by Eruch Jessawala, reprinted from the Glow International

New Yorker Douglas Braswell wrote a letter in 1985 to Gustadji, one of Meher Baba’s mandali, who passed away some forty years ago. However, Eruch Jessawala replied to Douglas and we [the Glow] reproduce the letter verbatim:

Concerning your silence, we were touched that your love for Avatar Meher Baba has prompted you to observe silence for 14 years. We know it is not an easy thing to be silent and the fact that you have persevered for so long testifies to your eagerness to please Baba.

Observing silence, however, is not what Baba wants of His lovers. Meher Baba never asked us to observe external silence, except for the 24 hour period of July 10th. In fact, Baba never used to enjoy that day and often told us what a burden our silence was to Him. He would always be very happy on the 11th when once again we resumed speech.

Meher Baba told us time and time again that to honour His silence we should not observe silence ourselves, but we should strive to silence the clamour of our desires, we should strive to silence the demands of our lower self, in short, we should strive to silence our minds so that His love could speak eloquently in our hearts.

It is true that sometimes, for His own work, Baba would order one or more of His disciples to observe silence for a limited period of time, but, with the exception of Gustadji, Bal Tambut, and Daulatmai, none of the disciples was ever given silence as a habitual routine. And even in the above cases, they observed silence only because Meher Baba specifically ordered them to.* Without such specific direct orders from Baba it is presumptuous on our part to take on this work ourselves.

Of course, short periods of silence, done on your own as a type of meditation, or to help others can be helpful. But even here, just as with fasting or any ‘spiritual’ discipline, we should not confuse the technique with spirituality itself, or delude ourselves that we have to so such things to follow Baba. Baba wanted only one thing from us Ñ our loving remembrance of Him. No more, but not less.

I hope this letter does not sound as if I am judging you. No doubt it was Baba who inspired you to observe silence for so long and it is good that you have done so faithfully. But Baba has also inspired you now to write to Gustadji and thus to learn inadvertently, that He does not wish us to observe silence. Baba is now giving you the opportunity to demonstrate your love for Him by showing your willingness to abandon this long established habit of yours (which will not be easy) to begin a new life of inner silence and outer speech.

Baba used to sometimes repeat the famous Persian couplet:

To love God you must renounce this world, you must renounce even the next world,

and finally, you must renounce renunciation itself.

This is very hard but we are confident your love for Baba will give you the necessary strength and courage.

*Mani: “It was silence in the midst of activity, not in the cloister. Gustadji, Dowlat Mai, they were not told to lock themselves up, but to keep silence in the midst of activities.”

Eruch: “Baba must have had some reason for giving them silence.”

—The Awakener Magazine, vol. 13, nos. 1-2 (1970), p. 61