WHAT I UNDERSTAND BABA'S TEACHING TO BE

These notes are offered by one who comes to learn of the teachings of Baba—standing at the very threshold, humbly groping.

It seems that Baba reiterates the teaching of Jesus, with amplification and enormous illumination of some of His more obscure sayings. Some that were cryptic and apparently impossible to reconcile with the conditions in which we live become simple and logical in the light of Baba's instruction. For instance, Jesus said, "Be ye perfect, even as I am perfect." Could anyone achieve that in a single lifetime? And again, He said that we should become as little children to enter into the Kingdom of God. Baba shows how and why we are as children in the very beginning of understanding. He demonstrates the practical possibility of achieving, through countless lives with their inevitable experiences, suffering and growing wisdom, this perfection which belongs to Jesus. Baba tells us where we have come from and how we got here; where we are going, and how to get there. Jesus imparted this knowledge to those in contact with Him who had "ears to hear," i.e., who had had sufficient experience to see this Light of Knowledge. Baba shows us how the soul progressing through all the stages of inanimate life to animate life to human existence―gaining knowledge through experience all the while—now begins to see, as a child sees with limited comprehension, the fundamental laws of life—life eternal. He gives the promise of fuller understanding with growth. The "ears" begin to "hear."

Jesus, when asked what was the first law, replied, "To love God"; and the second was, like the first, to love one's fellow creatures. Baba shows how these two commands are each involved in the other, in the unity of all creation, since all are one in God.

Jesus taught the futility of accumulating material wealth and possessions "Lay not up treasure on earth, but treasure in Heaven." "Sell all thou hast and give to the poor." Baba emphasizes this teaching, telling us to eliminate "wants" and be content with needs, and thus to live in happy harmony with our environment, wherever and whatever it may be.