BABA'S BREAKING OF HIS SILENCE

 
Annapurnaiah, the editor of "Velugu," a Telugu weekly, on the spur of the moment [March 2, 1954] asked, "Baba, will the Andhra lovers be informed of the time and place of the breaking of Your silence?"

Baba looked amused. With His characteristic smile and twinkle, He answered,

My dear 'Velugu!' If this is what is meant by the breaking of My silence, it would be better if I don't break it!

After a slight pause, Baba continued:

Just as I told you all last night, the "powerhouse" is to be switched on and all the bulbs connected with it will be lit up. So this will not be just here, but throughout the world. All will know. But bulbs [hearts] that are fused will not give any light. That is why I have been telling you all to love Me more and more. The time for the powerhouse to be switched on is so near that the only thing that will count now is love.

Annapurnaiah's question about the exact time of Baba's breaking His silence reminds me of an incident which happened twenty-two years earlier in 1932. It is narrated by Jean Adriel in her book, Avatar, published in Santa Barbara, California, U.S.A. in 1947.

She writes:

Before going to California, Baba had told us he would break his silence there in July, and that this event would be the signal for the spiritual quickening which he had been predicting for so many years. We were naturally anticipating this moment keenly, because we — as among those close to him — would share in this quickening in a very profound way. This, Baba had told us at the time of his first visit [1931]....

We gladly believed him — perhaps because we wanted to be relieved of the necessity of further conscious growth — but we were not greatly surprised when he told us there would be a slight postponement. He must first make a hurried trip to China, he told us, and would then return to break his silence in Hollywood Bowl, with Mary Pickford to introduce him!

How any of us could have given credence to this fantastic story I cannot now imagine! Certainly it revealed what babes in consciousness we then were. Only too willing were we to be lifted up to Heaven by the boot-straps without further delay! One day, in India, years later, Baba laughed as he recalled the picture to us: "Fancy your believing that story — that I would break my silence over the radio in Hollywood Bowl!"

But believe it then we did, and ardently anticipated his return from China. Before leaving with his party Baba had instructed Malcolm and me to go to San Francisco and prepare the ground for his return. Through contacts which we had from our bookshop days we got in touch with various 'key' people, who arranged for us to speak about Baba and tell of his imminent return and the breaking of his silence.

On precisely the evening when we were to attend the largest of these gatherings in Piedmont word arrived from Baba that he was not returning to America, but was proceeding to India and Europe; nor would he break his silence at that time. This, frankly, was a very dark moment for us.

Within a few hours we were expected to tell these new friends of Baba's expected return to America; to describe the quickening effects upon consciousness which his speaking would initiate for mankind; to proclaim him as a supreme example of God-hood, worthy of the deepest trust and faith. But in our hearts dark doubts were refusing to be silenced.... We felt like trustful children who had been cruelly deceived. Either he did not have the God-knowledge with which we had credited him, or he was another of the imposters who pose as advanced spiritual teachers. Either he was deluded or deluding, the rational mind argued and for a few hours held sway.

Now, in retrospect, it is difficult to recapture the agony of soul I went through. But, at that time, being a neophyte among Baba's followers, I had not become accustomed to his sudden changes of plan when his inner work demanded it. Even today, after fifteen years of close association, I would not attempt to explain why he does and says certain things.

Once, in Cannes, in discussing a letter which he had recently received, and in which the writer was bewailing the fact that Baba's promises were not materializing according to schedule, he indicated to me that everything he had promised would come true, "but in my own time and in my own way."

I accept that, though it explains nothing to the rational mind. However, the demands of the reasoning mind matter less and less as the years pass, whereas the intuitions of the heart matter more and more. But during those dark hours in San Francisco the claims of reason were very strong. I felt myself insecure in a world where one's given word was so lightly regarded. Surely the word of a God-man must be sacred. So I reasoned.

But as the hours passed I gained better perspective. I realized that though I could not understand his motive, I knew in my heart that nothing he did was ever prompted by the slightest shadow of self-interest; and that his consciousness so far transcended man-made ethics or conduct that his words or actions could not be judged by our conventional concepts of right or wrong....

Out of deference to our hostess and the plans she had made, we went to the party that night, but only the following day did we send out word of Baba's change of plans. Overnight, practically all of the newly-made friends became ardent enemies! The next day another cable arrived showing the inner contact which Baba had been maintaining with us: "I knew you two would not fail me. Love, Baba."(1)

On this enigmatic subject, Baba's secretary, Adi, shared his views in a letter as follows:

"... Baba may be putting off the breaking of His Silence in order to put off those people who might believe in Him for merely being true to words rather than for being the One who will give the WORD. The skeptics would believe in Baba because of it, while we believe in Baba in spite of it."

Whenever God visits earth in human form as the Avatar, He uses human language as well as His own language. And it is impossible for the intellect to differentiate between the two. However, if His lovers let His statements simmer in their hearts, then the Avatar's grace helps them to understand what He wishes them to know. Love accommodates contradictions, reconciles paradoxes, and shines forth with a purity which cannot be gainsaid. Once one is blessed with the insight love provides, one's faith in the God-Man's divine status is not affected by the intellectual conundrums of others.

The entire subject of Meher Baba's silence and His promises to break it is far, far beyond my comprehension. For me, it is one of the most sublime and subtle aspects of His spiritual work, and that's all I can say.

Once, while sitting with a group of His lovers in Guru Prasad, Poona, one of His dear ones said, "Baba, some of my friends who are scholars and are really good people with many more spiritual qualities than I have, often remark that things do not happen as you say they will." Perhaps this was obliquely referring to Baba's oft repeated promises to break His silence on such and such a date.

Baba's eyes sparkled, and with a chuckle He gestured,

"You know, when I was in school, I was good at all subjects, except arithmetic. That must be why I have trouble with dates and years!"

What a reply! A magnificent Avataric joke!