who contributed towards the spiritual perfection of Meher Baba. The nature of the respective contributions of Hazrat Babajan and Maharaj has been clearly described by Meher Baba, who has explained that Babajan may be said to have given him one Rupee and Maharaj helped him to get detailed and all-sided knowledge about that Rupee. Maharaj took about seven years to bring Meher Baba to normal consciousness.

In July 1921, Meher Baba went to Sakori and stayed with Maharaj continuously for six months. He took his food very sparingly only once in two or three days. He used to walk considerably and did not take any bath. He also had long and private interviews with Maharaj. By the end of December, 1921, Meher Baba was restored to full normal consciousness. Maharaj then said to his disciples: "I have given my charge to Merwan. He is the holder of my key." Later he said about him, "This boy will move the world. Humanity at large will be benefited by him." To one disciple, he said, "I have made Merwan perfect. He is the latest Sadguru of this age. Now you have to leave me and stick to him." Thus through the help of Maharaj, Meher Baba was enabled to come to normality in order to undertake his Avataric task of world-wide importance. Just as the lamp placed on the threshold of a door gives illumination to inside of the room as well as the place outside the room, Meher Baba was now in full possession of God-realization as well as the consciousness of the world, which was to be his field of work for the rest of his life.

After this, Meher Baba began his work as a spiritual Master in a hut in Poona; and later in May, 1922, he shifted his seat of work to Manzil-e-Meem in Bombay. In October 1922, at the express invitations of Maharaj, Meher Baba came to Sakori again. On this occasion, Maharaj made his disciples pay respects to Meher Baba and personally looked into special arrangements about him. Meher Baba stayed with Maharaj for eighteen hours and went back to Bombay.

Though Meher Baba had himself attained spiritual perfection, he continued to send his disciples to Maharaj. Once Maharaj told them about Meher Baba: "Even if myself and the rest of the whole world were to be against him, you must always be by his side." At times, he tested the faith which they had in Meher Baba by talking against him. But all this was meant to strengthen their faith in Meher Baba and encourage them in serving him without any other thought.