Meanwhile, Keshav Nigam had written asking if he and all Baba’s lovers and devotees in the Hamirpur district should participate in a havan yagna (sacred Hindu fire ceremony) organized by a yogi named Yogiraj Dharma Dhruwa Gaur for the propagation of Truth.
On hearing Keshav’s letter, Baba gave a poignant reply through Eruch on March 18th: (1959)
I know all about him (the yogi). He is dear to me. He loves me and has a corner in my heart. But what has havan yagna or other yagnas to do with spirituality? How can such yagnas help to establish Meher Baba’s Avatarhood? If such yagnas had any potential to establish Avatarhoods, there would have been a crop of Avatars, fully established and enthroned – certified as Avatars by the seal of yagnas!
The Ancient One has repeated his advent this time to put his seal on all yagnas, rites, rituals and ceremonies, thereby ending them. His very advent among mankind is the sacrifice of all sacrifices; his very being in human form surpasses all the existing rites, rituals and ceremonies; his very presence on earth is the Seal, sealing everything that is of the external and at the same time unlocking the gate leading to the very core of one’s being.
My dear ones in the district need no tutoring for them to feel established in their love for me and faith in me. Such a yagna would be tantamount to tampering with the innocent hearts of my lovers. Yagnas, rites, rituals, ceremonies and even various yogic practices are all obsolete weapons in propagating my message of love. Except love, all things and means become obsolete when the Avatar of the Age lives as God-Man amidst his own creation.
Instead of performing sacrificial rites in the form of yagnas – thereby depriving some very hungry creatures of their right to eat and drink things which are burned unnecessarily in the sacrificial fire – your friend Yogiraj should have seriously thought of sacrificing himself in the far superior and sacred fire of love!
Lord Meher, Original Publication, Bhau Kalchuri, Vol. 16, p. 5547.