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Page Update:
Saturday, February 28th, 2004
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Amartithi Portrait, 2004
Click for larger view
David Berry, 2004
Acrylic on canvas, 18" x 24"
On January 31, 1969 Meher Baba dropped his body and that date is celebrated as Amartithi. Amartithi is a composite word made up of amar, meaning deathless or eternal, and tithi, which is day or date. Amartithi is celebration of the deathless day. I celebrate the day by studying and rendering an image of Baba.
God lives on. The circle of life is eternal. Birth and death are mere passing moments in existence, far more important to those present and aware of the event than to whomever experiences it directly. While the transition from the there-before to the now, or the now to the hereafter is certainly profound, it is not a beginning or an end; it is only one of many events along the journey.
For those who met, lived with and knew of Meher Baba the denial of the physical manifestation is an experience I can never know, although I can imagine the intensity of longing that must have replaced His presence. It is certainly more profound and transforming to witness God in a physical presence that directly activates the senses, and such a loss must be on a memorable day for anyone who was aware of it and lived through it. However, I was not among them. For me, and many others, the spirit of God will never obviously walk into the room and physically embrace me. For physical encounters I must settle for a much smaller impression of God in those who glow just a little.
The death of no person should be considered demise - at least no more so than birth, which must rip our soul from some more peaceful place than this life. Death can certainly be an interruption of traumatic magnitude for those of us isolated from those whom we love, but it is never an end. When death passes nearby it can shake us to our marrow and require that we find strength in faith and stability in God’s grace. Yet, every day that we think of and pray to God is a day in which we more tightly embrace faith and grace. Amartithi is an opportunity to reaffirm or rediscover our relationship with God, and to keep in mind that attending to God is a daily and not an annual task. If only we had the chance when Meher Baba was in the body how much would we have given to spend a moment with Him? Let Amartithi remind us that it is still not too late; for God lives on.
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