Meher Baba and the Future

Errata from the talk series " Meher Baba and the Future ." Please comment below if you see more errors so I can add them here. Talks 1 and 2 In both talks 1 & 2, I erroneously said Baba's quote about a transition from reason to intuition was in the 1st discourse in his book Discourses. It is actually on p. 268 of the 1987 edition. It is however the 1st discourse in the Meher Baba Journal, Vol. 1, no. 1. p. 4. Talk 2 In a presentation slide at 11:10 it erroneously reads “1600 years ago.” It should say “2600 years ago.” Talk 3 At time 9:49 I mistakenly say that Socrates became famous in his 70s. Socrates became famous in later life, but only lived to be 71. Also, I erroneously said Aristotle wrote On the Soul at Plato's Academy, though I admitted I was not sure. The book was actually collected from lecture notes after his death by students at his own later school The Lyceum. Talk 4 At 52:32 I repeated a common myth that Descartes vivisected h...

People who helped me develop the ideas in the talks include: Dr. Lowell Nisen, Professor of philosophy. Sent his comments to India which were responded to by Eruch Jessawala. Deceased. Dr. Lothar Schafer, Distinguished Professor of Physical Chemistry (emeritus) at the University of Arkansas. Deceased. Dr. Christopher S. Hill, Received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1973. Since then he has taught at the University of Michigan, the University of Arkansas, Brown University, and MIT. Dr. Richard Lee, professor of philosophy. Received his Ph.D. from Stanford University. Dr. Sandra Edwards, Professor of philosophy. Retired. Dr. Edward Minar, Received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. Professor of philosophy at University of Arkansas. Dr. Jacob Adler, Received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. Professor of philosophy at University of Arkansas, Rabbi. Dr. Paul M. Thibado, Professor of physics at the University of Arkansas. The Rev. Michael Holland, Graduate assistant professor of philos...

Augustine of Hippo, writing in the early 5th Century. “For then shalt Thou rest in us, as now Thou workest in us; and so shall that be Thy rest through us, as these are Thy works through us. But Thou, Lord, ever workest, and art ever at rest. Nor dost Thou see in time, nor art moved in time, nor restest in a time; and yet Thou makest things seen in time.” — Saint Augustine, Confession XXXVII “We can see all those things which Thou hast made because they are — but they are because Thou seest them.” — Saint Augustine, Confessions XXXVIII Baba revealed to Filis and Adele his four favorite Christian saints, "My two favorite women saints are Saint Theresa of Avila and Catherine of Siena; my two favorite men, Francis of Assisi and Saint Augustine." ( Lord Meher , © 1986 print edition, p. 3818)

I removed this from the final talk because I felt it was too difficult and slowed the pace. Why did the Whim happen? And how did it produce time (as a way of seeing)? Intelligence is the precondition of the desire to know. Hence the whim or desire to know (which was the first desire) needed no cause, as it was the nature of Infinite Intelligence to desire it. The act of time was a byproduct of this impulse to know, as the very looking for an answer produced (in appearance) the moment after, and the very question and subsequent straining to find something beyond itself to identify with caused in it the appearance of space. This requires a section in my book that deals with the new way of looking at causation, as the potential latent in preconditions. There is at heart an a priori logic underlying the sequence in the unfolding of schemas, rather than a temporal one.

Philosophers named in the talks include: Thales Pythagoras Anaximenes Heraclitus Anaximander Democritus Anaxagoras Socrates Plato Aristotle The Stoics St. Augustine Adi Shankara Galileo Robert Boyle René Descartes John Locke George Berkeley David Hume Immanuel Kant Georg Hegel F. H. Bradley G. E. Moore Bertrand Russell Alfred North Whitehead Norwood Hanson Daniel Dennett David Chalmers There were many others I did not name due to time constraints and to stay on topic, which focused on the Mind Body Problem. My three favorite philosophers are, in the order they lived, Saint Augustine, George Berkeley, and Norwood Hanson. 

From Jan. 19 - March 31, 2018 I interrupted work on the book to give a talk series titled Meher Baba and the Future. You can watch them here . This blog gives me an opportunity to add interesting asides, make corrections, give updates on the coming book, and field any comments, questions, or criticism. I will now be returning to completing the book. Still untitled, its title, release date and where to expect it to be purchasable will be announced sometime in 2019 or early 2020. The original 2004 book of which this is a rewrite can be downloaded free PDF here .

They say that great beasts once roamed this world. As big as mountains. Yet all that's left of them is bone and amber. Time undoes even the mightiest of creatures. Just look at what it's done to you. One day you will perish. You will lie with the rest of your kind in the dirt. Your dreams forgotten, your horrors effaced. Your bones will turn to sand. And upon that sand a new god will walk. One that will never die. Because this world doesn't belong to you or the people who came before. It belongs to someone who has yet to come. – West World

Where it all began. The little red velvet notebook in which I first scribbled down my idea on a bus in March 15, 2000. In March 2000, during a period of soul searching while I was working on my master's degree in philosophy, an incredible and clearly original idea clicked for me. At that moment I was on a Razorback bus heading to a class. Luckily I happened to have this tiny red notebook with me and immediately pulled it out and began jotting down the idea so I wouldn't forget. Basically the concept an evolution of perception  simply flooded out onto the pages. Of course it would take several more years to figure out how to say it all simply so people could understand. Nevertheless, I keep this tiny red notebook in a box of treasures to commemorate the moment.  Update 9/22/25: I just noticed a fun coincidence I thought I'd mention. I wrote the red notebook text on March 15, 2000. And the photo below was taken on March 15, 2020 in the toilet paper isle in Walmart. Do...

Talk given at the Avatar Meher Baba Circle Center in Myrtle Beach on May 5, 2018.