Eruch on the Manifestation and the Breaking of Baba’s Silence
Source: John Grant, Practical Spirituality with Meher Baba, pp. 193-194
The Avatar’s Manifestation
Eruch Jessawala was asked, what is His manifestation? His reply follows:
‘Worldwide manifestation can best be illustrated by an example. For instance if you went to any part of the world and began speaking to the people there about Jesus Christ, you would not need to introduce Him. They are already aware of His being. He has already manifested worldwide. However, if you went to any part of the world intending to speak about Meher Baba, you must first introduce Him, because Meher Baba has not yet manifested worldwide.
‘He has manifested in individual hearts and in collective hearts. Yet worldwide
manifestation will take time, it will happen gradually. It will be so, when you need not introduce Him, when you need not tell His whole life story. He will have manifested when one can sing His glory and praise Him, without the need to introduce Him beforehand. So He continues to remain imminent in the minds of mankind.’
‘So, has He manifested for us?’ he was asked.
‘Yes, but worldwide manifestation will take time. He said that it will be so.’
‘How is manifestation of Meher Baba going to take place?’ he was asked.
Eruch replied: ‘In its own course will it take place. When He was with us the world did not know about Him. After He had lived with us for some long years, a small part of the world came to know of Him. When He dropped the body, a little more of the world came to know of Him. And then with the passage of time, time itself will manifest Him.’
Even now, when you want to tell somebody about Meher Baba, they say, “Who is Meher Baba?’’’ someone in the audience commented.
‘Yes, it is in progress, but it’s not completed. However, there will come a time when you will not be confronted with this question — who is Meher Baba? He will be universally known. People will feel His presence, will know of His presence and that is His manifestation. So when you talk of worldwide manifestation, it means that people of the world in general will know of Him. There will be no need to introduce Him. They will know who He is. That is what He told us.’
The Breaking of His Silence
On this subject Eruch Jessawala quoted Meher Baba saying, ‘“Each one of you is a cradle for Me.” He says He comes to awaken — awaken whom? Who are we? We are nothing. He comes to awaken Himself in us. Break His own silence in us — we are nothing but the cradle.
‘In every individual heart He breaks His silence. In every individual heart that adores Him and sings His praise and glory, I hear the breaking of His silence through my physical ears, and the whole world will hear it. Yes, wherever He goes. Wherever His silence is broken in one heart, and that heart travels from place to place, the world comes to know about it.
‘Then there is another meaning to it. Baba said, “When the word of My love breaks out of its silence and speaks in your hearts telling you who I really am, you will know that that is the real word you have always been longing to hear.”
There are many interpretations, these words will never give out the full meaning. It is just for one to experience it, that’s all. Even Aloba today says there will be a thunderous noise in the sky and the whole world will hear that there is some sound — that will be the breaking of His silence. Why should I say to Aloba, no it is not so. Am I right in that? No I don’t know myself. It is for every individual to interpret the words of Truth. We don’t know.
‘Jesus said that He would be coming again, and people are still expecting Him to come again, yet there have been two Advents that have taken place since then. Now what to say to people and humanity, because they just want a sign from the clouds that He will come. Which are the clouds? So many times the clouds have come and so many times the clouds have gone. This is how He plays His game.’
I [John Grant] would like to add something to this topic of Baba breaking His silence myself. Baba said: ‘If My silence does not speak, of what avail words?’ Although I know that Meher Baba was silent for over forty-three years in the sense that literally He did not speak, yet to me in another sense He never seemed to be silent, because He was continually communicating with us very effectively by one means or another. It is as though His silence had two aspects; the literal and the symbolic. There was no problem understanding the literal aspect, but symbolically sometimes the two aspects were mixed up and became confusing.
If we regard the meaning of ‘speaking’ as ‘communicating’, and ‘silence’ as ‘not communicating’, the symbolic meaning becomes clearer. He was continually communicating, but only with individuals and very small groups of people. With these individuals and small groups He was never silent. With the world in general He remained silent because they were not aware of His existence or being. When His messages are communicated to the world in general, they will come to know of His existence and being, then to the world in general He will break His silence. They will come to know of Him. He will communicate with them. Thus the breaking of His silence is closely linked to His manifestation and will take time.