"Take Me With You" - Avatar Meher Baba
Margaret Magnus
BABA'S TREE viewed from Avatar's Point. (Wayne Myers photo, 2013.)
By Margaret Magnus
When Avatar Meher Baba visited Meher Mount in 1956, He said to His followers:
“Now, go out and see the view and try to love Baba through nature. This is all due to my love. This whole creation, this nature, all the beauty you see, all came out of me.”
Then when the group was leaving the ‘Baba Room’ where He gave darshan (His blessing), He added, “And take me with you.”
Jeanne Shaw, who was with Meher Baba that day, was particularly moved by His last comment to take Him with her. She described her feelings and her precious experience with Meher Baba at Baba’s Tree in her diary, excerpts of which were published in her husband Darwin C. Shaw’s book, As Only God Can Love.
“I was especially impressed with Baba’s saying ‘Take Me with you.’ It was like an order, so I began to imagine that Baba was walking along with me. I began to mentally converse with Baba. ‘It’s still a bit foggy out, Baba, and the view still isn’t clear… Oh, there’s a big beautiful tree over there, Baba. I’d love to see You sitting under it.’ Then, as I walked on, I heard people coming from the direction of the house. Turning around, I was surprised to see Baba, followed by several people, rapidly walking toward the big tree.
“Right away I wondered, ‘Is he going to sit under the tree? Did he hear me say that I’d like to see him sitting under the tree?’
“I started walking toward Baba and the tree, but the crowd moved in front of Baba, and I couldn’t see if he was actually sitting under the tree, but it appeared that he was. [Baba actually was sitting under the tree.] The crowd started to move away, and I was afraid I wouldn’t get there before Baba left. To my surprise, Baba waited and motioned for me to come to him.
“When I reached Baba’s side, he reached over and most lovingly kissed my cheek. As Baba and the others moved on, I remained there for a while, completely overwhelmed by the sweetness of Baba’s love. It was so wonderful that all I could do was to seek out a quiet place and sit there by myself in a state of great bliss. I don’t know how long I sat there. Time and place seemed to fade into the background, and I was taken over completely by Baba’s precious love and bliss.
“After a while, I began to get hungry and realized that it must be long past lunchtime. I hurried to the house and found only a crust of bread left, but it tasted like manna from heaven. Quite some time later, when thinking over this wonderful experience with Baba, it dawned on me that in kissing my cheek, Baba was acknowledging and expressing his approval of my obedience. I really had tried to quite literally ‘take him with me.’”
Source
Darwin C. Shaw, As Only God Can Love, As Only God Can Love: A Lifetime of Companionship with Meher Baba (North Myrtle Beach, SC: Sheriar Foundation), pp. 395-396. © 2003 Darwin C. Shaw. Used by permission.