DISCOURSES & TALKS BY MEHER BABA

 

SADGURU

 

 

April, 1922

 

A few days later, Baba was relaxing outside his hut with a group of disciples. In the course of the conversation, he told the following story about a Perfect Master:

 

A Sadguru once set out with his disciples for begging. He approached a rich merchant who, instead of giving alms, shouted abuses and obscenities. Nevertheless, the Master blessed him saying, "Your profits will double."

 

The Sadguru then approached another wealthier merchant who mistreated him even more. He, however, blessed this man saying, "Your profits will quadruple!"

 

Then the Sadguru, with his disciples, approached the shop of a poor, old man who received them with reverence and offered whatever he could provide from his meager store. The old shopkeeper had only one son whom he loved dearly. Before leaving, the Sadguru cursed him, "I pray that your son dies soon!" The next day, the son was found dead.

 

When the Sadguru's disciples found this out, they were bewildered by their Master's behavior. The only man who had received them with humble reverence had been cursed, not blessed!

 

Afterward, the Sadguru explained: "Both merchants were immersed in the mire of worldliness and did not want to be extricated. For that reason, I had to submerge them even more in the mire of the world by my blessings, so that one day they will cry to be pulled out.

"The poor shopkeeper was spiritually inclined, however, his love for his son was much too binding.

It was an obstruction to the old man's progress on the Path. The son was, unknowingly, a thorn in his father's side, and so I opened the door to the Path by removing his son.

"Now, you tell me who was blessed and who was cursed?"

 

 

 

Lord Meher On-line page 280-1

Lord Meher Vol.2 p.361-2

 

 

21st June, 1926

 

On one occasion, reflecting on his sense of humor, Baba related:

 

Ajoba is very old. He has a family and children, and is spending his sanskaras in this life. Suppose in his next birth he reincarnates as a female child. (God forbid!) I see this old man now and I also see him as he will be in his next birth — and that makes me laugh! Am I not justified in being humorous? Everything I see, I see as a dream! But in spite of that, I feel bothered about it all because I have to work for others to make them see it as a dream.

Upasni Maharaj was a woman in his previous birth and he will never take birth again. God-realization is usually obtained while living in human form as with the human form comes authority. But there is a special authority that comes with the male human form. A Perfect Master has a circle of twelve men and two female appendages. Of the fourteen people, all the members of the circle are males, except the two women who play the roles of spiritual mother and sister.

 

Babajan is a Qutub, one of the five Sadgurus of this age. From the 56 God-realized people, one woman becomes a Perfect Master and another is also perfect [a Jivanmukta or majzoob]. That woman is presently in Tibet. She has a group of disciples, but usually stays in the mountains and very, very few ever see her. The remaining 54 God-realized beings are men. The number of God-realized souls on earth is eternally fixed at 56 and is never altered [except during Avataric ages when God directly descends as a man].

 

 

 

 

On 22nd June 1926, Baba revealed:

 

A Sadguru is like an ocean, a limitless stretch of water. Empty your mind of all mayavic desires and the waters of the ocean will find a way in — the waters of Knowledge, Power and Bliss.

The Jivanmuktas, majzoobs and other spiritual beings in the hierarchy are the pipelines for the waters of Realization.

They distribute the ocean's waters to deserving candidates who are prepared and who are being prepared.

 

Continuing the metaphor of water, Baba stated:

 

In gaseous form, water evaporates and forms clouds. Now you cannot use this gas or vapor in clouds for railway engines or any other steam-driven conveyance. For that you have to pump water from the ocean, river or some subsidiary; then you fill the tanks of the engine and produce steam to work it.

 

These clouds of condensed vapor may be compared to majzoobs, the steam being formed and used for work in the world by Sadgurus. And you, the bhaktas [lovers], are the water which must be heated, boiled and transformed into steam. In other words, the essence must be prepared to change its very form. On the other hand, ice and snow are like worldly people who have no inclination toward spirituality — they are so cold!

 

 

 

Two days later - 24th June 1926, while explaining about God-realized majzoobs, Baba disclosed:

 

Majzoobs are absorbed in their ecstasy and appear insane to the world. They are like a runaway carriage; its horses are galloping off without the driver. The carriage is the majzoob himself; the horses are the faint residual impressions of his mind — gross, subtle, and mental; and the driver is the intellect and ego. The majzoob does not have any sanskaric ego-mind and hence his "carriage" is "driverless."

 

Lord Meher On-line page 678-9

Lord Meher Vol.3 p.815-6

 

 

 

 

18 July, 1927

 

 

That day, while discussing spiritual matters, Baba disclosed:

 

The Sadguru can interfere in the Creator's workings, but he rarely does so.

Generally he leaves the Creator and His creation to manage their own affairs among themselves [that is, the Sadguru remains aloof from creation except in regard to his circle].

 

Lord Meher On-line page 831-2

Lord Meher Vol.3 p.952

 

 

 

9 December, 1927

 

Baba discoursed on the Sadguru:

 

Without the sanskaras being totally eliminated there is no spiritual liberation. To dispose of sanskaras one has to create "reverse" sanskaras, which are opposite in nature. Opposite impressions reverse the sanskaric makeup of the mind. To remove stains, soap or lime is necessary. But the mind never dies of itself.

 

For example, suppose your hand is to be broken. It is difficult and almost impossible for you to twist your own hand enough to break it. But if a sturdy fellow comes along and twists it, your hand fractures in a second. That sturdy chap is the Sadguru who is required to deal with the mind and all its mischief.

 

But a Sadguru is not to be found so easily. It requires love, the search for Truth amidst hardships and sufferings, and undergoing untold difficulties — these draw the Sadguru to the deserving ones.

 

If by hurting a person temporarily you provide a permanent healing, this apparently cruel act of yours is, in fact, a blessing. In the same way, suppose that by rendering a temporary healing you create a permanent hurt; this apparently blessed act of yours is, in fact, a curse. A doctor cutting open a boil and causing so much pain to the sufferer is considered an enemy who has hurt one; but when the pus is removed the patient is relieved, and the doctor is considered a real friend who helped.

 

So the Sadguru is at first apparently considered an enemy when he tries to remove sins and wipe out desires and sanskaras of the aspirant by forcing strict discipline on him, renunciation, et cetera. But when the bliss of union with the Divine Beloved is attained through his grace, he is considered a true friend.

 

Lord Meher On-line page 869-70

Lord Meher Vol.3 page 991