I AM NOT THIS BODY

 
During the night of January 30th, 1969, Meher Baba gestured to me on three separate occasions,

"Remember this, I am not this body . . .

Remember, I am not this body . . .

Remember, I am not this body."

Baba had often told me this before, but when he repeated this to me, just hours before he dropped his body, it was with a force which I cannot describe. These last words have sustained me through these years without him. They have made me feel his presence. His words have given my heart the wine of his manifestation.

Avatar Meher Baba often declared,

"I am not this body that you see."

Yet, some people think that when the time comes for him to manifest he will appear again in a physical body. But, if this were so, why would he have discarded his body? Meher Baba would not discard the physical body to appear again in the same form. Even if he were to appear in the same body, as some feel he will do, this would not be his manifestation.

The Avatar in Reality is divine, and therefore when he manifests his divinity it is his manifestation. Meher Baba's physical body was the medium of his universal work on the gross level of consciousness. The result of his universal work is the manifestation of divinity. The awakening of human consciousness toward his divinity is when he manifests in the gross world. And this is why his manifestation for the world can only begin after he drops his body.

Meher Baba's body was a vehicle of his universal work, and that work was to make humanity experience divinity. Humanity is destined to experience his divinity. His divine manifestation will be experienced during the awakening and spiritual upheaval, which is already happening, as a result of his universal work.

The dropping of Meher Baba's physical body signifies the stretching of the bow. The shooting of his arrow signifies the release of the force of his universal work. As the arrow strikes with all its force, the world falls unconscious with pain, but will reawaken to find him.

Meher Baba's universal work affects every level of consciousness and his arrow strikes deep in the heart of humanity. As a result of his work, individuals are gaining new consciousness. This new consciousness has been gained, because his arrow is now in their hearts. The whole world is the target of his arrow.

A day will come when the whole world will be aware of him and will awaken to his divinity. As his arrow remains deep in the heart of humanity, it will be the total manifestation of his divine love on earth.

We are now suffering the pain of the arrow in our hearts. The pain created by his arrow is the restlessness and confusion all over the world. Most of humanity is unaware of the cause for all this restlessness and confusion. The world is destined to become aware of him. The world is asleep, but will awaken by his love to the manifestation of his divinity.

Avatar Meher Baba is not the physical body. He is God and he has come down on earth to manifest his own divinity. His divinity is the real thing which he gives to the world, and those who experience him as God have his real darshan.

The Avatar has worked to give us the experience of divinity, of our soul's divinity. He has created the feeling of separation by dropping his physical body because without separation there can be no union with God. When the feeling of separation is created, longing for union becomes the real pain in our hearts.

Let us, therefore, long for the experience of his divinity. This longing will bring our hearts to drink the wine of his manifestation. Wine will enable us to experience the divine manifestation of this age. Longing for his wine is real pain. It is the pain of his arrow deep in our hearts, and it is for this pain that the Avatar worked and suffered. Meher Baba has assured us that this pain is not of the body; it is the longing of the soul for its liberation.