DRAWN TO THE LIGHT Drawings of Meher Baba by Diana Le Page
DRAWN TO THE LIGHT
When mind soars in pursuit of things conceived in space, it pursues emptiness. But when man dives deep within himself, he experiences the fullness of existence. The journey to this Source can only be undertaken when one learns to love in all simplicity and honesty the One whom the pride of intellect veils. avatar meher baba
DRAWN TO THE LIGHT DRAWINGS OF MEHER BABA BY DIANA LE PAGE …
avat a r ’ s a bo d e publ i s h e r s
Š2009 by Diana Le Page. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. All quotations from the words of Meher Baba are reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder: Š2009 Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust, Ahmednagar M.S. India. First edition
Acknowledgements
This book has been in progress over a period of years, but Ed Legum is the one who really put it all together for me. From the title to the presentation and layout I have to thank Ed. His unfailing humor, experience, and enthusiasm made it all so enjoyable. Wendy Bryers digitally photographed the drawings and Alison Spark did all the typing. They are both good friends and always so very helpful. And too, of course, my dear husband Bill Le Page whose wholehearted support has made it possible for me to devote my life to drawing and painting our Beloved Meher Baba.
Contents
2 untitled artist’s collection, 30 ∞ 22 " : 76 ∞ 56 cm
11 Introduction I was born with a gift for drawing
17 untitled artist’s collection, 27 ∞ 17 " : 69 ∞ 43 cm
18 Merwan 1919 artist’s collection, 78 ∞ 68 " : 198 ∞ 173 cm
19 Hazrat Babajan collection of Linda Aciman, 26 ∞ 40 " : 66 ∞ 102 cm
20 Sai Baba of Shirdi collection of Linda Aciman, 26 ∞ 40 " : 66 ∞ 102 cm
21 Upasni Maharaj collection of Linda Aciman, 40 ∞ 26 " : 102 ∞ 66 cm
22 Narayan Maharaj collection of Linda Aciman, 40 ∞ 26 " : 102 ∞ 66 cm
23 Tajuddin Baba collection of Linda Aciman, 40 ∞ 26 " : 102 ∞ 66 cm
24 untitled collection of Alan Scott, 17 ∞ 14 " : 43 ∞ 36 cm
25 Cannes – 1937 collection of Valeria Violati, 26 ∞ 23 " : 66 ∞ 59 cm
26 untitled artist’s collection, 56 ∞ 45 " : 142 ∞ 104 cm
27 untitled artist’s collection, 56 ∞ 45 " : 142 ∞ 104 cm
28 Perfect Vanity collection of Winifred & David Kershaw, 50 ∞ 44 " : 127 ∞ 112 cm
29 Baba in Zurich, Switzerland artist’s collection, 39.5 ∞ 41 " : 99 ∞ 104 cm
30 Prem Ashram Days artist’s collection, 56 ∞ 59 " : 142 ∞ 150 cm
31 untitled collection of Peter Sumner, 56 ∞ 45 " : 142 ∞ 114 cm
32 Baba & Kaka Baria at St. Marks in Venice, Italy collection of Jay Bott, 45 ∞ 36 " : 114 ∞ 92 cm
33 Meher Baba & Tallulah Bankhead, Hollywood, 1932 artist’s collection, 36 ∞ 45 " : 92 ∞ 114 cm
34 Meher Baba in London, 1931 collection of Clea & David McNeely, 30 ∞ 22 " : 76 ∞ 56 cm
35 Meher Baba – Zurich, 1934 collection of Michael Ivey, 30 ∞ 22 " : 76 ∞ 56 cm
36 untitled collection of Winifred & David Kershaw, 22 ∞ 30 " : 56 ∞ 76 cm
37 untitled collection of Martin Sheridan, 30 ∞ 22 " : 76 ∞ 56 cm
38 untitled artist’s collection, 30 ∞ 22 " : 76 ∞ 56 cm
39 untitled collection of Clea & David McNeely, 30 ∞ 22 " : 76 ∞ 56 cm
40 untitled artist’s collection, 22 ∞ 30 " : 56 ∞ 76 cm
41 untitled collection of Winifred & David Kershaw, 22 ∞ 30 " : 56 ∞ 76 cm
42 untitled collection of Trudy Gard’ner, 40 ∞ 26 " : 102 ∞ 66 cm
43 untitled collection of Jill & Kelvin Hobbs, 26 ∞ 40 " : 66 ∞ 102 cm
44 untitled artist’s collection, 40 ∞ 26 " : 102 ∞ 66 cm
45 untitled artist’s collection, 33 ∞ 45 " : 84 ∞ 114 cm
46 untitled collection of Shelly & George Cole, 17 ∞ 14 " : 43 ∞ 36 cm
47 untitled artist’s collection, 45 ∞ 51 " : 114 ∞ 130 cm
48 Mani & Cracker artist’s collection, 36 ∞ 45 " : 92 ∞ 114 cm
49 untitled artist’s collection, 54 ∞ 45 " : 137 ∞ 114 cm
50 untitled collection of Alice Mellowship, 28 ∞ 18.5 " : 71 ∞ 47 cm
51 Gili-danda artist’s collection, 56 ∞ 51 " : 142 ∞ 100 cm
52 untitled artist’s collection, 42 ∞ 45 " : 107 ∞ 114 cm
53 untitled collection of Christina Argüelles, 45 ∞ 42 " : 114 ∞ 107 cm
54 Namaskar I artist’s collection, 40 ∞ 26 " : 102 ∞ 66 cm
55 Namaskar II collection of Ian A. Cox, 40 ∞ 26 " : 102 ∞ 66 cm
56 Baba in Meher Studio II collection of Roy & Rosalind Hayes, 48 ∞ 34 " : 122 ∞ 86 cm
57 Baba in Meher Studio I collection of Michele Ell, 48 ∞ 36 " : 122 ∞ 92 cm
58 Meherazad, June 1949 collection of Ayse Öztuna, 17 ∞ 14 " : 43 ∞ 36 cm
59 untitled artist’s collection, 44 ∞ 36 " : 112 ∞ 92 cm
60 untitled artist’s collection, 56 ∞ 45 " : 142 ∞ 114 cm
61 untitled collection of Jaya Waidelich, 40 ∞ 34 " : 102 ∞ 86 cm
62 four untitled drawings collection of Katherine & Peter Milne, 17 ∞ 14 " : 43 ∞ 36 cm
63 four untitled drawings collection of Katherine & Peter Milne, 17 ∞ 14 " : 43 ∞ 36 cm
64 four untitled drawings collection of Katherine & Peter Milne, 17 ∞ 14 " : 43 ∞ 36 cm
65 four untitled drawings collection of Katherine & Peter Milne, 17 ∞ 14 " : 43 ∞ 36 cm
66 untitled collection of Katherine & Peter Milne, 17 ∞ 14 " : 43 ∞ 36 cm
67 untitled collection of Katherine & Peter Milne, 17 ∞ 14 " : 43 ∞ 36 cm
68 His Gentle Touch collection of Jay Bott, 17 ∞ 14 " : 43 ∞ 36 cm
69 untitled artist’s collection, 30 ∞ 22 " : 76 ∞ 56 cm
70 untitled artist’s collection, 44 ∞ 33 " : 112 ∞ 84 cm
71 untitled collection of Marilyn McGivney, 17 ∞ 14 " : 43 ∞ 36 cm
72 untitled collection of Elizabeth & Mark Stoltzfus, 40 ∞ 26 " : 102 ∞ 66 cm
73 untitled artist’s collection, 33 ∞ 44 " : 84 ∞ 112 cm
74 untitled artist’s collection, 26 ∞ 40 " : 66 ∞ 102 cm
75 untitled artist’s collection, 40 ∞ 26 " : 102 ∞ 66 cm
76 untitled artist’s collection, 45 ∞ 30 " : 114 ∞ 76 cm
77 untitled artist’s collection, 45 ∞ 45 " : 114 ∞ 114 cm
78 untitled artist’s collection, 17 ∞ 14 " : 43 ∞ 36 cm
79 untitled collection of Winifred & David Kershaw, 14 ∞ 17 " : 36 ∞ 43 cm
80 untitled artist’s collection, 56 ∞ 56 " : 142 ∞ 142 cm
81 Baba bowing to poor – Wadia Park, 1954 artist’s collection, 56 ∞ 54 " : 142 ∞ 137 cm
82 Baba washing leper, Pandhapur, 1954 artist’s collection, 56 ∞ 66 " : 142 ∞ 168 cm
83 The Comforter artist’s collection, 56 ∞ 45 " : 142 ∞ 104 cm
84 Baba & His little flowers artist’s collection, 45 ∞ 80 " : 104 ∞ 203 cm
85 Baba with dwarf Mast, Bangalore, 1939 artist’s collection, 45 ∞ 45 " : 104 ∞ 104 cm
86 Baba with Mast Shariat Khan, Bangalore, 1939 artist’s collection, 55.5 ∞ 45 " : 141 ∞ 104 cm
87 Baba with Mast Mohammed, Rahuri, 1937 artist’s collection, 45 ∞ 48 " : 104 ∞ 122 cm
88 untitled artist’s collection, 56 ∞ 45 " : 142 cm as 104 cm
89 The Lion artist’s collection, 56 ∞ 45 " : 142 ∞ 104 cm
90 untitled artist’s collection, 48 ∞ 54 " : 122 ∞ 137 cm
91 untitled artist’s collection, 54 ∞ 66 " : 137 ∞ 168 cm
92 untitled collection of Margaret Magnus & Sam Ervine, 54 ∞ 45 " : 137 ∞ 104 cm
93 Namaskar III artist’s collection, 44 ∞ 48 " : 112 ∞ 122 cm
94 Thus Spake... artist’s collection, 24 ∞ 45 " : 61 ∞ 114 cm
95 Samadhi artist’s collection, 33 ∞ 44 " : 84 ∞ 112 cm
96 Avatars Abode artist’s collection, 23 ∞ 15 " : 59 ∞ 38 cm
97 The Look that Beckons artist’s collection, 48 ∞ 44 " : 122 ∞ 112 cm
98 Baba’s room at Avatar’s Abode artist’s collection, 9 ∞ 13 " : 24 ∞ 33 cm
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Introduction
I was born with a gift for drawing, along with a visual handicap. Because of poor vision my outdoor activity was limited as a child, so I spent many hours indoors drawing ‘horse stories’ for myself. When I was little I had a recurring dream about a white horse which I later made into a book for my grandparents titled, ‘God’s Most Beautiful Creature.’ Years later, I learned that in the Hindu tradition the prophesied Avatar for this, the Kali-Yuga Age, was called Kalki, the White Horse Avatar. Then when I heard that Meher Baba is the White Horse Avatar, I was stunned! Because I wanted to be an artist, at age 20 (1963) I went to Paris and apprenticed myself to two sculptors, Daria Gamsaragan and Lydia Luzanowfsky. Lydia was the head of the studio (chef d’atelier), for Antoine Bourdelle, who himself had been the head of the studio for Auguste Rodin. I remained in Paris for several years learning to be a sculptor. My teachers were wonderful. At the end of each day, when they came to inspect my work, they would ask, ‘And what beautiful have you done today?’ I then returned to America and lived in the Los Angeles area, where in 1971 I was accepted into a La Cienega Boulevard art gallery. The gallery procured commissions for me to do monumental sculptures for site-specific public locations. I heard about Meher Baba in 1968 from my younger brother, Charlie Morton, who is also an artist and who painted the portrait of Baba
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which is in the Samadhi. When he first told me about Avatar Meher Baba, the Christ of our time, I just couldn’t believe it. How could it possibly be true, and how could my younger brother have discovered Him! The next several years were very difficult for me, and with increasing desperation I sought life’s meaning. I read books about Meher Baba, but I honestly could not accept Him as the Christ. Then in 1971 my brother took me to a meeting in Pasadena, California where Darwin and Jean Shaw (they met Meher Baba in 1934) were sharing their stories of love and service. The loving atmosphere that evening was so profound that my doubts vanished and I left with the conviction that Meher Baba was the Christ or Avatar of our age. Then in 1978 I moved to Australia to marry Bill Le Page and live with him at Avatar’s Abode in Queensland, Australia. My husband Bill encouraged me to draw Baba, which I did over and over again. I often took my drawings and photos of my paintings to India to show to the mandali, especially Mehera, Mani, Rano and Eruch for their helpful comments. Once, in 1991, Mani spent two and a half hours in Mandali Hall looking at a series of eighteen pencil drawings of Baba, commenting and correcting each one. She told me that, because she had helped Rano, she had a good critical eye. Rano, who was a trained artist, was very exacting in her critiques and would comment on how very unusual Baba’s ears were. She also warned me never to use visual projections as a drawing aid (i.e. drawing from a projected image onto the canvas). Later I wondered why she had said this to me. Now I can think of two reasons. One is that drawing Baba is first and foremost a labour of love. It does not matter how much you need to erase and redraw, or the time it may take, because it’s the love and
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concentration on Him that is paramount. Secondly, as the result of freehand drawing one develops a proficiency that is a joy in itself. Mehera was also so helpful in her constructive criticism. She was artistically talented herself and asked me in 1981 why I needed to show my Baba drawings to others, asking pointedly, ‘Can’t you tell if Baba’s ear isn’t correct?’ This had the immediate effect of giving me more confidence in myself. Her letters through to 1988 always remain precious to me. For example, on the 21st of November 1987, she wrote: ‘Dear Diana, I am happy you are painting another portrait of Beloved Baba – what a wonderful form of meditation to dwell on His beautiful face.’ It took time for me to realize that my poor vision was also a gift. Knowing my own limitations as a visual artist has forced me to rely more and more on Beloved Baba for help, because I know I cannot do it myself. An eye surgeon expressed it this way: ‘Diana Le Page was examined in my office two weeks ago (9th June 2004). She has a rare form of vitelliform macular degeneration since birth in both eyes. She has 20/400 vision in each eye and is truly legally blind. Her ability to portray form and colors in her art renderings is unfathomable to me as an eye surgeon.’ — Michael E. Lieppman, M.D. Baba has helped me in every way: In gaining confidence, in improving technique and in providing financial help. The thousands of photos of Baba, not to mention the films, are an incredible resource that has never before been available to artists portraying the Avatar. Baba’s Presence can be felt via the photos. It is the artist’s challenge to transmit and magnify that inner feeling
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into creative expression. For me, this process becomes a natural meditation of action and the resulting artwork can, by Baba’s grace, be called a true icon. I never feel a loss of enthusiasm for my work even though a project may take years to complete. Art, like life, needs continuity to develop. The habit of working every day lessens the impact of the ‘bad day’ because I know tomorrow is another day and I have seen how ready Baba is to help me if I will only turn to Him. It is the process of creating art that is important. Here is a Baba story that supports this point. In the 1930s, when Baba was in Europe with some of the Western women, they went to an art exhibition. One of the women said, ‘Isn’t this painting beautiful, Baba!’ Baba replied, ‘Yes, it is beautiful, but I see the process and that is even more beautiful.’ It is so natural for an artist to be concerned about originality of expression. I have found that if I just work sincerely, patiently and with a minimum of negative self–criticism, lo and behold, the effect I am striving for develops naturally. Learning and acquiring skills are fundamental to the composition of realistic art. Without the development of the tools for expression, how can creativity be adequately served? So, I believe both inspiration and perspiration are necessary. Just as a singer has her own unique voice, so each artist has their own individual expression. But if an artist tries to be original, the work becomes pretentious. Baba gave the hint when He said: ‘Do whatever you think is appropriate for expressing your art, and when you feel something better to express then automatically and by
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itself it will open out to you … so whatever you feel like doing, go on doing. It will go on developing by itself.’ I have the following Baba quote on the wall of my studio. It never fails to point me in the right direction: ‘One can express all of one’s spiritual qualities through art, but one must put all one’s heart into it. Art is one of the sources through which the soul expresses itself and inspires others. But to express art thoroughly, one must have his inner emotions thoroughly opened. I love artists, for through art one can express oneself beautifully. When inspired with love, art leads to higher realms.’ — Avatar Meher Baba The life, work, and words of Avatar Meher Baba are fully chronicled in various books and on the Internet, so I won’t go into these here. For myself, Meher Baba is the embodiment of all that is beautiful and true. I can’t imagine or begin to comprehend His God-Man state of infinite knowledge, infinite power, and infinite bliss, but my heart feels His ever-present loving care and companionship, and his communion is all-important to me. I have endeavoured to express again and again, in these drawings the unlimited wonderment of this Perfect Man. The drawings are paired with quotes that I have collected over the years. I wish to share them with others who are also drawn to the light and love of the profoundly beautiful being, Avatar Meher Baba. diana le page
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I was Rama, I was Krishna, I was this One, I was that One, and now I am Meher Baba. avatar meher baba
Love makes the Formless and Infinite become enformed and finite as the God-Man among men. avatar meher baba
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Divine authority rests solely with the five Perfect Masters of the Age – only they can bring God Himself into human form. The ‘unveiling’ of Merwan started with Hazrat Babajan (1790–1931). In May 1913 she kissed Merwan, making him ‘feel’ who He was and giving Him Divine Bliss.
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In 1915 Babajan directed Merwan to Sai Baba of Shirdi (1838-1918). When they met they prostrated to each other, Sai exclaiming ‘Parvardigar!’ (God-Almighty). Meher Baba later said that by this word Sai Baba bestowed Divine Power on Him.
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Directly after seeing Sai Baba, Merwan was impelled to go to Upasni Maharaj (1870-1941), who He said awakened Him to Divine knowledge.
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Narayan Maharaj, 1885-1945
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Hazrat Tajuddin Baba, 1861-1925
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I am nearer to you than your own breath. Remember Me and I am with you and My Love will guide you. avatar meher baba
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Lovers must create the mirror of the Beloved’s beauty. To see their Real Self in it they must efface their illusory form. avatar meher baba
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I want you to remain undisturbed and unshaken by the force of life’s currents, for whatever the circumstances, they too will be of My own creation. avatar meher baba
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If you truly and in all faith accept your Baba as the Highest of the High, it behoves you to lay down your life at His feet, rather than to crave for the fulfillment of your desires. avatar meher baba
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Whatever life holds for you is an act imparted by Me in My production of the Universe and you can act best if you are happy in My Will. Don’t worry. All will be well. avatar meher baba
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If you dance for me, you do as much good as one who meditates on Me. Some like work, some like play, but when you do it for Me then it is all the same. This is Vedanta and Christian philosophy in a nutshell. So very easy, and yet so difficult. Try to forget yourself and do all for Baba. Let it be Baba all the time. avatar meher baba
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I am always with you internally. I love you in My own self. Have no anxiety about any matter. Be brave and it will all pass away. I have taken it to Myself to make you see (the) Truth in future. All’s well, you have Me! Hang Maya and all its illusionary playthings. avatar meher baba
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Just a glance from Me can give you all you need – can turn your vision inward. avatar meher baba
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One of the most difficult things to learn is to render service without bossing, without making a fuss about it, and without any consciousness of high and low. In the world of spirituality, humility counts at least as much as utility. avatar meher baba
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My only happiness lies in making people understand not through the mind but through experience that God alone is the Beloved for whom we exist. avatar meher baba
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What else is life meant for but to love God and become one with Him. God is the only Reality. One has to go on until we arrive at a stage, when we must love God, because we know all life leads to Him. avatar meher baba
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When one loves God one is eternally young, because God is eternally young, infinite and everlasting. To love Him and to know Him, as He is, is the goal of life. To love God, to feel God, to know God, to be one with God, is the only thing that matters in life. avatar meher baba
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You can also entrust your mind to Me by remembering Me or repeating My name in your heart as often as you can. Remember Me so often that the mind is at a loss to find other thoughts to feed on. Although I am ‘taking’ My own name continuously, I have come to hear it repeated by My lovers, and even though I were deaf, I would hear it if you repeated it only once with all your heart in it. avatar meher baba
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As the heart is, so is the house; as the eye is, so is the Image within the house ‌ I have only one message to give, and I repeat it age after age to one and all – love God. avatar meher baba
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If you feel that something checks you from expressing yourself, then you have to do one thing, that is to adjust your mental attitude thus: just before you do anything think, ‘I can and will express it thoroughly.’ And every time you do this you will find you are more convinced. It is the mind that is closed. avatar meher baba
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To be spiritually fruitful, thinking must be not only critical but creative. avatar meher baba
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For the purification of your heart, leave your thoughts alone, but maintain a constant vigil over your actions. When you have thoughts of anger, lust or greed, do not worry about them and do not try to check them. Let all such thoughts come and go without putting them into action. Try to think counter thoughts in order to discern, discriminate, and to learn and above all to undo the actions which are prompted by your own impressions. avatar meher baba
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One can find spirituality only through opposition. One encountering opposition in life becomes enduring, determined, and unaffected like the wall that stands erect and unaffected against the continued strokes of the ball thrown against it. Art is divine. It can only be rightly expressed if opposed, to bring out the inner beauty. avatar meher baba
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You must know what you are praying to God. You must pray with feeling, from your heart, not just with your lips. When you say God’s name and pray to Him wholeheartedly, concentrate on what you are saying. (Instructions given by Baba to Mehera in 1924) avatar meher baba
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It is not possible to receive undying life in the Truth unless you surrender all resistance to it. You cannot drag along the prejudices of the past and yet hope to unfold Divinity within. You have to cut through the deposits of evolution and reincarnation and be completely receptive and susceptible to the lessons of life. avatar meher baba
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It is easy to love Me, because I am Love. But it is difficult to love Me with that love by which I am attained. avatar meher baba
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The knowledge that all have the same beginning and the same end, with life on earth a happy interlude, will go a long way in making brotherhood of man a reality on earth and this in turn will strike at the root of narrow exploitation. I bless you all for the realization of this, the aim of life. avatar meher baba
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Don’t worry. My love will give you that strength and conviction which makes you feel that you belong to God. Seek truth with all your heart and Baba will help – I am in this world to help people to love God, to find Him and to see Him. avatar meher baba
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I love you. Do not worry about your weaknesses. Eventually they will go; even if they linger, love will one day consume them. Everything disappears in the Ocean of Love. Because I love you, you have a pool of love within you. When you feel wretched, when you fall in your weakness, have a dip in that pool of love. Refresh yourself in that pool of My love within you. It is always there. avatar meher baba
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We must seek God in everyday life; God loves those who seek Him, and when we seek Him with all our heart, we find Him in ourselves. The Goal of Life is to know God, the Infinite One, in everyday life. Baba gives you His love, that love which will eventually help you to find God. avatar meher baba
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All conflicts between one another are merely superficial ones and cannot affect the love we feel for each other deep down. avatar meher baba
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... devotees must always lean on Baba, not on each other. avatar meher baba
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Think of me when you eat, sleep, see and hear. Enjoy everything, but think it is all Baba. When you wake up remember it is Baba getting up. Keep this one thought constantly with you. If you do wrong, think that it is Baba doing wrong. If you get a pain, think it is Baba getting a pain. Then it will be all the time Baba. Try to forget yourself and do all as Baba and you will enjoy what you do. It is really all bliss – all love. It is we who have created misery. avatar meher baba
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God, who is the breath and life of our lives, can only be experienced through honest love. We have to love God silently and honestly, even in our everyday life. While eating, drinking, talking and doing all our duties, we can still love God continuously, without letting anyone know. avatar meher baba
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To experience the timeless experience of being God the Infinite, patience and impatience are necessary. How can this be achieved? The first step toward this achievement can be taken by having an ardent aspiration to become like the dust at the feet of the Perfect Master. The more lightweight you become, the higher you get wafted by the ever-blowing breeze of His compassion. avatar meher baba
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Hold fast to Me, so that I will take you where I go, otherwise you will be lost. avatar meher baba
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The trouble with you is that you don’t leave everything entirely up to Me. If you had 100% faith in Me and left it entirely to Me, the burden would automatically fall on My shoulders and this would make Me remember in spite of My Universal Work with which I am engrossed. avatar meher baba
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Those who dare to see and love God in everyone and everything, experience Him as the everlasting immediate Presence. avatar meher baba
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The perennial spring of imperishable sweetness is in everyone. avatar meher baba
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I have come to help people realize their ideals in daily life ‌ My work and aims are intensely practical. It is not practical to have spiritual ideals without putting them into practice. But to realize the ideal in daily life, to give beautiful and adequate form to the living spirit, to make Brotherhood a fact, not merely a theory, as at present – this is being practical in the truest sense of the word. avatar meher baba
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Don’t worry about anything. Keep thinking of Me constantly. I am the only one that exists, the only One that matters. avatar meher baba
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Do not worry. Be happy in My Love and continue to hold fast to My daaman to the very end. Rest assured that all will be divinely well. God does not abandon those who trust Him. avatar meher baba
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If My silence cannot speak, of what avail would be speeches made by the tongue? avatar meher baba
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Things that are real are always given and received in silence. It is the effort you are making to control your moods and emotions, and to get above dark periods that has made you feel Me so near. avatar meher baba
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I am never silent. I speak eternally. The voice that is heard deep within the soul is my voice ‌ the voice of inspiration, of intuition, of guidance. avatar meher baba
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I intend, when I speak, to reveal the one supreme Self which is in all. This accomplished, the idea of the self as a limited, separate entity will disappear, and with it will vanish self-interest. avatar meher baba
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To draw nearer to God you have to draw further away from pride, deception, obstinacy and self-assertion to begin with. Love for all at all cost and humility at each step in everyday life is the key that opens the door to God. avatar meher baba
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To please Me is to do, but doing what? That which your Beloved commands you. This is My way, My path. ‘My yoke is easy and My burden light.’ My way with you all is the shortest way to Union which I long for infinitely more than you can ever long. Although the game is of My own making, still I must suffer to enjoy the game of realizing Myself consciously in all creation. avatar meher baba
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To love Me for what I may give you is not loving Me at all. To sacrifice anything in My Cause to gain something for yourself is like a blind man sacrificing his eyes for sight. I am the Divine Beloved worthy of being loved because I am Love. He who loves Me because of this will be blessed with unlimited sight and will see Me as I am. avatar meher baba
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With Me, no one can live what the world considers a moral life. Here, we are concerned with spirituality, not morals. A spiritual life is not ruled nor bound by any principles. The sanskaras of each one are different, and so the behaviour and temperament of everyone are different. avatar meher baba
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Seek Truth with all your heart, and Baba will help – I am in this world to help people to love God, to find Him and to see Him. Let Me tell you this fact: there is nothing to worry about, nothing to be disheartened about. We are all, each one of us, meant to be happy. God, who is within us all, is to be experienced as infinite happiness and it can be done only through love for Him. avatar meher baba
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Why worry? Worry is unnecessary. Necessary worry is not good, but unnecessary worry is madness. If I say, ‘Be happy,’ be happy at once! Forget. Away with it! Why brood? I never brood. Laugh! Be cheerful! It is all illusion. Why not be cheerful, happy? Start now!! avatar meher baba
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Above all else, be content with your lot, rich or poor, happy or miserable. Understand that God has designed it for your own good, and be resigned to His will. Remember the present in the frame of the past and the future. You eternally were and always will be. You have had innumerable forms as man or woman, beautiful and ugly, strong and weak, healthy and sickly, powerful and helpless, and now you are here again in another form. avatar meher baba
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Work harmoniously and forget completely the faults of one another. Remain steadfast ... Therefore it is best to sink all differences and to remain very close to Me with a very firm grip on My daaman. avatar meher baba
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If a mother found her child sick or weak (weak in wants) she would fondle it more, love it more. By weak I mean taken up with desires. Anger is weakness, pride is weakness, and so on, so love and forget. Petty things take up all your energy, thoughts, and time. This is the only thing that matters, love, always try to love. avatar meher baba
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The more you want the more miserable you are. So, when it is our right to be happy, why try to be unhappy by wanting things! Don’t want, be happy. Wanting makes you restless. If you don’t get it, you’re disappointed. If you get it, after a while, enjoyment goes. Therefore long and be restless for one big thing. Long for union. Try with all your heart. avatar meher baba
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You have to love so much that all this world you see around you becomes completely unreal. avatar meher baba
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Beauty and love are linked. There is always a sweet tussle in the heart of a lover between God’s beauty and love. God’s beauty and love demand sacrifice and total surrender. The lover of God has to do whatever the Beloved wants. avatar meher baba
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In silence and in seclusion, all alone in one room, with all your heart, cry out, deep down in you cry and say, ‘Baba let me see God who is in me! Baba let me see God in me!’ Cry out with such longing that during these hours you want nothing else but to see God. Do it honestly as if your life depended on it. Nothing more, nothing less … Cry, cry, cry! God wants us to see Him, longs for it more than we long for Him. It is the truth. I know it. avatar meher baba
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It is natural that at times you feel 100% miserable. Be sure that I know everything. When everything goes wrong, the mind becomes helpless and has to rely on the heart. These are the moments when you resign to My will and rely solely on My help. When you leave all to Me, I dare not neglect you, and you get relief from your predicament. I am the Ocean of Love and Compassion. avatar meher baba
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All that frightens and confuses you and grips you with despair is your own shadow. When the Sun of Love manifests in its glory and all faces are turned toward that Radiance, all shadows will have disappeared – even the memory of them will have vanished! avatar meher baba
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There are three things that always hinder Truth. First is temptation. Very very few persons can overcome temptation – temptation for money, fame, power, lust, and leadership are disastrous, very binding, and very few escape it. Second, vagueness about things. And third, dishonesty. avatar meher baba
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All of you present today will always be able to receive My love blessing – if you love God wholeheartedly – so wholeheartedly as to completely forget the affairs of the world … To love God wholeheartedly is to see God in everyone and everything. Therefore, you should love God in such a way that everywhere you look you see nothing but God. avatar meher baba
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I don’t like things to go smoothly or easily. There is no credit in doing things easily. One must get resistance, difficulties and pass through awkward situations. These are real tests and bring out the best and the worst in men. The more the opposition from Maya, the more you should resist and face it with fierce determination. Don’t feel anxious. Do your best. avatar meher baba
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All of you say that when you call Me, I never listen. It is not true; Baba is such a friend that even for a moment He is never away from you. When you remember Me I know, because I am with you all the time. When you play, I am also playing with you. When you go to school, I am also in school with you. I never leave you, but you are never aware of it. avatar meher baba
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Grown-up persons call Me a lot, they cry, and they weep, but at times I remain as if I’m deaf. But if children call Me softly, I listen immediately to their sweet voices. … Why is this so? Because I am so close to you and with you. That is why you should remember Me more and more. But where will you look for me? I am hiding in your heart, so search for Me in your heart. How will you search for Me? Always remember me, call Me, make Me your dear friend. Because I am your friend I will respond to your call immediately. — avatar meher baba
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The service that the disciple can offer the Master is not only linked with the universal cause of humanity but is one of the most potent means of bringing the disciple nearer his spiritual goal. avatar meher baba
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The high road of all roads of inner development is love and direct relatedness with the Avatar. That road is now fully opened to the aspiring seeker and should be used ‌ He should use all his force and energies in utilizing this Path of Love that is fully opened to him. avatar meher baba
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To aspire to become One with God is in a way sheer madness. It has to be that degree of madness which remains unaffected by the most alluring pleasures or the most sorrowful pains. The infinitely affectionate ‘look’ – nazar – of the Perfect Master can awaken such ‘madness.’ avatar meher baba
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That is what I want to tell my lovers: Your pains and your pleasures ... leave them all to me. avatar meher baba
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Needs are not wants. Everything beyond needs is wants. And wanting inevitably leads to suffering. Try loving more and more, and then you will want less of that which is beyond your needs and want more love. It will all be bliss if you do not want anything. But you must try consciously. avatar meher baba
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I do not perform any miracles, I do not change the circumstances at all, but there is one thing that is certain: My spiritual status is so high, so great, that if any man in any difficulty, in any corner of the world, at any time, remembers Me with all his heart, the difficulty is immediately solved. That is not idle talk, it is a fact. I am the Lord of the Universe and the Slave of the love of My lovers. avatar meher baba
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Now, one of the easiest ways of cultivating self-forgetfulness is to concentrate on a picture of the Master, for this helps the aspirant shift to some extent his concentration on himself to One who is the being and form of Perfection. And when the picture upon which he concentrates becomes alive, this is called Illumination, and this seeing of the alive picture brings about further forgetfulness of himself. avatar meher baba
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Love Me at your level and I will take you to My level. avatar meher baba
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The only way to approach God is through love, through constant repetition of His name and invocation of His mercy. Mercy is God’s nature. / Bliss is God’s original state. Power is God’s existence. / Knowledge is God’s duty. avatar meher baba
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You may feel that I am now going away but you should never find that I have gone away. It is for you to hold on to Me now and forever. On My part I and My Love will never leave you here or hereafter. May you be aware of it deeper and deeper from day to day. avatar meher baba
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Even in and through the ‘fleeting now’ of the false, God is eternally inviting man to Himself, affirming Himself as the Truth of man’s being. Those who dare to see and love God in everyone and everything, experience Him as the everlasting immediate Presence. avatar meher baba
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Love can make you: Unlearn all you have learned intellectually. Not remember the past, forget the present, and not think of the future. Renounce everything and everyone including your own self. Escape from all that is illusory and take refuge in Reality. Burn all your desires and longings and kindle the one and only desire and longing – union with the Divine Beloved. Become God, live God’s life and make others God unto yourself. To be worthy of the Divine gift of this Love, let all your thoughts, words and deeds be controlled by the constant remembrance of God. — avatar meher baba
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I never come and I never go. Isn’t it wonderful that I never leave?
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This book was designed and set into type by Ed Legum. The text face is Scala Sans, a humanized sans erif font designed by Martin Majoor and issued by FontShop International, Berlin, in 1994. *
DIANA LE PAGE was born with a visual handicap that restricted her activities. As a child, her love for drawing allowed her to escape from a myopic environment into the world of imagination A white horse that appeared in her dreams and befriended her was the subject of her first book of drawings that she made for her grandparents. The book was titled, God’s Most Beautiful Creature. Diana now feels that this was Meher Baba, the Compassionate One, also called ‘The White Horse Avatar,’ who enlivened her youthful world. In 1968 she first heard of Meher Baba from her younger brother, Charlie Morton, also an artist. He painted the amazing portrait of Meher Baba that is in His Samadhi at Meherabad, India. She works in her studio every day where she draws or paints Meher Baba. She knows that her art is a meditation of action that helps her to paint His image in her heart.
Avatar’s Abode Publishers