Weekly Reflections No. 43

from Meher Baba Books

(Los Angeles, California)

Oct, 16, 2015 

-- Meher Baba with disciples begging during his New Life period 1949-1952 --

-- New Life (Meher Baba) --

The New Life was a period of renunciation, and spiritual adventures undertaken by Avatar of the age,  Meher Baba  on October 16, 1949. At the age of 55, Meher Baba embarked with twenty companions, four women and sixteen men mandali. They are listed here with their respective ages at the time. 

-- Meher Baba's Women Mandali (photo credit: Win Coates) --

Women Companions

1.  Mehera Irani, 42

2. Mani Irani, 31

3. Meheru Irani, 22

4. Goher Irani, 33

                       

 

~ Meher Baba with New Life companions in 1949 in Meherabad. Photo: Beloved Archives ~

Men Companions

1.   Adi Sr., 45
2.   Ali Akbar (Aloba), 33
3.   Anna 104, 60
4.   Babadas, mid 40s
5.   Baidul, 56
6.   Daulat Singh, 59
7.   Dr. William Donkin (only Western companion), 37
8.   Eruch Jessawala, 33
9.   Dr. Abdul Ghani Munsiff (Ghani), 58
10.   Gustadji, 59 
11.   Kaka Baria, 58
12.   Murli Kale, 30
13.   Nilu, 45
14.   Pendu, 45
15.   Sadashiv Patel, 60
16.   Vishnu, 45

After making provisions for those dependent on him, Meher Baba and his companions otherwise gave up all property and financial responsibilities. They then traveled about India incognito, without money, begging for their food, carrying out Baba's instructions and living in strict accordance with a set of "conditions of the New Life." These included absolute acceptance of the circumstances of their lives, and consistent good cheer in the face of any difficulty. Those companions who failed to comply were sent away. This phase of Meher Baba's life culminated in early 1952 after more than two years.

When pressed by inquisitive people for further explanation during the New Life, Meher Baba instructed his New Life companions to say this much: "Hopelessness means renunciation of all hopes. Aimlessness means renunciation of all aims. Helplessness means renunciation of all help. No master, no disciple, means renunciation of spirituality. And the New Life I have in mind eventually means absolute renunciation. Therefore, if any one asks you what this New Life is, say, 'Absolute and perfect renunciation.' If they ask, 'Renunciation of what?' say, 'Of everything - aims, hopes, help and life itself.'"

                                                                                                -- From  Wikipedia

Meher Baba, Blue Bus Seclusion, Meherabad, June 21 1949 - photo from Lawrence Reiter

Although the New Life has emerged from me, I am not at all bound by it. Plans I, II, and III of the New Life, with their four phases of labor, begging, gypsy and langoti life, will function as long as I am physically alive.

But this New Life is endless. Even after my physical death, it will be kept alive by those who live the life of complete renunciation of falsehood, lies, hatred, anger, greed and lust; and who, to accomplish all this, do no lustful actions, do no harm to anyone, do no backbiting, do not seek material possessions or power, who accept no homage, neither cover honor nor shun disgrace, and fear no one and nothing; by those who rely wholly and solely on God, and who love God purely for the sake of loving, who believe in the lovers of God and in the reality of Manifestation, and yet do not expect any spiritual or material reward, who do not let go the hand of Truth, and who, without being upset by calamities, bravely and wholeheartedly face all hardships with 100 percent cheerfulness, and give no importance to caste, creed, and religious ceremonies.

This New Life will live by itself eternally, even if there is no one to live it.

MEHER BABA'S NEW LIFE, 

pp. 347, Bhau Kalchuri

 

Don: Yes, probably very few Parsis in those areas.

Mehera: None at all. And we were wearing a new kind of attire. The mandali were all in white robes with green turbans looking like some sort of regiment. The villagers couldn't make out who we were, so they would ask, and we would tell them we were going to Haridwar. Then they would feel very happy. 'Oh, you are going on a pilgrimage to Haridwar?' And they were greatly impressed.

Don: Baba had already told you that Haridwar would be the destination?

Mehera: Yes. And Baba did take us to Haridwar.

Don: You were saying that when you would come to the orchard with the well and you would want to rest and do the things that were necessary, the people would come crowding round. What was Baba doing then?

Mehera: Baba always kept more to the area with the men mandali, because all the important activity was taking place there, such as feeding the animals and so on.

Don: And the men were away from the crowd?

Mehera: You see, the orchard would be very big. We would be in one part of the orchard and the bullock carts and the camel cart and the white horse and the two little donkeys and all that retinue was taken to the other side with the men mandali. Before they could relax they had to prepare a meal for the animals. If there wasn't the right kind of fodder to be had, they had to chop something up.

Meheru: They cared for the animals before themselves. But the crowd would usually divide, some going there first, and after they'd seen enough, they'd come and watch what we were doing. They tried to make out who we were.

Mehera: Baidul and others - I don't know who they were, because we couldn't see them - would chop up the sugar cane tops. After they had given the food to the animals, they had to bring them drinking water and make them comfortable. Only then could the mandali attend to themselves. It was very hard on them.

Don: So Baba would be with the men while they were tending the animals, and meanwhile all those curious people were about. Wasn't Baba irritated with them, didn't he try to shoo them away?

Mehera: No, no. And Kakaji would be cooking for us, and Baba would watch Kakaji - Baba was interested in all our activities.

Don: So all the cooking was done in the men's camp by Kaka, and the food would be brought over to you?

Mehera: Yes. There was a large quantity of food to be cooked. Baba gave it to the men to do because there were many men mandali but just four of us women. There was never running water. It had to be brought from a well. The men would bring it for us halfway to Goher, and Goher would bring it on in two little pails and put it in the samovar. Then we would all wash our faces and hands and make ready for Baba's tea, but there was always the crowd standing about, men and women, young and old, all standing around in a big circle watching us. We didn't know what to do. We couldn't feel at home because there were so many people watching us. What to do? We would say to them, 'Now we are going to have tea. Our tea is going to come.'

'Oh yes, oh good, yes, have tea,' they would reply, and they would remain standing there to watch us drink our tea. When the tea came we would think, if Baba comes, how uncomfortable he will feel with such a crowd watching.

Then Goher would say to them, but without getting angry or irritated or speaking tersely, 'Namaste, namaste,' just as we would say, 'Jai Baba.' It means 'greetings.' So she would say, 'Namaste, now you must go. Our men mandali are there. All the men should go to the men. It's all right if the women stay. We are all women here. What is there for the men to stand around here for?'

So the men would agree, 'Ah, yes, that is true,' and they would all walk off. It was good that we thought of that idea. After that, whenever the village men came round, we let them stay for a few minutes to see the caravan and then told them to go to the men mandali's side. 

The women stayed around us, wanting to talk to us about this and that. Of course we were not in the mood to talk. We wanted to rest and have tea because we'd been walking since morning. It was very funny, I can tell you, with so many people coming and going. It was very inconvenient not to have a private place, even to do one's private business. It was very uncomfortable, but we could not get upset with them, you know.

           

Don: Mehera, did this last during all of the New Life, all these people crowding around whenever you stopped?

Mehera: As long as we were walking, yes, till Najibabad, which is not very far from Dehra Dun. It was so cold for us, too. We had never had to tolerate so much cold in winter. Going towards the north is going towards the Himalayas, and the Himalayas then were covered with snow. You could see the snowcapped mountains from certain points as we went further north. It was so cold that Baba gave us women the caravan to sleep in. There were three benches in it, like three seats, and we longed to go inside because it was so cold outside. As it grew dusk there were stars in the sky and the outlines of the trees, but no roof over our heads. We would wait out in the open until it was dark and time to go to bed, then when we got inside the caravan we would shut the windows and pull the curtains down, leaving a slight crack for fresh air, and settle down for the night.

When Goher came she was the fourth, and as she had no seat to sleep on she had to lie on the floor. But she was quite happy as long as she was under a roof and warm. The mandali were not warm. Many of them could not sleep at all because it was so cold under the stars. It rained sometimes. When they could not get warm some would stand and stamp their feet or try to get a fire going. But you see, it was Baba who gave them the strength and also the help to go through with the New Life. He sustained us all.

Meheru: Back to the very first day of the New Life, early on October 16th, while it was still dark, the car driven by Sarosh came to fetch us. Baba and the women companions drove in the car. It was raining. I well remember what a rainy day it was. At the railway crossing near the station, the bus with the twenty men companions and all the luggage was waiting.

Don: Meheru, isn't it very unusual to have heavy rain that late in the year? Usually your monsoon is almost finished in September, isn't it?

Meheru: It was an unusually good monsoon that year and it continued until the month of November, which is most unusual.

Don: One often used to hear Baba say that whenever he started an important spiritual work there was a storm and rain. 

             

Meheru: Yes, that's true, I have often noticed this.

Don: Did he make any comment about this when you started the New Life?

Meheru: No, not to my knowledge. Baba had said that no one was to see us off. I believe that the villagers of Arangaon decided that if they'd all come in a body to the station and in their love weep at Baba's leaving and ask him not to go, Baba would listen to them. But Baba found out about this beforehand and said that they should not do this, that no one should come at the time of departure.

When we came to the level crossing Baba told us to get down from the car and start walking, but almost immediately it started to rain again so we got back into the car. We drove then to Supa, to the P.W.D. bungalow where we arrived in the early morning. Mehera, do you remember anything about Supa?

Mehera: We probably stayed two nights there. We had started very early. We got up at half past three or a quarter to four. Baba always wanted us to get up very early.

Don: Every day in the New Life?

Mehera: Yes, every day in the New Life, and even before the New Life. Five o'clock or five-thirty was the usual time.

Don: But in the New Life you rose even earlier?

Meheru: Yes, the colder it got the earlier we rose, or so it seemed to us.

Don: Well, you probably couldn't sleep anyway, it was so cold.

 

" LOVE ME "  

"This feeling or devotion, though good, is not love. It should not be mistaken for love, because that real love to see and know God cannot be created. It has to be bestowed. It is bestowed through the grace of the Master, and such grace is conferred on a very, very lucky few."

                                           -- Meher Baba,  

 

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