that they are in no way a do-it-yourself manual for spiritual evolution. Rather, they are a constant, firm reminder of the need for a Master on this Path of apparent return to Oneness. The Master is the knowing guide who has already traversed the Path, who provides with infinite patience the security and steady pace that can lead to the goal. While Baba admits the possibility of achieving progress without such a guide, he makes it clear that it is fraught with almost insurmountable problems.
To one who debates allying himself with a teacher of the inner processes, the Discourses provide invaluable insight. To one who senses that life is to be lived for its positive contribution to the discovery of the inner being, Baba provides the unarguable description of one who knows.
“These discourses cover a wide field, but they begin and end with the reader himself. This is therefore a dangerous book. Baba is dangerous, as all who have been near him know . . . . Baba invites those who listen to him to do the impossible because only the impossible has divine meaning.”
Meher Baba lives quietly in the midst of the greatest activity, often raising an almost impenetrable barrier to guard the seclusion in which he performs his universal work, near Ahmednagar. On occasion he allows individuals and small groups to penetrate the barrier to receive the spark of love, more rarely he opens the gates wide and loosens a broad river of warmth on those who are lucky enough to know that the Avatar is in the world.

Ivy Oneita Duce
Don E. Stevens
Editors

HOME.
COPYRIGHT.
INTRODUCTION.
1. THE SEARCH FOR GOD.  . . .     11
2. THE STAGES OF THE PATH.  . . .     18
3. ARRIVING AT SELF-KNOWLEDGE.  . . .     27
4. GOD-REALIZATION.  . . .     35
5. TRUE DISCIPLESHIP.  . . .     42
6. THE WAYS OF THE MASTERS.  . . .     50
7. THE NATURE OF THE EGO AND ITS TERMINATION:
Part I — The Ego as the Centre of Conflict.  . . .     59
Part II — The Ego as an Affirmation of Separateness.  . . .     67
Part III — The Forms of the Ego and their Dissolution.  . . .     75
8. THE PLACE OF OCCULTISM IN SPIRITUAL LIFE:
Part I — The Value of Occult Experiences.  . . .     84
Part II — The Occult Basis of Spiritual Life.  . . .     92
Part III — Ocultism and Spirituality.  . . .   101
9. THE TYPES OF MEDITATION:
Part I — The Nature of Meditation and its Conditions.  . . .   111