EVEN AT THE LAST MINUTE

 
At the time of the Great Event when Meher Baba dropped His body, the Zoroastrian high priest of Ahmednagar visited the Tomb for Baba's darshan and dressed in his priestly robes, he performed the highly unusual act for one of his class, of going down into the open crypt and touching Baba's feet.

Now this priest had no love for Baba while Baba was alive though he respected Him, but on the morning of the day when Baba dropped His body, the priest had an extraordinary vision. After saying his prayers at about four o'clock, he went back to bed and before long he beheld Baba bathed in a bright halo, riding past him on a white horse saying that He was going to His manzil or destination.

The priest immediately jumped out of bed and decided to make some enquiries about Baba. When later he learned that Baba had dropped His body, he hurried to the Tomb to pay his last respects.

This is how Baba even at the last minute responded to his feelings, just as He did all along while He was with us. He was so patient with us, so kind, so loving, so compassionate and because of our experience we felt and knew Him to be the Ancient One.

Meherazad today is a pleasant and peaceful place. Our daily routine continues as when Baba was here, the men and women disciples live here and carry on with their duties but we sadly miss the familiar phrases, "Baba wants you," "Baba said so," and so on. But on the whole it is like feeling ourselves in a vacuum.

However, though we miss Baba, we don't feel He is absent. What we miss is His silence that was so much a part of Him for 44 years. In the midst of all His activities, Baba's silent gestures, His very silence were words in themselves – vibrant words which went deep into the hearts of His lovers and caused them to fall at His feet, even ready to give their lives at a signal from Him. That is the silence we miss now, the silence which spoke that is no longer with us.

The other lovers of Meher Baba also believe that Baba is in their midst although He is physically absent, for He seems to have come into their hearts more forcefully than ever before. They feel His presence without seeing Him and I can quite believe that because I too feel it in the same way.

There was a report in the newspapers that from January 31 to February 7, 1969, the period during which Baba's body was laid out in the open crypt of the Tomb, the Muslim pilgrims who visited the holy city of Mecca on their haj, were not able to make their customary round of the Kaaba, the sacred black stone supposedly given to Abraham by the angel Gabriel, because it was submerged in six and one-half feet of water.

Such a thing had never happened, even once, during the last fourteen hundred years, and on learning this I felt that Meher Baba in His present Avataric form was signifying to all the followers of His advent that His present Tomb at Meherabad was now the Kaaba of the present age.

We, the mandali, feel that there will come a day when the world at large will know about Avatar Meher Baba, His silence and the Word of all words which will be released and felt by the world.

We still believe that He will manifest to the world, so that the world will know the much-awaited Avatar lived among men and suffered for them. Some people came to know of Him while He was on earth, others when He rested in His Tomb giving silent darshan, and the rest will come to know of Him when He will manifest in their hearts.

I believe that the time for that manifestation will not be too distant and I would not at all be surprised if Baba were to appear in His body at different places to His lovers at one and the same time, or at different times to give them His darshan. This I will consider as His world-wide manifestation.