(May 1939) Just as everything in the domain of duality is based on degrees, so also is perfection based on degrees, when concerned with duality. Good and bad, virtue and vice, strength and weakness are all based on degrees, when considered in relation to duality. Bad and good, vice and virtue, weakness and strength are all aspects of duality; but, in Reality, all are a degree of oneness in duality. Evil is not evil, but the lowest degree of good. Similarly, weakness is not weakness, but the lowest degree of strength.
Perfection also has degrees, when compared with imperfection. Therefore, one perfection in duality does not include every perfection. He who is perfect in science is probably not perfect in singing, and one perfect in singing will not be perfect in painting. So all these “perfections” are in the field of duality. Have you ever heard of perfect crimes? When murder is so cleverly perpetrated as not to leave a single clue behind, it is called a perfect crime. So even in crimes and so-called sins, there is perfection.
But spiritual perfection is not in the domain of duality. All these relative perfections explained come within the scope of intellect, but the perfection of spiritually Perfect Souls is beyond intellect. When one is perfect spiritually, one experiences that nothing except God exists – He alone exists. To a Perfect Being, everything that exists under the intellect and under the domain of duality is illusion. So for the Perfect Man, nothing exists but God – science, art, music, weakness, murders are all dreams to him. His knowledge, his perfection, is one indivisible existence.
When this Perfect Soul, for spiritual reasons, wants to use all his power and knowledge, he does it purely for the spiritual good of others. He then applies his universal mind in that subject and knows all. To express everything outwardly is not necessary, but he does know everything.
How? All languages have their root in the mental world of thought and are then expressed orally. But he, the Perfect Man, knows the mind of everyone! He knows the purport of every thought before it is uttered! So it is with everything – science, art, et cetera – if he wants, he can know it even before it is actually manifested. But he does that only when he thinks it necessary.
Then a series of questions and answers ensued:
The journalist asked Chanji, “Does Meher Baba believe in the theory of previous births, as mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita?”
“Yes, the whole existence depends on the law of reincarnation,” Baba dictated.
“Even materially, Lord Krishna was perfect. So aren’t you also perfect materially?”
“Perfection includes all perfections, but there is no need to express them. Krishna was perfect spiritually. That means he was perfect in everything, but he never showed his perfection materially because that material manifestation of perfection has no meaning and is in the realm of illusion. He could have shown himself a perfect drunkard, a perfect sinner, a perfect rogue. But that would have shocked the world. So, he did not express that. He was a perfect drunkard, perfect sinner, perfect rogue – perfect in everything. He must have been because he was, above all, Perfect God!”
“But was it necessary for Krishna to show himself as a perfect murderer?”
“I have stated, when it is necessary, these Perfect Souls express their perfection in everything. For the spiritual benefit of the world, I can be perfect in any mode of life I have to adopt, not merely to show perfection, but for my work. Every aspect of life is contained in the highest state of perfection – perfection in the world, perfection in yoga, perfection in attachment, perfection in detachment!”
Baba then asked him, “What is it you really want? What is it that you really desire and need?”
The man said, “I am in search of a Perfect Master who can lead me to Perfection and satisfy me.”
Baba said, “And I too am looking for a perfect disciple who could satisfy me! But I don’t find any! Tell me the truth, what do you really want?”
The man, somewhat confused, answered, “I want to gain perfection by material ways and means. I must first find the ways and means to fill the hungry bellies of my starving countrymen before launching on a spiritual campaign.”
“Yes, you are right,” replied Baba. “When people are starving, you cannot preach spirituality. They will not listen.”
Baba concluded in cryptic fashion, “Come after fifteen days. I will then reveal to you something – something very simple.”
Lord Meher, 1st. ed., Bhau Kalchuri, Vol. 7, pp. 2418 – 2420.