DISCOURSES & TALKS BY MEHER BABA

 

VISITING DIFFERENT SAINTS, ETC.

 

 

 

5th September, 1929

 

Pleader was in the habit of visiting different saints and sadhus, and to caution him against doing this, Baba advised him:

 

 

Do not be after gatekeepers or watchmen; catch hold of the Emperor! Never be after his servants; no minister or secretary will help. A king is, after all, a king, and his servants, only servants. Once you have approached the king directly, it is of no benefit to maintain a friendly attitude with his servants. Your friendship with the king might precipitate any situation, but you should stick to him. Even if you were about to die, you should never let go of his hand.

 

 

The Emperor is perfect knowledge. One should forget everyone and everything in his company. One should stop one's previous habits. One should not think of meditating, or repeating God's name or any other type of worship. The most that could happen with any of these practices is that you would enter samadhi. Such practices can never make you one with God.

 

 

Instead, one should submit oneself to the Emperor's will, having only this thought: "O God, when will You meet me?" This longing must be present 24 hours a day. If the feeling is intense enough, God will surely fulfill it.

 

 

To help people is good, but service done under the guidance and according to the instructions of a Perfect Master is the best. Service to half-baked gurus and false saints will throw you into a gutter. You will be left hanging by those hypocrites. If you are unlucky enough to find a false guru, he will accept you and take you into his service. However, he will then give you up, and that will cool down your longing! Instead of losing sanskaras, you will accumulate them, and become disappointed and disgusted.

 

 

These false saints cannot give you anything, while those on the first and second planes, and walis and pirs of the fifth and sixth planes, can raise you to a higher state with just one look! But that is not the perfect state, as these advanced souls are not perfect. At times, even Perfect Masters cannot help those caught in these nets. Therefore, except for the Perfect Ones, do not be beguiled even by the fifth- and sixth-planewalas.

 

 

Stick to the Emperor and don't leave him for any reason! I am in everyone; but if you catch hold of me, you will have the root of all creation in your hands. Then you will not need to go after the branches and leaves.

 

 

If you are lucky enough to catch hold of the Emperor, you should never, never leave him. Go on digging until you find water. Don't keep changing the spot. If you get impatient, and dig two feet here and four feet there, you will never strike water. If you only dig a shallow well, you will get impure water. Only patient, laborious digging will result in your finding crystal-pure water; and for that, you have to exert energy and dig deep.

 

 

This Path is not easy at all; and if you enter it, you will not find joy here. Therefore, I warn you, think seven times before entering it! If you are after God, you will have to give up everything — your father, your mother, the whole world. You have to renounce each and every thing. Therefore, ponder well and then take the step. If not, forget about it and attend to your worldly duties.

 

Once you fall for the Path, don't be afraid of anything in the world. "Who will look after my parents? How about my job? What will the world think of me?" All these thoughts are useless. If you had died, who would have looked after your near and dear ones? Those affected will care for themselves. God takes care of everyone. He is the true sustainer. Once you have entered the Path, you should desist from such thoughts.

 

Try to be a lover of God. If you know how, you will go mad! The real lover is never influenced by the world or what people think of him; he will not even care for his life. He will remain what he is — totally indifferent to the world, unashamed of anything.

 

Baba ended by saying:

 

All rivers flow in me. I am the Ocean. Stop looking elsewhere and look only at the Ocean. By concentrating on me, you yourself will become the Ocean. To look at the Ocean means to carry out my wishes at all times.