a

‘UJANUARY - MARCH, 2000

LoveSreet LampZPost

Coming Home, The Ekatma Yatra, October20, 1999

Editor’s PageDma Snow

Jai Baba and Happy New Year,

Happy New Century,Happy New Millennium!

This is the Century that may see thewhole world beating a path to His

Samadhi! A Century that may see the nameAvatar Meher Baba on everyone’s lips. Iwould love to be around to see that, but Ithink it might have to be my grandaughterinstead. I normally do not make New Yearresolutions, but I think one is definitely inorder for the New Millenium. If all the Babalovers in the world resolved to do three separate acts a day that they knew would makeour Beloved happy — each and every day forthe rest of their lives — what an impact thatwould have on the rest of the world! Likeripples in a pond, our Baba inspired gooddeeds would spread from person to person,leaving love,joy and a touch ofthe Avatar intheir wake.

on October 16, 1949 Avatar Meher Bababegan a significant and mysterious phase ofHis Avataric work called The New Life.

Accompanied by sixteen of His male and fourfemale disciples, amidst the drizzling rain,Baba set out on a journey on foot fromAhmednagar. That was the beginning of aunique life — a life which had renounced allaims, hope, help, and even spirituality, and wassolely dependent on God.

To commemorate this supremely important event, Prashant Ahir and other membersof the Mumbai Baba Center planned a walk.A mighty walk. The Ekatma Yatra, wherein206 people set out on foot from Meher Bababirthplace in Pune and arrived, footsore butwith ecstatic hearts, five days later at His feetin Upper Meherabad. Our cover photo is ofthe lead flag bearer and the forerunners of thelong line ofYatrees as they reach the Samadhi.

The readership of the Love StreetLampPost grew by over 100 this past year.That may be an infinitesimal amount to TVGuide but in the Baba world, numbers takeon a whole new meaning. Welcome to ourfamily and thank you so much for the donations you gave as you requested to be placedon the mailing list. For you long-time readers,it’s that time of the year again when we askfor your help. Ifyou can’t remember when youlast sent us in a small donation, perhaps itstime to use the enclosed envelope and do sonow. We would very much appreciate it. Ifeverybody sent in a minimum donation ofjust$ 1 2 we may be able to realize our dream of

bringing you a color cover with each issue!One of our readers has made a very gen

erous donation of the beautiful solid 18 karatgold necklace you see pictured here. Createdby Randel Williams of Radiant Heart Jew-elry it is a magnificent piece of work weigh-ing two and a half ounces. The chain has thesix “Beads On One String” with the symbolsofeach ofthe world major religions that Babasaid He would bring together. The chain istwenty two inches long, with each bead twoinches apart.

The Mastery in Servitude colophon is,including the scroll at the bottom, one andone quarter inches long and one inch wide.Our friend had this especially made, sinceRandel does not normally sell them both to-gether.The chain with beads is a separate pieceofjewelry, but not on this custom made piece.Because of the size of the beads, (that of apea) they can not be removed from the cob-phon. As soon as our friend received his beau-tiful pendant from Randel, before ever puttingit on, he immersed it in the ashes ofthe Dhuniat Meherabad and laid it on the Tomb at theSamadhi.

The set is worth over $1000, and we willbe accepting bids on this necklace up until ourlive auction, which will be held late March. Ifyou are interested or need more informationplease call me. Money from the winning bidwill go to help support the Love StreetLampPost.

\34 tfi @

I

4.

The £ovaStrectLamfJ?osr is dedkated with Jove

to A vatar Meher Baba. Its primary purpose is to

contribute to a sense of community among all His

Jo vers by pro viding a pJace for sharing His

remembrance. All the members of the Baba famiJy

are invited to contribute to this feast ofLove.

Your stories, photos, art work, poetry, letters, articles, and humor

are all actively solicited. We seek expressions of Baba’s message

of Love and Truth.

Please submit your text on computer disks if possible (in any

software format) ; typewritten copy on white paper is also

acceptable. Be sure to clearly identify all submissions and credit

every quote or reference.

submissions, subscriptions, donations:Love Street LampPost

Avatar Meher Baba Center of Southern California

1 2 14 South Van Ness AvenueLos Angeles, CA 900 19-3520

323-731-3737— or —

deadlines:

Bababooks@aol.com

for the January - March issue: November 8th

April - June issue: February 8thJuly - September issue: May 8th

October - December issue: August 8th

Love Street Bookstore:Dma Snow (at the addresses above)

310-837-6419 between 7 and 11pm

310-839-BABA (2222) 24 hour fax

Bababooks@aol.com

Dma SnowCherie Plumlee, Nancy Perham,Barbara Andersen, Pris HaffendenTom HartChris Lyttle

Photographs by Marc Brutus,

Photocomposite by Cherie Plumlee

—‘LiThe Ekatma Yatra various contributors 4

Happy Birthday Baba! Staff 13

Interview with Diana La Page Dma Snow 22

Castles in Heaven Eruch Jessawala 24

Palace Chat Bhau Kalchuri 26

Kusum Singh’s Talk Edited by Clea McNeely 29

Don Stevens at Meherabode Dma Snow 32

The Unveiling of GodSpeakswith Don Stevens Dick Duman 33

Turkey Swing Staff 35

Katie and Goher from Judith Garbett’s Lives ofLove 36

Khorshed and Mansaris Interment Judy Robertson 40

A Pair O’Ducks Mani S. Irani 42

According to His Will Ward Parks 45

Three Billion + Sanskaras Per Hour Bhau Kalchuri 46

L

various contributors

We extend our heartfelt appreciation to all the individuals and organiza

tions that own the copyrights to the Meher Baba pictures we have used

throughout this issue to bring joy and love to the hearts of all Love Street

LampPost readers.

All words, images, and graphics in this publication are property of the

copyright holders and/or the contributors. Messages and photos of Meher

Baba © Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust, Ahrnedna

gar, India, and © Lawrence Reiter.

Unauthorizedduplication isprohibitedbyla w.

Welcome

A Publication of the A vatar Meher Baba Center of Southern California

LoveStreet LamLPost

Book and Music Reviews

Editors Page DinaSnow 2

Announcements from Meherabode various contributors 30

The Love Street Bookstore Dma Snow 16

What’s Happening at Meherabad Dr. Gus 43

Humor for Huma various contributors 44

Poetry Page various contributors 39

Children’s Corner Gavin Davenport and Francesca Cole 23

credits:editor:

design and layout:

digital preflight:distribution:

cover:

Tlw ..CoveStrectJam1JEbsr PL1hliShtd (lurt(rl\’. in

Jmnuarv, lri 1 . July. lfl(l ()ctolwr. -

,\ll contents (C 1996 Avatar \‘leher Baba Center uI

Sou them Call Ernia.All(1tlOtdtiOllS, f)lK)t)S, or books. nI t\’atar N-Ieher Baba.

© AMBPPCE India . ..

—-

-.

cDan we smoke during the yatra?”

The question was innocent and unex

pected. The person addressing the group con-

templated the question for a while. Before he

could think of an answer, it was given by the

heads shaking in front of him, implying ‘no’.

“Not while walking. You can smoke during

the rest breaks.”The date was October 15, 1999. Venue:

Avatar Meher Baba Pune Centre. The pur

pose of the gathering was communicating the

instructions and guidelines to all the partici

pants ofthe Ekatma Yatra. Over 200 Babalov

ers had gathered from various parts of India.

The atmosphere was charged with enthusi

asm that was tempered only by a bit of uncer

tainty. All these lovers of God were looking

forward to the ‘walk’ organised by the Avatar

Meher Baba Pune Centre, between Pune and

Meherabad.“We at the Poona Centre thought there

could not be a better way to celebrate the

Golden Jubilee of that moment in history

when Avatar Meher Baba set out on the jour-ney of His New Life, than by walking from

the place of His birth to that of His final rest-

: ing place.”There were many in the gathering who

had participated in a similar walk during the

: Centenary year celebrations of Baba birth in

‘ 1994. That walk — ‘yatra’ as it is called in

,‘ India — was called Anind)itra, meaning ‘jour

ney ofbliss”. And peOple were again reminisc

ing how blissful that experience was!

“This yatra is called Ekatma Yatra, the

organiser continued. “It is not a journey of

by Prashant Ahir, Mumbai

unity alone. It is more than that. It is the jour-

ney of indivisibility. Baba says that the Real

Knowledge is the knowledge that God is the

indweller of all beings. This walk is to remind

us that God alone IS and all of us are children

of THAT ONE FATHER,just a reflection

of that ONENESS.”The organiser went on further giving

detailed instructions. They ranged from

walking discipline to the order of the

procession to food and lodging arrangements.

Everybody was listening in rapt attention.

Many questions were asked and clarification

sought, like the one mentioned in the

beginning. The meeting went on for about two

hours.Next day, people got up early and had

their bath. Probably, the next bath might

not be until they arrived at Meherabad,

after four days. All gathered in the main

hall for prayer and the roll call. Volunteers

were assigned their groups. A nicely

decorated hand-cart was being used to

carry Baba large picture. It also had a

beautiful replica ofBaba Samadhi. When

the cart was brought forward, everybody

shouted “Avatar Meher Baba kiJai!”. This

feeling that Baba was going to be with

them inspired all the participants. Then

there was this small prayer that said “Baba,

you are with us. But kindly make us

constantly aware of this fact. It will help

us accomplish the journey.”

And then thejourney began.

The caravan was led by a person

holding a large flag of the seven colours

of Baba. At some distance ahead of him,

two persons were walking holding a

banner, specially made for the Ekatma

Yatra. This banner was to satisfy the

curiosity of the passers-by. At some distance

behind the lead flag bearer followed more flag

bearers. Symbols of different religions and

banners displaying Baba’s sayings were also

being carried by others. Behind them was

Baba cart. It was followed by the senior citizen

Baba lovers, all those above 60 years of age,

followed by the ladies and brought up in the

rear by the rest of the group. People were

walking in pairs to allow the vehicular traffic

to safely pass by. We walked on the road at all

times; the traffic had to go around us. At the

end ofthe procession, there was another person

carrying the seven-coloured flag. It was a

beautiful sight.The organisers were happy with the re

sponse to the yatra. Two hundred and six was

not a modest figure. Although the organising

committee, supported by some Baba lovers of

Pune, had worked hard for this event, they

were tense. Their preparatory efforts had re

ceived a setback because of the National elec

tions that were held just a month prior.

Another matter of concern was that, unlike

Anand Yatra in 1994, this yatra had larger par-

ticipation of men above sixty and also the la

dies. To make matters more challenging, the

doctor the organisers were counting on had

dropped out at the last moment. They would

have to do with a paramedic who had accom

panied them just by chance.

The organisers had let all the secondary

choices go and had put the whole reliance on

the Doctor of Doctors Meher Baba.

p1P

çO MEj

h OCTO

The organisers had complete faith in Him.His invisible hand had been with them sincethey first thought of this event. After all, Hislovers had come together in His Name for thisadventurous and momentous event and Hecould not leave them in the hands of the ineptorganisers alone. He was truly in charge. HisWish was reigning supreme.

The organisers had experienced this. Onlya few days before the yatra, they had under-gone some tense moments. Their first night’sstop was going to be at a village calledLonikand, about 26 Km from Pune. The lasttime in 1994, they had stayed in a govern-ment rest house. It was inadequate to accommodate all of them and the situation haddeteriorated because of unanticipated rains.On that night, they had managed to accommodate some aged Baba lovers in another RestHouse ofthe State Electricity Board.The SEBpersonnel had then informed them about thecultural hall they had within their premisesthat could have been lent out. This year, theorganisers were keen on using that facility. Itwas spacious, enclosed and had adequate toi

let facilities. When they visited the authorities, they were pleasantly surprised to discoverthat one of the officials knew about MeherBaba. He also had a Baba picture in his house.Although the family was not actively associated with Baba now, the officer’s mother hadhad Baba’s darshan and had special feelingsfor Baba.

For organisers, this was a special surprise.They thought now nothing could go wrong.Probably, Baba did not like this slightly casualapproach.

At the last moment, when the organiserswere expecting just a formal confirmation ofthe arrangements , the officer-in-chargerefused to approve. He thought it was anuncalled for headache. The organiserspanicked. No pleadfrig and cajoling could help.The officer-in-charge was not wilkng to relentand take responsibility. However, Baba then

turned the keyand the Babaacquainted officermanaged to bringapproval of thehigher authoritiesin Pune.

Baba hadgiven a clear message: you put in

yourbest andlea yethe irst to me. But

ifyou arenotattentive enough, Tm

going to make the

matter difficult for

you!

The grouphad two goods vehicles. One was carrying allthe luggage of the yatrees. The yatrees werecarrying only a small bag while walking thathad their plate and bowl for lunch and water.Even this bag used to become a burden during the walk. The second was a kitchen van,carrying all the grains, utensils, gas, stove and

such things. It was arranged thatthe kitchen volunteers wouldget the lunch prepared duringthe previous night’s halt andwould then carry it to the lunchspot. After lunch, the kitchenvan would proceed to the placeof next halt, reach there in ad-vance, prepare the place for theyatrees and keep the dinnerready.

Apart from the goodsvehicles, there was a car beingdriven by a Baba lover from

Mumbai, a jeep that was brought by a Babalover from Bangalore, and a two-wheelerridden by a local Baba lover who was lovinglyproviding water service. There was also anauto-rickshaw that was engaged by a ladyvolunteer on kitchen duty who, because of arecent leg surgery,was not able to getinto the kitchen van.

The first placethat the group visitedwas the ward inSassoon Hospitalwhere the ‘Delivererofthe World’was delivered in 1894. Fromthere, they moved toGuruprasad, theplace associated withthe sweetest memo-

ries of many Baba lovers. The city of Punewas slowly waking up. The traffic was increasing. While the whole of Maya was looking atit with mixed emotions of awe, curiosity, con-tempt and reverence, the procession of theCompassionate Lord moved on.

There was a breakfast stop over at BundGarden, near the Babajan tree. Babajan usedto frequently sit under this tree, and later, herbeloved Son, while departing from Pune forAhmednagar, would often meet His loversunder this same tree. And now, His lovers wereabout to leave Pune and travel on foot to meetHim at Ahmednagar.

All the local Baba lovers who had come tobid farewell, returned to their homes from here.Two hundred and six went on.

The October heat was peaking. The sunwas showing no mercy. The yatrees had tosurvive this grueling test. There was this couplefrom Bhopal in Central India. The lady hadback pain and was walking with an abdominalbelt. She was clearly in pain in the beginning.Her husband was concerned. After some time,we checked with the husband to see if sheneeded the car. She did not. The husband toldus that the lady was determined and was trying

Sassoon Hospita! Fune, outside the ward where Baba was born.

Breakfast stop with Madhusudan and wife at Bund Gardens.

to forget her pain by concentrating on Baba’s

Name. She found even the concern shown by

her husband as a disturbance in her resolve

and communion with Meher Baba. The

husband told us that he was leaving it to Baba.

And Baba did take care. The lady walked the

entire distance.The first stop for lunch was at a school in

Vagholi, a village at about 1 5 Km. The dis

tance never seemed to be ending. Every step

was compelling us to remember Baba. And

when we reached Vagholi, many people just

threw themselves on the ground under the tree.

Most were massaging their feet. For many, it

was a first small victory. It had boosted their

confidence. The food was served. The simple

Baba-type food tasted heavenly!

When we reached Lonikand, the sun was

leaving the sky. The arrangements there were

very satisfactory. In the night, while many

people eagerly embraced sleep, there were

some enthusiasts whosang Baba bhajans. It was

a small and beautiful lovegathering. Some people

from the Colony also

joined the programme.People would always

get up early in the morn-ing during the yatra. They

wanted to be ready in time

before the prayers. So, ev

erybody was ready at half-

past six on the 17th.

Another day had begun.The lunch on the 17tt

was in a school at a placecalled Shikrapur. Since it

was a Sunday, the classeswere closed. Nevertheless,

the place was not fri sight. Hence, all the rooms

could not be opened. So people spread their

bedding on the ground under the open sky.

The organisers were praying for no rain. All

the ladies were asked to occupy the available

rooms. The lights were not adequate and the

diminishing sunlight and the insufficient yel

low light of the electric bulbs had cast a

gloomy shadow over the atmosphere. The

organisers’ hearts sank. The only thing that

was bright was the spirits of the participants.

Oh Baba!Slowly, things began to change. The In-

visible Commander had taken charge. A team

went on to arrange the tanker. The caretaker

was traced and opened all the rooms. The

organisers had luckily thought of bringing

some light bulbs along to use in an emergency.

Things started brightening. A government

official from Ahmednagar who was a Baba

lover had reached the place. He arranged for

water and managed to get the village school

opened. Some people could be accommodated

there. Things were finally settling.

On this night, the organisers sat together

for an informal meeting to take stock of the

situation. Some participants had also joined

in. We had run out of food on two previous

occasions. There were other problems on

hand. Some ofus commented that during the

walk that day, they had felt that Baba’s face in

the photograph on the cart looked tired.

Certainly, though a group from Andhra

Pradesh was lovingly pushing Baba’s cart,

Baba was indeed carrying all of us. Somebody

made an observation that we were not offering

the food that was being cooked to Baba first.

Baba was being kept hungry. It was like a

slap on our faces. How could we have

ignored Baba! We had certainly committed

a blunder.

Lunch in schoolyard outside Pune.

a schoolteacher had come to ensure that their

guests were comfortable.

t observers.

The night halt was at a place called

Kondhapuri, in a Government Rest House.

When we reached the place, the organisers

were welcomed with a host of problems. There

was no water. The tanker that had been ar

ranged had not yet arrived. The caretaker of

7

We were reminded of Rano Gay1ey storyat Mahabaleshwar: Baba had walked into herroom and spotted a piece of confectionery onthe table that Dr. Donkin had given her. As itwas customary, he wanted to offer it to Babafirst but since Rano was going to the women’squarters, he had shared a piece with her. Babahad spotted the same piece when He surprisedher by visiting her room.

“How could you eat that without offeringit to Me first?” He asked Rano showing utterdisbeliefon His face. Rano attempted a feeblereply, “I have not yet eaten it.” “But you wouldhave eaten it anyway. It was just by chance Idiscovered it. “ Rano had no reply. She was remorseful. Baba gave her this piece of advice,and through her, to all of us who are trying tolove Him: Whateveryou get in life, offer it to

Me!frst These are not the exact words of Baba,but this was the essence. And here we were,

gathered in His love, completely forgettingabout sharing our food with Baba.

Next day, during the morning thought-sharing session, we shared this with everyone.All of us cried in our hearts and apologized toBaba. The experience had shaken us and madeus reflective ofour behaviour. From that pointonwards, Baba was never kept hungry andnone of us had to be without adequate food.

on the 18th, the kitchen volunteers werecompelled to make a last-minute change inthe venue of lunch. The school that we hadearlier selected did not have a drop of water.This was, in fact, a perennial problem becausethe area through which we were travelling wasa drought-prone area. The entire belt, barringsome industrial establishment, was also a ruraland under-developed area. It had made thetask of arranging proper lodging a bitdifficult.

But the kitchen volunteers were in ‘

for a surprise when a roadside hotel ;/‘

owner willingly acceded to their request !and offered his space for the use of theyatrees. He was hearing Babas namefor the first time

The Invisible Commander wasclearly in command again!

At this halt, a lady approached usrequesting some first-aid. She wanted •

some bandages to put on her feet.When we saw her feet, our heartsached. They were full ofblisters the sizeof small pebbles. She was happy thatnone ofit was on her soles, which wouldhave made her walking impossible. Iremembered the song that I had heard,where the lover is praying to the Lordto allow him to walk with Him. Thelover in the song further says to the

Lord thathe wouldbe willingto put asmall pebble inhis shoes, so thatwith his everypainful step, hewould realise hisdependence onthe Lord. It wasclear from wherethe lady wasderiving herstrength.

That nightwas a specialnight. We hadhalted at a spa-

cious multi-purpose hall at Shirur. During theinitial walk of the New Life, Baba had spenttwo nights in this town. It was also special sincewe had covered more thanhalfthe distance and thingsnow looked absolutelymanageable.

From Shirur onwards,everybody had mentallyreached Meherabad. It wasonly a matter of time now.Though the physical strainscontinued, it no more coulddampen anybody’s spirits.Everybody was focusing onBaba name and on everysingle step that he or shewas taking. Every step wasbringing them closer totheir Beloved.

The penultimate night was spent at Supa.This was the place of Baba first halt duringthe New Life. The organisers shared theirthoughts. An exercise of introspection andanalysis on the purpose of the yatra and itsachievement was carried out. The entire at-mosphere became contemplative.

The last leg of the yatra was the longest,around 2 1 miles. It also appeared the longestsince everybody was longing to meet the Be-loved. We started at 5:30 in the morning. Itwas still dark. The loud and enthusiastic shoutsof “Avatar Meher Baba Ki Jai” were penetrating through the stillness. The enthusiasm wasoverflowing.

During the yatra, there were many touch-ing moments on the way, examples that madeus bow down in our hearts to the love of these

p

‘grow closer to the ( il, spontaneous cancing breaksout among Baba dear lovers.

Rarnakrlshnan iiieets us on Dasara.

Almost Home, crossing the railivad tracks to Upper Meherabad

lovers for their Beloved. There was a man who

was carrying abook of Baba with

His beautiful face

on the cover.

Whenever a ye-

hide used to pass

by and the passen

gers would peerout the windows

with curiosity, he

wouldjust raise thebook so that theycould see Baba’sface. There was an-

other man who

used to loudly

shout Baba name.

He did not care

whether anybody

else joined him inhis shout or not.

For many of us, it

was getting irritating untilwe realised that this

man was shouting Baba’s name loudly when-

ever he spotted a yehicle passing by, so as to

send Baba’s name to the ears of the travelers

in these vehicles.All of us observed our lead flag-man, Pro-

fessor Wat from Vidarbh, who was holding

Baba’s flag absolutely erect and would hardly

change his grip on the staffofthe flag. Not an

easy task at all! Later when we admired his

commitment, he explained to us that he truly

believed that this flag and the wind that was

flowing around it, was supplying energy to the

people who followed him in the procession.

There was also a humorous incident. A

buffalo was stuck in the

mud. Three men were

trying to pull her out but

were unable. As the yatra

was passing by, we no-

ticed that these people

had a tough task at their

hands. We shouted

loudly “Avatar Meher

Baba Ki Jai” . These

people tried to pull out

the animal and failed

again. It happened twice.

One of us suggested that

they should call out

Baba’s name. They did

that. Once, twice and the

buffalo was out at the

third cry.As it normally

happens in India, people

would throng to take

Baba’s darshan. They did not even know Baba

or His status. Some were attracted by the

procession, some by Baba’s picture and some

by prasad.The yatra was in its closing moments now.

The feeling was indescribable.Just on the out-

skirts of Ahmednagar, many yatrees sponta

neously gave vent to their urge to dance. It

was an expression of love — celebration ofjoy— sheer ecstasy!

Baba lovers from Ahmednagar Centre

served refreshments to us on the way. As we

reached Meherabad, many Western Baba by-

ers came to greet us. They danced, joined us

in our shouts of Baba’s name and took many

photographs. Yatrees received it as they con-

tinued to walk.Many lovers were expected to receive the

yatrees at Meherabad. It was suggested that

yatrees would not meet or embrace anyone

until they had placed their heads at Baba’s

samadhi. They had walked all this distance

to meet Baba. Everything else came second.

When we reached the Samadhi, the en-

tire atmosphere was charged. The sun was

setting but our hearts had brightened. Ev

ery yatree had tears in her or his eyes. Some

people broke down and were sobbing un

controlbably. All our pain had dissolved in

the tears of love.

Baba, Baba, Baba — every heart was sing-

ing in spite of the aching body. The lips were

parched and the eyes moist. It was an inde

scribable feeling. It was worth much more

than the arduous journey we had under-

taken.This night was the most comfortable one

during the entire yatra. We were at our

Father’s Home. The entire Meherabad staff

was wonderful although our stay there had

put quite a burden on them. Adi Dubash

was very considerate and sent aspirin tab-

lets for the yatrees. This loving attitude was

reflected by all the administrative people

there.

Jal Dastoor gave us an ice cream treat.

Our stomachs were full of food. Our eyes

were filled with tears. Our hearts were filled

with emotions. The entire experience was

just overwhelming.

The walk was over. The journey would

continue. It will go on through dazzling

highways, blind abbeys and the breath-tak

ing curves of Maya.

‘I. : • ‘

%f ‘‘c

t

;

..-

—

iii/1 (lone!

9

REFLEcTIoNs

by Pratap Ahir, Mumbai

Everything that we do for our BelovedMeher Baba has its reward and one of

those rewards is indescribable happiness.And when one’s heart is unable to containthe happiness, the eyes make way for it. Thiswas what we witnessed on the evening ofthe 2Qth ofOctober when Baba lovers, whohad walked through the Ekatma Yatra, werewaiting for their turn to throw themselvesin the outstretched arms of their Beloved.Some were sobbing so uncontrollably thatthe volunteers monitoring the queue atthe Samadhi wereunable to quiet them— many were wipingtears and many wereweeping within theirhearts.

During these pastfive days while wewere walking underthe scorching sun,keeping to ourschedule, I watchedthe old and weak,both men andwomen, draggingtheir feet. But with rock-like determination,firm conviction, strong morale and absolutefaith not in themselves but in their lovefor Meher Baba they could continue on.This love was surely providing them ever-renewing energy to walk the way. And thewalk was not easy. It was on uneven surfacesofthe roads, through the fast-moving chainofvehicles, sometimes through deserted andbarren territories under the hot sun, puttingthe commitment and perseverance of theyatrees to a grueling test.

Unlike the Anand Yatra which we hadtaken in 1994, Meher Baba’s birth centenary year, we had many more older peopleand also more women participants inEkatma Yatra. When I was reading the con-sent letters received from Baba lovers all overIndia, I had very strong doubts about thewalking abilities of many of them. But Ifound myjudgements were wrong and I feltI was mistaken in understanding Baba’sways. I felt Baba to be telling me: Who are

you to decide whether someone will be able to

walk or not?It is I who will be deciding, be-

cause it is I who will be releasing the strength

andpower to each one, includingyou!

These are some examples of what Babawas saying to me. One of the walkers was a

person from the Pophali family — part of theearly group that came into Baba’s orbit. Hehad undergone by-pass surgery just a fewmonths previously. There was another fromDevli-Maharashtra who had had 150stitches on his body starting at the skull,through his backbone, and extending to hislegs, after a road accident. His one leg had asteel rod inserted during this surgery. Despite this handicap, he managed to walk thewhole distance.

One lady from Amaravati surprised allof us because she was so much over weight

that was kept for emergencies. There wasyet another lady who had to take tablets tocontain the pain in her knee,an old recurring problem.Then there were three Parseeladies who must have neverwalked so much in their entirelife! Also for one Parsee couplefrom Mumbai, it was their firstvisit to the Samadhi. What abeautiful way to accomplishthe first pilgrimage to Meherabad!

One girl from Vidarbhregion of Maharashtra wasnarrowly saved from an electricshock just a few months agoand it was her feeling that shewas saved by Baba to allow herto participate in the yatra.Professor Ky. Wat from

Vidarbh was holding on his shoulder anequally tall bamboo, which had a largeseven-coloured flag unfurled on it. He waswalking in the front, and throughout thejourney of five days, he hardly changed theposition of Baba’s flag, not even changingthe position of his hands. Professor Watgenuinely felt that this sataranga of ourBeloved was instrumental in supplyingenergy to all who were walking behind.

A team from Andhra was taking care ofthe cart carrying a large photo of Baba (theDarbar pose) and a replica of the Samadhi.

And there was Marc

h Brutus from LosAngeles the onlyWesterner whoparticipated, whowalked with us thewhole distance, sleptwith us on the floorand in the open onthe ground, atewhatever wascooked commonlyfor one and all, andshunned whatevermoderate privilegesthat we wanted tooffer him. There was

never a trace of discomfort or displeasureon his face.

Years will come and go, but the sweetmemories of the Ekatma Yatra will remaincarved in the hearts of all those who haveundertaken this adventurous journey toexpress their love for their Beloved MeherBaba.

Still walking in Baba’s love

that she had to put a determined effort intoevery step and her walking the whole distance seemed impossible. She not onlywalked, but was also seen picking up flow-ers that had fallen from Baba’s palanquin,so that nobody would trample on them. An-other lady had blisters all over her feet. Shepolitely declined to avail herself of the car

Notes on The WalkMarc Brutus, Los Angeles

Not until I was flying out of India for

Thailand in the early morning hours

ofThursday, October 21 did the full impact

of the past seven days strike me. Having

been up for more than 25 hours (we rose at

3:30 am. on Wednesday, October 20 in or-

der to complete the last and longest leg of

our walk—31 kms.), I had never really had

time to reflect on the love, help and support

of so many caring and wonderful friends

who, through their unconditional generos

ity had shared in the 50th anniversary of the

New Life and its commemoration, the “Jour

ney Of Unity Walk”, organized by the Pune

and Mumbai Baba Centers.

The mystery and uniqueness of Baba’s

New Life phase has always meant a lot to

me. Although I wanted to participate in

some way in this auspicious occasion, it

hadn’t seemed possible. But simple

kindnesses — help to change flight schedules,

being offered rides, being given a water fil

ter and nutritional supplements — made the

impossible possible. For all the help to over-

come any and every problem that arose, I

am profoundly grateful to Baba and the

many loving friends who made my partici

pation in the New Life Walk a reality.

The five day walk from Baba’s birthplace

in Pune to His resting place on Meherabad

Hill — sharing thejoys and pains, singing all

the way — was so joyous that many times

groups would break out into spontaneous

dance.I was touched by the love ofthe 206 pad-

yatrees who chose to honor Baba’s New Life

gift by walking over 120 kms., sharing in

some small way the true meaning of the New

Life. I have never before witnessed such car-

ing or compassion, nor hardships borne more

cheerfully than in those five days. Knowing

that each step brought us closer to the

Samadhi and our Beloved, a couplet from

Francis Brabazon’s “In Dust I Sing” often

came to me: “In a fly’s wing-space I see the

world I left, the ioi’ld of pain. .. And I brush

His hand with my lips as He fills my glass

again.”Throughout the journey, He filled our

glasses in wondrous ways. On the first day

we stopped to eat lunch under some trees in

the school yard of a small village. When we

had used all of the available water, the local

school boys went to a nearby pond to gather

more water in small plastic containers,

refilling the school’s water tank so that we

could refresh ourselves. As we walked

through a tiny village on the third day, a local

innkeeper offered his hall as shelter from the

sun and as a place to rest and eat. On the

last day of the walk, the owner of a new

roadside restaurant was moved by our

pilgrimage and invited us in to take shelter

and eat. When we thanked him for his

kindness, he sobbed uncontrollably.

The nights on the road were cold. Of-

ten, the men slept outdoors under the sky,

wrapped only in a thin blanket, and the

women slept in whatever shelter was avail-

able. Mirroring Baba’s New Life, men and

women walked separately and had separate

accommodations at night. During the day,

the older men led the walk and set the pace

for the entire group, the women walked in

the middle, and the younger men brought

up the rear.On this journey I came to know Baba

lovers I might otherwise never have met.

One was ShreeRam Bhopoli from Nagpur.

As a boy, ShreeRam played marbles with

Baba. He is now in his early seventies and

six months prior to this walk underwent

open heart surgery. While still recovering,

he wanted so much to participate in this

commemoration that he walked 8 to 10 kms.

every day to prepare for the journey.

I also became better acquainted with

Pratap Ahir, one of the organizers of the

“Journey Of Unity”. Pratap first met Baba

on October 16, 1950, the first anniversary

of the New Life, when he was fourteen. The

New Life, therefore, has a very special sig

nificance for him.Baba was the central focus of our entire

journey — we remembered Him in all our

conversations and in the stories we shared.

As we walked, people would sing Baba’s

name or songs of devotion to Him. Two of

my favorites were Scott Makeig’s “When

Loving is Our Day and Our Night” and,

from Godspell, “Where Are You Going?”.

Wherever we camped there were music pro-

grams held, and many people from the sur

rounding villages and countryside would join

us and learn about Baba.On the last day, at sunset, we arrived at

Meherabad — dancing! The entire group of

206 people silently circled Baba’s Samadhi

three times. Then we each waited our turn

to take darshan. It was then that I realized I

would walk 10,000 miles for the opportu

nity to bow down at Baba’s feet.As soon as I had my turn in the Samadhi,

I hurriedly left by car for Mumbai to catch a

2:00 am. flight for Thailand. On the flight— tears of gratitude for the tiny glimpse into

a deeper understanding ofwhat the New Life

truly means. JAI BABA!

The contributing writers for The Ekatma Yatra are seen below: Prashant Ahir (left

photo) Marc Brutus and Pratap Ahir one of the organisers of the Walk (right photo)

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PrasliaritAliir

Marc Brutus, VilasAhJi Babas Rat/i, Fiitap AJiir and Sanyogita

We would like to thank our indefatigable primary contributing photographer

Marc Brutus for his beautiful photographs of the Ekatma Yatra which capture the

joy and devotion of the Yatrees for their dearest Beloved Avatar Meher Baba. We

would also like to thank Sachidananda Meher from Andra Pradesh for the use of

his photographs in these articles as well as the Ahir family

Fifty Years LaterO top of Seclusion Hill stands your

correspondent, on the spot where Be-loved Baba’s Manonash Cabin once stood,thinking about the New Life, now fifty yearsold.

It another world up here today, silent andserene. For once there’s no wind. Pink, yellowand blue wildflowers grow in and around thefoundation stones of the cabin. The sun iswarm and bright, and dragonflies and a smallbrownish butterfly dance along the path acrossthe top. Below, tiny Meherazad sits amonggreen fields that stretch awayto the surrounding hills.

It’s astonishing to thinkthat 48 years ago, the God-Man sat on this very spotworking for “Manonash” , theannihilation of the mind, thefruition of the New Life.

An ancient Indian metaphor for the God-Man is thepatient farmer, who shapes theearth with his hands to createchannels for water to flow tothe crops. He shapes and reshapes, builds up and tearsdown so that the flow is di-rect and there are no obstaclesin its way. Looking at thiscountryside, you can seewhere this beautiful imagecame from. I daydream that ariver ofTruth is flowing downthe Hill through new water-ways shaped by His Life, His New Life andHis Manonash, to irrigate the far fields of theworld.

Yesterday, October 20th, 206 Baba loversreached Meherabad, having walked from

By Heather Nadel, Meherabad

Poona in observance of the New Lifeanniversary. What a sight! - 206 peoplecoming down the Meherabad road in the earlyevening, waving Baba-flags and calling out Hisname. In the vanguard were the “standardbearers” , two men hoisting a large bannerproclaiming the Yatra. Behind them was anelderly gentleman holding high a large Babaflag on a tall pole, followed by others hoisting

bearing a huge Baba picture festooned withmarigold garlands. Inside the cart was a very

well-painted styrofoam replica of Baba’sSamadhi. Even volleyball stopped at thesight.

The “pad-yatrees” (foot pilgrims) wereweary but triumphant as they streamed upthe hill to the Samadhi. Some were weep-ing with the emotion of reaching His Tombat last, and not many of the onlookers haddry eyes either.

Today, the walkers have come by truckto Meherazad, from where Baba Himself left

by car for Ahmednagar tobegin the New Life.Among the mandali greet-ing them are four who setout on the Original Walkwith Him 50 years ago:Eruch, Aloba, Goher andMeheru. (Bal Natu was a“yeswalla” but Baba releasedhim from physically accompanying Him in the NewLife). Goher and Meheruare sitting on Mehera’sporch giving out Baba-buttons and sweets to the p11-grims after they takedarshan in Baba’s room. Onthe men’s side, the walkersare streaming into MandaliHall for darshan right pasta framed poster bearingBaba’s New Life message.Here it is, for those who

want to reread His timeless words about theunfathomable New Life:

“7his 2sIew Life is endless, and even after JIly physical death it will be kept alive by those who live the lifeof complete renunciation offalsehood, lies, hatred, anger, greed and lust, and who, to accomplish all this, do nolustful actions, do no harm to anyone, do no backbiting, do not seek material possessions or power, who acceptno homage, neither covet honor nor shun disgrace, and fear no one and nothing; by those who rely wholly andsolely on 9od, and who love 9od purely for the sake of loving; who believe in the lovers of19od and in thereality of Jllanifestation, and yet do not expect anj spiritual or material reward; who do not let go the handof 7ruth, and who, without being upset by calamities, bravel11 and wholeheartedly face all hardship with one

hundred percent cheerfulness, and give no importance to caste, creed and religious ceremonies.7his L2’,Iew Life will live b11 itself eternally, even if there is no one to live it.”

the symbols of the world’s major religions.Behind them was the piece de resistance: ahand-cart on wheels pushed by lovers,

Happy Birthday, Beloved Baba

Birthday Song (1963,)

Glad are we inyou, dear Baba,

Glad are we inyour Birthday —

Tliatyou inyour lovingKindness

Came on earth with us to stay.

Round the Earthyour love isflowiig

As a river wide and deep,

Making rich and full the harvest

That each, in Time end willreap. .

Th ‘light ofnew day now isda wi]ing

.45 a heavenly llow’r rare.

In its heart we are discerning

Your Face Baba, dear and faii:

Hear my song beloved Baba,

That Ising onyourBiithdav —

It mypleading thatyou Baba,

.11] my heart forever stay

ForDon

on Be1ovedBaba

72w’ BfrthdayMountains are corruptible. But the

work ofour hands

time and windandrain cannotdestroy

For ourhands are thepuipose ofourblood

and our bloodis the river ofour soul

which sings the rivei thepuipose.

Death scissors may cut the bands

oflove a million times; but we canenjoy

new voyages on another flood

and allrivers wander to the sameocean -goal.

Man. life is more numerous than allthe sands

ofall the world beaches: andreachesback beyondspace

(God. sackful ofsuiis) to theprimaltone

ofthe Creation Song

Though faith is brittle as burntbones,

and our vision zeduced to the size ofourface —

the 1/Void ofthe Silence will restore tous the woik ofour hands.

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Thesepoems ivrltten byFancls Brabazon for Baba birthday in 1963 and 1966

vere sent in private letters to Don Stevens who kindlyga ye uspermisslon to

share them i ‘ithyou.

13

Archives, Museum and Research ReportBy Bhau Kaichuri, Meherabad

Following are highlights from the activities undertaken by the Committee dur

ing 1998-99.

Archives, Museum and Research Building

One of the most visible fruits of ourlabours is the large and beautiful storage facility nearing structural completion on Me-herabad Hill. Concurrent with the nextphase of plastering, plumbing, wiring, etc.,will be the design and arrangements for fur-nishing the building with the archivally correct storage units, equipment and materialsrequired to care for and document the Babatreasures and archival materials which willreside there.

Preservation Facility at Meherazad

In addition to the building at Meherabad, a much smaller, but essential, storageand working facility is planned for Meherazad.

Advice andHelp from Experts

An important ingredient in all aspectsCf our preservation efforts over the past fewyears has been the professional help and ad-vice we’ve received from leading archive andrbuseum experts in the U.S. In 1995, VinceWilcox, facility director of the SmithsonianInstitution, and Joan Bacharach, registrar ofthe National Park Service, spent severalweeks at Meherabad to assist us in finalisingthe plans and design of the Archives, Mu-seum and Research Building. Through theassistance of Beth Ganz and others, we havealso been able to consult with NobukoKajatani of the Metropolitan Museum ofArt, and this year she has graciously accepted our invitation to visit here at the endof November. As conservator in charge ofthe Department ofTextile Conservation atthe Met, Nobuko’s guidance will be of greathelp to us in assessing how to best providefor the care and documentation of Baba’sclothing and other textiles.

Presemition ofileioved Baba c Samadhi

Careful and professional attention to themaintenance of this most sacred edifice isof the highest priority. The effects of environment as well as human contact on theSamadhi’s physical integrity are regularlymonitored. Repairs and restoration work areonly attempted after exhaustive and careful

consultation with experts, balanced by con-stant referral back to the fundamental goalof access to the atmosphere of Baba’s presence in the Samadhi.

Preservation ofBuiidings, Structures andGivunds

If we were to list the activities in thiscategory it would become a massive thesisin and of itself. At Meherabad, Meherazad,and Meher Nazar, the essential conservation work of maintaining and caring for thehistorical buildings, structures, and groundsis a daily affair under the close attention andguidance ofthe Mandali, as well as the con-cerned staff.

Treasures

In the December 1997 Circular, we pub-lished “ Tips For Preserving Your PreciousBaba Treasures” . Personal letters were sentto those who may have received correspondence from Baba, and many of His loversthroughout the world who have the guard-ianship of Baba treasures and archival ma-terials have communicated with us forfurther guidance regarding their care andstatus.

Film Work

In conjunction with Meher Prasad andMEFA (Meher Baba European Film Ar-chives) , plans have been laid and work commenced on identifying the best existingoriginals or copies of the precious films ofBeloved Baba held by or currently cared foron behalf of the Trust by those organisationsand others. When this work is done, severalcopies will be produced so that the originals may be safely stored using the newestarchival techniques.

Docunient Rehousing Project

Some of the correspondence and otherdocuments from the files kept by Baba’s twosecretaries, Chanji and Adi Sr. , werearchivally rehoused during September toNovember of last year. For many monthsprior arrangements had been carried out togather the necessary supplies. When all wasin place, a rotating team of 28 white-glovedvolunteers prepared, dusted and interleavedthousands ofdocument pages and rehousedthem into acid-free folders. Meticulousrecords were kept of procedures, previous

document housing and relationships, andfuture handling/treatment needs. Thisenormous effort represents just thebeginning, as there is a huge quantity ofdocuments yet to be rehoused.

Book Inventory Project

In order to insure that the copies of every book and publication by or about ourBeloved Baba are preserved, an extensiveinventory of all the English and other Eu-ropean language books held by the Trust atMeherabad, Meher Nazar, and Meherazadwas completed last year and the best avail-able copies were put aside for archival safe-keeping. The next stages will include theIndian language books, followed by periodicals. An important result of this inventory-taking will be the development of a “wishlist” of titles and editions that the Trust stillneeds to complete its collections.

Computer Records

We have begun using MasterLink, thecollection management database being developed by Sheriar Foundation, to computerise our catalogue records. MasterLink isan extremely valuable tool for compiling andmanaging information about all types of collection items and archival materials associated with Meher Baba, including theirdescription, history, significance, condition,and ongoing care and preservation.

Collection 11/Ianagement Policy

A series of intensive work meetings washeld throughout last year to draft the initialversion of a document which defines anddetails the purpose, scope, goals, structureand activities of the committee and servesas an ongoing guideline for its work. Theresult is a 114 page Collection ManagementPolicy, approved by signature of all theMandali and officially adopted by resolution in the 1 14th (strictly a Baba coincidence!) meeting of the Trustees of theAMBPPCT in May of this year.

And last but not least — highlights ofsome recent smaller, but essential, conservation and information collecting projects:

When it was discovered that the beau-tiful large Rano Galey painting of Baba inthe Rahuri Cabin was deteriorating, emergency measures were taken while help fromprofessional conservators is being sought.

Work has begun on detafled maps of

Meherabad, Meherazad, and Meher Nazar

to document the location of both histori

cal and contemporary buildings, structures,

grounds, and sites. We are very pleased with

the wide range of important work that has

been accomplished, even as we realise that

this is just the tip of the iceberg. Many of

the activities described above are still in

progress while numerous others are yet to

be undertaken.Throughout all, it has been so heart-

warming to witness the positive responses

ofsupport for this project forthcoming from

all parts ofthe Baba world. Many individu

als have given unstintingly of their time and

skills, making possible the work so far com

pleted. To be given the opportunity to help

in any project for Baba is a gift in itself, but

that does not lessen our appreciation of all

those who have given so generously to ev

ery aspect of this work. This participation— be it through financial contributions or

the arrival ofjust the right person or source

of information when it is most needed —

provide clear signs of Baba’s guiding hand

and perfect timing.

The Archives, Museum and ResearchCommittee and Team

Bhau Kalchuri, Meheru Irani,

Meherwan Jessawala, Falu Mistry, and

Janet Judson, Meredith Klein, Shridar

Kelkar, Mehera Arjani, Dot Lesnik, and

Kristin Crawford.

These included relocating the painting to

curtail the environmental factors which may

have hastened its deterioration, as well as

taking a thorough photographic survey of

the entire painting including the damaged

areas.The Plexiglas case which houses the pre

cious Kamli Coat in the Meherabad mu-

seurn needs to be replaced. A custom-built

case has been crafted by one of the top

American professionals in the field and is

expected to be in place in the museum in

the near future.Baba’s Guruprasad Chair located in the

museum, has a new inner cover, which will

provide increased protection from dust, in-

sects, and other harmful environmental el

ements.Some photographic negatives from

Mehera’s collection have been placed in

archival enclosures and the work of

cataloguing them in MasterLink has begun.

Many old photos that are hanging in

Baba’s Cabin and other buildings at Me-

herabad have been archivally rematted.

As an important part ofthe ongoing his-

tory-taking projects at Meherabad and

Meherazad, many hours of recorded recol

lections of the Mandali are being tran

scribed.

I’hoby(ic _,

Mehei’abad Museum: Baba Sandals (foreground);plioto ofBaba in Kamli

Coat: Plexiglas case containing Kamli Coat: Baba.i chair fiVm Gurupmsadin ivhich Baba did special seclusion work.

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Photo by Anne Pinkas, 1999

Giora Pinkas examining Baba Kr/shiia Robeand Crown.

vVelcome to ...

The

A if to bring in the new Millennium tothe Baba beat — our musicians have been

hard at work, as have the writers, releasingmany new expressions of their love. The latestto arrive on my doorstep is a CD by JudithShotwell titled No SErings Attached

Those who have heard Judith beautifulharp playing will see the humor in the title.

There are 13 cuts on the CD, 4 of them byFrancis Brabazon, including the Australianarti.Judith includes both the Gujerati and theAmerican arti, along with the ever-popularOcean of Love by Bob Holdt. The CD hasvocal music from Celtic, Sephardic, and othertraditional, med ieval, and contemporarysources. This is a beautifully contemplativealbum, tranquil and soothing. $15

Not soothing, but definitely fun are the 2tapes released by Jerry Edwards titled BlackKnightand Ancient OneBlues. So many timesat the Pilgrim Center I’ve heard someone sayto a friend “Hey did you hear that black guywith the guitar singing those great Baba Bluesup at the Samadhi this morning?!” Well, nowyou can hear Jerry in your own home or carplaying and singing all the favorites. $ 10 each

Ward Parks has a new CD aptly titledBeautiful If it doesn’t take you right back tothe Samadhi for arti, nothing will! Of the 12songs, 5 feature Ted Judson on lead vocals.Cathy Riley, John Connor and his harmon-ium, Perry Flinn, Debbie Nordeen andWinnie Barrett are also singing. To recapturethe songful sounds of Meherabad andMeherazad, this is the one that will do it foryou. $13.50

out ofprint. Irwin has shipped us notjust tapesbut also a CD of the soundtrack. Narrated inthe mellifluous tones of Henry Kashouty, it isa journey with Meher Baba consisting of thegems of His statements as He reveals who Heis, His mission, His divine suffering and whatHe came to reveal to the world. The music,narration and singing are woven together tomake this tape an 80 minute meditation onGod.Tapes $10 and CDs $12.50

Another revival is a tape from RaineEastman Gannett. Raine, a dear friend andcompatriot from Down Under was oh so luckyto have Francis Brabazon as her mentor — (healso introduced me to Baba in ‘52) — so shesings the ghazals he wrote with the fervor thesongwriter intended. Before she moved toAmerica in 1979, her Aussie friends asked herto make a recording of the songs she had beengiven by Francis over the 10 years they werewith him.

In 1977 Mehera asked her to record a tape,so withJack Small handling the technical end,they recorded 10 songs in the Water Tower atUpper Meherabad. She recently gathered themaster tapes from both recording sessions, hadthem digitally remastered and lo, we have afresh new tape called RaihyDay Long before‘unplugged’ became popular, Raine was sing-ing that way and still does. Her pure clear so-prano — with such an amazing range she cansurprise you with the very low notes — and heracoustic guitar — such a beautiful combination. Especially if you are a fan of FrancisBrabazon magnificent ghazals, this tape is foryou. $10

Raine has also told me to lower the priceon a double tape set she recorded at theSamadhi a couple of years ago. The equip-ment that was used to record her was of thehighest quality, so the birds chirping and theoccasional bark from Mansari’s dogs can beheard in the background. Hearing thosesoundsjust takes you right back there! It wastaped over a 3 month period, so on these tapesRaine covers almost every Baba song everwritten, and also standard love songs that although written by Irving Berlin or some such,purportedly to a woman, they fit oh so won-derfully as a love song to our Beloved. Thenew price of this double tape, Raine at theSamadhi, that gives you 2 hours of beautifulmusic, is now only $15.

GodSpeakson tape! For all ofyou whohave been intimidated by reading thismightiest of books — no matter what Babatold us to do — there is now help at hand.

The late Dr. Barucha, who spent manyyears with Baba, spoke English with a very

IJal Baba!

.. . SONGS I_. 2

Over the years I have been asked if thesoundtrack to the movie Meher Baba A vataroftheAge is available on tape. When the movie,produced by Irwin Luck, came out thesoundtrack was released, but has since been

clear accent. He, bless his heart, took the time

to go through GodSpeaks, chapter by chapter,

explaining it all. He also adds stories of things

that Baba had said or done in relation to the

chapter beh-ig discussed. The 3 tape set sells

for only $18.Our runaway best selling CD over the

holiday period was Jim Meyer production of

Ways to Attain the Supreme Reality . This 70

minute CD — fabulous music and singing —

contains the entire book, long out of print, of

poems that Malcolm Schloss wrote at Baba’s

express wish. Baba gave Malcolm the mate-

rial and then told him to put it into poetry.

[/êiy powerful words! And Jim more than does

justice to them with the singing and music. It

was arranged, engineered and produced by the

Grammy winning Bill Symzyck. The most

professional production we have ever been

privileged to sell. $18When Don Stevens was here last Novem

ber to give us the wonderful and enlightening

God Speaks seminar, he was also signing his

new biography Meher Baba A wakener of theAge, reviewed in this issue. We have it for $15

paperback, 314 pages.This same book has already been translated

into Spanish and is currently selling across

Spain. It is titled Enseflanzas de Meher Baba.It has 320 pages and sells for the same price -

$15. We carry it in the Love Street Bookstore,

but we would like your help with this book.

KaIros, the Spanish publishers, will publish the

Spanish translation of GodSpeaks (‘DiosHabla),only when 600 copies of the biography have

been sold in bookstores around the world.

They feel this is necessary to acquaint the

Spanish-speaking public sufficiently

concerning the life and activities of Meher

Baba before springing such a title as GodSpeakson Catholic countries!

Here is where you can help: We have a list

of all the bookstores in America that carry

Spanish language books. It would be a won-

derful help ifyou could approach the stores in

your city or neighborhood and ask them to

carry this book. If you could do this, contact

me and I will give you the names and addresses

and also some advertising on the book to show

the buyer. You would then give them the name

and address ofthe place from which they could

purchase the books.Hermes ofManifestation, the publisher of

the mighty Lord Meher biographies, tells me

that Volumes 1 5 and 16 will be available this

month.This book (two volumes under one bind-

ing) covers the years between 1956 and 1960.

Coming in at 640 pages, it contains about 140

photographs ofthat time period. Volumes 17/

18 covering 1960-1964 will be ready later on

in the year and the final one in the series, 19/

20 is also being worked on for release in 2001.

All volumes are $80 each. We also carry the

earlier editions.Three other books just released are all re

viewed herein, a story book, a picture book

and a poetry book.The story book is Bill LePage’s Over the

Years - stories he has garnered from Eruch

and others of the Mandali since he started

going to India in the ‘60s. $12

The UniversalFrayeris a picture book by

Will David, some of the paintings are shown

below, all of course are in full color. $18.50

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The Poetry book is by a favorite of mine -

Michael DaCosta. Ever since hearing his

audio tape A GarlandofEgos, I have loved his

work! Call it a bias to a good British accent if

you will, because Michael has that in spades,

but what he says is so hilariously funny, or

poignantly heartbreaking, or so spot on

applicable to your own personal foibles, you

will swear he has been reading your mail! The

poem here will give you some idea of how he

writes. We also published an article by him in

our last issue — Ebb and Flow. His latest book

NowheretoNowHereis $10And you thought all the best stuffwas re

leased in time for the holidays!Happy shopping!Love, Dma

My Un WorthyHead

by Michael DaCosta

If I were to say how unworthy I am to receive

your grace, no doubt they would mutter be-

low their breath about how false my modesty

is.

But only You Beloved Oneknow how truly unworthy I am.Why else would you pour your compassion

on my unworthy head?

And if I were to say I love you beloved,

how they would laugh, knowing full well

how impossible it is to lovea one such as you.

But still I sing my songs of love.

If I sing loud and long enough perhaps you’ll

hear,take pity and sprinklea pinch of love dust on my unworthy head...

if only just to shut me up!

\

w4’i

Coverpainting ofA/leher Baba for Over theYears. . . by Diana LePage

17

L__ Book Reviews

MeberBaba, TheA wakeneroftheAgd!

by Don Stevens

Review by Ralph Lewis, England

This is an incredible book, very, very richand complex, full of deep insights and

drawing on Don Steven years ofcontact withMeher Baba, both physically and after Babawas no longer present in His Body. It can beno wonder that this is so, after all Baba saidabout Don: “He is my boy. We have been to-gether since the dawn of time” . There are sentences from Baba that Don quotes and his owncomments that will leave you in contemplation for years to come. The book is a magnificent contribution to writings about Baba andis full of absolutely vital points for our ownjourneys with the Avatar. It is also a wonder-ful combination of the personal Don’s retelling of the impact Baba made on him —

and the impersonal with focus on Baba roleas the Avatar and especially the function ofsanskaras as a “form of conduct”.

The book is in two parts. The first is anaccount of Baba’s life, interspersed with Don’sreactions. However, within this is an enormousamount of commentary on Baba working.The second part focuses more on specific top-ics such as the Whim and especially Sanskaras.

ki essence, Don sees Baba life divided intotwo key periods. The first, after a normal child-hood until the veil was lifted from Him bythe Perfect Masters, was Himself appearingto operate as a perfect Master with the mandaliat Manzil-e-Meem. There Baba appeared touse sometimes very harsh treatment comparable to a surgeon operating to save the pa-tient. Don discusses Baba’s constant promisesto break His Silence, then appearing not to,and also the continual changing of plans.Along the way there are some wonderful descriptions ofMehera and Mani and oflife withBaba. There is also a very moving descriptionof the car accident in America enroute fromMyrtle Beach. Myrtle Beach, spared yet againby Baba from the latest hurricane, was usedby Baba for the longest period of any prop-erty outside India, and Don emphasises thepeace and love to be found there.

The ‘continental divide’ in Baba’s life is,for Don, the New Life. The discussion of the“Song of the New Life” and its implicationsfor our everyday conduct is itself breathtakingin its depth. Don’s view is that Baba was set-ting up new forms of contact, of ways of development and moving us to the ‘elder brotherand elder sister’ spiritual relationship. Certainlythis is a most profound period and one thatthe implications for us may not have fully been

brought into being. Don continually clarifiesor re-emphasises aspects of Bab&s working.For example, he restates Baba statement thatthe mind and mental processes would not bewiped out but placed in a secondary positionbehind intuition. This is critical to our owndevelopment. As I understand Dors writing,Baba is still working with us in a personal capacity but as the Avatar, not as a PerfectMaster and this change in operation occurred during the New Life. Baba helps us to

eliminate our sanskaras by bringing them upinto daily life. Don sees himself as a guinea-pig for this and does not see evidence for theharsh treatment that Baba applied to theMandali during His Perfect Master phase be-ing applied during the Avataric phase. Donalso feels that Baba’s Act of Manifestationoccurred in the mid-sixties and that we areseeing the evidence for this in the increasedsearch for Truth.

There is much, much more that Donwrites about. His view that Baba knows us alltotally and fully accepts us, Baba’s last days inHis physical body full of pain, a typical daywith Baba, and His Universal Work. And thisis just Part One. It is all written with Don’stypical lightness of touch and flashes ofhumour — meaningful but not dry. Part Twoleads us on to a more fully developed analysisof key components of Baba’s guidance on theworkings of the Universe.

Don starts with the Whim which ofcourse is where we all started and describesthe sense ofwave motion that the Whim en-tails. There is a description of the evolution ofconsciousness and the spheres and planes. Thenext chapter looks at Sanskaras and their roleas “knots of psychic energy” that need to tryto express themselves in action. Sanskarasstand between us and Reality (God) , and allneeds that arise from them must disappearbefore we realise our essential oneness with

God. This chapter looks at the mental energystored in sanskaras and the methods that Babahas laid out for dispersion of sanskaras. As welet go of our desires we are not left with a negative reaction but an objective interest in thoseareas where we are no longer conditioned byhabits. Baba pronouncement that God’s con-sciousness is infinitely individualised is a critically important idea — it follows that everyPath is completely unique. Don also warns usnot to confuse the personal ego with the quality of individuality that we all have.

There follows a chapter on “Love, Surrender and Meditation” . Some of Baba’s incomparable sayings on love and its importance arequoted here and they are uplifting in theirmagnificence. Meditation is the secondaryroute once the path of love closes but we donot know when that will be. It is not necessarily after 100 years — wejust do not know.Don repeats Baba’s insistence that we all needto find a time to reflect inwardly, in stillness,and listen for the quiet inner voice; it is ourresponsibility to make time for this. We haveto deliberately regard daily life as charged withspiritual meaning. The chapter on the Occultis a well-timed one, looking at Baba’s viewson miracles. (He repeatedly insisted that Hedid not perform them, and that they stood inthe way of spiritual progress.) Astrology isbriefly examined - not dismissed - but seen asneeding to be left behind when you surrenderto a master. There is also a grave warning aboutthe dangers of hypnosis to induce past-liferegression, a practice that has become fashionable.

The chapter on the Individual brings somereassurance that our individuality will not beblotted out, that we are loved by God and thatthe drop-soul has a unique and irreplaceableindividual function. The “flavour” of the dropsoul will remain forever as part of anindividualised infinite reality. And the Masteris the one who guides us through to this Real-ity as discussed in the next chapter. The finalchapter looks at who Baba is. And the an-swer? The Avatar of the Age.

To repeat - this is magnificent work and itadds immeasurably to our understanding ofthe spiritual path as laid down by Baba. Inthis review it is impossible to dojustice to evena small portion of the insights and discussionscontained within it. If any of the above is notquite right, then it is simply because I need toreread and reread Don’s book to get to gripswith its subject-matter.

Do read this book - it is written both fromthe heart and from the mind and is superb.Thank you, Don.

Meher Baba — The Awakener of the Age,published by Companion Books 1999.Paperback, 314 pages, $15.

Nowhere to NowHereby Michael DaCosta

Review by Sarah McNeill, England

Great title. Great cover showing Baba’s

face seen through a mist of swirling

bubbles. Great picture on the inside cover of

Baba blowing bubbles. And the best is yet

to come! From the first page to the last, this

book is a great read. I sat and went through

it from cover to cover one rainy afternoon

and enjoyed!Nowhere to Now Here opens with a ‘clas

sic’ children’s story, which is followed by a

serious piece on The UniversaiJourney The

two items play an introductory role, both

setting the book in the context of its author’s

unique, child-playful way of thinking and at

the same time fixing the book’s focus firmly

on the impact of the words of Meher Baba.

What follows is a section of prose, a sec

tion of poetry, something called Performance

Pieces, the by now well-known and much-

loved GariandofEgos, and, down at the bot

tom of the Contents list, an A to Z The

book’s Foreword is written by Aude Gotto

(herself the author of a recent book of

ghazals) , and it also includes a section on

Meher Baba, a glossary of names, places and

Indian terms, and a briefbio-note about the

author, Michael DaCosta.The prose pieces offer a sequence of es

says and reflections on the kind of day-to-

day events (“I stood on the hard shoulder

of the Ml 1 , in the dark, watching my car,

full ofvaluable possessions, go up in flames”)

that have triggered meaningful insights for

the person involved (i.e.Michael!); so this

section is autobiographical in a way that de

scribes happenings as they impact on all 1ev-

els of perception.The poems of the next section of No-

where to Now Here, written over the past

thirty years, form the major part of the book

and represent an impressive canon of work,

which includes the lyrics of some of the well

known songs we have heard Michael Da

Costa sing on so many occasions of sahavas

and celebration on three continents.

“He’s the winking eye in the pyramid on

a green one-dollar bill, He’s the moment of

deep silence when the evening stands still,

He’s the groove on the centre of a little white

pill, He’s the gust of warm laughter at the

top of a hill.”The Performance Pieces present a selec

tion of hitherto unpublished work — five

scripted vocalisations for live performance,

two ofwhich were included in the first Brit

ish Baba albums produced by Pete

Townshend in the early 1970s. It was here

that I discovered one of my favourites, The

Kiss and the Stone.Herancientboclysettiesitseifinits wrinkles

on thegroundroundabout where theneem tree

rises; age-dimmeci still-gleaming eyes focus on

passers-by and those who come to seek her bless-

ing; indifferent to the sun and the leafy shad-

ows on her face or the water when it dr4s and

swirls around her skirts in rivulets, she waits;

patience comes easy to those who know theyha ye

nothing to lose, at the appointed nioment He

will come, she knows.”The GarlandofEgos (Ego I - Ego VII) is

also, in a sense, a performance piece, but it

readsjust as well silently, in the way one en-

joys reading a book of poetry. And the guf

faws are there just the same, sometimes as

chortles of recognition, sometimes as sharp

intakes of breath at the bullseye honesty of

this self-analysis.“And you must have noticed how I’ve

begun work on developing the divine quali

ties which you say are essential for spiritual

growth; for instance, I’ve been polishing up

my patience and persistence; and then there

is moral courage, forbearance, cheerfulness,

enthusiasm and equipoise - I like that word,

so I’m especially working on my equipoise -

so that one day I may have the peace of a

frozen lake.”That is quoted from Ego V- My qualifY-

cations for God-realisation.Wicked!The last section, A toZ celebrates the A

to Z of Baba’s alphabet board a sequence

ofverses arranged alphabetically to make you

smile and to make you think!x for Xenon: “ Xenon is a chemical

element; a colourless, odourless gas. Just

imagine out there somewhere there is an

unsuspecting drop-soul just embarking on

its mightyjourney from nowhere to nowhere

which thinks it is xenon/We may smile.. . but

then who do we think we are?

Right at the back ofNowhere to NowHere

is a bit about the writer that tells us our au

thor is ajazz clarinetist cum counsellor/psy

chotherapist, a role Michael himself might

well describe as an “absurd but necessary part

in his drama of creation. “ The jazzman is

there in the riffs and rhythms of the verse.

Echoes of the counsellor/psychotherapist

also come through in much of the writing,

in the questioning, the dialogue and the re

lentlessly honest self-examination. But it is

always lightened and refreshed by the child

within, the sense of fun, the consummatewordsmithery! Who else would rhyme sea-shorewith kneessore? or refer to a spiritualJaundromat? How easy it is to go along with

a poet who speaks of steppingstoneshewn outofstumbllngblocks and who speaks in terms

of “The muscles in my neck tell well howlittle yet I have learned to trust.”

Michael Da Costa has given us all a treat

in gathering together the assortment of workthat makes up this book. It has been a task

spread over several years which has involved

a small and very industrious team of people

in Norwich, England. Through it, Baba willsurely extend His outreach to many who have

not heard His name before. I leave the last

word to the author.“So all I can do is to try my best to be

true to the trust he has bestowed in me, to

be a trustworthy custodian of that knowl

edge, and to trust that he may at least give achuckle now and then at my feeble efforts

to entertain him.” Jai Baba!

Nowhere toNowHere, published in the U.K

1999. Paperback, 175 pp, $10.

ilydo no! lovc ijour Rcn1 ..Sc1fasLjod,

so jiir alsc self inakcs qon feel had.

lilic froiii (1 gllazal iiirittcii b1_)1/11

_./VtCI1C1’ btitti

MeherBaba as Krishna byMei]era Makeig

I

Over the Years wfthMtherBababy Bill LePage

Review by Pris Haffenden, Los Angeles

er The Years With Meher Baba isanother delightful book written by

Australian Bill LePage about hisexperiences with Meher Baba and HisMandali.

This book is split into 7 major sections Sunrise, wherein he likens Babato the sun “As in that moment whenthe Sun seems suddenly to go below thehorizon, so in one moment He was stillwith us, still shining, stillbeckoning. . touching our hearts withHis ever-flowing love and His ever-joy-ful invitation to the dance and thenHe slipped away. “ ; Meher Baba’s Presence, _where he talks about the placeswhere Baba’s Presence is most keenlyfelt - “ . . .in certain places associatedwith His life on earth, the perfume isthe strongest. “ ; The Jessawala Family,where he relates stories told to him byEruch Jessawala about his family’s his-tory, and their coming to Baba; StoriesFrom The 1970s, a series of vignettesfrom notes taken while listening to stories told by the Mandali and othersduring visits to Meherabad and Me-herazad in the 1970s; Some LettersFrom The ‘50s And 60’s, letters sent tohim from Mani and Francis Brabazonin the 1950s & ‘60s; Meher Baba andMiracles, a few tales of unusual hap-penings with Baba’s close ones; MeherBaba’s Journeys, tales of the Blue BusTours, Mast Tours, and New Life Tray-els with Baba; Prophet Mohammed,some of Bill’s favorite stories and quotesrelated to the Prophet Mohammed -

“He who knoweth himself knowethGod. “ ; and the final section, Life At ItsBest, some of Bill’s favorite sections ofthe now Out-of-print book.

I spent an extremely pleasant after-noon with this book. I really like thestyle of Bill’s writing, and I appreciatethe fact that he took notes during thosetimes, and shares these jewels with us

Over the Years with Meher Baba,published by Meher Baba FoundationAustralia. Paperback, 129 pp,$$ Copy-right 1999 AMBPPCT.

The UniversalPrayerby Will David

Along time Los Angeles resident WillDavid, now living in Myrtle Beach, has

published a book of his illustrations to theUniversal Prayer. He has shown these paint-ings - 76 in all - to friends all over the world.At the urging of many, and with help fromSheriar Press and other ‘angels’ it now comesto you as a 6” x 8” full color, glossy paper,book. Each page illustrates a phrase of 0Parvardigar. Daniel Ladinsky, author/translator (The Gift, Penguin USA) had this tosay about the book: “Some prayers are soprofound and beautiful that God cannot resist leaning his ear close, so close that thelashes on the soul’s eye burst into flame andyour spirit finally claims every square inchof space upon your body, earth and sky fieldas sacred. If you have never known this experience - and want it - don’t forget thisprayer at night, and remembering with every step whoever your Beloved may be. Andif the chance to know ecstasy and lovethrough prayer wasn’t tempting enough, youhave some wonderful art here, such playful,luminous, expansive paintings that as Hafizsays of true art, “lifts the corners of themouth.”

Alexandra Marks, correspondent for TheChristian Science Monitor (and Baba lover)says: “The Universal Prayer, with it’s clarityand force, speaks for itself. Will David’s play-ful illustrations highlight God’s delight andhumor” . Don Stevens felt it was“Spontaneous. . . intuitive. . . effervescent...”

You can see Will’s work atwww.willdavid.com. The book is availablefrom The Love Street Bookstore for $18.50.

Music Notes

Jerry Edwards and

The Ancient One Bluesby Shirla Edwards, Myrtle Beach

In the early 1980’s, at his first Gatheringfor Meher Baba, hearing a variety of mu-

sicians, Jerry Edwards wondered ifjazz andblues were appropriate at a Baba performance. But because to himjazz always has aspiritual dimension, he risked writing andsinging the “Baba Blues.” This song in a humorous manner catches the spirit of TheNew Life: “A thousand miles from nowhere,

no money and nothin’ to loose, ifyou can behappy, you’ve got the Baba Blues!”

The first piece on the album, “BlackNight”, (as well as the later song, “Mani’sGone Blues”) is about someone feeling bad.The music actually cries, enabling him towork through feelings, until he gets to the“Sunny (Baba) Side OfThe Street”. The album is a selection of the traditional bluesand love songs, all played for Meher Baba,“Avatar with a sense of humor.”

Joining Jerry in many of the numbers areother Baba musicians with whom he frequently plays at the Meher Spiritual Centerin Myrtle Beach, in Meherabad and at Gatherings. Bobbie Bernstein, a versatile keyboardand vocalist professional in her own right,moves easily from happy stride piano tomarimba calypso beats to the pounding tem05 of the title song, “The Ancient OneBlues” . Paul Newman, who played harmonica with Jerry during the summer of ‘98at House of Blues, demonstrates his talentas a truejazz musician as his harmonicas talk,laugh, even wail through riffs or solos. Herehe joins Jerry in the haunting “Someone toLove” and “Reincarnation Blues, “ a songwritten by Jamie Newell. Chris Barker, per-cussionist, often played with Jerry whenChris lived in Columbia, S.C. but now livesin Nacogdoches, Texas where he is professor of Geology. It seemed improbable thathe could be recruited to help with this album, but one day he appeared unexpectedlyat Meher Spiritual Center and was able toattend several recording sessions. His livelyand sensitive use ofdrums, brushes, eggs, andother percussion highlight the rhythmsAmbika Sharan, a classical musician who hasplayed first seat with symphony orchestrasand chamber groups in the United States and

20

abroad, demonstrates her skill with a haunt-

ingjazz flute interpretation in “I Only Have

Eyes For You,” first played with Jerry one

morning at the Samadhi.

The Making of

Ways to Attain the SupremeReality

by Jim Meyer NC

The great Sufi, Laura Delavigne, first in

troduced me to the poetry of Malcolm

Schloss shortly after I moved to Myrtle

Beach, S.C. in 1969 to work as a caretaker

at the Meher Center. I was immediately

drawn to the poetry’s profound simplicity,

musicality and “right-ness. “ Around this

same time, Bob Brown began putting some

of these poems to music, and his manic en-

thusiasm, unbridled talent and unique de

votion were instrumental in inspiring me to

do the same. Our first collaboration was

“First and Foremost”— the initial poem in

Ways to Attain the Supreme Reality. Our

friendship and professional musical associa

tion (as “Brown & Meyer” bar room duo)

lead to many musical interactions over the

next 25 years for which I will always be grate-

ful.When my family and I moved to North

Carolina in 1996, I had given melody to a

dozen or so of Malcolm’s poems, but it was

only in 1997 that I began exploring, in depth,

the possibility of putting all of Ways to At-

tam the Supreme Reality into a complete

musical form. As soon as this idea took hold,

melodies began coming together with Un-

common ease, a sure sign to me that Baba

was turning keys and opening doors for its

completion. After all, it was Baba who corn-

missioned Malcolm to publish his master-

piece, and it was Baba who compared

Malcolm’s collection of poems to Hafiz. To

me, Ways to Attain the Supreme Reality is

one of the most important books of 20th

century poetry. Within a year, all 36 poems

were resolved musically, and I started to look

around for a studio to record them. Here’s

where the story becomes interesting.

My wife Emily and I had opened a health

food store, “Wildflowers, “ in the small town

of Spruce Pine, NC. (pop. 2,200). One of

our customers was Bill Szyrnczyk, producer

of such legendary performers as Santana,

The Who, B.B. King, J. Geils Band and The

Eagles just to name drop a few. He and his

family lived about ten miles away in the

mountain village ofLittle Switzerland. After

our families become friends, I asked Bill if

he could recommend a local recording studio

that would be suitable for an “extremely

esoteric, non-commercial project of 33

songs” that I’d been working on for 25 years.

He replied nonchalantly, “Why don’t we do

it in my home studio ? It’ll be fun!” And it

was definitely the most fun I’ve ever had in

a recording studio. Bill is the consummate

professional, an absolute master of his art,

and a stone rock n’ roller to boot! He enjoyed

stretching my musical sensibilities and

preconceptions. I remember the first time he

played back to me a rough mix of the

recitation, “The Real Self,” on which I play

overdubbed acoustic dulcimers to a drum

program. Bill warned me “ Don’t get too

excited by what I’ve done. Baba made me

do it!” By running the recordings through a

series of his “ hocus-pocus” machines, Bill

created a remarkable unique sound that, at

my first listening, scared me half to death,

but is now one of my all-time favorites. On

several occasions for other songs, Bill told

me “Baba made me do it!” and even though

he said it with a bemused smile, I’m certain

both he and I believed it. He and Baba

worked well together.On another occasion, we were recording

songs with a local musician who, besides

being a friend of mine, was also a very con-

servative Baptist minister. (How Baba got

the Reverend Matthew Stephens to be a part

ofthis recording is a separate story in itself!])

Bill enjoyed Matthew’s bass playing and at

the end of the session said, “That was the

most fun I’ve ever had with a Baptist minis-

ter!”Bill worked tirelessly and selflessly to give

the project the kind of professionalism that

I could only dream about. After he had

mixed all 33 songs, he personally carried it

to a mastering lab and spent another ten

hours nursing it through its final stages. In

all, the project took one year to complete.

A week after the CD was being printed

and pressed, I felt compelled to give Bill a

framed picture of Baba that Baba had also

touched. Bill appreciated the gesture, say-

ing he would put it in his studio. Then he

said, “You know, I had a picture of Baba in

my car for ten years. Pete Townshend gave

it to me saying it was better than a St.

Christopher’s medal!” Imagine...

There is no doubt in my mind that Baba’s

nazar was on this project from start to finish

and it was a blessing to be a part of it and

I’m certain it will be a blessing for all who

hear it. And now, on to Hafiz!

Heavenly PleasuresMeher Baba

I the heaven state the fulfillment of de

sires is not, as in the gross sphere, de

pendent upon having the object of desire.

Fulfillment of desire comes merely

through thinking of the object desired. For

example, if a person wishes to hear exquis

ite music, he experiences this pleasure

merely by thinking about it. The imagi

native idea of exquisite music becomes, in

this state, a substitute for the physical

sound vibrations in the gross sphere. The

pleasure he derives from the thought of

exquisite music is much greater than the

pleasure he derived in his earthly career

from the actual hearing of physical soundS.

In the heaven state there are no obstacles

between desires and their fulfillment; the

pleasure of self-fulfillment through

thought or feeling is always at hand.

In fact, even in the earthly sphere of

existence some individuals develop this

capacity of making their pleasure indepen

dent of possession of a gross object.

Beethoven, for example, was completely

deaf; and yet through the exercise of

imagination alone, he was able to enjoy

intensely his own compositions of music.

In a sense, even on earth he might figura

tively be said to have been in the heaven

state. In the same way, a person who medi

tates on the Beloved with love derives

happiness merely through the thought of

the Beloved, without requiring His physi

cal presence. After death, in the heaven

state, the enjoyment of such imaginative

fulfillment is infinitely greater since con-

sciousness is then unburdened of the out-

ermost veil of the gross body.

From Discourzes, by Meher Baba, Copyright1987 AMBPPCT, Published by

Sheriar Press.

‘Baba andMel]era in Hea yen “by Wodin,

21

Dma Snow

Talent runs deep in the Morton family.Charlie was the artist Mehera chose to

paint a portrait of Baba to fill the north win-dow of the Samadhi, replacing the black andwhite photo that had been there for manyyears. He spent many years painting, repaint-ing, touching up, and retouching it to achievethe perfection Mehera was looking for.

Meanwhile his sister Diana was makinga name for herself working with lucite, creating sculptures on commission for largecorporations here in Los Angeles. Some ofher works can still be seen in theBonaventure Hotel in downtown Los An-geles and the Marina City Club in Marinadel Rey. From sculpting, she moved to draw-ing and sketching portraits in pencil andcharcoal.

And who better to use as a subject thanthe Beloved of the Morton siblingsMeher Baba. From drawing, she progressedto oils. This was a radical step since Dianawas born with a condition in the cones inher eyes that made it impossible for her toever see in color! The world to Diana hasalways been in black and white. How then,you ask, can she paint Baba in such true colors? I asked her this question and she toldme she feelsthe colors. Something quite be-yond my comprehension, I can only standin awe looking at her magnificent works.

Her painting, in glorious color, gracedour cover (alas, only in black and white) forthe July 1999 issue. Before painting the 5’x7’canvas, she sketched eighteen separate portraits of Baba as He gestured different words.

These smaller portraitssurrounded the largecenter close up of Babain the famous Shhhgesture of finger to lips.Diana had the preliminary pencil sketches reproduced in a 12 x 16format and they areavailable for only $20each or $ 100 for a set of6.

When speaking tous about her work shesays: “Although I have been painting Babain oils for years, it has always bothered methat I hadn’t had professional instruction.And living in Woombye, Aust. not New Yorkor Paris, made me think that help was out ofthe question. But I felt Baba knew how muchI was trying.

In June 1998 I had an ‘open studio’ justbefore the celebrations for the Anniversaryof Baba’s visit to Avatar’s Abode. One of thefirst to arrive was Wesley Pemberthy, asprightly octogenarian who walked in,looked around at my artwork and said, “Iknow exactly what you need to know”! Ididn’t know him and I was both amazed andskeptical at first, but sure enough, he was aprofessional restorer of fine paintings for gal-leries and private collectors as well as an artteacher. He subsequently spent hours in mystudio showing me the techniques of theFlemish and Venetian Masters and he con-tinues to be a source of great informationand encouragement. Thank you Baba!”

For sale in the Love Street Bookstore arepaintings of Diana’s that look like originals,but when one sees the caliber of the workand then sees the $55 or $90 price tag, onewonders how they could possibly be originals. Diana tells us: “I’ve always been awarethat original artwork is too expensive formost people. Even though I am willing toaccept any terms, just so that a painting canbe enjoyed in someone’s home, it can still betoo expensive. I had some nice prints madeof pencil drawings, but I never knew whatto do about reproducing paintings.

Colour prints werejust too costly for me.Then one day at the Queensland Art Gallery

I saw a print that looked like a small oilpainting ofthe original. I made inquiries andfound that a woman living in Brisbane,Catherine Palmer, had developed atechnique that enabled reproductions to bemade on artist’s canvas at a very reasonableprice. The finished product is fade-resistant,scratch-proof, water-resistant, will last thelife of the canvas, and finally looks like anoil painting!”

We are very happy to be carrying herpaintings. We found not only is she an extremely talented artist but is also one veryinventive lady! She told us: “Recently Ilearned that the 30 finalist paintings in anAustralian $100,000 portrait competition -

the Doug Moran Portrait Prize - would betouring all Australian capital cities duringthe year 2000. The idea of Beloved Bababeing seen all over Australia really excitedme. But one of the requirements is that thepainting has to be of a living Australian. Sowhat I am doing is: a portrait of myself work-ing on a Baba painting in my studio withBaba seated beside me gesturing about thepainting. I feel so happy working on this thatit does not matter to me if it is one of thefinalists or not! I’ll enjoy seeing it in my studio every morning.”

We feel sure Baba is enjoying her senseof humour and somewhat devious plan.Whether He wants His portrait to be seenby thousands all over Australia remains tobe seen.

An Interview WithDiana LePage

Diana LeFage with one ofiier cliarcoalprtraits ofMelier Baba.

:.4;;

‘%

Mthera byDiana La Page

22

Children’s Corner

cD Spill the Soda

0 Why would you like to drink that soda,

when you could be dancing with the Beloved?0

O Do you think all that carbonation would beworth the same as being with God?

00

Those bubbles need to be popped!So spill the soda!

Who cares if it’s a liter?

Even one liter of your favorite soda

would not be worth one negative googleplex

of a second of being with God!So spill the soda!

Story and drawing by Francesca Cole, age 6

0The feeling of all those bubbles

bursting upon the tongue

is at the bottom of the rank. QGod is at the top!

Who cares if it floods?Even an ocean ofyour favorite soda

would not be worth

the shortest time in the universe with God!

So, spill the soda!

,>s bg*1 k)P1S b7

- / , . w,, ê /,

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Castles in Heaven

palace?” But he replied,“

Palace? Which palace?Here is my palace, here isthe dome of my palace,” hesaid, pointing to the sky.They realized that some-thing had gone wrong withthe emperor’s mind, andthey were unanimous intheir decision that hisyounger brother and wifeshould now be king andqueen.

The emperor continuedtO wander the city, beggingfor food, indifferent to hiscondition. He was familiarly known now as Bahiul,and soon people forgot thathe had been the king nd hebecame the butt ofjokes - an object of teas-ing by the children. Yet the wife of Bahlul’sbrother, now the queen, always maintaineda soft spot in her heart for Bahiul, and nevereven considered that he had gone mad.Rather she respected him as somebody whohas been struck with love for God.

The years passed. One day the queen wasstrolling along the seashore with her ladies,and she came upon Bahlul playing in thesand. He was sitting there, scraping the sandwith his hands into a huge pile, and thenbrushing it aside and then scooping it backtogether again, chuckling all the while tohimself. The queen was drawn to talk tohim. “Bahlul, do you recognize me? Do youknow who I am?”

“Sure, I know who you are. You’re theempress of this kingdom.”

“What are you doing, Bahlul?”“Oh, I am very busy. I am building castles

in heaven for those who deserve them.”“

You are building castles here?”

by Eruch Jessawala

“Yes.”“

Do I deserve one, Bahiul?”Bahiul looked at her a moment. “Yes,”

he replied.“Will you build a castle for me, then?”

promptly took it off and gave it to Bahlul.He looked at it and then, laughing as hedid so, he tore it apart and threw the gems,one by one, into the ocean. After throwingthe last jewel into the sea he looked up ather and said, “Now go. It is all built in heavenfor you. Go.”

The empress and her maidens went hap-pily off and enjoyed themselves on the sea-shore. It never occurred to the empress thatshe might have done something wrong. Toher it wasjust a simple necklace of preciousstones, that’s all. She forgot all about it. Butafter a few days the king noticed that hiswife never wore the necklace anymore.“Don’t you like the necklace I gave you?” heasked her.

Suddenly she remembered the incident.“Yes, I liked it, but I gave it away,” she con-fessed.

“Gave it away! To whom did you give it?”“Bahiul.”“What! Bahlul, that madman!”

“Yes, he asked for it, “ and then she related the whole episode.

The king was furious, and a good verbalfight ensued between the two. He tried toimpress upon her that she had no right togive the necklace away, for it did not reallybelong to her but to the kingdom, it waspart of the royal treasure. She replied thatone little necklace didn’t matter. And be-sides, what harm had been done? Bahlul,after all, was the real emperor, and he wasentitled to the necklace if he wanted it.

As you can imagine, one word led to an-other and eventually theybecame so angry with eachother that they stoppedspeaking entirely Dayspassed and neither would

;‘_ , say aword to the other. Un-til one night, in the middleof the night, the king had aterrible nightmare. Hetossed and turned on thebed, moaning and calling

,: out loudly, obviously in greatdistress Even though she.was still upset, the queen’sheart melted and she took

1 pity on her husband and

-‘ woke him up He came towith a groan drenched in

,

perspiration. “Oh, what anightmare I had!” he ex

claimed. He sat up in bed and recountedthe dream.

I still remember Baba’s gestures soclearly as He went into all these details.The way He would turn His face aside toshow how the queen refused to talk to herhusband. The way He acted out the partof the husband, having a nightmare andthen waking up trembling. I can’t give youthat vivid picture that Baba gave us of allthis, but I am giving you the gist of thestory, the food, as it were, without thespice, the seasoning.

“I dreamt, “ the king said, “that I wasdead and was led through the gates ofheaven. For some time I wandered around,enjoying the sights, but gradually I beganto grow tired and longed for a place tosettle down. There were many castles allaround, but each time I tried to enter one,the owner would stop me, saying, ‘This ismine. ‘ Everywhere, every time, it was thesame story. I grew more and more tired. I

There was a certain emperor in Persiaand his kingdom was extensive. He

ruledjustly, peace prevailed, and his subjectswere very happy. One day, without warn-ing, the emperor took to the streets of hiscapital, instead of sitting on his throne.

For a time the courtiers and officials tookit as a capricious whim, but days went by she asked.and the emperor continued to wander the “Sure, but you will have to pay the price.”streets. They began to suspect that there “What price?”might be something wrong. He pointed to a necklace of precious

They went to the emperor and requested gems she was wearing. Although it was anhim, “Sire, Will you not now return to your heirloom given to her by her husband, she

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24

No More Roamingbecame despondent and finally evenfrightened. When would I ever find myown place?

“

I came to yet another castle, but as Iapproached, a window opened on the firstfloor and I saw your face. I was so relievedthat at last I had found my own castle. Irushed up to enter, but as I did you stoppedme and said, ‘Here, no one can share a castle.Each to his or her own. ‘ And so I was leftoutside once more. The experience was terrifying. Nowhere was there any place for me.And that’s when you woke me.”

The queen comforted the king, helpedhim to calm down, but then reminded him.“Do you remember what happened lastweek?” She couldn’t resist giving him a littledig. “You were so furious with me that I hadgiven the necklace to Bahlul when he of-fered to build me a castle in heaven in exchange, but now see!” But the king was toomiserable for the queen to enjoy chiding himso, she relented and suggested, “Why don’tyou ask Bahlul to build you a castle inheaven? He is your brother, surely he willdo it for you if you ask.”

The king readily assented, and Bahlulwas brought to the palace. He was given agood scrubbing and then adorned with royalclothes and made to sit opposite the throneof the king. “Bahlul, do you recognize meand this lady here?” the king asked.

“Yes,” BahIul replied, “you are mybrother. You are also the king and the ladyis your wife, the queen.”

“Do you recall, Bahlul, that you said toher on the seashore that you were buildingcastles in heaven for those who deservedthem?”

“Yes, that is what I do all the time.”“

Do I not deserve a castle in heaven?Would you not build one for me?”

“Surely I can do that, but you will haveto pay the price.” Bahiul answered.

The king immediately took a string ofpearls from around his neck and handed itto Bahiul. Bahlul merely looked at the kingand said, “What else?” The king added an-other necklace but again Bahlul replied,“What else?” The king added more andmore jewelry but BahIul remained unirnpressed and kept asking, “What else?” Theking took of all his jewels, and even sent tothe royal treasury for some particularly finepieces, but Bahlul’s answer never varied,“What else?”

Finally the king burst out, “Why is itthat my wife gave you only one necklace andyou built a castle for her, but with me youkeep asking for more and more, saying,‘What else?’ Why is it that my castle costs

so much more than her castle?”Bahlul laughed, “Even ifyou were to of-

fer me the whole ofyour kingdom, it wouldnot be enough.”

The king was dismayed. “Why? Whathave I done?”

“

You know the worth of a castle inheaven, “ Bahlul replied. “ On the seashoreyour wifejust took my word that I was build-ing castles in heaven. Whatever price Iasked, she gave immediately. She did notbargain, nor did she give in a calculatedmanner. But here, now, with you, there isbargaining, because you know the worth ofwhat you’re seeking. Even ifyou were to partwith your whole kingdom it would not beenough. Part with the kingdom and withyourself, only then may you have your owncastle in heaven.”

Here Baba finished the story and commented, “Do you all realize what this storymeans? When I first asked you to leave everything and stay with Me and obey My or-ders, you did so without knowing what youwere doing. You were drawn to do so, andyou willingly parted with all the things youhad in the world in order to be by My sideand to live with Me. But you did not knowthe worth of what you were doing.

“But there will come a time when theworld will know of Me, who I am. Then,even if the emperors of the world want topart with their kingdoms to be with Me,that price will be too little. The little priceyou paid to be by My side was enough forMe, because you did it not knowing whatyou were doing, but trustingly relied on Myword without giving a second thought towhat you would gain by doing so.”

That is why we sometimes tell all of youwho come how lucky you are to come nowwhen it is only love which brings you. Theday will come when the whole world willrecognize Baba. When people will be flock-ing here. When so many will come to Baba,but why will they come? They will come ina spirit of bargaining, to get something outof it. Even those who are sincere will have ahard time keeping such motives out of theirmind, for at that time it will be to one’s ad-vantage to come to Baba, it will be good forone’s business, for one’s reputation to haveit be known that one follows Baba. So it isgood now to be able to come to Baba whenthe only incentive is love.

From TJiatHowit Was, by Eruch Jessawala,Copyright 1995, AMBPPCT Ahmednagar,

MS., India. Published by Sheriar Foundation.

by Judith Garbett

J ust before we left to go down to the Pugrim Centre for lunch, Mansari said, “If

you are not tired I’ll tell you one morestory.”

Two thousand years ago a Jew spat onJ esus, but instead ofbeing angryjesus saidquietly, “Until I come again you will haveno place to stay.”

In 1947, Mansari continued, Baba wassitting on His gadi -- she couldn’t remember the month. He was looking very sad,and said “Now you will be no more roam-ing.”

Four days later Kitty brought thenewspaper and read out to Baba, and allof them there, that Israel had been givento the Jews. Thus God fulfilled His word.

From Lives ofLove, The Women Mandali ofA vatar Meher Baba, by Judith Garbett,

Copyright 1998, AMBPPCT.

Ego is Hydra-headedMeher Baba

The ego is hydra-headed and expressesitself in numberless ways. It lives

upon any type of ignorance. Pride is thespecific feeling through which egoismmanifests. A person can be proud of themost unimportant and silly things.

Instances are known, for example, ofpeople developing their nails to an abnormal length and preserving them, despitemuch inconvenience to themselves, for noother reason than to assert separatenessfrom others. The ego must magnify its at-tainments in grotesque ways if it is to livein them.

Direct assertion of the ego throughself-display in society is very common; butif such direct assertion is prohibited by therules of conduct, the ego has a tendencyto seek the same result through the slander of others. To portray others as evil isto glorify oneself by suggesting a comparison -- a comparison the ego would will-ingly develop, though it often restrainsitself from doing so.

From Discourses, by Meher Baba, Copyright1987, AMBPPCT.

25

Excerpts from the Palace Chat with Bhau KalchuriAugust and September, 1999

/Although these two excerpts are from monthsago, the last Centuiy in fact they cover subjectsofinterest to inanypeople, so we felt it valuable

to publish.!

qWhat is your advice on asking for ad-

vice from the Mandali?hau Mandali members are not God.

They can on’y tell you what they have experi

enced and what has happened to their lives.

They don’t know everything. They can only

say how they were leading their lives. And it

is, I think, sufficient for you. So it is not ad-

vice, but it is how they were living their lives

for the Beloved. No one has any right to give

any advice. Of course we are not fit for that. It

took many years to experience the fact that

we are ignorant; but the ignorant ones, what

they have passed through, may be the example

for others.

Q How do you let go of anger when you

are feeling it?Bhazt We are not stone, so it is natural

that one feels anger. If it is not expressed, it is

a great thing. But if it is expressed, then Baba

has given the prayer of repentance. Just do it

and forget it and don’t worry. When you do

the repentance prayer, then know well that the

Beloved has forgiven you. Then there is no

room for worry. But if you still worry, then

worry! It means you don’t have belief in His

forgiveness

Q It seems to me like I’ve heard you say

repression is not a good thing. . . and we

shouldn’t worry. . why is repressing anger, (if

repression is not good) , ok?Bhau Repression and suppression do not

help. On the contrary when you suppress and

repress any desire, for the time being those

desires are not expressed. But then they

become very strong, and then it becomes very

difficult to control them; so what should be

done? One has to remember the Beloved; and

the remembrance is not repression or

suppression. Go on remembering Him, and a

time will come when those desires of anger

will become weaker. But, all of the sudden, if

you get angry and you say, “Oh Baba!” And

the anger becomes more, you think that Baba

is not helping you, but it is not so; His Help is

there. Lust and anger, they are desires which

are very, very strong; and it is not easy to control

them. Only His Love can give you strength

to wipe them out. Repression and suppression

are not required. Elimination is required. And

elimination of desires one can achieve through

His remembrance; through His Love. We

were with Beloved Baba. We passed so many

years alooffrom the world. So in the begthningwhen we came it is not that we had no desires

and no thoughts but now I say that not even

the thought of lust or desires is left. And of

course we did not feel how this desire

disappeared; it is His grace; it is His love. It is

His compassion that it happened. We never

asked Him to please make us free from anger,lust, greed, and selfishness. We never asked.

Without asking He has done; and that is the

natural way.Don’t worry. He is in everyone. He is the

strength, so you have to remember the

strength, so why remember the weaknesses?

Ifyou remember the Strength, weaknesses will

be gradually wiped out. And He is the

Strength within everyone; that active strength.It is His work to make everyone pure, and He

has to do that work; so why worry? Eat well

and sleep well, and don’t worry about anything.

Know well that you belong to Him, and He

belongs to you.

Q I am trying to love Baba. When I am

with Baba lovers, Baba seems to be close. But,

when I go out with other groups, I have a

doubt that Baba may not be God. It is a

struggle for me. Sometimes yes, sometimes

not. Did you, Bhau, have these questions?Bhau:God alone exists and nothing exists

besides God. And whatever appears existing,

it exists in non-existence. Such questionswould be asked of Baba, and I’ll give you an

example: There was a person who would come

to Baba when he would have his vacations.

One day he came and Mandali members were

there and Baba asked him “Shaum. . do you

know Me?” And he said “Yes Baba, I know

You.” And Baba looked at the Mandali members and said, “These people are with Me for

the last 30 to 40 years and they don’t know

Me. But how fortunate you are that you know

Me. “ There is another example: There was a

political leader. He was a member of parlia

ment. His son was a minister in the cabinet.

He was a very literary person; he wrote many

books about God. But when his son died, he

was weeping, and then he heard about Meher

Baba so he came to Baba. And Baba says:

“Why do you weep?” And he said “Baba, my

son died whom I loved very much. I don’t

know who You are but I have come to You

because people told me that You give peace.”

Baba said, “Is there anyone who knows Me?

To know Me is to become Me; so why do youworry that you don’t know Me? Only five Per-fect Masters...They know Me. Others theydon’t know Me; so don’t worry. But your sonhe is with Me.” And the man said: “I see myson in You, but when will I get him back?”

Baba replied: “You can see him in Me, so what-

ever I say you must listen; why do you ask whenyou will get him back? You must feel happy

that he is with Me.” Mind creates doubts, and

if mind does not create doubts then HE willcreate doubts! Don’t worry because He has to

clean. Everyone has doubts. You are not a badperson; don’t worry about that. You will be-come strong and be free! If He is Reality...

active Reality...what is His work?To clean. He

says “I embrace the saints and the sinners. Sin-

ners are My liability and saints are My assets;

and My business is to convert the liabilities

into assets. “ That business He does. So why

do you worry? He is for all and even if youdon’t want any help from Him still it is His

duty to help you. Not that help which you

want, but that help which makes one

desireless... that is His help.

Q Isn’t the cobra story about expressing

anger?Bhait Yes, Baba has told this story. There

was a village in India in ancient time and the

village was surrounded by sugarcane fields, and

there was a very narrow path leading from the

village to the city. But there was a cobra who

lived in these sugarcane fields. So when people

would pass by, the cobra wouldjump out and

bite and run away. So people became very very

scared and they would go in a group with sticks

in their hands. But the path was so narrow

that only one man could go down at a time

with their sticks. The cobra was so smart that

it would come from this side and that and bite

and bite. So many people died. One day the

cobra realized what he had been doing and he

was repenting. Fortunately, a perfect master

passed down the path. The cobra approachedthe perfect master and it told him that, be-

cause of his bite, so many people had died.

And he requested the perfect master to for-

give him. And the perfect master said: “If you

stop biting...then I will forgive you.” And the

cobra said: “Yes master, I will not bite any-one.” And the master said, “I will wait for 15

days. I will see whether you have stopped bit-

ing. I will come back again after 15 days and

if I find that you did not bite anyone, I will

forgive you. “ So the cobra went away and hid.

26

Days went by and as the villagers passedthrough they did not see the cobra anywhere.So they thought he must be sick and that waswhy he was not biting. “We must find himand punish him” they said. So they startedsearching for the cobra with a stone in eachperson hand, and after a while they foundthe cobra. And they said “Stand here andthrow the stones at the cobra and then run,otherwise the cobra will bite us.” So they didand they ran away. And the cobra was verymuch injured. On the 15th day the master cameand he saw the cobra was in a bad way and hesaid to the cobra: “What happened to you?”And the cobra said: “Master you asked me notto bite anyone so people threw stones at meand I got injured.” And the master said: “Youfool! I asked you not to bite but did I ask younot to hiss? Why did you not hiss? Had youdone so, they would have not thrown a stoneat you!”

So this hissing is not anger. It is the showof anger; it is not the anger. It is the show ofanger in order to make them scared. Whenyou are hissing, you are just showing you areangry for protection. You are not angry, justshowing it.

Q Have you experienced total happiness?Bhatt Thais a very good question. I have

not experienced total happiness because I havenot experienced total suffering. If I experiencetotal suffering and total pain, then I will enjoyBliss, which is above happiness. In order toexperience Bliss, one has to experience infi—nite pain. And that pain one experiences whenthere is longing for the union of God. Yourheart longs to be united with God. Then, onlythat pain takes you to God and it gives youBliss.

Septenber, 1 1999

Q Why do I feel so lonely, even with Babapictures on the wall? Why is my desperationso strong?

Bhari Dear one, you feel lonely becauseyou forget that the Beloved is with you. Andif you remember Him, you will never feellonely. As soon as you feel lonely, you remember Him. Know well that without separation,union is not possible. So, ifyou feel separationfrom the Beloved, it is good for you. There islonging in your heart. So feel more and moreseparation! One day you will be united withthe Beloved. What a gift you have receivedfrom the Beloved. What a gift you have received from the Beloved that you are feelingseparation.

Q Can you tell a story about Baba in relation to Steve’s question?

Bhau There are so many stories about theseparation. There was one lady from DehraDhun. She wanted to see Meher Baba. Andshe would write a letter every week and Babawould say, “Wait” and “Wait.” And it so hap-pened, that there was sahavas program in 1958at Meherabad. And she came. First day, Babawould meet every lover individually. And sheof course approached Baba. And Baba immediately asked her, “How did you come here?”She says that, “I came with my maternal uncle.”And Baba said, “Did you ask your husband?”and she said, “Baba, my husband is deadlyagainst You. He does not want me to talk toany Baba lover or to read any Baba book. So Iwent to my maternal uncle and he broughtme here. My husband does not know.” AndBaba said, “I am not happy about this! Whydid you come here without the permission ofyour husband? I am with you. So now go back.”And she started weeping, and Baba said toher: “I will allow you to stay here on one con-dition.” Baba asked her: “Have you got my pictures at your home?” She said “Yes.” And Babasaid, “Remove all the pictures.” Then againBaba asked, “Do you have any books aboutMe?” And she said, “Yes.” And Baba said,“Remove all the books. Don’t meet any Babalovers. Don’t go to the Baba Centers. Don’twrite to Me. And don’t come to Me. Ifyou doso, I will permit you to stay here for seven days.”And she said, “It is difficult for me, but I willdo so.” Baba says, “Ifyou do so, I will be veryclose to you.” And she agreed, with a heavyheart. It happened in 1958. And she had nocommunication with Baba. She would not goBaba Center in Debra Dhun. She would notmeet any Baba lover. She had removed all thepictures and books. And we did not hear fromher any more. And any Baba lover also didnot inform us about her, because she wouldnot meet anyone. Then, in 1984, I went toDelhi. And because there was some time, Iwent to Debra Dhun to meet Baba loversthere. And when I went to the Center, shewas standing at the gate of the Center. And Ilooked at her, and I said to her that Baba hadgiven this order for your lifetime and why doyou come here to the Center? And shelaughed, and she said, “I know. But that wasmy mother! My mother does not come here,arid she is following Baba orders hundred per-cent. But do you know what has happened tomy father? My father comes to the Center!He reads Baba books! And he has kept Babapictures in his room! And he says to mymother, ‘Please, you go to the Center. You keepBaba picture in your room. You read Bababooks. And you go to Meherabad every year.’

And my mother says, ‘Beloved Baba has givenme the last instructions. I cannot disobey fulfilling His promise. He’s coming closer andcloser to me. So now you don’t disturb me!”So, this is the story about separation. Whenyou feel separation, you are closer to union.So feel happy!

Q I feel people very overwhelming attimes and I wonder why?

Bhau In the domain of illusion, sensitivity is there. And we feel sensitivity because weare dealing with our senses! But ifwe love theBeloved, or if we remember Him and keepHim in our heart, then of course, sensitivitywill diminish gradually. It will not be like amiracle, immediately. It takes time because wehave collected sensitivity for ages, and for thatpurpose, we must wait and wait in His remembrance. And one day you will be free.

Q I was wondering if you had any inter-esting recollections ofBaba helping you writeghazals, or of Baba helping Francis Brabizonwrite ghazals? I know Baba gave you somelines to work from. Did He do the same withFrancis?

Bha,i Baba helped me as well as FrancisBrabazon in writing ghazals. Francis did notknow a word of Persian. Baba would ask Alobato recite a couplet from Hafiz, arid Baba wouldtranslate it into English. And Francis wouldfeel very, very happy. And he got longing towrite ghazals in English. So every day it wouldhappen: Baba would translate the coupletsfrom Hafiz, and Francis would get more andmore longing. Then Baba stopped translatingthe couplets. Aloba would recite, and Babawould say, “Sublime! Hafiz was reallymatchless. “ And He would not translate thecouplet in English, and Francis would feeldisappointed. But Baba started doing it everyday. He would not translate and He wouldsay: “There is no equal to Hafiz. His writingis sublime!” And Francis would boil inside,because he would not understand anything.One day when Baba asked Aloba to recite onecouplet, and he did, and Baba says, “Oh, it issublime!! No poet is there in the world likeHafiz.” And Francis would not look at Baba!He had lost all his energy! He also lost hislonging, and he became very desperate. AndBaba looked at him and He said to him,“Francis, ask anything today, and I will give itto you.” So he says to Baba, “If you want togive me something, I want only one thing fromyou.” And Baba says, “What is that?” AndFrancis said, “Don’t mention the name ofHafiz any more!” And Baba laughed.Afterwards, when Baba went for lunch,Francis went to his room and he wrote a very

27

good ghazal. And when Baba returned in theafternoon, he says to Baba, “Baba, I wrote avery good ghazal.” And Baba says, “Read itout. “ And when Baba heard it He said,“Francis, read it three times, because I want tomemorize it so that, after 700 years when Icome back, I will quote you and not Hafiz!”And then Francis started writing ghazals inEnglish.

Baba taught me ghazals in a different way.He asked me to write ghazals, and I said toHim that, “Baba, ghazals can only be writtenin Urdu or Persian and not in Hindi.” AndBaba said, “Try!” And I tried, and I wrote ahundred songs; I employed different meters,and Baba said, “ These are songs and notghazals! But you have written a very goodsong! I will teach you, one day, how to writeghazals. “ So then we went to Guruprarad,Poona, and one night, when it was very, veryhot and the doors and windows and ventila—tors were closed, Baba asked me to listen prop-erly. He gave me one line of ghazal, and Hewas playing the drum on His thigh. And Heasked me to repeat that line according to therhythm He was making on his thigh, and Iwas repeating and repeating for half an hour. Iwas perspiring and Baba was perspiring and Isaid to Him, “Dear Baba — stop it! I don’t understand anything!” And He asked me to con-tinue. And I continued for halfan hour. Again!And I did not follow anything!! And again Isaid to Him, “Baba, I don’t understand any-thing! Please stop! You are perspiring.” StillBaba said, “Continue!” So then I continuedfor 15 minutes. And then I told Baba, “I can-not understand. Please now stop!” And Babasaid to me, “You are useless! Go and sit there.”And Baba was lying in His bed and still Hewas playing the drum on His thigh. And Iwas thinking, “What type of nut I am. Babatook so much trouble for me and I could notfollow anything.” And I felt as if the breezewas coming and immediately Baba got up, andhe said: “Compose.” And within five minutes,I composed a ghazal. And then He would beafter me to write ghazals, and I would writethree or four every day. Sometimes He wouldgive me lines, and I would compose the ghazalsin this way. I started writing ghazals and still Idon’t know how I write. Ifyou ask me how towrite ghazals, I cannot explain. But I do write.”

Q Are all the translations Baba made ofthe ghazals by Hafiz published?

Bhart Baba’s translations (of Hafiz) werenot published because Baba would quoteHafiz, sometimes, when he would conversewith the people. And His conversations withthe people were not taken down by anyone.In certain cases, when Baba would give adiscourse, at that time someone would take

down and quote Hafiz with translations; butit happened very rarely. Mostly, during Hisconversation with the people, He used to quoteHafiz or Kabir. Kabir was also a Perfect Master.In earlier period He would mostly quote Kabirbecause people would be able to understand.And in later periods, He would quote Hafizand rarely Kabir.

Q Do you have suggestions as to how bestto receive newcomers?

Bhau Only suggestion is: receive themwith all love. We talk about oneness and itwill remain only talk if we don’t receive new-comers with love. Our Beloved embraces thesinners and embraces the saints, because Heis them. So we should not forget this fact. Buttry to do it with all heart, and not throughintellect. Just to show oneness. We must feelthat oneness.

Who is a Baba Lover?by Allan Y. Cohen

I is very difficult to define a Baba lover.There are no formal or external criteria for

followers of Meher Baba, no ceremonial mi-tiation, no fee to be paid, nothing to sign, nomembership cards to receive. No formal vowsare taken to join the Baba family. No rituals,customs, or dress is required of a Baba lover.There are no mandatory readings, meditations,or meetings. There is no required formalpreparation, nor are there “tests” for member-ship. Nothing in a persors past necessarily disqualifies him or her from being regarded as aBaba lover.

As for internal criteria, some might arguethat only a handful of real Baba lovers loveand obey him as he should be loved andobeyed. Others might contend that thousandsofsincere, selfless, God-loving individuals whonever heard of Meher Baba are more trulyBaba lovers than some self-proclaimed follow-ers. Both statements are probably equally valid.But let us focus on those who consciously as-pire to some relationship with Meher Baba.Perhaps the most that can be said is that suchBaba lovers exist along a continuum based onthe quality of their love, obedience, and corn-rnitment to Meher Baba as their Master andGuide. Possibly the true mat-k of a Baba loveris the quality of his life, will and heart. Evenso, these inner qualities do not confer externalstatus, for Baba discouraged his lovers fromjudging and criticizing each other.

Those who have tried to dedicate their livesto Meher Baba constitute a tremendous van-ety in race, religious background, nationality,age, educational background, and personalitytype. Some would be called eccentric; others

would be seen as ordinary people. Baba neverquashed variation in personal expression;rather, he stressed the increasing conscious-ness of unity.

Undoubtedly, there are sincere devotees ofBaba who would grate on the reade?s nerves,and others who provoke justifiable criticism.But all seekers have problems with their ego,Baba lovers being no exception, and Baba specializes in bringing weaknesses to the surface.Recalling his statement that one of his pnimary tasks is to “improve the vicious, “ we mustalso allow for the additional possibility thatBaba might draw to him souls consideredsomewhat unsavory by other teachers. Al-though a new follower of Baba can generallyexpect Baba lovers to exhibit spiritual growth,absence ofsaintliness does not invalidate Babamethod. As a Master, Baba was more con-cerned about his disciples’wonking to slay theirpersonal ego than with building their publicimage.

From The Masteiy OfConsciousness, Compiledand edited by Allan Y. Cohen, Copyright 1977

by Ira G. Deitnick, Published by HarperColophon Books

An Absolute ScoundrelEruch Jessawala

For long periods Meher Baba did not pen-mit anyone longing to meet Him to Me-

herazad where He lived. We always pleadedwith Baba to allow His lovers this permissionbut the result would always be the same. Theywould be called only when Baba wanted themto come and I could never understand this.

One day however, Baba permitted a certam man to visit Him. This person expressedexcessive devotion to Baba and pretty muchenacted a show in Baba presence. In my heartI could see through the entire act since I knewthat the man was an absolute scoundrel, but Idid not mention anything to Baba.

The man came on several occasions afterthat and each time he effusively put on an actof love and devotion which to the onlookerssmacked of play-acting. Finally when I couldnot take it any more and the visitor had left, Itold Baba that the man was a thorough scoundrel and that he was merely putting on an actof love and devotion.

Baba simply said, “Yes, I know he does.You are looking at only his shadow, but I seehis substance. He may be a scoundrel but hehas the potential to be a neal lover of God.

“You see him as bad, but you don’t knowhow far he had to come to be only this bad.”

From TheAncient On by EruchJessawala.Copyright 1985 Naoshenwan Anzar. Pub-lished by Beloved Books

28

Excerpts from a Talk Given by Kusum and

Kusum: Baba Was a Neighbor inDehra Dun, 1953.

be passing by and they would look at eachother. Eruch or Dr. Goher would be carryingan umbrella to provide shade for Baba. Babawalked so fast they were almost running. Father said, “He is so beautiful. Why is he run-ning? He could walk on air.’ According to theirsect ofHinduism, they believed any god couldfly or walk on air.

In great-grandfather’s time they had anestate. Later all the land was nationalized, but,in that time, anyone passing through the estate would be given free lodging and food,because Hardwar, which is a holy place, was20 miles away and pilgrams were always go-ing that way. So father had seen sadhus andhe said, “Baba is not like them.”

on the 7th of September, 1953 Baba gavethe “Highest of the High” message in DehraDun. He gave the Master’s Prayer on August13, in Dehra Dun in 1953. (“The Prayer ofRepentance” also had been given there manyyears before) . Father was confused about“Highest of the High” message and told mybrother and me to explain each and every wordto him. Father translated the Master’s Prayerinto Hindi. While it is difficult to rememberin English, in Hindi it is in rhyme. The translation was published in Me/icr Fukar magazine. It was also sent to Baba and Baba likedit. He said it was very beautifully translated.

My father asked Baba, “Can my wife cometo see you, Baba?” Baba said, “She can comealone. “ Father said, “She has never gone any-where alone, Baba.” Baba said, “She may bring

her maidservant. “ So Kusum mother camewith a maidservant who sat apart from them.Baba said, “Why do you cry?” So she told thewhole story of how her daughter had died inchildbirth. Baba said, “Don’t blame yourself.It was all Divine Will. I can bring your daughter back to life,” she said, “Yes? Can you really

bring her back? But she’s ashes.” (The Hinduburial ritual is to burn the corpse.) Baba said,“Don’t worry, even someone who has beendead for 200 years I can bring back. It is nothing to Me.” (One must remember that, in thattime, things like this were considered possible.Today, young people are not able to believethings like this.) She was 45 then. She be-lieved. Baba said, “You will see her in yourdream, and the next day she will come. “ Babaknew she was sad, so Baba did not tell hersomething like “life is illusion” when all shewanted was consolation.

Mother used to write to Baba, “When willmy daughter be coming back?” Baba said,“Love me more and more. “ Even when Babawas in seclusion, Baba called the family toHim. One could see a change in mother. Shestarted to sing songs. She ate better and lookedhappier. One day, when Baba was in Guru-prasad sitting in His chair, and Kusum’s family was gathered there, He said to mother, “Areyou happy?” Mother said, “Yes.” Baba said, “Doyou love Me?” She said, “Yes.” And Baba said,“Do you want anything?” She said, “No, Baba.”And finally, Baba said, “Not even your daughter?” The answer was, “No, Baba. “ Later, whenback at their hotel, I asked my mother, “Whydid you say that? Every year you’ve been writ-ing” Mother said, “I was just so happy. I don’tknow.”

Mokham: How I Came to BabaI was sort of hesitantly taken to Baba. It

happened something like this. Baba had in-vited people from various cities from India.Each area of India could come visit for twohours, for a total of two days. One was not toask any questions, not to bring any gifts, just.bow and move on. When I heard about it Isaid, “What is this invitation?Just go? I’m notgoing. “ Kusum wrote to Baba, “Please write apersonal invitation so I can get Mokham togo. “ Baba sent a telegram. We live in a verylarge house, where once delivered, the mail isopened and then distributed. The telegramcame and it was opened. It read, “Don’t worry.,, . If you can’t come this time I will give

Ioccasion for you to come some othertime So I was released and not

i-.,,, .pleased. I wanted a private communica

.

tion./ So I came. Kusum had brought a,

perfumed handkerchiefwith a flower init. Baba accepted it and expressed realpleasure at receiving it. Later, I said, “You

-

are disobeying your master’s own in-

I structions.” I said, “Well, this is funny.The disciple disobeys the Guru and He’spleased?” We were staying at Pune Club

I and were at breakfast. There came aknock at the door. I said,jokingly, “Babais calling you.” At the door was Badas

who was near to Baba, but not a Mandali. Hesaid, “Baba is calling you. Come at 11:00. Nota moment sooner, not a moment later. “ I said,“Baba Lccalling you!” The reason Baba wantedus there is that the train bringing theHamirpoor group of Baba lovers met with anaccident. The front of the train was on oneside of the track and the back end was on theother side, except for Baba lovers’ car. It wasstill right on track. All trains were stopped.The Baba lovers were poor, so Baba broughtthem the rest of the way by bus, and gave aspecial darshan. They were singing and dancing, saying, “Thank you for saving our lives.”We were sitting there quietly.

At that time, I was reading books by RonHannigan, Chariots ofthe Gods and Was GodanAstraunaut?In them he tried to prove thatthere were pre-civilization extraterrestrial be-ings visiting earth who we called gods. I saidto Kusum, “Ron Hannigan said god camefrom another planet. Why don’t you ask Babawhich planet He came from?” And she replied, “Why don’t you ask Him?” Finally shesaid, “Baba, my husband says You come fromanother planet. Will You please tell him whichone you come from?” Baba said, “I don’t be-long to any planet. All planets belong to Me.”Now, I thought, even the kings of countriesdon’t say “the country belongs to me.” Theysay ‘1 am from such and such a country. I be-long to such and such a country.” At thatmoment I sort of switched railway tracks.

Mokham SinghTranscribed by Gary Nedzweck, NY, edited by Clea McNeely, MN

B

aba had taken up residence two housesaway from our house. God was our

neighbor. Baba stayed in Dehra Dun for 5ev-eral years. This was the fiery-free life, after theNew Life.

I was a teenager. Our family was go- ‘,. r . ‘

______‘

“

ing through a tragic period my older ‘55

sister had died one month earlier. Motherand the whole family was upset. A friendof mother’s named Prakash told her, “Go .

and see Baba.” Mother said, “No, allpeople like that, they’re really after money.I don’t believe in God, or else why didHe take my daughter?” And she wouldn’tgo. There was a century tree nearby, andmy father said to my mother, “Come see.Its blooming is very auspicious. Comeand see. “ Mother said, “What do I care?”But he finally convinced her to see it, andeach time they would arrive, Baba would Hariy Thomas on Tabia ivith Mokharn andKusum Singh

29

Announcements from MeherabodeIt must be something in the air.

T of the watermelons above haveturned into beautiful baby girls!

Screenwriter Karin Levitas and her corn-poser/singer/cello playing husband Bob Eenjoyously announce the birth of Aria Whitney.She was born at 4.26 p.m. 1 1/22/99 weigh-ing 8lbs, 1 1 oz. and measuring 2 1

Golnaz and Manouchehr ManouchehrPour tell us that Mehri was born at 7.59 am.10/8/99 8lbs 5 oz. and measuring 20’.

Mehernoush is due later in January.Minoo and Meherose Hamilton, daugh

ter of Baba’s twin nephew Sohrab Irani,brought into the world a happy baby, Babagirl, named Eva, on Dec. 4th. She weighed7lb l3oz.

We welcome the three little newcomersto His world.

Marguerite Poley Goes Home

L ast October, after more than a year inhospitals and nursing homes, Marguer

ite Poley was able to return to the house she’slived in for so many years thanks in largepart to Adele Wolkin and Judy Mangold.Adele arranged to have Judy provide live-incare while Marguerite continues to recuperate from the hip replacement surgery thattook her away from home in the first place.Judy (who is the mother of Flint and GabeMednick and had been living at MeherMount) reports that Marguerite is makingprogress in her physical therapy and maysoon walk again on her own. Bhau Kalchuri,who calls Marguerite the Commander ofBaba’s Army, told her that when he returns

to L.A. next year he wants to seeher “walking like a soldier: left, right,left, right.” Baba willing, Marguerite, still full of fire at 90, may verywell be doingjust that come Bhau’s

I visit.

Welcome home, Marguerite! We allwish you the best. Jai Baba!

Chris Marie’s Estate to Baba

C hris Marie, who passed awayin Baba on July 24th of 1999

had left her personal property toMeher Baba’s work. Her householdfurniture was sold to benefit theAvatar Meher Baba Center ofSouthern California and to help re

publish The Path ofLove edited by FilisFredrick. Chris also left the following itemsto the AMBPPCT: an electric scooter to beused by mandali or pilgrims, as the need presents itself, a computer, printer and scanner,a digital camera, and a boom box with CDplayer.

Chris had also hoped that the sale of herhouse might bring a good donationto theTrust, Meherana, and Meherabode in LA.Unfortunately, there arebarriers that havecome to our attention which will prevent thiswish others from being realized. We thankChris Marie for her very generous wishes.

A Change of Caretakers

K endra and Jonathan Burroughs hadbeen living atop Sulphur Mountain in

Ojai very ably taking care of the legacy leftus by ‘Baba’s Watchdog’ Agnes Baron -

Meher Mount.After a few years they heeded the call of

Myrtle Beach and relocated there. (Leavingpossible earthquakes and heading into positive hurricanes!)

L.A. musician Billy Goodrum with wifePamela and baby girl Annabelle jumped atthe chance to live on the very beautiful prop-erty that Baba declared was His second favorite place in America. They took upresidence December 1st last century and havealready had one work party! They encourage visitors, call first to 805-640-0000 fordirections and times. It is possible to over-night there, but conditions are Spartan. It iswell worth the trip. Ojai itself is a beautiful

place and Meher Mount in all its naturalglory sits high over everything. The Babavibes there are powerful!

Sweepstakes Winner!

The lucky (Baba chosen) winner of theFly to Myrtle Beach Sweepstakes

drawn November 7th was Bam Wright ofRichmond CA. Congratulations Bam! If youhave never been on the Meher SpiritualCenter it will be a special treat for you. It isso very beautiful. The Los Angeles Centersponsors a Fly to Myrtle Beach and Fly toIndia sweepstakes each year as a means ofraising money to help with our operatingexpenses. We do appreciate so very much allyou who contribute to our Center in this way.

Audio Tape Lending Library

D ° you ever find yourself in a ‘dry spell’spiritually? Are you bored listening to

the same old negative news, weather andtraffic reports on your way to work? Wouldyou rather have something inspiring to listen to? Do you need an interesting themefor your Baba meetings? Well, the audio Ii-brary has many interesting and intellectually stimulating discourses on life with Baba.

We have over 150 titles just waiting tobe delved into by inquiring minds. Whatunsuspecting treasures to behold! Don’twaste your time on this tired old world. anylonger. Make your choice to move into thecosmic Baba linkup. Lynne Berry (officialtape walli) is ready to assist you.

For catalog or info write to: AMBCLending Audio Library, c/o Lynne Berry267 Hanover Drive, Costa Mesa, CA92626-6173

Mehernoush McPherson (nee Lorkalantari), Karin Levitas,and Golnaz Manouchelir-Pour (nee Lorkalantar/)

30

by Lois Jones

2111 those who Jove Me and want to sharein My work can do so. “Avatar Meher Baba

JaiBeloved Meher Baba! 1999 has been a

very full year. In January we changed theweekly meeting time to Sunday afternoon. Wealso completed the conversion of three build-ings that now serve as the Teen Room, theKitchen by the Garden and the Office, creating more space for everyone. Since we changedthe meeting time, there has been a markedincrease in activity at Meherabode. So manynow enjoy quietude in the Dome, walking thegrounds, or simply “hanging out” from themoment the gates open in the early afternoonuntil closing. We look forward to the day whenwe have enough volunteer docents to open theCenter every day.

We were fortunate this year to have thesespecial guests visit and speak at Meherabode:Robert Dreyfus, Irwin Luck, Jeff Wolverton,K.K. Ramakrishnan Kusum and MokhamSingh, Jal and Dolly Dastur, and Bill andPeggy Stevens, among others. Don Stevensvisited twice and recently conducted a two-day seminar on God Speaks. Having editedGod Speaks and translated it into many lan-guages, Don selected “Working with Baba’sWords” as the theme of the seminar whichdrew friends from as far away as Arizona andNorthern California.

Much to our delight, Bhau Kalchuri returned as our special Sahavas guest. As hap-pens when Bhau comes to town, there was awhirlwind of activity - lively meetings andinspiring talks, TV interviews and Internet“chats!” Several newcomers attended Bhau’spublic meeting at Meherabode.

We have also had as our great fortune thisyear a very special Sahavas guest from Iran,Esfandiyar Vessali who, as a young boy, livedwith Baba in His Prem Ashram. Esfandiyaris on an extended visit to Los Angeles whichmeans there have been many Farsi languagemeetings enriched with his love and stories ofbeing with Baba. Luckily for all, he has alsogiven talks that were translated into English.

We had the pleasure of Virginia Ruddlong overdue return visit to the L.A. Sahavasthis year. Her stories ofmeeting and being withBaba touched our hearts and tickled our funnybones! Now that her son, Raphael, lives inL.A., perhaps she will visit more often.

Another first at the L.A. Sahavas was theBig Concert, which featured our very own LosAngeles recording artists: Deborah Ash,

Michael Campagna, Bob Een, GeorgeGerdes, Billy Goodrum, Chris and PrisHaffenden, Raphael Rudd, Harry Thomas,and Rob Thornburn.

Now, on to the financial segment of thisreport: Just when you thought your pocketscouldn’t bear another fund raiser, we have goodnews! Shortly after the L.A. membershipvoted to postpone further renovations until allof the money has been raised, two extremelygenerous, anonymous donors came forward.Thanks to their combined gifts totaling$63,000, the Center’s mortgage was reducedto $20,500 in November! One of the donorsalso gave approximately $13,000 towards therenovation. Thank you, Baba!

While monetary contributions are greatlyappreciated, we are very thankful to everyonewho has contributed their energy, time andtalents to Meherabode this year. Thank youto everyone inside and outside of Los Angeles for helping to create and maintain thiswonderful place where Meher Baba’s messageof Love and Truth can be shared by all whocome here.

by Linda Zavala, LA

After two years of detailed and consistent work for the Center’s Renovation

Project, the Transformation Committee hascompleted the Design Phase with the Architect, David Kaplan. Final blueprints have beencompleted and approved by the Building Department and the Center is now at the point

of being ready to build. Additionally, theBoard ofDirectors will present the final Con-struction Budget to the Membership injanuary for their approval. As of this date there is$65,000+ in the Building Fund, with someadditional funds expected soon.

Transformation Committee membersNancy Merwan, Mahoo Ghorbani, GolnazManouchehrpour, Mahmoud Ajang, KentHanson, Lois Jones, and Co-Chairs LindaZavala and Michael Ramsden have workedvery hard to attend to the many issues anddetails which had to be dealt with in a timelymanner. Construction issues, style and design issues and dealing with the City unexpected additional requirements have been dealtwith. Countless hours have been spent on thephone with Kent Hanson, who is the GeneralContractor for this project, chasing down themany questions which have come up on the

prop osecibookstore\ proposed

\\\ bathrooms

.

_

, resent—p . !. bookstore:—-

l)uilding issues and running around to shopsto gather more information to present to theCommittee. The Decorating Committee, ledby Chairman Nancy Merwan, worked for thelast nine months to finalize details of the Design and have decided on a color theme whichrelates well to the rustic look the Member-ship have chosen as a basic theme.

A Craftsman style has been chosen, tobe compatible with the building period andto satisfy the City Historical Commission.Thankfully, new volunteers with a lot of con-

struction and building experiencehave come forward this year to helpus reduce the expected budget downto an even lower amount. The Corn-mittee also has plans to try to obtainpartial donations for materials fromvendors.

There arejust two more things todo before we have a beautiful, corn-pleted Baba Center: raise the balanceofthe funds needed, and complete theconstruction. It is only through yourdonations that we can accomplish allthis. Thank you so much to all whogive of your time and money.

What’s Happening at MeherabodePresident’s Report

Report from the TransformationCommittee

.-,,,,,-,

. . ,

/// ‘.

?•• :/i• /

NancyMerwan, DavidKaplan (architect), Linda Zavala,and M[ichael Ransden discussing color schemes.

Don Stevens at Meherabodeby Dma Snow, Los Angeles

Last year Don presented us with a greatoffer. He said he would come over to the

States arid give a seminar on God Speaks for

the Meher Spiritual Center and for us here in

Los Angeles.He would do this completely

free of charge to Myrtle Beach orto us, and the fee requested of theattendees for the 2 day seminarwould be donated to therenovation of Meherabode andthe Meher Spiritual Center.

Such a generous offer! Need-less to say, we jumped at it!

Don told us that he has beenworking on the translation of GodSpeaks into Spanish and Frenchfor the last two years. In the pro-

cess he found new meanings toBaba’s words that he had missedthe first (and even third) timearound. “Perhaps it was greatermaturity” he mused, that enabledhim to catch and plumb newdepths in this incredibly deepbook.

Whateverit was, Don surely had a lot to

impart to us. I thinkjudging by the buzz that

.was going round in the conversation groups

at the close of the Sunday session, everybodywas very excited about the information and

new insights we had received. We all realizedwhat a privilege it was to have the man who

had had the great good fortune of working

under Baba while editing this most impor

tant of books, here in our home, sharing all

that he had gleaned over the years with Baba.

How wonderful it was to hear the personal

stories, some told at his own expense, of time

spent in the Beloved’s company. In the year

2000 there are sadly too few of such people

left with us to tell these stories.With Don about to celebrate his 81st birth-

day, it is truly amazing to see the vigor with

which he tackles his many projects. The life

he leads, jetting around the world seeing to

the publication of the new books, holdingmeetings in London, Paris and the States and

now headed for South America, would nor-

mally tire a man half his age. Baba obviouslychose the right man for the job! As DickD uman reports in his review of the Seminar,

Don has lost not one whit of his sharpness!The main thrust of Dons work right now

is to see to the publication of the Spanish

language version of the new biography he has

just written - Enseñanzas deMeherBaba. Read

in the Bookstore report how you can help him

with this. And we really do need your help.At the close of the Sunday meeting, there

was definitely the feeling of companionshipamongst the attendees, companionship being

something Don had spoken about at some

length. A cup of tea, a quick break, and then

Don was ready to give the regular 4-6 p.m.

meeting we hold at Meherabode every Sun-

day. He spoke again on companionship. The

man seems indefatigable!Thanks to Don, almost $3000 was added

to our Renovation Budget, we all learned a

lot, and had a jolly goodtime into the bargain.

We would love to haveyou back again Don — any-time. Just let us know when,and we will roll out the redcarpet!

Another very caring andgenerous gesture on the partofDon and the Board of theMajestic Foundation was todonate to our Center a copyof Stay W]th Godby FrancisBrabazon. Notjust any copy,but a first edition that Babasigned in Don’s presenceand gave to him! Baba

signed very few of this book that He calledthe second most important behthd GodSpeaks.

First published in 1959 Francis subtitlesthis book A Statement in Illusion on Reality.

It is a book of prose writtenin six parts as a reflection andanalysis on the human predicament in relationship to humanlove and awareness, and divinelove and divine wisdom, as per-sonified in the Divine Belovedas Avatar. Francis shares hisviews on the many different as-pects ofthe search that the spin-tual seeker finds himselfinevitably drawn to. Francis reflects on his time spent withMeher Baba and the poetic rev-elations he gained through thelove Baba gave him.

Francis, not wanting towrite in a book that Baba hadsigned, wrote on a piece of pa-per that he inserted in the book“with love, Francis”.

This is the treasure that Don

has given us to auction off to raise money for theongoing renovations necessary for Meherabode.

We are flrstlettingpeople around theworld know

that this prize is now available and ifyou are in-

terested you can contact me, or give us your bid,

and then it will be placed in a live auction at our

March Annual Fundraiser Dinner and Auction.

Because of the rarity of this book, Don would

like to see the bidding start at $5000.Once again Don, we thank you for the

overwhelming love and caring you have

shown us.

Don Signs his book for Ray Lee andHaroldJaineson.

32

The Unveiling of GodSpeaks with Don Stevens

I bought my first copy of God Speaksfrom Karl Harb at the Sufism Re-

oriented bookshop on Sutter Street inSan Francisco, in July of 1966. I was20 years old then. Murshida Duceshowed us a closet with shelves full ofcopies which Baba had signed, and Ibought only one, which I sincerelyhope my ex-wife has held onto. Thenext day, July 10th, I met the book’sother original editor - Don Stevens.So, within those two days I met thebook and both of its editors.

Even then, at what seems to menow such a very young age, I camequickly to the belief that the book hadto have been written by someone whohad genuine experience and masteryof the subjects with which the bookdeals. I was equally impressed by theachievements of those who could editthat book so successfully. My observations and evaluation were based onthat.

I was, as Don would phrase it, as-tonished and delighted and amazed.It really was a revelation. I knew eventhen, with deep and unassailable con-viction, that this was for me. I was sat-isfied then and remain totally satisfiedto this moment that I had found mypath.

That was what I got from my firstreading of God Speaks. How much did Iabsorb and retain of its actual details?Precious little. The book went onto theshelf and I didn’t look at it again untilMurshida Duce offered her series of GodSpeaksClasses in 1973.

My studies directly with Don were focused on Baba’s Discourses, which he hadalso edited at Baba’s request, withMurshida Duce. Then Don departed forEurope. But I had developed a strong biasin favor of the Discourses, which has per-sisted over the decades.

It was only when I learned that Donwould offer seminars in the US on GodSpeaks in the fall of 1999 that I decidedto re-read the book.

Don gets better as he grows older.Anyone who was inclined to suspect

that, at 80, he could be expected to haveslipped a little, was thoroughly disabusedof those notions by the seminar presentations. And I’m very happy I got the

By Dick Duman, Denver, Colorado

book back down off the shelf. Don has justseen the publication in English and Span-ish of what I find to be near the very topof the list of his best” books, a highly in-dividualized biography of Baba, titled14 vatar Meher Baba, The A wakener of theAge in English, Enseñanzas de MeherBaba,in Spanish. This is being released prior tothe publication ofDiosHabia - God Speaksin Spanish.

On November 6th and 7th, Donheld 8 hours of seminars in Los An-geles, following his earlier presentations in London and Myrtle Beach.Don stated flatly that he thinks thisis the time when God Speaks will beunveiled. It was clear throughoutDon’s discussions that there are numerous ideas in the book which Ihadn’t seen until Don pointed themout. Many occurred to him recently,in fact, while he was supervising thebook’s translation into French andSpanish.

Among these new ideas, Don illustrated the great harmony which existsbetween Baba’s book from half a century back and the cutting edge not onlyof Physics and Cosmology, as popularly presented in Timothy Ferris’book, The Whole Shebang, but also ofBiology, as represented in Dr. ErnstMayr’s new book, ThislsBiology. Donquoted Ernst Mayr directly regardingevolution and, most especially, the di-versity of life. The diversity of subjectscovered over two days cannot be donejustice by a brief review. Topics rangedfrom the complete relevancy of Baba’sphrase “ Infinite individualized con-sciousness” to apparent irrelevancieslike the spiritual stage and status oflong dead saints and Sadgurus. Itseemed at the conclusion that Don hadlaid out the whole deck of cards and,as he said, “Then I bring up the jokercard and ofcourse thejoker is the Avatar.”

From beginningless beginning toendless end, Don sees Baba’s theme tobe “ The Impossible Success Story”.And Don himself was in top form. Thernraised eyebrows, the good-natured jab,the great voice, the precise turn of.phrase, the glance aside to emphasizea point, all showed Don, in this ora

tion, to be at the peak of his remarkablecommunicative powers, better than ever.The repartee with rapier was exquisite.

I didn’t know allthatwas in there! ButI’ve grown used to Don being way outahead. I believe the people who attendedimbibed something rare and sparkling, anincomparable effervescence. Those manywho didn’t and many close associateswere surprisingly absent from showing

Don Stevensgiving the God Speaks Seminar atMeherabode.

Photo by (.;. del Muerto

Dick Durnan with Don Stevens.

33

support by showing up will just have toread the book themselves.

I wish them the best of luck, in their at-tempts to recreate some of the insights Don

handed out freely in those eight hours. But

they will miss the voice ofJohn Carradine, the

faces and mugging of Bert Lahr, the timing

ofJack Benny, the wit — now ofVoltaire, now

of Will Rogers, and, I believe, some authorityto go with them!

The section on “Inner Links” would behard to get from a book.

Don devoted quite a lot of time to Baba’slast message using the alphabet board, givenon October 7th 1954. Also to companionship

(in the New Life) as an outward expression ofthe inner connections between Baba’s lovers —

those connections which “demand time, cab-ries, patience and honesty”, and which Babasaid at that time, will enable the realization of

Truth.And the details - Don must be the devil,

if the devil is in the details!As it says on page 243 of the God Speaks

“Supplement”: The question of details is all

the more important when a subject is beyond

ordinary human experience. On the one hand,more details confuse one more, and fewer details explain things less. This gives rise to avariety of terms and expressions for use from

. different viewpoints and in different contexts.In the absence of underlying experience, descriptions of the same one thing often soundcontradictory. But in the light of relative experiences or the final realization ofTruth, thevery contradictions prove to he complementary expressions about the same one Truth.

Baba’s Moods1:/h thefoiowihg, takenlivmTales from the

New Life, u/c are listening to a conversation be-tween Don Stevens, EruchJessawala andRano

GayieyaboutBaba. moods.!

Don: But Baba himself had moods, too?Erucli Yes, Baba himself had moods, too.Doiz Often when I arrived you’d say, ‘Baba

has been in a very poor mood for days andwe’re so happy you came because he alwaysbrightens his mood for a visitor.’

Eruth That’s true. We don’t know the reason for his moods, and when he got into amood, oh, it was something, Don, unless anduntil there was something or somebody whocame from outside.

Don: To break it.Rano You feel you haven’t done anything

really to upset him, but you get upset yourself

because you think, well why is Baba upset withme? Then you realize that Baba has some rea

son for wanting to use you as the instrument

on which to vent his mood. Then you try to

be happy in reflecting that, in a way, you are

helping Baba. You’ve got to take it withoutbeing upset, realizing that it’s not really you

that he is angry with, but that he has to let it

out. As I say, Baba has to let steam out on

somebody, so you say to yourself, ‘All right, he

lets it out on me. ‘ But sometimes ifyour mood

wasn’t right you’d get upset.Don: You’d fight back.Rang Yes, and then afterwards realize, ‘No,

I should think how free Baba felt with me that

he could do that.’Don: It’s not easy though.

From Tales ofthe NewLife fr1/th MeherBaba,Narrated by Eruch, Mehera, Mani and Meheru,

Edited by D. E. Stevens, Rick M. Chapman,James M. Hastings and Gary & Patty Freeman,

Copyright 1976 AMBPPCT

Answering Our InnerNeeds

by Don E. Stevens

I is best to state briefly the nature of the

dilemma which modern civilization faces

and some of the reasons for the mass dissat

isfaction with the values available to the

individ- ual in his daily living.Generally, we live in a time when far

more of the physical needs of far more people

are satisfied than in the past. The age of reason has used sound principles adapted to the

analysis ofthe physical environment and has

made astonishing progress in harnessing its

processes. The tangible world we live in is

logically understood to a great degree, and

from that understanding we have fabricated

a material civilization affording unprec

edented comfort.

This is a monumental and impressive

product. True, there is much disagreement

about how it should be shared, but it is in-

deed quite a melon to be cut up and passed

around.As the size of the product of our rational

processes has grown, an increasing realiza

tion has also developed that even, and per-

haps especially, those closest to the easy

sharing in it are by no means necessarily sat-

isfied with the rewards. There is even dis

turbing evidence that often the result is

contrary, that those with the greatest share

of the goods produced are among the most

unhappy. This is indeed a perverse outcome,hardly to be expected after so many eons of

man’s battle to regulate his environment tohis needs.

Nevertheless, the fact exists and it must

be met. Much of the effort to analyze and

suggest cures for this situation is based upon

the unconscious assumption that the rem-edy depends on individual, honest, sincere,

hardworking human beings starting fromscratch and developing the solution. In many

ways this is healthy, but there is much evi

dence that it is not entirely, nor possibly even

half of what is really required. It neglects en-tirely the mystics’ central observation that

this is God’s Creation and He makes a con-tinuing, direct contribution to it. If we be-lieve even part of this tenet of mysticism,then we must make room for the possibilitythat God Himselfknows about this dilemmain modern life and that He too is involvedin preparing the next stage of living whichwill answer, at least in part, our inner needs.

The evidence that this is a correct description of the situation is fairly well established over a considerable period of history.It is increasingly clear that at the time God

came into Creation in the form of Jesus

Christ, a major new potential in the capacity and quality of human love was released.

A similar fundamental leap in the area of

family and tribal law is associated with the

appearance of Mohammed. Understanding

and application of the laws of reincarnationstems from the advent of Krishna. And so

on for the other great comings of God in

human form. In our time the concept, prin

ciples and basic living forms of the New Life

and the New Humanity have been laid outby Meher Baba.

Each of these building blocks in the

structure of human potential has been a

major addition to the already-existing qual

ities available to man in his laborious march

to fulfill within creation the grand structure

of God’s manifestation of His Divinity. Once

placed in Creation, such a potential is never

lost. There is indeed ebb and flow in rela

tion to how efficiently they are used; but as

is true of a great civilization, even after the

temporal decline of that civilization there are

always certain family trunks which continue

to embody and preserve the heights of what

had been achieved.

From Listen, The New Humanity,by Don F. Stevens, Pages 3 - 4, Copyright

1985 by Don F. Stevens,Published by Companion Books

34

Another Successful Turkey Swing!

I wish I could speak like music.

I wish I could put the swaying splendorof the fields into words

So that you could hold TruthAgainst your body

And dance.

I am trying the best I canWith this crude brush, the tongue,

To cover you with light.

I wish I could speak like divine music.

I want to give you the sublime rhythmsof this earth and the sky’s limbs.

As they joyously spin and surrender,Surrender

Against Gods luminous breath.Hafiz wants you to hold me

against your preciousBody

And dance,Dance.

The Gift, Poems by Hafiz. translationsby Daniel Ladinsky, published by

Penguin Books 1999

The night of Saturday, November 20,found the Center swinging (not trot-

ting!) to raise money for the Thanksgivingbaskets our community annually donates tothe poor. An enthusiastic crowd was kepthopping for hours with an eclectic mix ofmusic from the ‘4Os to the 90’s. DJ DannyMaguire saw to that, while Mitchell Roseprovided a swing dancing lesson to get thenight off on the right foot. (Or was it theleft foot?)

A record amount ofover $750 was raised,supplying a hearty turkey dinner and manyother staples and goodies to more than fortyneedy families.

Once again the Service Committeepulled out all the stops: organizing thefundraiser, decorating the Center, providingrefreshments, and then gathering the nextmorning to shop for the food baskets, anddelivering them to St. Josephs Center inVenice. Lynn Maguire, Ten Adams, NancyMerwan, Lois Jones and Radha and RussellDelamarter put in many hours of hard workto insure the event’s success.

Given the fact that “Real happiness liesin making others happy,” all agreed that thiswas one really happy event. The organizerswould like to thank the many people whosent in their donations as well as those whocame to cut a rug - you are very muchappreciated.

IWishICoallSpeakLike Masic

35

Women Mandali in the Early Years:Katie and Goher

On June 25t1, 1923 in Quetta when Babawas 29 years old, Baba had warned the

mandali that the path of the begging tourwould “ . . . contain only thorns!”

It was settled to proceed to Ahmedabadby train and from there to start on foot thejourney to Bombay. Since their starting point

was now changed, Baba had the condition of- begging for food along the way also canceled.It was decided instead to eat only grams

(roasted chickpeas) and parched rice during

the journey. These were bought and packed,and all the baggage was immediately dispatched to the station.

Soon after, the Master suddenly called fortwo matchbox containers and began thread-ing a string through them. He kept one endwith him and gave the other to Gulmai. Heclimbed the stairs to the next floor and told

Gulmai to stay where she was. Through thistelephone, Baba then told her, “As we corn-municate by means of this phone outwardly,

we must be able to communicate inwardly too.We will start leading a fakir’s life fromAhmedabad.”

He then talked to Katie through it andsaid, “I am leaving, but you must go on remembering me. Will you do that?”

And she replied, “How could I ever forgetyou, Baba?” Telephones were not yet in use in

India. Recalling this trick from his childhood,Meher Baba was perhaps heralding the age of

telephonic communication. The telephone wasintroduced in India after 1925.

From Lives ofLove by Judith Garbett

In Quetta, Rusi Irans family became corn-pletely devoted to Meher Baba’s cause. Goher

and Katie were transformed into little moths

so that when the time came, they spontaneously flew into the light of His circle. Establishing His connection with these circle

members was one aspect of His inner workduring his visit to Quetta.

The Beloved is always in search ofHis by-

ers and always appears at the right moment toseal forever the fate of their hearts.

Accepting a kiss from Goher and Katie,and bidding farewell to all, Baba departed on

foot with the mandali for the train station on

June 25th. Rusi, Sohrab, Phiroz Shah andArdeshir Golwalla gave them a grand fare-

well. There were tears in Rusi’s eyes as the train

chugged out of the station. Rusi stood fixed,staring at it; his tears were repeatedly calling

to his Beloved Master to come back soon. Insilence, he received this reply: “I will have toreturn, for I have left the blossoms ofmy Gar

den here. “ This referred to Rusi’s daughters,Goher and Katie.

Nextyear in another excerpt, u react

Meher Baba had been especially attentive

to Rusi’s young daughters, Goher and Katie,with whom he would play games each day.Baba drew them both closer to him by telling

them wonderful stories and making themlaugh. These two girls were destined to be part

of the Master’s circle.

Goher Own Story

Ihave been living with Baba continuouslysince 1947, but I have known Him since

my childhood. I was about six or seven years

old when Baba came to my parents’ house in

Quetta, now part of Pakistan, with some of

the men mandali. Mehera, Naja and Khorshedwere among the women mandali. My parents

had rented the house next to ours for Baba

and the mandali to stay in. I remember Baba

used to serve food to all of us Himself—wewould go to Him with our plates, He would

serve it, and tell us, “You must eat every bit

that is on the plate.”With children He behaved like a child and

played games with us. One was a game of five

fingers—He would hold His fingers togetherin a certain way, and ask us to pick the middlefinger, but we were never able to do it.

At that time Baba was known as Sadguru

(a Perfect Master) , and our friends who folbowed Him used to ask us to say our prayersto Him. Of course we said our prayers toZoroaster, but at the same time we were asked

to pray to Baba.

Childhood V]sIts to Ahmednagar

At times I used to come to Ahmednagar

to my mother’s maternal home for holidays.Most people in the family did not accept Baba

as the Sadguru at that time, especially Sarosh’sfather who was very much against Baba. Therewas a joint family system in those days —

everybody lived together. Sarosh’s family,

Sarosh’s brother Dinshaw’s family (his wife

is my aunt — my mother’s sister), so natu

rally we stayed with them when we came

for our holidays.Sarosh’s father was so strict that he would

not even allow Baba’s name to be mentioned.But also living in the same house were Gulmaiand her son, Adi, who were staunch followersof Baba (Gulmai was Sarosh’s aunt, Adi washis cousin) . Sarosh’s father could not say any-

thing to them, but he was very strict with hisown son. In spite of that, whenever Gulmai,Adi, or my aunt visited Baba at Meherabad,or when Baba came to Ahmednagar toKhushru Quarters, now known as Meher

Katie, photo by Giora Pinkas, 1999

Dr. Goher, photo by Michael Nemanic, 1987

36

Nazar, we used to go quietly to see Him. Naturally He would embrace us, kiss and play withus, but we were told we must not mentionBaba when Sarosh’s father came home.

But that old man was very cunning. Hewould bribe us in a way, with sweets or some-thing, and gradually got out of us whetherBaba had come to the house and who metHim. As children, sometimes we would blurtit out. And then he would create a row, demanding to know why we had met Baba.Gradually as we grew older we had more sense,and understood that he did not like us to meetBaba—but we would still meet Him quietly.

From our childhood days Baba was like ateacher to us. He played with us and was likea loving father to us, but at the same time, aswe grew up He gave us strict orders how tobehave in life.

LivingIn Quetta

I think it was in 1931 that we were get-ting several earth tremors in Quetta. We hadlived in tents for nearly six months, and whenwe came back to live in our house it was notin a very good condition. Baba came that yearwith a few of His men mandali — Chanji,Raosahib and one or two others. I was about15, my sister Katie was about 11, and otherchildren were also there. Baba and His menstayed in our house for nearly a month. Heused to play with us. He was very fond of Katieand would call her to His room when all themandali were there and play Carrum or othergames. Once he took us to the cinema.

Baba was very playful, and hadjokes withus. He used to get up at 4:00 o’clock and wouldcome into our room, put on the light, shakethe beds and naturally when we saw Him wewould alljump out. We never felt strangers toBaba because He was so loving and approach-able.

“Thu Become a Doctor.”

One day when I was going out in myGuide costume, Baba called me and said,“What are you going to study further?” I didn’tknow. Baba then said, “You become a doctor.”Since that time it was always in my mind thatI would be a doctor.

Baba Tells Goherc Father to Leave Quetta

At that time Baba told my parents, actually my father, that he should sell up his business, which was a huge concern becauseQuetta, being on the frontier, had a very largemilitary camp of British forces, and naturallythe business included a bar, billiards, a toy shop,a restaurant, confectionery andjewelry shops.Baba said he should sell the business, he would

get a very good profit, and he should leaveQuetta with his family.

After this warning Baba left, and my father was thinking about whether he shouldsell or not—he had been established there fortwenty years or so. My mother was more onthe practical and materialistic side, and myfather was a more simple person and wouldhave done what Baba told him. But my mothersaid, “If we sell everything and go away, howare you going to bring up all your seven children? There won’t be enough money, and howare you going to start business all over again?”Other friends in Quetta did not believe inBaba then, and persuaded my father not tosell. Two years went by, there were some moreearth tremors at times, and the business wasnot running so well.

HerMother Dream

One night my mother had a dream inwhich she saw a gray-bearded person in awhite robe who said to her, “I am waiting foryou to leave Quetta. Why haven’t you gone? Iwant you to go away, and when you have left Iwant to destroy Quetta.” On waking nextmorning my mother felt this was a warningmessage from Baba. She told my father immediately, and said they must sell the business and go away, whatever happened.

So they started to do that. They sent allseven of us children to Ahmednagar for ourschooling, and stayed back themselves tryingto sell the business, but there were no pro-spective buyers. If my father had sold whenBaba told him to, he would have profited muchby it. Prices went down because of continuingearthquakes, and after two years he sold at tremendous loss—it was just like giving it tosomeone. He would have gotten one lakh ofrupees (100,000) earlier, which in presentmoney terms would mean millions, but in theend he gained only a small fraction of the valuefor the whole of his business.

TheyMove to Ahmednagar

Anyway, he sold it and my parents cameto Ahmednagar, and then Adi’s father, Saroshand his brother all helped him, because Babahad told them that they must get him settledin business somewhere. So my father openeda canteen at Sarosh’s cinema.

And a couple of years after that we heardthat there was a terrible earthquake in Quettawhen 45,000 to 50,000 lives were lost in onenight. Then we all realized that Baba had savedthe whole family from this catastrophe.

But my father did not have that zest tostart all over again in a new business. Mybrothers were still too young, and there was

nobody to help him in the business. Perhapshe did not have enough inspiration for thework, and he did not earn well. We were all atschool in Ahmednagar, and after finishingthere we were sent to college in Bombay.

Goher at College in Bombay

After one year ofstudying my mother toldme, “It is very expensive, I can’t afford to payyour fees. “ I was staying with some relations,at first with Sarosh’s sister, then with my mar-ned sister. My mother felt that in a couple ofyears I would get married anyway, so she saidshe could not afford the fees.

Baba must have come to know about it, orI must have told Him, because He used tovisit our house in Ahmednagar—our familywas now living separately in a small house, andBaba used to visit quite often. Then He toldmy mother, “Let her go to college and I willpay.” After my graduation in the Arts college,I had to join the medical college, but then Idid not have anywhere to live, so again I wasgoing to give up the medical career. Whilestaying with relations I did not have to pay forboard and lodging, but if I had to stay in ahostel it would be very expensive.

Living with Arnavaz’Famii,v

Baba called me to Meherabad, and thatwas the first time I met Chanji. Baba told him,“She has to stay at Arnavaz’ parents house.”Arnavaz and Nargis Dadachanji and the restof the family ofseven children were very young.then, still in school, and their father was notearning much—but I have never known amore contented family, a family full of love. Ihave never seen so much love.

Baba sent me there alone—just gave methe address and said to tell them, ‘I have come.’I didn’t know any of the family. I traveledbytrain to Bombay, went to the house andknocked at the door, which Arnavaz opened,and told her, “I am Goher.” She said, “Yes,come in, come in.”

They took me in like one of their own,and they gave me so much love that I neverfelt I was a stranger but belonged to the family. They were not rich and had only simplemeals, one vegetarian dish in the evening andone in the afternoon. But Bachamai, Arnavaz’mother, would see to it that I had more thanher own children had. And sometimes it usedto bring tears to my eyes because I knew thatmy own mother would never have done thatfor another child.

Baba used to visit their house very oftenas if it was His own house, because there wasso much love there. When Baba was comingBachamai would be so happy, and she would

37

clean the whole house, make preparations

to receive Him, prepare food for Him and

for the mandali whom she would receive

with the same love.Whenever the family visited Ahmed

nagar or wherever l3aba was, I would go

with them. After a couple ofyears in their

house I went to stay in a girls’ hostel, and

Baba gave me very strict orders. No men

must come to visit me, I must not touch

men or go about with them. Baba said I

should write to Him every week, or once

a month, whichever it was, and He replied

to every letter.

Holidays with Baba

Four years passed. Baba said whenever

I had a holiday I could go and stay with

Him. Naturally we were more drawn to

be with Baba than to our own parents’

house, and wherever He was Blue Bus

Tours, Meherabad, anywhere — every

holiday we spent with Him. Once in Ban-

galore there was a question of my mar-

riage. Baba told me, “Don’t worry. You

should not think about it, don’t ever marry.

You have to come to Me after you have

become a doctor. “ So that was always in

my mind, and I knew that Baba would call

me some day to live with Him perma

nently.

Baba :r Sign for Goher

In 1938 during one of the holidays I

went with Arnavaz to Panchgani where

Baba and the women mandali were stay-

ing. I had a very sore throat and a high

fever, but in spite of that I went, and as

soon as we entered the house Baba in-

quired after my health. He was displeased

and said, “You can’t stay here. Go back to

Bombay immediately and have your ton-

sils operated on, “ and He sent me back

the same night. Ever since then Baba’s

sign for me was tonsils—Baba would put

His hand on His throat to indicate the

tonsils—and that was my sign when He

wanted me. Right till the end this was my

sign.During 1938 when I started my col

lege career, my sister Katie joined Baba

permanently in the ashram. She would

write to me about all the activities there

and on the Blue Bus Tours, and Baba

would read these letters, sign them Him-

self, and always sent His love to me.

The monetary question was always dif

ficult for me—I didn’t really like it that

Baba was burdened with my tuition fees

and also the hostel fees which were very

38

expensive, and it made me uneasy.

Graduation

After my graduation in 1944 I came

to my parents’ home in Ahmednagar be-

cause Baba was away traveling. He re

turned before long to Meherazad so I sent

word that my studies were finished and

what should I do. Adi Senior came and

drove me to Meherazad. At that time

Baba was using the room which later be-

came Aloba’s. There was no furniture, no

chair. Baba was sitting cross-legged on the

floor on a small carpet, and called me in.

He said He was happy that I was a medi

cal doctor now and I should come to stay

with Him permanently, and to tell my

parents this.Well, my mother made so much fuss

about it, saying, “I won’t be able to meet

you” and “why should you go perma

nently—you can go and visit Baba when

you like. “ There was such a row about it,

so I wrote to Baba, and He said, “Don’t

come now. “ I felt very hurt and sad, but

knew that I must leave home, and wrote

back to Him, “No, I am coming, in spite

ofmy mother’s protest I am coming.” Baba

was quite happy then and said, “I’ll call

you. So you must be ready whenever I call

you.”After a month or so Baba was going

to Raipur, and He told me to meet Him

in Bombay at Kaka Baria’s house. Baba

with Mehera, Mani, Meheru and myself

all went to Raipur. Jal Kerawala was there

then, and we lived in a separate bungalow

with Baba. A couple of months later Baba

sent me back to Bombay to get more

medical experience as an intern in the

hospitals, and I was there for quite some

time.

GoherJoins Baba Permanently

Finally, in 1947 at Satara, I joined

Baba permanently.

Norma and Elizabeth returned from

America and came to Satara. Norma was

not well; she had a heart disease and high

blood pressure, and Baba told me to stay

in the bungalow with them and look after

her. At the same time Baba told me to go

and work in a missionary hospital as a

volunteer without pay. He also sent me to

a leper colony twice a week to give them

treatment. In the evening we used to visit

Baba and Mehera, Mani and the others

in their bungalow.

From Lives ofLove by Judith Garbett,Copyright 1998, AMBPPCT

Who Are The Mandali?Meher Baba

The mandali are those intimate ones whoare prepared to sacrifice their all for me.

The one who gives his life to Baba, and leads

a life totally under His guidance, who does

not ask for any kind of reward, who does

not care what happens to him— whether he

is ruined or whether he prospers— and who

takes pleasure in pleasing Baba is one of the

mandali.From Glimpses of the God-Man, uI/feher

Baba, Volume V, January 1-March 6, 1954

by Bal Natu, Copyright 1987 AMBPPCT

Ahmednagar, MS. , India. Published by

Sheriar Press.

Surrender ofTheir WillsMeher Baba

The feet, which are physically the low

est part of the body, are spiritually

the highest. Physically the feet go through

everything, the good and the bad, the

beautiful and the ugly, the clean and the

dirty, yet they are above everything.

Spiritually the feet of the Master are

above everything in the Universe, which

is like dust to Him. When people come

to a Perfect Master and touch His feet

with their heads, they lay upon Him the

burden of their sanskaras--those subtle

impressions of thought and emotion and

action which bind the individual soul to

recurrent earthly lives. This is the burden

to which Jesus referred when He said,“

Come unto Me all ye who labor and are

heavy laden and I will give you rest.”

A Master collects these sanskaras from

all over the Universe, just as an ordinary

person in walking collects dust on his feet.

Those who love Him deeply and wish to

share His burden as much as possible wash

His feet with honey, milk, and water

which represent different types of

sanskaras and place at His feet a coconut

which symbolizes the complete surrender

of their wills to Him.

From The Ocean ofLove, by Delia DeLeon,Copyright 1991 Meher Baba Association,

London.

Before Me wasthe Divine Beloved Himself

Francis Brabazon

The Windlaugheda great boisterous laughwhich set the banana leaves

swaying and rustlinglike Hula girls in the moonlight.

Andsaid quietly again:All things in creation

give themselves to me as my instruments.All things except men.

Butneverfeai myyoung, old friendNo matter what smallgod

men set up and worshi eternal,beginningless Being continues to Be.

Endure.Remember that the only thing

that matters is the lovewith which one does what one doewith which one says what one says.

Endure. Endure till the Word of Creationbreaks the seal on its long Silence,

andlsing the new Song to the WordAgainst that time, Iceaselessly seek throats

that willgive shape to my Song

Jam the 1/bice of Godwalking in the evening calling

Adam, where areyou?Why areyou hidingfrom me? —

Then it was only a matter ofwaitingfor theAdvent ofthe Word

And He reached out across the separation thatwas between us andsaid Jam here where I

am, and whereyou have put me. —

Andlasked When. Beloveo willmeetyou?AndHe said In my time — which is the

right time. —

Then one night Ihad a dreamin which I was swimming in the seaand was carried out into deep witer

where Isank.Down and down I went,

until my feet rested on some solidobject which moved to the shore,

andlfoundmyselfsitting naked on the beach.weeping and before me was

the Divine BelovedHimself Meher Baba,smiling

From The Windofthe Word, by FrancisBrabazon, Copyright 1976

Garuda Publications, Sydney

L Poetry Page

Whyis it that Iget the feelingThat any way Icould loveyou

Would be betterThan the waylloveyou now?

For ifllovedyou more,My happiness would be complete inyours,

And thusyou couldignore me allyou wishedAndifyou wisheditso, I would bepleased

01; ifllovedyou less, I wouldn careThatyou seemed to smile more at someone else

Than me.Whyis it that Ialrvays seem to loveyoujust

Enough to be miserable withoutyouBut not enough to be content inyour decision

Th have nothing to do with me?And whyis it that when Ithink back

Upon theyears Tve spent in vain pursuitOfbeing happypleasingyou,

Ifindit has always been thus?That when rty Jove was but a fraction

Ofthe torment it now is, that then tooIfoundIlovdyoujust enough to suffer

But not enough to find surcease.And whyis it that Ihave the suspicion

That it will always be thus?That one has either the serenity

Ofstone untouchedbyfir or the ecstacyOftotal conflagration, and there is nothing

hi between these two extremesBut endless suffering?

And whyis itThat wheneverlaskyou about this,

You can onlylook at me with that

Gaze ofyoursWhich seems to promise infinite

Revelation,While actually disdosing nothing,

Asyou tellme that I would understand thisAndall things—

Ifonlyl wouldloveyou more?From OBeloved by Steve Klein pg. 26

©1983 #22

Thloveis like taking offone. armor

in the middle ofa battleand meeting one beloved

naked on the fieldwhile the carnage

isgoing on all aroundand in each other armsfinding only Paradise

and the protectionofAngels.

Oh, MEHER, sometimes thegreat blue vault ofSky

seems like a beautifully-painted Tea Cozy.And ‘ihi a Little Teapot ‘ all cozy and

comfortedand cradled byi1,bubbling with fresh brew ofLife.

Sometimes Ifeel so enthusedThe only thinglcan do is Dance!

Sometimes Dii soglad Thu made the Creation!What ifThu hadn ?

No one could ever Dance!

All the war andplagues,executions and torture

Ofmyselfin a niillionpast livesAmount to nothing

On a Sunny Dayin Love.

Fiddle,;P1’V Thur Tune!Ti! sashay across the Uniirse,

Doe-See--Doe with every soul Imeet!

Swingyourpartne Everybody!Fronenade. Promenade. Promenade!

Thday Ilook to the far Horizon,Andsee nothing

But sparklingJoy, everywhere!

Max Reif

Painting of Meher Baba, Rocky Rogers Max Reif

39

There was a special sweetness in the airon Meherabad Hill on the morning of

November 9, 1999, as two of Meher Baba’sclose women Mandali were interred near HisSamadhi. The urn containing the ashes ofKhorshed Irani, who had been one ofthe earlydisciples ofMeher Baba since 1922, had beenbrought the previous evening from Meherazad, where it had been kept since her passingto Baba on August 4, 1999. It had been placedin the East Room, where Khorshed had spentso many years with Mehera, Mani, and a fewother of Beloved Bab&s first women Mandali,living such a cloistered life with Baba in Up-per Meherabad.

Before Arti on the morning of the ninth,Khorshed’s urn was carried to Meher Baba’sSamadhi by Dr. Anne Moreigne, who hadbeen both Khorshed’s doctor and friend. Si-multaneously, the urn containing the ashes ofMansari Desai was conveyed by her niece, Dr.

Meher Desai, from her room to the Samadhi,after a briefvisit to Baba’s gadi. Mansari, whohad joined Meher Baba in 1938, had livedcontinuously on Meherabad Hill from thetime that Baba left on the New Life in 1949until her passing onjanuary 12, 1997. She hadcared for Meherabad Hill and Beloved BabaSamadhi with complete focus, which was herhallmark in any service to Baba.

The pilgrims who had gathered for thismemorable occasion had a chance in the earlymorning to offer their last respects to thesetwo special ones in Baba Samadhi. Then at10:00 a.m. all the Meherazad men and womenMandali arrived. After offering prayers andgarlands in the Samadhi and at Mehera andMani’s shrines, everyone gathered under acolorful pandal for the interment. Ted Judsonand his crew had skillfully prepared the twosites on the east side of the Samadhi accord-ing to instructions left by Meher Baba.

Khorshed’s small crypt had been lovinglypainted with numerous flowers by Mira andDarshana Wagh, who had grown up underKhorshed loving care. Mansari’s love for dogsand birds had been humorously expressed inSheila Krynsks painting of her crypt.

Once everyone was gathered, Dolly Dasturtook Mansari’s urn out from Baba’s Samadhiand gave it to Havovi Dadachanji, GuluDastur, Najoo Kotwal, and Dara Katrak, whotogether handed it to Meheru Irani and MeherDesai.

Representing the Meherazad Mandali,Meheru placed the urn in the crypt. ThenKhorshed’s urn was brought from MeherBaba’s Samadhi by Sudam Wagh and handedto his wife, Asha, and daughters, Mira andDarshana, all of whom had loved and caredfor Khorshed. They then brought the urn toMeheru, who placed it in the crypt.

After Meheru sprinkled alittle earth fromBeloved Baba’s Samadhi on each of the urns,they were covered with marble. Meheruplaced a ring garland on each piece of marble,and offered flowers and garlands to Khorshedand Mansari. Meheru then spoke about thelove and strength of both Khorshed andMansari, whom she said had been polishedsmooth like marble by Baba’s hand. She notedthat even during the year of silence thatMansari observed by Baba’s order, her uniquecharacter still shone through, and that just asnap of her fingers would stop you in yourtracks. Meheru said that she had often arguedwith Khorshed in her later years, urging herto have eye surgery to remove the cataractsthat sorely impaired her vision. Khorshed’sconsistent response was that her eyes had seenBeloved Baba, and now she had no wish tosee anything else. Meheru commented thatthe names of Khorshed and Mansari will beremembered for years to come because of theirclose connection with Beloved Baba.

Following these brief tributes, the“Bujawwe Naar Arti” and the “Seven Namesof God” were sung, and then “Nearer My Godto Thee, “ which had been requested byMansari. Several other songs were sung,including “Ishtiaki,” which Baba hadcomposed, and Khorshed and Mansari hadtaught to many of His lovers over the years.A group of youngsters from Meher NazarCompound, whom Khorshed had lovinglytaught numerous Baba prayers and songs, ledeveryone in singing “Baba Bhagawan. “Afterthe Australian Arti, the Mandali and othersgathered paid their final respects to thesestrong, independent women who hadsurrendered their lives and their hearts inloving service to their Beloved Lord, MeherBaba.

Khorshed and Mansari’sInterment

by Judy Robertson, Meherabad

Khorshedi ciyptpainted by Mirn and Darsliana.Photographs courtesy of Bif Soper.

I I

A Pair O’Ducksby Mani S. Irani

I had a little old tin trunk

whichaiways accompanied me

to Meherabad. It was dear to me,

and I was possessive about it. At

home I would tell Mother, “Don’t

touch this. It is mine.”

She would point to it and

say, “ That thing? I wouldn’t

touch it with a broom. “ That

was fine with me.I would keep my most pre

cious things in it. It became a

safe for presents I bought with

my pocket money for Baba and

the women. Immediately after

Mother and I returned to

Poona, I would start looking for

the right presents to take back

to Meherabad. This daily occupation was

a link which kept alive my hope and joy

of returning to Him.

Once I remember buying pretty little

presents for Mehera, Naja, and the two

Khorsheds. That was not difficult. The

great question was, what shall I buy for

Baba? It should be something so very spe)

cial. This kept me occupied all day, every

day. Nothing that caught my eye was right

. enough for Baba.One morning from my pocket money

I bought one paisa’s (one penny’s) worth

of peanuts and munched away on my way

to school. Suddenly I saw a peddler with

a handcart filled with things made of

glazed crockery. I stood there admiring the

articles, wondering if there was something

here I could buy for Baba. There were

dolls, there were animals, and there were

birds. The dolls varied in price with the

size and were named accordingly. The

peddler’s song told us that the littlest doll

was daughter. The next size was daugh

ter-in-law, and bigger still was mother or

aunt. The biggest was mother-in-law.

But I wasn’t interested in dolls. I sud

denly spotted a beautiful pair of ducks

with yellow wings that glowed. They had

soft golden beaks and holes in their heads.

I didn’t know at the time that one was for

salt and the other was for pepper. All I

knew was that they were beautiful. There

was something about them that set them

apart from all t he rest of the things in

that handcart. Oh yes, these ducks were

for Baba. I knew!

So I asked the man, “How much?”

When he told me the price, I found I was

short by one paisa — that one paisa, of

peanuts which I’d had. Oh, did I regret

my greedy time with those peanuts!“

Please, “ I said, “can you make it one

paisa less?”He said, “No, this is the price. You take

it. Ifyou don’t have the money, don’t take

it. Go!”“But I must have it, “ I said. “Please,

please, can’t you make it one paisa less?

Only one paisa less?” But then in those

days one paisa wasn’t so little, you see.

He said, “No, no, no. One paisa only

is my profit. Go. Don’t trouble me. “ And

he started off.I was desperate and kept after the

handcart as he wheeled it away. My little

hands were trying to hold it back while I

continued to plead. My pleas did not seem

to move him at all. Then I had a

brainwave. “Wait, “ I cried, “please wait.

My house is not so far away. Will you

come with me to my house? Then I’ll get

you the one paisa and make up the price.”

When I said that, the man looked at

me as if he saw me for the first time.

Something in my eyes must have reached

him because suddenly he said brusquely,

“All right, all right. Have it for one paisa,

less. “ I have never doubted that the ped

dler had a share in the gift I gave to Baba.

I took that pair of ducks and carried

them home as if they were alive. I put

them away, and every morning before go-

ing to school, I opened my little tin trunk

to see if they were still there.

And when I came home from

school, the first thing I would

do is look inside to see if they

were all right. I would do this

until the day came when

Mother and I were once again

on the train to Meherabad.On myjoyousjourney back

to Him, the wheels ofthe train

sang “Ba-ba, Ba-ba, Ba-ba,

Ba-ba.”When I got to Meherabad,

I gave everybody their little

presents, and then I went to

Baba with the ducks. And you

would have thought, from the

radiant glow on Baba’s face

when He got that pair of ducks with holes

in their heads, that this was the one thing

He had been waiting for. He made me feel

that although the whole universe belonged

to Him, He had been waiting all these

years for just that one pair of ducks. He

told Mehera and Naja that every day when

they prepared His food tray those two

little ducks had to be by His plate, filled

with salt and pepper.

Oh, how thankful I felt that I hadn’t

missed those ducks in the handcart that

fateful morning on my way to school!

From God-Brother By Mani S. Irani,

Copyright 1993 AMBPPCT,

Ahmednagar, India, Published by Sheriar

Press.

A Real CowMeher Baba

The knowledge of Truth as gained

through the established creeds is like the

knowledge ofa town which one gets by study-

ing it on a map. To see and know the town

one has to take the trouble of actually going

there. It is one thing merely to see the picture

of a cow; quite a different thing to have a real

cow and to drink its milk.

In the same way all religious creeds, though

useful for the time being, ultimately must be

replaced by actual experience and the inner

spiritual Path must be traversed before one can

realize the infinite Truth.

From LifeAtltsBest, by Meher Baba, Edited byIvy 0. Duce, Copyright 1957 Sufism Reoriented

‘YZife is a Fair “ (paradox) by Wodin

42

The following is a portion (with minorediting) of the Medical Staff Report for

the February 1999 meeting of the Board ofTrustees of the Avatar Meher Baba P.P.C.Trust. The report was reviewed and endorsedby the Board ofTrustees at that meeting. itis one of many ongoing Trust projects.Thiseffort was begun because the mosquito problem was increasingly affecting the Meherabad estate. The program got off the groundbecause of the efforts of many people, amongthem the chairman, who gave his full sup-port and because of pilgrim donations forthe program.

Mosquito Control ProgramThe mosquito control program has been

in operation for the past four years and wasintensified due to the extremely heavy rainsduring this past monsoon season. Thereseems to be unanimous agreement (amongthose living at Meherabad and pilgrims) thatthe number of mosquitoes has been drastically reduced near all places where peoplecongregate (including the S amadhi,Dharmsala, Hostels, Savages Kitchen, andPilgrim Center as well as the various staffquarters) . This occurred despite the recordrainfall during this past monsoon season andthe persistence of standing water in manyponds around the Estate. Two large lakes andabout 20 ponds were stocked with about 20,000 fish (guppies) or (in the smaller ponds)a bacteria that kills mosquito larvae (donutscoated with Bacillus thurgiliensis) . Theseponds were in front of the hostels, on theside of the new ring road, on the side of theDaund road, behind Meher Pilgrim Centerand behind the very large bund that is adjacent to the New Site.

Since the last report of this committee(Rustom Falahati, Ted Judson and Dr. Gus)several projects have been completed. Thefarsi in the courtyards of the pilgrim centerwere completely dug up and the drainageareas were extensively cleaned and the cement modified so that no water would beable to remain standing. This work was completedjust prior to the beginning ofthis pilgrim season. The entire Pilgrim Centersewage system was inspected repeatedly andmade mosquito proof.

In addition, a number of the toilets inlower Meherabad have been modified andconverted from flap type to water seal type.

Those toilets converted to water seal nolonger require regular diesel treatment.

We have also noted a drastic reductionin pilgrims coming for treatment of infectedmosquito bites and allergies to mosquitobites.

The program has been a success withoutthe use of strong chemicals that are harmfulto the environment. It does require the useof approximately 120 liters of diesel permonth to treat areas of standing water thatcannot at this time be sealed off to preventmosquito breeding. (Efforts are underway tofurther diminish the use of diesel or find alternatives).

Since the beginning of the programRustom Falahati and Dr. Gus (with the helpofJerry Edwards and TedJudson’s staff) haveidentified 70 major buildings or locationswere mosquitoes potentially breed. Withregular inspection (once a week) , regularmaintenance and repair, regular diesel dos-ing (once a month) , we can drastically reduce mosquito breeding. A recent increasein the number of mosquitoes in certain areas demonstrated three sites where maintenance had been delayed, and wheremosquitoes were breeding large numbers.The problems were then corrected. A verypositive response has come from everyoneat Meherabad. However, we need awarenessthat only with continuous inspection andmaintenance can we prevent the mosquitoesfrom coming back. We can keep Meherabad relatively mosquito free by continuingour efforts.

Thanks to all involved in this work fromall of us who go there.

[ No more mosquitos! Yea! ed.]

Iceberg EgoMeher Baba

“The ego is like an iceberg. Ninety percentof it is underwater. As we observe it, the sub-merged begins to move into the light of observation and melts in the light ofawareness.”

A Note from OurTrustwalli

by Lynne Berry, Los Angeles

Iyou’ve been thinking that some time

you’d like to make a love-donation tothe Trust, today may be the perfecttime.

The Avatar Meher Baba Trust runsa firstrate school, provides medical carefor villagers and maintains Baba’sTombshrine and Trust properties. Thereare also beneficiaries of the Trust whoseliving expenses are covered by donationsfrom Baba-lovers. All of these worthyprojects were specified by Baba Him-self, in the Trust Deed. Many of theTrust’s charitable and outreach projectsare seen to by Eastern and Western volunteers.

Some projects, however, require theassistance of paid Indian workers, andas India raises its standard of living, thecost of materials and labor is on the risealso.

Love-donations are also needed forthe ongoing archives project - preservation of the precious articles used andtouched by Baba that mean so much toall of us.

If this appeals to you, please makeyour check payable to Friends of MeherBaba Trust, and send it to: Lynne Berry,267 Hanover Drive, Costa Mesa, CA92626-6173

:‘:t

, 7/A’’ !‘I “ I/

1/

___

F,

43

What’s Happening at Meherabadby Dr. Gus, Meherabad

1!

,,,m#/

ic

3aith is the bird that sinjswhen the dawn is still dark”

7gore•

Humor forHuma

fl/t

The following statements about the biblewere written by children and have not

been retouched or corrected (i.e. , bad spelling

has been left in.)In the first book of the Bible, Guinessis,

God got tired ofcreating the world, so he took

the Sabbath off.Adam and Eve were created from an apple

tree.Noah’s wife was called Joan of Ark.Noah built an ark, which the animals come

on to in pears.Lot’s wife was a pillar of salt by day, but a

ball of fire by night.The Jews were a proud people and

throughout history they had trouble with the

unsympathetic Genitals.Samson was a strongman who let himself

be led astray by a Jezebel like Delilah.Samson slayed the Philistines with the axe

of the Apostles.Moses led the Hebrews to the Red Sea,

where they madeunleavened bread which is

bread without any ingredients.The Egyptians were all drowned in the

dessert. Afterwards,Moses went up on Mount

Cyanide to get the ten ammend-ments.

The first commandment was when Eve

told Adam to eat the apple.The seventh commandment is thou shalt

not admit adultery.Moses died before he ever reached

Canada.ThenJoshua led the Hebrews in the battle

of Geritol.

44

The greatest miracle in the Bible is when

Joshua told his son to stand still and he obeyed

him.David was a Hebrew king skilled at play-

ing the liar. He fought with the Finklesteins,

a race of people who lived in Biblical times.

Solomon, one of David’s sons, had 300

wives and 700 porcupines.When Mary heard that she was the

mother ofJesus, she sang the Magna Carta.

When the three wise guys from the east

side arrived, they found Jesus in the manager.

Jesus was born because Mary had an im

maculate contraption.St. John, the blacksmith, dumped water

on his head.

Jesus enunciated the Golden Rule, which

says to do one to others before they do one to

you.He also explained, “a man doth not live

by sweat alone.”It was a miracle when Jesus rose from the

dead and managed to get the tombstone off

the entrance.The people who followed the Lord were

called the 12 decibels.The epistles were the wives ofthe apostles.

One of the opossums was St. Matthew

who was also a taximan.St. Paul cavorted to Christianity. He

preached holy acrimony, which is another

name for marriage.A Christian should have only one spouse.

This is called monotony.

“Nothing”

rabbi,burdened by the importance of

his work, went into the synagogue to

pray. Falling to his knees, he lamented, “0

Lord, I am nothing! I am nothing!”

Just then aJewishjudge passed by an over-

hearing the prayer was moved tojoin the rabbi

on his knees. Shortly, he too, was crying aloud,

“0 Lord, I too am nothing! I am nothing!”

The janitor of the temple, awed by the

sight ofthe two men prayingjoined them, cry-

ing, “0 Lord, I also am nothing! I am noth

ing!” At this, the judge nudged the rabbi and

said,“Now, look who thinks he’s nothing!”

I The follon/’Ing was written by Danny

Dutton, age from Chula Vista, California. for

his thfrdgradehomeworkassignnient to ‘ExpJain

God 7

O ne of God’s main jobs is making

people. He makes them to replace the

ones that die so there will be enough people

to take care of things on earth. He doesn’t

make grown-ups, just babies. I think because

they are smaller and easier to make. That way,

He doesn’t have to take up His valuable timeteaching them to talk and walk, He can justleave that to mothers and fathers.

God’s second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot ofthis goes on,

since some people, like preachers and things,

pray at times besides bedtime. God doesnthave time to listen to the radio or TV because

of this. Because He hears everything there

must be a terrible lot of noise in His ears, unless He has thought of a way to turn it off.

God sees everything and hears everything

and is everywhere which keeps him pretty busy.

So you shouldn’t go wasting His time by go-ing over your mom and dad’s head asking for

something they said you couldn’t have.Atheists are people who don’t believe in

God. I don’t think there are any in Chula Vista.

At least there aren’t any who come to our

church.

Jesus is God’s Son. He used to do all the

hard work like walking on water and perform-

ing miracles and trying to teach the people

who didn’t want to learn about God. They fi

nally got tired of Him preaching to them and

they crucified Him. But He was good and kind

oflike His Father and He told His Father that

they didn’t know what they were doing and to

forgive them and God said OK.His Dad (God) appreciated everything

that He had done and all His hard work on

earth so He told Him He didn’t have to go

out on the road anymore, He could stay in

heaven. So He did. And now He helps His

Dad out by listening to prayers and seeing

things which are important for God to take

care of and which ones He can take care of

Himselfwithout having to bother God. Like

a secretary only more important. You can pray

anytime you want and they are sure to hear

you because they got it worked out so one of

them is on duty all the times.You should always go to Church on Sun-

day because it makes God happy, and if there

anybody you want to make happy, it’s God.

Don’t skip church to do something you think

will be more fun like going to the beach. This

is wrong! And, besides, the sun doesn’t come

out at the beach until noon anyway. Ifyou don’t

believe in God, besides being an atheist, you

will be very lonely, because your parents can’t

go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God

can. It is good to know H&s around you when

you’re scared in the dark or when you can’t

swim very good and you get thrown into real

deep water by big kids. But you shouldn’t just

always think of what God can do for you.

I figure God put me here and He can take

me back anytime He pleases. And that’s why

I believe in God.

O ver the years I have often beenpuzzled by the last line of the “Re

pentance Prayer” , which reads: “In yourunbounded mercy we ask You to forgiveus, 0 God, for all these sins committedby us, and to forgive us for our constantfailures to think andspeak and act accord-ing to your will.”

The repentancethat is expressed inthis line seems to berooted in the aware-ness that, since ourvery false separativeexistence is itself adenial of God, ourevery action, whichstems from that denial, warrants our repentance. Our fail-ures are “constant”since our very egolife, as the source andfountainhead of ouractions, has no realbeing.

So far so good.What is peculiar,however, is that finalphrase — “according to Your will. “ For onthis subject Baba has elsewhere said, “Ialone am Real, and my will governs thecosmic illusion. It is the truth when I saythat the waves do not roll and the leavesdo not move without my will” ( The EverythingandtheNothIng, p. 62). The willof God upholds and sustains the universeand all its affairs. Everything that hap-pens — from the greatest war or naturalcalamity to the tiniest flicker of an eye-lash or the least passing whim of the mind— happens only because He wills it.

This applies equally to the level ofpersonal action: all that I do — my virtuous deeds as well as my sins — are, ultimately, a manifestation of God’s will: theyare because He wills them to be so. It isaltogether impossible, in other words, forany one of us to do anything at all that iscontrary to the will of God. What possibly could be the sense, then, of our repenting, as we do in the last line of theprayer, for our “constant failures to think,speak, and act according to Your will”?

This question, which has tickled mycuriosity from time to time over the years,

has, I daresay, done the same for others.But during the last pilgrim season, inMandali Hall in Meherazad, quite unexpectedly some light was shed on this sub-ject.

It was a Thursday or Saturday morning,and Eruch was, asusual, regaling aroomful of pilgrimswith his matchlessaccounts from a life-time spent besideBeloved Baba.Somehow the topicof the RepentancePrayer arose, andEruch explained thatBaba had originallydictated the prayerto him in Gujarati.In that language, thelast word of theprayer was marjI(rnarzi in Urdu), anetymon that does notdifferentiate be-tween “wish” and“will” but encompasses both mean-ings.

Now it would make perfect sense forus to be repenting for our constant fail-ures to think, speak, and act according toGod’s wish: for while God’s will fulfillsitself inevitably and irresistibly, the fulfillment of God’s wish is, as it were, inour hands. Indeed, Baba has said that thewill of God contains within itself provision for God’s wish; and it is this wish thatprojects and defines “obedience” and “disobedience” as possible responses on thelover’s part. In carrying out the wish ofGod, one obeys, and thus earns His plea-sure; and in failing to carry out that wish,one disobeys and displeases Him. Thewish, in other words, is the key definingelement in the dynamic and interplay ofLord and servant, lover and Beloved, allof which transpires within the realm ofduality. “Sin, “ in this context, seems tobe a conventional term denoting an act ofdisobedience, in which the wish of Godis disregarded or flouted.

Yet in 1951, when Baba dictated theRepentance Prayer, this distinction between“wish” and “will” had not yet been clearlydrawn by Him. And so, when Eruch and

Donkin set about to translating the prayerat Baba’s request, they rendered the Gujaratiword marji through the English word “will”without awareness of these greaterphilosophical implications. Curiouslyenough, Baba Himself never made thecorrection, even though, in the years thatfollowed, He Himself participated manytimes in the performance of the prayer,standing silently as Eruch or another of themandali read it out and slapping Himselflightly on both cheeks to signify Hiscontrition. Thus does the Avatar take uponHimself the burden of the sins that we enact,liberating us thereby from our sins as wellas our good deeds and opening for us thedoor to that actionless action that alone istrue freedom. Since the prayer in thiswording has been thus “hallowed” by theAvatar’s own participation in it, oneimagines that it will continue to be recitedin this form for many years, until thelanguage changes and new wordings becomenecessary.

But for my own part, I am glad thatEruch and Donkin translated the prayer asthey did. For to my ear, the word “will” car-ries a force that the word “wish” — at least atthe present time — does not. Of course Iunderstand that the Divine Will cannot becontroverted, least of all by me. But when Ithink of myself as failing to think, speak,and act according to His “will, “ the awe-some, divine significance of His will andbeing is brought before my mind, and I be-come aware — intellectually at least — thatmy own false existence is an egotistically“willful” departure and aberration that willcome to an end only when I have unitedagain with the divine Reality. This separation from Him is the taproot of all “sin,”and it cannot be extirpated through the mereexercise of virtue.

Perhaps the engendering of a deeper reflectiveness on the subjects of “ wish” and“will” and “sin” is one of the purposes forwhich God “willed” that the RepentancePrayer should take its current form in theEnglish language. In any event, there aremany examples to show that Beloved Babawas less concerned with the literalistic nice-ties of wording than with essential significance. For in reciting that last line of the“

Repentance Prayer” , whatever philosophical gymnastics the intellect may choose toengage in, the conscience of the true loverof God will always know what is meant.

“7Jte ‘Divine Beloved is always withyou, iii you and all around you.2<now that you are not separate

from 2t MeherBaba

6 A1”According to His vv iii

Ward Parks, Ahmednagar

. Bah v Rocky Rogers

45

Three Billion, Six Hundred MillionSanskaras per Hour

God is the perfect accountant, and the

Avatar keeps the account of the deeds

of each one perfectly without writing down

anything. The Avatar knows the account of

each one from his beginning in creation until

today, and so he knows now the account of

each one until his end. No one knows this

perfect accounting except God. God takes

human form as the Avatar age after age in

order to balance the debit and credit sides

as far as possible, in the ratio required for

further individual and collective progress.

Maya is the shadow of God and Maya

plays havoc in disturbing the equilibrium of

the debit and credit sides of each ones deeds.

When this equilibrium is disturbed to the

most terrible extent, nature starts revolting

and the earth falls into the chasm of calami

ties. At such a time God must descend on

earth. The Avatar then works to settle the

account of each human being and also the

account of every level of consciousness in

evolution.Settling the account of each individual

is not easy, because the accounts are made

up of sanskaras. The human mind gathers

ten million sanskaras in one second, or six

hundred million in one minute, or three bil

lion, six hundred million in one hour, so

imagine how many trillions and zillions of

sanskaras are collected in one human life-

time. To settle the accounts of sanskaras, so

one can further progress, is a work unimag

inable. The Avatar’s work requires univer

sal mind, because the work is beyond the

intellect, and only the INFINITE INTEL-

LIGENCE knows how to calculate such ac

counting, and this accounting is achieved

without the slightest error.

The purpose ofreincarnation is to spend

the sanskaras one collects, and because there

are so many millions of sanskaras collected

is the reason why one must reincarnate about

eight million, four hundred thousand times.

To convey an idea of the sanskaric ac

counting, the INFINITE INTELLI

GENCE in the universal mind knows now

what happened to a particular person one

hundred years ago at this very moment and

what that same particular person had

thought even one thousand years ago at this

very moment. The INFINITE INTELLI

GENCE also knows at this very moment

Bhau Kaichuri

what will happen one hundred years from

now and what will be thought one thou-

sand years into the future. Time is not a fac

tor for the knowing calculations of the

universal mind, and neither is space.

When the Avatar comes he uses his uni

versal mind, and to the universal mind the

whole history of the universe is an open

book. When Meher Baba came he found

that the account of the universe was not

properly balanced. Because of this univer

sal imbalance, progress in the evolution of

consciousness was stopped.

Consciousness was running up huge bills

of debt because of so many unnatural ac

tions. If you borrow from a bank or some-

one, you must repay the loan. If you don’t,

you will not be given any more credit until

you pay. You cannot borrow again until you

have repaid your loans. Basically, the situa

tion in the universe was that consciousness

had borrowed more than it could pay back,

and could not find anyone else to borrow

from. Consciousness was going bankrupt.

In other words, consciousness had become

too murderous, too selfish, too greedy, too

hateful, too lustful, too false, etc. , to balance

itself. And there was no way to compensate

for all of this.It is the Avatar who must pay, and so he

works and suffers for each one to settle the

imbalanced accounts, and thereby sets the

account for each one straight, a natural level

of debit and credit. But while he works for

the benefit of each one, very few cooperate

with him, because very few want to pay back

their debits. Most of the world opposes his

work, because most refuse to pay back.

Everyone must repay and be paid their

sanskaric debits and credits. But because of

the amount of debit amassed, the Avatar

comes to protect humanity. In spite of op

position, his work protects the world, and

his love protects humanity. After finishing

his work the Avatar drops his body. Since

the Avatar’s work is most perfect, the result

of the work is most perfect. He perfectly

settles the accounts by making each one pay,

but also by protecting the debtors from the

creditors.

After the dropping of the Avatar’s body,

adjustments in every account take place ac

cording to the work done by the Avatar. A

time comes when all adjustments in every

one’s account are settled. Each one pays and

is paid to whomever he is sanskarically in

debt to or has credit with. Everyone has the

capacity to pay the price for going further

on the path of Truth, though this capacity

varies from person to person. Each one has

the opportunity to clear their debts and be

free, but those in whom the capacity varies

continue to establish debts.

When all have the capacity to pay the

price for progressing further along the path

to Truth, they will naturally wonder who has

given them this opportunity. This oppor

tunity is the Avatar’s legacy to humanity, the

Father’s legacy to his children. When hu

manity realizes it was an inheritance, and

something they did not earn, then the love

of the Avatar manifests, and people read his

will, “I have given you, my children, this in-

heritance. I love you all. I have suffered in-

finitely for your sake. I embrace you. All are

forgiven.”Let us long for the embrace ofour Com

passionate Father, who has suffered infi

nitely for us. Let us accept his forgiveness

by suffering the pain of separation to that

extent wherein our longing will achieve

Union.

From A vafar ofthe Age Meher Baba Manifesting, by

Bhau Kaichuri, Copyright 1985 Lawrence Reiter.Published by Manifestation, Inc.

46

Live in the Mindby Adah Shifrin

Baba has told his lovers that the HighRoad to experience Him is through by-

ing Him as He wishes to be loved. We haveno way to comprehend in our limited mindsthe true meaning and extent ofthis love. Sincepower ofthought is where our greatest strengthlies it is our only direct means of making astart. Our thoughts begin to go out. We arestriving to reach God in our minds and so weare learning to meditate.

Let us not allow our thoughts to driftabout, but let them “take wing” and go di-rectly to our Beloved. Do you think He doesnot know and receive your thoughts? In Hisinfinite state there is nothing that is not knownto Him. Time and space mean nothing to theAncient One, who is herejust for us. His lightgoes out like the rays of the sun touching allwho are ready. This is Baba’s miraculous gift,He touches the heart with love Divine. It isthe awakening to Truth.

The more one thinks of Baba the moreone is drawn by Him. Why then, not think ofHim even while taking care of worldly duties? What could one think of more beautifulthan meditating on the glory of the wholeuniverse concentrated into one form. One evenforgets what one has come for when thoughtsare turned to Baba.

There is a contentment that comesjust inthe thought of the Beloved. Gradually oneforgets how to worry. Anxieties begin to dissolve into nothingness. Time does not havethe same meaning for it becomes limitless andeternal.

When we book upon ourselves in the mirror we are not concerned that youth fades forwe know that the garment of flesh will be castaside for a new and better one. We may evenbe glad to look toward the time when Godshall receive us in His eternal embrace andkeep us with Him for all time.

Ones attachment to family and friends be-comes lessened and one looks upon the wholeworld as being a part ofone’s own life. If one’sthought dwells here for a moment one willsee that all the homes, housing a little closeknit circle, are faced with the exact same problems as one’s own. Is not this one little unit apart of the larger one? Does one not feel thehunger pangs in their bodies as though it werea part of one’s own? Upon the face of all of theearth the needs and emotions of its people areall the same, regardless of place or race. Babawill lift the veil from men’s minds so that theywill know the truth and recognize the one-ness of all.

It is when one meditates on Baba that per-haps these other thoughts will come and givecause for reflection. Through this trend of

thinking comes the feeling of comfort andresignation that God has everything happen-ing according to His Divine Will. Not a bladeof grass is out of place and although one doesnot know His law for destruction or construction, one can be sure it is for humanity on thewhole.

The more one thinks of Baba the happierone becomes. Sooner or later one wishes tosee Him and be with Him. Does one not goto Baba each time the mind goes out to Him?Let the mind fly to Him and one is there. Isone not growing to love this visit more andmore? Does it not mean more than any physical act? One is now beginning to live less withthoughts of body which bind and the mind isbecoming a vehicle to new freedom.

Now one grows further and further awayfrom self and becomes more absorbed inthoughts of Baba. One begins to realize free-dom, and though still limited it is far greaterthan what one had ever experienced before. Ithas often been said that happiness is a state ofmind and this is true even for thelimited mind.Now one has the “Highest of the High” tothink about. To live in thought, though in-tangible, is as real as the gross world is false.To live in the mind can be more real than liv-ing in the world.

From The Flower ofoiitemp1ation

by Adah Francis Shifrmn

Twelve Disciplines ofthe Heart

By Nancy Shev, Arizona 1 2 disciplines at the heart

LoveAbSOJLih H Ofl:SL

Dsc rim inaiior’iH umorWiIthnQnLs SOrvGS(re’QthDete rrTl inatd flCoAhtyloChee ruIne.sAcceptriceiomembra rice

Recently, as a result of newly discoveredenthusiasm for Feng Shui, I moved an

important picture of Mehera from our bed-room into my bathroom. Our personal relationship has been growing ever since. Itincludes reflection, with candle light, (yes, inthe bathroom, “my private space”) withMehera atthe end ofthe day Tellingher thingsand listening to her thoughts and asking herfor direction, and so on. All my life I have“woken up” to write something down, to catchit before its lost with daily tasks and concerns.One morning, a few months ago. I woke upto write down “12 disciplines of the heart.” Ididnt know instantly that itwas from Mehera,but within minutes I did, . because really,something that perfect had to come, withouta doubt, from our Beloved. . . or His Beloved...

What else can be said?Thank you for allowing me to share this

And Lucky 1 ---- the Charity of Foriveries

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