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M E H E R BA B Aand

MEHERASHRAIVD

2no editionTHOFtOUGHUV REVISED

BY

KaikhushPu Jamsbedjt Oastar,

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1928

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HIS HOLINESS MEHER BABAAND

MEHERASHRAM

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

When England and Germany were steeped in barbarism, when Greek and Roman

civilisations had scarcely taken birth, whenChinese and Egyptian civilisations werein their infancy, when Arabia and Persiagave no hopes of their future glory, Indiawas basking in the sunshine of a gloriouscivilisation, — a civilisation the like ofwhich the world has never seen, whichhas been peerless in its majesty, matchless in its spirituality, precious in its culture, unparalleled in its benignity and uni-

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^ INTRODUCTION

que in its continuity. Gone are the civilisations of Greece and Rome; dead are

iqiis of ancient ■ Persia and

j ̂he civilisation of India stillflourishes notwithstanding :the shocksit had to receive and the attacks it had to

encounter.

The civilisation of a country is to be estimated neither by its extent and conquests,nor by its population and prosperity.The criteria of gauging it should be litera-;ture, art, science, and. above all spirituality. Judged by these criteria, the Indiancivilisation has always been unparalleledand unique.. .Great as has been the contribution ofIndia to literature, to art, and to sciencejits value sinks almost into insignificancewhen we think of the glory of her highposition in the realm of spirituality. Nobody can understand India without understanding her religion. Her religion is the

INTRODUCTION 3

greatest thing about India. From timesimmemorial the lives of the Indian peoplehave been governed more by religious motives than by. the mean considerations ofgain. The transitoriness of life,the inevi-tableness of death, the immortality of soul,

the omnipresence of God, the doctrine ofreincarnation or palingenesis, Mokska orliberation of the soul from "the chain of

births and deaths, and union with God

have been the favourite themes for dis

cussion of the Indian people, time outof mind.

India has been justly called a land ofphilosophers. But still better would it beto call this Aryavarta a land of saints.One of the greatest Indian saints of thepresent day is my beloved Master, HisHoliness Sadguru Meher Bkbk.

4

CHAPTER II

A LIFE-SKETCH OF

HIS HOLINESS MEHER BAbA.CHILDHOOD AND BOYHOOD

The fuU name of His Holiness MEHER\ N

BABA is Meherwanji Sheheriyarji Irani.He was born in Poona on the twenty-fifthday of the second month of the year 1894.His parents, both of whom are spiritually-minded Zoroastrians, are still living. Thechildhood of Mehervan or Meher, as weshall call him for some time, was happy to a,degree. He was very active and as mischievous as active, but his mischief was as

CHILDHOOD AND BOYHOOD 5

innocent as amusing. The child received agood training at the hands of his parentswho vied with each other in training Me-

her in the way of righteousness.Meher was put to school when he was

only five years old. He passed the Matriculation examination in 1911, at the

early age of seventeen. In the sameyear he joined the Deccan college, buthis college career came to an end by themiddle of 19IH, as a consequence of his spiritual enlightenment.

Before I describe his spiritual enlightenment, I think it necessary to mentionbriefly the intellectual and moral characteristics of our subject's boyhood. Meher'smemory was far superior to that of theaverage boy. This retentive memory coupled with remarkable intelligence enabledhim to exhibit himself as a bright student,though he took interest only in literature.His mind was not attracted to science.

6 CHILDHOOD AND BOYHOOD

Mathematics occasionally gave him headaches. Even history did not entertain him,but good poetry never failed to charmhim. He cultivated a great taste for it. Before he was sixteen he had read most of the

plays of Shakespeare and a number ofworks of a number of poets, English as wellas Indian and Persian. Of all the poets heloved Hafiz the most, for Hafiz made theboy's heart dance with joy and detachedhis attention from the world of everyday.It is noteworthy that even then Meherhimself was a poet. According to Carlyle,he who can read a poem well is a poet.Meher was a poet not merely in thissense, but also in the ordinary sense. Forthree years, from the time when he wasin the matriculation class till he broughthis University career to an end, he contributed under the pseudonym of ' Huma'poems on spiritual subjects in Gujarati, inUrdu, in Persian and in Hindustani, to the

CHILDHOOD AND BOYHOOD 7

columns of the " Sanj Vartaman " , whichis one of the most popular Anglo-Vernacular newspapers of Bombay. Though hewas not spiritually advanced at that time,his poems were hailed as essentiallyspiritual. They were eagerly read bythousands of Parsis, Hindus and Mussal-

mans. It is probable that many readersbelieved, that the author had lost him

self in the ecstatic contemplation of divinebeauty.Prom the moral standpoint Meher's

boyhood was throughout almost ideal. Hewas a dutiful son, a true brother, aloving friend, a faithful servant of Godand a kind and courageous boy. Characteris said to be the diamond that scratches

every other stone. Knowledge is power,but character is, or should be, a greaterpower. A man's worth should be estimatednot by what he has, but by what he is.Thus estimated Meher's worth was great

8 CHILDHOOD AND BOYHOOD

indeed. His great moral characteristicswere kindness and generosity, courage ota hio-h order, love of Truth and love to

O '

God, obedience to parents and respect forelders, cheerfulness and self-control. Hewas noted for his early rising, hard workand punctuality. He was characterised byself-reliance, independence of mind and agenius for friendship.It may seem strange that such a boy

should have no ambition in life. But it isquite true that Meher had none. Hewanted to face life as it came, for he wasenwrapped in blissful contentment. Hehad then no aspiration after God-realisation. What God-realisation is, he had no

idea of, though he was very well acquainted with the poems of the God-realisedHafiz.

' , CHAPTER III

WHAT IS GOU-REALISATXON ?

Before proceeding further, it is neces-Stiry to explain what God-realisation is.God-realisation means nothino- but union

O

with God. To be one with God should

be the aspiration of every spiritually-minded person. As the difference betweenman and God is one of degree and notof kind, it is quite within the bounds ofpossibility that' J ivktman' (individual soul)can effect the union with ' Parmatman '

( Supreme Soul or God ). Jivatman andParam.^tman or man and God become

10 GOD-RBALISATION

uaited when the conditions precedent tothe unification are present. The idea of theunion with God may seem to be fantasticand heretical to the orthodox fanatics of

every creed, but it is a reality of realities.Jesus Christ, who was God-realised, on one

occasion, said; 'Be ye, therefore, perfect,even as your Father, which is in heaven,is perfect.'God-realisation is the noblest practical

ideal to which we can aspire. It and nothing else should be the object of everyreligion. Religion is neither the performance of rites, nor the muttering of mantras nor the acceptance of dogmas, nor thestudy of scriptures. It lies neither inbooks, nor in churches or temples; neitherin streams and rivers, nor in caves andmountains. It is nothing short of realisation.

The mind, with the help of intelligenceand energy, enjoys the world through the

GOD-HEALISATION 11

gross body. Ou the other hand,with the helpof love, inspiration and energy, it enjoysthe planes through the subtle body. Thereare seven planes in all, and it is only whena man crosses the first six planes and goesinto the heart of the seventh that he be

comes one with God. It is noteworthythat it is possible, even though not assistedby any perfect saint or a God-realised person, for those who have ceased to be carnally- minded and whose ftanshiras havebeen wiped out, to pass through the firstthree planes. But the forth plane is astumbling block, and it has proved to bethe undoing of many a spiritual aspirant.Those who succeed in entering the fourthplane are so much enraptured and entranced, and come into the possession ofso many supernatural powers that theyfondly think, if they have no master toguide them, that they have reached thegoal and have nothing to do more. With

12 GOD-EEALISATION

the help of powers, referred to abovevarious miracles can be performed, including those of restoring the ej^'e-sight to theblind and raising the dead. Paradoxical asit may seem, these extraordinary powersshould not be exercised, until and unless

the seventh plane is reached and therebyunion with God is effected. These powershave nothing' to do with Truth, with God-

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realisation. On the contrary, as the saintlyJunayad has observed, the reliance onmiracles is one of the obstacles which hin

der the spiritual aspirant from penetratinginto the innermost shrine of the Truth.

"During my novitiate," said Bayazid," God used to bring before me wondersand miracles, but I paid no heed to them;and when He saw that I did so. He gavejne the means of attaining to Knowledgeof Himself." But, unfortunately, most ofthose who reach the fourth plane, cannotresist the temptation of exercising those

GOD-ItEALISATION 13

powers. The consqueence is that not onlytheir progress comes to a stop, but a horrible relapse they have to experienceultimately.

All those who are God-realised have the

power of performing miracles, but all thoseAvho have the power of performing miracles are not God-realised. The spiritually-imperfect or semi-advanced persons whohave the audacity to perform miraclesshould be avoided as dead plague rats. ShriRamakrishna Paramahamsa, on one occa

sion, said, " Visit not miracle-workers.They are wanderers from the path oftruth. Their minds have become entangledin the meshes of psychic powers, whichlie in the way of the pilgrim towards theBrahman, as temptations. Beware ofthese powers, and desire them not.As the fourth plane is so very danger

ous, those who span it and go into thefifth, may justly be said to have cut the

14 GOD-RKALISATION

gordiou knot,. Passage fi-om the fifth planeto the sixth is not difficult, but none, with

his gross body, can go from the sixth tothe seventli plane, without the active assistance of a God-realised person. Thosewho reach the seventh plane hecome onewith God or God-realised. They immediately experience the Sat - Chit - Ananda(' existence absolute, knowledge absoluteand bliss absolute ) state for God is Sat,Chit and Ananda. Sonie of those who

realise God give up their body and mindat once. Such are called " Videh-Muktas "

or " Fana-Fillahs ". Those who do not

leave their body and mind are either Mu-jzubs, or Saliks, or Sadgurus. Mujzubs,who are also called Paramahamsas, are

those who enjoy the Sat - Chit - Anandastate but who are unable to render anyservice to the world or even to a singleindividual, as they cire absolutely super-conscious and absolutely unconscious of

GOD-REALISATION 15

the Universe. As soon as a person realises God, he becomes absolutely unconscious of the Universe on account of the

infinite bliss. He regains his subtleand ffross consciousness, onlv if his mas-

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ter is pleased to restore it. Only a fewout of millions realise , God. And fewerstill regain their v^onsciousness aftertheir union with God. Those who regainit, but who are indifferent to the welfareof humanity are called Saliks, wlio are also called Jivan-Muktas. Sadgurus, whoare also called Kutubs, on the other hand,are those God-realised personages who, after regaining consciousness, work foi- thegood of the world. They aro all-knowing.Their energy is boundless. Their powersare infinite. Their souls are ever in ineffable bliss. As they are perfect, they canperform miracles without harming themselves in any way: but as a rule, they seldom do so. They live in the world but they

16 GOD-BE ALISATION

are not of it. It is with the sole purposeof serving mankind that they condescend tolive with common folks. They are absolutely above temptation. Not a single badthouo-ht can seek entrance into their minds.

O

There are no limits to their greatness andgoodness. They are capable of giving animpetus to the spiritual progress of thewhole world. Any Sadguru can make anordinary man, if he is found fit, as spiritually perfect as himself.

All Sadgurus hold the same opinionson all spiritual questions. The differencesin their teachings are generally due todifferent conditions and circumstances

in which they find themselves. The sameis the reason for their giving differentpieces of advice or different religious commands to different persons, as occasionsdemand.

CHAPTEE IV

HOW TUB YOUTH MEHEE BECAME

A SADGURU

We shall now continue the life-sketch

of the hero of this booklet. One day, inthe month of May, 1913, as good luckwould have it, for the first time in his life,Meher came into contact with Her Holiness Hazrat Jim of Poona, who isa Kutub. Her Holiness, who is nearly J 30years old, as soon as her eyes fell uponMeher, got up from her seat and embraced him. That embrace was by no meansordinary, but highly .significant and highly

18 THE YOUTH-A SADGURU

extraoTclinaiy. The wonderful eftect olthat embrace was that Meher was thrilled,-

from the crown of his head to the soles of

his feet, with spirituality. It was a divinethrill, the like of which only a few fortunate men have experienced. Meher wasundoubtedly dazed for a while by it, butgradually grew accustomed to it. .In January, 1914, i. e. about eight

).nonths after he was given the divinethrill. Her Holiness Bilbti, Jim made her

disciple pass through all the planes. Inother words. Her Holiness made him God-

realised. As soon as Meher -began enjoying the bliss of the seventh plane, he became unconscious of everything except hisown divine self and for full nine months he

remained so. During this whole period,it goes without saying, whatever he did,he did without any motive, without theleast prompting of his mind, without becoming in the slightest degree cognisant

THE TOUTH-A SADGURU 19

of Ills own actions. He acted like a mad

man, a harmless mad-man, but was happyto a degree, for was he not enjoying ineft-able bliss ? At the end of the above periodhe recovered a little consciousness of

his, which was sufficient enough to makehim cognisant of his actions. His fullconsciousness was restored to him byliis second. Master, His Holiness UpasaniMaharaj of Sakori (District Ahmednagar)at the end of 1931, i. e. nearly eight yearsafter he became God-realised. Thus he

liecame God-realised before hewastwentv

years old, and a conscious Sadguru at the

age of twenty-seven.The active Sadguruship of His Holiness

Meher Baba, as we shall now call him,may be said to have commenced from thebeginning of 1922. For the sake of othersHis Holiness has oft undergone great sufferings, a,nd spent a couple of years in travelling throughout India and in some parts

20 THE TOUTH - A SADGURH

of Persia and Baluchistan. It is note

worthy that His Holiness invariably travelled in third class. For months togetherHis Holiness would not take any solidfood. His Holiness has been observingsilence since the last three years. Neverhas he spoken a word during this wholeperiod, nor ejaculated any sound expressing sorrow, anger or delight. His Holiness always keeps with him a paste-boardjwhich contains the letters of the Englishalphabet. With its help and by gestures,he is able to express all his thoughts andgive commands and instructions freely.No Sadguru has ever revealed so manyspiritual secrets to his followers as my beloved Master has revealed. Ever since hehas been staying at Arangaon, Ahmed,nagar, His Holiness has been daily givinglectures and instructions on subjects spiritual. His Holiness has oft done what is re

garded as menial work by snobs. Not only

THE YOUTH - A SADGURU 21

has he himself nursed the sick and washed

the boys of the Ashram, but has also oftwashed their clothes, swept the floorsof the Ashram and cleansed vessels.

Hundreds of educated men and women

are disciples of His Holiness and thousandsof persons are his devotees. Every dayscores of persons go to worship him. Onauspicious days, hundreds of men, womenand children call upon him with the sameobject. On His Holiness's thirty-secondbirthday nearly ten thousand persons fromdifferent parts of India went to Ai*angaonwith the special object of worshipping himand seeking his blessings.About a year ago. His Holiness esta

blished an educational institution in his

colony of Meherabad, at Arangaon,Ahmednagar, which forms a part of theBombay Presidency, under British jurisdiction.

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CHAPTEE V

THE PURPOSE OP EDUCATION

Thousands of volumes have been writtenand will be written on education. This

subject appeals as much to the philanthropist as to the social reformer. It isgenerally believed that education meansthe drawing out of the mental faculties soas to develop their utmost possibilities.But as a sound mind is generally housedin a sound body, education now-a-days devotes itself also to the training of thebody. It must be admitted that much attention is paid in both schools and colleges

THE PHBPOSB OP EDTTCATIOjr 23

to the training of both mind and body,but it is a thousand pities that heart andsoul are in most cases woefully neglected.Man is not so much body or mind as soul.Body and mind are fleeting and transient,but the soul is birthless and deathless. . Is

it too much to say that whatever attention a man pays to the salvation of hissoul, he cannot be said to be overmindfulof its interests ? When one considers thesort of education that is given in. ourschools and colleges, one is not surprisedat the number of the people who starvetheir souls.

As the salvation of the soul cannot be

attained without the gold of divine love,free from the dross of all earthly affection,it is absolutely necessary that the heartshould be trained. Better an empty headthan an empty heart. It is far better tobe barren-witted and sleepy-headed thanto be bankrupt of heart and devoid of love-

24 THE PURPOSE OF EDUCATION

It is far better to be a hopeless idiot thana callous brute. It is not the intellect but

the heart that leads to God. If the intel

lect is not subordinated to the heart then

it is a dangerous obstacle to spiritual progress. In life spiritual, intellect is helpless,whereas the heart is all in all. It is love

and not intelligence that is the hierophantof God or the master-key with which wecan unlock the doors of the mysteries ofGod. No man can ever make substantial

spiritual progress, in whose heart the fireof love does not burn. It is because of

this that the German mystic AngelusSilesius has said—

" Love is the sage's stone.It takes gold from the clod,

It turns naught into aught,Transforms me into God. "

It is true that in many schools what isknown as religious education is impartedto students. AVould to God that I may

THE PURPOSE OP EDUCATION 25

sing its praises! But alas! In most easesthis reliofious education is nothino- but

o o

the teaching of dry-as-dust dogmas. Boysand girls are fed on empty husks and thekernel is woefully neglected. They aretrained to grasp at the shadow and leaveseverely alone the substance. Moreover,the dogmas are taught in such a mannerthat students learn to hate all religionsother than their own. No wonder that

when they grow up, they live like fighting-cocks, and lend their breath to blow theliames of fanaticism.

I am writing within compass, when Isay that there is a horrible dearth ofeducational institutions, in which, besidessecular education, the right sort of spiritual training is imparted to students. Sofar as I know, there is only one educational institution in which the heart and

soul as well as the mind and body of students are systematically trained. That

26 THE PURPOSE OF EDUCATION

institution is, as my readers may liave already guessed, Mehbrashram, establishedby my beloved Master, His DivineMajesty Sadguru Meher Baba.

27

CHAPTER VI

MEHEHASHRAM

I WOULD call Meherashram, without theleast fear of being accused of drawing thelong bow, an ideal educational institution.It is open to all communities, and it is entirely free. Boys from any part of theworld are welcome to it. To whatever

community or creed or country a studentmay belong, he is charged nothing. Notonly instruction, both secular and spiritual,but also books, clothes, food and medicaltreatment are given absolutely free ofcharge. Meherashram should not, on this

28 MEHERASHRAM

account, be considered as a mere charitable boarding school. It is open to boysof both well-to-do and poor parents. As amatter of fact nearly half the number ofboys of Meherashram belong to the well-to-do.

Secular education is imparted to Meherashram boys, as in other schools, by trained teachers. Meherashram has a splendidlibrary which boys are made to avail themselves of every day. The library contains anumber of books on literature and an equalnumber of books on religious or spiritualsubjects in different languages. Meherashram has splendid play-grounds, wherecricket, hockey and the Indian game of{"ityapatya are played daily. Annual crickettournaments for the high schools of theBombay Presidency have already been arranged. In the first tournament, theAhmednagar Education Society's HighSchool came off with flying colours. A sil-

MEHERASHRAM 29

ver cup worth over Ks. 250/- was presented to it by the founder of Meherashram.I must not forget to state that Meher

ashram justly boasts of possessing a goodhospital, which is managed by a skilfulphysician. All boys together have to takefood, which is strictly vegetarian, and haveto put on only the uniform dress, which isat once simple and comfortable. In passingit may be remarked that the climate of

Meherabad is equable and salubrious,throughout the year. It is as much health-promoting as the waters of the wells ofthis colony.Though boys of different castes, creeds

and communities have to live together,they live like brothers. Pride of caste orcommunity is conspicuous by its absence.Equally conspicuous by its absence is religious fanaticism. And no wonder! Severaltimes a day all boys have to chant jointlya couplet which contains the different

so MEHERASHRAia

names of God recognised by every greatcreed. They are trained in the way ofrighteousness, and are fed every day notexcluding Sundays, on wholesome spiritualknowledge by competent teachers, according to the instructions of His HolinessMeher Biibk. What is more, spirituality isdirectly imparted to boys by His Holinessfrom whom, it goes without saying, spirituality literally radiates. To the cynicalnnd the carnally-minded, the very ideh ofimparting spirituality may seem to bepreposterous.. But, to be sure, a PerfectSaint can impart it to others just as easilyas he can give a tangible object to them.Shri Bamakrishna Paramahamsa used

to say that religion could be given andtaken more tangibly and more really thananything else in the world. None canrealise God without the grace and assis^tance of a spiritually Perfect Master. Onlya few can make any noteworthy spiritual

MEHERASHBAM 3T

p'rOgreSs without ;the guidance of a God-realised personage.The average boy likes to eat, drink and

play as much as he can. But some hf theboys of Meherashram have to be almostcompelled to eat, drink and play. Andwhy ? Simplj' because day and night suchboys wish to meditate and think of HisHoliness Meher B&,b^. Their hearts .are

full to overflowing with divine loye,i andout of sheer spiritual joy, they oft shedtears. A Mahomedan boy, named. AbduflaBuknuddin Awazi, who is only, fifteenyears old, was so Snuch imbned withdivine love to His Holiness, and SQ con

stantly were his thoughts fixed upon HisHoliness that he lost his hunger and couldscarcely sleep soundly for an hour for daystogether. One day in January of thepresent year, he lost his consciousness,and did not recover it till the lapse of fourdays. Since then, he is day and night en-

32 MEHERASHRAM

joying divine bliss, and declares that thisgross world seems to him to be merely adream. Besides he sees his Master's Di

vine Self, which is the Real Self, at all

times and in all places. Only a few inthe world experience the divine state that

this youth of fifteen summers experiencesat present.Some of the boys of Meherashram are

Hindus, some Mahomedans and some areZoroastrians. Unfortunately Christianityof the West is not represented by anystudent. It is to be sincerely hoped thata few European or American boys will innear future join this institution.

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Published bf

R. K. IRANI, Meherabad, Ahmedi-iagar (Decoan )

INDIA.

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PRINTED AT

THE MOHAN PRINTING PRESS. AHMEDNAG/ if.K

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