 SUFISM Book Two |
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SUFIS |
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Meher Baba is said to have identified as Perfect Masters: Zarathustra* Khwaja Khizr Muhammad* Bayazid Bistami of Bistam, Persia c.875 The Master of Junayd c. 850? Abu Qasim al Junayd of Baghdad c.910 Abu'l Fadl c.1000 Abu Said b. Abul Khayr 967-1049 Yahya Shahbuddin Suhrawardi of Persia and Egypt 1145-1191 (or 1234) Khwaja Saheb Muinuddin Chisti of Ajmer 1142-1243 Khwaja Kutubuddin of Dehli c.1200 Baba Farid Ganj-e-Shakkar 1200-1280 Makhdoom Ali Ahmed Sabir of Kalyar Shariff c.1200 Muhyuddin Ibn Arabi of Spain and Syria 1165-1240 Najmuddin Kubra c.1200 Zarzari Zarbaksh c.1200? Shams-e-Tabriz of Tabriz, Persia, d.1246 or 1247 Jelal al din Rumi of Balkh and Konia 1207-1273 Nizamuddin Awiliya of Dehli c.1324 Muhammad Attar of Shiraz c.1350 Hafez of Shiraz 1320?-1389 Kabir of Benares d.1518 Bu Ali Shah Qalandar of Paniput c.1400 Maula Shah of Multan c.1825 Ghous Ali Shah Qalandar of Paniput 1804-1880 Baba Abdur Rahman of Bombay c.1880 Hazrat Daood Chisti c.1879 Pirane Pir of Baghdad Master of Bahaul Huq of Multan Bandanavaz of Gulbarga Haji Malang Shah of Kalyan Hazrat Babajan of Poona 1789?-1931 Sai Baba of Shirdi c.1838-1918 Tajuddin Baba of Nagpur 1861-1925 *Zarathustra and Muhammad were incarnations of the Avatar as well as Perfect Masters. Meher Baba is said to have identified the following men as God-realised (some of them may have been Perfect Masters): Mansur al Hallaj of Baghdad 858-922 Abu Bakr Dulaf Jahdar al Shibli of Baghdad d.945 or 946 Abdur Rehman Jami of Afghanistan (1400s) Bapuzamil Shah Datar of Datar Hill, Junagarh Mullah Shah Fazil Ayaz Buali Sindhi Yasin bin Husain Razi Abul Husain Muzeen Ahmed Ghazali Maulana Saheb of Bombay Mariambi (1900s, a woman disciple of Tajuddin Baba) Bane Miyan Baba (also known as Banemiyan Baba and Banne Mea, c.1915) Chacha of Ajmer (c.1940s, a Majzoob) |
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Back to top ZARATHUSTRA |
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"The light of Zarathustra has been extinguished by his followers themselves. His was the highest form of Sufism." |
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Meher Baba, 8 October 1922, Juhu (Bombay) LM2 p431 |
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"Zarathustra had fourteen disciples whom he Realised. There was one whom he realised after the fourteen. From him the knowledge and experience of God descended from father to son for 700 years. "After that, the last one, Dastoor Azer Kaiwan, was false, and obtained the sacred seat and started collecting money. Those who followed him decreed as they thought. After them, until the present, there has been no Realised person among the Zoroastrians. "Whatever religious books the Zoroastrians have now got are books of these false dastoors, and not of Zarathustra. Zarathustra taught and gave out gems of truth, gems of Sufism, but they are not known to the people. There were tremendous changes in the doctrines set down by Zarathustra made by the false dastoors." |
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Meher Baba, 7 February 1928, Meherabad, LM3 p1020 |
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"Prophet Zarathustra lived some six thousand years ago. His Master was a Hebrew. But what the world knows about the religion that came from him is practically nothing. All these Zoroastrian rites, rituals and ceremonies have come down from the dastoors (priests) and Zarathustra's followers, who began them centuries after his death... "Zarathustra was the greatest Sufi. He was the father of Sufism, and its very foundation owes its creation to him. Sufism began with Zarathustra and ended with Muhammad." |
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Meher Baba, 7 August 1929, Harvan, Kashmir, LM4 p1196 |
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Back to top MUHAMMAD 570-632 |
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"... A Perfect Master brings himself down so close to the ordinary run of mankind that in course of time, he is able to impart his knowledge to them. Take the case of Muhammad himself: when harrassed by enemies, and finding himself in danger of his life, he actually fled from Mecca and took refuge in Medina. Now, the greatest spiritual Master in the world, by fleeing from the place of his birth, acted after the manner of an ordinary human being when confronted with such an emergency." |
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Meher Baba, 14 October 1922, Bombay, RD p108 |
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"Muslims say that experience can only be gained through the Islamic religion, arguing for circumcision and other rituals. How ludicrous. Do any of you know why Muslims practice circumcision? Muhammad told them to cut down and annihilate their minds, meaning to cut through maya and cut away their sanskaras. This means keeping one's own mind under control and away from worldly thoughts. But failing to understand the true meaning of the Prophet's teaching, some theologians concentrate upon the custom of circumcising children - a custom which people, without thinking, accepted and started to follow." |
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Meher Baba, 22 June 1926, Meherabad, LM3 p817-818 |
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"Prophet Muhammad once told his chief apostle, Ali, 'If you want to know me, try your utmost to control your anger and transform it into love.' "The very next day someone challenged Ali to a fight. Ali fought him and won. He brought the man down and sat on his chest. "The man spat right in Ali's face (the worst insult to a Muslim), and Ali got so angry he raised his dagger to kill him. But then Ali remembered what Muhammad had said, and so instead he kissed him, and let him go. "Now if he had not gotten angry, he would not have had the opportunity to control himself. "That does not mean that you should go on kissing each other when you are angry. |
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Meher Baba, 5 September 1940, Meherabad, LM7 p2607 |
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"Muhammad said, 'Keep engrossed in action alone. If you act well, you will go to heaven. If you act evil, you will go to hell.'" |
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Meher Baba, 17 May 1943 Meherabad, LM8 p2887 For a more complete version of this quote, see the chapter 'The Avatar' |
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"It is said that once Rasool-e-Khuda (the Messenger of God) felt indisposed, and someone suggested that that was due to an evil eye, and that he should sleep on a pillow with an open knife underneath it. He did so, and thereafter declared himself to be all right. Call it ordinary or call it divine, it was Mohammad's sense of humor." |
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Meher Baba, 4 November 1952, Meherabad, GGM3 p156 |
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"Let us take for example the stern discipline and fasts associated with Ramadan.* No doubt they serve some spiritual purpose. But one way of looking upon it is to regard them as a sort of compulsory rationing of food and water in those areas where they were rare, and where such control was necessary in the interest of society. It is not necessary to convert the instructions of the Prophet into inflexible and eternal rules of discipline. In the context in which they were given, they served both material and spiritual purpose. They cannot be regarded as inescapable or necessary in all times and climes. The same thing applies to any other disciplines given by other seers or Masters. The Masters have sometimes followed external disciplines, including prayers, and have set an example of humility and readiness to learn from others. Thus Muhammad played the role of being taught by Gabriel. He thereby achieved two things. Firstly, he gave to the world an example of readiness to learn from others. And secondly, he awakened the teacher in Gabriel. |
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Meher Baba, 1957? Be p73-74 *Ramadan = the ninth month in the Muslim calendar, when the faithful abstain from all food, drink, tobacco and sexual intercourse from sunrise to sunset (alcohol is always forbidden in Islam). |
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EDITOR'S NOTE: The Prophet Muhammad's full name was Muhammad ibn Abdulla. His father was ABDULLA, his mother AMINA. He was brought up first by his grandfather ABD AL-MUTTALIB and later by his uncle ABU TALIB. Muhammad was nicknamed AL-AMIN, 'the Trustworthy.' At the age of 25 he married KHADIJA, who was fifteen years his senior. They had four daughters, and two sons who died in infancy. Muhammad went into seclusion in a cave on Mount Hira, where, when he was 40, the Archangel JIBRIL (GABRIEL) appeared to him. Soon after he began his spiritual mission. Khadija died when Muhammad was 50. Muhammad married SAWDA BINT ZAMAH, AISHA, HAFSA, ZAYNAB BINT KHUZAIMA, ZAYNAB BINT JAHSH, UMM SALAMA, MAIMUNA, JUWAQIRYA, and UMM HABIBA. His concubines were SAFIYA, RAIHANA, and MARIYA THE COPT.* His daughters were ZAYNAB, RUQAYYA, UMM KULTHUM, and FATIMA. His sons QASIM, TAHIR, and IBRAHIM all died in their youth. The Archangel Jibril dictated the KORAN to Muhammad over a period of about 22 years (610-622). WARAQA, ALI IBN ABU TALIB, ABU BAKR, ZAYD IBN HARITHA, UMAR, ZAYD IBN TABIT and UTHMAN were among his disciple - companions. Muhammad is known as RASOOL-E-KHUDA, the Messenger of God. |
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*Safiya and Raihana, both Jews, may have been wives rather than concubines. |
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Back to top MANSUR AL HALLAJ 858-922 |
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"Although Baka is a Muhammadan term, and Muslim mystics or Sufis do interpret it as becoming united with God, or as God seeing himself as he was in the beginning, as the stage of Anal Haq, i.e. 'I am God,' Baka is considered by the Muslims in general to be entering into Godly life, acquiring divine attributes and escaping from all that is worldly. "It was because of this difference in the viewpoints of the masses and the Masters that when Shah Mansur Bin Hallaj achieved Baka in the true sense of the word, and declared himself to be God, he was put to death by the people in a very cruel way, on the ground that thereby Mansur had violated the law or shariat. Mansur did trespass against the law of the masses by declaring himself God, but since Truth is beyond all the laws, Mansur was quite within his rights to declare the fact that he has realised fully and completely. Needless to say that Mansur submitted himself to the tortures of a horrible death, as many Masters have done, for the sake of the masses themselves. "Mansur could have convinced the people about the truth of his assertion, but in that case he would have been compelled to divulge many spiritual secrets for which the time was not yet ripe. And yet in order to establish the fact among spiritually-minded Mussalmans that man could be God, he underwent physical death claiming Godhood to his last breath. "Even at that time there were many spiritually advanced Muslim saints who knew through personal experience that Mansur was speaking the truth, and some of whom had considerable influence over the masses. But still, in the interests of the people themselves, they thought it proper to maintain silence, and some gave their tacit consent very reluctantly to the divine tragedy. "More harm than good might have been the consequence of divulging great esoteric spiritual truths in the then condition of Arabia. It is probable that had they been divulged, Arabia would again have become the home of debauchery, murder and atheism, which the great Prophet had taken pains to destroy. True, even long after Mansur's great sacrifice, some notable Muslim Masters like Pirane Pir of Baghdad, maintained reticence over this question, but it was all, more or less, for similar reasons. But on the other hand, there is no lack of explicit confirmation of Mansur's claim by many eminent Qutubs. "For instance, Ghous Ali Shah Qalandar, who was one of the Perfect Masters of his age, when questioned by a disciple whether it was a fact that some Masters had said that, had they been present when Mansur was in the state of 'I am God,' they would have got him out of this state, replied, "Yes, but whoever said it never meant it... The state reached by Mansur was such that it had completely annihilated (the limited) Mansur, and as such there was nothing left for anybody to take out from this all-in-all state." |
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Meher Baba, 1931? Ms 3:3 p7-8 |
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Back to top GANJAY SHAKKAR (BABA FARID) 1200-1280 |
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"The spiritual Path is not a bed of roses. After fourteen years of fasting, the great yogi Farid Shakkar Ganje had reached the fourth plane, but only knew how to kill sparrows. Once a Sadguru was sitting in the shade of a tree observing him. Seeing the birds, Farid said, 'Let all the sparrows drop dead.' Instantly all the sparrows were dead. Then Farid, by his command, made them come alive again. The Sadguru taunted him: 'That is nothing. Learn Fakiri - control over yourself.' "Once Farid found an old woman lowering a bucket into a well, and drawing it back up again empty. This happened several times, and he expressed his surprise. The old woman, who was a saint on the fifth plane, replied, 'It is better than your commands of die and come alive.' Hearing this, Farid Ganje was awakened to the reality of his powers, and began searching for a Master. He found one, and by the Master's grace, became a Perfect Master himself." |
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10 December 1928, Meherabad, LM3 p1126 |
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"Even those in the fifth plane find it difficult to keep away from Illumination. It is called the state of Hairat in Sufism. When the soul sees the Infinite, it has Illumination. Now, to work in the world for others, this soul must at times keep away from Illumination, but finds it very, very difficult. "One famous Wali (in the fifth plane) named Ganjay Shakkar found it very difficult to obey his Master, the Khwaja of Ajmer. Then the Master turned the key. Five thieves who had stolen a lot came to where that Wali was staying. That Wali could not close his eyes. They were always open, dazed, glassy. He would not eat. These thieves stood five paces away from the Wali. They sat down and began sharing their loot, and soon were quarreling among themselves. Then two of them killed the other three. Then these two took all the loot and were going away with it. They passed by where the Wali was sitting, and as soon as they came near he regained normal consciousness. "The moment he opened his eyes, he saw sparrows. He wanted to try his powers, and said, 'O sparrows, die,' and the sparrows fell down dead. Then he said, 'O sparrows, rise up,' and they rose. "This is a very famous story in India. At Ajmer there is a very big tomb, and every year hundreds and thousands go there on pilgrimage. "The two thieves were amazed, and asked the Wali to raise the other three. The Wali said, 'Rise up,' and they wouldn't. Then he went, crying and repentant, to his Master. When he went there, he saw the three thieves massaging the feet of the Master. "The Wali went back to his original place. For ten years he did not eat or drink, and became very lean, and white ants were eating his body up. People came every day and placed sugar around his body, and the ants used to eat the sugar. From that time on, the Wali was named Ganjay Shakkar, the Treasury of Sugar, and whenever people go to his tomb, they take sugar with them. "So even in the fifth plane, one finds it difficult, and the Master has to bring it around in this way. And the fun of it all is that till one attains the seventh plane of consciousness, it is all illusion. Just as all this appears real, in the same way, up to the sixth plane it appears real, but it is not real." |
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26 December 1936, Nasik, Aw 16:2 p16-17 Another version: Di (7th ed.) p 198-199 |
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Back to top LOVE |
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Sufism is love - when you love the beloved from the heart - love, lover and beloved. First we read Vedanta, then Zoroaster, then Christian mysticism, then Sufism. Personally, I like Sufism best. It is direct, from the heart to the heart - direct, not through the word. Hafez is Sufism itself. A Sufi is one who has his heart saf (clean), who has his heart purified by love. The basis of Sufism is love. Sufism means purity through love. |
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Meher Baba, 9 June 1939, Aw 17:1 p3 |
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Back to top MEDITATION |
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"... The meaning of meditation is to go within yourselves, right inside of you. Those who love God, that love takes them within. In some ashrams like Madurai and Pondicherry, there are actual meditation classes. But meditation has never yet made a person one with God. Hafez said to the Sufis, 'If you have the whim to achieve union with God, become as the dust at the feet of one who has become united with him.' "... Sufis do not give a damn for meditation. They love. Meditation is good. If you love and meditate, there is no harm. If you love and do not meditate, there is no harm. But don't meditate as if you have taken quinine powder. Meaning that it is something to somehow or other be done with and gotten over. If you are interested in meditation, you ought to do it with joy. If you do not like meditation, then you have to take my name. And if you love me, taking my name ought to give you joy. Do it when and where you like..." |
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Meher Baba, 8 September 1940, Meherabad to his women disciples, LM7 p2608-2609 |
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Back to top SHERIAR MUNDEGAR IRANI |
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At Baba's request, Boman narrated the events of Baba's father's eighteen years of wandering throughout Persia and India in search of God. Baba remarked afterward, 'Because of Sheriar's untold sufferings to gain spiritual knowledge, and because he was a real pilgrim on the Path, a Sufi dervish, I was born as his son. He was the only man - not only in his family, but in the whole world - worthy to be the father of the one who will shake the world to its foundations in the very near future.' |
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5 April 1927, Meherabad, LM3 p926 |
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Back to top SECRECY |
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"As a matter of fact, Avatars, Sadgurus and Masters never reveal their way of working. If they do, it entails more work for them. The Sufis say 'One who has found the Truth hides it eternally,' and it is absolutely so. This means that one who is God-realised never reveals the Truth in ordinary words. God's work is hidden work, the same as the Perfect Masters' secret work." |
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Meher Baba, 29 September 1940, Meherabad, LM7 p2617 |
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Back to top ISMS |
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"I have no connection with politics. All religions are equal to me. And all castes and creeds are dear to me. But though I appreciate all 'isms,' religions and political parties for the many good things that they seek to achieve, I do not, and cannot, belong to any of these 'isms,' religions or political parties, for the absolute Truth, while equally including them, transcends all of them, and leaves no room for separative divisions, which are all equally false. "The unity of all life is integral and indivisible. It remains unassailable and inviolable in spite of all conceivable ideological differences. "I am equally approachable to one and all, big and small, to saints who rise and sinners who fall, through all the various paths that give the divine call. I am approachable alike to saint, whom I adore, and to sinner whom I am for, and equally through Sufism, Vedantism, Christianity, or Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, and other 'isms' of any kind, and also directly through no medium of 'isms' at all." |
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Meher Baba, November? 1952, India, LA p697, also GM p199 |
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Back to top VILAYAT KHAN |
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Phillipe Dupuis, who lived in Paris, had arranged to visit Meher Baba in India, but arrived a day late. He brought Vilayat Khan (Inayat Khan's eldest son) with him without asking Baba's permission. Baba embraced the two men. Vilayat Khan said he had come to India to meditate near the tomb of Muinuddin Chisti of Ajmer (Muinuddin Chisti was a Perfect Master who lived in the 12th century). Vilayat Khan said his Murshid* had prompted him to meditate on Baba in Baba's presence. Among other things, Baba told him, "Don't run away from the world. Run away from your own lower self. "Don't renounce the world. Renounce your own lower self. "Don't seek solitude anywhere but within your own self. "Silently cry out within your own self: 'Beloved one, reveal yourself to me as my own real infinite self.' "It is you who are obstructing yourself from finding yourself, so try to lose your lower self in continued remembrance of God, who is your real self. "Don't become master of disciples till you have mastered your own self." Baba told Vilayat Khan that since he had come all that distance to see him, he should meditate on Baba for five minutes every night. Vilayat replied that to do so would annoy his Murshid. Baba told him that if his Murshid were a Perfect Master, he would never get annoyed, and if his master became annoyed over this, he could never be a Murshid. Baba 'spoke' of love and devotion for God, and defined meditation as "neither devotion nor love - meditation means mental effort in pinning down the object of thought before one's mind's eye." Baba indicated that he was not pleased that Philippe planned to accompany Vilayat Khan to Ajmer, but 'said' that if he had to do this to fulfill a promise, he should afterward return to Europe immediately. Later Baba told Francis Brabazon, referring to Phillipe, that it was so easy to fall, and with the fall, to get entangled, and it was so difficult to get free from entanglements and rise unfettered. Vilayat Khan later became a teacher of meditation and the head of a Sufi order. |
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9 February 1959, Meherabad (GM p347, HM p328-329) * Inayat Khan? |
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Back to top HAFEZ OF SHIRAZ 1320? - 1389 |
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"Hafez is Sufism itself." |
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Meher Baba, 9 June 1939, Aw 17:1 p3 |
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"One who knows the Koran by heart is called a Hafez. Such a one's heart and soul are dedicated to the service and thoughts of God alone... "Hafez was spiritually inclined from an early age, and became the disciple of a Perfect Master, Attar, who himself was a great Persian poet. "Hafez visited Attar every day for many, many years. He wrote ghazals and recited them to his Master. Attar enjoyed these ghazals and gave them to his other disciples to study and benefit by them, saying that Hafez's ghazals would be of the utmost importance to the future generations. "Hafez himself did not bother to preserve his poems, and it was only after his death that they were collected and put together as a Diwan (treasury or collection). "One day, while he was still a youth, Hafez saw a very beautiful woman who came from a wealthy family. He instantly fell in love with her - not in the lustful way, but he fell in love with her beauty, as it were. Because of the difference in their positions, he could not approach her. Yet he remained intensely in love with this woman for thirty years. He loved his Master, Attar, greatly too, and hoped that Attar would help him in attaining the companionship of the woman. "One day Attar asked Hafez, 'Tell my what you desire.' Hafez said he wanted the woman. Attar replied, 'Have patience. You will get her.' "But almost ten years more passed by, and Hafez was no nearer having his longing fulfilled. He became utterly disheartened. When alone with Attar one day, he began to weep. When the Master asked him why he was crying, Hafez in his desperation blazed out, 'What have I gained after being with you for nearly forty years?' (I think Hafez meant that he had obtained neither God nor the woman he loved.) "Attar answered, 'Have patience. You will know one day.' "Hafez retorted, 'I knew I would get this answer from you.' And exactly forty days before the end of his forty years association with Attar, Hafez entered into self-imposed Chehel-a-Nashini. "Chehel-a-Nashini means drawing a circle on the ground and sitting within it continually for forty days. (One who succeeds in going through the Chehel-a-Nashini is supposed to attain whatever he desires). "It is almost impossible to to stay for forty days within the limits of a circle without once stepping outside it. But Hafez's love was so great that it made it possible for him to go through this Chehel-a-Nashini without faltering. "On the fortieth day his Master appeared to him in the form of an Angel. On seeing such beauty, Hafez realised that the beauty of the woman he desired was as nothing in comparison with this heavenly beauty. And when the Angel asked him what it was he desired most, Hafez replied instantly that his only desire was to wait on the pleasure of his Master's wish. "Just before dawn broke on the last day, Hafez came out of his Chehel-a-Nashini and went to his Master. His Master embraced him, and Hafez became God-realised... "Now for a Perfect Master to write poetry, what is this, when the whole world is in his hands? But as Tukaram, a Hindu Perfect Master who was also a great poet, explained, one's original nature (i.e. one's original tendencies, likes and dislikes) persist even after God-realisation. So since Hafez was a poet before he attained God-realisation, he continued writing poetry even afterwards." |
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Meher Baba, 1960s? 'Hafez' by Adi S. Irani 'Happy Birthday' record sleeve, 1970s |
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Meher Baba asked one of the Mandali to recite certain verses of Hafez in Persian. Baba said, "These verses represent the foundation of Sufism." Baba translated the verses into English: O ignorant one, try, so that one day you become Master of wisdom. Unless you yourself have traversed the Path, how can you guide others? In the divine school, in the presence of the Perfect Master, O son, try, try, try to obey, so that one day you may also become the Father. Like the brave men on the Path, wash off from your hands this copper-like existence, so that one day you gain the alchemy of love and become gold. Wants of the body - sleep and food - have kept you away from the threshold of love. You will attain union with the beloved whe you become free from all wants. Baba commented: "It is very difficult to be without wants. I want to sleep, I want to eat - these are wants. I do not want to sleep or to eat - this also is a want. It is therefore rather impossible to be without wants. What then is the solution? Hafez provides one. Hafez says: Only the grace of the Perfect Master can make you free from all wants. Even if a wee bit of the effulgent glory of God were to be revealed to you, you will become millions of times brighter than the Earth's Sun. One slight moment, if you have the fortune to drown yourself in the ocean of love, do not hesitate. That moment does not come frequently. As soon as the Master says 'Drown,`' do not hesitate. Drown the moment the Master commands you to drown. Don't worry about what the world will think of you. The world will call you mad, but you should not hesitate. Even if one hair of yours is dipped in the ocean of love, you become wet eternally. In that bliss of union with the beloved that you enjoy, there is no break - it is continuous. From head to foot you become God, if you, in this Path, become footless and headless. Baba continued, "How to become footless and headless? Do whatever I tell you. Do not use your mind. When the will of the beloved Master becomes your will, then you are footless and headless. "Yet all this is impossible. Even the very desire for union with the beloved God is madness. So there remains only one solution, and that is to become the very dust at the feet of the Perfect Master." |
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14 April 1960, Poona, Gl Nov. 1973 p15 Another version: Da p7-10 |
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Back to top BABA ABDUR RAHMAN (Andul Rehman) of Bombay? c.1880? |
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"About 4 pm we entered this great city (Bombay) and drove straight to Abdur Rehman Baba's shrine. All were asked to go and pay our respects to the shrine while Baba stayed in the truck. When I returned, I saw Baba lying prostrate on the floor of the truck, his head pointed toward the shrine, bowing the way a Hindu does to a Master." |
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Ramjoo Abdulla, 27 May 1922, RD p51 |
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"Baba Abdur Rehman... was often visited by Babajan... Abdur Rehman's tomb was visited by Meher Baba at the outset of the Manzil days, and quite frequently afterward by the Mandali at Baba's direction." |
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Ramjoo Abdulla (?) RD p374 |
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"Tipoo Baba had inherited his spiritual charge from Andul Rehman, who had been a Perfect Master before Merwan was born." |
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Bhau Kalchuri, LM1 p214 |
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Back to top HAZRAT BABAJAN of Poona 1789? - 1931 |
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"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." |
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Meher Baba, January 1922, Mandwa, LM2 p337 |
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"In her previous incarnation, Babajan was the Sufi saint Rabia. "In the days when I was still Merwan, I used to visit Babajan daily, along with Gustadji. Although she would not allow anyone to touch her person, she would ask me to scratch her head and back... and I would do so for hours. "At that time, none could persuade her to have some shelter built overhead where she used to sit under the neem tree, nor would she consent to have some sort of a seat made for her... so she would not have to sit on the bare ground. But when I requested her, she allowed me to have a low wooden platform made for her with a cotton mattress placed on it for her comfort. "The mattress had an amusing sequel for Gustadji, because one day when it rained heavily and the mattress got soaked, she had Gustadji carry it on his head... so it could dry. Babajan explained the reason to Gustadji, saying, 'It is a very precious mattress because my son (Merwan) has given it to me.' "Although Babajan would talk with others always in mysterious and cryptic sentences, when alone with me her speech would be quite normal and clear, and once she related to me at length the story of her early life. Babajan had come all the way from her birthplace in Baluchistan and settled down in Poona because of the Avatar's advent... she had come to Poona solely for me. I have often referred to her as 'emperor' in the spiritual sense; and indeed she herself was very averse to being called amma (mother), and hence was called baba (father). She would flare up if anyone called her mother, for women are considered to be the weaker sex, and she would state that God-realisation was not for weaklings." |
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Meher Baba, November 1955? LJ p25-26 |
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"Babajan never had a bath for many years. She used to sit and sleep in the open, without having any shelter. She remained exposed to the seasons. She would go to sleep at 3:30 am and get up at 4:30 am, as soon as the teashops opened." |
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Meher Baba, November 1955? LJ p27 |
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Back to top SAI BABA of Shirdi c. 1838 - 1918 |
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"Amongst the Sadgurus, Sai Baba's darbar (court) was unique and matchless." |
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Meher Baba, GGM4 p155 |
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"Sai Baba was the king of Perfect Masters, but I am the Master of Perfect Masters. "When Sai Baba was smoking a chillum pipe while sitting in Shirdi, he was in fact controlling the first World War. No one knew this. Similarly, I am here talking with you, but I control the whole universe, and everything existing in it, while sitting here." |
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Meher Baba, 25 January 1927, Meherabad, LM3 p902 |
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"Finally I felt compelled to call on Sai Baba, the Perfect Master among Masters. At that time, he was returning in a procession from Lendi, a place to and from which he was led every day in order to ease himself. Despite the crowds, I intuitively prostrated myself before him on the road. When I arose, Sai Baba looked straight at me and exclaimed, 'Parvardigar.'" |
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Meher Baba, GGM3 p197 |
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"Sai Baba used to say, 'Allah Malik hai' - 'God is Master.' He would smoke a chillum all the time, and spit and cough, and then pass it round to all who were close to him in his love. He would have a little opium in the paan that he ate. Every evening there would be a Qawali program, during which he would sometimes snooze. "Gustadji had no food for days on end, as he had no money. He had a shawl, and when he decided to sell it, Sai Baba at once asked him for it. "When Sai Baba passed away, Gustadji joined Upasani Maharaj. Upasani Maharaj then transferred him to me, and he stayed with me till the end of his life. When Sai Baba used to go to attend his usual call of nature, a grand procession with a musical band would accompany him. Considering Sai Baba's peculiar habits, who would say that he was a Perfect Master? But he was incomparable, and he had the most lustrous and powerful eyes I have ever seen." |
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Meher Baba, November 1955? LJ p27 chillum = a clay pipe paan = betel nut leaf |
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"Sai Baba was just then returning to his Gadi after answering his call of nature. As soon as he saw me, he exclaimed and declared with very unusually loud voice, "'O Parvardigar!'" |
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Meher Baba, November 1955? LJ p83 |
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Sai Baba once said to Upasani Maharaj, "I have filled all existence. Wherever you see, there is none but me." |
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Bal Natu, GGM4 p156 |
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Back to top WHAT IS SUFISM? |
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"Sufi is a clear, pure essence that has filtered and settled slowly, deep within. It goes beyond the state of mounam (silence), even beyond the station of the Mouna Guru (the silent Master within us). It is that state of stillness when the resplendence of the pure clarity of wisdom has sunk down and settled completely within its ultimate completeness and perfection." "One who loses himself into nothingness, where the state of the self does not exist - one who knows the station where only God remains as that solitary oneness that is God - this is the explanation of Sufi." |
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Guru Bawa Muhayaddeen (d. 8 December 1986) New Directions Journal, Fall 1995 p6-7 |
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Back to top ON RECOGNISING A REAL SPIRITUAL TEACHER |
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"As to the problem of recognising a true Sufi, this is no problem to the true person. "...Sufis say that you will only be misled if something unworthy in yourself attracts you to an unworthy person. "It is not for the Sufi to represent himself as worthy; it is not for anyone to give you a test for a Sufi. It is for whoever wants to discern truth to focus on that part of himself or herself which is honest towards the supposed Sufi. "Like calls to like, truth to truth, and deceit to deceit. If you are not yourself deceitful, you will not be deceived. "The assumption, you know, that all seekers are honest and that they only need a test to ascertain the honesty of a spiritual teacher is very much out of line with the real facts." |
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Idries Shah, Seeker After Truth p23 (1982) |
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Index - Book Two |
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