Avataric Advents
James H. McGrew
Hardcover $24, Paperback $15

For the first time, Meher Baba’s insights and revelations about the nature of the Avatar and the known Avatars throughout history have been compiled into one volume. As explained in the introduction by Rick Chapman, McGrew actually met Meher Baba in 1966, one of the rare seekers permitted to do so during Baba’s final years of seclusion and universal work.

Through Meher Baba, a tremendous new understanding of the great world prophets and the faiths they inspired is now possible. McGrew has taken the wisdom and teachings Meher Baba gave the world on this matter, and organized it into one condensed form with this book. The author is very thorough about citing sources from a wide variety of works (both Meher Baba books and many other historical spiritual volumes). Interestingly, after an initial chapter discussing the Avatar Himself and the themes that characterize every Incarnation of God in human form, McGrew chooses to present each advent by going backwards through time—starting with Meher Baba, then Muhammad the Prophet, then Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Rama, and Zarathustra. Finally after almost 300 pages, he leaps forward 700 years into our future with a short chapter about what Baba said concerning “The Next Avatar.”
Although McGrew uses Meher Baba’s explanations to illustrate how all the major world prophets are connected, he does not shy away from acknowledging their differences. For example, Avatars such as Jesus and Baba himself placed emphasis on the personal side of God, whereas Buddha and Muhammad focused on the impersonal. But these apparent conflicts are resolved through Baba’s teachings by observing how they are merely different facets of the same diamond, or “beads on one string.”

Additionally the author boldly states the most controversial details that Meher Baba revealed about the lives of Avatars such as Jesus Christ. Also discussed is what Baba explained as the Avatar’s divine mistakes. In every advent, the Avatar makes one great mistake—on purpose! By examining these errors, or seeming errors, it helps one to understand the apparent differences between the major world religions. Finally, and happily, McGrew is careful not to ignore the theme of the Avatar’s divine sense of humor down through the ages. After all, the author asks, if God did not have a sense of humor, then how could we? ― Review by Dan Sanders