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REMEMBER HIM, FORGET YOURSELF

Adi K. Irani

 
12 January 1978

I was happy to receive your letter. I remember you without your description of yourself. Sometimes because of the detailed explanation of the various stages of God that is given by Beloved Baba one might, as it is said, lose the forest for the trees.

Know this with all of your heart and mind — Meher Baba is God in every sense of the word. Once, one of His lovers was confused over her relationship with Baba in light of all the spiritual masters, perfect and imperfect. Baba said, "There are masters and masters, but I am God!"

All the details of the spiritual path can be brought down to two things: Meher Baba is God, and the goal of life is to love and obey Him so that you lose yourself in Him.

Whether He is in the body or not does not affect His connection or love for you. He uses His body as an instrument, but He is not dependent on it.

The reason the happiness you describe continues is that it is Baba's Presence you are experiencing. All other happiness fades away, but His Presence remains and grows stronger. Know that Baba is always with you.

Sometimes Baba lovers say that they "see" Baba. Does it mean that when they don't see Baba, He isn't there? Of course not. He is always with you.

Yes, Baba is always protecting you, yet remember a part of His blessings is your effort. Do your best, then leave the results to Him. But you must do your best first. You can't make a half-hearted effort, then expect Baba to help.

Regarding Baba's message to you. I will repeat the message then comment on it. "I am happy with your wish to surrender to me Stop Love alone makes obedience easy so love me more and more Stop I send you my Love Blessings Baba."

In loving Baba you forget yourself. The difficulty in obeying Baba is only one's ego; so the more you remember and love Baba, the more you forget yourself and the easier it is for you to obey.

What are the things Baba wants you to obey? They are the orders that will remove the things that keep you separate from Him. So in loving Him more and more, you are thinking not of yourself, but of Him. Thus it is easier to obey.

You can remember Him or yourself. There isn't room for both of you. Either you make Him your constant companion, or you make yourself your constant companion. One can only have one companion to make. Remember Him, forget yourself, and don't think of the things that would cause you to disobey Him.

A soldier obeys his superior. He does it for salary. There is no love, and it certainly isn't easy. When you fall in love you naturally want to do things that please your beloved, even at the cost of your own happiness.

Without obedience surrender is incomplete. Baba sent you this cable because of your wish to surrender to Him. He is reminding you that as a result of your wanting to surrender to Him, you must obey Him.

This is made easy through loving Him more and more. To merely love without obeying is saying that one enjoys the feeling — the experience — of love, but doesn't care how Baba feels.

To love without obeying is a form of selfishness. It is being concerned about one's feelings, but not the Beloved's.

What are the things Baba wants us to do? To avoid the things that keep us away from Him. Baba doesn't give us orders to deprive us of any happiness in the world. We may think this is so because His orders at times conflict with our desires. But He knows better than us what is best for us.

The things Baba tells us to do are not only for our long-range spiritual good, but also to make us happy in this world.

Dear brother, you are so blessed to have had direct communication with Baba. The next two cables were: "Your love makes me happy. Love me more and more I send my blessings of love to you" and "Your cable made me happy. You are blessed to be mine. I send my Love Blessings to you."

"Love Blessings" and "Blessings of Love" are the same thing. Baba sent you these blessings so that love may awaken in your heart more and more.

The very fact that Baba sent you His Love means you have His Love. Whether you are receptive or not is not the point. You have His love because He says so.

It is like Baba saying in Genesis in the Old Testament of the Bible: "Let there be light and there was light." What Baba says is an accomplished fact because He says so. You are blessed with His Love because Baba has said it.

So dear brother, try your best to love Him more and more and He will help you. Try with all your heart to obey Him, and He will help you.

Adi

 

LETTERS FROM THE MANDALI OF AVATAR MEHER BABA, pp. 89-91, ed. Jim Mistry
1981 © Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust

               

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