ONLY THEN ARE WE ALL SAFE

 
At the decision-taking meeting held at Meherabad on August 31, 1949, there was one individual who told Meher Baba that he was caught in a dilemma which prevented him from making up his mind whether or not to join Baba in the New Life.

This man was a devout lover of Baba who had a fine voice and used to sing devotional songs of his own composition which he followed up with talks about Baba. He had given himself over to this self-assigned work with such gusto that eventually many whom he introduced to Baba, began to look upon him as a Master although he never called himself such.

When asked by Baba to explain the nature of the problem that faced him, he said, "Baba, there are so many people who have been coming to our meetings to hear about You, that we have hired a large hall and it has already been furnished. To give it up in a month's time in order to be with You will be difficult, so can I be allowed to join You in the New Life as soon as I finish this work?"

"How long with it take?" Baba asked.

"By the end of the year I'll be ready to join You," he answered.

"By the end of the year the training period will be over, but you can join me," Baba told him.

Unfortunately however, it turned out that this individual never joined the New Life because he was unable to shed certain attachments which had been allowed to form and to which he had become addicted. And therein lies a lesson for all.

There is undoubtedly much pleasure and enjoyment in sitting around and talking about Meher Baba, but when that is over we must not forget to give ourselves a collective shaking in order to free us from any wrongful attachment which may develop. The attachment to which I refer, can develop from listener to speaker or vice versa, and it was this process which took place in the case of the devout lover in question. He became so drenched with the admiration that he drew from his listeners that he forgot to shake himself out of it and fell a victim to its enchantment.

This process of attachment starts innocently and unnoticed because in the first place, homage to another person does not start precipitously. It begins without the awareness of the listeners and without the knowledge of the one who talk about the Lord for such talk is a delight to the heart, and the proximity and closeness and familiarity that accompany such gatherings lull the senses to the potential for danger.

So this reciprocity of good and warm feelings intensify and eventually the one who is talking about the Lord is given larger than life proportions and he begins to be adored. On his side he cannot escape the soothing feeling of being revered and the drug of addiction commences its harmful work on him.

The one who has been talking about the Lord now comes to feel that he is somebody special, and he accepts the adoration that is offered, quite forgetting that it is Baba who is doing everything. He gets so overpowered by this new attachment that he is unable to shake it off although the fault lies as well with those who have placed him on the pedestal from which he will eventually fall.

This is the reason why I repeat Meher Baba's exhortation to be very careful, to live a guarded life. The focus should always be one-pointed attention on Meher Baba, for only then are we all safe.