This column was originally written some years ago as a welcome talk to an Amartithi celebration at Meher Center. I wanted to have something about Amartithi in this space right now and I like this piece. I don't think I could improve on it.

Celebrations

One translation of the word, Amartithi, is "Celebration of the one who never dies."

And celebration is the important word here.

We celebrate his priceless promise that "I never come and I never go."

We celebrate the fact that he graced this Center with his physical presence three times, and that he left that presence here -- for us and for all his lovers to come.

For those who met him in the body, Amartithi marks a shocking occasion in 1969, but one followed sooner or later by individual celebration of the fact that "now he's free and he's with me."

For those who did not meet him in the body, he did not miss a step, nor did they: they celebrate the fact that he was with them, is with them, and will be with them.

We celebrate his acceptance and his love for each of us and for the individual lights in all of us, because, as he said, he does not see the individual form, but only the light of each soul.

We celebrate his humor and his admonition to take life lightly and God seriously.

We celebrate the fact that his damaan is always within reach, and that he is the calm eye in the midst of our hurricanes.

We are grateful for the fact that we can count on him having one ear cocked for our cries of distress and for our whispered words of adoration. And – when we remember – our "thank-yous."

We celebrate another promise from him: "I am the only friend who will never let you down."

We celebrate his willingness to walk ahead of us, because the way is narrow and he knows the pitfalls. And, we are grateful for the compassion with which he picks us up when we stumble on that path.

We celebrate the fact that he sometimes lets us live in the sweet illusion that he needs us for his work, as a father does for any eager child.

We celebrate the fact that we can see the joy of his love in the eyes of a new lover – or an old one.

Above all, we celebrate the incomparable gift of his life, which he described this way:

"The Avatar awakens contemporary humanity to a realization of its true spiritual nature, gives Liberation to those who are ready, and quickens the life of the spirit in his time. For posterity is left the stimulating power of his divinely human example – of the nobility of a life supremely lived, of a love unmixed with desire, of a power unused except for others, of a peace untroubled by ambition, of a knowledge undimmed by illusion. He has demonstrated the possibility of a divine life for all humanity, of a heavenly life on earth.

"Those who have the necessary courage and integrity can follow when they will."

Jai Baba