A PROMISE FULFILLED – PART 2

(Continued from yesterday’s post)

Baba then commented:

During the Meherabad Sahavas program I have given many discourses and explained many things to the devotees who had gathered around me. One of the subjects on which I laid great emphasis was “posing.” What does posing mean? It means to make a show outwardly of what you are really not inwardly. God forgives everything, but I tell you the truth that the one thing He does not forgive is hypocrisy.

Two months before the sahavas, news reached me that in the course of a kirtan organized by one of my devotees at a place in Uttar Pradesh, a child, in whose house the kirtan was in progress, died and was again restored to life by the devotee.

This information did not please me. On the contrary, I began thinking that it would have been better had my devotee, who was performing the kirtan, died instead.

Baba continued:

There are persons on the spiritual path who have riddhi-siddhi {Footnote: For a description of riddhi-siddhi (the occult powers of the fourth plane), refer to The Nothing and the Everything, pages 84–89.} at their command. They can even raise the dead. But thereby they themselves fall into the trap of illusion. Do not expect any display of powers from me! You see the sun and its light and think that it is something great and powerful. But in reality the sun, its power and brilliance are but shadows of the Reality. And the fun is that the shadow is the seventh shadow of the power, brilliance, light and beauty at the command of and wielded by a Sadguru – which he uses for the betterment of humanity.

A saint on the sixth plane of consciousness is also helpless [to realize God] and can never advance further without the help of a Sadguru. I was in Eternal Bliss, but Maharaj tied everything – this whole universe – around my neck. I am eternally free, and yet I get myself bound.

Singing began. Taking a pillow, Baba began playing on it like a tabla drum. Suddenly, Baba was merged within himself, his fingers flicking rapidly up and down. He closed his eyes and gave a few brisk jerks to his right leg, as if kicking something away. The mood lasted for two minutes.

Coming out of the hut, Baba began playing marbles on the ground. Godavri, all the kanyas and most of the residents of the ashram were present. Godavri had been very keen to see Baba play marbles and had sent word to him not to begin until she arrived.

Baba continued shooting marbles for several minutes, then remarked, “I play so well because from the beginning of time, I have been playing with the universe!

“In ancient times, rishis and munis played this game and it has deep significance. To win the game, the player has to hit the marble in play fourteen times before he is declared the winner. This striking fourteen times signifies the seven descents and seven ascents of the divine sport of consciousness before final Realization is achieved.”

Baba next visited Godavri’s room, where he was swung in Maharaj’s swing. Someone brought a white rabbit inside, and keeping it on his lap Baba petted it for a while before handing it back to Godavri. Eruch commented that Baba loved Sheba the mare and that she was now in Satara. Whenever he offered Sheba carrots, she gave him a kiss.

Baba urged the kanyas, “All of you continue to love Godavri.”

Just then the clock struck the hour and one kanya responded, “The clock has confirmed Baba’s wish!” Those present laughed, delighting in Baba’s company.

Baba asked them, “Who among you can sing well?” One girl came forward, and a harmonium and tabla drum were sent for.

Meanwhile, Baba advised Godavri, “Take proper care of your health. Don’t travel during the summer heat. Even your staying here in summer is not good for your health. You should go to some hill station in May. Mussoorie is beautiful in May. It is a very pleasant place.”

After the girl sang, Baba remarked, “After six months, I have to go to America for a fortnight and to England for two days. In the West, a film star read God Speaks, and she has developed great regard and love for me. From February 15th, I will be going into retirement for a year, and my visit to America and England will be during the retirement period. When I return, I will continue my seclusion until February 15th, 1957.

Baba added, “I appeared happy to you all today. I played marbles, played ball and cut jokes with you, but in reality none of you understand me and the work I have to do. I am the very same Krishna, Ram and a number of others whom you have read and heard about.”

Baba asked Kumar to repeat the story of Krishna and his blessings. Kumar narrated the incident: “It is said that when Uttra’s son, Prakshit, was born, he was stillborn. Krishna said, ‘I have performed no miracles, but if I have never spoken a lie, if I have never broken promises given, if I have never done anything harmful to others – only then let the child breathe with life!’ ”

Baba commented, “The child did become alive to the surprise of all, but the prayer offered by Krishna was a source of great amusement. Krishna had knowingly emphasized all his apparent drawbacks, playing upon the minds of his kith and kin and his devotees in order to open their eyes to the fact that all that he appeared to say was in fact only appearances. And whatever he actually said, he fulfilled every word of it.

“Krishna was telling lies in the general opinion of all, and I am Krishna. I am a past master in the art of telling lies, of giving promises and not fulfilling them. But remember, I am beyond all that too, and therefore I fulfill every promise given.”

Baba explained, “Originally I gave you a promise to stay at Sakori for seven days. Then I sent word that I would stay for two days. I have now fulfilled the original promise by staying here for seven hours. In eternity, seven days or seven hours are just the same.” Everyone present, including Baba himself and Godavri, had a hearty laugh.

Baba concluded with this advice: “Keep your hearts clean and love me. Don’t let any other thoughts intervene. When the heart is clean, I abide in it. As soon as the heart is cleansed of filth – sanskaras – I am found there, as I am there already.”

Baba asked the kanya to sing one more bhajan. She began and again he looked pensive for some time. Breaking the mood, he took a dholak (drum) and tapped on it to the rhythm of the song. Godavri and others began rocking the swing in which he was sitting. They sang the same song in chorus which they used to sing to Upasni Maharaj when he was seated there.

Coming out of the room, Baba proceeded to a place where there was a well. The kanyas were amused and surprised, thinking he had perhaps missed the way. But Baba had gone to the well to see if it contained sufficient water. Calling him back to her room, Godavri offered Baba tea. Taking only two sips he returned it to her, gesturing, “I have had food, played marbles and drunk tea; I have been rocked in the swing and I gave darshan and prasad. I heard singing and spent almost the whole day near my Yeshoda. And now I must leave.”

Hurriedly, he walked to the temple where his arti was sung, and then to the place where Maharaj used to reside. Baba stood there and asked Gadekar to sing the arti. After it, he instructed the mandali to bow down to Maharaj’s sandals which were kept there, and they did so with the greatest reverence. Baba observed, “This is the room where Maharaj with folded hands revealed to me that I was the Avatar.”

Almost running, Baba went to where the car was parked and got in. People acclaimed him with shouts of “Avatar Meher Baba Ki Jai!” Baba, with a beaming face, waved goodbye to Godavri Mai as the car drove off at 4 P.M. to Meherazad, which they reached two hours later. The
residents at the ashram continued to gaze into the distance after Baba’s car had departed.

Lord Meher, Original Publication, Bhau Kalchuri, Vol. 14, pp. 4868 – 4877.