The Master's Prayer

I've always had an aversion to prayers, ever since abandoning Catholicism in 1965. However, today's email from the Avatar Meher Baba Bombay Centre reminded of Baba's 1953 prayer, dictated 68 years ago today. Such emails are an important source of remembrance of Beloved Baba, a daily reminder of his Avatarhood.

Opening page of Avatar Meher Baba
Bombay Centre website

To quote from Lord Meher, American ed., Bhau Kalchuri, Vol. 12, p. 4209:

Meher Baba dictated the Master’s (or Parvardigar) Prayer in Dehra Dun on Thursday, August 13th, 1953 and from that day until the 2nd of September, it was recited every evening with Baba taking part in the prayer. Donkin would read it aloud in English, and it was repeated by another mandali in Gujarati. When it was over, Baba would lay his head on the feet of each of the men mandali. This is the prayer:

The Master's Prayer 

O Parvardigar! The Preserver and Protector of All.

You are without beginning and without end.

Non-dual, beyond comparison,

and none can measure You.

You are without color, without expression,

without form and without attributes.

You are unlimited and unfathomable;

beyond imagination and conception;

eternal and imperishable.

You are indivisible;

and none can see you but with eyes divine.

You always were, You always are,

and You always will be.

You are everywhere, You are in everything, and

You are also beyond everywhere and beyond everything.

You are in the firmament and in the depths,

You are manifest and unmanifest;

on all planes and beyond all planes.

You are in the three worlds,

and also beyond the three worlds.

You are imperceptible and independent.

You are the Creator, the Lord of Lords,

the Knower of all minds and hearts.

You are Omnipotent and Omnipresent.

You are Knowledge Infinite, Power Infinite and Bliss Infinite.

You are the Ocean of Knowledge,

All-knowing, Infinitely knowing;

the Knower of the past, the present and the future,

and You are Knowledge Itself.

You are all-merciful and eternally benevolent.

You are the Soul of souls; the One with infinite attributes.

You are the Trinity of Truth, Knowledge and Bliss.

You are the Source of Truth, the Ocean of Love.

You are the Ancient One, the Highest of the High.

You are Prabhu and Parameshwar;

You are the Beyond God and the Beyond-Beyond God also;

You are Parabrahma; Paramatma; Allah; Elahi; Yezdan;

Ahuramazda; God Almighty, and God the Beloved.

You are named Ezad, the Only One Worthy of Worship. 

Baba had indicated, “I have given these prayers to humanity to recite. They are for all posterity. Whenever anyone recites these prayers, they will be helped spiritually because of My present personal participation.” 

I should recite this prayer more often. My early years of reciting Catholic prayers mechanically and unthinkingly has left me wary. I don't want to relapse into doing that. If I do recite the prayer then if must be done with awareness and sincerity or not done at all. As Baba says, He only listens to the language of the heart.

Another option is to have it recited it to you. You can copy and paste the prayer into a site like Natural Readers and have it read back to you. I found setting the speed to zero and using the voice of Peter (Premium UK) gives a pleasing result. See Figure 1.

Figure 1: screenshot from this source

An even more pleasing result can be had by listening to YouTube versions of the prayer, spoken by an Indian women:

There's another version spoken loudly and forcefully by Harry Kenmore, the blind chiropractor from the United States, but it's less to my taste. However, in that video he also reads out the Prayer of Repentance (given by Meher Baba on 8th November 1952) which is quite powerful:

Prayer of Repentance

We repent O God most merciful, for all our sins;
For every thought that was false or unjust or unclean;
For every word spoken that ought not to have been spoken;
For every deed done that ought not to have been done.
We repent for every deed and word and thought
Inspired by selfishness;
And for every deed and word and thought inspired by hatred.
We repent most specially for every lustful thought,
And every lustful action;
For every lie; for all hypocrisy;
For every promise given, but not fulfilled;
And for all slander and backbiting.
Most specially also, we repent for every action
That has brought ruin to others;
For every word and deed that has given others pain;
And for every wish that pain should befall others.
In your unbounded mercy, we ask you to forgive us, O God,
For all these sins committed by us;
And to forgive us for our constant failures
To think and speak and act according to your will.

Here is a version of the prayer in which the words are displayed slide by slide with accompanying music. The words are not spoken but it's quite beautiful: 

ADDENDUM

added August 25th 2021:

Baba came into the hall on August 25th, (1959) after working with Kaikobad. The men assembled before him. For some time, Baba sat with his eyes closed. He stretched and rested his legs on the bamboo stool. A bed sheet was    spread over his legs for warmth. After resting for some time in this position, Baba signaled for the men to go outside. He remained alone inside for several minutes and then clapped, and the men reentered.

Baba instructed, “None of you should do anything which might disturb my mood.”

He informed Francis, “In connection with the repairs to the old bus, it will be enough to paint it, because if any of the work involves hammering, it is likely to disturb and spoil my mood.” He added, “The world is at stake, and my health is also at stake.”

Pendu was asked by Baba to describe how Baba’s health was last night. “Last night, Baba’s health was very bad,” said Pendu. “These days, he generally feels unwell at night, but yesterday was worse.”

Baba’s face still appeared dark.

Baba stated that he would dictate a prayer, but before this he asked Aloba to perform namaz  (Muslim prayer). Eruch was directed to recite the Parvardigar Prayer.

“Last night, when I was in a very painful state, this new prayer came to my mind.” And humorously, he stated, “First, I memorised it, and now I will dictate it to you:

Beloved God, help us all

to love you more and more

and more and more and still yet more

until we become worthy of Union with you.

And help us all to hold fast to Baba’s daaman

until the very end!

Baba stated that the prayer would be recited again three days later on August 28th.

Lord Meher, American ed., Bhau Kalchuri, Vol. 16, p.5633.