The Proliferation of False Saints
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.

Now the point to be considered is this: If thousands can benefit at the hands of one unauthorized person who permits them to bow down to him, should he be allowed to continue the practice?

The answer is that if such a person is already in contact with a Perfect Master whom he sincerely loves, the Master will immediately put a stop to it and warn his other lovers about the behaviour of the self-proclaimed saint. On the other hand, if the person is not in contact with a Perfect Master, the latter will not interfere because with his perfect insight he sees the play of the ego and the eventual benefit that will follow.

The additional burden of sanskaras acquired by the false saint from those who bowed down to him, will undoubtedly cause him infinite suffering in future births, but the intensity of the suffering will be speeded up because the price being paid is coupled to the benefit he had unwittingly brought to thousands.

However, an unauthorized saint may also prove a source of harm to many. Just as an opium addict who feels happy to give a tiny bit of opium to another to try who, in turn repeats the procedure, likewise two or three persons close to the false saint will start spreading the news and citing instances which were nothing but coincidences, of the many miracles he performed. Soon a clique of followers is thereby created.

But the subtle tricks played by illusion are not to be discounted for after some years one among the innumerable followers who takes the saint to be a Perfect Master, discovers his master is a fraud and is not God-Realized. After years of reposing faith in his master and bestowing love and devotion, this follower gets so disgusted with the very thought of saints and Masters that he even begins to doubt the existence of God.

The impact of this reaction is so great a setback that all his sanskaras which had been transferred to the bogus saint during the period of his confirmed belief, now revert back to him the moment he realizes his master is a counterfeit. As long as the faith and love of the ardent believer played active parts, the bogus saint continued to serve the purpose of a handy dustbin, a garbage box wherein God deposited the sanskaras of the believer. These sanskaras however, were not destroyed because the saint was a fraud and not a Perfect Master, and they now revert back to the believer to overwhelm him and force him to suffer a great deal. It is easy therefore to imagine how much burden and harm a false saint can lay on the persons who repose faith in him and love him ardently.

Although great harm can be done as mentioned, benefit can also accrue. If the love is deep and the faith is great, it is possible for an ardent believer in a bogus saint to make progress on the spiritual path and to begin to have experiences of that path. But it is essentially all a play in illusion. As Meher Baba has said, "It is all my play. None can fathom me as I am in everyone and I do everything simultaneously. I also do nothing. Be brave, be happy; I and you are all One, and the Infinity that eternally is me, will one day belong to every individual."