Reflections on Meher Baba's Silence from Meher Baba Sydney

Silence Day at Meher House

Dear Meher Baba family and friends,

Meher House will be open for Silence Day this Friday July 10th

Hours: All are welcome between 11am - 4pm.

COVID restrictions are still in place and we lovingly request that you adhere to the following guidelines:

· Remove shoes then disinfect your hands before entering Meher House

· Maintain social distancing and sit only in designated seating

· No bowing at Baba’s chair

· Meher House kitchen is closed

· Meher House toilet is available on request

Thank you for your help in keeping everyone safe and well.

Reflections on Meher Baba's Silence

~ Mehera J Irani ~

I cannot tell you of all the suffering that He took upon Himself. And He used to just keep quiet and not say a word. Baba had to swallow all the suffering and all the difficulties He had to go through. Such a strain it was never to be able to speak out. We cannot know how great that suffering was for Baba...

Keeping silence all those years was most difficult for Baba. Baba’s nature was happy and cheerful. He loved to talk and to laugh and to sing, but after silence Baba could not say anything…Baba had a very fine sense of humour, but if He wanted to be funny or to tease someone He would have to point to the letters on the board. And by the time He had finished saying it, half the fun was lost. Then Baba gave up even the alphabet board, and with great patience He would have to repeat again and again, through gestures, what He wanted to convey. And Baba's nature was to do everything quickly.

Baba loved to laugh, but even that sound He denied Himself and held back. All those years Baba had to hold back and not say what He wanted to say. Every second of the day, every minute, every day, every month, every year for forty-four years Baba could not say what he wanted to say...

His Love for us all was beautiful: His keeping silence, His undergoing all the austerities and ruining His health with fasts and accidents. His doing His universal work, His taking the burden of suffering on Himself for the sake of each one of us was beautiful.

And now it is time for us to return His Love. You must keep loving Baba more and more, and make Baba happy with your love by remembering Him always. Think of Him and say His Name, and He will always help you. You love Him because He loves you, so be happy in His Love. Know that Baba is with you, and know that He loves you. And so be happy. He is the God-Man, and to be loved by the God-Man is so beautiful. How very fortunate you are.

Mehera (p. 235 & 241)

~ Mani S Irani ~

Even as the Avatar hides His Reality behind the veil of our ignorance, He hides His Silence behind the clamour of our words. Never has the world seemed more word-crazy than it is now, our minds never so deafened by discordant jangle of words coined in man’s base metal.

How then can we hope to hear the sublime ring of HIS words when He drops them in our midst – words that we let roll away to the corners of our minds or collect in pages of books.

And because we have not really heard the words Beloved Baba has given us we ask Him for more, and yet again for more, while He gives us a gentle reminder “If my Silence cannot speak, of what avail words?

82 Family Letters (p.280)

~ Eruch Jessawala ~

The Silence of Meher Baba in His Man-form was the personification of the Silence of God, and His being in our midst as the God-Man is the ‘WORD made flesh’. His having dropped His Man-form is the act of releasing the WORD (i.e. the WORD that was encaged in the Man-form of Meher Baba was released when the body, which encaged it, dropped) which simultaneously is tantamount to the act of breaking His Silence.

Now, please don’t take this as a statement of facts. It is just one morsel of food for thought. That is all and nothing more! ... I am not a master who can give an authoritative statement.

Letters from the Mandali of Avatar Meher Baba (p. 46)

~ Francis Brabazon ~

On 10th July, 1925, Baba ceased speaking. He told his disciples that he would be silent for one year, but the year stretched to the rest of his earth time with us — forty-four years.

In the beginning he wrote his instructions to the mandali on slates; later, he spelt out words by pointing to the letters of the English alphabet painted on a board, and as some of the disciples became adept at reading his fingers, this became his way of conversing and dictating his discourses and messages.

Much later again, in 1954, he discarded the letter-board and communicated by signs, gestures and expression; and to the disciples who lived with him, and to those with whom he lived in their homes and daily work, and on occasion were permitted to come to him, this was the most eloquent way of all — for he was the master of expression and the perfection of mime.

Although Baba was silent, there was no 'sitting silently at the feet of the master' with him; indeed, some who came to the ashram for that purpose were looked upon as oddities, unripe yet to enjoy the Master's company. Conversation was winged; and when the jokes were rich and the stories absurdly tall Baba was hard put to prevent his merriment breaking into sounding laughter.

The Awakener Magazine (Vol 17, No 2, pp. 4-8)

~ Kitty Davy ~

Sometimes Baba sat with us on the lawn and gave us thirty minutes with Him in silence. This we loved. During this time, Baba wanted complete quiet in the compound. Said Baba, “External silence helps to achieve inner silence, and only in internal silence is Baba found – profound inner silence.”

My own thought at this moment: Isn’t this opportunity to sit in silence with Baba still available to us? I feel that it is, but we must be ready and alert to respond. Baba’s Silence is an active Silence, and in the depths of our being He speaks: “I am never silent. I speak eternally. The voice that is heard deep within the soul is My voice – the voice of inspiration, of intuition, of guidance. To those who are receptive to this voice I speak.”

It is up to us to explore Baba’s Silence within – the voice that is in our hearts – and make Him more a part of our lives…Here I would like to offer a suggestion: To set aside a time each day, no more than five minutes or so, to sit with Baba in silence (as He asked us to do over four decades ago) – thus enabling His voice of inspiration, of intuition, and of guidance to penetrate the heart and awaken us to His Presence within.

One Fine Thread (pp. 189-190)

~ Bill Le Page ~

In a letter to a Baba lover Eruch wrote: "you tried to love Baba and failed; you tried to obey Baba and failed. This is nothing new to me and the mandali. As long as we continue to try to love and try to obey we have no hope of success. What is needed is to just love and obey. We have to skip over our excuses of trying to do this and trying to do that."

These words appeal and help me so much when I am confronted with such tasks as observing silence for 24 hours on the 10^th of July. Because my mind bubbles along so much and resents being controlled, and I am never silent for long , I know that those 24 hours will be a challenge, and my mind has to honestly admit it does not eagerly look forward 100% to the discipline. So I just do it. And the fact that I seem to invariably fail and say something audibly, does not stop me.

And of course I am comforted by remembering that even a great Baba lover such as Kitty [Davy] has her moments. On one occasion the phone rang and Kitty rushed to it

and said: “I cannot talk now, it is Silence Day.” Then on returning to her seat, suddenly expressed dismay at what she had done. Or another most amusing occasion many years ago at Meherabad – on the 10^th of July the mast Ali Shah asked Dr. Nilu, “Why don't you talk, is anything the matter with you?” “No”, said Nilu, “It is simply that I must not speak today!”

(excerpt from talk Silence Day Eve 2015 at Meher Center Myrtle Beach )

~ John Borthwick ~

I’ve been wondering – when did people begin keeping silence on 10^th July? Researching the matter, I find that there have been many phases regarding Baba’s orders and wishes about remembering the anniversary of His silence. It seems that in early years he would suggest various austerities such as fasting or repeating prayers and names of God. Then in later years various circulars went out:

In 1954:

“Baba desires all those who love Him to:

1. Observe fast and complete silence from 5am on July 10^th 1954 to 5am on July 11^th 1954

2. To try to keep pure in thoughts and actions during this period of silence.

3. To repeat inwardly any one Name of God as frequently as possible during the 24 hours of fast and silence.

During this period of fast, tea or coffee is permitted thrice. Drinking water may be taken freely."

The Awakener Magazine

In 1958:

“This time no one should keep fast or silence but repeat seven times in a just audible voice (not shout) exactly at midnight between 9^th and 10^th July according to your local time: BELOVED GOD, THY WILL HAS COME TO PASS”

The Awakener Magazine

After 1968, the last time Baba gave instructions for July 10^th, Mani wrote:

“The 10^th of July, a day for the world to observe in honour of the Silence observed by God as Man for men. As beloved Baba had wished His lovers to observe silence (without the option of a fast) for twenty-four hours on 10^th July of last year, 1968, so we feel that all His lovers must observe silence from midnight of July 9 to midnight of July 10 of this year, 1969 – and for all years to come. There will not be any circular going out in regard to this – please do not expect or await any.”

82 Family Letters (p. 347)

As a newish Baba lover in the early seventies I learnt about Baba’s wish and about the alternatives of fasting or keeping silence. Being a fairly greedy and food loving person I was pleased that I could most please Baba by keeping silence without having to fast.

But easier said than done. Strangely, although known to be most non-talkative, somehow on Silence Day I am unable to keep quiet for 24 hours.

Occasionally I first break my silence instantly on waking, and then at several times during the day. Interactions with dogs are always a big problem. It is a great relief to make it to midnight and no longer have to suffer guilt and mortification for my transgressions. Then on 11^th July it takes me some time to re-start the talking.

Keeping silence while in public of course leads to amusing situations.

While running a shop with my wife Wendy in the early seventies we would hand customers a note saying that we were keeping silence in honour of Meher Baba’s Silence. Many customers would also keep silence until we said ‘Its ok you can talk’. The sales were really good.

Once we took our young children to order fish and chips, in silence. The proprietor would not let us pay, assuming we were all deaf and dumb.

Now 50 years later we will see how I perform this Silence Day. Will I be able to keep Baba’s wish, and have a clean slate for the day? At least it is all in remembrance of Him!

Love God and find him within - the only treasure worth finding.

~ Meher Baba ~