What Each Child Needs

Meherwan Jessawala’s first memory of meeting Meher Baba was in 1937, when he was a shy seven-year-old. He had heard that Baba was Krishna (his favorite Avataric advent) come again, and had made a small string of flowers to garland Him at the darshan program his family was hosting. But when he saw Baba sitting in front of the gathering, Meherwan’s shyness got the best of him and he didn’t even show Him the flowers.

But Baba saw anyway. He beckoned for Meherwan to come up to Him, to bring the flowers. Later, Baba would sometimes be strict with Meherwan, teaching him the inevitable process of giving up his own desires and taking responsibility for pleasing Baba. But on that morning, Baba bent down, took the shy little boy’s hand in His and helped him in the very process of honoring Himself.[i]

Every child, like every one of us, approached Baba with a different karmic history, different desires, different needs. And He responded to each one perfectly. Perhaps the most frequent story we hear is of Baba as the perfect playmate. He would keep children riveted during the simplest of games with His keen-eyed humor, constant interest, and, always, the undercurrent of His unimaginable love. Baba’s niece, Shireen, describes in the video above the unwavering enthusiasm with which Baba would make handkerchief hats with her or guard the toys that she gave Him for safekeeping, and later how He would ask her to tell Him the same jokes, again and again, laughing every time.

Eruch Jessawala, Meherwan’s older brother and one of Baba’s closest disciples for many years, felt that he was far too mature for such games when he first met Baba. And he wasn’t interested in being told that Baba was Zoroaster come again, as Eruch had a deep connection with Jesus and only longed to be near Him. But Baba kept appearing, chatting seriously about appropriately adult topics like the sports Eruch played at school. From this little seed of connection grew a legendary lifetime of devotion to the living Christ.[ii]

Other children were wordlessly and irresistibly drawn to Baba. Ten-year-old Ahmed Muhammed was taken out of Baba’s ashram in 1928 by his family in Bombay. He soon slipped out of their house and walked, without any food or money, for 175 miles. Finally, six days later, with a sigh of divine relief, he reached Meherabad at sunset to garland his Beloved with a string of roses.[iii] Across time and across the world, as Baba flew to visit the Center for the first time in 1952, two young children on his flights made their own pilgrimage: despite the scolding and chagrin of their families, again and again they made their way to Baba’s seat, even when He was just resting with a cloth over His eyes—drawn by a force that maybe none of us can truly understand.[iv]

Baba would sometimes ask children to think of Him as their “dear friend.”[v] And we can see the extent of that friendship in how He related to each of these children: He met them exactly where they were, provided the inspiration or the entertainment or just the companionship that they needed, like the best of friends. And while we adults are often pricklier and more complicated, it seems that ultimately, He does the same thing with each of us: that our best friend loves us intimately, knows us totally, meets us exactly where we are.

[i] My Life with Meher Baba, the Avatar of the Age, by Meherwan B. Jessawala, p. 32
[ii] Talk by Eruch Jessawala, Mandali Hall, Meherazad, India, September 1972
[iii] Lord Meher, Online Edition, by Bhau Kalchuri, p. 1002; Avatar, by Jean Adriel, pp. 110-113
[iv] Mehera Meher, by David Fenster, Vol. III, pp. 16-17
[v] Letters from the Mandali, ed. Jim Mistry, Vol. II, pp. 151-152