be considered. If the Board has the confidence that they will remain so until the end, then they will be permitted to continue with their Spiritual Training.
If a Spiritual Trainee wishes to marry someone who is not a Trainee, and they both wish to live a dedicated life undergoing Spiritual Training, the same procedure is to be followed. If the Board finds that both are sincerely dedicated, the Board would also approve of the Spiritual Trainee’s partner undergoing Spiritual Training.
Even after marriage, although Fixed Condition No. 10 does not directly apply to such Spiritual Trainees, they should remember this condition and try to uphold it as far as possible.
FINAL REMINDERS AND A FEW WARNINGS
Finally, once again, I want to remind Spiritual Trainees that the purpose of your Spiritual Training is to efface your false self in order to realise your real self. The purpose of Spiritual Training is to make your false self less, not more. Therefore, you should be careful that, as you become involved in the activities of the Trust, you do not look upon them as ways to fulfil your own personal ambitions and gain respect from others. The objects of the Trust are Beloved Baba’s, not yours. The Trust is His gift to you, giving you the opportunity to serve Him.
A good example of how to serve is shown in the following incident. I became Trustee a few years after Baba passed away and because of my studies I was in charge of finance. Padri was one of the oldest mandali, being with Baba from the beginning. Padri was the manager at Meherabad and also Baba appointed him as a Trustee. Once when I went to Meherabad as winter was about to start, the grass in front of
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Thr grass surrounding Mandali Hall at Meherabad needed cutting. To get it cut would cost about Rs.20/- to Rs.25/-. Padri asked me, “Should I get this grass cut?” And I said to him, “Why not? We must keep this compound clean. Padri Kaka (Kaka means uncle and the word is also used as a term of respect) is there any need for you to ask me?” And he replied, “You are in charge of finance. It is my duty to ask your permission, because I will need money to do this work.” I replied, “Is my permission required for work that costs only Rs.25.” And Padri said, “Even if the work costs one rupee, I must get permission.” Then he turned to the workers and said joyfully, “Just see, I got permission to do the work.” And I was wonderstruck at his attitude. I felt touched at his humility, witnessing how he felt duty bound to follow official Trust procedures even though he was in charge of Meherabad and a Trustee himself. I never forgot his attitude. All of Baba’s mandali behaved likewise while doing Baba’s work even after He passed away. As Spiritual Trainees, you should also try to become as humble as Padri was, and it will be a great thing if you do because the Beloved will definitely be pleased with you.
A few of you will become Trustees, Department Managers, Section Supervisors, etc. Managerial roles are necessary in order for the Trust to run smoothly. But remember, these roles are not internally important. You have to fulfil these roles because of your sanskaras. If you fulfil the role in a way that is pleasing to Baba, then you will be free from those impressions. Sometimes, a thought can enter the minds of those in managerial positions, that they are different or special from others. Beware of such thoughts. The only thing that makes any one special is that they have been given the opportunity to serve Him. Remember Beloved Baba’s own motto of Mastery in Servitude, and that will help guide you in using your position properly in helping other Spiritual Trainees love Him and serve Him more. Whether a Spiritual Trainee has an official managerial position or not does not alter the fact that everyone
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has to go through lessons regarding power and position. They will come up in their own way in your life. But remember, you are really Infinite Power. Do not be enticed into trying to achieve some role of external importance. This will hold you back from your real purpose. Let your impressions work themselves out in a natural way.
Much of the service required for the fulfilment of the objects will be office work or grounds keeping. This may be called unskilled work in the world. But when it is done for the Beloved under Mastery in Servitude, it becomes a labour of love which touches His heart.
Some of you will have professional skills that will be put into action in fields such as medicine, education, law, engineering, architecture, the arts, computers, administration, finance, etc. As the Trust grows, the Trust will need such knowledge in order to fulfil its objects properly. Beloved Baba has brought you here to serve under Mastery in Servitude. He has given you an opportunity to use your professional abilities in His Cause so that you may efface your false self. But be careful; do not give yourself a false sense of importance because you have professional abilities. Baba has told us so many times, that He needs no one to do His work. Remember this! So remain humble no matter how your expertise is used to serve Him and His Cause.
Spiritual Trainees will do so many different kinds of external work, whether skilled or unskilled, in trying to fulfil all the objects of the Trust. But all Spiritual Trainees do the same work internally. All Spiritual Trainees work in the same inner field, trying to rid themselves of the weeds that rise into their actions and choke the flowers of love.
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I will briefly add here one last incident in my life with Baba that showed me that the sublime thing about Beloved Baba’s words is putting them into action. It was during the time when Baba was dictating God Speaks. Eruch and I were the only members of the Mandali that would take any interest in what Baba was dictating. Baidul and Pendu and the others would not care at all. The dictation went on for two or three months. During that time I would think to myself, “Only Eruch and I can understand this sublime thing which Baba is giving; the others cannot understand it. They do not even care about it.”
I thought people such as Baidul, Kaka and the others were not meant for such sublime things, that all they could do was take care of those dirty masts. Then, once while we were in Satara, after night watch, when I went to lie down to get some rest, all of a sudden I saw Baba before my eyes. He said to me, “Can you do what Baidul does? Can you do what Kaka does?”
For many nights this would go on. I knew it would be very difficult for me to do the work Baba gave them. Then I realised that what the important thing is and what is really sublime, is not the words themselves in God Speaks, but that we put into action whatever Baba asks us to do. In order to hear God speaking in the heart, we must put His orders into action. This was a great lesson for me.
Now I pass this lesson on to you in this way, that as Spiritual Trainees remember that the important thing is to put His message of love into action. Therefore, again I want to repeat Baba’s New Life message to emphasise this to you.
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. . .
New Life Statement
This New Life is endless, and even after my physical death it will be kept alive by those, who live the life of complete renunciation of falsehood, lies, hatred, anger, greed, and lust; and who, to accomplish all this, do no lustful actions, do no harm to anyone, do no backbiting, do not seek material possessions or power, who accept no homage, neither covet honour nor shun disgrace, and fear no one and nothing; by those, who rely wholly and solely on God, and who love God purely for the sake of loving, who believe in the lovers of God and in the reality of Manifestation, and yet do not expect any spiritual or material reward, who do not let go the hand of Truth, and who, without being upset by calamities bravely and wholeheartedly face all hardships with one hundred percent cheerfulness, and give no importance to caste, creed and religious ceremonies. This New Life will live by itself eternally, even if there is no one to live it.
. . .
After Beloved Baba passed away, and the Trust first started functioning, Mani, Eruch, and Rano would come from Meherazad to the Trust Office and do routine office work. They continued doing such work for decades, until the end of their lives. Before the first Pilgrim Centre was built, we had a few rooms at Lower Meherabad where twelve pilgrims could stay at Meherabad for four days. Otherwise, pilgrims had to stay in town. Besides correspondence, Mani’s work included deciding which pilgrims would stay at Meherabad. So she was the first
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person to book pilgrims into pilgrim accommodations. Eruch would do a lot of clerical work. He would meticulously keep the Trust records, files and all letters (whether official Trust correspondence or pilgrim correspondence) perfectly organised. Rano was an artist, and she continued drawing portraits of Baba after He passed away. But at the office, she would help Mani and type letters for her.
Adi already lived at the Trust Office. It was his home, and he donated it to the Trust before he died. Amongst the work he did in his last years was to register pilgrims when they arrived in Ahmednagar and notify the police of their arrival. After Baba passed away, Padri would do all kinds of menial work at Meherabad. He did such things because they were necessary for the welfare there, and he knew that what he was doing was for his Master, Avatar Meher Baba. Pendu continued to see to the Programmes as he did in Baba’s time, so he was in charge of the Amartithi management.
At first, I would do almost the work of an office boy at the Trust Office, bringing chairs for officials when they came, etc. Even though I had professional skills, I did menial work. A few years later, I started doing all kinds of Trust work. As I single-handedly did official Trust work, I would think, “In the future, so many Departments will have to be created to carry out each and every aspect of this work, which is now just starting.”
After Baba passed away, Dr. Goher would run her little free clinic out of a very small room at Meherazad. She had the simplest equipment and no modern facilities. Yet people from the surrounding villages would come to get her treatment. They could feel her love.
This is what some of Baba’s Mandali would do. We were not involved in great projects and great work. We all did what came to us to do for Baba. And we all did it in unity. We
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all worked as a team, His team. Because I was involved in Trust work of all sorts, I would have to write official letters to all the various government departments. Mani, who was the Chairman, was not familiar with such matters. So I would draft the letter, and then she, Eruch and Rano would go through it. Then the letter would be typed, and she would sign it as Chairman. We would all discuss Trust matters. Some times, although I had certain worldly knowledge, because Mani, Eruch and Rano felt differently, I would accept their suggestions. Sometimes, they would accept my suggestions. We worked as a team, which, as I say, Baba made us into.
So you Spiritual Trainees must look at this example and also work and serve as a team. This will happen naturally as you efface your false self.
There will come a time when the Trust will continually receive an enormous amount of donations from people all over the world. They will donate to the Trust as an act of love for Beloved Baba. At that time, the Trust will be able to fulfil many objects, especially some of the ones that require the technical skill to be used in Meher Baba in Motion. Do not get overpowered by the financial resources and worldly fame that will eventually come to the Trust. As you fulfil the objects of the Trust, you must preserve your objective – which is effacement of the false self. You, as Spiritual Trainees, must remember that no matter what kind of work you do, no matter if you work in a very modern building or not, no matter if you have all the materials available or lack them, if you do your wholehearted best for Him, then, regardless of the results, everything will have been done as it should be.
I have lovingly given my warning, and now I am going to give the message that Beloved Baba gave as He was approaching America by ship in 1932. (Of course it would be a good thing for Spiritual Trainees to read Baba’s books,
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messages, and discourses. But they should be read in order to be put into action, which is the most important thing.)
This message is an appropriate message to place here, because the first several paragraphs can also be looked upon as a reminder and a warning to Spiritual Trainees. In the last half of the message, Baba explains His work and states Who He is.
Baba’s 1932 Message
I have not come to establish any cult, society or organisation, nor even to establish a new religion. The religion I will give teaches the knowledge of the One behind the many;
The book which I shall make people read is the book of the heart, which holds the key to the mystery of life. As for ritual, I shall teach humanity to discriminate, express and live it rather than utter it. I shall bring about a happy blending of the head and heart.
Societies and organisations have never succeeded in bringing Truth nearer. Realisation of the Truth is solely the concern of the individual.
Every being is a point from which a start could be made toward the Limitless Ocean of love, bliss, knowledge and goodness already within him. No spiritual Master brings religion to the world in the form it eventually assumes. His very presence is a blessing and radiates spirituality. He imparts it to others by personal contact. The so-called religions are an effort to commemorate that association with a
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great spiritual Master, and to preserve his atmosphere and influence. It is like an archaeological department trying to preserve things which only resuscitate the past. The living spirit being absent, religions or organisations gradually lose their glamour. The result is a mental revolt against the established order. Something more substantial and practical is required which expresses the life of the spirit.
There exists at the moment a universal dissatisfaction and an inde-scribable longing for something that will end the chaos and misery that is holding the world in its grip. I will satisfy this craving and lead the world to real happiness and peace by making people look more deeply into things than heretofore.
As a rule, Masters help individually according to temperament and fitness of the aspirant, but this being an Avataric period, which means the end of the previous cycle and the beginning of a new one, my spiritual help to humanity will be both individual and collective.
The period of junction of the old and new cycle usually connotes the advent of a Master who rejuvenates religious thought, infusing new life and meaning into the old order of things. Besides imparting the highest state of spirituality to a select few, he gives a general push to the whole world.
A higher state of understanding is permanent illumination, through which the illumined one experiences and sees all things as they are. In this state, one feels in harmony with everyone and
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everything, and realises the divinity in every phase of life, and is able to impart happiness to others. Once this state is attained, one attends to all duties and material affairs, and yet feels mentally detached from the world. This is true renunciation.
The last and highest state of understanding is the merging of the soul into the Limitless Ocean of infinite bliss, knowledge and power. The Perfect One who has himself attained this freedom can make thousands perfect like himself. I intend bringing about a great spiritual revival in the near future, utilising the tremendous amount of energy possessed by America for the purpose. Such a spiritual outpouring as I visualise usually takes place at the beginning or end of a cycle and only a Perfect One, who has reached the Christ state of consciousness, can make such a universal appeal.My work will embrace everything – it will permeate every phase of life. Perfection would fall far short of the ideal if it were to accept one thing and eschew another. The general spiritual push that I shall give to the whole world will automatically adjust problems such as politics, economics and sex, though these are not directly connected with the original theme. New values and significance will be attached to things which appear to baffle solution at the moment.
The benefits that shall accrue to different nations and countries when I bring about the spiritual upheaval will be largely determined by the amount of energy each one possesses. The greater the energy – however misapplied or misdirected – the greater the response.
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