Articles

Dreams

By Ann Conlon

I'm one of those people who seldom remember dreams, so my repertoire of dreams about Meher Baba is pretty slim. But they are choice.There were only two of them and they are both, after thirty or more years, as sharp as when they occurred. Actually, they are as sharp as my memories of meeting him. I had the first dream when Meher Baba was in Myrtle Beach in 1958. I hadn't gone to meet him because he said only those who loved him and were willing to obey him should come. I realized I didn't know if I loved anyone, let alone him. One night when I was sound asleep at home, I "awoke" very suddenly to see Baba standing at the foot of my bed, wearing his blue coat, with one hand on his hip and the other on the bedpost. He was smiling and the feeling I got was that he was saying: Well, are you coming or aren't you? I was so startled that I jumped out of bed. I heard my heels hit the floor so I knew I was awake. And he was still there. Then he was gone and I was so shaken by the experience that I got back into bed and went right back to sleep. But I remembered it all the next morning, and it led to my first visit to the Meher Spiritual Center a few weeks later.

The second dream took place sometime after I had gone to the East West Gathering but before Baba dropped his body in 1969. Baba had told us to get close to him "now" (1962) because the day was coming when there would be so many people that we wouldn't be able to. In the dream, I was in a huge hall where a great crowd was waiting for Baba to come in and walk down the middle aisle to the stage. I was stuck standing in a side aisle with hundreds of others, unable to even see Baba as he entered. Suddenly the crowd in my aisle parted and Baba walked toward me. I went down on my knees in front of him and when I looked up at him, his face was a death mask. I awoke very disturbed and it was a long time before I understood that dream, but I have become increasingly grateful for it.

The odd thing is that I've only just realized as I write this that Baba's message was actually the same in both dreams, that he was saying to me: No matter what happens, I will always know where you are, and I will come to you. And he has, whether he has been here physically or not. As he has for all of us. After all, to my knowledge, he has yet to misplace any of his lovers.