THAT LITTLE ROOM HOLDS THE KEY

 
Under the guise of planning the '69 darshan program, Baba gave the world hints that darshan would be available every day in the future. Eventually many people who had never seen Meher Baba flocked to Pune to honor the Avatar's invitation, and the mandali realized what Baba had so cryptically conveyed. This darshan revealed that Baba had, indeed, forged "internal links" with His future lovers and had also strengthened the existing links with those who loved Him already.

It became clear that Baba had withheld His darshan and curtailed correspondence for over two years out of compassion, so that these internal links could be established on a worldwide scale. The links had been forged through His indescribable suffering. Those who loved Baba were shocked by the cable sent by Adi on January 31, but their connection with Him withstood the shock, and many have reported that they feel Baba's presence to be stronger and more accessible since that time.

Within a few years, thousands of lovers from all over India and the world, who had not heard Meher Baba's name while He was living as Man amongst men, visited His Samadhi to have His darshan. Although these new ones were internally connected to Baba, many of them could not help but lament that they missed the chance to be physically with Baba when His form was visible. Touched by these feelings, Francis Brabazon wrote the following couplets:

Don't let anyone tell you that we're not all in the same boat;
Those that saw Him were seeing no more than a beautiful coat.

Whether one saw Him or not, He is still knocking on each Heart-door
And each heart is still harboring strangers — what matters some few, some more?*

Baba battered His form to revitalize His link with the world so that His intimacy with his lovers' hearts could be established. This link is actively retained to this day, though the body is under the "marvel" slab at Meherabad. In this way, the spot that Baba chose to house His body has become the living link between the Avatar's functioning Infinite Consciousness and the pilgrims who visit Him there. For the rest of the blessed Avataric period, the Samadhi will continue to radiate His Divinity to those who visit Meherabad, and to His lovers everywhere.

My personal feeling is that from February 7, 1969, a fresh dimension of Baba's spiritual work has commenced. The veiling of Meher Baba's body heralded the beginning of a new adventure in love. It was as if Baba had decided that the time had come to hide His physical form from our sight so that His divine presence could blossom all the more in our hearts. The Ancient One, in each of His Advents, veils His form at an appointed time, so that humanity may be able to experience His formlessness in a multitude of beguiling ways. I feel it is important even for those who met Baba to avail themselves of the opportunity to meet Him again in this new dimension of His work. I do not expect all to agree with me, but this is what I sincerely feel.

Meher Baba once conveyed to His close ones, "This [body] is only an overcoat that I am wearing; this is not the real Me**." That "Real Me" of the Avatar's presence is now manifesting itself in innumerable ways through the Samadhi. There the atmosphere is permeated with His divine presence, awakening hearts to His glorious love. To enter the samadhi is to bathe in a clear pool of purity. It not only cleanses the impurities of mind and heart, but perfumes one's entire being with His illuminating presence.

The Samadhi is where Meher Baba responds to His lovers' longing for the Avatar's physical company. Whenever one has the rare fortune to visit there, either physically or in one's thoughts, it performs a wondrous sanctification of one's mind and heart. That little room holds the key that unlocks any human heart which sincerely calls on Him, the Eternal Beloved.