THE GOD-MAN The Life, Journeys and Work of Meher Baba with an ...

THE MAN 399his parents were concerned his conception and birth were normal, which is what one should expect. TheGod-Man is born in the normal biological manner but his soul is not in the process of involution. Thus thebirth can be called miraculous, though the miracle is inward, without outward sign until the moment comes.It is not strange that Baba gave no indication of remarkable gifts during his childhood and youth; he had towait until he was nineteen for the change to take place when he discovered his impersonality in a humansense and endured much anguish. We know when he knew himself to be Avatar, for Upasni Maharaj threwthe stone that hit him on the head when they first met: 'All at once, I felt calm, and I knew I was the AncientOne', said Baba afterwards. He was then twenty-one years of age. Not until seven years later, when he wastwenty-eight, did Maharaj say to him, 'Merwan, you are the Avatar'. The account came from Baba afterwards.His five Perfect Masters were Babajan, Tajuddin Baba, Narayan Maharaj, Sai Baba, and Upasni Maharaj.He said, 'Babajan gave me Divine Bliss, Sai Baba gave me Divine Power, Upasni Maharaj gave me DivineKnowledge'.When he first declared himself to be Avatar, is another matter, for the declaration had to be made by him,if at all: where and when that was done I do not know. He functioned as Perfect Master long after he knewhimself as Avatar, for an Avatar acts as Perfect Master, just as he acts as an entirely ordinary man. Hereferred to himself by implication as God-Man in America in 1932, and there are early discourses on theAvatar and God-Man, in 1938 and 1941, which do not specifically refer to himself, though such referencescan perhaps be inferred. Eruch Jessawala says that when he used to visit the Jessawala family in Poona aboutthe year 1938, Baba would at times spell on the alphabet board, 'I am the one who is expected'. He seems tohave referred to himself, casually, as Avatar when among his intimates long before that period, though veryrarely. In the highly important manonash declaration on 6 February 1952 he did not use the word Avatar.The specific declaration is the 'Highest of the High' statement of 7 September 1953. Since then his referenceshave been frequent. At Meherazad in 1957 he said, 'From the beginningless beginning I am the Ancient One,immutable and eternal', when he explained that he used the pronoun'!' in two senses, '1' the Baba we know,and T the Eternal Self. That Baba does declare himself God-Man in the full sense there is no question. Theinitial obscurity and slowness to announce it was not because of doubt in his own mind; he had to wait untilthe right