Monday, January 31, 2022

AMARTITHI 2022

On January 31, 1990, I sat just outside Meher Baba's Tomb-Shrine in Meherabad, India, my head resting against the cool stone, surrounded by thousands of His dear ones—all of us joined in fifteen minutes of silence to commemorate the day when the Avatar of the Age dropped His body to live on in the hearts of His lovers. It was a profound, unique, and unforgettable experience that bypassed the mind and settled into the deeps of my soul. It lives there still.

Wishing a very Happy Amartithi to my Meher Baba family around the world.

2 comments:

  1. I have two questions. I have been trying to figure out the best way to phrase them so as not to offend, so if I fail in that you can at least know the intentions.

    1. Why fifteen minutes? You have already explained the importance of silence in Meher Baba's teachings, and how it is connected to Silence DAY.
    The separation of time is what I am wondering about.There is clearly not an issue with longer periods of silence.
    Was there a specific reason for 15 minutes? Like, is it suggested to take 15 minutes a day and everyone just chose that moment?
    Was it just a logistics thing, like that was how long you could potentially do it and still have everything flow?
    Did it just it just happen to take about 15 minutes? Is t like with Quakers?

    2. You write for a living, or at least that is what the legends tell. I could be wrong...feel free to say if that is the case... but I presume that for a voluntary mute, most of the teachings would be written down.
    If that did not invalidate the whole thing, writing is different than having a conversation or preaching, because there is no direct communication with the other. It is why people are sometimes more compfortable writing something than saying it, or that a letter can feel more personal than conversation.
    Is there any notable difference than spreading a message preaching or even writing and then conversing about it?

    Hopefully these questions did not make too much of a jackass out of me.


    Jack

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  2. These are fine questions, Jack.

    1) Meher Baba left His body at 12:15 on Jan. 31, 1969. I'm can't swear to it, but I think that marking the time in that 15 minute period seemed like the perfect way to do this powerful memorial silence.

    2) Meher Baba didn't write. After He began His silence, He used an alphabet board and He was very adept at moving swiftly across the board, and His disciples were equally adept at reading it. At a certain point, He discarded the board and used a unique sign language that He developed. But in the end, the communication wasn't through the board or the gestures, it was from His heart to the hearts around Him. (He did use these methods to dictate books and discourses)

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