DISCOURSES & TALKS BY MEHER BABA

 

TO WITHSTAND SEVERE BLOWS

 

 

 

31 March, 1927

 

Baba gathered the mandali near the dhuni and explained:

 

The worries and troubles of the world are all due to "thinking." Thoughts and thoughts! Thinking should be stopped. Soon, I am going to take upon myself the thinking [worries] of the world, which will severely affect my health. A time will come when I will be so disabled that the mandali will have to feed me and administer water to my lips.

You will see what will happen. My suffering will be so acute that it will be difficult for you to witness it. All will worry about me, so much so that, except for a few, the majority of you will go away. You will not be able to bear the sight of it, as it will practically turn me into a corpse. But after this boundless anguish, in horrible pain and with a wrecked and near lifeless body, I will open my mouth for that one unique cause; and every utterance of mine will be worshiped.

 

My words will be so sacred even they will work wonders!

 

When the mandali asked why it was necessary for Baba to undergo such painful suffering, he replied:

 

That is beyond your intellect to understand. It is essential for my future work, which will be tremendous and affect the whole world. It is the duty of the God-realized saliks to give an outward push to the subtle universe; but the "Head" has also to prepare his circle — make the members realize God — as well as give an outward push to the gross universe.

On some selected few of those Realized, a duty is imposed to come down and bring up those in the world who are worthy to be taken up [Realized] — those who have the preparedness. This preparedness does not come offhandedly, quickly, or easily. It requires ages and ages of sufferance and sacrifice and connection with a realized Guru, after which one is deemed worthy of being admitted to the circle for Realization.

 

Realization means absolute destroying of the sanskaras, the absolute stopped state of mind [thinking] which is very, very difficult. If the mind tries to stop thinking, it goes to the sound sleep state, i.e., unconsciousness. Even the great yogis are unable to attain that state. They can at the most stop the formation of new sanskaras during meditation or samadhi. But no sooner they come down from the samadhi state, the very moment their mind begins to work again, it begins to form sansakaras, adding to the huge store of past sanskaras left undestroyed.

 

Hafiz has compared the body with a pot, the soul with smoke, and the sanskaras with a huge stone lying on top of the pot. For all its attempts, how can the smoke ever succeed in removing and throwing off the stone? For this, a sage must come and lift it away.

Similarly, a bird in a cage may keep trying to open the cage, which is closed from the outside, but it will never succeed until help is received from outside.

 

In short, as Hafiz says, "Those who desire to gain something — even a little benefit — in this spiritual line, must have a chest as strong as iron so as to withstand severe blows."

 

Lord Meher On-line page 794-5

Lord Meher Vol.3 p.922-3