Chapter 4
A brief background of my journey to Avatar Meher Baba
My interaction with Raj Salvi made me realise the meaning
of spirituality. The more I communicated with Avatar Meher
Baba through him, the better I understood the subtleties of spirituality.
To introduce Raj Salvi, let me share it with you that he
is a qualified engineer. He owned a foundry at Nasik but migrated
to Canada on the insistence of his guru. He gave up all
material things in life, including a flourishing business and a
lucrative job in Canada; he surrendered to God, the Beloved
Avatar Meher Baba, and began to act on His instructions in
each and every walk of life.
Raj began visiting people from door to door, guiding
them and providing them miraculous reliefs from their predicaments.
He started giving predictions to unknown people
for no material benefit, in whatsoever nature.
Initially, I could never fathom what Raj did— how could
one spend his time and energy in helping others without any
material gain? How could one be so altruistic in such cut-throat
world? It was till the day Baba communicated to me directly.
It was 8th July 2007. I was at Meherabad. It must have been 4
AM; I was fast asleep when my hand began to quiver. I tried to
stop it but it kept moving on its own. I could not understand
what was happening till the time I picked up a pen and put it on a piece of paper. As soon I placed the pen on the piece of
paper, it began to move automatically— I was auto-writing!
I introspected for days trying to understand the significance
of auto-writing in my life. I would often wonder why
was I chosen for auto-writing: I was just an average human
being who was supposed to face his Karma for the present and
previous life.
But, Baba has His ways of causing realisation; one incident
led to other, and it all made me realise that I was piling on
Karma due to advocacy. Furthermore, the circumstances in my
family helped me realise and comprehend spirituality at a much
deeper level. My grandfather’s death in 2007 transformed me
completely. It made me realise that there was more to life than
material pursuits.
The presence of Avatar Meher Baba around me started
showing, for I began reading people in a more defined way. I
recognised my adversaries now, some of whom happened to
be the members of my family, and I even realised what sort of
past-life connections I must have shared with each one of them.
It was during these times, I realised the truth in my
father’s words as well. When I was young, he would often
voice to me that my mother happened to be my adversary, in
my previous birth; he always cautioned me to stay away from
her, for as per him, she was bound to be detrimental for me
and my success. I never listened to him then, but now, I was
experiencing the truth in his words.
It was no one but Avatar Meher Baba who salvaged me
from the perils of my mother. It was He who guided me out of
trouble and misery. Perhaps, I was supposed to go through
this as it was my karma.
With regards to Karma, Baba has categorically said that
no one can escape the clutches of his karma, for his very existence
in the world of illusion is nothing but his karma. The purpose
of every human being is to exhaust his karmas. However,
it is solely his choice whether he wishes to get entangled in the
charms of the illusory world or follow the righteous path.
Thus, I can say, my search for God and understanding
of spirituality began in the recent times.
I often think Baba came to me at the right time and in
the right circumstances. He nurtured me in my hard times; He
made me give up material pursuits.This resulted in the fading
away of my attachment to materialistic things, and I became
lighter, younger and healthier than before.
Now when I look back, I realise how ignorant I was. I
considered material success as everything, when in reality, it
happened to be nothing but mere fraction of the entire life cycle.
We humans, in this selfish world, tend to forget the importance
of the human touch endowed to us by Beloved
Avatar Meher Baba.
