TOO LATE IN AWAKENING

 
When a man goes to bed at night and has a dream, it does not matter whether the dream is short or long, because when he awakens he does not say that he was too late in awakening to recognize that it was after all a dream he had. One concludes that he slept late, and not that he dreamed late. One knows that when he has had a dream it was a dream, because he awakened. It was a dream and nothing but a dream, because that experience did not continue all day and all night without a break.

Similarly, the dream of creation of everything and everyone is cosmic illusion. It has a beginning and it must have an end. Anything that has a beginning has an end. That which has a beginning and an end is non-existent. So long as a human mind dreams the dream of creation, it cannot experience Eternity. In order to experience Eternity, the human mind must awaken from the dream of its own creation. But how can a limited human mind awaken from this dream of its own creation?

Man is asleep and the world is his dream; that is the condition of everyone. Because of this condition of the human mind, God takes human form as the Avatar and he creates such a situation for each of us that we are helped to begin to awaken from the dream. When each of us dreams while sleeping and there is a loud noise, one usually awakens feeling very irritated. The loud noise disturbs the mind which in turn disturbs the consciousness from focusing on the dream.

The noise has produced an adverse effect on the dream consciousness, but such a situation produces no gain in consciousness, because once the noise has settled and the mind is calmed, one immediately goes back to sleep and starts dreaming again soon after.

Suppose this time while one is dreaming, someone slips into the room very slowly, and perfumes and quietly decorates the whole room. Then this someone turns on the light and starts to play hypnotic music very softly, and then takes the sleeper by the hand and pulls him out of bed. The sleeper has awakened from his dream slowly, and when he hears the enchanting music, sees the decorations and the light, then smells the perfume, he feels so delighted that he does not wish to return to sleep. Whatever he was dreaming becomes unimportant. This is how the Avatar works to awaken our minds.

The world is in a chaos of noise and the mind is continually disturbed by all the noise. This noise is the sound of wars, machines, screams, and confusion. Compared to this chaos the Word of the Avatar is the music of Soundless Sound, and it is the Sound of his Word that is resounding in the world.

The Avatar's beauty is the enhancement of the new world, and that beauty carries its own fragrance. His light is rising slowly, as the sun on a new day; his Knowledge is the pull that arouses one to awaken. This is his work, the awakening, which he has accomplished. Gradually the human mind now begins to recognize the world to be a dream.

The Avatar works to take the human mind to that point in Eternity, where, if one awakens, one experiences Eternity. If one does not awaken, he misses that point in Eternity completely and returns to his dream. Since any point in Eternity is Eternity Itself, there is no question of being too late or early in recognizing the Eternal Existence of the Avatar as that point in Eternity. People are now coming to Meher Baba's tomb, saying regretfully, "We came too late. We should have met him. We should have recognized him earlier." But these regrets have nothing to do with that point in Eternity that the Avatar has worked to bring one to.