Infinite Intelligence

De Simple Silence.

[modifier] Account Of The Finding Of The Manuscript

A year after editorial work on the Intelligence Notebooks had begun in 1998, Meherwan Jessawala wrote to Bhau Kalchuri, Chairman of the Avatar Meher Baba Trust, an account of all that he knew about the discovery of the manuscript and Eruch Jessawala's involvement with it from the time that Baba dropped His body up to the present. As a historical record that letter is reproduced here. Certain small corrections and changes (in a letter that was originally handwritten and somewhat informal) have been incorporated, and irrelevant material has been excluded.

Jai Meher Baba!

Meherazad 13-10-99

My dearest Bhauji,

After the telephone talk I had with you this morning, I thought it best I should once and for all write down and let you know the history and sequence of events prior to my starting the work of editing the new manuscripts, including the 39 pages of the discourse in Baba's own hand: (1)

As far as I recollect, a year or two after Baba had dropped His body, Eruch had time to look into old records that were lying unattended for the past many years. In the course of this work, Eruch came across an old leather brief-case, which contained these volumes. (2) These consisted of two handwritten foolscap-size hardcover ruled notebooks, one hardcover volume of typed pages neatly bound with the label embossed on it as "Tiffin Lectures — Gleanings from Shri Baba's Own," and a packet containing loose typed sheets — unbound. The two notebooks written in an unknown hand seem to be a very neat transcript of a long treatise, which continues from the end of the first into the second and consists of about 212 pages. (3) After this there are a few blank pages in the (second) notebook and then the transcript continues again, starting afresh from page 1 to 44....

As you are aware, Beloved Baba used to call me each year during the time of His Birthday, to stay at Meherazad for about a month. After His physical passing away, I continued to come every year as usual. During one of these visits in the early 1970's, Eruch showed me this handbag and asked me to have a look at the notebooks therein and check whether they contained any matter relevant to Baba's "Lost Book" After casually glancing through these manuscripts, I remember telling him that I wouldn't be able to say anything, as I had no idea whatsoever as to the contents of "The Book." Thereafter I forgot all about this episode, and Eruch also did not pursue the matter for quite some time.

A few years later Rhoda Dubash with her husband Adi came and settled down in Ahmednagar, from Karachi. She would attend the Trust Office and seemed ever eager to help Eruch in office work. As there was nothing much to keep her busy, Eruch one day entrusted her with the manuscript material and asked her to type out their contents neatly and accurately and also to copy the various charts and to transcribe all the non-English words and paragraphs. He requested dear Bal Natu to assist her in this arduous task. She completed the work very meticulously after many months of hard labour. Thereafter the original manuscript and their copies were all kept safely by Eruch in the Meherazad Record Room for some years. Later on, when I retired from service and came to stay permanently at Meherazad, Eruch once again asked me to have a look at a typed copy of the original manuscripts, which I did, going over them with greater attention and making certain corrections and notations. Thereafter, I asked Eruch whether I should read these out to him. After hearing a few pages, he said he had no time for all this, as he was extremely busy with Trust work and the rush of pilgrims. He asked me to see if there was anything new and to draw his attention to the same. Right away I told him that, while fundamentally the manuscript concerned the same One Truth, its perspective was quite new and different. Eruch then said that he would see to it later.

I did not broach the subject again until a few years after that, when I reminded him, and he again showed reluctance, due to the great pressure on his time. Finally, last year, some time in June 1998, I again reminded him, saying that as there were some apparent contradictions with respect to Baba's later works, these manuscripts should be looked into and worked upon with care and attention. I also said that it would be best, while he and the other mandali were around, that this work should be released to the Baba world. I also told him that as Steve Klein and Ward Parks were currently available, I could take their help in properly editing the work. So if he agreed, I could broach the subject with the Trust's copyright and Publication Committee and go ahead with the project. Eruch finally consented and allowed me to proceed with the work of editing. The Committee too approved of the project. Though you were head of the Committee, as you were touring the United States at the time, I informed you of these developments by post.

Now while we were busy with the editing and scanning of the original manuscripts — a task which Heather and Eric Nadel carried out magnificently with the help of many truly dedicated Baba lovers — Janet Judson one day approached me and asked me as to what we were all doing. I explained to her that we were into editing some early discourses by Baba. The next day she came back and said that in dear Mani's archives there was a manuscript in Baba's own hand dating from the 1920s, and she asked whether it could be of relevance to our project. I requested her to show me the same, and she brought a xerox of it that Mani had got done many years ago. On going through it, I was amazed to find that it was indeed extremely relevant to the project, as the last part of the second notebook reproduced some parts of this manuscript of Baba's almost verbatim; and in this way it at once authenticated the authorship of the two bound handwritten volumes as undoubtedly Baba's! This coincidence is an example of one of the very strange and hidden ways in which our Beloved guides us along, when all concerned work for Him, with nothing else in our hearts save love and service for His cause. Janet then handed me the original manuscript, which then was very carefully scanned in high-resolution colour by Heather and Erico. (4) This required great care, as the originals are in an extremely fragile condition, written in pencil on very poor quality ruled paper in Baba's own handwriting.

When you returned from the West a few months ago, I handed you a set of copies of the manuscripts for your perusal. You glanced through them, and a few days later you told me that this was indeed a very great treasure; and at once you began a work of independently editing this material with the help of Ward! You then told me that when Beloved Baba was giving you points in the last year or two of His physical life, Baba had mentioned to you that these points were 10% of the material that was contained in His Book. You further told me that the copy of the manuscript I had given you seemed to contain 100%. This led you to surmise that the handwritten volumes must be the transcript of the original Book written by Baba!

The above is a factual account of the discovery of this group of manuscripts and the process that led to the current editing project.

All of us at present are straining our capacities to the utmost in our endeavour to present to the Baba world a work of great spiritual beauty and splendour, most profound and unique in its presentation of Spiritual Truths, some of which hitherto have never been revealed.

It is therefore my sincere request that none should get embroiled in the needless controversy as to whether or not these works form the contents of Beloved Baba's Lost Book; it is best left for each one to decide for oneself, either way. The very fact that all these works are authored by the same Divine Author who had not only authored the Book but this entire Infinite Creation gives us an idea of the infinite patience of the Infinite One who has laboured within the confines of human limitations to put into words for mankind the unexplainable mysteries of the Truth.

My hope is that the Baba world will be able to savour the Divine flavour He has given in these works without the distraction of any controversy conjured up by the mind.

Dear Bhauji, I am sorry for taking up so much of your valuable time in this long-winded letter, but I do hope there will be no more controversies in the matter and this will end once and for all much needless confusion in the minds of Baba lovers the world over.

Much love and Jai Baba to you, Yours lovingly, Meherwan

(1) These thirty-nine pages were published the next year (2000) in « In God's Hand ».

(2) Later, after writing this letter, Meherwan learned from Bal Natu that it was actually Bal, at Eruch's request, who had carried out this work of searching through the old records, and that Bal subsequently brought the results of his search back to Eruch. For a fuller and true account of this, based on Bal's recollections, see the Essay, pp. 495-96.

(3) In fact, the first segment of the text — the treatise this volume titles Infinite Intelligence as All in All — occupies numbered folios 1-211 and fills 209 leaves. For a full description of the manuscript, see Essay, pp. 496-99.

(4) Early in the next year, Homyar J. Mistry professionally photographed the manuscript on color film, and his negatives served as the basis for the facsimile reproductions in « In God's Hand ».

Meherwan Jessawala

To say that the ocean experiences the illusion (bhas) of being a drop is to say that Infinite Intelligence is experiencing Itself as the false mind. Now, if a dog shits or piddles in the waters of the ocean, the ocean does not get polluted; but if the dog shits or piddles into a small pot of water, then that water gets dirtied, and begins to stink, and becomes foul.

"Water" is the same in both, but in the ocean it has no limit, whereas in the pot of water it is limited by the pot — which represents sanskaras. Thus the water in the pot experiences the illusion of "dropness."

If this limit imposed by the sanskaras were to be removed, however, the water that was in the pot would experience itself as the unlimited ocean; thereafter it would gain the knowledge that "I was the ocean originally, but because of sanskaras, I imagined myself to be a drop."

[modifier] Similarity Of The Stone And The Majzub

A stone has no desire, no wish, no thought of tomorrow, no feeling, no expectation (asha). If you kick it, it remains unaffected; if you garland it, then too it remains unaffected. If you place it in a latrine, it does not become sorry, and if you build it into a palace wall, it does not become pleased. It remains unaffected throughout; but the effect and result of your dealings with the stone rebound on you according to the use you make of it. If you kick it, your foot will be hurt. If you strike your head against it, your crown will be broken; and if you place it in a palace wall, it will serve that purpose.

In short, you are the one who experiences the effect of how you utilize the stone. The stone itself does not take the sense experience (upabhog) of any object (vishay) of the universe, nor has it any consciousness (bhan) of body or universe.

Similar is the state of one in Nirvikalp Samadhi, a Majzub experiencing Fana Fillah or Wasla. Like the stone, such a one does not realize the universe and so is in no way affected by it. But at the same time, the mind in the stone fails to realize itself, whereas the Sadguru as well as the Majzub have achieved Self-realization.

© 2005 Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust