Meher Baba’s Crucifixion

On January 30th, 1969, Meher Baba remarked, “This is my crucifixion! Christ was crucified once, but I am being crucified every moment.”[1]

Meher Baba had hinted at His impending dropping of the body in many ways. In August 1968, Baba had remarked, “’Coming, coming, came. I am tired of this illusion game!’ And during these final months, Mehera noticed a change in Baba: “He seemed distant and remote, as if his ‘mind’ were somewhere else.”[2] Not very long after, when one day Baba came to the verandah from the hall, He sat for some time and said that He was very tired. “I’m thinking of resting for 700 years,” He said.[3] Mehera thought that Baba used the 700 years as a hyperbole to stress His level of exhaustion. It did not occur to her that He was getting ready to go. That same year, He had reminded Mehera that they (Baba and Mehera) will always be together. “When I come again, I will bring you with me,” He said to Mehera.[4]

In October 1968, Baba announced a darshan at Guruprasad, Poona in April 1969. He said, “I have been saying: The time is near, it is fast approaching, it is close at hand. Today, I say: The time has come. Remember this!”[5] As time went by, the concern grew over how Baba would give this darshan due to such bad health. He continued to give hints, saying that it would be easy, it would be the last darshan in silence and that He would give this darshan reclining. As usual, the mandali were so busy attending to his immediate needs that they did not read much into the clues. Baba gave His last physical darshan at the wedding function of His nephew Dara Irani’s marriage with Amrit Irani at Meherazad.

Starting from January 12th, 1969, Baba did not leave His bedroom. From that day on His health progressively got worse. His universal work was weighing on Him immensely, and the mandali’s greatest challenge was a feel helpless in alleviating this burden.“As a medical person, I used to feel so disgusted with medicine, as nothing really helped Baba to relieve Him of His pain,” said Goher.[6] Baba asked the men to observe silence for three days. The men hoped that this was a way to participate in His work and perhaps lighten some of His burden. Although Baba had mentioned that His Universal work was complete, until January 30th, He continued to beat His thighs and later His chest to maintain a link to the gross world.

From January 21st, Baba began having accelerated spasms which Goher suspected were caused by uric poisoning from possible kidney damage. Goher and Eruch kept track of Baba’s intake and outflow of urine. Blood and urine samples were sent to Poona. The mandali begged Baba to go to Poona for a diagnosis, but He refused.

On January 29th, Baba gave Bhau a line which was to be the theme of a ghazal: “What will we do, living, when you have gone away?”At 9 p.m. that night, sharp violent jolts took over Baba’s body. He gestured, “Every jolt feels like an electric shock!”[7]

On January 30th when Dr. Grant came to visit Baba, He communicated with him quite well and looked a bit better. Dr. Grant pleaded with Baba to come to Poona for further tests and a definite diagnosis, but Baba cryptically replied that His time had come. That night, Baba’s shocks were so violent that the mandali had to hold His limbs down. Baba said, “This crucifixion will last seven days more and then I will take a turn for the better. I will be one hundred percent free from my suffering after seven days.” He motioned to Eruch, “But I will return…I shall return.”

Baba was referring to a story that Eruch had read to Him from the Gujarati newspaper, Kaiser-e-Hind. It was an ancient tale about a Tibetan lama who left his abode and told his disciples he would return. His followers waited for generations but he did not return. Baba then said, “…the lama did not return, but I shall return.” [8]

The next day, a terrible spasm shook Baba’s body at 12:15 p.m. Baba flexed his arms and closed His mouth tightly. His respiration stopped. The body of the Avatar of the age was motionless. Baba’s tongue had fallen back, Eruch immediately started mouth to mouth resuscitation but to no avail. Dr. Brieseman gave a cardiac massage. Dr. Donkin and Dr. Ginde examined Baba but there was nothing they could do. The time had come.

What we think of as the “Eternal Date” came to be glorious through immense suffering that Baba went through. He always masked His physical pain for the sake of His lovers. “He bore His ill health so quietly… only Baba could do that. An ordinary man would have moaned and groaned and complained about His health,” said Mehera. [9] The mandali collectively bore the yoke of having to witness their Beloved’s suffering, throughout His life and at the end, with their hands tied in acceptance of His divine will. Baba said, “The pressure of my universal burden reflects upon my physical body. And as the strain of my work in seclusion is severe, the effect on my body is consequently severe. But though the effects are human, the cause is divine, and it is therefore in my hands. I have taken on the form of man to take on the suffering of man.”[10] [1] Lord Meher, By Bhau Kalchuri, p.6708
[2] Mehera Meher, by David Fenster, p.454
[3] Ibid
[4] Ibid, p.453.
[5] Ibid, p.455
[6] Ibid, p.474
[7] Lord Meher, by Bhau Kalchuri, p. 6707
[8] Ibid pp.6711-6712
[9] Mehera Meher, by David Fenster, p. 461
[10] Lord Meher, by Bhau Kalchuri, p.6693