Issue 3, October 2012

October, 2012
Meheru Rustom Irani October 2, 1927 - April 21, 2012
Photo of Meheru © Stan Barouh
2
Something New Here:
Errata Correctum, Feedback from our Readers and a word or two from Dina
Malcolm Baker of California tells us:
Readers may have been confused by some
aspects of Alisa Genovese’s account of her life
with her husband, Robert Dreyfuss, who went
to Baba in October last year. Her memories, in
the May 2012 issue, were mistakenly conflated
with the text of a eulogy given by Sebastian
Baker, a close friend, at Robert’s memorial
service earlier this year. Sebastian first met
Robert when he moved to the Bay Area from
England in 1974.
On a similar note, we have been told that
Robert met Baba in 1965, not 1966 as stated
in his Memorial article.
Since our last issue – May 2012 - was 96
pages, I have heard some of you are still reading it. Ten people were memorialized in our
Passings section, so I assembled as many of
Baba’s words on death and dying as I could
find.
THE UNIVERSAL TRAIN
For the Ride of Your Life
Name of Passenger
CHARLES GIBSON
Date of Issue
23 April 1950
ONE-WAY
NO STOPOVERS
NON-REFUNDABLE
Valid Until
11 November 2011
Letters to the Editor
• From Steven Essley, Washington
I thought this may be of interest to your readers: I’ve just
started reading The Life of Ramakrishna, by Romain Rolland,
1929; available on Amazon for about $5. I came across this
nice image:
“Hence we must escape from the stream of Illusion, rolling
all around us, and like trout that leap over all barriers and scale
waterfalls, we must go back to the source. Such is our unavoidable destiny, but it leads to salvation.”
The book is a nice combination of Hindu cosmology &
biography of the perfect master in good English (translated
from French).
We recently received a letter from Jordan Barnes of New York
that says with eloquence and love what so many of our readers tell us. Reading these letters makes the extreme efforts of
our team so worthwhile; it is nice to know how much so many
of you love the Breezes and what the magazine means to you.
We are aware that for a lot of you, this magazine is your only
Baba connection.
• Hi Dina---Is the Love Street Breezes still real or has it
slipped into the cloak of unreality? I contributed $100 two or
so years ago as a love offering for the continuance of your
excellent periodical. So far I have received just two fullish
editions over a three year period. Obviously, I cannot fault
However, there was one paragraph that stood out beyond
all others – to me, at least – and I found it so very comforting
when trying to deal with the very abrupt and totally unexpected death of my soul mate – just months before our seventh wedding anniversary. Since you may not have yet read
it, I asked Linda to make a graphic of the concept. See above.
Since Baba equates each of our lives as simply getting on and
off a train, our ticket is not stamped with a destination but a
date! Somewhat akin to the food at the grocery store’s ‘use
by’ date. Baba has told us no amount of medical intervention
or lack thereof can change our appointed time of coming to
Him, so I have to accept that 11/11/11 was what was stamped
on my husband’s ticket. I somehow do find that comforting.
Raine, my compatriot and the Australian Songbird, who had
donated all of her CDs for us to sell in our newly established
Shoppe on Love Street, called and told me I had mispriced
her CDs – instead of $14, they should have been listed at $15.
I told her sorrowfully that not one single person had called in
to order any of the fabulous items we had for sale there. The
CDs, the DVDs, the rare photos, those adorable little cushions
for your bed or couch... nothing! I had gathered them together
with such pleasure, looking forward to sharing my treasures
with you all, but alas, no one was interested. But then Raine
told me something that stopped me dead in my tracks!
And now a word (or two) from your editor:
A Shocking Discovery!
continued on page 55
Jai Baba my dear friends and readers,
s you can see by the photo (just taken this September) I
am a lot happier than I have been over the past few years.
And the good news is you didn’t have to wait a year for the
next issue! But the sad news is, the last of Baba’s main women
mandali has left us. Those of us who have been friends with
these wonderful people since the ‘60s do feel their absence
sorely, but we also rejoice in knowing how happy they are to
be reunited at long last with their Beloved. It is fitting that
the last remaining main mandali member is the youngest,
and the last one to be called to serve the Avatar – Bhau Kalchuri. I know we would like him to hang around for another
few years, but when I saw him on Baba’s Birthday, he was
oh-so-ready to go!
A
When Raine said it wasn’t very obvious these items on the
colored centerfold were actually for sale, I exclaimed that I had
introduced the concept of the Shoppe and given a complete
description about all of the items on the Editor’s page. “Oh
Dina! People don’t read the Editor’s page!” I was stunned.
Not out of conceit that my words were falling on deaf ears,
but because the Editor’s page is the first page I turn to when
my copy of Vanity Fair arrives. That is where I read about all
the articles featured in that issue, along with some interesting back stories as to how they came about. I try to emulate
Graydon Carter in this aspect. Obviously I have failed. What
to do? ... Just keep on keeping on I guess.
In His love and service
Dina
3
Love Street Breezes
Feel the Breezes!
Is there a breeze in the realm of love
That does not bear the scent of life from Your tresses? —Sana’i
Information:
T
he 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. Breezes is mailed (approximately) each
January, April, July and October.
Printing and mailing you the magazine costs us over $25
per person per year (in the States) and $35 to $40 overseas,
and many times that is for the postage only. However, you
can have the option of going to our new website:
lovestreetbreezes.org
and downloading pdfs of the magazine. It is recommended
that you have hi-speed Internet access to take advantage
of this offer. No one is refused the Breezes due to lack of
money. Give what you can and what feels right to you and
we will receive it with great appreciation.
Although the Love Street Press is a non profit 501 (c) 3
corporation, please note that to be compliant with IRS rules,
a donation of the exact amount of the subscription is not
tax deductible. However if you feel moved to help us spread
His message of love and truth “to Infinity and beyond” and
can donate over and above your own subscription cost, that
part is definitely tax deductible. We can accept a charge to
Visa, MasterCard, or Discover. If you prefer to send a check
please make it out to Love Street Press and send to
Dina Gibson
8906 David Avenue
Los Angeles, CA. 90034-2006
If you don’t want to put your credit card number in an
email, [email protected], you can fax the number to
me at 310-839 BABA (2222) or phone me at 310-837-6419
between 9 & 5 Pacific time.
Submissions
We seek expressions of 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).
Love Street Breezes is published and copyrighted by the
Love Street Press.
Staff
Editor in Chief:
Managing Editor:
Assistant Editor:
Design and Layout:
Proof Reader:
Assembly/pre-flight:
Printing:
Cover:
4
Avatar Meher Baba
Dina Snow Gibson
Kendra Crossen
Cherie Plumlee and Linda Beleski
Mickey Karger
Tom Hart
Ray Madani
Photographer unknown, if anyone
knows who photographed this image of
Meheru, please let us know so we can
give full credit next issue!
Features:
What’s Happening at Meherabad
Drought at Baba's Abode............................... 26
Rain!!.................................................................27
A Touch of Love.............................................. 30
Late Breaking News from Meherazad............31
Meher Free Dispensary Overload.................. 32
What's Happening at Beloved Archives................... 34
My Farewell to Mansari............................................. 36
Divine Drowning........................................................ 37
My Visit to Meherazad............................................... 38
Vision or Miracle........................................................40
Thankfulness for Baba's Gifts....................................41
My Beautiful Dream of Mehera................................ 43
The 60th Anniversary of Meher Baba's
'Accident' in America
Baba's Miracle, the AMB Heartland Center... 44
America has a tremendous future................. 50
Second Annual Mehera Baba Music Sahavas. ........ 52
Avatar Meher Baba on the Internet
Featured Story
Meheru Rustom Irani.......................................... 5
Our Farewell to Meheru................................... 9
Heartfelt Stories and Memories...................... 12
Meheru Photo Pages.......................................15
Departments
Something New.......................................................... 4
Announcements
East West Gathering 50th Anniversary.......... 32
Heartland Center Seeking Caretakers!........... 33
Know Before you Go................................................. 33
Passings
Manu Jessawala.............................................. 23
Jalu Kaikobad Dastur...................................... 23
Jan de Bont..................................................... 24
Joy Mauzey..................................................... 25
Children's Page.......................................................... 38
Avatar Meher Baba on the Internet......................... 56
Worldwide Meher Baba Meetings............................ 58
Meheru Rustom Irani
Shelley Marrich, Meherazad
A
s many of you know,
Meher Baba was very
fond of animals and over
the years had all manner
of birds, horses, peacocks,
cattle and even pigs in His
ashram. And like her Beloved Baba, Meheru shared
this love—especially for
dogs and particularly for
our Meherazad dog, Rolly.
Rolly was born on Meherazad property 12 years
ago as one of 8 puppies,
and he was so round and
roly-poly like a little black
bear that Meheru named
him thus. And during the
last few years of her life she
became preoccupied with
his care so much so that
even though he had slept
outdoors for years, she
created a bed in her room
for him to sleep on at night
and it seemed that this bed
grew in proportion and
elegance daily. Even during
the summer heat Meheru
was so concerned that the
aging Rolly be comfortable
that she would cover him
with an old skirt of hers at
night, checking often to see
that it was still spread over
him. It appeared to those of
us around her that she felt
his comfort to be of more
importance than her own. Of course,
as you can imagine, we did not agree.
Rolly was sound-sensitive which
meant that whenever there were firecrackers or thunder he would become
anxious and restless and shake all over.
The summer months in India mark the
wedding season, and the post-wedding
celebrations are punctuated by firecrackers, lots of them. So it’s not unusual
for Rolly to be in an anxious state when
there is good cause. But two days before
Meheru’s stroke Rolly started exhibiting
anxiety without apparent reason. Rolly
was always good at getting our attention, banging on doors when he wanted
to come in the house or out of it, poking
you with his nose when he wanted to be
petted, but now he just walked around
the house whimpering at us. He wasn’t
in pain, there were no firecrackers or
thunder during the day, and there didn’t
seem to be anything in particular that he
wanted - he simply whimpered all day
long and we were helpless to understand why. And the last two nights were
terrible for him and for us. There were a
few firecrackers early in the evening but
his distress long outlasted the sounds.
The second night was even worse for
Rolly and I had to give him medication
to ease his agitation. On the morning of the 19th I was
planning to consult our vet about
this new and inexplicable behavior
when at around 8:30 a.m. I heard
Rolly and our other two dogs barking
furiously. Meheru had just finished
her breakfast and was on
the veranda outside the
kitchen washing her dishes
at the sink, and when I heard
the barking I ran - I knew
that something was terribly
wrong. I found Meheru on
the ground with her legs
outstretched in front of
her, propped on her left
arm, elbow extended, sitting
quietly, and as I approached
her I wondered why she
wasn’t calling out, or telling
me what had happened or
what hurt her. But as I got
nearer I saw the reason why
- her face was asymmetrical
and her eyes, though
open, were unfocused.
And I knew she had had a
stroke. I squatted down
beside Meheru and leaned
against her back to support
her, asking, “Meheru,
can you speak? Can you
understand me?” There was
no response. I called for help
and as everyone gathered
around Meheru preparing to
transfer her onto a stretcher
and then onto Goher’s bed
in the house, Meheru closed
her still unfocused eyes and
lost consciousness.
I immediately consulted
with Meheru’s long-time
doctors who advised me to
care for her at home as she was not a
candidate for the post-stroke medications, and at present only required the
kind of care which we were more than
equipped to provide. Meheru’s dear
friends arrived and we began the vigil
which we prayed would bring her back
to health.
That first day we were hopeful. Meheru
appeared to have regained consciousness
soon after we transferred her to the
hospital bed (which replaced Goher’s
bed outside Baba’s Room). Though her
eyes remained unfocused, she would
open them when her name was called
and look in our direction. Meheru even
began moving her right shoulder which
initially had been paralyzed, so we felt
encouraged. 5
Long after we had settled Meheru
on Goher’s bed and begun her care,
I thought about Rolly’s behavior the
previous two days and realized, that
of course, as is the case with dogs, he
knew what was coming and was just
expressing his grief. And during the last
two days of Meheru’s life, Rolly spent
much of it on the ground near her bed,
despite his being in the way.
Some time during that afternoon as
three of Meheru’s caregivers were sitting around her bed as she lay there with
closed eyes, one of them told her, “Meheru, we are all here with you, you’re
in Goher’s bed and see, “ (pointing to
the beautiful picture on the wall above
Goher’s bed of Baba atop Seclusion Hill)
“Baba’s here too, looking at you.” Upon
hearing these words Meheru opened
her eyes and looked toward the photo of
Baba. Not knowing what Meheru’s experience was, the caregiver was hoping to
offer some comfort through her words,
but as she looked at Meheru more
closely, she realized that no comfort was
needed. Meheru was not looking at the
photo of Baba but seemed to be gazing
at Baba Himself. All those sitting around
her felt that Baba was actually speaking
to Meheru - communing with her. The
expression on Meheru’s face and the
look in her eyes seemed to signify that
Baba was telling her it was time, that He
had come for her. And Meheru closed
her eyes never to open them again. On the night of the 19th I spoke with
Meheru’s neurologist who, after hearing
the details of Meheru’s condition, told
me that what I was describing was a
bleed somewhere in the brain - what is
called a cerebrovascular accident - and
that her prognosis was dire; she probably had 3-4 days at most. We were
stunned by this news and of course did
not want to believe it, but as Meheru’s
condition deteriorated the following
day (the 20th), we knew his words to
be true. She began running a fever and
slipped into a coma, becoming once
again unresponsive. In addition to the
paralysis on the right side, Meheru began manifesting symptoms of rigidity on
the left side of her body that resembled
Parkinsons - indicating that the bleed
had taken place in that part of the brain
connected with Parkinsons disease. But
by the end of the day she was in a deep
coma. All her limbs were limp and we
knew it was only a matter of time.
On the 21st, despite receiving treatment, Meheru’s fever persisted as did
6
her deep coma.
We continued
our care, turning
her frequently,
moving her
limbs and massaging her, giving her medication and fluids
through the IV
and hoping that
we would have
a few days at
least to tend to
her and adjust
to the reality of
her imminent
departure. But
as we all know
God disposes. Around 3:30 pm we received word
that Ali Ramjoo, who had just finished
presiding over the Trust meeting as acting Chairman, was on his way with Falu
to see Meheru. He arrived on the front
veranda around 4 pm and told those
of us waiting to greet him how he and
Meheru were childhood friends. Picturing Meheru and Ali Ramjoo climbing
trees together as children gave us a
moment’s happy respite. Ali Ramjoo entered the house and
stood silently before Meheru. When
offered a chair he refused, saying he
only wanted to see her, bow down in
Baba’s Room and then leave, which is
what he did. So by 4:05 we were free
to turn Meheru on her back and crank
the head of the bed up to make her
more comfortable. But as soon as she
was turned, Meheru stopped breathing. We immediately turned her back
on her side thinking that the change
would enable her to breathe again, but
she had slipped away into her Beloved’s
waiting embrace. Once again Baba had
pulled the rug out from under us and
we were stunned, but recovered quickly
and readied Meheru for her journey to
Mandali Hall where she would lie in state
through the night.
Once she was ready, we transferred
Meheru onto the stretcher, and carried
her into Mehera-Mani’s room, touching
the stretcher to Mehera’s bed, and then
to Mani’s bed as a final goodbye to her
dear companions. We then carried her
into Baba’s Room where we said the
prayers there one last time with dearest Meheru. After the prayers, she was
carried into Mandali Hall and placed at
Baba’s feet where she looked stunningly
beautiful. It had only been 56 hours
from the moment I found her on the
ground outside the kitchen until she was
resting in her Beloved’s arms.
As Meheru lay in state in Mandali
Hall at Meherazad, her faithful Rolly
slept just 15 feet away at the back of the
Hall. Despite efforts to shoo him away,
he remained steadfastly there until early
morning of the 22nd when we took Meheru to Meherabad for cremation.
The following morning we gathered
at 7:15 in Mandali Hall to say the prayers
and then transferred Meheru into the
waiting ambulance for her last journey
through the Meherazad gates and onto
Meherabad.Her brother Jangu and family arrived from Nasik just before we
left so they were able to see Meheru
in Meherazad one last time as she lay
in the ambulance, looking so beautiful.
We traveled in caravan directly to the
Samadhi where Meheru’s Pune family
were waiting. The family men helped transfer Meheru from the ambulance into the Samadhi where she was joined by both her
Pune and Nasik families. They garlanded
Baba and then alone stood quietly in
the Samadhi with Meheru as she lay at
her Beloved Baba’s feet. Next Meheru
was placed between the Samadhi and
Mehera’s Shrine where her family joined
others in garlanding Mehera. The men
again helped carry her back to the ambulance and we all went down to Mandali
Hall where Meheru lay in state till 10 am. People came from all over India to
pay their respects and say a final goodbye to dearest Meheru. There was quite
a crowd all anxious to see her and touch
her one last time. But most poignant was
the arrival of Bhauji and his caregivers.
Despite his pain and ill health, and the
terrific heat, he came to sit by Meheru in
honor of the extraordinary life she had
lived in service of their Beloved Meher
Baba. Bhauji sat peacefully by her side
for quite a while until it was time to go
to the cremation ground. Once more Meheru was carried by
her family men to the ambulance, and
then from the ambulance to the pyre at
the grounds. And of course the crowds
followed. As the pyre was being prepared we had naturally assumed that
Bhauji would return home after his
strenuous effort to be in Mandali Hall
and were stunned and deeply affected
to see him standing near Meheru as she
lay on the pyre. As the fire was being lit by Meheru’s
brother and nephews, we all shouted
Avatar Meher Baba ki Jai fervently,
united in our heartbroken final farewell. When we returned from Meherabad
to Meherazad, the servants told us that
all during our absence Rolly had been
circumambulating the main house and
the small bungalow, looking for her, and
preventing anyone from coming inside.
He was so upset that he even barked at
us upon our return until he was certain
we did indeed belong there.
May 1st, May Day, Meheru’s ashes
returned to Meherazad in a beautiful
urn inscribed with her name which was
immediately placed in Baba’s Room beside His bed where it stayed throughout
that first night. The following morning
Meheru’s urn was carried into MeheraMani’s room and placed on a small stool
next to Mehera’s bed where it remained
until the afternoon of the 18th. Around
3:30 pm on the 18th, Meheru’s urn was
once again brought into Baba’s Room
where we said the Beloved God prayer
and then into Mandali Hall where it
would spend the final night at Meherazad - next to Beloved Baba’s chair. On the 19th morning, Meherazad
and Meherabad residents and workers
gathered in Mandali Hall to garland
Baba’s chair and Meheru’s urn. After
we had said the prayers and sung the
arti together, we watched in perfect
silence as Meheru’s urn was handed into
the car carrying it to Meherabad where
it would spend the night inside the Samadhi. Our cries of “Avatar Meher Baba
ki Jai” as Meheru’s urn passed through
the Meherazad gates were solemn as we
felt that not only were we losing a precious companion of the Avatar, but also
embarking on a new and uncertain era.
20th May, dearest Mehera’s reunion
anniversary, was a day that Meheru
never missed. Each year she planned
her summer break so that she would
leave on this day from the Samadhi after
darshan and prayers with her Beloved
and His precious Mehera. So it seemed
appropriate that this be the day dear
Meheru was interred near Baba and
Mehera as directed by Him.
Meheru’s brother, Jangu, and family
reached Meherazad by 8 am on the 20th,
just in time to follow the Meherazad cars
to Meherabad so we all arrived at the
Samadhi together. Once there, the family garlanded Beloved Baba, followed by
Meherwan and Meherazad residents.
Then everyone joined together at dearest Mehera’s Shrine to garland her and
remember her exceptional life and
role in Meher Baba’s Advent. We then
garlanded Mani, Goher and Katie and
returned to stand outside the Samadhi
doors where we said the prayers and arti
with all who were gathered there. After
arti we settled ourselves in chairs and on
the ground near Meheru’s open crypt,
so we had a chance to see the beautiful
flowers, butterflies and birds painted on
the interior walls by Nadia. Even Rolly
and Meherazad’s new three-legged dog,
Gaby, made an appearance inside dear
Meheru’s crypt.
As Ted sang “I Walk With the King”
one of Meheru’s favorite songs, Jangu
carried Meheru’s urn from the Samadhi where it had rested throughout the
night on Beloved Baba’s right side and
placed it on the marble slab sitting near
her crypt which would eventually lay
above it. Jangu then said a few words
about his dear sister, expressing his love
and admiration for the life she had lived
in service to her Beloved.
In the days after Meheru had gone
to Baba, several people revealed to me
that they didn’t really know her. Because
she was as much in seclusion as dearest
Mehera, Meheru had remained a mystery to them. So, after Jangu finished
his remembrances of his dear sister,
Meheru, I read out the following eulogy
hoping to share some of the remarkable
life dear Meheru had led.
Meheru
Imagine being born under the luckiest of stars into the family of Rustom
and Freni Irani, having Adi K. as your
uncle and Baba’s beloved Mehera as
your aunt. Imagine being 4 years old, and
having two older brothers constantly
challenging you to engage in all their
mischief, so much so that you ardently
wish you too were a boy so you could
play as hard as they do. Imagine going
to boarding school at such a young age
and learning early on to be independent
and self-reliant, and especially learning
to live well amongst many others. Imagine having the immense fortune of
knowing Baba all your life so that when
later asked about your first meeting
with Him, you naturally reply “Do you
remember your first meeting with your
parents?” Imagine school holidays with
Baba, how exciting it was to travel on
the Blue Bus with 30 women, feeling a
part of His ashram, sitting in the center
row perched only on your imagination.
Imagine a desire so passionate to be
with Baba and live with the women in
His ashram that when your schooling
is finished as a young teen, instead of
traveling home to Nasik, you insist your
Uncle Adi take you directly to Lonavla
where Beloved Baba welcomes you into
His ashram with Mehera, Mani, and all
the women Mandali. And imagine that
now you are the youngest member of
Baba’s women’s ashram, a mere teen
amongst grown women who had already been serving Baba for many, many
years. And Baba tells you to pay attention to Mehera, to attend to her needs
as well as His, and so you begin your
courageous life of service lived quietly
in the shadows, sharing her secluded
life to the end. And Mehera trains you,
7
a young girl, how to serve Him, God in
Human Form, to wash His clothes, to
prepare things for His bath and to help
her in caring for His person. And these
duties follow you wherever you travel
with Baba - in Lahore, where Baba divided the women’s ashram, in Srinigar,
where Mani recovers from malaria, in
Aurangabad where you were alone
with Mehera and Mani for the first time,
helping to manage everything without
the guidance of the older women, in
Hyderabad where Margaret taught the
women how to swim and dive - and so
many other cities throughout India, as
Baba was always on the move, and you
followed without question.
And imagine the New Life, being one
of only four women Baba chooses from
all His women Mandali to travel with
Him, thinking you’ll never see the others
or your family again – and you have only
just turned 22. And imagine traveling
to America with Baba and His chosen
Mandali, riding in Beloved Baba’s car
on that fateful day in May, and after the
crash finding Him lying face down in the
mud on the side of the road, and having
the great fortune and presence of mind
to gently rest Baba’s head in your lap so
He can breathe despite the fact that you
have a broken wrist and broken fingers. And so your life goes on, Meherazad,
Satara, Baba’s terrible second accident,
Gururprasad and His many taxing
darshan programmes, Meherazad again
your focus on and service to Beloved
Baba and His beloved are unstinting as
the years and the cities and the decades
pass by. And you witness not only the
years pass, but also the life of your
Beloved, and then His beloved, and His
sister and one by one all the companions
of your lifetime with Him till you are the
8
very last one remaining in His
women’s ashram – first the
youngest and now the last. And
despite your years of training to
live in the seclusion of Baba’s
Mehera, you sit on His veranda
and generously share with His
lovers from all over the world
stories of the life you lived with
Him and for Him - no matter
the state of your health, or
your grief - you persevere for
Baba, always and to the very
end of your days. In Meheru’s
own words she says “Yes, Baba
being Baba, to love Him and
desire to please Him is easy to
understand and to accept." But
day after day, year after year,
not to be your own person but part of
a group and to live for Baba and others
around you is no ordinary undertaking.
All the time it needed that strength
from within that helped you to be with
Baba and live for Him. To submerge
your desire in the wish to please your
Beloved.”And Meheru had that strength
and the wish to please her Beloved in
abundance. So now, dearest Meheru, once again
your impassioned wish has been granted
by Him and we imagine you enveloped in
His embrace at last. Your extraordinary
life lived in Beloved Baba’s service and
for His pleasure alone has carried you
across His threshold and into His arms,
and though we are reluctant to let you
go, we join together and salute you and
your remarkable life - Avatar Meher Baba
ki Jai!!!!!
This was followed by Heather reading
out a poem written by Meheru in 1980
for dearest Mehera’s birthday.
FOR MEHERA’S BIRTHDAY 1980
Keep away from all attachments.
Snap the threads that cling,
And open wide your heart
To welcome Meher, your King.
He is so infinitely worthy
Of all the love you give.
Think of Him in all you do;
Let His message in you live.
Meher is the One who loves you;
Meher is the One who cares.
He joins in your laughter
And in your sorrow shares.
He is your One True Friend.
So many times He has shown
He will never fail you;
You will never be alone.
Although He is the King of kings
True humility He does teach.
He has bathed and fed the leper;
Nowhere does His Love not reach.
Keep away from all attachments.
Snap the threads that cling,
And open wide your heart
To welcome Meher, your King.
Meheru
The time to inter dearest Meheru’s
ashes had come. Jangu lifted her urn
off the marble slab where he had earlier
placed it, handing it to Ted who was
squatting beside the open crypt ready
to receive it. After Ted lowered the urn
into the crypt, Jangu offered a garland
on behalf of Meheru’s family followed
by Meherwan and Falu offering one on
behalf of Meherazad. Ted sealed the
small piece of marble that covers the
urn as Cindy Lowe led everyone singing
“Keep Me In the Circle”, a song written
by Meheru. Once Ted had completed
the seal, many garlands were offered
continued on page 11
Our Farewell to Meheru
Mehera Ajani, Meherabad
M
Friday, 20 April 2012
any of you will have read Shelley
Marrich's email about Meheru
having a stroke yesterday. Though the
initial signs were hopeful, today Meheru's condition has deteriorated. The
stroke initially affected her right side
and she was unable to move her limbs
on that side. At close of day she was responsive to her name
and was moving her
toes. But later in the
night she developed
a fever and though
the fever has broken
she is in a coma, and
the other (left) side
is also affected. Meherwan says that she
had an aneurysm that
is bleeding into her
brain. Due to her heart
condition Meheru cannot be given anticoagulants or other drugs
to thin her blood. I am
sure that Shelley will
post another bulletin
on Tavern Talk when
she can take time out
from her caring for
Meheru. I hope to go to Meherazad
tomorrow morning.
Meheru is in a critical state. Please
pray to Beloved Baba that He takes care
of His Meheru and brings her back to
us, if that be His Will. If He wants her
to come to Him, then she will surely
heed the call of her Master and obey,
as she has done every day of her life
for so many years. Meheru is dear to
all of us. We are all praying and sending
her our love and thoughts so that she
may know how loved she is. I am selfishly not ready to let her go, and I know
that there are many who feel this way
too, but it is in Baba's hands. As I go to
sleep now I know that I will be holding
her in my heart and hoping for better
news in the morning. Eruch loved this
little prayer that we were taught in my
convent school:
"Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray Thee Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake
I pray Thee Lord my soul to take."
There is no doubt that Meheru is
Baba's and that should the day bring
news of her going to Him, she will be
with her Beloved Baba. But Baba please,
let us have Meheru for a while longer. Saturday 21 April 2012
Meheru Goes to Beloved Baba
Meheru Irani, Beloved Baba's last
woman Mandali, passed peacefully into
the waiting arms of her Beloved Meher
Baba at 4.06 p.m. IST. She had been in
a coma since her stroke at 8.15 a.m. on
19 April 2012. She was surrounded by
her loving caregivers and other close
ones. Though I was not there at the
end, I had seen her at 3.45 p.m. and
her breathing had changed. She was
not breathing deeply—only her chest
lifted, unlike earlier in the day when
her abdomen too would rise and fall
with each breath­—and there was a soft
rattle in her throat. At around 4.08 p.m.
we heard the call that she had gone to
Baba and rushed over to the main Meherazad bungalow to see her at peace
and gently smiling.
Meheru was the youngest of the
women Mandali, niece of Mehera
Irani. She was intelligent, full of life
and at times sharp. She had a temper
but she also had the ability to forgive
and forget. When she used to come
stay at Bindra House in Pune she would
help me with my homework. She and I
once memorised "The Ballad of Father
Gilligan". In that poem there is a beautiful line: "He Who has made the night
of stars for souls who
tire and bleed, sent
one of His great angels down to help me
in my need." Meheru
was indeed one of His
great angels, sent to
help us who were left
after Baba and the rest
of the Mandali left us.
She kept alive the intimate atmosphere
of His home by holding groups entranced
with her stories of her
life with Baba, every
pilgrim day (health permitting) on the porch.
Her attention to detail
(learned by her service
to her aunt Mehera)
ensured that Meherazad remained His home and welcomed
His lovers year after year. This year, after
the pilgrim season ended, she participated in the spring cleaning and got so
tired she was ill. But that didn't stop her,
she was back at it as soon as possible.
There are many lovely memories
of times with Meheru. The best of the
recent ones was when my son Sheriar
came to visit and stayed at Meherazad
for 4 days. He visited her on the porch
in the evenings and she would ask him
about his life, his new teaching job, what
he enjoyed and what he didn't...She
remembered the child and now she was
getting to know the adult, and both enjoyed the interaction thoroughly. There
are so many times she would drop in to
visit with Manu and they would spend
sometimes ten minutes or sometimes
even an hour just talking and encouraging Manu. She would always bring
some treat, soup or something savoury
or sweet, often made by herself. Manu
visited her this morning, really early.
9
Dr. Goher, Mani, Mehera and Meheru
10
First off she didn't want to go, then she
went. Meheru was in a deep coma. Manu
went up to her and kissed her and said
to Meheru, "You go to Baba and then
call me. I will come." The caregivers
who witnessed this said that it was so
poignant that they nearly broke down. No one expected this. Meheru was so
full of life only a week ago. I was away in
Pune and Mumbai seeing Sheriar off, but
everyone says that until she fell down
after the stroke she was fine. I still can't
believe she is gone. Baba knows, she has
left a hole the size of a volcano crater
in our lives. There was so much more
she needed to see and be present for,
I thought. But Baba's timing is perfect.
He didn't let Meheru suffer too much.
Three days of unconsciousness and a
gentle cough and she was gone. As we
prepared her for her final journey, the
visit to Meherabad to Baba's Samadhi
for the last time, we were actually able
to laugh and say how this or that scarf
would look, how the patched bed sheet
in which she was wrapped was so Meheru (she patched everything) and how
the trousers and top she was dressed in
were ones she wore on her vacations to
Kashid. She had been bathed that morning so she was beautifully fragrant. Still,
she was wiped, rubbed with scented oil
and her hair combed. Her feet and arms
were bound and the sheet wrapped
around then fastened at the neck with
a beautiful Baba button. The prayers were recited and Avatar
Meher Baba's Jai spoken loudly, with
all our love and our missing. Then the
servants in the kitchen and other housemaids who served her came to bow
down. Tears coursed down their faces,
they had lost someone who was like a
mother to them. Forgotten were the
scoldings, all they recalled was the love
and the caring she showed whenever
one of them needed it. Then, laid out on
a strong bedspread from Paul Comar's
collection she was put on the stretcher
and lifted up and taken into Mehera and
Mani's room first. From there we took
her to Baba's room, and she exited the
house for the final time from His bedroom door, feet first. Over to Mandali
hall, she now lies before Baba's chair.
She looks radiant, her face has relaxed
into the most lovely smile, she looks so
happy. Flowers from Meherazad garden
were brought and put around her by
those of us who were present. People
started coming, from the village and
from Ahmednagar and Meherabad. My sister Dolly was on her way to Meherazad and got the news while she was
still in the bus. She picked up a beautiful
garland of spider lilies and roses and this
was placed around her face, framing it
in a fragrant cloud of white and red.
More flowers were put on her and she
looks like she is sleeping, dreaming of
her Beloved. Manu came into Mandali hall for the
first time in a very long while. She sat
on her wheel chair and sang to Meheru.
Satchitanand Parmanand was followed
by the Meher Dhun and that was followed by Hari Parmatma Allah Ahurmazd
God Yezdan Hu. Bhauji and Co. arrived
and then sang the Adi Sachetan Arti. Dolly
and I stayed until the hall started filling up
and then we left, knowing we would see
her tomorrow at Meherabad.
The schedule was as follows:
7.45 a.m. Meheru leaves Meherazad
for Meherabad and is taken to Beloved
Baba's Samadhi
8.30 a.m to 9.00 a.m. Meheru lies
in the Tomb while prayers and arti are
said, then down to Old Mandali Hall for
people to pay their last respects
9.30 a.m. Meheru is taken from Old
Mandali Hall to the platform where her
pyre will be ready and waiting. She will
be laid on the pyre and covered up. As
with all the others who have
gone before, there will be a
chance to say a last goodbye
and then the pyre will be lit,
reducing our dearest Meheru's gross body to ashes.
Her soul is already happy to
have finally joined her Eternal Beloved, Avatar Meher
Baba.
Our joy in your reunion
with your Beloved is great.
But forgive us our tears, they
are selfish ones because we
miss you so. Avatar Meher
Baba Ki Jai.
This morning I woke at 4 a.m. (again)
and as soon as I was fully awake the
thought that this is the first day that
Meheru is not in this world hit me like a
fist in my stomach. Not only that, for this
advent, there are no more of His women
Mandali left. She was the last. I had not
gone to Meherazad with Dolly Dastur
and Indira, but I went to morning arti
and sang Ishti Yakey for Meheru. I rushed down and had a quick bite to
eat, then went back up just as they were
bringing Meheru into Baba's Samadhi. She was laid out at His feet, carried in
by her family males, brother Jangu,
nephews Faroukh and Meher Burzin and
someone else whom I don't know. The
3 sisters-in-law and nieces were there
too. All were shocked. Prayers and Arti
followed, then Meheru was taken to lie
next to her beloved aunt, Mehera. After
garlanding Mehera's tomb she was carried to the other side where she was laid
down next to Mani. From there it was
back in the ambulance and down to Old
Mandali Hall, where she lay for over an
hour and half. Originally the cremation was set for
10.00 a.m. but there were long lines
of people waiting for a last glimpse of
Meheru, and so everyone got a chance
to visit with her one last time. The twins,
Rustom and Sohrab, came from Pune
and said a fond goodbye. I was asked by
Heather to read the eulogy that Rick and
Sheryl Chapman had sent for Meheru. It
was beautifully written, only problem
was I didn't have my reading glasses. As I peered at the paper I thought how
Meheru would have commented half irritated and half amused, "Where are your
reading glasses? Don't be too vain to
wear them." She said exactly the same
thing to me one evening in Manu's room,
when Meherwan gave me something to
read to her and I was too lazy to go fetch
my spectacles. Anyway, after the reading there were
songs to Beloved Baba sung by those
present, to entertain Meheru for the last
time, so many last times here. Then the
Gujarati Arti was sung and it was time
to go. She was carried out by the rear
door of Old Mandali Hall and put into the
ambulance. Accompanied by her caregivers and Dolly and Indira, she went
to the cremation platform where a flat
bier had been laid. Her body was put on
this and the wood arranged all around it,
until she was covered. A very poignant
moment for me was when Shelley took
one of her handkerchiefs and went to
cover her face. The village cremation
expert put pieces of dry coconut on her
mouth and eyes, then Shelley tucked the
kerchief around her radiant face, and it
was hidden from us for all time. Wood
was piled over and then Gauris (cowdung pancakes) were arranged around
it all, and the whole
structure doused with
Ghee (clarified butter)
which would be the igniting agent. Meheru's
brother and nephews
along with Jal and
Ramesh were then
brought on stage and
the flaming torches
handed to them. The haunting sound
of "Satchitananda,
Parmananda" rang out
accompanied by a lone
cymbal and the Irani
drums. It was so beautiful, tears streamed
down my face. Then
the torches were
touched to the pyre
and off she went! The
flames caught and
soared and crackled, and our Meheru's
physical remains were on their way to
dust. Her soul had already been dust at
His Feet for so many years, now it was
her body's turn. I recalled Baba telling
Eruch on the occasion of his father's
funeral, the body is the excreta of the
soul. Just as you feel relieved when
you have a good bowel movement, so
the soul feels only relief when it sheds
a body. Her relief was palpable, visible
on her face. It was just our faces that
had tear streaks, Meheru was laughing
all the way to her Beloved Baba's side. Last one, never again will we be present at the final farewell to one of His
dear women Mandali. As this day comes
to a close I can feel a sense of expectation and dread, every time one of His
close ones goes the world faces some
great upheaval. Eruch's was the most
dramatic, perhaps. He went and we had
9/11. It is as if each Mandali is holding
something in check, holding back some
great and terrible event. However, this is
in the future. Right now I just miss her. A
lot. Goodbye darling Meheru. Goodbye. Jai Baba.
continued from Meheru Rustom Irani page 7
amidst resounding calls of “Avatar
Meher Baba ki Jai”. Meheru’s family
in England were remembered as were
all those who wished they could be
there to share in the final good bye to
our darling Meheru. Next those waiting
outside the enclosure came in to offer
their garlands and have their private
moment in farewell to her; then it was
time to go. Meheru was truly with her
Beloved and it was time to return to
Meherazad. As dogs do tend to live in the present
moment, Rolly has adjusted and is
now sleeping outside in the cooler air
with the other dogs, without the skirt
spread over him and without the tender
ministrations of Meheru throughout
the night and day. He appears to be
his happy doggie self again, but deep
inside I feel certain he knows that life
will never be the same and he misses
her very much, as do we all.
AVATAR MEHER BABA KI JAI!
Arnavaz, Dr. Goher, Meheru and Katie
11
Heartfelt Stories and Memories
of Baba's Meheru
Remembering Meheru
Lorraine Brown, 23rd April, 2012
W
hen I first met Meheru in November 1974, we were both ‘young
things’ – she was 46 and I had not long
turned 19. Meheru enjoyed sports and
playing active games and so did I. I have
memories of playing badminton with
her in Meherazad garden, with Mehera
watching from the verandah. I always
had trouble sitting still for very long,
and sometimes on the porch listening
to Mehera I would sort of ‘drift off’ and
Mehera would smile and suggest I might
like to go and play a game with Meheru.
I was trying to look like I was listening to
Mehera – but I always much preferred
to be active. I think Meheru did too as
she was never keen on too much sitting
either.
When I returned to Australia after
that first visit, I wrote to Meheru - the
start of a correspondence spanning the
38 years I was privileged to know her.
Meheru would always end her letters
with “Much love to you dear Lorraine
from dear Mehera and all your dear
Meherazad family In Beloved Baba’s
most precious love.” Later on, in the
1980s, when I was working as a teacher
and travelling to India every summer
holidays, Mehera took over the correspondence with me, and Meheru would
either add a little to Mehera’s letter, or
occasionally slip a letter from herself
into Mehera’s letter.
Amongst many other things, Meheru
taught me how to spin the small wooden
Indian spinning top, done by wrapping a
string around it and whipping it off and
onto the ground. It’s quite an art. In one
of her early letters she said, “Glad to
know you have become adept with the
top. Next time when you come, if there
is time, Mehera can teach you some
Indian games which children love.”
Unfortunately Mehera never had time
to teach me these games herself, but
she directed Meheru to teach me how
to play gilli danda and seven tiles, and
Mehera used to love watching us play.
During my visits in the 80s, Meheru
would have me working at Meherazad,
as well as playing. Before there were
many residents there was always lots to
do, and I usually worked in the garden.
But my worst memory of working at
12
Meherazad was
when Meheru
decided I should
iron the sheets
for Baba’s bed.
(It had never occurred to me that
sheets could or
would be ironed.)
This was after
more residents
started coming
and I hadn’t done
much work that
visit because
there seemed to
Meheru and Lorraine
sweet corn was going and say how they
be, for the first time, more eager hands
were ‘remembering me’. One card she
keen to do work than work to do! I was
sent me had a picture of a chipmunk on
feeling a bit put out because there didn’t
it (Meheru waged a constant war in the
seem to be any work for me to do at
veggie garden with the chipmunks) and
Meherazad. Then Meheru looked at me
Meheru wrote, “This little card brought
one day and said, “Lorraine, you need
you to mind because of the chipmunks
to DO something. I have just the thing.”
we have here and we were aware of how
Thus began the torture of ironing
much they were interested in the sweet
Baba’s sheets. I received strict instruccorn we grew.”
tions that I was not to let ANY part of
After 1993, when Meheru came to
these sheets touch the floor – NOT
the Anniversary at Avatar's Abode durON ANY ACCOUNT. To be sure to TAKE
ing her ‘whirlwind world tour’ as she
CARE. Then I was set up in a small room,
referred to it in one letter, and visited
with a tiny iron and a small ironing board
our house and vegie garden, I would
and two very large (it seemed) sheets.
send her photos of things we were doAnd left to it. Have you ever tried to iron
ing on the property. She always showed
sheets without letting any part of them
such interest in the everyday things that
touch the floor? Have you ever tried to
were happening in our lives and her
iron sheets in the first place?
letters during this period would usually
I spent several hours sweating and in
open with “Loving Jai Baba to you and
an absolute lather of apprehension foVeronika from all your Meherazad famcusing solely on these jolly sheets doing
ily.” At the end of her letters Meheru
contortions and draping parts of them
would also always send her love and
on Meheru’s bed and my body. Between
that of ‘our Meherazad family’ to Joanna
trying not to let any part of them touch
and Cecily, and all the Aussie Baba family
the floor, folding them the way they had
around us.
to be folded and being in absolute terror
During this era, she would also often
of possibly burning them with the iron,
end with an admonition to me to ‘keep
it was the worst few hours I have spent
happy’. One that I made into a poster
in my life.
for myself and still try to always keep
It cured me of ‘wanting to do work at
in mind was – “Keep happy and singing
Meherazad’, and indeed, from that time,
and active in Baba’s Love”.
my ‘work’ focused more on singing and
Meheru also had a very dry sense of
stage performance than helping around
humour. In one letter in 1997 she wrote,
Meherazad.
“You may be picturing (your Meherazad
During the 90s, I used to send sweet
family) having nothing to do in the sumcorn seeds with someone going to India
mer, relaxing in the peaceful sphere of
for Meheru to plant, and Meheru’s letBaba’s Home. Well disabuse your mind
ters would always mention how the
of such an illusion. We are filled to the
hilt with turmoil, turbulence, activity,
rubble and dust. Every morning when
pint-sized Jose comes over in his labour
of love to serve His master – I ask ‘Jose
where is your direction – where next are
you going to invade and attack, so I can
be prepared’." Meheru continued, “Well,
if the house is a mess – he is working the
most to create it in service of efficient
and safe electrification.”
So I learnt that it was in the small dayto-day things of life that we could best
serve our Beloved Lord.
I will miss this dear friend, though I
rejoice in her great happiness at rejoining her Beloved Baba and her dearest
Mehera. Until I can write a poem for her,
I think the poem that Meheru herself
wrote on the evening of Padri’s death
says much about our dear Meheru.
Yours sincerely,
May I be Yours sincerely,
To do Thy Will
In Your Love and Service.
Yours sincerely,
May my words and actions
Be pleasing to You
In Your Love and Service.
Yours sincerely,
May this life be dedicated
Heart, mind, and soul
In Your Love and Service.
I cannot, and do not, ask for more,
But to live and die
In Your Love and Service,
Sincerely Yours, Oh Meher.
And dear Meheru most certainly did
live and die in her Beloved Baba’s Love
and Service.
Previously published in the Meher Baba
Australia newsletter. Used by permission.
Meheru—Baba’s Adventuress
Kristin Crawford, August 5, 2012
A
s Laurel Magrini aptly remarked,
“Climb ev’ry mountain, ford ev’ry
stream” could have been Meheru’s song.
Clambering up hills, leaping over ponds
in the monsoon, climbing trees (and
not only trees—more on that shortly),
scaling rocks, and scampering through
snake-infested thickets of “Congress
grass” were just a few of the activities
Meheru did not only fearlessly but with
zeal, her decades-younger companions
trailing behind, trying to put up a brave
front. What might otherwise have been
a tame evening stroll on the Meherazad
approach road and surrounding fields, or
wherever else she went, Meheru would
turn into an adventure.
We never came back
empty-handed through the
Meherazad gates. Collecting beneficial items for the
household was her habit
from her long life with Baba,
and she did her best to instill
in these wasteful Westerners
the importance of not passing up any precious article
we’d see along the way.
With our Meherazad dogs
on leashes (each one with
particular canine peculiarities and proclivities Meheru
enjoyed), we would set out with walking
sticks and other implements (clippers,
saws) for wresting not only weeds but
unwanted shrubbery and even invasive
trees from the path. Plastic bags and
scoopers were essential accoutrements,
too, as no cow or buffalo flop (however
warm and oozing) that might serve as
fertilizer for the vermiculture compost
pile could be ignored. “Accidentally on
purpose” leaving the bag and scooper
at home only meant that the treasures
would have to be carried in our bare
hands, disguised by leaves and twigs
Meheru positioned artistically on top, as
she didn’t want the villagers to discover
us in this unbefitting endeavor. Then,
just when the one arm was breaking
from lugging firewood, while holding a
rambunctious dog straining to chase a
passing goatherd, and the other hand
balancing an enormous donation for
the compost pile, she might notice
some unusual lavender-colored seed
pods twenty feet up on top of a tree. To
beautify Mehera’s garden, nothing was
impossible, and there were no excuses.
“Just get it! Whack it right there [she
would point] with your stick!” To my utter befuddlement, somehow Meheru always did know exactly how to engineer
these feats, bending a branch over so as
to be able to reach whatever it was she
wanted way up yonder. Clearly Baba had
endowed her with all the practical intelligence, dexterity, skill and valor needed
for her unique role in His household
(which, needless to say, also involved
far more subtle qualities exceeding the
scope of this vignette).
For just one example of an adventure
with Meheru, in 1995, when she was
planning a visit to her family in Nasik,
she decided to try to locate the cave
on Bhorgad Mountain where Baba had
fasted in seclusion for forty days in 1920.
If I recall correctly, this is the same place
Meheru and Kristin at Meherazad
where His early Mandali began calling
Him “Meher Baba,” and the very cave
where, thirty years before, Upasni Maharaj (then still known as Kashinath) had
executed an extended fast in his search
for God. Meheru had done an initial
reconnaissance mission on a 1994 visit
to Nasik, but this time she was armed
with a more specific location, great
determination, and her usual energy
and enthusiasm. The lead-up to this trip
to the cave involved at least a month
of rigorous training. Still a tomboy
at age 68, Meheru had a rope ladder
rigged up to the big water tower behind
Meherazad, and every morning and
afternoon when we had time we would
sneak away (“sneak” because some of
the others might have taken a dim view
of this activity out of concern for her
safety) for a half hour or so to practice
climbing the rope up to the top of the
water tower and back down. While we
had terrific fun doing this, she also took
it seriously, intending in earnest that we
should become competent enough to
repel down over the side of the Bhorgad
cliff to the cave below, something which
Meheru pointing to Baba's cave at Bhorgad
13
I of course secretly hoped would never
come to pass!
Mercifully, when we did finally locate
the cave—with the help of her brothers
Falu, Jangu and friends from Meherabad—the rock face was so treacherous that even our fearless leader
contented herself with seeing it from
a distance, as the rest of us breathed
a sigh of relief. How would we ever
have faced Mani, Goher, Eruch et al. if
anything had happened to Meheru on
this excursion? As it was, all returned
unscathed, but covered up to our waists
with the spikiest, prickliest, most tenacious Congress grass, which we continued to find on our clothes even after
multiple washings.
With Baba’s charming, fun-loving
Meheru, we had countless adventures.
What a simple, exquisite delight to be
at her side as she climbed mountains,
forded streams, and (to continue with
the verse) followed Baba over His rainbow, her one and only lifelong dream.
On these outings, she often would
reminisce about times with Baba. As
her fortunate companions, we naturally
imagined the joy of being along with
Him and His devoted gals, whose one
desire was always to spend their days in
pleasing and serving their Beloved Lord
during His time on this earth.
Meheru with Rebecca
When Meheru visited us in the ‘90s,
an outing was put together for her by
the Northern California Meher Baba
group. Meheru was going to accompany
a group of us and recreate the sightseeing trip that Baba took with His lovers in
1956, ending at the Holiday Inn on Van
Ness Avenue.
As I approached Meheru in the parking lot of Muir Woods, no words were
spoken. My heart did a flip flop and I had
an instant remembrance. We embraced
and said a warm Jai Baba. I knew her and
her Baba love.
The itinerary was well mapped out.
Someone had done their homework.
We started at Baba’s tree and said the
Master’s Prayer. I had introduced Meheru to my two sons, both adolescents,
and we followed along behind Meheru
on the path, except Mike, my oldest,
who ended up walking in front of Meheru. He affected a surly attitude the
whole day. “Mom, I didn’t even want to
come.” My younger son, Nick, was more
cooperative.
Suddenly Meheru bounced ahead
and gave a big swat across Mike’s back.
Bhorgad Mountain in the background
Meeting Meheru
Rebecca Hazelwood
Meeting Meheru was a very special experience. I may have met her at the ‘69
Darshan, but, like SO many, as alluded
to by Dina and Cherie [LSB ], I did not
remember that I had met her.
14
Meheru with Mike and young Nick
How lucky is he? I thought. He looked at
her—no dirty looks. Just kind of curious.
Later we took pictures of my family
with Meheru at Muir Beach and then a
great one of Meheru and Mike with his
surliest expression, this time in front of
the Golden Gate Bridge. I could tell that
she understood this phase of childhood
development as I knew that she had
many brothers.
We spent the rest of the day going
to each and every one of the spots that
Baba had seen. Then we ended up at the
Holiday Inn. Tom Hart had rented one of
the rooms. It was a glorious meeting. I’ll
never forget her.
As The Thorn Turns
by Laurel Magrini a.k.a. “Murghi”
M
eheru, along with all the mandali,
was fond of Kabir couplets. Baba
must have taught them these witty and
profound lines, and they liked to pass
them on as well. Meheru tried to teach
me one that goes:
Jo toko kaanta buve,
taahe bov tu phool
Tohe phool ko phool hai,
taahe hai tirsool
(Due to the wonder of the internet, I
got the Hindi lines above.)
As I roughly recall, Meheru said it
meant:
When someone gives you a thorn
Give him back a flower
Your flower will stay a flower
His thorn will go back to him.
Actually, I could never remember
the Hindi and would only say, “Jo toko
tombo toko.” The “jo toko” part stood
out; the “tombo toko” part I guess I just
made up in my head!
One time I was staying at Meherazad
for a short while. One of the things I
did when I was there was to gather the
flowers that Mani would use to decorate Baba’s Room for evening arti. The
routine was to collect roses and other
flowers from Mehera’s garden, clean
them by removing the thorns, rumpled
petals and extra leaves - that is, make
them as pretty as possible for Baba’s
Room - and then put them on cloths and
in little jars of water on the dresser in
Baba’s Room. So that you can picture it,
this is the piece of furniture upon which
continued on page 17
Meheru Photo Pages
Courtesy Meher Nazar Publications
In Nasik 1932, left, Beheram, Freiny, Mehloo, Baba, Meheru at Baba's feet, Falu,
Rustom and Naggu
Courtesy Meher Nazar Publications
Meheru as a Pirate
entertaining Baba
Courtesy Meher Nazar Publications
Meheru and Falu with Baba
Meheru the Pirate!
Courtesy Meher Nazar Publications
From right: Mehera, Maharani Shantadevi of Baroda , Mani, Meheru, Katie,
Manu, Korshed, and Rano
Courtesy of AMBPPCT Archives
Meheru to Baba's right and Mehera to His left
15
Meheru at Meherazad, Shelley in the background
Meheru with Irene and Jankhed in the back, 1991
A useful gift, a circular drying rack
Arnavaz, Dr. Goher, Meheru and Rhoda behind
Meheru with Paul Comar
16
Resting between Goher and Katie
Meheru and Laurel, March 1982
sits the beautiful display of Baba’s hair
encased in lucite. After Mani had decorated Baba’s bed, pictures, the casts of
Baba’s hand and feet, the chairs where
He had sat, etc., I’d go back and clean
up the bits of stems, leaves, cloths and
jars, so that the room was clean and
ready for arti. The women mandali had
specific places where they would stand
for arti and this spot by the dresser was
Meheru’s “station”.
Now staying at Meherazad was quite
a bit different from visiting Meherazad.
Though the woman mandali were loving,
there was definitely an element of spiritual training, if you know what I mean.
I was always doing something wrong,
and someone was always letting me
know it in a distinctly Irani manner. And
Meheru was no exception. One evening,
as I went into Baba’s Room for arti, Meheru was at her place with an unhappy
expression on her face. “Murghi! Come
here!” Uh oh, what did I do this time?
I went over to her, and she showed
me her bare foot. There was a rose thorn
stuck in her big toe! I looked down at
the toe. I looked up at her face and its
peeved expression. What to do? Fortunately, Baba came to the rescue and I
was inspired to say, a little sheepishly,
“Jo toko tombo toko...”
Meheru laughed, gave me a little slap
on the back, (and took the thorn out of
her toe) and the incident was forgiven.
memorable. I still have the casserole
dish I used when Meheru came to our
house for dinner during her visit to the
U.S. During that visit, she gave a talk at
a church in Kensington, California. The
focus of her talk was paying attention to
detail. I also have long-lasting memories
of the day many of us spent with Meheru
at Muir Woods, Muir Beach, and Holiday
Lodge.
Being an avid gardener, my fondest
and most personal memories were of
walking through the garden at Meherazad with Meheru. She had a very
impressive and very successful way of
sowing lettuce seeds. She raised beautiful heads of lettuce that were always
sweet. There were also fruit trees that
she enjoyed immensely. If I remember
correctly, there was a Sitaram or Sitaful
tree from Queensland that she planted
from seed, which gave delicious fruit.
Through our last visit in December 2011,
Meheru was involved in every facet of
the care of the plants in Mehera’s garden. I will always feel fortunate to have
had the opportunity to stroll through
His and Mehera’s garden with Meheru.
Playing Badminton With Meheru
Bif Soper
I
n the early days of visiting Meherazad,
visitors were allowed to stay all day.
We would have lunch on the veranda in
front of Mandali Hall. At 3:00 PM Aloba
would serve tea. After tea, Eruch would
again enter Mandali Hall to tell stories of
his life with Meher Baba. Sometimes it
would happen that a messenger would
appear with a message from Meheru. On
this occasion it was, “Meheru wants to
play badminton with you.”
In the garden between Mandali Hall
and Mehera’s Porch, a badminton net
had been installed. Meheru was very
competitive, as I was. She would hit the
birdie hard. For a while I was able to
return all of her shots when quite suddenly I saw this look in her eyes, and she
started hitting hard shots directly at my
body! When the birdie comes flying fast
and directly at you, it is difficult to bring
your arms in tight and make a strong return. Meheru became very proficient at
these body shots, scoring many points.
After she’d made one of these shots,
I remember complaining to her, “If I
didn’t have a body I could do very well
against you!”
The next time I saw Meheru she
came up to me and said, “You got me
in trouble.” I was surprised to hear this
and asked, “What happened?” She said,
“I was with the other women Mandali in
Baba’s bedroom singing arti as we do
daily. In the middle of singing arti I had
an image in my mind of you playing badminton without a body. I couldn’t help
myself and started to laugh. The other
women noticed this strange behavior
and looked at me disapprovingly with
a concerned, questioning look, as if to
say, ‘Has she lost her mind?’” Meheru
and I both laughed. Needless to say it
was a great pleasure to play badminton
with Meheru!
Memories of Meheru
Karen Talbot
I
have very fond memories of Meheru
from the 1970s through our last visit
to Meherabad/Meherazad in December
2011.
Times spent on the veranda at Meherazad were always precious. Hearing
Blue Bus and New Life stories were
Mani, Raelia Lyn , Bif Soper, Laurel Magrini and Meheru
17
Meheru Reminiscences
Eric Teperman I
first met Meheru in September of 1975,
and it was she who introduced me to
Mehera. First, she showed me around the
house, each room, the dining room where
Baba ate with them, the little sink where
he would sometimes wash his hands, each
of the women’s rooms, as it all came to
living, alive, life for me, what I had only
read and imagined in the past year and a
half. Then Meheru asked me, “Would you
like to meet Mehera?”, at which my mind
imploded as I could not even guess that
she would think I would say “no,” but I
gathered she was just being polite and I
said, “yes!”, especially since Mehera and
I had corresponded a month before my
arrival. As it turned out, I was in her room
for nearly an hour, waiting patiently, or trying to be patient, looking out the window
at the tree with Baba’s face formed in the
bark, looking at her and Mani’s personal
belongings around the room, mostly just
trying to absorb being where I was. Finally,
Meheru appeared at the doorway and
gently gestured with her left arm into the
room, and spoke before Mehera entered.
To this day I recall the tone of her
voice as she brought her into the room
and quietly said, “Here’s Mehera.” I
remember thinking at the time, I have
never heard anyone introduce anyone
in quite that tone of voice; it wasn’t exclamatory, no fanfare or anything, there
was just something unduplicatable in
how she said it that made me know that
in some indescribable and simple ways
how special Mehera was. I have never
since then heard that tone in anyone’s
voice ever again.
Aside from that first day, when
we spoke much, I noticed that she preferred to keep far in the background,
as though while Baba had prepared her
fully to lead such a truly remarkable
and unique life, he had not prepared
her to be in more communication with
the people who would come to visit his
home. Meheru would slowly lose some
of her deep, natural reticence after all
the other women Mandali had passed
away and at last feel some level of relaxed comfort with us on the porch, as
she felt it her duty to be with us more,
since there was no one else left!
Before that happened, though,
I remember a time in 1999. It was an
quiet day at Meherazad, perfect for
what I was about to do: I’d sat down
on the steps that lead up to Baba’s old,
original bedroom, next to Meheru, who
18
was sitting in a chair, and told her that
when I had first come to Baba and read
about how some people had dropped
everything and come to Meherabad
when Baba had dropped his body; I
had instantly thought, If I know that
Mehera is dying, I will drop everything
and go. This thought stayed with me, yet
when word came to us that Mehera was
suddenly doing so poorly, for reasons I
cannot go into here, I allowed myself to
be talked out of going to Meherabad/
Meherazad to be there for her final days.
It was a personal failure I was not able to
expiate in any way except to live with it
in the background of my own inner relationship with Baba. I then asked Meheru
if she could share with me something of
Mehera’s last days.
We were alone on the porch, aside
from the occasional person who would
go in and out of the house, and she
looked at me deeply for a while, took
a deep breath, and then proceeded to
take me through the last two weeks of
Mehera’s life, day by day, hour by hour,
sometimes minute by minute, as she
relived that time for me and brought me,
somehow, there. One of the countless
incidents she relived was towards the
end when she had to ride in a car with
Mehera. Mehera was so weak that she
could not keep her own head up and
leaned against Meheru sitting next to
her in the backseat and put her head
on Meheru’s shoulder. Everything she
related that day was so vivid; it took her
the better part of an hour, and by doing
so, helped remove at least the burden
I had carried of not having been there
where I should have been.
Every time I think of Meheru I think of
someone Baba picked for his most intimate circle, someone he picked to serve
not only him but his beloved Mehera
also. I think of someone who pleased
Baba endlessly with her spontaneous,
total obedience and service. In knowing
Meheru Irani, I can’t help but have hope
for those of us, including myself, who
feel we have nothing of our own to offer
Meher Baba but our willingness…..but
want to be with him anyway.
I know that no one can live such a
life with Baba without him helping that
person and making it all possible. As
with most of the Mandali, I felt Meheru’s
ordinariness as a person, somehow living an extraordinary life, and that that
ordinariness is what helped me to connect with her and the life she was living
and made it seem, somehow, possible
for us to live such a life with Baba also.
Happy in His Love
Deborah Mann Smith
S
ince the time I actually started getting to know Meheru, I have always
identified with the “engineer” in her.
Many of my memories revolve around
her projects; assisting Brian O’Neil to
construct a solar cooking dish, of her
getting me to bang together some scrap
wood and hinges into a shelf to sit atop
her dresser - Meheru was rather Rube
Goldberg in designs or cheering her on
as she cleverly revamped a blouse she’d
gotten for a bargain price in Pune but
that did not quite fit her properly.
Outwardly Meheru and I clicked in
this hands-on practical way. It is my
understanding that her “get it done and
make it fit” capacity was quite useful
in the ashram. I, for sure, enjoyed the
privilege of participating in anything she
was creating and found her good company. Needless to say, for the most part,
Meheru occupied our time together by
doing more than talking. I massaged
Meheru a great deal over the years and I
dare say it was her favorite way of keeping us occupied.
Meheru and I also have an inner
connection and one particular incident
occurred between us that has continuously effected my life ever since. I am reminded of this incident by the picture of
Baba right here on my desk that Meheru
gave me. The occasion of this gift was
my departure from Meherazad where I
visited quite frequently on pilgrimage to
massage the ladies, especially Meheru as
she suffered from back pain almost constantly. In her tiny bedroom are many
photos of Baba, large and small, and on
this trip I was particularly taken with one
I had never noticed before. Each time I
saw Baba in this photo something stirred
in me. His demeanor had a “matter of
fact” air: it said, “Here I am.” I felt Baba
was posing some inquiry, provoking a
challenge, yet I could not put words to it.
I never mentioned any of this to Meheru.
After our last massage session, before leaving, Meheru and I embraced
and she sent me to say goodbye to
the other ladies. Then, on my way out
of Mehera’s garden, Meheru called
me back to her room. As I approached
she was standing on the little veranda
holding the photo I had quietly been
absorbed with. I thanked her heartedly
but without commenting on my preoccupation with it.
Walking away I suddenly turned,
looked straight at Meheru and said, “I
have been longing for this photo every
day while massaging you.” Her reply, so
characteristically honest, was “I know,
I felt you wanting it.” At the time I did
not know of the tradition in the East that
says if someone admires a belonging it’s
to be given to them. I wouldn’t dream
of asking for something that belonged
to another, that would be grossly impolite. But it appeared that what had
silently transpired in me had been “loud
enough” to precipitate Meheru’s gift. It
was a subtle indication that Baba was
at work in me concerning the activity
of wanting things and this was further
affirmed by what I discovered on the trip
back to Meherabad.
In the rickshaw gazing at Baba’s
photo I felt something taped to the
back of it. Meheru had attached a note
that read, “Be happy in My Love. Meher
Baba.” I distinctly remember feeling I
did not know what it really meant to be
happy in Baba’s love. It was no mere coincidence that Meheru chose this quote
for it put words to the silent inquiry Baba
had been posing to me during those
massage sessions.
Meheru said she felt me wanting the
photo and gave it to me, along with the
quote. Years later she told me that she
really liked that picture, had just gotten
it for herself and did not want to give it
away. I am thankful for her willingness
to let go of a Baba photo she had chosen for herself, something she wanted,
for her obedience and surrender to do
what she knew would please Baba. Her
example stands as a lesson for me; how
Baba often works in small simple ways
to overthrow the self.
Looking back, Baba used Meheru
to throw down the gauntlet in front of
me that day, and though still below the
surface of my awareness at the time, He
challenged me to seek the Truth of being
happy in His Love, and His Love alone –
not with what I want, and not with what
I am given: Just happy in His Love. Thank
you Meheru. Thank you Baba.
Meheru
James Peterson
M
eheru was a bit hard to get to
know in India, particularly for a
man. She was the shy mandali, who always sat on the steps of Mehera’s porch
and let Mani and Mehera, or even Dr.
Goher, have the limelight.
But there was one time in my life
with Baba that Meheru really did steal
the show. That was on her trip to the
U.S. in 1993.
It so happened
that my 100 year
old grandma had
just passed away,
and her memorial
service was going
to be held at the
Methodist campgrounds outside
of Chicago. My
five year old son
and I traveled
from California
to attend. When
I got to town
I called my old
friend, Adrienne
Geller, to find out
Blake, Jim, Meheru and Joanne Peterson
any Baba news.
She told me that
Meheru would be in Chicago for two Lake Michigan. She sat next to Christy
or three days right after my grandma’s Pearson; but Blake, never far away, sat
right in front of her.
funeral. Wow, what timing!
Of course Meheru had been on boats,
And the best thing was that the first
event would be a picnic in Gilson Park seen cities, and visited temples so often
in the town of Wilmette, not one mile with Meher Baba. But since 1969 her life
from the house where I had been born had been fairly quiet. It was very clear
and raised. Blake and I joined the Baba that visiting Chicago was a new, sparlovers from Evanston and Chicago in the kling and fun adventure for her.
In the evening she gave a fabulous
lovely green park. Meheru was happy,
relaxed and talkative and it was fun to talk on her experiences with Baba. It
get to know her. And, of course, she was very clear that she didn’t stay in
loved giving special hugs and attention the backround in Meherazad because
she had nothing to say. Her talk in
to cute, little Blake.
Meheru was delighted when we went Chicago was funny, heartwarming and
to tour the impressive, nine-sided Bahai very articulate. It was a great privilege
Temple near the Wilmette harbor. After to spend three unforgettable days with
touring the inside of the building—dedi- Meheru in the United States.
cated to the unity of world religions—I
remember Meheru in the gardens insisting that Blake throw a penny backward,
over his shoulder into one of the nine
fountains. She helped Blake think of
a wish.
The next day Meheru hit the streets
of Chicago. First our small gang of Baba
lovers took her to the observation deck
of the famous 108 storey Sears Tower.
Again, Meheru giggled with delight at
seeing the city spread out before her.
And she made sure she pointed out different points of interest to Blake (who
had also never been on the top of such
a building).
Next stop was the newly remodeled
Shedd Aquarium, which boasted their
famous new penguin tanks. It was magical to watch Meheru as she gazed at the
playful birds. She was truly interested
in everything in Baba’s wonderful world
around her.
The final event I remember was a
boat tour of Chicago from the waters of
19
it, not having learned my lesson on my
first trip to India when I admired Mani’s
reddish-purple velvet sapats (slippers).
She took them off and said, “Have
them,” and after some resistance from
me, said, “Have them, or the crows will
have them.”
Two Meheru Stories
Gordon Campbell
1
On a visit to Australia, Meheru was
admiring the garden of my mother, Diana
Snow, when she was at Avatar's Abode.
"Oh but you should see Dina's in Los Angeles!" So when Meheru was in LA in 1993,
she made a special detour to see the 35
species I had planted.
Memories of Meheru
Hana Debbie Peterson
M
eheru appreciated bodywork for
pain relief and I was privileged to
work on her a few times. During the first
session I was shocked when I felt her
neck, how twisted the vertebrae, how
hard the tissue, how tight the cranium
was pulled down. I asked her how it
happened. She said it happened during
a time when Baba required Meherazad
to be as quiet as possible, for the Work
He was doing. She was in charge of
one of the big dogs. She was standing
on the porch steps with the dog on the
leash when he took off after something,
causing Meheru to twist and fall, hurting her neck the most. I asked her why
she didn’t go to a doctor for it. She said
something like, “We didn’t bother Baba
about such things.”
I noticed a beautiful coarsely woven
brown wool shawl, just the kind I was
looking for in the bazaar, at the end of
her bed. I made the mistake of asking
her where she got it. She said it was
a gift from a dear Baba lover from
Pakistan, and it had been made there.
After the session she gave it to me,
though I felt embarrassed for admiring
20
On October 2nd, 2007, about 25
people gathered at Meherazad for
Meheru’s 80th birthday. My wife Renn
and I were fortunate to be there. We all
sat on Mehera’s porch and were entertained by Heather Nadel’s singing, Cindy
Decek’s singing with guitar, and some
wonderful group songs. Then it was
my turn to give the only public speech I
have ever given.
Months earlier, I had an intuition that
I needed to do something to thank dear
Meheru for all the kindnesses she had
given me over the years. I cannot sing
or dance, so a speech was all that was
open. I tried to come up with an idea, but
nothing came. So inwardly I asked Baba
what He would like to say. Immediately,
these words came out. I would tear up
whenever I practiced the speech. Again
I asked Baba for the strength not to
cry when I gave the speech. I was able
to give the speech slowly and without
undue emotion. It’s as follows:
Baba has told us that we should give
everything to Him. But most of us who
give Baba something, take it back in the
next breath. Meheru gave Him everything and never took it back.
As a young girl she knew that being
with Baba was her only wish. The living
Christ granted her wish at Christmas,
1942. She has stayed with Him ever since.
She gave Him everything and never
looked back.
When you give Baba something, He
places it back in your care. What care Meheru has taken, in what He has given her.
She has cared for His loved ones and for
the places He called home. Baba trusted
her to care for His greatest treasure, His
beloved Mehera. For forty-seven years,
Meheru anticipated Mehera’s every
wish. She did this service effortlessly,
gliding, almost invisibly, from task to
task. However, His greatest gift to her
was the care she was able to give Baba
personally. What a gift to serve He who
is the most beautiful, a beauty so great,
His human form can barely contain it.
She gave Him everything and never let
Him down.
When Meheru gave Baba everything,
she emptied her heart. Baba said empty
your heart and you will find Me there.
Meheru found Him. Think of the images Baba has given Meheru to hold in
her heart: images of Him walking as the
King of Kings under the snow peaks of
India, images of Him dressed as the most
beautiful beggar in the New Life, images
viewed behind the screens of the many
gatherings, where the wine of His love
flowed without measure. And images of
Him at Meherazad, where He was both
helpless and God. She gave Him everything and received without measure.
Meheru has touched the lives of all
here today. Through Baba’s love she
Meheru playing cards with Gordon on the Meherazad Porch
through the whole afternoon tea, it was
such fun to see her so sparkly.
She like it so much and also the
singing that night of the bhajan singing, harmonium, gungaroos, and with
a tabla player and all, that in the future
whenever i sang in western songs at
Meherazad in India as Raine, at the end
of the songs she would say, “And now
how about a bhajan from Rani didi”. I
would then sing any one of the women’s
favorite bhajans, usually a Mirabai one.
Jai Baba!
has made us better men and women.
We thank you Baba, for your Grace in
letting us know dear Meheru.
Happy Birthday Meheru.
My wife Renn was sitting next to Meheru during the speech. As it ended she
saw a tear roll down Meheru’s check.
Thank you, Baba. 2
I first came to Meherazad on October 3rd, 1977. It was the day after
Meheru’s 50th birthday. Within three
weeks I was working at Meherazad on
the Women’s side. Meheru was my boss
and my friend. After Aloba’s tea at 3 p.m.
and before Mehera’s tea at 4 p.m. we
would play cards on Mehera’s porch. We
played double solitaire with two decks
of cards. It is a game of recognition and
speed.
Meheru was very quick. She would
beat almost everyone at badminton,
Seven Tiles and Gilla Donda. She was
very clear-headed. She had all those
years of anticipating the wants of Baba
and Mehera, so she could recognize
where a card should go almost immediately. She would even point out to me
where one of my cards should go.
So as you might expect I lost almost
every game. For months, things did not
change. I lost and lost. About half way
through our play, each day, Meheru
would get up and put on water for Mehera’s tea. I would shuffle the cards. I
found that if I shuffled them a certain
way, I would win more games. This was
great; now, instead winning one in ten,
I would win two in ten. In time, when
Meheru was fixing tea, I started handplacing cards so I would have a better
chance. Now I would win four out of
ten games.
One day she came out to the porch
unexpectedly. I had all the cards laid out,
hand-placing the cards. She knew immediately what I was doing. She laughed
that tinkling laugh of hers and we played
on. We played on many occasions over
the years, until the stiffness in her hands
became too great and until I became a
bit too dim-witted to play! Meheru
Sarah McNeill
Raine conversing with Meheru
story. In 2003 Meheru came to Australia
to Avatars Abode Anniversary which i
attend most years. The program had
Raine singing and also on the program
was the bhajan singer Rani didi to would
entertain the Beloved. Somehow my
pseudonym had passed dear Meheru
by as when reading the program she
asked Roy and Ros Hayes, “Who is this
bhajan singer Rani didi, how is it she has
come all the way from India to sing here
at the Abode?”
So Roy winked at Ros and they
phoned me over the road where i always
stay at John and Jeanette Isaac-Youngs.
They suggested i get dressed in my
shalwaar-khamiz and come on over for
afternoon tea with Meheru. They told
Meheru, much to her happiness, this
singer Rani didi is coming for tea. Well
when i walked inIndian clothes braided
hair with a dot on my forehead and bells
on my ankles did Meheru laugh and
laugh, she kept up the play of Rani didi
Meheru, a Small Story
Raine Eastman-Gannett
A
small Meheru story, although one
floods in ones heart back to first
meetings in 1973, playing quoits with
Meheru, or watching her skillfully spinning her little Indian bright colored
‘tops’, or her badminton wins, or how
on walks with her she could walk faster
than any of us... ah, but back to the little
Raine listening carefully to instructions from
Meheru. Jal and Dolly Dastur in the background
with others.
This lovely sari, carefully folded,
Is placed alongside others in the
chest;
The room, full of murmured voices
from the past
Seems strangely empty.
Through open windows drifts early
morning scent of jasmine;
In the garden roses bloom.
The women mandali
With the grace and freshness of
garden flowers
Made up a garland for the Lord.
Within this close circle the Beloved
rested
And was at peace on earth.
For Him their garland was the only
one He wanted.
Each bloom He chose, and by this
choice
Made each one everlasting;
As fresh now as in the Paradise gardens of Persia,
Or the meadows of Brindavan;
As graceful still as those flowers that
bloomed
On the hills of Galilee and in the
courtyards of Medina.
And in the centre was the rose,
The one of whom he said,
“She is my very breath”
His Mehera.
Mehera He drew back unto Himself
before the rest;
The others followed later at His call.
Just one was asked to stay behind
And keep the house and garden
As Mehera would have wished in
every detail,
Ready for His appearance
From one moment to the next,
His ever present presence.
The sound of a clap.
21
And Meheru played that role.
She did it perfectly, and in so doing
Gave to all around her a living example
Of everything the women mandali
learned to be,
A reflection of His love
With the strength of tempered
steel;
Compassion, tenderness and charm,
And constant attention to
every detail.
Riches in poverty.
Radiance in simplicity.
Self-fulfilment in service.
Around the table in the kitchen
A circle of cups.
Empty cups are filled,
Love is shared.
We share in these perfected
lifetimes
And know the joy of this supreme
reunion.
Meheru: From My Journals
Molly Jones
Mill Valley, CA
M
August 22, 2004
eherazad morning, finally time
with Meheru, sitting next to her
on the porch, dreams discussed, she said
she’d had a dream of Mehera after she
passed. The conversation swayed to a
refreshing Parsi beverage made of semolina, ground nuts, cream—then I asked
her if she wanted to share a dream. She
said, “You have a good memory.”
She had dreamt that Mehera was sitting on the floor next to a chair there in
the living room. (Meheru pointed to the
chair.) Then Mehera got up and walked
to Baba’s gadi and surprised Meheru by
sitting on it. Meheru thought to say, no
Mehera, but then she thought, if she
wants to sit there, let her. When Meheru looked at her on the gadi, Mehera
became Baba, then herself, then Baba,
and Meheru understood that she had
become one with Him.
22
Meheru said that Mehera would stay
awake all night after Baba dropped his
body. She said she wanted to be alone
with Baba. She looked tired, drawn, but
the month before she died, she was
weak and would sleep more, the color
came back to her face, and she looked
young again. Meheru thought, no wonder Baba fell in love with her!
Meheru’s Memories of the New Life
Nov. 28th, 2006
Sarnath, Buddha’s place of teaching
Men in front not supposed
to look back,
Baba wanted them to stop,
Mani banging whistle
Donkin with headdress
Sari caught around her legs
Baba’s humor
Caravan being pulled, donkeys tied
behind it, pulling back
Gustadji didn’t know how to make
them go forward,
Mani and Meheru goaded them from
behind
Stops and starts
Firewood – sticks from teeth
cleaning,
orchards already cleared, gathered
along way, no Mani!
The melodious bell of the camel as
the caravan caught up
Bell still here
Understanding of the New Life?
To be with Baba
December 22nd, 2006
Meheru didn’t really want to answer
questions the second time I saw her. She
said it was hard to be with Baba in the
New Life because He was there as a man
and they had to please Him.
Meheru wants to see the film about
soil that we are working on at Lily Films.
She is interested in the health of the
Earth. I told her I would send her Symphony of the Soil when it is finished. (The
film came out not long after her departure.)
Meheru Clearing Cobwebs
Jamie Dillon
I
have this strong sense of having gotten to know Meheru, even though I
met her only once. It’s on her, she pulled
me right into her orbit, my one visit to
Meherazad, in ‘87. It was on Mehera's porch, August,
1987. I was sitting right next to Meheru,
and I got to sing a couple songs. The second one was “Pussywillows, Cattails,” a
Gordon Lightfoot song, about the sea-
sons. Mehera looked pensive the whole
time and nodded. Meheru spoke up and
said for a moment that it felt like spring. Nice thing to say to a singer.
After that we got into a long conversation, mostly her telling me about
Baba’s animals and how she grew up
around Baba and in general holding
me in her spell. She was particularly
concerned about the drought, with
the monsoons coming late that year. I
shifted my glance at one point so as not
to be rude staring at her while she was
talking, and here she was crooking her
finger at me, ever so subtly, for part of a
second, as if to say, “Just you gaze into
my dark eyes and stay there.” Whatever
she was doing, it had something to do
with clearing the cobwebs inside me.
Meheru was a subtle woman, but with
all kinds of clear purpose.
There was another moment on another day at Meherazad during that trip,
standing in front of Baba's room, when
Meheru came up to me and gave me a
big ole hug. It really was as if we were
refreshing an old connection. She was a
wonderful person and full of light.
The Mandali’s Remarkable Intuition (Especially Meheru’s) that
Changed a Life
Mickey Karger
I
t was 1991…five years since I’d last
visited Baba’s home and His remarkable Mandali—the Eighth Wonder of
the World, as Rustom Falahati has so
aptly dubbed them. I’d gotten married
in 1987 to a most wonderful human being, a gentle-hearted, sweet-souled lady
named Wendy. But Wendy was not a
Baba follower, nor, after listening to me
talk about Baba ad nauseam and making
her watch Baba videos, was she even
remotely interested. In fact, she was
becoming damned annoyed. I had yet to
learn the lesson of, Back off, that one of
the worst ways to bring someone into
Baba’s fold is to ram Him down someone’s throat, or, in this case, the heart.
So here it was, 1991, and five years
since my 9th and last trip to India. And
I was hell-bent on campaigning for a
return trip, pestering Baba no end to
come to my rescue. Well, of course, He
did, like He always does when pelted
with a particular want. Two very good
friends, Larry and Rita Karrasch, called
and said they were going to India, and
did we want to go with them? Is the
Pope Catholic?
So we went, Wendy all but kicking
and screaming. “When I meet these
people, I’m going to say just what I
think,” she said. “Absolutely,” I agreed.
What, you think I wanted to start World
War Three? When I introduced her to
Bal Natu, the first thing he said to her
(after “Jai Baba”) was: “Always say what
you think. Never be shy in Baba’s love.”
Wham. A left and right hook to the heart.
The next day, sitting around the
porch at Meherazad with Meheru and
a few of the women Mandali, Wendy
asked me, “Why do people have to die?”
Struck speechless (for once), I turned to
her and said, “Don’t ask me. Ask them.”
And so she did. The words had not been
out of Wendy’s mouth barely a moment
when Meheru suddenly interrupted the
flow of conversation to ask someone
to fetch Joy Adamson’s book about the
famous lioness, Elsa, the heroine of the
Born Free books, and in particular, how
difficult it was dealing with Elsa’s death,
but in the end coming to accept death
as a necessary part of the life cycle. I
don’t recall precisely what was said,
and neither does Wendy, but at that
moment, it spoke directly to Wendy’s
heart, and assuaged her hurt, in a way
only Baba could do through His remarkable Mandali.
Nothing I could have said to Wendy,
no Baba books I could have made her
read, no Baba videos I could have made
her watch, could have done what His
dear Mandali had done in seconds, just by
listening—and acting—with their incredible hearts’ intuition. Bal Natu had blasted
open the thick doors of doubt and fear
in Wendy’s heart, but Meheru’s spontaneous, intuitive response sent beams of
life-changing light into her heart.
When we’d returned home, it was not
long before Wendy lost a long-held job
and was forced to make a life-changing
career move…all made possible by the
life-changing events on a porch in India,
and jewel of a soul named Meheru.
PS: Its now been 21 years since my
last visit to India, and once again, I’m
campaigning to return…and driving
Wendy crazy.
Manu
Jessawala
Meherwan Jessawala
and Meherazad family
M
anu Byramshaw Jessawala,
sister of Eruch and Meherwan
Jalu Kaikobad
Dastur
J
Photo Bernard Bruford
Manu and Meherwan
Jessawala, joined her Beloved Meher
Baba on August 16th, 2012, at 5:58
am in Meherazad. Manu had been in
heart failure for several weeks and this
morning she peacefully drifted into her
Beloved's waiting arms with her family
and caregivers around her repeating
Baba's Name. Manu was 93 years old.
Her cremation will be at Meherabad on
16th August at 5 pm.
Manu, daughter of Gaimai and Pappa
Jessawala, was born in 1919 in Nagpur, but she lived with her family for
many years at Bindra House in Pune
where Baba and His Mandali often
stayed during Baba's visits there. On
1st August 1938, Manu and the entire
Jessawala family joined Baba's ashram
in Meherabad and thereafter traveled
throughout India in the Blue Bus with
Him. Finally, in 1943 Baba sent the family
to Pune where they took up residence
in Bindra House awaiting Baba's call.
While residing there, Manu and her
family were in daily contact with Baba
wherever He was.
In 1990 Bindra House was sold by its
owner and, as Baba during His lifetime
had given the family permission to
live at Meherazad, Gaimai, Manu and
Meherwan, joined Eruch, and the other
resident Mandali at Meherazad.
Manu's life of total obedience, love
and service to Beloved Baba till the very
end has been an inspiration to all who
have met her. Her constant remembrance of and focus on Meher Baba are
precious touchstones guiding our way
to His feet. Her sole desire was to die
with Baba's Name on her lips and as she
returned to Him, her family and caregivers ensured that she heard Baba's name
till the very end.
We, your Meherazad family salute
you, dearest Manu, for a life lived in
complete surrender to your Beloved
Avatar Meher Baba.
AVATAR MEHER BABA KI JAI!!!
alu passed away on 1st March 2012, at
2:20 in the afternoon in her room on
Meherabad Hill after a brief illness. She
was 83 years old. Daughter of Baba’s
disciple Kaikobad, Jalu was blessed with
a lifelong association with the Avatar of
the age.
Born on 22nd March 1929, Jalu moved
to Meherabad with her mother Jerbai
and two sisters Meheru and Gulu (her
older brother Ratan lived in Ahmednagar
and worked at Sarosh Cinema) on 31st
July 1944. For most of their life there, the
family occupied rooms in a building that
had been previously used by Baba for the
maternity hospital, for the caretaking of
masts and mad persons, and as an office
for the Meher Baba Journal. Right next
to their living quarters was and still is
Baba’s Cage Room, used by Him for
intense seclusion and mast work.
During the New Life when Baba disbanded His ashrams and got rid of all
His old properties, Kaikobad’s was the
only family to continue residing on the
Hill. While after the New Life Kaikobad
moved about with Baba until settling in
with Him at Meherazad, his wife Jerbai
and daughters stayed on with Mansari
in Upper Meherabad, during those long
decades in the 1950s and 60s when
Meherabad was a largely deserted rural
outpost. All that changed when Baba
dropped His body in 1969. Pilgrims began to visit, and Meherabad suddenly
became a beehive of activity.
After Kaikobad and Jerbai died in the
mid-70s (their oldest daughter Meheru
had already passed away in 1965), Jalu
and her older sister Goolu remained together in the old hospital building, two
of Meherabad’s more colorful characters. Innocent and guileless to a degree
that one rarely finds, Goolu and Jalu often created a comic impression on those
who met them, chattering and jabbering
on with each other in seeming complete
obliviousness to how they might appear
in the eyes of the world. Baba too took
enjoyment in this simple-hearted, childlike nature of theirs. One games that
He used to play with them was this: the
three sisters had very different voice
timbres: Meheru’s was a deep chest alto,
Goolu spoke in the middle range, while
Jalu talked in a high nasal whine. So Baba
used to have them say their names one
after another — “Meheru!” “Goolu!’
23
“Jalu!” “Meheru!” “Goolu!” “Jalu!”—
round and round, faster and faster. The
total effect was exquisitely funny. The
sisters for their part were thoroughly
sporting about it, pleased to be able to
entertain their Beloved in this way.
Though their father was a Parsi priest
who had brought his children up in
relative affluence, the “three fatties,”
as they were sometimes nicknamed in
the ashram, used to stitch their own
dresses, for that purpose cutting up
what are known as “garas,” old classic
Parsi saris made of shanghai silk with
fine ornamental needlework in silver
and gold thread. Jalu dies the last of her
family, one of the very few families that
Baba personally took “under His wing,”
as it were, providing lifelong support
and residence, just a few steps from
His own Samadhi at Meherabad. Jalu’s
ashes, like those of her sisters Meheru
and Goolu before her, have been scattered across the top of the Hill, within
that small tract and circumference
where she was blessed to spend most
of the years of her life.
Jan de Bont
Ed Flannagan, Los Angeles
F
ew people in the Hollywood film
world, as well as followers of Meher
Baba, are aware that Jan de Bont was
the photographer who shot the first
and only 35mm color/sound film of the
Avatar in 1967. The filming of Baba at
Meherazad took place under the direction of Louis Van Gasteren and many
years later was finally released by Sheriar Foundation as “Beyond Words”.*
de Bont was one of 17 children born
into a Roman Catholic Dutch family in
the Netherlands on October 22, 1943. He
always had a creative mind for camera
techniques and in 1967 in his mid-20s
joined Van Gasteren, a renowned Dutch
documentary and feature filmmaker
who flew in from Amsterdam with his
three-man crew. de Bont was his cameraman and Joké Meerman the soundman. Peter Brugman was the third crew
member.
Over the years, Baba had often been
requested by filmmakers to do a movie
about Him. This was the only occasion
to which He consented, agreeing to
step out of His deep seclusion to be
photographed by Van Gasteren and
his team.
24
They were all very deeply moved by
Meher Baba’s love. Besides photographing him at Meherazad in 35mm sound
film with Seclusion Hill as a backdrop,
Baba also allowed them to film a program in Ahmednagar where he bathed
the feet of lepers and bowed down to
them, giving them His prasad.
Just five years after his historic work
with the Avatar in India, de Bont’s Hollywood career began in 1973 spanning
three decades. He became a member
of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) and went on to a very successful motion picture career, achieving
fame as a popular Hollywood cinematographer and film director with several
Academy Award nominations.
He worked on a number of major
films before finding himself on the
production of the film Speed (1994),
which became his first acclaimed hit as
a director with a spark of his own. The
film was a success and took him onto
the next set for Twister in 1996, which
he also directed.
A bit of trivia is that just before he
came to Hollywood from Boston to work
in film editing, Baba lover Don Douglas
and I [Ed Flanagan] were the guests
of 20th Century Fox in 1995 on a three
day junket for a rare behind-the-scenes
tour of Industrial Light & Magic [ILM] in
Marin County, which came into being to
pioneer the revolutionary special effects
for Lucas’ Star Wars series.
It was an opportunity given to very
few people. In those days, Japanese
and Chinese filmmakers were trying to
tap into the production secrets of Lucas’
wildly successful special effects wizardry. Security outside the well-hidden studio was very tight. The entrance to the
secret, sophisticated facility was cleverly
disguised as a strip mall with a copy shop
and other typical small mall-type storefronts which didn’t seem very ‘busy’ as
they were merely window dressing for
what went on in the studios behind the
mall. No cameras were allowed and we
were sworn to secrecy as to what we
observed and heard inside.
A partial list of Jan de Bont’s credits:
He served as Director of Photography
on over 40 films such films, including
Die Hard (1988) The Hunt for Red October
(1990, Flatliners (1990), Basic Instincts
(1992), Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) which
he also directed. His other Directorial
credits include Speed (1994), Twister
(1996), Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997),
The Haunting (1999), Lara Croft Tomb
Raider: The Cradle of Life (2001).
All this seems quite a reward for being the only filmmaker to capture the
Avatar in such high resolution.
*The DVD “Beyond Words” is available
in The Shoppe on Love Street. Besides
the 38 minutes of breathtaking footage of Baba (the best ever seen on
any film), and a booklet that tells you
the whole story of the filming, from
start to finish, there is another DVD
included in this package: Paul Comar’s
beautiful films of the women Mandali,
focusing mostly on Mehera, that he
took while in Meherazad in the ‘70s.
It is a silent movie that Mani insisted
he accompany with his exquisite piano
playing. The double DVD sells for only
$50. Contact Dina to purchase anything from the Shoppe.
Joy Mauzey
January 30, 1914 – July 5, 2012
Annie Stovall
J
oy Mauzey, a long-time Baba lover,
passed away at her home in Martinez
on Thursday, July 5, 2012 at the age of 98.
She is survived by Clifton, her devoted
husband of 62 years, 4 children, and 11
grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Joy lived on the Big Island of Hawaii
before moving back to California with
Clifton in 1970. She loved music and
dance, especially Line and Polynesian
dancing. A private memorial with family
and friends was held on July 8 to honor
her life.
Here is an excerpt from Clifton Mauzey
(Joy’s husband):
“I met Joy when I was in the Veteran’s
hospital in San Fernando, Southern
California, having been discharged from
the army. She had been coming to the
hospital with a small group every week
as a volunteer with the Red Cross as a
friendly visitor. We were married in January, 1950, right after I was discharged
from the hospital.
We moved to the Big Island of Hawaii
around 1960 where we lived for about 10
years. I was in business there for the most
part as a General Building Contractor and
we adopted two children, a boy and girl,
a year apart, right after their birth. Joy
had two other children from previous
marriages.
We both loved the Hawaiian people,
their music and dancing. Joy had been a
dancer since early childhood and when
we came back to the mainland in 1970,
Joy continued her dancing and taught
Hawaiian dancing, as well as Line dancing. She also led a performing group for
many years, with which I helped her by
selecting and playing the music.
Shortly after returning to the mainland and settling in the town of Martinez, we heard about Meher Baba and
started attending the group which met
in Berkeley. You could say that Baba
came to us in 1972. We were particularly
influenced by a very vivid dream I had of
Baba. We were active in attending meetings, retreats, and get-togethers with
close ones of Baba visiting from India.”
I
n honour of my beloved wife Helen I got
this tattoo. It was one of the pictures
she chose to have near her bedside, and
used to look at it often before she passed
away. It helps to remind me that everything is the way it should be. Jai Baba,
Christopher Franklin [son of Dina Gibson].
Annie Stovall recalls:
“This incredible lady, who was like a
second mom to me, welcomed me into
her family when I moved to California in
the mid 1970s. Joy lived a very full life, and
will be remembered for her kindness and
sweetness. She had a remarkable ability
to remain cheerful and poised in the face
of adversity; this was an inspiration to all
who knew her. Joy truly lived up to her
name and will be dearly missed.”
All is as it is as He wills it
to be….
PERFECT!
Joy and Cliff
25
Drought at Baba’s Abode
12 June 2012
I
t was a light sprinkling of rain that
came to Meherabad and Meherazad
at the beginning of the monsoon almost
exactly a year ago, and more welcome
light showers arrived a few days later.
But as the weeks and months of the 2011
monsoon—June, July, August, September—passed, no real torrential rains fell
on the Ahmednagar area. By December
a serious water shortage was already
felt at Meherabad and Meherazad, and
at Amartithi, pilgrims underwent water
restrictions, which continued until the
end of the pilgrim season.
With the Indian summer now over,
the water shortage at both Meherabad
and Meherazad has become extreme.
The Meherabad wells are either dry or
with just a nominal production of water
(as you can see from the accompanying photos of Meherabad wells). Water
coming through the much-used pipeline
from Ahmednagar to Meherabad is now
sporadic at best. Water tankers now carry
water from far-off wells to Meherabad
and Meherazad, but due to the demand
in the whole area for water, the tanker
water cannot always be relied upon to
arrive, or come fewer than ordered or
expected. Tankers are large trucks, but
the very old and small Trust tanker in
the accompanying photo is pulled by
bullocks; it traditionally fills water in large
earthenware containers at the village
railway crossing.
26
By the date of this posting,
the water supply for Meherabad is literally sufficient for
one day at a time, and that
enough only for very basic
Meherabad needs. As readers
probably know, the pilgrim accommodations at Meherabad
have been closed (Hostel D) or
will not open as usually scheduled at the Meher Pilgrim Retreat, because of lack of water.
Some may remember that in
1983, the Meher Pilgrim Centre
The Meherabad water tanker and bullock
and other accommodations
could not open until October because ter to the MPR are two wells about 3 km
away which are not producing water. As
of drought.
Beloved Avatar Meher Baba’s timing it is not possible to deliver water by pipeline from any other sources, the MPR is
as always rules His world.
now totally dependent upon tankers,
20 June
and a sufficient number for the MPR at
With great regret, the Trust informs Silence Day is not possible.
Baba’s lovers that the extreme drought
Please also note that Meherazad will
at Meherabad, Meherazad and the sur- open to pilgrims for the morning of 9th
rounding areas continues. Absolutely no July and 11th July (visitors must choose
measurable rain has yet fallen at Mehe- only one of the two days). As usual,
rabad, and because of that the Trust’s Meherazad will not be open to visitors
wells are dry, excepting the few that act on Silence Day, 10th July.
as storage tanks for water brought by
Every effort is being made to store
tankers. While the pipeline from Ahmed- enough water to accommodate Baba’s
nagar is giving some water, the Moola pilgrims at Meherabad on His Silence Day.
Dam that supplies it has dropped to its
The Trust will continue to monitor the
minimum water level. Meherabad has drought situation, and open accommodabecome increasingly dependent upon tion for Baba-lovers as soon as feasible.
large water tankers. As the drought
continues, it is becoming very difficult 30 June
to get reliable, potable tanker water in
The Indian monsoon continues to
sufficient quantities.
elude a number of places in India, includAs a sad result, the Meher Pilgrim ing the Ahmednagar district. Although a
Retreat and Hostels C, D & Dharmshala few welcome showers have fallen in the
at Meherabad cannot be opened until past couple of days, regretfully there
further notice, due to lack of water. has not been enough rain to penetrate
Meherazad, which is also under extreme the parched ground and effect the wells
water shortage, will not open as usual to in Meherabad or the surrounding area.
visitors on 1st July. However, kindly note
At a meeting today, 30th June, it
the following which is being arranged was again confirmed that despite the
to honour Beloved Baba’s Silence Day continuing water shortage, pilgrim acanniversary:
commodation in Hostel C & D will be
Hostel C & D will open for pilgrims on opened for Silence Day from 9th July
9th July until 13th July (lunch), under tight until 13th July (lunch) 2012. (All spaces
water restrictions. (This is only for those have already been reserved). After July
pilgrims who have applied by 19th June 13th the accommodations will again close
for accommodation at Hostels C & D and until further notice. As also stated previthe MPR.) From 13th July, Hostel C & D ously, Meherazad will be open for visitors
will again be closed until further notice.
on the mornings of 9th July and 11th July
Meher Pilgrim Retreat will not open (with visitors going to Meherazad on one
for Silence Day. The main source of wa-
of the two days only). As usual, Meherazad will be closed on
Silence Day.
The Trust will continue to monitor the situation, and inform
Baba-lovers on 15th July of any foreseen changes in pilgrim
accommodation.
What’s Happening at Meherabad?
Lovely Showers
of
Baba’s Grace
RAIN!!
30 June
Over the past three
days, approximately six
inches of rain has fallen on
Meherabad, much against
the national weather forecast! These were showers
of grace from Beloved
Baba.
As the bounty of water sinking into the earth
will begin recharging the
Meherabad wells after
about a week, enough
water will soon be able to
be pumped to the Meher
Pilgrim Retreat as needed.
With this in mind, we are
happy to announce that
we will be able to open
the Meher Pilgrim Retreat
to pilgrims for accommodation on 20th
July 2012.
Hostel C & D, which will be opened for
Silence Day starting 9th July as previously
announced, will remain open.
However there will be strict restrictions on use of water at all pilgrim accommodations.
As also previously announced, Meherazad will open to pilgrims on the mornings of 9th and 11th July (and be closed as
usual on Silence Day). The pilgrim season
at Meherazad will begin Sunday, 15th July
2012, with Meherazad open on Sundays,
Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to
12:30 p.m.
Avatar Meher Baba ki Jai!!!
Elephant rains at the old MPC
21 July
Pilgrim accommodation at Meherabad
for the 2012-13 season is finally fully off
the ground! As difficult as it was to make
the decision not to open on schedule,
the extra time brought the beginnings of
rains and a supply of stored water for the
early part of the season. We are still waiting to see how the monsoon plays out, as
water remains very scarce in our area and
dependent on continued rainfall. Water
conservation measures are in place at
Meherabad and pilgrims help by adhering
to the usage restrictions, only one bath
in three days, and by always using water
less less less!
Hostel D opened on July 9th in time for
those who were able to come for Silence
Day. One thousand fifty (1050) pilgrims
were accommodated over the four days
taking us through Dhuni on the 12th.
Now Hostel D continues with a smaller,
steady stream of pilgrims, and Meher
Pilgrim Retreat has opened its doors for
the season, beginning July 20. Thirty-four
(34) Baba lovers arrived at MPR during
the first two days and reservations are
coming in every day for the rest of July
and August. As always the influx of fresh
faces, old and new, brings with it the
feeling of Baba’s warm Welcome Home
and His eternal presence in the hearts of
His Lovers.
--Avatar Meher Baba PPC Trust
27
28
Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual
Public Charitable Trust
Shri V. S. Kalchuri, Chairman
Dear Baba Lovers, Avatar Meher Baba
Ki Jai.
Date: 17th November 2011
W
e are writing to bring you up to
date on many things concerning
the Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public
Charitable Trust.
As most of you know, the Trust was
established by Meher Baba Himself in
1959. A great deal of important background and history regarding the Trust
can be found at our website: ambppct.
org.
While Baba signed the Trust Deed on
April 6, 1959, the Trust remained inactive for the remaining ten years of His
Life. In the 1960's, Baba gave certain instructions to the trustees for the future
about spiritual training and educating
the public about His message and life.
These were later incorporated into the
Trust Deed.
As a part of the Trust Deed, Baba also
specified that, after He had passed away,
the Trust should maintain and care for
His Tomb at Meherabad, create facilities
for pilgrims there, foster spiritual and
cultural activities relating to the spreading of His message, and carry out certain
charitable activities for the benefit of
humanity irrespective of caste, creed,
religion, sex or nationality.
For most of its history since 1969, the
Trust has been led first by Baba's sister
and intimate disciple, Mani, and then by
Bhau Kalchuri, also a member of Meher
Baba's mandali. With the leadership of
the Trust vested in a mandali member
trained by Meher Baba, a great deal of
respect was naturally given to the experience and authority that came from
a life of close personal service given to
the Lord.
There is no doubt that an enormous
amount of remarkable work has been
accomplished by the Trust over the last
few decades. Against the many systemic
challenges that governmental regulations have entailed, with Baba's help and
guidance, Bhau, in particular, has made
many things possible for the Trust that
were considered virtually impossible.
Before Mani left us, she personally
reached out to Bhau to become the next
Chairman of the Trust. Much good work
has been done with Bhau as our Chair for
the last fifteen years.
With the failing and fragile nature of
Bhau's health since the beginning of the
year, we want you to know that Bhau
is no longer able to attend to the day
to day matters of the Trust. There is no
doubt that this is a moment of significant transition for the Trust and as such,
it represents a critical moment in time. It
is a moment in which deep thought and
self-examination is appropriate to define
and determine how the Trust can best
uphold the charge given to it by Meher
Baba. As such, the remaining trustees
have been working on the many adjustments that will come as the Trust moves
out of an era when its Chairperson was
a mandali member. Each of us has been
managing different aspects of the Trust
for many years. The time has come now
for us to create a new “post-mandali”
culture in managing the affairs of the
Trust enriched by legacy of the mandalis’
life of love and service to their Lord.
To share with you a few such changes: we now have increased the number
of Board Meetings and meet more often
informally to keep ourselves abreast of
the changing needs of the Trust. The
Board has been developing a more
defined financial policy for over a year
with a particular focus on an enhanced
system of checks and balances to safeguard the financial integrity of the Trust.
A small working group has also been
formed to develop and implement this
policy. We are currently formulating a
formal code of ethics to provide transparency. And while the Trust already
shares its financial information on an
annual basis and is also subject to strict
auditing under Indian government regulations, we will be exploring new ways in
which we can share financial information
with the community of Baba's lovers.
In addition, we are restructuring
our committees and activities so that
at least two Trustees together with
other Residents are on each committee.
When Eruch was asked about how the
Trust should manage its affairs in the
light of what Beloved Baba had said
about the New Humanity he said, “Best
is joint responsibility.” We believe this
is true as it will help in the sharing of
information and accountability. We are
also implementing new policy initiatives
where needed. One such example is in
the selection of sponsorship to join the
Spiritual Training Program. Selection
once was in the hands of the Mandali,
now the entire Board participates in
the approval of sponsorship and visa
renewal.
As we have been busy facing this
new world of change, in the last few
months, we have received correspondence expressing questions, concerns
and misgivings about a wide range of
subjects regarding different aspects of
the way in which the Trust functions.
While many excellent questions have
been raised, we have also been on the
receiving end of various rumors, allegations and unsubstantiated accusations
that are simply not true. Many people
have reported on what they have heard
second or third hand or on something
that has no attribution at all.
We do not take any of these issues
lightly and consider all of this communication to be motivated by a heartfelt
concern for the well being of the Trust.
However, in order for us to engage in
a meaningful response, we need to
hear about people's first hand, direct
experiences.
Most of the concerns that we have
recently received revolve, in one way
or another, around how the Trust deals
with donations.
As a matter of principle, we state
categorically, that we do not believe
anyone should ever be pressured to
make a donation to the Trust, that no
trustee should receive any financial
benefit from being a trustee, that every
donation should be acknowledged with
a receipt and that donations accepted
for a particular purpose should be used
as designated.
29
Concerning land, both Mani and
Bhau were very focused and eager to
purchase all land around Beloved Baba’s
Samadhi for the Trust. They also asked
certain close Baba Lovers to join in and
help with this endeavor. All land purchased for this purpose has long since
been given to the Trust. Although, this
is a significant achievement, there are
still many acres of land near the Samadhi
that need to be purchased by the Trust
in order to secure the whole area soon
to become a place of pilgrimage for the
world.
It would be most productive for
the Trustees to hear from people who
have first hand, direct experience with
the Trust that has left them troubled.
The best way to do this is in a personal
conversation with its opportunities for
a true exchange, rather than through
email or other written forms of communication. You may contact any of
the Trustees without hesitation and you
will have our full support and thanks in
doing so. To do this, first contact any of
us through email in order to set up an
appointment on the phone. You may
find our emails on the Trust Web Site at
http://www.ambppct.org/ under “Contact Us.” However, in order to streamline this process, as primary points of
contact, you may communicate with
Craig Ruff, Heather Nadel, Falu Mistry or
Shridhar Kelkar. Craig's email address is
[email protected]. Heather's is
[email protected]. Falu’s email is
[email protected] and Shridhar’s is [email protected].
While we continue to learn and grow
in managing Baba’s Trust, please know
that the trustees are wholeheartedly engaged in working to make the future of
the Trust something that Baba Himself
would be pleased to see in action.
In the Love and Service of Avatar
Meher Baba,
Ali Ramjoo, Jal Dastoor, Jehangir, M.
Sukhadwala, Mehernath Kalchuri, Framroze, J. Mistry Shridhar Kelkar, Craig
Ruff, Ramesh Jangle, Heather Nadel.
Telegram: ‘MEHERBABA’ Ahmednagar. Telephone No: 2343666/2324947
Ahmednagar Office 2347093/2341821
Meherabad Office 2548733/2548736
Pilgrim Registration Office 2548211 Meher Pilgrim Retreat.
30
A Touch of Love
Vicki and Wayne Galler
I recently received this happy letter from the wonderful Gallers. They do so much
for the impoverished children in many 3rd world countries, and they allow us to help
them in their hands on efforts by sending $18 a month (automatically deducted from
your credit card.) for which ever child we choose amongst the many that are in need
of a sponsor.
This $18 provides food, clothing, school fees and necessary books etc. We are given
a photo of the child and can correspond with her or him and watch their progress over
the years. A photo of Manisha has been on my fridge door, along with my grandchildren,
for years. It has been such a joy to watch her grow and bloom.
Jai Baba Dina,
t is my great pleasure to inform you that Manisha Padurang Salake, who you have
been so graciously helping for some time now, has GRADUATED! Manisha entered
into our program when she was 7 years old and in 2 standard. [2nd grade]. Now she
is eligible to go on into higher education if she chooses to.
In the state of Maharashtra, where Manisha lives, lower grade fees at any school
must be paid, but when a child from ‘below the poverty line’ successfully completes
10 standard, [10th grade] that child can go on into upper level schooling and the fees
are paid by the state. Seldom do the children in families living below the poverty
line finish primary school, let alone finish 10 standard. But Manisha beat the odds
and because of the help she received from you, her life has changed forever and
many opportunities will open up for her.
I am asking if you would open your heart to a new child in the area, Jaydeep
Manohar Shin de. Jaydeep lives in the same Village of Kalkoop, about 45 minutes
drive from Meherabad. Jaydeep comes from a very difficult family situation. Neither
his father nor mother has any education. They work as laborers in the fields outside
their village earning a combined monthly income of $42.51 US, for a family of six.
We took Jaydeep into our program in June so he could start school on time with
children his own age. He now receives a morning meal when he arrives at school,
his books, uniforms and all school supplies required. He and his family can be seen
by a doctor at our monthly medical camp, and if any medical emergency arises, he
will be immediately taken to the medical clinic we support in the area. Our program
director checks on the children weekly and we check three times a year in person
to make sure they are doing well physically and with their studies.
Dina, your sponsor fees are paid monthly by credit card, so nothing will change.
If you would continue to help by sponsoring Jaydeep, please just keep his form and
photo. You will receive the newsletter, and updated photos of him.
Thank you for your kindness to others and for supporting our programs. It makes
a world of difference in the lives of these children and it's very much appreciated.
Sincerely,
Vicki Galler, A Touch of Love Foundation, 604 Hupa Street, Ventura, CA 93001 USA,
(805) 641-2800
This girl and boy need a sponsor. Will it be you?
I
Payal Sharad Shinde age 7
Ramdas Bharat Shinde age 7
Late Breaking News from Meherazad
Dear Ones of Baba's Family,
W
e would like to update you on a
number of fronts as to what has
been happening at Meherazad since
our communication about a month
ago regarding the construction of an
unexpected and unwanted new road.
For those who did not read the previous Trust-Talk on this subject, on 24th
July a road from Shendi town through
Meherazad property to nearby Pimpalgaon-Malvi village was started on the
verge of the original Meherazad property by the Pimpalgaon village council.
Although vigorously protested by
trustees and Meherazad residents, the
road was declared legal by the district
official of roads (Tehsildar) the day it
started and this legality was confirmed
in Ahmednagar the next day by the
Superintendent of the District Land Record Office, a higher official who agreed
with the Tehsildar that it was legal.
When further investigation confirmed that we had no legal recourse to
stop the construction of this road, we
were successful in negotiating a new
legal agreement that was beneficial to
Meherazad in several key areas.
First, the legal agreement moved the
road placement further from the core
property of Meherazad.
Second, the width of the road was
reduced from twenty feet to ten feet.
And third, in the legal agreement, the
local village council agreed that Meherazad could build sturdy fencing to
protect all its property, both along the
road and along its other boundaries.
It was understood that, without this
fencing, the road would inevitably grow
wider and additional encroachments
on Meherazad's property would be far
more difficult to prevent.
In fact, without the protection that
fencing will provide, there is an increasing danger that unauthorized trails and
paths made by farmers for easement
5th September 2012
might become a legal right of way by
default.
All of this has placed an immediate
high priority on beginning the fencing
project as soon as possible. Time is of
the essence as there is actually no certainty that the agreement that we have
in place for the fencing will be honored
as time passes.
The truth of the matter is that many
neighboring farmers and villagers do not
have any real appreciation or respect
for what Meherazad is. They are passionately concerned about their own everyday interests, some of which include
wanting to pass through Meherazad
lands when it is convenient for them, or
to use our lands for grazing or farming.
The changing attitudes of a younger
generation and the current political
situation have aggravated this issue, an
issue that has been around a long time
and even dates back to when Baba was
physically present.
In other words, unless we build the
fence, we anticipate that there will be
more and more intrusions and encroachments from our neighbors and that
preserving the sanctity of Meherazad's
atmosphere will be increasingly difficult
to do. With all of this in mind, we plan
to begin laying the fencing in the next
few weeks.
Meherwan Jessawala, Meherazad
resident, Eruch's brother and life-long
intimate disciple of Meher Baba, commented, "What Baba's plan is with the
new road is known only to Him, but we
who are the caretakers of His Meherazad have to do our best to preserve
His home."
We know how deeply concerned
the whole Baba family is about Meher
Baba's home at Meherazad. Protecting
and preserving its sanctity against the
intrusions of the world is going to require our loving vigilance for many years
to come. In all of this, we are confident
that our efforts are guided by His Hand
as He draws the weary world into a new
age of love and understanding.
In His Love,
Your Meherazad Family of Meherwan
Jessawala, Framroze (Falu) Mistry, Kacy
Cook, Shelley Marrich, Davana Brown,
Mehera Arjani, Michael Ramsden and
Peter Weiner
"Yet I say, 'have hope'... there is, on
youtube, hiding within certain videos,
the inextinguishable light of Truth!"
Cool Baba Cats
In the year 2025?
31
Beloved Avatar Meher Baba Ki Jai!
A
Photo colorization and montage ©Cherie Plumlee, Original B & W photo of
Meher Baba, ©Meher Nazar Publications
vatar Meher Baba Trust is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1962 East-West Gathering from 1st
to 4th November 2012 at Meherabad. All Baba lovers are
invited to attend this programme.
During this programme various kinds of presentations
will be made which will include sharing of memories of the
1962 Darshan by those who attended that programme,
musical presentation, special film, play, skits, dance,
exhibition, etc., purely based on the theme of the 1962
East-West Gathering Darshan programme. There will be
a large gathering of Baba lovers both from the East as
well from the West, and many interesting activities will
be there during these four days.
The programme will start at 9:30 a.m. on 1st November and will end by 6:30 p.m. on 4th November. On
4th November, Sunday morning, there will be a visit to
Meherazad. The Pune trip which was announced in the
earlier circulars is cancelled.
Requests for accommodation in Hostel C/D should be
sent positively before 31st August 2012. It will be difficult
to entertain those requests that are made after this date.
As the inaugural programme on 1st November 2012 is
most important, pilgrims should arrive at Meherabad on
30th and 31st October 2012. "Jai Meher Baba"
Jal P. Dastoor &Shridhar Kelkar, Trustees,
Avatar Meher Baba P.P.C. Trust, Meherabad
Meher Free Dispensary Overload!
A
new problem facing the Meher Free
Dispensary—the patient load at
MFD has substantially increased over
the past few months. Regularly 40-60
people are now being turned away
each day. A few days ago 100 had to
be turned away while 200 were seen!
At this rate the projected total patient
encounters for the year will be 32,000!
Four full-time primary care doctors,
full-time OB/GYN services and a pediatrician (3 days/week) are struggling to
meet the healthcare issues of the area.
With proper backing, it is probably time,
once again to expand services.
The photo shows the MFD in August in the countryside about a mile
from Meherazad.
32
Remember that $100 donation pays
for almost 30 full patient encounters,
including medicines, labs and referrals.
All donatons gratefully received
Avatar Meher Baba Heartland
Center Seeking Caretaker(s)
"Think of Me; remain cheerful in all your trials
and I am with you helping you."
~ Meher Baba "The Everything and the Nothing", p. 56.
Avatar Meher Baba Heartland Center in Prague, OK ~ Burleson House
Seeking Caretakers at the Heartland Center:
Long-term and Interim
Food Allowance now offered for long-term caretaker (if needed)
September 15, 2012
Jai Baba!
T
he Heartland Center is still seeking long-term
caretakers. The 'long-term' would ideally be for a
minimum of a year, but we are also welcoming offers
of shorter month-long time commitments. Thanks so
much to the interim caretakers that Baba has currently
sent, who will help cover Heartland Center caretaking
through October.
Others of you have stepped forward to be on our
interim list and have offered to take up to two-week
service shifts. This is so helpful as we seek volunteers
to sign on for longer time commitments. What a
wonderful opportunity to dedicate oneself in Baba's
service by volunteering at the Heartland Center, caring
for the beautiful Burleson House and Heartland Center
grounds, and supporting pilgrims who visit Prague seeking to pay homage to Baba and to learn more about
His life and work.
New food allowance: The Heartland Center board
met recently and approved the addition of a modest
food allowance for the long term caretaker. This may
help more volunteers be able to apply for the position.
To help sustain our added food allowance please consider making a donation: http://ambhc.org/donate.
33
What's Happening at Beloved Archives
Meher Baba's Seat Installed at Beloved Archives
Archives will continue with this massive
restoration and preservation project.
We request Baba-lovers to assist us with
donations for our ongoing archival work” Meher Baba's Seat at the
House of the Beloved
Meher Baba Web Portal
On The Beloved Archives Site
B
eloved Archives, the Meher Baba
Archival Foundation Web portal
(www.belovedarchives.org), has a
strong focus on the life, work and teachings of Avatar Meher Baba. Created by
web maven Jon Truelson, the portal
opens with a rotating series of photographs of Meher Baba superimposed
by pithy messages. A Discourse a Day
Meher Baba each day from the collection of discourses recorded in the
‘Silent Teachings of Meher Baba.’ The portal narrates a detailed account of Meher Baba’s life and work as
published in Naosherwan Anzar’s book
The Beloved photographs of Meher
Baba from the vast photo archives of
Beloved Archives. About the work at the Meher Baba
Archival Foundation in Hamilton, in
an interview on the site, Anzar, the
Executive Director of the Archive,
underscores the need to share, and explains: “The materials are preserved by
Beloved Archives with the intention of
sharing — and sharing quickly. In fact,
with all the documents in the process
of being scanned, we are getting closer
to the goal of sharing the material with
seekers everywhere.” With an emphasis on preservation,
Anzar said, “With limited funds Beloved
Archives has taken the necessary first
step in preservation by scanning all
documents and photographs. This is
an enormous job and it is ongoing. At
the same time all our cassette tapes
are being digitized and some are being transcribed (with the possibility of
publication in the future). And many
of the one-of-a-kind photographs have
been restored. “As funds become available through
tax-deductible donations, Beloved
34
It was in April 1941 when Meher Baba
welcomed Keki Nalavala into his spiritual
fold in a house on New Road in Dehra
Dun, a small hamlet nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas. Later in 1946, he
helped Papa Jessawala, one of Meher
Baba’s close disciples; find a bungalow
near Dehra Dun for Meher Baba’s “special spiritual work.” It was located in the
village of Niranjanpur and Baba stayed
in the village with his close disciples for
eight months. It has often been referred
to as the “place of seclusion.”
Yet, as Bal Natu writes in his Diary, Baba permitted Keki to see him.
At Keki’s invitation, Baba consented to
visit his house at 36 Lytton Road for a
simple meal of rice, dal (lentils) and chutney (pickle). Baba instructed that the
lunch be prepared by his wife Freiny in
complete silence. It was during this visit
that their son Naosherwan (currently
Executive Director of Beloved Archives
and the Editor of Glow International),
a two-month old baby had the unique
fortune to be cradled in Beloved Baba’s
lap while he sat on the Seat that has
now been installed at the House of the
Beloved.
The chairs Meher Baba sat in, at the Nalavala
family home in Niranjanpu in 1946
Remain Cheerful
This breeze of compassion continued
to blow on the Nalavala family even in
the New Life. In 1950 Meher Baba visited
their home and sat on the Seat (He sat
on these two chairs on different occasions). During one of the many visits,
Freiny told Baba that Keki unnecessarily
worried himself sick about certain things
in his life. Baba flashed a smile and gave
this advice, “If you worry about yourself,
God does not worry about you. And why
should He? If you stop worrying, God
has to begin to worry for you. Remember Him whole-heartedly; leave your
worrying to Him and be free to remain
cheerful.”
During the New Life, Meher Baba
stayed with his companions in a village
called Mafi Majri till April 1950. He decided to travel to Delhi, but the house
selected for Baba and his companions
was not ready to be occupied. Consequently, Meher Baba decided to live at
29 Lytton Road, opposite the Nalavala
home. It was the same house that Dr.
Donkin, one of Baba’s close disciples,
had used as a clinic.
During his stay at 29 Lytton Road,
Meher Baba walked over to the Nalavala home several times and sat on the
chairs that now adorn the House of the
Beloved. These chairs were designed
and manufactured by hand in Navsari
in Gujarat and used for the first time
when Keki and Freiny were married in
November 1940.
35
My Farewell to Mansari
Mirek Popowicz 1951-2011
England, March 2002
I
had come to bid farewell to Mansari.
My visit to Meherabad was over and
I was returning home. What I didn’t
know was that I had really come to say
goodbye to her, because I would not see
her again. That in a couple of months,
Mansari would die.
We were sitting together in the
Breathing Silence — which was always
my favorite time with Mansari.
When I had first arrived, Mansari had
looked uncharacteristically upset and
confused. I waited, then asked her what
was troubling her? It was a few moments
before she explained to me that she
had a visit from some Pilgrims who had
commented that she was a little weird
for not having a TV. And I could see it
had visibly hurt her.
"But what do I want with a TV, when I
have Baba?” Mansari asked the Breathing Silence. “For me, there is nothing like
sitting with Baba in the dark and quiet!"
I told her I didn’t have a TV either, so I
must be as weird as her. And Mansari
chuckled.
Then the Breathing Silence took us
into itself. And time almost came to a
standstill.
36
The dissolving stillness was
momentarily disturbed by Mansari
lurching forward in the giant deckchair, she used instead of an armchair, and reached for a large bag
of prasad, which she handed to me
with her most serious expression.
"Your name means Miracle. Now
take this prasad and go and do
some miracles!" Mansari told me
without the flicker of a smile.
Taking the bulky bag from her, I
nodded mechanically, knowing, yet
not knowing what she meant.
Then we re-surrendered ourselves to the Breathing Silence.
But only momentarily. Soon my
thoughts began to hatch and wriggle around like tadpoles, because I
knew that in the next few minutes
I’d have to leave Mansari.
And, as usual, Mansari instantly
picked up on what I was thinking.
"What time is your taxi arriving?"
she asked.
"About now, Mansari."
"Good. Then you must go."
"Yes, but I don’t want to leave!"
"Baba is everywhere. Wherever you
find yourself, He is there — because He
is here in your heart." Mansari said with
deep sympathy and understanding, "If it
is His wish, you will soon return."
"Yes, I know, Mansari. But 'out there'
is not the same as here!" And for the last
time, I leaned back into the Breathing
Silence. Yes, I had to go — it was Your
will and wish. But was it Your will and
wish that I would return?
I decided that there was no point
in dragging out my departure. I got up
and gave Mansari a prolonged, tender
embrace. My hand was on the kitchen
door and poised to push on it, when
Mansari called me back.
"You know, Baba would often smile,
when I questioned Him about His Universal Manifestation, and say to me :
'"Don’t worry, Mansari, when I manifest you will be present and you will see
Me. And you will see Me as I am now!
That’s a promise, Mansari!"'
"Baba meant that He would manifest
physically. But how can this be possible,
when His Physical Form now lays in Samadhi? Also, I am already an old woman
Photos of Mansari by Win Coates
and I won’t live for much longer. So how
can this be possible? Whenever I try to
understand what He told me, it turns
my brain to mush! But because He said
it, I believe Him. Even if we cannot understand His words, whatever He said is
Truth itself. So I wait!"
Then giving me a deep and piercing
look, Mansari pointed a finger at me,
saying, "When Baba Manifests — and
He said He would — I will send you an
invite. That’s a promise!" And she smiled
perfectly, before abruptly turning her
face away completely.
Mansari’s words had given me such
happiness that I longed to go back and
embrace her once again. But that’s when
I received a shock — an actual one! I felt
as if an energy line of extremely powerful voltage had suddenly manifested
itself between myself and Mansari. And
I not only felt it, I could smell it burning!
For a moment, I didn’t believe this
could be happening. But when I tried
to move a few inches towards Mansari
I could feel the ferocity of its high electrical charge. It was crazy, but it was
definitely there!
It felt it was saying to me: You mustn’t
go back or everything will be undone!
Bewildered and a little frightened, I
obeyed, and with a torn heart left, never
to see Mansari again.
However Baba, I know that in Your
Dictionary there is no such word as
'never'.
Divine Drowning
From The Real Treasure, © Rustom Falaharti
O
n days when pilgrims
visited Meherazad, Eruch
would spend most of the
morning sitting in Mandali
Hall sharing stories of his life
with Meher Baba. After lunch,
the pilgrims would leave and
Eruch would go into his room,
take off his pants and emerge
wearing just his short pajamas
and t-shirt, or, quite often, just
his pajamas.
One afternoon Craig [Ruff]
and I were sitting with Eruch.
Craig was a long time resident
who had been working very
closely with Eruch for years
in the Trust Office. This afternoon Craig said “Eruch, in
front of the pilgrims you tell
stories of how Baba lets the
water rise to your nose, but
never lets you sink. You tell
stories where Baba pushes
someone to the limits, but
never beyond it. In short, you
tell only the good stories.
We are made to believe from
these stories that it all ends
well. But what about the
stories where it does not end
well, where Baba did allow people to sink, where He did push
them beyond the limits and they broke down? I feel frightened
when I hear about what happened to Norina or Donkin. They
were stalwarts and yet Baba pushed them beyond the breaking point. Eruch, can you please explain what happened and
why it happened? These things are not supposed to happen
to those close ones around Baba.”
Eruch sighed and said, “I do not understand the question.
What exactly do you want to know?” Craig said, “Eruch, if
you find the topic too controversial and don’t want to talk
about it, that’s okay. I won’t ask.” Eruch seemed annoyed as
he repeated his questions a second time, “What is it that you
want to know?” “Why did Baba allow Donkin and Norina to
have a mental breakdown? Baba could have spared them.”
Eruch said matter of factly, “So what is there to it if they
broke down mentally? We make such a big issue about mental
suffering and mental breakdowns. Why do we not give the
same importance to physical suffering or physical breakdowns?
Pendu, after the car accident, was crippled. He suffered too,
yet the breakdown of the physical body is not given importance as compared to a mental breakdown. Why do we forget
that it is all a dream? All suffering, physical or mental, serves
only one purpose. It helps the individual soul to wipe out his
sanskaras and progress towards the goal of liberation or GodRealization. Baba, as a rule, does not take away your sanskaras
or suffering, but helps you go through it. Suffering comes as
a wake up call to awaken you
from the dream.”
As my work at the Trust
consisted of interacting with
government officials for permission regarding various
Trust activities, I was directly under Bhauji’s guidance
because he was the “chief
functionary” of the Trust
and subsequently became its
Chairman. One day, as I was
sitting in his office, he was referring to the hard times that
lots of Baba lovers were going through. He commented,
“Baba is testing all His lovers.
He pushes everyone to the limits. He will let you sink till the
water reaches your nose, but
He will never let you drown.” I took this opportunity to
ask Bhauji the same question
that Craig had asked Eruch, as
I was curious to see what his
reply would be. Not only did I
want to see how his answer
would compare to Eruch’s,
but I was also interested in
Photo by Win Coates ©Susan White the question in its own right
because I often felt that Baba
was definitely letting the waters rise over my head at times.
“Bhauji,” I said, “we know that both Donkin and Norina had
mental breakdowns when they were still with Baba. Baba did
allow the water to rise above their noses and allowed them
to drown, didn’t He?”
“No, it was a different kind of drowning for them,” Bhauji
replied. “It was a drowning in the Ocean of Bliss. Baba had
taken the responsibility of wiping out the sanskaras through
intense suffering of
those who
were His.
The intense
suffering
they experienced was
Baba’s compassion. It
was the final
drowning in
His Ocean of
Love.”
37
My Visit to Meherazad
Mani Photos © 1995 Etzion Becker,
Etzion Becker, Israel
W
hile visiting Meherazad in October, 1995, a remarkable episode
occurred:
I was walking around Mandali Hall
towards Mehera’s Porch. As soon as I
walked a couple of meters past Mandali Hall, I became transfixed. I simply
couldn’t move, as if a hand came out
of the ground and held me firmly. Just
then, Mani started to walk down the
steps in order to greet the pilgrims.
At this very moment a young boy
walked towards her and started to
recite the Master’s Prayer by heart.
Mani stopped before the boy, listening
carefully, expressing her deep feelings
for the prayer. I had a camera with a
telescopic lens, and I had the time to
shoot it all.
Now see this amazing setting: If
Mani would be standing a meter closer
or farther away, the lighting wouldn’t
be so perfect. If the boy hadn’t been
there, I wouldn’t have had the time to
focus and catch all these photos; not
to say that this brought about all these
wonderful expressions on Mani’s face.
It was a perfect setting that One
Perfect Director concocted. Mani
didn’t even notice she was being photographed due to the telescopic lens,
so she kept her natural, spontaneous
expressions.
38
The photos which I placed on our site
- http://avatarmeherbaba-israel.com/
- are about one MB each, so you may
copy and print them for personal use.
The originals were scanned at 600 dpi
tif, about 25 MB each. You can see them
at the Media Center in Meherabad. I
also gave the Trust a disc. If you cannot
open them, or have some troubles, you
may contact me and I’ll send them to
you. [email protected]
Turnings
T
he slow revolve of distant stars and
gravid earth, the ceaseless roll of
season upon season, the heaping up
of lifetime upon lifetime, the weight
ever increasing and never lessening, the
heave of hearts for lovers forever lost
and gone, the always ceaseless turnings
toward everything and everyone but
You. The clasp and unclasping of hands,
the letting go and holding on, the reaching across time to hold on to that which
eventually must be let go of, and always
the ever wanting and not wanting to
keep, to keep that which never belonged
to us and must ultimately be given back.
Fingers forever entwining and loosening, fists clenching and unclenching,
hearts forever pumping and relaxing in
one endless systolic-diastolic dance, and
always the turnings, ever outward and
never inward, from one pair of arms to
another, one pair of lips to another, one
bed to another, from birthing beds to
deathbeds, turning from one beloved to
another until at last the Real Beloved is
found, yet even then continuing to turn
toward the seductresses of lust, anger
and greed until the turnings become
just too painful to endure, for a half or
even a quarter’s more turning, and we
just STOP– so tired of the turnings that
we take our stand on stillness, blessed
stillness, and enforce that quietude of
being where only Your name fills up
all time and all space, and we consign
all movement between two enormous
parenthesis of peace and just STOP—so
happy to cease the ceaseless and incessant turnings away from everything and
everyone but You.
And when will the turnings stop or
slow, decelerate or brake hard upon
the stone works of ourselves? When the
womb of desire conceives contentment
as its one and only child.
The Real Treasure. Rustom Falati
Letters from the Editor from page 55
I’m not helping my children and grandchildren.) I will keep struggling to put
out four issues a year, but please don’t
be too disappointed if we do need to
eventually cut it down to three. However we were able to add a third person
to do the layout of the magazine. I met
up with Linda Beleski while I was at the
Avatar’s Abode Anniversary last June.
Linda is already doing the Meher Baba
Australia newsletter, but said she would
be happy to help us. So that takes some
of the pressure off Cherie and Tom.
Children's Page
First 3 drawings by Tabitha Franklin, age 9, Australia
Ame Hart, age 9, CA, USA
God's Tiny Clothes
Mani S. Irani
round the time I was seven, I had my first dream of God.
Although I knew my brother was God, I didn't really know
what "Avatar" meant. This dream helped me to understand.
I dreamt that I was way up in the sky, sitting on a big, fluffy
white cloud. I was sitting on the edge of this cloud, my legs
dangling over the side.
Seated before me was this enormous Man, a tremendous
Being. He didn't have a stitch of clothing on, but He didn't seem
naked in the way that a human would. I knew this Being was God.
I was dressed in a lovely white lacy dress with a full skirt,
and wore a pink bow in my hair. "I hope He notices my dress," I
thought as I straightened the folds of my skirt.
He seemed friendly, so I asked Him, "Why haven't You got
any clothes on?
He smiled and pointed over the edge of the cloud. I looked
down. Stretched below us in space was a clothes-line. And on it,
fastened with pegs, were tiny baby clothes. Diapers and smocks,
little bonnets and socks, were hanging on that line in space.
I looked at them and knew that these were His clothes. There
was nobody else up here. This was God's place. This was God's
clothes-line. So these baby clothes belonged to God.
I said to myself, "My goodness. He is so terribly big. How can He
fit into these tiny little clothes" It must be so very uncomfortable
for Him to get into them!"
A
Pearl Hart, age 13, CA, USA
As I thought this, I looked up at Him and saw that He
was looking at me and nodding in agreement!
continued on page 42
39
Vision or Miracle?
Meher Baba Opened His Eyes on the 1969 Entombment Film
B
arry Beckett was 21 years old at the
1969 Darshan when he had the extraordinary experience of seeing Meher
Baba open his eyes on the Entombment
Film shown to the first group of Westerners, who came to India in April, on
the flight chartered by Sufism Reoriented (two further sessions for Westerners were held in May and June). The
following account, which Barry wrote
40 years later, was previously published
at MeherBabaManifesting.com. (Barry
also published other version of the account in several other places, including
the Glow International, Summer 2010,
p. 22.) Barry passed away on January
21, 2011 (a page for him appears at the
Remembrances website, www.loveremembrances.com). Please see my
comments following Barry’s account.
—Kendra Crossen
Firsthand Account by Barry
Beckett, Written April 2009
One day at the morning program at
Guruprasad [at the 1969 Darshan], Eruch
announces that the film of putting Baba
in the Tomb has just come back from the
film processor. We will be the first to see
it that afternoon at a Baba-lover’s theater in town. I’m sitting second row center absorbed in the movie and proud of
the American delegation taking part in
the proceedings. About halfway through
the film the photographer is right on the
edge shooting a closeup of Baba with a
normal lens, and Baba opens His eyes.
His eyes flash here and there like in the
other films of Him. He has a soft smile
and looks delighted with how things are
going. Then for four or five seconds He
looks right in the camera with a direct
smile, then continues looking up and
around. Then His eyes stop moving, and
He closes them with a satisfied look.
Then He goes back to the death-mask
look we are familiar with. There are a
couple of cries from the rear. Jal [Baba’s
brother] is sitting to my left, and he leans
forward to twist around and check me
out, how am I taking this? He shrugs and
smiles as if to say, “That’s the sort of
thing my brother does.” It’s okay with
me. Everything is magical this week.
This is one more thing. I’m not sure of
40
what I’m seeing anyway, “Did Baba do a
practice funeral before he died?”
The movie goes on like nothing unusual happened. From the second row
we are some of the last to leave. A crowd
has gathered in the lobby watching two
young women who have Eruch backed
into a corner: “We have to go there
now, we have to dig Him up, He’s alive,
He’s alive.” It’s the same two who were
crying so much at the Sufi center the
day Baba died. Eruch was saying, “No,
please. The doctor attended. There was
no life in the body.” The girls aren’t buying it: “Let’s go check to make sure, He is
alive.” The crowd of two or three dozen
are all facing Eruch, they don’t look satisfied. Eruch had been so enthusiastic that
morning to show us how they handled
Baba’s passing. Having Him come back
to life on the big screen really threw
Eruch a curve. I felt embarrassed for
everyone and left.
I only have one witness who remembers all this as clearly as I do, longtime
Sufi, Richard Cormier. A lot of other
folks who were there don’t remember
a thing about it; some have only a vague
recollection. There must be others in the
200+ who remember. I hope they leave
a record too.
That film went back to the cutting
room and subsequent groups never saw
the part showing Baba’s resurrection.
Hopefully there is 35 feet of amazing
film sitting safe somewhere. It’s hard
to imagine they could have destroyed
something of Baba that beautiful. I understand why they suppressed it. Eruch
looked miserable backed against that
wall. He couldn’t let people think Baba
had chosen complete fools for disciples
and had gotten Himself buried alive.
Last month I heard a story about
Mani. Every day after Baba died she tried
to get in the Tomb by herself. Finally
she managed it, and sitting there alone
with Him, she says He came to life and
opened His eyes. Hopefully, someone
who heard this from Mani will document
it, if for no other reason than it’s true.
I love the fact that Baba demonstrated on film His mastery over death
and His cool, calm willingness to pass
into another “state,” a state He obviously prefers to our human state. May
we all go straight to Him, when our turn
comes. Jai Baba.
Kendra’s comment: At the time I first
corresponded with Barry about his
experience, I was interested in exploring possible explanations for it. Barry,
however, did not especially share my
curiosity and did not question what his
eyes had seen, accepting it as a gift from
Baba. I myself did not doubt Barry’s account, as I knew that various “miraculous” phenomena had been reported
around Baba’s dropping of the body
(such as the fact Baba’s form appeared
to a number of people around the world
at that time). But I wondered why others in the audience had not reported
this before or why they would have
forgotten such a startling occurrence;
what had happened to the two women
Barry described as being very upset by
the film (and what they thought about it
now); why, if Baba really opened his eyes
on film, it would have been deliberately
edited out; and why everyone seemed
to assumed that it necessarily had to be
on the film; why couldn’t it have been a
shared vision, seen only at the time of
viewing but not actually etched in celluloid? It interested me that no one I discussed this with thought there was any
point in interpreting it as a vision — as if
to them it had to be literally on the film.
I thought about questioning Don Stevens, who, along with Mani, had been
the cameraman who filmed the footage
used in the Entombment Film. (Filis Frederick says the film was titled “The Great
Darshan” in her account of the third
Darshan session in The Awakener Magazine, vol. 13 (nos. 1-2), p. 57. She makes
no mention of any unusual phenomena
in the “heart-rending” movie—nor did
those who wrote about the first Darshan
session, the same one Barry was in.
I figured that if this had really been
recorded on film, the cameraman
would have seen it. But I cannot recall
asking Don or whether I asked Don. If I
did ask him, he must have claimed no
knowledge of it, or I would have saved
his reply — yet a computer crash destroyed my e-mails of that time period,
conveniently protecting elements of this
continued on page 42
Thankfulness for Baba’s Gifts
Meheru Irani
Grace flows eternally for one and all from Him, who is All Merciful
and Eternally Benevolent. Be receptive to Him.
B
aba’s gifts are countless. Everymorning
on waking, I greet with
bowed head and palms
together each and every photo of Baba in my
room: and Mehera’s photos, too. That does not
prevent me from adding
another and another if
they are ones I like, for
they keep alive the everpresent memory of these
dear ones. In a way I am
thanking them for my being with them. In Baba’s
and Mehera’s rooms, too,
I bow down to the photos, and at their beds.
There is a particular picture in Mehera’s room, at the head of her bed, of
Baba standing, smiling enigmatically. It
is of our early days with Baba in Meherazad. My sister had wanted to take a
photo of Baba, and we were standing
in the garden waiting for Baba to arrive.
Naturally, seeing us, He asked what we
were doing there, and I mentioned the
photo. Immediately Baba flung His umbrella away and Naggu took the photo. I
thank Baba that He let her. I thank Baba
that I was there, and this photo is a wonderful reminder of those happy days.
Mehera, on awakening, would always bow to Baba’s image on the tree
outside her window, and then to all
Baba’s photos in her room. She would
come to this photo of Baba’s and bow
down at His feet with her forehead,
then raise her head to kiss His feet.
Often I have seen her do so. That motion expressed her yearning to reach
upward, ever upward, to be with Him.
All these thoughts come to me as gifts
from Baba—gifts of His love—living
memories of Mehera’s love for Him.
In the dining room I bow at Baba’s
chair and see Baba there. And I also see
Mehera. She would never sit down to
a meal without first bowing to Baba’s
photo behind His chair and then drawing His chair away from the table, as she
used to do, for Baba to be seated. After
bringing the chair in place, she would
The dining room at Meherazad
say “Jai Baba” with joined hands. Never
did I want to miss seeing her doing this
before her meal. She was inviting Baba
to join her at the table, and we would
stand up and say “Jai Baba” with her,
feeling, almost seeing, Baba standing
there and then seating Himself at His
table.
After breakfast I go around BabaMehera’s garden to collect the flowers
for His house. This we did not do when
Baba was with us physically. Where
was the need, when His presence and
beauty shone everywhere? And where
was the time? It was all directed towards Him. But later Mehera wanted it,
so somehow I got involved.
As I pass by I bow to her bed, where
Baba’s photo is, and Mehera’s photo.
Then I bow to Seclusion Hill, and then,
as I pass by, to Baba’s gift to Mehera,
His image on the tree outside her window. Then I bow to her window as if to
her. I then bow “Jai Baba” to Baba’s
window –His “T.V. window”– and then
to His “T.V. view,” thanking Him for His
beautiful gift of Meherazad and for allowing His Mehera to be with us all
those years. I also bow to all the wells
whose water supply has kept Meherazad going, in thankfulness for this
wondrous gift that helped us stay in
His home in Meherazad and enabled
us to care for His and Mehera’s garden,
in spite of the drought conditions to
which ‘Nagar is so prone.
Truly His gifts are
limitless. Just in the first
two hours of the gift of
each day that He gives
us, I cannot enumerate
how much He has given
and still gives. He gives to
each and all, and we must
keep our hearts open to
these gifts. He will not
clap His hands and point
them out. We have to
keep our hearts open to
receive them as His Love
shines on each and all.
In Meherazad we cannot mourn—or should
Photo: Bif Soper
not—the passing of our
Beloved Baba and Mehera. That would
be selfishness on our parts. Their home
is so filled with memories of their beautiful Presence. For this we are ever joyful and grateful.
There is a small cabinet in the hallway
outside the dining room door. Everyone
in the way of work passes by it many
times a day. One cannot help but see—
as it was intended to be­—the photo on it
of Beloved Baba’s hand. Mehera would
often, in passing, touch this photo and
afterwards touch her hand to her lips or
her heart. I have seen her stand before
it, gazing in rapt contemplation, sometimes with silent tears rolling down her
cheeks. Hesitating to disturb her, yet
feeling she needed to be consoled, I, or
one of us, would stop by. But we would
realize those tears were of deep thankfulness. She was remembering how
much Baba had silently given through
the touch of His hands, all the countless
gifts to us and all the world, especially to
Mehera herself.
Thousands upon thousands during
darshan received prasad from Baba’s
hands. Often He would give with both
hands throughout the day for hours on
end. This was not just the automatic
action of giving, but the real prasad of
His love reaching them through His unforgettable touch. And each one would
feel they had had their own special moment of darshan.
41
Those slim, shapely hands had worked
hard in manual labor, in washing the
feet of the poor, in bathing masts and
lepers. All this Mehera would recount.
And these were just the outward signs
of the real gift He gave. How can we
gauge the inner benefit of such grace?
Grace flows eternally for one and all
from Him, who is All Merciful and Eternally Benevolent. Be receptive to Him.
When you look around you in the
place where you live, you will realize
how close Baba’s contact is with you,
also: not only in your individual lives,
but through the invaluable legacy of
His books, photos, and movies. And
you have had contact with many of
His followers: the mandali who lived
with Him, and those who loved and
followed Him when He was physically
in our midst. Do not dwell on the fact
that most of them are no longer with
us, but rather on the countless gifts
that Baba has given you through them.
What would Australia have been without Francis, or Myrtle Beach without
Elizabeth and Kitty, or England without
dear Delia, or New Zealand without
Baba’s special gift of Anthony? Do not
dwell on what is no longer there, but
on what you have already been given!
Otherwise, we would be belittling
His gifts. Use each opportunity you get,
when faced with difficulty or adversity,
as the biggest gifts He offers you. In our
complete acceptance and surrender to
His will is our opportunity to give, in
some measure, to the One who has everything. It is the chance for the individual drop to give to the Limitless Ocean.
Barry's Vision continued from page 42
mystery from further investigation. I am
reminded of reading several accounts in
which people tried to photograph Baba
when He did not wish it, and of course
when they developed the film, it was
blank. I can only conclude that Barry’s
experience was meant for him and
whoever else had the same experience,
whether they remember it or not; and
that we who are reading Barry’s account
are doing so only because Baba wants
it. He manipulates us all like puppets!
“From behind the veil of cosmic illusion, He holds the string with which He
causes countless numbers of species to
dance like shadow pictures on a screen”
(Jnaneshwar’s Gita).
[Duncan Knowles - at Cherie's request
- sent an email to Richard Cormier asking
him if he had remembered this incident
and if he did, could we could quote his
reply in the LSB. He responded directly
to Cherie that he didn't mind being
quoted: "I personally thought it was my
own little hallucination but it definitely
was something I saw and never forgot.
Richard."]
Incidentally, the Entombment Film
has been restored by Richard O’Casey;
see Meher Baba Film Archive International at meherbabafilm.com.
Melinda Abeles' Delightful Art!
God's Tiny Clothes continued from page 39
Then I heard a very clear voice in my head. It said,
"Yes, I wear these clothes from time to time. I put them
on when I come among you as man, in the guise of the
smallest of the small."
And then there arose in me a wave of happy understanding. I sighed the deepest of sighs, so real that I
actually heard the tail-end of the sigh as I woke up.
42
God Brother, pp. 49-51. 1993 © AMBPPCT
My Beautiful Dream of Mehera
David DeFauw, Oregon
I
first went to India and met
the mandali in 1986 when
I was 25. The stories Eruch
shared were beautiful. He
held us enthralled for hours
with wit and depth of heart.
The stor y I would like to
share is of Mehera. I used to
sit on the bench below her
porch and watch her smile
and share her feelings about
Baba. Sometimes she would
close her eyes and tell a story,
reliving in her inner vision, her
precious time with Him.
Meheru and I would play
badminton and Mehera
would watch amused. I would
play easy, not wanting to beat
her too much, and then the
birdie would come smashing
past me and Mehera would
giggle. I had the honor of two
visits, each of two months, in
1986 and 1989, soaking in the
loveliness of Meherazad filled
with so many mandali.
In between the two trips,
when I was living in rainy
Seattle, I had this dream of
Mehera: In my dream I was
asleep and was awakened
by the endless rain. I fact, in
the dream, I died of Rain. As
I floated out of my body, a
group of angels were running
in circles around me. One stopped and
said, “David, now that you don’t have a
body, you can go anywhere.” I replied,
“I want to go to Meherazad.” Instantly
I was there, with Mehera sitting alone
on the porch. I waved my arms and said,
“Mehera, can you see me.” No response.
She had a look that suggested she was
seeing something far away. “Mehera,
can you see me?” She did a double take
and said, “Why David, how are you? I
hear that it is raining very hard in Seattle.” I said, “Yes Mehera, it is raining
and raining.” She nodded and looked
far away, like she was seeing the end
of the earth.
The thought came to me that I should
touch her feet. In person, the thought
of bowing to Mehera never crossed my
mind. Things were too natural and warm
for that. Now of course, men were not
allowed to touch Mehera, so I was confused by the thought. But, being dead in
my dream and having no body, I thought
maybe it was ok. As I was thinking this,
she put her feet forward indicating I was
to bow. I did, and awakened to a feeling
of beauty.
Later, a week after she dropped her
body, I remember feeling that there was
someone in my room. Mehera’s book
was on the table with her picture on the
cover. Her photo was glowing with her
presence. To me, Baba’s pictures always
seemed occupied with His presence, and
now Mehera’s picture was also shining.
I started noticing her face in everything.
Seattle is surrounded by mountains, and
her face was in the cliffs and in the trees.
When I returned to India in 1991, I
walked up to Baba’s Samadhi and saw
Mehera’s tomb next to Baba’s. I sat next
to it as the sun set, and felt that Mehera
was blissfully happy, and I felt that she
was looking upon Baba, and like in my
dream, she was seeing to the ends of
the earth. All around me, people were
bowing to her tomb. As the golden light
of the sun arched down to the horizon, I
felt I could hear her laughing in the light
of her union with Him.
43
Baba’s Miracle, the Avatar
Meher Baba Heartland Center
Jai Meher Baba!
W
by John Poag, May 18, 2012, in Commemoration of the 60th
Anniversary of Beloved Meher Baba's 'Accident' in Prague, OK
elcome to Oklahoma and to
Avatar Meher Baba’s 60th Anniversary Sahavas in remembrance of
what Baba did here 60 years ago.
Meher Baba sent out His call to you
all, to meet Him here in Oklahoma, and
to have His Sahavas, His intimate companionship, and you have answered
that call and have come….Jai Baba!
We are a family. We are Meher
Baba’s Family, and we are at home here
together in His Love, so please let us all
let ourselves feel at home here together
with each other and with Baba.
Meher Baba loves us more than
words can say and He has brought us
together here, to feel and experience
His Love in a very unique way and to feel
and discuss and reflect on what He has
done for us and for the whole world by
shedding His blood on American soil,
here in the middle of America, at the
end of the Trail of Tears, 60 years ago.
On page 3838 in Lord Meher it is
written:
“The blood of Christ is a sign of His
Love for the world. America is His, and
by His suffering for it, He gave His love,
so that America may keep its head
bowed to the Living God.”
In the Judeo-Christian scriptures, it
is written, “for without the shedding
of blood, there is no remission of Sin.”
In Meher Baba’s most marvelous
Advent, His return to earth after 1400
years, and the long-awaited return
of Jesus, after 2000 years, He did
something most profound: He shed
His blood, right smack in the middle of
the greatest, most powerful, and most
energetically advanced nation on earth,
the United States of America, the nation
He indicated would be destined to lead
the world spiritually
into a New Age, a New Humanity,
the world to come…..longed for and
written about in many of the world’s
religious traditions and called by many
different names.
For years He had hinted that a personal disaster must happen to Him; for
years He had hinted that America was
crying for His blood. This prophecy was
sealed for all time…inside the cover of
44
Elizabeth Patterson’s beautiful Jerusalem Bible, where she had written, May
24th 1932, underneath a delicate wildflower, handed to her by her beloved
Master, and preserved within it’s pages.
The prophecy was fulfilled to the day, 20
years later, on May 24th 1952.
This event occurred, not only In the
middle of America, but also…
In the middle of a momentous year in
Meher Baba’s Advent, 1952,
at the end of the New Life….
at the end of Manonash….
in the middle of the Free Life….
in the middle of the Complicated
Free Life…
near the middle of His Advent….
and In the midst…of His Silence….
Like the very crest of a central wave
in His mighty Oceanic Advent,
His American Sacrifice, May 24th,
1952….came crashing forth. It had been
destined to happen for some time, and
it finally did happen.
In order for America to take it’s place
of spiritual leadership, of leading the
world into a New Age, a sacrifice was
required, to set things right and to set
America free, to fulfill it’s destiny.
It happened in a most vulnerable
place,
in the middle of America…
in it’s Heartland…
in Oklahoma…
in the buckle of the Bible belt…
the headquarters for many Native
American nations.
It happened at the end of the Trail
of Tears…
the route Baba had chosen to take
to His destiny.
It was suggested that the title of this
speech be “Baba’s miracle: The Avatar
Meher Baba Heartland Center”…
When something wonderful happens, out of the blue, unexpectedly
and under difficult to impossible circumstances, there are those who would
declare it a miracle…miraculous, for
those involved, the birth and establishment of the AMBHC has been like that…
miraculous…like an impossible dream
come true.
Who would have thought that just
6 short weeks after the first ever Oklahoma Sahavas in May 2002, that there
would be a new entity born in Oklahoma,
known as the Avatar Meher Baba Heartland Center?
It happened so quickly and unexpectedly, as a spontaneous and inspired
byproduct of a most marvelous and
quite spectacular event, the 2002, 50th
Anniversary Sahavas, organized by Chris
and Anne Barker of Texas, and Lynn
Wilhite of Oklahoma.
Many who are here today were at
that event, and what a singular, historic
and precedent-setting event it was....
Sadly, several of those who were at
that event have since passed on, including Leatrice Shaw Johnston, Charmian
Duce Knowles, and Espandiar Vesali.
Let us take a moment…to remember them with love and appreciation
for their contribution to that event and
inspiring the birth of the AVATAR Meher
Baba Heartland Center.
I too was at that memorable event. It
was my first time in Prague, and to this
day, I have not been able to fully comprehend the depth of what happened
there during that gathering. For weeks
afterwards I felt speechless and stunned
and knew not what to say of it.
It was like the Eternal Power of Christ
had descended on us like a spiritual atom
bomb, and exploded in our midst. The
immensity and potency of what Baba
had done that day, May 24th, 1952, was
felt powerfully and tangibly. One need
only reflect for a moment on the widespread effect on human history of Jesus
Christ’s shedding His blood, to begin to
see the far-reaching implications, on the
future of human history, of Baba shedding His blood.
I know no one who was at that event
who was not profoundly moved.
Towards the end of that wonderful
gathering, a committee was formed of
enthusiastic volunteers lead by Carolyn
Ball, a relative newcomer to Baba, to
establish a not-for-profit organization
in Oklahoma dedicated to Meher Baba’s
cause and the preservation of the accident site.
A board was quickly formed with
Carolyn as the ringleader, who as a relatively new Baba Lover, began to struggle
with doubts as to whether the project
was truly Baba’s wish or not. To assuage
her doubts, she began looking for a sign.
She had this fantasy…after sending in
the paperwork for the Certificate of
Incorporation to the State of Oklahoma
in mid June, that if the paperwork were
approved, on the auspicious date of July
10th, 2002, that this would be, the sign
to her, that indeed it WAS Baba’s wish.
Now…imagine how disappointed she
must have been, when that paperwork
was sent back to her on July 9th, missing
a required signature. Her hope was now
a hopeless impossibility. She was living
in Fayetteville, Arkansas….
How could the paperwork EVER make
its way back to Oklahoma and through
all that red tape in just 1 day???? That
would indeed be impossible, and her
heart sank.
Now imagine how unbelievably
elated she must have been, two weeks
later, when she opened a letter from the
state of Oklahoma with the Certificate of
Incorporation inside, and to her amazement, it was signed, sealed and dated,
unbelievable as it seemed, July 10, 2002!
God’s perfect timing, Baba’s miracle,
and the birth of the Heartland Center,
exactly 50 years to the day from the end
of Baba’s Complicated Free life on July
10th, 1952…
Just as the first ever Oklahoma Gathering took place exactly 50 years after
the 1952 accident, so the AMBHC was
born exactly 50 years after the end of
the Complicated Free Life, which was
the end of His convalescence from the
accident in Myrtle Beach. God’s perfect
timing…
This new non-profit religious organization in the state of Oklahoma now
began in earnest to raise funds and
investigate the possibility of purchasing
the land where the accident occurred in
order to establish a Baba Center there.
After the family that owned the
property at the accident site made it
very clear that they were not interested
in selling, efforts to procure the land
across the street were initiated and
came within a hair’s breadth of being
purchased several times. It was not
meant to be however, and by 2003,
it seemed that a dead end had been
reached in the efforts to find a home for
the Heartland Center.
Then, on May 24th of 2004, at a Bhau
Kalchuri meeting in Myrtle Beach, during
recollections of Baba’s suffering and the
1952 event, Carolyn Ball and Lynn Wilhite
who were in the audience, announced
to those present that the house where
Dr. Burleson and his family had lived for
many years was now up for sale. This
house, right next door to the Prague
hospital, was where Mani, Sarosh, and
other Mandali had been welcomed on
many occasions, with open arms, by the
Burleson family.
It just so happened that Debbie and
Peter Nordeen were in the audience that
day and were so moved by the idea of
purchasing the house that after discussing it for a few days, Debbie contacted
Carolyn and enthusiastically volunteered
to head up a fundraising committee to
buy the Burleson house.
Considering the short time frame
in which the money had to be raised,
in the eyes of many, including Carolyn
Ball, it would be another miracle if she
and Peter were able to pull it off…thus,
when the money came pouring in and
the deadline was met, many eyes were
opened wide, that surely this again was
Baba’s doing, and another miraculous
impossible situation was made possible,
when on January 6, 2005, the Burleson
House, though in dire need of repairs
and renovation, became the official
home of the Avatar Meher Baba Heartland Center.
And, thanks to more whirlwind efforts on the parts of many people, a plan
was then made to try to have the house
open for business by May of that year,
and to have another Sahavas to inaugurate and dedicate the Burleson House as
the official home of the Avatar Meher
Baba Heartland Center. This required
intense renovation activity from a house
full of workers, right up to the very day
that the Sahavas would begin, but with
Baba’s inspiration and the help of many
enthusiastic volunteers, this too was
pulled off with flying colors.
At the same time, through more
unexpected and serendipitous events,
Michael Ivey became available and volunteered to be the first ever Heartland
Center caretaker.
Wow, when Baba moves, He moves
quickly.
Thus, in May of 2005 the second ever
Oklahoma Sahavas was held here at St.
Crispin’s Conference and Retreat Center.
Approximately 100 pilgrims, along
with a long list of wonderful speakers,
gathered together to share their stories
and visions for the Heartland Center.
In this gathering as well there was an-
other downpouring of Baba’s love and
power, so much so that several of the
participants began talking about moving
to Prague right away.
Then, after several years of productive Heartland Center activity, lo and
behold, in early 2008, Michael Ivey informed us that the house next door, the
Morrison House, home of close friends
of the Burleson’s, was going up for sale,
as the owner, Speedy Morrison, had
recently passed away.
This led to a lively discussion at our
next board meeting on whether it might
be Baba’s wish or not to try to purchase
this property and add it to the Heartland
Center. We concluded that this was a
golden opportunity that might not come
again, and that we should at least try.
Thus, after a unanimous vote, we began
fundraising the money to purchase the
Morrison house. We all felt that if it was
Baba’s will, it would happen.
Speedy Morrison’s son, who had
actually shaken hands with Baba as a
child in 1952, was the one selling the
house, and when he heard that we were
interested in purchasing it, he instantly
agreed to keep it off the market for a period of four months, to give us a chance
to raise the money and buy the house.
Thus, once the decision had been
made, event after event fell into place
and in July of 2008, just four months later, with Baba’s help, the Morrison house
became a part of the Heartland Center,
thus completing another chapter in the
history of Meher Baba’s Miracle Center
in the Center of America, the Avatar
Meher Baba Heartland Center.
In Vol. 20 of the Awakener Magazine,
Part 2, Page 30, Filis Fredrick recollects
that Baba had prophesied there would
be five Centers in the United States. Bal
Natu also referred to this in a personal
communication to the Heartland Center
before he died….
That article in the Awakener stated
about the five centers, that:
“One would be on virgin land, with
a water lake beside the ocean, and be a
gift from the heart.
One would be in a big city…
one in the mountains…
one in the desert…
and one in the center of the United
States."
Baba also has said that whenever
He stays in a place, however short a
period of time, its spiritual atmosphere
becomes greatly elevated. Baba stayed
in Prague Oklahoma for 12 days.
continued on page 50
45
Oklahoma 60th Anniversary Sahavas Album
The photos in this article were kindly given to the Breezes to use expressly for this article by the following photographers
Stan Barouh, Jerry Carlin, Jim and Brigitte Kirkpatrick, Richard Laurence, John Poag and Victor Seckler
to whom we are very grateful.
Indian Paintbrush
Wine Cup
The Sacred Earth of Oklahoma
“The blood of Christ is a sign of His Love for the world. America is
His, and by His suffering for it, He gave His love, so that America
may keep its head bowed to the Living God.”
46
During the Sahavas we had many wonderful speakers, a play about the accident in Oklahoma, more
singing, hiking the trails of St. Crispin's grounds and boating in the small lake there during rest times
We had lunch at a local church and listened, intrigued, to delightful stories from Dr. Burleson's 3 children -Julia Margaret, Michael, and Beth.
After lunch, a tea was prepared at the Burleson home and we took
turns going to the Hospital to view the rooms where Baba, Mehera
and Elizabeth stayed; then having tea on the front yards of the
Burleson and Morrison homes.
Above: the front entrance of the hospital; below: the
sign under the photo tells the story [edited] "...the
renowned spiritual master" Meher Baba was seriously
injured in 1952 and was lovingly cared for by Dr. Ned Burleson; ...the people of Prague gave freely of themselves
to help the party of Indian followers with him.
Back to St. Crispins for dinner and afterwards, Baba rounds and devotional singing in the evening
47
48
Photo of Baba with cast on leg pg 48, MSI Collection,
Meherabad
A heartfelt "THANK YOU!" to all the organizers, preparation workers, flower ladies, water bearers, van and car
pool drivers, speakers, sound and video crews, photographers, bakers, tea makers, the lion cat, the songbirds
and our blessed earth of Oklahoma, for making our 3 days with one another in and for our Beloved Baba the very
best it could possibly be. Happy trails to you until we meet again,God willing, in 2017 for the 65th Anniversary.
49
continued from page 45
To put this in perspective, Baba spent
one day at Meher Mount in Ojai, California, and approximately 10 days in the
entire country of Australia.
Thus, 12 days in Prague is a lot of
spiritual elevation in Baba time; not only
that, but of all the locations in the world,
Baba chose this place to shed His most
precious Blood into the earth, making it
the new Calvary of the newest Avatar,
the Avatar of this Age, Meher Baba,
where for years to come, multitudes of
pilgrims will eventually find their way to
Prague Oklahoma, to feel and experience what He has done more deeply,
and to receive of the most marvelous
and priceless treasure that He has deposited here, for all those who come.
Just as Baba’s accident and the shedding of His blood on American soil in the
Center of America had to be, so the Avatar Meher Baba Heartland Center had to
be. It had to be, and now, it IS. Jai Baba!
Now let me end with a dedication
received from Baba, October 2004:
To the Glory of God
And to the Return of Christ
to Earth,
Meher Baba, “Merciful Father.”
And to His American Sacrifice,
And the shedding of His blood,
For the sins of many,
And for the errors of a nation,
Which lead to the Trail of Tears.
And To His unfathomable Love,
Which Always Is,
Always Was,
And Always Will Be.
And to His Work on Earth,
The Greatest of Work,
And beyond all other works.
And to the Avatar Meher Baba
Heartland Center
Dedicated to Him, and to
His Remembrance,
That through this Center,
Multitudes may come,
To know Him,
To Love Him,
And to understand what
He has done.
The Avatar Meher Baba
Heartland Center,
Baba’s Miracle, in the Center of
America
Avatar Meher Baba Ki Jai!
50
Oklahoma Sahavas - 60th Anniversary commemoration
“America has a tremendous future
and will become a
spiritually-minded nation."*
W
henever I visit a place and stay
there, however short a time, its
spiritual atmosphere becomes greatly
elevated…” ~ Meher Baba
What a Baba-full elevated weekend
we had at the 60th Anniversary commemoration Sahavas May 17-20! Those
St. Crispin’s conference center and the
pleasant weather provided the perfect
environment for a joyous gathering. The
area prepared with earthquakes, and
blessed at the end with rainbows and
a solar eclipse, it feels like Baba chose
to drench this gathering in riches. The
of us who had this experience in the
heartland of America are still uplifted and
riding high! And we know that those who
could not attend were with us in spirit.
There was so much divine-love wine
flowing. Who could not get intoxicated
with all the singing of Baba’s name, focus
on His lovely form, sharing of His life and
work? There were fantastic collective
peak moments as well as many deeply
personal heart-tugs from the Beloved.
He gives to each. He helped our begging
bowl hearts grow bigger and bigger…
and He filled them to the brim.
For those of us on the planning, coordinating and ‘execution’ teams – wow!
Witnessing Baba’s touch in filling every
need and solving every apparent challenge was awe inspiring. Try as we all
may to think and plan for everything, we
can’t. And He shows us who is in charge!
Aren’t we all lucky to be in His love net?
What a producer and director, as well as
casting agent! Many hands made light
work and it reminded us all once again
that it is not we, not us, but ONE Baba
that is getting it done, for our benefit.
Sahavas: The woodland setting of
speakers all inspired us – Naosherwan
Anzar with his discussion of the suffering of the Avatars and his call for putting
our Baba faith into action; Meherwan
Merchant for telling us of seeing Baba
off at the Bombay airport in 1952 and
seeing Baba’s serious face as He expressed on the board, that America was
after His blood, and they would have it!
Meherwan also shared the life story of
Pleader and his longing for God Realization… Dr. Burleson’s three children
– Michael, Julia Margaret and Beth,
retelling those days in 1952 when growing up in the family of the kindly Dr. and
Mrs. Ned Burleson they were witnesses
to an extraordinary group of people,
especially that remarkable silent man
with the beautiful loving brown eyes;
and Murshida Conner descriptively placing 1952 and Baba’s incredible mission in
America into perspective for our present
and future age, reminding us of Baba’s
promises for the fruition of His work for
the future of the New Humanity.
The camaraderie and music sharing
brought us all so much joy – from the
sweet quiet sharing of a soft solo voice
at morning arti, to powerful drums and
Baba’s chant at dhuni, to the devotional
repetition of Baba’s holy name by Sufi
companions, to the polished Broadwaylike re-creation of incidents in Prague
Oklahoma, May 1952.
The 1952 convergence of small-town
Americans with New Yorkers, world
travelers, and “the accident people”
from India has resulted in a Sahavas 60
years later that drew over 185 people
together from both coasts and everywhere in between, representatives of
three continents, all converging upon a
little town in the middle of the country.
He filled our hearts to the brim.
We had a real taste of Oklahoma and
Prague on Saturday’s special “Prague
Day.” Starting the day by caravanning
the miles from St. Crispin’s to the Accident Site, Baba volunteers and local law
enforcement helped almost 200 people
with traffic flow at this highway spot
on US 62. The blind-spot dip in the road
was noted by many as we relived what
it must have been like for Elizabeth as
she drove 90 miles an hour on a wet slick
road to the destiny Baba had ordained.
Many Sahavasees were paying homage
at this holy site for the first time in this
lifetime. Prayers and arti were said and
sung, and darshan commenced with the
offering of flowers and obeisance. More
songs were sweetly expressed, poems
and prayers offered by individuals, too.
One duo sang, “America the Beautiful”
with others humming softly along. “God
shed His grace on thee” took on deep
significance in this setting.
After arti and commemoration at the
site we moved on to Prague and “Pilgrim
Hall” in the local Catholic church to listen
to the Burlesons’ delightful talk. Having
the eye witness accounts of the Burlesons really meant so much. Julia Margaret shared one childhood impression
from that day that struck a chord in all
– as a child seeing Mehera being carried
out of the ambulance she thought, “Oh
look, that lady has a beautiful ruby on
her forehead!” Of course, that ‘ruby’ was
Mehera’s wound. Dr. Burleson worked
arduously to save Mehera’s life.
After a packed lunch, exploration of
Prague included visiting the Infant Jesus of Prague Shrine for a short guided
tour, and the Prague Museum, where a
small display of Baba is housed as well
as a nice sample of Dr. Burleson’s early
medical equipment! The Prague festivities culminated in the famous Heartland
Center Tea Party: authentic chai, snacks,
lots of mingling and volleyball at the lawn
party on the grounds of the Heartland
Center, which provided a home base for
touring the Prague Hospital and Baba’s
room there, as well as exploring the
Burleson and Morrison Houses. Michael
Burleson helped with the hospital tour
and clarified even more about the exact
locations in the Hospital where Baba,
Mehera, Elizabeth, and Meheru where
treated and cared for.
Sunday morning came and it was May
20th. A slide presentation and remembrance of Mehera with readings were
the focus on this anniversary of when
she left her earthly existence and joined
Baba in 1989. It was fitting to remember
her role in Baba’s work in 1952, allowing
His own beloved to share in His suffering.
To close out the magical time we all
had, the guest speakers gave inspiring
parting words and then we concluded
with singing “Begin the Beguine” followed by a natural silence sealing our
time together in Him.
At one point during the weekend, the
Heartland Center’s board president John
Poag gave a short talk entitled, “The
Miracle of the Heartland Center,” sharing
the remarkable history of how the Heartland Center came to be. He reminded us
that Baba had prophesied there would
be 5 Centers in the United States:
An article in the Awakener stated
about the 5 centers, that:
“One would be on virgin land, with
a water lake beside the ocean, and be
a gift from the heart. One would be in
a big city, one in the mountains,one in
the desert, and one in the center of the
United States.” *
John concluded, “Baba also said that
whenever He stayed in a place, however
short a time, its spiritual atmosphere
became greatly elevated. Baba stayed
in Prague Oklahoma for 12 days from
May 24th to June 4th, 1952. To put this
in perspective, Baba spent a total of 10
days in the entire country of Australia,
thus 12 days in Prague is a lot of spiritual
elevation in Baba time!
Not only that, but Baba, of all the
locations in the world, chose this place
to shed His most precious Blood into the
earth, making it the new Calvary of the
newest Avatar, the Avatar of This Age,
Meher Baba – where for years to come,
multitudes of pilgrims will eventually
find their way to Prague Ok, to feel and
experience what He did here, and to partake of the most marvelous and priceless
treasure that He deposited here.”
Indeed, whatever seeds were planted
in the fertile land of our hearts over this
incredible weekend are now germinating in all souls that were present or were
present in spirit. The memory of what
He did here for humanity, is flourishing
in all.
*Vol. XX of the Awakener Magazine, , Part 2, p. 30.
The Heart's Land
What a joyous sahavas we all had
in the heart's land.
We traveled to honor
Beloved Baba's Passion
in America's heart's land.
Earthquakes preceded our trip
to the heart's land.
The blessing of thunder and rain
and the sign of the eclipse
sealed our time, in the heart's land.
How fortunate are the organizers
who labored in the heart's land.
What rare wine we drank
from God's cellar in the heart's land.
How the soaring music led us further
and further into the heart's land.
The fabric of companionship
we wove was the radiant garment
of the heart's land.
The sweet perfume we breathed
from the earth at the accident site
came from Baba's heart's land.
The tears we shed
as our souls took flight
were released into the heart's land.
Our souls soared as great birds
and danced as flickering flames
while in our heart's land.
Oh what ecstasy to breathe
the living spring air
blowing in the heart's land.
We carried back
barrels and barrels of love
to share with companions
gathered from the wine presses
in the heart's land.
May Baba grant that
with every step and every breath
we journey deeper and deeper
into the heart's land.
May Baba grant that
we more and more dedicate our lives
to manifesting in every word and
deed Baba's new heart's land.
~ Jerry Carlin, CA
51
The Second Annual Meher Baba Music Sahavas
June 22 - 24, 2012 Asheville, North Carolina, USA
All photographs on the following pages were taken by Michael Ivey
Written while still under the influence of music by Rani Didi (aka Raine
Eastman-Gannett)
M
y dear nightingales, let me hear
your song. Your Baba wants to hear
it. Will you not make Him pleased?”*
Flying into Asheville from San Francisco is a whole day of journeying. I set
out cheerfully though, despite having to
take my Garuda bird walking stick and
booking wheel chairs due to a sprained
foot the weekend before.
Arriving late at night on a mini jet
from the necessary stop in Atlanta was
exciting and my dear friend Arthur (from
old Meher Colony days in Ahmednagar,
MS India) who was my accommodation
host, was there with a hearty Jai Baba!
The best type of “meet and greet.” We
went on to his (and his wife’s) home. My
room was lovely and I fell blissfully into
a sound sleep.
Renee Bussanich was out of town
and had loaned me her car and so after
a hurried tutoring in GPS direction from
Arthur, off I set to the Odyssey School
site in the beautiful Historical Montford
area where the Music Sahavas is held.
Gorgeous grounds and a spacious hall,
with a stage all set up already with a large
beautiful painting by Charlie Gardner of
Beloved Meher Baba with bright flower
garlands surrounding it; these garlands
also enwrapped the whole large stage.
The back half of the hall was set up as a
Baba market of CDs, art, jewelry, books,
etc. So I set up my 14 different CDs on a
roomy table with Elaine Cox’s help. To my
joy I noticed Elaine had transferred her
“Songs of Huma” cassettes to CD and I
made sure I bought my two right away.
In this back section of the enormous hall
there was also an eating area and all-day
free tea and coffee with fresh milk. Many
local Baba lovers kept bringing and donating cookies and other yummy goods.
The Friday program of entertaining
our Beloved Baba consisted of mini-sets
of musicians and singers from near and
far, Billy Goodrum (one of the organizers)
performing his great number one hits in
the Baba world and in the film world too
set the bar high. Debbie Nordeen and
Jay Schauer (Debbie is another of the
organizers) did a fun piece acting as Parsi
singers in the old Parsi theater tradition
that was not only fun but skilled. Tofer
52
Stephens, a young man who writes very
moving songs which were new to me
plus a selection of his own songs was
so touching. John and Carol Gunn doing
were there, performing their wonderful
music, John on guitar and Carol on piano.
A favorite of mine in their presentation
was Carol’s version of Francis Brabazon’s
“Someone,” Mike Ivey on bass. Mike was
one of the sound men and major microphone set-up helper for three days. Ward
Parks with Debbie Nordeen and Winnie
Barrett sang back-up. Winnie is the third,
and indispensable, organizer. Maraiya
Latulippe was there, singing in both
French and English her deep and moving
songs on the piano. Bobbi Bernstein was
fun and great as usual with voice and
piano, who announced that her longawaited new CD is now finished. Raine
Eastman-Gannett (voice and guitar) presented mostly Francis Brabazon songs
and ghazals. Raine opened (as Rani Didi),
singing a Mirabai bhajan and then a kirtan
with Billy concluded a great evening of
music, the tired travelers going back to
their various accommodations.
Saturday morning and we were off
quickly to the Shavas again after breakfast, to arti and prayers at 9:00 a.m.,
and then straight into the anticipated
workshops at 9:15 a.m. and “The Songs
of Huma” lead by Elaine Cox and Cathy
Haas-Riley. We had to learn the melodies from Elaine and the Urdu written
by Baba, but she was very patient with
us. We struggled but at the end it felt
more solid and definitely pretty; we
were also humbled because Baba had
written them.
Then followed “Original Choral Pieces” with Ward Parks, choral works inspired by and dedicated to Meher Baba.
I have sung in Ward’s choirs for many
years so this too was a highlight for me,
and the participants picked them up
really well.
“Sing For the Beloved” was the third
workshop with the amazing Bob Een and
his cello and vocalizing techniques. He
frees the natural voice in such a loving
and remarkable way. He said the only
requirement for being part of his workshop is, “The desire to raise your voice
to the Beloved.”
The lunch after these exhilarating
workshops was Indian food. It was ca-
tered by the Asheville famous restaurant,
“Chai Pani,” owned and run by Meherwan and Molly Irani, which we had ordered on our registration sheets. Seems
everyone signed up for this judging from
the long queue. It was so yummy I went
back for thirds.
The afternoon was a great time, an
informal round-robin of song and music
from 2 to 5 p.m. I really loved this segment, hearing the shy ones, the new
ones, the professional ones, the ones
with polished CDs by way of accompaniment. Some needed encouragement,
some champed at the bit, some just
happy to sing along, and all just delightful. It went around twice in the three
hours. Here is where Debbie Nordeen
did a great and skillful job of MC and
keeping it clipping along. Debbie also
accompanied those who needed piano
accompaniment.
I must mention here, with their very
own paragraph, the dedicated sound
team. It was a large and difficult sound
space and they did so well. It sounded really good after much patience and work.
They technicians were Philip Ludwig,
Michael Ivey and John Gunn. The type of
tenacity and patience sound engineers
have is a marvel to say the least. Imagine
all those singers and different set-ups for
three days--Jai Baba to them!
The Saturday night program showcased the invited guest headliners,
Cathy Haas, Bob Een, and Jamie Newell.
Cathy opened the evening after we all
reconvened from dinner in Asheville’s
marvelous city restaurants.
Cathy sang new pieces and some old
favorites like “Stop Hunting” and had
others join her on stage. Mike Ivey’s bass
playing was featured, as well as a young
woman on cello. Some fun songs, some
haunting, all so polished.
Bob Een is, as we all know, sensational. His beautiful clear voice and rich
cello were thrilling. He performed some
well known songs, his much loved overtoning included. For me a special thrill
were two dramatic songs on which Billy
Goodrum joined him on piano. These
were from an opera Bob has written.
Just wonderful.
*Letters from the Mandali, Vol. 2, pp. 110-111,
ed. Jim Mistry. 1983 © AMBPPCT
53
54
Jamie Newell did what he always
does: he stole our hearts with old favorites he’s performed on Mehera’s
verandah, Mandali Hall, and the Samadhi. Then his Hafiz ghazals lit the love
in each of us with delicate “praise and
complaint” lyrics that our Beloved Meher Baba loved so well.
Billy Goodrum closed the evening out
with more of our favorite Baba kirtans
and sing-alongs. A perfect whole day of
music to entertain our Beloved and fill
our cups!
Sunday morning arti, then straight
into the workshop to study the performance songs. It is amazing that each
group had learnt the Urdu ghazals
taught by Elaine Cox and Cathay Haas-Riley. Their subtle meaning came through,
as we were aware Baba had written
them. We were moved and so was the
audience.
For the Ward Parks workshop, Debbie
Nordeen conducted us, as this was a big
choir. A joyful singing rang out! Some
of the Baba women of Asheville in this
workshop are also in Debbie’s acclaimed
professional Choir “Woman Song,” so
this sounded almost “record ready.”
Then came Bob Een’s experimental
music that we had freed up the day
before to fully absorb. As it happened,
Patrick O’Neil had arrived with his cello.
Although never having played with Bob
Een before, Patrick sat down with Bob,
and so there were now two cellos. Wow!
it turned out great. The first piece was
haunting, with many harmonies and unusual sounds--accomplished and beautiful. The second included many bird calls
with two cellos. One could hear every
bird, from the turkey gobbling to the
cuckoo to a kookaburra laughing. We
were all so elated. Then Bob and Patrick
played an ad-libbed spontaneous cello
duet to knock your socks off!
Jim Meyer, you were caught by surprise, weren’t you! Now we had another
invited guest to close out the Music
Sahavas. Yes, driving in from the hills
of North Carolina was Jim Meyer. Jim
is my favorite male vocalist. One just
closes one’s eyes and the honey-rich (or
is it Bailey’s Irish Cream smooth?) voice
woos one to romance and makes one
want to dance at the Beloved’s feet. Jim
did some old favorites and his new, more
rock-mantra like, Baba songs. He mostly
accompanied himself on dulcimer which
he plays so masterfully. This dulcimer,
which I might add looked terrific, had
been custom made by Jim out of two
baking dishes, and it sounded great. He
then picked up his guitar, upon which
he is also a whizz. Our multi-talented
songwriter, artist, singer, instrument
maker...Jim! He gave his usual heartmoving performance.
Billy Goodrum closed the Second Annual Meher Baba Music Festival Sahavas
with kirtan and music we could all join in
singing and to which many also danced.
We all parted glowing and hugging and
exchanging emails, cards and Facebook
addresses. See you next year in Baba’s
love and in His song!
Avatar Meher Baba Ki Jai!
Let Me Hear Your Song
Meher Baba
h, my dear nightingales, don't be disappointed with the old age of spring
but keep on singing, and while singing
become so thirsty that you drown in
My Ocean of Silence. Then you will find
My eternally new Song. When you sing
this Song you will find that spring has
become young once again.
I want to hear your song. Don't feel
disappointed with the old age of spring
and don't make Me disappointed in you.
Drink the cup of My pleasure, and, having derived strength from it, continue
singing. Allow others to hear your song
too. You will be able to revive the youthfulness of spring, but to accomplish this
you have to drown in My Silence and
find My Song.
All these years during the full-bloom
of the springtime of My Advent you
have seen My Glory in the gathering
of my lovers singing together, and you
have offered the flowers of your hearts
at My feet. Now don't be disappointed
but continue to gather together with all
enthusiasm and drown in the Ocean of
My Silence so that you may find My new
Song. That Song will make spring burst
into full bloom again, and you will happily derive the pleasure of union in the
midst of separation. This separation will
even swallow up time and space one day,
and you will find yourself smiling in the
lap of infinity. You will become eternally
immortal.
Your Baba is Baba, and He has come
down on earth to give you the cup of
immortality. Your Baba is always with
you; even if you wanted to leave Him
you cannot do so.
Therefore, My dear nightingales, let
Me hear your song. Your Baba wants to
hear it. Will you not make Him pleased?
O
Letters to the Editor continued from page 3
you after all you have been through with
the challenge to your control over Love
Street and the loss of your incomparably
loved partner. I have to gripe however, because I so
miss your editorial and smarts in putting
out the only magazine that chronicles
and comments on those tireless persons
who work in the fields of the Beloved. I
need word of them, if for nothing else,
than to inspire me; because their fortitude
and persistence in this fractured world is
remarkable and uplifting. This is very important reading for me (and probably others). To receive a full-bodied Love Street
Breezes in the mail on a quarterly basis is
reason for me to jump for joy along with,
I suspect, thousands of others.
I cannot wait for the insightful articles,
although I much prefer the births and
deaths---wonderful obits which show me
the depth of love those baby boomers
had for Baba and where their love for
Him took them. As I age I want to know
how Baba led them through all kinds of
bizarre mazes----I’ve had long conversations with the Avatar of the Age asking
Him “HEY! I’m ready to join you but if I still
have work to do just NAME IT! I’m not in
too great physical shape but just say the
word and I’ll do whatever You Desire!!”
Thank you for devoting so much of
your life to this venture. As Mani said,
each article and opinion really does matter, in fact it’s significance carries Baba’s
imprimatur much like the Butterfly Effect.
It is sad Baba never met the late Ray
Bradbury. I think they would have gotten down to nuts and bolts and in their
own ways realigned this tired planet a
notch, like rotating it’s balding tires. Well
enough of that fantasy! I send many,
many blessings on to you and your family
and prayers that the BREEZES will appear
in my mailbox very, very soon.
I send you many blessings Dina, and
heart-felt condolences on all of your
personal losses.
In His Name Forever, Jordan
Jai Baba dear Jordan,
My three children, along with the
Breezes team and a number of our
sympathetic readers, keep telling us we
should cut the magazine down to three
a year, rather than the four – one each
quarter – that we currently strive for.
They are aware of the extreme stress it
puts on us to do the four issues, but now
that Baba has taken my husband, the
Breezes is what occupies my life (when
continued on page 38
55
Avatar Meher Baba on the Internet
Places of Pilgrimage — Meherabad,
home of Meher Baba’s Samadhi (TombShrine) in Maharashtra, India, is maintained by the Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust: www.
ambppct.org * Avatar’s Abode in
Australia: www.avatarsabode.com.au *
Meher Spiritual Center, Baba’s “Home
in the West” (Myrtle Beach, SC): www.
mehercenter.org * Meher Baba Heartland Center (near site of Baba’s 1952 car
accident in Oklahoma): www.ambhc.org
* Meher Mount in Ojai, CA: www.mehermount.com * A guide to pilgrimage
to India: http://userview.home.mindspring.
com/welcomehome * Places Baba visited:
Meher Baba Travels, created by Tony
Zois, presents info about the Avatar’s
world tours by train, ship, and air: www.
meherbabatravels.com * Traveling with
the Beloved features Baba’s Indian
destinations: www.travelingwiththebeloved.com
Bhau Chat — Bhau Kalchuri (www.
bhaukaluchuri.org), one of Baba’s mandali, has an Internet chat almost every
Sunday, health permitting, for 4 hours.
The chat is at www.jaibaba.com/echat45/
public/index.html * The video and audio
webcast is at www.ambppct.org/events/
bhaulive2007.php
Baba Literature —Over 25 books by and
about Meher Baba are available FREE for
reading, searching, and downloading at
www.ambppct.org/meherbaba/online.
php * Diaries kept by Baba’s mandali
and correspondence to and from Baba
in the form of digital images and typed
transcriptions are viewable at www.
ambppct.org/archives * Audio book versions of Discourses and Listen, Humanity
are at www.mehermedia.com/audio.html
* Lord Meher, Baba’s biography, can be
read and searched at www.lordmeher.
org * Books for sale: Sheriar Foundation’s bookstore (Myrtle Beach, SC) is at
www.sheriarbooks.org * Meher Baba
Information bookstore (Berkeley, CA) is
at www.meherbabainformation.org *
Searchlight bookstore (Walnut Creek,
CA) is at www.searchlightbooks.org *
The Meher Baba Association bookstore
(London) is at www.meherbaba.co.uk/
books.html * For Baba books in India,
please go to www.meherbabatheavatar.
org/books
56
General websites on Meher Baba —
www.avatarmeherbaba.org , www.
jaibaba.com , www.meherbabainformation.org , www.trustMeher.org , www.
meherbabais.org
Mandali Hall Talks — Listen to audio
recordings of talks given by Baba’s disciples at www.mandalihall.org , www.
archive.org/details/MeherBabaMandaliTalks, www.mb-videoproject.org/1969
(go to “The Sound” under “Australian
Group” on the left) , www.mehermedia.
com/talks/talks.html , and www.webanimator.com/mehercast
Baba Study — Meher Spiritual University
offers online courses about Baba’s life
and work at www.meherspiritualuniversity.org
Baba Quote Collections — www.avatarmeherbaba.org/erics/anth.html, www.
meherbabadnyana.net/life_eternal/Life_
Eternal.html, www.Meher BabaManifesting.com
Baba Movies — www.meherfilmworks.
org has complete versions of the movies
You Alone Exist and God in Human Form,
the latter in Hindi, Telugu, English, Farsi,
French, Spanish, German, and Italian.
View other films at www.meherbabafilm.
com/filminfo.html , www.mehermedia.
com/video.html , www.jaibaba.com/index.php/the-mandali-speak/katie-irani/
katie-irani.html , and www.technobaba.
com * Baba movies for sale in Australia
are at http://mb-videoproject.org *
Also, www.youtube.com has over 600
videos related to Baba, including many
videos of the mandali. Search for “Meher Baba.”
Baba and Baba-Talk Listservs — These
are forums for Baba lovers to share
postings about Baba-related announcements and discussion, respectively. Two
daily quotes are also delivered via the
Baba Listserv. It is recommended to
choose the “batched” option on the
sign up pages, www.mymeherbaba.com/
mailman/listinfo/baba and www.mymeherbaba.com/mailman/listinfo/baba-talk
Twitter — http://twitter.com/MeherBabaNotes (news, quotes, photos), http://
twitter.com/MeherBabaSays (quotes),
http://twitter.com/AvatarMeherBaba
(humor)
Baba Alerts — Go to www.google.com/
alerts to sign up for e-mail notices about
everything related to Meher Baba published on the Internet.
Amartithi Webcasts —Ever y year
around 31st January, a live video and
audio webcast of events in India surrounding Amartithi (anniversary of
Beloved Baba’s passing) is available at
www.ambppct.org/events/web-cast.php
* This site also has downloads of past
Amartithi videos, as well as of other
videos. Check in at the site a few days
before the festivities begin for a schedule of events.
Baba Magazines — Glow International is
at www.belovedarchives.org/glow_international for subscription and excerpts
* Om Point is at www.ompoint.com/
download.htm * Meher Baba, a Telugu
magazine, can be read online at www.
srimeherbaba.com * Information about
Meher Pukar, a Hindi magazine, is at
www.meherbabatheavatar.org/books/
pukar.htm * The Awakener (discontinued) can be read at www.theawakenermagazine.org * The Meher Baba Journal
(discontinued) can be read at www.
ambppct.org/meherbaba/Journal.php
Love Street Breezes has picked up where
the Love Street LampPost finished. www.
lovestreetbreezes.org and we are now on
Facebook, but if you wish to subscribe,
email [email protected]
Tavern-Talk — Sign up for this Baba
Trust electronic newsletter at www.
ambppct.org/events/news.php to keep
up with the latest happenings at Meherabad, the site of Meher Baba’s Samadhi, and Meherazad, Baba’s residence
in His later years. This newsletter also
publishes mandali diaries and letters
from Baba to His lovers.
Baba Centers, Groups, and Retreats —
India: Bangalore: www.mehergalore.org
* Bhopal: http://meherbhopal.tripod.com
* Delhi: www.meherbabatheavatar.org
* Hyderabad: www.avatarmeher.org *
Jabalpur: www.trustMeher.org * For
more centers in India, go to http://meherbhopal.tripod.com/centres.html or
www.trustmeher.com/files/centers.htm
* Argentina: www.meherbaba.com.ar *
Australia: Melbourne: www.mehermelb.
jimdo.com * Israel: www.avatarmeherbaba-israel.com * UK: www.meherbaba.
co.uk * US: Atlanta and Athens: www.
avatarmeherbaba.org/atlanta/index.html
* Chicago: www.alishya.com/chicago
* Denver: www.ambdc.net * Hawaii:
www.meherdhamhawaii.com * Mariposa, CA: www.meherbabamariposa.
org * Meherana (Mariposa retreat):
www.meherana.org * New Orleans:
www.babanola.org * New York City:
www.meherbabahouse.org * Northern
California: www.meherbabameherbaba.
org * Oregon: www.enhancedimaging.
com/ambo * Southern California: www.
meherabode.org * Tampa Bay: www.
meherbabatampabay.org * Twin Cities,
MN: www.mbctc.org * Washington,
DC: www.meherbabadc.com * For more
groups, go to www.meherbabatampabay.
org/world-wide-groups.php
Baba Material in Non-English Languages
— Hindi: http://meherbhopal.tripod.
com/downloads.html * Telugu: www.
srimeherbaba.com * Farsi: www.meherestan.com or www.meherbabairani.
com * Spanish: www.meherbaba.com.
ar and http://mehery.googlepages.com
* Portuguese: www.avatar-da-novaera.com * French: http://meherbaba.fr *
German: www.meher.de * Norwegian:
http://home.online.no/~solibakk/nor *
Hebrew: www.avatarmeherbaba-israel.
com * Chinese: http://meherbaba.cn *
Korean: www.meherbabakorea.com * For
material about Baba in 16 languages on
Wikipedia, please go to the “languages”
section in the lower left corner of http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meher_Baba * For
Baba movies in languages other than
English, see the listing above for “Baba
Movies.”
Miscellaneous — Visit www.michaeldacosta.com to read Michael da Costa’s
poetry, hear his songs, and find out who
this crowd-pleasing, Baba-loving entertainer is. * Superb photos of Meher Spiritual Center by Greg Butler may be viewed
at http://primefolio.com/mehercenter *
“The Ocean of Love”: This favorite Baba
song by Bob Holdt has its own site, with
music audio and the story of its creation,
at www.the-ocean-of-love.com
Dina Suggests — “GoD and DoG by
Wendy J, Francisco: See if you can watch
this YouTube song, illustrated with animation, without a lump in your throat or
a tear in your eye, especially if you’re
a dog lover as Meher Baba was: www.
youtube.com/watch?v=H17edn_RZoY
Updated and expanded lists of Baba
websites, as well as Baba quotations on
the power of Baba’s samadhi, the importance of remembering Baba, and the
opportunity to serve Baba, are at https://
sites.google.com/site/babawebsites. “Meher Baba Loves You!”
Patty Thorne AZ
I
had a frightening dream one night
where my best friend Dianne was being shaken violently by a man. When I
came up to stop him, he grabbed me
instead and was violently shaking me
while I was saying “Meher Baba loves
you” over and over, and he slowed down
the shaking and gradually just let me go
with a rather quizzical look on his face. It
was a startling dream to have. I worked on the Redondo Beach Pier
at Cattleman’s restaurant as a cocktail
waitress. My husband and I were very
financially strapped students living in
Inglewood. I was unwilling to pay the
one dollar fee for parking at the Pier and
so parked on the sidewalk instead, which
necessitated a very long walk down to
water level then up to restaurant level.
As a cocktail waitress I didn’t leave work
until 2:15 or 2:30 am. There were usually
no other people around and it never occurred to me to be frightened. Well... a few days after my dream I
was walking down by the water area—a
very dark area at that time of night—
when two men grabbed me. Actually not
so much grabbed, as walked up behind
me on each side of me and both put
E
"Have
an arm around my neck in a headlock.
They started describing all the horrific
things they were going to do to me...
very graphically. Still I was not frightened, which of course made no sense
to me later.
I just started calmly saying over and
over “Meher Baba loves you, Meher
Baba loves you” as the dream had
prompted me. They weren’t choking me
but had a very tight grip as the three of
us kept walking in unison. My calm, and
quietly reiterating “Meher Baba loves
you” suddenly seemed to terrify them,
and not only did they let go of me, but
they starting running backwards away
from me yelling “STOP! STOP!” - as if
someone quite terrifying was attacking
them. They were holding up their arms
in front of their heads as if they were
receiving actual blows.
I continued walking my usual pace until I got safely into my old VW BUG. Then
I started sobbing with fear, relief, and
amazement. No one was around to
hear or see any of this, so their shouting
attracted no attention.
And no, I didn’t, thereafter, start
paying a dollar to park. Jai Meher Baba!
No Doubt…"
ruch speaks: "On many occasions,
Baba lovers who have been in Baba's
contact for a long time, including some
of those who even had Baba's physical
darshan, were tested and tried through
overwhelming misfortunes. Some of
these tragedies were so immensely
great that one's heart reached out and
felt empathy for the people involved.
Some of them would bravely accept it
while others felt confused, even though
their faith and love for Baba remained
intact.
On one occasion a couple, Baba lovers, were seated with Eruch along with
their child. The child was sweet looking
but badly handicapped. The couple were
fortunate to have had Baba's darshan.
Eruch, as usual, inquired about everyone's health in the family and finally,
pointing to the child, asked how the child
was progressing. The couple informed
Eruch about the progress of the child
since they had last visited Meherazad.
The trials and tribulations were many
and, as they were narrating it, you could
feel the pain in their hearts. We were all
listening silently.
After narrating everything, the husband asked Eruch: "After giving our all
to Baba, after so many years of living
for Him, I can never understand why
Baba puts my child through so much
suffering?"
Eruch kept quiet for a very long time.
It was as if through the silence he was
feeling the couple's pain. Then he turned
to the couple and spoke very forcefully.
"Know for sure that He has nothing but
the very best interest of the soul when
He decided to give that suffering. Have
no doubt whatsoever in your mind. He
has in mind nothing but the very best
for that soul."
We were all very quiet when Eruch
finished. The power and authority with
which he said this was so overwhelming
that nothing more was needed to be
said on the subject.
The Real Treasure-II, by Rustom B. Falahati
57
United States
Alaska
Juneau—Kathy Hill, 907.209.5070 or
[email protected] (mid-March to
mid-October only).
Meetings
Washington, D.C.
Pamela Butler-Stone, 301-946-0236,
www.meherbabadc.com
Arizona
Washington State
Tucson—Irma Sheppard: 520-321-1566,
[email protected].
Flagstaff—Laurent Weichberger 928-6008898, [email protected].
Seattle—Cynthia Barrientos, 206-7139905, [email protected].
International
California
Los Angeles—323-731-3737
Meherabode.org.
Ojai—Meher Mount: 805-640-0000,
Samantha and Leslie Bridger,
[email protected].
Sacramento—[email protected].
www.premsay.com/MeherBaba.
San Francisco Bay Area—Ben Leet: 510351-8259, [email protected].
Colorado & Southwest
Denver—Barbara Roberts 303-238-4649,
[email protected]. Contact Barbara for
info on Utah, and Wyoming.
Florida
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]
Hawaii
Maui—Meredith Moon,
[email protected]
Molokai­—Shirley Alapa, 808-567- 6074
[email protected]
www.meherdhamhawaii .com
Illinois
Chicago—Fereshteh Azad 630-207-9461
[email protected]
www.ambcc.net
Louisiana
New Orleans—Joe Burke, 504-616-1111
[email protected]
Maine
Orono or Rockland – Daniel and
Carolyn Montague 207-594-4115 FDM@
roadrunner.com
Massachusetts
Cambridge—Michael Siegell 617-8643997, [email protected]
Brewster Nancy Geagan 774-207-8023
[email protected]
minnesota
Minneapolis—AMBC of the Twin Cities
Pat and Sandy, 612 920 2056, patbaba7@
gmail.com
58
Texas
Nacogdoches—Chris and Anne Barker,
936-560-2631, [email protected].
Australia
©Meher Nazar Publications, Ahmednagar.
Mississippi
Jackson—Peter Rippa 601-317-0848,
[email protected]
Montana
Emigrant—Anne Haug 406-333-4582,
[email protected]
Missoula—Andy Shott 406-549-5949.
New Hampshire
Liz Miller 603-749-3668
[email protected].
New Mexico
Santa Fe—Robert Reser and Edle
Andersen, 505-983-6621
[email protected].
Nevada
Las Vegas —Dick and Carol Mannis
702-326-1701, [email protected].
New York City Area
Bronxville, NY—Meher Baba House,
212-971-1050, MeherBabaHouse.org.
New York City—212-971-1050,
[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 7-5442-1700
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
Meher Baba painted by Katie Rose
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 color, 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;
Paramatma; Allah;
Elahi; Yezdan;
Ahuramazda, God
Almighty, and God the
Beloved.
You are named Ezad,
the Only One Worthy
of Worship.
Avatar
Meher Baba
ki Jai!
Photo of Meheru © Stan Barouh
Meheru talks about
praying with Baba:
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=go_ciiANdrU
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Photo of Meheru © Stan Barouh
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