MEHER BABA JOURNAL - Avatar Meher Baba Trust

SHRI MEHER BABA'S TEACHING 37
philosophy according to which
the highest type of action is in the
spirit of an offering to God. The
interest in the social good is also
predominant. We have for example
the following prayer in
Katha Upanishad: "Let us join
together, enjoy together, reinforce
our mutual strength and shine
through our learning. Let us not
hate each other." (Katha) The
individual is not thinking in terms
of any private or selfish salvation
for himself alone, but joins in a
collective prayer for social wellbeing.
We find this active interest in
the collective good of the whole
mankind equally pronounced in
the life and the teaching of Shri
Meher Baba. His prospectus for
the Universal Ashram announces
that one of its sections "will prepare
mystics of the practical type"
and that "these mystics will
inspire others to have a life in
which there will be complete
detachment side by side with
intense creative action". In the
same prospectus another section
of the Universal Ashram is
described as being meant "to be a
training ground for a band of selfless
workers who will learn how
to render real and effective
service". This clearly brings out
how the teaching of Shri Meher
Baba is not meant to propagate
some barren form of mysticism;
his teaching, like that of the
Upanishads, is essentially practical
and humanitarian in its
effects and objective.
Thus in the teaching of Shri
Meher Baba, as in the main
current of Upanishadic philosophy,
the mundane and social
aspects of life receive full recognition
and attention; but these
aspects of life are not looked
upon as all-in-all, and are shown
to be ultimately grounded in the
Atman which gives to them a
deeper sanctity and meaning. The
Upanishads recognize the realization
of the Atman as the final
goal of life, and the search for this
Ultimate Reality is varied and
many-sided. The speculative approach
is superceded by the moral
approach; the moral approach is
superceded by the psychological
approach; the psychological
approach is carried on side by
side by the religious approach of
Devotion or Love; and at the end
of this long and varied search the
individual arrives at his original