"THE HIGHEST OF THE HIGH" • -

Dehra Dun,

Ith September, 1953.

On the morning of the 7th of September, it being theanniversary of Zoroaster's birth, Meher Baba said :

1. "Consciously or unconsciously, directly or indirectly, each and every creature, each and every humanbeing—in one form or the other—strives to assertindividuality. But when, eventually, man consciouslyexperiences that he is Infinite, Eternal and Indivisible,then he is fully conscious of his individuality as God,and as such, experiences Infinite Knowledge, InfinitePower and Infinite Bliss. Thus, Man beconies God,and is recognised as a Perfect Master, Sadguru or Kutub.To worship this Man is to worship God.

2. "When God manifesus on earth in the form ofMan and reveals His Divinity to mankind. He is recognisedas the Av^atab—the Messiah—the Prophet. Thus Godbecomes Man.

8. "And so. Infinite God, age after age, throughoutall cycles, wills through His Infinite Mercy, to effect Hispresence amidst mankind by stooping down to humanlevel in the human form, but His physical presence amidst-mankind not being apprehended. He is looked upon asan ordinary man of the world. When He asserts, how-;ever. His Divinity on earth by proclaiming Himself theAvatar of the Age, He is worshipped by some who acceptHim as God; and glorified by a few who kpow Hipi asGod on" Earth. But it invariably falls to the lot of therest of humanity to condemn Him, while He is physically -in their midst.

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4. "Thus id is that God as man, proclaiming Himself as the Avatar, suffers himself to be persecuted andtortured, to be humiliated and condemned by humanityfor whose sake His Infinite Love has made him stoop solow, in order that humanity, by its very act qf condemningGod's manifestation in the form of Avatar should, however indirectly, assert the existence of God in His InfiniteEternal State.

5. "The Avatar is always one and the same,because God is always One and the Same, the Eternal,Indivisible, Infinite One who manifests Himself in theform of man as the Avatar, as the Messiah, as the Prophet,as the Ancient One—the Highest of the High. ThisEternally One and the Same Avatar repeats His manifestation from time to time, in different cycles, adoptingdifferent human forms and different names, in different

places, to reveal Truth in different garbs and differentlanguages, in order to raise humanity from the pit ofignorance and help to free it from the bondage ofdelusions.

6. -"Of the most-recognised and much-worshippedmanifestations of God, as Avatar, that of Zoroaster is theearliest—having been before Ram, Krishna, Buddha,Jesus and Mohammed. Thousands of years ago. He gaveto the world the essence of Truth in the form of threefundamental precepts—Good Thoughts, Good Words andGood Deeds. These precepts were and are constantly unfolded to humanity in one form or another, directly orindirectly, in every cycle, by the Avatar of the Age as Heleads humanity, imperceptibly, towards the Truth. Toput these precepts of Good Thoughts, Good Words andGood Deeds into practice is not as easily done as it wouldappear, though it is not impossible. But to live up tothese precepts honestly and literally is as apparently

impossible as it is to practise a living death in the midstof life.

7. "In the world, there are countless Sadhus,Mahatmas, Mahapurushas, Saints, Yogi^ and Walis,though the number of genuine ones is very, very limited.The few genuine ones are, according to their spiritualstatus, in a category of their own, which is neither on alevel with the ordinary human being, nor on a level withthe state of the Highest of the High.

8. "I am neither a Mahatma, nor a Mahapurusha,neither a Sadhu nor a Saint, neither a Yogi nor a Wali.Those who approach me with the desire to gain wealthor to retain their possessions, those who seek through merelief from distress and suffering, those who ask my helpto fulfil and satisfy mundane desires, to them I once againdeclare that, as I am not a sadhu, or a saint, or a mahapurusha, or a mahatma, or a yogi, to seek these thingsthrough me is but to court utter disappointment, thoughonly apparently; for, eventually, this disappointment isitself invariably instrumental in bringing about ̂ thecomplete transformation of mundane wants and desires.

9. "The sadhus, saints, yogis, walis and such otherswho are on the via media, can and do perform miraclesand satisfy the transient material needs of individualswho approach them for help and lelief.10. "The question therefore arises that if I am not

a sadhu, not a saint, not a yogi, not a mahapurusha, nota wali, then, what am I ? The natural assumption wouldbe that I am either just an ordinary human being, orI am the Highest of the High. But one thing I saydefinitely and that is, thatT can never be included amongstthose having the intermediary status of these real sadhus,saints, yogis and such others.

11, "Now, if I am just an ordinary man, my

capabilities and powers are limited—I am no better thanor different from an ordinary human being. If peopletake me as such, then they should not expect any supernatural help from me in the form of nairacles or spiritualguidance; and to approach me to fulfil their desires wouldalso be absolutely futile.

12. "On the other hand, if I am beyond the level ofan ordinary human being, and much beyond the level ofsaints and yogis, then I must be the Highest of the High;in which case, to judge me with your human intellectand limited mind and to approach me with mundanedesires would not only be the height of folly but sheerignorance as well, because no amount of intellectualgymnastics could ever understand my ways or judge myInfinite State.

13. "If I am the Highest of the High, my Will isLaw, my Wish governs the Law, and my Love sustainsthe Universe. Whatever your apparent calamities andtransient sufferings, they are but the outcome of my lovefor the ultimate good. Therefore, to approach me fordeliverance from your predicaments, to expect mO tosatisfy your worldly desires, would be asking me to dothe impossible—to undo what I have already ordained.

14. "If you truly and in all faith accept your Babaas the Highest of the High, it behoves you to lay downyour life at His feet, rather than to crave the fulfilmentof your desires. Hot your one life but your millions oflives would be but a small sacrifice to place at the feetof One such as Baba, who is the Highest of the High;for Baba's unbounded Love is the only sure and unfailingguide to lead you safely through the innumerable blindalleys of your transient life.

15. "They cannot obligate me who surrendering their

all—body, mind and possessions—which perforce they

must discard one day, surrender with a motive; surrenderbecause they understand that to gain the everlastingtreasure of Bliss they must relinquish ephemeral possessions. This desire for greater gain is still clinging behindtheir surrender, and as such, the surrender cannot be

complete.^ 16. "Know you all that if I am the Highest of thej High, my role demands that I strip you of all your posses-I sions and wants, consume all your desires and make youI desireless, rather than satisfy your desires. Sadhus,

saints, yogis and walis can give you what you want; butI take away your wants and free you from attachmentsand liberate you from the bondage of ignorance. I amthe One to take, not the One to give what you want or

i as you want.* 17. "Mere intellectuals can never understand me•1 through their intellect. If I am the Highest of the High,

it becomes impossible for the Intellect to gauge me; nor* is it possible for my Avays to be fathomed by the limitedi human mind.

18. "I am not to be attained by those who, loving me,stand reverentially by, in rapt admiration. I am not forthose who ridicule me and point at me with contempt.To have a crowd of tens of millions flocking around me,is not what I am for. I am for the selected few, who,scattered amongst the crowd, silently and unostentatiouslysurrender their all—body, mind and possessions—to Me.I am still more for those who, after surrendering theirall, never give another thought to their surrender. Theyare all mine who are prepared to renounce even the verythought of their renunciation and who, keeping constantvigil in the midst of intense activity, await their turn tolay down their lives for the cause of Truth at a glanceor sign from me. Those who have indomitable courage

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to face willingly and cheerfully the worst calamities,who have unshakable faith in Me, eager to fulfil my slightest wish at the cost of their happiness and comfort, they,indeed, truly love Me.

19. "Prom my point of view, far blessed is the atheistwho confidently discharges his worldly responsibilitiesaccepting them as his honourable duty, than the man whopresumes he is a devout believer in God, yet shirks theresponsibilities apportioned to him through Divine Law,and runs after sadhus, saints and yogis, seeking relieffrom the suffering which ultimately would have pronouncedhis eternal Liberation.

20. "To have one eye glued on the enchantingpleasures of the flesh and with the other expect to seea spark of Eternal Bliss, is not only impossible, but theheight of hypocrisy.

21. "I cannot expect you to understand all at oncewhat I want you to know. It is for me to awaken youfrom time to time, throughout the ages, sowing the seed inyour limited minds, which must, in due course and withproper heed and care on your part, germinate, flourishand bear the fruit of that True Knowledge which is inherently yours to gain.22. "If, on the other hand, led by your ignorance,

you persist in going your own way, none can stop youin your choice of progress; for, that too is progress which,however slow and painful, eventually and after innumerable incarnations, is bound to make you realise that whichI want you to know now. To save yourself from furtherentanglement in the maze of Delusion and self-createdsuffering which owes its magnitude to the extent of yourignorance of the True Goal, awalie now. Pay heed andstrive for Freedom by experiencing Ignorance, in its trueperspective. Be honest with yourself and God. One may

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fool the world and one's neighbours, but one can neverescape from the knowledge of the Omniscient—^^such isthe Divine Law.

23. "I declare to all of you who approach me, andto those of you who desire to approach me, accepting meas the Highest of the High, that you must never comewith the desire in your heart Avhich craves for wealthand worldly gain, hut only with the fervent longing togive your all—body, mind and possessions—with all theirattachments. Seek me not to extricate you from yourpredicaments, but find me in order to surrender yourselfwholeheartedly to My Will. Cling to me not for worldlyhappiness and shortlived comforts, but adhere to me,through thick and thin, sacrificing your own happinessand comforts at my feet. Let my happiness be yourcheer, and my comforts your rest. Do not ask me to blessyou with a good job, but desire to serve me more diligently and honestly without expectation pf reward. Neverbeg of me to save your life or the lives of your dear ones,but beg of me to accept you and permit you to lay downyour life for me. Never expect me to cure you of yourbodily afflictions, but beseech me to cure you of yourignorance. Never stretch out your hands to receive anything from Me, but hold them high in praise of Me, whomyou have approached as the Highest of the High.

24. "If I am the Highest of the High, nothing isthen impossible to Me; and though I do not performmiracles to satisfy individual needs—the satisfaction ofwhich would result in entangling the individual moreand more into the net of ephemeral existence—yet, timeand again, at certain periods, I manifest the InfinitePower in the form of miracles, but only for the spiritualupliftment and benefit of humanity and all creatimes.25. "However, miraculous experiences have often

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been experienced by individuals who love me and haveunswerving faith in me, and these have been attributedto my 'nazar' or Grace on them. But I want all to knowthat it does not hefit my lovers to attribute such individualmiraculous experiences to my state of the Highest ofthe High. If I am the Highest of the High, I am abovethese illusory plays of Maya in the course of the DivineLaw. Therefore, whatever miraculous experiences areexperienced by my lovers who recognise me as such, orby those who love me unknowingly through other channels,they are but the outcome of their own firm faith in me.Their unshakable faith, often superseding the course ofthe play of Maya, gives them those experiences which theycall 'Miracles'.

26. "Such exjDeriences derived through firm Faitheventually do good and do not entangle the individualswho experience them into further and greater bindingsof Illusion.

27. "If I am the Highest of the High, then a wishof my Universal Will is sufficient to give, in an instant,God-Eealisation to one and all, and thus free everycreature in Creation from the shackles of Ignorance. But,blessed is Knowledge that is gained through the experienceof Ignorance in accordance with the Divine Law. ThisKnowledge is made possible for you toi attain in the midstof Ignorance by the guidance of Perfect Masters, andsurrenderence to the Highest of the high."

—Baba.

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luo ojr.'f ,

b.ip., MADEAS—1954. C448,.(1 -fj/il . .vc.i.*

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