DISCOURSES & TALKS BY MEHER BABA

 

CIRCLES

 

 

On 16 July 1926, Rustom asked about the circle and Baba explained about the periodic coming of the Avatar and their circles:

 

"Every Master has to perfect his circle, whose members are those who have a very long past connection with him and who flock around him in the age when he is to give them Realization. Those who drink the real juice [Knowledge] are very few and only one out of crores becomes a Master."

 

"Then, why strive for such a rare chance?" Rustom asked. "It is like winning a lottery. There is hardly a chance."

 

"Because with me the result is sure, though slow," Baba replied. "You do get what you strive for. In the end, it is the ultimate aim and object of one and all to find Truth."

 

"Then, if it is sure to come to all, why strive for it? It will come of itself," Rustom said.

 

"Your striving and struggling bring you nearer and nearer to the Goal. Even though you fail 99 times, if the last 100th effort brings you to the point of receiving the Master's grace, your labor is amply justified."

 

"For from the moment of finding a Guru, you have been pushed continually towards the Goal by the secret working and powers of the Guru.

 

"For example, look at the rays of the sun penetrating through the roof of the Makan ( a building at Meherabad ). Compared to the space of the room, which is dark, the cracks themselves are very small and the rays they allow inside are few. Such is the condition of people in the universe. Most of them are utterly ignorant of divine knowledge; only a few have received some of the light from a Realized One. They are like the rays, but these rays are not the Sun, which is Real Knowledge."

 

 

Lord Meher O/L p 691-2

 

 

 

 

29th November, 1926

 

During the outing, they had driven past the Lohagen and Visapur Forts, near the village of Karla. Baba remarked that the area had been "Shivaji's playground." Later, about the circle, Baba revealed:

 

 

When a man or woman dies, he or she takes another human form in the next birth. This form is quite dissimilar from the previous form. Even in hundreds and thousands of births, no two human forms assumed by any one soul are similar. But even this has an exception. A person who enters a Sadguru's circle has a similar form and the same sex at the time of God-realization as he or she had when he or she first entered the circle.

 

 

After a person becomes a member of the circle, he or she attains Realization in 100 or 200 years. During this period, according to their prarabdhas — the spending of the remaining sanskaras after coming into the circle — a person may have to take one, two, three, or four more births. But when the time comes for Realization, the person's form is similar and the sex the same as when he or she first came into the circle.

 

 

The seed of my present circle was laid nearly 400 years ago at the time of Shivaji. Swami Ramdas, the guru of Shivaji and one of the five Perfect Masters of the time, laid the seed of the new spiritual circle-to-be. In exactly the same way, I have now laid the seeds of the new circle-to-be which will be completely manifested 400 to 500 years from now.

 

The human forms which the Master and the members of the circle take during their manifestation are similar and of the same sex as they had at the time when the seed was sown. For example, I have a similar stature now when I am manifested as that of Shivaji when the seed for this present circle was sown. My present form is similar to Shivaji's in features and build.

 

 

Behramji is the duplicate of Afzal Khan [an enemy general killed by Shivaji]. In the same way, all the present members of my circle are exactly as they were during Shivaji's time.

 

LM O/L p. 750

Lord Meher V3 p.882-3

 

14 September, 1927

 

Later, at Meherabad, Baba told the mandali:

 

There is no easier way for attaining God-realization than satsang — the contact with or company of saints and Masters. As for my circle members, have no fear of failure or worry about Realization. The clock is wound and the alarm is set. When the time comes, the clock will ring automatically, whether it is near me or far away. But why keep at a distance? Keep company with Truth. When the time comes, the Light will appear in the blink of an eye. Wait and watch. Just wait patiently, like the story of the true aspirant who waited for twelve years at the bidding of his Master.

 

 

Lord Meher On-line page 792-3

Lord Meher Vol.3 p.921