Dana Cossak Field ( aka David Kasakevitch / Cossak )

 

Meanwhile, some of the Westerners had already arrived in Bombay. On September 11th, Meherjee and Nariman brought them to Ahmednagar at 10:30 P.M. The group consisted of the following individuals, ranging in age from twenty-three to eighty:

 

Dana Field of Florida

 

Lord Meher Volume 13, Page 4417

 

My very dear.........:

 

 

Sahebji  from Meherabad Hill!  I hope you are not fooled into thinking I know Marathi. The great drama that is unfolding before us daily drives all other thoughts from the mind. Besides, Baba has given us the assignment of one-half hour daily silence, and He is with us for a few hours. We have been taken to a number of historic places, and for tea to the Bank.

 

Baba seems to be aging daily. He says He is crucified, every moment, which He gladly is, so that one should love our God. He said His body will be destroyed, perhaps in December, and none of the Mandali will be near Him. It seems to me that someone should stay with Him, of the Western disciples.... Meanwhile, He is lavishing love and plenty on all of us and I am getting more than the lion's share. I may have pleased Him by translating a song by Yma Sumac, played on the phonograph this a.m. He said He wished someone would love Him that way:—“I love only Thee, I worship only Thee; to Thee alone I surrender the key to my treasure. " Baba enjoyed Yma Sumac—"as long as she comes down from the highest to the lowest notes, I feel happy because it reminds Me of what I am do­ing." Just previously He had asked, Can any one imagine how I can be here and everywhere at the same time?"

 

As we were listening with Baba to the records, a Japanese young man ar­rived to see Baba. He had a very reverent attitude, and was embraced by Baba who said, "he loves the Truth." He had come all the way from Japan to see Baba, about whom a theosophy leader had informed him. He wants Baba to come to Japan. Baba promised to do so, after 700 years. He is related to the Ambassador of Japan to India, and will be back for the darshan, after which Baba will give Him a glimpse of Himself if he meditates for one week here. He was given a royal meal. He could not have arrived more dramatically. Baba told him he was very fortunate, because He does not permit people on the Hill. I wasn't so fortunate—I forgot my kleenex and the tears caused my nose to run!

 

Tomorrow, Indian songs will be played; and Baba will explain a few mysteries. I'll give you the titles of those played.... Baba asked us to keep our consciousness here and "try to absorb as much of Baba as you can." I just took a walk over to the flowers, which is my way of refreshing myself, and I felt as if I could fly away; the combination of spiritual consciousness and the beauties of nature, wind, and sky is overwhelming.

 

I must ask you to forgive my slighting news about individuals here. I shouldn't, and in fact I was personally affected by the others, except for Marks and Backett, even whose surface is saintly. Too much human nature for me, as I am sensitive and critical in the first place, and the contrast with Baba was so great.

 

But I assure you we have been welded into a unit by Baba, and there is only love and peace. Dr. Donkin is close to Baba, although very different. He is our medic. Very handsome and healthy, but also apparently gentle. Francis Brabazon is Baba's comedian. His surface is hard but his heart's right…Right now he is scolding our dog who got himself chewed up when he attacked his own father (mistaken identity, no doubt)! Baba put Francis in charge of the two Australian boys, whom He told to stay in His tomb at 12 midnight for half an hour. They are to sit on the edge of the pit, and if they fall and break a leg, Baba will hold him responsible! They are to keep eyes open and not blink. I suggested they take a nap this afternoon.

 

We just had tea. I am so full of the good food that Mrs. Irani feeds us that I am considering putting a sign on myself, "no more room:" Yet, Baba had mentioned yesterday that we don't seem to have enough, as far as He could see! So, we're getting more than ever. Baba gave us prasad of "Sitafal" fruit, laying His hands on us from the back as we sat at table. His humility is boundless. Today He sat on the floor, covered with a table-cloth, while we ate. The Sufi men are terrifically impressed and in tears half the time. Baba "spoke" in Arabic or Persian to Joseph Harb—it meant "Everlasting Breath." Yesterday we were permitted the privilege of being at Baba's prayers, several languages. He prayed in front of His own picture, giant size. "Today God has joined you in praying to God" He remarked to us when we were in the Hall today. It was a very impressive ceremony, without priests or temples, etc. When Baba does anything, it takes on life and meaning; the old familiar songs we heard had a new flavor.

 

During the meeting this A.M. Baba, as usual, was doing His Universal Work. He says that being here and there at the same time is called Sahaj Samadhi. He distinguished for us between a trance state which is momentary ecstasy but does not result in a changed individual; several states of Samadhi, after which comes distress as a result of a sort of (spiritual) drunkenness; and Nirvikalpa Samadhi (Fana in Sufism) or real Union with God. But many do not regain worldly consciousness. Sahaj) (effortless, spontaneous) or Nirvikalpa Samadhi operates on every plane. He promised to explain how He does it. 

 

Mr. Purdom told me not to ask Baba to stay with Him, and told me a story to illustrate. A disciple of Baba said his greatest desire was to visit the Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay. He was dressed up and taken there but he kept slipping and falling at the entrance, so they threw him out for a drunk. Baba's will be done! He knows what He wants!

 

We were given a silence discipline half-hour daily. Today I had a hard time of it because of fever. Also I sit on the ground and this is not a comfortable position. We have to try to picture Baba, a wonderful spiritual exercise.

 

I just had a talk with Malcolm. Baba is keeping him busy editing notes. I was reminded of several points in my conversation with Baba which had slipped my mind: to use my mind but to be its master; to enjoy Maya, but overcome a negative emotion with an opposite, stronger one, and thus avoid Sanskaras; let the bad thought go, without suppressing it, and act on the good one; the ego is necessary in our development but must be transcended. (Baba had spoken of the natural, false and divine ego). I shall make it a point to seek out Malcolm as I was helped through our conversation.

 

A point of interest about India: they don't seem to have a Sunday. Guruvar is on Thursday (Master's Day), Moslems have their Friday. A case of the lost weekend.

 

Had dinner. It's a beautiful night, as only India or other tropical highlands can have. The air is soft. Again I wonder at our being here, in the hands and heart of the Avatar. What is the destiny, what are the root causes that have brought us to Him? In any case, I should not exchange my present situation for the world's kingdoms. The Kingdom of God is real, rich, and it is within us. The outer is our own projection, Baba tells us. We are here to gain a pure heart, to learn to truly love, and thus see God. Baba's role among us is so incredible, being on all planes simultaneously, that it is inconceivable to us. It is good to wonder at the truly wonderful, rather than at curiosities. I wish I could retain all that He is giving us but it's impossible; we are dealing with infinites and eternals. And since I am receiving, how can I help loving in return? The love that Baba lavishes on each of us cannot but revolutionize us. Spinoza puts it this way: "Minds, nevertheless, are not conquered by force of arms but by love and generosity." Love, like light (truth) reveals itself in the darkness. A lantern may light up a cave that has been dark for ages: no matter how long I've been negative or to what extent, love will carry all before it. I realize that I am using a good deal of rhetoric but I am also desperately trying to grasp that which passeth understanding, and with which I am daily now face to face. That is Baba and His love.

 

The other day we went to Baba's home at Pimpalgaon, a most peaceful, biblical area, with small mountains enclosing the valley in which are Baba's buildings and gardens, beautifully kept by the girls. He led us on a hike up the hill where He spent many months in seclusion. There is a holy atmosphere there, and we enjoyed the experience. Baba threw me a little rock, to keep. He showed us around His quarters and where the others stayed. The men sleep mostly on the floor. The women, Rano and Dr. Goher, are in the house. Baba had spent the Man-O-Nash period on the mountain—when He worked extremely hard, was exhausted, and wanted "to step out of the Universe." I think the ashram is called "Meherazad" (free, flourishing). Gustaji, an old disciple, has spent 27 years in silence. An incident was told of Baba saving him from a bath or worse when he was on watch and tried to step off into a reservoir in the dark. Baba clapped His hands every time he tried to go forward.

 

Tuesday, 21st. The news is way ahead of me! Baba will give me a brooch made with His hair for you, He reminded me today.

 

We were in Sakori yesterday. A great experience. We passed Rahuri Ashram, now disbanded, for Masts and God-mad. We were supposed to go to Sai Baba's place at Shirdi, but time got there first. We were feasted and dined by Godavri Mai, the woman in charge of the Sakori Ashram. Baba told us a fantastic story of what happened to Upasni Maharaj, but I shall have to tell you in person. It was a beautiful ride of 56 miles each way. On the road we stopped at a well from which water is drawn by eight oxen that go and stop to songs. Otherwise they get too lazy. A band of the ubiquitous gypsies, buffalo cows, camels, baby donkeys, kid goats, calves, colts, women with burdens on their heads, an endless parade of picturesque India. I told Fred W. that "Life Magazine" could find plenty of material. Everything is green, although this is semi-desert. Heads must be covered, I found out from a headache.

 

Played ping pong with Phillipe at 5:30 a.m. Baba plays, too. Today He showed us how to play marbles. He offered a prize—but did not give me a marble till the end. I said nothing, because I knew He was doing it on pur­pose. I discovered, by Baba pointing it out to me, that I am quite assertive.

 

But Baba forgives and we understand each other. The least smell of intellectualism, which for Him is synonymous with hypocrisy, "bothers" Him. He told me to balance mind and heart, with heart having precedence. It is a wonderful lesson, especially having Baba's own example of awakening rather than teaching.

 

In talking to Malcolm, He mentioned that distractions (of sanskaras) clutter up the mind so we can't get at the subconscious, to recall essential things. On the way to Sakori, Baba was very considerate, warning of dust, etc. He put on a scarf, but I said it was dangerous when riding, as it would catch on something. He immediately removed it, no doubt to show me how to be obedient.

 

Jokes were in order. I told two. A boy was asked by his teacher to define space. "I've got it in my mind," he said, "but I can't think of it." And: A child was asked to define Ireland and answered: "Ireland is like purgatory, a place where people suffer for a while before they go to America."

 

I'm bringing back pebbles from Baba's ashrams, as He says they have His vibrations. The Sakori Ashram is where Baba lived with Upasni Maharaj for seven years. It was He who gave Baba the Divine Knowledge. It has a wonderful atmosphere. Nuns live there; they speak Sanskrit, as Maharaj was a great scholar.

 

For the last three nights Baba hasn't slept because of His Work. However, later He said He felt better. John Bass is down with stomach trouble, and I have an ache, too—not used to so much food, or picked up a germ.

 

Baba asked us to try to see His face in the silence period. I thought of His face and what it expresses:

 

 

A line of mastery,

A line of suffering,

A line of joy,

A line of patience.

Between the lines,

The light of His Smile,

The love of His Heart,

The mystery of His Being,

The triumph of His Divinity.

 

Please greet all. Love in Baba eternally, 

 

Courtesy of  ; The Awakener - Vol.2  No.4   1955

 

 

 

 

Meditation

 

On the 29th Anniversary of Meher Baba's Silence

 

 

OW OFTEN are people silent with resentment, or with astonishment (empty mind) over a calamity? How often do we lose sleep for the devil's sake, whether through worry, overeating, or just planning ahead for business? How we toil and fret in order to provide a mere existence! Why don’t we not make similar efforts for God's sake and thus gain the more abundant life?

 

The Bible contains many statements about dedicating our daily activities, such as sleep, silence, and eating, Godwards; also referred to as "Our Father's business" (Luke 2:49).

 

"Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink ... is not the life more than meat?" (Matt. 6:25 ) . "It is high time to awake out of sleep." (Romans 13:11). "Why sleep ye? Rise and pray." (Luke 12:46). "What I say unto you I say unto all, watch. "(Mark 13:37). "Be still and know I am God." (Psalm 46). "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Matt. 4:4).

 

As long as we go about our usual habits of living, we cannot change, no matter how beautifully we verbalize about spirituality. But disciplines, whether self-imposed or practiced cheerfully at the Master's suggestion, will give us the new vision and consciousness of the One. This kind of truth, realized through living experience, frees us from our enemies (old habits) and unites us with our friends (spiritual qualities and attitudes).

 

By overcoming the limitations imposed upon us by instinctual and in­tellectual habits (egoism, unconsciousness, fear), we can come over to the kingdom of the more abundant life. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the Tree of Life." (Rev. 2:7). We can, then, reject the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil and always choose the Best, the Highest.

 

Spiritual freedom is the fruit of the practice of qualities such as love, forgiveness, and humility, and is independent of external conditions and things. The power of our Soul's ideals, visions, ideas and illuminations is far greater than the circumstances of Maya. The greatest obstacles on the way to Selfhood are placed there by ourselves, in our natural state. So, if we truly desire the greatest of all treasures. Soul-liberation, it is within our power to achieve it, particularly with the help of the Master.

 

It is not, as was said, merely self-sacrifice (the means) that is important, but Self-devotion (the motive) which leads to God-awareness (the end). During the silence we repeat the name of God, praise Him, affirm His omnipresence, thank Him. Then God speaks to our intuition or reveals Himself in other ways. Thus we build God-awareness into our subconscious, so that even when we go about our affairs we hear the divine symphony.

 

The key to our life in God is harmony. Not merely balance in the philosophical sense of the Greeks' "golden mean," or "nothing too much." Nothing is too much if it is for God! Not man but God is "the measure of all things." In giving up life for God's sake, we find it, the Bible tells us. The ability to give up and give in is indicative of a lessening of Maya's hold on us, and therefore we are free to appreciate and apprehend the essential, the invisible values and make them our own.

 

It is not, we repeat, a question of eating, talking and sleeping or not doing these things, but rather of establishing in our minds what comes first, or harmonious living, that is, living joyfully, wisely, lovingly, peacefully and actively; and any choice we make that helps to align the physical, emotional and mental natures with the spiritual will root us more deeply in certainty and oneness. God's will is done in our daily life as it is in the spiritual nature.

 

The economics of spirituality is a process of purification of the vehicles to receive higher vibrations, alignment and unification towards one-pointedness and single-mindedness. Then we shall say with Paul: "To me to live is Christ " (divine consciousness) . (Phil. 1:21) . But such a supreme achieve­ment does not happen unless we create the conditions within us favorable to God 's action on us. By being a cause, we bring out our spiritual resources.

 

As we advance in the striving toward Self-realization we find that much of adult action and reaction is involuntary—we eat, sleep and talk from instinct with no thought of thankfulness or wonder at the meaning, or awareness of, the source of our blessings. Talk is a thief: our deepest thoughts are often "gone with the wind." We show off our wisdom, meddle in the affairs of others, and lose our peace because of what we say. The state of consciousness or attitude that misleads us might be called the "take-it-for granted" devil.

 

Why do so few people succeed in becoming advanced disciples? Is it not because the average person prefers to see the universe through the porthole of his senses rather than pay the price of being a passenger in the cosmos? He measures his life by quantities and time. The spiritual man develops intensity of appreciation. He knows that the greater the suffering, the greater the lesson; the greater the prize, the higher the price.

 

The sensual man lives by the fear of death in its many forms; the essential man lives by his love of the more abundant life. Baba does not want "Baba­ites " but those who develop spiritual intelligence. For who knows better than Baba that "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing." ( John 6:63). To serve God in spirit involves an educational process, of subtracting sanskaras and adding qualities. "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (right use) and all these things will be added unto you. "(Matt. 6:3 3) .

 

To be a disciple of Baba means to practice disciplines and activities; how else can He awaken the Kingdom of God "which is within you" (Luke 17:21) ? We must ask ourselves: "What is happening within me that is new?"—just as those who live by outer happiness seek stimulation in outer circumstances.

 

 

Courtesy of ; The Awakener - Vol.2  No.2  1954

 

A Review

 

 The Transcendent Unity of Religions, by Frithjof Schuon. Pantheon Books. $3.50

 

"The Transcendent Unity of Religions" is a study of the relationship and differences between Spirit and Form in religion, esotericism and exotericism..."the kernel and the shell" of Meister Eckhart. Every traditional religion is superior to the remaining ones in particular aspects of its revelation, but they are one in spirit. As expressed in the Vedas: "Men call the Truth that is One by various names. "

The author performs an important service by clarifying the difference between formal religion—tradition, dogma, morality—versus essential religion—spirit, metaphysics, mysticism, and internal Truth. He points out that the unity of traditional religions is realized only in a purely inward or spiritual way and cannot be realized on the external level.

 

Among the great monotheistic religions, new revelations justifiably depreciated traditional values, without losing their transcendent unity. Thus the schism between the Latin and Greek Churches; the rejection of Judaism by Christianity, and of Hinduism by Buddhism, are contingencies which do not affect the intrinsic and essential reality of these religions. An example of transcendent unity is of the two divine aspects of justice and mercy in Abrahamic monotheism which became in the tradition of Moses, the `letter,' in Christianity, the `spirit,' and in Islam, the differentiated equilibrium of these two aspects of revelation.

 

The author's claim to "intellectual intuition" (Spinoza's "amor dei intellectualis") as contrasted with philosophic reasoning, is substantiated by the work. In this volume, Schuon tackles a complicated subject and stays with it, revealing many new insights. Mr. Schuon's books have been endorsed by the late Ananda Coomaraswamy as authentic interpretations of Oriental doctrines. Mr. Townsend has done an excellent translation from the French, taking into consideration the difficult subject-matter, style and diction which makes this book one for the discerning initiate. 

 

Courtesy of The Awakener ; Vol.2 No.2 - page 33