The Lover and Beloved Relationship

While visiting Meherazad in 2006, my wife Wendy and I spent one morning walking the property with Meherwan Jessawala. The Jessawala family were long-time devotees of Baba’s, with Eruch, Meherwan’s elder brother becoming a close mandali member, living with Baba the last decades of His Advent.

Meherwan told us this story as we walked past Seclusion Hill. The following is an excerpt from our journal at the time.

“During a darshan program in 1955, Baba took four different groups of men up Seclusion Hill at one point during that darshan. As He walked up the first straight part of the path, He said that this was like the beginning attraction between the disciple and the master. The disciple feels the fresh flush of love and attraction to the master with a master’s full gaze and attention on the aspirant. There is then created a hair-thin connection between the disciple and the master, a hair-thin string. Then Baba and the group came up to a U-turn, a cutback, on the path. Here, Baba said, ‘The master begins to seem less focused on the disciple and gradually appears to become indifferent to him. As a result, the lover begins to feel distant from the master, and that the master no longer cares for him in the same way.’

“So, the disciple begins to drift away and falls back into old habits and patterns. He gradually forgets about the things that keep him close to the master, the Beloved. His life becomes focused on fulfilling worldly desires and ambitions. Gradually, he becomes more and more desperate about his life. But the master has to be careful to keep the ball of string loose so the hair-thin connection will not break. If it should snap, the connection is broken forever.

“At this point on the path, Baba and the group came to another cut back. Here, Baba said, ‘Due to the desperation of the disciple and his longing for the master, the master is able to pull the disciple closer to Him. Even though it looked as if the disciple had drifted away, there was still a forward movement because of his connection with the master.’ On and on it goes in the lover and Beloved relationship.

“Meherwan remembered Baba saying to a group once that they had no idea how fortunate they were to be in His presence. He told them not to let their minds wander if He is present even though He is the very one stirring up all manner of thoughts they should not let their minds wander.”

Also during that walk, Meherwan remarked that life around Baba was filled with the ordinary things of daily life, household things, practical things. “Baba would say that at the court of the Highest of the High it was not like other ashrams and masters where there was more of a pious atmosphere. Around his court, things were very natural. The Avatar accepts everyone. The focus is on love and only love. This means self-effacement.”