 FALSE BELIEFS Book Two |
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The shackles which hold the soul in spiritual bondage chiefly consist of wrong values of falsehoods concerning valuation. But some falsehoods, which are of the nature of false beliefs, also play an important part in holding the soul in spiritual bondage. False beliefs implement false values. But they also in their turn gather strength from false values in which the soul has been stuck up. All false beliefs are as much creations of maya as false values. And false beliefs as well as false values are among the clutches which maya uses in order to hold the soul in ignorance. Maya becomes irresistible by taking possession of the very seat of knowledge, which is human intellect. It is difficult to surmount maya because, when the intellect is under the sway of maya, it creates barriers and upholds false beliefs and illusions. It creates barriers to the realisation of the Truth by the persistent attempt to sustain and justify erroneous beliefs. The intellect which functions in freedom prepares the way to the Truth. But the intellect which plays into the hands of maya creates obstacles to true understanding. The false beliefs created by maya are so deep-rooted that they seem to be self-evident. They take on the garb of veritable truths. They are accepted without question. |
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Meher Baba, 1942? India, Di v5 p72 |
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THE JAPANESE SCIENTIST |
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In the 1970s a story circulated that Meher Baba said that, in his next birth, he would be a Japanese scientist. According to Ivy Duce, "It is often said today that Baba's next incarnation will take place in Japan. Like many stories passed from person to person, this rumor is totally unfounded. "During the men's meeting in 1954, a young Japanese man named K. Hittaker from Tokyo appeared and begged to see Baba only for a moment. Baba gave him some grapefruit juice to drink, and asked him, 'Why did you come from such a long distance? Baba is everywhere.' "Hitaker replied, 'I would like to have you come to Japan.' 'After 700 years, I will come to Japan,' Baba answered. Baba did not say that he would take birth there... "Baba did say in my presence that when he comes the next time, he will be educated as a great scientist - that he will not have to suffer so terribly for the world, because people will be more loving, and at the zenith of spiritual living 'But,' he added, 'it will not stay that way.'" |
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HM p439-440 (1975) |
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Back to top IN SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS |
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Another common misconception is that Baba will not incarnate until after 700 years. Baba explained that his 'major advents' take place every 700-1400 years, but that in between he takes 'minor advents.' According to Pukar, one of Baba's Mandali, Baba once explained that he takes three 'minor advents' between each pair of 'major advents.' According to Jean Adriel, Baba said that his 'minor advents' are continual; in other words, he is always incarnate. "In the intervals between Avataric periods, the one Avatar continues unbroken his successions, but the positions he assumes on earth are of less universal spiritual significance, though always his role is one of beneficial help to struggling humanity. "There are times - when world conditions demand it - that he occupies many bodies during one and the same period. As a genius of the arts, he quickens man's higher sense; as a master of poetry, he unfurls for man another petal of the cosmic rose; as an inspired scientist, he reveals to humanity the hidden secrets of nature; as a great leader of church or state, he lifts mankind to a broader concept of life; or, as a nameless wanderer over man's earth, he cheers the disheartened, and eases man's burdens. "No generation is without his physical manifestation in one form or another, though often his true identity remains hidden - his presence on earth unknown to mankind." |
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Jean Adriel, Av p50 (1947) |
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I asked Kitty Davy about this in the 1970s, and she replied that Baba had indeed said he incarnates continually. She also suggested that new people would find this confusing, and recommended that they not be told about the 'minor advents' until they'd had some time to digest Baba's more elementary teachings. |
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Walter Mertens asked Baba about the 'minor advents' in 1938. "When we got back, I asked Baba how reincarnations on a low level fit in. Baba answered, an Avatar is always on the seventh plane, and always the same one. But just as Harin al Raschid was the king and always on the throne, even though he often disguised himself as a beggar, craftsperson, or even as a thief on account of his work, so an Avatar might sometimes take an outwardly lower form, though he is always consciously behind that form on account of his work." |
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Walter Mertens, 3 December 1938 Aw 21:2 p25 |
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Back to top SEVEN INCARNATIONS |
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Yet another misconception is that there have been only seven incarnations of the Avatar in this cycle - Meher Baba being the seventh. This probably came about through some misleading pamphlets printed in the 1960s. In fact there have been thousands of incarnations of the Avatar in this cycle alone. "After my having become Realised many times, I came down as Avatar with you all innumerable times. Only in the last cycle, 5329 times. And once more after 450 years. The end will be the 5330th time - although the universe is never finished. "So I am both personal and impersonal - and in the impersonal too, I am conscious. The unconscious ocean is Baba, in that conscious drop is me, and also in everyone, I experience myself consciously." |
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Meher Baba, April 1933? HM p453 |
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Apparently there is a larger cycle of 5330, and a smaller cycle of 24. |
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"I am the last Avatar in this present cycle of twenty-four, and therefore the greatest and most powerful. I have the attributes of five: I am as pure as Zoroaster, as truthful as Ram, as mischievous as Krishna, as gentle as Jesus, and as fiery as Muhammad." |
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Meher Baba, to his women Mandali December 1942, Meherabad, GO p72 |
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Baba was asked about the number of incarnations he had taken, and replied, "Whether there have been 26 Avatars since Adam, or 124,000 Prophets, as is sometimes claimed, or whether Jesus Christ was the last and only Messiah, or Muhammad the last Prophet, is all immaterial and insignificant when eternity and reality are under consideration. It matters very little to dispute whether there have been ten or twenty-six or a million Avatars. The truth is that the Avatar is always one and the same, and that the five Sadgurus bring about the advent of the Avatar on earth. This has been going on cycle after cycle, and millions of such cycles must have passed by, and will continue to pass by, without affecting eternity in the least." |
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Meher Baba, before 1955, GS p266 |
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Back to top MEAT EATING |
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Many people believe that Meher Baba advocated meat-eating. The opposite is true. "To eat meat is detrimental to some extent in controlling one's sexual nature. The main disadvantage is that eating meat increases sexual desires... So if we eat meat, the degree of sexuality increases in us. But if we remain on vegetarian food, then it neither increases nor decreases." |
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Meher Baba, 26 April 1924 Meherabad, LM2 p626 |
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"Among all foods, milk is the best, because nothing is killed in obtaining it. The next best are vegetables, because life in them is not fully developed. "The worst impressions lie in non-vegetarian food. "By eating meat, a person at once contacts animal sanskaras, which stimulate anger and lust." |
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Meher Baba, 10 October 1928 Meherabad, LM3 p1107 |
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"I must ask all aspirants to remember once and for all, that if they are desirous of rapid progress and quick enlightenment, they should... avoid all animal food, except milk and the products of milk. Don't partake of even eggs." |
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Meher Baba, February 1930 Ms 2:2 p8 |
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"For years I have been a vegetarian... My Mandali have also been eating only vegetarian food for years now... "Milk is the best food. It sustains the body and purifies the mind. And the more the mind becomes pure, the more it can be controlled. Desires become less, which is necessary for spiritual aspirants, as there is no progress on the Path without the mind being under control. So long as desires and longings persist, the mind cannot be controlled. From that standpoint, therefore, milk is the best food. "The Parsis defame me, and call me shaitan - devil - simply because I do not eat meat and fish. I don't drink liquor, and have never been to a brothel. Their definition of a Parsi is that he should be a non-vegetarian, drink wine, and lead an immoral life, while at the same time wearing the religious symbols of the sadra and kusti, visiting the fire temple, and paying heed to the priests. Thus by their behavior, they themselves have become devils, in fact." |
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Meher Baba to Mahatma Gandhi 8 September 1931, on board the ship Rajputana en route to Marseilles, France LM4 p1394-1396 |
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"Vegetarian food and milk assist the development of the divine nature in man, whereas eggs, meat, alcoholic drinks and fish tend to excite the animal nature in man." |
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Meher Baba, Sa p8 (1933) |
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"I have abstained from fish, eggs and meat, not for my benefit, but to create and impress upon humanity an example, which, later, when I speak, will become an established law." |
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Meher Baba, 31 October 1937 Cannes, France, LM6 p2232 Also Gl August 1970 p16, and LA p216 |
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"No one can eat meat or fish in my ashram." |
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Meher Baba, 1939 Jabalpur, India, LM7 p2406 |
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Beginning in the 1920s, Meher Baba recommended a vegetarian diet for his followers and for the general public. He required that those who lived with him abstain from eating meat, fish and eggs. "... Until 1932, Meher Baba did not allow his Mandali to have eggs, so they could not even eat cakes or chocolates. Because of that restriction, during Baba's first visit to the West, the Mandali who accompanied him had to appease their hunger mostly with bread and butter, and it was winter. Nevertheless, Baba gradually granted them permission to have eggs, and after a few years, fish and meat if they so desired." |
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Bal Natu, GG1 p316 |
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In the 1930s Baba made exceptions for some of the Westerners. In the late 1940s Baba lifted many restrictions, including those on diet, for those who lived away from him. In the 1950s and 60s he permitted his Mandali to eat whatever they wanted. Some of the Mandali went back to meat-eating, and this may have led to the misconception that Baba ordered it. It was, however, their own choice when given freedom to eat as they pleased. Dr. Ghani, for example, had a great attachment to eating meat. He tried to convince Baba that meat-eating was better than vegetarianism: Abdul Ghani: Flesh-eaters, similar to lions and tigers, are very powerful and energetic creatures. Their stomachs are never bloated. But the grass-eating bullock has a big stomach without the strength, power and courage of the carnivores. So if the Mandali become non-vegetarians, we will be strong like lions. Baba: The elephant is also a vegetarian, and just see how strong he is. Why don't you be like an elephant instead? Ghani: But the elephant carries a big stomach. Baba; Then let your stomach grow. Your stomach should be as big as your head. Then you will look fine. So take plenty of vegetarian food while you're here. |
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10 February 1940, Bangalore, LM7 p2514 |
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During the last twenty years of his life Meher Baba did not, as a rule, enforce dietary restrictions on his followers. Rather he encouraged them to become detached. "I allow vegetarians to follow their diet, and non-vegetarians to eat meat, fish, etc." |
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Meher Baba, 1 March 1953 Rishikesh, India, LC p20 |
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"Some make much about diet. Everything has its merits and demerits." |
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Meher Baba, c.1960 Guruprasad, Poona, GG1 p318 |
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"Here are some who dislike meat, and here are others who like it the most. "Dislikes bind as much as likes. My concern is to free you from both. Love alone frees. But where self is, love is not, and where you are not, love is." |
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Meher Baba, GG1 p319 |
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Westerners have been so attached to a diet high in meat that, until recently, it was virtually impossible for them to give it up. Baba told Ivy Duce, who was teaching Sufism in America, "Do not stress pork, alcohol or tobacco in the West. Tell them that what comes out of the mouth is far more important than what goes into it." |
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HM p205 (probably around 1950) |
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Asked about what kind of food he should eat, Baba told one young man, "It's not what goes into your mouth that counts, but what comes out." |
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Meher Baba, 1960s India, to Ed Luck, OL |
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For more of Baba's views on diet, see the chapter DIET in Book One and Book Two. |
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Back to top LIBERATION |
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It is widely believed that Meher Baba said that the goal of life was God-Realisation, not Liberation (Mukti). In fact, Baba explained that Liberation is one of several kinds of God-realisation. For most souls, Liberation is the final goal. He also explained that anyone could become Liberated by taking his name at their time of death. "Those souls who are Liberated have their egoistic minds annihilated. Those who take birth again retain their minds. And those souls who, after Liberation, return to normal consciousness, have Universal minds." |
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Meher Baba, 22 July 1925 Meherabad, GM p54 |
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"The Avatar awakens contemporary humanity to a realisation of its true spiritual nature, gives Liberation to those who are ready, and quickens the life of the spirit in his time." |
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Meher Baba, 1938, India, MJ 1:1 p7 Another version: Di (7th ed.) p269-270 |
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"Most God-realised souls leave the body at once and forever, and remain eternally merged in the unmanifest aspect of God. They are conscious only of the bliss of union. Creation no longer exists for them. Their constant round of births and deaths is ended. This is known as Mukti or Liberation." |
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Meher Baba, 1938? Di v1 p2 |
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"Those who die thinking of me come to me. They are Liberated from the chain of birth and death, and see me perpetually." |
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Meher Baba, March? 1939, LM7 p2409 |
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"God is eternally free. To realise God is to attain Liberation from the bondage of illusion." |
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Meher Baba, 1954, Andhra, MD p8 |
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"I say with my divine authority to each and all that whoever takes my name at time of breathing his last comes to me. So do not forget to remember me in your last moments. "Unless you start remembering me from now on, it will be difficult to remember me when your end approaches. You should start practicing from now on. "Even if you take my name only once every day, you will not forget to remember me in your dying moments." |
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Meher Baba, 1958, Aw 21:2 p41 |
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Charles Purdom: Will you comment on what you mean by 'to come to me'? Baba: "To come to me means Liberation, experiencing me as I am. No more bondage of births and deaths. But it does not mean the state of a Perfect Master, of Perfection. That is only to be attained in the Gross body. "So if you are not blessed with this state of Perfection, at least you can have Liberation. If you just take my name, just at the moment of dropping your body, you will come to me. Yes, anyone. "It's not easy to take my name at the very moment of leaving the body. Then you individually experience bliss, infinite bliss. After Liberation, you continue to experience infinite bliss eternally. Why? Because it belongs to you eternally. You experience what belonged to you eternally. Even spiritual ecstasy cannot be compared with divine bliss. Remember this." |
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28 May 1958, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina LA p529 (also GM p337) |
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"The Sadgurus bestow Realisation according to the divine plan chosen by the Avatar. So it is the Avatar who chooses who will become God-realised. "It is for the Avatar's own special Circle and lovers and devotees that he himself bestows Realisation or Mukti (Liberation). All other souls receive Realisation or Mukti from the hands of the Sadgurus. "Mukti occurs at the moment of death. At Realisation one retains the human body and continues to live... "This divine plan was laid out by the first soul when he came back down as the first Avatar... It is this plan that the Sadgurus execute in the timing of each soul's Realisation or Liberation." |
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from notes dictated by Meher Baba 1967, NE p113-114 |
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For more about Liberation, see the chapter LIBERATION in Book One and Book Two. |
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Back to top INFALLIBLE DISCIPLES |
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The tendency to worship is very great in India, and is sometimes exercised uncritically. This has happened with Meher Baba's Mandali, who are sometimes worshipped and believed to be infallible. Westerners are also prone to excessive devotion to individual Mandali members. Some followers try to obey one or several of the Mandali. They believe that Baba speaks through the Mandali member, by virtue of his or her long connection with Baba. Meher Baba warned about this on several occasions. This was one: "... If Mandali advise you, when asked by you, don't take the advice as from me. They will definitely advise you for the best, because they have been long with me, yet do not take their advice as from me... "You can trust them not to mislead you purposely. But after asking them for advice and help, you should also think of it yourself. For after all, Mandali are not Baba... "Let us be very honest, absolutely honest. Adi has been with me like the few tested Mandali for a long period, and he has been doing office work for twenty years 100%. And even then, as I said, no one of my Mandali is Baba. Everyone has got weaknesses and defects. Advice you can have from Adi, but not as from Baba through Adi." |
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Meher Baba, 2 March 1954 Andhra, AD p116, 120-121 |
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Baba commented on the differences between different kinds of followers: "The number of my devotees is great, but the number of my disciples is much less. "The devotee seeks the pleasure of his own devotion, while the disciple's only duty is to obey the commands of the Master, which is much more difficult. "Devotees select their own Master and surrender to him. A Master selects his own disciples. Therefore, many can become devotees, but only a few can become disciples. |
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Meher Baba, 9 June 1926 Meherabad, LM3 p809 |
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Baba explained that not all his Mandali or disciples were alike: "There are three types of disciples: those who help, those who are a burden, and those who are a hindrance. "Those who lift me up and carry me are the best helpers. The ones who may not be able to lift me up, but who give me their companionship, assist my work well, and also render much help. "But the person who is unable to lift me up and is stubborn, refusing to allow me to lift him, is a burden and obstructs me in my work. The obstructionist is the man who does not allow me to lift him up, and who does not give me his companionship, but on the contrary, pulls my hand from behind, thus obstructing my work by fighting with me even when I try to lift him." |
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Meher Baba, 31 March 1932 on the ship Conte Rosso, en route from Bombay to Port Said, Egypt, LM5 p1547 |
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"Members of my Mandali are of three types. The first group is like milk mixed with salt. The second is like milk mixed with dirt. The third is like milk and sugar. "Milk is comparable to love, service, devotion, obedience, etc., attributes which every one of the Mandali has for me. But alongside these qualities there is contrariness in their behavior. I look around at each one and find that all are not equal. When I seem to be sad and suffering, some feel deeply for me, some take it lightly or indifferently, thinking that I am the Perfect Master and can withstand all that, and some are of the opinion that I purposely create all these complications and difficulties that cause me so much strain and suffering. "I know well that you all have love, devotion and faith in me, but I behave differently with you because of your varying behaviors. You who are of my Circle should only pay attention to your duties. By creating different circumstances, I afford you the opportunity to serve me. But you spoil the milk by mixing salt or dirt in it when you disobey my instructions. Continue putting sugar in the milk to make me happy - always keeping me happy is to mix sugar in the milk. |
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Meher Baba, 17 June 1935 Mount Abu, LM6 p1964 |
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Baba also discouraged the belief that the people who lived with him were in some way superior to his other followers. He once told a large group visiting him, "Are you all not members of the Mandali? Do you not love me? Why all this talk? What is this new thing you have started now? For example, for the last four years I have been wearing this pair of sandals. The sandals go with me wherever I go. I should also describe the qualities of my sandals. "Who raised this point about the Mandali? There are so many others who are of the Mandali. What about so many who are not here, but are in the West, East and distant places? Most of them are gems. "Are you not all of my Mandali? Is not your love and obedience equally great? I do not like pointed individual references to the Mandali members. There are so many amongst you who are gems. "Look at Dr. D., look at his age. He goes out from place to place. Look at K.S., how he works and how he has sacrificed. Look at M. Why should I not refer to them and many others among you present here? Why particular mention of some of the Mandali? "I tell you, those who love Baba and tell others of Baba's love are his Mandali. It won't make any difference whether they are near Baba or stay a thousand miles away." |
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1955, Meherabad, LJ p58 |
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... Even the closest disciples of a Master misunderstand his work. |
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Meher Baba, 18 July 1933 Portofino, Italy, LM5 p1798 |
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For more about the Mandali, see the chapter THE MANDALI |
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Back to top MEDITATION |
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Some people believe that Meher Baba discouraged meditation. This misunderstanding seems to have come about because some of Baba's Mandali had never practised meditation. "What are the members of my Mandali doing? They are neither doing japa (repeating God's name) nor tapa (penance), nor practising any type of yoga. They have dedicated their lives to me, and have been holding firmly to me for a long time. Even yogis cannot do a part of this." |
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Meher Baba, 24 May 1945 Meherabad, LM8 p3031-3036 |
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Some of the members of Baba's Circle did not need to do spiritual practices. But it is just the opposite for other aspirants. "There is a difference in the Avatar's or Sadguru's attitude toward their Circles, and toward the general public. The members of the Circle are like the sons of the Master, and the general public are like non-family members. "For example, if a newsboy turns into a millionaire, he would teach others the ways by which he became so, and tell them that if they followed him, they too would become millionaires. But to his sons he will give the riches, not descriptions of how he acquired the riches. "In the same way, the Avatar and Sadgurus never explain to members of their Circles the ways and means of the Path. They just place them right on the Path to God-realisation itself; while to ordinary people they explain the ways and means to achieve it. The Circle members do not need these explanations, because they are the inheritors of the divine wealth, the heirs. When the wealth itself is in hand, what is the necessity for explaining the ways to obtain it? "There are special rules for my Circle members. I put up with and forgive their serious faults..." |
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13 February 1940, Bangalore, LM7 p2519 |
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So a Mandali member may not be the best person to explain 'the ways and means of the Path.' And spiritual practices such as meditation may be unnecessary for the Mandali but necessary for ordinary aspirants. This is an explanation of the difference between these two different ways of following a Perfect Master or the Avatar, written by Abdul Ghani from notes dictated to him by Meher Baba: |
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Elect and Select Disciples |
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"The Perfect one of the seventh plane of God-realisation - the Qutub - has a different technique altogether in the matter of dealing with aspirants. Every Qutub has two types of disciples - the Elect and the Select. "The Elect ones are those who have a sort of spiritual relationship with the Master (Qutub), born of services rendered or part played toward him, even antagonistically, in past incarnations. Such aspirants are invariably the claimants to the spiritual heritage of the Master. And even if they appear of indifferent caliber in the present life, the Master trains and prepares them in his company to become fit and deserving recipients of his divine grace. 'When the disciple is ready, the Master comes,' is said of aspirants belonging to this category. Their number is always twelve. The twelve apostles of Christ and the twelve imams of Hazrat Ali are suggestive of this situation. "Select disciples of a Master have an unlimited scope, qualitatively and quantitatively. These are the fortunate ones who earn the grace of the Perfect One (Qutub) by sheer dint of merit and services rendered. The spiritual benefit accruing to this category is in proportion to the quality of their self-surrender to the will of the Master. It is such aspirants who are in need of disciplinary exercises and meditation papers. Visualising these two types - the Elect and Select ones - I gave you the impression in my previous letters that exercises and papers are both necessary and unnecessary. The Elect ones are the inheritors, and the Select ones are the winners of the Master's grace. "Thus, in the domain of Perfection of the seventh plane of God-realisation (the Qutub), the question of initiation and discipleship doesn't arise. Every atom of the universe is equidistant from the center, the Qutub, round which everything and everyone revolves. In fact, according to Baba, one is entitled to call himself or herself a disciple only after getting Illumination from the Master. Till such time, all - high or low, near or distant - are mere aspirants, and nothing more." |
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Abdul Ghani, 10 September 1948, from a letter to Ivy Duce, HM p718-719 |
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'Elect' disciples are the members of the Master's Circle. 'Select' disciples are those who are not of the Circle. Meditation and other practices may not be necessary for the Elect disciples, but the Select ones may need to meditate or make other spiritual efforts. |
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For more on meditation, see the chapter MEDITATION in Book One and Book Two. |
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Back to top WHO CREATED THE UNIVERSE? Did God create the universe? Did Meher Baba? |
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"People say that God created maya, but it is not so. For example, take the hair on the head. The hair is maya, and the head is God the creator. Although the hair grows on the head, the head does not know how, why and where it comes from. Then how can it be said that the head created hair, or God created maya? But in a way, the very creation of maya itself is dependent on God. Maya is sheer illusion, the force of imagination." |
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Meher Baba, 30 June 1926 Meherabad, LM3 p820 |
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Q. Why did God create all this? Baba: He did not create it. It started automatically. First there was God and nothing else. In God was everything: experience, knowledge, power and existence. But he had no consciousness that he was God. All this bother and headache you see around you is to gain that consciousness. |
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Meher Baba, 7 October 1926, Meherabad, LM3 p855 |
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"How was the universe created? It was automatic. There are innumerable universes, which are interlaced with one another. One universe creates another in a chain reaction. These universes are so numerous that even Sadgurus cannot count them... "Now I will explain to you about Ishwar. Ishwar is the creator, preserver and dissolver as one: Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. This Ishwar is God, but does not know himself. He is in the state of infinite unconsciousness. However, he knows how to create, preserve and destroy the creation. How is this? When you blow up a balloon, your eyes are on the inflating of the balloon, and so you look at that and not at yourself. In the same way, the eyes of Ishwar are fixed on his creation, and not on himself." |
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Meher Baba, 2 December 1927 Meherabad. LM3 p988-989 |
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Q. How did the universe come about? Baba: "Universe, if understood as created, has an entirely different meaning from our viewpoint that the universe does not exist. "Actually, it is only God who appears as the universe. But it is necessary to creation to have this dual idea of God and universe. "To know the exact meaning of the awake state, one has to experience the dream state. Dreams can be good and bad. In a dream you can suffer or enjoy. But when you wake up, you find it was all a dream. But this dream should be so adjusted that it awakens you soon. Sacrifice, character and selfless service help in waking you soon." |
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Europe? 1930s? A p47 |
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"The whole world is created and carried on by the force of the imagination." |
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Meher Baba, 1930s? Aw 10:4 p 1, also PL p32 |
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"The existence of this whole phenomenal world is all due to your mind. It all exists because your mind works. Once the mind stops, the world of phenomena ceases to be." |
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Meher Baba, 15 May 1943 Meherabad, LM8 p2876 |
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Q. Why has God created this universe? Baba: "Who says God has created this world? We have created it by our own imagination. "God is supreme, independent. When we say he has created this illusion, we lower him and his infinity. He is beyond all this. "Only when we find him in ourselves, and even in our day to day life, do all doubts vanish. We then know him, and therefore have not even to think about him. "Do you ever have to think as to whether you are a man or a woman? The answer is no, because you know you are a man. So it is when we become God. Unless and until we experience this supreme knowledge, it is all mere talk, reasoning, logic and theory." |
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Meher Baba, 23 March 1953, Dehra Dun BG p6. Also Gl Feb. 1966 and Aw 1:2 p11 |
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"Since, in the very beginning, imagination gave a twist to substance, and importance to shadow, we, who are eternally free, find ourselves bound, having lost our original self in the maze of illusion. Therefore, despite possessing infinite bliss, we have to experience misery, worries, doubts, failure and helplessness. "When in a flash real knowledge comes, we are not what we seem, but are that infinite one. All worries disappear, because in reality sukh (pleasure) and dukh (misery) do not exist. To get rid of this persistent ignorance and to know the true value of reality, we have to experience God; and God, who is the breath and life of our lives, can only be experienced through honest love." |
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Meher Baba, 23 March 1953 Dehra Dun, BG p6-7 |
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About the relationship of the Perfect Master to Ishwar, the Creator - Preserver - Destroyer aspect of God, Baba explained, "The Sadguru can interfere in the Creator's working, but he rarely does so. For the most part he leaves the Creator and the creation to manage their own affairs." |
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Meher Baba, July? 1927 Meherabad, SW p401 |
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For more on this subject, see the chapter CREATION in Book One and Book Two. |
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Back to top SMOKING AND DRINKING |
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It is commonly believed that Baba forbade the use of mind-altering drugs, but approved of the use of alcohol and tobacco. This is not true. "I must ask all aspirants to remember once and for all, that if they are desirous of rapid progress and quick enlightenment, they should... avoid all intoxicating drugs and drinks. Tea is not an intoxicant, provided it is weak. But be moderate in your habit of tea drinking." |
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Meher Baba, Ms 2:2 p8 (February 1930) |
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"For all human beings, materialists as well as spiritual aspirants, use of tobacco or wine in any form, of bhang-ganja and opium, etc., is injurious, physically, mentally and spiritually. "Tea or coffee, though injurious, is not so injurious as tobacco, alcohol, bhang-ganja, and other strong intoxicants. Rather these - tea or coffee - are in some cases beneficial, particularly when medically advised and taken in mild form. Excessive use of these, and in stronger forms, is as injurious as tobacco, alcohol, etc." |
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Meher Baba, MG 3:1 p22, March-April 1934 |
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"Recourse to alcohol for drowning one's sorrows is a perverted form of solace. "Solace afforded by things outside of you is synonymous with doping, which gives a certain amount of relief or relaxation. Real and unalloyed solace is within you." |
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Meher Baba, 1930s, A p26 |
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"Alcoholic drinks in ordinary moderate doses act as stimulants and are harmless. If taken in excess they are harmful. "Drugs, whether in small or large doses, are injurious. They have a characteristic of making the users addicts. Starting from small doses and very subtly, they tempt the partakers to increase the quantity indiscriminately until they cannot do without them and become addicted. "Tobacco and smoking has only the slight advantage of deriving superficial pleasure, which is temporary. But there are three distinct disadvantages: physical, mental and habitual. Physically, it spoils the system, and mentally, it tortures one when unavailable." |
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Meher Baba, 23 February 1938 LM7 p2267 |
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For more on this, see the chapter DRUGS in Book One and Book Two. |
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Back to top GOD REALISATION IN THE DISTANT FUTURE |
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"The illusion which most aspirants find it difficult to shake is the belief that the infinite Truth is an object which has to be attained in some distant future, and that all life is just a means for this attainment. But if the Truth were to be confined only to the future and not to the past or present, it would not be infinite; it would at once become limited as an event which has its origin in time. "All that life is and has is at once deprived of intrinsic significance if it comes to be regarded as merely instrumental to some far-off event. This is definitely a false point of view. "Life is not meant to be rich in spiritual significance at some distant date, but is so at every moment, if only the mind is disburdened of illusions. It is only through a clear and tranquil mind that the true nature of spiritual infinity is grasped as something which is not yet to be, but which already has been, is, and ever will be an eternal self-fulfilment. "When every moment is rich with eternal significance, there is neither the lingering clinging to the dead past, nor a longing expectation for the future, but an integral living in the eternal now. It is only through such living that the spiritual infinity of the Truth can be realised in life. "It is not right to deprive the present of all importance by subordinating it to an end in the future; for this means the imaginary accumulation of all importance in the imagined future, rather than the perception and realisation of the true importance of everything that exists. "There cannot be ebb and tide in eternity, no meaningless intervals between intermittent harvests, but a fullness of being which cannot suffer impoverishment of a single instant. When life seems to be idle or empty, it is not due to any curtailment of the infinity of the Truth; but it is due to one's own lack of capacity to enter into its full possession." |
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Meher Baba, c.1942 India, Di v5 p14-15 |
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For more about this, see the chapter THE NOW. |
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Index - Book Two |
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