The Meaning of Love

Love has no limit, but the mind is in the way. This obstacle cannot be removed without my grace. It is impossible, because mind has to annihilate itself. For example, if one were asked to jump over oneself, the most one could do would be to take a somersault! Yet it is impossible to jump over oneself; one may jump over others, but not over oneself! Thus one may want to realize ‘Baba’ as he really is, but the obstacle remains.

Books and discourses will not bring about one’s spiritual regeneration. Mind cannot be annihilated by mind, for one cannot jump over oneself. Only by loving me as I ought to be loved can the mind be destroyed. Anyone may have love for me, but not the love I want.

Meher Baba Meherazad, 1948 Photo by Charmian Duce.

My lovers may be likened to one who is fond of lions and admires them so much that he keeps a lion in his own home. But being afraid of the lion, he puts him in a cage. The lion is always encaged; even while he feeds the lion, he feeds the pet animal from a distance and from outside the cage. Baba is treated like the lion by the lovers. There is love; there is admiration; there is an intense desire to see Baba comfortable and happy; and Baba is also frequently fed by love of the lovers. But all this is done, keeping Baba segregated from one’s own self. What is wanted of the lovers is that they should open the ‘cage’ and, through intense love, throw themselves inside the cage to become food for the lion of love. The lover should permit himself to be totally consumed through his own love for the Beloved.

In spite of all explanations and reading of books, words remain mere words. They do not take one any further than intellectual satisfaction. Only love for God works the miracle, because love is beyond mind and reason. Where then is the necessity to read? I authoritatively say: I am the Ancient One. I have been saying this to all the world. If you love me with all your heart, you shall be made free eternally.

The affairs of the universe continue to go on without being burdensome to me in the least. But the discourses and explanations on the subject of the affairs of the universe are a headache to me. The affairs of the universe continue without my paying special attention to them. They continue to work as naturally as one’s breathing, to which one does not have to pay special attention. But when there is exertion, or when one is pressed to give a discourse on breathing, one becomes conscious of the act of breathing.

In the same way, when it comes to giving explanations, I feel like one who climbs a hill and becomes breathless. Giving you discourses and explanations is burdensome to me; and as discussions, discourses and explanations are also included in the affairs of the universe, the whole affair becomes more of a burden to me than ever. Playing marbles, gilli-danda, cricket and flying kites are also included in the affairs of the universe; but these unburden the burden. It is like coming down a hill: It is more of a relaxation than exertion. Jokes and humour are also the things which give me relaxation.

But whether I am burdened or relaxed makes no difference; for as I really am, I am beyond all this.

I will tell you tomorrow something about my work and the workers. The selected workers should be those who do real work. I want to lay stress on workers and work. Work should be done as work; otherwise it would be no work at all. I cannot tolerate egoism and hypocrisy. He who works for me does not oblige me, for he works for his own self.

The ultimate experience can be had only after the heart is completely purified. God forgives everything except hypocrisy.
I am the Light of the Universe. One day, as soon as you get a glimpse of my reality, you will come to know me; and you will get the glimpse. Very rarely one can see me as I really am; you see everything except me. You see the curtain that surrounds my reality. Fortunate are they who see even the curtain.
Earlier, I had been at the house in Gramercy Park in New York where Elizabeth Patterson and Norina Matchabelli and other earlier devotees lived and gathered. They talked about Baba all the time, and I remember that after that first week I was left absolutely bubbling with enthusiasm. But when we went to Arabia I met a young man there and we became romantic. We were well chaperoned in those days. At that point I couldn’t quite see why I had to go running off to India to see some swami or yogi, or whatever this man might be, and I was very skeptical of my mother’s going. It was at the time of the Partition [between India and Pakistan], and I was very concerned about her safety. My father was even more concerned, but he couldn’t go, and it became apparent that I was the one who had to go along to take care of Mother.

So the arrangements were made and we left, finally arriving in Bombay on January 5, 1948, to be greeted at the airport by Meherjee Karkaria. He took us to our hotel and from there he planned to drive us up to see Meher Baba in Meherazad. Baba had very carefully scheduled every single minute of this trip and we were quite worried about traffic, India being what it is. In addition, Meherjee was desperately ill, but he insisted that if he could get to Baba he would be fine.

We left on the morning of January 7 and drove first to Poona where we rested for an hour per Baba’s instructions. We went into the railroad station, and I was shown into a big room that I think was a ladies’ waiting room. There were long wooden benches, and I remember sleeping on that bench for about an hour. We later pulled up to a little town and then drove out in the country with mostly farmland, with lovely waving crops in the winter sunshine, and finally we came to a big gate where Meherjee stopped the car. From there we took our bags and walked across to the compound and were shown to a lovely little room in one of the houses where we were to stay during our visit. Baba had wanted us to arrive at three o’clock. It was now exactly three.

The Lover & the Beloved
Beloved God is in all.

What is then the duty of the lover?

It is to make the Beloved happy without sparing himself. Without giving a second thought to his own happiness, the lover should seek the pleasure of the Beloved. The only thought a lover of God should have is to make the Beloved happy.

Thus, if you stop thinking of your own happiness and give happiness to others, you will then indeed play the part of the lover of God, because Beloved God is in all.

But, while giving happiness to others, if you have an iota of thought of self, it is then not love but affection. This tends to seek happiness for the self while making others happy.

As for example: (1) A husband’s affection for his wife. The husband wants to give happiness to his wife; but while doing so he thinks of his own happiness, too. (2) A mother’s affection for her child. From this affection the mother derives happiness purely out of giving and seeking happiness for her child.

Surrenderance
He who genuinely surrenders to a Perfect Master surrenders completely without asking for permission to do so. He does not even expect acceptance of his surrender from the Master. Complete surrender in itself embodies the acceptance of one who has surrendered completely as he ought to have done.
Lovers of God

Before I met my Beloved in union, I lost everything – ego, mind, and lower consciousness; but thank God, as I have just said, I did not lose my sense of humour. That is why I appear amongst you like this, on your level. Yogis and saints in India you will usually find in meditation, with long beards. You would not be allowed in their presence with your shoes on, or smoking, but with me you can do all these things, because I am one with you and one of you. From tomorrow I shall work so that this visit of yours will not be merely a picnic or sightseeing.

There are three types of lovers of God. The first is the mast, who loves and knows only God. He loses all consciousness of self, of body and the world. Whether it rains or shines, whether it is winter or summer, it is all the same to him. Only God exists for him. He is dead to himself.

The second type of lover is one who lives in the world, attends to all worldly duties fully, yet all the time in his heart he knows that this is temporary, that only God exists, and he loves God internally, without anyone knowing it.

Third type, which is the highest, is very rare. Here the lover surrenders completely to Christ, to the Avatar, to the God-Man. He lives, not for himself, but for the Master. This is the highest type of lover. Unless you have such love, merely to criticize and to judge others will take you nowhere.

Sahavas
I am the only Beloved and you are all my lovers; or I am the only Lover and you are all my beloveds. I want you all to remain happy in my sahavas. I am the Ocean of Love. Draw as much of this love as possible. Make the most of this opportunity. It rests with you to draw as much love as you can out of the Ocean. It does not rest with me to explain to you how you should love me. Does a husband or a wife explain to one another how to love? One thing is certain: I want to give you my love. It depends on each of you to receive it. The easy way to receive it is to forget your home, family and all worldly affairs, when you are here, and be receptive to my love. This is the first thing. The second thing is to have a good night’s rest, sleep well each night and feel fresh when you come here for my sahavas each day. I am God; if you remain drowsy in my presence, you will miss me and your drowsiness will oblige you to remain absent from my presence, in spite of your daily attendance.

‘Sahavas’ means intimate companionship. To establish this companionship you should be free with me. Sahavas is the intimacy of give and take of love between the lovers and the Beloved. There is no need to explain this give and take, for to create an atmosphere of explanations and discourses is to mar the dignity of love which is established only in the closest intimacy.

How do I participate in the sahavas? I bow down to myself, I embrace myself. It is I who smile, who weep; it is Baba who sits here on the dais seat and it is Baba who squats on the ground in the tent. Baba meets ‘Baba;’ Baba consoles ‘Baba,’ pets ‘Baba,’ chides ‘Baba.’ It is all Baba, Baba, Baba. Such is my experience of participation in the sahavas.

Drink deep at the fountain of love, but do not lose consciousness. If you can but taste even a drop of this love – what a wonderful experience it will be! Have you any idea what this sahavas is? He who approaches me with a heart full of love has my sahavas. After I drop this body and my passing away from your midst, many things will be said about this sahavas. Take fullest advantage of this opportunity in the living presence of the Avatar. Forget everything else but my sahavas and concentrate all your attention on me. I am the Ancient One.