ChaptersChapter 5Page 662

Chapter 5: The Silence Begins

1926Page 662 of 5,444
Padri and Pendu were the doctor's assistants.
When the cataracts were removed, the old man's sight was restored and the first thing he asked was, "Who is Meher Baba?" On being told, he ran and fell at Baba's feet, weeping in gratitude. In the evenings, he would sit by the Mess Quarters with Pendu and Padri who, to test his newly restored sight, would ask him how many bullock carts there were on the road, or how many railroad cars on a passing train. With happiness, the old man answered their questions correctly. He did not wait at Meherabad until glasses could be made, but soon left, happily saying, "I can see now. I can see!"
Many people took advantage of the medical facilities offered at Meherabad and several had their eyesight restored, thanks to Meher Baba's generosity.
On 22 and 27 May 1926, Baba explained:
If someone were to ask me who is greater Tukaram or Ishwar [God], Zoroaster or Ahuramazda, Jesus or God the Father, I would answer emphatically that Tukaram, Zoroaster, and Jesus are greater. In fact, they are the Greatest of the Great because by being a Sadguru or the Avatar they render infinite service to the universe and suffer infinitely by taking upon themselves the burden of the world's infinite amount of sanskaras, which God does not do since he is not conscious of the world. Undoubtedly, a conscious divine person such as Tukaram or Zoroaster, compared to the unconscious [of the world], formless Ishwar or Ahuramazda, is definitely greater!
Zoroaster was actually God in human form. In order to work in creation, he had to come down as man among illiterate, fanatical, and hot-tempered humanity. Had Zoroaster told them to worship him, they would have denounced, harassed, and murdered him. They would have thought him an enormous egotist and absolutely crazy. So he taught them to pray to formless God. But in reality, by worshiping formless God, they were worshiping him; and consequently they gained the impression that Ahuramazda was greater than Zoroaster.
Likewise, Jesus did not only claim that "I and my father are one" but he also held out the possibilities of that blessed Union for all who could do away with lust, avarice, and anger. And he also advised meditation upon the Almighty with love.
Baba then used the simile of studying at different levels of education to illustrate the different "routes to the Truth":
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