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Love Street Breezes
Issue Number 8
The Lord of Creation
Love Street Breezes, Issue 8
1
Jai Baba dear Readers, and a Happy
New Year to you all!
I know it is more than a little strange
to be wishing you happy New Year in
April, which is when we are finally putting issue number 8 together, but it IS,
after all, the first issue you have received
in 2016.
I remember starting off this page in
the January 2013 issue with a Peanuts
cartoon – Snoopy was giving Lucy a kiss
to start the New Year off right. Well this
year – I have something waaay better!
How would you like to do as Anita
Viellard is doing in this photo and run
away with Baba! Take our Beloved by
the hand & run!
‘Tis a consummation devoutly to be
wished’ (as Hamlet once said.)
Thanks to everyone who gave such
kind praise for our last issue. “Real Happiness Lies in Making Others Happy”
was the cover story. The Breezes seems
to be making a lot of you very happy…
so we’ll keep trying to make every issue
as special as the last. Our lead story for
issue #8 is Meher Baba on Prayers: how
to pray, when to pray, what to feel and
think as we pray. Everything you need
to know about praying to the Beloved.
Strange as it may seem (especially
to me) my three children are approaching middle age! However, I have found
the perfect antidote: adopt a needy
young child! For many years now the
Love Street Breezes has published the
2
heartwarming doings of the husband
and wife team of Wayne and Vicki Galler,
Baba lovers who formed A Touch of
Love Foundation. They travel—at their
own expense—to Third World countries looking for children in dire need
of their help. In 2004 they came to the
Los Angeles Baba Center to tell us of
their Foundation and brought photos
of the latest batch of children needing
Sponsors – or, as I like to think of them,
needing a Mummy and Daddy. They laid
out photos of many children from many
countries, and over 20 children
found very enthusiastic Sponsors that day.
I chose Manisha, a nine
year old living in rags in a mud
hut in Kalkoop, a village in
Ahmednagar District. At that
time all it took to give her
everything she needed was a
mere $18 a month which was
automatically deducted from
my credit card. Wayne and
Vicki gave her food, medical
attention, clothes, school uniforms, books and paid all her
school fees. They also helped
her parents out who were living in poverty and squalor. My
sponsorship of Manisha went
on for a number of years until
the day I received the fabulous
news! She had graduated high
school and was now going to
University and studying to be
an engineer!
So I then chose seven year old
Jaydeep, who is now in first grade, also
from Kalkoop.
If you too would like to help a child
pull themselves out of the mire, the
details about A Touch of Love Foundation can be found on page 26. The cost
of supporting a child at any of the Third
World countries has risen to $22 - still an
incredible bargain for all they do for the
child. And rest assured, every penny of
that $22 goes to the child. Wayne and
Vicki are entirely self-supporting. There
are no staff to pay, no airfares to pay,
and they make sure they get a good deal
on all the food and clothing they buy for
the children, purchasing it all themselves
in country.
At the last Amartithi I was able to
attend (2013) I was stunned to see my
Mother in the audience! This was stunning because my Mother had passed
Editor’s Page
on to Baba in 2001. Intrigued? This is
how it came about: for many years the
backdrop to the stage was the painting
you can see behind my dearly departed
husband – Charles Gibson.
However, that year, they changed the
backdrop to a huge blow up of a photo
taken of the audience at the 1962 East
West Gathering, to which my Mother
was an attendee. If you look behind the
first of the little dancers, you will notice
the back of a lady with short, dark curly
hair, a necklace of white beads and a
scoop neck sun dress.
And how nice it was of Baba to make
quite a considerable space between
the first and second dancers so there
was no chance of my missing what was
unmistakably Diana Snow! “The Lord
works in mysterious ways, His wonders
to perform.”
Enjoy the read and love to you all
from the Breezes Team.
Love Street Breezes
Information:
Is there a breeze in the realm of love
That does not bear the scent of life from Your tresses? ~ Sana’i
The Love Street Breezes is dedicated with love to Avatar Meher
Baba. Its primary purpose is to contribute to a sense of community among all His lovers by providing a place for sharing His
remembrance. All members of the Baba family are invited to
contribute to this feast of love.
We aim to send you four issues a year, one each quarter, but
I’m sure you’ve all heard the expression: Man proposes and God
disposes. Also, to quote Shakespeare: “The best laid plans of
mice and men oft gang awry.” In other words, my desires don’t
always coincide with the Beloved’s. But we try...
Subscriptions
Printing and mailing you the magazine costs us over $30 per
person per year in the United States and $45 to $50 overseas.
Many times that is for the postage only. However, you can have
the option of going to our website: www.lovestreetbreezes.org
and reading PDFs of the magazine. If you choose this option,
you will have each magazine in full color. No one is refused the
Breezes due to lack of money, but since we lost around a thousand
subscribers when the Love Street LampPost was shot down in
flames in 2010, it is often a struggle to find the money to pay
our bills; but if the subscription fees for four hard copies — $30
domestic and $50 overseas, are beyond your financial means,
then I hope you would be able to read it online. For that we ask
only a $15 donation per four issues.
We can no longer accept credit cards, as it was costing us too
much money for the processor, but you can pay using your credit
card on PayPal. Go to our website and click on ‘Donate’ and it
will tell you how to do it. Do NOT click on Subscribe, or PayPal
will automatically charge you each year at the same time. If you
prefer to send a check (U.S. banks only) or a Money Order (or
for our friends outside the U.S., an International Money Order)
bought at the Post Office, please make it out to Love Street Press
and send to: Dina Gibson, 8906 David Avenue, Los Angeles,
CA. 90034-2006. If you have any questions you may call me at
310-837-6419 from 9 to 5 Pacific time, or email me at:
[email protected]
Submissions:
We seek expressions of Meher Baba’s message of love and
truth. Your stories, photos, artwork, poetry, letters, articles
and humor are all actively solicited, but in digital format only
(email please).
Credits:
Editor in Chief: Avatar Meher Baba
Assistant Editor: Pris Haffenden
Assembly/pre-flight: Tom Hart
Webmaster: Michael Franklin
Back Cover Art: Cherie Plumlee
Features:
Issue Number 8 - April 2016
The Light of the Lord................................................... 4
The Purity of Desire, 100 Poems of Rumi................... 6
Special Prayer Section
Avatar Meher Baba on Prayers........................ 9
Prayer as Inner Approach................................ 12
Mani on Prayer.................................................13
Beloved Meher Baba's Prayers.......................13
The Prayer God Never Hears...........................14
The Master's Prayer.........................................15
A Deeper Dive into The Master's Prayer.........16
Parvardigar as Meditation............................... 17
The Prayer of Repentance...............................18
Repentance......................................................19
The Christian Prayer........................................ 20
Artis—Prayer Songs......................................... 21
The Bujaawe Naar Arti Part I...........................22
The Bujaawe Naar Arti Part II......................... 23
Beloved Prayer / God, You Alone Exist.......... 24
A Touch of Love Foundation:
Nepal Earthquake Relief................................. 26
Admednagar District Program Flourishes......27
Self-Effacement Contains the Spiritual Path /
Obedience, His Wish and His Will.............................. 28
Your Stars and Planets
No Longer Govern Your Life........................... 55
Baba's Birthday Celebration in L.A...........................60
Departments:
Editor’s Page................................................................ 2
Letters to the Editor.................................................. 29
Passings
Sarah Schall..................................................... 30
Marshall Hay....................................................48
Edward Luck.................................................... 53
Paul 'Bo' Beaumont........................................ 54
Adele Wolkin................................................... 54
Laurie Blum..................................................... 54
What's Happening at Meherabad............................. 56
What's Happening at Meher Mount......................... 58
What's Happening in the Heartland Center............. 59
Children's Page...........................................................61
Humor for Huma........................................................ 62
Announcements........................................................ 63
Are There Anny Meetings in Your Area?................... 67
Managing Editor: Dina Snow Gibson
Design and Layout: Cherie Plumlee, Pris H
Printing & Distribution: Ray Madani
Front Cover Art: Marius Michael George
(www.mariusfineart.com)
Love Street Breezes © Love Street Press
3
The Light of the Lord
Alan Talbot, California
I. Introduction
initially heard of Meher Baba in
Berkeley in late July, 1968. I became
His disciple a year later and remain so.
During the course of these forty five
years, Baba would periodically provide
an experience, doubtlessly for His work.
For my part, I have never sought and
do not seek such experiences. The purposes of these experiences are beyond
my knowledge. As I was trained as a
lawyer (presently retired), I developed
a capacity for maintaining discretion. As
a result, I kept an inner silence regarding
these experiences.
II. In the Beginning
I was born October 14, 1946 in Philadelphia. From 1947 on, I lived in the last part
of west Philadelphia. On two sides, we
were surrounded by public golf courses,
on another side by 10,000 acres of wild
natural woods and, on the fourth side,
by the Philadelphia main line. The neighborhood had been a farm, and I recall
an apple cider stand at the top of my
street until I was about six. We called it
“Little Tel Aviv.”
I was the eldest grandchild and
grandson on my mother’s Philadelphia
side. Apparently, I spoke of God a great
deal. When my grandfather died in
March 1950, I constantly spoke of going
to Heaven to bring him back. My family
thought I’d be a Rabbi.
The elementary school was built at
this time for the massive influx of Baby
Boomers. We had 40 kids in our class. I
was smart, active, and an excellent athlete. I wanted to be playing ball outside.
I ‘got’ to subjects quickly, so I began to
be a class nuisance, telling jokes, being
disruptive, and overly energetic. I was
not a teacher’s delight, and my behavior
grades reflected that.
At about nine, I was now obligated to
go to Hebrew School at the Synagogue,
about 50 yards from the elementary
school. School ended at 3:30 pm and
now on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Hebrew School ran from 4-6 p.m.,
a total nightmare.
At about eleven, I was now further
obligated to attend Saturday morning
services from 9:30 a.m. or 10:00 to noon.
The only redeeming feature here was the
4
I
magnetism of the Rabbi, Arthur Rosenbaum. He had grown up in Texas and
had suffered extensive anti-semitism.
He was a passionate man, filled with a
deep sense of justice that unconsciously
affected my heart. Only now do I realize
the effect he had on my life.
Each Saturday, I patiently awaited
the end of the service. Then we’d get
sponge cake and/or cookies and a sweet
Manischewitz grape juice (or wine, if I
was clever). I knew when the end was
coming by the prayers being sung.
In preparing this article, I recalled
from about 1959 the final prayer of the
service and realized the significance of
that prayer, which rested latently in my
subconscious until 2013. The prayer and
its origins in the Bible are noted below:
Blesssed may you be in your coming
in and blessed may you be in your going
out. Deut. 286.
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
Number 6:24 – 26
May the Lord make His face to shine
light upon you and be gracious unto you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance
unto you and give you peace.
This day, now and forevermore.
Psalms 121:8.
III. 2010
Beginning in 2007, my wife Karen, a
community college teacher, and I started
going to India during her winter break
until the New Year.
In 2010, we arrived as usual, about the
12th or 13th of January. About two days
later, I was at morning Arti. I was seated
on the benches on the right side of the
Tomb (if facing the Tomb).
Due to the financial crisis, there were
very few Westerners at that time. I knew
very few people. Suddenly, and for no
apparent reason, the people across from
me appeared as pure light.
I could not distinguish whether an
individualized soul was a man or woman,
Western, Indian or Iranian, tall or short,
etc. In a word, the only differentiation
was the quantity and quality of light
that shone. It is not easy to describe
such measurement but the quantity
of light could be perhaps 50% and the
quality 25%. While this appears somewhat subjective, I was able to discern
the diversity of the souls before me. I
was amazed, and I stared at the mass
of light before me for some time. It was
perhaps 6:20 a.m.
After some time, I decided to turn
my head left, to see if those souls on
the benches facing the Tomb were also
light. They were. In fact, everyone at the
Samadhi was light. It was further very
clear that no one else ‘saw’ what I was
seeing. They were all unconscious of this
presentation.
Again, suddenly, all the light of the individual souls transferred as a stream to
the area in front of the threshold of the
tomb. In other words, the light became
a mass of collective light and increased
in intensity in quantity and quality. It
was awesome and magnificent, beyond
mere words. This light continued for a
time. Lineal time was completely lost,
although I realized that the Arti would
eventually occur.
Suddenly, and without forewarning,
Light poured forth from the Samadhi. This Light was pure, unadulterated,
constant and beyond imagination. The
stream was unequalled. It was love
itself, which was Light, from God Himself. This Light immediately integrated
with the light of the individualized souls
before the threshold. The collective light
became enraptured as God’s light permeated its “being.” I can only imagine
the expression on my face. My entire
consciousness was His Light; yet I was
separate from His Light as an observer
only.
After some intermittent time, the
Light of the Lord receded into the Samadhi. The collective light remained
at the threshold, and then suddenly, it
too receded to the individuals' souls.
But now the quality and quantity of the
light of the individual souls was magnified by at least two. The Lord’s Light had
dramatically increased the love of the
people at the Arti.
At this point, it was about 6:50 a.m.
The Arti was to begin shortly, and I
wondered whether I would be able to
perform, and, more, what would happen
thereafter.
Remarkably, I performed the entire
Arti, without a hitch, but then I was
to return to the MPR with Karen. How
would I function? Would I see only light?
Upon returning to the MPR, I was
able to dual-task. I was able to act ‘normally’ and hold a conversation and yet,
concurrently, see the light of people and
creatures. I saw that local farmers had
lesser light than the Baba people, and
that the light of the dogs was greater
than that of the cattle. Quite a show.
I realized that I would not be able to
fully reflect on the morning until the 2 – 4
p.m. rest break. I waited patiently, still
able to dual-task. After lunch, I returned
to my single room and reflected upon
the day’s events. I had no answer to the
cause of the experience or its continuation. I decided that it was all Baba’s will,
and I would let it transpire as He wished.
I wondered later before falling asleep,
if the light would dissipate. It did not.
The second morning, I again went to the
Arti where the entire sequence occurred
as before. There was one exception. On
this occasion, I was involved. When the
individual souls projected their light onto
the area before the threshold, suddenly
and without warning, I also joined. I was
no longer a spectator, but a participant.
I felt my heart open and the inner light
pour forth. It was bliss. All my sight was
this light.
Now rather than seeing with the two
eyes of my head, I saw solely with the eye
of my heart. I had never known that the
heart had an eye. This eye saw straight
into the hearts of others. It bypassed
the mind and was unconcerned with so
called material reason. It was clear that
the mind was subject to thoughts, ideas
and disputes, which clouded the heart.
The heart was unclouded and existed
on love alone.
As I was absorbing all this, again the
stream of pure light poured forth from
the Tomb. The collective light (of which
I was now a part) was overcome by the
“madness” of pure bliss. No words exist
to properly convey the experience. As I
was at the threshold, I could watch God’s
light pour forth.
As it was the day before, God’s light
remained for a time and then receded.
The collective light thereafter receded.
I was beyond joy. Somehow, again, I
performed the Arti, and returned to
the MPR by dual-tasking. I decided not
to discuss this with anyone. It was too
unbelievable.
And so it was throughout our stay,
that I was able to dual-task. I wondered
whether I would be able to “read”
the hearts of people when I returned
home. Nearly two weeks later and upon
boarding the plane to return home, I
completely forgot the entire episode
of God’s light. It was as if Baba placed a
selective amnesia on my mind. I recalled
everything else about the trip but this.
And so it went.
IV. 2011
Karen and I again returned to Meherabad in mid-December 2011. This trip
would be different. There were to be
many Westerners on this trip. Within a
couple of days, the entire sequence reoccurred. At once, I remembered that I had
forgotten the sequence from 2010. The
memories rushed into my mind. I had to
laugh at my “amnesia”.
In any event, 2011 proved to be as inspiring as 2010. At times, I would track to
see who was at the Arti (mornings were
more productive than the evenings), so
I could know who I was seeing as light.
It seemed harmless fun.
I wondered whether I would remember these episodes when I returned
home or suffer the “amnesia” of 2010.
However, this time, I had total recall of
both years.
V. And in the End
I have had no recurrences of these
experiences since I left India in 2011.
But I do have a vivid memory of what
transpired and the remarkable beauty
involved.
I recognize whatever words I use, or
how articulate I might be, that I cannot
properly communicate the depth and
glory of these experiences. Whatever
words I could add or subtract would be
of no value.
When I first heard the words both in
Hebrew and in English, “May the Lord
make His face to shine light upon you
and be gracious unto you”, I was perhaps nine. I was 64 in 2010, and, thus,
for 55 years I unconsciously held these
words. Now these words have come
true. Why Baba blessed me, I cannot say.
But then, He also said “Understanding
has no meaning; only love has meaning.”
The eye of the heart, which knows
only love and the Light of love, is real
and a true gift from the Master to the
disciple.
Want ‘Sustained
Happiness’? Get
Religion, Study
Suggests
As found on the internet.
A new study suggests that joining
a religious group could do more for
someone’s “sustained happiness” than
other forms of social participation, such
as volunteering, playing sports or taking
a class.
A study in the American Journal of
Epidemiology by researchers at the London School of Economics and Erasmus
University Medical Center in the Netherlands found that the secret to sustained
happiness lies in participation in religion.
“The church appears to play a very
important social role in keeping depression at bay and also as a coping mechanism during periods of illness in later
life,” Mauricio Avendano, an epidemiologist at LSE and an author of the study,
said in a statement. “It is not clear to us
how much this is about religion per se, or
whether it may be about the sense of belonging and not being socially isolated.”
Researchers looked at four areas: 1)
volunteering or working with a charity;
2) taking educational courses; 3) participating in religious organizations; 4)
participating in a political or community
organization. Of the four, participating
in a religious organization was the only
social activity associated with sustained
happiness, researchers found.
The study analyzed 9,000 Europeans
who were older than 50. The report that
studied older Europeans also found that
joining political or community organizations lost their benefits over time. In
fact, the short-term benefits from those
social connections often lead to depressive symptoms later on, researchers say.
Although healthier people are
more likely to volunteer, the researchers found no evidence that volunteering
actually leads to better mental health.
Benefits could be outweighed by other
negative impacts of volunteering, such
as stress, Avendano said.
The researchers noted that it is
unclear whether the benefits of participating in a religious organization
are connected to being in the religious
community, or to the faith itself.
5
The Purity of Desire, 100 Poems of Rumi
by Daniel Ladinsky— Reviewed by Laurent Weichberger, Flagstaff, Arizona
F
irst and foremost, I would like to
say that even before the wine starts
flowing from the Tavern Keeper, in the
new translation of Rumi from Daniel
Ladinsky: The Purity of Desire, 100 Poems
of Rumi, we are treated to not one but
two self-revelatory pieces from Danny
via his rather intimate Introduction, followed immediately by a one pager, "If I
Had a Son or Daughter." Both share his
own spiritual life more than past books
he has published, and I am grateful for
his inviting us into this deeper side of
his journey with God. The book ends in
a similar way with, "A Note on Divinity".
I have followed Danny’s work with
Hafiz since we started hearing him read
his work in progress during informal
gatherings in the early 1990s, at a spiritual center in South Carolina we both
enjoy. Since then, his worldwide fame
has naturally raised his own bar, and
so I read with interest this new publication, knowing that many readers
may be critical of his new work. Also,
in November of last year I took my
daughter to Turkey, where we made a
pilgrimage to Konya (where Rumi lived
and is now the location of his dargah
or tomb). While in Konya, I embraced
the human side of Rumi and got to
know him much more intimately than
was possible through English translations of his work. Something alive in
the atmosphere at a memorial tomb of
Rumi’s beloved Shams—in a little park
in Konya—told me the spirit of both
Masters are tangibly present. I brought
these feelings with me to my reading of
Danny’s new offering.
Some of my Persian friends in Los Angeles once said to me when comparing
Hafiz and Rumi, “Hafiz is the poet of the
heart, and Rumi is the poet of the soul.”
After more than twenty years of reading
and contemplating Rumi (in translation),
I have to agree. There is something
cosmic about Rumi’s tone of voice and
style, which is transmitted through his
splendid imagery—often confounding
the mind with thoughts like, “I wish I
had thought of that”—so brilliant is
his light, and sometimes so simple are
his words. And this is Danny’s second
attempt at translating Rumi, as we saw
6
from the first delicious batch published
in Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred
Voices from East and West (Penguin).
The first poem in this slim volume
is a classical poem from Rumi in which
he weaves for us the fundamentals of
evolution of consciousness. Avatar Meher Baba used this poem in his seminal
work, God Speaks to illustrate his own
fine points on this subject. Danny renders this poem with a modern grace,
playing it straight and narrow in homage
to both great Masters of Wisdom.
Shortly after that more formal beginning, we hear: “The body is like Mary
and each of us, each of us, has a Christ
p.3
within.” Such sentiments are the
stuff of inspiration and why I read Rumi
in the first place. As Danny says in his
own introduction – Rumi “helps us to
get dressed for another day.” How can
we who walk with God not love hearing
about our own inherent divinity, and the
assurance that one day we too will be
fully awake to this reality?
In the fresh poem, "I Am Looking For
An Apprentice," he says, “The scent of
the Rose Garden reached you. Otherwise, you would have no knowledge
of these words… Knowing what your
own heart really wants, is knowing what
everyone is really striving for. Compassion and kinship follow … If you can go a
week and not belittle anyone in thought
word or deed… let me know, for I am
looking for an apprentice, an heir.” [p.9]
Exactly what kind of challenge this is,
only those who have strived not to backbite can attest.
In the light-hearted poem, "Great
Intimacy," Rumi reveals: “I have ceased
to tie the strings of one shoe to another
in the morning, so now I don’t trip over
my wants. This leaves me nimble. Any
mountain I can scamper up… “ and further, in the same poem about Beloved
God, “Gazing at Her across a field some
days, and desiring great intimacy as we
need, what can I do? What can we do
when God is acting coy, but to be like
p.10
a bird that sings to its mate?”
This
is bread soaked in wine for the hungry
spiritual seeker on this long hike homeward.
In the obviously colloquially titled,
"Suckered Into A Bad Deal," Rumi
becomes the psychoanalyst we don’t
need to pay for, “Ninety percent of
any depression you know was probably due to things not going your way.
Or because the last time you did seem
to have a choice, when you got back
home with what you wanted, it turned
out to have more thorns in it than you
expected – and maybe you are still pickp.12
ing some of those out.” Anyone who
has suffered disappointment or betrayal
can nod and smile with Rumi, whose
wisdom dissolves like smoked-honey
in hot chai for a mind thirsty for Truth.
In the famous poem, "As Shams Was
To Me," about a lion cub who forgets
his original nature and becomes like a
lamb, Rumi says, “Yes, that is the role
of the Teacher, as Shams was to me –
showing one who they are, so they can
stop bleating, crying at night, and never
again be afraid.” He gives at least one
important meaning of the need for a
p.7
Spiritual Master. Again, Danny seems
to be coloring inside the lines of original intended meaning, and one senses
that the poetic expansion we are used
to from his early Hafiz work has either
been carefully edited by Nancy Barton,
or perhaps his own sense of refinement
has brought him to this more subtle
leaning into the core message of Rumi.
Some of the poems use language
that is hard for certain spiritual types.
Those are the ones he seems to be prodding with lines that talk about things like
Rumi’s pride upon examining his own
excrement, and about sex addicts, or
someone’s “bare ass,” or even the “Big
Bang,” and then asking whether or not
you, the reader, is a prude. So it can be
unclear how much of this is Danny and
how much is really Rumi. (Rumi, too,
incorporates wild barroom tales in his
verse.) One may find oneself asking —
How did we get here again, and what is
going on? I guess my own nature is to
listen for the Truth in the words, and not
focus as much on the messenger. Who
can explain Danny except Rumi himself:
“It is not easy to find the grace that
makes an extreme lover of God the way
p.87
they are. So free.” I, for one, forgive
him for being so bold.
Then towards the end of this work,
and perhaps to address the elephant
in the room, Danny goes into his own
poetic offering, "Your Breath Upon
Me," in which he crafts verse around the
legendary Last Letter of Rumi to his bep.97
loved Shams. While I did notice some
extra scholarly notes in his recent tome
A Year with Hafiz, this is the first time a
footnote shares his process around how
an entire poem came to be expanded.
This also helps restore credibility in a
world that is growing somewhat uncertain about what can pass as an English
translation of a medieval Persian poet.
How Danny accomplishes yet again
this wonderful transmission, this time of
the soul of Rumi, to the general reader,
remains somewhat of a divine mystery. I
think the answer lies in a line from Rumi.
Danny has become so intimately close
with beloved God that secrets from
behind the veil are revealed to him in
quiet nights at his farm, while drinking
wine, “There is a devotion I have found
that can make God so intimately close,
I can count the hairs on His chest when
He opens His robe.” This book came
from inside that robe.
With Nancy Barton (New York: Penguin
Books,) Softcover, 117 pages. ISBN: 978-014-312161-9
Available at Amazon.com
About Daniel Ladinsky
from the Internet
Daniel Ladinsky is one of the most
successful living writers working with
poetry. His inspired translations of
Hafiz, Rumi, and saints from the East
and West, have reached millions of
people across the globe. Born and
raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Daniel has
long been a student of the essence of
the unity of all faiths. For six years he
made his home in a spiritual community
in western India where he worked in a
rural clinic, free to the poor, and lived
with the intimate disciples and family
of Avatar Meher Baba. Daniel currently
divides his time between his coastal
South Carolina home and farm in the
Missouri Ozarks, a writing hideout in
New Mexico, and the open road. [But
we all know Danny as one of our own – a
Baba lover for decades!]
Daniel Ladinsky’s Work and
its Reach
Daniel Ladinsky is the internationally
photographers, visual artists, composers and musicians in many genres license Daniel’s works for use. Highlights
follow.
Television and Radio highlights
Daniel Ladinsky
acclaimed translator of the works of
Hafiz, Rumi, and beloved poet-saints
from the East and West. His six books,
all currently in print with Penguin Random House have sold over half a million
copies: I Heard God Laughing: Poems
of Hope and Joy; The Subject Tonight is
Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems of Hafiz;
The Gift: Poems by Hafiz the Great Sufi
Master; Love Poems from God: Twelve
Sacred Voices from the East and West;
A Year With Hafiz: Daily Contemplations;
The Purity of Desire: 100 Poems of Rumi
Ladinsky’s titles have maintained
domestic and international best-selling
status in the religious/inspirational/spirituality genre for nearly two decades.
Sales of his Hafiz books frequently top
bestselling titles of Rumi, one of the
most widely read poets in America and
the world. Ladinsky’s own Rumi book
The Purity of Desire: 100 Poems of Rumi
remains a bestseller in the genre as
well. In 2013, The Purity of Desire and
The Gift joined the American Booksellers Association’s Poetry Bestseller’s
List of twenty-five titles; A Year With
Hafiz and The Gift were ABA bestsellers
in 2012. The Gift has been included in
this list numerous times. Since 1996,
Ladinsky’s titles consistently rank as top
bestsellers in the genre in Amazon in
the US; s+ales are typically the highest
in Amazon foreign markets in Canada,
Germany, the UK, France and Australia.
Ladinsky’s works have been translated into many languages: Slovene,
Hebrew, Indonesian, Russian, Turkish
and German. Korean and Chinese anthologies recently included a variety of
his translations.
Hundreds of authors, too many to
list here,—popular and scholarly—license and quote Daniel’s work to enhance and clarify their own.
Theater artists, dancers, filmmakers,
Oprah, on SuperSoul Sunday with Jack
Kornfield, recently quoted and tweeted
Daniel’s Hafiz translation.
Dr. Wayne W. Dyer featured Daniel’s
work in his March 2014 PBS television
special broadcast I Can See Clearly Now.
Hay House licensed this work on behalf
of Dyer.
ABC Radio National, Australia, included several Ladinsky Hafiz poems
in its Valentine’s Day Poetica broadcast
last year.
Music— Recordings & Performance
highlights:
Sounds True licensed 36 poems in
2002 for The Scent of Light CD — still
in print.
Daniel recently joined with Mirabai
Starr, Allaudin Mathieu, Jenny Bird, and
friends to record a CD to benefit the
Lama Foundation in New Mexico
Jonathan Leshnoff includes Hafiz in
his Hope: An Oratorio, which premiered
at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia,
April 2012.
Guitarist Derek Trucks licensed “This
Sky” for his bestselling Songlines CD.
Living the Divine, Daniel Brewbaker’s
cantata based on 22 Ladinsky poems, is
published by Boosey & Hawkes.
Film highlights
Depeche Mode featured a Hafiz
translation via a full-stage film screen in
their “Tour of the Universe” performed
to over 2.7 million people. Mute/EMI
(UK) subsequently licensed the Hafiz
footage for a DVD documentary of the
tour. Depeche Mode - Precious (live in
Copenhagen 2009)
Jan Bartelstone’s documentary film
of ecstatic poet-saints The 1 of Hearts
significantly features many of Daniel’s
translations.
Artists and Daniel’s work
Patrick McDonnell, creator of the
syndicated Mutts comic strip and New
York Times bestselling author of over
forty books, has featured Daniel’s work
in his strips. The two are currently teaming on a Penguin Random House book
project which delightfully merges beloved Mutts characters with selections
7
from Daniel’s previously unpublished
storehouse of thousands of welcometo-the moment, spare haiku.
Two-time Caldecott Honor winner,
Pamela Zagarenski, has for years paired
her whimsical illustrations with Daniel’s
work and now produces a popular
greeting card line with those, as well
as a limited-edition calendar.
For over a decade Amber Lotus has
published a Hafiz calendar and card line
using Daniel’s work.
Dialogue Within and Between
World Faiths
Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish,
Muslim and Sufi leaders, clergy and
writers, as well as lay practitioners
from a worldwide span of secular,
religious, spiritual, and non-affiliated
service groups, quote, share, and study
Daniel’s works.
A Bridge between West and East
Ladinsky’s renderings and translations of sacred voices serve as a needed
and vital healing bridge of cultural and
religious thought between the West
and the East.
Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, the leading authority on contemporary Islam
according to the BBC, wrote a favorable
commentary of Love Poems from God
for the syndicated Religion News Service and included Daniel’s Hafiz, Rumi
and other translations in his Huffington
Post article.
The Islamic Foundation of North
America includes The Gift in its upper
school Islamic Literature syllabus.
Asma Gull Hassan uses Daniel’s translations in her Red, White and Muslim: My
Story of Belief (HarperOne), endorsed
by Fareed Zakaria.
World-trafficked Sufi website
Technology of the Heart (http://www.
techofheart.co), embraces all faiths and
has had over three million visitors. For
years this site has posted articulate and
very generous reviews, commentary
and articles about Daniel’s work.
Collaborations
Remarkably, Ladinsky’s work has
spread so successfully and endured in
spite of his being extremely reclusive.
Many thousands around the world regularly blog and post, using Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and other
social media sites to share Ladinsky’s
poems and excerpts.
With the publication of his two
8
recent books, Daniel has appeared in
selected venues and is engaging in significant collaborative works and new
directions. Ladinsky’s work has become
part of the world’s spiritual landscape
with a far-reaching horizon. His audience will continue to grow in his active
association with others:
Daniel is currently at work on two
film projects he’s conceived: a series of
short, poetry-art documentaries titled
The Mountains Hint at Our Beauty, as
well as a screenplay for Michelangelo
the Teacher.
Mirabai Starr, renowned translator
and author of many spiritual works, musician Jenny Bird, and Daniel presented
a 2014 weekend retreat and workshop
together at the Lama Foundation.
Yearly Lama retreats are in the works
and a forthcoming CD to benefit the
Lama Foundation grew out of this alliance. Lama has an active international
email list of over 100,000.
Tom Shadyac, writer, director and
producer of hit feature films, including Ace Ventura, Patch Adams, The
Nutty Professor and most recently the
documentary I Am (with Archbishop
Desmond Tutu, Noam Chomsky, Lynn
McTaggart, many more) is a supportive fan of Daniel’s work. Tom joined
Daniel in reading his works at Shadyac’s
invitation-only event, during the 2014
Telluride Mountainfilm Festival and in
the below-mentioned Betsy Chasse
interview. Collaborative projects are
being discussed.
Betsy Chasse, co-creator of the film
What the Bleep Do We Know? and producer of the 2014 documentary Song
of the New Earth, filmed an interview
with Daniel for her forthcoming web TV
series. Betsy is shown in the photo with
musician Marcus Eaton, who played
behind Danny's reading. [The performance was held in Hollywood and I was
very happy to have attended—DSG].
T
Meher Baba on
False Saints
hese false saints cannot give you
anything, while �alis and Pirs of
the fifth and sixth plane can raise you
to a higher state with just one look.
But that is not the Perfect state, as
these advanced souls are not Perfect.
At times, even Perfect Masters cannot
help those caught in these nets. Therefore, except for the Perfect Ones, do
not even be beguiled by the advanced
souls of the fifth and sixth planes.
Stick to the Emperor and don't
leave him for any reason. I am in everyone. But if you catch hold of me,
you will have the root of all creation
in your hands. Then you will not need
to go after the branches and leaves. If
you are lucky enough to catch hold of
the Emperor, you should never, never
leave him.''
–Avatar Meher Baba
Avatar Meher Baba on Prayers
and How We Should Pray
There has been much discussion-pro and con-regarding
prayers. Some people want the
three prayers Baba gave us said
at every meeting, others would
rather not say them in unison
with the group, but prefer them
to be something very private
between Baba and themselves,
to be said at home or whenever
the mood strikes them. At the
Center in Los Angeles they attempted to make everybody
happy by having Arti held separately in Baba’s Room in the
Dome. So those who love to be
a part of a large group praying
together to the Beloved, and
singing His songs of praise, assembled in the Dome before
the regular program started.
One of our meetings was hosted
by a member who expressed
concern at the development of
“Baba-ism” – Feeling that the worship of
Meher Baba was becoming too ritualistic. There was concern by many that the
spontaneous expression of love we feel
for our Beloved was in danger of turning
into a religion, with all the attendant rites,
rituals and ceremonies. Yet Baba repeatedly told us He had come to do away
with such things. But He also stressed the
importance of prayers; telling us what
was the right way to pray, and just what
constituted a good prayer. Editor
Following is a selection of The Avatar’s words on this subject:
Eruch on the
Master at Prayer
Adapted from recordings by Tim Owens at Meherazad, 1980.
Q What about the prayers Baba has
given? Can you tell us about the circumstances under which they were initially
given and any significance they might
have that we may not know?
A: Regarding the circumstances surrounding the prayers given by Baba, He
has given us many prayers besides the
ones you read about or recite, such as
the Master’s Prayer first given to us in
Guajarati language on 20th August, 1953,
at Dehra Dun, and the Prayer of RepenLove Street Breezes, Issue 8
tance, which was given to us earlier.
I have a prayer book with me of
prayers given to us by Baba, which He
wanted us to recite before Him time and
time again. These prayers are all new to
you. There was nothing particular about
the situations which led Baba to dictate
these two prayers; when He gave out the
Prayer of Repentance and the Universal
Prayer, it appeared a simple and natural
thing for Baba to dictate something.
The Lord gets a whim, He says, “Come,
take dictation.” He dictates the prayers,
and the prayer then becomes universal.
People love it, recite it. In the same
way, when He first gave the repentance
prayer, He would say, “Come now, recite
this.” So we recite it, and that’s all. Now
we find so many Baba lovers reciting
the Prayers, and many knowing them
by heart.
Q: When He gave these prayers, did
He just rattle them off, perfectly composed, or were they revised?
A: When a prayer was given by Him,
it remained a prayer. Some words were
in Guajarati, Urdu, some in Hindi or
Persian, most in English. Then we’d do
a little dressing up in English and read
it out to Baba, and He’d approve what
He had dictated. He also inspired the
ones who would do the dressing up.
The whole thing was rattled
out in the first place; given quite
spontaneously.
Q: Without a map?
A: Yes.
When we were on The New
Life, He gave us this prayer and
told us to recite it every evening:
“Yesterday passed somehow;
Today passes by this way; who
cares for tomorrow?” Or, colloquially, "To hell with tomorrow!" Then He tells us this is our
prayer; He wants us to say: “I’m
not the body, I’m not the mind,
I’m not this, I’m not that, I’m
nothing but the living lie of that
Truth that is me; and unless the
lie is dead the truth cannot live
(be known).”
This is the poem read out at
6:45 pm 7th October, 1953. It is
the occasion when He gave up
the alphabet board. It is the last
thing He dictated on the board:
“O Sai Baba, 0 Upasni Maharaj, 0
Babajan, 0 Tajuddin Baba, 0 Narayan
Maharaj,
You the five-in-One and the One-infive, the divine Beings representing the
Absolute One!
I bow down to You in perfect homage.
It is due to You five Men-gods that
I am what I am, the Ancient One, the
Everlasting One.
May the Beloved God with whom
You five are one, for whom you five are
working universally;
Give Me, in your Names, the strength,
the power and the wisdom to fulfil all
that I have taken this form for, and see
that all I have declared at the last Meherabad meeting comes to pass.
I now give up using the board, it being
my gesture before God for breaking My
Silence soon.
The Prayer for Baba’s lovers and
Mandali was dictated by Baba on 25th
August, 1959 at Meherazad:
Beloved God, help us all to love You
more and more and more and more and
still yet more, until we become worthy
of union with You; and help us all to hold
fast to Baba’s Daaman till the very end.
One thing you should remember –
9
whenever Baba expressed His desire
for prayers, it was a serious and solemn
affair. We still have that water pot and
that blue basin here in Mandali Hall with
which He used to wash His hands and
face before the prayers. He would not
only participate with us in the prayers,
but prepare Himself for such prayers. He
didn’t say anything to us, that we should
keep prepared for prayers; but knowing
His ways and how He would want us to
keep clean and tidy for prayers, we also
remained prepared, not knowing when
He would ask us to recite the prayers.
We would keep our feet ready, washed
and clean, for who knows when He
would want us to put our foot forward
for Him to bow down to; with the Godman putting His head on our feet, we
couldn’t stand around dirty or with wet
feet! We had to keep ourselves clean and
prepared for all such occasions. But many
times, we were caught unawares; then
He would say, ‘It’s all right, it doesn’t matter.’ He would be the first one who kept
Himself prepared for the prayers, after
having washed His hands and splashed
water on His face, and after properly drying His face and hands with a napkin He
would call the rest of the Mandali in His
presence. He wouldn’t want anybody to
miss the occasion. He wanted all His Mandali around Him at the time of prayers;
then He’d start. He would stand up and
gesture, “Say the prayer.’’
Naturally, in the beginning, we had
read it out—the Master’s Prayer. It came
to my lot to read the prayer aloud while
all would remain silent. All present had
to be silent while any one person would
recite or read the prayer. Baba would
stand up and remain standing during
the whole prayer, and all of us would
be standing around Him in a circle. He
remained the central figure, either here
or at Guruprasad or anywhere in the
country, wherever He chose to pray.
At the time of reading aloud the Master’s Prayer, I once felt that Baba would
want me to recite it instead of reading it
out. So I tried to learn it by heart; also in
case no prayer book was available. I felt
confident that I could now do away with
the book, when Baba called as usual for
the prayer book I replied, “Baba, I have
learnt it by heart.” “So you learned the
prayer?” “Yes, Baba.” “Good, recite.” “O
Parvardigar, the Preserver and Protector
of...?!?”
I couldn’t even remember a word
10
beyond this. So Baba waited for a while,
and I tried again. Eventually, He gestured, ‘Go get the book.’ Never again did
I attempt to recite it by heart. I always
read the Prayer in front of Him. To this
day, I don’t know any of the prayers by
heart.
So I had to read them out from the
prayer book every time He asked for
the prayers. All would be there. Baba
would join His hands and stand as one
of us in our midst, and His look and
His gaze would be of one deep in the
act of adoration, totally absorbed, participating in the prayers. The God-man
participating in the prayers means He is
totally absorbed in the prayers He has
given humanity. He becomes one of us
and He stands with folded hands, with
all attention, adoration and reverence
on behalf of His loved ones.
After the prayer ended, with ‘You
are named Ezad-the only One worthy of
worship,’ He would bow down in the act
of worship. After a minute of this, Baba
would want the prayer to be followed
by the Prayer of Repentance. Everyone
would be in readiness as I would begin
to read out ‘We repent, O God most
merciful...’
His gesture for Repentance was that
He would begin to softly slap His cheeks
with both hands. Now this is the gesture
denoting repentance (Eruch slaps his
cheeks). It’s not just this…patting your
cheeks. Among the worshippers, may
they be Muslims, Hindus or Zoroastrians,
while the Prayer for Repentance is being
said it is customary for one to slap one’s
cheeks with both hands while saying “I
repent..., I repent ...” The Mandali were
there with Baba for the prayer but He
didn’t want the Mandali to slap their
cheeks as a mark of repentance, because
it was He who did it on our behalf. We
could hear Him constantly slapping His
cheeks during the entire prayer, but this
was not at all disturbing as He slapped
softly but audibly. Once Baba guided me
to say at the end of this prayer, ‘Amen’,
so I do it every time I end the prayer.
The sequel to the Prayer of Repentance in the presence of Baba was very
thought provoking. This is how it was:
He would sit down in Mandali Hall after
the prayer on His chair, and some sort
of a high footstool would be improvised
in front of Baba, so that He could easily
bend down while sitting and place His
forehead on the foot of the Mandali.
He would gesture, “Put your right foot
here. At the moment of contact, when
My forehead touches you, you call out
aloud one name of God that is dear
to you, as many times as My forehead
touches your foot.”
So Zoroastrians used to call out
“Ahuramazda” at the moment of contact. “Ahuramazda” would be heard by
the rest of the Mandali each time Baba
made contact. It might be six or seven
times - we wouldn’t know the number
of times He’d want to do it. The Muslims
said “Allah” aloud at the moment of
contact. Christians called out “God the
Beyond.” And some called out “Parvardigar.” The lranis called out “Yezdan.” The
Sikhs were heard saying “Wahi-Guru,”
which means God in the Beyond Beyond
State. We were a cosmopolitan group
around Baba. It would not be a crowd
but just a few Mandali, about ten, eleven
or twelve of us around Him, that’s all, but
we were a cosmopolitan group!
So this would happen, day after day.
Sometimes it would be a daily affair and
then sometimes there would not be such
prayers for months at a time. There was
no set schedule, no such things as a daily
repetition. Yet, if it was His pleasure,
you had to present yourself at the time
of the call to prayer, when you had to
leave everything and be in attendance.
In later years, in 1968 when His health
was visibly deteriorating—going from
bad to worse—He ordered the prayers
to be read out daily. He was in seclusion,
and all we could hear, all the time, was a
sort of thumping noise, as He pounded
His thighs with His fist, especially His
right thigh, continually. There was no
elasticity left in His thighs; they were
just like logs of wood. There was nothing much left of His legs, as the muscles
of the thighs had lost elasticity and had
become solid lumps, having no weightbearing capacity.
At the time of the prayers, Baba
would ask someone to help Him stand
up, because one must stand up for
prayers; and He said He had to participate in the prayers. So He started with
one person helping Him stand up. Then
I would begin to read the prayers. Often
He would gesture, “Let’s finish it off
soon.”
Now the prayer He had dictated for
humanity is meant for human beings to
say with all their heart and soul, so you
can’t rush through any prayer, much less
the Master’s Prayer. Yet, the author –
while He participates as one of humanity
– says, “Finish it off soon!” So naturally I
say it out a little bit more rapidly, knowing that His health condition does not
permit him to stand up for a longer time.
Then as months passed, it wasn’t possible for Him to stand alone; someone
had to hold Him. And all the time, He remained standing with hands folded and
joined like this (Eruch demonstrates).
The time came when He gestured, “Read
it faster.” So I read the prayer faster
and more rapidly each day. Then two
people had to hold Him, and He looked
as if He wasn’t there with us – far away,
somewhere else – but He continued to
participate as solemnly as ever before.
Then He’d say, snap-snapping His fingers,
“Hurry up, hurry up, read it faster!” Later
on, at the very end of this period, I’d read
it very, very rapidly, skipping periods,
commas, and so on. One day it came to
such a pitch, when He gestured “Do it!”
snap! “Fast! I can’t stand up any longer!”
I rattled off the prayer at such high
speed that it echoed in my mind as if I
were an express train, going through a
station without any stops! I’m in the midst
of reading like this, all of a sudden I burst
out laughing, because it was so ridiculous
to me to pray like that! I could hear my
own voice echoing as if I were rattling
through all the stations. The picture
came to me of a speeding express train,
and I laughed loudly, half way through
the prayer. Then I controlled myself and
resumed my reading of the prayer.
Baba didn’t say anything, He just
stood there; everyone around me was
serious. After the prayer ended, He sat
down in His chair. Everything was done
as usual. He bowed down to each one
of us. Everything was finished and we
settled down.
After a while, He asked “What made
you laugh? What made you do that in
that Prayer?” So I said, “It happened
uncontrollably, because I could hear my
own voice rushing through the whole
prayer. It appeared to me I’m a railroad
train rattling through all the stations
without stopping, without caring for passengers. It was so ridiculous that I burst
out laughing”
He gestured, “You’re mad! You have
no idea what is happening here. To you,
it seems ridiculous. For Me it is no joke in
this state of My health, to participate in
this prayer. I have given it to humanity,
to posterity, to say it. And, whenever anyone recites it after I pass away, because
of My participation now, it will help the
one who repeats this prayer. So that is
why I want the prayer said; it has nothing
to do with your speed or how you read
it out, or anything of this sort. All that
matters is My having participated in the
prayer. So every time anybody repeats
the prayer, I am there with him, My presence is there”
The Difference Between
Truth and Religion
Meher Baba
On 26th June 1926, Meher Baba discoursed on Truth and Religion,
and this is an extract, slightly edited.
M
eher Baba said, “If you desire to
aspire for Realization, you should
hold your very life in the palm of your
hand, ready to give it up at any moment!
Then alone will you be deemed worthy
and be able to experience Truth.”
The topic then turned to the American Christian Mission and the Salvation
Army—two organizations which were
doing their utmost to convert people to
Christianity, declaring it to be the only
sure road to salvation. Baba asked,
“Why all this? Why mislead people
into leaving their religions? Is religion the
Truth as well as the way to the Truth?”
He then elucidated: “Truth has nothing
to do with religion. Truth is far away and
far beyond the tenets and principles of
religion. Truth is naked and unrestrained
and can only be experienced by cutting
loose maya’s limbs—lust, anger and
greed.
“Muslims say that experience can
only be gained through the Islamic
religion, arguing for circumcision and
other rituals. How ludicrous! Do any
of you know why Muslims practice
circumcision? Mohammed told them
to ‘cut down’ and annihilate their
minds; meaning to cut through maya
and cut away their sanskaras. This
means keeping one’s own mind under
control and away from worldly thoughts.
But failing to understand the true
meaning of the Prophet’s teaching,
some theologians concentrate upon
the custom of circumcising children —a
custom which people, without thinking,
accepted and started to follow.
“The same is true in every religion—
the Parsis and their kusti, the Christians
and their baptism. What is the meaning
of all those practices in the name of
religion? If it is not a sin to make others
doubtful of their religion, it is surely a
great weakness. What is the advantage
in expanding a religion until its followers number in the millions? This is the
‘Kali Yuga!’
“See the horror done in the cause
of religion. Look at the massacres born
out of ignorance and cruelty occurring
between Hindus and Muslims, all for the
sake of religion.
“At the same time, many false prophets have appeared and hypocrisy is
rampant. People now want religious
doctrines to suit their own ideas of life,
and the crafty leaders who observe all
this and fulfil their wishes find thousands
of followers.”
Continuing, Baba advised: “So I have
been telling you: control your mind, live
a pure and clean life, discard desires and
follow a Master who is God-Realized.
Then alone you will be safe. “
“Following a Master does not mean
giving up your religion. You should renounce the mind!
“If you try to set green grass on fire,
it will not burn. But if you set a match to
a haystack, it will immediately catch fire
and burn to ash. The haystack symbolizes the accumulation of sanskaras. In
order for green grass to dry, it has to be
kept near a fire. This means that in order
to destroy one’s sanskaras, a person
should stay with a Sadguru in whom the
divine knowledge is always burning. In
his contact and company, sanskaras accumulate but also dry. Finally, with the
flame of his grace, he sets fire to and
uproots all one’s sanskaras. Even red
sanskaras of lust and anger, which are
the fastest growing and most deeply
rooted, are nothing to worry about if you
have contact with a Sadguru.”
—Lord Meher pp. 817-818
11
Prayer as Inner Approach
F
or most persons, the
outer ceremonies and
rituals prevalent in the
diverse religions are the
established approach to
God and Divinity. They
are regarded as indispensable. However, they
are neither essential nor
necessary, though at
times they have been
allowed or given by Masters by way of inevitable
accommodation to human weakness. They may
also be practiced with
benefit when they are
thus allowed or given by
a Master, but only during
the period for which they
have been prescribed,
and in the context in
which they are intended
to have a given effect. They have no lasting value nor can they be made eternally
binding. They were never essential or
indispensable; they are never essential
or indispensable; and they will never be
essential or indispensable.
Let us take for example the stern
discipline and fasts associated with
Ramadan. No doubt they serve some
spiritual purpose. But one way of looking upon it is to regard them as a sort of
compulsory rationing of food and water
in those areas where they were rare,
and where such control was necessary
in the interest of society. It is not necessary to convert the instructions of the
Prophet into inflexible and eternal rules
of discipline. In the context in which they
were given they served both material
and spiritual purpose. They cannot be
regarded as inescapable or necessary
in all times and climes. The same thing
applies to any other disciplines given by
other seers or Masters.
The Masters have sometimes followed external disciplines including
prayers and have set an example of
humility and readiness to learn from
others. Thus Mohammed played the role
of being taught by Gabriel. He thereby
achieved two things. Firstly, he gave
to the world an example of readiness
to learn from others; and secondly, he
12
Meher Baba
awakened the teacher in Gabriel. No
teachers have been content with merely
external disciplines. Through their teachings as well as example they have often
set forth prayer as the inner approach
to God and Divinity.
What constitutes the essence of
prayer? Many prayers to God are current
among the lovers of God, arising as they
do from diverse cultural contexts. Some
of the prayers invariably contain an element of asking something from God,
either material or spiritual. In fact, God
is so merciful and bountiful that even
without their asking He always gives
more than His lovers can receive. He
knows their real needs more deeply than
they do. Therefore the element of asking
something from God is superfluous. It
often mars the inner love and worship
which a prayer tries to express.
The ideal prayer to the Lord is nothing more than spontaneous praise of His
being. You praise Him, not in the spirit of
bargain but in the spirit of self-forgetful
appreciation of what He really is. You
praise Him because He is praiseworthy.
Your praise is a spontaneous appreciative response to His true being, as
infinite light, infinite power and infinite
bliss. It is futile to attempt a standard
prayer and hold it up as an ideal for all
people of all times. The glory of the
Almighty transcends
all human understanding and defies all verbal
descriptions. Eternally
fresh and self-renewing
in its unlimited amplitude, it never fades. Nor
is it ever confined within
the limits of the best of
hymns.
All hymns and
prayers reach out towards the eternal Truth
of Godhead only to
merge those who utter them in silent and
unending adoration. If
by ideal prayer to the
Lord is meant a set formula, any search for it
is a wild goose chase.
All prayers ultimately
initiate the soul into an
ever deepening silence of sweet adoration; and all formulae are dissolved and
assimilated into the integral and direct
appreciative perception of divine Truth.
That which seeks to reach towards the
immeasurable, itself becomes incapable
of being measured by any set standards.
The ritualistic and repetitive expressions of prayer do not and cannot do justice to the innermost essence of prayer,
which is adoring love for the eternal Beloved. To attempt to standardize prayer
is to mar its intrinsic beauty. If you pray
with a motive to do good to someone,
your prayer may actually bring about
good both to him and to yourself. Some
people pray for the spiritual benefit of
those who have done them some wrong.
There also, they are helping others spiritually. But all prayers with a motive fall
short of the ideal prayer which is without
motive. In the entire spiritual panorama
of the universe nothing is more sublime
than a spontaneous prayer. It gushes
out of the human heart, filled with appreciative joy. It is self-expression of
the freed spirit without any actuation
of a motive. In its highest form, prayer
leaves no room for the illusory diarchy of
the lover and the Beloved. It is a return
to one’s own being.
Beams from the Spiritual Panorama,
pp 72-76 ©AMBPPCT
Mani on Prayers
as the eye could see, but not a single
morsel entered anyone's mouth.
"Meanwhile, in another room a similar party was taking place. Again, a royal
banquet was laid out and delicious food
was flown in from all over the world.
The people assembled were subjected
to the same condition. One hand of
each person was tied behind his back
and to the other hand was tied a long
spoon. But there was a difference in this
party. Everyone was enjoying the food.
How did they manage to do this? Each
one was picking up the food with the
spoon and feeding the person sitting
opposite him. In this way, everyone was
happy and enjoying the food."
Mani ended by adding, "Prayers are
like that. When you pray for someone
else, they are answered."
The Real Treasure, pp. 7-8 2006 ©
Rustom B. Falahati
Mani - Baba's sister
Beloved Meher
Baba’s Prayers
Rustom Falahati
I
n the latter half of the 1980's almost
everyone would go to Meherazad on
a bus that the Trust provided. It would
leave Meherabad from the Pilgrim Center and then stop in town briefly to pick
up anyone who was there and to allow
for the pilgrims to quickly attend to
personal matters at the Trust. It would
then head out to Meherazad.
Some days there would be two buses
of pilgrims. Generally, after getting
down from the buses, people would line
up in a queue for the chance to greet
the Mandali. It hadn't always been this
way, but the sheer volume of pilgrims,
and the diminishing number of the Mandali, eventually resulted in there being
large crowds around Eruch and Mani.
As the Mandali were always sensitive
to someone feeling left out, they would
try to make it a point to greet everyone.
Eventually, the habit fell into place of
forming a queue so that everyone got a
chance to greet all the Mandali.
I was standing in queue to greet Mani
Irani, Baba's sister. About her, Baba had
said that she was His sister, Subhadra,
when He was Krishna. Although it must
have been exhausting for her, Mani
would greet every pilgrim in queue with
an embrace that overflowed with love.
She would also spend a minute or two
after each embrace chatting with that
pilgrim or making a joke or telling a funny
story, as was Mani's nature.
When my turn came, Mani embraced
me but then looked at me and said very
seriously, "We have had no rains this year;
the water situation is bad. Rustom, pray
to Baba on our behalf to send us rain."
I was surprised by Mani's request and
said, "Mani, you are Baba's sister and if He
doesn't listen to your prayers, then why
would He listen to mine?"
Mani replied, "You see, that's not true
about prayers. Let me tell you a story to
help you understand the significance of
prayers."
"There was a party going on in a huge
hall. The table was laid with the best food
that you can imagine. Delicacies were
flown in from all over the world. A royal
feast was being given to all who assembled for the party. However, a condition
was imposed on everyone who came for
the party. One hand of each person was
tied behind his back and to the other hand
was tied a long spoon. They were free to
eat to their hearts' content but had to
comply with this restriction.
"One would think they would have
a grand time but no, that was not the
case. The people were unhappy. The long
spoon made it impossible for them to eat
anything. The spoon would not reach
their mouth because it was too long and
the food was spilling all over the floor.
People were terribly unhappy because
the room contained delicious items as far
Notes by Mehernath Kalchuri for
the Love Street Breezes
25 August,2015
T
here were certain things that Bhauji
would say about Baba’s prayers. He
said the prayers should be followed. When Beloved Baba was in seclusion
from 1967, after His seclusion work
each day, Baba Himself would take part
in the Master’s Prayer and the Repentance Prayer. Afterwards, He gave the
third prayer, Beloved God. Bhauji used to tell us, and also wrote
in The Nothing and the Everything, about Baba’s prayers:
“At that time, Baba met with the
men in Mandali Hall early in the morning and started His seclusion work. The seclusion period was an extremely
serious later phase of Baba’s life, and no
one was allowed to make the slightest
noise that would be disturbing to Baba. Baba’s health was critical then, and He
was terribly exhausted after the seclusion work.
“After completing this inner work
in three hours, He called the men inside
the hall and Eruch would wipe away the
perspiration and apply talcum powder
to Baba’s tired body. Eruch would
then read out the Master’s Prayer, the
13
Repentance Prayer and the Beloved
God Prayer: “Beloved God, help us all to love you
more and more, and more and more, and
still yet more, until we become worthy
of Union with you. And help us all to
hold fast to Baba’s daaman, until the
very end.”
“Of the three prayers, the Beloved
God prayer is the only one that includes
Baba’s name. At the time, Baba said that
the prayer was for the Mandali. But it
was for all, and that is the reason everyone now accepts and says this prayer.
“After the prayers, Baba would bow
down to each one of us. Then He would
say, “Disperse.” But for me, that did not
apply. He began dictating specific points
for The Nothing and The Everything. - The Nothing and the Everything, by
Bhau Kalchuri, (Introduction page, x,xi) “One day, Baba declared, “Because
I am taking part in these prayers during
my seclusion work, know well, that even
if my lovers do these prayers mechanically, they will be benefited. I am doing
this for them.”
How important these prayers are! And what a gift Beloved Baba has given,
even if His Lovers say them mechanically,
they will derive benefit.
Jai Meher Baba!
In Beloved Baba's love and service,
Mehernath Kalchuri
Photo by Bhikubai Panday
Baba and Bhau
14
The Prayer God Never Hears
“There are more tears shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones.”
—St. Teresa of Avila E
ach and every day, probably millions
of times a day, people thank You for
the sudden, expected or unexpected,
answering of a prayer.
These are the prayers You’ve heard
so many times, You probably stopped
listening ages ago, but they usually go
something like this:
Thank You, God, for getting me this job.
Thank You, God, for getting me home
safely from that business trip.
Thank You, God, for healing me of that
dreadful disease.
Thank you, God, for not letting me
make an idiot of myself at my daughter’s
wedding.
But this is the prayer God never hears:
Thank you, God, for this cancer, for it
was only when my life was threatened
with extinction that I clung to You, the
source of all life; when I realized in a
heartbeat how precious every heartbeat
is; when I fell at Your feet because there
was no place left to go, and for making me
come to terms with the sheer, blank terror of death sooner rather than later, and
live each day as if it were my last, which is
how I should have lived my life all these
many years…
Thank You, God, for allowing me to fail
the bar exam so many times that I was
forced to accept the fact that I’d never be
the Clarence Darrow I’d always dreamed
of being, because if I had become a great
and famous lawyer, my head and heart
would have been so turned by the world
that I would never have pleaded my case
before You, the Jurist who rules the universe, who never, ever judges and always,
always, forgives, no matter how grave the
sin, and Who alone has the authority to
release me from the greatest prison in the
world, the prison of myself…
Thank you, God, for the betrayal of my
closest and dearest friend, for it made me
depend on You as my first and best and
only friend…
Thank you, God, for this clinical depression, whose deepness and darkness
was so great it made me down a nearly
full bottle of Xanex, but not swallowing
enough water, made me cough/spit/spray
the little bastards clear across the dank
and dimly lit motel room where I fell to
the floor and thanked You for being alive,
even here, even then, even now…
Thank you, God, for putting into my
business partner’s head that damnfool
scheme of cheating me; in doing so he
not only cheated himself, but the money
he stole from me he will have to repay in
his next life…
Thank you, God, for all that terrible slander and backbiting at my trial; they didn’t
know it, but these slanderers and backbiters had just washed and cleaned about a
billion loads of my dirtiest laundry…
Thank You, God, for these tortures of
mind and body whose razor-bladed pain
shears away everything that isn’t You
and makes me depend entirely and only
upon You…
Thank you, God, for these temptations,
which make me so distrust my own actions
that I have no alternative but to make You
the doer of every thought, word, and action, because, You see, I’ve spent enough
lifetimes totally screwing things up, increasing my burden instead of allowing
You to lessen it…
These are the prayers God never hears,
because only very, very few have the
courage to utter them, including, God
help me, me.
— seen on the Internet
Everything
Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)*
Everything
I see,
touch,
taste,
speak
think,
imagine,
is completing a Perfect circle
God has drawn
Love Poems from God, Daniel Landinsky,
p114, Penguin Compass, 2002.
It Is a Lie
Meister Eckhart*
It is a Lie—any talk of God
That does not
comfort you.
The Master’s Prayer
O Parvardigar, the Preserver and Protector of All
You are without Beginning, and without End;
Non-dual, beyond comparison,
and none can measure You.
You are without colour, without expression,
without form, and without attributes.
You are unlimited and unfathomable,
beyond imagination and conception;
eternal and imperishable.
You are indivisible; and none can see You
but with eyes Divine.
You always were, You always are,
and You always will be;
You are everywhere, You are in everything,
and You are also beyond everywhere
and beyond everything.
You are in the firmament and in the depths.
You are manifest and unmanifest; on all planes,
and beyond all planes.
You are in the three worlds, and also
beyond the three worlds.
You are imperceptible and independent.
You are the Creator, the Lord of Lords,
the Knower of all minds and hearts;
You are Omnipotent and Omnipresent.
You are Knowledge Infinite, Power Infinite, and Bliss Infinite.
You are the Ocean of Knowledge,
All-Knowing, infinitely-Knowing;
the Knower of the past, the present, and the future,
and You are Knowledge itself.
You are All-merciful and eternally benevolent.
You are the Soul of souls, the One with infinite attributes.
You are the Trinity of Truth, Knowledge, and Bliss.
You are the Source of Truth; the Ocean of Love.
You are the Ancient One, the Highest of the High;
You are Prabhu and Parameshwar;
You are the Beyond-God, and the
Beyond-Beyond-God also.
You are Parabrahma; Allah; Elahi;
Yezdan; Ahuramazda, and God the Beloved
You are named Ezad, the only One worthy of worship.
—Avatar Meher Baba—
15
The Master’s Prayer dictated by Meher Baba with corrections made by Eruch Jessawala as directed by
Meher Baba Himself in Dehra Dun in August 1953. Original in Beloved Archives
A Deeper Dive into The Master's Prayer
T
Laurent Weichberger, Ashland Oregon (August 2015)
he following was initially written by
me in 2004 as a response to an email
from a Baba-lover in California who had
questions about four of the “arcane”
words used by Avatar Meher Baba in
the Master’s Prayer, dictated directly by
Baba to Eruch, namely: “Parameshwar,
Elahi, Prabhu,” and “Ezad.”[1] I have
revised it for publication in Love Street
Breezes.
Let’s start with the name of God,
"Elahi," which is a Persian word, singular,
with a deep link to the Hebrew word
"Elohim," which is Hebrew and used in
the Torah (Hebrew Bible) but which is a
16
plural form of the word. Elohim means divine beings, and the dictionary[2] doesn't
help too much, offering: "Elohim: One of
the principal names by which God is designated in the Hebrew Scriptures." The
most interesting point about Meher Baba
using Elahi in the Master’s Prayer is that
He chose the singular NOT the plural
usage of that word for the Divine Being.
Now on to "Parameshwar", which is
Vedic (Sanskrit, Hindi). I have actually
been studying a bit of Hindi with my
teacher, Ameeta Vora. In the book
Glossary of Sanskrit Terms[3] we
see "Para" defined as “beyond, far,
distant.” This is consistent with Baba's
usage, as in "Paramatma, Parabrahma,"
etc. This is a prefix to the name "eshwar"
which is actually what Baba names
"Ishwar," with the "m" between the two
words as a joining consonnant (since
"Para" ends with a vowel and "Ishwar"
starts with a vowel). So, Parameshwar
would mean, "Beyond Ishwar." Ishwar,
is a state (aspect) of God that Baba
doesn't bring up too often, but Bhau
Kalchuri wrote a chapter about Ishwar in
The Nothing and The Everything, stating:
“Ishwar is the infinite unconsciousness
of INFINITE MIND and through its infinite
thinking Ishwar manifests in three
impersonal aspects – Brahma, Vishnu
and Mahesh.”[4]
Be advised that with The Nothing and
The Everything, as Bhau once told us,
when he wrote he did NOT use the notes
he made of points dictated by Baba for
that book. "I just wrote," he told me and
those gathered at Meherabad.[5]
The name of God, “Ezad” is also Persian (Sufi). I went to a special Persian
translation web site[6] and when you
put the word "God" in English, one of
three words it gives you back in Persian
is "Izad." Meher Baba himself provided
the translation of Ezad as: "the only One
worthy of worship" as the last line of the
Master’s Prayer. It is a fascinating fact
that Beloved Baba opens and closes the
prayer on a distincly Persian note. It is
also remarkable that the other two Persian words that translation web site gives
you back for God are, "Parvardegar"
Baba's opening word, and "Xoda," which
must be an alternate spelling of “Khuda.”
One of the last things Baba ever said, before passing away on January 31, 1969 at
Meherazad, was “Khuda Hafez” or “May
God Protect You” a traditional Persian
farewell.[7]
The name “Prabhu” is Vedic also,
and it means a little more than just plain
“Lord.” I found this definition while researching on the internet: "Prabhu: superior, ruler, governor, master, lord, owner,
proprietor, commander, principal."[8]
Some day, I think someone will have
to do this for the entire Master’s Prayer.
Avatar Meher Baba ki jai! Notes and Resources:
I showed this writing to my friend Mahmoud
Ajang, a Persian Baba-lover, when I was at
his home in California. He carefully read and
approved of my response about the names
“Elahi” and “Ezad.”
See http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
elohim
Glossary of Sanskrit Terms, by Geoffrey A.
Barborka (Point Loma Pub., San Diego).
The Nothing and The Everything, by Bhau
Kalchuri, p. 211 (© Manifestation Inc)
A recording was made by the Avatar Meher
Baba Trust of this session with Bhau (July,
2001) and it can be reviewed.
See http://iranianlanguages.com/diction-
ary.php?eng-per
See Lord Meher p. 5402 on-line at
http://www.lordmeher.org/
rev/index.jsp?pageBase=page.
jsp&nextPage=5402
See http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/
platts/
Parvardigar as a Meditation
Michael Da Costa, England
M
Painting by Polly Branch
any times Baba has told us, ‘you
are God; you are not the finite self
that you think you are; you are infinite;
you are God’; and does He not also tell
us ‘You and I are not ‘we’ but ‘One’?
Yes Baba, I say, but in spite of my longing to long to love you, I remain separate
from You – stuck in the illusion of duality
– caught in Maya’s grip.
But then one day Baba got me thinking – thinking about the Parvardigar
Prayer...
…I thought about how He used to
stand, in great pain, to participate in this
prayer for the benefit of all humanity, for
all time; and how, whenever I have said
the Parvardigar prayer, I have always
directed it towards Baba; tuning in to
those expressed aspects of His Reality;
but then, He got me wondering; what
if—with the question bubbling up from
somewhere deep inside of me—what
if, instead of saying it to Baba out
there, I address it to the ‘Me’ within; to
the ‘Me’ who is eternally ‘He’; who IS,
Eternal God. So, I was encouraged to
experiment; to try to say the prayer as if
it were coming from my false self, to my
infinite real Self within; or even better,
as if it were coming from Baba, as He
stood in Mandali Hall, saying it to me,
with the emphasis on the word ‘You’, for
example, “You are everywhere, You are
in everything, and You are also beyond
everywhere and beyond everything,”
etc. However, this would mean opening
myself to hear it; listening intensely to
what Baba is telling me; letting the words
by-pass my obstructive mind so that they
may be heard, even if only faintly, taking
me deep within myself, where infinity is;
where my true Self is; where God is.
An impossible task? Maybe; but then,
‘only the impossible has divine meaning’.
So now, whenever I say the prayer—
or at least, whenever I remember to—I
try to do just that; simultaneously speak
it, listen to it, and hear it within my inner
Self. If occasionally I partially succeed, it
brings about an intense feeling of awe,
of wonder—which I am unable to adequately describe. Recently, at a morning
Arti at Meherabad, instead of saying the
prayer, I just listened to those blessed
words come to me from Baba, through
all those voices, and almost fainted!
Post script: I subsequently remembered the following passage from
Baba’s discourse, ‘Types of Meditation
VI’, “There is an important variety of
the impersonal form of meditation. In
it the infinity which one imagines is not
mentally externalised as if it were an
unlimited stretch of something outside
the aspirant. It is more helpful to picture
the infinite as within the aspirant. After
picturing the infinite within, the aspirant
should give himself the strong suggestion of his identity with the infinite by
mentally repeating, “I am as infinite as
the sky within,” or “I am as infinite as
the ocean within,” or “ I am as infinite as
the emptiness within.” It may even be
more useful to use the bare formula, “I
am the infinite within,” and, while mentally repeating this formula, to grasp and
realise the significance of infinity through
the image which has been chosen.
“[This] may lead to the merging of the
aspirant into the formless and infinite
aspect of God.”
17
The Prayer of Repentance
We repent, O God most merciful,
for all our sins;
For every thought that was
false or unjust or unclean;
For every word spoken that
ought not to have been spoken;
For every deed done that ought not
to have been done.
We repent for every deed and word
and thought inspired by selfishness,
and for every deed and word
and thought inspired by hatred.
We repent most specially for every
lustful thought and every lustful action;
for every lie; for all hypocrisy;
for every promise given but not fulfilled,
and for all slander and backbiting.
Most specially also, we repent for every action
that has brought ruin to others;
For every word and deed
that has given others pain;
And for every wish that pain
should befall others.
In your Unbounded Mercy,
We ask you to forgive us, O God,
For all these sins committed by us,
and to forgive us for our constant failures
to think and speak and act
according to Your Will.
—Avatar Meher Baba—
18
Repentance
Michael Da Costa, England
Forgiveness is the fragrance given off
from the violet to the heel that crushes it.*
To ask for forgiveness is already to be
forgiven. In fact it is the forgiveness which
prompts you to ask for it.*
hroughout the Prayer of Repentance
Meher Baba uses the word ‘we’. In
spite of this, whenever I say this prayer
I tend to think only of the ‘me’ which
is in need of Baba’s loving forgiveness.
But it has recently occurred to me that
Baba may have given this prayer—and
participated in it Himself, in spite of the
intense pain this cost Him—for us to ask
God for forgiveness, not only for the
sins committed by you and me, but by
everyone throughout the world, every
moment of every day. We only have to
open a newspaper, or turn on the TV, as
well as to review our own thoughts and
actions, to be witness to the sins spelled
out by Baba in this prayer:
• all the false, and unjust, and unclean
thoughts;
• all the words and deeds that should
not have been said and done;
• all the selfishness and hate
• all the lustful thoughts and actions;
• all the lies; all the hypocrisy;
• all the broken promises;
• all the slander and backbiting;
• all the actions causing ruin to others;
• all the actions giving others pain;
• all the wishes for pain to befall
others.
• and especially all the failures to
think and speak and act according to
GOD’S WILL.
And so I now say the prayer not only
for myself, but also on behalf of every
soul—in the hope that when Baba eventually turns His key of forgiveness, He will
turn the world upside-down—or rather,
the right way up!
T
However, I also
continue to say the
Prayer of Repentance for myself
and other wouldbe Baba lovers.
Now, to be honest,
I do not very much
like the word ‘sin’
because of its association with guilt;
but I am sure that
Baba does not want
us to feel guilty –
profound remorse,
yes, for major
wrongs; but, He
says, repentance
for everyday weaknesses ‘should not
become a tedious
and sterile habit of
immoderate and
gloomy pondering
over one’s own failings...if it leads to a lack of self-respect
and self-confidence, it has not served its
true purpose, which is merely to render
impossible the repetition of certain types
of action.’ **
I have heard that the Greek origin of
the word ‘sin’ had something to do with
archery and ‘missing the mark’. Well, that
doesn’t feel quite so bad – if that is the
case we can always keep trying again and
again. And with Baba right there alongside
us, encouraging, challenging, upholding,
shaking us loose from our gross graspings,
and truing our aim with His ‘unbounded
mercy’, then it may be possible that one
day we shall hit the mark. Till then, let’s
keep on praying.
* Quoted by Ivy Duce in How a Master Works
** Discourses – Removal of Sanskaras I
Where there is love, there is Oneness and, in complete Oneness, the Infinite is
realized completely at all times and in every sphere of life, be it science, art, religion,
or beauty. The spirit of true love and sacrifice is beyond all ledgers and needs no
measures. A constant wish to love and be loving and a non-calculating will to sacrifice in “’every walk of life, high and low, big and small, between home and office,
streets and cities, countries and continents are the best anti-selfish measures that
man can take in order to be really self-full and joyful. Love also means suffering and
pain for oneself and happiness for others. To the giver, it is suffering without malice
or hatred. To the receiver, it is a blessing without obligation. Love alone knows how
to give without necessarily bargaining for a return. There is nothing that love cannot
achieve and there is nothing that love cannot sacrifice.
—Avatar Meher Baba
1982 Charles Mills
Expands His Being
Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)*
All beings
are words of God,
His music,
His art.
Sacred books we are,
for the infinite camps
in our souls.
Every act reveals God
and expands His Being.
I know that may be hard
to comprehend.
All Creatures are doing their best
to help God in His birth
of Himself.
Enough talk for the night.
He is laboring in me;
I need to be silent
for awhile,
worlds are forming
in my heart.
Love Poems from God, Daniel Landinsky, p112,
Penguin Compass, 2002.
19
The Christian Prayer
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,
O Lord, hear my prayer and let my cry come unto Thee!
Thou Who art the God of the Gods, the Father Almighty, art the Father Everlasting!
O God, Almighty Father, the Lord of Lords! The King of Kings!
All the earth doth worship Thee!
To Thee all angels, to Thee the heavens and all powers,
To Thee all saints and all beings with unceasing voice do cry:
The Holy! The Holy of Holies!
Full are the heavens and the earth of the majesty of Thy glory,
Thou the glorious! Thou the exalted Effulgence;
Thou the praiseworthy in the assemblage of the prophets;
Thou the celestial Beauty, art the eternal Song of Thy lovers.
Thou Who art acknowledged, praised and worshipped throughout the world,
In all churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and pagodas
To Thee I most humbly bow down.
Thou of unbounded majesty; art the father of the creation;
Thy true, adored and only begotten Son, the Christ, is the King of Glory,
the Saviour of mankind, the Ancient One, the Highest of the High!
O Christ! The Messiah! Thou of the Father Everlasting art the Son Everlasting!
Thou, O most merciful Lord, hath taken upon Thee to deliver men from bondage to eternal glory;
O The Ancient One! The Redeemer! Thou, having first overcome the sting of ignorance,
Didst open to all the kingdom of Bliss, Knowledge, and Power!
I most humbly praise Thee, O My God!
I most firmly acknowledge Thee, O My God!
O My Soul of souls, I believe in Thee, because Thou art Truth itself.
I worship Thee, O Highest of the High, because Thou art the Only One worthy of adoration.
I love Thee above all things and beings, because Thou art Love Divine itself.
I beseech Thee, because Thou art Mercy itself!
I offer Thee all my thoughts, words and actions, my sufferings and joys, because Thou art the Only Beloved.
I therefore beseech Thee, my God, my Lord of Lords, the Highest of the High, the Ancient One,
To have mercy on me according to Thy unbounded mercy, and let my cry come unto Thee!
O My Beloved! Suffer me not to be separated from Thee for ever and ever! Amen
In a letter* dated 30 November 1966 from Adi K. Irani to an Australian woman, Meryl Baulch, inquiring about the Christian Prayer
(which a minister had informed her seemed to be based on the Gregorian Latin chant Te Deum), Adi writes: "Regarding the Christian
Prayer" recited on 17 Sept. 1954, it was not dictated by Meher Baba. It was prepared and recited by the mandali in presence of Baba
and as such the wording 'dictated by Baba' which has somehow appeared in print, is wrong and misleading. I am taking precautions to
avoid repetition of such an erroneous presentation.
"Christian Prayer" is an adaptation from Christian prayers. Paragraphs from certain prayers were selected and words and lines
added to these paragraphs by mandali to suit the requirement of a certain occasion. Baba told different mandali members to recite the
prepared prayers. Accordingly, 'Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu and Zoroastrian Prayers' were recited for the occasion in presence of
Baba. The adapted Christian Prayer was kept in [the] record as it was recited again on two or three occasions and was liked by Baba."
[The Letter* is in the Carrie Ben Shammai Archives.]
20
Artis — Prayer Songs
The Gujarati Arti
by Meher Baba
O God, command that the fire of our
ignorance be extinguished;
Your lovers yearn for You to bestow
upon them the light of faith.
O Murshed Meher Baba, we lay our
heads at Your Feet.
O Meher Baba, You have made Yourself perfectly aware of Your Godhood.
You are the Lord of Truth, You are the
Lover and Beloved in one.
Being the torrent of Infinite Knowledge, You are the Ocean of Oneness.
O Master, bestow upon us wayfarers
the knowledge of Ezad (the only One
worthy of worship).
For You, O Paramatma are omniscient
and are Divine Knowledge itself.
Give us to drink of the cup of God's
love that we become intoxicated!
O Saki, we offer our lives in sacrifice
to You; give us this draught!
Only if You steer our ship while in midocean can we remain afloat.
O Meher Baba, the Captain of our
ship, You are our Protector.
O Meher Baba, the Captain of our ship,
You are our Protector.
Australian Arti
by Francis Brabazon
O Glorious Eternal Ancient One,
Your face is a bright transcendental
sun —
Lighten this dark world and the tears
I weep;
My heart, Meher, I give to you to
keep.
Creator, yet creation less You are
Truth and Truth's Body, Divine Avatar
Who, through compassion, the three
worlds maintains —

Destroy this ignorance that life
sustains.
This incense is my love, these fruits
my art
Which to please You I have shaped
from my heart;
Accept them as You would a simple
flower
That has no use beyond its shining hour.
You are my self I sign to You in praise
and beg Your Love to bear me through
the days
Till You, the Ever living Perfect One,
Illume my darkness with Your shining
Sun.
Aadi Sachaytana
A Hindi Arti
(He from whose Whim sprang up the
universe, how can intellect fathom His
Divinity?)
Primordial, life-giving consciousness,
heaven of peace, salutations, O Brahma
come,
O Lord Meher, accept my arti.
Light the lamp of love in my heart and
annihilate this intense darkness; let me
offer everything to You and be blissful
in your love.
May every breath of my life become
the flow of Your Will; O Compassionate One, O Master of the Divine Game,
shower your Mercy upon me.
May Your arti become my very life, that
the rounds of births and deaths end
forever.
May my eyes be opened to the light of
dawn, and may You pervade in me.
American Arti
by Henry S. Mindlin
How can one fathom Your fathomless
being?
How can we know You we see with
gross eyes?
A glimpse of Your Shadow has blinded
our seeing;
How could your glory e'er be realized!
Chorus:
Consumed is my mind in Your fire and
flame;
Accept it, O Meher, in Oneness.
Consumed is my heart in the sound of
Your Name;
Accept, O Meher my arti.
Accept, O Meher, my song.
Thought cannot reach You and word
cannot speak You,
Infinite Ocean of unending Bliss.
Though we beseech You, how can we
seek You?
How can the finite know limitlessness
Repeat Chorus
At your command suns and stars give
their light.
What in the world can I offer as mine?
Even my gift of love would be naught in
Your Sight,
But veiled reflection of Your Love Divine.
Repeat Chorus
You are the Ancient One, Lord of
Creation.
How can we measure Your True Majesty?
You are the Christ, The Divine
Incarnation!
Dear Lord, please don't be indifferent
to me!
Repeat Chorus
You are beginning and end of all things.
"Tis You alone who assumes every role.
Sinners and saints, beggars and kings,
You are the Source and You are the Goal.
Repeat Chorus
How can one fathom Your fathomless
being?
How can we know You, we see with
gross eyes?
A glimpse of Your shadow has blinded
our seeing;
How could Your glory e'er be realized!
Repeat Chorus.
[It was written in '67 at Murshida Duce's
suggestion and performed at Guruprasad
at the '69 darahan. Murshida Duce had
sent it to Baba for his approval in '67. He
had me change one line, to omit a reference to the flowers and fruit of the Eastern arti ceremony, which would not apply
in the west. I changed that to "At your
command suns and stars give their light."
He liked that.]
21
The Bujaawe Naar Arti, Part 1
How Baba Wrote His Arti
Recent photo by Paul Liboiron
T
5AM: Singing the Arti on Baba's birthday at the Samadhi.
he Bujaawe Naar Arti, often referred
to as the Gujarati Arti, is sung every
day at both Meherabad and Meherazad.
We cannot begin to know the importance of this most beautiful Arti, but we
do know that it was written by Beloved
Meher Baba Himself.
Baba loved to sing and compose
music and He was also an accomplished
dolak (Indian drum) player. Here is one
account, drawn from Mehera-Meher (p.
156) of how and when He wrote the
Bujaawe Naar Arti.
In late 1924 or early 1925, shortly
before beginning His silence and while
staying in Bombay, Mehera recalled
that Baba had stayed awake one night
listening to singing in the street outside
His window. She further recalled that
during that same night He composed the
Bujaawe Naar. In the morning He sang it
for the women and also wrote the words
on a piece of paper. Unfortunately, the
fate of that paper is unknown today.
Baba composed the melody for the
Arti based on a traditional Indian Bhairavi
raga, a very old and classical form associated with the dawn. Since the Bhairavi is
a devotional “morning raga,” it is fitting
that the Bujaawe Arti is now sung every
morning at Baba’s Samadhi.
Mehera said that before His silence
began she sometimes heard Baba singing when the women were living in the
bathing rooms at Lower Meherabad in
the early 1920s. She loved to describe
His beautiful voice and felt that keeping
silence was Baba's greatest suffering.
There is a different account of the
origin of this Arti given in Lord Meher
22
(online edition, p. 634). In this version
Baba composed the Bujaawe Naar Arti
later, in January of 1926—well after He’d
begun His Silence.
However, Mehera had a remarkable
memory and vividly recalled Baba writing the Bujaawe Naar in Bombay. And
the early residents who were close to
her maintain that her version of the story
is far more likely. Still, the exact story
behind this Arti remains a mystery.
— Cindy Lowe for Avatar Meher Baba
Trust, 29 October 2015
The English translation of the Bujaawe Naar (given in Lord Meher, online
edition, p. 634):
Oh God, command that the fire of
ignorance be extinguished!
Bestow upon Your lovers the light of
faith for which they
long.
O Master Meher
Baba! We lay our
heads at Your feet.
O Meher Baba!
You are the One who
knows the original
state of God.
You are the Lord
of Truth! You are the
lover and Beloved
in one.
You are the torrent of Infinite
Knowledge and the
Ocean of Oneness.
O Beloved, bestow upon us seek-
Photo courtesy of MN Publications
ers the knowledge of Ezad.
For You, Paramatma, are omniscient,
Divine Knowledge Itself!
Intoxicate us by making us drink from
the cup of love divine.
O Saki, promise us a cup of wine! We
offer our lives in sacrifice to you.
Our ship founders in mid-ocean; only
if you steer can we remain afloat.
O Meher Baba! You are our captain
and protector!
Copyright © Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual
Public Charitable Trust, All rights reserved.
[To hear an audio recording of the
women mandali singing the Gujerati
Arti, introduced by Eruch, go to: http://
ambppct.org/mp3/Bujaave2.mp3 (The
origin of this recording is unknown.)]
© AMBPPCT
Baba playing the drum
in 1950. © AMBPPCT
The Bujaawe Naar Arti, Part 2
Singing at Meherabad and Meherazad
T
There are few details about
he Bujawe Naar Arti, comwhen or where the men mandali
posed by Meher Baba Himsang the Bujaawe. As far as we
self, is an exquisite piece of muknow, Eruch never mentioned
sic, so it’s wonderful to think
the men singing it together at
that it gives Him pleasure when
Meherazad, but both he and
He hears it sung daily at both
his brother, Meherwan, rememMeherabad and Meherazad.
bered Baba asking the mandali
At Meherabad, arti at the Saand male guests to sing it in the
madhi is open to everyone—all
Sitting Room of the Main Bunare welcome. Arti begins every
galow during the housewarmmorning with the Parvardigar,
ing celebration in 1948. The
Repentance, and Beloved God
men stood before Baba, Who
prayers which Baba wrote.
was seated on the gaadi. But as
Next, the Bujaawe Arti is sung,
followed by an English-lan- Arti at the Samadhi, 25 February 2012. (Photo by Paul Liboiron) they stumbled through the Arti,
arti, often becoming lost in her thoughts it soon became apparent that they didn’t
guage arti. Then, after a moment of silence, anyone may offer other of Him and in choosing just the perfect really know it! So Baba gave them hints
rose. Most often, she would kiss each with gestures to help them sing it! (For
artis, songs, readings or poetry.
In the evening, the prayers are re- flower or touch it to her heart before example, Baba put His hands together
peated, followed by one of the three she lovingly placed it exactly where she to form a "ship" and then gave His hand
gesture for the "ocean".)
Indian artis, including the Bujaawe, felt it would please Him most.
In the morning, after Mehera had ofAs recalled by Roshan's daughter,
which are rotated each night. Then, one
of the English-language artis is sung and fered the flowers, the women would be- Mehera, Baba told Roshan Kerawala that
a moment of silence follows. After that, gin arti with two prayers—Parvardigar the Bujaawe Arti was the most potent
people may sing and play other music or and Beloved God. They didn't recite the of all the prayers* in this Advent and
Repentance Prayer because, as they of- He said He would be present wherever
recite writings of their choosing.
ten told Baba lovers, and whenever this prayer is sung. Today,
"Why say the Prayer the Gujerati Arti is sung at Baba centers,
of Repentance in meetings and gatherings in both the
the morning when East and West. No doubt it will be sung
you've just woken around the world in the years to come—
up?"
until He returns again to sing it with us.
In the evenings,
—Cindy Lowe for Avatar Meher Baba
the rest of the wom- Trust, 5 November 2015
en mandali would
*Although in common parlance we
read in the Sitting often separate the sung "arti" from the
Room while Mehera, spoken "prayer", an arti is also considtotally focused and ered a prayer. © AMBPPCT
lost in her incomparable love for Him,
would offer fresh
flowers to her Beloved in His room.
When Mehera had
The first Amartithi—31 January 1970—the women mandali sing
finished her ofarti at Upper Meherabad. (Photo courtesy of MN Publications)
fering, the women
At Meherazad, the arti is quite difwould gather in Baba's room and begin
ferent from the busy and sometimes
their arti by singing the Bujaawe Naar.
crowded arti at the Samadhi. The MeBecause Baba had once said that this
herazad women mandali began singing
arti should not be sung slowly like a
the Bujaawe every day in Baba's Room
dirge, they were always mindful to
after He dropped His body in 1969. For
keep the tempo up. The Bujaawe was
them, the arti was a sweet, intimate,
followed by the Repentance Prayer,
private time.
after which the women would take Beloved Baba's Room at Meherazad. This
Mehera would offer flowers in Baba's
Baba's darshan in turns. How we must photo is taken from the place where Mehera
would usually stand during Arti.
room every morning and evening before
all wish we had been there!
23
God, You Alone Exist!
Oh priceless treasure of Knowledge!
You are within and without, and You are
the Ocean of Mercy.
You are in all the worlds; You are the
Ocean of attributes!
Oh Meher, God-Incarnate, You alone
exist!
You are Yezdan. You are Ezad.
You are Allah and Ishwar.
You are Ram and You are Buddha.
You are Beloved Lord Krishna,
Who with one finger lifted the mountain;
You alone exist!
You are the Beyond God and the BeyondBeyond God also.
Oh Ocean of Kindness, You alone exist.
You are Muhammad, You are Perfection
Personified.
You are Knowledge Itself, and You alone
exist.
You live in everyone and You are everyone.
Oh Beloved, You are the Enlightened One,
and You alone exist.
You are with attributes and without
attributes!
You are the sole player in the divine game.
You alone exist.
You are matchless, the Only One!
You reside in every heart, and You alone
exist.
24
You are eternally motionless, and immovable is Your abode.
You are the Highest, for You alone exist.
You are the Doer, the deed, and the cause
of doing!
The sustainer You are, and the Master
of Masters.
You alone exist.
You are the seeker, the worship and the
sadhana.
exist!
You are in front and behind, You are
above and below,
O Lord, You live in every house, and You
alone exist.
You are beyond Beyond, yet You remain
within everyone.
You are All-Pervading, and You alone
exist.
You are in each neighborhood. You are
the Sustainer.
You Yourself are all worlds, and You alone
exist.
Everywhere, whether above or below,
You are complete; You alone exist.
You are unseen, yet seen also.
You live in everyone forgiving each his
sins. You alone exist.
There is no one without You!
You are manifesting and unmanifest, as
You alone exist.
You are man. You are birds.
You are fish and animals, for You alone
exist.
You are bugs and gnats, You are snakes
and scorpions,
You are ants and mosquitoes, for You
alone exist.
You are insects. You are lice.
You are dogs, asses and pigs. You alone
exist.
You are deer and elephants;
You are cats and monkeys; You alone
exist.
You are the moon and the stars, the dawn
and the night,
and the sun and also the light. You alone
exist.
You are wind and water,
and the animals of the water; You alone
exist.
You are silver and gold, You are copper
and iron,
You are brass and stone; You alone exist.
You are tea and coffee, and the sugar also;
You alone exist.
You are paper and the book,
You are the school and office; You alone
exist.
You are pen and ink and You are the gifted
writer.
You alone exist.
You are the door and window.
You are the marble floor; You alone
exist.
You are the medicine and the disease
and the Doctor also; You alone exist.
You are the game and the Player,
and the spectator also; You alone exist.
You are the flower and the thorn, and
You are the fragrance. You alone exist.
You are the Singer. You are the musical
instrument.
You are the sweet tunes, for You alone
exist.
You are the Prayer and the words of
the prayer.
You are the forces of evil and the powers
of light.
You alone exist.
You are the soldier, the army, and the
Supreme General.
You alone exist.
You are the Sailor, the ship, and the
wide Ocean;
You alone exist!
You are the storm's turbulence and the
tranquil waters.
You are the pearl and You are the shell.
You alone exist.
You are the shore, the Ferryman, and
the sea also,
for You alone exist.
You are the Beggar, the giver, and the
charity; You alone exist.
You are the slave and the Lord;
You are the Beyond God. You are God.
You alone exist.
You are Mother and Father;
You are Master, brother and friend.
You are family and relatives; You alone
exist.
There is no one besides You!
Eternally You are, for You alone exist!
You are Pran and You are heart.
You are also the Beloved of the heart;
You alone exist.
You are the Beloved and the Lover,
and You are the nectar of Love, as You
alone exist!
You are breath and life itself.
Our minds are enthralled by Your
beauty! For You alone exist!
You are the house. You are the inhabitants
and the bricks and furnishings.
You alone exist.
You are the Worshipper, his worship,
and the One worshipped, as You alone
Jahaan Kalpanaa
A Hindi Arti
Baba painting by unknown artist.
exist.
You are Consciousness and the Way to
Consciousness!
exist!
You are Khwaja, You are Qutub!
You are Pir and Qalandar! You alone
exist.
You are Hafiz, You are Sanai!
You are Dara and Alexander! You alone
exist.
You are Jesus Christ! You are Elahi!
You are the Ocean, infinite and pure;
You alone exist.
You are the Koran and the One who
prays!
You are Vali, and You are the Messenger;
You alone exist.
You are the Beginning, and You are the
End.
You are also beyond the Beginning and
beyond the End.
You alone exist.
You are infinitely beautiful and infinitely
close!
exist!
You are Brahma and You are Vishnu;
You are the guileless Shankar. You alone
exist!
Bhau says, "O Beloved Meher, You are
The Word
and You are The Letter! You alone exist!"
Where imagination and words cannot
reach
That Infinite One Thou art!
The Vedas say, "Thou are not this,
not this!"
Boundless is Thy glory.
Oh Glorious Ancient One!
Eternally and infinitely compassionate!
Redeemer of mankind!
Chorus:
I offer my mind to Thee
Accept it, O Meher, as my arti.
Burning incense, light and sandalwood,
Offering fruit, flowers and food,
Are but a returning of what is Thine.
How can I boast of them as mine?
Repeat Chorus
The cause of creation Thou art.
The Savior of the world Thou art.
Matchless Thou art, there is none but
Thee,
O Truth-incarnate Avatar!
Repeat Chorus
Pervading all creation is Thy Maya,
And Maya is but Thy shadow.
None has fathomed Thy depth.
Verily, Thou are infinity.
Repeat Chorus
When man knows not himself,
How can he realize Thy glory?
And what is uttered in ignorance
Is yet a singing of Thy praise.
Repeat Chorus
There is no limit to Thy compassion;
Could anyone give Thee anything, O
Lord?
Bestow on Thy lovers, we beg,
An abiding remembrance of Thee.
Repeat Chorus
O glorious Ancient One!
Eternally and infinitely compassionate!
Redeemer of mankind!
Repeat Chorus
from Lord Meher, pp. 5932-5935
You Alone Exist is a poem written by Bhau
Kalchuri under the direction of Meher Baba
25
Nepal Earthquake Relief
A Touch of Love Foundation at Work
Wayne and Vicki Galler, California
V
icki and I went to Katmandu in August 2015 on a direct request to help an orphanage in need. They had been living
in tents for three months after the first major earthquake in
April 2015 and the heavy rain had set in in June. Their kitchen
tent had slid down the slope and the children would be afraid
at every aftershock, which came often.
When we arrived in late August they had returned to their
rented building. However, due to fear of the aftershocks, they
had built a rounded metal shelter in front of the hostel and
ran into it whenever an earthquake started. Remember that
in May 2015 an aftershock hit 7.4 and hundreds more died and
many more buildings fell. So fear of another large aftershock
was realistic.
Now, it really is fear of another aftershock that puts them in
trouble. The 22 orphan children are supported by a trek tour
leader who lives in the hostel with his wife. All the foreigners
who had tours booked with him canceled after the quakes,
so he lost some of the spring high season and he has only
cancelations for this fall high season. That makes it hard to
come up with food every day for the children and then school
fees as the schools in Katmandu are private and charge him
about $40 a month per child. We know this since we went
to the school directly and got a list of their fees and they are
behind in payment. We also went to the market and bought
food and it is not nearly as cheap as India.
So maybe in a few years things will improve but right now
they could use your help. Any donations for food or school
would be greatly welcomed. Vicki and I will bring the money
personally to Katmandu and buy the food ourselves, so there
is no chance of it being misdirected.
Thanks and Jai Baba! Please contact us this number:
805-641-2800, Wayne and Vicki Galler, A Touch of Love Foundation:
604 Hupa Street Ventura, CA 93001 [email protected]
26
A Touch of Love
Ahmednagar District Program Flourishes
Our largest program area by number of children is in Maharashtra, India. We have provided village feeding and education
programs and free village medical clinics since September 2001. In one village development program in this district we have
graduated over 80 students. The children receive free tutoring every school day by licensed teachers, food, uniforms and
free medical care for their whole family. If the mother is sick she will not allow her daughter to attend school that day so she
can help cooking food and getting water. If the father gets sick or dies the boys usually have to leave school and earn money.
So our program works to keep the whole family healthy which allows the children to stay in school. It doesn’t matter if their
parents are illiterate because we provide tutoring help every day with homework. This transforms a poor family of day laborers into a family with a college graduate. Even a person with a junior college degree is easily employed. Our Foundation has a
district area director (a doctor), a village coordinator (licensed teacher), tutors and cooks on staff in the area every day. Several
times during the monsoon we could not drive the road to the villages; however, everything continued normally because all
the necessary staff live in the villages.
Some families need further help due to extreme poverty or loss of one or more parent. So our Foundation also pays for 42
children in this district to live full time at a hostel and attend school on the same grounds. They receive three meals every day
plus all their clothes and medical care in addition to school. We eat the food on every visit and it is really good! No wonder the
kids are happy. We have had over 45 children graduate from school through this program.
Sponsor A Child
Sponsor a Child for Only $22 a Month! Your $22 goes to help your child with education, food and healthcare. Your donation
is fully tax deductible, and 100% of your donation or sponsorship will go to the project; nothing will be removed.
Call 1-877-273-2549; outside the USA, 805-641-2800
To help support our ongoing projects please send your tax deductible donation to:
A Touch of Love Foundation, 604 Hupa Street, Ventura, CA 93001 USA
Abayna Mansa, Ghana
Hillary Rodriguez, Dominican Republic
Akash Suresh Shinde, India
27
Self-Effacement Contains the Spiritual Path
M
eher Baba says in effect, "Be patient. I shall take you blindfolded,
and I shall give you the inner strength
to withstand the ups and downs of
your mind and the ups and downs of
the events of the world that have impact on your mind. Rely on Me only and
I shall do your work." But for that you
should have conviction which is even
greater than faith.
Where will I get this conviction?
Baba says learn to do nothing. You have
been doing too many things. To try to
do nothing is more difficult than doing
everything. It is not possible for us to
do nothing. But for us doing nothing
means not doing anything by our own
volition. Leave it to Him. Be guided by
Him all the time. This does not mean
that I do not use my free will, but I use
it to remember Him and surrender to
Him; then He does everything. And
how shall I be guided by Him? I do not
understand if the guidance comes from
Meher Baba or if it is created by myself.
For this situation, Meher Baba has given
Adi K. Irani
a message which is so beautiful, so
simple and practical:
Think thoughts you would not hesitate to think in My presence.
Speak words you would not hesitate
to speak in My presence.
And do things you would not hesitate to do in My presence.
That is all -- the problem is solved.
I should visualize Him before me.
Then whatever thoughts I think, I can
ask myself, "Would I ever think these
thoughts when He is present before
me?" I will get an answer. If my conscience alone tells me that this thought
would be completely and fully endorsed
by Meher Baba -- that it will be liked by
Him -- then there is no objection in my
thinking that thought as long as I want.
There are certain thoughts, I am sure,
that He would not like, so I do not think
about them. Similarly with speech. I
may utter a word and ask myself if He
would like it. If He likes it, then I would
go on saying it. If He would not like it,
then I should give it up.
Most important are the actions. If
I feel His presence before me, would I
dare do this? If my conscience says no,
then I can't do it. If it says yes, then I
do it, whatever the action is.
The thought of good or bad should
be relegated to the corner of your mind.
Ask yourself a question most honestly,
and if your heart really says yes, then
do whatever it is. But you should be
very honest in your asking and listening.
It all boils down to this: self-effacement contains the spiritual path but
the spiritual path does not contain
self-effacement. If we go through the
spiritual path there are a lot of dangers,
and we may not be able to go to the end
of our journey. But if we go blindfolded
under the guidance of our Master who
is Perfect, and try our best to exercise
self-effacement, then we are absolutely
safe.
Just to Love Him, pp. 69-70
©1985 AMBPPCT
Obedience, His Wish and His Will
Eruch Jessawala
O
Composite Photo Art by Cherie Plumlee
bedience to Meher Baba's wishes
and orders was the most important
requirement for living with Him, and in
connection with this, He cited four types
of obedience.
–The obedience of a soldier which is
patriotic obedience.
–The obedience of a servant which is
paid obedience.
–The obedience of a slave which is
28
compulsory obedience.
–The obedience of a lover which is
willing obedience without expectation
of reward.
Meher Baba said that even in willing
obedience there were the following
four stages:
–The lover follows orders literally
without using common sense.
–The lover uses common sense and
discrimination.
–The lover exhibits complete obedience for the Beloved's pleasure.
–The lover exhibits absolute obedience.
Baba added that the last-named
kind of obedience was rarely seen, and
found only in those who were spiritually
advanced.
When one of the mandali requested
a clarification regarding His wish and His
will as they pertained to the mandali,
Baba replied: "When I say to the mandali,
'I want you to do this', it means I would
like you to do this if you can. It equals a
request on My part.
"When I say 'I wish you to do this',
it means I want you to obey, whether
you can or cannot. It is an order and the
chance of My wish being thwarted is by
your disobedience.
"When I say, 'I Will you to do this',
it means you are to do it definitely and
automatically, and you are able to do it
because I make it possible."
The Ancient One, p. 130, 1968 © Avatar
Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust
Rumi, Pay Homage
If God said,
"Rumi, pay homage to everything that
has helped you enter my arms,"
There would not be
one experience of my life,
not one thought,
not one feeling, not any act,
I would not
bow to.
Letters to the Editor
Jai Baba Dear Readers,
e have never had a Letters to the Editor before simply because all we ever
received was praise. Now I’m not complaining about that, but it seemed a little like it was
just sounding our own horn. However issues
#6 and #7 brought us a deluge of emails
from our readers, full of delight, happiness
and yes, praise. Number 6 was the full color,
76 glossy paged memorial to the last of our
Beloved’s Mandali – Bhau Kalchuri, which
brought both tears and joy to many of our
readers who all had fond memories of dear
Bhauji. Number 7 was the Real Happiness
issue which brought, as you can read below from just a selection of the emails we
received, much happiness to many people.
So we decided to start this page wherein
our readers could begin a dialogue, asking
questions and giving us their opinions. We
will publish as many as we have room for and
feel them to be of general interest.
From Murshida Connor, Walnut Creek,
California on August 8, 2015
Dear Dina and the staff of the Love Street
Breezes,
I am writing to congratulate you on the
latest edition of the Love Street Breezes,
exploring the theme “Real happiness lies
in makes others happy”. Not only did you
assemble a bountiful and fascinating array
of articles and examples from all around
the world, but I also must express my appreciation for the generous coverage you
gave to our White Pony Express programs
as accurately and thoroughly assembled by
Cherie Plumlee. We have been watching the
astonishing growth of the program from the
moment it began, to the point where in a
single month (June) our volunteers delivered
nearly 152,000 pounds (76 tons) of food, with
an estimated value of roughly $261,000, to
822 recipient organizations! This works out
to an estimated 126,627 individual meals for
this one month. In the first six months of
2015, the Free General Store gave away items
worth nearly $300,000, which is more than
our entire total for the previous year. The
simple idea of sharing abundance in this way
can be practiced by any group of committed
volunteers, and I hope that your vivid feature
article inspires more of Baba’s lovers to try it
themselves!
I also wish to thank you for shining your
Love Street spotlight on the creative contributions of two of my students, Mischa
Rutenberg and Leroy Parker, both of whom
W
express their uniquely personal experience of
Meher Baba’s love and light through their artistic talents. Leroy’s vivid images of Beloved
Baba reflect his mastery of several different
artistic media; he seems to have an unending wellspring of visual imagination. Mischa
has become an international musical celebrity through more than seventy(!) You-tube
devotional videos that feature beautifully
chosen images of the Beloved to illustrate
his expressive and heartfelt songs. As your
article notes, he takes care to reflect Baba’s
full message in his lyrics, making many of his
songs into musical meditations on Baba’s
principles of life.
You are most kind in continuing to support
the work of Meher Baba’s Sufism Reoriented
through the lively and colorful medium of
Baba’s “new breeze” — the Love Street
Breezes.
With loving thanks, dear Dina, in the One
Beloved, Murshida
From: Howard Rhodes, Massachusets
Hi, just received newest issue in the mail
and I must say, Fantastic! Kudos all around,
Big Time!!! The manner in which you were
able to 'Weave' (Kabir and Hafiz were 'Weavers') the Fundamental motif of, "Real happiness lies in making others happy" into what
people were Actually, Really Doing, right
here, right now, in Helping/Service, well as I
said, I like it a lot...
Also, that apparently huge divide between
Sufism Reoriented and many in His Community most certainly does not exist for you guys
now, if it ever did...and for that I say, Bravo!
Please keep up the wonderful work you
are doing... Beneath the wings of His all encompassing embrace.
Our response: There has never been a
divide on Love Street, the street on which we
all walk. From what we have seen, members
of S.R. don't just ‘talk the talk’, they walk the
walk.’
Brigitte Kirkpatrick, California writes:
We received the issue #7 and it is the best
ever! It is so full and rich in love that I have
not finished it yet. My intention was to write
to you when the reading was done and tell
you this issue is totally awesome. You are a
dynamic editor and we are blessed to receive
your devoted work —Love Street Breezes.
So happy to hear that Murshida sent her
love to you.
Vreni Truttman, Switzerland
Dearest Dina, Ohh what a beautiful edition
in Bhauji’s honor!!! Thank you all so much!!! I
just can't find words to express my joy, you
all did such a splendid job. I sat down several
times to write and could not find words to
describe it. Thank you Baba.
Sarah McNeill, England The list of things to do and take with
you when on a pilgrimage has been vastly
useful! But this email is specially, and most
importantly, to thank you a hundred fold for
the super-de-luxe Bhau Memorial issue of
Breezes! [#6]Talk about a collector’s item!
You sure ain’t lost your touch missus—I am so
impressed at what has been done here. The
events of the past couple of years made me
lose touch with where I stand regarding my
subscription, please advise. That issue clearly
cost a fortune to produce. Bhauji’s smiling
face everywhere.
Marta Velasquez, California
Thank you Dina...it is worth the wait...
donation is in the mail. Much Love.
Marty Aubin, California—Only glanced
thru the 7th issue so far. I am not surprised
you got a letter from Murshida. Can't wait to
read her letter and the issue. You deserve all
the accolades in the world!!!
Dagmar Lai and Laura, France
thank you dear Dina, this is a magnifique
edition! Love and JAI BABA!
Jeff Maguire, Los Angeles—Hi Dina, Number 6 looks fantastic. Thanks so much. And
please tell Pris we're grateful and impressed
by her handiwork.
Laura Smith, Sheriar Books, Myrtle
Beach—Jai Meher Baba, number 6 is GORGEOUS!!!
Great job! I love the shot of Bhau in the
Hawaiian shirt with hat. Can't wait to hold it
for myself in print!
Steve Berry, California
Now THIS is a work of beauty, of artistry
and of taste!! Damn fine job!
29
Passings: Lives Lived in His Love
Sarah Schall, 15 August 1954 – 15 June 2015
By Michael McDonald (her husband), Meherabad
Introduction:
Sarah Schall was a woman with a vast
understanding of the nature of spirituality coupled with incredible naivete in
the ways of the world and the people
around her. As an infant, she was held
in Meher Baba's arms. She trained as a
medical laboratory scientist, and worked
with Meher Baba’s Mandali, who took
a special interest in her, as they did so
many of the Western lovers who were
drawn to come to India. Sarah worked
on some unique projects in the last years
of her life, which keep her alive in the
memories of those who view and enjoy
the Katie Irani videos and other of her
artistic endeavors.
She often minimized her own importance and gave unstintingly of herself
to learn and grow closer to her Beloved
God in the form of Avatar Meher Baba.
She was inwardly a deeply sensitive
person, and yet outwardly seemed very
pragmatic in her style of conversation.
A woman of mysterious depths and
great inner strength in her later years,
this story of her life, told by her husband
Michael, who often uses Sarah’s journal
entries, gives an intimate view of her
and of some of Baba’s Mandali that
others will find enchanting, poignant,
sometimes funny and most rare.
Sarah's Early Life
S
arah was born on Indian Independence Day in Limestone, Maine. She
considered that Baba was playing the
trickster in her life....
By having me be born in the West
to parents who did not know who He
was. As a pre-verbal infant, I felt that
I had come from 'some other place
(India) not anywhere near this place'
(America) and that God was holding
all the cards of the deck in His Hand.
Sarah would not talk for the longest
time, and so her parents took her to a
child psychologist. When they began to
discuss putting her into a program for
retarded children, Sarah spoke out: "I
am not the one who's retarded!"
In August 1956, at the age of two,
Sarah’s mother took her and her older
30
brother to the San Francisco airport to
meet their uncle (a Hollywood stuntman), who was arriving on the plane
from Los Angeles. In the same waiting room was a group of well dressed
Indians and Westerners preparing to
depart on the same plane. The Indian
leader of the group took Sarah into His
arms, and told her astonished mother,
“She belongs to Me.” Sarah's mother
was incensed that He should have made
such a statement, and she retold the
story many times to Sarah when she was
growing up. Later, Sarah came to know
that it was definitely Meher Baba who
had taken her into His arms and made
that pronouncement, and of course her
mother had met Baba too.
During her early childhood, Sarah
suffered a lot of undeserved abuse from
both of her parents, and would often
get the experience of Baba visiting her
and explaining what this was all about,
all the so-called justices and injustices
of this world, etc. She said they would
visit a prison in South America, and Baba
would explain that this one had not
committed the crime for which he was
jailed, but he had to be there for other
reasons, whereas that one had definitely
done whatever the charge was, and was
paying the penalty, etc.
Sarah's focus was on God only, but
her mother thought that it was abnormal
for her daughter to have such experiences. Later, what Sarah called a "shell"
came down, and Sarah was effectively
veiled; she had no further experiences
of this sort, except only when much
needed. When asked in school what
would she like to be when she grew up,
Sarah answered, "I would like to have
eyes that sparkle and shine."
Sarah’s mother died of cancer at the
age of 39, after turning her life over to
God (Sarah was 17, finishing high school),
and her father soon re-married. His
new wife didn’t want his children in the
house, so Sarah and her brothers went
out on their own. The sister who was 10
years younger than Sarah stayed with
her father and his wife. The family had
been living in Kansas City, Missouri.
After her parents and siblings shifted
to other parts of the country, Sarah
was left alone there, where she went
to college and got a degree in Medical
Laboratory Science in 1976. To pay for
her schooling she did odd jobs, including
waitressing, and spray-painting cars on
an assembly line. Sarah was an attractive
and innocent young woman, and she suffered a lot from predatory men. Sarah
tells of one time walking on an evening
stroll and being grabbed by a fellow in
the shadows, who put a choke hold on
her. At once, a voice came from within
her: "Make a choice: is it fear or love?"
Sarah responded, "Love!" and the fellow
dropped her in fright and ran away.
Now, in the mid-70's, Sarah felt lost
and completely ungrounded, and would
pray to God; she would keep an empty
chair for Him to occupy, and would sit
with Him. She asked Him to find someone who was much closer to God than
an ordinary man, to help her out.
A few weeks later, she went with
a girl friend to a chiropractor’s office.
When the friend went in for her treatment, Sarah stayed in the waiting room.
A man came in, saw Sarah, and started
shouting, “Who are you?!” Sarah explained what she was doing there, and
he quieted down. He said that he was the
2nd chiropractor of the clinic, and was
in the habit of praying to God at nighttime, but had never gotten an answer.
Then about a week before, God told
him to help a certain person. This was
repeated three nights in a row. He saw
the face of this person he was to help,
and it was Sarah.
He had been asked by God to help
Sarah (who was feeling totally ungrounded), and he did help her for a
year. Eruch "finished the job" in the
sense that he helped Sarah (when she
came here to live) to become strong in
her sense of self, to get rid of the feelings of unworthiness which she had, and
all of the impressional garbage that had
been given her by her parents. (Eruch
told her that she was clean in 1997, after
she had been hanging out with him for a
couple years). I feel that to be the truth.
This man who was helping her was
the Sufi leader of Kansas City; he was
connected with the Vilayat Khan Sufis
(Vilayat was Inayat Khan’s son), and
he kept wanting Sarah to meet Vilayat,
because he felt there was some kind of
inner connection between the two, but
it seems that Baba had other plans.
There may indeed have been a Sufi
connection. Sarah later had a very strong
impression that she had been Noor Inayat Khan, the daughter of Hazrat Inayat
Khan (and sister of Vilayat), who went
through the Holocaust in World War II
in her previous life.
After she had been in India for some
time, the Mandali told Sarah that she
had been through the "Dark Night of the
Soul," and would not have to go through
that again. I myself had been especially
attracted to the children's book of "20
Jataka Tales" by Noor. I even translated
a few tales into Marathi, with the help
of Bal Natu, before I ever got to know
Sarah. If she was indeed Noor, then she
would have met Baba in Panchvati Cave
in 1930 as His agent (after the death of
her father Inayat), if indeed she had met
Him there, as Bhau repeatedly told her
she had.
Sarah writes about her later contact
with Eruch in India:
Plans to construct the Memorial Tower were being discussed. At one point
Eruch looked at me and said, "Your
name is also on the list that Baba
Above: Pir o'Murshid Inayat Khan
Below: Noor (Madeleine) Inayat Khan
had read out during the ceremony"
The ceremony is the list of close ones
whose names were to be inscribed on
the tower. Eruch again emphasized,
"Your name is there." On another
occasion Eruch said, "You were with
me in Meherabad, in the early days.”
Some of these things may appear
logically contradictory in the ordinary
realm, but who can say with full assurance? It's the play of the heart that
matters: "love matters most".
Sarah Visits Meher Center and
Meets Kitty Davy
It might have turned out a different story if Sarah had met Vilayat. But
instead, in 1976, she made a trip to the
Myrtle Beach Center. She tells how it
happened:
Meeting Kitty Davy for the first time
was a memorable and somewhat
mind-shattering experience. A little
background as to how I got there
in the first place may enliven this
encounter a bit. Living In Kansas City
Missouri, I would visit the KC Art Institute cafeteria. It was the only place
in the city that I knew of where one
could encounter conversations with
bohemians, hippies, art students and
professors, and a wide range of people
from all walks of life. Two people
whom I met there were instrumental
in getting me to the Myrtle Beach
Center. One was a still active hippie in
the mid-1970's, and the other was an
illegal alien who arrived there after
hitchhiking from California, where he
had previously arrived as a stowaway
on a ship.
Being a reasonably conscientious
responsible person, I had a job, a car,
and a place to live. The car was new
and still had several years of payments
due. These two fellows wanted to
borrow this car and take it to some
spiritual place in South Carolina. They
asked if they could borrow it for a
month, explaining how much this spiritual pilgrimage meant to them and
how important it was. I told them I
needed some time to think it over, and
for a few weeks every time I entered
the dining hall, they would search my
face for an answer. On the one hand I
did not wish to stop their pilgrimage
or debate all their reasons why this car
was their only available option, nor
did I wish to entrust the vehicle for a
month to one illegal person without a
valid drivers license or to another who
to anyone was visibly a hippie.
So finally it occurred to me that
they could use the car if I went with
them, on the condition that they
made all the arrangements. They
were delighted and proceeded to do
so, coming back to tell me that I had
to personally call the Meher Spiritual
Center and tell them I had not done
any drugs for the past six months. As
I was the only one of the three who
actually had not done drugs in the past
6 months, this was surprising, and I
asked them, "What did you tell them?"
The reply was, "Don't rat on us, we
told them we are clean. Besides, for
three months we have been, and it will
31
be nearly six months by the time we
get there." I called the Center, and in
a few months we made the journey to
a place I knew almost nothing about. I
imagined I was doing this journey as a
courtesy, being the car owner.
We arrived at the Meher Spiritual
Center in the 1970's, where there was
a highly charged spiritual energy, unlike anything I had ever experienced
before. I was enchanted with the
atmosphere and the pathways, even
though people seemed to literally
jump out of the bushes and say, "Jai
Baba!" somewhat unexpectedly. Not
knowing why they were saying this,
or what it meant, I would say, "hello",
and most of them would look at me
as if I were the one who was being
strange and walk away. A few would
ask me how I got to the Center, to
which I pragmatically replied, "I drove,
how did you get here?"
Some would laugh and give long,
very descriptive accounts of seeing a
photo of Meher Baba in a coffee house
or subway, and their stories went
on and on, interminably for what I
thought was a simple question. At the
end they still hadn't told me how they
got there, so I would ask again, "Yes,
and how did you get here?" "I just told
you." "No you didn't, did you drive,
or fly, or come by bus?" They would
look at me in disbelief, and vice versa,
so I would then commune more with
Nature and the atmosphere, as I had
never met any people behaving like
this and had no idea how to interact
with them.
With this in mind, this is how I came
to meet Kitty Davy, whom I had never
heard of before this trip. I was out
walking along the ocean, apparently
not far from her home by a stone's
throw, but the distance of the entire
center doubled as per the only available pathways. As I was enjoying the
ambience of the ocean, the sea breeze
and the beautiful sea shells, two very
large men, like wrestlers, came up to
me and asked if I was "Sarah Schall"
to which I replied, "Yes". They each
grabbed one of my arms, and began
to escort me back towards the Center
with the proclamation, "Kitty Davy
has had the entire Center searching
for you for four hours and no one has
gotten any work done. We are not
letting you out of our sight and we are
32
taking you to her right now."
I tried to break free, explaining that
I would definitely cooperate and go
with them to whomever this person
was; that they didn't need to hold me
so hard, and they said, "Nope, the entire Center staff has been searching for
you for hours and we are not letting
you go. You were supposed to meet
Kitty Davy within three days of your
arrival, and it has now been a week.
You have not met her, and you are
here on your first visit. You were told
this when you entered the Center." I
had no memory of being told of this
requirement, yet I was presumably
guilty as charged, according to them
and their grip. So I was escorted in this
manner all the way down the beach,
onto the Center, past the barn, past
the refectory, past the original kitchen, all along the trails to Kitty's house.
People did look, but then, what to do?
When I got there, I saw them both:
the hippie and the illegal immigrant,
already in her office. The illegal im-
Kitty Davy at the MBC
migrant had sunk to the floor next
to her desk with a dark cloud over his
head. The hippie was against the wall
next to the door, and was halfway
down to the floor as I entered, with
Kitty blasting him, "You will never put
yourself as the Chargeman of any city.
You will never put your self between
Meher Baba and any of His lovers…"
This went on for a few more minutes,
while my guards released me to stand
in front of Kitty and they flanked both
sides behind me, preventing any pos-
sible escape.
When the hippie had sunk to the
floor, she now had two down and one
to go. So, ready for the onslaught of
whatever mysterious crime I had committed, I stood there in front of her
awaiting my trial and tribulation. Not
having been introduced, I presumed
this was Kitty who turned her gaze
away from blasting the hippie, and
looked at me and said in a rapidly
changed and pleasant tone of voice,
"Oh! Hello, dear, there you are. Now,
go to India and get to work. They are
waiting for you. Do you have any training experience or college education?"
"Yes, I have a college degree and
training in medical science."
"Good, go to India. Dr. Goher is
waiting for you. Do you have any
questions?"
It seemed unwise to ask who was
Dr. Goher, while meanwhile I was having the experience of standing totally
naked in front of this person. I knew
she could see my past, present and
future, and she had a wisdom beyond
anything I ever imagined possible.
Thinking how best to utilize this situation I asked about my younger sister's
welfare as she was in a very difficult
situation. Kitty replied, "Your sister
also belongs to Baba, but she will
come in His timing, not yours." Kitty
repeated this again, and then asked
me if I was "more mental or more
heart?" I had no idea, as I had just
finished a degree in science, worked
in science, and yet I felt like a fish out
of water everywhere. It seemed to
me that more people told me that I
wear my heart on my sleeve, and no
one ever called me intelligent, so I
said, "Not sure, maybe more heart,
that's what people tell me." She said,
"That's good, dear. I am more mental,
and I suffer more because of it. I feel
that mental people suffer more than
heart people. You are lucky. Now, go to
India and get to work." She seemed to
assume that this would simply happen
because she had said so.
And yet, the profoundness of every
word in her communication revealed
to me a startling awareness beyond
anything I ever imagined possible. She
thought someone named Dr. Goher
was waiting for me who had never
even met me? How could she possibly
know this? She seemed to me to be
omniscient in the deepest sense of the
word, and yet I had no idea who she
or Dr. Goher was, and I was trying to
remember my geography, where was
India on the world map? It was somewhere on the other side of the world.
I never knew anyone who had been
on an airplane except for military
and business men. No one I went to
high school or college with had ever
mentioned being on a plane. If travel
agents existed then I had never heard
of them, so going by plane did not
seem possible. Taking a ship from the
East Coast might be feasible, but I lived
in Kansas City. As far as the Center
knew, we were the only three people
in all of Kansas City who knew about
Meher Baba, if you wanted to include
me in that category.
I left the Center and still had no
idea for the next two decades that
Meher Baba called Himself God. I even
bought "God Speaks", yet I thought it
was written by some Indian guru who
had the spiritual integrity to create an
atmosphere like that, not someone
who would call Himself God. I thought
Meher Baba wrote "God Speaks" in
the same way Edgar Cayce (or others)
channeled their spiritual writings. I
was just so bewildered as to what I
was encountering —in Meher Baba,
in the atmosphere, in Kitty Davy—it
was so far beyond the scope of anything that I had witnessed in my life
up till this time. It was way harder to
comprehend than anything in college
or work. It was so incredibly difficult
to understand, that for months at a
time I would 'shelve' it. In any case,
this visit with Kitty was memorable.
Finding Meher Baba as God
After Sarah returned from her visit to
Myrtle Beach, she decided to move to
some place more spiritually aware than
her experience was of Kansas City. She
would take a few days off at a time and
drive long distances seeking a nice place
to settle. Sarah didn't mentally recognize Meher Baba yet as the "Mr. God"
who had visited her as a child, that positive recognition came in 1988 when she
visited Meher Center for the 2nd time.
Meanwhile, probably in 1979-80, Baba
came to her in a vision, and asked her
when she was going to India? He indicated that He wanted her to be there
while His Mandali were still alive, and
they were aging. She said that she would
go, but it would take awhile for her to
"get both oars in the water," and Baba
"agreed" to this.
In 1980, Sarah moved to Seattle, and
got a job working in a research lab, doing
electron microscopy and radio-immunoassay. At one point (in 1981-2), Sarah
took a trip to South America with a girl
friend, just to see what living in the world
looked like outside of the USA. While
there she had a remarkable experience
at Machu Picchu. She saw a little old man
with a beard reaching to his knees at the
base of the mountain, who invited her to
enter. She told him she would go up to
the top with the group first, but perhaps
later she would go inside with him. When
she enquired about the old man, no-one
had ever heard of him, and he and his
doorway were nowhere to be seen when
she came back down. Later Sarah read in
a book that there was reportedly a man
who initiated spiritual seekers inside the
Machu Picchu mountain.
After five years, she quit the research
lab job, because she felt that the work
was extremely toxic and highly dangerous. Her co-workers all appeared ill,
and Sarah herself was quite sensitive
to environmental toxicity. Perhaps to
compensate that she started a Natural
Foods Store and Coffee-shop (Paradise
Produce), before anyone around even
knew what "natural food" was, and she
ran it for five years.
Sarah went back to visit Myrtle Beach
in 1988, saw Kitty a second time, and
Kitty again told her that the Mandali
were waiting for her, “Now go to India.”
On that trip to Myrtle Beach, Sarah recognized who Baba is, and surrendered
her life and soul to Baba. She had
the experience of Baba inside her
looking out through her eyes.
She began making preparations
to come.
She had described this in a letter to Mehera, written just before she dropped
her body:
"I was walking in my favorite city
park and standing against my favorite
tree with a beautiful wooded view
of an ocean inlet. It's a magical spot.
And I was closing my mental noise
to be more fully present with Baba.
And Baba appeared, not physically of
course, but to my internal perception,
and you were by His side. I didn't really
know what to say or do, so I just kind
of existed nonchalantly. But, Mehera,
I could feel you so much!! You were
so incredibly clear, light, and most of
all so pure!! Such exquisite moments
I had experienced with you and Baba!!
And then, when I walked away, I had a
very strong and still lasting impression
that your purity was so pronounced
I could almost smell it like lilacs and
roses in the spring air." Sarah at that time had the unique experience of smelling roses everywhere,
while standing in a pine forest. Baba
explained to Sarah when Mehera left,
that smell is the most spiritually sensitive sense, and the fragrance that she
smelled was her body's interpretation
of the subtle experience of Mehera's
purity.
When Sarah arrived at Meherazad
in 1990, she got off the Trust bus and
saw that nearby there was a building
with a cross on it, obviously a medical
facility. She went inside, and saw a
little, white-haired lady sitting behind a
desk, seemingly waiting for her. Sarah
imagined that she was a receptionist,
because all of the clinics she’d been
in would always have such a person
Sarah's First Trip to India
and Her Meeting With Dr.
Goher
When Sarah finally came to India in 1990, the Mandali all asked
her what had taken her so long;
they had been waiting for her.
Mehera had dropped the body,
but Sarah prior to this (in March
1989) had the experience while
visiting a park, of seeing Baba,
who introduced her to Mehera.
Dr. Goher in her Clinic
33
Sarah, Kacy, Heather
Katies Birthday! L: Meheru, Kristen, Lindsay, Mike, Julie, Katie, Sarah,
and Shelley
Katie and Sarah
Mike and Sarah, serving Meherabad and pilgrims.
34
Elephant ride! Trainer, Julie and Sarah
Manu Jessawala and Sarah
working in that role. So she showed
Sarah around the clinic, the lab and all.
Finally when Sarah asked who she was,
Goher told her that she was Dr. Goher,
Meher Baba’s personal physician. Sarah
was awed at her humble graciousness
and felt her healing touch.
Later when Dr Goher asked me [Michael] if I would like someone to work
with in the lab, I said, “Sure!” Then, when
I saw Sarah, I asked her if she was thinking of coming to work here. She was
surprised, as she hadn’t said anything
of the sort to Goher. Sarah decided that
she would indeed like to, but she would
have to get the finances together before
she could.
I think that I must have loved Sarah
at first sight, because it was during
this first trip, after she had agreed at
Goher's request to come and work in
Goher's dispensary, that she and I were
asked, without any preamble, by Goher
and Eruch whether we would prefer to
marry, or to be as brother and sister?
We chose the latter, and maintained this
brotherly-sisterly relationship happily
for many years. I suspect that we were
asked this right off in order to settle this
matter in the best way, before it could
ever become an issue between us.
Sarah has said that oftentimes the
Meherazad Mandali had expressed to
her how delighted they were to see us
sincerely in a brother-sister relationship. Goher immediately put us to work
together, and told Sarah to work with
me, and do whatever I was doing. So
we did homeopathy with Dr. Aloo Khambatta at Meher Health Center, dispensing homeopathic medicines (seemingly
with nothing in them!) to Arangaon villagers. Sarah had repeatedly expressed
how amazed she was to see their clinical
effectiveness. More of that later.
Sarah Works Hard to Return to
India
Sarah sold her store within a few
weeks after returning from her first trip,
and started work at the Puget Sound
Blood-bank, hoping to save up enough
money shortly to be able to move to
India for good. At this blood bank, she
had an interesting experience of Meher
Baba:
This is an experience I had while
working as a crossmatch tech in a
large Community Blood Center. My
co-workers and colleagues consisted
of a specialty clinical lab staffed by
college science medical graduates.
Our job was to provide compatible
units of blood for all the individuals in
the city requiring blood units, mostly
for surgeries and accidents. It was a
high pressure job that provided very
few breaks, and required a lot of concentration as some of the units were
going to liver transplants, which in
those days often required more than
50 units of blood for a single surgery;
or bone marrow transplants who
were tissue typed for compatible bone
marrow... Needless to say, it was a
complicated job.
In a several story facility, the crossmatch lab was very large, with no
partitions, and each tech had a Ushaped bench area in which to work.
These were along all the walls, with a
central distribution and supervision
area in the center, so it was possible to
see everyone coming and going at all
times. Every week, I noticed that one
tech would vacate their bench area
for about half a day, and their work
would be divided among the rest of
us. As we worked all the time, I heard
very little about what was happening, other than 'some administration
thing'. So when my turn came, I went
to a meeting room on another floor
and being the last to enter, I saw a
number of people from other departments, all seated, with two or three
people starting to give a slide show
presentation.
I still did not know the topic. With
the opening comments by the presenters, I learned that they were a
group of outside consultants hired
by the Administration to help solve
communication problems within our
organization and to help us learn to
communicate better. As I settled into
four hours of relief-from-work boredom, my ears pricked up when I heard
one of the presenters announce, "One
of the reasons for poor communication is that some of you may not know
your 'innermost self'. We would like
to take you on a guided imagery tour
to meet this inner-most self." Having
recently arrived to this session from
a world of facts and figures, this
proposal struck me as preposterous,
and my cynical overactive mind was
busy with "Oh sure, what a joke,"
maintaining of course the required
placid exterior. The presenter began
with, "Close your eyes, please. Imagine
in your mind a room that is all white,
with no windows, and only one door.
Please walk through the door into the
room, and on one wall there is a mirror. Please go to the mirror to meet
your innermost self."
I entered the door to the room in
my mind, turned right to see a small
mirror on one wall, walked up to it and
looked into it, and there was Meher
Baba laughing uproariously as if He
was having the time of His life, while I
exclaimed loudly and jumped about a
foot out of my chair. It was not a mere
photograph of Baba. It was Him, alive
and laughing like, "the joke's on you!"
Needless to say the room continued
to remain in pin-drop silence as if nothing had happened, and my surprise
quickly turned into something like
mortified bewilderment, as if God had
just played a "Gotcha!" joke on me.
For many years my intellect would not
even venture to explore this incident
again, being very wary as if visiting a
field loaded with land mines.
Years later when I understood what
the presenters hired by the Administration had done in accessing Him, it
helped me to witness several things
about the Avatar: His incredible sense
of humor, His immediate accessibility
to anyone bold and daring enough
to meet Him, and that the intellect is
totally useless before Him… To get a
glimpse of the Oneness that unites us
all is no small joke, it is a really mighty
joke.
Sarah moved to Portland in 1991, getting a job in a hospital there, and also
buying a house to fix up and resell at a
profit. She would work up to three jobs
at a time, even working in public health
microbiology, for the experience it gave
her. Her co-workers all told her that they
had never met anyone like her working
in a laboratory. Sarah asked them in
what way she seemed different to them,
and they couldn't pinpoint what it was.
When Sarah was preparing for a short
visit to India in 1992 preparatory to moving there, her co-workers expressed a
fear that she might be indoctrinated into
some kind of cult. Sarah responded that
they should check out the Encyclopedia
Britannica, and see what was written
about Meher Baba. When she returned
from her trip she saw a xerox of the
35
Encyclopedia Britannica article posted
on a bulletin board. Everyone had apparently read it, but the only reference
anyone ever made to her about it, was
from a born-again Christian, who asked
her, "Why did you hear about Him, and
we didn't?" Sarah replied, "You did too
hear about Him, same as I did."
Despite all of Sarah's efforts to save
money, she found it difficult to collect
the finances that she needed. All kinds
of calamities would use up the money
which she had managed to save. Her
car, which she was making payments
on, was stolen from the hospital parking lot; it took a month before it could
be recovered. Another thing was her
house, which was flooded twice, due to
the plumbing. So Sarah was doing her
best to save money, but she felt that it
just wasn't going to happen, maybe in
her next life...
The turning-point came when one
day, as Sarah describes it, "Mani appeared in my awareness with the question, "Shall we prepare your resident papers?" I replied, "Maya is kicking up such
a storm I cannot possibly save enough!"
Mani said, "Oh my dear, it is the longing
that brings you here." So immediately I
shifted my focus from saving money to
longing, and discovered that magically,
if He wants anything to happen, it can."
Later when Sarah saw Mani in India,
she asked her about this long distance
conversation with her. Did that really
happen or was it just her imagination?
Mani replied that it had indeed happened. She said that Baba in her later
years had given her the gift of omniscience… and Mani also told Sarah that
she [Sarah] was clairvoyant. Sarah
responded that she did not experience
that, but Mani replied that she was anyway. I heartily concur with this, having
had much experience of Sarah's clarity
of vision, her remarkable ability to ‘see
clearly,’ many things in this life that I
myself just could not see.
While on such subjects, I might comment respecting Sarah’s feeling that
she had been Noor, the daughter of
Hazrat Inayat Khan who experienced
the Holocaust. If Noor’s life is presumptively regardable as Sarah’s previous
life, then her betrayal to the Gestapo
and untimely death in a concentration
camp at the age of 30 might explain why
Sarah departed so suddenly in the midst
of life, with the “bloom of youth” still
36
on her features. And Noor's Sufi name
might be significant in this context. In
God Speaks, “noor” is said to be the light
that appeared when God said, “Let there
be light.” I have often noted a striking
sparkle in Sarah's eyes, perhaps the fulfillment of her childhood wish to have
eyes that "sparkle and shine”.
Sarah's Life in India and Early
Work
When Sarah came to stay in 1995,
Dr. Goher immediately put her to work
with me again, and we did homeopathy
three days a week in the Meher Health
Center near Meherabad. Sarah's first
experience of homeopathy—at which
her microbiologist mind had balked at
first—had been when she first came in
1990 (then later in 1992) with Dr Aloo,
whom we both loved. Aloo taught us to
take Baba's Name during homeopathic
remedy preparation, and would always
advise the patients to take Baba's Name
when taking their medicine.
After Aloo died in 1995, Goher encouraged Sarah and me to get diplomas in
homeopathy and even gave us money
In the lab at Meherabad with Mike
for it, and so we did, through the British
Institute of Homeopathy. Later we found
out that Trevor Cook, the head of BIH,
whose courses we had taken, had been
Baba's brother Adi Junior's physician; Adi
Junior was a homeopath himself. Trevor's
signatures are on all of our diplomas, for
both the undergraduate course and the
postgraduate course (for which BIH had
given us a scholarship).
We did that BIH course work for 10
years, and Sarah's BIH thesis quoting Meher Baba was published in Interhomeopathy online journal, Dec 2012. We worked
at Meher Health Centre 15 years between
us (from 1989 until 2004), and started
working in Padri's room in 2003, giving
homeopathy to Meherabad staff and
residents, until the room was required
for use as a museum. Then we shifted,
eventually to a room in the Isolation
Building next to Meher Hospital.
Sarah was with Mansari when she
went to Baba, on Dhuni Day of Feb 1996.
She experienced a "whoosh!" as Mansari
flew into her Beloved's arms.
Sarah and I would often give homeopathy to Guloo and Jaloo, the yogi-like
daughters of Kaikobad who lived up the
Hill near the Samadhi. Sarah writes:
For many years Guloo would only
take 'Michael's medicine', which included me when I came along. They
allowed us to keep a small box of homeopathic medicines in the room to
dispense from, near the wind-up clock.
After Guloo joined Baba, we would
see Jaloo daily mostly to cheer her up,
and almost daily would treat her for
minor ailments, such as bruises from
falls, coughs, constipation, stomach
ill at ease, etc.
Along with the homeopathy work, we
did lab-work three days a week in Meher
Free Dispensary at Meherazad, commuting on motor scooters from our quarters
at Meherabad. Sarah experienced for
the first time in Dr. Goher, an employer
who actually cared for her like a real
mother. She writes of her experience of
arriving to work at the clinic an hour late
one day because of getting a flat tire on
her scooter:
Shelley (Dr. Goher's assistant) was
furious when I finally got to Meherazad, "Why didn't you call? Goher has
been worried sick about you!" I did
not know that Goher would worry, as
I thought I was volunteering, and not
under any typical paid-work guidelines
from a Western standpoint. I was so
shocked that Goher expressed such
concern over my well being, and I
realized that in all of my adult life, no
one had cared whether I showed up to
work or not - this was my first experience of a family caring for me in my
entire adult life. It is not that I felt an
orphan, but more that my immediate
family dispersed after my mother died
during my senior year of High School,
and we were rarely in contact. My
siblings and myself were all getting
initiated into the ways of the world
on our own, after our father remarried
and moved to the East coast...
In the beginning, Mani and Goher
fought over me. Mani wanted me to
help her in the reception office and Goher told her I would be much too busy
doing medical work, I would not have
enough time. Goher often encouraged
me to experiment with many herbal,
ayurvedic treatments, etc. as well as
the many health benefits and curative properties of all types of natural
medical treatments. She would clip
out articles about Neem Tree oil, or
Ashoka trees for water purification,
and have me experiment with them
and report back to her.
Additionally, she would tell me to
research all types of parasites and
their natural treatments. At one point
she asked me to devise a method for
testing the sterility of Indian manufactured syringes, which my mind balked
at as totally preposterous. They were
irradiated, and if a certain batch were
not, how could I investigate their quality control? (However, I did my best.)
She had me investigate the outbreak of diabetes in India, in which
I discovered information from the
World Health Organization and the
Centre for Disease Control linking DDT
to diabetes. She often voiced her concern that the pesticides used on fruits
and vegetables were harmful to many
people's health. She advised me often
never to eat the skin of an apple, as it
is loaded with pesticides.
Sarah would say that Dr. Goher would
often set her to find a "needle in a haystack," and Sarah would somehow do it.
I received a lesson in spiritual training when Goher wanted me to investigate the possibility of leaking drums
at the chemical factory down the road,
contaminating the spring-fed Meherazad water supply, which passes near
there underground. I located a top
scientist in Pune, Dr. Nambiar, who
had been called by the Government
of India as one of the first scientists
to investigate the Bhopal gas tragedy
and determine the exact nature of the
gas explosion, and the treatment of
the resultant injuries. Dr. Nambiar is a
very well respected scientist throughout all of India. When I contacted him,
he was ready to offer his laboratory
and staff assistance for one day, pro
bono, to help us assess the extent of
the water contamination from the
nearby chemical factory.
Meherazad agreed to let me come
early to collect a water sample, and
the fellow who was to start the pump
would be there to give us the sample
at 6 am, with Dr. Nambiar's lab awaiting our arrival by 9 am. I hired a car and
got to Meherazad on time, only to find
no one there… the pump fellow was
still in the village sleeping, and we had
to wait on him.
Eruch has expressed the lesson to be
learned from this kind of experience
as: to not be attached to the outcome,
just do your best and leave the result
entirely up to Him.
Mani Teaches Sarah Profound
Lessons of Life with Baba
Mani only lived one year after Sarah
came to stay, but she was ready with all
of the right answers to help Sarah in her
With Mani
journey to Him. Here's Sarah's story of
the "Gift of His Name":
During the 70's, 80's and 90's, the
women Mandali would often come
every month or so to the Samadhi
for ‘Women's Arti’. They would arrive around 10 am, and pilgrims and
residents would attend, so that there
was often a fairly large yet intimate
group of people gathered. Residents
and pilgrims would sing songs of
Baba, which often included singing His
name in different harmonies. After the
conclusion of one such episode, Mani
remarked, "The greatest gift He has
given us is the gift of His Name."
Mani was seated on a polished
wooden bench in the center of the
women Mandali, facing the Samadhi.
I was standing in the queue to enter
the Samadhi, just a little ahead of
her, with a full close up view of all the
women Mandali as she was saying this.
As I was soon to enter the Samadhi for
darshan, with perhaps a dozen or so
people in front of me, I thought that
I would thank Him for this gift of His
Name, and it occurred to me that I really had no idea what I was thanking
Him for!
What is in a name? Why thank someone for their name? What exactly was
I thanking Him for?
It might seem silly to think these
things, but I sincerely wanted to thank
Him, and did not know what I was
thanking Him for. So when I went in to
bow down to Him, with my forehead
on the cloth covering the marble of
His tomb, I asked Him to help me to
understand the gift of His Name so
that I could appreciate it properly and
thank Him properly. Immediately the
impulse came to me to ask Mani.
So, a few days later I went to the
Trust office to ask her. It was not easy
to see Mani, as she was fairly well
guarded. Goher had been telling me
that Mani wanted to see me, and to
spend more time with me, yet every
time I had tried to see her, I was
shooed away by people taking care of
her. It was hard to get past them, so
when I arrived, I was standing in the
parking lot trying to figure out a way
to get in and see her without offending anyone.
While standing there, Mani came
out of her office and made a beeline directly towards me to greet me! I didn't
even have to stop her on her way to
do some official business in another
nearby office contained within the
Trust compound. When she greeted
me, I was still really startled, but managed to say I would like to ask her a
question. She said "Yes, of course."
So I asked her, "When you came to
Women's Arti the other day, you said
that one of the greatest gifts He has
given us is the gift of His Name. What
did you mean by that?"
Mani's somewhat astonished and
puzzled look prompted me to explain,
"When I went inside to bow down and
thank Him, I realized I really did not
know what I was thanking Him for;
would you please explain the gift of
His Name to me?"
Mani thought for a few moments,
and then after a little while she started
staring into my eyes… a very intense
concentrated focused gaze directly
37
38
into my eyes that went on and on and
on. I started feeling very uncomfortable with the intensity, but held my
ground by maintaining eye contact
and not looking away… it was not
scary, only intense and a bit disconcerting. After a 'long while' which was
actually a short while that felt like an
eternity, a thought bubbled up into
my mind, and Mani gestured, "Tell
me - what is that thought?"
I felt it was my thought, not hers.
I had come all the way to the Trust
compound from Meherabad to know
her thought, not mine, since after all
she was the one who said it was His
greatest gift. I was not the least bit
interested in any of my thoughts on
the matter, I really wanted to know
why she had said it.
Well, one does not often win with
Mani, and at her insistence I capitulated what I felt was my right to know,
and gave her the thought that had
entered my mind, "Does it mean that
taking His Name has a dissolving effect
on our sanskaras?"
Looking directly into my eyes she
replied, "That's exactly right!" And she
appeared delighted, and then puzzled
by my response. For I felt cheated
and deflated! I wanted to know her
thoughts, not mine! I didn't come all
this way just to hear my own mind!
Although it was not the type of thing
I was at all likely to think of… but
since this came into my mind it was
therefore mine, not hers or anyone
else's, it was 'mine'.
Only after many years did I realize
that Mani had spoken directly to Baba
in my heart to teach me multiple lessons; years before I could understand
that she had asked Him in my heart,
and He had responded. I didn't even
know that He was there in my heart,
or that she could talk to Him while I
could not. And even more, that she
could ask for His answer using my
mind and voice, was astonishing to
me. The Western world did not offer
this type of understanding, especially
to their scientists! She had asked Him,
and He had used my mind and voice to
answer her, all without my permission
or direct knowledge. They were talking to each other using my body and I
had not a clue!
Eventually, I was charmed and humbled by her sweet effort to answer the
question in this most creative way. Not
only had she answered my question,
she had done it in the most stunning
way imaginable.
Mani on Mastery in Serviture
While at the Samadhi, I would
notice during and after Arti that
the emblems of different shrines on
the roof of the Samadhi at the four
corners and the central dome, all
representing the five major religions
of the world. I would often look at
the symbols: of the Hindu temple, the
Muslim mosque, the Zoroastrian Fire
temple, the Christian cross, and the
dome itself representing the Buddhist
Wheel, most of these symbols being
relatively new to me as iconic images.
I had never been to any place before
this that incorporated all the religions
into a sort of centerpiece of icons for a
Samadhi structure, and it would often
amaze me to see them all above Him,
as His physical form resided beneath
the marble slab in the room under this
one roof filled with symbols of the five
major religions.
Also I would observe the words
written above the entrance to the
Samadhi, "Mastery in Servitude,"
and wonder what the significance
might be to choose these particular
words for this location. Coming from
a scientific background in the West, I
was puzzled as to the actual meaning
of these words. What did Baba have
in mind?
As I had come to India for 'selfless
service', and 'spiritual training', what
else was I supposed to be doing,
besides attempting to be on time
for duty and striving to do properly
whatever work I was given? I felt I
was missing something, but I was not
sure even what to ask or to whom, so
I prayed to Him to show me what He
wanted me to understand, and how
to honor His statement of 'mastery
in servitude' throughout my days in
His service.
A few months after this prayer to
Baba, I witnessed a charming and
revealing event. To give a little background, I was a bit delayed in getting
to India; it took me more than a
decade to 'get my act together' and
finally come. Being 'so late', I felt I had
to learn as much from the Mandali as
I could, as they were the closest to
Baba, and were trained by Him. The
Mandali were all so different from
one another, to such an extent that
it was very confusing at first (also at
last!). But they all had one thing in
common, they glowed from within
like lightbulbs with the flame of their
love for Beloved Baba. Their obedience to His Wish and Will was simply
extraordinary to someone coming
from the West. These were some
highly educated and highly intelligent
people, who resonated such incredible
purity and love for the divine; it was
a remarkable sight to witness. This
explains why I would just watch them,
generally from a short distance, trying
to figure out what made them glow
from the inside out. Actually, I wanted
to learn to be like that.
One day, Mani was sitting on Mehera's veranda, next to Mehera's
chair. It was lunch time, and all the
women Mandali had gone inside, and
all the pilgrims had gone to lunch on
the men's side, on the veranda outside
of Mandali Hall. In keeping with my
habit of observing from a distance,
I was standing in the garden next to
the veranda wall, peeping around the
corner to see Mani. She was just sitting
there as if in a silent reverie reviewing
the day so far. Then, suddenly, she
perked up as if something had come
to her attention. She looked around,
she got up, and started coming down
the stairs into Mehera's garden.
Naturally I backed away, hoping that
this had nothing to do with my being
intrusive in any way. Luckily, it didn't.
Mani got into her buggy, and while she
was turning it around I backed away
and started to 'shadow' her along
from behind the bougainvillea as she
drove right towards me. (!) Just in
front of me she made a sharp right and
headed towards the back of Mandali
Hall. When she got there she made another sharp right and headed straight
towards a bench where a pilgrim was
sitting, totally out of sight, and this is
how I came to know that I wasn't the
only one in the garden that day.
This pilgrim was obviously under
a dark cloud of some sort, looking
as if she felt miserable. As I followed
unseen, Mani drove right up to the
pilgrim, tooted her horn, and chatted
with her. I remained far out of earshot,
just witnessing what Mani was doing;
she so cheered and delighted this
woman that she bounced up off the
bench and literally skipped to lunch.
Then Mani took her buggy back to the
stairs and went in to her lunch. That
was it, the entire event.
What amazed me the most was
how Baba showed me that Mastery in
Servitude involved how to be who you
are and yet listen to Him. Mani was in
her own reverie over the events of the
day, yet 'something' prompted her to
get off the veranda, get into her buggy, go to the pilgrim and cheer her up;
and that 'something which prompted
her' could only have been her Beloved.
Baba’s thought had entered her mind,
and she knew the difference between
that and her thoughts, and she obeyed
Him implicitly. This was really skillful
Mastery in Servitude.
Interactions With Eruch, and
Sarah's First Wedding Ring
Eruch outlived Mani by about 5 years,
and Sarah would spend time with him
every chance she got. Eruch would call
Sarah "giraffe", and send her cute giraffe
photos… she says that "for years he
would love to tease me that they had the
smallest brains of practically any mammal… he would clip photos of giraffes
from newspaper and magazine pictures
and send them to me."
Later Eruch said it was because the
giraffe has the biggest heart! Afterwards
he would call her "honeycomb," or just
"comb" if she was feeling harassed.
Eruch was Sarah's buddy; his love
had a deep healing effect. He finished
the job that the Sufi leader of Kansas
City had started, of helping her to
throw off the negative impressions
of her childhood, to conquer feelings
of unworthiness, and to feel grounded and strong in herself. There is no
doubt that Eruch helped her a great
deal. Sarah wrote:
Eruch asked me (Aug '97), "Why are
you dieting?" I said, "To clean (de-tox)
myself out." Eruch said, "But you are
already clean." I said, "Not completely," and Eruch said, "But you are."
Sarah says:
"One day I was being troubled by
all types of harassing situations and
thoughts, and I went to Eruch for help
in how to deal with the situations. He
told me, 'When Maya is tormenting
you, just ignore her, and eventually
Sarah, Shelley, Eruch and Heather
she will get bored and go away.'" And
he gave Sarah some advice on how to
live at Meherabad, "If someone steps
on your toe, you just apologize to
them, you say, "I'm sorry that my toe
is under your foot."
One day, Sarah was at Meherazad,
getting ready to leave for Meherabad.
My time with Eruch was mostly
when he returned from working in
the Trust office, and would sit on the
bench of the Mandali Hall veranda,
between 5-6 pm. When the car came
in from the office, it would honk on
the entrance road, everyone would
rush to greet him, and then within 15
minutes the mail was dispersed, messages were given, and all would vanish
back to their former activities. Eruch
would unwind his day of work tasks,
change his clothes, and sit on the veranda outside his room, often in a long
leisurely Parsi style chair. Eruch was
sitting in the chair next to the steps
of the Blue Bus when I joined him. He
was absorbed in his thoughts, as I sat
on the blue seat of the wooden bench
gazing down the beautiful scenic approach road into Meherazad.
After some 10-15 minutes of a
beautiful, still, silence, we heard the
voices of two of the women Mandali shouting at each other; they were
somewhere in the vicinity of the back
of Mandali Hall, and the shouting
continued as they passed through the
narrow passageway between Mandali
Hall and the New Life Caravan, into the
small courtyard behind the Blue Bus.
As they got closer and closer, I became very nervous, as I was supposed
to be gone by 5 pm and it was now getting close to 5:20 or so. I was thinking
to make my getaway through a narrow corridor behind the blue bench,
where Eruch and Meherwan's rooms
were. As the shouting got louder and
louder, it was coming close to the veranda, and just as I was about to run
away, Eruch said really loudly, "You
know Sarah, here in Meherazad, the
dogs are barking, but their tails are
wagging; whereas in Meherabad the
dogs are barking and they are biting
each other." Not only was my cover
blown, there was pin-drop silence.
I never heard the women depart,
and I never knew who they were (nor
did I have any wish to know!) because
their voices were unrecognizable in
their anger. This incident addressed
many issues for me; my fear of exposure and humiliation. The acceptance
of anger as barking, not biting, was
contrary to my Western experience.
Eruch's pinpoint precision and expressions, forbearance and patience, his
wry and subtle enjoyment of life, were
jewels to witness and behold.
Eruch once said to Sarah, while sitting
in his usual seat at the end of the day,
"Sarah, do you know why I am feeling
so nostalgic? That rickshaw that just
left, (we could still see it disappearing
down the entrance road to Meherazad)
contains two of the old Meherabad Mandali, they were my friends in the early
days. Now they are Westerners, middle
aged men."
Eruch told me so many times, in variations: "We (or you and I, etc.) have
been together since the beginning of
time - do you remember? We roamed
the planet together as dinosaurs (I
wondered if this was Eruch speaking
or Baba, or both).
Sarah: Oh. Were we carnivores or
herbivores?
Eruch (pausing for a few seconds):
"I was carnivore and you were herbivore." And we were together in
Meherabad.
Sarah was extremely sensitive to people's aggression, and she would often
have to suffer the unwanted attentions
of Baba lover men who thought she was
"available"; she felt as if she was being
pierced by arrows. When she expressed
her troubles to Eruch, he advised her
to wear a ring on the wedding finger,
to show that she is in fact "married to
Baba." Sarah had a gold wedding ring
that used to belong to her grandmother;
she wore it, and it had the desired effect.
She continued to wear the old ring along
with her new wedding ring when we
39
got married, and I always understood
and honored its significance implicitly.
Sarah has also written the story of how
we got married:
Sarah Gets Married through the
Intervention of Bhau Kalchuri
It would often happen that on the
way to Meherabad from working in the
Meherazad clinic, Sarah would stop in
With Bhau
the Trust office to greet Mani, Eruch,
Khorshed, Bhau, anyone who was available in the early to mid afternoon. This
would very often include tea with Eruch,
and of course, Bhau never stopped
working. When she finished greeting
all the other mandali members, Sarah
would visit Bhau in his office.
Bhau would always welcome visitors,
even in the midst of intense Trust office work. Bhau might be in discussion
regarding any topic, from land to public
officials to letters being read out, etc.,
but still he would tell her to sit down,
every time...
Bhau was instrumental in us getting
married in 2010. Though we had lived
sincerely as brother and sister for 2
decades, many of our fellow residents
had encouraged us to get married
over the years, as we were the only
ones who accepted this brother-sister
choice offered by various Mandali
members, whilst living in Meherabad.
In May of 2010, Bhau was attending a
Memorial Day weekend chat in Meherana, USA, while Mike and I watched
online in Meherabad. In that chat,
Bhau announced that we were married. He knew very well we were not,
and his team assured him that we lived
a pure life as brother and sister, and
so we were puzzled as to what he had
meant by that.
We gave some thought to this topic
40
intermittently during
the month of June, and
were about 50/50 on
the matter of marriage
when Bhau returned to
the Trust office in early
July. We arranged to
meet Bhau to talk on
this topic, and he selected the timing of the 4th
of July about
five minutes
before the
chat. Anyone
who knows Bhau, knows
he won't miss his chats for
anything, so we were a little
apprehensive. Upon arriving
at his room, before we could
even enter, he said, "Get married," and the 'discussion'
was over.
We were both shocked,
and really not ready for that type
of a response before we could even
sit down. Then, during the chat, he
wanted to announce like a proud
father that we were engaged! Even
the word 'engaged' shocked us, and
we begged him not to make any announcement of the kind. He looked
at us so innocently; as if we took the
fun out of his wish to tell the world
via the chat.
Sarah and I were married a month
after Bhau's intended announcement in
Pune, by a series of events in which we
could clearly see Baba's hand and His
Presence. We still continued to reside in
our respective rooms in the Men's Nursing Quarters, waiting for suitable housing to shift into. Then when the MPR
Staff Quarters was ready, we moved in
as prearranged; we had been married
about a year at that point. We loved that
place, beautifully designed by the Meherabad architect, Ted Judson.
We furnished it with the help
of marriage donations from
both of our families, including
a chair designated for Baba
only. We had and still have a
cat, Ginny, whom we found
near Baba's neem tree on the
occasion of Mohamed Mast's
burial. Ginny was only a few
months old, and she has been
our loving companion for
about 12 years.
Sarah and Mike marry.
Concerning our marriage, it seems
very appropriate that, when asked
what to write on the wedding cake, we
spontaneously chose the Baba quote:
"Real happiness lies in making others
happy." This is something that always
came naturally to Sarah, but something
which I had to learn through the loving
exchanges that marriage creates. This
dictum seems to me to be the hallmark
of a successful marriage. Bhau said that
our marriage was successful, as indeed
it was, but I should say that at first it was
a real struggle.
Bhau had started calling me Dr. of
Astral World, and Sarah "Sister Panchvati Cave" whenever he saw us, several
years before he asked her to give tours
of Panchvati Cave at Meherabad. He said
that Sarah would reside inside the cave,
and I would sit outside. When asked
what she was to say on the tours, he
told her to tell the history of Baba and
the Panchvati Cave Seclusion, including
the daily singing of the "Seven Names
of God" during the Seclusion, and the
work (on real Obedience) that Baba did
with Indian disciple Pleader and British
journalist Paul Brunton on that occasion.
Sarah's Work with Katie
Sarah first met Katie (Goher's sister)
Baba in Panchvati Cave
during her visit to USA in 1991, in Seattle,
where they cooked a salmon for the
the edges of the garden to vanish from
sight as quickly as possible.
Never once did Eruch or Katie ever
indicate in any way that either of them
saw the pilgrim scurrying by as they were
shouting at each other, Eruch pleading
with Katie, "Are you trying to kill me?"
Yet you knew that out of the corner of
their eyes nothing escaped them, and
they relished their mischief-making
with delight, and Katie would pleadingly implore, "But Eruch, I made that
specially for you!" and round and round
they would go. Every day at 5 pm, we
would hear "Where is Katie?" and "What
is Eruch doing?" This was their ZTV time
[television entertainment]. Eruch called
for Katie just before he died, and Katie
was the last person he greeted and
spoke to before passing over.
Sarah's Work with Katie and the
Video Series
Baba group there. It took awhile for
Sarah to recognize that Goher and Katie
were sisters, they were so different in
appearance and temperament. A year
or two before Goher went to Baba (in
2004), she asked Sarah, "Will you do me
a favor? Will you look after my sister Katie when I am gone?" Sarah asked what
it would entail, and Goher answered,
"Just love her, and do what she wants."
Naturally Sarah did just that, spending much of her time at Meherazad until
Katie joined Beloved Baba at the end of
May 2009. Sarah would usually hang out
with Katie in the kitchen. Katie always
emphasized the importance of taking
Baba's Name while doing the cooking,
and would often tell Sarah, "Now just
stay there (in a corner) and shut up." So
Sarah would do that, and spend her time
taking Baba's Name, and Katie would
be happy.
Eruch’s Wicked Sense of Humor
Eruch would tease Katie mercilessly.
Katie would get all red-faced and huff
and puff and get all worked up, and
around me they would try to make it look
real serious, though it would be obvious
they were both lacking any real murderous intent or hostility towards each
other though it was really funny when
they scared the occasional helper who
might have been called to Meherazad to
help out, and who would scurry around
Sarah would work with Katie to do
her internet correspondence, after her
arthritis made it impossible for her to
hand-write her wonderful letters. Sarah
says, "Katie's letters were a work of art.
Before the internet took over, and emailing replaced her incredibly beautiful
letters, Katie would create out of wrapping paper, old Sierra calendars, etc, and
magazines, cut-outs of birds, flowers,
foliage, design patterns of all types, to
make the envelopes adorned with that
essence of His love that was palpable in
the atmosphere of Meherazad."
Sarah did her best to make Katie
happy. In 2006, for example,
for Katie's birthday, Sarah arranged (with Flint Mednick)
for an elephant to be brought
to Meherazad, and give people rides up and down the
Meherazad approach road.
And then she started the
video project for Katie. In
Sarah's words:
During the last few years
of her life, Katie requested
web-masters of Meher Baba
websites to host her autobiographical video series.
The inception of this Katie
Irani internet video series,
began with an event which
occurred during the pilgrim
season of 2007-8, when four
or five Chinese people came
and greeted Katie on Me-
hera’s veranda in Meherazad. Katie
asked them how they came to know
about Meher Baba. With great mutual
surprise, they replied, ‘From you only!
We saw you on the internet! So, we
came to see His Samadhi, and to meet
you!’ Katie recognized the value of this
exchange, for she had served as a personal private secretary to more than
a dozen Japanese Consul Generals in
their Bombay office for over 28 years.
Katie had been hinting ever since the
Chinese arrived that she would tell her
own story, so that it would be authentic
and properly presented. She started
asking pilgrims for photos, videos, audio
tapes taken of her when she visited their
cities or areas, during her tours around
the world. She asked that they be sent to
her personally for use on this project, or,
after Katie joined Baba, given to Sarah
who would place it in her estate. Katie
had asked Sarah to get a small pocketsize video camera (Sarah got it with the
help of her sister) to take some nice
film-clips of her telling her stories and
put them onto the JaiBaba.com website
(and later on, others) on the internet. From September to October 2008
until Feb 2009, I started piecing together
a short video clip of Katie telling stories
of her life with Baba. For her birthday in
2009, with the initial film-editing expertise of Bob Fredericks, I made a video
called "Little Plays for Baba". When
it was finally finished, after mid-Feb,
we thought to show it to Katie for her
birthday, which is two days after Baba's
41
birthday. So one fine day, when she had
a little time away from the kitchen work,
while Meheru, Arnavaz and the residents
were resting after lunch, Katie sat in
Goher's chair on Mehera's veranda, with
a small wooden stool supporting the
computer in front of her, and watched
the first video.
She laughed throughout, and loved
it, and at the end she turned and looked
at me and said, "I like it. It's fine. But
why would anyone else want to look
at it?" I couldn't believe my ears, and I
said, "Katie, later, after you are gone,
this veranda is going to be empty! No
one is ever going to know what it was
like to meet a Mandali member on this
veranda!" Katie replied, "OK. Do it."
In my mind, this demonstrates Katie's
humility and obedience to Baba: "Why
would anyone want to look at me? Baba
wants it, so do it!"
This video was done at Katie's request
while she was still with us. Afterwards,
Sarah prepared 12 more videos according to Katie's strict guidelines, some
containing relevant interviews which
she had video-recorded (see below). She
always showed the videos to Meherazad
Mandali before putting them online.
The katieirani.com website was set up
a couple of years ago, because it was
felt that the katieirani website domain
should be obtained while it is still available. The website is quite beautiful …
Bhauji's Contribution to the Katie
Irani Video Series
Bhau had 'trained' me to come to
the Trust office to see him, whenever he
prompted me inwardly. It so happened
that after interviewing Marilyn (an old
friend of Katie's) about Katie, I was trying to figure out how to use this footage,
while simultaneously I was aware that
new pilgrims had been arriving over the
past year not knowing who or what a
Mandali was, and some of them did not
even know that Bhau was still alive.
It occurred to us that at some point
in the series, we would need to give
some explanation as to who Katie was
and what a Mandali was, in the overall
context of Meher Baba and His Mandali
members. As it was now Dec 2012 – Jan
2013, there were not a lot of people to
ask anymore, so we thought of asking
Meherwan Jessawala, [Eruch’s younger
brother] as he had just recently been interviewed by us in Nov 2012, and he and
42
Manu had both stressed repeatedly the
importance of this Katie project showing
Meher Baba’s work in the world.
During this timing, I kept feeling a pull
from Bhau internally, and went to the
Trust office and told him about the 'not
knowing how to address the Mandali'
issue. When he promptly answered that
he would allow us to interview him on
this topic, we knew that this was the response to the internal prompting, as his
birthday was coming up in mid-January,
and Amartithi would soon follow, and
the Katie video would be due for Baba's
Birthday in February.
It is said that this was Bhau's last
interview before he went to Baba a few
months later.
During the last few years of his life,
Bhau seemed to take a special interest in
all of us who were attending his internet
chats, having tea with him in his room,
etc. He was like a father guiding us all as
much as he could, to center ourselves
more deeply and more completely in
Baba. During the early years of the chat,
Bhau worked on me quite a bit. At one
point he said, "I've spent so much time
with you. Now I have to move on to others who are in need. Do you understand
yet?" Not wanting to prevent others
from ever getting their needed time,
I said, "Okay, yes," although I did not
understand a word of what he was saying. One rarely understood with words
or intellect the unfathomable help Baba
could give any of us through the vehicles
of His Mandali members.
Many times Bhau would 'read my
mind' and distribute what I had thought
were my own creative thoughts, dispensing them to whoever appeared in
his office that day. One time it was about
Mehera: Bhau told his entire team that
morning about how Mehera was a divine
descent, that she came after Him, and
that she was the 2nd part of God.
Sarah had been thinking the same exact thing all day long. At one point Sarah
was trying to explain who Baba is to her
born-again Christian elder brother. He
had actually visited here briefly to check
the place out, and had even gone into
the Samadhi. Afterwards he would write
Sarah letters trying to convert her to his
way of thinking and she would attempt
to reply to his verbiage. One day, Bhau
asked after him, and Sarah told him what
was happening. So Bhau took over the
correspondence, dictating long letters
to Sarah to write to him. It wasn't long
before Sarah's brother gave up in frustration, to Sarah's great relief.
Bhau displayed a surprising unawareness of the history of Khorshed as Queen
Victoria.
One day Bhau came to Meherazad,
and he was alone in the sense that no
one of his entourage was next to him
when he asked Katie, "There is a rumor
that Baba told you that you had been
Queen Victoria. Did Baba ever tell you
that you were Queen Victoria?" Katie
replied, "No no, Baba never told me
this. Who said so?" Bhau said, "It's just
a rumor." Katie repeated "No, not me.
Baba never said so."
I was witnessing this in total amazement, and said, "Excuse me, Bhauji, it's
not Katie, it's Khorshed." They both
looked at me in amazement, and jointly
asked, "How do you know?" I said, "Because Khorshed told me so." Again they
looked at me in amazement, and I was
equally baffled by the fact that Bhau
came all the way out to Meherazad to
ask Katie, when Khorshed had lived for
many years just a few doors down from
him in the Trust Office.
Khorshed's incredibly close relationship with Queen Victoria had always
intrigued me, until I read one of Upasni's
discourses about her. An Indian asked
Upasni, "Why is Britain ruling over India,
when we are the most spiritual country
on earth?" And Upasni's cryptic reply
was that it was like "God ruling over
God." He then went on to explain that
during the time of Ram and Sita, the
monkeys were granted a boon, and
Sita's attendant wanted to be married to
a King who ruled over the entire world
just like Ram did. Whether this monkey
thought of Ram as a King or as the Lord
of the Universe is a bit of a mystery,
but it has often been said during Queen
Victoria's reign, that "the Sun never sets
on the British empire." She certainly had
Royal lineage, and Gilori Shah was her
chef. [The story about Gilori Shah will
be in the next issue, #9]
Sarah Met All of the Remaining
Mandali that She Could Find
I did not know who all the Mandali
members were. There was no chart or
paper anywhere telling anyone who
was living at Meherazad, and where
to find the Mandali. It was all sort of
a very pleasant mystery. So I kept askLove Street Breezes, Issue 8
ing the residents who all the Mandali
members were, to make sure that I
had greeted and met them all.
Bal Natu was the most hidden for
me, and I found him at last in what was
called the Record Room. The first time
I went there, the person I assumed to
be Bal was at the far end of the room
from the door, and seated in front of
him were rows of chairs of middleaged and elderly Indian men. Being a
foreigner, I did not wish to intrude so I
went away and waited for the room to
clear out. When I saw from a distance
that the men were leaving, I seized the
moment to meet and greet Bal for the
first time.
Actually I was not certain that it
was Bal Natu, as I had no idea what he
looked like: his age or physical appearance. When I went into the room, an
elderly Western Baba lover was being
encouraged by Bal to sit down, and
Bal motioned to me to sit next to her.
I was a bit reluctant, as already the
conversation was making me uncomfortable. Bal was asking her, "How is
it that you come here and I never get
the chance to meet you before you
are gone, year after year? How is this
happening?" Meanwhile he is motioning her to sit and chat with him for a
few minutes, and I am requested by
Bal's gestures to be seated next to the
woman that I barely knew.
She was answering Bal that she had
been coming since the 1960's, long
before Bal Natu arrived in Meherazad,
and that she was on intimate terms
with all the women Mandali, which included Mehera. Thus, she did not feel
like she was in school, which is how
his meetings with Indian pilgrims in
the Record Room felt to her; as if she
was back in school before a teacher. This is how I learned that Bal was a
retired school teacher. I did not know
anything about all this, and kept
squirming to leave, when Bal kept
pulling me in, not knowing my name,
and asking me, "What do you think of
this?" Well, obviously nothing, since I
knew nothing about either him or her
or the situation I was in…
Sarah didn't say anything more to
Bal at the time, but later she went out
of her way to tell him privately what
she thought, which is that the woman's
manner of expression did not mince
words, but she did make a valid point.
Westerners have no cultural background
regarding spirituality, no idea what it is
that makes a Mandali, what is in their
inner life to cause them to light up,
"back-lit by the Sun," as Mani would
say. A lecture has no value to them, they
just want something that brightens their
hearts. Bal listened to what Sarah said,
and soon started writing the "Conversations" series to give Western seekers an
appreciation of the Reality of God's Presence in our daily life. Sarah (and others)
worked a lot with Bal writing the various
conversations.
Eruch, Mani and Aloba
This is an Aloba story which is told by
Sarah with a remarkable joie de vivre,
just as she would want it to be told.
During the mid-90's, Aloba was invited to go on a seven or eight months
tour all over India. He was so incredibly
expressive in his excitement of this,
like in the West we might be in such joy
around Christmas time with presents
of delightful surprises. In fact, to say
that he was full of joy would seem to
be an understatement, as he seemed
unable to contain all his joy in one
small body.
This episode is a pair of bookends,
in the sense that I was included only
in the beginning and again at the end
of Aloba's tour, via Eruch and Mani,
whilst he went on his tour in the
middle.
Apparently, for a tour such as this,
living in Meherazad in harmony under
His Wish and His Will, one needed
to inform everyone, and also to get
permission to leave, from Mani and
Eruch. Aloba had been waiting for
weeks for getting his permission to
go. Of course no one would stop him
or anyone else; it appeared to me
as if it was more in honoring Baba's
permission internally, than that which
was being expressed externally. It was
also practical, as his duties would need
to be done by someone else, the food
allotment would be one less meal to
prepare, etc. Nonetheless, Aloba was
like a pressure cooker building up
energy and steam just waiting for this
meeting to take place.
All this was unbeknownst to me
at the time, and one day while I was
passing by Mani and Eruch, they summoned me to come near where they
were seated. On the men's veranda
at Meherazad, Mani would be seated
in the chair by the stairs of the Blue
Bus, and Eruch would be seated on the
chair under the clock. As I got closer,
they gestured for me to sit, as if we
were waiting for something, and in
less than a moment Aloba appeared
full of force, bursting with energy, and
thanking Eruch and Mani for meeting
him. This is how it became obvious
to me that this was a prearranged
meeting between them. This is what
happened:
Aloba opens the meeting by informing them of having been invited on
a long, very big, tour all over India,
so many places, so many invitations,
North, South, East and West, etc.
It will take many months, so many
people have been making so many
plans, and even right now the tour is
getting bigger and bigger, day by day...
Mani and Eruch are patiently listening, very attentively, to an elaborate
description of the tour and all the arrangements being made. He concludes
with a somewhat pleading request of
them, "Please, may I go?"
This is unusual for me to witness,
as Aloba is an elderly, white-haired
gentleman Mandali member, wearing
spectacles so thick they look like small
magnifying glasses for the lenses in
both eyes, with an even bigger bifocal
magnifier, and his eagerness is so innocent and sweet it is almost childlike
in appearance.
In stark contrast, Mani and Eruch appear a combination of sternness and
propriety which nonetheless contains
a palpable element of humor. Mani
begins by explaining to Aloba their
concerns, in particular that the Trust
receives many letters from Indians and
Baba lovers elsewhere who express
alarm about Aloba's predictions and
visions that he has given in his previous talks at the Meherabad Pilgrim
Center dining hall, and elsewhere.
In fact Aloba is well known for
his visually expressive and graphic
depictions in public talks, as well as
his spontaneity of expression; in particular about his visions and dreams of
WWIII with nuclear missiles exploding
white lights in the sky with so much
destruction everywhere, and Baba
will manifest, etc., etc.,–that it is a
truly remarkable one-man theatrical
show—without any props—just to
43
44
watch him! The timing of the WWIII
predictions would vary—sometimes
it would happen very soon, or tomorrow, or it was supposed to happen
yesterday but got delayed, because
of His compassion being like saving
the ants when falling onto them, and
not wanting to hurt them—He adjusts
the timing so that it goes very slowly
for our sakes...
Mani continues to respond to his
request by explaining very lovingly
and clearly that his descriptions and
predictions actually scare people, and
they write letters to the Trust about
his demonstrations of doomsday
predictions. The Trust receives many
letters like this, and it is difficult for
them to respond to these letters,
which they have to do according to
Baba's orders.
Aloba appears a constantly moving bundle of incredibly joy-filled and
enthusiastic energy, barely contained,
so that it is seemingly popping out
all over the place in his rather petite
yet slightly plump physique. He is so
incredibly restless, he exclaims to both
Mani and Eruch, "No! No! I won't do
this! Please let me go! Please let me
go! Please!"
There is a little pause, and then
Eruch tells Aloba that when Aloba
gives talks, people are writing to them
that Aloba falls on the floor to demonstrate what will happen, that his back
is on the floor and his arms and legs
are gesticulating in all directions. This
seems very strange to some people.
Also, this falling to the floor happens
so suddenly, that people are afraid
he will hurt himself! There is concern
that when he travels, because he is
an old man, he may fall to the floor
somewhere and actually hurt himself.
Continually bursting with this highly
expressive enthusiastic and joy-filled
energy, Aloba pleads once again, "No
Eruch! I won't do this. I promise! I
won't fall on the floor! I promise, Mani,
I won't do this. Please may I go on this
tour all over India, so many places,
so many arrangements have already
been made, please may I go?"
The whole scenario is utterly mindblowing to witness, totally out of
context in my so-called life as a lab
technician and Homeopathy trainee.
I am just watching like most people
watch Zee TV, or more like the ancient
Greeks and Romans watched the dramas of the ancient myths of the Gods.
Mani says, "Aloba, remember, you
are representing Baba and Meherazad
wherever you go. Now Aloba, you
have given us your promise, you won't
alarm people with your predictions,
dreams or nightmares, and you won't
fall on the floor, or scare any people on
this tour if we give you permission to
go? Do you give your promise not to
do these things?"
Aloba, quick on the draw, replies
rapid-fire, "Yes Mani, I promise. Definitely! I will not do this! Please, may I
go? Please give me permission to go!"
As I watch this scene, I am wondering who is older than whom, and why
is Aloba pleading like this? It is difficult
to describe how out of context this is
in my life, and yet how normal it is in
everyday life in Meherazad. It reminds
me that someone once asked Mother
Teresa of Calcutta, "How do you know
what is God's will?" and her reply, "It's
simple. It's what happens."
In the end, both Mani and Eruch give
Aloba their permission to go, and tell
him to give them a full report of what
happens upon his return.
The scene ended just as if the
curtain on the stage of life has been
pulled, and I resumed heading wherever it was I was going before being
pulled aside. It had been so puzzling
and incongruous that I forgot about
it and got absorbed in the rest of the
day's activities.
Many months passed by, it must
have been seven or eight, I don't
remember exactly how long, and
again, the same scene replays itself,
but with a different twist this time: it
is now the end of the tour, and Aloba
has been waiting for weeks to give
his report to Eruch and Mani. As I am
'passing by', again Eruch and Mani call
me over, and this time Aloba has just
arrived; they are all in the exact same
spots as they were many months previously. The synchronicity is noted by
my so-called scientific brain, and yet
the whole scene is again completely
inexplicable. Again, Mani and Eruch
gesture to me to sit down in the same
place I sat many months previously.
Aloba has been waiting for (seemingly) too many weeks to begin:
"Mani, Eruch, it was so great. Baba's
message went everywhere, all people
were on fire with His Love. Everywhere
I went, people took me into their
homes, and I put Baba's photo everywhere I went, and we said the Arti in
so many homes, all over India, North,
South, East, West, this way and then
that way and up and down and (zigzag
finger motion) we went over here and
over there, so many months, and so
many talks I gave."
Very excitedly, expressively, and
full of joy, Aloba continues his report. "And I told them about Baba's
Manifestation, and how the missiles
will explode like white lights in the
sky..." and within minutes Aloba is on
the floor in front of Eruch and Mani
with his arms and legs going in all
directions, apparently representing
missiles in action, and this does catch
my attention. I look immediately at
Mani and Eruch to see their responses,
and they are definitely barely containing their amusement. Under great
restraint they are avoiding bursting
out laughing, and once again, the
joke's on me.
For a Westerner to witness adults
behaving in this fashion was mindboggling. It appeared as if Eruch and
Mani were behaving like stern loving
parents with a child who was wanting
to visit elsewhere, and requiring their
permission, etc.
It seems as if Sarah had been called
in by Eruch and Mani to witness their
working together, in a perfect demonstration of the naturally predominant
importance of love in the balance of
heart and mind.
Sarah was present at Mani's
farewell to Eruch
I was up on Seclusion Hill, then
came down into Meherazad when
the workers all pointed me to go to
the women's veranda for an important meeting. I did not know what
was happening, and as I entered
the room, a few older residents and
Meheru looked at me as if I did not
belong, while Eruch, Goher, Katie,
Arnavaz, all welcomed me. Mani
perceived what was happening and
replied to the dissenters, "It is in
her destiny," and that calmed things
down temporarily. Eruch sat at her
feet, cross-legged, longingly, as if
he could not bear to part with her.
Whatever he felt, his agony was palLove Street Breezes, Issue 8
pable and permeated the silence
alone, and even insisted that I enof the room.
quire about local hospital admission
Mani wanted to say farewell to
procedures. Then sometime during
her loved ones, to those closest
that same night on the 10th to 11th
to her. Mani so often indicated an
of June, Sarah had what appeared
intimacy towards me, a loving tento be a stroke, and she had to be
derness, which I felt shy to receive
admitted to Anand Rishi Hospital.
being relatively new as compared
They insisted that she be immedito others who had been there for
ately transferred to Ruby Hall in
decades, and yet she would so
Pune, where it was determined that
often pull me in or pull me aside.
she had acute liver failure which was
At those times, no one knew she
untreatable due to its severity.
might leave us so soon. Goher often
She never regained full contold me that Mani wanted to see
sciousness, though from time to
more of me, why did I not go to
time she seemed to recognize
visit her more often?
her visitors in their expressions of
Sarah many times expressed
love. She passed away with Baba's
how perfectly Eruch and Mani ex- Sarah conducted tours to Panchvati Cave for pilgrims
name-repetition ringing in her ears
who wanted to learn the historical connection and
emplified working together in His Love
at 2 am on 15 June, and was cremated at
relevance to the cave and Baba's work.
and Service. Sarah writes:
Meherabad later the same day. Some of
week or so, taking Homeopathic treat- her dear friends around the world have
It is difficult to describe the magment. Still, Sarah and I continued to do expressed their experience of feeling her
nificence of the Mandali, how in awe
Homeopathy, even with the start-up of joy at returning into her Beloved Baba's
I felt of them all, in part because they
our new practice at Meher Free Dispen- arms, which is the experience she had
seemed so ordinary, that it made
sary in Meherazad, until the weakness first had in childhood at the age of two.
the extraordinary in each of them
accompanying her jaundice made the Hers was a life of service to God, and she
as if an opposite quality, difficult to
commute too difficult. At first Sarah's lived it to its fullest capacity.
hold both opposites in the intellect
health problems seemed to respond to
at the same time. Yet through love,
Homeopathic treatment, and then one
and His Grace, as Eruch so often said:
day nothing seemed to help anymore.
"Anything is possible by Your Grace."
That day, Sarah seems to have fully reSarah's Passing
alized that her condition might be much
During a very hot summer (2015) at more serious than we had imagined,
Meherabad, Sarah contracted what ap- because she began to make arrangepeared at first to be a mild case of water- ments for duties which we had previously
borne hepatitis, which she suffered for a shared between us, to be done by me
45
46
To penetrate into the essence of all being and significance,
and to release the fragrance of that inner attainment
for the guidance and benefit of others,
by expressing in the world of forms
truth, love, purity and beauty.
This is the sole game that has intrinsic and absolute worth.
— Avatar Meher Baba
47
Marshall Hay
July 11, 1944 — October 28, 2015
Dear family and friends,
Marshall Hay passed peacefully at home Wednesday night
[Oct. 28, 2015] at 9:03pm. He was
with family and close friends all
saying God’s name around him.
The release of his spirit charged
the room with a sense of victory
to God, and victory to a life welllived in service of Beloved Meher
Baba. Marshall was a pillar in the
Meher Baba community in Myrtle
Beach. He lived his life with that
one pointed desire to serve his
Lord above everything else. Upon his
passing, we all prayed and sang Baba’s
arti, laid red and yellow rose petals over
him, and anointed his body with Baba’s
lavender bath water and Dhuni ash.
Marshall will be cremated and a memorial celebration will be held at McMillan Small Funeral Home in Myrtle Beach.
When these arrangements are finalized,
we will send out another update.
—Mimi Hay
“The beauty returns to the beauty.
What a stupendous spirit Marshall is
and was, a unique flame of an individual.
He lit so many people’s lives. Speaking
in his calm smooth voice, introducing
programs at the center, providing a
gateway to enter the sacred. Gradually
moving more into Baba as he steadfastly endured the ravages of illness, a
silent journey. A role model of love and
strength, peace and wisdom. My heart
holds you dear, embracing you in this
wordless time, shrouding you in silk
kimonos, where you and Marshall are
always embracing.”
—Marla Faith, 10/29/15
How Marshall Came to Baba:
In His Own Words
“I remember having had the Darshan
[at Meher Baba’s Samadhi] and recognizing at that moment that this would
be a good day to just die.” — Marshall
Source: Finding God in North Carolina,
ed. Randy Wasserstrom and Zuzanna
Vee (2008), pp. 88-97. Reprinted by
permission of Randy Wasserstrom.
48
Marshall told his interviewer, Randy
Wasserstrom: “My story has never been
in print before.”
I came to Myrtle Beach for the first
time in 1961, Christmas season, when my
parents bought a lot in Briarcliffe, which
adjoins the Center. What’s of interest
is that, at that time, as a teenager with
my buddy, I explored the area near the
Center while my parents were off buying
this lot. I recall standing at the cabana at
Briarcliffe, looking down the beach, and
there was nothing to the south at all,
no development at all. As we wandered
the neighborhood, we did not see the
Meher Center. It was here. I am sure of
that. We walked back and forth past the
entrance but not onto the Center. That
in fact was my experience even after my
family moved here in 1963. Although I
drove by the Center for the next several
years, I never knew it was here. How
Baba keeps us apart until the day.
I went off to Chapel Hill in the fall of
1963. Looking back, it is remarkable to
me how in my way I gravitated to a particular situation and immediately began
making this circle of friends, many of
whom would later become devoted to
Baba. Hindsight. During this period, like
a lot of other people, I got into drugs.
I took a lot of LSD and all of that. That
was a BIG part of my life. I was in and out
of school. I was essentially a part-time
student. In those days you had to stay on
to avoid the draft. I found myself very,
very committed to staying in Chapel Hill.
Things came along that could have taken
me away, but they just couldn’t happen.
In 1965 I was taking LSD and, like
most people that I knew, was taking it
as a spiritual pursuit. I was having
this really remarkable experience,
but every time I took LSD there
was this diminished effect. My
love affair with drugs was disintegrating, but I didn’t know what
else to do and this was a difficult
thing.
Then in May 1966, I recall sitting one day in the Student Union,
Graham Memorial. I was reading
magazines and picked up a Look
magazine. There was an article on
LSD, which I read. It was the kind
of thing that was happening a lot
at that point. It was talking about this
thing that was sweeping the country.
They had blurred photographs which
seemed to say this was the typical image
of using LSD. As I read this, a very clear
voice inside of me to, “No one knows
what this stuff is!”
A few days later, there was going to
be a giant going-away party near Southern Pines for a friend of mine, Ed Causey,
who had been drafted. His family had a
farm out there near Southern Pines. We
took over this farm for the weekend and
about 50 people shifted from Chapel Hill
to there and this event went on. I recall
standing next to a lake talking to these
two gals. It was 4 o’clock in the morning
and I announced that I was going to go
back to Myrtle Beach. I would hitchhike
back to Myrtle Beach. So I went out on
the road and started hitchhiking. I had
just been for two days at this “brawl”
in the woods and looked a sight. It was
amazing that anybody picked me up. It
took me a day to hitchhike back there.
As I got closer and closer to town, I was
filled with the desire to go get a job at
this Hardee’s hamburger stand.
A couple of years before, I had known
a fellow, Will Bullard, who had a job at
the King Burger on Rosemary Street in
Chapel Hill. I remember standing there
with a couple of friends. We used to go
over there and buy fish sandwiches.
I remember thinking to myself, “This
is the greatest job in the world. All you
have to do is turn the hamburger.” This
registered with me. So I came back to
Myrtle Beach and here was my chance
to go get a job at a hamburger stand.
So I went and applied for the job the
next day and the man hired me. It was
a buck an hour. So I got this job and
started working there. I was working
at the job several days, during which
time I was reading a book, Mysticism: A
Study of the Christian Mystics, by Evelyn
Underhill. During my dinner break one
night, this fellow worker came in and
said, “Marshall! Do you know anything
about mysticism?!” I looked at him and
said, “Well I know a little bit.” I didn’t
know what else to say. In truth I couldn’t
understand anything! (laughter) He
said, “Have you ever heard of a mystic
named Meher Baba?” I said, “No, I have
never heard of a mystic named Meher
Baba. Who’s He?” He said, “I know some
people that are interested in Him.” That
was the extent of that conversation.
I went home that night, and the next
morning I was sitting on my parents’ sofa
and I picked up Look magazine.
I opened up to the “Letters to
the Editor” and in the column
was a response to the article
about LSD that had been so distasteful to me. I read this letter
which said we should remember the words of the foremost
spiritual teacher of our time.
Then the writer gave Meher Baba’s statement on drugs. I was
halfway through this statement
when I had the realization that
these words were coming from
the very core of existence, the
absolute source of being. These were
words of the most profound nature. I
had never in my life had this experience
or anything approaching it.
I went back to work that night and
I approached my coworker, Tommy
LeClare, and I grabbed him and I said,
“Tell me about Meher Baba!” He didn’t
know much, but he had a connection
with the Haynes family, so he gave me
their address. At that time they were
living in Myrtle Beach just a few blocks
from where my parents lived. The next
morning I went to Happy House, where
the Haynes’ lived, which was then located downtown and later was moved
to the Center. This must have been a
Sunday morning, and I approached
the back door of their house looking
for them. I knocked on the door. There
was a screen porch up a few steps. Out
comes this woman in a robe and curlers,
who turns out to be Jane Haynes. She
looked at me and discreetly reached up
and latched the screen door (laughter).
I looked up at her and asked, “Are you a
disciple of Avatar Baba?” Her hand went
up and unlatched the door. So I went in
and we sat in her living room for a few
minutes. I remember looking at a picture
of Baba that was over her fireplace. We
talked and she made a phone call to
Elizabeth Patterson. I had my car and
followed her out to the Center.
So I came to Dilruba and there I met
both Kitty and Elizabeth. We spoke for
just a few minutes and Elizabeth then
drove me into the Center. I can remember that day so clearly—seeing trees as
we drove down the road. Allan Cohen
was there. As I far as I can remember, it
was the 3rd of June 1966. He was staying
in the Lookout Cabin. He was working
on his PhD and was writing something.
Elizabeth got ahold of him, took me to
Marshall and wife Mimi
him, and left us talking. He reached in his
pocket and pulled out this card, one of
Baba’s statements, “To penetrate into
the essence . . .” and gave it to me to
read. That’s the very definition—to the
point. I spent the day and evening here
at the Center.
In those days, most of the people
who came to the Center had met Baba.
Very few came that had not. I was here
for a week or so. I quit my job immediately. Then I decided to go back to
Chapel Hill because this was incredible
news and I wanted to share it with my
friends. They were this circle of people
who were genuine seekers. Kitty and
Elizabeth loaded me up with pamphlets
and I hitchhiked back. I remember walking across the UNC campus toward
Franklin Street and I went, maybe, into
Harry’s and it took maybe three minutes
for me to get back into drugs and to
completely blow the whole thing. But I
kept talking about Baba.
I went back to Myrtle Beach, back to
Chapel Hill, and back and forth. I wasn’t
using a lot of drugs, but it had such a
hold on me, as I was so involved. It was
just impossible on the face of it to stop.
So Baba was weaning me off the drugs.
I continued to meet many people who
had been with Baba—an extraordinarily
rich collection of people who had met
Him under all circumstances. Fred and
Ella Winterfeldt came on their vacation.
Ralph and Stella [Hernandez] came up
from Florida. Julia [Mavris]. Lyn and
Phyllis Ott had just moved to town and
were just moving into their house. Phyllis
tells the story of what must have been
my first day on the Center. Apparently,
I was at the beach, maybe with Allan
Cohen, walking along, and Phyllis was
on the beach. We met. She asked me
apparently if I was a Baba lover
and apparently I said “Yes.”
Even Phyllis will tell you she was
shocked! Shocked at the quality
of people that Baba was attracting. Oh well!
As time went on, I talked to
everyone in Chapel Hill about
Baba, giving out his pamphlets
and pictures. Simultaneously,
I was probably the worst possible example that one could
present in my personal life.
Couldn’t be worse; beyond
hypocrisy! Later, Winnie Barrett (who was married), who
I was very close to in those days, made
the comment that in our circle, people
assumed I was on top of some kind of
giant joke. You couldn’t have said what
I said and then do what I did. It was
impossible! During this time I had also
been taking a lot of Methedrine, and that
autumn, I and a couple of friends were
shooting this Methedrine and one of the
guys had a stroke. It resulted in our being
arrested. We were thrown out of school
and it was quite a big deal. Front-page
stories in all of the newspapers in North
Carolina. In those days, the Charlotte
paper was the dominant local paper
here in Myrtle Beach. So news spread.
I was incarcerated, and my parents had
to get me out. I was expelled from the
University. I came back to Myrtle Beach
and after a day or so I came out to the
Center, shameless. I showed up at Dilruba. I remember Kitty and Elizabeth
49
with Eruch in Meherazad
looking at me when I came in and Kitty
said, “Are you all right?” That was the
only comment about the entire thing.
They gave me a key and I came back into
the Center. It would have been difficult
to screw up more badly than I had.
So I spent that winter of 1966-1967
here in Myrtle Beach and went back to
Chapel Hill occasionally. I went up there
for New Year’s Eve, which was the last
time I ever took drugs. This is what it
took. In the old public library, my friend
David Southerland and I took a lot of
LSD, then shot up Methedrine. Nothing happened! Nothing happened! You
can’t do what we did and have nothing
happen. Since I couldn’t give it up, Baba
took it away. That was it. It was gone.
Occasionally friends came down here
[to Myrtle Beach]. Dick Anthony, Ray
Cass, Lucius Shepherd. They came down
and stayed at the Center. There was
this budding interest in Baba in these
people. In approximately April 1967, Dick
Anthony was here and was staying in the
Lake Cabin. I remember sitting with him
and talking. He was one of a number of
people involved in a “Be In” event which
was happening around the country in
those days. Big parties. They were going
to rent a coliseum in Durham, the civic
center or the Armory, and bring down
a group from New York called the Godz
and there would be a big dance. And as
we talked, I mentioned that this fellow
Rick Chapman, who had been in India
and had met Baba, was coming back to
the States and was to give talks around
the country. So Dick said, “Why don’t
we have him come and give a talk at this
dance and then afterwards?” It seemed
like a good idea. It was very rare that
anybody saw Baba. He was in seclusion
and drawing His work to a close. It was
a very, very special thing. Even though
Rick’s contact with Him was limited in
terms of time, it was extraordinary that
it happened at all.
50
This was actually very close to the
date of this event. So we spoke to Kitty
and Elizabeth and they said, “Wonderful. We’ll arrange that.” So they cabled
Baba in India requesting that Rick do
this. Rick then arrived back in the States
and cables began to fly back and forth.
He had not planned to come to the
South. He had planned to go to more
sophisticated areas. Apparently the
order from Baba came to him to go do
this in Chapel Hill. He was staying with
Fred and Ella Winterfeldt in New York.
Kitty and Elizabeth apparently came to
the conclusion that there needed to be
an adult along and that Henry Kashouty
would be the appropriate person. Henry
lived and still does in Hampton, Virginia.
At that point he was about 45 and he had
had significant experience with Baba.
They cabled Baba asking permission for
Henry to accompany Rick on this trip.
One of the games in those days was
to always have your name mentioned
in a letter or a cable so that Baba would
read it. I was standing there when they
sent off that cable. Because the plan
was that I was going to travel up there
with them to Chapel Hill, I asked Kitty,
“Shouldn’t you ask permission for me
too?” (laughter) Kitty said, “No, no.
You’re the link.” So I didn’t get my name
mentioned. We didn’t get a cable back.
But the day arrived and Henry showed
up in this sports car and the three of us
piled in, off for Chapel Hill with the goal
of arriving at this party. Even though
I was not using drugs at this time, I
remember standing on the porch of Dilruba, looking at Kitty, and saying, “Kitty,
I am going off to this dance. It’s going to
take a lot of energy. Wouldn’t it be all
right if I took just a little pill?” And she
looked at me and said, “Oh no, no. Baba
will give you all the energy you need.”
So we drove off and got to this event
at the Durham Armory crowded with
people, jammed with people. We walked
in and there’s this giant Day-Glo of Baba
behind the bandstand. We were there
and I was full of energy just like Kitty
had predicted. It was a great big party.
Rick got up at the intermission and announced in this sort of Rick Chapman
style, “I’ve just returned from India and
I’ve met this man, Avatar Meher Baba.
And you think you’re high! He’s the
HIGHEST of the high.” At which point,
all these paper cups and stuff (laughter)
were thrown at him. People started
booing Rick because Baba’s name and
message on drugs had spread. Marshall,
the hypocrite, had done his work. No
one to my knowledge accepted it. Rick
announced a talk the next day in Chapel
Hill at the Wesley Foundation.
The next day, we were there; Rick,
Henry, and I, and the two of them gave
this talk to perhaps seventy people. It
was really quite a crowd. When it was
over, Rick went to the airport and Henry
back to Virginia, and a day or so later I
hitchhiked back to Myrtle Beach. Then I
went out to Dilruba right away and was
met at the door by Kitty. She said, “You’d
be interested in this.” It was the cable
from India. It was from Mani and it gave
Baba’s permission for Henry Kashouty
to accompany Rick Chapman to Meher
Baba’s Darshan in Chapel Hill.
On the bridge at Meher Spiritual Center, Myrtle Beach SC
In the next month,
probably 20 or 25 people
came to the Center from
the group that had heard
the talk. People began to
come because Baba had
indeed given Darshan.
A remarkable group of
people. And out of that
grew one of the core situations of Baba’s work in
America. So my little role
was to carry His name up
there to Chapel Hill and
it went on from there. I
think that for me, coming to Meher Baba was
this ten or eleven month
process from June 1966
through April of 1967
when Baba gave Darshan in Chapel Hill. It was
so intertwined with the
destiny of Chapel Hill, the
destiny of Baba’s work
there. I have been here
at the Center essentially
since then.
There was this wonderful, extraordinary connection between Chapel Hill and the
Center. These people would come down
here constantly and this would give me
great pleasure because these people
were my friends and extraordinary people, every one. The group formed. There
had always been group heads. Fred and
Ella with the New York group, Ivy [Duce]
in San Francisco. Chapel Hill, where no
one had known of Baba for more than
three weeks, the question was, “Who’s
going to be the group head?” So they
wrote to Baba, and the answer was
that He would be the group head. Now
that’s pretty flattering, I think (laughter). Or it’s a statement from Baba that
He had to take this group of people on
himself (laughter). Later Eruch made the
often-repeated comment that Baba had
very much liked the Chapel Hill group.
Because they were not afraid to take
chances.
So that’s how I came to Meher Baba.
And of course the adventure continues,
as it does for each of us.
Addendum
To be here during those days was
extraordinary because Baba’s work was
so intense. The Center, which had been
a very quiet place, now became a very
active place. I had my hand in that. It was
amazing to be here. The group took off
in Chapel Hill and Baba’s name spread to
outposts of civilization like Durham and
even Raleigh. In the summer of ’68, it
said in the Family Letters that Baba had
finished his work at Guruprasad, and
then in October there was a letter from
India that Baba had called a meeting of
men workers, to prepare for a Darshan
in the spring.
Kitty and Elizabeth had access to
Baba the way that the resident Mandali
did, so they would get information that
would not be circulated around the
country. Our little community, ten or
twelve people, had access to that type
of thing. There were always letters back
and forth. I mentioned before about
people always wanting to put their name
in them. Let’s just say that Baba rarely
mentioned my name. (laughter) Really,
only once in a letter to Kitty.
Then I was living in Conway and this
call came from Elizabeth. And the message was to come over to Dilruba as
quickly as possible. When driving over,
the thought crossed my mind that Baba
might have dropped his body, because
we knew his health had been incredibly
delicate. I arrived at Dilruba and our community
was gathered. Elizabeth
met me at the front door.
She looked at me, took
me into one of the rooms,
and described how she
had woke up that morning with the thought, “I
know that my Redeemer
liveth.” And then she
told me that Fred had
received a phone call
in New York from India
that Baba had dropped
His body.
While sitting there, I
looked out the window
and a car drove up and
two guys got out and
came to the front door.
They were showing up
at the Center and they
wanted a tour. So I went
back to the kitchen where
Kitty was and I said, “Kitty! There are two guys at
the front door wanting
to find out about Baba.
What should I do?!” She
said, “Give them a tour.” And I did. I
remember walking up from Dilruba towards Baba’s house and it was the first
time I had to articulate that Baba was
gone. I would normally have said that
Meher Baba lives in India. I had to tell
them. We went on and we toured the
Center. That was an amazing day! Baba’s
presence flooded this place. It was as if
He was always just around the corner of
a building or was just about to enter the
room. An extraordinary message of: “I
am not gone.”
It has occurred to me many times
that His presence is stronger now than
before he dropped His body. As I am
sitting here I remember that the question that Tommy LeClare posed to me at
Hardees: “Do you know anything about
mysticism?” And I lied. (laughter) But
now I realize that, “What more is there
than the presence of God in one’s life?”
I’m having a revelation. I never made
this connection before. “What is there
for an ordinary human being in terms of
mystical experience, other than that we
know Meher Baba is with us right now,
literally, in the room?”
So in 1969, we went to India. Myrtle
Beach went as a group. Eduardo Nunez
51
showed up. He had heard of Baba in
January. There was a gal from the Chapel
Hill group named Ila Murray, and her
grandmother came on the trip. Did the
whole thing! I never saw her again but it
was an extraordinary thing. The karma
of people.
The first time I went into the Samadhi
for Baba’s Darshan, my friend Henry
Kashouty was playing “Begin the Beguine” on the trombone outside. So in
my life Henry’s been there twice: Baba’s
Darshan in Chapel Hill and Marshall’s
little Darshan with Baba. Then I went to
Guruprasad for Baba’s Darshan. Having
Baba’s Darshan was one of the pivotal
events in my life. I remember having had
the Darshan and recognizing at that moment that this would be a good day to
just die. I came out and was completely
stunned, turned around. I was leaning
on the rail of the patio and Mani came
up and told me she had for me a sadra
for the Chapel Hill group. Not long after
that, I was talking with my friend Bruce
Hoffman who was there, and he told he
had just been given a sadra for the New
York young people’s group, and there
was no New York young people’s group.
(laughter) I said, “Yeah, I’ve just been
given a sadra for the Chapel Hill group,
and I don’t live in Chapel Hill.” But the
sadra made its way back up there to its
proper home. It stayed here at the Center for a while and then ended up there.
I think anything one can do, or is
given to do, in contact with Baba is an extraordinary gift. It was a great privilege
to be involved with Chapel Hill, to have
my coming-to-Baba as part of this giant
coming-to-Baba. I certainly thank Him
for that. Wonderful, beyond wonderful
event to have witnessed. Great thing.
A youtube video of Marshall’s life
in Photos: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=ksqxPv2qako
52
His Eulogy by Rick and Sheryl Chapman
28 October 2015
Marshall Hay was, as the mafia
is wont to say, very definitely “connected.”
Marshall found out about the living
Christ at a time when a very, very small
portion of the billions of persons on the
planet had that knowledge. He learned
of Meher Baba in the 1960s, and he had
the special privilege of meeting Mehera,
the Beloved of the Divine Beloved, and
Baba’s many resident mandali in India
who carried on after Baba dropped His
body; and not only of meeting them, but
of becoming close to them each and all.
But beyond that, Marshall’s destiny
placed him in a daily life within a very
short distance from some of Baba’s
most intimate disciples and lovers:
Elizabeth Patterson and Kitty Davy,
who were the heart and soul of Meher
Spiritual Center in Myrtle Beach, and
Jane Haynes, Ruth White, Stella and
Ralph Hernandez, Laura Delavigne, Eileen Coates, Frank Eaton, Fred and Ella
Winterfeldt, Lyn and Phyllis Ott and Tom
and Yvonne Riley and the Luck brothers, and in later years, Margaret Craske
and Darwin and Jeanne Shaw. He was,
indeed, connected!
Marshall was among the earliest of
the “younger generation” in this late
chapter of the Avatar’s Advent to come
to Meher Baba and to bring others to
Him. His love for Baba and His Center at
Myrtle Beach resulted in the very special
honor of being selected by Elizabeth
Patterson to serve on its Board—Elizabeth Patterson, who had lived in India
with Baba and who had especially high
standards for those who would work at
the Center she helped create for Him.
Marshall eventually served on the Board
longer than any other person, including
the original directors.
Marshall’s decades-long involvement with the Meher Center Board
contributed to his unique repository of
acquired wisdom from Elizabeth, from
Kitty, from the mandali in India and from
each and every one of those who had
experiences to share about the One to
Whom the Center was dedicated. He
delivered his insights with a wry humor
that was his trademark—for throughout
all the countless hours of Center Board
meetings that he attended, Marshall
never lost sight of the privilege and the
joy of serving in the Cause of the Divine
Beloved at His “home in the West.”
But the Marshall Hay who was known
to the greatest number of Baba-lovers
was the one who announced the weekend programs at the Meeting Place on
the Center with a unique blend of serious focus and whimsical jocularity; the
one who ran the “front of the house” at
Latif’s, greeting the constant stream of
loyal customers who knew that it was
the best bakery and restaurant in town;
and the one who could invariably be
found sharing stories and reminiscences
with fellow lovers of the Avatar of the
Age wherever he was—on Meher Center or in the nearby Myrtle Beach community, on Pilgrimage to Meherabad and
Meherazad or catching up with each and
every one of Meher Baba’s mandali who
resided there. Few persons have had
greater contact with more people who
were connected with the God-Man than
Marshall Hay.
Marshall did not have time to complete his memoirs of the remarkable
times he had spent in the company
of Meher Baba’s close ones, so our
memories of him will have to help serve
as those memoirs. When we recall this
anecdote, or that quote, or some story
that he told in service of the Cause of
God in Human Form, we will ourselves
be a living memoir of Marshall’s life; and
to the extent that we put into practice
the wisdom from Kitty and Elizabeth
and from the mandali in India that he so
often shared, we will be honoring that
memory of a unique Baba-lover, whose
innumerable and loving connections
with so many who were themselves connected to Baba will serve him exceedingly well in the future. For we will—all
of us who knew and loved Marshall—no
doubt meet him again somewhere in the
close vicinity of God-Man come again,
and although it is hard to recognize
people in the next life owing to the thick
veil that separates the illusory past from
the illusory future, we will certainly recognize Marshall without any trouble at
all, right from that very first wisecrack
with which he greets us!
AVATAR MEHER BABA KI JAI!!!
Edward Luck
July 7, 1939 — August 26, 2015
Dear Edward passed away on 26th
August 2015 at 7:10 pm at Rush Copley Hospital in Chicago to be with
his Beloved Baba. He will continue
to be in our hearts always.
In prayers, Nisha Luck.
Through the kiss of a Divine Woman
you are unveiled,
and through the universe you are
Krishna, Buddha, Christ, Baba become Perfect-Man,
With you coming down again,
every blade of grass, animal,
man or planes-man
begs your company.
E
dward Luck discovered Meher
Baba in a New York City public
library in 1960 when he came upon
the book Listen, Humanity.
Ed phoned his brother Irwin
right away and said, “I just read a
book about a spiritual master in India. I
think this is someone you should know
about.”
Ed and Irwin met Baba together in
1961. Baba said to the others present,
“These are the Luck brothers. They have
come a great distance to be with me for
a very short time. They had to overcome
many obstacles to come to be with me.
They crossed continents and did everything they could to be here.
Such love must be rewarded.” He repeated, “Such love must be rewarded.”
Meher Baba Archives at https://avataroftheage.com/ preserves videos of
the Mandali that Irwin and Edward Luck
made in the early 1970s.
Avatar, Master of
Masters
Edward Luck
Oh Lord Blessed King of men
and angels,
to you the six planes bow in reverence.
To you the five perfect masters
hand over the keys to the
three worlds.
From Jack Mormon, Berkeley
I traveled from Adele Wolkin’s New
York City apartment to Berkeley California with Ed in February 1972. The two
of us drove non-stop. I slept, he drove,
he drove, I slept. When we were both
awake all he did was talk about His
Beloved Meher Baba. It was one of my
favorite memories of a cross country trip
- Meher Baba for 50 to 60 hours or so.
I remember driving through Cincinnati at 3 am and the temperature was
minus 16 degrees Fahrenheit. The heater
in his car just could not keep us warm.
I’ll miss you Ed and thank you for all
your wonderful Baba stories.
Rest With Him
When you begin to walk
on the planet,
how the very dust clings to your
God-Man Feet,
You become the Ocean of Wine,
and Father, Mother, Brother,
Friend, Lord, Master,
and our most perfect highest self.
One day you became silent,
so that through that silence,
you would be known to our innermost
heart.
King of Love Divine
come to be with us,
to shower your God-Grace of Love,
Avatar, Master of masters, Ruler of
saints and perfect masters,
you come down to us,
from the shore-less, night-less,
day-less, time-less,
where the boon of your love
can turn dust into gold and
man into God.
You come to us as the
consumer of ignorance,
the fire of Real Light,
the most Holy Beloved,
burning up ignorance of God
everywhere you go,
You have come again,
welcome, oh welcome
Beloved Ancient One.
From Poems To Avatar Meher Baba,
© Manifestation, Inc., 1985
The Luck brothers with Baba
53
Paul 'Bo'
Beaumont
22 May 1948 —30 May 2015
Lancashire, England
Adele Wolkin
T
April 9, 1918 — December 21, 2015
his news received
from Myrtle Beach
this morning.
Baba's dearest Adele
Wolkin went into His
Arms at 8:35 am Eastern time - this morning.
Happy Journey Adele.
Her hospice nurse
was present and helped
in all details. She looks
radiant, and will be cremated by her wish after 3 days, now set
for 10 am December 24. Her last hours,
though in coma, were flooded by love,
light and song in her room and Baba's
supreme Presence.
-- The Victory is His!
Avatar Meher Baba
Ki Jai.
Avatar Meher Baba
Ki Jai.
Avatar Meher Baba
Ki Jai.
Sent by Richard Noe.
If any of our readers
who have fond memories of Adele and would
like to share them, please
email them to lovestreetbreezes@
gmail.com and they will be printed in our
next issue - number 9.
S
adly we have to announce the
sudden death of our dear friend
Paul ‘ Bo’ Beaumont at his home in
Lancashire earlier this year. Paul had
been a follower of Meher Baba since
the early seventies when he met Tom
and Dorothy Hopkinson in Cardiff,
and Delia DeLeon and Fred Marks in
London. Bo met many of Baba’s Mandali on his pilgrimages to India, and
was overjoyed when in their company.
He worked at Salford University, but
Bo’s lifelong passion was music. He
had a wonderful singing voice, rarely
heard, and could play almost any
instrument with ease and panache.
He was an enthusiastic photographer
and film maker who was working on
new projects at the time of his death.
Those who knew Paul will remember
him for his wonderful sense of humour, and his unique perceptions on
life. Above all he was a great humanist, and sincere lover of Beloved Baba.
Paul’s life was celebrated in music and
words by 40 or so of his close friends
at Burnley Crematorium. He will be
missed by us all.
At press time, we heard that Karl
Gallagher, one of Baba’s great painters, passed away Thursday 31st March
2016, Newcastle NSW, Australia at
8:40 pm. He was 73 years old.
You can see some of his paintings
here: http://www.meherbabatravels.
com/arts/karl-gallagher/
54
Laurie Blum
January 28, 1953 — December 17, 2015
Myrtle Beach, SC, USA
Laurie Agin Blum 62
formerly of New York,
passed away Thursday,
December 17, 2015 at
her home. She was
born in New York, a
daughter of Joan and
Arthur Agin.
Laurie was a devoted mother and an internationally acclaimed
artist. She studied at
the NY City High School
of Art and Design and
went to the Philadelphia College of Art.
As a follower of Meher Baba, she
moved with her husband and two children to Myrtle Beach in 1981, and lived
there ever since. Laurie displayed her
artwork throughout the world, including
shows at the United Nations Secretariat
(New York), U.S. Senate Hart Building
(Washington D.C.), National Arts Club
(New York), Shah's Art Palace Museum
(Esfahan, Iran), Art Museum (Myrtle
Beach), Open Galerie Helmond (The
Netherlands), Hafez tomb (Shiraz, Iran),
and Ahmednagar (India).
Her paintings
were focused on
capturing the essence of nature's
beautiful imagery
and colors, with a
focus on birds, flowers, landscapes and
portraits. She was
also an author and
penned a book of
verse entitled "Language of the Birds.
It Is All the Mirror
of God" which included her paintings. Her children plan to publish this
enchanted work of art.
Survivors in addition to her mother
of Myrtle Beach, SC are two children,
Adi Blum and Mehera Blum and her
ex-husband, Richard Blum of Myrtle
Beach, SC.
If any of our readers who have fond
memories of Laurie would like to share
them, please email them to [email protected] and they will be
printed in our next issue - number 9.
Your Stars And Planets
No Longer Govern Your Life
T
he wedding of Naval Talati and Dina
Karani* took place on the 9th of
April, 1923 at Camabang, a traditional
venue for Parsi weddings and navjote
(thread ceremonies). The main road is
on one side of the building and by-lanes
on the other three sides. Throughout
the ceremony Baba, with Gustadji,
drove round and round the Camabang
in a Victoria (horse) carriage. All the
mandali, ordered by Baba to attend the
ceremony, were seated respectfully in
the front row. Among them were Padri,
Adi Senior, Ramjoo and Homi Vajifdar.
Baba also ordered that the Mandali
were to leave and join Him immediately
when the ceremony was completed,
and that they were to have no refreshments there whatsoever. They left as
instructed, and Padri recalled that at
the point they reached the gate, Baba
also came round the corner and they
then joined Him. Baba was pleased to
learn that they had consumed no food
or drink at the ceremony as He had
ordered.
In accordance with tradition, the day
after the ceremony the bride spends
with her parents, and the son-in-law
then escorts her to his home at night.
The following day after Navalsha's wedding, he left in the early morning to join
Baba at Manzil-e-Meen as Baba wished.
Dina joined her now sister-in-law, Jer,
and travelled with her to Kalyan.
Two days later, in the early morning, Baba called Navalsha to Him. He
was thoroughly displeased and asked,
'Where is Dina?!' On being told where
she was, He ordered Navalsha to go
and bring her to Him at once. This Navalsha did, and when he told her how
displeased Baba was, they tried to think
of anything they had done that could
have provoked this mood in Baba. With
the intense love they both had for Baba,
they anxiously sought an answer, but
none came.
As soon as Dina was before Him, Baba
scolded her, 'Where have you been?'
Dina explained that with Navalsha's
knowledge and permission she was staying with his sister.
Still stern Baba said, 'I know all that,
Avatar Meher Baba
but what did you do there?'
So Dina detailed how she and Jer chitchatted whilst doing embroidery work.
But Baba kept on asking, 'And what
else?'
Dina became more and more confused and anxious about what she had
done to so upset Baba.
At last Baba asked: 'And what did you
do yesterday afternoon!?'
It was only then that she remembered, 'Oh, yes Baba! While we were sitting on the porch a Brahmin astrologer
approached us.'
Baba, very sarcastically exclaimed,
'And of course you showed him your
hand!'
Innocently, Dina replied, 'Yes Baba,
both of us did', because with her upbringing in the house of her grandfatherastrologer, she thought nothing of consulting one. She could not understand
how such a thing could so upset Baba.
Then Baba asked her what the man
had said, and she replied that he had
predicted a grave, prolonged illness for
Navalsha, and a severe financial loss in
Jer's husbands business. Dina went on
and said how they had both asked how
they could help their husbands, and the
man had given elaborate instructions to
give to some temple and to distribute
food, etc in order to avert the disasters.
Since they could not themselves carry
out the instructions, the man offered to
do it all for them asking 10 Rs. each. They
finally agreed on 5 Rs. each.
Baba listened to all this and again
sarcastically said, 'So 5 Rs. each! Do
you think that paying some astrologer
Brahmin some money can change your
destiny? How could you believe such
stuff?!'
Then in all seriousness and intensity,
Baba said, 'You have placed your head
on My feet and I have accepted you,
now I am responsible for you and for
everything in your life. Your stars and
planets no longer govern your life. For
those who lay their head at My feet and
are Mine, I put all their stars and planets
in My cup of tea and drink them up! Remember, from this day, do not consult
any astrologer for your horoscope or
show your hand to anyone. Just leave
everything to Me and obey Me.'
While speaking Baba gestured as
if holding a cup and saucer in His left
hand, adding the stars and planets with
His right hand, stirring it with the right
hand index finger and then lifting and
drinking from the imaginary cup. After
speaking, Baba embraced Dina as a sign
of forgiveness.
Baba has said on a number of occasions, that during His lifetime He takes
His followers through a number of lives,
that He blindfolds them and leads them
avoiding all temptations on the path.
Perhaps it is for this reason that horoscopes and hand readings of His lovers
did not prove correct.
The Divine Humanity Of Meher Baba,
Vol. 1, pp. 125-127 © AMBPPCT and Meherwan S. Kelkar and Manije S. Kelkar
* Dina and Naval Talati are the parents in law of Shridhar, who is now the
Chairman of the Avatar Meher Baba
Trust. He married their daughter Pervis.
T
Were You Ever
Unjustly Accused?
hen take heart from the following. In
a video taken of Arnavaz in the early
1970s, shown at Meher Center, Myrtle
Beach, she recounted a movie she had
seen with Baba, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1956
film The Wrong Man, which was based
on the true story of an innocent man
unjustly convicted of armed robbery.
The man to whom this happened was
still alive at that time.
When the women mandali talked to
Baba about this man, Baba remarked
that whenever someone unjustly suffers for something they did not do, they
receive a great spiritual push. And He
added that this man received a special
push, because since the Avatar’s attention was drawn to the man by this
conversation, He had focused on the
man and this automatically gave him an
extra spiritual push.
Avatar Meher Baba
55
What's Happening in Meherabad
RAIN!!
The Monsoon (rainy) season generally runs from June to September. To see these photos in color, go to our website:
www.lovestreetbreezes.org
56
And the Glorious result!
57
What's Happening
at Meher Mount
Jimmy Khan, who met Meher Baba as a teenager, gave a talk in 2007 at the Meher Spiritual Center in Myrtle Beach, SC during his visit to America with his wife Firuza Khan. The following is an excerpt of that talk as reported in Kendra's Notebook by
Kendra Crossen Burroughs. (By the way, Kendra and her husband, Jonathan Burroughs, were Manager/Caretakers at Meher
Mount from June 1997 to November 1999.). Jimmy Khan gave a talk at Meher Mount on Saturday, August 8, 2015.
A
t Guruprasad, Meher Baba used to enjoy playing a card
game called La Risque, an occasion of much merriment.
He liked a lively and amusing atmosphere around Him, so this
was the perfect pastime. It eased the burden of Meher Baba's
universal work and allowed the players' minds to focus on Him
in a natural manner. The Loser Rejoices The losers, who had to humble themselves by rubbing their
noses on the carpet before Baba, were really the winners,
causing Meher Baba once to quote an Urdu verse meaning,
"It is a game in which the winner feels ashamed and the loser
rejoices."
If Meher Baba received very low cards, Jimmy would have
to shuffle and deal again. Meher Baba had to have "nice cards."
He would ask who had the joker, the ace, jack, or king, and
they would openly discuss it. He might even peek at the other
team's hands. If the opposing team had the high card, He'd tell them,
"Give it to me," and all of a sudden the game was over before the cards had barely been dealt. Yes, Baba as the Divine
Sportsman would cheat, but others were expected to play
fair. The losing team had to rub their nose on the carpet while
the winning team cheered. (Baba never rubbed his nose on
the ground.) Once a guy refused to rub his nose, and the Twins (Baba's
nephews Rustom and Sohrab) forced him, while Baba silently
shook with laughter. There were spiritual overtones to this gesture of humiliation in the presence of the God-Man, suggesting
that one was rubbing away one's sanskaras [past impressions].
It was therefore regarded as a privilege by the men.
God Playing Cards? Unthinkable If Indians who were not Baba-lovers were to witness these
games, they would disapprove, as cards are associated with
58
gambling in the East and frowned upon. Card playing would
especially be considered inappropriate activity in an ashram.
What, God playing cards? Unthinkable.
In fact, sometimes while playing cards, if a conventionalminded religious person arrived to see Baba, He would gesture
to the mandali, "Quick, sit on the cards!" so that the visitor
would not be shocked. This was not hypocrisy on Baba's part
but rather, out of His divine courtesy, meeting their expectation of how God was expected to behave. As soon as the visitor
was gone, out would come the cards again.
As Jimmy Khan described it, while playing La Risque one's
mind was focused on the cards, lost to the world and all worries. With your energies focused on the cards and the desire
to win, Baba would use those energies to work on you.
Meher Baba Imparted His Love Most Naturally Jimmy said that the conviction that Meher Baba was the
Avatar of the Age was not of concern to him. Just being in
Meher Baba's company was all they ever wanted.
Through such stories of experiences in Baba's presence,
one sees how Meher Baba lived and imparted His love most
naturally among people as one of them, and one with them;
however, He would frequently remind them: Never forget
that I am God.
Jimmy Khan first met Avatar Meher Baba with his family in
the summer of 1962 at Guruprasad in Pune, India. Thereafter,
the family stayed in Pune (then Poona) in subsequent summers
for about two months each visit.
Jimmy was fortunate to spend five minutes alone with
Meher Baba, translate Meher Baba's gesture, "I am God,"
and play the card game La Risque with the Beloved. He also
attended the 1962 East-West Gathering and the 1965 Sahavas.
Jimmy estimates that he saw or met Meher Baba more than
100 times.
During all those visits, he listened to Meher Baba's discourses and heard talks by Meher Baba's mandali and others
who were close to Baba.
After Meher Baba dropped His physical form on January
31, 1969, Jimmy was among the handful of people who stayed
on Meherabad Hill, near Meher Baba's Tomb Shrine, all seven
days before Meher Baba's body was entombed.
Most recently, he has started sponsoring public trips to
Meherabad and Meherazad, India, announcing them by placing advertisements in Mumbai (Bombay) newspapers. A few
hundred people have come on the trips to date.
Jimmy says that he does not claim to take people to Meher Baba as only He alone can do that. Jimmy calls himself a
"facilitator."
What's Happening at the Heartland Center
CHAI from the Heartland
The spot where Meher Baba shed His Blood on American Soil
1.5 qt water
5 whole green cardamom / cracked
1 tsp whole clove
2 pod sections of star anise
lg pinch whole cumin seeds
1 tsp fresh ginger sliced and julienned
2 tsp black tea
1 tsp red tea (rooibos)
Bring all to boil and continue to boil for 3-5 min’s --- more or
less. Add whole milk (3/4 C?) – more or less.
Return to boil – 1 min ---- more or less
Remove from heat and stir in 2 lg tbsp honey – more or less!
Strain and enjoy!
To face the Truth is to realize that life is one, in and through
its manifold Manifestations. To have this understanding is to
forget the limiting self in the realization of the unity of life.
—Meher Baba
E
Recipe for a Great Day
very morning at the Heartland Center starts with a
reading of Baba's words accompanied by a steaming
cup of chai. What follows is a special time of sharing from
the heart as the 'chai philosophers' attempt to understand
what Baba is asking of us as we awaken to His Life.
Baba and mandali having chai and snacks
Many people have asked me for my chai recipe. There are as
many chai recipes as there are chaiwallas, none better than any
other. This is merely my recipe, which varies from time to time.
The main ingredient I’m sure is Baba’s sweet love, which pours
out from the readings.
Ginna Bourisseau, Managing Director
The Burleson House at the Heartland Center in Prague, Oklahoma, is a place for information, retreat, prayer, pilgrimage
and study of Baba's unifying message of Divine Love.
59
Baba's Birthday Celebration in Los Angeles
There was a gala at the Los Angeles Center on February
2016 in honor of Meher Baba's 122nd birthday. The Silent
Auction, pictured to the right, sold many beautiful
photos, artwork, jewelry, textiles and other treasures
plus a great concert by Adrienne Shamszad.
Amazing musical artist Adrienne Shamszad kept the
crowd on their feet. She also performed numbers
with banjo player extraordinaire Obie Golding, pictured to the right. An excellent time was had by all!
60
Children’s Page
I
Baba’s Soft Eyes by Aspen Weichberger, age 16
For Children, from Meher Baba
love children. Do you know why? Because your Baba is also a child. You are
innocent and so am I. My very name is Bholanath [the prince of innocence].
Just as your heart is soft, so is Mine. You like to play games and so do I.
I am old, I am young, I am a woman, I am a man, I am a mother, I am a father
— I am everything. But I am more like a child. That is why you should make
Me your Friend. But remember this: Always keep this Friend with you—don’t
forget! When you eat, remember your Friend; when you play, remember Him.
When you study, first remember your Friend, then study. When you sleep,
remember Me and then sleep.
All of you say that when you call Me, I never listen. It is not true! Baba is
such a Friend that even for a moment He is never away from you. When you
remember Me, I know—because I am with you all the time. When you play, I
am also playing with you. When you go to school, I am also in school with you.
I never leave you, but you are never aware of it. When you tell the truth — I
know it; when you tell a lie — that I also know. I know everything. So listen to
Me, My friends, never tell a lie. Live honestly. if you don’t do this, your Friend
will be unhappy.
Now, if you ask Me how it is that I stay always with you but you never see
Me, I would say that I like to play games very much. And, most of all, I like to
play hide-and-seek. In this game, I am the Master (Ustad) because I hide, but
see everything. In order to see and find Me, you will have to search for Me.
Look for Me, seek Me and try to find Me! Seek Me, find Me, defeat Me in this
game, and you win!
But where will you look for Me? I am hiding in your heart, so search for Me
in your heart. How will you search for Me? Always remember Me, call Me,
make Me your dear Friend. Because I am your Friend I will respond to your
call immediately.
Whenever people call Me, I listen—but not so much as I do to children.
Grown- up persons call Me a lot; they cry and they weep, but at times I remain
as if I’m deaf. But if children call Me softly, I listen immediately to their sweet
voices. My ears are very sharp to their call. Why is this so? Because I am so close
to you and with you. That is why you should remember Me more and more.
If you remember Me I will be happy. If you lie I will be unhappy, so always
try to keep Me happy by speaking the truth.
Now tell Me whether you will make Me your friend. If you do I will reward
you with a reward such as you have never received before. And the name of
My reward is LOVE....
Excerpt from Letters From the Mandali, Vol. II, © 1983 AMBPPCT
Meher Baba by Cyprus
Weichberger, age 8
Every time I would visit my son and granddaughter
in Australia, Tabitha would always have painted a
different portrait of Baba to put on my bedroom
door. At the age of 11 she started painting in oils.
61
Humor for Huma
Needless to say, the Mom was perplexed. Later in the day, the pastor
stopped by for tea and the Mom asked
him what that morning's lesson was
about.
He said "Be not afraid, thy comforter
is coming."
A father was approached by his small
son who told him proudly, "I know what
the Bible means!"
His father smiled and replied, "What
do you mean, you 'know' what the Bible
means?
The son replied, "I do know!"
"Okay," said his father. "What does
the Bible mean?"
"That's easy, Daddy..." the young boy
replied excitedly," It stands for 'Basic
Information Before Leaving Earth..'
There was a very gracious lady who
was mailing an old family Bible to her
brother in another part of the country.
"Is there anything breakable in here?"
asked the postal clerk.
"Only the Ten Commandments." answered the lady.
"Somebody has said there are only
two kinds of people in the world. There
are those who wake up in the morning
and say, "Good morning, Lord," and
there are those who wake up and say,
"Good Lord, it's morning."
A minister parked his car in a noparking zone in a large city because he
was short of time and couldn't find a
space with a meter.
Then he put a note under the windshield wiper that read: "I have circled
the block 10 times. If I don't park here,
I'll miss my appointment. Forgive us our
trespasses."
When he returned, he found a citation
from a police officer along with this note
"I've circled this block for 10 years. If I
don't give you a ticket I'll lose my job.
Lead us not into temptation."
There is the story of a pastor who
got up one Sunday and announced to
his congregation: "I have good news
and bad news. The good news is, we
have enough money to pay for our new
building program. The bad news is, it's
still out there in your pockets."
While driving in Pennsylvania , a family caught up to an Amish carriage. The
owner of the carriage obviously had a
sense of humor, because attached to the
62
back of the carriage was a hand printed
sign... "Energy efficient vehicle: Runs on
oats and grass. Caution: Do not step in
the exhaust."
A Sunday School teacher began her
lesson with a question, "Boys and girls,
what do we know about God?"
A hand shot up in the air. "He is an
artist!" said the kindergarten boy.
"Really? How do you know?" the
teacher asked.
"You know - Our Father, who does art
in Heaven... "
A minister waited in line to have his
car filled with gas just before a long
holiday weekend. The attendant worked
quickly, but there were many cars ahead
of him. Finally, the attendant motioned
him toward a vacant pump.
"Reverend," said the young man, "I'm
so sorry about the delay. It seems as if
everyone waits until the last minute to
get ready for a long trip."
The minister chuckled, "I know what
you mean. It's the same in my business."
People want the front of the bus,
the back of the church, and the center
of attention.
Sunday after church, a Mom asked
her very young daughter what the lesson was about.
The daughter answered, "Don't be
scared, you'll get your quilt."
The minister was preoccupied with
thoughts of how he was going to ask
the congregation to come up with more
money than they were expecting for repairs to the church building. Therefore,
he was annoyed to find that the regular
organist was sick and a substitute had
been brought in at the last minute. The
substitute wanted to know what to play.
"Here's a copy of the service," he said
impatiently. "But, you'll have to think of
something to play after I make the announcement about the finances."
During the service, the minister
paused and said, "Brothers and Sisters,
we are in great difficulty; the roof repairs
cost twice as much as we expected and
we need $4,000 more. Any of you who
can pledge $100 or more, please stand
up."
At that moment, the substitute
organist played "The Star Spangled
Banner."
And that is how the substitute became the regular organist!
A boy was watching his father, a
pastor, write a sermon. “How do you
know what to say?” he asked.
“Why, God tells me.”
“Oh, then why do you keep crossing
things out?”
The preacher was wired for sound with
a lapel mike, (with trailing cord) and as
he preached, he moved briskly about
the platform, jerking the mike cord as
he went.
Then he moved to one side, getting
wound up in the cord and nearly
tripping before jerking it again. After
several circles and jerks, a little girl
in the third pew leaned toward her
mother and whispered, “If he gets
loose, will he hurt us?”
Announcements
Vandalism at Meher Spiritual Center
Various Sources
Exterior of The Barn
Announcement: Barn Closed Due to
Vandalism
January 24,2016
Dear Friends,
We regret to inform you that yesterday, January 23rd, the Barn building at
Meher Spiritual Center was seriously
vandalized. If you will be visiting the
Center in the near future, we ask that
you not attempt to go inside the Barn,
as it is encircled with police crime scene
tape and there is an ongoing investigation, and later there will be repair work
going on there.
An alternate location for the January
31st Amartithi morning program will be
announced later.
In Beloved Meher Baba’s Love,
Barbara Plews, Administrator
[Meher Center will welcome funds to
help repair the Barn. Send a check with
“barn repair” in the memo line, to:
Meher Spiritual Center
10200 N Kings Hwy.
Myrtle Beach, SC 29572]
February 19, 2016
Dearest Baba Family,
We’re thinking of you all with love
and heartfelt appreciation for your continuous prayers and support as we send
this brief update.
The initial cleanup of the Barn is complete and the extensive repair work has
begun: removing broken glass from the
Photos by Greg Butler
doors and installing new glass, replacing
damaged screens with new ones, and
making preparations for painting the
walls and rafters. A wonderful detail – a
match has been found for the beautiful
blue color chosen by Norina for the rafters so many years ago. While we know
that months of repair lie ahead, when
we see the staff working with such painstaking care and love, we cannot help but
feel that this sacred building, that Baba
so loved, will be restored to its original
beauty and charm.
The local TV station did a short piece
on the vandalism, and the local newspaper, the Sun News, ran an article about it,
for which a reporter, Elizabeth Townsend,
spoke with Buz Connor. We felt both
pieces gave a fairly good overview of the
incident. For those of you who may not
have seen the article, here is an excerpt:
“The vandalism was out of touch with
the center’s message, which is one of
love and service toward God and others,
Connor said. The vandalized building was
a “sacred place” used for group meetings
and meditations, which Meher Baba himself used during his lifetime (1894-1969).
The Conway building was once an old
barn, bought and rebuilt on the property,
and given special flourishes and finishes.
While the recent vandalism has spurred
the center to take extra precautions, there
won’t be any measures taken that intrude
upon the welcoming and peaceful envi-
Interior prior to damage
ronment there, officials said.”
The full text can be found at the
S u n N ews we bs i te : http://www.
myrtlebeachonline.com/news/local/
crime/article59534961.html
With respect to the two young men
who were arrested, the criminal prosecution is being handled by the 15th Judicial
Circuit Solicitor’s office (in South Carolina,
the District Attorney is referred to as the
Solicitor). The Solicitor’s office will let us
know what assistance they may need as
the legal proceedings move forward. The
board called an emergency board meeting
earlier this month to address the incident
and to set priorities for its upcoming retreat on February 27 and 28. The safety
of the Center – its guests, staff, physical
structures, archival materials and natural
environment – will be a primary focus of
the retreat.
We know that along with all the deep
feelings and outpouring of love for the
Barn, and the deep gratitude that nothing
worse happened, it is only natural that
some are experiencing feelings of anger
and frustration in the face of such violence
to Baba’s Home. After all, Baba said He
didn’t want His Lovers to be stones. At the
same time, He reminds us that we must
not act on those feelings - but rather give
Him our wholehearted trust, remember
everything is His will, and surrender all our
feelings, good and bad, true and false, to
our Beloved Who takes care of everything
63
in His time.
Elizabeth often said, when something
bad has to happen, Baba mitigates it – He
cushions the pain so it is bearable. We
can see this here so clearly: Baba’s own
three chairs untouched by destruction;
the beautiful cypress structure intact; the
sacred oak under which our Beloved sat,
still standing; and, above all, the extraordinary reminder that no act of vandalism, no
event in the world, can dim the brilliance
of His eternal love.
We are so grateful for the wave of love
and support that continues to embrace
the Beloved’s beloved Home in the West.
It inspires us to remember Him and to
trust that He is ever present and will guide
us in His work here at Meher Center.
In His All-Embracing Love,
Ann Edelman, Secretary
Latest Update at
Press Time
Dearest Baba Family,
We’re writing you, loving friends of
Meher Baba’s Home in the West, to give
an overview of our ongoing efforts to
address the primary issues that arose
in the wake of the Barn incident. This
will be the last special update for now;
we will share additional news related
to the Barn in the Center’s monthly
mini-newsletter. Thank you as ever for
your concern for and support of Meher
Center.
The Center board held its annual
meeting on February 27 and 28, to elect
new officers and to address the pressing
issue of security.
The officers for 2016 are: Presiding
Officer, Ann Edelman; Treasurer, Bruce
Felknor; and Secretary, Anna Lena Phillips Bell. The board member-at-large for
2016 is Daniel Stone. As usual, the officers, board member-at-large, and Center
administrator will serve on the board’s
Executive Committee for the year. We
also welcome returning board member
Geri Craddock, who served from 2010 to
2014, and in March was elected to serve
a second term.
With regard to security, a special
board Security Committee was created
to look at short-term and long-term
strategies to help ensure the safety and
protection of Center guests as well as
the retreat itself—in particular, Baba’s
House, the Lagoon Cabin, and the Barn,
64
the three sacred spots where our Beloved spent so much of His time on all
three visits during the 1950s.
Immediately following the incident,
simple temporary measures were put
in place: two cameras were installed
at the Barn and one at the beach. The
gates at the beach are kept locked day
and night. More recently, an all-terrain
vehicle (ATV) was purchased, to aid staff
in patrolling the perimeter of the Center
on a regular basis.
Another critical aspect of safety at
the Center is fire prevention. A significant feature of the ATV is that it has the
capacity to hold a water tank. In the
event of a fire or other emergency, the
ATV will enable the staff to go directly
to the site.
The Center administrator and staff
are investigating more elaborate, longterm security measures that take into
consideration both the needs of the Center and its guests—including the need
to maintain the Center’s unique retreat
atmosphere—and the complex aspects
of security that are at play here. We will
keep you updated as we learn more.
Clearly, this crisis has thrown into
high relief the issue of protection for
the Center. It is also a glaring reminder
of how rapidly and radically our country
and environment are changing. In the
Myrtle Beach area, population is exploding; crime rates remain fairly steady,
but are high. In the past, there have
been numerous occasions when the
safety of the entire Center was in jeopardy—hurricanes, severe storms, and,
several years ago, a major fire across
the waterway.
Each time, once the danger passed,
we gave thanks to the Beloved for
holding His Hand over the Center—safeguarding the land He made sacred with
His Divine Presence. Here again, He has
given us an opportunity both to do all in
our power to protect the Center, and at
the same time to trust in His tender care,
and remember His promise that this incomparable place will one day become
a place of pilgrimage for all time.
In His All-Encompassing Love,
Wendy Haynes Connor
On behalf of the Meher Center Board
March 17, 2016
Hello Baba Family
and Friends
From Irwin Luck:
New clips from our streaming archive
are available to see on YouTube for free.
Featured are Adi K Irani, Margaret
Craske, Jal Irani and Sarosh Irani.
For access to all our online videos we
offer two-weeks of access for $15 and 1
month for $30.
Copyright © 2015 Meher Baba Archives, All rights reserved.
Circulars are only sent to those who
opted in to our mailing list at some point.
Please subscribe online if you'd like more
information about videos that are coming up. Thank you.
https://avataroftheage.com/
membership-account/membershiplevels/
Our mailing address is:
Meher Baba Archives
1130 waterway lane
Myrtle Beach, SC 29572
Dr Ram Ginde Mandali Hall Talks
Suhas Ram Ginde, a member of the
Los Angeles Baba Center and son of Dr.
Ram Ginde [one of Baba’s doctors] gave
us this link to a talk given by his father in
the home of Fred and Ella Winterfeldt.
He says he was given an audio tape
of this talk in 1992 by Adele Wolkin from
her archives. A few years later, it was
put on the site 'Mandali Hall Talks' by
Kanji Miyao.
Sohrab Irani (one of Meher Baba’s
twin nephews) sent us this information: Rustom and I had the opportunity
to meet this wonderful Baba Soul in
Guruprasad. We remember once during
his visit to Baba there, he brought with
him a young boy—maybe nine or ten
years old—on whom he had performed
an intricate brain surgery. The boy was
still bandaged up and Dr. Ginde asked
Beloved Baba to bless the child.
Dr Ram Ginde in New York, Oct 07,
1968:
http://www.mandalihall.org/dr-ramginde-19681007
Announcing the new 2015 revised pdf edition of MEHERAMEHER for PC, Mac, iPad, & Kindle
The new edition (completely searchable) includes:
- Many small corrections and additions
- New quotes from letters from Mehera, Mani, Goher and Eruch
- 85 new sidenotes
- A few new photos
- More books Baba read & films He saw
Set of three pdf volumes available for $24.95 from:
Sheriar Books and Meher Nazar Publications
(Those who have already purchased a digital edition can
avail themselves of a free update.)
From the new edition:
nce at Upper Meherabad, Baba gave the women this
simile about holding on to His daaman: "You must stick
as close as you can to me or you may find yourselves falling
off - like raindrops on an open umbrella that is twirled round.
Those that are furthest away are shaken off; those that are really close [to the center] are unmoved. You all love me greatly
for you 'stick on' [despite the 'twirling']. I love you more, for
I hold you to me."
August 1959: After returning from Poona, Baba was able
to come and go from mandali hall alone. As Mehera wrote to
one of the Westerners, "Sometimes, Baba likes to give us a
surprise, too. For example, we were at lunch one afternoon
when suddenly we were startled with happy surprise to see
Beloved appear in the doorway from the kitchen all alone and
wearing a sun hat. He looked very sweet and had a naughty
twinkle in his eyes."
January 1969: About those final days, Goher related: "We
had to hold Baba all the time, because the spasms were so
strong we were afraid he would injure himself. We used to
hold Baba's arms and legs so he wouldn't break a bone. It was
terrible. We didn't want to disturb Baba because we knew he
was in so much pain. As a doctor, I wanted to know [about it].
But Baba was in silence and he was suffering so much, how
could I get a history from him?
"But once I asked Baba, 'Baba, what happens to you actually?' Pointing to his back, Baba said, 'It starts here, in the spine.'
The jolts would start in the spine and were so painful. They
would spread over the whole body, and he would get these
terrible spasms. And we would hold Baba very gently and allow
the spasms to pass. Otherwise, if you held Baba tightly and a
spasm occurred, you might break a bone."
How to get your digital pdf copy:
— click on the “To Order” link at: www.meherameher.com
— or email: [email protected]
View or download a free sample
Also available as a 3-volume paperback set from:
USA: Sheriar Foundation Bookstore, Meherana, Meher Baba Books
UK: Meher Baba Association
INDIA: [email protected]
Growing Up With God - stories from Sheela Kalchuri Fenster
http://mehernazar.com/
10,000+ images of Meher Baba and his mandali available at:
Meher Nazar Publications–http://mnpublications.zenfolio.com/.
O
2016 Avatar Meher Baba Calendar
14 months of practical and helpful messages from the Being
of all beings. And He’s handsome too!Get your copy at any of
the following bookstores:
Sheriar Books – https://www.sheriarbooks.org
Searchlight Seminars – http://www.searchlightbooks.org
Meherbaba Information, Rick Chapman – http://www.
meherbabainformation.org
Please inquire with your local Meher Baba books supplier.
65
New Video by
Michael Le Page
Michael le Page has become a great movie maker. He has made many an excellent movie, most, if not all, have been about
Francis Brabazon - Baba’s poet and Mandali member after 1958 when Baba returned to Meherabad from Australia, and asked
Francis to join him in India.
Michael grew up in the house Francis built in 1956 in Beacon Hill - an outlying suburb of Sydney. When Baba agreed to visit
Australia, Francis prepared to build a very special home for the Avatar. To this end, Francis took lessons from a stone mason
to learn how to cut the massive stones he had gathered for the building. Francis knew his friend Diana Snow (my mother)
was very handy with house building tools and so invited her, along with some very willing other Baba lovers to help with the
building. As a teenager I accompanied my mother to Beacon Hill every Saturday, but not to join in the construction. It was my
job to look after the three Le Page children and keep them out of harm’s way. Michael has very kindly made this film available
free to all by putting it on YouTube. It can be viewed by clicking on:
https://youtu.be/NA7h9NCf4z0
I would also suggest it as a very interesting film to show at your local Baba Center – Dina.
Meher Baba Travels
Website Updates
New Baba Music Videos
on YouTube
Tony Zois has just completed some new pages on his MeherBabaTravels website:
You Alone Exist (by Jim Meyer) — Full Version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGHg8sH9ahw
People who had met Baba in late 1933:
http://www.meherbabatravels.com/personalities/raviuday-shankar/
Glimpses of Meher Baba at Meherazad – by Mischa
Rutenberg:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlP6lG9EWYg
The first flight that an Avatar has flown in history by mechanical means.
No image or other details of the plane exist.
The flight occurred 6 months before Meher Baba travelled
to the West and a further 5 years later before he flew again to
the Middle East in 1936.
http://www.meherbabatravels.com/air-travels/unknownsmall-biplane/
Meher Baba in 1956 at the Meher Spiritual Center – by
Mischa Rutenberg:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l22M804fO7w
A page on Baba’s visit to Madrid, Spain. It’s quite a comprehensive page which took a lot of effort.
http://www.meherbabatravels.com/location-gallery/spain/
madrid-spain/
66
Google: https://www.google.com/maps/place/THE+AVATAR
+MEHER+BABA+SAMADHI+MEHERABAD,+Maharashtra+41
4006,+India/@19.0307521,74.7142438,802m/data=!3m1!1e3!4
m2!3m1!1s0x3bdcb1689b44f915:0x7bc75f2c5f9cc525
Satellite Maps of
Meherabad and the Samadhi!
Bing: http://binged.it/1qfzh3D
United States
Arizona
Tucson—Irma Sheppard: 520-321-1566,
[email protected].
California
Los Angeles—323-731-3737
www.Meherabode.org.
Ojai—Meher Mount:
805-640-0000,
Buzz and GingerGlasky,
[email protected].
http://www.mehermount.org/
San Francisco Bay Area—510-525-4779;
http://www.meherbabameherbaba.org/
Are There
Any Meetings
in Your Area?
Florida
Hawaii
Illinois
Chicago—Fereshteh Azad 630-2079461 [email protected]
www.ambcc.net
Louisiana
New Orleans—Joe Burke, 504-616-1111
Massachusetts
Cambridge—Michael Siegell 617-8643997, [email protected]
Brewster Nancy Geagan 774-207-8023
[email protected]
Minnesota
Minneapolis—for the Twin Cities
Pat Cook and Sandy Schwanz, 612 920
2056, [email protected]
Mississippi
Jackson—Peter Rippa 601-355-8959,
[email protected]
Montana
Emigrant—Anne Haug 406-333-4582,
[email protected]
Missoula—Andy Shott 406-549-5949.
Washington State
Seattle—Cynthia Barrientos, 206-7139905, [email protected].
Australia
Colorado & Southwest
Maui—Meredith Moon,
[email protected]
Molokai—Shirley Alapa, 808-567- 6074
[email protected]
http://www.meherdhamhawaii.com/
Washington, D.C.
Pamela Butler-Stone, 301-946-0236
International
Denver—Barbara Roberts 303-2384649, [email protected]. Contact Barbara for info on Utah, and Wyoming.
Delray Beach—Mickey and Wendy
Karger 561-638-3114
[email protected]
Naples—Bob Mulligan, 239-261-2840
[email protected]. Thursdays 8pm
Discourse readings, videos & prayers.
Tampa—Jane Paladino, 813-962-8629,
[email protected]
Texas
Nacogdoches—Chris and Anne Barker,
936-560-2631, [email protected].
©Meher Nazar Publications, Ahmednagar.
New Hampshire
Liz Miller 603-749-3668
[email protected].
New Mexico
Thom Fortson and Judith Shotwell,
El Rito, NM 575-581-4715
[email protected] or
[email protected]
Nevada
Las Vegas —Dick and Carol Mannis
702-326-1701, [email protected].
New York City
Meher Baba House—212-971-1050,
www.MeherBabaHouse.org.
[email protected].
North Carolina
Asheville—Winnie Barrett, 828-2747154, [email protected].
Peter and Debbie Nordeen
[email protected].
Greensboro—Sheldon Herman,
336-459-0711 voicemail
[email protected].
Chapel Hill-Durham-Raleigh—Carol
Verner, 919-933-3550
[email protected].
Oklahoma
Prague—Avatar Meher Baba
Heartland Center, retreat and
Baba’s accident site. 405-567-4774.
[email protected]
www.ambhc.org.
N.S.W. Sydney—Meher House
Jenny Keating 2-9938 3737
[email protected];
Michael Le Page 2-9971 2486
[email protected]
Queensland Kiel Mountain—Avatar’s
Abode www.avatarsabode.com.au
Ros Hayes 7-5442-1544, Fax 7-54421700
If calling from outside Australia, add
the country code 61
[email protected]
England
London— Neela Gillet (0044) 020 8743
4408, [email protected]
www.meherbaba.co.uk.
Devon—Anne Eve 01769 580 617
Norwich— Michael Da Costa
[email protected]
Northumberland—Sue Chapman
[email protected]
Sussex—Tanya Moller 01273 473 966
[email protected]
France
Cannes—Debbie Sanchez 04 94 45 81 39
[email protected]
Marseille: Marc Molinari 06 50 54 62 23
[email protected]
Paris: Claude Longet, 01 44 59 30 06
If calling from outside France add the
country code 33 and drop the zero.
Israel
Tel-Aviv—Michal Namo Sivan
03-5346505 [email protected]
Mexico
Mexico City, Cancun, Acapulco—
Rafael Villafane, [email protected]
From US: 011 52 555 295-0512
or 011 52 555 502-7225
Wales
Sheila Bassett 016398303 20
Oregon
Ashland—Laurent Weichberger
928-600-8898, [email protected]
67
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U . S . P O S TA G E
Love Street Press
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LOS ANGELES, CA 90034-2006
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LOS ANGELES, CA
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PERMIT #2425
DATED MATERIAL
PLEASE EXPEDITE !
Computer composite and colorization Cherie Plumlee. Original Photo of Meher Baba ©MNP
"Darshan"
68