Information AboutMeher Baba |
|
Meher Baba, born Merwan Sheriar Irani , ( February 25 , 1894 – January 31 , 1969 ) was an Indian Spiritual Master who said to his followers that he was the Avatar (an Incarnation of God ). Although he maintained silence for most of his life, his teachings spread worldwide, notably through Baba's extensive travels and publications. His quote " Don't Worry, Be Happy ", which became well known after appearing in a song by Bobby McFerrin , reflects Meher Baba's teaching that all human experience reflects God's divine plan, and that in the end all souls will become united with God. His '' Samadhi '' (tomb-shrine) in Meherabad (outside Ahmednagar , India ) has become a place of pilgrimage. MEHER BABA'S LIFE The events of Meher Baba's life are well documented. Typically he lived and travelled in company with the circle of his closest Disciple s (" Mandali "), both men and women, from whom he demanded absolute obedience. He and his mandali voluntarily assumed a life of extreme simplicity, almost to the point of poverty. He spent long periods in intense seclusion, often fasting. But Meher Baba would intersperse these periods with wide-ranging travels and public gatherings, and works of charity including working among Lepers , the very Poor , the " Mad " and " Masts " who were often destitute. Early years Meher Baba was born in Pune , India . His given name was ''Merwan Sheriar Irani''. He was the second son of his father Sheriar, a Persian Zoroastrian who had been a wandering Sufi Dervish before settling in Pune , and Sheriar's young wife, Shireen, who called him her most beautiful child. His schoolmates nicknamed the charismatic and sometimes mischievous youngster 'Electricity'. As a boy he formed ''The Cosmopolitan Club'' amongst his best friends, a club dedicated to remaining informed in world affairs and giving money to charity, money often raised by the boys betting at the horse races. Merwan had a sonorous singing voice, and was an accomplished multi-instrumentalist and poet. Fluent in half a dozen languages, he was especially fond of Hafez Persian poetry, but also of Shakespeare and Shelley . He was known for his lightning wit and universal knowledge, embracing both commerce and the arts. He claimed that all major established religions are essentially different beads on the same string, quoting freely from all the holy books. In his youth Merwan had no mystical inclinations or experiences, but was more interested in sports (especially Cricket ). At the age of 19, however, while bicycling home from Deccan College in Pune, he met a very old Muslim woman, a spiritual master named Hazrat Babajan , who kissed him on the forehead. Shortly after this, he also had direct contact with four other " Perfect Master s" ( Tajuddin Baba of Nagpur , Narayan Maharaj of Kedgaon, Sai Baba Of Shirdi , and Upasni Maharaj of Sakori). Meher Baba explained that Hazrat Babajan was a Perfect Master whose kiss unveiled him spiritually, establishing him in a state of God-consciousness or God-realization . Subsequently, he went without food or drink for 9 months, frequently beating his head against a stone to maintain contact with the physical world. Later he contacted the perfect masters Sai Baba Of Shirdi and Upasni Maharaj of Sakori who he said helped him to integrate this experience with normal consciousness, thus enabling him to function in the world without diminishing his experience of God-realization . After living for seven years in Sakori with Sadguru Upasni Maharaj , Merwan started to attract a following of his own. His early followers gave him the name: "Meher Baba," or Compassionate Father. Manzil-e-Meem and Meherabad In 1922, Meher Baba and his followers established "Manzil-e-Meem," (the ''"House of the Master,"'') in Bombay. Baba demanded strict discipline and obedience from his disciples. Baba spent this period in meditation and fasting. After a year, Baba and his disciples moved to an area a few miles outside Ahmednagar, which he called " Meherabad " (''"Meher flourishing''"). This Ashram would become the center for his work. With his disciples he undertook long Pilgrimages on foot, contacting and washing the feet of the Poor and Lepers as he travelled. Prem ashram In 1924, Meher Baba created a resident school at Meherabad, which he called the "Prem Ashram" ('prem' means 'love'). The school was free and open to all Castes . The school drew multi-denominational students from around India and Iran. The Manzil-e-Meem and Prem Ashram years are well documented in the book ''Ramjoo's Diaries, 1922-1929: A Personal Account of Meher Baba's Early Work'' by Ramjoo Abdulla (Sufism Reoriented, 1979). Silence From July 10 , 1925 until his death in 1969, Meher Baba was silent. He communicated first by using an alphabet board, and later by hand gestures which were interpreted and spoken out by one of his '' Mandali '' (devoted disciples), usually by his disciple Eruch Jessawala . Meher Baba said that his silence was not undertaken as a spiritual exercise, nor as a vow of silence, but undertaken and maintained solely in connection with his universal work. ''“I am never silent. I speak eternally. The voice that is heard deep within the soul is My voice...the voice of inspiration, of intuition, of guidance. To those who are receptive to this voice, I speak.'' {Link without Title} ''“Man’s inability to live God’s words makes the Avatar’s teaching a mockery. Instead of practicing the compassion he taught, man has waged wars in his name. Instead of living the humility, purity, and truth of his words, man has given way to hatred, greed, and violence. Because man has been deaf to the principles and precepts laid down by God in the past, in this present Avataric form, I observe silence.”'' {Link without Title} First contacts with the West In the 1930s , Meher Baba began a period of extensive world travel, circling the globe many times. He made frequent trips to England , Europe and America . It was during this period that he established contact with his first close group of Western disciples. On his first trip to England in 1931 he travelled on the SS Rajputana, the same ship as Mahatma Gandhi . Meher Baba and Gandhi had many private conversations onboard. In the West, Meher Baba met with interested individuals who had heard of his spiritual status and his work in India, many of whom were notable celebrities and artists, such as Hollywood stars Gary Cooper, Tallulah Bankhead, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and most notably the film producer Gabriel Pascal . He enjoyed watching Chaplin movies, comparing Creation to movie-making. In the late 30s, Meher Baba invited a group of western women to join him in India, where he arranged a series of trips that became known as the Blue Bus Tours. When they returned home, many newspapers treated their journey as an occasion for scandal. The Discourses During the course of early gatherings of his mandali (disciples) and followers, Meher Baba would give discourses on different spiritual subjects. Between 1938 and 1943, at the request of Norina Matchabelli, Meher Baba dictated a series of discourses on his alphabet board for the Meher Baba Journal. These discourses, transcribed or worked up from points given by Baba by close disciples, address all aspects of the spiritual life, and provide practical and simple direction for the aspirant. During those years, at least one of these discourses appeared in each issue of the monthly ''Meher Baba Journal''. C.D. Deshmukh, a close disciple of Meher Baba, compiled and edited the dictation, and Baba personally approved each discourse by signing his name to it before it was published. |
|
|