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

440 THE GOD-MANwomen of excessive sensibility or inner intensity. He recognizes the value of psychotherapy, withoutespecially encouraging it.He has given instruction on meditation and requests people to meditate from time to time. What hestresses is to keep the mind focused, looking within, 'to close the eyes and imagine yourself "infinite within"for five minutes', he sometimes says. He gets those around him to sit in silence, at times, for half an hour.'Think of me', he says, 'put Baba on you as a cloak', he also says. There is a detailed discourse (God to Manand Man to God, p.94f.) which contains what may be regarded as Baba's method of meditation. Hedistinguishes between three types of meditation; discriminative, 'I am not my body but the Infinite';meditation of the heart; and meditation of action, dedication to selfless service. These are not exclusive, butBaba emphasizes that meditation should be under the direction of a Master, so that the 'one-pointedness'necessary may be maintained. The forms of meditation are: assimilation of the Divine Truth; specializedmeditation; and sahaj samadhi, which is spontaneous meditation when the goal of life has been realized: lifein eternity, which ends in nirvana or absorption, which can be entered into before dropping the body, usually,however, leaving the body as useless. That meditation is necessary for spiritual life there can be no doubt.(9)Before leaving this very brief account of Baba's method something should be said on the subject ofmiracles, which is constantly raised in connection with Baba, for it belongs to this aspect of his teaching. Ihave related how an English journalist interviewing him in 1931 asked for a miracle to convince him ofBaba's genuineness; when Baba ignored the request the journalist expressed an adverse view of Baba'sspirituality! Miracle is an extraordinary event unaccountable on the general law of causality. Nearly allreligions seek to support themselves by claims to miracle and demand faith in specific miracles, which is astrange contradiction, for contempt of miracles is shown as much by the spiritual-minded as by thescientifically trained men. On Baba's teaching, magical acts are possible on the first, second and third planesof consciousness; they include reciting passages or indicating words from an unseen book, stopping trains,allowing oneself to be buried alive, and so on. These are the so-called yogi feats. (God Speaks, p.193f.) Suchacts are always to the spiritual disadvantage of those responsible for them, he says. Miracles on what he callsthe fourth