THE COMPANY OF GOD
1955

 
For his Gujarati, Telugu, Hindi and Marathi lovers, the sahavas had been a joyful, wonderful week spent in Meher Baba's company. But for Baba, to constantly give darshan, to meet people, to give his sahavas was an exhausting task, because with the shower of his love, he was taking upon himself the good and bad sanskaras of those who came in his contact. The sahavas afforded pleasure to his lovers, but at a cost of great suffering to himself.

Unbeknownst to those attending the four sahavas, throughout every night, Baba would be restless. To those who observed him, it seemed that every tissue in his body was infused with suffering. Yet, no one could have the slightest idea of this except those in his close proximity, because when Baba would come to Meherabad, he would always appear radiant and happy.

It was crucifixion for Baba to give his sahavas to people, and that, too, for a solid month. The Meherabad Sahavas program of 1955 was truly a historic occasion and momentous example of the Avatar's infinite mercy and love. How fortunate were those who attended.

Meherjee had aptly written to someone in the West: "Never before has Baba given so much to so many for so long."

During the four sahavas, Feram Workingboxwala and Kishan Singh were recording Baba's words, and Ramjoo Abdulla later compiled these notes into a booklet entitled The Company of God. Don Stevens, too, made use of this material in the book entitled Listen, Humanity. In summing up the month-long program, Ramjoo wrote:

God alone can keep company with God, but during the period of sahavas, which Baba gave so freely and fully, Baba left no stone unturned in order to help everyone invited make the most of the opportunity and get the largest possible share out of it. In the midst of each of the four different groups, Baba sat, worked, played, worshiped, heard, prayed, walked, "talked" and at rare moments allowed himself to be worshiped all so spontaneously and naturally ... And yet every week was different and distinct from the other.

Every little thing and big arrangement about the sahavas weeks received Baba's personal attention. He not merely issued instructions about the minutest bit to the collective arrangements but often personally checked them, and where necessary got them carried out in letter and spirit under his own supervision.

While freely mixing, moving and sitting with those living the life of his sahavas, what Baba said through his inimitable and animated gestures was all in the shape of small talk and general conversation. He never dwelt on any one particular subject for more than several minutes at a time. He would start explaining about love, and then suddenly switch over to the subject of cold and coughing. In between, he would remember some interesting point about his own life, return to the point of love and before it was finished, ask somebody to narrate some story.

Within a few minutes after giving a grave warning to all present to pay serious attention to what he was going to tell them, he would make all burst out in a roar of laughter. It was child's play for Baba to make the least sentimental man in a group begin to struggle with tears in his eyes and start stuttering incoherently.

With all that, Baba repeated the same topics and subjects before every group, every week, without ever missing a single important point; but he always did so in a different way, in different words, in different contexts. Words such as "love," "obedience" and "surrender" were explained by Baba to the point of making them cease to be words. He made them sound like live things: things as having been lived, as could be and should be lived. He would explain things and, in the same breath, add that they were inexplicable.

Another noteworthy feature of the sahavas lay in the fact that eventually, in effect, it proved to be Baba's sahavas for all his life and as such, enough to last for the lifetime of each of the participants. Although each group had only five days to live their life in Baba's company, Baba managed to give them every idea of his life from childhood to his present Mastery in servitude and right up to the time he would breathe his last ... Baba made everyone as familiar with himself as those who had been living with him all their lives.

By a few, or by the many, among the rich and poor, old and young, strong and healthy, weak and ailing, literate and illiterate, educators and intellectuals, businessmen, government servants, lawyers, doctors, artisans, artists, poets, writers, sanyasis (renunciants), tapasvis (ascetics), Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, Sikhs and Christians who attended the weekly congregations, the participants on the whole represented mankind in miniature.

The sahavas in spirit was a wonderful sangam (coming together) of naked Divinity with stark humanity. It was a hujum (crowd) and a mela (fair) of the Infinite mingling with finitude. "Weaknesses" had their moments of being drowned in the "Strength" which produced the one miracle of God, the whole of creation. All sins and virtues were, for the time being, shamed into nothingness ... There were moments when one could almost feel that as the Infinite Ocean of existence, God did link every life into one indivisible whole.

 

LORD MEHER, 1st USA ed, vol 13, pp. 4851-4853
2003 © Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust