Let us go over these four stages again, explaining them somewhat more specifically.
Firstly, the parts of the gross body have to be removed, which occurs through a long and gradual process. We can compare the plucking of each thread or fiber with the severing and destroying of another of material Maya’s numberless attributes. Seen in overview, even if we grant that the plucking of a single thread or fiber corresponds to the wiping away of a whole human body (that is, its destruction at the time of death), from this body and past life grow new lives in a process repeated again and again, in the same way that new threads and fibers grow again and again after the old ones are plucked off and annihilated. For Maya—which is to say, sanskaras—still abides, in the form of the two coverings, inner and outer.
Secondly, one must remove the outer hard shell or outer covering (and this process of removal begins after the gross body goes and the subtle body begins to work). At this juncture the various yogas (meditation, concentration, samadhi, etc.) come into play.
Thirdly, the kernel, representing the innermost body, must be broken and discarded; that is to say, the mind must cease to function. When this has been accomplished—
Fourthly—there gushes forth the water, which is to say, Realization.
In short, for the realization of God, the three outer coverings—the gross, the subtle, and the mental bodies—all should be removed, either gradually or at once.
In the ordinary course of things, this stripping away of the three outer coverings of a coconut. like the molting of the gross, subtle and mental bodies, is accomplished gradually, step by step. The process of shedding the three bodies—particularly the mental body—requires in most cases not merely centuries but generations and ages before the final goal of Realization is reached. Only the Sadguru has the power to impart Realization all at once, in the twinkling of an eye, an act which we are comparing to the smashing of the whole coconut into pieces in one mighty stroke. In a single moment he destroys Maya and the mind, here likened to the coconut’s three inner and outer coverings. Therefore, do ye surrender to a Guru, heart and soul! The offering or presentation of a coconut to a saint or Sadguru signifies the absolute surrender of body and soul by the offerer. So let all those who offer coconuts to a saint realize the significance of what they are doing and surrender themselves heart and soul to their Guru or Gurus.
– “Meher Baba’s Tiffin lectures”, p53
31-May-1926; Meherabad