Hazrat babajan Durgah.www.puneonline.in |
Born in a Royal Muslim family in Baluchistan (now in Pakistan) between 1790 and 1800, Babajan was considered to be a Sadguru or Qutub by her followers and spent the final 25 years of her life in Pune. She lived for longer years - 125 years!! As a kid, she was known as “Gul Rukh” - meaning “Face like a rose.'' It is quite amazing that she came to Pune all the way from Baluchistan at the very ripe age of 100, that too on foot, barring impediments on the way, rough weather conditions and the hot sun.
At Pune she chose a Neem tree near Dastoor road, where one young boy called Merwan was staying, and settled down there to lead a spiritual life. Merwan, a young boy and who later became Meher Baba, used to go past the Neem tree, under which he never failed to notice an old woman - Babajan sitting. One day Babajan called the boy to come closer to her and looked into his eyes. Upon seeing her penetrating mystic and divine eyes, the young boy stood there dumbfounded. With tearful eyes she hugged the boy and addressed him as my beloved son - “Mera Pyara Bachha.” She had a premonition what kind of life was in store for the boy and what was destined for him by the divine power above us. As for the boy, he realized that some kind of spiritual power had overtaken him, differentiating him from normal life. His consciousness was full of ecstasy to the brim. Babajan kissed him on the forehead when he was about to leave for home. It was in January, 1914.
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Hazrat Babajan tomb or durgah, Pune.trustmeher.org |
A sense of elation overcame him; the boy realized that he himself merged with indivisible “Self” of consciousness. Upon knowing the purpose of his birth in this strange world, he had begun to understand the reality of oneness of God. Babajan often said, referring to Meher Baba, that one day “my beloved son (“Mera Pyara Bachha”) will shake the world”.
Noticing the change in the personality of her son, Marvan's mother became worried about the mental well being of her beloved son. Her trips to doctors and Haikims along with him yielded no results. Her efforts to find what was wrong with Merwan ended in failure, and now she was more concerned about him than ever before. As for Merwan, the veil of ignorance had been torn apart, a feeling of enlightenment enriched him. Now he sought the wise council of such great holy men as Sadguru Sai Baba and Sadguru Upasni Maharaj. Upasni Maharaj, at last made his consciousness come down to normal human level without disturbing his super - consciousness.
Merwan, now Meher Baba at last settled down in a quiet place called Meherabad 5 kms from Ahmednagar (now in Maharastra) where he started an Ashram. He delved deep into spiritualism and explained things that could not be easily understood by normal humans. His most famous book “God Speaks” deals with various aspects of spiritual life - creation and growth of consciousness, and finally realization of self. His concepts of spiritualism is a concoction of three schools of thought namely Sufism, Vedanta and Mysticism.
An important aspect of his teaching is that the miracles are mere illusions and and the real miracle is self-realization. One day Babajan came by car to Meherabad and both she and Meher Baba saw each other from a distance. A while later, she left the place and after reaching Pune she she dropped dead on Wednesday the 21st of September 1931.
Hazrat Babajan’s “Samadhi” is still in Pune under the same old neem tree, where Merwan saw her with tears flowing from her eyes. Meher Baba’s “Samadhi” is in Ahmednagar district on the Pune-Dhond Highway, and is open for Darshan from 6 A.M. to 8 P.M. every day. Gul Rukh became Hazrat Babajan and Merwan become Meher Baba. The beloved son of Babajan, was in silence for long 44 years.
http://trustmeher.org/meher-baba-perfect-masters/hazrat-babajan#sthash.bZMU2DPi.dpuf