Meher Baba's missing book

Table-cabin in which Meher Baba hand-wrote a book from 1925 to 1926

Meher Baba's missing book, or secret book, is a manuscript that Meher Baba wrote by hand between 1925 and 1926 in Meherabad, India;[1] it has never been published nor seen by the public, and its whereabouts have been unknown since 1958.

In October 1925 Baba ordered the building of a large table, four feet wide and seven feet in length, which became known as the table-cabin. Baba would spend several hours a day writing a book in this small cabin, but did not reveal its contents. He predicted in 1927: "The big book I have written will be the future Bible, Koran, Avesta and Veda, as it will be universally accepted by all castes and creeds. I have stopped writing anything after finishing this great work and hence it has force."[2] The manuscript was sealed in a black box. Meher Baba carried it with him to the West in 1931 and allowed Mahatma Gandhi to read several pages aboard the SS Rajputana.[3] The manuscript was also taken to the United States. It was then brought back to India and put into the care of disciples Ramjoo Abdulla, Sarosh Irani, and Kaka Baria with instructions that it be kept locked in a safe deposit box under their names in a bank in Bombay. The manuscript remained there for the next twenty one years before it was brought back to Baba by Ramjoo Abdulla on Baba's instruction and then disappeared in 1958.[4][5] On January 25, 1969, just six days before Baba's death, Eruch Jessawala asked Baba, "What about your book?" Baba assured him, "It is in good hands." But he did not convey with whom.[6]

Possible discoveries of portions of the book

In 1998, 39 pages in Meher Baba's handwriting, believed to be penned by him in 1925, were accidentally discovered in India. These have been published as In God's Hand (Sheriar Press, 2000). Later, another 255 page manuscript first discovered in 1969 after Baba's death and believed to be Baba's words, penned in two 1920s style notebooks by an unknown copyist, were discovered to contain several verbatim pages from the 39 hand-written pages. This led to speculation that the notebooks might be a "fair copy" (a clean copy of a corrected draft) of Baba's missing book. However, another view is that the notebooks were written from lectures given by Baba to his disciples on spiritual subjects via chalk and slate during the same period that he wrote the now missing book.[7]

Timeline

Year Events
1925 Meher Baba begins writing a book by hand in Meherabad, India and completes it in 1926. He shows it to no-one, except for showing several pages to Mahatma Gandhi aboard the SS Rajputana in 1931.
1958 The book is determined by Meher Baba's disciples to be missing.
1969 Shortly before his death in January 1969, Baba indicates to a disciple that the book is "in good hands."
1969 Two notebooks containing 255 pages in a neat undetermined handwriting (not Meher Baba's) are discovered in a storage room in Meher Baba's home in India shortly after his death. Nothing is done with them, but they are kept.
1998 39 pages in Meher Baba's own handwriting determined to be written between 1925-1926 are discovered in India. In 2000 they are published as In God's Hand by Sheriar Press.
2002 It is discovered that the notebooks found in 1969 contain a duplicate of the 39 pages published in In God's Hand.
2007 The notebooks found in 1969 are published as Infinite Intelligence by Sheriar Press. Meher Baba's name is given as the author. It is uncertain whether the work is the same as the missing book, so the original handwritten book from 1925-1926 continues to be considered missing.

References

  1. ↑ Kalchuri, Bhau: "Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher, The Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba", Manifestation, Inc. 1986, pp. 758, 787, 1607
  2. ↑ Kalchuri, Bhau: "Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher, The Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba", Manifestation, Inc. 1986, p. 954. Access date: November 22, 2015.
  3. ↑ Kalchuri, Bhau: "Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher, The Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba", Manifestation, Inc., 1986. pp. 1391-2 & 1401
  4. ↑ Master's Glossary, Frank Davis.
  5. ↑ Kalchuri, Bhau: "Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher, The Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba", Manifestation, Inc. 1986. p. 5544
  6. ↑ Kalchuri, Bhau: "Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher, The Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba", Manifestation, Inc. 1986. p. 6704
  7. ↑ The Awesome Four and the Great Churnup, Professor J.S. Rathore
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