BABA SAYS 
108 Sayings of Meher Baba

Selected by Kendra Crossen Burroughs


[1]

“The universe is the outcome of imagination. Then why try to acquire knowledge of the imaginative universe instead of plumbing the depths of your real Self?”

                                      [Meher Baba Journal, June 1941]

 [2]

“Merely to say ‘I want to see God’ or ‘I want to realize God’ is similar to an ant saying ‘I want to become an elephant!’ Mere words have nothing in them. The heart must thirst to seek God.”

 [Lord Meher 11:4097]

[3]

 “Just a glance from me can give you all you need — can turn your vision inward. You will be sitting here without any outward change, but you will become `what you really are.´ You have to wait for that moment. That moment is near, and for that you have to love me wholeheartedly, otherwise you will miss it. If I knock at your door and you are asleep, I will go away. In Avataric periods, one does not necessarily have to make the inward journey by stages. If you have the Grace of the Avatar, He just takes you from where you are to where you should be, where God wants you to be.

                                        [Quoted in Dr. H. P. Bharucha, Meher Baba's Last Sahavas (1969)]

[4]

"My work is different. It is not my work to travel continuously and hold darshan programs simply to allow people to bow down at my feet. It is not my work to give long discourses, to perform miracles, or to attract crowds to me. I do not come for this. I come for all; I come to awaken all!”

                                                        [Lord Meher 20:6648]

[5]

“Anything beyond your capacity will necessarily change your capacity, because so long as everything is within your limits, you don't know what is beyond them. And everything concerning God and God-realisation is beyond limit. So in this way great suffering and being plagued with terrible problems are beneficial.”

[Told to the mayor of Karachi, Jamshed Mehta, 1931. Lord Meher 4: 1374]

[6]

Someone asked, "Why is there suffering?" Baba gave this succinct reply: "Suffering is essential for the elimination of the ego, just as it was necessary for you to scrub and scrub in order to wash the stain from my coat."

                                                          [Lord Meher 6: 2155]

[7]

 “Remain in a good mood and be cheerful, despite your reeling brain.” 

                                                          [Lord Meher 4: 1330]

[8]

 “We can never have any vigorous world culture by merely piling together certain isolated elements, selected from the present diversity of culture; that way, we shall only succeed in getting a patchwork of little vitality. A hodge-podge of collected ideas can never be a substitute for a direct and fresh perception of the Goal. The new world-culture will have to emerge from an integral vision of the Truth independent of existing traditions and not from the laborious process of selection and compilation of conserved values.”

[“The Need for Creative Leadership in India,” message of 1942]

[9]

 “Distance between a drop here and a drop there in the ocean makes no difference to each drop's relation to the ocean.”

[The Unstruck Music of Meher Baba, May 9 entry]

[10]

During the war Calcutta was threatened by the Japanese and Karachi by the Germans. Baba received letters from His lovers in both Calcutta and Karachi, asking if they should leave their homes and move elsewhere. Baba told them to stay where they were. Later He said to us, “If there is a fire in the East, people will run to the West, and if there is a fire in the North, people will run to the South. But if there is fire all around, where will people go?” Baba is with us wherever we are, and whatever is to happen will happen, no matter where we are. 

                                      [Arnavaz Dadachanji, Gift of God, p. 63]

[11]

“What is the meaning of God-Realization? It means to become one with God. By thinking and imagining, one can never become one with God. Union is possible only after the death of thoughts and imagination — the mind must die.

“How does a person know that he has realized God? It is automatic. You are a human being. Do you ever think to yourself, `Am I a human being?´ You do not ask yourself this because you are a human being. In the same way, once a man realizes God, he spontaneously knows that he is God. He has the full experience of it by personal experience.”

[Lord Meher 4: 1191]

[12]

 “In order to appreciate truth, approach it through itself, without any game of hide and seek.”

                                                          [Beloved Baba, November 1994]

[13]

 “Petty and lofty, all are nothing, so why give importance to the lofty? ... never try to escape, because you cannot escape petty things — because everything except God is petty.”

[Quoted  in Ivy O. Duce, How a Master Works]

[14]

"There are many who have not seen me but who are very close to me."  

 [Lord Meher 15: 5122]

[15]

 “I want every lover of mine to repeat my name with every breath. The repetition should be continuous and such that even in sound sleep it should continue like your breathing. Then there is some possibility of experiencing a glimpse of me. Never worry about thoughts while repeating my name. Do not check them, because when you repeat my name, the thoughts will not create binding for you—good or bad.”

Baba repeated the simile of one's mind being inside a mosquito net and the mosquitoes (thoughts) buzzing outside. Then he stated:

“In the same way, let thoughts ‘buzz’ in the mind and be within Baba's ‘net’ of nam-jap. Repeat my name so continuously that if and when you lose consciousness of your body, the repetition will be there because I then become you. You lose yourself completely in me. If you cannot do that, just a moment before dying take my name. Even then you will come to me. But how will you remember at the last moment unless you start remembering from now on!”

                                 [Lord Meher 13: 4818-19]

[16]

The scriptures are like rotten bones rotted and are as food for worms.

Theosophy and philosophy are like good bones rotted and are as food for vultures.

The writings of inspired poets are like fresh bones and are as food for dogs.

The writings of spiritually advanced saints are like flesh and are as food for tigers.

 The writings by living Perfect Masters are like brain and are as food for men!

Good bones when rotted have some semblance of bone, but rotten bones when rotted are like filth.

So, you may go through the scriptures superficially — only to drive away the barking dogs when necessary; for instance, when you are called upon to answer the queries of the priests and the orthodox.

 [Lord Meher 15: 5267]

[17]

With me, no one can live what the world considers a moral life. Here, we are concerned with spirituality, not morals. A spiritual life is not ruled nor bound by any principles. The sanskaras of each one are different, and so the behavior and temperament of everyone are different.

In a virtuous life, evil is suppressed and good surfaces; but the evil is still there. The bad sanskaras remain and have to be worked out, if not in this life then in the next or the one after. In the spiritual life, both good and bad sanskaras express themselves, and both get nullified.

A spiritual life leads one toward naturalness, whereas a virtuous life, in the guise of humility, inflates the ego and perpetuates it! A spiritual life, though, is only led under the guidance and orders of the Avatar or Perfect Master, who knows the pulse of everyone and treats everyone according to his particular malady.

You do not like Aloba's behavior, but his behavior was quite natural and necessary for him. How can you understand that?

People of the world act according to moral standards and socially acceptable behavior, but the Avatar or Perfect Master deals with everyone according to his or her sanskaras. Thus spiritual life is totally different and cannot be judged on the basis of morality, ethics or any principle.

                                                                                [Lord Meher 13: 4591]

[18]

"He whom I love most will always be a wreck financially, as thereby he automatically gets clean. He gets so clean that, with my nazar [glance], his ego goes and Baba comes!" 

                                                                   [Lord Meher 13: 4532]

[19]

One day in 1959, Meher Baba said to me, "There are two kinds of knowledge; knowledge gained through intelligence (using the mind) and hidden knowledge (not using the mind)."

          Baba then explained further: "A four-year-old child has to be shown a picture of a table and chair with the word written under the illustration. It is only then that the child can name the objects correctly.

          "On the other hand, an illiterate man knows all about tables and chairs, but does not know how to read and write the words."

                             [Eruch Jessawala , The Ancient One, p. 129]

[20]

"Once you open your wings to fly, you must fly straight like the swan. Do not flit from tree to tree like the sparrow, or many things will distract you on the way, and the journey is long."

[Quoted  in Kitty Davy, Love Alone Prevails, pp. 713-714]

[21]

 People must give and then receive. First give and then you will have all. But instead, people want to first have all and then think of giving. This is not the right way.”

                                                [Lord Meher 6:2207]

[22]

 “Nowadays even lust is taken for love. The subtle difference is missed. There is a very subtle difference between love and lust, but it is quite clear. They are two different things. You love rice and curry; this is lust. You love a cigar; lust again. You love curry and eat it, but do not give anything by the act. You finish the beloved!”

                                                [Lord Meher 6:2092]

[23]

 “As good is necessary, likewise bad is also necessary — just as positive and negative. Both are essential for action and evolution. If only good were to prevail everywhere, life would end! Both good and bad done to the extreme would lead to Self-Realization; for instance, absolute evil with no trace of good, or absolute good with no trace of bad at all — both are equally conducive to the attainment of the goal of Self-Realization.

           “If this is so, naturally it can be asked, ‘Why is good preferable to bad?’ Both good and bad are zero, being nonexistent for those who are God-Realized. Both are terms of duality. But the Masters and Avatars give preference and advocate good over bad. This is only because good is really, spiritually speaking, easy for reaching the goal; though apparently, materially speaking, it is the reverse.

          “For example, bad is apparently easy — difficult, really! But the underlying principle in life being spiritual progress — true existence — comes against the material progress, which is only apparent and not real. Thus, the Masters advocate good, being truly easy for mankind, as the better course to follow for true progress in the march of life to the goal of Realization.”

                                                          [Lord Meher 6:2004]

[24]

“Everyone, no matter how depraved, can gradually become better and better until he becomes the best example for all mankind. There is always hope for everyone; none is utterly lost, and none need despair. It remains true, however, that the way to divinity lies through the renunciation of evil in favor of good.”

                                      [Discourses (1987), p. 63]

[25]

 “The apparent is not real. Under many of life’s complicated problems are hidden some of the simplest truths which the veil of ignorance obscures from human vision.”

                                                          [Lord Meher 6:2236]

 

 [26]

 “...devotees must always lean on Baba, not on each other. This does not mean you should not talk to one another, love one another, pass impressions to each other, be together or share experiences — but you must not lean. You must love, serve and help one another and make each other love me more. Love, don’t lean.”

                                                          [Lord Meher 7:2300]

[27]

 “If you think I know everything, there is no need to express any want. If you think I know nothing, no amount of pleading for any ambition is of avail.”

                                                          [Lord Meher 7:2312]

[28]

 “The rain falls on both rocks and the soil. But the water flows away down the rock, while the earth soaks it up. The rock does not derive any benefit from the rain, while the soil does. Although the rain falls equally on both, only the soil takes advantage of it. Similarly, my mercy and grace are on all. But only those on the plain deserve it, while those who go about as if they are on top of a high mountain do not benefit by it!”

                                                           [Lord Meher 7:2356]

[29]

 “Long for what is real. You will then have no time for worrying over what may never happen.”

                                                          [Lord Meher 7:2366]

[30]

 “No ordinary man can tell whether one man is a mast and another man is mad without the divine authority of a Perfect Master. However, the unmistakable quality that masts  possess is their ability to make one happy in their company; whereas in the company of a mad person one feels depression and sadness.

                                                          [Lord Meher 7:2435]

 

[31]

 “Life is a series of experiences which need innumerable forms. Death is an interval in that one long life.”

                                                          [Lord Meher 7:2452]

[32]

 “Happiest is he who expects no happiness from others. Love delights and glorifies in giving, not receiving. So learn to love and give, and not to expect anything from others.”

                                                          [Lord Meher 7:2457]

[33]

 “You can keep only one Beloved in your hearts, although you can and may keep many in your mind. So [pointing to himself], keep this one Beloved in your hearts and find me in every other heart! You cannot hate this one or that one if you try to see me in every heart. Then automatically unity and harmony will be established.”

                                                          [Lord Meher 7: 2216]

[34]

 “To take birth means to suffer. When suffering leads to real eternal happiness, we should not attach importance to this suffering. It is to eliminate suffering that suffering has to be. Most of this suffering is unnecessary and self-inflicted. Ninety-nine percent of the world’s suffering is self-inflicted. Yet they ask, ‘Why must we suffer?’ Great suffering means great liberation.”

                                                          [Lord Meher 7:2317]

[35]

 “Let not the dirt of the sanskaras of your thoughts and deeds touch you, by surrendering every thought and act at the feet of your Guru. As a laundryman washes and cleans clothes, in the same way, I remove all the dirt which has stuck to you through your thoughts and actions.”

                                                          [Lord Meher 7:2357]

[36]

 “Of the three most important things to be eliminated before attaining God-Realization—greed, lust, and backbiting—backbiting is the worst and most disastrous. One can overcome greed and even lust, though both are very hard to get rid of; but by far the worst and most difficult habit of all to eliminate is that of speaking ill of and trying to find fault in others.

          “And why must it be eliminated? Because this particular act or vice incurs the burden of sins or sanskaras of others, which is spiritually very derogatory and reactionary.”

                                                          [Lord Meher 7:2359]

[37]

“Remember that the first step in spirituality is not to speak ill of others. All human beings have weaknesses and faults. Yet they are all God in their being. Until they become Realized, they have their imperfections. Therefore, before trying to find faults in others and speaking ill of them, try to find your own weaknesses and correct those.”

                                                         [Lord Meher 7:2506]

 [38]

 “Those who die thinking of me come to me. They are liberated from the chain of birth and death and see me perpetually. It is because you cannot see that you feel the separation. If you feel sorry, feel not for the dead, for they have come to me, but for the living who are in precarious conditions.”

                                                          [Lord Meher 7:2409]

[39]

 “If you cannot love, at least have the courage to give in.”

                                                          [Lord Meher 7:2438]

[40]

 [In 1937] Shireen said, “Merwan, now you are worshiped as God on earth. Since I am your mother, I should also be respected; and I tell you now that there is only one thing left I want in this world—you must get married!”

          Baba silently laughed and then dictated in reply, “What you say is perfectly true, mother. You are on the same level with Mary, the mother of Jesus, with Yashoda, the mother of Krishna. You must be respected and you too will one day be worshiped, as it was through your womb that God has taken birth.

          “As your son, I would never disobey you. Of course, I respect your wishes. However, in order to get married, there must be a man and a woman. What am I to do? God has put me into such a state that I do not find anyone else in the world but me! I experience myself to be in all.

          “When a man goes to a cinema and watches a movie of a beautiful actress on the screen, can he marry her? No, because she is only a two-dimensional image on the screen. Likewise, I see you all on the screen of maya. How then can I get married? ”

          Shireen was sincere in her wish, and Baba’s reply made her weep. She had nothing else to say to counter his point.

                                                 [Lord Meher 7:2110-11]

[41]

Answering the question of the mandali as to why they always had to suffer through the hardship of water scarcity, Baba humorously remarked: “Mohammed’s greatness was not in Ka’aba but in Karbala, and this is my Karbala. “ Ka’aba in Mecca, Arabia, is the sacred sanctuary where the Prophet Mohammed manifested himself and his mission, whereas Karbala in North Arabia is known in history as the place of martyrdom. Karbala is not only dry and barren but typifies desolation and destruction. Baba’s reference to Karbala’s true greatness conveyed that the greatness of the Master is not in manifestation but in suffering in the cause of humanity.

                                       [Meher Baba Journal, December 1938: 62]

[42]

 “Spirit communication is the experience of the semi-subtle by the physical senses in the conscious state. It is not a sign of advancement on the divine path and has nothing to do with its goal.”

                                                [Meher Baba Journal, July 1942: 479]

 

[43]

 “True knowledge is that knowledge which makes man after Self-Realization or union with God assert that his real Self is in everything and everybody.”

[Meher Baba Journal, June 1941:480]

[44]

 “There are many who are on the way, many who have experience, many who are yogis, but few who are Perfect.... Never speak ill of saints. They are the sign of truth and help to the world. My salutations to all those who love God, who are saints, yogis, bhaktas, and my namaskar to Sadgurus. All these are me in different forms.” 

                                      [Letter to Ramjoo Abdulla, The Wayfarers, p. 19]

[45]

 “To end all starvation of body, mind, and heart once and for all is the birthright of every human being. To think and to make others think about humanity as divided into the ‘Helpers’ and the ‘Helpless’ is to deny the birthright for the ‘Helpless’ and to make its enjoyment all the more difficult for the ‘Helpers.’”

                                                [Glow International,  November 1988]

[46]

 “The heart of the Perfect One is at once soft like butter and hard like steel.”

                                                          [Discourses (1987): 80-81]

[47]

 “The entire fabric of the universe serves but one purpose…: the realization of God.”

                                                          [Beams: 17]

[48]

 “There is no higher or lower goal. There is only one goal, Self-Realization.”

                                                [The Answer: 26]

[49]

 “[Spiritual] organizations are like the foam which brings unwanted things up to the surface of the sea, letting the real substance lie beneath, submerged in the depths.”

                                      [March 1938.  Lord Meher 7:2270]

[50]

 “As a single object seems to multiply itself to him who is drunk to excess, so Unity appears as plurality to those who are intoxicated with the wine of egoism.”

                                      [Meher Baba Journal, March 1940:307]

[51]

 “When man becomes God, a lineage is there, but when God becomes man there is no lineage. As for me, I have to come back again and again. There is pleasure in it and a kind of imprisonment, too.”

                                      [Glow International, August 1986:3]

[52]

“Animal life, from which human consciousness emerges, is mostly determined by animal lust, animal greed, and animal anger — though some animals do at times develop the good qualities of self-sacrifice, love, and patience. If all the accumulated animal sanskaras had been bad and none good, the appearance of good tendencies in human consciousness would have been impossible.” 

[Discourses, p. 62]

 [53]

“Unless a snake is killed by a human being, it remains always a snake. Never leave a snake wounded, as it takes so long to die. Once wounded, a snake will always remain near you to be killed outright.... In evolution, the snake form is like an entangled rope which you cannot undo or unwind. However, if it is killed by a human being, the knot untangles itself and the soul is free to continue on its way through evolution.”

                                                          [Lord Meher 7:2269]

[54]

 “The objective of spiritual advancement is not so much ‘works’ but the quality of life free from ego-consciousness.”

                                                 [Discourses (1987), pp. 253-54]

[55]

 “The way to increase knowledge is to put into practice that bit of spiritual wisdom a person may already happen to have.”

                                                [Discourses (1987), pp. 261-62]

[56]

 “In the spiritual life it is not necessary to have a complete map of the path in order to begin traveling. On the contrary, having such complete knowledge may actually hinder rather than help the onward march. The deeper secrets of spiritual life are unraveled to those who take risks and who make bold experiments with it. They are not meant for the idler who seeks guarantees at every step. Those who speculate from the shore about the ocean shall know only its surface, but those who would know the depths of the ocean must be willing to plunge into it.”

                                                [Discourses (1987), p. 263]

[57]

"Remember this much: the whole world is nothing but a zero, and everything connected with it is without sum and substance. Mind is the universe, Mind is the man, the woman, the beast."

                                                [Lord Meher 5:1844]

[58]

"To gulp down anger is the most courageous act one can perform. One who does it becomes humble."

                                                [Lord Meher 5:1857]

[59]

 “When the Creator, whoever or whatever He may be, created creation, there were no temples, no mosques, no churches, no synagogues, no telling of beads, no prattle of priests, no chanting of hymns, no offering of bribes at altars. When rituals came into existence, God gradually began to fade out of it.”

                             [Beloved Baba  (Secunderabad), November 1994]

[60]

 “Sadgurus and Masters never reveal their way of working. If they do so, it entails more work for them. The Sufis say: ‘One who has found the Truth hides it eternally.’ And it is absolutely so. This means that one who is God-Realized never reveals the truth in ordinary words.”

                                                [Lord Meher 7:2617]

[61]

 Irene Billo’s father had died at the end of October [1940]. Discussing his death, Baba informed her: “You should be happy. Your father was very lucky. He died like Vivekananda, without suffering. He is free. All relations of those who are with me, whether they know me or not, or even if they do not believe in me, get salvation. Krishna has said, “`Seventy-two generations of such lucky ones get liberation — mukti.´”

                                                [Lord Meher 7:2643]

[62]

"Happiest is he who expects no happiness from others. Love delights and glorifies in giving, not receiving. So learn to love and give, and not to expect anything from others.

          "You should really feel and consider yourself as the happiest and most fortunate among men that you have renounced the illusion and surrendered to a Perfect Master. You should now feel free from worries and quite at ease, like one who has his burden lifted off his head and feels light.

          "The great mistake you make is that you lift the burden from your head, but instead of placing it on the head of the One who willingly accepts it with all responsibility, you keep it hanging over you in the air, hesitating to give it lest you lose something valuable! Thus you neither bear the burden nor allow it to rest on the head of the One who wants it to be transferred — namely Baba. You keep it hanging between the two, and place both under suspense, thereby aggravating your suffering. Either keep it yourself or give it up entirely."

                                                [To the mandali, 1939. Lord Meher 7:2457]  

[63]

 “To him who suffers in my darbar [court] without complaint, I will give the greatest benefit.”

                                                          [Lord Meher 8:2843] 

[64]

 “The Master is absolutely necessary for anyone to arrive at self-knowledge, but the true significance of the help given by the Master consists in the fact that he enables others to come into the full possession of their own latent possibilities.”

                                                          [Lord Meher 8:2849]

[65]

 “When nothing upsets you, you are at the beginning of the path. When you desire nothing, you are halfway on the path; when nothing becomes everything, you are perfected.”

                                                          [Lord Meher 8: 2860]

[66]

“Let love annihilate your lower self and reveal My Infinite Self.

Let your ears become deaf to delusion to enable you to hear My silent message of Divine Love.

Let your eyes become blind to illusion to receive Me as I am.

Let your heart open to receive Me in full.”

                               [message of 25 December 1953 at Kakinada, A.P., printed in Sound of Silence, ed. Dr. T. P. Gandhi]

[67]

 “Although occasionally a means may be found to eliminate some one worry in life, the final solution to recurring problems remains to be found. Suppose, for example, that a man is extremely miserable because others in his office seem to be given better treatment than he. Then suppose that he is suddenly relieved of all his worries by inducing in himself a studied indifference to his surroundings. This may give him a temporary feeling of release from his problems, but since his troubles are really caused by lack of understanding of himself and environment, his cultivated indifference really leaves the situation completely unchanged. Sooner or later, when his forced indifference cracks and he again becomes emotionally involved, his old worries return to disturb him as before. His attitude of detachment fails to effect a permanent change in his consciousness because it is not based upon the truth that there is but one infinite Self which is the Self of all.”

                                                                   [The Secret of Sleep, pp. 22-23]

[68]

 “The heart of a Perfect One is at once soft as butter and hard as steel. Perfection is not limited in its expression to any one of the opposites and does not exclude the possibility of finding expression through the opposite. It can express itself through either of the opposites according to the logic implied in the situation. That is why Perfection transcends the opposites and is capable of giving a rational response to all the possible situations in life. It ensures perfect adaptability without surrendering the standpoint of Truth and secures an unshakable peace and sense of harmony in the midst of diverse  situations — which must be baffling to those who have not achieved all-sided development.”

                                                [Discourses (1987), p. 81]

[69]

 “...the Avatar functions from all the planes of consciousness simultaneously but sometimes for His universal work stations Himself on a particular plane. Therefore it is said, for example, that the Prophet Muhammad stationed Himself in the seventh plane, while Lord Buddha stationed Himself in the fifth.”

                                                [Discourses (1987), p. 197]

[70]

 “Since male and female incarnations are equally necessary for Self-knowledge, it is not right to look upon one as being more important than the other. Though there are differences between the nature of the respective facilities afforded by them, they are both indispensable. The soul must go through male incarnations as well as female incarnations if it is to have that richness of experience which is a condition of attaining the realization that the soul, in itself, is beyond all forms of duality — including the accentuated duality based on sex.”

                                                [Discourses (1987), p. 324]

[71]

 “The scope of service is not limited to great gestures like giving big donations to public institutions. They also serve who express their love in little things. A word that gives courage to a drooping heart or a smile that brings hope and cheer in the midst of gloom has as much claim to be regarded as service as onerous sacrifices and heroic self-denials. A glance that wipes out bitterness from the heart and sets it throbbing with a new love is also service, although there may be no thought of service in it. When taken by themselves, all these things seem to be small; but life is made up of many such small things. If these small things were ignored, life would be not only unbeautiful but unspiritual.”

                                                          [Discourses (1987), p. 362]

[72]

 “One of the most difficult things to learn is to render service without bossing, without making a fuss about it, and without any consciousness of high and low. In the world of spirituality, humility counts at least as much as utility.”

                                       [Discourses (1987), p. 364]

[73]

 “Those who are not God-realized can control their minds through yoga to such an extent that nothing makes them feel pain or suffering, even if they are buried alive or thrown into boiling oil. But though the advanced yogis can brave and annul any suffering, they do not experience the happiness of realizing God. When one becomes God, everything else is zero. The happiness of God-realization, therefore, cannot suffer curtailment by anything. The happiness of God-realization is self-sustained, eternally fresh and unfading, boundless, and indescribable. It is for this happiness that the world has sprung into existence.”

                                      [Discourses (1987), p. 398]

[74]

 “If a person wants to take the pearl from the bottom of the ocean, then he should not shout at the pearl to come up while he sits on the beach. If he really wants the pearl, he should try his hardest to plunge to the bottom of the ocean to get it.”

                                                [Lord Meher 5:1860]

[75]

 “Spiritual jealousy leads to advancement, while material jealousy leads to ruination and hatred.”

                                                [Lord Meher 5:1597]

[76]

 “If you think you are expressing love through the sex act, you are sadly mistaken. It is lust which prompts you to engage in it. It is not possible to express pure love through sexual intercourse; the impressions involved therein clash.”

                                                [Lord Meher 5:1792]

[77]

 “...however wicked an action may seem, it should not be judged on the basis of the world’s standards of morality, but purely on the underlying motives. This is the spiritual point of view or standard of judgment, however shocking or absurd it may seem to the worldly-minded.”

                                                [Lord Meher 5:1822]

[78]

“Even the love which expresses through physical desire is good to the extent that it frees one from the thralldom of personal likes and dislikes and makes one want to serve the beloved above all other things.”

                                      [Awakener 18, no. 1 (1978): 29]

[79]

 “Only God is real, and everything else is a mere motion picture!”

                             [Hollywood, 1932. Lord Meher 5:1656]

[80]

 “I am eternally crucified. When the burden is especially heavy, I sometimes let my disciples share it, giving to each as much as they can bear.”

                                      [Lord Meher 5:1702]

[81]

One of the Westerners asked: “How do you know who you are — that you are the Source of all?” Baba replied: “I knew it before everything. I came from my own Self. One cannot know Existence until one exists in that Existence.”

                                      [Lord Meher 5:1771]

[82]

 “How will you give up this false self?  How will you give up the shadowy

I-am-ness and get established in the I-Alone-Am or God-Alone-Is state? Hafiz has given the answer: ‘O Lover! Separation and Union Are none of your business. Seek only to resign yourself to the Will of the Beloved.’”

                                      [The Everything and the Nothing, p 8]

[83]

 “Kabir has said: ...’The lines of fate are never erased by Rama; He is All-powerful and can undo destiny, but He never does so, for He has given full thought to what He has planned.’ ... The Avataric whim is also part of the divine Destiny [qaza]. Qaza provides for the absolute necessity of the Avatar’s ‘chance’ intervention, and the very unpredictability of this intervention is predicted in Qaza — for His infinite compassion, because of which His intervention occurs, may not be denied.”

                                      [The Everything and the Nothing, p. 107]

[84]

 “Tukaram, one of the Perfect Masters, has said: ...’Without the Grace of the Perfect Master you cannot find the way to the Goal; / Before and above everything else, hold firmly to His feet.’”

                             [The Everything and the Nothing, p. 32]

[85]

 During the war Calcutta was threatened by the Japanese and Karachi by the Germans. Baba received letters from His lovers in both Calcutta and Karachi, asking if they should leave their homes and move elsewhere. Baba told them to stay where they were. Later He said to us, “If there is a fire in the East, people will run to the West, and if there is a fire in the North, people will run to the South. But if there is fire all around, where will people go?” Baba is with us wherever we are, and whatever is to happen will happen, no matter where we are. 

                   [Quoted  in Arnavaz Dadachanji, Gift of God , p. 63] 

[86]

 “Neither seek death nor fear it, and when death comes to you it is converted into a stepping stone to the higher life.”

                   [Quoted  in Arnavaz Dadachanji, Gift of God, p. 95]

[87]

Baba often quoted  from the Perfect Masters Kabir and Tukaram. I particularly remember that Kabir said, “Worry eats everyone. Worry is the master of all. But those who swallow worry, they are the ones who become fakirs.” He also said, “When the Master gives on His own, it is like giving milk. When you ask the Master to give, it is like His giving water. But when you force the Master to give, it is like extracting blood from Him.” Baba also commented on the importance of obedience and surrender, quoting Tukaram: “The inherent nature with which you are born remains with you; it does not change.” Even after Tukaram became a Perfect Master, He went on singing bhajans because that was His inherent nature. Baba said, “The nature you are born with remains with you, but you can modify and change through obedience and surrenderance to God.”

                   [Quoted  in Arnavaz Dadachanji, Gift of God, p. 115]

[88]

 “My accident was no ‘accident,’ and it all comes to one thing; what I wanted has happened and what I want will happen.”

                   [Quoted  in Arnavaz Dadachanji, Gift of God, p. 143]

[89]

 “I am the last Avatar in this present cycle of twenty-four and therefore the greatest and most powerful. I have the attributes of five. I am as pure as Zoroaster, as truthful as Ram, as mischievous as Krishna, as gentle as Jesus, and as fiery as Mohammed.”

                             [Quoted  in Arnavaz Dadachanji, Gift of God, p. 72]

[90]

 “When love is not at its height, it always creates a mess.”

                             [Awakener 5, no. 2 (winter-spring 1958): 30]

[91]

 “As you all become more intimate with Me, with opportunities to come closer to Me, all that is good and bad within you comes out in sparks, as it were . . . all the impressions of the past, the accumulations of past sanskaras — of all illusory things, which includes both good and bad — come out. My proximity, the intimacy with Me, just changes that mass of sanskaras, and sometimes you find sparks of good and bad flying out.”

          [Awakener 5, no. 2 (winter-spring 1958): 20]

[92]

 “Time is the interval between your very first impression and your very last impression.”

                                                                   [Awakener 18, no. 1 (1978): 68]

[93]

“I am Truth. No amount of voluminous praise will raise me higher, nor can any carping criticism pull me down. I am what I am and will ever be so. Whatever I do, I do for my work, which encompasses and sees to the welfare of all.”

                   [Statement to Herbert Davy. Lord Meher 5:1821]

[94]

"You make the effort and I will give you the victory. It is a divine struggle with purpose behind it. Do not fight against it."

                             [Written to Delia DeLeon. Lord Meher 7:2402]

[95]

 “Reflection is from the Real, but reflection is not real.”

[Written to Jal Kerawalla, 1937. Glow International, August 1995]

[96]

“It is the work of Sadgurus, it is the profession  of Sadgurus, and it is the wish of Sadgurus to keep those of past connection near them by giving them false promises to make them hold to them.”

                                      [Lord Meher 3: 1068]

[97]

"Do not be after gatekeepers or watchmen. Catch hold of the Emperor. Never be after his servants. No minister or secretary will help. A king is, after all, a king, and his servants only servants. Once you have approached the king directly, it is of no benefit to maintain a friendly attitude with his servants. Your friendship with the king might precipitate any situation, but you should stick to him. Even if you were about to die, you should never let go of his hand.

"The Emperor is perfect knowledge. One should forget everyone and everything in his company. One should stop one's previous habits. One should not think of meditating or repeating God's name, or any other type of worship. The most that could happen with any of these practises is that you would enter samadhi. Such practises can never make you one with God.

"Instead, one should submit oneself to the Emperor's will, having only this thought: 'O God, when will you meet me?' This longing must be present  twenty-four hours a day. If the feeling is intense enough, God will surely

fulfill it.

"To help people is good, but service done under the guidance and according to the instructions of a Perfect Master is the best. Service to half-baked gurus and false saints will throw you into a gutter. You will be left hanging by those hypocrites. If you are unlucky enough to find a false guru, he will accept you and take you into his service. However, he will then give you up, and that will cool down your longing! Instead of losing, you will accumulate sanskaras, and become disappointed and disgusted.

"These false saints cannot give you anything, while... Walis and Pirs of the fifth and sixth plane can raise you to a higher state with just one look. But that is not the Perfect state, as these advanced souls are not Perfect. At times, even Perfect Masters cannot help those caught in these nets. Therefore, except for the Perfect Ones, do not even be beguiled by the advanced souls of the fifth and sixth planes. Stick to the Emperor and don't leave him for any reason.

"I am in everyone. But if you catch hold of me, you will have the root of all creation in your hands. Then you will not need to go after the branches and leaves. If you are lucky enough to catch hold of the Emperor, you should never, never leave him.”

"Go on digging until you find water. Don't keep changing the spot. If you get impatient, by digging two feet here and four feet there, you will never strike water. If you only dig a shallow well, you will get impure water. Only patient, laborious digging will result in your finding crystal-pure water. And for that, you have to exert energy and dig deep.

  "This Path is not easy at all, and if you enter it, you will not find joy here. Therefore, I warn, think seven times before entering it. If you are after God, you will have to give up everything - your father, your mother, the whole world. You have to renounce each and every thing. Therefore, ponder well, and then take your step. If not, leave this Path and attend to your worldly duties.

  "Once you fall for the Path, don't be afraid of anything in the world. 'Who will look after my parents? How about my job? What will the world think of me?' All these thoughts are useless. If you had died, who would have looked after your near and dear ones? Those affected will care for themselves. God takes care of everyone. He is the true sustainer. Once you have entered the Path, you should desist from such thoughts.

  "Try to be a lover of God. If you find out how to love him, you may go mad. The real lover is never influenced by the world or what people think of him. He will not even care for his life. He will remain what he is — totally indifferent to the world, unashamed of anything.

  "All rivers flow in me. I am the ocean. Stop looking elsewhere, and look only at the ocean. By concentrating on me, you yourself will become the ocean. To look at the ocean means to carry out my wishes at all times."

[September 1929, told to Kaikhushru Pleader, Lord Meher 4:1215-1216]

[98]

 “Mercy is one thing and compassion is something else. I do not show mercy in the ordinary, worldly sense, but I do have compassion. For example, two people see a man shivering — freezing to death in the cold. One feels sorry for him, but walks past. The other feels no pity, but realizes the man needs covering. So he takes off his coat and gives it to the man, thereby exposing himself to the cold. That is compassion.”

                                                 [Lord Meher 3:1086]

[99]

 “This path is extremely difficult for the outside world, but it will become easy for you to tread because I myself will work through you. For example, suppose you have to go through the Manzil via the road, but the road is full of holes and rough, and in some places very narrow. What if you were blindfolded — how would you proceed? I hold your hand and tell you where to put your foot since I see each and every thing. My eyes are always open. Despite all this, if you do not hold my hand, how am I to guide you? To hold my hand means to do as I say. Therefore, I am telling you daily to always listen to me and to think of me constantly with all your heart. Then see what untold benefit you derive.”

                   [Baba to ashram boys, 1928: Lord Meher 3:1111]

[100]

 “Even in the highest state of intoxication, one’s head should be on the feet of the Master. This is the meaning of the Persian couplet:

 

Kiss even the chair of the Beloved;

then go on crying and wailing

that you are burning from separation.

Then ask, Oh kind Lord,

listen to our complaint and do something!

          The couplet reveals that you must first surrender heart and soul to your Beloved and then cry from the pain of separation — not before. And surrender means giving up your mind and being only guided in life by the Guru’s word and direction with absolutely no thinking. Crying, weeping and wailing without surrender are no use.”

                                                                             [Lord Meher 3:1122]

[101]

 “Feelings and emotions are only the creation of mind and energy. Love is the creation of the soul.”

                             [Quoted  in Elizabeth Patterson’s diary of 4/20/33]

[102]

"Suppose we all loved each other as deeply as we now love the one whom we love best. The most natural desire of love is to share what one has with the beloved. The desire to share with everyone would produce a condition in which it would be a disgrace, rather than an honor, for anyone to possess more than anyone else."

                                                [Lord Meher 5:1622]

[103]

"If a man is dissatisfied with his environment, it is usually because he does not know how to properly adjust himself to the environment. Instead of thinking, 'How can I get out of this?' and becoming discouraged and depressed, one should think, ' What is the lesson that I should learn from this experience?'"

                                                [Lord Meher 5:1622]

[104]

"Poverty, if cheerfully endured, and providing one does one's best to find work, develops humility and patience, and can greatly assist spiritual progress. It is a test of character. I know it is difficult to be cheerful when starving, but all worthwhile things are difficult."

                                                [Lord Meher 5:1622]

[105]

"Even a great soul like Gandhi worries, because he wants results. One must sincerely try to do his duties, but the results must always be left with God. Worrying about the results is no good and of no use. If a person wishes to do anything for others, he must do it sincerely. And having done it, he should not worry about results, for results are not in human hands. It is for humans to do, for God to ordain.

          "To remain aloof from results is not difficult, but men do not try. Because it is human nature to think of the results of one's actions, however, it does not mean one should worry! Man must think, but he must not worry.

          "Try to attribute all your acts to God and let results be His." 

                                                [Lord Meher 5:1866]

[106]

"Working for and serving others, and undergoing so much strain, is very good. It wipes out past karmas, and even the new sanskaras which are created are very faint. So it is of tremendous spiritual benefit to work, serve, and undergo hardships for others. Sitting idle and always eating ready-cooked, served meals without lifting a finger to help is very bad spiritually. It creates very deep sanskaras which are difficult to wipe away."

                                                [Lord Meher 5:1869]

[107]

"Cease the mental tension. Train your mind to pass over thoughts. Do not give countenance to them until such time that you can surrender the mind itself. No one is doing it. When the mind is surrendered, there is no question of happiness or unhappiness. Because of the thoughts of the past lives, sanskaras are spent away. They come and go. Pay no attention to them. Mind is like a wound-up alarm clock. It will ring at the appointed time, but only so long as the winding is there. Let it ring and run its course, but take care not to wind it again by indulging in bad actions."

                                                [Lord Meher 5:1843-44]

[108]

"...if you want to die, die in my naad [infatuation] by holding on to me firmly. There lies salvation. That is real dying. Worldly death is not the thing. However, nobody has so far captured me. If one really catches me, I try to free myself. On the contrary, it is I who have been trying to catch hold of you people."

                                       [Lord Meher 5:1844]