Meher Baba's Life & Travels
Born : 15th August 1872 - Calcutta, British India
Died : 5th December 1950 ( 78 ) - Pondicherry, India
Married : Mrinalini Devi m. 1901 she was 14 - d.1918
Children : none
Parents : Krishna Dhun Ghose ( father ), Swarnalata Devi ( mother )
Siblings : 3 brothers, 1 sister
Studied : Alma mater - University of Cambridge, England
His ashram opened in 1926 at Pondicherry, India ( see maps )
Close spiritual collaborator, Mirra Alfassa (b. Alfassa), came to be known as The Mother.
INDIAN
SPIRITUAL TEACHER
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Aurobindo
1926
Baba mentioned Aurobindo Ghose, saying he was an example of an educated, well-read
person who was on the Path.
Note : Aurobindo Ghose contributed to the spread of Eastern religious thought in Europe and America with his prolific writings, which were influenced by Western humanistic philosophy due to the university education he received in England. Baba revealed that Aurobindo was on the sixth plane.
1908 :
Aurobindo was arrested on charges of planning and overseeing the attack in the Alipore Bomb Case http://www.sriaurobindoinstitute.org/saioc/Sri_Aurobindo/alipore_bomb_case and imprisoned in solitary confinement in Alipore Jail.
The trial lasted for a year, but eventually, he was acquitted on 6 May 1909. His defence counsel was Chittaranjan Das.
During this period in the Jail, his view of life was radically changed due to spiritual experiences and realizations. Consequently, his aim went far beyond the service and liberation of the country.
Aurobindo said he was "visited" by Vivekananda in the Alipore Jail.
Source : Wikipedia
Mid-September 1940
Meher Baba said :
In some ashrams like Madurai and Pondicherry ( both in Sth. India ), there are actual meditation classes. But meditation has never yet made a person one with God! Hafiz said to the Sufis, If you have the 'whim' to achieve union with God, become as the dust at the feet of One who has become united with Him!
Meditation gives peace and some inner revelation to some fortunate ones. Aurobindo [Ghose] has written in his book, "I am trying to attain to that state through meditation." If Illumination is attained through meditation, it is no small thing. The meaning of meditation is to go deep within one's self. It is self-hypnotism in the divine way — to lose yourself in forgetting the self by not thinking of anything but the Self.
Aurobindo is on the sixth plane, not by the state of a wali-mast, but by meditation. Chatti Baba never meditated, yet he sees God all day and night. And, though both are on the sixth plane, there is a great difference between them. Love gives permanence, meditation gives samadhi. After union with God, complete permanency exists, whether you come down [to gross consciousness] or not. If you come down, you bring God with you!
Aurobindo writes beautifully about the "deep valley" between seeing God and God Himself.
He says, "We cry out on this side: 'O God, we see You but cannot come to you! So, at least you come to us!' " And God replies, "I always come as Ram, Krishna, Buddha, and others."
Sufis don't give hell for meditation; they love!
Lord Meher Online Edition Page 2146
Mid-September 1940
Meher Baba said :
In meditation, the Beloved does not exist. That is why it is said that in meditation, the most you can get is samadhi — forgetting everything and deriving peace.
But never God-realization! It is only attained by love.
Baba asked, "Have any of you read about the saint Aurobindo?" Baba spoke again about Aurobindo's spiritual advancement through his meditation.
1942
On 11 April, Baba wrote to (Dr.) Deshmukh, directing him to meet Gandhi again, and try to explain Baba's viewpoint properly.
Deshmukh saw Gandhi at his ashram in Wardha ( Sevagram township,MS., near Nagpur ) on the 15th, but Gandhi still did not accept "non-violent violence" and clung to his own rigid outlook.
At the end of April, Baba sent Chanji back to Delhi to contact other influential persons who had spiritual inclinations, and disseminate his messages to them. Baba particularly wished to contact Colonel Louis Johnson, President Roosevelt's special envoy from America. Chanji gave him the messages and he promised to study them. (Messages were also mailed to prominent Indian personalities such as Aurobindo.)
Lord Meher Online Edition Page 2275-6
Sri Aurobindo with his spiritual assistant Mirra Alfassa known as The Mother.
30th January 1948
Meher Baba had previously stated that Mahatma Gandhi had a greater destiny than leading India free from British rule, that he was destined to work for the whole world as a God-realized soul. In 1927, Baba had told the mandali: "Gandhi is doing all this with the best of intentions and therefore will realize God in his third life after this."
However, after Mahatma Gandhi's death, people began speaking of him as an "Avatar." Aurobindo Ghose also paid warm tribute to the fallen leader. In response to all this talk about Gandhi, on 14 February Baba issued the following statement, asking each of the mandali to write down their comments.
Those who are confused, used or diffused are refused! And with such people, Baba is not amused!
Everything is happening according to the Divine Plan, and now it is going to be a test for God, the world, me and you.
Aurobindo is a political Hindu yogi of the sixth plane. He is a real advanced saint and a good soul, but not having realized God, he still thinks of politics and Mother India. He called Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Ram Tirtha "Avatars," and it would not have been surprising if he had called his political saintly friend [Gandhi] names or paid him tributes as suited him — from "Avatar" downwards to "political opportunist."
As for Gandhi, he was surely one of the greatest men of the world, and a saint because of his sufferings, sacrifices and love for the nation and love for God. But to call Gandhi an Avatar is emotional trash and sentimental nonsense! One who always waited for the "inner voice" to guide him cannot be an Avatar, because the Avatar is "Voice" itself. One confessing of his Himalayan blunders and of being occasionally in darkness, weak and imperfect cannot be the Avatar. The Avatar is all-knowledge, all-power, all-bliss, all-perfection!
The truth of the situation is that Gandhi never claimed Avatarship for himself, nor even sainthood; and this enhances his greatness all the more.
Even Jinnah [the leader of Pakistan] is considered by the Muslims as the savior of Islam. After his death — which is in the near future — he will also be acclaimed by the Muslim world as Imam Mehdi, the Muslim Avatar.
Therefore, in this Avatar business, if any of you really feel confused, excited and disappointed, you would be rendering me the greatest service by leaving me for good or bad. I want you to be honest with yourself and with me, because I am what I am, what I always was and will ever be.
Maybe I am Avatar of God or the Devil. So, once and for all, see within and find out if you are confused or fused. In Satara I said, "See what happens in February." Now wait for June 1948!
2nd March 1948
Baba met and embraced Rustom and Freiny's sons Mehlu, Falu and Beheram, and discussed their personal problems before they left for Nasik. To another group of visitors that day who asked about Aurobindo Ghose and Ramana Maharshi, Baba stated: "I am in Aurobindo, Ramana Maharshi and beyond!" Yeshwant Rao of Sakori met Baba on the 6th.
13 August 1949
Gaya Prasad Khare was sitting deep in thought at his home in Rath, Uttar Pradesh. "How unfortunate I am that I have never had Meher Baba's darshan," he lamented. "As soon as I came to know about him from Babadas, darshan was stopped. Why the hell did Babadas tell me about him in the first place? If he had never mentioned him to me, I would not feel so restless."
He wondered whether he should go to Pondicherry and seek Aurobindo's darshan instead; however, he subsequently learned that Aurobindo, too, had stopped giving darshan. What was he to do?
5th December 1950
From 30 November 1950, Baba began attending the Brabourne Stadium ( in Bombay / Mumbai ) cricket series daily after his mast work was over.
But a week later, on the morning of 5 December 1950, Baba was not in a good mood and canceled going that day. "I will rest all day," he stated, then added, "and we will not be going to any more matches, either." Chhagan had been on watch and reported that Baba had been in a foul temper all night.
At lunchtime all were eager to at least know the score of the match, but Baba's mood precluded turning on the radio. Suddenly, Baba himself wondered how the match was going, and asked that the radio be turned on. The first thing they heard was the news of the death of the sixth-plane saint Aurobindo Ghose the previous night at 1:30 A.M. Only then did everyone grasp the reason for Baba's mood. In the past, Baba had once mentioned that Aurobindo Ghose was a yogi who had advanced himself by his own efforts to the sixth plane and become a saint.
Baba now called for Aurobindo's photograph and placed it before him as he listened to accounts of his life on the radio. Later he explained to Adi Sr. what he had been doing: "I was pushing Aurobindo from the sixth to the seventh plane."
Lord Meher Online Edition Page 2958
20th January 1953
A yogi from Pondicherry named Shuddhanand Bharati, 56, came to Dhanapathy's for Baba's darshan. Many years before, Bharati had met Sai Baba, who had given him a candy, saying, "Your Beloved will possess you soon. Keep silent and centered on the Self. Sweet [blessed] is the heart which is linked with the Sweetest [God]."
Upasni Maharaj had once told Shuddhanand, "The Beloved of your life will one day embrace you." And a high saint of Hubli ( Hubballi ) had said, "You will meet a silent Master." Now, after meeting other spiritually illumined beings such as Ramana Maharshi and Aurobindo, at last he faced Meher Baba, and immediately recognized him as "the Saint of saints, the Mahatma of mahatmas, the goal of my long pilgrimage."
Baba met him very lovingly, and Shuddhanand Bharati bowed his head at Baba's feet. Baba gave him a message titled "Inner Humility Is Strength, Outer Humility Is Weakness."
19th March 1965
Nariman came to Meherazad on 17 March 1965, as did Padri on one of his routine visits. Two days later on the 19th, an unexpected visitor, Sir Anthony Brooke, 53, arrived.
Brooke belonged to a prominent British aristocratic family, and had been appointed as the Raja of Sarawak for one year. Brooke was interested in spirituality and had learned where Baba resided from Maud Kennedy in England.
He intended to travel in India, visiting the ashrams of different saints, such as Aurobindo and Ramana Maharshi.
Webmaster : Brooke met with Meher Baba later that morning and was very drawn to Him.
Lord Meher Online Edition Page 5125
PONDICHERRY ( PUDUCHERRY ), INDIA
AUROVILLE, INDIA
BOOKS ABOUT SRI AUROBINDO
Spiritual teachers who trained under Aurobindo
Sri Chinmoy Ghose
