Accordingly, Adi Sr. met Paul Brunton, and he and Jalbhai arrived in Meherabad on Saturday, 22 November 1930. Brunton was accommodated on Meherabad Hill in the middle room of the Water Tank. Although Sidhu did not know a word of English, he was appointed by Baba to look after Brunton's needs.
The next day Baba called Brunton to him in the cave along with Jalbhai and a British acquaintance of Brunton's named Frederic Fletcher.1 The purpose of Brunton's interview was to determine if Baba was a genuine Master. Vishnu read Baba's alphabet board as he dictated. Brunton began to take notes, but Baba wanted his full attention and asked him not to. Brunton could record the conversation later, from memory, if he wished.2 Baba explained about the five Sadgurus and their circles and his own coming down, and said:
Upasni Maharaj and Hazrat Babajan are the greatest spiritual personalities of the age ... It was my past connection with Babajan which gave me the Experience in a second, without any striving or longing for it; and again it is this connection with others that will make me share this Infinite Treasure amongst the twelve of the circle in the future ...
A Sadguru in physical form can work a lot of good for the world [more] than without it. After the death of a Sadguru, he enjoys eternal bliss and the power is there with him but not the authority to use it. So wherever there is a tomb of a Master, there the power is, but it is the faith which becomes the medium and utilizes that power. It is for this reason that people generally derive benefits from the tombs of saints. Internal benefit can however only be imparted when the Master is in bodily presence ...
When a Master dies he takes no further interest in affairs of the gross world — not even a Christ. Hence those who imagine that a "dead" Master is responding to their prayers or watching over them, are wrong. So, too, tombs and mausoleums of great saints are of no spiritual value to those who visit them. Nevertheless when a sincere devotee prays and intensely concentrates on a dead Prophet, like Christ, and calls on him for any help, a living Master then in the world will feel that this cry is being made, and if the sincerity and aspiration of the devotee warrant it, he will manifest himself to the devotee, taking on the appearance of Christ, et cetera, and answer the prayer.
Footnotes
- 1.Fletcher (known as Prajnananda) had been living in India for seven years as a Buddhist monk.
- 2.In his published writings, Brunton used the word "Messiah" for a Western reader, rather than Avatar which is what Baba dictated on the board, according to Brunton's original notes.