The Vastness of the Heart

“I saw him on the streets of the hidden with something in his hand. I said, ‘My God, what is this?’ He said, ‘Your heart.’ I said, ‘Has my heart such a station that it lies in your hand?’ He gazed at my heart, and it was like something folded up, so he spread it out. And my heart covered the space from the throne to the earth. I said, ‘This is my heart?’ He said, ‘This is your heart, and it is the vastest thing in existence.’ He took it, as it was still in his hand, to the angelic regions, and I went with him, until I reached the treasury of the hidden. I said, ‘Where are you taking it?’ And he said, ‘’ To the world of eternity, so that I may look in it, and create the wonders of reality in it, and forever manifest myself in it with the attribute of divinity.’” – Ruzbihan Baqli, The Unveiling of Secrets – Diary of a Sufi Master, page 43, translated by Carl W. Ernst

Eruch Jessawala, Meher Baba’s close Mandali, once told me that Krishna kept tiny models of His closest disciples and used to worship them. What is this game that the Beloved plays with His lovers—the game He plays with Himself?

Steven Goodman shared this statement of Rumi as transmitted by Amir Khusro: (The relationship between these two wondrous souls will have to wait for another time.)

“With my Beloved I play the game of love.
If I win, He is mine; if I lose, I am His!”

In the exoteric transmissions of Krishna, Mohammed, Jesus, and perhaps, one day, Meher Baba, this intimacy of relationship between the lover and the Beloved is lost. I said exoteric, meaning scriptural, meaning all that comes through time—all that comes through others. But when you meet Him on the streets of the hidden, it is not only beyond exoteric, it is also beyond esoteric, and it can only be described as the tale of love and:

“The tale of love must be heard from love itself…” – Rumi

“Then he hid, and his face appeared from the window of the angelic realm, and he plundered my heart and spirit. Then his essence and attributes appeared, and he drew me near until there was only one cubit between us.” Baqli, The Unveiling of Secrets – Diary of a Sufi Master, page 110, translated by Carl W. Ernst

Why did He leave one cubit between them? Because if the cubit was erased the game would end in Union. One might say, “How cruel is this Beloved, that for the sake of His game, He would leave the cubit untraversed." Hafez answers; “About what you hear from the Master, never say it is wrong, because, my dear, the fault lies in your own incapacity to understand Him.”

Is it that, as Ruzbihan Baqli says; he wants us to “remain in the enjoyment of intimacy and the sweetness of witnessing.”?

For in union, intimacy is extinguished, and witnessing (without another to witness) ceases to be possible.

“Grandfather, In the past, I have been inspired by the experiences of Ruzbihan that you have spoken of and now I have noticed that your friend has quoted passages from his writings from Dr. Ernst’s book, Diary of a Sufi Master. I have become curious about this Sufi and wonder as to his station in the spiritual world.”

“My dear, if by station you mean his plane of consciousness, all I can say is that the lower cannot see the higher, other than what the higher reveals to the lower, and I consider Ruzbihan’s station far beyond my own—but perhaps, my dear, you have some thoughts of your own?”

“Indeed I do Grandfather, though I realize that trying to gauge another’s spiritual station is a foolish endeavor.”

“Yet you asked.”

“Yes, and hopefully my motivation will prove me more an idiot than a fool.”

“It is true that it is said, ‘God loves and idiot and hates a fool.’”

“Because a fool takes everything seriously except God, while an idiot takes nothing seriously except God.”

“Yes, that is so.”

“So, as I said, perhaps my inquiry will prove me the former rather than the latter.”

“Indeed my dear, indeed.”

“Dear Grandfather, the clearest expositions of the spiritual panorama that I have found are in the teachings of Meher Baba, in particular God Speaks.”

“Also too in His descriptions of the higher planes of consciousness that are found in The Nothing and the Everything that He gave to dear Bhauji.”

“Yes, I agree—and based on those two sources I have concluded that Ruzbihan was a salik-like pilgrim on the fifth or sixth plane of consciousness.”

“Based on Ruzbihan’s own words I would not disagree, though as I said, the lower cannot see the higher, and sometimes a Perfect one, like Hafez, wrote couplets in which He described experiences of pilgrims on all the various planes of consciousness. Still, based on the descriptions of Ruzbihan’s experiences,  it seems to me that he saw his Beloved God face to face and yet still experienced himself as something other than the One he was experiencing. What is it that Meher Baba says in God Speaks on the subject?”

“I have it right here Grandfather. Meher Baba says, ‘This mental-conscious human soul of the sixth plane, almost void of all impressions and only conscious of mind, now is confronted with God face to face and sees God in everything but does not see himself in God because, being still conscious of mind, he takes himself as Mind.’”
                                                
                                                     Voice of the Stream

My heart was so full that day as I walked in the garden my body could not contain its swell.
Joy rose within me. My eyes filled with tears.
“Why do I love this garden so much?” I said aloud.

“Because, I made it for you.”

I turned and saw him, arms held wide, standing beside a tiny stream amidst a stand of white jasmine.
“I have known your father and your father’s father and his father too, before the mighty tree of your lineage had yet become a tiny seed.

“I knew you then and I have loved you forever — before creation — before the time of time itself.

“Long ago, I revealed to your father, seven times removed, a hundred thousand shapes that clothe my mystery. In me he glimpsed the universes of form and energy and mind and all the worlds beyond the universe also. To him, I revealed my infinite colors, countless forms, and my attributes divine. Now see! The gift is yours.”

“There is darkness. I see nothing.”

“This darkness will fade. Can you see yourself?”

“I see a man, small and weak. His eyes are open yet do not see.”

“That man you were has ceased to be. You are all life now, life from stone to tree, every creature, humanity.”

“Yes! I am towering mountains and raging seas. I am mighty rivers and endless plains stretching past the reach of my eye and beyond the grasp of my mind.”

“You have become the earth, its firmament and depths — and you are the source of its life also. but what is your source, and where is your home? Your journey has only just begun.”

“I am light and fire bursting: planets encircle and adore me.

Earth, dearest of all bows reverently at my feet.”

“Now you have become the sun — the source of life to every planet whirling in your sight, but like the moon, you shine with borrowed light. Continue on, for all you are and all you see are merely shadows of Reality.”

“That great and mighty sun I have ceased to be now appears a tiny sphere lost in the vastness of the firmament. Eighteen thousand blazing worlds I have now become. Nothing is beyond me!”

“Oh arrogant one, you say that nothing is beyond you? I am beyond you. Your Self is beyond you. To become the universe is neither knowing you nor me — hidden still is Reality. Close your eyes to these worlds of form and time and enter the subtle sphere of dreams, where things are and are not what they appear to be.”

“I am awake, yet still asleep, and in the distance I hear sounds of chiming bells and from some far away shadowy realm glimpse etheric cathedrals where echo harmonies of sweet melodies that sing, ‘the essence of life is beautiful and free.’ 

“But now, what is happening? What is all this? The song has changed and waves of desperate cacophony overwhelm its sweet tune.  My dream is now a nightmare. I cover my eyes but to no avail, for what I see I see within me and I am terrified. Light submits to shadows. The sea is bound within the drop and happiness bows to sorrow in an endless chain of births and suffering and death.”

“Be not frightened! This dream proceeds by my will. Souls inform themselves to know me, become drops to find the sea and don the cloak of darkness to realize the light.”

“My Lord, your explanation eludes me and I remain sickened and confused, haunted by all the pain and suffering I see.”

“Oh my dear one, listen closely to what I say. All suffer who know me not, for suffering is the remedy for forgetfulness. Suffering stirs the seed to awaken from its earthly cradle and don the tender form of shoot to thirst for light and glimpse the face of the sun. Nurtured in darkness, its destiny has always been the light. I am that glory and I wait for you to see me and know me as I am. I wait beyond time for all life to come to me. In me all suffering is extinguished; in me the dream ends. See now what have you become.”

“I have become energy itself and that sphere of dreams that once seemed so vast and terrifying appears to be no more than a single stitch on an endless tapestry of power. By your grace, dream and dreamer I have ceased to be. I am enfolded in unspeakable bliss. But who am I and what have I become? I no longer know my name.”

“Your name is spirit and you have reached the pinnacle of angelic existence. The entire universe and the sphere of dreams that contain it are less than a speck of dust compared to you. Were I to give the order, you could take that speck upon your tongue and in one swallow it would be gone. You are indeed great! Yet angelic existence with all its intoxicating power is merely a shadow of the infinite knowledge, power, and bliss of God. Go forth! You must now become mind.”

“Oh master, is there any respite in your gift?  No sooner do I become one thing than you push me on again to another. First I was an atom on the sea of light and then became that sea. I saw life flicker in the light of the earthly sun and as that solar blaze I drowned in the effulgence of the starry universe that just as quickly disappeared within the sphere of dreams and passed like a shadow before me. I became the mighty domain of power, now power bows powerless before me.”

“My dear, there is no enduring rest upon this pathless path to truth. Only when the endless beginning and the beginningless end are both extinguished in eternity is eternal peace achieved.

“My lover, you have become the mind, the master of thought and feeling and arrived at the chamber of the heart. Remove your shoes and enter this holy abode.”

“Oh beloved, now I seem to be everywhere at once and can no longer discern what is me and what is not me. Inner and outer have no distinction; I am everything and dwell in my own ipseity of shifting feeling colors and ever changing feeling forms. No constant exists for me — but you! You are everything and I am nothing and I do not even exist — except in you!”

“Hear me now! You have reached the abyss that stands between us. You must cross this abyss of non-existence.”

“I cannot! I cannot even glimpse the other side. For all I have become, illusion I remain, while you dwell beyond and in Reality reign. You are the measure of my unendingness. In you alone I am contained. In your reflection I am revealed, my features defined. In the blinding effulgence of your divine light my own radiance quakes with fear of non-existence. How can I cross this abyss? My eye sees no way. My foot finds no holds.”

“You say you see me everywhere, in everything, and you exist in me. Listen carefully when I say that in reality I too do not exist beyond you. Neither do I contain you, nor do you contain me, for in reality You and I are one — not we — come!

“I cannot. I am terrified and fear for my life.”

“Remember my dear one; nothing real can ever be lost. When you awaken from sleep, only the dreams are gone. This final step of your journey is called Mahapralaya — where pure consciousness is retained after annihilation of the limited mind. Here you must trust me completely. Fear not for I will help you. Hear now my story

"You are like a stream that flows through all of time seeking union with the sea. Nearing journey’s end, the stream flows into a vast desert and is trapped in the sands. Weakening more and more, it tries to struggle on, but finds its way to the sea blocked by a great mountain. Hopeless and helpless, its life ebbing away into the sands, the stream cries out, ‘Oh help me Lord!’ and is answered by the voice of the wind.

"‘I am the wind; you must give yourself to me. In my arms I will carry you over the mountain as a cloud and as rain you will merge with the sea.’

"‘But I will cease to be a stream. I will die!’

"‘You will not die,’ whispered the wind. ‘Only your dream of yourself as stream will end. Besides, where is your choice? A stream you can no longer be. Give yourself to me, or be lost forever in the sands.’

"And so, totally helpless and without hope, exhausted beyond belief, the stream gave itself up into the arms of the wind and was carried as a cloud beyond the mountain’s peaks. The cloud drifted over the sea where seeing itself reflected in the water below, began to weep.

" ‘I await you. Come,’ welcomed the sea, and the cloud released itself as tears of joy and fell as rain into the sea.'

"‘We are not we, but one,’ spoke the golden sea and the stream, being no more, heard the voice and recognized it as its own.” – A poem by Michael Kovitz, (c) copyright 2005

We call it a game—God’s game. We heard the term from Him. God loves games, when Rumi lost his queen to Shams, he said, “I have lost again,” to which Shams replied, “No, this time you have won,” and there and then, over a game of chess, He gave Rumi God-Realization.

The candidate for the priesthood said that there are some things that God cannot do. His examiner asked him to explain, to which he replied, “God cannot beat the Ace of Spades with the Duce of Clubs, for to do so, would destroy the game and if the game is destroyed there can be no winners or losers. God loves games.

Meher Baba told us, “In the spiritual game, the loser rejoices and the winner feels ashamed.”

Why does the loser rejoice? Is it in the feeling of happiness for the winner? And why does the winner feel ashamed? Is it for the disappointment of the loser? Meher Baba said, “All souls are one. Who then rejoices and who feels ashamed? It is all His game.

“You must climb to the summit step by step.
Boil your pot by degrees—and in a masterly way;
Food boiled in mad haste is spoiled.
Doubtless God could have created the universe
In one moment of time by uttering the word.
Why then did He protract His work over six days,
Each of which equaled a thousand years?
Why does the formation of an infant take nine months?
Because God’s method is to work by slow degrees;
Why did the formation of Adam take forty days?
Because his clay was kneaded by slow degrees.” – Teachings of Rumi, The Masnavi, translated and abridged by E.H. Whinfield

What lies underneath this game of love? The game began with the quest for consciousness. Playing the game of acquiring consciousness accumulates impressions—the false answers to the question, “Who am I?”—the question that began the game in the first place. In the human form, consciousness is complete, but the game is not, because impressions have become entwined with this full consciousness. And so the game continues—the game to disentangle the impressions from the consciousness—without destroying the consciousness. It is a game that is all played in the vastness of the heart.

“Be not intoxicated with these goblets of forms,
Pass them by and linger not.
Yes, there is wine in the cups, but the wine originates elsewhere.
Look to the Giver of the wine with open mouth—
When His wine flows all cups are too small to hold it.
Oh Adam, quit your infatuation with the husk and the form,
For form proceeds from the world that is without form,
Even as smoke arises from fire.” – Ibid.

Eruch Jessawala, Meher Baba’s close disciple once said, “A man delivers you a check for a thousand dollars, do you throw yourself at his feet, or do you remember the one who sent the check?”

It is on the vast field of the heart that the game of love is played, and as with every game, there seems to always be a commentator, and so it is with the game of love. From the sublime utterances of Rumi, “The tale of love must be heard from love itself, for like the mirror it is both mute and expressive,” to the game’s reflection in the mundane innocence of popular culture, “It started long ago in the Garden of Eden when Adam told Eve, ‘Baby you’re for me,’” (The Game of Love, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders),  the game of love is held by some in the highest esteem and denigrated by others as the greatest farce ever perpetrated on mankind.

As for me, I have always loved love. Not that I haven’t looked for it in all the wrong places, but eventually I did learn where not to seek it, and more importantly also, where it can be found—“Under the lamppost, where the light is better.” – Mullah Nasruddin If you wish to hear about love, listen to the utterances of the Masters, but if you wish to experience that love, then find His door and camp yourself before it and try to remain awake to the moment when He appears.

This keeping awake is no easy matter. The disciples of Jesus fell asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane—even after He told them not to—but there is always hope—and His compassion.

“And those who stood before the door, cried ‘Open up! You know our life is short, and lo, once departed we may not pass this way again!” – The Rubaiyat of Omar Kyam, interpretation Michael Kovitz

“And for today do not prepare, and toward tomorrow do not stare, His voice in the Tavern speaks, ‘Within your sighs is what you seek.’”  – Ibid. 

At some point, does it come to the realization that this game of love is all that there is?

“Grandfather, what do you think Meher Baba means when He says that in the spiritual game the loser rejoices and the winner feels ashamed?”

“Granddaughter, in the spiritual game nothing is what it seems—strength become weakness, failure success. Did not Rumi say as much when he said?

“‘Through love, bitter things seem sweet,
Through love, bit of copper are made gold,
Through love, dregs taste like pure wine,
Through love, pains are a healing balm.
Through love, thorns become roses,
And through love, vinegar becomes sweet wine.’”

“And grandfather, ‘through love the king becomes a slave.’” – The Masnavi: Translated and abridged by E.H. Whinfield

“Indeed my dear, indeed. There are so many levels on which the Great Ones can be understood. As for me, the winner feels ashamed because he feels pride in his victory at the expense of the loser, and the loser rejoices in happiness for the winner.”

“Indeed grandfather, indeed.”

 “Dear Grandfather, you speak of His game of love on such a high level, but sometimes I have a problem making the connection between His game and life as I experience it; can you give me a few examples of how He plays out His game on the level of life?”

“Yes, my dear, His game which is played on the field of the heart, consists of many games played simultaneously on multiple levels, some of which can be understood, to some degree, by the mind, but most of which are beyond the mind, its status relegated to that of a mere spectator to the game. The mind has no power to effect change in the game, but none the less, is itself affected by the game, rising and falling through states from elation to consternation, and desperation, depending on what it thinks it perceives happening on the vast field of the heart.”

“The Beloved appears to give and take away, but not for the sake of cruelty. He never takes away anything that is real. He gives, what we are calling, the finer things of life, and no doubt, they bring a certain amount of pleasure—and it is understandable that  one can become attached, thereby experiencing the state of loss, of disappointment, of pain, when they are taken away. But, as Hafez, says, ‘He never tries His slave in vain.’

“These sources of pleasure though  nearly unlimited—they could be a husband or a wife, a child, riches, health, fame, home, possessions—the list goes on and on, but all this abundance is impermanent, passing, and therefore, ultimately disappointing.”

“And so the beggar must become the king to experience the giving and the king become a beggar to experience the withholding.”

“Yes, my dear, and through this game, this  back and forth, played out over many lifetimes, both the beggar and the king becomes progressively disenchanted and ultimately disinterested in their respective and shifting states.”

 “And so, Grandfather, you have helped me to see that all the, so-called, finer things, are not the problem, it is the attachment to them that is the problem—the cause of the pain.”

“Yes, my dear, indeed, the finer things when given are to be enjoyed—He wants that. To seek them is not His wish, but when given, to accept them is His wish.”

“To be in the ‘state of be as it may’ as dear Upasani Maharaj says.”

“Indeed.”

“And Grandfather, when one becomes detached from the state of abundance and the state of loss, is the game over?”

“No my dear, the game is not over, in fact it has just begun!  for along with this game He simultaneously has been playing another game—the game of His Reality—His Presence—His Love—His Beauty and His Divinity. As the disenchantment over life’s dashed dreams and broken promises proceeds, He never fails to send gifts of His love and reminders that our real and ultimate destiny is infinite bliss.

“But these gifts and reminders, the real gifts and reminders, are veiled by many veils, because to receive them without the veils, in their pure and undiluted form, would destroy the very game He has designed for our ultimate realization. And so each game reaches its zenith and then proceeds to its nadir and thus initiates a third game—the game of neither.”

“And what dear Grandfather is the game of neither?”

“The game of neither is when He takes away the world and all its affairs and then hides Himself from the His lover—wounding him with arrows that He shoots from His state of concealment. ‘ Now I have neither the world nor Your company,’ complains the lover, only these wounds to my heart from arrows you shoot that never fail to miss their mark.

“In resignation, helpless and hopeless, the lover concludes, ‘But do not stop shooting Your arrows, for they are all I have, and therefore have come to take solace in these empty wounds.’”

“But the game is still not over?”

“No, my dear, He would not leave His lover in that state—the state of dust.”

“There is no life in the real dust;
It nourishes nothing,
Sustains nothing, and takes no interest in anything.

All hopes and aspirations end in dust at His feet,
And being useless in every way,
Dust wins the heart of the Beloved,
Who turns it into Fire.

‘Like waves upon my head the circling curls,
So in the sacred dance weave ye and whirl.
Dance then, oh heart, a whirling circle be;

Burn in that flame,
Is not the candle He?’” – Meditation and Prayers on 101 Names of God, (second edition) page 101, by Michael Kovitz – eladi-publications.com

“I looked at the beauty of his transcendent face with the eye of the heart, and he said to me, ‘How can they reach me by strivings and disciplines, if my noble face remains veiled to them? This is reserved for my lovers and the near ones among the knowers of God; there is no way to me except through me, and by the unveiling of my beauty.’” – The Unveiling of Secrets – Diary of a Sufi Master, translated by Carl W. Ernst

In His Discourses, messages and teachings, Meher Baba draws a distinction between the personal aspect of God and the impersonal aspect of God. For Christians, the impersonal aspect of God is represented by the Father and the personal aspect of God is represented by the Son. For followers of the Vedas, the Avatar of Vishnu represents the personal aspect of God, for Buddhists it is the Buddha, while for the Sufis, the personification of God in human-form is called Parvardigar.

Technically, the words Avatar, Parvardigar, Christ, and Buddha are not the names of the one God who has periodically taken on an appropriate human form; instead, they are terms reserved to describe the state and mission of these Divine Incarnations—in other words, the God-man. Thus, the Buddha in the man-form was named Gautama; the Christ was named Jesus; and the Avatar of the present age is named Meher Baba.

Man-God, as opposed to God-man,  is a term that Meher Baba reserves for Perfect Masters—God Realized beings who have passed through the whole process of evolution, reincarnation, and involution and who have achieved God-consciousness while retaining creation consciousness.

Other souls too, become God-realized, but lose their consciousness of creation either wholly or in-part before they drop their bodies. But because Perfect Masters have a more extensive duty to perform for creation before dropping their bodies for the final time, there is the need for them to retain creation consciousness.

Meher Baba says that there are always five Perfect Masters on the planet of involution—our planet Earth being that planet at this time. In addition to their duty towards creation they also have another duty to perform, and that is to precipitate—to bring down to human form—the God-man every 750 to 1,400 hundred years. Both the Avatar and the Perfect Masters represent the personal aspect of God and share the same state of God realization.  It is always the personal aspect of God that is being referred to as the Beloved in Ruzbihan’s Diary of a Sufi Master.

“Then I sought him after midnight, and I said to myself, ‘Would that I have seen the Truth (glory be to him) in the form of eternity!’ Then he appeared to me in the most beautiful shape. Facing me, he said, ‘Do you doubt that I am the lord of the worlds?’” – Ibid

“Worldly senses are the ladder of the earth,
Spiritual senses are the ladder of heaven.
The health of the former is sought in the leech,
The health of the latter from the Friend.” – The Masnavi of Rumi, translated and abridged by E.H. Whinfield

“Grandfather, it is most significant to me, having not been in Meher Baba’s physical presence, that we are still in the hundred year period that began when He dropped the body.”

“Because He said that during this period of time we can come to Him in the same way that we could when He was physically present?”

“Yes Grandfather, the personal aspect of God is still available to us at this time.”

“Indeed, in those places of pilgrimage that He created for us—around His tomb-shrine in India, His center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and of course, in our hearts—the vastness of which contains the whole of creation as does the vast ocean contain a single drop.”

 “After bringing my life under Your command,
You have hidden Yourself.
Where should I look for You? Where should I search for the Truth?” Meher Sarod, by Bhau Kalchuri

Most complain to everybody, most blame everybody, but who complains to, who blames, God? Complaint is reserved for those who are intimidate with Him, who are consciously engaged in His game, the game of lover and Beloved, played upon the vast battlefield of the heart.

Krishna was the Avatar as Dwapara Yuga was coming to an end and the age of Kali was dawning. It was like the period of dusk that ends the day and begins the night—it was a period of transition known by some as Sandhi—the joint—a time known when, a place where, one can slip between two opposites and become free. Real yogis know the opportunities afforded by a Sandhi and that is why they can be seen doing their practices at dawn and dusk, and other auspicious times like the between the waxing and waning of the moon. 

And so it was that when Arjuna, with Krishna as his charioteer, was suspended in the Sandhi between the two armies—between peace and war—and became conflicted and confused as to where his duty lay, he sought the counsel of his Beloved—that response was later to be immortalized in the teaching called the Bhagavad Gita—Krishna’s celestial song.

Krishna spoke about many things, he spoke about duty—the warrior’s duty—and told Arjuna that he must fight. But Arjuna remained confused and asked, “Krishna, is this battle of which you speak—this battle of sacred duty you urge me to fight—is this battle inside of me or outside of me?” Krishna replied, “I fail to perceive a difference.”

“I entered the oceans of ecstasies and joy, witnessing him in the station of intimacy. I was hidden from him for a time. He removed the veil of pride from in between, though there was no in between. I saw him in that form and he drew me near kindly, displaying affection and acceptance, and said, ‘Welcome Ruzbihan.’ I cried out in joy, I clapped, I hummed. I learned from him that he was mine, and time passed. I was hidden from him. I implored him to let me expire in pleasure from him. Time passed.” – Ruzbihan Baqli, The Unveiling of Secrets, translated by Carl W. Ernst
“Grandfather, how interesting, Ruzbihan said, ‘I was hidden from him,’ not that he was veiled from me!”

“Indeed my dear, he is saying that we veil ourselves from Him, not Him from us; in this case, it was the veil of pride.”

“And yet, dear Grandfather, Ruzbihan goes on to say that there is no in between, and if there is no in between, then no veil can part the oneness that is the Truth.”

“If such a veil were to exist at all, then it would be an illusion.”

“And illusion is not Truth.”

“Above and below, within and without, East and West, do not exist—are illusion. Nothing can be beyond Everything, but were Nothing to exist at all, it would be existing within Everything. When this Truth is realized, the game of the heart is over—finished for good—and seen to have never existed at all.”

“As Meher Baba said, ‘You and I are not we, but One!’” – Meher Baba

“Indeed.”

Love Alone Prevails

“Mind can go anywhere in an instant, be anywhere in an instant, visit the past, travel into the future, be here, there, and everywhere. This mercurial nature of the mind is very difficult to control. The body, on the other hand, is always in the present. It can always be located. Now tell me, where is your body now?”

His question surprised me.

“It is here,” I said while making some awkward gesture at myself with both hands.

“Where?” he repeated.

“Here, in the studio,” I said.

“Where?”

“Right here on the chair.”

“That is your starting point, your body on the chair in the studio. Now tell me, how do you know where your body is?”

“I just know,” I said.

“Try to understand, just knowing is not experiencing.” His voice was calm and even. “Can you sense your body?”

“You mean the parts of my body like my hands and feet — my breathing?”

“Yes, but as a whole. Sense your whole body, all at once.”

I tried to sense myself in the way he suggested and soon began to experience the strange, but not unpleasant, sensation of inhabiting my own body.

“Continue to sense; be in your body,” he advised.

As I worked, I began to notice a mild tingling sensation in my hands and feet: my whole body was aglow with a benevolent and subtle energy. There was an agreeable sensation from my clothes against my skin and I experienced an array of fascinating sensations emanating from my head and face. I was experiencing the sensation of being alive.

But there was also the awareness of thoughts, thoughts about the awareness, thoughts about other things, and I found them distracting.

“Your body is like a circle — a sphere,” I heard him say. “When you are aware of yourself inhabiting your body you become the center of that sphere. Thoughts are like roads running in all directions away from the center. You cannot stop thoughts for very long and you cannot erase the roads, but you do not have to travel the roads either. Remain aloof from your thoughts without spending energy attempting to stop them. Neither follow them nor allow yourself to get interested in them. Stay in the center of the sphere. Stay in your body.”

It was quite different working as he suggested. Not trying to stop my thoughts saved energy and allowed me to go deeper into the experience, but I couldn’t entirely stop myself from getting involved with them either. Somehow, without noticing, I would drift off into my thoughts only to become aware at some point that I had lost my position in the center of the sphere. The experience was like making an attempt to keep from falling asleep while being very tired. Thoughts acquired the quality of dreams that carried me away. When I brought this to his attention he told me to not worry about getting lost in thoughts.

He said, “When you become aware your attention has strayed, just come back. Learn to feel comfortable in the rhythm of going away and coming back. It is like breathing.” – From Silence to Sound, by Michael Kovitz, available through eladi-publications.com

                                            ******************************

 “Grandfather, I have been doing as you requested; I have been trying to watch my breathing every morning for fifteen minutes.”

“Granddaughter, shall we go to the garden and sip tea and talk about your experiences?”

“Yes Grandfather, I was hoping you would say that.”

Once a day, preferably soon after waking up, sit for fifteen minutes — actually time it — and watch your breath. Really watch it — sense it going in and out — feel it in your body. That is all, just watch the breath.

“Grandfather, every day it is different—and everyday it is more or less the same. I sit down with the intention of watching my breath but then my thoughts come—like dreams—my thoughts feel like dreams—and sometimes, most times, they just go on and on for most of the fifteen minutes. The actual number of breaths I watch on any given day could be very small. The thoughts just carry me away from my intention.”

“My dear, how does that make you feel?”

“Foolish, I feel foolish, because it’s like they suck me in—high thoughts, low thoughts—thoughts about anything and everything—I constantly keep getting sucked in.”

“There is a story from the Arabian Nights: There were two brothers and a sister. One day, the older brother heard an elder talking about a magic bird who could grant the wishes—any wishes— of the one who possessed her. So the elder brother set out to find her. He knew where she would be, but the path to her was very difficult and thwarted with unimaginable difficulties. The final difficulty was a valley called The Valley of the Talking Stones.

“The elder brother had to pass through the Valley of the Talking Stones to get to the bird. As soon as the brother entered the valley the stones began to call out to him. Some of their voices were frightening, some were seductive; some yelled, and some whispered. The task was to get through the valley without listening to any of the stones, because if, for even an instant, the brother paid attention to any voice, he would be changed into a stone along the path.”

“Grandfather, did he make it?”

“No, he was distracted by a voice and became a stone. Now, the second brother came to hear about his elder brother’s fate and decided that he too would try to obtain the magic bird. But he inherited the same fate as his brother—entered the valley, became distracted by the stones, and was transformed into a stone himself.”

“Oh dear grandfather!”

“Now, the younger sister heard of her brothers’ fate and was very distressed. She spoke to the elder who had originally told the story and learned that if someone succeeds in passing through the valley and obtaining the bird, all of the stones in the valley would be liberated and become human again. And more than anything, because of her love for her brothers, she set out to win the bird and liberate her brothers.”

“And she succeeded?”

“Yes, she succeeded where her brothers had failed. When she entered the valley, she kept her mind focused on her brothers—she kept her heart one-pointedly centered in her love for them—and she made it through the valley, won the magic bird, and her brothers and all the others stones were liberated.”

“And grandfather, how did she succeed where all the others had failed?”

“”Yes my dear, that is the point; the others were motivated by their own selfish desires, but the sister’s motivation was not for herself, but for her brothers. She was motivated by love, and love alone prevails.”

“Trust in God, but tie your camel first.” – Old Persian saying

“Yes Grandfather, it is exactly like that; I am in The Valley of the Talking Stones and I begin to listen to the voices and I get caught.”

“My dear, in the story, the one who succeeded was motivated by love, what motivates you to continue this exercise?”

“Yes, I ask myself that same question—I say to myself; ‘Okay, you have seen that you can’t stop your thoughts and you can’t keep from getting involved in them, so what more do you need to see?’”

“And your answer?”

“Well there are a few answers—a few reasons—but the main one is that doing the exercise keeps me in touch with the ‘truth’ of my existence.”

“Gurdjieff’s father used to say; ‘Blessed is he who sits in one chair and blessed is he who sits in another, but much pain is there for the one who tries to sit between the chairs.’”

                                 

                                “Pain don’t hurt.” – a line by Patrick Swayze in Road House

“Yes Grandfather, I do feel like I’m sitting between two chairs—not quite in this world and not quite in the next.”

“Your state is called Hawa—one who is permanently connected to the path, yet not on it. Hawa is a sacred state. Thousands of lifetimes must be passed in the human form before achieving Hawa, though by a Master’s grace it could be achieved in the blink of an eye. Inshalla!”

“Come, come come, whoever you are, wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving—it does not matter, ours is not a caravan of despair. Though you may have broken your vow a thousand times, come, come yet again, come.” – Shams e Tabriz (Rumi’s spiritual Master).

“Yes Grandfather, I love that couplet—especially the line, ‘ours is not a caravan of despair.’”

“Yes, on the path of love there is no despair, but there is longing—longing to be united with the Beloved—the longing of soul to know it Itself. All of the three worlds that comprise the Nothing exist only to sustain the Everything.”

“To the Universe, the illusion that sustains the Reality.”– dedication by Meher Baba to his book, God Speaks. 

“Cup-bearer ho!

We pray relieve our soul, give us Wine, for pity sake, pass round that bowl.

This Path of Love, so smooth at first account,

But soon we saw how trials came, perplexities did mount,

Cup-bearer ho, pass round that bowl!” – Hafez

“And so dear Granddaughter, watching the breath is practiced with a different motivation when one is traversing the path of love.”

“Grandfather, please explain.”

“My dear, the path of love and the spiritual path are not the same. The spiritual path refers to the higher planes of consciousness and implies that the pilgrim’s journey through the planes is conscious. The spiritual path first winds through the subtle world with its subtle planes, the consciousness of which leads to escalating powers and blissful experiences. The path then passes through the mental world and its mental planes, the consciousness of which leads to the sight of God and the knowledge that God is everywhere and in everything. Ultimately the spiritual path leads to the seventh plane, the plane of God-Realization, the experience of I am God.”

“Grandfather, the spiritual path does not sound so bad at all!”

“Yes my dear, the journey through the planes is an incredible journey, but it is long and fraught with many dangers. The path of love is something quite different.”

“How is the path of love different?”

“First, the path of love has its own kind of Hawa—different than the Hawa that leads to the spiritual path. The Hawa of the path of love precedes the direct connection to the Master. One begins to get attracted to a Master, hears stories about the Master, reads what there is to be read, and practices whatever practices can be found that have been suggested by the Master. Eventually the aspirant begins to feel that he is beginning to know the master and from this knowing love for the Master begins to grow and this love becomes the link to Him.”

“Love is a gift from God to man.
Obedience is a gift from Master to man.
Surrender is a gift from man to Master.

One who loves desires the will of the Beloved.
One who obeys does the will of the Beloved.
One who surrenders knows nothing but the will of the Beloved.

Love seeks union with the Beloved.
Obedience seeks the pleasure of the Beloved.
Surrender seeks nothing.

One who loves is the lover of the Beloved.
One who obeys is the beloved of the Beloved.
One who surrenders has no existence other than the Beloved.

Greater than love is obedience.
Greater than obedience is surrender.
All three arise out of, and remain contained in, the Ocean of divine Love.” –Meher Baba 

“For you my dear, it seems that your path is the path of love connected to Meher Baba and that is why you will soon be journeying to His Pilgrim Center in Meherabad, India. You will be where He lived and did so much of His Universal Work and, perhaps, most importantly you will have the opportunity to bow down in His holy tomb.”

“And that will constitute my direct contact with Meher Baba?”

“My dear, I will tell you what I believe, but remember that this is only my belief. Meher Baba was not a Perfect Master, Meher Baba was the Avatar—the Christ—the Messiah—and His ways and His means are quite unfathomable. We speak of the path of love, and Hawa, and direct and indirect contact, but the Avatar is beyond all of that. His grace and His mercy, indeed, even His whim, supersede all ways and means and time.

“Having said that, I will tell you that I believe that direct contact is connected to the physical presence of the Master and the Avatar. It is for this reason that something Meher Baba said seems so very significant—so very important—to me. Before January 31^st, 1969, the day that Meher Baba dropped His body—relinquished His physical form—He stated that for a period of one-hundred years after the dropping of His body, He would remain accessible in the same way He was before He dropped the body.

“Of course, we are still in that one-hundred year period and what this means to me is that a direct connection can be made with Meher Baba through a physical connection that can be accomplished by being at His place of Pilgrimage where His physical body is enshrined.”

“When his time has come, the prey finds the hunter.” –Old Persian saying

“And so, dear Grandfather, if watching my breath is not meant to achieve the experiences and powers of the higher planes of consciousness, then what again is my motivation?”

“Dear Granddaughter, there are experiences along the path of love, but they are not the experiences of the higher planes. Let me clarify more fully the distinction between the spiritual path and the path of love.

“Adi K. Irani, one of Meher Baba’s close disciples, used to say that for those who follow the spiritual path, it is like decorating the outside of a building. As time goes by, new colors appear, new shapes, new windows, etc. These new things give the appearance of change—the appearance of progress—but, the advancement suggested by these changes is only advancement in illusory consciousness. Remember, the planes of consciousness are still in illusion. 

“It is different for the followers of the path of love, nothing seems to change when looking at the outside of the building. Nothing new appears—the building just starts looking older. In other words, the person seems to remain the same as he was—no new powers, no experience of the higher planes—the only change is that he starts to look older.

“But under the surface, where no one but a Master can see, there is much change. This change is like termites. Termites demolish the structure from the inside out, chewing away all the structure, all the support. This action goes on and on until the right moment when with just one light touch from the finger of the Master, the whole structure collapses.”

"One very, very slowly gets painted spiritually;

mind takes a very, very long time to vanish completely;

and the man who has slept for ages (in ignorance)

gets awakened very, very gradually." -- Kabir

“And Grandfather, the building, the structure; what is that?”

“It is the false self, the illusory self—the limited mind—which must go, which must collapse.”

“And what remains is the real self, the eternal self?”

“Yes, full consciousness minus limited false mind. And so, now returning to your question, ‘why do you watch your breath?’ the answers lies in this—a very deep, very significant truth, expressed by Meher Baba in His dedication to His book, God Speaks, ‘To the Universe, the illusion that sustains Reality.’”

“I have read that Grandfather and think about it often.”

“Yes, even one of the editors of God Speaks thought Baba got it wrong! But look deeply into the statement; see it in the light of everything that Meher Baba has said regarding the three states of God.”

“God asleep, God dreaming, God awake?”

“Yes, since the dream of creation—God’s creation—God’s dream—is the means by which God as embodied soul gains consciousness of Himself, illusion and Reality become interdependent—they sustain each other. My dear, what are the three roles God plays with respect to illusion?”

“Do you mean God as Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva?”

“Yes, the very same that the Sufis call Afridgar, Parvardigar, and Fanakar—and in English my dear?”

“The Creator, the Sustainer, and the Dissolver.”

“Yes, and is it not so, that the Avatar, the Ancient One, the Messiah are all names we give to the incarnation of God in the role of Vishnu—Parvardigar?”

“Yes.”

“Once when I was at Meher Baba’s Pilgrim Center, Eruch Jessawala, one of Meher Baba’s closest followers, was commenting on a line from one of the Artis dedicated to Meher Baba. The line was, ‘Creator, yet creation-less You are, Truth and Truth’s body divine Avatar…’

“Eruch was talking about the significance of Truth’s body—the body that Infinite, Eternal, God takes on in order to bring to His creation a personal representation of their creator and, by extension, their (real) selves.

“Were reality—God—to descend into His creation without the covering of a finite sentient body—without the covering of illusion—, that Infinite Eternal God would absolutely destroy—annihilate—the illusion of creation.

“And so, the Ancient One appears to come and go, be here among us, encourage us to love Him in the form of personal God, while warning us that He is not what we see—that He is not the body that we love. Oh, what a game He plays with us; Oh, what a game He plays with Himself. It is a game, yes, but it is His mercy, it is His love for us. What it is that He said? ‘I Love you more than you can ever love yourself!’”

“Grandfather, when I woke up today I was so out of sorts. Everything mother said and did irritated me. I found myself getting angry.”

“And so?”

“And so, when I sat down to practice the exercise of watching my breath, my mind kept returning to the things mother said and did.”

“What did you do Granddaughter?”

“I stayed with the exercise and began to notice that when I was with my breath all of my irritation immediately would go away. I was in a very clear and light state—until my mind stole my attention again and then I would get irritated again.”

“And so?”

“Well I stayed with the exercise, going back and forth like a ping-pong ball; though in the end I was able to stay with my breath more and when I finished the exercise I found that my state was noticeably better. But the questions arose in me; ‘Why do I keep letting my mind call me back to its heaven and hell? Why am I not able to stay in the more lucid clear state?’”

“Indeed. Earlier we were talking about His game—our game—your game. One thing is for sure, He wants us to choose Him over everything. Gurdjieff said that the most difficult thing for a man to give up is his suffering. He will hold on to his suffering above everything else.”

“Even his happiness?”

“Sometimes yes, as strange as it seems, yes—because man derives some strange satisfaction from believing that his suffering serves some high purpose.”

“Does it ever?”

“No and yes. When suffering is conscious it can serve a purpose, but when it is unconscious, flowing from the thwarting of one’s desires, then it is totally unnecessary. Meher Baba made the distinction by saying hot tears or cool tears.”

“Hot tears for self, cool tears for God?”

“Yes.”

“But tears one way or the other?”

“Yes, until the Final Fauna—union with God—is reached. Until then, there are tears because there is suffering—suffering for self, or suffering for God.”

“And how does one suffer for God Grandfather?”

“Gurdjieff called it ‘Being Partkdolg Duty’.”

“What a funny word Grandfather, what does it mean?”

“You know my dear, the last time I was asked that question was in India in 1979 by Adi K. Irani.”

“Meher Baba’s close follower?”

“Yes, the very same. We were sitting in his little office in the Trust Compound talking. In those days, many of Meher Baba’s Mandali were still alive and very accessible. As for me, it was my first trip to India and my first pilgrimage to Meher Baba’s tomb shrine. How I got there is another story, but there I was sitting in Adi’s office talking to him about Meher Baba, though at the time, I was still involved in what was called the Gurdjieff Work.

“It so happened that Adi asked me about Gurdjieff. He said, ‘Who is this man Gurdjieff and what was his work?’ I answered him this way. ‘I’m sure if we asked that same question about Meher Baba to a hundred followers we would probably get a hundred different answers. And, no doubt, you would get a hundred different answers from a hundred different followers of Gurdjieff were you to ask them the same question about him.

‘So, the way I would answer your question is to say that Gurdjieff’s work with his followers was to teach them Being Partkdolg Duty. Being Partkdolg Duty was a term he used to suggest the ability to labor consciously and suffer intentionally in order to help share the burden of our Common Father Creator.’  Having said that, Adi immediately and forcefully replied to me, ‘I like this man Gurdjieff, his work was the work of effacement.’”

“Effacement?”

“Yes, Meher Baba was once asked about what yoga he taught. His reply was that his yoga was the yoga of you go.”

“And so it always comes back to that, doesn’t it Grandfather?”

“Yes dear, it always comes back to that. The question is how? How can man jump over his own knees?

“The saint is bound by a golden chain, the sinner by a spiked one, but the Goal is to be free of all chains.” – Meher Baba

“Granddaughter, Upasani Maharaj once said, “All of you look like God to me. If, however, you think you are like impure gold, then it has to be purified.”  Is there really any other way to see it then as a great divine enigma wrapped in an irony? Without thought there can be no consciousness, yet, thought obscures consciousness. Everything appears to be Nothing, but Nothing appears to be Everything. Doing does not exist, yet we are prompted by mind to do, and for the wrong doing which is never done, we are prompted to repent. What are we to think? Meher Baba tells us it is all a mighty joke and yet the jest is on His chest!”

“After all, animate or inanimate—the whole creation is borne out of happiness—from Bliss—and hence, to have higher stages of happiness that Bliss began to ascend up in the evolutionary process from its original lower inanimate stages. The creation thus originated from Bliss and has to return back ultimately to its origin—the Bliss.” – Upasani Maharaj

“And so Grandfather, we all feel like we’re doing and feel that we need to do more, and yet, there is nothing to do and nothing that can be done. But still, I wake up every morning and my mind tells me there is much to do and my mind tells me if I don’t do, there will be unfortunate consequences. I mean, that is what I experience.”

“Yes dear, what you say is true, that is how it is. We have to live the dream that is ours acting as if it means everything while knowing that it is just nothing.”

“Grandfather, your talk stirs in me a memory of when I was very young and you took me to a special ceremony.”

“Yes, I remember it well too. It was a special Tibetan Buddhist ceremony called The Black Hat Ceremony.”

“It was beautiful Grandfather. So many monks chanting, doing various thing, while that man; What did you call him?”

“The Karmapa.”

“Yes, while the Karmapa sat on a high platform watching it all, directing it all.”

“Yes, Karmapa is a title, only the Karmapa has the authority to conduct the Black Hat Ceremony. He was the only man on the planet who held that title. Do you remember that the ceremony was for the transmission of the attribute of divine compassion?”

“I do, and I remember too that I felt a little disappointed when we left because I didn’t feel any more compassionate.”

“Meher Baba said that the greatest gift is given by one who does not realize that he is giving and received by one who does not realize he is receiving. Seeds are planted, they disappear into the earth, they sprout at some fixed time corresponding to their destiny, and only then do they, as seedlings, break the surface of the earth and become visible to us. Seeds were planted in you my dear, seeds were planted. Meher Baba also said, ‘Things that are real are given and received in silence.’”

“I sincerely hope so grandfather, in my mind, I feel that compassion and love are very much the same—that compassion springs forth from love and that love gives rise to compassion. I remember something else about that time when we viewed the Black Hat Ceremony—something that has stayed with me ever since.”

“What was that dear?”

“I was watching the Karmapa and I noticed that he was attentive to everything that was going on. When necessary he gave a direction, said something, did something, but at the same time he appeared to be unattached to what was going on and what he was doing. He expressed such grace in his movements and actions, yet did not seem at all like he was posturing or posing. He laughed, sometimes he scratched, once I even saw him pick his nose.”

“And what did you take away from this experience?”

“Yes, I felt that I was being given a gift in the form of a living example of how I could lead my life. To be attentive is not such a great thing. People are often seen to be attentive, but only when they are attached to something. When there is no attachment there is a kind of sloppiness. But, to be attentive and not attached at the same time, that is very rare. It seemed to me to be a special state.”

“What do you think can motivate attention without attachment?”

“Yes that is the question Grandfather, I have come to believe that it is compassion that springs from love. It was the Karmapa’s compassion for all life that motivated his attentiveness.”

“I see the bird fly – I am the enjoyer of that,

And hear her song – I am the enjoyer of that.

I see the rain fall –I am the enjoyer of that,

And feel it’s warmth and wetness upon my skin – I am the enjoyer of that.

I am the enjoyer, I am the eater, I am the experiencer. 

Eating is joy—everything eats everything—everything enjoys everything—

I enjoy, but am I enjoyed?

How can the enjoyer be the enjoyed?

Give yourself to the Master,

Let the Master eat you for His enjoyment,

And in His enjoyment you will experience the ultimate enjoyment—the bliss—

The bliss of the Infinite Bliss.” The Enjoyer – Michael Kovitz

“Grandfather, when we first came to the garden it was to speak about my experiences of the technique of watching my breath. This has been very helpful and I have, as always, thoroughly enjoyed your many stories. Now, it occurs to me to ask you about your own experiences of watching your breath, particularly, the question of why you do it.”

“My dear, you are wise beyond your years and you intuitively find your way to the heart of the matter. I am happy to answer any of your questions and hope my answer satisfies you. Granddaughter, the simple answer is that I have no idea at all why I continue to practice the exercise of watching my breath. I cannot say that the practice is not enjoyable to me, but neither can I say that the enjoyment of the practice is why I continue to do it.

“My dear, I have, over time, begun to perceive myself as being in a rather strange state, for this not-knowing why I continue to practice the exercise of watching my breath is quite consistent with almost everything else I do, or not do, in my life. I really don’t know why I do, or don’t do, any of it. I used to know, I used to think I knew, but now I don’t—and I don’t even want to know, or even entertain the question. It’s like I wander around in a dream, aware, but not quite aware of myself, until someone asks me who I am and then I look at myself and think; ‘ What should I tell him?’ and then some answer comes out.

“My dear, see how beautiful this garden is, see how beautiful you are, I am not blind to beauty—to beauty, to favor, to privilege, but also I remain aware that it is all transitory, all passing, and that love alone prevails. Yes, love is the key.

“Adi K. Irani used to say, ‘A kiss and a kick from Meher Baba are one and the same—still, I prefer the kiss.’ Adi’s very honest statement reveals his state of being conscious of illusion, adrift in the sea of illusion, affected by the heavens and hells of illusion, yet, also maintaining the conviction inherent in the association with reality—with Meher Baba—the conviction that life as we live it is illusion and that reality which we do not experience is the only reality.

“Love is the link between reality in reality and reality in illusion. What we do, what we think we are doing is not important, but doing it with love, or at least realizing that love is there, that love alone prevails, awakens us to the foolishness of making distinctions between illusory things and placing importance on those distinctions. From the perspective of reality, why make distinctions between the beggar and the king when they are both illusory states of consciousness? The same goes for all dualities; smart and stupid, beautiful and ugly, black and white, female and male—if God makes no distinctions, then why should I?

“Granddaughter, so many seekers, so many pilgrims, make it out to be so difficult, so complicated, when it is not complicated at all. Why do we make it complicated? For the sake of the mind, for the mind thrives on complications and fears simplicity, because with simplicity the mind is out of a job.”

“How simple is that Grandfather—nothing to figure out, nothing to change, nothing to do accept to do what comes to you with love.”

  

“Christ said, ‘Leave all and follow me.’ What did that mean?

“Don (Stevens) replied, ‘I assume it means literally to leave everything and follow Christ within yourself.’ Then Baba continued:

‘But the meaning behind it was not to leave all these things; not to renounce the world, it was to obey.  Leave all thoughts, your selfish thoughts, and simply obey me. Then, you are liberated, you are free. But if you cannot, then more and more bindings are created, for every action creates a binding.

‘You are very old, Don, ages old! And you are bound. And you will be bound and you will go on getting bound age after age. Age after age, the same bindings will be created, you'll try to free yourself and in so doing, get re-bound. But once you are liberated completely, then you will realize that there was no binding at all. It was just imagination – a dream; you were seeing and experiencing only a dream.

‘All of you here are very old – ancient ones. All are God, God is within each one, and God is not bound by time: He is eternal. You are all eternal. Now you are bound. You feel you are bound and you continue to get bound; but there will be a time when every individual gets freed, gets liberated. Then that individual realizes that all his bindings were just in a dream – he was seeing a dream.

‘Christ took upon himself the sufferings of others. Why? To liberate humanity. And the bindings are still there. Mankind is still bound. Yet, liberation does not require time. You are bound for ages, but when you get liberated, it is instantaneous – it comes in a flash!

‘Just think of it. God is within all, in everyone, and He is infinite. God is all-powerful, God is all-bliss. And yet, though God is in each one, how helpless we feel! We weep, we feel pain, we feel sorrow, although God, who is so infinitely powerful and blissful, is there! Why? It is because of our own bindings. But there is one way to get liberated from these bindings, and that is through love.’”– Lord Meher, 1st. ed., Bhau Kalchuri, Vol. 14, p. 5019.