Meher Baba stated: "There can be nothing like a rigid set of rules to outline the means by which you may be led to the one and only path to God-realization." This statement is borne out by the narration of so many unusual and unique "paths" told by the thirty -six authors in this compilation. Indeed, some of the entries could be said to consist of concise autobiographies that end in finding the God-Man, while others stick more strictly to a distilled sequence of events that led to His threshold.
Variety being the spice of life, reading through this collection of life-stories one will find a wide range of different religious traditions-- Baptist, Hindu, Jewish, Catholic--from which the authors came to recognize Him to Whom all religions belong. There are also miraculous occurrences and synchronicities. There are psychological struggles such as drug addiction, marriage strife and ego-differentiation between child and parent.
As a child growing up, I was exposed to the rich heritage of Christian hymns sung in Protestant churches. One of those hymns was titled "Blessed Assurance," the opening lyric being "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine--O what a foretaste of glory divine."
After all the stories were told, I found myself enjoying a warm feeling and I think I know the reason. Reading this wide variety of "coming-to-Baba" stories gives one a comforting reassurance that wherever and whatever unique circumstances our sanskaras dictate for our next incarnation, He will be there, guiding us back to Himself in ways that we cannot understand.
Blessed assurance indeed.
