Articles

His Promise

By Ann Conlon

Can you imagine what it was like for the Baba lovers who, in 1954, heard from Baba that he was severing all external links, that possibly they would never see him again, that he would soon drop his body? Devastating, to say the least.

Hundreds of anxious, grief-stricken messages poured in from all over the world. The announcement that Baba would drop his body was part of the Final Declaration he had given in September during the Three Incredible Weeks, and he was in Satara when the flood of letters started to arrive.

His reaction to those letters, his reply, was one of stunning compassion, a prime example of his love and concern for his lovers.

"Oh, my lovers," he spelled out on his alphabet board, "I love you all! It is only because of my love for my creation that I have descended on earth. Let not your hearts be torn asunder by my declarations concerning the dropping of my body. On the contrary, accept my Divine Will cheerfully. You can never escape from me. Even if you try to escape from me, it is not possible to get rid of me. Therefore, have courage and be brave."

In this, his last message on the alphabet board, he assured his worried followers, "Baba was, Baba is and Baba will also be eternally existent. Severing of external relations does not mean the termination of internal links. It was only for establishing the internal connection that external contacts had been maintained until now. The time has now come for being bound in the chain of internal connections. Hence, the external contact is no longer necessary. It is possible to establish the internal link by obeying Baba's orders. I give you all my blessings for strengthening these internal links."

In those last three sentences, he gave those who had met him everything they needed and gave it as well to whoever would come in the years that followed, both before and after he dropped his body. Thousands did and most of them did not meet him. But it is obvious that he kept his promise, that the internal links would bind his lovers to him, wherever they were, whenever they came.

I have heard a theory that eventually the "path of love" will narrow, but I prefer to take Meher Baba at his word. His love for us brought him into the world, our love for him kept him here for a long time. Those love connections, I think, are for always. Perhaps the intellectuals who predict the path of love will be superseded by meditation and other brain activities, and long for it, have somehow missed out on the love connection. If so, too bad; they've missed an extraordinary experience. As Adi K. Irani was wont to say, "Better luck next lifetime."