Symbols of the world's religions

               

HOW DOES ONE WORK FOR BABA?

Meher Baba

 
Work undertaken with honest intent and love for God is Baba's work, and those who do this are always his. But the greatest work one can do for Baba is to live the life of love, humility, sincerity and selfless service in which there is no trace of hypocrisy.

Baba's love is for all; and for each of his lovers to help others know this, his or her own life must be a radiating example of love so that it may become the instrument to spread Baba's love and the truth of Reality. Such a life and such a love are vital and carry the highest responsibility, for behind every thought, word and deed is the all-pervading force of Truth.

To cultivate discipline in one's self requires self-determination and honest effort if one desires to tread knowingly and consciously the path of love. This discipline may at first appear dry as dust but with perseverance it will automatically blossom and be transmuted into the very life of the lover.

To help others through one's own example, one must get not only thoroughly drenched but drowned in love. As a prelude one should attempt to create a balance between the thoughts of the mind and the feelings of the heart. Mind, however, works much faster. Thoughts are like lightning — first there is the flash and later the sound of thunder. For an equilibrium to be reached, the mind — which is the seat of desires — must be made to function more slowly in order to keep pace with the heart, and no amount of silence or fasting can accomplish this.

If the individual desires the enforcement of equilibrium in the true direction, a consistent acceleration of feelings should be made so that feelings supersede thoughts, i.e. the heart supersedes the mind. To achieve this the only effective fuel is love — unadulterated love. Unless one learns to love in its true sense, one cannot cross the hurdle of the mind. And for one to understand love in its true sense, the only recourse is to dedicate one's self to the Lord of love, and to hold fast under all circumstances to the feet of the Perfect Master. Any deviation from self-dedication will lead one astray from the path of divine love.

It is good to fast and observe silence as a discipline in one's daily life. But this becomes utterly insignificant when one has determined to starve and silence the mind itself, by implicitly obeying in all things a Sadguru — a Perfect Master.

Baba's love is with his lovers always, helping and guiding them. And they? They should keep their love for him alive and aglow, by making him their constant companion in all their thoughts, words and actions, while carrying on their responsibilities, commitments and all other apparently necessary things of this world, though these have no foundation of their own in the domain of Reality.

 

LIFE AT ITS BEST, pp. 63-65
1957 © Sufism Reoriented, Inc.

               

 Work | Anthology | Eternal Beloved | Avatar Meher Baba | HeartMind | Search