[Tavern-Talk] Breathe Deeply

[Tavern-Talk]

Breathe Deeply

The almost unbearable summer heat has virtually disappeared now, and 
in its place is the almost unbearable humidity that heralds the 
blessed downpours of the Monsoon Season. The clear blue skies of 
summer have disappeared, leaving behind a thick blanket of grey 
clouds and fierce winds. Sometimes, these winds are so strong that we 
find flower pots overturned, plants uprooted and unripe fruits ripped 
from their branches only to land in great heaps on the ground below.

But all these happenings are not without meaning; they are the hints, 
the changing face of seasons that lead us to believe that soon the 
Monsoon rains will deluge Meherazad, turning the dry cracked earth 
into muddy puddles and rivulets of rushing water. So we accept this 
transitional landscape as a marker, a clue as to what is to come, a 
reminder that will lead us to the "promised land". And, although the 
promise has not yet come to fruition, we mark these advancing signs 
with hope. And we wait.

In the meantime, with love and care, the flower pots are moved to 
more sheltered locations, the fallen fruit are picked up and brought 
to the kitchen to be transformed into pickles and jams, and we finish 
all the summer projects and house cleaning that heralds the beginning 
of the Pilgrim Season. For, as paradoxical as it may seem, sometimes 
within the unfolding of change lie the seeds of preservation; Nature 
evolves in order to preserve.

Today, at Meherazad, we are beginning to take these hints to heart. 
Nature is giving us the clues as to how to preserve His home for 
posterity. We are beginning to take control of what we must change, 
so that there will be as little change as possible. So that the scent 
of His Being and what that life was when He lived as Man amongst men 
in the simple confines of Meherazad, will continue to fill the hearts 
of all the pilgrims who come here. And although now it can only be a 
picture, just that sight can help open up our hearts to receive His 
love.

As I sit at my computer, wondering what I should write about for this 
month's Tavern Talk, what strikes most deeply, what resonates within 
my being, is the timeless beauty of Baba's home, and the importance 
of preserving that.  Whatever the season, whatever the weather, 
howsoever the landscape varies and changes, there is an unmistakable 
fragrance of His Being that permeates and pervades every molecular 
space.

Call it atmosphere, call it His presence, or call it the imprint of 
Reality upon illusion, but it has impregnated the very ground that He 
has walked upon -- it is in His sandals and the clothes He has worn, 
the board that He used, the Seat that He sat upon, the carpets He 
stood upon, the dining room table where He ate; it is in the chairs, 
the beds He has slept in, the cushions that His Feet or arms rested 
upon; it is in every nook and corner of all the places where He has 
lived and breathed.  And it is for this perfume that we come back 
again and again to His Home, to this tiny spot on earth where Reality 
walked amongst mankind.

Sometimes, in the Mandali Hall, pilgrims would ask what is the value 
of coming here when Baba is no longer in physical form? Or, isn't one 
pilgrimage enough to last one's lifetime? Or, after the mandali are 
gone, what is the point of coming to Meherazad, won't it just be a 
museum?

I am reminded of something that Eruch would tell us. He used this 
figure: we are like hounds, the dogs used by the police when they 
need to track down a criminal. The dogs cannot be expected to find 
the culprit, just by being let loose. They need the criminal's scent. 
They must be taken to the scene of the crime and allowed to sniff. 
They are given some article of the thief's clothing or something he 
used in order to imbibe his scent. And after awhile when they again 
seem to lose track, they are brought back to the scene of the crime 
to renew the scent. Only in this way can they track him down.

We, like the hounds, need to come here to sniff at the places where 
He has been, to breathe into our hearts the redolence of His Being. 
When we become enmeshed in the world of illusion and that scent that 
keeps us going becomes faint, we need to come back and fill our 
nostrils once again.

Coming to Meherazad and imbibing the atmosphere where He lived, Eruch 
would tell us, does not give us the end result, but it leads us 
towards Reality. It helps to saturate our heart with His Presence so 
that He can fill it with His love.

On 1st July, the gates of Meherazad will once again be opened to all 
His lovers, pilgrims, and even those who admit to not understanding 
why they have felt drawn to come here.  But whatever the excuse, 
whatever the reason, it doesn't matter. All that matters is to 
breathe deeply. He will do the rest.

=Davana Brown
for Tavern Talk
29th June 2008


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Tavern Talk is the electronic newsletter of the Avatar Meher Baba Trust
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