Meher Baba’s Message and Mission

This is what I understand Meher Baba’s message and mission to be.

Baba’s primary message is that we are all one and his mission is to explain how this is by giving us a new cosmology. I believe all other aspects of his mission are tied to this revolution in human thinking and I could give numerous quotes to back up this claim. Baba frequently implied that if we understood how and why it is we are all one - which becomes clear when we understand why and how the world formed out of God - not only would we progress spiritually as individuals, but the world would be a more just and compassionate place in the meantime. 

A cosmology is an account of the nature, origin and creation of the universe. The scientific cosmology we have today is the Big Bang theory. See my discussion of what the limitations of this cosmology are here. The prominent religious cosmology in Christianity and Judaism is the creation myth told in Genesis. Muslims hold a variation of this myth conveyed in the Quran. And the principle Hindu cosmology is in the Rig Veda. The Avesta contains the Zoroastrian cosmology. All of these cosmologies are different.

Baba gives a lengthy and many-faceted cosmology in his principal book God Speaks: The Theme of Creation and Its Purpose. I wish to give an encapsulation of it because it also contains the primary aspects of his teaching.

There is only God. God is all that truly exists. All else that appears to exist, both mentally and physically, is an illusion produced by impressions or sanskaras produced during the unfolding of Creation. Baba explains sanskaras in his books Discourses and Intelligence Notebooks and no understanding of his cosmology is possible without a grasp of the concept. These books are freely downloadable here.

God, which is the only reality in Baba’s teaching, has many names including Allah, Brahman, Ahura Mazda, Paramatma, etc. God is the only self, and all apparently separate selves are really and truly God. Baba says this clearly and explicitly in various ways, including: 

The only Real Existence is that of the One and only God, who is the Infinite Self in every finite self. 

Through every individual mind and body, this one and only Paramatma takes the various experiences of the universe. 

It is Paramatma that speaks through the mouth of one and listens through the ears of another. 

Baba teaches that the sense of separation we experience arises over time as a result of the accumulation of sanskaras. This is best understood by reading Baba’s books, where he greatly elaborates on this central point. 

It is through the irradiation of sanskaras that we finally, after eons of evolution and millions of lifetimes in the process of reincarnation, realize our own divinity. This final realization he calls God-realization. It should not be confused with a simple discursive understanding from reading, but is an actual experience possible only when the sanskaras are fully rid of. Baba gives many yogas for quickening the ridding of these sanskaras in Discourses and Intelligence Notebooks.  

Part of Baba’s theme is that it is by the gathering of these sanskaras in evolution that we achieve consciousness and by ridding them that we achieve God-realization.

I grew up in a Baba family, and though these things were explained to me from a young age, and I read them later, I have only understood these points over a lifetime. I did not come to Baba through reading of other traditions and paths as many of the later followers did that discovered Meher Baba after his death. I must remark that the points I made above about Baba’s primary message being the sole existence of God and all else being illusion is not well-understood by them. And though many have earnestly tried, the ideas they gathered over the course of their journey to Baba’s teaching get in the way and prevent them from understanding him. I want to explain what some of those problems are and where they came from.

Over the course of history there have been many honest attempts to make sense of God and self and the origin and essence of the universe. Obviously to cover them all would take a library of books. I will only cover a few which have confused many, but certainly not all, Baba lovers. 

One is, of course, Christian belief. Many of the theological beliefs found in Christianity come from Judaism, and many of these come from Zoroastrianism, which the Jewish people were exposed to in the Babylonian captivity in the 6th century B.C. Baba lived in the 20th century, and many of his close disciples both in the West and East came from these traditions. One of the features of these traditions is “monotheism.” Monotheism could be considered an advance over polytheism, the belief in many gods. 

However, what we normally mean by “monotheism” is not exactly what Baba teaches. Monotheism is a form a pluralism. When we speak of there being a single god named “God,” we conceive of something that is somewhere. But, for Baba, God is everywhere. This does not mean ‘everywhere in space,’ for in Baba’s teaching space itself is part of the illusion. He means the actual real everywhere, and the everywhere that we see and conceive is illusion.

When mind soars in pursuit of the things conceived in space, it pursues emptiness; but when man dives deep within himself, he experiences the fullness of existence.

“One” is a number. When we say there is one of something, we are contrasting this with other numbers. Baba puts it this way:

In Reality there is only One. In Illusion there are many. The reason why there is so much confusion as to whether there is one God or many is because God is so Infinitely One. Even to say, 'There is one God' is wrong. God is so infinitely One that He cannot even be called One. One may only say, One is. The word 'God' is only an attempt to give that One a name, for in actuality He has no name. Even to say that God is One implies the possibility of two.

Monotheism enumerates God, but does not say he is all that is, as Baba says. The monotheism that many bring to Baba and read into his writing still leaves the window open to the conception that this one God must be out there somewhere — which in turn imagines God as a discrete thing among other things. This implies that separation from God, which our being raised as monotheists taught us to conceive, is real. But Baba says over and over that this is false.

The difficulty people have making this leap in understanding is why I think Baba said to the press in Nasik, India in 1937:

I have come to bring about a revolution in man's thinking, the slowest of all revolutions. 

One thing that helps me understand is Baba’s constant explanation that there is no real difference or separation between one person and another or between any one person and God on a soul level, yet there is a profound difference in the sanskaras and thus what he calls 'states of consciousness.’ A person you love, a person you hate, and your dog, are all 100% God, as God is all there is. But their impressions are different. This is made clear on page 1 or God Speaks. 

All souls are One; there is no difference in souls or in their being and existence as souls. There is a difference in the consciousness of souls; there is a difference in the planes of consciousness of souls; there is a difference in the experience of souls and thus there is a difference in the state of souls.

The chapter in God Speaks titled The Ten States of God is also immensely helpful in understanding this. Much is made clear in this 33 page chapter, and everything you can think of is included under these ten primary states, leaving nothing out. It was written by Baba’s disciple Eruch Jessawala from a chart by Baba, and Baba carefully went over every word. It is very clearly written. In essence we are not people; we are states of God seeking to awaken to our real identity as God, which is the only essence. This is Baba’s theme.

I grew up on the Meher Center established for Baba in 1944 in the U.S.A. and I can say from experience what many Baba lovers think about Baba today. Having difficulty with his teaching, they believe he was something literally “inside” his body, which was God. They believe that when he passed away in 1969, this God left his body and continues to watch the goings on of his followers and intercede in their affairs, especially if they invoke him in prayers. 

This is what Baba said in God Speaks about the state of consciousness an Avatar enters when he drops his association with his physical body (passes away):

In The Ten States of God, mentioned above, it says he goes to State II Substate B, which, it is explained there, is the same as State VIII in the chart. This impressionless state of consciousness that the Avatar assumes after dropping his body is known as Majzoobiyat, Vidnyan, Shambhala, nirvakalpa samadhi, the Beyond State of God, or (in Sufism) baqa-billah — aka “the resting place of the masters.” In this state, Baba explains, God experiences only Self, and does not experience the illusion — which includes our thoughts and the goings on of the illusory universe.

In other words, due to not really understanding Baba’s written works very well, his followers have inadvertently supplanted his teaching with a Neo-Pagan ascended master teaching they picked up along the way to discovering him. See my paper, The Most Important Thing, here, where I talk more about these now popular Neo-Pagan beliefs. I often say that Baba lovers don’t truly understand him, and this is precisely what I mean.

I can’t end this paper without addressing a quote constantly referred to by Baba followers in defense of their belief that Baba continues to see the world as an ascended master. The quote is not in any source written in lifetime, but is frequently attributed to certain of his mandali as a common refrain. A popular unsourced rendition of it is:

Following the dropping of my body, I will remain as if physically present for a hundred years, and a little more.

There are other versions, but this one was put on the internet recently, posted by a follower Rick Chapman. It is also in Rick’s book Baba and Me. I reached out to Rick about his source and he said it was told to him by Eruch Jessawala.

Another version, in a book by Ivy Duce, is: 

He said that his aura would remain in the world for one hundred years after he gave up the body….

Yet another version, this one attributed to Mani Irani, is:

The 100 years after the Manifestation of the Avatar is the period encompassing the direct living and personal radiation of the Avatar.

Another version from a circular sent out to the followers of Baba in 1980 by Eruch Jessawala:

Meher Baba revealed to us time and again that at the end of each Avataric Advent, His Avataric Impact, Influence or Force and the fragrance of His Presence continue to remain active for 100 to 200 years, exactly as though He were physically present. If the next Advent is to take place after 700 years, then His Avataric Impact, Influence or Force, and His Divine Presence of the Advent continue to be felt for 100 years and a little more. Similarly, if the Advent occurs after 1400 years, His impact and Divine Presence pervade for 200 years and a little more.

There is a serious problem in the wording of all four of these statements attributed to Baba after his death in 1969. In the first it says he would remain as if physically present. How does this comport with Baba’s frequent admonishment to his lovers that he was not his body. In light of this clear assertion by Baba, in what way could he remain as if physically present? And what exactly does “as if” mean in this context? Remember, this is not from a published source, but based on Rick’s memory.

And how exactly are we to interpret words like his aura, direct living and personal radiation and Impact, Influence or Force and the fragrance of His Presence? Aura? Radiation? Force? After a life of studying Baba’s words, nothing clear comes to mind.

In Hinduism, an avatar is the physical manifestation of a deity. Baba defined the Avatar as the total manifestation of God in human form. An aura, radiation, or force may be something very significant, but by Baba’s own definition these terms do not signify an Avatar — but some kind of lingering trace of the advent of one. 

In this form of flesh and blood, I am that same Ancient One who is eternally worshipped and ignored, ever remembered and forgotten.

I am not exaggerating to say that in Baba’s teaching an Avatar has to have a physical human form.

The idea of disembodied devas that people invoke and request physical aid from is very old. In Neo-Platonism such a practice was called theurgy. The Theosophical Society called them Mahatmas or the Masters of the Hidden Brotherhood in the 1800s, a concept later rebranded and popularized as "Ascended Masters" by Baird T. Spalding in the 1920s. These are not Baba’s teaching. Baba taught that the real spiritual hierarchy is made up of 7,000 flesh and blood people and when the avatar is on earth in physical form it being it to 7,001.

In 1930 Baba told Paul Brunton, one of the earliest Westerners to travel to meet him:

When a Master dies he takes no further interest in the affairs of the gross world—not even a Christ. Hence those who imagine that a 'dead' Master is responding to their prayers or watching them, are wrong.

Francis Brabazon, a close disciple of Baba, quoted Meher Baba:

Not a single spiritual Master ever required any vehicle save his own physical body.

And Bhau Kalchuri wrote from notes from Baba: 

The Avatar never loses connection after he drops the body, but maintains his connection with all creation through the five Sadgurus living.

You are of course free to deny Baba’s words and hold on to the idea of a disembodied Baba instead. But in my opinion this separates us from Baba and misses the opportunity of his message of oneness. And that is a shame.

I end with five simple words Baba gave to a reporter from Time Magazine in 1936. 

I am who you are. 

I believe that sums up the message he came to give. I believe that message was ‘I am God, and you are too. Awaken to this reality.’ If Jesus came to say, ‘love thy neighbor as thy self,’ Baba came to say ‘your neighbor is yourself.’