The Proliferation of False Saints (Pg. 1 of 2)
by Eruch Jessawala

Meher Baba has said that when one without real authority declares that he is a saint and allows people to revere him and bow down to him, he is only feeding his ego with intense but short-lived happiness.

This is like the person addicted to opium eating or smoking who finds a temporary feeling of well-being but eventually begins to suffer the after effects in the form of bodily disorders. The realization then dawns that he should never have formed the habit in the first place, but unfortunately it is too late to break the practice. Larger quantities of the drug have to be taken to keep pace with the gradual loss of feeling of well-being and the addiction grows ever deeper.

After years of addiction, the addict one day takes an overdose of opium that proves to be tragic and he is found lying unconscious in a filthy gutter. Now he is scoffed at and ridiculed and called a confirmed drug addict.

Similarly, one without authority who derives his happiness by allowing people to bow down to him, begins to feel the prick of conscience which warns him of his mistake. But he has become so used to the feeding of his ego that he is unable to halt the custom and in time the voice of conscience is completely stifled and he launches into an unworthy way of living.

However in this case, contrary to the case of the opium addict, his unworthy behaviour is attributed to his 'perfection' by his followers. When he abuses others, his abuse is viewed as a blessing; when he beats someone, the beating is accepted with love as a descent of his grace; and when he indulges in love-making with the opposite sex, it is accepted with reverence and love by his followers, and the more unruly his behaviour, the greater is their admiration.

As this admiration increases, the food for feeding the ego becomes richer and the false saint succumbs in a short time to indigestion which brings in its wake the indignation of his followers resulting in a rude downfall. The very persons who used to call themselves followers, who revered him and sang songs in his praise, now scoff at him and label him a fraud.

Meher Baba has explained that one who has no authority and yet permits people to bow down to him, is playing a losing game. For while the thousands who bow down to him are benefitted by unburdening their sanskaras (mental impressions) through the working of their innocent yet honest faith in and love for the bogus saint, the latter becomes the recipient of the burden of their sanskaras which, in turn, will be the cause of more suffering in many additional births for the false saint.