficult, humanity has to emerge out of this dreadful war with unimpaired spiritual integrity, with hearts free from the poison of malice or revenge, with minds disburdened of the blows given or received, with souls unscathed by suffering and filled with the spirit of unconditional surrenderance to the divine will, which shall ensoul and inspire postwar humanity. In spite of its attendant evils, this war shall play its part in my mission of helping humanity to fulfill the divine plan on earth, and to inherit the coming era of truth and love, of peace and universal brotherhood, of spiritual understanding and unbounded creativity...

In short, all should face the impending crisis, however painful and cruel it may turn out to be, with patience, fortitude and self-sacrifice, never for a moment forgetting the fact that the redemption of distracted humanity through divine love is very much nearer at hand than many care to believe.

February 1942,
Me p26-33,
also LM8 p2773-2778

... The various streams of culture which have poured into the life-history of India have added to the wealth of her national personality. And they have not only created a suitable opportunity for arriving at a new cultural synthesis, but have necessitated its emergence. If handled with creative leadership, the presence of conflicting elements in Indian life can be utilised for bringing into existence a rich world culture, which shall not only rejuvenate and harmonise Indian life, but will also give a new tone to the life of the whole world.

The process by which we arrive at the new world culture cannot be purely mechanical. We can never have any vigorous world culture by merely piling together certain isolated elements selected from the present diversity of culture. That way we shall only succeed in getting a patchwork of little vitality. A hotchpotch of collected ideas can never be a substitute for a direct and fresh perception of the goal. The new world culture will have to emerge from an integral vision of the Truth, independently of existing traditions, and not from the laborious process of selection and compilation of conserved values.

The new world culture which will emerge from integral vision will, however, automatically bring about cultural synthesis. Since the vision that inspires the new world culture will be comprehensive, it will not negate the values of diverse traditions; nor will it have merely patronising tolerance for them. On the contrary, it shall express itself through active appreciation of the essentials of diverse religions and cultures.

The vast vision of the Truth cannot be limited by any creed, dogma or sect. However, it helps man to transcend these limitations, not by blind and total denial of any value to the existing creeds, dogmas and sects, but by discovering, accentuating, unfolding and developing such facets of the Truth as might have been hidden in them...

Human evolution proceeds by gradual stages from selfish violence to unselfish violence, and then from non-violence of the brave to the pure and incorruptible non-violence of Truth as infinite love.

All narrowness limits love. In India, as well as in every other part of the world, humanity is breaking itself into narrow groups based upon the superficial, and ultimately false, differences of caste, creed, race, nationality, religion or culture. And since these groups have been long accustomed to separative distrust and fear, they have indifference, contempt or hostility towards each other.

All this is due to ignorance, prejudice and selfishness. And it can only be mended by fostering the spirit of mutuality, which breaks through artificial isolationism, and which derives its strength from the sense of the inviolable unity of life as a whole.

Creative leadership (which has so much scope in the soil of India) will have to recognise and emphasise the fact that all men are already united with each other, not only by their co-partnership in the great divine plan for Earth, but also by virtue of their all being equally the expression of one life. No line of action can be really helpful or fruitful unless it is in entire harmony with this deep truth. The future of humanity is in the hands of those who have vision.

February 1942,
India,
Me p37-41
Another version:
LM8 p2783-2785

God's plan is always for the best, and although at times things appear to be going wrong, in fact it is not so.

30 March 1942,
Dehra Dun,
LM8 p2782

This war is a necessary evil. It is in God's plan, which is to awaken humanity to higher values. If humanity fails to profit by the lessons of war, it will have suffered in vain.

This war is teaching that even the man in the street can rise to the greatest heights of sacrifice for the sake of a selfless cause. And it is also teaching that all the mundane things of the world - wealth, possessions, power, fame, family, and even the very tenor of life on earth - are transitory, and devoid of lasting value.

The incidents of war shall, through the lessons which they bring, win over man for God, who is the Truth. And they will initiate him into a new life which is inspired by true and lasting values. People are making unlimited sacrifices and enduring untold sufferings for the sake of their country or political ideology. They are therefore capable of the same sacrifices and endurance for the sake of God or the Truth.

All religions have unequivocally claimed man for the life in the Truth; and it is sheer folly to fight in the name of religions. It is time that man had a fresh vision of the truth that all life is one, and that God is the only thing which is real and the only thing that matters. God is worth living for, and he is also worth dying for. All else is a vain and empty pursuit of illusory values.

27 December 1942,
Meherabad,
Me p49,
also Di v5 p1

Spiritual freedom has to be won by oneself for oneself through watchful and unfailing war against the lower self and the lower desires. Those who would be the soldiers in the cause of Truth have to help all, not only in launching upon the thrilling enterprise of attaining victory over oneself, but also in every step which they take towards that attainment. There is no other way of sharing their burden.

Ye my devotees, I have full confidence that you will share this burden. Many of you have for years together obeyed my orders and carried out my instructions through faith in me and love for me. You have stuck to me and my spiritual cause through storm and stress and thick and thin. And now the time has come for you to offer all your services in my mission of helping humanity to tread the spiritual path for realising God.

The eternal truth that God alone is real has to be clearly understood and unreservedly accepted, and it has to be unequivocally expressed through words and deeds. In the full realisation of the Truth, man shall attain spiritual freedom.

No sacrifice is too big for setting man free from spiritual bondage, and in helping him to inherit the Truth, which alone shall bring abiding peace to all, and which alone will unfailingly sustain an unassailable sense of universal fellowhood, cemented by the ungrudging love of all for all as expressions of the same reality.

In this God-willed, divinely planned and predestined task of bringing spiritual freedom to humanity, you my devotees have to help me, even at the cost of life. In your duty of helping others to find God, you have to welcome every type of suffering and sacrifice. Those desiring specific instructions in the line of work most suitable to their individual circumstances may communicate with me.

December 1942 or January
or February 1943,
Di v5 p5,
also Me p53-54.
Another version:
LM8 p2832-2835

... It is imperatively necessary to be discriminatively aware of the flow of time in creation. And it is particularly necessary to appreciate fully the supreme importance of the moment which is in the near future, and which shall witness the universal dispensation of the truth of spiritual wisdom.

The task for spiritual workers is to help me in this universal dispensation of the truth to suffering humanity. You have not only to prepare humanity in receiving this truth, but also for getting established in it. But it is extremely important to remember that you can help others to gain spiritual freedom and to come out of the illusion of duality, only if you yourself do not miss this idea of unity while working for others, who are inclined to create divisions where they do not exist, and who allow no respite to spiritual workers. The minds of the people have to be completely purged of all forms of selfishness and narrowness if they are to inherit the life in eternity which I bring...

I am fully confident that you will lend yourselves ungrudgingly for this work. And you will help it if you unreservedly follow the spiritual instructions which shall be given to you separately. You have to do your work without worrying about consequences, irrespective of success or failure. But you may be sure that the result of work which is done in this spirit and with this understanding is forgone.

Through the untiring activities of spiritual workers, humanity shall be initiated into the new life of abiding peace and dynamic harmony, unconquerable faith and unfading bliss, immortal sweetness and incorruptible purity, creative love and infinite understanding.

14 February 1943,
Me p55-62,
also Di v5 p8, 12
Another version:
LM8 p2848-2849

Coming Attractions Part 2

Coming Attractions Book Two

Index - Book One