Dear folks of Baba, Baba has said that His grace “is flowing sufficiently all the time to fill one and all receptacles everywhere,” but “there is rarely a vessel which is not filled with other things. A vessel must first be emptied before it can be filled by the flow of my grace. It is also my grace which helps a vessel to become completely emptied in the first place.” And He added, “The flow of my grace to you depends upon the intensity of your love, for it is love which attracts my grace to you.” In the meetings at the home of Darwin and Jeanne Shaw in the early 1970s, Darwin emphasized emptying out the heart of what Baba called “strangers” to make room for Him and His grace to live in us. Prior to meeting the Shaws, from time to time it was my practice to share my mental and emotional struggles with Baba, but only when they would come up and were too overwhelming for me. In his usual unassuming way, Darwin would recommend to those of us who were new to Baba to be proactive in giving our interior to Him. Darwin would say, “The deeper the feeling, the deeper the healing.” So, with his encouragement, I began proactively to dredge up my emotional complexes and mental conflicts within and imagine them flowing energetically to Baba before me. I became obsessed with emptying “the vessel” -- the heart. In the process, I felt His intimate companionship working with me in my efforts. I experienced that Baba was actually precipitating this inner work, and with this came some measure of His grace flowing into me. Not overnight but after decades, the emotions, desires and feelings in me were gradually being replaced by the divine qualities of “truth, love, purity and beauty” (and all the variations of these qualities such as empathy, forgiveness, humor, patience and kindness). Basically, this is a major way Baba enters our lives and eventually, as the mandali expressed it, “He takes over” -- often very subtly and unostentatiously, so as to avoid awakening the ego! I find that Baba lovers all have their own unique versions of this work and companionship in their lives with Him. It culminates after many years, even lifetimes, in a gradual merging of oneself with Baba, with others and all of life. In Darwin’s experience, it resulted eventually in what he described as “living in and through everyone and everything.” This is the experience that he once privately shared with me. I’m reminded of something Rumi once wrote, “If the door of your Soul were to open for an instant, you would see that the heart of every existent thing is your intimate friend.” To my way of thinking, Eruch described the culmination of the path of self-effacement in Baba in these words, “There has been no Eruch for years. Through His grace, I have become the perfect witness.” This, I feel, is where we are all ultimately heading with Baba. As we go on emptying ourselves, a point is reached where it becomes Baba, our deepest love within, who lives what was formerly our life, and we witness this from a place of pure awareness. I am always disposed to favor simplicity when I think of how Baba and His Grace manifest in my life—it is His One Love flowing into me and into this world. If His love flowing into my life moves me to make efforts to be more loving, I call it His inspiration. If His love flowing into my life helps me in making the difficult decisions in my life, I call it His guidance. If it flows into my heart’s longing for closeness, I call it His companionship. If it flows into my life causing me to expand in being, I call it His unlimitedness. If it flows into my restless spirit causing me to move toward peace and harmony, I call it His Being. If it flows into my depleted body and mind, awakening my vitality and lifting my spirits, I call it His power. If it flows into my depressed and despairing heart, the dark periods of my life, I call it His light. If it flows into me, causing me to make an extra effort to express love beyond my normal capacity, I call it His grace. Yet to me, it is all His same never-failing love flowing into me, and it only seems different depending on which situation in my life it manifests. If I were to choose an expression to encompass all the above manifestations of Baba in my life, I would simply call it His Divine Grace. What is Baba’s grace for you and how do you experience it in your life? It is not by chance that the word grace and gratitude both come from the same root. Gratitude is our human response to Divine Grace. Have you found that the feeling of gratefulness has deepened over the years in your life with Baba? In His love, Jeff We are continuing on page 113. This event was recorded live. To be first to be notified of a new video on this channel, please hit the red subscribe button, then the notifications bell. To join future live events, see www.babazoom.net. Please join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/meherbabafamily
