stripping the gurus - Brahma Kumaris Info

410 STRIPPING THE GURUS
are the Branch Davidians [of David Koresh fame] ... and he
says, “In the United States, the Catholic Church, well it’s
definitely the largest nontraditional religion” (Ross, 2003).
The idea that the Catholic Church is “nontraditional” is puzzling—leaving
one wondering, indeed, what religions might ever
qualify as “traditional”—but we may let that pass.
Anthony’s religious allegiance belongs to Meher Baba, who in
his heyday had “as many as a million devotees ... in India and
thousands in the United States” (Manseau and Sharlet, 2004).
When Pete Townshend of the Who embarked on his own spiritual
quest in 1968, he too found his guru in the voluntarily mute
Meher—the “Baba” in “Baba O’Riley” refers to none other—as did
the Small Faces’ Ronnie Lane. (In much earlier, silent film days,
Hollywood stars Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford once gave a
reception in Meher’s honor.) Townshend actually ran a “Baba Center”
in England for a time. His solo LP, Who Came First, further
grew out of a planned tribute to the guru, who himself claimed “to
have been taken into the council of the gods and to know the future
of all mankind” (Brunton, 1935).
As Baba O’Meher himself put it:
Once I publicly announce myself as a messiah, nothing will
be able to withstand my power. I shall openly work miracles
in proof of my mission at the same time. Restoring sight to
the blind, healing the sick, maimed and crippled, yes, even
raising the dead—these things will be child’s play to me! (in
Brunton, 1935).
Indeed, Meher “Eyesight to the Blind” Baba claimed to be, not
merely an avatar, but the Avatar for this world age, after having
been confirmed as such by Upasani Baba. (Interestingly, Adi Da
purports a connection to the same Upasani Baba, if not to his
twenty-five virgin wives [Bob, 2000].) He further claimed to have
previously manifested as Zoroaster, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus
and Muhammad.
In response to questions about his spiritual identity, Baba
tap-tapped things [on his letter-board] like “I am God in human
form. Of course many people say they are God-incarnate,
but they are hypocrites” (Manseau and Sharlet, 2004).