Prayers given by Meher Baba
YOU ALONE EXIST
Though this ghazal was originally attributed to Bhau Kalchuri, it actually arose as a collaboration with Meher Baba. The full story is related following the ghazal.
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[Meher Baba]
Oh priceless treasure of Knowledge! You are within and without, and You are the Ocean of Mercy. You are in all the worlds; You are the Ocean of attributes! Oh Meher, God-Incarnate, You alone exist! You are Yezdan. You are Ezad. You are Allah and Ishwar. You are Ram and You are Buddha. You are Beloved Lord Krishna Who with one finger lifted the mountain; You alone exist! You are the Beyond God and the Beyond-Beyond God also. Oh Ocean of Kindness, You alone exist. You are Mohammed, You are Perfection Personified. You are knowledge itself, and you alone exist. You are with attributes and without attributes! You are the sole player in the divine game. You alone exist. [Bhau] You are matchless, the Only One! You reside in every heart, and you alone exist. You are eternally motionless, and immovable is your abode. You are the Highest, for You alone exist. You are the Doer, the deed, and the cause of doing! The sustainer You are, and the Master of Masters. You alone exist. You are the seeker, the worship and the Sadhana. Oh Meher, God-Incarnate, You alone exist! You are beyond Beyond, yet You remain within everyone. You are All-Pervading, and You alone exist. You are in each neighborhood. You are the Sustainer. You Yourself are all worlds, and You alone exist. Everywhere, whether above or below, You are complete; and You alone exist. You are unseen, yet seen also. You live in everyone forgiving each his sins. You alone exist. There is no one without you! You are manifest and unmanifest as You alone exist. |
[Meher Baba]
You are man. You are birds. You are fish and animals, for You alone exist. You are bugs and gnats, You are snakes and scorpions, You are ants and mosquitoes, for You alone exist. You are insects. You are lice. You are dogs, asses and pigs. You alone exist. You are the moon and the stars, the dawn and the night, and the sun and also the light. You alone exist. You are tea and coffee, and the sugar also; You alone exist. You are pen and ink and you are the gifted writer. You alone exist. You are the door and the window. You are the marble floor; You alone exist. You are the medicine and the disease and the doctor also; You alone exist. [Bhau] You are the game and the player, and the spectator also; You alone exist. You are the flower and the thorn, and You are the fragrance. You alone exist. You are the singer. You are the musical instrument. You are the sweet tunes, for You alone exist. [Meher Baba] You are the soldier, the army, and the Supreme General. You alone exist. You are the sailor and the ship, and the wide Ocean; You alone exist! [Bhau] You are the storm's turbulence and the tranquil waters. You are the Pearl and You are the shell. You alone exist. You are the shore, the ferryman, and the sea also, for You alone exist. You are the beggar, the giver, and the charity; You alone exist. You are the slave and the Lord; You are the Beyond God. You are God. You alone exist. |
[Meher Baba]
You are Mother and Father; You are Master, brother and friend. You are family and relatives; You alone exist. There is no one besides You! Eternally You are, for You alone exist! You are Pran and You are heart. You are also the Beloved of the heart; You alone exist. You are the Beloved and the lover, and You are the nectar of Love as You alone exist! [Bhau] You are breath and life itself. Our minds are enthralled by Your beauty! For You alone exist! You are the worshipper, his worship, and the One worshipped, as you alone exist. You are Consciousness and the Way to Consciousness! Oh Meher, God-incarnate. You alone exist! [Meher Baba] You are Khwaja, You are Qutub! You are Pir and Qalander! You alone exist. You are Hafiz, You are Sanai! You are Dara and Alexander! You alone exist. You are Jesus Christ! You are Elahi! You are the Ocean, infinite and pure; You alone exist. You are the Koran and the One who prays! You are Vali, and You are the Messenger, You alone exist. You are the Beginning, and You are the End. You are also beyond the Beginning and beyond the End. You alone exist. You are infinitely beautiful and infinitely close! Oh Meher, God-incarnate, You alone exist! You are Brahma and You are Vishnu; You are the guileless Shankar. You alone exist! Bhau says, "O Beloved Meher, You are the Word and You are The Letter! You alone exist!" |
I AM THERE IN EVERYTHING
During nightwatch one evening in 1959 Meher Baba dictated the following couplet to me [Bhau Kalchuri, disciple]:
During nightwatch one evening in 1959 Meher Baba dictated the following couplet to me [Bhau Kalchuri, disciple]:
Oh Priceless Treasure of Knowledge!
You are within and without,
and You are the Ocean of Mercy.
You are in all the worlds;
You are the Ocean of attributes!
Oh Meher, God-Incarnate, You alone exist!
You are within and without,
and You are the Ocean of Mercy.
You are in all the worlds;
You are the Ocean of attributes!
Oh Meher, God-Incarnate, You alone exist!
Baba then asked me to compose a ghazal around this couplet whenever I had the time. He instructed me to use a particular meter in Hindi which He tapped out with His fingers. But I did not know how to write such a ghazal, so I simply kept the couplet in my notebook and waited until inspired.
Three years passed by. In 1962 Baba instructed me to translate the book, The Everything and the Nothing, into Hindi, and Baba wanted me to include a prayer with the translation. It was then that I remembered the lines from that couplet Baba had given me. Baba seemed pleased that I had finally remembered the couplet. He gestured, "Since I alone exist, you write on the theme 'You Alone Exist.'"
At last I found some inspiration and composed eleven couplets to go with the first one. The next day during nightwatch Baba gestured to me, "Did you compose any prayer yesterday?"
I said, "Yes Baba, eleven couplets more."
Baba then gestured, "Read them, read them all to Me," and so I did.
Baba was in an exceptionally good mood that day, and after I had finished reading the entire twelve couplets He said, "Take your pen and write what I now give you as more couplets." So there He began composing several new couplets, one after another. Baba sat on His bed and drummed on His thigh with His fist in rhythm to the lines He Himself was composing for over an hour.
Later in 1962 during the hot summer months at Guruprasad Baba ordered me to finish the translation work and to expand The Everything and the Nothing with a complete commentary and several songs. I would do this writing work upstairs in my room in the morning and afternoon while Baba and the other mandali were downstairs in the large hall with visitors. Much later I found out that every day Baba would instruct His nephew Sheroo to sing this prayer entitled, "You Alone Exist." Baba never let on to anyone that He Himself had composed this prayer....
Excerpted from The Nothing and the Everything, Bhau Kalchuri, pp. xii-xix Copyright 1981 Manifestation, Inc.
Three years passed by. In 1962 Baba instructed me to translate the book, The Everything and the Nothing, into Hindi, and Baba wanted me to include a prayer with the translation. It was then that I remembered the lines from that couplet Baba had given me. Baba seemed pleased that I had finally remembered the couplet. He gestured, "Since I alone exist, you write on the theme 'You Alone Exist.'"
At last I found some inspiration and composed eleven couplets to go with the first one. The next day during nightwatch Baba gestured to me, "Did you compose any prayer yesterday?"
I said, "Yes Baba, eleven couplets more."
Baba then gestured, "Read them, read them all to Me," and so I did.
Baba was in an exceptionally good mood that day, and after I had finished reading the entire twelve couplets He said, "Take your pen and write what I now give you as more couplets." So there He began composing several new couplets, one after another. Baba sat on His bed and drummed on His thigh with His fist in rhythm to the lines He Himself was composing for over an hour.
Later in 1962 during the hot summer months at Guruprasad Baba ordered me to finish the translation work and to expand The Everything and the Nothing with a complete commentary and several songs. I would do this writing work upstairs in my room in the morning and afternoon while Baba and the other mandali were downstairs in the large hall with visitors. Much later I found out that every day Baba would instruct His nephew Sheroo to sing this prayer entitled, "You Alone Exist." Baba never let on to anyone that He Himself had composed this prayer....
Excerpted from The Nothing and the Everything, Bhau Kalchuri, pp. xii-xix Copyright 1981 Manifestation, Inc.