The difference in coming down through the seven planes between the Perfect Masters and the Avatar is that when a Perfect Master comes down, he becomes conscious of everything and everyone in creation — he becomes one with everything and everyone — but he does not become those very things and beings. Whereas, the Avatar actually becomes everything and everyone, and he alone suffers everything that everyone suffers. Therefore, in his coming down, there is infinite agony. For example, when the children threw stones at Tajuddin Baba, although they appeared to have hurt him, he never felt the pain. Tajuddin only acted as if he had felt the pain. Whereas, when Merwan was hit on the forehead by the stone thrown by Upasni Maharaj, he actually felt the pain of the stone striking his flesh.
From 1915 through 1921, while regaining his gross consciousness in Poona, Merwan very slowly became aware of his immediate surroundings. As his awareness of the world increased, he experienced all things coming out of his being, emerging from his innermost being.
He was God-conscious and, as a human being, he would be active, but his actions were automatic, without premeditation. His human acts were similar to that of a mechanical soldier that functions when wound up and started. From 1915, when he would do a certain action he would do the same thing continuously until he was stopped by someone. For example, Yeshwant Rao, Upasni Maharaj's close disciple, was given the order during Meher Baba's six-month stay at Sakori to prepare paan for Baba every night. Another disciple of Upasni Maharaj, named Trimbak, was given the same duty during the day. Once Baba started chewing paan, he would do it continuously — asking for one paan after another. Both Yeshwant Rao and Trimbak had to work like a machine on an assembly line to keep up with Baba's requests. He would consume hundreds of the paan leaves at a time.
Baba would chew more paan at night than during the day. Once Yeshwant became so exhausted preparing the leaves that he collapsed and fell asleep for a few minutes.