I work at an Indian restaurant. I came to interview for the job back in September of 2009, and moved to Asheville to begin work and a new life
on 9-9-09.
and my house's address is 88.
(Compassionate Father).
Born Merwan Sheriar Irani.
He is considered by many to be an Avatar, or God incarnate as man.
Who has come to Earth in the past as Zoroaster, Krishna, Ram, Jesus, Mohammed, and Buddha.
I had heard stories of Meher Baba before I had taken this job,even that his spiritual abode in America was in Myrtle Beach, SC of all places. Yet I had never given him much thought, and certainly did not believe the he was God.
Meherwan Irani.
I came to find over the next week that 80 percent of the people I work with were Baba Lovers, devotees of Meher Baba and his spiritual message of Divine Love for God. And that my boss shared a named with Baba because Baba had named him.
I dug it. They are all very generous and loving people. And I liked my job. Meherwan's mother Amrit came from India to teach us how to cook and with her brought stories of this mysterious Meher Baba which I frequently asked her to tell me.
She spoke of him as the most beautiful human being she had ever encountered.
That she was attracted to him like a bee to a flower.
That whenever she was around him, it was as if she was with herself, only this version of herself was more her than she could be.
And He was pure love.
So the days went on, and work began to get very hectic.
Amrit went back to India, and the restaurant went through the turmoils of opening.
Many days were just plain awful, and I began to wonder why I had emprisoned myself in a kitchen again. Why I was still a cook? What I was doing with my life?
and questions like that which come from the paranoid mind.
So I told you that story to tell you this story.
Which is much longer.
And I will try to tell it the way it was told to me.
I was cooking at work, and Meherwan came up to me. I was making his lunch for him, and I dont know how it came about but he asked me if I wanted to hear a story about his Grandfather and Meher Baba.
I said yes.
""My grandfather was a very rational minded, successful businessman with a kind nature. He was an atheist, not because he didn't like the idea of God, but moreso because their was no logical proof for God's existence.
During the Indian Independence Movement, my grandfather and his friends were not buying into Ghandi's non-violence program and decided to buy weapons and claim their freedom for their own. In the process of doing this, my grandfather was imprisoned and everything he had was taken from him.
After being imprisoned for a number of years, my grandfather began to grow restless and decided late one night to give prayer a chance.
Being a businessman, he began his prayer formally, saying 'Mr. God' for he had never spoken with the fellow and thought he should be cordial.
He asked,
'Mr. God, I will believe in you, for the rest of my life, if you get me out of this prison! I will take any other form of bondage, for the rest of my life, if you set me free!'
Thinking he should be more specific he added,
'I will believe in you, and take any other form of bondage, if you get me out of this prison before 5 o'clock this morning.' He knew the likelihood of this happening was next to impossible, for everyone was asleep and none of the revolutionaries had been released from the prison.
Therefore if he was released it must be an act of God.
My grandfather had no idea what time it was, though he knew it was very late because the entire prison was silent, and no guards had passed his cell in some time.
He decided to try and get some sleep.
While he slept, my grandfather had a vivid dream that a young man with a mustache came and opened the cell door, telling my grandfather that he was free. He awoke in a cold sweat- realizing it was a dream he laughed at the sheer impossibility of his departure from the prison.
'It's probably already after five' he thought. His mind went on and on about how there was no way he was going to get out of prison, that God was not coming to his aid and therefore did not exist. Yet for some reason the next thing he knew, he was sitting on his bed fully clothed with his belongings wrapped up in a cloth. He sat there thinking, 'This is absolutely ludicrous. What am I doing. I need to go to sleep!' Yet beneath it all he felt that something was going to happen.
"Then a loud bell rang, startling him.
He listened to the clock ring 4 times,
indicating that it was only 4 in the morning.
"His heart leapt! Could it really happen?! He began to grow very anxious now, feeling the imminence of his freedom. Within minutes, a guard appeared at my grandfathers cell, opened the door, and told him he was free to go. He strolled out of the prison with a giant smile:
free and excited about his new relationship with Mr. God.
"Some years passed.
As a reimbursement for his heroic actions during the Indian Independence Movement, my grandfather was given a large plot of land near Dehra-Dun. He started a farm there, which over time began to grow and my grandfather became a prominent figure in the area. My family still grows rice on the land to this day. One day, a group of young men arrived at the door.
My grandfather answered and they asked, 'Sir, we are looking to establish a spiritual center for our brother. His name is Meher Baba. We were wondering if, due to your stature in and knowledge of this area, you could help to find us the appropriate land.'
"My grandfather decided 'Why not?' and worked with the boys over a few consecutive visits to find the appropriate spot in the area, and helped them obtain the land.
Over the course of these visits it was revealed to my grandfather that Meher Baba was not their brother in a familial sense- He was their cosmic brother, and they believed him to be the Avatar, a fully God-realized being. My grandfather
did believe in God, due to his miraculous departure from prison. Yet he believed in God
up there. Not down here.
And though he did not buy into the idea of Meher Baba being the Avatar, he still felt that if he could help these people find the land, than he should.
"Some more years passed, and one day my Grandfather heard that this Meher Baba fellow would be passing through a train station not too far from his home. My grandfather decided that he might as well go check out this guy since everyone was so crazy about him,
but he decided he was going to stay at the edges of the crowd in case anything got too weird.
"Baba arrived, and sat down next to the train. He began to greet the 200+ people and give
darshan but suddenly got a displeased look upon his face. He looked around and then gestured (for he was silent) for someone to prepare food for all of the people who had gathered to see him.
Everyone looked around to see who would step up to the noble task, for most of the visitors did not live nearby and had made the journey just to see Baba.
"My grandfather then told me that suddenly, as suddenly and uncontrollably as he had gotten dressed and packed the night he left prison, his hand went up into the air. The sea of people split so that my grandfather was facing Baba. My grandfather spoke, "I do not live very far. I can race home and prepare some food and be back here shortly". Baba looked pleased and my grandfather ran to his motorbike and sped away.
"As he started to drive home, my grandfather began to realize that he had just made a horrible, horrible mistake. He knew it would take half an hour to get home, maybe and hour to prepare all of the food, and another half hour to get back.
He scolded himself for his stupidity but continued home. When he arrived he ran into the kitchen and along with my grandmother threw on a giant pot of rice and
daal. As the food cooked my grandfather paced around, opening the lid every few minutes to see if the dish was ready. When it was finally ready he strapped it to the back of his bike and sped back toward the train station.
"It had been over two hours. He knew that no train in India would stop that long: not even for God. He knew that everyone would have left, and would be thinking that he had not fulfilled his promise to return with food. To his surprise, however, he arrived at the train station to find
that not a single person had budged. Elated at first to see this, he then saw that the crowd had doubled in size and looking at the pot on his bike knew that the food would be hardly enough to feed everyone.
"He carried the food up to where Baba was sitting. Baba opened the lid.
My grandfather looked inside and dropped his head at the minimal quantity of food he had brought. Baba looked inside and raised his head with a giant grin. He beckoned for people to come forth and receive the food and my grandfather watched in horror as Baba piled the food high on the plates. He again slunk to the back of the crowd so that he could at least be last in line, though he knew the food would run out long before he reached Baba's seat.
"After a short while my grandfather found himself near the front of the line and peered ahead into the pot. It was still full of food. Literally it looked as if not a ladle's worth had been scooped out. My grandfather went up and received his portion. He looked at Baba. Baba just sat there, grinning and twinkling at my grandfather with enormous love. Before Baba got back on the train he gestured to my grandfather that my grandfather should come and stay with him sometime in Meherbad, to get to know him better. At this point my grandfather had good logical reason to investigate Baba after seeing his Christlike actions and agreed to come and stay with Baba for a while.
"He went to the center where Baba was staying and joined in the daily life there: cooking, cleaning, praying, celebrating, and spending time with Babaji. He became so absorbed in the daily duties at the ashram that he lost track of time. He looked into the mirror one day to find himself bearded, wearing raggedy old clothes, and realized that he had been at the ashram for some months.
Startled at his predicament, and anxious to return home to his family and job, he became somewhat agitated. He approached Baba one day to inform Baba that he would be leaving. 'Baba, I cannot go on in this way!' he cried. 'I have been wearing these same clothes for months, I spend my days cleaning and cooking, and look! I havent shaved in weeks. I look awful. I feel like I have no freedom! I feel as if I am in prison!'
"Baba looked at him with concern, and gestured that surely he could stay just a little longer.
My grandfather would not have it. It was then that Baba beckoned to one of his
mandali to retrieve a picture of himself when he was younger. While they were getting the photo Baba gestured to my grandfather saying, 'Surely you remember our deal dont you?'
"My grandfather was bewildered with this question and replied, 'No sir, I don't.
You simply asked me to come stay for a while. Which I have enjoyed greatly, sir. I just am beginning to feel trapped, imprisoned here. I need to get home to my family.'
"Baba twinkled at my grandfather. 'Don't be silly, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the deal you made with Me that night in the jail cell'.
"My grandfather describes what happened next as the type of moment where everything you've built your rational minded existence on suddenly shatters and you are broken down to the core of what you are. Baba looked at my grandfather earnestly, and in that silent stare they shared in the knowing of the deal that had been made that night: that my grandfather would take any other form of bondage if he was set free from prison.
The
mandali arrived back with the picture. Baba looked at my grandfather and gestured, "Remember the dream you had, before you were released? Remember the man you saw, with the mustache? I was younger then and you did not know me, but this is a picture of me from that time."
"My father began to cry. And by cry I mean he bawled his eyes out, and fell to the floor as if all of his bones had melted in the love pouring from Baba's heart. He no longer denied God's existence after that night in prison. And now, on the floor at Baba's feet, he no longer denied that God had taken full expression in the vehicle of Avatar Meher Baba. He knew that he had paid his price for being set free: taking a new form of bondage by working slave like jobs at the ashram.
"My grandfather remained with Baba for a few more days and then Baba sent him home.
Baba often referred to himself as a thief: for he stole the hearts of his lovers.
And that's the story of how he stole my grandfather's heart and how
my family came to be involved with Babaji."
***
When Meherwan finished the story I realized that during the time it took for him to tell the story (which was at least 30 minutes) not a
single order had come in. I don't think a single person even walked into the kitchen. Or if they did they probably saw me engrossed in Meherwan's story and turned away. Meherwan chuckled at the story he had heard since birth and walked off to heckle food purveyors and shmooze with customers. I didn't budge. I couldn't. I was frozen there and all I was aware of was this overwhelming joy in my heart.
Right there in my chest.
And I silently knew in that moment that I had moved to Asheville,
gotten this job,
and worked that particular day,
just to hear that story.And not to hear about trains in India or the Indian Independence movement. And not to learn about my boss's familial history. And not even to hear another beautiful tale about Meher Baba and the miraculous things that happened in his presence.
It was to feel that feeling in my heart.
To experience a joy like that.
I could see Baba's face in a portrait of him that hangs in the kitchen and I swear he was smiling bigger than ever.
And I knew he had stolen my heart.
And I got it in that moment. To Baba lovers (which is what Meher Baba's followers are called) to love Baba is to love God. He is simply a point to which they can direct their devotion to experience that which is
beyond all form.
And if God is omnipresent, than to love Baba was not to just love this guy with a mustache. No, it is far greater than that. It is to love, with all of your being,
whatever 'is'. For omnipresent means EVERYWHERE and EVERYTHING. No exceptions. Not one. Whatever is, that is It.
It is a shoe, a freckle, a dirty thought.
It is a cucumber vine, a pesty mosquito, the color teal.
It is all the dualities and the canvas on which they are painted.
It is the 'IT' in 'it is raining'.
I do not consider myself a Baba Lover in the sense that I go to their meetings or wear pins with Baba's face on them because I don't think it has anything to do with Baba's personality or body.
Those things obviously came and went. They were the crucible for that One Reality to come through, just as the bodies and personalities of Jesus, Krishna, Mohammed, Buddha, Ram
and maybe even that guy who lived in a refrigerator box behind K-mart were.
And to love that Reality is to simply love what is.
Because often we will only love what is
if it is the way we want it.
But when we just love things the way they are.
Right now.
We have to first lose ourselves.
And when you lose yourself, you realize God.
This tree had not been pruned in a long time, and the majority of its branches were completely vertical and far beyond the reach of even Yao Ming on his tiptoes. They also were very tangled which inhibits the air flow that buds need to be pollinated. So we basically capped the top and left only the horizontal branches and older buds. Over the next few years these will bulk up and this tree will be back in action.
Though the branches are hard to see in this photo because they blend in with the blueberry patch just behind, this tree had a similar problem. Far too much vertical growth and tangled branches.
This is Meher Baba (Compassionate Father).
(Amrit, I am in the background)
"My father began to cry. And by cry I mean he bawled his eyes out, and fell to the floor as if all of his bones had melted in the love pouring from Baba's heart. He no longer denied God's existence after that night in prison. And now, on the floor at Baba's feet, he no longer denied that God had taken full expression in the vehicle of Avatar Meher Baba. He knew that he had paid his price for being set free: taking a new form of bondage by working slave like jobs at the ashram.
