Chapter 36: Interested In Remaining Disinterested
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Meanwhile, among the mandali, Francis was occupied in editing various discourses of Baba's, given mainly in 1959 and 1960 at Guruprasad, which would later be published in a book titled The Everything and The Nothing . Francis was also collecting material to begin writing Baba's life.1
In September 1960, the manuscript of The Everything and The Nothing and other explanations were given to Bhau to translate into Hindi. As the years went by, Bhau did other translation work as well.2
Saturday, 6 August 1960 was celebrated as Khordad Sal (Zoroaster's birthday). Baba called the women to mandali hall in the morning to participate in prayers.
During Baba's present seclusion, he continued giving discourses. On the 6th, he drew a diagram and expounded on the infinite atmas (souls) in Paramatma (Oversoul or God) and gave some further points on the working of the Avatar. He also gave a discourse on mental consciousness, part of which follows:
Those on the mental planes are not conscious of the gross or subtle planes. How then is it possible for one on the mental plane to speak, eat, drink, et cetera — in short, to perform actions similar to those of an ordinary man on the gross plane?
It is just as we hear of persons walking, or eating, drinking, writing, stealing and so forth in their sleep, and yet they are absolutely unconscious of these gross actions. It is not uncommon for a person to talk in his sleep. All those around him can hear him speaking in his sleep, but the person himself is not aware or conscious of his own speaking. In the same way, the ones on the mental planes are totally unconscious of gross and subtle actions and spheres, although all their gross and subtle actions are the outcome of their thoughts and feelings — the functions of mind ...
Any action performed by one on the mental planes, as observed by the gross-conscious or subtle-conscious atmas, is nothing but a gross or subtle manifestation of a mental action. The apparent gross action that you on the gross plane see performed by one on the mental plane is merely the pattern of that mental function translated on the screen of your own gross consciousness. Hence, the one on the mental plane is totally dissociated from the gross and subtle, does not speak, eat or drink in the sense that those on the gross plane eat, drink and speak, though he may appear to do so. When you see such a one eating, drinking, speaking, et cetera, it is nothing but your own gross interpretation of the reflection of his mental activity.
Footnotes
- 1.Only one volume of Francis Brabazon's biography of Meher Baba's life was published, titled The Silent Word.
- 2.In 1967, Bhau was instructed to translate The Wayfarers into Hindi, and add Meher Baba's work during the 1950s with other masts, the poor and lepers.