Symbols of the world's religions

               

DESCRIBING GOD'S ATTRIBUTES

Bhau Kalchuri

 
Later in 1962 during the hot summer months at Guruprasad Baba ordered me to finish the translation work and to expand The Everything and the Nothing with a complete commentary and several songs. I would do this writing work upstairs in my room in the morning and afternoon while Baba and the other mandali were downstairs in the large hall with visitors.

Much later I found out that every day Baba would instruct His nephew Sheroo to sing this prayer entitled, "You Alone Exist." Baba never let on to anyone that He Himself had composed the prayer, and as everyone was under the impression that it was mine, they would jokingly call it "Bhau's prayer to Baba."

Each day when Baba retired to His room, I would come downstairs to attend Him. As I was walking to His room one afternoon several people began laughing at me and saying they did not like the words of the prayer that I had composed. "Which prayer?" I inquired, since I was quite puzzled by their accusations and attitude.

They then thought I was playing dumb and mocked me saying, "You know what prayer! What sort of prayer is this to Baba? Who would pray in such a way? Could you have not used better examples, better descriptions than 'snakes,' 'scorpions,' 'mosquitoes,' 'bugs and gnats' when describing God's attributes?"

The same evening with Baba, He gestured to me, "What are you thinking?" As usual I said, "Nothing, nothing."

But Baba could see that I was upset about something that He ordered me to tell Him what was going through my mind. I told Him, "Baba, we should change that prayer. It is not so good — we should use other words to describe God's attributes, Your attributes. It offends some people and they do not like it. People are laughing at this prayer, Baba!"

Baba gestured emphatically, "No! Do not change a single word. The prayer is from Me ... it is all right! You have no idea of the importance of this prayer. In the future this prayer of Mine will be sung in every house throughout the world."

Later Baba gestured, "It is important, very important, that people find God in disagreeable things, that they find Me in disagreeable things. I am there in everything and in every creature. I am there in the dirt, the scorpion, the snake, the elephant and the mosquito, everything!"

Baba continued, "Do not pay heed to what people think. I like this prayer because it tells people Who I am, What I am. People do not know Who or What I am, and so they need this prayer to know Me, to understand Me. I gave this prayer to them, not you. You wrote what I ordered you to write. A day will come when they will know this."

This is His prayer to the world which is about the Nothing and the Everything.

 

THE NOTHING AND THE EVERYTHING, pp. xii-xiii
1981 © Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust

               

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