Letters to the Living

Baba lovers don't believe me when I tell them that Baba gave a teaching that no religion ever gave. They are sure it was said before by Buddha and is in the Buddhist canons or that Adi Shankara (the 8th century founder of Hindu Advaita Vedanta) said it. But they are wrong. In 1956 (a year after God Speaks was published in English) Baba asked a disciple Thirumala Rao to translate God Speaks into Telugu – a major South Indian language. Two years later, Rao returned to Meherabad, laid his completed translation at Baba’s feet, and gave a short speech. In his speech Rao reported: This book cannot be coordinated with any accepted tenets of philosophy in all its aspects. ( Lord Meher , Online Version, p. 4329) Yet Baba’s lovers refuse to believe this, so conditioned are they to think the Dharmic religions already knew what Baba came to teach.  Baba had a unique system of sanskaras. While the concept of a sanskara has roots in Buddhism, no Buddhist or Hindu had ever developed Baba’s syste...

On one of these latter days, Baba emerged after having sat for many hours in complete seclusion, his face more drawn and weary than Adi ever remembered having seen it, and said that a gigantic disaster would overwhelm the world, that would wipe out three-quarters of mankind. ( The Wayfarers , William Donkin, 1948) This destruction, which will take place very soon, will cause three-fourths of the world to be destroyed. The remaining one-fourth will be brought together to live a life of concord and mutual understanding, thus establishing a feeling of oneness in all fellow beings, leading them towards lasting happiness.  ( Final Declaration , 1954) During this short period, my word of words will touch the hearts of all mankind, and spontaneously this divine touch will instill in man the feeling of the oneness of all fellow-beings. Gradually, in the course of the next 700 years, this feeling will supersede the tendency of separateness, and rule over the hearts of all, driving awa...

BOOK OF UNDERSTANDING FOR PEOPLE OF ALL RELIGIONS In 1932 Baba said: "I have explained it all in detail in my book. Even scientists will be astonished to learn the secrets I have explained there. For these will not be vague talks but facts that are substantiated and supported by scientific arguments . It will be the future Bible, not in the literal sense, but a book of understanding for people of all religions ." – Meher Baba LM 1607

The Baba lovers reject Baba's explanation in God Speaks of where the Avatar goes when he dies, i.e. State 2B. They contact me just to object. They replace it with either time travel or 19th century Theosophical Society ascended master teachings.  It's useful to know that these ascended master teachings do not come from the teachings of any Avatar, but are a descendent of folk religions such as ancestor worship, which were indigenous to the countries that became Buddhist long after Buddha, not from the teachings of Buddha. The Theosophists likely discovered Buddhists in southern India performing these practices and took them to be part of real Buddhism.  So this is where I believe the Theosophists, reading Buddhist texts recently translated, got their notion of ascended masters. Some of the names for talking to the dead in pagan and folk religions include: Goetia : a European magical practice that involves invoking demons or angels.  Theurgy : the art or technique of ...

In philosophy, phenomenal means anything you can experience, both mentally or physically. Ordinary people are interested almost exclusively in the phenomenal – things you experience in your thoughts or with your senses. They think about these things. They desire or fear these things. And when they become self-declared “seekers,” they seek something that they assume is also phenomenal. And when they see or read about something out of the ordinary, they get excited because they think they're on to something important. A “spiritual” phenomenon. And because of this equating abnormal with spiritual, they are very likely to perform practices or take drugs to have ‘out of the ordinary’ phenomenal experiences. Again, they think this is a sign they are ‘getting somewhere.’ There are countless anomalous phenomena. This web page talks about 'light orbs,' that may be genuine things that clairvoyants can see. I personally don't know.  https://www.quora.com/What-can-small-orbs-of-lig...

I don't have anything to add to what I have already said. Anything else I write is just curating and clarifying. But also, I have learned that people don't understand most of what I say, no matter how hard I try to come down to their level.  Here I've listed some of the mental habits I have come to think may be responsible for them not getting me. 1. Intellectual laziness -- most people find thinking hard to be painful and imagining things enjoyable. So they make things up or believe in made-up things without checking, and often without even knowing how to check. 2. Not being taught about the subject of epistemology, or even worse taught an absurd post-modern relativism. 3. An almost inexplicable love of magic and woo-woo concepts. Why magic is so appealing to people is not clear to me.   4. Thinking in non sequiturs, i.e. leaping to conclusions that don't logically follow from the previous statement. 5. A complete lack of understanding what "evidence" means. ...

Some groups have claimed names for themselves like "Baba followers" and "Baba lovers." I do not belong to any collective group-think that these names have come to connote. And yet I follow Baba. How could this be?  Well, if you came upon a man in Salt Lake City (where there is a large Mormon population) and he said he was a follower of Jesus but not a Mormon, you might be confused. "How can he follow Jesus and not be a Mormon?" But that man might mean he reads the words of Jesus and tries to take them to heart, and even tries to follow those teachings whenever possible. Well that is how it is for me. I follow Baba in so much as I read his words and take them to heart and try to live in accord with them if possible. But as for those who today call themselves "Baba lovers," I have very little in common. In fact, I find many of the things they claim to believe to be antithetical to how I understand Baba. I could name many, but I'll name just a f...

In this post, the initials EOP refer to my concept of the evolution of perception that I have written about for over 25 years. The 12 principles of EOP Christopher Ott - October 13, 2024 In this essay, the initials EOP refer to my concept of  the evolution of perception  that I have written about for over 25 years.   Imagine you are on a show room floor where utility vehicles are on display and you come upon a brand new shiny red fire engine. You walk around it admiring its size , shape and colour . Running your hands over its sides you sense its smooth, cold surface. You tap on it and the metal has a solid metallic ring sound . As you walk past its brand new hoses you notice they have a strong factory smell , not unlike that of a brand new car.   I’ve just named 7 qualities: size, shape, colour, texture, temperature, sound, and smell. In philosophy these kinds of qualities are called ‘sensible qualities,’ because you experience them with your senses.   Now y...