Art 2

ART

Book Two

Notes on the Seven Interviews (Book One)

The seven numbered interviews in the chapter 'Art' in Book One probably all took place in Europe in the 1930s. Charles Purdom wrote that some of them took place in 1934 "when one of his disciples with a wide knowledge of European languages acted as a translator during interviews at Zurich."

The texts of these interviews have been corrupted somewhat. They were, apparently, taken down by the interpreter and written up in the third person. I have tried to return the language to first person. (First person is "I am," third person is "he is.") Here, as in virtually all quotes of Meher Baba, the language is not exactly as he gave it, but has been paraphrased, translated, or edited -- or all three.

Editor

Seven States of Understanding

... Just as there are seven planes of consciousness - seven spiritual states - so also are there seven states of understanding. It is always seven. The number seven is the divine number. The seven understandings are:

  1. Instinct

  2. Intellect

  3. Inspiration

  4. Intuition

  5. Insight

  6. Illumination

  7. Realisation

INSTINCT governs the animal world.

INTELLECT, humans.

INSPIRATION for those humans whose feelings are developed -- like poets and artists.

INTUITION is for those advanced souls who have conscious visions and understanding true to the point. What you understand by intuition is always true. What you understand by intellect is sometimes true and sometimes not.

Souls on the fourth and fifth plane have INSIGHT; their understanding is direct, without thinking with the mind.

ILLUMINATION means seeing God as he is. The understanding is divine.

REALISATION is understanding oneself as God.

Meher Baba, 29 September 1940,
Meherabad, LM7 p2617-2618

"Margaret Craske's dancers gave a performance for Baba, with one of the dancers doing a mildly erotic dance with seductive hip movements. I happened to be sitting next to a man who, just before the performance, had been criticising dancing altogether, saying that he thought dancing was too sexual and unspiritual, and that no one should dance if they wanted to follow the spiritual Path. After the performance, Baba congratulated the dancers and asked, 'Do you know the dance I liked the best?'

'No,' someone said, 'Which one, Baba?'

Baba replied, 'The one with all the movements,' indicating with flashing eyes and waving hands the movements of the erotic dance. He shot a piercing look at the man who had said he didn't approve of dancing. There were no more critical comments about dancing after that."

(August 1956, San Francisco)
Bili Eaton, AL p45

BECAUSE OF LOVE: My Life and Art with Meher Baba, by Rano Gayley, contains drawings and paintings she did under his direction. On page 12 is a letter in which Baba instructed her about some of her pictures.

Art Book One

Index - Book Two