Final Seclusion and Amartithi

From the East-West Gathering onward, Meher Baba's health deteriorated steadily. Despite the physical toll it took on his body, Meher Baba continued to undertake long periods in seclusion, fasting and meditating. His physical condition grew steadily worse.

In 1968, Meher Baba completed a particularly taxing period of seclusion and emerged saying that his work " was completed 100% to my satisfaction." By this point he was confined to a wheelchair. Within a few months his condition worsened and he was bed-ridden. His body was wracked by intense muscular spasms that had no clear origin. Despite the care of several doctors, the spasms grew progressively worse. During these last days, Baba emphatically told his close disciple and night-watchman, Bhau Kalchuri " Remember this! I am not this body! "

On January 31, 1969, Meher Baba took his final breaths, conveying by his final gesture, " Do not forget that I am God." This day became known as Amartithi (" deathless day" ). Meher Baba's body was laid in his samadhi at Meherabad, amongst ice and sawdust, and covered with roses. His body was kept available to the public for one week before its final burial.

Last Darshan

Before his passing, Meher Baba had made extensive preparations for a public darshan program to be held in Pune, India. His mandali decided to proceed with the arrangements despite the physical absence of the host, saying that " God had invited them, and they were free to keep their appointment". Several thousands attended this " Last Darshan", including many hundred young people from the US, England, and Australia, who had been affected by Meher Baba's anti-drug message, and by his other teachings.

Metaphysics

For more details on this topic, see God Speaks.

Meher Baba upheld the concept of divine unity, the view that diverse creation, or duality, is an illusion and that the goal of life is conscious realization of the absolute Oneness of God inherent in all animate and inanimate beings and things.

Meher Baba compares God's original state to an infinite, shoreless ocean which has only unconscious divinity — unaware of itself even though there is nothing but itself. From this state, God had the " whim" to know Himself and asked " Who am I? ". In response to this question, creation came into existence. What was previously a still, shoreless Ocean now stirred, forming innumerable " drops" of itself, termed “drop souls.”

Each soul, being formed by God's whim to know Himself, contains within itself the same desire for self-knowledge. In pursuit of the answer to that question (to gain conscious divinity) each soul evolves consciousness through experience of each form in seven kingdoms of evolution, i.e. stone, vegetable, worm, fish, bird, animal, and human. The impressions (or sanskaras) gathered through experience of these forms in turn seek expression through the drop soul. This need for expression of accumulated impressions eventually cannot be accommodated by the form the drop soul identifies with, necessitating that the soul abandon that form and associate with the next most complex form through which the impressions can be expressed.

In this way, the drop soul experiences (by associating with) and discards (by dissociating from) forms in all the evolutionary kingdoms. According to Meher Baba the final form of the soul's evolution of consciousness is the human form, through which medium full consciousness is attained. Only human consciousness, which is full consciousness, is capable of achieving awareness of its own divinity.

However, although consciousness is full upon the attainment of the first human form, the soul's ages long accumulation of impressions gathered through evolution prevent it from identifying itself as God, its true being. Instead, human consciousness is preoccupied with expressing its impressions by seeking sensual experiences. Ultimately, however, through the soul's travail through numerous human incarnations encompassing the whole range of human experience (e.g. man/woman, rich/poor, powerful/weak, etc.), the impressions accumulated through its evolution, as well as those gathered in its human lives, begin to thin and the soul's awareness of a reality beyond its own immediate desires is stirred. This is the beginning of the end of the soul's separate existence. The soul then begins to traverse an inner spiritual path, or involution, through which it gradually eliminates all impressions which cause the appearance of separateness from God.

Once the sanskaras are gone, the goal of knowing itself as conscious divinity is attained. The drop soul once again becomes merged in the Ocean, that is, it realizes its true Divine indivisible and eternal nature. It has now answered the question of “Who am I? ” with “I am God.”

Sanskaras

According to Meher Baba, as the drop soul progresses through successive lifetimes, it creates and exhausts sanskaras. Gross sanskaras become more refined over many lives and become subtle sanskaras, and these over lives are refined and become mental sanskaras. Mental sanskaras can be completely eliminated. Meher Baba said that a Perfect Master can eliminate any and all sanskaras of any kind.

Sanskaras are described as binding or unbinding, natural or non-natural. Actions such as murder create non-natural binding sanskaras. Even good actions can create binding sanskaras. ^[12] Sanskaras are individualized and so there is no way of determining the effect of a particular action. An action may be good in one instance and bad in another, based on the person's intent. ^[13] The law of karma (cause and effect) balances good and bad actions and their subsequent sanskaras.

Inevitably, the individual seeks a life of love for God, which is beyond the duality of good and bad. This inward journey towards God gradually awakens consciousness, until the grace of a Perfect Master wipes all sanskaras out. Meher Baba stated, " The final wiping out of sanskaras can be effected only by the grace of a Perfect Master." ^[14]

The Avatar

Meher Baba said he was the Avatar, a Sanskrit word meaning " descent of God." The Avatar, according to Meher Baba, is a special Perfect Master who was the original Perfect Master, or the " Ancient One, " who never ceases to incarnate in spite of his original attainment of God-realization. Baba says that this particular soul personifies the state of God which in Hinduism is called Vishnu and in Sufism is called Parvardigar, i.e. the sustainer or preserver state of God. In Baba's system he syncretizes the concept of Avatar with terms from numerous diverse traditions, e.g. The Rasool, The Messiah, The Christ, The Maitreya, The Savior, The Redeemer, etc. According to Meher Baba the Avatar appears on Earth every 700-1400 years, and is 'brought down' into human form by the five Perfect Masters of that age to aid in the process of moving creation in its never ending journey toward Godhood. He said that in other ages this role was fulfilled by Zoroaster, Rama, Krishna, Gautama Buddha, Jesus, and lastly by Muhammad. Meher Baba describes the Avatar as a " ...gauge against which man can measure what he is and what he may become. He trues the standard of human values by interpreting them in terms of divinely human life" ^[15].

Painting of Baba by Lyn Ott, 1970

Followers of Meher Baba

Meher Baba traveled around the world several times, attracting followers on all continents. Although he sometimes participated in large public gatherings, Meher Baba discouraged his followers from proselytizing or evangelizing on his behalf. Rather he stated, " Let your life itself be my message of love and truth to others" ^[16].

There are no special requirements, rites or rituals associated with becoming a follower or devotee of Meher Baba; nor are there any specific duties, rites or rituals required of his followers (commonly called " Baba lovers" ). However, many of Baba's followers observe a few common practices on a very informal basis. These include keeping pictures of him, remembering him, and refraining from psychedelic drugs (including marijuana). Baba lovers sometimes differentiate between those who accept Baba's claim to Avatarhood, called Baba lovers, and Baba likers, those who are attracted to Baba in some way, but do not have any faith in his claims of divine status.

Rolling Stone featuring article about Baba by Pete Townshend, 1970

Gatherings of Baba followers, when they occur, are typically informal and highly social in nature. Special effort will be made to gather together on Amartithi, the anniversary of Meher Baba's death, and on his birthday.

Many of Meher Baba's followers observe " Silence Day" on July 10 of each year by keeping verbal silence for 24 hours in accordance with the requests Baba often made during his life that his followers keep silence or fast on this day.

Three prayers written by Meher Baba, " O Parvardigar", the " Prayer of Repentance" and the " Beloved God Prayer, " are recited morning and evening at his samadhi, and are often recited at gatherings of his followers. At Meherabad, his followers maintain Meher Baba's practice of lighting a dhuni fire in a fire-ring on the 12th of each month. After dhuni prayers, participants throw sandalwood twigs dipped in ghee into the flame as physical representations of fears and desires they wish to relinquish.

Devotional music also frequently plays a substantial role in gatherings of Baba lovers. This feature is common to his followers in both the West and in India, although in India music seems to play a substantially greater role.

How many Baba lovers there are is difficult to gauge since there is no official creed that is required and no central authority, thus there are no membership rolls. One's relationship with Baba is considered a person's private affair. However, pilgrimage sites in India and America do report an increase in new visitors, so it is plausible that the overall number of followers is increasing slightly.

Meher Baba achieved additional attention in the West through the work of Pete Townshend of The Who. Parts of the rock-opera Tommy (1969) were inspired by Townshend's study of Meher Baba, to whom the album was dedicated. The Who's 1971 song Baba O' Riley was named in part after Meher Baba. Townshend recorded the Jim Reeves song, " There's A Heartache Following Me" on his first solo album, " Who Came First" saying that it was Meher Baba's favorite song.

References

1. ^ Kalchuri, Bhau: " Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher, The Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba", Manifestation, Inc. 1986. pp. 81 & 219-220

2. ^ Kalchuri, Bhau: " Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher, The Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba", Manifestation, Inc. 1986. p. 4283

3. ^ Kalchuri, Bhau: " Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher, The Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba", Manifestation, Inc. 1986. p. 944

4. ^ Abdulla, Ramjoo: " Ramjoo's Diaries, 1922-1929: A Personal Account of Meher Baba's Early Work", Sufism Reoriented, 1979

5. ^ Davy, Kitty: " Love Alone Prevails: A story of life with Meher Baba", Sheriar Press, 1981. pp. 166-167

6. ^ Meher Baba: " Meher Baba's Universal Message", World's Fair Pamphlet, 1964}}

7. ^ Purdom, Charles B.: " The God-Man: The Life, Journeys & Work of Meher Baba with an Interpretation of His Silence & Spiritual Teaching", George Allen & Unwin, London, 1962. p. 187

8. ^ Kalchuri, Bhau: " Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher, The Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba", Manifestation, Inc., 1986. p.3834-3840

9. ^ Meher Baba: " Highest of the High", Pamphlet, September 1954

10. ^ Kalchuri, Bhau: " Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher, The Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba", Manifestation, Inc., 1986. p. 4283

11. ^ Meher Baba: " Meher Baba's Call", Pamphlet, September 12, 1954

12. ^ Meher Baba: " Discourses", Sufism Reoriented, 6th ed., 1967. Vol I, p. 101

13. ^ Meher Baba: " Life at Its Best", Sufism Reoriented, 1957. pp. 48-49

14. ^ Meher Baba: " Discourses", Sufism Reoriented, 6th ed., 1967. Vol I, p. 70

15. ^ Meher Baba: " Discourses", Sufism Reoriented, 6th ed., 1967. Vol III, p. 15

16. ^ Luck, Irwin: " The Silent Master Meher Baba", 1967. p. 17

Bibliography

Books by Meher Baba

1. God Speaks, The Theme of Creation and Its Purpose, by Meher Baba, Dodd Mead, 1955, 1971. Sufism Reoriented, 1997. (ISBN 0-915828-02-2)

2. Discourses, by Meher Baba, Sheriar Press, 1995. 452 pp. (ISBN 1-880619-09-1)

3. Beams On the Spiritual Panorama, by Meher Baba, Perennial; Harper & Row, 1958. 88 pp.

4. The Everything and the Nothing, by Meher Baba, Meher House, Sydney, Australia, 1963. Reissued by Sheriar Press, 1996. 115 pp. (ISBN 0-913078-67-0)

5. Life at Its Best, by Meher Baba, Harper & Row, NY, 1957. E P Dutton, 1976. 74 pp. (Fifty-seven short messages given by Meher Baba to the public in the course of his visit to America in the summer of 1956.)

6. The Path of Love, by Meher Baba, Samuel Weiser Inc., NY, 1976, Reissued by Sheriar Press, 2000. 129 pp. (ISBN 1-880619-23-7)

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