Meher Baba gave this explanation:
When we think of the individual we at once grasp it as something limited, so it can not be identical with the unlimited whole. You are right in saying that the individual must lose himself in the whole, but the matter does not rest there. We may compare the individual to the drop, and the whole to the ocean. The drop is separate from the ocean and again merges into it. What then is the purpose of its being separated if it is merely to merge itself again in the way it was originally merged? Evolution would be fruitless if we end where we started. The individual has to retain his individuality and realize his unity with the whole consciously. Thus Christ realizes God as Christ. You realize God as yourself. It is a personal realization.
From Treasures from the Meher Baba Journal, page 201-202.