As usual, we review books received by giving excerpts therefrom:

Avatar Of The Age Meher Baba Manifesting by Bhau Kalchuri. 240 pages hardbound, $30. postage prepaid. Illustrated. Avatar Foundation, P.O. Box 1367, N. Myrtle Beach, S.C. 29598.

The goal of life is to realize God and the whole of creation has come into existence to fulfill this purpose, though all of creation is actually nonexistent. There is a straight path to God-Realization, and it passes straight through seven stages of evolution and seven levels of involution. Each soul has to pass to pass through evolution and involution before it can attain the level of God's Consciousness.

The path to God-Realization is straight, but almost every human being misses it, because the accumulation of unnatural sanskaras is causing almost everyone to deviate from that path. Natural sanskaras propel consciousness in its evolution and are necessary for progress through the seven of evolving consciousness. Unnatural sanskaras are accumulated in human form and they halt the progress of the human being toward his involution. Unless these unnatural sanskaras are wiped out of the human mind, progress toward involution is delayed. The human being is entangled in his consciousness, and so wanders through the world lifetime after lifetime.

The Avatar appears on earth because the whole sanskaric pattern of evolution has become unnatural. Humanity misses the straight path toward God-Realization because of its unnatural condition. Even stages of evolution have become unnatural, mainly because of mankind's scientific explorations, experimentations and exploitation of various species of evolving life forms.

The first phase of the Avatar's universal work consists of wiping out the unnatural sanskaras in humanity and the lower evolving forms, thereby placing all of evolution on the straight path toward God-Realization. When he completes this first phase, the Avatar drops his physical body. The result of the first phase of his work manifests gradually over a period of 100 to 200 years. This phase is of sanskaric annihilation and burning.

After the Avatar has dropped his body the second phase of his work starts. The second phase of the Avatar's work is the distribution of wine - his divine love . The Avatar's wineshop opens to all humanity and he first distributes wine freely to those who are already on the straight path realizing God, and who are extending their hearts to him in acceptance of this wine. This is the phase of intoxication.

A person whose mind is burdened with mostly unnatural sanskaras cannot thirst for the divine wine of this Avataric age. Thirst starts after the unnatural sanskaras are severed and burned up; only then is the straight path found. The result of the first phase of the Avatar's work is universal, as he places stages of evolution back on the straight path. When this happens, the evolution of the universe becomes natural once again. This is a phase of purification.

During the second phase of intoxication, the Avatar works to distribute his wine freely and there are some individuals who strive their utmost and drink more wine; they receive a push to a higher plane. Some individuals who are becoming divinely intoxicated thirst for more wine and they enter the beginning of involution. Some individuals have only a taste of the wine, but in their temporary intoxication they advance beyond gross consciousness, although they are approaching the entrance to the inner path. The Avatar's wine pours through the heart of humanity as his love floods the world purifying, to some extent, all of human consciousness.

The light of the Avatar's sun, his effulgence, pours into the three worlds through seven doors. His light pours in the gross world through the opening of the seventh door. When all stages of evolution are on the straight path to God-Realization and humanity is experiencing the wine of divine love, the consciousness of each level then focuses toward the light of his sun as it pours through the seventh door. When this light is seen everywhere on earth by mankind, the third phase of the Avatar's work begins and this is his manifestation on earth .

In this third phase humanity experiences the full impact of the Avatar's manifestation consciously, while other stages of evolving life forms are universally affected and their progress is