DISCOURSES & TALKS BY MEHER BABA

 

MIND  &  BODY

 

 

 

2nd July, 1925

 

A group of Parsi politicians came to see Meher Baba on Thursday, 2 July. After discussing with them the political and spiritual situation of India, the Master discoursed about the mind and body. This was to be his last recorded verbal discourse:

 

Human excrement is totally useless; only swine eat it. Similarly, when the flesh is cut from a carcass, only bones remain and these are thrown to the dogs. Man's mind is like flesh, and his body is like the bones.

 

A person eats flesh [meat] and digests it, which means he uses it. But the bones are inedible and of no use; so he gives them to dogs, who can chew and utilize them.

 

A human being must care for his mind, which is like the meat. He should use his mind by training it to flow into the proper channels.

 

A person has to let go of his physical body sometime, for it cannot be preserved. To illustrate this: suppose one's finger is chopped off or a leg is crippled, he should not worry or weep over it because he knows that his whole physical body has to be discarded one day. But a human being should be most careful about his mind, which is of the utmost use to him. The mind should be directed toward proper spheres; it should be kept in check and utilized.

 

If this body, which a person has to discard one day, is used for anything, it should be used in the service of three causes: God, the Master and our fellowman. The body may become weary and worn-out — it may bring one suffering — but so what? Man, as a physical being, is destined to suffer. So long as the body is vibrant, active and under one's control, man can be said to have used it for a good cause by directing his energies in any good or noble work.

 

 

Lord Meher On-line page 596-7

Lord Meher Vol.2 p.729

 

 

 

Late August, 1928

 

Bhiwa answered, "While meditating, I don't see your physical form. Many thoughts assail me."

 

Baba consoled him with an explanation about the mind:

 

The mind is a terrible curse. Its business is to think and think — the more so when we do not wish to think of a particular person or thing. For instance, when you sit down for meditation or concentration on the guru or the Beloved [God], other worldly thoughts of a thousand and one kinds, of which ordinarily you would not have dreamed, are sure to rush into your mind. Thoughts always creep in with their continuous onslaughts, for it is the business of the mind to think, think and think.

 

But the real thinker and meditator is he who would not pay attention to these thoughts and would go on meditating on the image of his worship, even amidst the strongest attacks.

 

This intervention of other ideas is not a sin, or a defect, or even a mistake of the sadhak [aspirant]. These thoughts do and will come as long as that terrible mind is there. The sadhak has only to persist strenuously to drive away these as much as he can and think of the Beloved. He should not give up meditation or feel disturbed or disappointed by these attacks.

 

You need not worry or cry that you cannot love when you cannot meditate due to other thoughts disturbing you. For don't you get up from your sweet sound sleep at midnight with the idea of doing meditation? That is half the work done — sacrificing your sweet sleep for meditation of your own accord without any compulsion. Do you not try to sit down for hours until morning to meditate on me when others are in sound sleep? This is three-fourths of the work done! Now, only one-fourth is left; that is, thinking of only one thing. And try to do that. If you are successful, all right; if not, don't worry. Three-fourths of the work has been done by your waking up and trying to sit for hours in meditation. It is no fault of yours if you do not get the image before your eyes. Persevere and persist in your efforts. Do not be discouraged and give up the effort. Do not try to throw away the sitar because it is hard to tune. Try to adjust and tune each string persistently, with the firm intent of making the instrument work. Similarly, try to catch outside thoughts by the ear and throw them out.

 

Suppose there are innumerable mosquitoes swarming around and some start biting you at night. What would you do to get rid of this annoyance? Would you just sit there and cry? No! You would at once get a mosquito net. You would resort to a remedy and it eventually would have the desired effect. Even though the mosquitoes would come in hordes at first, you would not feel disturbed, for they would almost all be outside the curtain, though a few might have come inside the net. Likewise, deal with all these thoughts. They, like mosquitoes, are sure to come and annoy you, but you have to put up a curtain of thoughts about me, by letting my divine image be present before your mind's eye.

 

 

Lord Meher On-line page 960-1

Lord Meher Vol.2 p.1081-2