Letters of Love
De Simple Silence.
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[modifier] LETTERS OF LOVE FOR MEHER BABA THE ANCIENT ONE
Beloved Baba had waked me at dawn. The thought came to me : If only I could read for the Beloved the portion in the Jesus book of Norina’s that spoke of the Magdalene’s first meeting with Christ. It had moved me deeply.
I went to the Center early. As I came down the path I heard Adi’s voice call : « Elizabeth-Jane-come now. » I ran — and saw Elizabeth approaching ; we entered the Lagoon Cabin. Baba was looking radiant. He had us sit right in front of Him. Now Adi’s voice spoke as Baba gestured : « Where is this book that Jane loves so, Elizabeth ? » She did not reply at first, then said, « You mean the Jesus book, Baba ? » He nodded. « It is at home, at Youpon Dunes. » He then said : « Elizabeth loves Jane, but she loves Baba much much more. Now come. And gestured for us to come to Him. »
As we knelt before Him, He caught each of us in one of His arms in a viselike grip. With all His suffering and supposed weakness, His embrace was like iron. We knelt in the crook of His beautiful arms — one on each side. I felt great compassion flowing from Baba. His Love was like a great ocean enveloping us. Later Mani wrote that Baba had said Elizabeth and I were spiritual twins. It is my belief that it was at that moment that He effected this bond ; or perhaps He renewed an earlier one from long ago.
He then said, « Elizabeth you go and fetch the book. Jane will read for Baba. » My heart leapt up within me ; I knew that He knew all ; He had known when I was reading it over and over the previous year in pain and in confusion.
I literally staggered out of the Cabin and Elizabeth left in the car. As I stood there, I thought, oh, I look so untidy. That second, Adi or Eruch came out and said, « Baba says tell you that you have plenty of time to go to the Log Cabin [where Elizabeth stayed] and refresh yourself » ! What tenderness — constant little ways of letting us know that He knows all. I raced to the Log Cabin — brushed my hair — washed my hands — I felt inside to return. Adi came out and said, « Baba says to tell you Elizabeth is coming. » I looked towards the drive into the Center, and in a few seconds, the blue Ford appeared !
We entered the cabin. Baba had me sit in the chair opposite Him. I opened the book to the passage and began to read (though I knew it almost by heart, so that I was able to look up at the Beloved most of the time). As I read the words, I saw Baba’s beautiful hands moving very swiftly — or rather His fingers. His hands were on the arms of the chair. I thought : Oh, I am not doing it well, Baba is bored — or a similar ignorant thought. In a split second Baba became motionless, absolutely still, and His eyes never left my face. (In time to come Elizabeth explained that when Baba’s fingers flew in swift motion, He was working in a special way.)
I continued, fully at ease, to my amazement. I had expected to be nervous as I always am ; but I was at peace. I finished ; the last lines are « And I know not — I only know that on that day I became a woman. I became Miriam, Miriam of Migdel. »
As I closed the book, Baba looked steadfastly at me with a serious look of sweet Compassion. He then gestured with His right hand towards His heart and said through gestures (Adi or Eruch must have spoken the words, as they were not with Baba’s inner voice) : « The way that you have done this for Baba touches Me very much. For you see, Jane, I was Jesus Christ. Now, come. »
I ran into His arms and knelt at His feet. Baba’s embrace was indescribable. Even the greatest mystics and saints and close ones of the God-Man can never place in words this Divine Embrace. So how can I, the most miserable sinner of all ? I only know that all was swept away — all that had gone before. There was only this now that told me : This is the Christ. This is All. Baba gestured then : Sit. And inside it was as if He were saying to me : No, you do not know ; not really know ; but I will show you.
So it was on that day, May 28, 1958. All the pieces had fallen into place ; and only now, years later, I begin to realize that while I had thought that my love for Christ had been a stumbling block towards my recognition of Meher Baba, this in one sense was true. But that in a deeper sense I could never have come so completely to Him without this love. Without this deep memory, this recognition. He had lifted the veil ; then confirmed it in the most natural way. He had accepted me just as I was.
[modifier] You Have Taken Me Unto You
Turf Club Poona, India November 9, 1962
Dearest Beloved Baba,
If only I can retain in my heart the beauty of last night and the dawn this morning. When Minoo and Adi came running down the walk to tell me that You said that I was to keep the bridal Bouquet and the Garland in my room all night, I knew in my heart of hearts why You had sent them to me.[1]
The fragrance of Your Love filled my room : I looked at them through the white of the netting and I knew that it was my bridal chamber. What else could You have meant ? When the dawn waked me, soft light filled the room with diffused splendor and I felt Your sweet fragrance near me. My secret inner prayers to You are now answered : « If I couldst be Thy bride. »
Oh my Beloved, let me remain yours forever. I would be pure and strong for you. I would have every beat of my heart say : Oh Beloved Baba, my Lord, my own.
When we leave Your birthplace, I will know that You are with me. I will cherish these moments and days in years to come at Your home at the Center where I can remain close with You. I remember that You said to me, « I will be with you always—physically. » Now I know that you are truly with me and I am overcome with joy.
Oh my Beloved, I know that I am Your bride, though I am unworthy to even speak Your name. You have taken me unto You ; and You will never desert me.
I pray that You do not suffer, though I know that You must. And I pray for all those who help You in Your suffering and lighten your days. I love You and I bow at Your feet in surrender for now and forever.
Your Jane
[modifier] That Unforgettable Smile
I had been told that I was to come to Baba’s porch [Friday, May 30, 1958]. I stood on the screened porch and looked inside. Baba beckoned me to the open door. He sat in the chair that is a twin to the one in the Lagoon Cabin, looking radiant and still. In the dim light I saw standing near Him Elizabeth and Kitty ; Margaret on the far right. They were also very still. I can see that picture today, so clearly it remains in my consciousness. The Eternal Christ, in His home in the West that He had said He never really leaves, with His three devoted ones standing near. After a time Baba was ready to leave.
We got in the cars : I was to help Ruthie ; Baba had said we were not to embrace Him. The cars started out Baba’s gate—to the Briarcliffe road. Mrs. Houston, who had seen to all the delicious food, was waiting silently there in her car to say goodbye. Baba let her embrace Him. We went on towards Wilmington. About five miles out of Myrtle beach, Frank Eaton, caretaker at the Center, was driving : he suddenly reached over and switched on the radio. As he did so, we heard the strains of Baba’s song « He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands. » I guess each of us wept a little with joy at this farewell song that we knew Baba played for us. (Indeed, after our return, Elizabeth told me that as they drove along, Baba had suddenly gestured to her : Turn on the radio, Elizabeth—and the passengers in the God-Man’s car heard His favorite spiritual.
We reached the airport. It was some time before the plane ; a chair was brought for Baba as we entered. I was walking with Ruthie—she walked well in those days, albeit with a cane ; we saw Him seated on the far side with lovers already gathered around Him. Ruth said to me, « I have to go inside first. » My heart sank, as I wanted to try to get near, but of course I took her. When we emerged from the restroom, we approached the crowd. We saw Baba gesture to Eruch : Bring a chair for Ruth. He did so ; and Baba gestured with both hands : Make a path—clear the way. A parting of the circle, and now Ruth was seated directly in front of the Beloved—and I, by His grace, at her side, on the floor. Baba gestured to me : Isn’t the floor cold ? It was concrete. I said, No, Baba, it is all right, and I thanked Him inwardly with all my heart for letting me see His face closely maybe for the last time.
We sat in complete silence, drinking in His Presence. Love flowed as in a clear lake—still and deep. Even the passersby stopped at the three corners of the room—stood still, watching in wonderment. As I fastened my gaze on Baba, Eruch came to Him in answer to Baba’s beckoning hand. Eruch leaned over. Baba made an electric-quick turn to the right in profile, looking up at Eruch intensely. As He did so, it seemed to be not Baba but my father, John Barry. The sudden turn, the quick movement, the glance, even His features were for one instant my dad. It was not my imagination or an illusion. Baba for that split second showed me my father, even in His expression. Then He turned back towards us, and His beautiful face was Meher Baba’s once more. He looked intently, almost fiercely at me. My heart leapt up and started maybe even to be a little afraid. Don’t worry, it’s all right — with a sweet tender gesture of His right hand, Baba dispelled the small fear and smiled that unforgettable Smile.
[modifier] The Actual Name Is "Meherwan"
Although Baba signed His name in the abbreviated form « Merwan, » the actual name is « Meherwan, » from which He was later called Meher Baba.
[modifier] The Sparrow Incident
Merwan was about six years old. Finding a baby sparrow that had dropped out of its nest in the courtyard, he picked it up and nursed it and cared for it for some days, but the baby sparrow died in spite of it all. Little Merwan was very saddened by it and cried over it.
Then he, along with his other little friends, made a bier for it with two sticks and a handkerchief, carried the sparrow on it to the hole they dug under a rose bush, and buried it. After covering it over with earth, Merwan put flowers on the grave and solemnly recited a little prayer while his friends stood around with bowed heads.
[modifier] A Spiritual Saga
Talk given on February 16, 1963, at Meher Spiritual Center to an Episcopal group from Conway, South Carolina :
Some of you recently have had the privilege of studying comparative religions and you know about the five great world religions, which are the stems from which many branches have sprung. I like to think of them as the five fingers on the one hand of God. They are the Zoroastrian, Hindu, Buddhist, Judaic- Christian, and Mohammedan religions.
I like to think of the founders as great Souls sent from God who came to this earth and lived among men, in different epochs, and left their imprint down through the ages until this day. They were very real and their example is still in the world ; details of their lives may have faded, or even been embellished, but what their lives stood for becomes ever clearer in perspective.
Zoroaster, with the symbol of fire, stood for Light or Purity. He taught good thoughts, good words, good deeds.
If brought down to a central point, one could say that Krishna of the Hindus stood for spiritual attainment, known in India as ananda or Eternal Bliss ; and nirvana or reunion with Brahma (God).
Buddha’s life was one of spiritual search until he at last gained Enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree ; his great example to mankind was Compassion so complete that it included every living creature.
Mohammed was said to be born about 570 years after Jesus. He lived in a desert country largely among nomadic people, who had many deities, and he stood firmly for one God, with unison of prayer five times a day as a constant reminder of the one God.
I do not mention Judaism separately despite its ancient root and the orthodox Jewish belief that it is distinctly apart. It had its great Prophets who were forerunners of Christianity, and the Old Testament belongs to both the Jewish and Christian religions. There are many Christians who think of Christianity as the flower that grew from its ancient stem. Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets, that was part of his mission ; but it was through his example in life that he showed mankind the greater concept of Divine Love than had ever been known. Jesus taught that we cannot say we love God and hate our fellowman. God was not only to be loved, He is Love.
Saint Matthew’s gospel states that : « When Jesus came unto the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am ? And they said, Some say that Thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am ? »
This question must ever be answered. When we consider who Meher Baba is, you will probably get many answers and in accordance with the understanding of the individual asked. Some have a ready answer before they meet Meher Baba. Some persons when they meet Meher Baba have a faint impression and others a great impression ; sometimes the little impression grows and with the years it becomes a great spiritual impression. Still others have a flash of recognition from the very first contact with him ¯ it is as tangible to their inner experience, as for example, the striking of a match. But whatever the impression, everyone agrees that Meher Baba is not an ordinary man.
In India he is looked upon as more than an outstanding religious leader ; he is know as a very rare occurrence ¯ a Sadguru or Perfect Master. Baba himself has said that he is what you take him to be. He has also stated that he is the Highest of the High, the Ancient One. He tells us that he has not come to teach, but to awaken. Let us think of Meher Baba as having come to awaken mankind and that we might be included in their spiritual awakening.
This modern-day Awakener tells us that « The New Humanity will come into existence through a release of love in measureless abundance ; and this release of love itself can come through the spiritual awakening brought about by the Masters. Love and coercion can never go together but, though love cannot be forced upon anyone, it can be awakened in him through Love itself. Love is essentially self-communicative and its own evidence ; those who do not have it catch it from those who have it...
Humanity will attain to a new mode of being and life through the free and unhampered play of pure love from heart to heart. When it recognizes that there are no claims greater than the claims of the universal divine life, which without exception includes everyone and everything, love shall not only establish peace, harmony, and happiness in social, national, and international spheres, but will shine in its own purity and beauty... it is through Divine Love that the New Humanity will come in tune with the Divine Plan ; it will free itself from the tyranny of dead forms and release a creative life of spiritual wisdom ; it will shed all illusions and get established in Truth ; it will be initiated into the life of Eternity. »
[modifier] Suffering
Meherazad March 1996
From the time I was little I knew that suffering, like everything else in creation, comes from God. I noticed how much suffering my loved ones had to go through in one way or another, especially my close family. Later I would wonder why the good people I knew received more suffering, while the not-good people I knew got away with whatever they did. The answer came from within me that suffering must surely be a very good thing, such a good thing that God would want to share it with His special ones. I asked Father about it, and he said, « Never question God’s Love and wisdom, my child ; suffering is a passing thing given to you for your lasting benefit. »
When you belong to the Lord, He takes over all that is yours — your failures, your victories, your joys, your sorrows, to work with as He wishes. With all the Baba-lovers that we know of going through all the suffering that we hear of, it is not easy to see all the compassion that we are assured of. This unseen compassion is spoken of by His great lovers in the past, and illustrated by a Perfect Master in a simple analogy of a village potter.
You may have been among one of the groups accompanying Eruch on a tour of Pimpalgaon Village in the old days when he took Baba-lovers around the village. One of the favourite sights was the village potter making a pot on a primitive wheel turned by hand. While the clay is whirling around on the wheel, the potter is shaping the pot by whacking it with a wooden mallet. As his right hand is visibly raining these blows on the outside of the pot, his left hand is inside the pot, unseen, silently supporting and upholding it so that it does not break.
Thus a Perfect Master illustrates God’s unseen compassion.
Avatar Meher Baba ki Jai ! ! !
- Mani
[modifier] Granny Would Not Budge
My father was 25 when he « proposed » to my mother, who was then five years old. It happened this way.
When in the course of his ascetic wanderings (dervishi) in India he stopped by to see his sister who was living in Poona — his only relative, apart from his brother, who migrated to India (the rest lived on in Iran). The sister adored Sheriar and bemoaned the fact that he had renounced the worldly life in search for God.
She was overjoyed to see him and did not want him to go away again, so at great length she pleaded with him in words and tears, and begged him to get married and settle down with her in Poona, and she promised to find him the right wife.
At this my father chuckled, and just then saw a little girl of five, clutching her writing-slate, pass by the entrance of the house on her way to wherever she was going. She was going as a matter of fact for her morning lessons to a neighbour’s house, and was dressed in a short frock and her favourite red ijar (loose quarter- length trousers — or drawers — worn at the time) with a red ribbon at the end of her little pigtail.
As my father saw the child, he pointed at her and said to his sister « All right, if I marry I marry her, and one else ! » He realized the absurdity of his proposition, but it had been intentional, meant to put an end to his sister’s further coaxings and argument.
He was stunned, therefore, when his sister took him up on it, and seemed dead serious about it ! She held him to his promise, knowing he would never go back on his word, and now all she had to do was to see her friend Golendoon, the mother of that child, whose name was Shireen.
There seemed to be an unwritten code in those days which one adhered to at all costs — one could not go back on one’s word, nor break a promise given in jest or earnest. My aunt rushed to her good friend and neighbor Golendoon, and revealing the incident of that morning begged her « on her knees » to save her dear brother and her happiness by consenting to give her daughter to her brother Sheriar in marriage.
This sincere and passionate appeal soon melted Golendoon’s heart, and before long she found herself saying yes and consented to give her five- year-old daughter Shireen in marriage to 25-year- old Sheriar, an ascetic who had renounced his worldly goods and ties so that He might find God.
Her husband (my grandfather) raged and raved when he came home and heard what my grandmother had done — there were daily scenes between the two, but my granny would not budge, simply saying she had given her consent to her good friend, and could not break her word !
My grandfather never got over it, and years later, when Sheriar and Shireen were married, he did not attend the wedding — but later was resigned to it ; his main objection was the great difference in age.
[modifier] I Am Both Personal And Impersonal
« The process of evolution up to reincarnation point is natural, it goes on systematically like a spiral. All forms are in circle, and when the two drops united in the human form, that is the end of the process of evolution—so it stopped and the momentum diminished at the 77th form—and when the momentum finished—then began reincarnation. (There was no leaving the world before.)
After My having become Realized many times, I came down as Avatar with you all innumerable times—only in the last cycle 5,329 times—and once more after 450 years. The end will be 5,330th year, 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.
One very important point is the 7 stages of evolution. There are 840,000 main stages of changing forms. Masters can count 84 lakhs. It is in the book I have written, which I wrote in Meherabad, in a little room. This I will give to the world after I speak. »
[modifier] You Fill Their Hearts And Thoughts
Dear Elizabeth, your mentioning about Baba’s Presence being felt in more than one place reminds me of an incident during the time of Lord Krishna. Naradmuni, Krishna’s close disciple (His right hand) was of a very jovial temperament. Narad once asked Krishna, that since He (Krishna) had so many gopies, could not he (Narad) claim one of them. Krishna assented and told Narad to go and make his choice.
Whereupon Narad went to a gopi’s house ; there he found Krishna eating and the gopi serving Him food. To the next house he went, Narad saw Krishna reclining at His ease in conversation with the gopi. In another gopi’s house he found Krishna being served milk, and in yet a fourth, he saw Krishna helping the gopi churn the butter. Narad made the round of all the gopies’ houses and there was not one house in which Krishna was not present.
At last Narad gave up and returned to Krishna convinced, saying : « Every gopi belongs to you, Krishna, for you fill their hearts and thoughts ; you are ever-present in their homes. » And this applies to Baba and His lovers.
[modifier] As A Mirror Reflects The Sun
Quite unexpectedly we arrived at a high gate of rattan with stone posts, just off the road which led through the small village of Rahuri. A sound from our horn and the gate swung open in welcome, disclosing a bungalow on either side, and soon we saw Baba on a porch, surrounded by the men of his mandali. He wore His usual white robe over which was a worn-looking reddish jacket. His beautiful glance drew all together in close harmony...
After smilingly introducing Norina and myself to the disciples assembled, Baba led us further into the property where the madmen were congregating under a spreading mango tree. From among a number of madmen brought to Him, Baba had selected a few whom He terms « God-mad. » These are advanced souls whose spiritual yearning and practices had led them out of the normal state. Baba pointed out to us, as we looked around, that this one was on « the Path » ; that one had a slight breeze of spirituality blowing through him ; another was quite mad but harmless ; and the young fellow who started to beat on a tin can, as on a tom-tom, was very good but « goofy. »
Baba told us that He loved them all very much, and indeed when we saw Him embrace these ragged, world-ridiculed men, the beautiful scene of Saint Francis embracing the leper came to our minds with all its touching realism. We witnessed the dull-eyed, dark piece of humanity called « Goofy » turn his face up to the Master’s and an unforgettable expression came to life and glowed in his eyes—like the primordial divine stirring in a piece of mud. His wits were completely absent, only the clay of humanity was there, yet we could indeed envy this creature who could so directly use his intuition that he perceived Baba in his « radiant state. »
Goofy’s blurred eyes caught the vision as a mirror reflects the sun. We in our normal consciousness saw only the gleam of his reflection, yet the transformation in him was so apparent and beautiful that it made a response in our hearts. To be thus unhampered from the shackles of the mind was the sort of freedom that a wave must know as it tosses towards the sun ! As soon as Baba withdrew, the light in the youth’s eyes receded and he turned towards us as nonexistent, but they would always leap with joy each time Baba returned.
[modifier] This Must Bear Good Results
Baba called Louis [van Gasteren] to Meherazad at 9 o’clock on 19th morning to see Him for five minutes, and also to look over the filming site for next day’s program. Starting very early from Poona with his crew and accompanied by Jal, he arrived on time and was taken in to see Baba. Baba gave him forty minutes instead of five, and some very beautiful explanations in that time—and by that time he had really begun to love Baba.
One could say that he came for his own film and stayed for Baba’s film ; for he later confessed that his intention had been to film a few hundred feet, but now he was determined to take in as much as he could for the world to know of Baba through his film. As Eruch later remarked, Louis met the mandali as a filmmaker and parted as a brother. Jan and Peter, the two boys who accompanied him as cameraman and sound man, were equally in love with Baba at first sight, and became as members of the family during their two visits.
The Meherazad family found Louis a most unassuming and congenial person, sincere and earnest, painstaking in his work, and not just a filmmaker but a real artist. However, all these qualities would appear as ciphers were it not for the unit of his newborn love for Baba that makes them add up to a fine figure. Louis put consideration for Baba’s comfort and wishes before his convenience of filming, every time. At one point when some alteration had to be made to suit Baba, Louis assured Him with a spacious gesture of his arms, « We will adjust it, Baba, it will be no problem, don’t worry. » With a marked twinkle Baba said to those present, « My only worry is that I cannot worry ! »
From his talks with Eruch and Francis, Louis got a much better understanding of Baba’s role in his film, and Francis’s powerful explanation of why Baba cannot be compared to any other personality no matter how great he might be in the world, impressed him deeply and cleared up a lot of things in his mind.
Admiring their efficiency at the filming which took place on 20th September at Meherazad, Baba said, « Louis and his men know their job. » That became clear to all who watched them work with their beautiful camera and latest accessory equipment. The film is to be in colour and equipped with sound. They filmed Beloved Baba washing the feet of the lepers—seven lepers, He finally decided.
They filmed Baba in the garden against the luscious bougainvillea vines, and Baba discoursing under the shade of the two babul trees which stand in the field with the Seclusion Hill in the background. They filmed the Meherazad scene, including a sunset from top of Seclusion Hill. And they visited Meherabad and filmed that place of Baba’s also...
I must put down Beloved Baba’s remarks on Louis van Gasteren’s visit and the film he came to make. On the morning after Louis’ departure Baba said to the mandali :
I felt happy with Louis van Gasteren not only because he is an artist but because he has a good heart. He was impressed very much by My Love, as were his two assistants. Louis is a genius in his art. because of this, and because of his love for Me, I cooperated 100 percent and he made the most of this opportunity.
Referring to the filming done under the babul, Baba said :
To Me it was like again giving a Sermon on the Mount. In the two days that Louis spent here and at Meherabad, I could see that he came to understand a bit about Me, and he expressed his love for Me by speech and action. I know that he will try his best to have the film shown all over the world. He worked at it with all his heart, and I cooperated with all My heart. So this must bear good results.
[modifier] References
- ↑ There had been a wedding in Pune on November 8 ; Beloved Baba blessed the couple, and then He wore the garland around His neck.
Compiled and edited by Jane Barry Haynes. © 1997 EliNor Publications, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
