DISCOURSES & TALKS BY MEHER BABA

 

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN

 

THE PERFECT MASTERS & THE AVATAR

 

 

 

14 December 1929

 

On Saturday, 14 December 1929, at Kalemama's request, Baba accompanied him to Dhulia for the day. They returned to Nasik the same night. The next day, Baba gave the following explanation to the mandali about the difference between the Perfect Masters and the Avatar:

 

 

Every God-realized personality is perfect. However, those who come down and act as Masters — the Sadgurus and Avatars — come down with their Universal minds and use divine powers to work for others. There is a place called vidnyan bhumika, where the Masters work and rest. It is similar to a threshold in between two places, where they can manage works both for the higher and lower worlds. [The primary aspect] is the preparation of souls from the lower world and the deliverance of them to the higher world, eventually Realizing them. The Masters come down with the special purpose of bringing "ripe" souls to the highest state.

 

 

When the Perfect Masters come down with this duty to the world and work every day with the people of the world, they descend with their Universal mind. Through the Universal mind, they take upon themselves the sins [bad sanskaras] of the ripe souls and thereby suffer themselves. They experience bliss through the soul and suffering through the mind. They enjoy the bliss through the soul, which is one with the Almighty, and bear the universal suffering through their Universal mind.

 

 

The one who manifests as the Avatar has to give a spiritual push to the whole world, in addition to the circle preparation work which all Sadgurus have to perform. This is the difference in their duty.

 

 

Besides this difference, the Avatar is always perfect in all respects, spiritually as well as materially, and in particular, physically. The Avatar always has a charming personality with a beautiful, symmetrical face and body, while the Perfect Masters are generally of odd size and shape physically, even with certain defects (sometimes so abhorrent that one does not like to look at them!) 

 

 

Christ, Muhammad, Zoroaster, Buddha, Ram and Krishna were Avatars and hence had charming personalities. So is mine. While Upasni Maharaj, Narayan Maharaj and such present Perfect Masters have one defect or another. Upasni Maharaj is too big and Narayan Maharaj is too small, and short in stature. But this physical difference between the Avatar and Sadgurus makes no real difference in their spiritual status, which is always divine.