The Lustrous Beauty of Meher Baba’s Words

Plato said, “Beauty is the splendor of Truth.” According to Ward Parks, a scholar on Meher Baba’s words, the Truth and power in Baba’s words bring out His beauty.

This month, the Center hosted a seminar on ‘Reincarnation and the Purpose of Life’ given by Ward Parks. Ward came to Baba in 1970 when he was a freshman at Harvard. In 1993 he gave up his career as a tenured professor of Medieval Literature at Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge to go to Meherabad for spiritual training. “I had the natural disposition to study texts. My journey into editing Baba’s words began when I was Bhauji’s secretary. In 1997 the manuscript to what became Infinite Intelligence was discovered and ever since, my main job has been editing Baba’s works for publication.” At present Ward is working on Baba’s talks to the Meher Ashram boys in the early years.

Ward’s seminars, that started organically in 2011 at Avatar’s Abode and then took the form and shape of multi-day seminars all across the world, have been quite the subject of conversation in the Baba world. Baba’s path is seen as primarily devotional and yet Baba said that He can be approached through all the three yogas. So how does studying His texts fit into the seeker’s life? “I feel that Baba’s path is as various as His lovers. Every kind of seeker can come to Him. The general path He gave is a blending of the three yogas: Bhakti, Gyan and Karma. In the Discourses , Baba talks about the integration of the heart and the head. That means not dismissing the intellect but using the heart to set aims while using the head to implement those aims.” Some people are not attracted to this form of Sadhana, and Ward has no criticism towards that. “Baba can be found deep within your heart, or just looking into a photograph of Him might be your path, but for those who are prompted to do this study, it provides an illuminated framework for that very integration.”

In every advent the words of the Avatar have been colossally important, be it the Gospels, the Quran or the Bhagavad Gita. Ward believes that in Baba’s case several factors have kept Baba’s words in the background until now. The exquisite personal encounter with the Mandali had been the main spring source that His lovers drew from. But now as people who had physical contact with the Avatar are passing on, it’s only natural to wonder how one can get closer to Baba. A disciple wants to obey, but to obey he has to know what exactly Baba wants him to obey. “His words are a huge resource because they are a channel to Him. I believe they will assume more centrality going forward,” says Ward.

As any old timer, Ward understands the dangers of interpretation of God’s words. In his own study he tries to stick to Baba’s direct words with clear and obvious inferences. If anything involves his own understanding, he states that very clearly. “We have to be careful of people propounding their own philosophies and assumed spiritual authority. But I think there is nothing wrong with the attempts to understand what Baba said and share and explain to others who would like to learn.”

Holding these seminars on the Center has been a wonderful experience for Ward and many who have attended. “The Center is bathed in His presence. So, it allows us to dive deep into that treasure house and we realize that of all the treasures we chase, this one is the most lustrous.”