Who is Meher Baba...?

Meher Baba's samadhi

Malladi Rama Rao

Who is Meher Baba? This is a d i f f i c u l t question to a n s w e r . Frankly I do not know the answer though I have been visiting Meher Baba's samadhi atop a hill near Ahmednagar city in Maharashtra.
I first heard about him some five decades ago, and felt attracted towards him. What attracted me? I still do not know.
What all I can say is that I believe him as my god. Please do not ask me how I know that he is my god. Matters of faith are beyond logic, and, well, of scientific scrutiny even in the 21st century.
On his part, Meher Baba did not ask me or anyone who came in contact with him to follow him leaving behind "your gods, your faith and your religion."He did not perform any miracles to attract and retain people. "If you want material benefit or want miracles, do not come to me," he bluntly told whoever had approached him. In fact, he warned that he sometimes worksfor the material downfall of his repeatedly remarked cautioning people against becoming a hostage to religious riots and rituals.And made it explicitly clear, "I am not going to establish any religion." dear ones "deliberately".
His refrain: "I have come not to teach but to awaken you".
Rituals and religious hierarchy, according to him, have become a barrier and the seeker must first learn to become free of established religious practices. In his critique of religious practices, Meher Baba did not spare any religion.
"All religions have had good intentions when they were established but over time the clergy has acquired a stranglehold, and this has defeated the very purpose of religion", he repeatedly remarked cautioning people against becoming a hostage to religious riots and rituals.And made it explicitly clear, "I am not going to establish any religion."
I have come across many people who are willing to accept Meher Baba as a saint, or a spiritual soul of high order. But I find that they are reluctant to take him as the one long awaited — Prophet, the Buddha, the Christ, the Messiah of this age. I do not know why. They may have their reasons. Of course, India is a land of gods and goddesses and Babas and more Babas.
Honestly, Meher Baba did not insist that everyone should hail him as the Avatar, and follow him. If so, why should he declare himself that "I am the Avatar of the Age. I am the Highest of the High?"
His first biography, God-Man (by Charles Purdom, a British journalist) quotes him as saying that "To know me as I am, you have to become what I am. As for myself, I know I am the Avatar." The Sanskrit word, Avatar means "descent of God."
Meher Baba means 'Compassionate Father.' It is the name given to Merwan Sheriar Irani by a group of disciples in the early 1920s when signs of his spiritual status first became apparent.

Meher Baba Merwan was born to Zoroastrian parents in Pune on 25 February 1894. His father was a Darvish, seeker of God, who came to India from Persia (today's Iran) through Afghanistan and present-day Pakistan. Merwan led a normal childhood until the age of 19, when he encountered Hazrat Babajan, a centenarian Afghan Muslim saint.
With a kiss on the forehead, Babajan initiated Merwan into the state of God-Realization. He was inwardly prompted to contact four Sadgurus- Sai Baba of Shirdi, Upasni Maharaj of Sakori (near Shirdi), Narayan Maharaj of Kedgaon (near Pune), and Tajuddin Baba of Nagpur. With the help of Upasni Maharaj, Merwan brought the experience of God's transcendent Oneness down into the domain of duality or creation, thus establishing himself in spiritual perfection.

On 10 July 1925, Meher Baba began observing silence, which he maintained till he dropped his body nearly forty-four years later on Jan 31, 1969. Initially, he used an alphabet board. From 1954, he communicated through hand gestures. The same year, in February, for the first time, Meher Baba publicly declared himself to be the Avatar or Christ of the age.

About this phase, Meher Baba said once: "Sai Baba made me assert this time what I am. Babajan made me feel what I am. Upasni Maharaj made me know what I am. What I am, I am".
On 10 July 1925, Meher Baba began observing silence, which he maintained till he dropped his body nearly 45 years. Initially, he used an alphabet board. From 1954, he communicated through hand gestures. The same year, in February, for the first time, Meher Baba publicly declared himself to be the Avatar or Christ of the age.
During the 1930s, Meher Baba visited Europe ten times, America thrice, and China and the Far East. During the 1950s he travelled three more times to the West. The purpose of these visits, as he himself stated,was "to make people understand religion in the true sense."
While in London on 29 June 1934, a visitor asked Meher Baba: "… if you are the Christ, why don't people know about it?" He replied: "The Avatar's exterior way of living is regulated by the habits and customs of the times, and he adopts that attitude which is most suited to serve as an example to his contemporaries.
But in essence, all Avatars embody the same ideal of life.
The Avatars incarnate at different times and their teachings have therefore to be adapted to the mentality of their epoch. At times, the Avatar bases his teaching on the search for the personal God, and at other times, on the search for the impersonal God". He also explained how he works.
"There are three principal ways in which I work: individually, collectively (with crowds for the masses), and universally. When I work individually, it is with persons

who are with me, or persons who are away from me, or persons who are connected with me.
"When I work universally, it is through agents. My mind, being Universal, is linked with every individual mind, even with advanced minds who are my agents; and so I am present and working through my agents in every part of the world. That is why at times while speaking to one person, my mind is working elsewhere. People have seen and marked me stopping suddenly in the midst of conversation, as if absent and away from the spot, engrossed in something else.
"The agents do the work for people on the gross plane, and through the circle, I work for the spiritual plane, without their (members of the circle) being aware of it. Jesus worked through his apostles on the spiritual plane without their knowing it; but later on, they knew it. They knew that all the time it was Jesus' working and they were his instruments — mediums — and all the time one with Jesus.
"Only those in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh planes, and who are conscious of me, know under and for whom they are physically working. They cannot see me physically, but their subtle and mental bodies see my subtle body, which is similar to the gross ...They also know that I am One with the Infinite." The Agents, Meher Baba, said, are not Mahayogis on the spiritual path but carry out his orders. The Agents are of three types -Direct agents, who receive directions directly from the Avatar; Indirect agents, who get their diktats from the direct agents; Borrowed agents, who receive orders from the indirect agents.

After his Fallenfluh 'meeting', Meher Baba told his disciples, "I have drawn a circle around the country (Switzerland) so that it will not be involved in the coming (Second World) war". And added: "When I work like this, a meeting of large number of my agents is held but you cannot see them though you can hear a rumble like foot steps'".

Lord Meher, authored by his close disciple Bhau Kalchuri, records Meher Baba's spiritual meetings with his agents in India and abroad. Many such meetings took place at what is today is Meher Baba samadhi. In Europe, such meetings took place at Assisi (Italy) in 1932, Fallenfluh in Swiss mountains in July 1934 and atop the iconic Eiffel Tower

in 1937, as disclosed by Baba himself. These meetings prepared a 'Divine Plan' to meet 'the present and future circumstances of the Universe'.
After his Fallenfluh 'meeting', Meher Baba told his disciples, "I have drawn a circle around the country (Switzerland) so that it will not be involved in the coming (Second World) war". And added: "When I work like this, a meeting of large number of my agents is held but you cannot see them though you can hear a rumble like foot steps'".
Several times Meher Baba asked his followers to hold fast to his daman. "If you are not prepared to obey me or if you have doubts and wish to carry out your own will, then you must leave. If you have love and faith that I am the Avatar, which I am, then you must obey me; you must hold fast to me".
Significantly, during all such meetings and during his long periods of seclusion, and fasting, Meher Baba did not allow even his close disciples to come anywhere close to him.
He said, "While working I leave my physical body which has become dead to all feelings of touch. I would not even feel it if my body is harmed or cut up into pieces. It is best if I draw a boundary at around a distance of 50 yards. No one should come closer. Anyone trying to cross that boundary line would drop dead …."

Threat to Meherazad's sanctity

Meherazad Meher Baba followers world-wide have launched "Let's protect the sacred property of Meherazad". And are sending petitions by post and the e-mail to Indian authorities concerned at all levels from the district administrative head in Ahmednagar to Chief Minister of Maharashtra in Mumbai and to the Union Minister for Road Transport besides Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Meherazad, near Pimpalgaon village, some 14 km north of Ahmednagar, is a farm-house like complex. It was the last residence of Avatar Meher Baba and of his close disciples. And, therefore, a place of spiritual pilgrimage. Meherabad is his final resting place, near Arangaon village, 5km south of Ahmednagar on the highway to Daund and Pune.
Today the Meherazad complex is facing a threat to its very existence.
Local vested interests are demanding access through the approach road to Meherazad and the house complex to their village. "Over the past two years a small group of people living in the Pimpalgaon-Malvi area have made it their goal to harass, vandalize and attack M e h e r a z a d property", the on-line petition reads. M e h e r a z a d i s managed by the Avatar Meher Baba Trust. The M a h a r a s h t r a Government has r e c o g n i z e d Meherazad, including the Approach Road, as a place of worldwide pilgrimage.
Yet, the Pimpalgaon group reportedly enlisted the cooperation of local officials, "who find it politically expedient to take the side of the villagers," regardless of the actual veracity of the claims. Their demand is not acceptable to Meher Baba Trust and to the followers of Meher Baba. For valid reasons.
Legally the Approach Road and the house are privately owned since these were purchased in 1944 in a public auction, at Meher Baba's direction. The purchase deed gives Road access only to those farmers whose properties border the Road—not to the general public.
"Unfortunately, legality has little importance,"the on-line petition of Meher Baba followers laments while urging the authorities to intervene in the matter.
World-wide pilgrimage to Meherazad always begins at the treelined Approach Road.
Avatar Meher Baba himself walked on this Road countless times and drove in His car up and down, sanctifying it with His Presence. The trees which form its welcome border were planted by Baba's close disciples at His request.
Walking down the Approach Road to Meherazad has always been an intrinsic part of one's pilgrimage.
If this Road becomes public, the trees and the Road itself as a point of pilgrimage will soon disappear. On its part, the Meher Baba Trust has offered to build an alternative road parallel to the Approach Road. The suggested alignment was once the home of a water pipeline that was laid from Pimpalgaon Lake to Ahmednagar City several decades ago. Now the pipeline is not in use. So is theroad; only some part of the road still exists; a large section of the road has been encroached by some local farmers. The Trust, though cash strapped perennially, is, ready to help financially in compensating the farmers and building the road.
The group spearheading the campaign for a road through Meherazad propertyis not amenable to the Trust suggestion. Instead they are working overtime to have their way.
"I am reminded of how often Baba would tell His close ones that opposition is necessary for His work. Surely, He is using this fierce opposition to facilitate whatever He wishes to achieve", says Shridhar Kelkar, chairman, Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust. He has not given up hope though the Trust appears to have become a soft target.
"We will leave no stone unturned in our quest to preserve the beauty, sanctity and serenity of Baba's home," he avers.
Local revenue official, the Tesildar, has since upheld the Trust's claim but "uncompromising political pressure and public pressure has brought forth "threats" that the gates of Meherazad would be broken and the sanctity of Meher Baba's Home would be subjected to "the onslaught of the villagers' wrath". "We have spared no efforts to protect Meherazad, but now it is in His hands", says Sridhar as the Trust faces a new threat at Meherabad on the Nagar-Daund road.
Widening of the road into four lanes threatens to swallow the place Meher Baba had used for 'holy fire' (Dhuni) and the nearby place where he had rested on his first visit to present day Meherabad. "Dhuni is very sacred for us. We lit the fire on the 12th of every month and the event is a big draw. So we asked the PWD to consider going underground and thus save the Dhuni".
Like at Meherazad, at Meherabad also the Trust is hoping for a miracle though Meher Baba always said "I don't perform miracles. The only miracle I perform is giving spiritual push to the world".



		EDITOR'S MAIL MATTERS OF PUBLIC POLICY LOOKING BEYOND SIGNALS FROM GUJARAT SAFFRON IN HIMACHAL FRANKLY SPEAKING KARNATAKA SCENE CONGRESS SUCCESSION REALPOLITIK STATE OF ECONOMY FRDI BILL LEGENDARY DYAL SINGH WOMEN IN VALLEY 2G CASE VERDICT BHOPAL DIARY SIKHISM CHANDIGARH DIARY HITS & MISSES SPORTS FOREIGN MINISTERS'.. AMERICAN DIARY HIMALAYAN BLUNDER SIGNS OF THE TIMES INTERVIEW BEYOND RELIGIOUS BARRIERS BOOK BAZAAR TRIBUTE YOGA IN DAILY LIFE ART OF LIVING Issue:Jan' 2018 Subscribe Now	A BEYOND RELIGIOUS BARRIERS Who is Meher Baba...? Meher Baba's samadhi Malladi Rama Rao Who is Meher Baba? This is a d i f f i c u l t question to a n s w e r . Frankly I do not know the answer though I have been visiting Meher Baba's samadhi atop a hill near Ahmednagar city in Maharashtra. I first heard about him some five decades ago, and felt attracted towards him. What attracted me? I still do not know. What all I can say is that I believe him as my god. Please do not ask me how I know that he is my god. Matters of faith are beyond logic, and, well, of scientific scrutiny even in the 21st century. On his part, Meher Baba did not ask me or anyone who came in contact with him to follow him leaving behind "your gods, your faith and your religion."He did not perform any miracles to attract and retain people. "If you want material benefit or want miracles, do not come to me," he bluntly told whoever had approached him. In fact, he warned that he sometimes worksfor the material downfall of his repeatedly remarked cautioning people against becoming a hostage to religious riots and rituals.And made it explicitly clear, "I am not going to establish any religion." dear ones "deliberately". His refrain: "I have come not to teach but to awaken you". Rituals and religious hierarchy, according to him, have become a barrier and the seeker must first learn to become free of established religious practices. In his critique of religious practices, Meher Baba did not spare any religion. "All religions have had good intentions when they were established but over time the clergy has acquired a stranglehold, and this has defeated the very purpose of religion", he repeatedly remarked cautioning people against becoming a hostage to religious riots and rituals.And made it explicitly clear, "I am not going to establish any religion." I have come across many people who are willing to accept Meher Baba as a saint, or a spiritual soul of high order. But I find that they are reluctant to take him as the one long awaited — Prophet, the Buddha, the Christ, the Messiah of this age. I do not know why. They may have their reasons. Of course, India is a land of gods and goddesses and Babas and more Babas. Honestly, Meher Baba did not insist that everyone should hail him as the Avatar, and follow him. If so, why should he declare himself that "I am the Avatar of the Age. I am the Highest of the High?" His first biography, God-Man (by Charles Purdom, a British journalist) quotes him as saying that "To know me as I am, you have to become what I am. As for myself, I know I am the Avatar." The Sanskrit word, Avatar means "descent of God." Meher Baba means 'Compassionate Father.' It is the name given to Merwan Sheriar Irani by a group of disciples in the early 1920s when signs of his spiritual status first became apparent. Meher Baba Merwan was born to Zoroastrian parents in Pune on 25 February 1894. His father was a Darvish, seeker of God, who came to India from Persia (today's Iran) through Afghanistan and present-day Pakistan. Merwan led a normal childhood until the age of 19, when he encountered Hazrat Babajan, a centenarian Afghan Muslim saint. With a kiss on the forehead, Babajan initiated Merwan into the state of God-Realization. He was inwardly prompted to contact four Sadgurus- Sai Baba of Shirdi, Upasni Maharaj of Sakori (near Shirdi), Narayan Maharaj of Kedgaon (near Pune), and Tajuddin Baba of Nagpur. With the help of Upasni Maharaj, Merwan brought the experience of God's transcendent Oneness down into the domain of duality or creation, thus establishing himself in spiritual perfection. On 10 July 1925, Meher Baba began observing silence, which he maintained till he dropped his body nearly forty-four years later on Jan 31, 1969. Initially, he used an alphabet board. From 1954, he communicated through hand gestures. The same year, in February, for the first time, Meher Baba publicly declared himself to be the Avatar or Christ of the age. About this phase, Meher Baba said once: "Sai Baba made me assert this time what I am. Babajan made me feel what I am. Upasni Maharaj made me know what I am. What I am, I am". On 10 July 1925, Meher Baba began observing silence, which he maintained till he dropped his body nearly 45 years. Initially, he used an alphabet board. From 1954, he communicated through hand gestures. The same year, in February, for the first time, Meher Baba publicly declared himself to be the Avatar or Christ of the age. During the 1930s, Meher Baba visited Europe ten times, America thrice, and China and the Far East. During the 1950s he travelled three more times to the West. The purpose of these visits, as he himself stated,was "to make people understand religion in the true sense." While in London on 29 June 1934, a visitor asked Meher Baba: "… if you are the Christ, why don't people know about it?" He replied: "The Avatar's exterior way of living is regulated by the habits and customs of the times, and he adopts that attitude which is most suited to serve as an example to his contemporaries. But in essence, all Avatars embody the same ideal of life. The Avatars incarnate at different times and their teachings have therefore to be adapted to the mentality of their epoch. At times, the Avatar bases his teaching on the search for the personal God, and at other times, on the search for the impersonal God". He also explained how he works. "There are three principal ways in which I work: individually, collectively (with crowds for the masses), and universally. When I work individually, it is with persons who are with me, or persons who are away from me, or persons who are connected with me. "When I work universally, it is through agents. My mind, being Universal, is linked with every individual mind, even with advanced minds who are my agents; and so I am present and working through my agents in every part of the world. That is why at times while speaking to one person, my mind is working elsewhere. People have seen and marked me stopping suddenly in the midst of conversation, as if absent and away from the spot, engrossed in something else. "The agents do the work for people on the gross plane, and through the circle, I work for the spiritual plane, without their (members of the circle) being aware of it. Jesus worked through his apostles on the spiritual plane without their knowing it; but later on, they knew it. They knew that all the time it was Jesus' working and they were his instruments — mediums — and all the time one with Jesus. "Only those in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh planes, and who are conscious of me, know under and for whom they are physically working. They cannot see me physically, but their subtle and mental bodies see my subtle body, which is similar to the gross ...They also know that I am One with the Infinite." The Agents, Meher Baba, said, are not Mahayogis on the spiritual path but carry out his orders. The Agents are of three types -Direct agents, who receive directions directly from the Avatar; Indirect agents, who get their diktats from the direct agents; Borrowed agents, who receive orders from the indirect agents. After his Fallenfluh 'meeting', Meher Baba told his disciples, "I have drawn a circle around the country (Switzerland) so that it will not be involved in the coming (Second World) war". And added: "When I work like this, a meeting of large number of my agents is held but you cannot see them though you can hear a rumble like foot steps'". Lord Meher, authored by his close disciple Bhau Kalchuri, records Meher Baba's spiritual meetings with his agents in India and abroad. Many such meetings took place at what is today is Meher Baba samadhi. In Europe, such meetings took place at Assisi (Italy) in 1932, Fallenfluh in Swiss mountains in July 1934 and atop the iconic Eiffel Tower in 1937, as disclosed by Baba himself. These meetings prepared a 'Divine Plan' to meet 'the present and future circumstances of the Universe'. After his Fallenfluh 'meeting', Meher Baba told his disciples, "I have drawn a circle around the country (Switzerland) so that it will not be involved in the coming (Second World) war". And added: "When I work like this, a meeting of large number of my agents is held but you cannot see them though you can hear a rumble like foot steps'". Several times Meher Baba asked his followers to hold fast to his daman. "If you are not prepared to obey me or if you have doubts and wish to carry out your own will, then you must leave. If you have love and faith that I am the Avatar, which I am, then you must obey me; you must hold fast to me". Significantly, during all such meetings and during his long periods of seclusion, and fasting, Meher Baba did not allow even his close disciples to come anywhere close to him. He said, "While working I leave my physical body which has become dead to all feelings of touch. I would not even feel it if my body is harmed or cut up into pieces. It is best if I draw a boundary at around a distance of 50 yards. No one should come closer. Anyone trying to cross that boundary line would drop dead …." Threat to Meherazad's sanctity Meherazad Meher Baba followers world-wide have launched "Let's protect the sacred property of Meherazad". And are sending petitions by post and the e-mail to Indian authorities concerned at all levels from the district administrative head in Ahmednagar to Chief Minister of Maharashtra in Mumbai and to the Union Minister for Road Transport besides Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Meherazad, near Pimpalgaon village, some 14 km north of Ahmednagar, is a farm-house like complex. It was the last residence of Avatar Meher Baba and of his close disciples. And, therefore, a place of spiritual pilgrimage. Meherabad is his final resting place, near Arangaon village, 5km south of Ahmednagar on the highway to Daund and Pune. Today the Meherazad complex is facing a threat to its very existence. Local vested interests are demanding access through the approach road to Meherazad and the house complex to their village. "Over the past two years a small group of people living in the Pimpalgaon-Malvi area have made it their goal to harass, vandalize and attack M e h e r a z a d property", the on-line petition reads. M e h e r a z a d i s managed by the Avatar Meher Baba Trust. The M a h a r a s h t r a Government has r e c o g n i z e d Meherazad, including the Approach Road, as a place of worldwide pilgrimage. Yet, the Pimpalgaon group reportedly enlisted the cooperation of local officials, "who find it politically expedient to take the side of the villagers," regardless of the actual veracity of the claims. Their demand is not acceptable to Meher Baba Trust and to the followers of Meher Baba. For valid reasons. Legally the Approach Road and the house are privately owned since these were purchased in 1944 in a public auction, at Meher Baba's direction. The purchase deed gives Road access only to those farmers whose properties border the Road—not to the general public. "Unfortunately, legality has little importance,"the on-line petition of Meher Baba followers laments while urging the authorities to intervene in the matter. World-wide pilgrimage to Meherazad always begins at the treelined Approach Road. Avatar Meher Baba himself walked on this Road countless times and drove in His car up and down, sanctifying it with His Presence. The trees which form its welcome border were planted by Baba's close disciples at His request. Walking down the Approach Road to Meherazad has always been an intrinsic part of one's pilgrimage. If this Road becomes public, the trees and the Road itself as a point of pilgrimage will soon disappear. On its part, the Meher Baba Trust has offered to build an alternative road parallel to the Approach Road. The suggested alignment was once the home of a water pipeline that was laid from Pimpalgaon Lake to Ahmednagar City several decades ago. Now the pipeline is not in use. So is theroad; only some part of the road still exists; a large section of the road has been encroached by some local farmers. The Trust, though cash strapped perennially, is, ready to help financially in compensating the farmers and building the road. The group spearheading the campaign for a road through Meherazad propertyis not amenable to the Trust suggestion. Instead they are working overtime to have their way. "I am reminded of how often Baba would tell His close ones that opposition is necessary for His work. Surely, He is using this fierce opposition to facilitate whatever He wishes to achieve", says Shridhar Kelkar, chairman, Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust. He has not given up hope though the Trust appears to have become a soft target. "We will leave no stone unturned in our quest to preserve the beauty, sanctity and serenity of Baba's home," he avers. Local revenue official, the Tesildar, has since upheld the Trust's claim but "uncompromising political pressure and public pressure has brought forth "threats" that the gates of Meherazad would be broken and the sanctity of Meher Baba's Home would be subjected to "the onslaught of the villagers' wrath". "We have spared no efforts to protect Meherazad, but now it is in His hands", says Sridhar as the Trust faces a new threat at Meherabad on the Nagar-Daund road. Widening of the road into four lanes threatens to swallow the place Meher Baba had used for 'holy fire' (Dhuni) and the nearby place where he had rested on his first visit to present day Meherabad. "Dhuni is very sacred for us. We lit the fire on the 12th of every month and the event is a big draw. So we asked the PWD to consider going underground and thus save the Dhuni". Like at Meherazad, at Meherabad also the Trust is hoping for a miracle though Meher Baba always said "I don't perform miracles. The only miracle I perform is giving spiritual push to the world".