Ghosts

GHOSTS

Book Two

"Early in the morning on October 5, 1922, Meher Baba told the men he had not slept that night due to a noise in the back yard. He described the peculiar noise: 'It was as if someone were leveling the ground with a heavy roller.' Then he explained that it was a ghost. 'This spirit is always with me, wherever I go. He is one of the ghosts who Arjun saw outside the hut at Poona. Upasani Maharaj has put him in my charge. Some of you may see this spirit. If it happens, don't be afraid of him, and don't be afraid to move about in the Manzil during the night.'

"Once while Ghani was massaging his legs at night, Baba further explained about ghosts and why he had his body rubbed. 'The physical contact of a human being with my body keeps the spirit world away from me for the time being, and thereby enables me to snatch a little rest. My sleep is not the sleep of ordinary human beings. It is a sort of mental rest from my spiritual working. A spirit always accompanies me wherever I go and whatever I do.' "

Manzil-i-Meem, Bombay, 1922, LM2 p420

"While I was on night duty chafing his limbs, Baba explained to me, 'The physical contact of a human being with my body keeps away the spirit world for the time being from me, and thereby I am enabled to snatch a little sleep. My sleep is not the sleep of ordinary human beings. It is a sort of mental rest for me from my spiritual working.' "

Abdul Ghani, MJ 3:3 p174, also HM p605

"When Arjun Supekar began keeping nightwatch at the hut, Meher Baba told him, "Always remain awake and never be afraid of anything."

"One night Arjun heard the rustling of leaves and was startled. Peering into the darkness, he saw two gigantic figures who suddenly started becoming larger and more ominous, reaching almost twenty feet in height. Arjun became petrified and could not utter a sound. At that very moment Meher Baba emerged from the hut, irritated, and asked, 'What's the matter with you?' Arjun pointed into the darkness, but there was nothing visible.

"Meher Baba scolded him, 'Didn't I tell you not to be afraid when I am here? Those were ghosts who came to me seeking rebirth. Such spirits of the dead have committed suicide and are unable to take another birth for several centuries. Every night such ghosts come to me, so never be afraid. They won't harm you.' But Arjun's health steadily began deteriorating after that incident with the two ghosts. It was a long time before he became well again.

Bhau Kalchuri, LM2 p362-363 (1922, Poona)

"Quite often, especially in the earlier years of his ministry, Baba would have at least two disciples press his feet, and they had to use considerable strength in doing this. His reason was not given for a long time, but he did finally divulge that around him there were always, at all times, greate hordes of people in the Astral world pleading and clamoring for his help. The disciples who pressed his feet were his shield against them, as they always ran interference for his work."

Ivy Duce, HM p605

"Lower spirits are those beings without physical forms whose sanskaras remain to be wiped out. They cannot progress after death until their unfinished sanskaras are worked out. As a consequence, they wander about on the lower Astral plane. For this reason, they are a source of harassment to living people.

"Suppose a man is destined to have a life span of forty years, but he commits suicide when he is thirty. Consequently, for the remaining ten year period of unexpressed sanskaras, his spirit inhabits the lower planes, and at times is seen by some people as a spirit or ghost. To hold seances or to talk with the dead is no great thing, because such spirits are always among us on this living plane.

"There are advanced yogis and munis who converse with these ghosts who have committed suicide, as well as with the spirits of the higher planes. These advanced souls communicate without using a medium. They live on both levels."

Meher Baba, 2 June 1925, Meherabad, LM2 p720

Ghosts are people who have committed suicide and have no body. They enter another body, and then make the body of whomsoever they enter do as they wish.

Meher Baba, 15 December 1927
Ahmednagar, LM3 p994

"The Master delivered a discourse before his disciples on the subject of ghosts and earthbound spirits of the dead. An earthbound spirit wanders at night in the vicinity of Arangaon. The Master asked us not to be afraid of him if we ever happened to see him. Such earthbound spirits generally seek the company of Sadgurus, and the spirit in question oft goes to the Master to shampoo his feet soon after he lies down on his bed at night. A disciple asked, 'Can you not free such earthbound spirits of the dead from their misery by making them reincarnate, or in any other way?'

"The holy Master replied, 'Their sanskaras are such that they drive them to wander on this Gross plane at night. Sadgurus can certainly make them reincarnate, but what's the use? By wandering here, the extraordinary sanskaras of such restless spirits are worked out. It is better that their sanskaras should be worked out naturally than that they should be wiped out by Sadgurus.' "

K.J. Dastur, 1929, Ms 1:3 p20, also HM p637
(29 January 1929? Meherabad)

"Elizabeth and Norina one day told me a story about their stay with Baba in Portofino, Italy. At one time Baba occupied Lord Carnavon's castle on top of a mountain at Portofino... Baba had invited a large number of Western disciples to stay with him. Each morning as they came downstairs to breakfast, one or more of the guests would complain bitterly that they had had very little sleep because of disturbances which they finally concluded must be caused by a ghost. Baba apparently paid no attention. One night the intruder came to the room shared by Elizabeth and Norina. They suddenly heard a tinkling clatter among all the articles on the washstand, such as the cover being lifted from the soap dish and dropped, etc. Elizabeth raised her head and whispered to Norina in the adjoining bed, 'Do you hear what I hear?' Since they were both enveloped with mosquito netting, Norina seemed to feel safe, and sliding down under the covers, she said in a whisper, 'He can't touch me.' Which sentence ended up in an outraged wail as she shrieked, 'He pulled my hair!'

"The next day Kaka admitted to them that a man and woman in the Subtle body had been racing madly over the castle day and night, clamoring for Baba's attention, and pleading with him to release them from their earthbound state. Shortly thereafter, Kaka stated that Baba suddenly snapped his fingers, and the man disappeared. And only some hours later did he dismiss or free the woman in the same way. Baba then told Kaka that in a previous incarnation he (Baba) had been a Master, and while wandering on this mountaintop, suddenly encountered the girl, who had been having a tryst there with her lover. As Baba spoke to her, the man emerged from among the trees, misconstrued the scene, and struck Baba... The couple was karmically held to this spot for five hundred years until Baba freed them."

Ivy Duce, HM p437-439

"After staying in the old villa for awhile, some of the Western lovers had experiences... A person claimed a spirit haunted the house and had stood before him, growing taller and taller. One said her hair had been pulled as she slept; another heard noises. Late one night, with these tales ringing in her ears, Delia DeLeon screamed at what she thought was the apparition of the ghost. It turned out to be Margaret Craske leaning out the opposite window for a breath of fresh air. The next day, when they informed Baba about what happened, he wryly commented, 'There is one thing I like about you Western disciples - your courage.'"

"Baba did confirm, however, that there was a ghost in the villa. Once while Kaka was on nightwatch, Baba had gotten up at midnight and told him to follow as he left the room. Descending the stairs in the pitch dark, Baba sat on one of the steps for a few minutes, and then returned to his room. Kaka asked him why he had done that in the middle of the night, and Baba explained, 'There was a spirit here who has been trying to get free for 500 years. Tonight I have given him relief.' "

Bhau Kalchuri, LM5 p1781-1782
(1933, Villa Altachiara, Portofino)

Garrett Fort: What is meant by possession?

Baba: There are certain cases where the Gross body is compelled to drop before the person's sanskaras are completely used up. Such is the case when a person commits suicide. The body is gone, but the momentum of all the impressions goes on. The person is now a ghost. The ghost wants to drink, eat, etc., very, very badly. So much so that it takes to unnatural resources by entering someone else's body. It awaits its opportunity. When it finds you drinking it satisfies its desire by drinking through you, your body. When it has to experience anger, then when you are angry it experiences it through you, your body. This is a fact.

14 March 1937, Nasik, LM6 p2139

"Why be afraid of ghosts? A ghost means a human being without a body, and in that bodiless state he has to remain as long as the sanskaras of his previous birth last. Then he takes another birth.

"Ghosts are miserable. They have desires, like any of us. They try to come in contact with human beings to fulfill their desires. When it is dark and silent, their Subtle, smoky bodies become transparent. You have Gross, Subtle and Mental bodies. They have only Subtle and Mental bodies. but these are not as limited as the Gross. When stretched out, their Subtle body stretches out in all directions - upward and sideways. That makes you shiver and scream when you see them like that. Depending on their surroundings, darkness and quietude, they can be seen. Their bodies can enlarge and shrink. That is why in dreams the Subtle bodies go anywhere, stretching out and out. They can also be photographed in suitable conditions, depending upon the surroundings, time, light, and the photographer.

"These discarnate spirits wish to contact living human beings. If Rano, a heavy smoker, has no body, and for some reason becomes a ghost, she does not get another physical body until certain sanskaras are spent. They may be spent in one year or a million years. All depends on the contacts made to spend one's sanskaras.

"For instance, Rano has her craving for smoking cigarettes. She sees Kitty smoking. She, too, wants to smoke, and tries to contact Kitty to have a cigarette. But contact with a Gross body by the Subtle body is almost impossible. Kitty feels the presence of a Subtle body and is scared. But poor Rano only wants to have a smoke. In some instances, she, Rano the ghost, becomes so desperate that she waits until Kitty nods to sleep even the tiniest little bit, and then smokes through Kitty's Gross body.

"The Subtle can enter any Gross body or thing. When it enters you, you don't even know it, and are not at all affected. But it can only enter your body when you are not conscious, when you are sleeping. How many spirits have been drinking tea through Norina when she is not conscious? But the spirit has no hold, it does not reside in you or possess you, but just goes like the wind. And it only happens sometimes. "Don't think about it, or you will go mad. It is of no importance, so trivial, so insignificant.

"Sometimes you feel angry for nothing. This might be some spirit wanting to spend sankaras of anger through you. But this is so unimportant, not worth thinking about. Our bodies are full of germs, but we don't think about it. If we did, and tried to picture it in our minds, we would go mad. Masters are so bothered by these spirits, you have no idea. They want to touch me for liberation, and they do."

11 November 1940, Ceylon, LM7 p2636-2637

Mehera, Mani and Gaimai were bothered by a ghost in Lonavla. Mehera's arm was pulled while she slept. Mani's entire body was shaken. Baba told them "Don't worry about it. I will take care of it." After that the ghost did not disturb them. Later they learned that some years earlier a laundryman had committed suicide in the well of the compound. Baba told the women,

"Don't be afraid of ghosts. They don't do any real harm. The atmosphere is full of impressions. Sometimes when you think you feel the presence of a spirit, it is not the actual spirit, but the impressions in the place that you feel. That is why I told you all not to go near the well where the laundryman committed suicide. All those impressions of his are lingering there, but I have now freed his spirit, so it is all right now."

December 1942, Lonavla, LM8 p2825

"... Baba sent a telegram to Eruch in Poona to come to Pimplegaon. When he arrived, Baba instructed him to sleep close to him in his room. Eruch did not believe in ghosts, and although Baba had explained to him many times about disembodied spirits, he found the whole thing hard to conceive of. "That night as Eruch was sleeping, he woke up and felt some pressure heavy on his chest, although he could see no one. He struggled to free himself from the invisible intruder, but was overpowered and could not utter a sound. He tossed and turned on the floor, and Baba was watching the struggle from his bed. "After a short time, the spirit departed, and Baba asked, 'Now, do you believe in ghosts?' Eruch had learned his lesson, and said, 'I certainly do now.' "

April 1944, Meherazad, LM8 p2945

"Ghosts are departed spirits who have been too much attached to the Gross world. After dropping the physical body, they still desire to live in close contact with the Gross. They continue to gravitate in the lower Subtle and Astral planes. Their Astral sheath or envelope is automatically actuated by the impressions concerning the Gross, and keeps them tied down to the Gross for long periods."

Meher Baba, 1956? Be p16

For more about ghosts, see the chapter THE ASTRAL WORLD, and LM7 p2636

Index - Book Two