Northern Michigan Meher Baba Discussions

A brief aside...

2011-06-19T08:08:00.002-05:00

It appears that the majority of "page viewers" of this blog are from the Ukraine, with the US in second and Russia in third place. Very sensible of you Ukranians...

Understanding Death from a Spiritual Perspective, by Pascal Kaplan

2011-06-12T13:57:00.004-05:00

In discussing a post-modern, Meher Baba-influenced psychology, there could hardly be a more inflammatory place to start than with this book published by Sufism Reoriented, Walnut creek, California. The book's premise is captured in the divisions: (1) The Itinerary of the Soul from Death to Rebirth, (2) The Spiritual Significance, and (3) Answers to frequent Questions on death and Dying.

The author earned Master's and Ph. D. degrees in Theoloogy from Harvard, and while dean of the School of General Studies at John F. Kennedy University in Orinda, California, was instrumental in offering degree programs in Consciousness Studies, Holistic Health Education and Transpersonal Psychology there.

As my wife cogently asked when I relayed a fascinating passage, "How can anyone know these things?" The question is pivotally important if we want to posit that discussions about the "psychology of death and rebirth" constitute a legitimate topic of discourse in psychology.

More or less since it's inception as an organized discipline (a development I would date to the development of Wilhelm Wundt's laboratory in Leipzig in 1879) psychology has preoccupied itself with the question of "How can anyone know anything about the psyche?" Behavioristic, experimental psychology grew influentially more or less coincidentally with the development of logical positivism, and it's emphasis on verifiable empirical claims. Karl Popper's work sharpened this distinction by requiring that scientific theories possess the capacity of being capable of empirical falsification. In other words, (IMHO of KP) if there is no set of potential data that would permit a theory to be falsified, it might not be considered to be a scientific theory.

Almost universally these days, psychology strives to establish itself as a scientific theory or set of scientific theories. This constraint impels psychology to disregard as "pseudo-scientific" vast and comprehensive theories such as Freudian psychoanalysis in it's various iterations. The constraints, however, have not inhibited the publication of vast troves of experimental and quasi-experimental studies leading to literature reviews, meta-analytic studies, and theoretical surveys.

The development of modern psychology has sadly left outside the fold the works of many thoughtful delvers into the human psyche. William James delivered "The Principles of Psychology" in an era when "science" was a more open concept, and psychology still had room for the paranormal. This was the cornerstone publication of American psychology in its day, until John Watson and the behaviorist movement made it seem terribly romantic.

In this book, Kaplan proceeds from an older view: that truth need not be proved, nor be subject to the Popper test. It needs to be pertinent, internally consistent, and come from a reliable source. He has adopted Avatar Meher Baba as his primary source, accepting him as one who knows. He goes on to cite more than twenty other authors in the "Selected Bibliography," each of whom brings unique perspectives.

The descriptions include the process by which the astral body dissociates from the physical body, a discussion of the relationship that exists between the disembodied soul and the physical world after death, effects of suicide and other unusual circumstances of death, "the reflective phase in which life is reviewed and lessons are taken in," the "heaven and hell" states, and the process or rebirth. There are some provocative ideas about how the afterlife may take different forms for Christians, Hindus, and atheists. Kaplan discusses spiritual effects of these stages, and then explores related topics with Murshida Ivy Duce. Among these fascinating snippets are a conversation about the advisability of looking into past lives and the value of the suffering the sometimes precedes death. The nature and workings of Karma provide a backdrop to all.

Books like this may be thought of as religious treatises, especially since they offer few testable hypotheses, but Kaplan's efforts, in the studied lack of a secular focus, seem to me to be pioneering forays into a kind of religious or spiritual psychology. This book may have a specific application to receptive readers in helping them grapple with the terror of the unknown, as they confront the idea of death.

Why ponder a Meher Baba influenced psychology?

2011-06-05T10:56:00.001-05:00

Certainly from the point of view of the goal of life, to love God more and more, one might want to forget about worldy pursuits such as psychology. (No less a personage than Bhau Khalchuri often zings "social work," in which he certainly includes the work of psychologists.) The idea here would be to curl up with God Speaks, Baba's discourses, and maybe a Baba portrait, in front of which one could do a japa meditation (works for me!). (Of course Bhau who is a great Lover of God, would not recommend such a meditation-centered way.) The following quote from Lord Meher might, by implication, raise some questions about sequestering oneself from wordly thoughts and focusing purely on Baba-thoughts, at least for some people:

"One day, Baba asked Alain Youell what he wanted to do in life. Don had warned Alain this question would come up. Alain said he was interested in studying languages, so perhaps he would become an interpreter, or maybe an interior designer. When he said he was fascinated by people, Baba, through Eruch, said, 'Psychology. You would make a good psychologist. It will be very hard, but you will be a part of the new psychology. The present-day psychology does not work.' (Baba did not explain what he meant.)

"Alain Youell, half-joking, said, "Baba, I just want to be here with my begging bowl before you."

"Baba reacted angrily and pointed out, "You are in the West, and you have to do my work in the West. That is where you are to be." (LM P5675)

Many of us will be born to subsist in the West, and will need to do Baba's work in the West. Even those who are blessed to write Baba books, give talks about Baba, or run Baba centers still generally need a day job.

I personally work as a school administrator. Rick Chapman is an international marketing consultant. Don Stevens was a big-oil executive.

I hope that some day, all occupations can be strung together like beads on a string, at least to some extent. Certainly this stringing work will be largely done with love by those who, let's say, live the precepts of the New Life. Heart before mind.

At the same time, Meher Baba said that the revelations he made in this advent would have an influence on science (most psychologists embrace the view that psychology is one of the sciences). It would be sweet if one day one could go to work hand-in-hand with the Lord, and practice a profession that had been more or less aligned with His teaching.

One or two readers (I'm imagining readers, now, a dangerous delusion?) will take umbrage here, wondering whether I am hearkening back to the middle (dark) ages when the priest was the defacto ruler & intellectual. Certainly there are dangers in "priestcraft" as Baba called it. On the other hand, it may also be that the Western view that the Renaissance was an unmixed blessing may be a bit culturally egoistic. (See CS Lewis & GK Chesterton for views on that line.) Francis Brabazon was the most articulate spokesman for the view that in a golden age, God moves to the center of cultural life.

At any rate, psychology itself has drifted rather far from spiritual life, especially over the last half-century. This is a huge topic for a mini-blog like this, but insha'allah I can delve a bit, as this develops.

Meher Baba psychologists

2011-06-04T21:11:00.005-05:00

As I have attended a number of Meher Baba gatherings since I "returned to the fold" in 2003, I've encountered quite a number of people in the helping professions, especially in psychology, but also in social work, psychiatric nursing, etc. Meher Baba, who was of course a perfect psychologist Himself, drew many in that field to him. The Discourses have been described as astute psychological writings. I originally came to Baba in response to a psychologist, Allan Cohen. Another notable psychologist was Dr. James Mackie, Murshid of Sufism Reoriented, and co-author of Gurus and Psychologists: Spiritual Versus Psychological Learning. Ken Lux, author of Avatar of the Tortoise is a notable psychologist. Another is Pascal Kaplan, author of Understanding death. Michael Da Costa has written on the relation of Meher Baba's explanation of the journey of the individual soul in relation to person-centered counseling. Richard Blum has written on the connection between Baba's teachings and the work of Freud and Jung.

It would be quite an honor to respond to some of these thinkers, if I could keep Baba foremost in my own thoughts. For me the key writer on psychological themes has to be the recently deceased Don Stevens.

Apart from visiting these areas, Baba's teaching relates very directly to many topics written by psychologists who never gave a thought (as far as I know) to the Avatar. Insha'allah, some of these can be visited as well. Jai Baba!

Perls' Gestalt Dream Analysis and the Awakener

2011-05-28T20:28:00.002-05:00

In an effort to enable his clients to explore the dimensions of their functioning, Fritz Perls, noted Gestalt therapist, would often help his clients to explore their dreams. He cited Freud, who called dreams the golden road to the unconscious. His book, Gestalt Therapy Verbatim, described his thoughts in this therapeutic process

His dream work was fascinating. If a person was climbing a ladder up a castle wall, fleeing a monster, he would have the client be the climber and describe the feelings. He might then have the client be the ladder and (by changing chairs) enter into a dialog with the climber. Next he might have the client play the part of the castle wall. It was intriguing to read the relative ease with which clients could take on these unexpected roles. Finally he might have the client become the monster, which was generally more challenging. The monster role as I understand it would be our shadow. The part of ourselves that we repudiate and cannot own. In these therapeutic dialogs, Perls was uninterested in calm and placating conversations. Instead he tried to heighten the tensions, and the sharpen the distinctions between roles.

I have tried this technique with clients, and though as a therapist I never rose above rank amateur status, it was clear that the process worked, and was viable.

Perls explained that this can happen because the client is the creator of the dream, and though he identifies with particular roles, and is alienated from others, it is his (or her) ego structure that dictates all of the details of the dream.

The parallel with Meher Baba starts when he points out that all of this life is a dream, and that He is both the dreamer and the Awakener. In a recent book Rustom Falahati pointed out that Bhau would often assemble residents and workers at the Trust office at 4PM ever day just to remind them that all of this is a dream.

Just as Perls would try to heighten the conflicts between dream characters, Baba would try to heighten conflicts between people, before fostering a spirit of love and reconciliation.

So?

Well for me the earlier Gestalt dream work helps me to understand that I who am writing this brief piece, and you who are reading it, are being dreamed by the same eternal Beloved. What is challenging is the recognition that even when I encounter a monster, a person who threatens my core ego, that it is all a dream, and that Baba is the same dreamer in each of us.

Baba tells us that to love those we cannot love is the way to learn to love God.

On Baba-adapted psychologies

2007-10-17T05:55:00.001-05:00

Baba lays out a great many psychological foundations in the Discourses, but they are not written to create a "new psychology" and do not reflect the results-oriented goals of typical counseling practice. It has been said that Baba was the master psychologist, but for obvious reasons He would never contain himself to the humble goal of helping a client adapt to the world around them. Perhaps the 'self-actualizing' schools might better approximate Baba's emphasis on self-realization, but even then one has to stretch.

The problem with this blog is that no one reads it, with the obvious corollary that nothing I write here receives feedback, but it does have the advantage of being mine. Thus I can speculate freely without offending too many sensibilities. Thus what I would propose is to discuss a few ideas of traditional psychology with reference to my admittedly incomplete grasp of Baba's written record.

Onward...

Songs of Kabir and 82 Family Letters

2006-11-12T11:47:00.000-05:00

Baba loved and often quoted poetry by Kabir. The other day I found myself with an hour on my hands and drifted into a bookstore. Lately I don't read as many history books or novels as I once did and so I found myself browsing the religious section. Finding nothing there that grabbed me, I floated on to the poetry books and was happy to find a Dover edition of the Songs of Kabir which I snapped up.

Many poems in the book speak that music with which we are familiar (e. g. LI):

"Dear friend, I am eager to meet my Beloved! My youth has flowered, and the pain of separation from Him troubles my breast.

"I am wandering yet in the alleys of knowledge without purpose, but I have received His news in these alleys of Knowledge.

"I have a letter from the Beloved: in this letter is an unutterable message, and now my fear of death is done away.

"Kabir says: 'O my loving friend! I have got for my gift the Deathless One.'"

Of course that is the issue. As we wander in alleys of knowledge without purpose (like me in the bookstore), how do we find Him? For me the poetry of Kabir (at least in this version) offers only hints and traces: news of Him, but sparse news at that. I guess I admire his wisdom, that he wrote words that gave joy to my Beloved, but for me I find I want more immediate tidings.

Could it be the translation? Yes, although Rabinranath Tagore must be esteemed as a noble translator. Eveyln Underhill's foreword, though, to me has all of the cautious hedging that I think of as pure Western thinking (e. g. "..he (Kabir) is protected from the soul-destroying conclusions of pure monism, inevitable if its logical conclusions are pressed home: that is, the identity of substance between God and the soul, with its corollary of the total absorption of that soul in the being of God as the goal of the spiritual life." ) Kabir as quoted by Meher Baba has the ring of deep truth, unhindered by judicious caution.

These songs, to me, point to the need to find and follow a Guru. Meher Baba is in fact the Guru.

Another book I've been working through is 82 Family Letters, written by Mani, Meher Baba's wonderful sister. These letters were written to Baba's lovers, at Baba's behest, between 1956 and 1969. They are laid out on the page in courier typeface, and each is signed by Mani, so that they radiate authenticity and an immediacy of Baba's presence (perhaps that which I miss in Kabir). Mani writes with deep unfailing devotion to Baba, absolute faith in his Avataric mission, humble amazement at the love of Baba-lovers around the world with whom she is in correspondence, and a wonderfully cheerful appreciation of the world of nature around Meherazad and Guruprasad.

I met Mani during the "Great Darshan" of 1969 and was impressed by her warmth and the beauty of her personality. By the time I left to return to Bombay, I was wrung out with sickness and irritated as Baba's constant loving presence (I really was the least of Baba's darshanees, I think), and wrote something grumpy in the pink guest book that was passed around to all of Baba's Western lovers who attended. I can't remember what I wrote, but I seem to recollect as we said our goodbyes that a few of the women mandali looked at me quizzically. If it helped at all, I would regret those comments, but I suppose I was being honest, and I don't doubt that Baba had quite a pile of nasty sanskaras to clear from me before I could even approach him, so I suspect all happened as it should.

The book itself is truly a wonderful effort. Anticipating the blogs of today, it is full of small incidents, familiar and less familiar quotes from Baba, and "inside stories" about life with Baba. These were designed at the time to sustain the love of Baba's lovers then who were forced to wait through Baba's seclusions and later, exclusions, hoping for the day they could have darshan. In fact, the book inadvertently builds up to a recounting of how how those 695 Western lovers were finally received by Baba at Guruprasad, Meherabad, and Meherazad, when He flung open the doors of his presence for all time.

One interesting sidelight characteristic of the later 60's portion of the book is Mani's description of the huge explosion of awareness of Baba throughout India, Iran, the United States, Europe, and Australia, related to the industry of so many. It leads me to wonder about the following 35 years. Baba's work, as we know, is done by Baba, and the peak of his manifestation is still presumably in the future. I wonder how Baba lovers are spreading his word today. I confess that I live in some isolation here, myself, and cannot point to any great efforts myself.

For me, if I have it right, the real work is to foster the love for Baba in my own heart, with the hope that if and when He wills it, someone else may catch an errant flame from my honest devotion. Is that enough? He knows.

God's attention

2006-02-17T16:45:00.000-05:00

I think I have ADHD. I start on a task, and then I'm distracted, and have forgotten what I was going to to. In the book, The Bicameral Mind and the Origins of Conciousness, Julian Jaynes pointed out that what we consider conciousness is narrow, like a bright beam of a flashlight in a vast, darkened room. We can take in only one thing at a time. For me that is particularly true. My focus seems incredibly narrow. Of course memory can serve to provide a thread between what is seen here and seen there, but my memory often fails me, just when I need it most. So my 'spotlight' of focus is inconstant and narrow. I think that to a greater or lesser extent, this is true for everyone.

Naturally, we expect this to be true for the God who made us in his image. Oh, not completely, of course. We imagine God to have a far wider beam, perhaps being able to look at a huge big picture, and at the same time, being able to be aware of billions of people at once. I think, though, that we almost inevitably underestimate this "infinite intelligence." An example is when people make fun of the athletes praying at a football game. I've often heard savvy people remark, "I think God has better things to do than get involved in the outcome of a football game!"

There is an implicit assumption that if God gets caught up in the game, that He would have to choose sides, or that He might be distracted from working on global warming or the starving baby in Darfur.

In actuality, if God's intelligence is in fact infinite, He can devote an infinite degree of attention to the players' prayers, to the wave forms evolving and buzzing inside their skulls, to the blade of grass blowing on the field, to each happy and starving person, to each quivering bacterium, and still have an undiminished amount left.

Thus Meher Baba spending a sleepless night, worried about a poor Christian woman in Bandra (Lord Meher P 3772) when he was supposedly doing universal work. How could this be? Is God distractible? Why not? And yet the attention devoted as Parvardigar to sustaining the creation is undiminished.

So in a sense, when I go to gaze into a picture of Baba, I have the full attention of God gazing back: and yet God's attention elsewhere, say on the field mouse living outside in my back yard, also has the same loving kindness.

Jai Baba

Back from india

2006-01-27T20:23:00.000-05:00

I have now returned from my third trip to India, to Baba's samadhi. The first time was thirty seven years ago.

There are clearly signs, for what it's worth, that there is more interest and visitation there. And internally speaking, the power is still both beautiful and oddly scouring. At least, after I left I felt that way.

I'll try to post some pictures soon.

Also, I finished reading the newly released Infinite Intelligence. It is not an easy read, being generally recursive, written as if from a totally unwordly perspective, as if God looked down on the earth and, just for a moment, forgot to stroke our vanity and our sense of self-importance, but instead wrote from His own perspective. Which is just what the book purports to do, of course.

Anyway, welcome, to any who have found this site. I hope to try harder to keep it up to date, now that I see it's finally been discovered by Google.

2005-07-21T13:56:00.000-05:00

This quote from Mr. Shastri fascinates me. Yes, it entails some improbable speculation. In spiritual matters, this kind of "connect the dot" reasoning rarely seems to come true. But what if...? Surely it was wildly improbable that Jesus was not permanently given over to death on the cross... And then, what of the love opportunities? Yes, yes, anyone could argue that it doesn't matter, Baba is everywhere. But knowing that, what Baba-lover wouldn't jump on a plane tomorrow if Baba physically reappeared? Anyway, I bow to Mr. Shastri for this elegant theorizing.

"WITHOUT SIGNS OF LIFE ANDWITHOUT SYMPTOMS OF DEATH(Part One)M.B.G. ShastriLooking at the event from a different angle, we find that since Baba's silence continued even after the event on 31.1.1969 it would be appropriate to assume that Baba has not dropped the body at all! One would be called a stupid -- if such an obvious happening of Baba's dropping the body, so certified by qualified doctors, were to be treated as something else other than dropping of the body. However, let us examine all the relevant facts as reported in the "Family Letters" and in other documents.To understand the significance and meaning of the above event one should recall to one's own mind the fact that the physical body of Beloved Baba, right from the time, which was supposed to be dead on 31st January 1969 till it was finally entombed, after 7 days on 7th February 1969, was as fresh as ever, without the slightest signs of decay or decomposition. Let us also recall how and why the interment of Baba's physical body in the tomb at Meherabad was held-over from 1st February 1969 (when it was announced to take place) till 7th February 1969 (when it was actually done). The original telegram sent by Sri Adi K. Irani to all Baba lovers the world-over, informed that Baba's physical body was to be intered on 1st February 1969 at 10.00 AM. Why and how this proposed interment on 1st February 1969 was got postponed from time to time till 7th February 1969? It was an undisputed fact that this postponement from 1st February 1969 to 7th February 1969 was not at all premeditated nor preplanned, nor predetermined; it was purely an act of God beyond the control of the concerned persons. What exactly happened was this.Soon after the information about the event of Baba's dropping of the body reached the peoples of all the countries, His lovers started journeying to Meherabad for their final darshan. Each party requested Sri Adi K. Irani through telegrams to keep Baba's body available for taking their darshan without entombing; and the parties began arriving at Meherabad from mid night of 31st January 1969 onwards. There was an incessant flow of His lovers not only from all parts of India but also from abroad, through whatever mode of transport that was available to them. In view of the ever increasing Darshanardhis (pilgrims) hour by hour from the morning of Saturday 1st February 1969 the mandali were in a fix as to how they could complete the interment, without causing deep disappointment and resentment to hundreds of Baba lovers arriving there continuously.The mandali therefore decided among themselves in consultation with the doctors, that the interment should be postponed till all the Darshanardhis (pilgrims) arrived and had their darshan, or till the physical signs of decay or decomposition of Baba's physical body show themselves up, whichever is earlier. To facilitate this arrangement, two of the doctors were examining Baba's physical body every two hours and were allowing the darshan to continue, after they were satisfied about the absence of any physical signs of decay or decomposition of the body. In this manner, quite unexpectedly without any prefixation the darshan programme continued not merely for a few hours beyond the time fixed originally for interment, but for days and days, as per the permission of the doctors who continued their examination of the physical body every two hours from 1st February 1969 to 7th February 1969. Even the interment that finally took place on 7th February 1969 was decided upon not because of the presence of any signs of decay or decomposition, but for purely different reasons. As explained by Sister Mani in her 81st family letter dated: 14.3.1969: "Men wanted not to leave Meherabad until the Beloved's body was interred. None could say when this would be. The time of 10.00 AM on February 1st, as first declared, was based on medical advice that as the body was not embalmed, interment would be delayed longer than 20 hours, even though surrounded by a border of ice blocks as arranged. Mehera and I felt that the Beloved Himself would give an indication of when it should be done, that as long as His dear body remained fresh and lovely we would not have it covered up. Even after a week it was not found necessary to place the covering. But as Baba had told us on the last day, the morning of 31st January 1969, that after seven days He would be 100% free (from suffering, as we interpreted His hand gestures was to mean) we took that as an indication. And so seven days after the event at 12.15 noon on Friday 7th of February 1969, the interment took place amid thousands of voices singing His glorious name and resonant cries of 'Avatar Meher Baba Ki Jai'."It was therefore clear that neither decay nor decomposition of the body took place even to a slightest degree inspite of the body being kept in an open crypt without any scientific protection against decay or decomposition of the body during all the days. It was also a fact which was noticed and mentioned by the same doctors, as well as by everybody else, that the "rigor mortis" did never set in at all. This was indeed a very strange and a rare phenomenon unknown to the medical history. There was never a case before, where rigor mortis failed to set in. The medical science is clear and firm that setting in of rigor mortis in the case of a dead body, will take place within hours after the life is extinguished. But contrary to all medical knowledge, here was a case, the only one of its kind till now, where there was a total absence of rigor mortis which was an important indication of a dead body.The doctors who examined Baba's physical body at 12.15 P.M.> (on 31st January 1969) and after, pronounced that Baba's body was a dead body -- because they found respiration stopped, heart beat stopped and body temperature falling. Because of these indications they could and did say, that there was no life in the physical body of Baba. The medical science tells us that for a body to be said to be living there must be respiration of the lungs, heart beat or pulse, and temperature of the body maintained within the limits. It also tells us that the chief symptoms of a dead body are: presence of decay, decomposition and rigor mortis. It may be in some cases that rigor mortis might disappear after some time but its presence must take place a few hours after death occurs. The total absence of rigor mortis after death is unknown to medical science.As the reports go and as was made clear in 81st Family letter dated: 14.3.1969 of Sister Mani, there was no trace of decay, no trace of decomposition and no trace of rigor mortis, the presence of which symptoms alone characterise a dead body. Here was the physical body of Baba, seen by all between 31st January 1969 to 7th February 1969 without respiration, heartbeat or pulse, and without body temperature -- (which are symptoms of lifelessness) and also with total absence of decay, decomposition, and rigor mortis (which are symptoms of dead body). The physical body of Baba was lying in a peculiar state -- without signs of life and without symptoms of death -- for continuously over a period of 168 hours (seven days). The body would have continued undoubtedly in the same condition had it been allowed. Unfortunately there was no means of verifying this assumption as the body was entombed and slab laid on the crypt in the tomb, on the eighth day. "It (His face) remained smooth shining and lustrous for all seven days. The face looked natural and Baba seemed to be sleeping. In fact, when a high ranking Government Officer came to see Baba on the sixth day, he spontaneously exclaimed, 'He looks as if He is sleeping.' In short, changes that should have occurred in a dead body did not occur with Baba's body."

(Part two) - HumiliationM.B.G. ShastriThus till 31st January 1969 there was no incidence of any strange disease attacking the physical body of Baba. Then, which was that strange disease to which Baba referred in His final declaration? Furthermore, Baba said that this strange disease would be the cause for His humiliation. Let us see what this humiliation means. In May 1957 and also in June 1957 Baba called for a meeting of His lovers and workers which was attended by lovers from Poona, Bombay and Navasari. During this meeting Baba asked the gathering whether they remembered His final declaration at Meherabad, and whether they understood and grasped the phase of His humiliation referred to in the final declaration. Baba Himself explained to the gathering on this word "Humiliation." "Now let Me first explain what I mean by humiliation. Suppose you are loved by some one very dearly for several years and one day when you happended to meet him, he suddenly begins to abuse, kick you and spit on your face; in the context of your previous relations with him, your plight becomes an example of humiliation. In the same way, if some persons who have previously adored Me and raised Me up to the skies in adoration for years suddenly turn against Me and express extreme disdain for Me, by throwing Me in filth, will be another example of humiliation."(1)Baba thus made clear that the humiliation which He referred to in His final declaration would be from His own lovers. Many people were under the impression that humiliation to Baba would be caused by general public who did not believe in Him.As it is, it is only a very negligible fraction of the world's population that has come to believe in Baba. The general public were mostly either indifferent to Baba, or ignorant of Baba or non-believers in Baba. The constant reference to His "Humiliation" by Baba on every occasion, was a pointer in itself. The people who never believed in Baba were there at all times ever since Baba claimed Himself to be the Highest of the High, the Avatar of the Age. But Baba was pointing to something else. He was telling us that His humiliation would be a future event connected with the so called "dark cloud."When there were always people who did not believe in Him, and if not-believing in Him was a humiliation, the phase of His humiliation could be said to have been commenced from the day when Baba declared Himself as Avatar, which people in general did not believe or accept. On the contrary, Baba declared during the Meherabad meeting on 30.9.1954, that the humiliation phase in His life would be a future event connected with a strange disease. It is therefore abundantly clear that His humiliation would take place when His own lovers, admirers, adorers and devotees, would leave Him consequent on the attacking by a strange disease, or bursting of dark cloud (in Baba's words).As warned by Baba in 1957, we now find gradual change in the attitude of some of His lovers. Some of them felt the need of another living master, because of the physical absence of Baba and went to other Masters or saints (real or false, is not known). In the case of some of the lovers the earlier enthusiasm and ardency towards Baba began to cool off. In some cases they have reverted back to other conventional types of sadhanas; in some other cases, while their faith in Baba's Avatarhood did not diminish they don't seem to have faith in what Baba had said during the final declaration meeting and subsequently. In some other cases, while they maintain that Baba is the Avatar, they believe that Baba's words have already started coming into effect. Likewise every lover seems to be having his own interpretation of Baba's words regarding His Silence, breaking of His Silence, uttering of the word, the manifestation, the effect of manifestation, the symptoms of manifestation, etc. While every one is free to have his own interpretation, he should satisfy himself if such an interpretation clashed with Baba's own words. No doubt our human minds can never grasp the real meaning of our Beloved. At the same time He also assured us that only the fulfillment of events could unfold to us, in due course, the meaning of what was said by Him.During the same meeting in 1957 where He explained about the humiliation, He also cautioned His lovers, in His infinite compassion, about the circumstances when such a kind of humiliation (i.e., when the attitude of His erstwhile lovers would begin to change), and the circumstances under which such humiliation would take place, etc. "I will also give you an example of circumstances under which, this kind of a thing can happen. You are worshipping Me for so many years. Suppose you suddenly find Me, eating rubbish and roaming about naked in the streets behaving like a mad person, what will be your reaction to this behavior of Mine? I do not want any one of you to think or say that Baba is going to become mad! On the contrary I have come to make the whole world go mad after God and truth." (2)In giving an example of circumstances when the lovers are likely to cause humiliation, Baba chose a wonderful and a striking example. He cited the case of external behavior of what a mad person would do. He wanted His lovers not to be misled even to a slightest degree, by His external outward appearance and behavior. If He were to behave in the manner of a mad man, like doing such physical actions as a mad one only could do. He wanted His lovers not to take Him to be a mad person even if His external physical actions would point out that He had become mad: "I do not want any one of you to think or say that Baba is going to become mad."His lover who accepted Baba as Avatar and worshipped Him over a number of years, was therefore severely warned not to take Baba as having become mad even though, under certain circumstances, he might find Baba's outward behavior similar to that of a mad man. It means that even though Baba were to appear mad, He should not be regarded as really mad. Whatever madness was noticed by His lover, was only to be taken as apparent and not real. It is very significant for Baba to imply that, at a future date, His external "behavior" would be such that it would confuse His lovers totally and during that period, He warned, that such behavior, (which would be found to be unbecoming of an Avatar!) was not to be treated as a real condition of His state; but was to be treated as a mere appearance or pretense! This example, given by Baba, is very strikingly close -- in meaning and content, to what Baba said earlier, namely: "So that if I do not drop My physical body, I will yet, so to say "die," for I will then become actually dead to the world up to the end of the modified period of time." (3)Here also Baba was indicating of certain circumstances when He would, though not actually drop His physical body, so to say, "die." He was indicating of a certain condition and appearance of His physical body when it would be treated as dead, though He would not actually drop His physical body! The world at large would take Him to be dead, and not His lovers and believers. Even then the world would not take Him to be dead for all time, but only up to the end of the modified period of time.When Baba warned His lovers not at all to be misled by His apparent behavior like a mad person, though the world might believe and take Him to be a mad man, considering His external behavior, He warned His lovers not to be misled, at a future date, by His appearance and behavior like a dead man, even though He would "then become actually dead to the world." Then as Baba assured His lovers that He was not going to become mad, He also assured His lovers that His becoming "Actually dead to the world" would be only up to the end of the modified period of time."Thus the event of 31st January 1969 which was generally understood and treated as Baba having dropped His physical body, was the one about which Baba cautioned all the while. Here also when the event took place His external physical condition and behavior was like that of a dead person, in as much as breathing stopped, heart stopped, and temperature of the body came down. This condition of Baba was shocking to His lovers and to the world. His lovers were confused because His dropping the body without breaking His Silence and giving the word, was unthinkable and was very much contrary to their expectations.

WITHOUT SIGNS OF LIFE ANDWITHOUT SYMPTOMS OF DEATH(Part three -- final)M.B.G. Shastri How could Baba, The Avatar of The Age, the God in Human form, fail to keep His promise of breaking His Silence before dropping His body? How could He fix the Darshan programme from 10th April onwards (when He were to drop His physical body even on 31st January 1969?) Could not Baba, who was supposed to be All-knowing, know what was going to happen on 31.1.1969? What was all this? Such questions had surfaced themselves in the minds of His lovers at the happening of this event on 31.1.1969. This was exactly the situation about which Baba forewarned His lovers. Baba warned earlier that such a reaction as indicated in the above questions, on the part of His lovers would constitute what He termed as "Humiliation." Though the circumstances warranted arising of such questions in the minds of His lovers, His lovers should immediately recall the warning given by Baba and remember His words namely: "So that if I do not drop My physical body, I will yet, so to say, "die," for I will then become actually dead to the world up to the end of the modified period of time."The event of 31st January 1969 was therefore to be interpreted as an apparent physical death but not death in the real sense of the term. Not that Baba would never drop His body or that His physical death would not at all take place. Baba Himself said that He would drop His body; but not before breaking His Silence. In the Life Circular No.22 dated 20.11.1954, while giving the clarification to His final warning, He did mention about the dropping of His body. But this dropping of the body were to take place as the last event in a sequence of events out of the seven events mentioned by Him. In His Life circular no. 24 issued on 10.4.1955 Baba was emphatic: "All that was declared in My final declaration must come to pass exactly in the same sequence and with the same intensity of effect but with modification in the time factor."The human mind could never conceive of the idea of apparent physical death.It understands the physical death but could not conceive what apparent physical death is. It is an extraordinarily strange idea because there is virtually no difference between real death and apparent death. It is not in the experience of any human being-- It never happened -- that a person could be dead temporarily for only a limited period of time. There was never a case of a dead body coming to life after an interval of decades. Therefore when Baba hinted that His physical death would only be till the end of the "modified period of time" it was beyond comprehension. So it was natural for any one to interpret the event of 31st January 1969 as Baba's physical death. If it is to be a different interpretation, it could only be because of His lovers' faith in Baba and His words when He said that the Darshan to be given from 10th April to 10th June 1969 was to be "the last to be given in Silence" and that "I will not lay down My body without giving the word."There is an episode in Mahabharatha, which may help us to understand the "apparent death," till the end of the modified period of time. During the war between Kauravas and Pandavas, one day under the leadership of Dronacharya, the armies of Kauravas took up positions into perculiar formation called "Padma Vyuha" and challenged Pandavas to attack them, if they can! Arjuna was the only warrior who knows how to break this Padma Vyuha, but he was out to another sector in the war field. The other Pandavas do not have any knowledge as to how to attack this peculiar army formation -- they were in a dilemma. Abhimanyu, the teen-age son of Arjuna, offered himself to lead the army from Pandava side, as he learnt from his great father, the way of entry into such formation, but he pleaded his ignorance about the way to come out of that Padma Vyuha. But Bhima, Nakula and Sahadeva, uncles of Abhimanyu, promised to follow him behind and be close to Abhimanyu, and protect him, on the way. Thereupon, Abhimanyu lead the army into Padma Vyuha.There is one warrior named Jayadradha fighting on the side of Kauravas, who secured a boon from Lord Shiva, that he would be able to resist Bhima sufficiently and successfully just for one day only. This Jayadradha could therefore obstruct Bhima that day from closely following Abhimanyu, during his march into Padma Vyuha. Abhimanyu without support from Bhima and others had to fight alone against the combined might of the enemy. He was killed mercilessly by all the Kauravas together.Learning about this tragic death of his son Abhimanyu, Arjuna became furious against Jayadradha (who was mainly instrumental in his son's death) and taken a vow that he would kill Jayadradha before sunset, the next day, or else he would throw himself in burning fire and immolate himself. Jayadradha was then carefully hidden in a secret place by the Kauravas, to thwart the attempts of Arjuna for the entire day, so that if Arjuna fails in his vow, he would commit suicide, and without Arjuna, Pandavas could not fight but surrender.Arjuna was searching for Jayadradha the whole day but could not succeed. It was time for sunset and the sun was about to set. Arjuna acknowledging his failure to fulfill his vow, was preparing himself to commit self-immolation, for which a huge fire was getting ready. Lord Krishna, (as beloved Baba was then called) used his Mayavic Powers, and made the sun invisible to human eye by covering the sun with his celestial disc called "Sudarshan." When the sun was thus hidden behind "Sudarshan Chakra," there was total darkness and people thought that the sun did set. Kauravas were beaming with joy, at the prospect of Arjuna committing suicide, and along with them, Jayadradha also came out of "hiding." As soon as Jayadradha was spotted by Krishna, Arjuna was instructed to shoot the arrow at Jayadradha, and kill him. But Arjuna protested that it was against his vow, as he took a vow to kill Jayadradha, before sunset and not after sunset. There upon Lord Krishna assured Arjuna, that the sun was not yet set and removed his celestial disk from hiding the sun. As soon as the "Chakra" was removed, the sun became visible again, and Arjuna immediately shot at Jayadradha with his arrow and killed him.Thus we see, that the sun did not actually set, even though the sun appeared to have set. That is the difference between apparent sunset and real sunset. Likewise, Baba is using His 'Maya' aspect to make the world believe that He is "actually dead" till the end of the modified period of time. "Maya being the showman displaying things that do not really exist, will make everything, including my health, body, energy, words and promises, go against me, and this will automatically test the faith of my lovers." "Maya being my instrument for fulfillment of my work, has to do its utmost, to bring about the utmost results of this work." "Maya having existence only in non-existence, will in the end, give way to the one and only Reality that is God. And so God will manifest in His Glory." "I want all my lovers to guard against Maya's tricks and hold firmly to my Daaman." (1)Since Silence itself continued during darshan period (according to Baba Himself) till 10th June 1969 -- the event of 31st January 1969 could only be termed as apparent death or "so to say death" (in the words of Baba). Perhaps this must be thestrange disease which was referred to in the final declaration.One will not be wrong if this physical condition of Baba's body from 31st January 1969 to 7th February 1969 exhibiting neither symptoms of life (such as respiration - heart beat - body temperature) nor symptoms of death (such as rigor mortis decay and decomposition), is interpreted as "the strange disease" for the following reasons:The doctors were surprised and amazed when the "coma" did not take place in spite of high blood urea -- which phenomenon was contrary to medical science. During one of the occasions when Baba was undergoing severe fits of spasms a doctor from Bombay was called and when he examined Baba, He was found to be quite normal. In fact the doctor found nothing wrong with the physical condition of Baba When the physical condition of Baba could baffle the medical men, was not it a phenomenon contrary to all the established medical knowledge? In a similar way the physical condition of Baba which manifested from 31st January 1969 to 7th February 1969 was also unknown to the medical science.This physical condition of Baba on 31.1.1969, could also be understood as the result of the "LINK between My physical body and all My external activities as carried on up to now," having been dropped. (2) (1) page 349 -- _God-Man_(2) Life circular no. 23 dated: 3.2.1955THE SILENCE OF AVATAR MEHER BABA, pp. 42-46Copyright 1998 M.B.G. Shastri"

Return from Meherabad

2005-01-02T18:58:00.000-05:00

It has now been several days since I returned from Meherabad, where I spent ten days. Meherabad is the site of Meher Baba's second ashram, and the location of his Samadhi, or tomb. This tomb was prepared by him long before his death, and he often secluded himself within the building to do internal work.

I had been here in 1969, at the time of the "Great Darshan," shortly after Meher Baba "dropped his body." It had been a powerful experience for me then, that I may write about later, culminating with my getting very ill with gastroenteritis and amoebic dysentery. So it was with some trepidation that I took this frail body of mine back there now.

Sure enough, I did a little purging, but in general I had a great time and met wonderful people. I hope to give a little run down on these things presently.

More thoughts on the blog and Baba

2004-11-16T21:29:00.000-05:00

If I followed this outline of a path, trying to produce some reasonable reflection on the subject of my life in Baba, I could hope that it would at least not impede Baba’s work, but also and simultaneously advance the conventional wisdom about modern “spiritual” life. This could be a valuable contribution.

I came to Baba from a place of fairly extreme dissociation. Believing in the neurological underpinning of existential experience, transformed, admittedly by a teleological social reconstruction. There were reasons and stories that shaped the bare sensory bones of human life, and those linguistically, socially generated stories were the only palpable glue that created human life as we know it. Miraculously, but dangerously, these narratives permitted a degree of self-referential inspection, resulting in an “Aha!” moment for Western thinkers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It was now possible to doubt the ground of our being more thoroughly than ever before. At moments the cold wind of isolation seemed to cut through many of our warmest social institutions: family, country, and religion.

For me, then, (this time) the pursuit of Meher Baba began with the serious consideration that the world was an optical illusion. That Maya, or the heart of our embeddedness in this world, was itself held together with our desires and with our related activities. So, seen from one perspective, the world, or framework, was one of individual neurological perpective framed by social/linguistic constructs. Seen from a 180 degree different angle, Maya was glued with personal karmic sanskaras and resulting personal actions.

Having written this paragraph, I admit that I have no knowledge of how to say this in a clear and logically consistent way. It is as if I have a yin and a yang symbol: one referring to a view of life that crudely corresponds to a modern, scientific reductionism: the other referring to a view with long roots in Easter mysticism, equally reductionistic.

But here is the starting spot. The path consists of reconciling these two views as long as is needed. As a “modern,” I can simply embrace the narrative of Meher Baba. My greatest risk is that some part of it will outrage some socially transmitted ethic of intellectual life. As a devotee, I can readily “underweight” these “modernistic” qualms, bearing with them until Baba chooses to shatter them with some direct experience of truth or love.

Another problem is that this "philosophizing" may be too dry and deadly. All of the Baba lovers I've known are happy folk. Focused, but far less trapped in their minds than me. In the mean time, I am not enlightened. Baba is, but I am not. And I accept (at least within the narrative) that “i” never will be. Jai Baba.

Blog Directions?

2004-11-16T21:20:00.000-05:00

Meher Baba, Meher Baba. Doing the Jin Sheng Blues. I awake at 3AM, having been awake maybe five times previously this morning. I came in here to write out of a hope that I can fire this spark to become the producer, eventually, of some spiritual work. Some creative work. I am unable to do much in my daily work setting. In fact I am impressed at the moment with the stifling quality of my work environment. Thus it is necessary that I journal. I need the conversations, at least with myself, that will advance my thinking, so that eventually I might have something to say.

For me now, there are two themes that I have not reconciled.

First, the drive to understand, to analyze and broaden my reference framework far enough to stand on truly new ground. This has been a push for most of my adult life, and probably should have by now resulted in my earning a job professoring somewhere. It appeals all the time, speaking to me in bookstores especially: the hope that I could be the pioneer: the spokesman for all of us. I could be some minor messiah.

Then there is my other drive: not to be a minor messiah, but to follow and burn myself in surrender to the major Messiah. Meher Baba looms large in my daily life. I look at him am meditate. I read his life, and silently reflect on his name. There is relatively little chance for intellectual breakthroughs. Meher Baba has been described as a philosopher, but this label doesn’t appear to fit him. He is often wise, in a prophetic sense, and lovely, and intuitive, and even shows extrasensory responsiveness. But he is not wise in a worldly way, at least to me at this point.

Is there a meeting of these two strands? Does the first path of worldly wisdom lead inevitably to Meher Baba? Hardly, I should say.

Then to consider the contrary, does the mystical, devotional path necessarily block (at least the worldly) aspirations of the mind? There are indications that this is the case. Meher Baba’s followers have produced some good poetry. I cannot judge the art or music. But it all centers on devotion to Baba. Meher Baba was often opposed to his followers pursuing political goals. I am aware of no no brilliant social commentators nor journalists who espouse the cause of Meher Baba while producing decisive critical writing, with the possible exception of Francis Brabazon. Most of all, there seems to be little genuine, critical, introspective writing about the experience of loving Baba.

So this, then, suggests itself as a possible contribution: bringing the modern critical, introspective, perhaps even deconstructive sensibility to the experience of loving Baba. This can be of little value, I fear, to the “religious shopper.” I have never quite understood why someone who has not been bitten with Baba love would come to Him. Certainly the type of writing I'm thinking about would do little to advertise Baba love as a new religion. But Baba often said He came to establish no new religion. The more pungent question is, would such writing be disrespectful, or abrasive within the Baba love community? I think it might be, but there is a reason why that might not matter as much as one might think. Baba often promulgated opposition. He also suggested complete honesty, if ventured sincerely. And Baba love is as tough as old tree roots. Look at the mandali!

Smacks

2004-11-15T20:23:00.000-05:00

A difficult fact to deal with, I would think for many, is the record that Meher Baba inflicted corporal punishment. He smacked people, sometimes very hard, even to the point of injury. For many of us, this alone would be sufficient to convince us that Meher Baba could not be the Christ. Some, however, would accept Baba's comment, that these blows are calculated not to vent Baba's anger, nor to punish people, but to remove difficult karmic sanskaras. Baba often said that people who received such blows were greatly blessed by them.

It is in this context that I look at the huge blow that was given to "Blue America." On the surface (and from my perspective), it would seem that most of the virtue was on the side of candidate Kerry. It would be possible, but rather beside the point, to make a case for that here. Yet President Bush was reelected, and given a free hand to carry on his questionable policies.

This has been a speculative blog so far, so I will continue further in that vein. What if by smacking "Progressive America," Baba was simply helping many people at once to shake loose of some sticky, false identifications, as a prelude to better, truer work in the future. Baba described his verbal blasts as "arrows of love." Could it be that he wants us to love truth more, and to keep going in that pursuit?

This chapter could be objectionable to many, but I am thinking a blog is to float ideas. Far more readers, were there any, would object to Meher Baba than to my Democratic identifications. Perhaps some might object to a mixing of the two. I'd welcome anyone's reactions.

Little People

2004-10-27T20:03:00.000-05:00

The web site of one Christian presents statements from Meher Baba that were chosen to seem particularly preposterous. One supposed statement (quoted?) is that there is a planet where the humans are only 10" tall. I don't know whether this was an actual statement or not. The website lets the statement stand for itself. It does, of course, seem like an odd thought.

But sometimes the news is odder! Catch this release from the BBC today:

'Hobbit' joins human family tree
Scientists have discovered a new and tiny species of human that lived in Indonesia at the same time our own ancestors were colonising the world.
The three-foot (one-metre) tall species - dubbed "the Hobbit" - lived on Flores island until at least 12,000 years ago.
The fact that little people feature in the legends of modern Flores islanders suggests we might have to take tales of Leprechauns and Yeti more seriously.
Details of the sensational find are described in the journal Nature.
The whole idea that you need a particular brain size to do anything intelligent is completely blown away by this find Dr Henry Gee, Nature
The discovery has been hailed as one of the most significant of its type in decades.
Australian archaeologists unearthed the bones while digging at a site called Liang Bua, one of numerous limestone caves on Flores.
The remains of the partial skeleton were found at a depth of 5.9m. At first, the researchers thought it was the body of a child. But further investigation revealed otherwise.
Wear on the teeth and growth lines on the skull confirm it was an adult, features of the pelvis identify it as female and a leg bone confirms that it walked upright like we do.
"When we got the dates back from the skeleton and we found out how young it was, one anthropologist working with us said it must be wrong because it had so many archaic [primitive] traits," said co-discoverer Mike Morwood, associate professor of archaeology at the University of New England, Australia.

Entering the Path, Part Two

2004-10-26T15:28:00.000-05:00

"Before Realization, the veil must be torn away and the mind must die. It is due to this veil that every individual mind functions in the gross and subtle bodies. Removing the veil would separate the gross from the subtle; when that occurs, in the subtle state you would be able to see internal things with as much clarity as you see gross objects. While doing all physical activities such as eating, drinking, sitting, standing – while your body is functioning – there is simultaneous progress into the subtle world. When the gross is separated from the subtle, it is like killing two birds with one stone.

But the veil must be ripped off. Though this veil is thin, at the same time it is very strong. It cannot be slit easily, but it can be rent in an instant by a Perfect Master. If it is torn, the consciousness of the soul at once enters the first plane. When a parrot escapes from its cage, it flies straight into the air without looking back.

But progress comes to a halt at the first plane if the rent in the veil is made through one's own efforts or with the help of a yogi or saint – an imperfect guru. Seekers advance on their own, but it is ultimately useless, as they inevitably become entrapped. If a Perfect Master is there to help, he would not tear the veil unless the aspirant is fully ready; then the Master would take him straight to the goal."

This passage from Lord Meher seems to take a different angle: that the act of personal will that is involved in "tearing the veil" and entering the path is not as salient or useful as the act of the Sadguru. Of course Baba said he left that veil in place, generally, for his mandali, to allow them to support his Avataric work, and then, rather than letting them climb, plane by plane, to the goal, he became the express train. Obviously there are mysteries in this area that are incomprehensible, especially for those of us who see with gross eyes.

Entering the path

2004-10-25T18:00:00.000-05:00

In Listen Humanity (P167), Meher Baba writes: "At last, weary of enslavement to the gross world, the individual decides to free himself from the enticements of matter, In this moment of irrevocable decision, the individual cuts himself loose from the bondage of gross desires and ascends to the realm of energy. His will now reinforced, the individual prepares for a release of vital force far greater than was ever available to him during his bondage to the gross."

What is fascinating to me in this quote is the reference to a conscious decision to give up the gross world and enter the path. Many years ago, I had an experience of a vast radiant field of light. I remember struggling not to lose myself in it, repeating Baba's name over and over until I returned to ordinary consciousness. I've sometimes (surely mistakenly) imagined that this was a glimpse of the first plane. Although the imagination I had was probably false and certainly False in a real sense, it is still interesting to me that my own sense of will seemed to be almost purely directed to clinging to the gross. Any thoughts about the quote?