Monday 13 April 2009

Baba, Baba, Baba..

The Companionship Day I attended last week at the Hammersmith Centre got me thinking about my present relationship with Baba. I am not, as I said on the day, a 'self-less service' kind of person. I am a staunch believer in the lazy and selfish person's guide to loving God, the universe and themselves. I don't do 'selfless service'. If I were not lazy, I would be working hard to get ahead of the game, whatever that game is. Totally pointless!

My laziness is a gift. It makes me very unterritorial and uncompetitive. It also makes me, in Eruch's words, a master delegator. I will give away anything that smacks of hard work (or even merely of work!) to someone who I know will do it better than I will. Eruch qualified this by saying that it would be really creditable if I delegated because I wanted His work to be done as best as it could be, instead I delegated because I was too lazy to do it myself. I only work at relationships. My relationships matter to me, so I work at keeping them. Not all, just the important ones.

Because my relationship with Baba is the most important one of all, I have over the years been working at it. A long time ago I understood that there is no point in asking Him for anything. He does what He wants with my life and it has always been for the best. Once I accepted that He will always give me what I need, not always what I want, it was easier to just let Him get on with it. Does not mean I don't grumble that He could get His organizational skills better organized, it just means I do what I have to, and leave the rest to Him. I throw a stick into the Dhuni and always say, 'Take what You want'. He always does.

All through my life my family have been big on remembrance. The taking of His name has been very important in our daily lives. Baba Himself told the family to remember Him at 5 o'clock and 12 o'clock each day. That is a.m and p.m. If you are awake when the clock strikes, take His name. Remembrance does not take a lot of effort, except at the beginning. Once you get into the habit, it's relatively easier. Lying in bed, between awake and asleep or between asleep and awake (depending on the time of day) I think of Him, and repeat His name. This will either put me to sleep or wake me up. I repeat His name when I walk to work and walk back. Sometimes for variety, I go through the prayers and artis. Sometimes I tell Him what's on my mind. He knows, but it makes me feel better.

Does it strike anyone else that His names through the advents are easy to repeat? Ram, Ram, Ram. Hari, Hari, Hari. Allah, Allah, Allah. Jesus H Christ! Baba, Baba, Baba. Buddha is a tad problematic. But Buddha did not want as much remembrance as action.

Once I was sitting with Eruch at the Trust Office when a man walked in. Eruch asked this man to tell me his story, because it had to do with the chanting of the Gayatri Mantra, which is one of my favourite mantras. The man said that he had been a Gayatri Bhakt (worshipper) and through constant repetition of the mantra had got to a point where he was doing 'Shvaas Jap' or repetition with each breath. This brought him various powers - he could read minds, he was able to heal, he became a wealth magnet, in fact life was very good. Then he visited a friend's house and saw a picture of Baba. He was so drawn to this picture that he asked his friend about Baba and when he was told that Baba was the Avatar of the age, he decided to change his Gayatri worship to Baba worship! Poor man! With the same dedication and focus, he started taking Baba's name all the time. One by one his powers went, his wealth went, slowly he came back to being simply himself. But he said, 'I found a joy in my heart that I never found with my Gayatri Jap. Baba has transformed my life, I no longer need the healing or mind-reading. I move through my life content. Baba gives me the strength to accept hardships with the same contentment that I have when things go well.' What a victory!

Another time maybe I will write about selfish. Selfishness is a very important attribute on the spiritual path - the one I follow, anyway. But now I have a vacuum cleaner to reassemble, the house to clean and things to do, so on with the remembrance.. Baba, Baba, Baba, Baba...

3 comments:

  1. Thanks, Mehera, I love your comments. kendra

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  2. You are very welcome, Kendra. I would love to read your views, so please share!
    mehera.

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  3. It is a quandry this selfish and selfless service - since there are 7,000 Saints - Is it that many? on earth then some do selfless service for they are in love with Love Himself. As Baba says:-

    "Selfless service and true renunciation are open to all but possible only to the true heroes amongst men". Meher Baba
    God as God alone is not consciously man, and man as man alone is not consciously God. The God-man is consciously both God and man; Lord, in the state of helping all souls towards reality; Servant, as continuously bearing the burden of all. To serve Him who serves all is serving the universe.
    Selfless service and love are twin divine qualities. Only the One who loves can serve.
    Serve your Beloved God-man and you are serving your own Self in every other self. The service He expects is for your own spiritual benefit, but this service must be a spontaneous, willing, whole-hearted, unconditional and not expecting any reward. His service is an ordeal that tries body, mind and spirit; or else wherein would the perfection of serving lie if it were to be easy and at one's convenience? The body suffers, mind is tormented, but the spirit of the selfless server of the Master experiences the bliss of satisfaction."
    —BABA

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