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

THE TEACHING 423(7)There is in Baba's cosmology the possibility of 'dissolution of consciousness', not in the course ofevolution, but in the process of involution on the fourth plane of consciousness. It is when the soul hasadvanced in consciousness, feels its powers, has intense emotions, is aware of its own will, which is the keyto its future, and is tempted to use its powers wrongly, that what Baba calls a 'psychic crash of unimaginablemagnitude' may occur. That is why the fourth plane of high intelligence and consciousness is dangerous. Hesays:The explosive forces thereby released bring about a complete disintegration of consciousness, subjectingthe soul to a cataclysmic downfall from the heights of subtle consciousness' to the very lowest depths ofrudimentary stone consciousness' (God Speaks, p. 45).This means starting the evolutionary process all over again. Normally, says Baba, consciousness oncegained is never lost, only when the powers of the fourth plane are misused does it happen. Altogether, thisseems to me an original statement on the idea of reincarnation for which we are wholly indebted to MeherBaba.(8)Thus in his cosmology, Meher Baba posits and answers the question, What is man? The answer is thatman is the actor of the divine cosmic drama, the theme of which is the divinization of all things and of manas the image of God. Though actor, he is not a puppet, for his inner core of divinity allows him freedom. Sohistory is the drama of man's realization of his oneness with God. His soul evolved in the process ofevolution, a part of nature in his phenomenal structure, acquires in the process of involving consciousnessknowledge of himself. These processes of evolution and involution are a single act of love, which explainsthe emphasis upon obedience and love in the teaching. God is not an absentee, looking at the world from adistance; he is in the world's suffering and ignorance, for creation is God in phenomenal existence. If we askwhy there is God and creation, why we exist at all, the answer is 'love': creation is the play of love. What wecall supernatural is the essence of the natural, without which creation would not exist, and vice versa. To usin this world unless there is body there is nothing, from this imperfect body we know the supernatural.