Chapter 8

What is meant by Spirituality?

     “Spirituality is the undoing of what you have been doing, since ages. Up till now, you have only thought about selfish motives of eating, preserving life, and you have attended to every such need with zeal. You have cultivated the habit of being self-centred— you become upset, if the smallest thing goes against your habit. To undo such selfish bindings, you have to do what you have not been doing or not do what you have been doing. Up till now, you have been thinking of yourself; now, you must not think of yourself but think of others. This is called Love. But, it needs character, poise and perseverance. Poise— what is poise? It is a state of mind where nothing excites you and nothing upsets you. Only then you can help others and make others happy. Love is thinking of others and not of yourself. Spirituality is poise, perfect poise— to feel happy under all circumstances.”
      “If you are in the midst of the Sahara and for four days you haven’t had a drop of water; all of a sudden a bottle of water appears; how will you react? If you have poise, you will let your companion drink first and not mind dying, and letting her live. You won’t fight and grab the bottle, for it is this poise that makes you sacrifice and others happy.”
      “Do not say it is not spiritual to enjoy innocent pleasures. Let’s say, if you are going on a tour and you feel dust, hunger and thirst, you tend to become sick but you should not.You should feel as happy as you do now. This is poise. If you do not feel happy, for it is not easy to feel happy under such conditions, then you are not spiritual in enjoying even innocent pleasure like swimming, boating etc… Is this clear? I do not mean making a show of being happy but I want you to really feel happy.”
      Baba’s words for me: “For you, My circle, it is alright. You live with Me, leave all for Me, so you are serving the universe. But for those who are not living near Me, this poise is 100% essential for spirituality. Again, what is spirituality? Poise, perfect poise! Make the most of every situation. He who upsets no one is God-Man.”

The Avatar and God-realisation

      “In the Infinite Beyond state of God, which transcends the categories of consciousness as well as unconsciousness, there appeared the first initial urge for God to know Himself. With the arising of this initial urge, there was an instantaneous manifestation of Infinite Consciousness as well as Infinite Unconsciousness, as simultaneous resultants. Of these two seemingly opposite but contemporary aspects, the Infinite Consciousness plays the role of the Avatar or the Divine Incarnation. The Infinite Unconsciousness finds its expression through an evolution which seeks to develop full consciousness through the time processes. In the human form, the full consciousness strives to attain Self-knowledge and Self-realisation. The first man to realise God as One Indivisible and Eternal Truth was taken up into this realisation by the eternal Avatar’s Infinite Consciousness.”
      “The Avatar is the first Master of the first God-realised soul. But in the process of God-realisation, the full conscious ness of the first Master became fused with the eternally Infinite Consciousness of the Avatar. Therefore, with the coming down of the first God-realised man, the Avatar Himself descended and took incarnation in his body. So, from the point of view of incarnation, the Avatar is the same as the first Master. This first Master had no Master in human form but all subsequent Masters had Masters in human form, to help them in Truthrealisation.”
      “Thus, the first Master could realise God without a Master in human form whereas, all subsequent Masters have always and invariably needed a Master for God-realisation. The reason is simple: God-realisation requires inner poise as well as adequate adjustment with the universe, which is the shadow of God, with everything it contains. The first Master, who is also the first incarnation of the Avatar, attained both these things because it was the very goal of the initial urge seeking fulfilment. He did not have a Master in the human form.”
      “With regards to those souls who attain God-realisation subsequently, the two requirements stand, viz. inner poise and adequate adjustment with everything in the universe. However, there is one great difference: For the soul who is second in attaining God-realisation, one of the most important factors in his spiritual environment is the existence of a human Godrealised soul. Hence, while adjusting himself to everything in the universe, this second candidate for God-realisation is confronted with the problem of adjusting himself to the first Master or God-realised soul who, as we have seen, is indistinguishable from the first Master. Refusal to accept this help is maladjustment to a tremendous aspect in the universe, and this prevents God-realisation. This is why the first God-realised per-son did not need an incarnate Master while all subsequent Masters have inescapably needed some Master or Masters in order to realise God. They could not have done so with their independent efforts.”
      “The first Master who got fused with the eternal Avataric Infinite Consciousness is the Master of all the Masters. However, when the Avatar incarnates in the human form, He brings upon Himself a veil and this veil has to be removed by some Master or Masters.”
      “The veil, with which the Avatar descends in the human form, is placed upon Him by the five Perfect Masters, who bring Him down from His formless being. In the Avataric period, the five Masters always put this veil upon the Infinite Consciousness of the Avatar because, if He were to be brought without such a veil into the world of forms, the existing balance between reality and illusion would be profoundly disturbed. However, when the five think that the moment is ripe, they remove this veil, which they had placed on the Avataric consciousness. From that moment onwards, the Avatar consciously begins His role as the Avatar.”
      “The incarnation of the Avatar does not take place unless it is precipitated by the five Perfect Masters of the cycle. In all the incarnations, except the first, even the Avatar needs a Master, in order to come into His own Eternal and Infinite Consciousness. He does not become an exception to the rule that a ‘touch’ of a Perfect Master is necessary for God-realisation. However, the ‘touch’ of a Perfect Master does not necessarily mean physical touch— when we say we are ‘touched’ by music or a poem or story, the touch has a deeper significance, for more truly is this so, when it is the question of spiritual ‘touch’. In case of a Master, this deeper touch is often transmitted through a physical touch.”

Meher Baba and His 5 Perfect masters

      “Every time the Avatar descends, He is not necessarily recognised as the Avatar, by the masses. He can be recognised as such, only by those who are highly advanced spiritually. The Avatar, Himself, is least concerned about whether He is recognised as the Avatar by the masses or not. He thoroughly plays His role as the Avatar, and His chief work lies in the higher invisible spheres of existence. If, however, He appears at a critical or transitional cyclic period, as is often the case, He is hailed by the masses as the Avatar of the Age.”
      “The Avatar is not necessarily recognised and hailed as the Avatar of the Age, because He covers Himself under a veil for His own spiritual work. This veil, under which He prefers to remain hidden, is different from the veil which the five Perfect Masters draw on Him while bringing Him down in the human form. The veil which the Avatar places on Himself can be removed by Him at any time and for any reason or persons as He may desire, but only for the purpose of Self-revelation or Self-communication.”
      “The Avatar does not take upon Himself the Karma of the world; He does not become bound by it; He takes upon Himself the suffering of the world which is the result of karma. His suffering for the world is vicarious; however, it does not entail entanglement with the Karma of the world.”
      “Humanity finds its redemption from its Karma through His vicarious sufferings-illness, humiliation, accidents and the like. In His own ways, the Avatar unfailingly fulfils the purpose of incarnation by giving a spiritual push to His Age.”