SPEED-BREAKER STORY

 
Another story that helped me was one that Mani told once in the hall. She said, "Our life with Baba was timeless, as if time ceased to exist. There was a sense of eternity; however, to watch the present generation rush through their lives with no time for anything or anyone is very sad. People do not have time to meet their parents, family or friends for years.

"In some documentary films that I have seen, the people are in such a hurry that, even while walking they are leaning forward, you don't find people walking straight. Some pilgrims have come up to me and said that in just one life, they feel they have undergone the suffering and experiences of ten lifetimes.

"We feel sad for them. Things are so fast that people are breathless. It's time to slow down. What we need is speed-breakers. What are these speed-breakers? Let me tell you a story.

"This is the story of a dacoit who ruled a jungle. He was so ferocious that no one would dare cross the jungle. His name was Angulimala, which means garland of fingers. He would murder his victims, chop off their fingers, and make a garland to wear around his neck.

"Despite everyone's warnings, Gautama Buddha decides to undertake his journey through the jungle. The dacoit, on sighting Buddha, first wonders who the foolish man was to venture to his death. When he sees Buddha dressed in a monk's robe, he felt that it would be nice to kill a monk and have his finger garland made. So he follows this monk, but he finds that the distance between them is increasing. So the dacoit increases his speed, but to his surprise, the distance between him and the monk was still increasing, although the monk was walking leisurely.

"In desperation the dacoit breaks into a run, but still the distance between him and the monk was increasing, even though the monk was not running. Totally exhausted from the chase the dacoit shouts at the monk and says, 'Please stop, please stop.' Buddha turns around and tells the dacoit, 'I have already stopped my child, it is time for you to stop now.'

"Stopping refers to the stopping of the mind. Baba said, 'Mind working is man, mind working fast is mad, mind slowed down is mast and mind stopped is God.' So how do we go about stopping the mind? First slow down by introducing speed-breakers. What are these speed-breakers? Your coming and visiting Meherabad is one, visiting Baba-centers is another. If you can't do that, then just a few Baba-lovers getting together and reading His books and discussing or talking about His stories of love and compassion, is a good way of slowing down. And if you can't do that, then create some time during the day to remember Him or remember Him in any way you think fit. Increase these speed-breakers more and more and finally a time will come where the speed will slow down and eventually stop."

This was helpful to me, not that it made my situation any easier, but it brought home to me that although I experienced a lot of frustration and opposition in my work at the Trust, my suffering was brought on by my mind's reaction to it. The more I could just think about Baba, the more I could escape the mental anguish I otherwise was undergoing. Of course, this was easier to say than to do, but every now and then, something the Mandali said, or their living example, or even just the impact of Baba's love flowing through them, was enough to help me, even if only momentarily, realize the larger Truth that lay beneath the surface of my resident life.