RESPONDENT: Here are 3 cases for consideration that seem to me like ‘genuine enlightenment’ without the typical meditation and preparation that goes along with seeking it. (…) Meher Baba – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meher_Baba

VINEETO: (...) I had to do some research on Merwan Sheriar Irani known as Meher Baba as, although I knew of him, I knew virtually nothing about his life before enlightenment.

Here are some excerpts from a 20-volume biography (http://www.lordmeher.org/index.jsp?pageBase=text.jsp&nextPage=home) about his very early interests and aspirations in life –

[Merwan Sheriar Irani]: ‘From childhood Merwan was devoutly religious. Like all faithful Zoroastrians, he would attend the Parsi agyari (fire temple) with his parents, and the priests were impressed by his devotion. (…) Merwan, however, seemed to innately understand the meaning of true spirituality as evidenced by these words spoken to his friends when he was only twelve years old: ‘This world is ephemeral, the soul is eternal, That world is everlasting, the soul immortal. Its motion is indestructible, its love incomparable, O pilgrim stretch your feet on this holy path! Do your utmost to realize Eternity, Then only will you be happy in both worlds.’ (p159)

Additionally, his father had been a dervish (a religious man who has taken vows of poverty and austerity, Oxford Dictionary) and was convinced of his son’s spiritual nature. (p160)

In his youth, Merwan was in the habit of gazing at the stars and moon – sometimes for hours late into the night. (p160) Merwan had always been drawn to solitary places and derived such profound peace from these hours … (p171) Merwan and Ramnath [a devout Buddhist friend] became loyal companions and would go off to a secluded spot to meditate on God together. The two boys particularly liked going to the burning ghats, the Hindu crematory grounds, where they would sit repeating different names of God. The two boys usually went to meditate at night and sometimes stayed as late as ten o’clock at the ghats – exchanging their views on God, religion and spirituality. (p186)

‘One day in 1912, while Merwan was sitting outside his house, suddenly his inner sight opened. He saw the divine effulgence of God most clearly and immediately lost all bodily consciousness. Although his eyelids remained open, he was merged in divine bliss. (…) After that experience of the Noor state (the light of God) Merwan increasingly felt some great urge within – some powerful feeling that he was different from other men. This feeling of being different persisted, though he had no consciousness of his spiritual identity.’ (p195)

Here is how the biography describes the famous ‘kiss’ –

[Merwan Sheriar Irani]: ‘In the spring of 1913, he was preparing for his final exams as a college sophomore and studied diligently at a Zoroastrian Fire Temple named Khorshed Vadi – known as the Temple of the Cock. (…) As Merwan rode by that day in May, he happened to glance at Babajan who, at that very moment, looked at him – and with a nod of her head beckoned him to her. Merwan could not disregard her; at once he got off his bicycle and walked over to her. Their eyes met and Merwan could sense that the old woman was extremely happy to see him. Babajan was eagerly awaiting him, and as Merwan approached her, he felt as if he was magnetically drawn to her eyes. Babajan stood up with her arms spread wide. The ancient woman embraced Merwan with the fervor of a mother finding her lost son. (…) From the moment of her embrace, Merwan felt as if an electric current was passing through his body, sending impulses from his head to his toes. What he then experienced is indescribable – his individual consciousness was merging with the Ocean of bliss!’ (p196)

So what the Wikipedia link you gave describes as Hazrat Babajan, ‘whose kiss unveiled him spiritually to his state of God-consciousness or God-realization’ was apparently an event that needs to be seen in the context of his religious upbringing, and at least seven on-going years of a passion for meditation, inner peace and the realization of ‘Eternity’.

I have heard it said before that enlightened masters are seemingly able to transfer enlightenment to some of their disciples – in fact that is one of the reasons why disciples flock around spiritual masters – but what always seems to be required on the disciple’s part is a passion for enlightenment/ Divinity, an unwavering devotion and an unquestioning surrender to the master.

VINEETO: I had to do some research on Merwan Sheriar Irani known as Meher Baba as, although I knew of him, I knew virtually nothing about his life before enlightenment. Here are some excerpts from a 20-volume biography (http://www.lordmeher.org/index.jsp?pageBase=text.jsp&nextPage=home) about his very early interests and aspirations in life –

[Merwan Sheriar Irani]: ‘From childhood Merwan was devoutly religious. Like all faithful Zoroastrians, he would attend the Parsi agyari (fire temple) with his parents, and the priests were impressed by his devotion. (…) Merwan, however, seemed to innately understand the meaning of true spirituality as evidenced by these words spoken to his friends when he was only twelve years old: ‘This world is ephemeral, the soul is eternal, That world is everlasting, the soul immortal. Its motion is indestructible, its love incomparable, O pilgrim stretch your feet on this holy path! Do your utmost to realize Eternity, Then only will you be happy in both worlds.’ (p159)

(…)

RESPONDENT: Finally, Meher Baba. He certainly qualifies for one involved in and exposed to ‘spiritual disciplines’, so he definitely was primed by the culture, religious outlook, and his upbringing for what he experienced as a result of Babajan’s infamous kiss. From what I’ve read – I don’t see that he was involved in intense meditation such as someone like Suzanne Segal or those intentionally pursuing enlightenment.

VINEETO: It was certainly more uncommon for a Westerner such as Suzanne Segal to be involved in spiritual discipline than for an Indian such as Meher Baba and therefore when an Indian boy practices meditation it may seem less significant. However, the 20-volume biography on Meher Baba is so detailed that it becomes obvious that he had a more than an average interest in the Transcendental – he had burning passion to ‘realize Eternity’ and to merge with the Divine and this passion expressed itself in long hours of meditation in various forms from an early age.

Of course it is also part of popular legend that enlightened beings are no ordinary people, that they are chosen by (a) god, that they are special from birth, that they have an evolved soul earned through numerous virtuous past lives and that in their last life everything just falls into their lap. I know those myths well from tales of Mohan Rajneesh, tales that are deliberately promulgated in order to keep the mystery, the mystique and the superiority of enlightened beings alive.

RESPONDENT: So, unless I see that he was involved in such arduous efforts over many years, it still seems to me as if he would be an exception in the case in which only the word ‘and’ is used in your statement above. Now that you have modified your statement to read ‘and/or,’ it appears that he may not be an exception under that understanding. I read quite a bit of his 20 volume official biography some years ago, but as my memory is often faulty – I don’t recall how much he was actually involved in spiritual disciplines himself – though he definitely showed ‘spiritual aptitude’ and a fascination with Divine states of mind.

VINEETO: Well, to me he was no exception according to my modified ‘and/or’ statement in that he actively pursued spirituality and indulged in spiritual practices from a very early childhood and his enlightenment did not just happen on its own accord. Here are some more examples from the above-mentioned biography –

[Merwan Sheriar Irani]: ‘As if drawn by some strange force, Merwan would often go to the Tower of Silence from about ten until midnight. After the experience with Baily [his best friend], he continued to go there alone to sit for several hours. It is said that he saw many other ‘good’ and ‘pious’ spirits, thus gathering experiences similar to his father’s. Merwan had always been drawn to solitary places and derived such profound peace from these hours alone that at times he would joyously sing to himself.’ (p171)

*

[Merwan Sheriar Irani]: ‘One day Ramnath showed Merwan a new book he had on the life of Gautama the Buddha entitled Buddha Bhagwan – Lord Buddha. Thumbing through the pages, Merwan came to a passage where Buddha said: ‘When I return to earth, I will be called Maitreya – the Merciful One.’

Instantly, Merwan felt that he was the very same Merciful One to which the passage referred! He looked at Buddha’s picture and felt within: ‘I am the Buddha!’ But he asked himself, ‘Am I really the Buddha?’ and his inner voice assured him: ‘Yes, Merwan, you are!’’ (p186)

*

[Merwan Sheriar Irani]: ‘Life [after meeting Babajan] was now totally empty except for one person – that ancient woman. The only thing Merwan did regularly for the next seven months was to visit Babajan from that day, in May 1913, onward every evening. For hours he would sit by the old woman’s side – sometimes very late into the night. (…) His good name and admirable character were slandered. But it did not concern him, for with that one embrace from Babajan the merging of Merwan’s life in divinity began! The world had nothing to offer him and the world was becoming nothing to him! Only God existed and he was about to realize himself as God! When Babajan and Merwan would sit together under her tree they seldom spoke. One night during January 1914, as Merwan was about to leave, he kissed Babajan’s hands and she in turn held his face in her hands. The time had come.’ (pp196-7)