Excerpt from “Conviction”: A Talk by Adi K. Irani
given at JFK University, 7/27/77. The Awakener Magazine, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 54-55
Q: Has He broken His Silence?
ADI: Now, there are opinions about Baba having broken the silence — some may believe that He has not broken the silence, some may believe that He has broken the silence. Even amongst our mandali there are differences of opinion. Baba had given us the right to interpret His declaration the way we thought proper from our own point of view. If you ask me about Baba having broken His Silence, I definitely say that He has broken His silence, that He gave the Word of words, and the Word was not what we expect the Word to be. He Himself said that “When I break My Silence it will not be a long talk or a lecture that I will give.” According to me, that Word is nothing but a pointer, a sort of an avenue through which flowed all the work that He had done, when He released the power of His love. His work was entirely based on love. He released it already; that means to say He spoke the Word of words, He broke the Silence.
Then the subsequent question is, “Where is the manifestation of the Silence?” Baba has said this is going to happen and that is going to happen; it was explained that He spoke in three languages. When He spoke in His language, you would not understand; when He spoke in your language; you would understand; when He spoke in the mixed language, that part which belonged to you, you would understand, but that part which belonged to Him, you would not understand. That explanation He has given after the Final Declaration. It is contained in the small booklet which I call “Three-in-One.” So according to me, He has definitely broken His Silence and given the Word of words to the world. About the manifestation — it takes time. It cannot be expected to take place overnight. It takes a long time.
It is the work of the entire universe; it is the work for the entire humanity. And how does it manifest? It’s very difficult for me to express, but I can imagine so many things. It can take place in the life of individuals, this manifestation. It can take place in the life of a community, of a group of people, of a state, of a country, different countries together in the whole world. We do not know what shape will it take. If I were to try to explain it to you, it would be like this. Suppose there is a huge tidal wave on the surface of the ocean, rising high; it subsides, it forms into different waves and ripples. If you ask me what is the length and height and of every wave or every ripple and how long is it going to travel and which course it is going to take; it’s not possible for me to answer, neither is it easy to define. It takes its own course because it is something very universal; it is not an individual thing for us to be able to grasp. We used to ask questions to Baba about this also. But He said, “You cannot grasp it.” His inner work — all our life long we have seen that He was occupied in His inner work. For no reason at all He used to fall into it in a minute and that suffering would last for half an hour or one or two hours, or sometimes three hours and then afterwards, He was perfectly alright. Where did this suffering come from? There was no ailment at all. Where did it go and how did it go and how did it come and why should He have suffered so much? This was not once. Time and again we went on experiencing this and time and again He said that it is His inner working; we did not know what it was. Pointedly I would ask questions and He said, “You cannot understand this.” That was the end of the explanation.
So, according to me, the Word of words is given; He has broken His Silence; He has released His power; and the manifestation is taking place imperceptibly. Of course a time is going to come, a crisis has got to come sometime; it will be evident on a large scale, on a huge scale. The greatest section of humanity will be engulfed in it. If Meher Baba is the Avatar and if the word is truth and the Word is what He has already given, according to me, He has broken the Silence. People may have other views — they are welcome. So this is my interpretation; one can just take it up or reject it as he likes.