HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT I AM THE AVATAR?

 
Baba changed the topic by putting a general question to all who were crowded into the room. First He stated, "I am the Avatar" and then gestured, "But I want you to tell me, 'How do you know that I am the Avatar?'"

Gaya Prasad recited some chaupais (verses) from the Tulsi-Ramayana. He said that the profound meaning, conveyed through these verses in praise of Rama, is made flesh in Baba's life. "And this convinced me that Meher Baba is the same One as Rama, the Avatar," he concluded.

Baba remarked, "But it is also said that quite a lot of people in this yuga (age) will declare themselves as the Avatar. So, how do you know that I am the Real One and not a fake?"

At this point someone interjected that none had declared himself to be the Avatar as candidly and authoritatively as had Baba, and added, "This is one of the reasons why we take you as the Avatar."

Baba gestured, "How do you ascertain that all I say is from my personal experience of being the Ancient One? Cannot anyone imitate the ways and words of the earlier Avatars by studying their lives?"

One of Baba's devotees related some of his incredible experiences (he used the word "miraculous") and commented, "These definitely testify to your being the Avatar."

Baba replied, "Deep faith and love for God can also give such experiences."

Hearing this, Pukar tried to present his views from a different angle. He said, "Baba, I accepted You as the Sadguru but it was difficult for me to accept You as the Avatar. After a lot of confusion, I put a question to myself, 'Do I really take Baba as my Sadguru?' and the immediate reply was 'Yes.' And I thought that this honest response offered me a clue to my problem. For, I again said to myself, 'Sadguru is Infinite Knowledge, and if one who has Infinite Knowledge asserts Himself to be the Avatar, it must be so.' And that was that."

Baba seemed to enjoy the free conversation that was going on. He concluded, "Whatever you all may say, I don't feel that you really know of my being the Avatar. To know me as I am, you have to become what I am. As for myself, I know I am the Avatar. In 1921, during my last stay of six months at Sakori with Maharaj, one day when only two of us were in a hut, Maharaj folded his hands to me and said, 'Merwan, You are the Avatar.'"

Baba continued, "Although the Avatar and God are one, I want you to love me and obey me. Hafiz says, 'Only hold on to His (the Perfect Master's) daaman and leave everything else.'"

To make this point clearer, Baba continued, "Let us take an example of a moving railway train which has an engine with some carriages attached to it. Suppose that in one carriage there is gold, in another silver, in the rest different things including junk. But as long as a carriage maintains it connection with the engine, it will reach the destination, irrespective of what it contains. So while loving me, don't bother about thoughts — good or bad, best or worst — for they are the products of the illusory mind. The only thing that matters is to hold on to My daaman.

"It is beyond doubt that whenever the Avatar assumes a human form, He is the same Ancient One. His avataran (descent) among the world is due to the five Sadgurus; they sustain Him. Sai Baba, Upasni Maharaj, Hazrat Babajan, Tajuddin Baba and Narayan Maharaj are my five Sadgurus. Sai Baba was of a very very rare type, even among the Sadgurus. Maharaj was perfection personified. Babajan was Shahanshah — the emperor among the Sadgurus."

Sai Baba made me assert this time what I am.
Babajan made me feel what I am.
Upasni Maharaj made me know what I am.
What I am, I am.