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Book Reviews
MeberBaba, TheA wakener oftheAgd! by Don Stevens Review by Ralph Lewis, England
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his is an incredible book, very, very rich and complex, full of deep insights and drawing on Don Steven years ofcontact with Meher Baba, both physically and after Baba was no longer present in His Body. It can be no wonder that this is so, after all Baba said about Don: “He is my boy. We have been together since the dawn of time” There are sen tences from Baba that Don quotes and his own comments that will leave you in contempla tion for years to come. The book is a magnifi cent contribution to writings about Baba and is full of absolutely vital points for our own journeys with the Avatar. It is also a wonderful combination of the personal Don’s re telling of the impact Baba made on him and the impersonal with focus on Baba role as the Avatar and especially the function of sanskaras as a “form of conduct”. The book is in two parts. The first is an account of Baba’s life, interspersed with Don’s reactions. However, within this is an enormous amount of commentary on Baba working. The second part focuses more on specific topics such as the Whim and especially Sanskaras. ki essence, Don sees Baba life divided into two key periods. The first, after a normal childhood until the veil was lifted from Him by the Perfect Masters, was Himself appearing to operate as a perfect Master with the mandali at Manzil-e-Meem. There Baba appeared to use sometimes very harsh treatment com parable to a surgeon operating to save the patient. Don discusses Baba’s constant promises to break His Silence, then appearing not to, and also the continual changing of plans. Along the way there are some wonderful de scriptions ofMehera and Mani and oflife with Baba. There is also a very moving description of the car accident in America enroute from Myrtle Beach. Myrtle Beach, spared yet again by Baba from the latest hurricane, was used by Baba for the longest period of any property outside India, and Don emphasises the peace and love to be found there. The ‘continental divide’ in Baba’s life is, for Don, the New Life. The discussion of the “Song of the New Life” and its implications for our everyday conduct is itself breathtaking in its depth. Don’s view is that Baba was setting up new forms of contact, of ways of de velopment and moving us to the ‘elder brother and elder sister’ spiritual relationship. Certainly this is a most profound period and one that the implications for us may not have fully been
brought into being. Don continually clarifies or re-emphasises aspects of Bab&s working. For example, he restates Baba statement that the mind and mental processes would not be wiped out but placed in a secondary position behind intuition. This is critical to our own development. As I understand Dors writing, Baba is still working with us in a personal ca pacity but as the Avatar, not as a Perfect Master and this change in operation oc curred during the New Life. Baba helps us to
God. This chapter looks at the mental energy stored in sanskaras and the methods that Baba has laid out for dispersion of sanskaras. As we let go of our desires we are not left with a nega tive reaction but an objective interest in those areas where we are no longer conditioned by habits. Baba pronouncement that God’s consciousness is infinitely individualised is a criti it follows that every cally important idea Path is completely unique. Don also warns us not to confuse the personal ego with the qual ity of individuality that we all have. There follows a chapter on “Love, Surren der and Meditation” Some of Baba’s incom parable sayings on love and its importance are quoted here and they are uplifting in their magnificence. Meditation is the secondary route once the path of love closes but we do not know when that will be. It is not neces sarily after 100 years wejust do not know. Don repeats Baba’s insistence that we all need to find a time to reflect inwardly, in stillness, and listen for the quiet inner voice; it is our responsibility to make time for this. We have to deliberately regard daily life as charged with spiritual meaning. The chapter on the Occult is a well-timed one, looking at Baba’s views on miracles. (He repeatedly insisted that He did not perform them, and that they stood in the way of spiritual progress.) Astrology is briefly examined not dismissed but seen as needing to be left behind when you surrender to a master. There is also a grave warning about the dangers of hypnosis to induce past-life regression, a practice that has become fash ionable. The chapter on the Individual brings some reassurance that our individuality will not be blotted out, that we are loved by God and that the drop-soul has a unique and irreplaceable individual function. The “flavour” of the drop soul will remain forever as part of an individualised infinite reality. And the Master is the one who guides us through to this Reality as discussed in the next chapter. The final chapter looks at who Baba is. And the answer? The Avatar of the Age. To repeat this is magnificent work and it adds immeasurably to our understanding of the spiritual path as laid down by Baba. In this review it is impossible to dojustice to even a small portion of the insights and discussions contained within it. If any of the above is not quite right, then it is simply because I need to reread and reread Don’s book to get to grips with its subject-matter. Do read this book it is written both from the heart and from the mind and is superb. Thank you, Don. Meher Baba The Awakener of the Age, published by Companion Books 1999. Paperback, 314 pages, $15. —
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eliminate our sanskaras by bringing them up into daily life. Don sees himself as a guineapig for this and does not see evidence for the harsh treatment that Baba applied to the Mandali during His Perfect Master phase being applied during the Avataric phase. Don also feels that Baba’s Act of Manifestation occurred in the mid-sixties and that we are seeing the evidence for this in the increased search for Truth. There is much, much more that Don writes about. His view that Baba knows us all totally and fully accepts us, Baba’s last days in His physical body full of pain, a typical day with Baba, and His Universal Work. And this is just Part One. It is all written with Don’s typical lightness of touch and flashes of humour meaningful but not dry. Part Two leads us on to a more fully developed analysis of key components of Baba’s guidance on the workings of the Universe. Don starts with the Whim which of course is where we all started and describes the sense ofwave motion that the Whim entails. There is a description of the evolution of consciousness and the spheres and planes. The next chapter looks at Sanskaras and their role as “knots of psychic energy” that need to try to express themselves in action. Sanskaras stand between us and Reality (God) and all needs that arise from them must disappear before we realise our essential oneness with —
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