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This is not an ordinary book. It is intensely personal and it is profound, for it deals with the eternal question that sages have tried to answer for ages. I was asked to review it at a rather busy time in my life; I took it up so that I could be over and done with it. But once I started reading it, I finished it in two days. Every spare moment of the day and a good part of two nights, I spent reading it. Sometimes re-reading parts that made a special impact on me.
Yes, I am a Zoroastrian and a Meher Baba lover and I do believe that Meher Baba is the Avatar of the Age, therefore, readers of this review may well say "this man is biased.” Perhaps I am. I have been close to Baba, seen him, been with him, communicated with him, examined him as a physician just before he dropped his body. I thought I knew everything about the Avatar of our times. To my surprise, the book by Jimmy Khan (pictured) gave me insights into areas of Baba’s life, philosophy and teachings, nooks and corners that I had never explored. So let no Baba lover turn away from this book because he feels that he knows everything about him, for God is full of surprises and so is Khan, a chartered accountant by profession and an avid aviator.
When a good and generous man like Khan has something worthwhile, he wants to share it with others. He just cannot bear the thought that others may not share the grace of coming to the Avatar. That is why my brother-in-law Dara Irani (Meher Baba’s nephew) calls Khan, the "Pied Piper of Bombay.” The Parsis are a nice but combative people and in the early and mid years of Baba’s advent, Baba was their victim. Critical, unbelieving, even slandering him as a cheat and a charlatan. But then the pendulum swung the other way and Khan brought hordes of Parsis home to Meherabad. How he did it is Khan’s secret. He, I am sure, will say "This is one more of Baba’s miracles.” Baba himself says that he does not perform miracles. "It is the faith of my lovers that perform them.”
Baba says, "The best things in life are given and received in silence.” When once asked by a close follower, "Baba now that you have decided to observe silence, how will you teach us?” He answered, "I have not come to teach but to awaken. In my past advents I have spoken and mankind has not listened.” Baba sees no difference between one religion and another for as the Avatar he is the founder of them all. He only asks you to shed the dogmas and rituals given to religion by man and come down to the essence of all religions which is ‘Love.’ "True love,” he says, "is unconquerable and irresistible. It goes on gathering power and spreading itself until eventually it transforms everyone it touches.”
There may be some who will take up Khan’s book to learn more about the Master. There will be many more who will take it up out of curiosity, some to be converted to the pristine belief that he is the ancient one. Some to scoff and ridicule. Whatever their ultimate status in relation to Meher Baba, they will have heard of him in this advent. That, according to Baba, is enough.
To those who believe that Baba is the Avatar of the Age and to those who don’t, I recommend chapter 13 of this book titled "Journey of the soul.” It opens with a typical quote from the Master, and then a beautiful poem from Rumi with the refrain "When was I less by dying?” Baba says, "Merely to say ‘I want to see God’ or ‘I want to realize God’ is similar to an ant saying ‘I want to become an elephant!’ Mere words have nothing in them. The heart must thirst to see God.” It tells you the origin, the purpose and the destination of man. I have yet to find a more lucid explanation on the subject, every word of which rings true in my heart.                     

 

Dr HIRJI S. ADENWALLA