OcToBER — DEcEMBER 1998

famj2osr

.Avatar J4lelier Baba’s flag3:roirt J4/leherabad... to J44eherabode

L

Editor’s

CornerJai Baba to you all.

Andyet another one is called home...

August 5th, and Nana Kher was grantedhis devoutwish—to be reunited with his

Beloved Master. We will miss your embraceNana Kher, your “Welcome home,” your giftof Baba’s Prasad, and your leading of thePrayers, but we rejoice in your happiness.

In the April issue I put out the call for helpin the layout ofthis magazine — four wonder-Lii women came forth with PageMaker expertise and said theywould love to give it a trycTom Hart is still the head guy, the one thatgives your LampPost a smooth , seamless, and

professional appearance. Each ofthe women,Betty Lowman from Palo Alto,CheriePlumlee from Walnut Creek, BabsGildersleeve from Los Gatos (all in California) and Kathy Hill from Norfolk, VA, designed and did the layout for a number ofarticles.They then faxed the results to me forediting and proofreading and then sent thedisks to Tom to do the grand over-all layoutand to make sure they all flowed smoothlyinto one another. Ifyou can’t tell where onewoman’s work ends and the next one starts,thenTom has done hisjob perfectly! It wouldseem this is the way to do it in the friture aswe all seem to be finding increasingly fewerhours in the day! No one person has the timeto do it solo. David McNeely manfully putthe July issue together alone and unaided.Thank you David, great job! (But I think Iheard him mutter “Never again!”)

The main theme for our Octoberissue is Sahavas—a word that has been

explained in many different ways, but basicallyis ‘the give and take oflove in the Master’s

T he peripatetic Bhau Kalchuriwas on the move again this year, present

at many ofthe Sahavases held across the country Ifyou have heard only one ofBhau’s talks,you will have heard “how infinitely active isour Beloved.”The same might be said ofHisNightwatchman! Bhau the Indefatigable! Wehave reports from some ofthe places he visited across the countrywhere he was spread-ing the Word.

T he Love Street Bookstore tellsus about the latest book from Mani, also

six new videos released. Choose your Christ-mas presents from a great selection.

We have an issue packed withinteresting articles and new stories.

You will find a fascinating historical accountofthe Stokes House on Grove Street in NewYork and also how the Discourses came to beprinted in Hebre thanks to Ruth Carrie BenShammai.

Enjoy the read!

Dma Snowcompany.’

FT......

2 3st-,

welcome

A publication of the Avatar Meher Baba Center of Southern California

LoveStreet LamjlbsrI

.4Heather Nadel . 5

EruchJessawala 6

Sam Saunders 9

Welcome Home Nana Kher Various Contributors 10

Departing With Baba Heather Nadel 12

Sahavas Meher Baba 13

The 24th Los Angeles Sahavas Robert Dre)rfus 14

A History ofthe L.A. Sahavas Toddy Shop

TerryLucas and Roman Babiak I 6

MyFavorite Sahavas Don Stevens 17

Young Adult Sahavas at Meher Mount

Huma Alvarado and AnnaLena Phillips 18

Wake Up Portland, Wake Up! Betty Lowman 19

Major Fund-Raiser ofthe Year 20

iVleherabode Center and Grounds Linda Zavala 21

Dreams, Reflections, and Hppopotonzi A Visit to WODIN’s Studio

Kathryn Wiederhold 2

Avatar’s Abode, Australia (The 4othAnniversary) Dma Snow 26

Wedding Bells at Meher Mount Kendra Crossen Burroughs 35

The House on Grove Street Ed Flanagan 36

Consumed in the Flame ofLove

The Story of Baba’s Jewel, Carrie Ben Shammai ofJerusalem

Etzion Becker 43

-

The Living \Vitness Series 6llehera, 2dani) Wendell Brustman 31

Mehera, Meher Baba’s Beloved

Souls On Fire

Beautiful Souls in Ugly Cages

Insidejobs: Stories ForAdults and Other Kids

Kendra Crossen Burroughs 34

‘‘s — -

I

Editors Corner Diia Snow 2

Stcp 3risidc... 7he Love &reet 9Jookstorc Dma Snow 7

Humor for Fluma (‘Ghildren Speak to God) various contributors 42

Announcements various contributors 46

Notes From The Internet various contributors 46

Silence Day at Meherabode with Bhau KalchuriReflections on Silence Day

WhyMeher Baba Observed Silence

Muzika

The £ovaStrectJamEPosr is dedicated with love

to Avatar Meher Baba. Its primary purpose is to

contribute to a sense ofcommunity among al/His

lovers by providing a p/ace for sharing His

remembrance. All the members ofthe Baba family

are invited to contribute to thisfeast ofLove.

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

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

Love and Truth.

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

software format); typewritten copy on white paper is also

acceptable. Be sure to clearly identify all submissions and credit

every quote or reference.

submissions, subscriptions, donations:Love Street LampPost

Avatar iVleher Baba Center of Southern California1214 South Van Ness AvenueLos Angeles, CA 90019-3520

213-731-3737— or —

, -

Bababooks@aol.com

deadlines:for the January - March issue: November 8th

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

October - December issue: August 8th

Love Street Bookstore:Dma Snow (at the addresses above)310-837-6419 between 7 and 11pm310-839-BABA (2222) 24 hour fax

Bababooks@aol.com

credits:editor: Dma Snow

design and layout: Betty Lowman, Barbara Gildersleeve,Cherie Plumlee, Kathy Hill,Dma Snow, Thomas Ilart

distribution: Chris Lyttle

Terry Zagrodnick 32

Lanijones 33

as told by Phyllis Ott 34

V

The J.oveSfrcet £amJP.osr is published quarterly,

injanuary, April,July, and October.AU contents © 1996 Avatar Meher Baba Center of

Southern California.All quotations, photos, or books, ofAvatar Meher Baba,

© AMBPPCT, IndiaA//words, images, andgraphics in thispith/ication areproperly s/the copyrightho/tfers aiit//ort/a’

cositrihutors. Messages (!na’photos OJPVJL’herBaba ©AvatarlvleherBaha Perpetita/Pub/ic Charitable

Trust, Ahisiea’naga;Ina’ia, aiicf© lawrence Reiter Unauthorizedduplication isprohibitedby law.

LL (x:3 t S tL x:x

Oeci5res/1c4’Je,

7jnoa /½ at1!recwh you a/€’r JJeJoed Za6a

J]l>//2Jaç/, 6U/ aic’ wish cii you c/ear ones ‘n ]/is £oe

a /oy/uJ 7ia6a/iJJ 7)(J/:)Ü J)lf’/1c4Z/ /ron your

herazad’ Jainily. ]his JJuq ,: qi//Jor your new Cen

icr in 1. :; , a IinJ /Ju1 shows boa close you are lo /i4e

½ear/ o/ //e 75cEt6U 0Id lo ]/is ()efl/er and Jiotne /(.lnd’ JI(eJerczad /L,J /Jis cc Jeel in

and n 1½’ hear/s o/ all our Jia/a /ziniJy cho /ICOCPSC

/J;e of]/i ocean ()J L ue. 91ou are a/aaç,s i-c-

mem6erei/ c)j/5/; yr-ca! bee. ]7Ce4 ieee /o you and all

our i)a/a Jainily of Los 7lnqeles and near6’, from

9/ouf 7l7eJerazadJainily.

Eventually we will have a flag pole in theground as they do at Avatar’s Abode

(cost prohibits it at the moment.) As an in-terim measure it is at the entrance and forthe “Official Flag Raising” we had Bhauclimb a step ladder and place it in the holder.A large crowd was on hand and all was accomplishedjoyftilly and silently. Movies wereshown all evening until midnight when, withBhau present, all erupted in:

4vatar Meher Baba ki Jai !“

S ilence Day— 10th ofJuly and Bhau wasstill in town with us. What better day to

celebrate and raise the Beloved’s Flag. KathyWilliams and her husband Gus had beenthe happy recipients and carriers of the flaggiven to us by the women mandali. It wasaccompanied by this letter which we haveframed and which hangs beside the flagwhen it is inside (see photo on back cover.)

This flag was flown on Meherabad Hill onthe following occasions:

Silence Day 1996Mani’s Interment September,

Amatithi 1997Baba’s Birthday 1997Day First AnniversaryMehera’s Birthday

Silence Day atMeherabode

with Bhau Kalchuri

Leaving the Dome after silent prayers. Part ofthe assemhled crowd ho/ding the framed/etterfrom the Macdali.

CoveSfreet£am2s

—

Reflections

by Heather Nadel, Meherazad

on

—

Silence Day

I a quiet part oflower Meherabad, there’sa little one-room hut in the shade ofa huge

banyan tree. The sign over the door says, “TheJhopdi,” and it is where Beloved Meher Babastarted His Silence. A video ofPadri springsto mind whenever I think about the Jhopdi.He is standing in front ofit, brist]ingwith life,tall and thin, and with a long bony finger hedramaticallyindicates the little room. “On thenight of9thlJuly, 1925, Meher Baba went intothis hut speaking, and on the morning of the10th He came out silent.” In his person Padristill carried the discipline, the alertness, theemphasis on obedience that stemmed fromthat early time when Baba started His Si-lence. Seventy three years later, it is SilenceDay 1998, and to the Jhopdi have come astream ofpilgrims, including the women man-dali from Meherazad. They drive up in thebig blue DeSoto, and slowly get out ofthe car,approach the open door, bow down.

Inside, theirs are the first roses to adornBaba’s picture, from which He looks out uponthe scene, fiery and ineffably sweet, the photobeing one of Him taken around 1925. Theonly sound is from the 7-colored flag on a poleoutside, flapping in the mild wind.

The ladies move over to the Table House,the big table-cum-room where in those in-tense early days Baba sat in seclusion writingHis missingBook.Theybend to take darshanand offer roses at the little door, and when Dr.Goher straightens up, she beams a dazzlingsmile upon us all, 1000 watts at least, especially stunning coming from the frail little per-son who was unable to walkwithout help only4 months ago. The others also emerge, Goherand Meheru tie a huge garland to the table,and pilgrims stream into the Jhopdi one byone for darshan.

As the ladies drive off in silence, withgestures and smiles, waved offby the crowd, I

remember Mehera on Silence Day, bowing tothe Table House. Her total absorption anddeep reverence was very moving, and I wouldwonder what she was thinking, what she wasremembering from those years that she spokeof so often: when she was young and newwith Him, and He was speaking, fierce, strict,incredibly active, so vividly the Master — theJhopdi portrait come alive.

And I remember the suffering that wouldsteal over her face on Silence Day, in betweenher gracious gestures. . . a look that startled methe first time I saw it. Over time I came toknow, because she would say it often, that toMehera who loved Baba as God-Man, HisSilence was suffering. She made one think ofwhat it must have been like for Him to knowthat He would never laugh aloud again, neversing, never again voice ajoke, an instant rep-artee, or shout a reprimand, or converse naturally. And thinking ofHis suffering she wouldthen speak ofHim in His later years, after theaccidents, when He was unable to walk easily,sitting in one place for hours in the heat ofsummer, unable to voice a wish or complaint,or call out or even whisper, and all the whiletaking upon Himselfthe burden ofthe worldfor love’s sake.

In 1998, 700 silent pilgrims bowed downat the little hut under the banyan and at theTable House. From the books theywere read-ing, in the thoughts theywere thinking, per-haps some recalled as I did, what Baba hadsaid:

5••J.

_,R

t . ( :x oh

“When the Word

ofMy Love

breaks out

ofits Silence

and speaks

in your hearts,

teiingyou

who I really am,then you

willknow

that that is

the Real Word

you have been

always longing

to hear.”

--

u !: 3 ® t•j•‘Notes From The Internet” Continuedfrom page 30.

Actually, for about 3 months now, I havebeen hearing stories of wolf sightings atMeherabad, but I thought people were joking.However Erico told me he had seen wolves 3times in the last month... big, long ears, darkgrey with black fluffy tails, and quite scrawny.He even said that one day, while riding outwestof the Samadhi, he came upon a small villageshepherdess who was crying. She said the“langa” (woW) hadjust come, scooped up a smallgoat and carried it offin it’s mouth. I wonderwhether the prohibition against feeding straydogs also applies to wolves?

July 26th, Rain, rain, and more rain!

The mangoes are over and apples havestarted coming into the market, the season isnow well into the Monsoon. Last night we gotthe heaviest rain of the year so far, my guage,which goes upto 4.5 inches, overflowed in a 12hour period. There are mini-ponds everywhere,and it is still threatening to rain more. It hasn’tbeen a good month for solar energu but theland is about as green as I’ve ever seen it. ThetotJ1 rain for the year, sincejune 1, is about 13inches, and we are definitely expecting more.Thjs is about double what we had last year atthe same point in time, and we ended Maywith around 24 inches total, pretty good forMeherabad. I think the record rainfall I haveseen here in the last 27 years is somewherearound 36 inches, and that was about 15 yearsago, when all the pump rooms in the open wellsbecame flooded, and some people even beganto say “enough!” Maybe all ofthe tree plantinghas finally started affecting our climate, or maybeit’sjust El Niño, butwhatever it is, it’s certainlywelcome. This may be the only time of yearwhen the weather here is cooler than most ofAmerica, 74 F as I write, almost perfect.

Everyone’s health is more or less OK, except for Nana Kher who has been hospitalizedwith pneumonia and some kind ofheart trouble.

The Indian number offoreign pilgrims hereremains moderate; there’s plenty ofspace at thePilgrim Center and the rupee is 42.60 per dollai:

It’s a good time to come.

Video Review from Kendra

The new Witness Series videos (fromWendell Brustman) thatwe got are highly rec

ommended! We have three—the ones ofMehera, Agnes Baron and Irene Bib. TheMehera tape is lovely,with a veiy touching scenein Baba’s Room at Meherazad. It’s also nice tosee beautiftul Mehera and all the pretty ladieson the porch admiring herwith such love-filledglances.

Agnes telling the story ofMeher Mount(and gentlymaking fin ofjean Adriel) is a puredelight.

Irene Bib ofSwitzerland was a real treat. Iwas curious about her, as I recalled how shebecame catatonic in India and had to be caredfor (byMargaret Craske, I believe). However

she does not mention this episode in the video.Yet it is very fascinating, since she is extremelyarticulate and speaks English verywell, and hasplenty to say, not only stories but also words ofwisdom and inspiration. Plus there’s an adorable shot oflrene making her dog wave into thecamera!

Kendra Crossen BurroughsMeherMount, Ojai, CAVisit the Meher Mount homepage athttp://members.tripod.comJEzadJindex.htrnl

Continued on page 9.

6 ab EN

by Eruch Jessawala

Why Meher Baba Observed Silence

back at him. Then he barks and so it goes onand on.”We would often question Me-

her Baba about His long silence,asking Him when He intended to break itand one day in 1954 in answer, He justdropped His alphabet board and said, “Fromnowon I will notuse the board.”We thoughtthis was a hint that He might be about tobreak His silence but the days passed with-out incident except that He then started tocommunicate by using finger gestures. AllHe would say, referring to His silence, was,“What a binding it is” but it was a bindingwith a purpose—for our sake.

However, one lasting benefit which developed out ofthis, came one day when Heasked us this question: “Why do people shoutat one another when they are angry?” Wesaid, “They shout because they are angry andthey want to express their anger,” and Babaresponded, “Yes, they can express their an-ger that way, but even ifsomeone is seated attheir side they will shout at that person.Could theynot speak softly?”We volunteereddifferent explanations, saying different thingswhich came to mind at the time, but ouranswers did not satisfy Baba. So He gave usthe answer.

“When a person is angry with anotherperson,” He said, “that person is far removedfrom his heart and distance is created betweenthem. That’s why the physical reaction is toshout, and the greater the distance, the greateris the shouting. Love disappears and one goeson shouting at the other who in turn barks

But Baba did not stop there as Hedoubtlessly wanted us to see the same thingfrom a different angle. So He continued,“Now take the other case of two people inlove. When two individuals are in love witheach other, how do they speak?” “They speaksoftly,” we answered. “Yes,” Baba agreed, “theydo speak softly and the greater the love be-tween them, the softer is their tone ofspeech.And when they are still further in love, nowords are needed and theyjust look at eachother and eventually there is not even theneed to look—no need at all.”

Well, that is the reason whyMeher Babaobserved silence. There was no need for anexchange ofwords. It was very good to hearthat, to be reminded that He was so very closeto us; as He has said, “I am closer to you thanyour very breath.”

Whether the world accepted His close-ness or not was immaterial to Him forwhom there was no need to speak, and it wasso true that whenever people came in con-tact with Him, although there was an exchange of signs or words throughinterpretations, Meher Baba always spokedirectly to the hearts of people. There is nodoubt at all about that, He simply reacheddeep into their hearts.

The Ancient One, pp. 101-102, Copyright1985, Naosherwan Anzar.

i. —

Step inside...

by Dma Snow

7:1w Love &reet Bookstore

Think Christmas!I know this is only October but now

is the time to start thinking of all the Babalovers to whom you would like to give a special Baba gift. And this is the right place tochoose those gifts!

Last year we started something specialthat proved to be very popular with you all—something to make your gifts more beautiftiland your gift giving even easier: for an extra$3 we will gift wrap your purchases in veryspecial Christmas or Chanukah paper, bowsincluded.

Cherie Plumlee designed a Baba Christ-mas card, which for 3 (theregular price of all her photocards) we can add to your gift.You can also purchase themoutright to send to your verybest Baba friends. See the in-side back cover for the photos.

So here follows the top alltime favorites. I’m sure you willbe able to find something foreveryone on your list amongstthe following selections!

We have six new video-tapes and 4 new books—theoverwhelming favorite ofwhichis Dreaming ofthe Beloved byMani. I would think this bookwill be at the top of everyonec

list. These are the dreams thatBaba sent Mani in her lateryears, important dreams, profound dreams.In our last issue, Heather Nadel told us thestory ofhow she and Mani and Sheriar Foundation, Wodin and many others made surethat this book would happen. Well it finallyhas and what a thing of beauty it is! Hardbound, 80 pages, twentyfour double pagespreads, frill color art creations by the artist

El

Mani chose to do this work—Wodin.The size ofthe book is 8.5 x 10.5 inches

and the unbelievable price is 22. You readit right! $22. There will be an enormousscramble to get this book so get your ordersin early.

Wendell Brustman has released thefirst four videos in The Witness Series.There will be many more to follow—seethe story on page 31.

We have been given the linchpin of theseries MeherBaba LordandFriend, being anhour long talkwith Mehera. 54.95.

All these videos run about an hour andare beautiftilly and very professionally pro-duced.

If four new videos are good how abouttwo more?!

Many ofyou may have seen the beautiful film ofMeherBaba in Italy (shown at thePilgrim Center and Myrtle Beach). We toldyou about it in ourlast issue. It skillfully combines present day black and white footageof all the places Baba visited in the ‘30’swith the still photos taken at the time anda very complete and informative voice over.

It is now available in videoformatfor 35. -

The latest release fromMeher Prasad (the companyresponsible for almost all ourBaba videos) is entitledMehera, Meher Babc Be-loved. See the review on pagex. This tape runs 42 mm-utes and sells for $39.95.

The best-selling video released this year was undoubtedly Beyond Words. Producedby Sheriar Foundation fromthe 1967 documentary shotby professional film makerLouis Van Gasteren. It isbreathtaking (and indeed,beyondwords!) in the immediacy ofthe footage. Short ofbeing in His presence, this is

the next best thing! The quality ofthe 35mmfilm is unlike anything we have ever previously seen ofBaba. Worth buying a VCR justtoviewit! 28 minutes, $52.

A video that has been out for a few yearsnow but is still one ofour best sellers is Eternat Beloved. Produced by Meher Prasad, it

AllThis andHeaven Too, a talkwith Manias she remembers her childhood with Baba ispriced at $49.95.

The Belovedc WatchdogAgnes Baron remembers Meher Baba, $38.95.

Living With God is Irene Billo’s tales ofher life in Baba’s Ashram, also $38.95.

9W$ £ove4SfreetJ..nmEI?ost £1

4i 3 @ t (z 4x 3 @

has a run time of4O minutes and some fabubus footage ofBaba that has been color corrected and sharpened to the point where thequality is just about equal with the recentlyfilmed interviews with Mani, Goher, and theother mandali who tell us what Baba was do-ing and where He was in the precedingframes. Verywell worth the 5O!

Bill Stephens has given us the follow upto his Footprints in the Sand This one is titledSouls on Fire. Paperback, $12. See the reviewon page 33 for details.

Bal Natu has written the third in the trilogy ofhis Conversations with the Awakener.This one is tided Intimate Conversations andis in the same format as the previous two. fl2.

Lives ofLove, the stories about all thewomen mandali, is written by AustralianJudith Garbett from over 30 (accumulative)years spent in their company. It was hugelypopular when I brought it back with mefrom Avatar’s Abode and sold out almost immediately. We now have a second shipmentin. Large format, fl7.

Ifyou, along with Baba, feel that FrancisBrabazon is one great poet, you will reallyenjQy The Water Carrier. It is written by Rob-ert Rouse, who was one ofthe original build-ers ofthe Abode, and whom Baba asked, alongwith his wife Lorna, to stay on the propertyand caretake. He has spent many years inthe company of Francis. Excerpts have appeared from time to time in the Meher BabaAustralia newsletter, but now, hot off thepress is the paperback, along with some definitely archival photographs! Robert calls it amosaic ofFrancis, and it is a fascinating in-sight into the workings of the mind ofFrancis Brabazon. Paperback, 86 pages, $12.

The third book I brought back with mefrom Australia is a coloring book for olderchildren and adults who still love to pick upthe colored pencils and color in—especiallywhen it is The Beloved’s face you are working(playing?) on. These are excellent 9x12 portraits ofBaba that Claire Mataira has donefor the cover ofthe Aussie newsletter MeherBabaAustralia. Surrounding the portrait areall sorts offlowers, trees, animals etc. that makeit a deightfialpastime to color in.They are in awriting pad format, 15 in all, so after coloringeach picture you can tear it offand put on therefrigerator, laminate it, frame it, or whatever.Aussie’s coloring book, $5 .50 each.

At this writing Hermes tells me that Volume 13/14 ofthe LordMeher Series will be

available by Christmas. I do have all the others as well. Vols. 3,4, and 5 are the only singleeditions left and are priced at $45. All the restare 2 volumes combined for $80. Call me fordetails.

Two books that were released this year togreat acclaim were from EliNor publications—Letters ofLove and Norinac Gift. Both arehardbound, the former $25 and the latter $20.Letters ofLove are not just the letters to andfromJane Haynes, Baba and the mandali, butalso a lot of information about ElizabethPatterson and the founding ofMeher Spin-tual Center at Myrtle Beach. Norinac Gift isa re-publication ofthe long out ofpnint Fragments FrornA SpiritualDiary and Forty Spin-tual Messages. Charles Haynes andChristopher Wilson have uncovered somegreat archival photographs ofPnincess NormaMatchabelli and combined them with a comprehensive biography, tracing the develop-ment ofher life and work, from world renownedactress and film star, to co-founder ofthe famous perffimery to disciple ofMeher Baba.

A must for every artist is the wonderfulbook In Questofthe Face ofGod . It is writtenby Lyn Ott and is filled with full color reproductions of many of his finest works.Large format, hand coven, $30.

Danny Ladinsky’s two renderings of theworks ofHafez still continue to be great sell-ens. (Also doing venywell in the commercialbookstores across the country!) They wouldalso make a wonderful gift for non Baba by-ens, simply choose which you thinkyour friendmight be most interested in—humor on love.The first one is IHeard GodLaughing, $14and the second The Subject Tonight is Love,$ 10. They are both absolutely delightftil yetprofound reading.

A book that is only available in India orThe Love Street Bookstore is Much Love byT.K. Ramanujam. Ifyou can only afford onebook about Mehen Baba this is the one toget. It is incredibly comprehensive: the indexalone covers eight pages. Pant 1 contains achronological listing ofthe events in the life ofthe Avatar from birth to death; Parts 2-7 coverall His important messages and declarations,prayers, songs and on and on. Apart frommaking good reading, having it all under onecoven makes it an excellent reference work. Itis hardbound, 6 x 9 with 606 pages, and sellsfor $20.

The best selling book in our Bookstore, upuntil now, has been the autobiography of

Arnavaz Dadachanji, GftofGod (excluding,ofcourse, GodSpeaks and Discourses). It is avery intimate accounting ofhen life with Babaand her struggles to abide by His wishes at alltimes. Papenback, 242 pages, with numerousphotographs, $18.

Another ‘must have’ is that wonderfulcollection of Baba stories from Enuch. If atrip to India is not on youn horizon, pun-chase Thatc How it Was and be transportedto Mandabi Hall, sitting comfortably, listen-ing to Eruch speak of his life in the serviceof the Beloved. This book is a compilationof 2 other long-out-of-print books plus awhole new set oftabes ofadventunes with theMaster. Hardbound $25, paperback $15,412 pages.

Delving into the musical realm we havethe incredibly popular, runaway best-sellingCD byMarc DeMatteis—How Many Lfitimes ?Wonds, music, melodies, instrumentations, it has it all—ballads, gentle sweetnumbers, and rousing nock’n’ roll. Christmasspecial only $12!

There is also the double CD from RaphaelRudd TheAwakening. One ofthe CD’s is are-release ofSkydancerwhich contains the exquisiteby sung GujeratiArti by Jane Brown.The other disc in the set is a selection ofsongsand instrumentals Raphael recorded in thelate ‘70’s with Pete Townshend and a pick updrummen name ofPhil Collins! $20 is a fabubus deal fon two CD’s!

Relentless Love is a tape (no CD unfortunately) by the incomparablejim Meyer. It hasbeen around for a few years now, still his latest release though, so ifyou don’t already ownit, this tape comes highly recommended. $12.

Song ofHuma, Volume 2 is another bestseller. For those ofyou unfamiliar with thisbeautiflil tape, itwas produced by Elalne Coxwho took top recording equipment to Indiaand recorded the women Mandali singing theghazals that Baba had written under the penname ofHuma in the early ‘20’s. As the womenwere singing a capella, Elaine then had therecordings beautifully accompanied by somevery Indian sounding flutes, tablas and synthesizens. Before each song Elaine reads theEnglish translation so we get the full beautyofthe piece. The words are all written on theinside of the j ay card, and at oven an hour ofsuperb Baba music, $12 is a very reasonableprice.

The tape My Heart is Calling You is alsoverypopular.This is a collection ofthe songs

r 8 LoveStreet£mJsti

-- .

Lr ex:K 3 3; f Lt !:X 3%

Mani wrote for her Beloved Brother. She issinging and accompanying herselfon sitar ona number of them. The others are sung bypeople in India at the time—including theTwins singing the song Be Be Be With Babathat Mani wrote specifically for them. $10.

Baba Bob is a tape made quite a few yearsago with some great singing and playingfrom Deborah Ashe and Michael Campagna.The original 1000 album pressing has longsince been sold out, but at last it has been rereleased! $12.

The two CD’s that are the hot sellers inthe Bookstore now are from Muzika—the“Wonder from Down Under” led by SamSaunders. (See box)

It’s hard to pick a favourite betweenABoxofDrearns and The Street ofBarefoot Lovers.The group was singing songs from both albums during the Anniversary celebration, soI got to know many ofthem, but through con-tinual playing upon my return to L.A. I havenow formed firm favourites . Top ranking arethe ghazals by Francis! You can’t go wrongwith either CD. $15 each.

We have four very talented ladies whocreate the most beautiful cards for us. MargoWatson and Cherie Plumlee take black andwhite photos ofBaba, and electronically scanthem, color them and place them with a newbackground—usually a gorgeous field offlow-ers, or a desert (when Baba was dressed asMohammed), the barren hills ofCalifornia, orin a sylvan glen, among many other scenes.Whichever way they do it, theylook exquisite. Carolyn Parker takes a photo of Baba,places live flowers on it around His face, or aheadband, or a garland and photographs theresult, to great effect.

Diana LePage paints wonderfttl portraitsof Baba. All these cards are glossy photo-graphs on good quality card stock withmatching envelopes—$3 each. You could always tell me ofa particular photo ofBaba youare looking for, or failing specifics, what yearsyou liked Him best. That may sound flanny,but some people feel that He speaks to themmost in His middle years, or, converselywhenHe was young and fiery, so just ask us aboutwhat we have in stock.

Another item that has to be on everybody’slist is the calendar. It’s time to order your Avatar Meher Baba Calendars for 1999. It issomething everyone wants and needs, to startthe year off right and keep it going aU yearlong, because each time you look at it you see

the beautifril face ofBabalooking back at you,read His inspiring words and seejust what inthe Baba world transpired on what particularday, especiallyyour birthday! See the add onpage 22. Christina Arazmo, the very talentedFloridian who creates these works ofart for useach year has been able to hold the price at$8, a verylow price for such a beautiful item.Ifyou buy 5, you get them for $7 each. Anyprofit from the production ofthese calendarsgoes to the Trust.

So that’s it from the Bookstore. I hope wehave helped you decide what you would liketo put on your Christmas wish list and givenyou plenty ofideas to bringjoy to your friends.

And that is what I wish for you all.

In His love,

Dma

‘Notes From The Internet” Coneinziedfrom page 6.

Another from Jamie Newell

The new video ofMehera, MeherBabacBelovedby Meher Prasad, is one ofthe mostbeautiful things I’ve ever seen. Beautiful foot-age ofMehera describing the first time shesaw Baba, beautiful still photos of Meheraand Baba, and a wonderfully heartfelt narration by Mehera’s niece, and fellow Mandali,Meheru. This is must viewing for those whohave never been with Mehera, and a hearttuggingjoy for those who wish to renew oldmemories ofbeing with Mehera on the porch,or at “Mehera’s Tea.” Words cannot describehow wonderftd this video is.

P. 5. (I swear I’m notjust saying this be-cause I have a song in the sound track!)

And fromJoe Stewart

Wonderful video. She is purity personifled. This video will bring fond memories tomany. For new people coming to Baba thevideo provides a wonderful insight as to whoMehera was and the role she played in thisAvataric age.

Continued on page 73.

Muzika

by Sam Saunders

queensland, Australia

M uzika has been performing forabout 8 years. Originally a South

American style band, I decided it was timeto become more diverse when a lot of similar but authentic bands started up inBrisbane. But my love for this music is apparent in the instrumentals.The River ofDust I had been listening toAfrican guitar music and was moved by therhythm and simplicity. One day, in a state ofnon-inspiration, I went to Francis’(Brabazon) grave on Avatar’s Abode to sitand muse. An idea shot up within me aboutsetting this ghazal to dance music (one ofthe greatest thrills for a musician is to seepeople dancing to the music) and I immediately sought out the African feel that I hadheard. I already had a basic melody for theghazal so setting the tune to the rhythm cameeasily. Ilaughed at the thought ofFrancis hear-ing the end result.

ABox ofDreams: What a beautifulghazal! Itstarted off as country/blues but I pushed ittoo into the African zone.

The OmarKhayyam Suite:This is my mid-lifecrisis. LjfeJustF1ies’is an adaptation from acouple of translations and worked so well Iadded another two pieces and made a suite. Ithink ‘Outside The Thvern’with the kena (Penivian flute) solo is my favourite.

Someone to Wash OverMe: People kept asking“Is this the Gershwin tune?”—I said no. AndI was right! About a man seeking the ocean oflove.

In This World: Starring offwith a counterpointchoral style it launches into a frenzied dance.Shiva’s dance.

The Street ofBarefoot Lovers: Francis wrotethis ghazal after reading a book ofthat title...about life, love, and poverty in a Mexicanplaza. Again the west coast African guitar predominates.

InMyHeart (In My Soul):Words are adaptedfrom Francis and has an overall South Amen-can feel.

rr ,vtrt£mELbst I 9

[ 3 t (1 3 ® tc

B eloved Avatar Meher Baba’s greetingof”Welcome Home!” was received with

joy by Nana G. Kher, on 5 August, 1998.Nana Kher was a longtime lover of BelovedAvatar Meher Baba and custodian of Be-loved Baba’s Samadhi at Meherabad. Ourdear Nana Kher is indeed blessed to havewon his race into the waiting arms of hisBeloved Lord and Master, Avatar MeherBaba. Dear Nana’s one-pointed devotionand service in the Cause ofhis Lord is aunique example to the Baba world; an eye-opener for every Baba lover who strives tolive a dedicated life in the Cause of Be-loved Avatar Meher Baba.

All Meherazad and Meherabad menand women mandali, residents and pilgrims from around the woridjoin us in bid-

ding a fond good-bye to our dear brotherNana Kher.

Avatar Meher Baba ki Jai!

Eruch and Meherazad Mandali

O n Wednesday afternoon, about6:30 pm, Nana Kher, Meherabad

resident, longtime prasadi at Meher Baba’sSamadhi, long-time Baba lover, and formerlya long-time hugger, went to Baba. I supposethere will be someone up there to tell him“Welcome Home,” as he told so many of usover the years as we returned to Baba’s tomb.

Nana, as we all called him, had come toBaba before Baba’s New Life phase, andwhen Baba dropped the body, he was one ofthe immediate crowd that gathered in earlyFebruary of 1969. At that time, it was decided that there should be someone at theSamadhi continouslywhile it was open, andNana was selected to perform that role. Inthe earlyyears it was only Nana, Mansari, andJangli Master who sat at the Samadhi, hand-ing out prasad, with the largest share of time,by far, going to Nana.

Nana had been in failing health for thelast few years, his illness and old age gradually consuming more and more of his en-ergy, but he still regularly attended eveningArti, handing out prasad, until the end. Hewill be remembered by all of us for his by-ing greetings and wonderful Baba stories,which he used to tell in the library on top ofthe Hill just before Arti.

He is another wicket gone in a field thatnow contains only a few.

In His Love, Jai Baba,

James Cox, Meherabad

N one could ever welcome mehome with the loving tenderness, and

the sweet up-turn of his voice, that Nanacould. He will be very much missed bymany. I remember being told that, whenNana first met Baba, Baba asked him if hecould obey Him. Nana said, “Yes, Baba!”Baba replied, “would you walk through thecity streets naked ifl asked you?” Nana immediately stood up and started removing hisclothes. Baba gestured to him to sit downand said “I am very short ofmoney right now,I want you to go into town and rob the Bankof India, can you do it?” Nana said “Yes,Baba!” and headed out the door to accomplish the task. Baba was very pleased withNana Kher’s obedience and He called himback and embraced him. Nana has beenwith Meher Baba ever since.

Jai Baba,

Jamie Newell,Nashville, Tennessee

Welcome HomeNana KherPostings to the Avatar Meher Baba Listserv

VFrom the Mandali

Afriend ofours heard someone in Mandali Hall say to Eruch,

“You knov, Eruch, Nana Kher is the best hugger.

I think he may even be better than you!”

Th which Eruch replied, 4h, but hec a profissional!”

Jai Baba, Jamie Newell

tr (:: t ( x:x 3; ® t ( E:K 3?

J ai Meher Baba! Nana Kher passedaway tonight. His ftrneral pyre will be littomorrow, Thursday the 6th ofAugust, at

9:45 AM.He was the prasad giver at Baba’s Tomb

since 1969. When one would come up forBaba’s darshan, he would say to them, “WELCOME HOME!” And when Arti was over,he would say, “TIME TO DEPART WITHBABA!”

He passed out prasad until he passedout in his room about 2 weeks ago. He wastaken to a hospital, where he ultimately died.When it came to be known that Nana collapsed during the night, a few weeks ago, ourdoctor went to see him, and asked him howhe was. Nana said, “I am not this body, I amnot this mind.” I just came back a couple ofminutes ago from Mandali Hall atMeherabad where Nana is lying in state. Heis definitely not that BODY!

With love and care,

Gary Kleiner, Meherabad

Meherabad style leader with his scarfrrangemcnts—sometimes wound as a

turban, sometimes as a sort of cagoul. Butwhat I always think of with Nana Kher isthat moment he held us in at the Samadhi,before starting to say the Parvardigar. Therewas always that moment. Gathering all thethreads of attention. All of us hanging onthe moment when he would start speakingthe words of the prayer. An ephemeral silence at the start and at the end ofeach day.

One evening I left my tote bag up there.Careless! In the bag I had passport, traveldocuments, etc. I remembered I’d left it upthere when I was in the dining room.Couldn’t go back on my own at that time ofnight. Had to ask someone else to go withme. Really embarrassing because it was sup-per time, and I’d done it again!

Cecily from Australia accompanied meback up the hill. As we approached theSamadhi, Nana Kher saw us, two figures inthe darkness, and called out, “What have youlost?” I jokingly called back, “My head!” Andhis voice hollered back, “Good!” He’d foundthe bag and locked it up in the tomb forsafety! It never left my side for the rest ofmy

N’. . - . . . . . . .

. .,

. S S

•

.5 SSS * .

.S S•

: *S

.

.SS.S

5:.:. : .

journey from India to Australia, on to the USAand home to England. Loving thoughts toNana Kher on his journey back home.

Jai Beloved Baba,

rr foveStrcet £arnfJbst I I

SS .s

S

S.SI

;.? .. .

SS

÷

SS

..<SS • S

%

55.

SS

. - -

S

SSS

5

55•

5,

S.

..S_ •

:.

4

Sarah McNeill, England

TT • 7tie is anotterwicketgone in

afield that nowcontains only

afew.

L

e:x:3® ..

Departing With Bababy Heather Nadel

I you were one of those who walked upMeherabad Hill for the first time in the

1970’s, ‘80’s, or early ‘90’s, most probably youwere greeted at the entrance ofBeloved Baba’sSamadhi with “Welcome Home” and a lovingembrace from Nana Kher.

On 5th August 1998,Nana passed away at theage of 80 in Ahmednagar,after 57 years ofclose con-nection with Avatar MeherBaba. He is most remembered for his service as themain attendant at theSamadhi for over 20 years.When advancing age andpoor health dictated his retirement from that position,Nana continued to serve ontheHill as Librarian, and upuntil his final hospitalizationheled the eveningArti. (Second in popularity to “Welcome Home” was Nana’sclosure for the Arti “Timeto depart with Baba,” immortalized byBob Brown insong.)

Nana’s brother Vinodrecently filled us in on Nana’slifestory. He was born in1918, into a well-educatedfamily, the third of threebrothers and five sisters. Asa child, Nana’s first exposureto spirituality came from hismaternal uncle, with whomthe children and theirmother often stayed, asNana’s father, a judge, wascontinually transferred fromplace to place. Everydaythisunclewould speakto the cliii-dren about spiritual things, telling them stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata,tales ofthc Perfect Masters, and so on. Theywould also go with their mother for TauddinBaba’s darshan, in the company oftheir elderuncle who was a devotee ofTajuddin Baba.

(A fascinating aside as they grew older, thiselder uncle continued to visit the family, andwould share stories and teachings ofTajuddinBaba with the boys. Once Nana asked himhow he could follow a Muslim when he was

an orthodox Hindu, and his gods were Ramand Krishna. The uncle replied that he hadasked Tauddin Baba this very thing, “Howcan we believe in a Muslim Master when weare followers ofRam and Krishna?”TajuddinBaba Himselfhad told him, “Koran Sharifme

Ram aur Krishnaka jikra Rahim aur Karimkarke haiy”, which means, “Ram and Krishnaare mentioned in the Holy Koran as Rahimand Karim, prophets from an earlier time.”)

After their schooling in Nagpur, their fa

___________

ther sent the boys toBuldana along with theiruncle, to the home of acousin. This cousin, a San-skrit scholar, happened to bea disciple ofUpasni Maharaj,and he caused alot of turmoilin the family soon after byleaving his job and joiningMaharaj’s ashram. This wasvery scandalous among theircommunity as there was alotof controversy surroundingMaharaj in those days, andNana’s father went to try tobring him back, but to noavail.

Nana grew up and wentto Morris College in Nagpur,where in 1940-41, he took aphilosophy course taught byDr. C. D. Deshmukh, editorof Baba’s Discourses. Dr.Deshmukh had includedBaba’s teachings under In-dian philosophy and thuswas Nana introduced to hismarvelous destiny. He andhis brother Vinod, under Dr.Deshmukh’s tutelage, readThe Discourses, Avatar, andsome Baba magazines, andrapidly became Baba-lovers.

Nana first met Baba inAhmednagar. Nana had fin-ished college, earning a B.A.degree, and he was stationedin Poona for service in the

military accounts department during the war.Dr. Deshmukh gave him Eruch’s address, andsoon after Eruch invited Nana to his weddingin Ahmednagar, at which Baba was to bepresent. After meeting Baba, Nana becamemore deeply devoted to Him than ever and

Nana Kher with Mansari.

r L 12 £ovestrectrama;st

— I

E X:K 3 ( :K3; f3?

used to sing Baba’s bhajans (devotional songs)constantly.The effect ofthis on his neighborswas striking when his brother Vinod went tovisit Nana in his lodgings, he found the neigh-bors saying “Meher Baba ki Jai!” every timeNana stepped out ofhis room!

At the end of the war, with his militaryservice over, Nana went back to Nagpur andstarted a shop. With Baba’s picture hangingin a prominent place, and Nana talking aboutBaba to everyone who came in, it became amini-Baba center and gathering place forBaba-lovers, such as Babadas, who wouldcome to the shop and speak to people aboutBaba.This was the beginning ofthe NagpurBaba group. When Baba came to Nagpur in1944, all Nana’s family had Baba’s darshanand became devoted to Him.

Thereafter Baba would often call Nanato be with Him during darshan programs indifferent places. Nana, ofcourse, wanted tojoin Baba permanently. But knowing this, hisfather wrote to Baba, asking Him to pleaseallow Nana to stay at home with his parentsand look after them. Baba granted the father’srequest, ordering Nana to stay in Nagpur, carefor his parents, and do Baba’s work. From thenon, with several other close Baba-lovers fromNagpur, Nana spread Baba’s Name and message, held Baba meetings, and remained inclose touch with Baba through Enich and laterBhau, seeing Baba from time to time.

Fortunately for Nana, each summer hisbrother Vinod would come home from collegeand staywith their parents. Nana would thenbe called by Baba to stay with Him for threemonths at Guruprasad. Dr. Goher recalls thatin 1968, during Baba’s seclusion inGuruprasad, He would have Nana and BalNatu come to His room after He retired eachevening and sing a long song/chant (NaveManache Sholka) in Marathi, telling ofBaba’slife-story and philosophy. This sholka, writtenby Dr. Anna Despande, was much liked byBaba, and Nana continued to sing a part of it

every day for the rest ofhis life.As fate would have it, one month before

Beloved Baba dropped His body, Nana’s father passed away, leaving Nana free to cometo Baba. Which he did, in AprilJlVIay 1969,to serve at Meherabad as the main attendantat Baba’s Samadhi.

S it was that Nana came to spend thelatter years ofhis life in his Beloved’s ser

vice at Meherabad. After he passed away,

those who knew him lovingly recalled thesteadfastness of Nana’s love and service forBaba, and the rare and beautiftil simplicity ofhis life oftotal dedication to Him. As helay instate before Baba’s chair in the MeherabadHall, surrounded by family and friends, songsand flowers, his serene smile seemed to bearwitness to his great fortune. And it was easyto imagine beloved Avatar Meher Baba open-ing His arms and welcoming Nana Home.Avatar Meher Baba kijai!

Heather Nadel in correspondence forAvatar Meher Baba Trust,August 1998.

‘Notes From The Internet” continuedfrorn page 9.

Stephan Pietrowski tells us ofWisdom from a tea bag

“Poise is the act ofraising theeyebrows rather than the roof”

Meher Baba Wrote

“. . .Again,whatis spirituality? Poise, perfectpoise. Make the most ofevery situation. Hewho upsets no one is a good man. He who isupset by no one is a God-Man!”

Lord Meher Vol. Seven & Eight, BhauKaichuri, p. 2544

Eric of Oslo

[EveydayEric Solibakke ofOslo Norwaypostsaquotefrorn Baba. He never injects anythingpersonaijust lets Babtfc words stand on their own.Autumn Heniy ofCalfrniaposted a well deservedthankyou asfollows.]

Dear Eric,

How can we ever thankyou for all that youdo for the Baba group?

I was so touched by this Mani story Andhowkind ofyou to be so timelywith it. What agiftyou are to this group I don’t knowwhatwewould do without your constant stability andoh so appropriate choices. I often thinkyou arelike a psychic painterwithjust the right color atjust the right place...

Sahavas

I want each ofyou tocome with the longing to

receive My Sahavas.I want this Sahavas to

be above alla close companionshz

between yourBeloved and His lovers...

Come with the

preparedness to receivefully whatever I may

give you.Be ready to step into the

intimacyof Sahavas.

Thereyou willfind thetreasure complete...

He who approaches Mewith a heart

full oflove has MySahavas.

Meher Baba

Continued on page 41.

[ Cnmj1bst U

@ :

I took place at PilgrimPines fromJuly2nd to

the 5th. It was a marvelousBaba-frifi, fm-filled four daysbasking in Hislove.The guestspeakers were the inimitableBhau Kaichuri, RobertDreyffiss,Jamie Newell, andPratap A}iir from Pune.

- While the main presentations were occurring, theever-thoughtful LA staffprovided concurrent activities for the Meher Miniatures and for the youngerones as well. Every detailwas attended to, giving usthe affirmation that onlyBaba working through all

r

could have prepared such afeast for the heart, while theLove Street Bookstore pro-vided loving delights for allthe intellect could desire.

Bhau spoke each day, discoursing on ways of increasing our love for BelovedBaba, sparkling with anecdotes of his life with Him,and deftly folding in storiesillustrating how we maymore attentively serve Himwhen and as opportunitiesare presented to us.

On Thursday evening,Robert, Jamie and Prataptook turns sharing somethemes of their life withHim. Jamie in song, Pratap

about his first learning ofBaba, and Robertregaling the audience with mandali anecdotes.As people continued to arrive throughout theday and evening, there were heartfelt hugs,cries of”Jai Baba!” and endless cups of deli-cious toddy shop chai.

Friday dawned with Arti, followed by aheartybreakfast. Pratap movingly told ofhowhe first met Baba on October 16, 1950,when He stepped out of the New life andinto the Old Life for one day to meet withHis lovers at Mahabaleshwar. Pratap, an accomplished musician, became an activemember of the Poona Bhajan Mandali anda regular visitor at Guruprasad when Babawas present in the summer months. Pratap’s

i

The 24thLos Angeles

Sahavasby Robert Dreyftss, California

, j ‘

Robert Drey,flis giving his workshop on Silence Day experiences.

n

,pI

IThe Love Street Bookstore.

Pratap Ainirc workshop zeath the trees.

t ( x y; ® te; 3

early contact with many ofBaba’s old and dear

ones had a profound impact on him, and

helped him devote himselfever more ardently

in Baba’s love and service.

Workshops and discussion circles

were a daily event, offering diverse options for head and heart. Among thosegiven were talks by Leatrice Shaw onmindfulness, Adele Wolkin on herexperiences with Baba, RobertDreyfuss on Silence Day experiences,

Jarnie Newell on relationships andHafiz, Alisa Dreyfuss on Babadreams, and many more. The adultand children’s talent shows once again

aptly proved what an amazingamount of talent Baba brings out inso many ofHis lovers in song, dance,and skits. Jamie then gave a concert ofold and new songs. Hehas put a number ofHafiz’s poems to song,which are beautiful andinspiring.

Bobby Manonashfollowed, which was hi-

larious. Bobby, akaJeffMaguire, along with

his sidekick, Ed McMaya (Fred Stankus), had

everyone in stitches. It so happened thatBobby had been told by Bhau that ifhe read

God Speaks seven times by a specific date, he

would experience the 7th plane, and that time

was now. As he read through the last entries

of the index, he grew visibly changed, and

donning his tea cozy crown, suddenly knew

everything. He asked Ed McMaya to tell him

what he wanted, as Bobby could now grant

anywish. Ed’s sole desire at that moment was

for a Moon Pie—an ice cream cookie confec

tion—which suddenly started appearing by

the dozens, with Bobby and Ed throwing

them out to the audience as fast as they appeared. Bobby then fell back to the gross world

with a spectacular crescendo, leaving every-

one laughing uncontrollably.on the third day of the Gathering,

Robert Dreyfussmovingly told hisstory ofjourneying overland tomeet Baba for aSahavas that wascanceled while hewas enroute. Ashe tearfully relived his experience of being inBeloved Baba’s

presence, many in the audi-ence wept. Baba’s compassionin allowing Robert to see andbe with Him, despite the factthat He was in strict seclusion,resonated in everyone’s hearts.It was during this time that

Baba first conveyed His messages concern-ing drugs, and His emphasis on not takingthem. When Baba told Robert that He hadbeen with him all the way, it brought home

that He is with each ofus “all the way”on our journey to Him in our ownhearts.

After a concert by Pratap on Sat-urday afternoon, followed by a talk byBhau, the film “0 Parvardigar” wasshown, after which everyone silentlywended their way to the Dhuni, theflame ofwhich lighted our hearts withthe growing desire to love and serveHim more and more and still yetmore.

The last morning had Pratap,Robert, and Jamie sharing more insong andword, followed byBhau help-

ing illustrate the journey from head to heart

and how we must increase our determination

to be His. Bhau said that this had been the

best Sahavas ever, high praise indeed, thoughit may well be he feels the same every year.

The Sahavas strengthened the conviction

ofhow necessary and rewarding it is to step

out ofordinarylife into the gathering ofHislovers whenever the opportunity arises, our

heart more open, our conviction deepened, and

our souls more on fire to realize Him.Avatar Meher Baba kiJai!

*[Editori note—Robert understates this byfar.

when hefinished telling his incredibly moving

story there wasna dry eye in the house!He is such

an accomplishedstory teller we were allthere with

him as he walked into Babaipresence!J

;7

;:1

-

Mehera and Shireen Non.

Iir

% .

*AA

Jarnie Newell wows the cnowd!

Lunch table companions: Fnorn Left Sam Invilz, Manganet Magnus,

Kanina and John Page, Jeannie and Thny Gnis,

Steve Benny, and Mangit Wypyszyk.

F ,,

15£oveStrcet

-

LLt -@t e: 4g 3;

A History ofthe L.A. Sahavas “Toddy Shop”

byTerry Lucas and Roman Babiak

[Inadvertantly omittedfrom our last issue inthe ‘Tributes to Roman’ section.]

In the fall of1986, meetings for the preparation of the 1987 Los Angeles Sahavas

Celebration began. Someone needed to runthe Snack Bar at the Sahavas, a very largeundertaking which had had varying degreesofsuccess in the past. RomanBabiak and I decided to shoulder the burden. We felt that wecould have ftin and make a success of the snack bar at thesame. But what to do thatwould be special and reward-ing, not only to ourselves, butto all the Sahavas guest andfriends who came each year?

Roman and I began exploring ideas, but noneseemed very appealing. Wemet frequently to toss aroundideas, creating the inventory offoods we needed to purchaseand other pertinent supplies.All pretty boring stuffi Andthen, itjust happened!

Roman and I were meeting at my houseto discuss what to do. But this time, I wasvery anxious for Roman to arrive because Ihad had a phenomenal dream the previousnight. In my dream, I saw a very youngMeher Baba sweeping the patio area out-side the cafeteria ofPilgrim Pines. Baba hadlooked up at me and said, “I am sweepingthe floor of the Toddy Shop; everyone hasftin here and I don’t mind sweeping the floor.Remember, I like all sorts of games andmusic.”

Yikes! A Toddy Shop where everyonecould eat, play games and music, talk andhave a wonderful time, all in Meher Babasmemorc . .the One Who always sweeps upafter us! Exciting smff this, but what wouldRoman think?

Roman, clever man, said, yes, it was awonderful idea and one he had thought ofhimself. But Baba was sweeping in the

wrong area—He should have been in the pationext to thejunior Lodge, where Roman hadspotted the perfect place for a snack bar!

In about twenty minutes time, I had designed the idea of an Indian Tea Stall andhad completely decorated it mentally withbrass bells and bowls, Christmas tree lights,Indian bedspreads for the Pandal and therecipe for continuously flowing chai, all accom

panied bylndian music and a sandwich boardadvertising the Toddy Shop’s wares. Romancompleted the lists ofgames and constructedon paper a moveable tea stall that we coulderect at each Sahavas. It was fast, furious andabsolutely the most fim! TheToddy Shop wasborn at what I believe was Meher Baba’s request; we merely carried out His instructionsto the best ofour ability.

When we presented this idea andshowed our plans to the next Sahavas corn-mittee meeting, the excitement was infectious! Roman enlisted the help of DavidMcNeely to do the physical construction ofthe tea stall who carried out the plan magnificently. We assembled it one afternoon ina trial run, working out the bugs for theheight of the counters, the seating for theToddy Shop guests and the rigging of thePandal. I raided the boxes ofarticles donatedto the Center for a future rummage sale, find-

ing a variety ofbrass, Indian bangles and bells,and pitchers and bowls. Several ofus beganto paint a large sandwich board with the silhouette ofthe Taj Mahal painted on a back-ground ofblue, saving a place for the actualmenu” to be posted.

Finally, the first day of the Sahavas arrived. David hauled the unassembled tea stallup in his truck and I arrivedwith food, Indian

bedspreads, tape recorder andIndian music, lights, staple gun,string and tape. I watched as Roman and David began to as-semble the stall, attaching ropesand securing the structure. Icleaned out an area used for making pottery, kiln and all, to use asour make-shift kitchen with a hotplate, large pots, a picture ofMeher Baba on the wall and alarge amount oftea. Several others pitched in to help decorate thestall: Roman’s Indian bedspreadwas the Pandal, and my Indianrug from my first trip to India wasused on the counters. It had coy-ered theTomb and felt like an appropriate use for the many to

receive a vicarious blessingwhile sharing tea.It’s still being used. The lights went up, allcourtesy of Pris Haffenden who raided hercloset for old Christmas tree lights.The brasswas hung from the ceiling by string, the musicwent on and Wow! We had a Toddy Shop!Tea would be ready in a minute.

Now, Toddy Shops have sprung up atevery Sahavas around the country. Imitation is flattering; the fun is infectious! But,the history of this amazing little blip onMeher Baba’s road map needed to be told.And the energy and creativity ofmy friendRoman needed to be acknowledged. I willmiss him very, very much.

I I

__ ___

‘-, _t._

$S

:;r: ..

•55

Thddv Shop-walla Daniel Comerford and Luke Jarnison at this sumrnerc cahavas.

Lr t

My Favorite Sahavas

I was Dma who suggested writing about

my favorite sahavas experience, and I can’t

imagine saying ‘no’ to so I set my mind

to work immediately. And then the surprises

began.I’m not at all sure that what memory and

instinct turned up will be at all acceptable to

Dma, nor to anyone else. But one thing I

think I have learned after all these years, is

that one never knows into what strange alley

the Avatar is going to lead one next. So here

goes.Ofcourse, ifone ever had that incompa

rable grace of being in the presence of the

Avatar, that had to be one’s favorite sahavas.

Ifone had several such experiences, then the

selection process becomes more difficult, as

each time one stands in His presence, a

unique sequence unfolds. And choosing

one’s favorite just simply is not obvious.

No one could have been more surprised

than I when I put Dma’s request to the

Stevens computer system, and then saw

shortly thereafter what it turned up. In fact I

was a bit horrified, as one ofthe centerpieces

of the occasion is one of my most shameful

memories. But I was asked for it, and I think

I had better live with it.It was way back in the 60s, and Baba had

been in one of those longer seclusion pen-

ods which happened so often at that time. I

had my magic key on hand, so I was sitting

nevertheless in front ofHim in mandali hail

and Eruch was explaining something Baba

wanted to be clear in my mind. In fact, I think

it was the occasion on which He underlined

the importance to everyone ofworking with

His words, and not regarding them just as

intellectual playthings to amuse the uniniti

ated.As Enuch talked on in rhythm to Baba’s

gestures, I suddenly became aware that

something was disturbing Baba’s attention,

and then Eruch’s. Finally, impatiently, Baba

gestured to Eruch to go outside and find out

the cause of some disturbance that I hadn’t

even noted. We waited bane moments until

Eruch returned and explained I think in

Gujerati what the trouble was. This was the

sign to me that the subject was one in which

I had best not interfere.

But then Baba looked straight at me and

gestured as Eruch interpreted,“Don, can you imagine, a young fellow

has just been sent out here by Adi Sn. de

spite the fact that Adi and everyone else

knows that Baba is in strict seclusion. Ap

parently Adi felt sorry for him, as he had

worked his way to India from America on a

freighter, then hitch-hiked up here, to find

that Baba was in seclusion. And Adi did not

have the sense to obey Baba’s strict orders not

to interrupt His seclusion!”It takes no imagination to divine that

Stevens’s sahavas on that occasion was ru

med. But ifl felt bad at the end ofthat brief

explanation, it had nothing to compare with

my feelings after Baba’s next sentence.

“Eruch, go out and tell the fellow that Baba

is in strict seclusion, and he should return at

once to America!”Now we get to the awful part. Without

the slightest reflection, the deepest part ofmy

nature said indelibly but absolutely silently,

“Baba, you are a real —.“

It was not the worst word in my vocabu

lary, but the instant it had blazed its scarlet

trail across my unconsciousness, I was smit

ten and I knew inevitably that I was in for it.

Yes, instantly!“Don, what are you thinking?”Never in my life have I thought so many

thoughts in a split second. Honesty. Love.

Fidelity. Disgrace. They were all there and

having a big fight that I knew instinctively

could never be resolved. Where did the

words come from? I mean, the next ones that

I uttered at the end of the fateful second. I

don’t know.“Baba, I was thinking, what right do I

have to be sitting here at Your feet?”Baba looked me square in the eye for

perhaps two seconds, which was pretty long

for Him. The He snapped His fingers.“Eruch, send the boy in.”This was a great sahavas experience, one

ofmyvery favorites with Baba. It taught me

that somewhere way down inside oneself

there is a part ofone’s being, or perhaps one

should say, the real being, that knows, and

needs no time or thought to know the Truth

andtosayit.

[I41 £oveStreet £amPosr-’ . . .

i 7

byDon Stevens, France

Iane Brown and Steven Barric—Anthony entertain at Meherana.

.

_; - -

® yc :.®..

Young Adult Sahavas at Meher Mount

by Huma Alvarado, North Carolina andAnnaLena Phillips, South Carolina

The first Young Adult Sahavas (forages 18-35) was held August 7-9 this

year at Meher Mount, a hilltop property aboveOjai, two hours northwest ofLos An-geles, that Baba visited in 1956.

Organizers MeheraMakeig,JulanneLodge and Merwan Scott pulled thesahavas together in threeweeks after Bhautold them in Los Angeles, “Enough talk,talk, talk—itis timetodo, do, do!”

Meher Mount board member GigiStankus urged them on andMeher Mount caretakers Jonathan andKendra Crossen Burroughs were idealhosts. Even when the Indian restaurantowners catenng Saturday dinner got lostand arrived an hourlate, few noticed.

Notes from some ofthe thirtyormoresahavasees give glimpses ofwhathappened:

, “The first night, when the full mooncame up and the rest ofthe world was covered infog, MeherMountseemedlike thehighest, quiet-est, most beautiful and ancient place on earth.”

‘A memorable moment for me was seeingthe artiperformedfor the first time.”

“My first silent dip in the ocean at Baba’stree...”

“ I tookthejob ofwake-up-caller. Itwaswonderfül, because I got to go around, saying ‘Goodmoming,JaiBaba!’ andsmile ateveryperson attheSahavas. Mostofthem made agreatsleepyeffortand smiled back. What a wonderful thing thatpeople could smile at someonewaking them up at7o’dockinthe morning!”

“The wake-up callers peering into mytent at sunrise ringing wind chimes and say-mg ‘Jai Baba... Time for Arti in thirty mm-utes. . .‘ a very sweet wakeup call.”

Once again Baba is the Supreme Plan-ner. We had thought to build a wall of thefoundation stones of the house where Hespoke during His visit to Meher Mount. Thewall took form in two hours, organized andguided by He who dwells in each heart.

“I enjoyed the work project a lot. It wasnice to be part ofbuilding something, and thewall came out so well. It will stand a long timeand took so little time working as a group.”

“I really enjoyed the silent walk to Baba’stree and the singing and storytelling underthe bright moon.”

“The moon was rising over the mountains, flail and round like a golden peach.”

“A wonderftil memory for me was see-

ing the intense moonlight the night of ourevening arti, coupled with several shootingstars racing across the heavens. It was won-derfbl singing to Baba under the cosmic lightofthe night.”

“One thing that I will always rememberis the night we all sat together in spontaneous silence, on the hill, looking over the cityand hills. I really had no idea what was trulyhappening in that moment, but Baba’s quote,‘Things that are real are given and receivedin silence,’ sprung into my mind. . . What agiftwe received.ThankyouBaba.”

“Standing along thepath to the tree in the whitebathing moonlight listen-ing to the group ofyoungadults gathered at thepoint saying the prayers,the moon shone downupon their crisp black silhouettes as the sleepingfog softened the mountains below. It felt timeless,as if it could have beenwhenjesus came, or Bud-dha . . . It felt so strongly as

ifBaba had planned this long ago, that it isHis gift that we have come together.”

“After two cups ofchai, I couldn’t sleep,so I walked to Baba’s tree and sat behind it. Isoon got worried about ants and other bugsand decided to climb up about ten feet into

the tree. I sat there for about an hour. Icould hear various animals and I feltat one with the tree. It felt like timestood still and yet it felt like I was expenencrng the tree’s life. I felt Babasitting below me, next to me, and inme. I didn’t want to leave but the chaiwas wearing off. I tried to sleep in thetree which was shaped almost per-fectly for me to sleep in except for myleft leg. IfI had fallen asleep I wouldhave fallen down. It was a very meditational experience.”

“The last morning, a few of usgathered for morning arti at sevender Baba’s tree. We placed a framed

photo ofBeloved Baba in the meetingpoint oftwo large branches, and placed a fewfresh yellow flowers around it. Then we satthere in silence, feeling the embrace of Hispresence there.”

“All that plus creek swimming, art andpoetryworkshops, dancing and shared chores,good food and music. At the final meetingSunday morning, there was enthusiastic talkabout what we should do next year and heart-felt hopes that the feeling ofsahavas all sharedbe kept alive in His remembrance until then.

El 18d

.. , ,

.,

Christina Rarnsden directs the wa/i—builders.

Salsa on the porch at Meher Mount. Photos by Flint Mednick.

— —

:ri-

Wake Up, Portland, Wake Up!

Nestled in the green hills of Oregon’sWillamette Valley, is “Baba House,” a

5-acre farm that is home to the Wilson family and, occasionally, the site ofthe Portlandcommunity’s annual summer sahavas. Thisyear Bhau Kaichuri was their featured guest.

On ThursdayJuly 16, there was a morn-ing tea atJoannaTompkins’ home, and then,in the evening, Bhau spoke to a crowd ofabout 165 people at the University of Port-land. He was very pleased at the number ofnew faces he saw—plenty of “public” at hispublic talk. His new ghazal “Wake Up, Port-land, Wake Up!* was performed there by“Creator” Janice Reiman. An invitation wasextended for any newcomer to come free tothe weekend sahavas at Baba House.

The next day, after a morning talk andpot luck at the home of David and MaliniRaffo, sahavasees drove for about an hour outofPortland to the little town of Scotts Mills,and the festivities began. At most, there wereabout 150 attendees, mainly from Oregon,

Washington, California and Canada, somefrom farther away.

The Wilson farm had been transformedfor the occasion. Jim Wilson’s workshop/barn housed the childrens’ arts and craftsarea and the bookstore. Outside, a lean-towas festooned with Christmas lights and colorful cloths. Voila! aToddy Shop. ProprietorRick Scheu dispensed spicy chai and neverseemed to be without customers.

A kind neighbor (an “Old Believer” inthe Russian Orthodox tradition—similar tothe Amish), allowed folks to park on his ad-jacent back lot, and tent campers spread outon the grassy hills. Great meals were servedby a crew of volunteers headed up by JeanWilson and her sisters, Marie and Joan.Huge bowiThils of sweet Oregon blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries were an unforgettable offering at several meals.

Bhau stayed in Baba House (he hadgiven it the name a couple ofyears ago), andthose who weren’t tent camping stayed atlocal bed and breakfasts. Bhau was in greatspirits, giving four talks and visiting with thechildren and teens. We all learned at least the

chorus to “Wake Up, Portland, Wake Up,”and sang it often.

Arti was held Saturday and Sunday mom-ings on a permanent stage built on a hilllampitheatre in the Wilsons’ backyard. Themusic was divine, with John Connor on theharmonium andWard Parks,JimWilson, RickScheu and Ron Greenstein on guitars. After

Jim read one ofhis humorous ghazals to up-roarious laughter, Ron Greenstein said, “Jim,you’re the only person I know who’s built astage in his backyard, and now I know why!”

The highlight ofSaturday evening was a

hillarious re-do of”The Wizard ofOz” called“The Master is God,” written and directedby Randel Williams of Seattle. The Seattlegroup had their finest hour that evening. Costumes and props, created by co-directorTheresa Padvorac, were stunning, everyoneremembered their lines, and producer PetePitcher and special props man Bob Johnssoncreatedjust the right setting. Cynthia Barn-entos was a radiant good witch Glinda and“hunchkins” John and Barbara Connor andJeffTingelstad and Caitlin Hurkett dancedand sang silly routines. Lance Bonnington, amixed-up spititual seeker, Duncan Hurkett,a scientist who wanted a heart, and CatheninAlpert, a yogini in search ofpowers, accompanied Dorothy (Dalia Taylor), who was insearch ofher real self, down the Path to HisDoor, singing “Yogis and Sadhus and Masts,Oh My, Yogis and Sadhus and Masts, OhMy.”. . . On the way, they encountered the for-midable obstacle Maya, played byJudy Rob-ertson, but their purity ofheart and focu ontheir goal got them to His Door. The great“Shariat” (Randel Williams), was, of cou,rsefound to be an impostor, and Dorothylearned that her real selfwas as close as herown heart. Bravo to the Seattle Group!

After the play, dhuni under the starryOregon sky was a quiet way to wind downfrom the festivities.The next morning, afterBhau’s last talk, happy and tired campersrolled up their bedrolls and headed home,content after a heart-frill weekend.

by Betty Lowman, Palo Alto, CA

Dale Draegerc beazitz7ilpainting ofBaba graced the

stage at the Portland Sahavas. Photo by Lorraine King.

* This ghazal was orginally writtenfor Chicago, hut waslater expanded to include all cities.

-..., ,- . ,‘

The young adults and the young—at—heart under Babac Tree at Meher Mount.

19

x:3®t E:x3t

‘ I

:

Paul Bermudez, Robyn Chernrinow, Cookie Reindeau andWent/p Ward in linefor the cbittlinc.

“Chez Meherabode.

i11 iImI1

Our workers who labored ceaselesslyfor months bforehand—from left Rosie C/wi,Windy Ward, Linda Zavala, Mahoo Ghorbani, Karma Page.

Rob Ward and Rosie Choi, on the right, huntingfortreasures at the Silent Auction tables.

I 20 ovcStreet£am2,st II

JiCajor 5%ind7?aiser ofIAe 9ear74e /)z.zser—;71Jc’/Ji)L’

Our first anniversary in our new Center was celebrated in a major way with our Dinner Auction.The main meeting hail was turned into an elegant restaurant with pink tablecloths, candles, and

tulips in crystal vases. Our catered buffet dinner was Southern Comfort style. The food was excellent, butoh, the items up for auction!

The one that brought the most for the evening — H,300 — was an original manuscript by BhauKaichuri of a play that he had written at Baba’s request — The Ancient One. There were many otheroriginal works of art, water Baba had bathed in, mandali signed books, a first edition ofAvatar inscribedto Helen Dahm from Jean Adriel and oh so many smaller treasures at the Silent Auction tables. As usualFred Stankus was our auctioneer and Jeff Maguire our lively Master of Ceremonies. All told, we raised$13,555, and had a marvelous time doing it!* Inadvertently ornittedfrom July issue.

:t ‘ e4 3 ‘ t (

Meherabode Center

and Grounds

The Facilities Report by Linda Zavala

T° meet the requirements ofthe Conditional Use Permit we have installed the

new curb, new sprinklers and sod and it really

looks wonderftil as one drives down the street

to the enter the Center gates. It is now all lush

and green. We have also repaired or replaced

a few sprinklers on the property and installed

a new timer for all the sprinklers and pondpump. Hedge plants ofPlumbago and Bou

gainvillea have been planted along the back

fence to create a natural and beautiful flower-

ing division between us and the neighbors.The Board decided to termite the Dome

by natural means as they were eating into the

wood foundation and the heavy oak doorframes inside the Dome. After El Niño many

ofBaba’s little critters, the mice, the insects,

the roaches, etc., are having a field day at the

Center and are being dealt with as compassionately as possible.

Baba’s Chair, which currently resides in

the Dome, was brushed clean and a cotton

muslin cover which had been over it was putinto place by the Archives Preservation Committee. It reallylooked so much lovelier afterthe cleaning. Baba sat in this chair for 2 hoursat the home of Hilda Fuchs on CrescentHeights Avenue in Hollywood for a tea partyin 1956. Mar-guerite Poley,one of ourmembers, at-tended thatmeeting withabout 20-30other peoplewho had beenintereste inmeeting theAvatar.

M e h e r ‘ sPond,the gold-fish pond adjacent to the Dome, delights everyone who walks

by. However it had a very bad leak and it tookabout six months to find out where it was.After capping stray water pipes, having theDept. ofWater and Power come out severaltimes, repairing the pump, etc., the Board decided to have the pond drained, find the leak,and seal it. Well,wouldn’t you kno Baba had

a plan. After calling about 15 different tele

phone numbers in the L.A. area, someone referred me to International Water Designswhich was about 25 miles from the Center.The pond man came out and when he foundout that he was at the Meher Baba Center he

told us, with fond remembrance, that he hadspent aweekwith FredMarks in London about

27 years ago. Though he has not become a Babalover we were amazed that he could remember

Fred’s name. Baba, evidently, continues to sowHis seeds in the past, the present, and the here-

The pondis really beaütiuiilandthe gold-fish are growingfatter every day.Regarding theleak, we foundthat it was theroots of thegreat Umbrellatree which over-hangs thepond that hadsmashed the

rock. So we will be placing a layer ofconcrete

and decorative rocks to cover the great hole it

created. El Niño mined the wiring, necessi

tating replacement, we also needed a new

timer, and a thorough cleaning. Fred told us

the pond had been very well made, so it now

looks like new.

Babac Chair inside the Dome.

after.

e

Meher Pond.

Above: Shirin Lorkalantari is stitching ip the covering

which wi/i he permanently sealed after aromatic

wood is placed onto the wood foundation.

--

SfrcetEnmThst’;:4;

LL:x3®t 3@t

The Center was spruced up for Bhau’svisit. Dana Lee and her children Josh

and Janani put up curtains in the children’sroom and in the meeting hail to cover theutilities section.

The Archives Preservation Committeehas been busy this summer working on a cabinet design for Baba’s sadra. Beforeyear end itwillbe on displayin the Dome. I wouldlike to saythat the Archives Committee is veiy active butunforwnatelywe dont have enough volunteers ormoney for the many interesting projects whichawait us. However, we do have Ray and DanaLee and Charlie Morton as videographers whocapture ourvarious speakers on video.

Each and everyyear these are going into the

archives stock.AlthoughtheVideo Rental Libraryisn’tftinctioningrightno the Audio Rental Li-braryis still active and Lynne Benyi1be happyto send you a tape (phone: 714-966-1078, be-fore 9pm.)

The Decorating Committee has been busyadding little touches to the Center in subtle wayswhich really add to the total experience ofbeingthere. Soon theywillbe working on the design forthe interior spaces to prepare for the constructionnext year. We’ll have much to share with you inthejanuaryissue about plans for design and renovation ofthe Center.

Solongfor now,

Linda

Fred Lesickei on the left, is shown with his assistant vacuuming out the pond.

A child’s trust in its Mother iscomplete, because it leaves all its

worries to her. She has totake care of it. So ifwe trust

God and let Him worry for us,we live contented and happy.

Source: 82 Family Letters, pages 79-80

Want more practical andbeautiful quotes like this?

Order the 1999 Avatar Meher Baba Calendar

today. It includes all the U.S. Holidays and

events—there’s no need to purchase a secular

calendar, this one is for you.

8.ooCall Dma at 310-837-6419

(AFTER 7 PM PST M-F)

. .s

Mario Zavala is putting thefinishing touches on Meherc pond.

LT22 oveStreetJmjPos j]

dt ( ,t e:

Drenms, &fIections, and 14ippopotamiA Visit to WODIN’s Studio

by Kathryn Wiederhold

‘— ‘

Mani, Wodin,and Me

I the early days of January,1997, seven little squares on my

calendarwere clean ofscribbles. Ibooked them for Myrtle Beach. Iwould be visiting Meher Baba’sCenter there. I was especially in-terested in meeting the person whoillustrated God-Brother by Baba’ssister Mani S. Irani. It was Wodin’s drawingswhich had been chosen to compliment herpoetic and playftil childhood stories with herbrother the Avatar ofthe Age. I love books; Itreasure God-Brother. Who was this Wodinwho collaborated with Baba’s sister?

I had previously met Mani standing inthe driveway leading up to Guruprasad in1969. There she embraced me into the heartof my Quest for a Real Home. I had justlearned we are all drops ofone Ocean. I hadthe feeling I could sail the seas ofany stormknowing Mani was in the water with me. Twoyears ago, when Mani took her bother’s handto be lifted from among us still gathered inthis world, I regretted that she had not left uswith more books. She had given us The Fain-ily Letters then God-Brotherwhich made mewant even more. Her writing is such a won-derftii resource for the world as it carries anatural intimacy, honesty, and a buoyancy ofbelievability reflecting a natural sweetness oflife lived when a recognition ofspirit is present.

The Wodin Workshop

nally in Myrtle Beach, I scheduled myvisit to Wodin’s Workshop. Entering, I

noticed huge slanted drawing boards liningseveral walls. In the center of the work areawere several tables full of richly colored cansofpaint. They had the appeal offrosting. Itwas difficult to keep my fingers clean! Steve

(Wodin’s real-life name) resembled a tall version ofPinocchio’s daddy. When I first sawhis tail form, I thought, he is a friendly giraffeand I do not need to be shy or self-conscious.He smiled at me and then spoke in an easy,slow pace generic to Americas South. Know-ing I had come to see his Baba artwork, hetook time out to give me a private showing.Those long giraffe legs moved about bringingme views ofhis broach case, art prints, and aparade ofWodin artwork.

T

He explained to me how hegives birth to a piece of artwork.His visual memories from his lifeexperience are pictured around theimage ofMeher Baba’s form. Acluster of women and their groceries seen one week became thedrawing ShoppingBags. First, theyare sketched out small on paperwith their characteristic wavy horders. Then they are transferredonto transparent acetate andprojected onto a huge surface of

very fine grit sand paper imported from anold family-owned German firm. He buys it

in huge rolls. The creamy chalks and pastels Steve presses into that sand are of thefinest quality Each color makes me want tocall it my favorite.

My OldKentucky Home

A Visionfor the New Humanity

I asked Steve where he got his accent and Ilearned he was born in Kentucky the old-

est of7 children. His first contactwith Maniwas as Trustwalla for the Kentucky area. In1977, he arrived in India for his first pilgrim-age there. Itwas then that he finally met Mani,the Trust Chairman he had been correspond-ingwith.When Steve firstgot to Ahmednagar,his rickshaw took him to Meherazad. No one

23

— U

( K 3 ® t !:Z

was anywhere in sight. Everyone had gathered inside the closed doors ofMandali Hallwhere Eruch was speaking. Eruch heardSteve’s rickshaw arrive and went out to grabhis hand and drag him into the Hall. Onceinside, Steve folded up his long legsand sat next to Baba’s chair. He no-ticed a tiny woman curled up on theother side of Baba’s chair. “Mani, isthat you? I’m Steve from Kentucky.”Mani, finding her pen pal exclaimed,“Steve! I’m so glad you’re tall. I alwayspicturedyou tall.”Then Mani jumpedup, interrupted Eruch’s story and an-nounced Steve from Kentucky’s arrivalto the crowd. She spread her arms wideand welcomed him by singing StevenFoster’s “My Old Kentucky Home” in 1

a thick American Southern accent.This song always brings tears to theeyes ofall Kentuckians; especially those whohear it when away from their Kentucky home.It was ftin to think ofMani enjoying Steve’sheight which I welcomed too. His brotherly

arm on my shoulder enhanced our camaradene and my sense ofbeing safe and protected.

Years later in a card she drew for Wodindated 26 April 1982 Mani relates, “Readingyour letter was like watching a beautiful sun-

rise—Meher Baba’s Sun rising over Kentuckyand growingbrighter and brighter...”

Mani’s message of1982 describes her per-ception ofthe purpose ofWodin’s artwork. It is

to visualize in various creative mediums a trust-ing world where Meher Baba is experienced ina close intimate manner—not as a theory wayout in heaven-space somewhere or as a distantstar shooting away from our lives. The simplic— ityoflivingin truebrotherhoodwith our

Beloved always present guiding andsupporting us is Wodin’s vision to portray. This is a world where caring families with unlocked doors, open mindsand warm hearts love and enjoy theirneighbors, are fair in their dealings, andsoar freelyin thinking and spirit.This iswhat the state ofa Kentucky childhoodsymbolizes. Steve described his child-

/ hood to me as life lived in this way. On( Mani’s card, the little bird on the win-—.Th dow sill is labeled as Steve pointing to-

I the Sunshine ofpromise, Mani’s God-—

Brother—Baba. Baba shines on all everywhere. The rich Kentucky blue grass raiseschampions. No wonder they crywhen they heartheir state song—it conveys the Real Search forthe Only Real Home.

The Wodin

.

Renderings

Siffing comfortably, I viewed each giantpiece which Steve brought before me.

It was easy for my mind to enter each scenedepicted.The background ofWodin’s art isoften soft subtle colors giving a great senseofspace and distance for the vividly coloredcharacters in the foreground. Whethervividor pastel shades, his colors are always clearand clean. He titles each piece. Up popsThe White Dog with Meher Baba’s handon the snowy-white German shepherdguard dog’s head. I want to be a policemanand claim him as my partner. I can almostreach right into that sandpaper and pethim just like Baba does. Steve slid outanother piece and now I’m In The AppleOrchard.There just might be room for me, Ithought, on the bench next to that big redapple lady sitting beside her pink-jacketedcompanion. My imagination ran with thelittle apple children playing crack the whipin the background. Next I’m shown thepiece, BabyElephantBath. I felt Baba scrubmy thick elephant hide and I couldn’t resistsloshing in those spiritual suds with my grey

trunked friends.Steve pulled out another piece called Baba

and Kitty. Purring sounds poured from me.Steve recounted a similar response which occurred when he met Mani. “I was like a cat whocould begin to purr. Mani’s gracious love mademe relax, put worry on hold, and I began toenjoy my new home in ancient India with myDaddy God.”

Daddy God

Steve told me that many people whodon’t know about Meher Baba hap-

pen to see his Wodin art because his artstudio is situated within his commercialsign shop. Not wanting to interrupt theflow ofbusiness with arguments about the-ology and Avatars, he has figured out howto respond to inquiries. He simply tellspeople that the man in thejacket or robewith the mustache is “Daddy God”amongst his creatures. The general publicseems to digest this concept and the Wodinart so well that they actually purchase hisWodin art prints ofBaba for their homeswhile shopping for house signs. Steve hasthe idea to market Wodin to a still wideraudience using his trademark name

“DaddyGod.”Wodin’s work depicts a Godwho guards and inspires and under-stands. Daddy God provides spin-tuality as naturally as the air webreathe. Daddy God an-

-

1t:H -

/1

‘

hn .

r24

Yuga Age that it’snounces to a dry, barren Kali

are numbered!

£c

—- -

________

I

L__ro e i( 3 1- ( x: 3? ®

Dreams WithinDreams Come True

efreshed by my rotund darshan, I looked

about the shop. I saw notebook-size

sheets ofpaper stapled together. I lifted the

bundle and inquired ofWodin, the Nile King’s

artisan, “What is this leaflet?” “A collection of

Mani’s dreams,” was his reply. “She has com

piled anotherbookandl am nowillustrating it.”

Mani’s dreams are told with a balance of

complex ethereal Wodin images and Mani’s

own words. This third book by Mani is an

unexpected gift for all the world. To think I

happened to come across a hint ofit tossed

atop a workbench. Her magic, her wonderful

sense ofdescription, her ever-willingness to

delve deeper and deeper into remembrance

were abundantly apparent even in this rough

thumbnail form. The flecks ofWodin-esque

confetti color dotted even these initial sketches.This bookbyMani is titled, Dreaming of

the Belovedand is published by Sheriar Foun

dation who is allowing us to see a detail (pic

tured above) from My EternalMoment, one

dream from the book. Steve Jameson is the

only artist to illustrate books for the sister of

God. She selected his Wodin style. I sensed

Steve’s inexpressible appreciation for Mani’sinspiring project, for her encouragement, and

for her example.I wonder what marvelous interchange you

will experience ifyou visitWodin’s studio as I

did one chillyjanuary morning. The Wodin

studio is 5 minutes from Meher Baba’s Cen

ter located in The Sign Man building at 1811

Highway 17 South, North Myrtle Beach, SC

29582. Call him for an appointment 803-

272-3960. His e-mail is wodinart@aol.com

and Wodin’s Web Site is wwvcwodinart.com

should you want to peek into his workshop

where talent is ever polished as a gift for Ava

tar Meher Baba who has graciously loaned it

to aboyfrom Kenmcky

A Subject in the Courtofthe King ofthe Nile

A you can see, Wodin artwork drawsone into it. I dranklemonade with a child

and a stuffed bunny in Lemonade Party. Even

though South Carolina was in ajanuary cold

spell, I was verywarm in the tropics ofheart in

this workshop. Steve pulled out The Nile King

in which the hippo king and queen bow down

to the higher king—Baba. At first glance, I

recognized an affinity with these lovely hip-

popotami. I jumped from my seat onto my

feet. With palms pressed together, I bowed

my round hippo body down with theirs over

and over. There I was a middle-aged adult,

yetl could not stop myselffrom honoring those

beasts bowing in a sign maker’s shop. The

muted background depicted in soft pastels

assured me we had beenjourneying for days haps I could retain a sense ofdecorum in this in their court and was not inclined to ignore

and days. It felt so good to finally bow and business establishment; however, when I saw this oppormnity

bowlowwith my king. My mind hinted per- the king and queen bow, I felt I was a subject

____

2 5 .

[4 ( !:xA% t :x 3

The 40th Anniversary3rd to the 8th ofJune 1998

by Dma Snow

Don’t think, for even a moment, that youare going to read an objective report

here!I was born and raised in Australia, met

Baba in Sydney in 1956, and my mother wasone ofthe builders ofAvatar’s Abode—so therave reviews are from a deep seated place inmy heart!

But ask any ofthe manyAmericans whoflew over for it (with the airfares at $650 roundtrip it was hard to resist going!) and they willtell you how wonderftii it was.

Baba was certainly guiding FrancisBrabazon when in January of 1 95 8 he chosethe site, 1 80 acres on top of Keil Mountainwith magnificent views extending to the Pa—cific Ocean and the beach at Maroochydore -

just 13 miles away, as the crow flies.. I have been to the Abode many times, it

being a 5 minute walk from my mother’s home,but never to an Anniversary (It is called that,rather than Sahavas, because it truly is theAnniversary ofBaba’s visit injune of 1958.)

Arriving in Qieensland the dayit started,I came upon the stage fully set and the festivities just getting underway. The day wasovercast and rain was threatening. so much

ofthe happenings were meant for outdoors orunder the BigTop we were all hoping for thefamous Aussie sunshine.

But Baba let us know he was giving usHis blessing on the celebration in no uncertam terms.

We were all gathered around the flag pole

just outside Baba’s House ready for the flagraisaing ceremony. The flag raiser is alwayschosen from amongst those who had beenthere when Baba came; this time it was EthelWoodford, a 92 year old from Melbourne whohad travelled up with her son Craig.

At the very moment Ethel was raisingthe flag, the lightest sprinkle started! It lastedfor no more than a few moments and was abeautiful reminder that He is always with usand in particular at this moment was bestow-ing His blessings on the gathering.

For the 10th Anniversary Baba sent atelegram saying:

4lthough lam ever with Mylovers individually, Jam alwayshappy when they gather in Mylove, so celebrate this anniversaryat My Abode with a bang andlet My messagefihl every cornerofyour hearts.

Love to you all.”

To help with the celebrations a wonder-flu guest list was comprised. Meheru Irani,one ofBaba’s close Mandali, headed the In-than contingent, accompanied byjal and DollyDastoor, overseers ofMeherabad, Amrit Irani,Baba’s niece,Ted, architect ofthe Pilgrim Center and his Aussie wife,JanetJudson; KishoreMistry and the beautiful singer VeenaRangnekar.

The American guests were BuL andWendy Connor—so proficient at managingthe Youth Sahavas held every year at MyrtleBeach; Elaine Cox, producer ofthe beautifulSong ofHuma tape, who herselfsang somebeautiful ghazals and Country and Westernsongs; and Raine Eastman-Gannet (originallyfrom Australia) aka Rani Didi who gave ussome very fine Saregam lessons and examples

oflndian ghazals and bhajans.And then there were the Australians!

Dozens ofthem, with lots oftalent and greatheart, they all put on a magnificent show. Why,they even gave us a great performance of theRamayana! The costuming, dancing and pro-duction of this great play were wonderfullydone, they had been rehearsing for months.Ram was played by the very handsome 16year old Ravi Welsh, and I did not recognisethe oh-so sophisticated and haughty Kaikeyias the 10 year old (!!) Elischa Isaacs-Young Ihad known since she was a baby. Her equallybeautiful 12 year old sister Kendra, a willowy5, 9”, very credibly played the loving Sita.

Many of the teenagers were dancingthere as the spirits ofthe woods, it was all sobeautifully done. Some very assiduous edit-ing cut the massive Ramayana down to amanageable one and a halfhour performance.

Then there was the singing! There wasno end to the variety and beauty of all thedifferent singers that were there for us. Mymother told me that when Baba was inSydney for the first time in ‘56, and He askedfor a song, no one could think ofanything tosing. . . a few voices came out with Away in aManger—and it wasn’t even Christmas!Francis (Brabazon) was so mortified, he immediately started writing songs for the Be-loved, thus startingwhat is today, a major Babaindustry!

I have long listened to and loved the

Avatar’s Abode,Australia

L•

-.;._

#

I_ -;:.

4

—

t:’ e: ewt ‘b2 @ t e:

music of Kishore Mistry and Veena

Rangnekar, (the Love Street Bookstore sells

one oftheir tapes Huma,) so it was wonderftil

to hear them live. But for me, the big treat and

wonderftil suprise was Sam Saunders and The

Wineshop Singers.Theywere incredible! First

class performers! Not something you would

expect to hear out in the country more like on

the stage of a great theater. Sam’s arrange-

ment and leading (along with singing andplaying the guitar) ofa fortypiece choir sing-

ing the stirring People, also the beautiful

Meherc Necklace, two ofFrancis’s ghazals, was

nothing short ofbreathtaking.Then, with a smaller group, which per-

forms locally as Muzika, Sam gave us some

great listening and dancing music. I was sotaken with it that I brought backtwo different

CD’s for sale in the Bookstore. See Sam’s storyin the Bookstore report.The music and rhythm

was so infectious that a number oftimes half

the tent was on its feet dancing. How pleased

Baba would have been—and was, I’m sure!The afternoon of Sunday the 7th gave

us excitement of a very different sort: Jal

Dastoor had been sitting at one of the lun—

cheon tables chatting with a few ofthe men,when he slowly slumped forward. At first theythought he was falling asleep, but then theyrealised he was unconscious! Luckily RoyHayes was on the spot with homeopathicmedicines he administered, and an ambulance

was called which arrived within a very fewminutes. Prettygood service, considering this

is the country and on top ofa mountain!Between Roy’s wife Ros and Janice

Rice, both intensive care nurses, and 6 men,they managed to get

_; ;: i;j Jal into the ambu

I lance. By the time he

I and Dolly drove off,I I J” was waving to the

. . j crowds whowere all,I j as one huge voice,

I calling out “Avatar

., %*\ MeherBabakiJai!”-.... He was given a

CAT scan and all

showed to be normal. They thought it hadprobably been a CVA (stroke). He was pro-nounced ‘A—OK’ and released.

When he and Dollywalked into the BigTop that night, the concert was brought to ahalt, a great roar went up from the crowd, andtheywere given a standing ovation.

With his usual humor quite intact,Jal told

us “I thought I was going Home. My passport

was in order, but my visa was reftised. I couldn’t

get in through the gates as hundreds ofprayersfrom His lovers had been sent to stop me!”

Meheru added with a grin, “Baba threwhim backbecause he was too much trouble tokeep .“ Whatever the reason, we are very gladthe Beloved decided to let us keep Jal for—

we hope—a great while longer!

Arti was held in the beautiful Babaroom—the room He slept in while here—every morning and evening. Meheru, looking sovery regal, gave us some wonderful talks eachevening.

There was always something on the pro-gram, yet the feeling was never one of

rushing from one event to the nexf. Thereseemed to meto be an allpervadingsense of tranquility—perhaps itwas thenatural beautyof this mostbeautiful of allCenters. .. thetowering

IGums (Eucalyptus trees), orthe rollinggreen lawns, or the banks of flowers everywhere you looked, or the brilliantly colorednative parrots that flew overhead in greatflocks, happily shrieking all the way, or the brilliant blue skies with flufl5rwhite clouds ladlydrifting by, or was it the wonderfully warmwinter temperatures of around 70 - 75 degrees? Whatever it was, it really got to me. Attimes I would feel the tears come to my eyes,just strolling around feeling the loving atmosphere, seeing everybody so happily enjoyingthemselves. Yes, you could definitely say thatBaba was very present with us all there!

It was a very family-oriented Anniversary. As you strolled around you could see clusters of 3 generations seated on the grasschatting, with the babies happily rolling onthe blankets laid out for them. The teenagershad their own Youth Sahavas so ably run byBuz and Wendy Connor and the littlest onesalso had their own tent with wonderful thingsplanned for them.

Previously, I had only experiencedSahavases at Meherana (Northern California) and the Los Angeles ones held at PilgimPines. Both of these charge a fee, which isvery natural seeing as it costs many thousandsof dollars to produce a mega affair such asthey do. It came as quite a shock that therewas only a suggested donation of$50 for this

magnificent Anniversary! And that this wasthe first year that the committee had evenconsidered asking for a donation. My feeling

27

At times we had TedJzidson, Elaine Cox and Buz

Connor all cii stage togetheiWhat a delight!

4

,,

: JCoveStreet£-

- -

x: —+I

ce •ç3

was never have so many owed so much to sofew! I believe there were about 300 in attendance, from all round the world. I feel thatasking for a registration fee is a vital necessity!

The Sahavasees were having a wonder-Lilly relaxing time, but I could see that be-neath the calm exterior there was a dedicatedcore ofhard workers who gave their all, striving 18 hours a day to give the greatest of en-joyment to the guests.

About the only thing that was asked ofuswas that we wash our own dishes!

What a great idea—huge tubs ofhot soapywater were set up outside the main diningtent and as we finished eating we moved onto the tubs. A great sense ofcamaraderie developed over the dish washing!

There was the large tent where the foodwas served with tables for over 200, and manymore were set up outside. The weather wasperfect for dining al-fresco.

Just as I really settled into the rhythmof the place, Monday the 8th came and itwas time to bring down the flag and dedare the Anniversary over. What an incredible time it was!

Those six days will live long in mymeiriory—and, I am sure, in the memoriesofthe hundreds ofguests, many from acrossth seas. It may have been their first Anniversary celebration, but I have a feeling it

won’t be their last!

Wendy Haynes Connor spoke ofher life with hermother Jane, her brother Charles, and her

times with Baha when she was a child.

Diana Snow, one of the builders ofAvatarAbode in 1958, andJohn Grant, author

of’Practical Spiritual, share a cuppa.

‘i.L:;Amrit Irani and Bill LePage.

Bernard Bruford was on/p 15 when he went toAvatar Abode with his parents to take

Sahavas with Baha, who then askedthefamily to stay on and, with the

Rouses, take care ofthe Abode.Th open the anniversary, after theflag raising,

Bernard told us some ofthe history andhighlights ofprevious Anniversaries.

This one was the biggest so far!

One ofthe hard working chef and servers wasLiz Gaskin, the multi—talentedlady who designed the Januaiy,

1 998 LampPost.

S

___

is® ®

Tedjudson told us thefoscinotingplansfor the exponsion of

Meherobod in the near and not so neorfitture.

Mehern with part ofthe Yonth Gronp, first started at Meher Spiritnal Centei; then Avatari

Ahode and most recent/v at Meher Moont. The Teens say they love it!

The ‘Entertainment Center.”

avnStreet J2amjEthsr 429

[IA( t

had returned home to ‘strike the set’ as it were.on the morning ofmy departure I walked

up to the Abode for one last visit to Baba’sRoom and was struck by the different feelingon the grounds. I guess it is somewhat akin tovisiting the Samadhi alone, a few days afterAmatithi. It is still beautiftill, Baba is still there,buf somehow it must be the combined out-pouring oflove from hundreds ofpeople thatreally gives the “Heart Quality.”

I wi//be back!

‘Notes From The Internet” continztedfi-oni page 46.

July 10. Previously, He would give alternatives:Either one should observe silence or one shouldobserve fast. But in the 1968 circular, there wasno alternative. One has to observe silence be-cause this was His last instruction.

GaryN.:IfI mayplaydeTh advocate: Somehard-nosed ones say, “Why bother about whatthe Mandali say? Why observe silence? Whyceremonies?”

Bhau: It is not from the Mandali, it is fromthe Beloved Himself You read the circular of1968 which was sent to His lovers before July10, and Baba specifically has asked His loversto observe silence. So please don’t bring Mandaliinto picture. We are just about to die. So feelhappy and do whatever you like. Mandali donotbother about it. Mandali only seekthe plea-sure ofthe Beloved. Mandali have nothing togain. We have been losing and losing, and stillwe have notlost everythingyet. And that’s whywe are alive. But it appears that the Shop willbe closed very soon!

Jim 0.: So what do you tell people to doonce the Mandali are no longer around, in respect to their connection with the Beloved?

Bhau: Beloved Baba has given the instructions, and He has expressed His wish. But ifyou are a serious aspirant, then follow the con-ditions ofNewLife, which He has given, alongwith the plans ofthe Labor Phase. He has prescribed Labor Phase for this age. [See LordMeher, vol. 9/10, p. 3448, for the four phases ofthe New Life.] So, ifyou are serious, follow theconditions while doing anywork in the world:job, business, profession, or cultivation. And ifyou do so, you will be doing meditation in action.

Dan Ladinsky(with the help ofHafiz pinching me)

I have known Bhau for some 20 years,and having spent six ofthose years in India(accumulated time)—I have punched in mytime card, as it were, around him many times.Bhau arrived in Myrtle Beach two days agoand I attended his first talk. I was not at allexpecting anything new from his wine bar-rel—I thought I had tasted his bestjabs anduppercuts. I had always felt his wine neededa little more fermentation. I was so happy to

t discover I was wrong—major league wrong.Now I am voting for Bhau for President ofourgalaxy and beyond.

Harold Jamison Wrote:

For all Newellies,Jamie will appear in con-cert tonight in Berkeley. Regular place, thechurch corner ofMarin and Stannage.Teilyournon-cyber friends, bring someone other than aBaba lover.This is good music.

Greg Dunn responded:Sometimes I think, ifoffered the choice be-

tween aJamie Newell concert and God Real-ization, I’d pick the concert! After all, GodRealization will always be there!

From Our ManIn Meherabad

byJames Cox

July 10th, Silence DayI was doing prettygood keeping silence here

through all ofthe usual dailyworkrelated problems, telephones ringing, villagers asking ques

tions and volleyball, but my night watchmanjustgot me, sticking his head in mywindow as Itype this. He usually asks whether it is OK tolock the gate, and I always tell him yes or no inMarathi, so I told him to go ahead withoutlooking up. I guess it must be the first time I haveever broken my silence in Marathi. There’s always some kind of”first” here.

The crowd here is pretty large this year,probably over 1000, and itjust keeps on grow-ing everyyear. The crowd started gathering atthe Samadhi by 6 am, and everyone said theirsilentArti in their ownway. By 10:00 a.m.,whenI finallyjoined the queue, it took me an hourand a hali that’s even longer than Armatithinow.. . ofcourse the Women Mandali came fordarshan in between, which added a bit. Therewere so many flowers on Baba’s Tomb todaythat they had to be repeatedly taken out, alsojusthke onJanuary3lst. In fact, people are evenstarting to refer to Silence Day as a miniAmartithi.

Dr. Goher Katie, Arnavaz, Rhoda MistryManu, and Meheru all came, and despiteGoher’s fragile health, shelooked radiant today.The weather was lightly overcast and cool, justabout perfect, and ofcourse Baba’s special Si-lence Day atmosphere was abundant. Fortunately, this year, the mosquitoes are not.

Some ofyou mightwonderwhatwe do onSilence Day here, and that depends, ofcourse,on who you are. For the pilgrims, it is sort of aholiday, but for most ofthe residents, our workgoes on, and in many cases increases dramaticallybecause ofthe crowds. Probablyover 800people are staying at Lower Meherabad to-night, and the logistics ofsleeping and feedingthat many people is not a small matter. GaryKleiner in particular, had a taxing time ofit to-day, trying to cope with a 32-player volleyballgame without shouting at anyone! But he man-aged, we all managed, and in about an hour itwill all be over.

Most ofthe crowdwill stayforDhuni, thengo home, and wait for their next trip.

July 20th, Wolves at Meherabad?!Yesterday afternoon, about 3pm as I was

having a nap, myphone rings, and it is Erico onhis cellular, teffing me that he is about a milenorthwest ofBaba’s Samadhi on his mountainbike, and he is watching two wolves as theyhead toward my house at a quick clip. This isnot the usual thing one expects to be woken upfrom a nap with, and it took me some momentstodigestit.

My heartfelt thanks go out to the dozensofAussies who gave oftheir best — untiringly— so that we might all enjoy ourselves to thehilt. It tookalmost three days after all the guests

u_; —

______

IVleheru brings the Anniversary to a close with thelighting ofthe Dhuni, assisted hyjal

Dastoor and Ro Hayes.

Continued oh page 6.

I 30 d: ove5treetJamjLLst i

-

e: 3vt1 ( *;3 t* x:x 3

The LivingWitness Series

byWendell Brustman

D uring a period of three years in themid-1980’s, I went with a small crew

consisting of Bill Haviland, my son Tom,Roman Babiak, and others to Switzerland,France, England, and India to videotape thethen most significant living witnesses to thelife ofthe Avatar, Meher Baba.The proposedformatwas simple: in each video, the subjectswould be on screen and tell their story to you,the viewer.

The purpose was to make available forgenerations to come an opportunity for theviewer to meet the infinite and inscrutableGod through the personality and personalstory ofthose close ones whom He had drawnto Himself, whose lives He had changed, andwhom He had used in His immediate servicewhile in human form as Meher Baba. Manywere intimate mandali, in whom was filly in—stilled the spirit ofsurrender and obedience,and who have become for thousands, modelsofthe ideal life ofdedication to God.

These trips resulted in the buildup ofseveral hundred hours ofprofessionaU shot foot-age by Bill Haviland, who in 1987 beganediting programs. Unforeseen events begin-rnng that year eventuaflyled to a decade-longdelay. It is now the time when programs inthis Witness Series can finally be released.

The Mandali Collection, a second group-ing ofreleases, is initiated with our first in aseries of three programs on Mehera, and aprogram ofMani telling delightftil early child-hood stories ofbeing the sister ofGod. Meheraherself, in 1986 at the inception oftaping inIndia, made a decision which willlead to manynew programs to follow. She instructed Manito allow the work to run on past the 5-hourper person limit Mani had imposed, believingthat this should become an official record ofthe mandali’s witness to their Beloved, andthat the results would make a difference inthe impact ofMeher Baba’s message of loveand truth on a hungry and waiting world. Ifthere is sufficient interest, we will release thesecond tape in the trilogy this coming spring,and the third a year from now. The first ofthese, Program II, will be intimate momentswith Mehera at Meherazad including a visitwith her at teatime. Only women and chil

dren were permitted to attend Mehera’s teauntil our male film crewwas given permissionto record it for posterity Program III, to complete the triogy will be stories ofMehera toldmainlybyMani, and will include a ten minutegem ofa talk by Mani about Mehera’s purityin her relationship with Meher Baba.

Meher Baba, Lord andFriendProgram One

Mehera’s story of coming to Baba,told exclusively in her own words,

makes ofthis firstWitness Series video a classic collector’s edition.The storyline ofthis videopresents one facet of the life story of love’spure witness to the divinelyhuman life ofGodon Earth, seen through the eyes ofhis chosenconsort. Filled with interesting anecdotes, poignant memories and profoundly intimate moments, this full-color and finely craftedprogram takes you directly into the present

—

moment with Mehera as she comes alive onher porch, gives a tour ofBaba’s bedroom andleads a walk through the garden atMeherazad.

Filmed in 1986, edited by Bill Haviland,58 minutes, $54.95.

ManiAll This AndHeaven Too

Mani Remembers Her Early Childhood

With Meher Baba

Mani S. Irani was Meher Baba’s sister,24 years his junior, who had a unique

access to her brother whom she already knew,as a young child, to be God. Her earliestmemories include the story keying the video’stide. It tells ofthe candy she thought she couldenjoywhile sitting with Baba before a gathering, and the drama Baba casually createdwhich led her to conclude it would, in thefuture, have to be either candy or Baba, butnot both at the same time.

Edited by Bill Haviland, 61 minutes,$49.95.

A Witness Series VdeoMehera J, 1rini

MEHER BABA,LORD

AND FRIEND

A Wtncss Series VkieaMani S. irani

ALL THISAND

HEAVEN TOO

MeheraRemembers Meher Baba

,

. .. -, . .

Progran on

Mehera

Mani RemembersI k:r baby Chddhood

?VtI- Moher Babe

31iJ

t 3 3 @

Thefollowing two videos introduce theWestern Collection oftle Witness Series.

Irene Bib

The video work began with Irene Bib in1984. A remarkab1e1ad her storywould

have been lost without the video mission, be-cause when Irene died without having fin-ished her written biography, her sister, alwaysopposed to Meher Baba, threw away Irene’sarchives. She was from the small mountainvillage ofHeiden, Switzerland and met MeherBaba on His 1937 visit to Europe. Swept offher feet, Irene left soon thereafter by ship forIndia where she lived in the woman’s ashramfor eight years. Articulate in English, Irenerecounts her experience with both light-hearted humor and spiritual sophistication.Her manner is lively; her heart warm. Ireneoffers a valuable European perspective as wellas bringing to life the obscure figure of herfriend, Helen Dahm, the Swiss artist who created the murals inside Meher Baba’s Samadhion Meherabad Hill. Filmed on location inSwitzerland, 1984.

Edited by Bill Haviland, 57 minutes, Liv-ing With Goa’ $38.95.

Agnes Baron

‘J’houghbetter known, the elusive and

wary Agnes Baron is still a rare subjectfor those of us wishing to sit with her nowafter her death.We recordedAgnes, the pro-tector ofMeher Mount, in 1985.The MeherBaba retreat at Meher Mount in Ojai, on thecentral California coast, has a rich history, recounted here by its principal figure, AgnesBaron. Uniquely her own person, while alsodevoted to Baba, Agnes tells her life story,including the saga ofsaving the land for Baba,Baba’s sole visit in 1956, and the fire on NewLife Day years later that mysteriously sweptaway the old monuments ofthis magnificentsite onSuiphur Mountain. Filmed in 1985both in Ojai and at a surprise birthday partyfor Agnes in Berkeley, this video is remark-ably earthy, enlightening and entertaining.

Edited by Bill Haviland, 58 minutes, TheBelovedc Watchdog, $38.95.

[Currently our tapes are in VHS (NTSCformat) only and therefore cannot normally beviewedon VCR inforeign countries (PALfor—mat). We areplanning to distribute videosforuse overseas as soon as possible.]

A Videotape Review

Mehera, MeherBaba Beloved

byTerri Zagrodnik

A very special gift has arrived for thoseofus in the Baba community. It is an

opportunity for those who knew her to visitwith Mehera again.

For those of us who know her onlythrough books and the stories ofother Babalovers, it’s an opportunity to feel as thoughwe too have shared a moment oftime in herpresence.

Mehera, Meher Baba Beloved, opens itsarms to us from the very beginning as onemoves through the gates ofMeherazad andonto the porch and into the garden ofMehera’s love. Here, the music of RaphaelRudd is the backdrop. Later we’re treated tothe songs of Jamie Newell and HeatherNadel—their love for Baba reflected beautifrilly in their voices.

In the film Mehera shares with us hermemories of Baba—how at the age of fifteen, while on her way to Upasni Maharaj,

r she spies Baba for the first time. She de

scribes the moment by saying that to see Him

Mehera’s fate was sealed.In ahother memory, filled with the most

delightful bursts ofthroaty laughter, she recounts a time when Baba, dressed as Krishna,was slipping through a tear in the cloth thathad been designed by the women Mandalifor His cradle during a celebration for Krishnaat Meherabad. Her laughter during this storyis totally infectious. She is incredibly beautifulbut also very strong. I was struck with howstrong she was. The combination of gentle-ness and purity in thought and unwaveringstrength is tnily a blessing to observe. I couldn’ttake my eyes offher.

There were other stories she told, and therewas a very special moment with Mani inMandali Hall, but I’ll leave those for you todiscover and enjoy.

Baba said, “Mehera loves me as I shouldbe loved.” In this wonderful film we are allowed to glimpse the qualityofthatlove. Whata blessing!

Produced by Meher Prasad, 42 minutes,

I n 1970 Ten Adams was inspired to drawa pastel portrait of Baba for Mehera.

Mehera was very happy with it, placing it inBaba’s room at Meherazad, and encouragedTen to keep drawing Baba.

Throughout the years she has continuedto do so. The most recent drawing of Baba,(see above) completed at Meher Center inMyrtle Beach last spring, has been printed bySheriar Press as a greeting card and can bepurchased through the Love Street Bookstoreand the Sheriar Bookstore in Myrtle Beach.A11 profits from the sale of the cards will bedonated to the Avatar Meher Baba Trust inIndia. $2.50.

TI

was to find the place ofGod. In that moment

$39.95.

...

:

32

( :K 3 t_ ( :K 3; f ( x 3

I r this compelling book, Bill Stephenswrites about some ofthe transcendent love

affairs of the ages. His subjects are men andwomen ofvarious countries and faiths who livedin the period after Mohammed and beforeMeher Baba. (One ofthem, the incomparableBabajan, lived on for ten years after Baba be-gan his mission. The incredible fact is thatBabajan actuaflyftmnctioned as God in humanform for more than a century!)

Many ofthe great souls featured in Soulson Fire are among Meher Baba’s special favorites—inspired individuals for whom religion was at best a stepping stone, and at worsta hindrance, to the perfection of their passionate love affairwith God Himself (Or GodHerself if you prefer. Meher Baba tells usthat in this advent He is functioning both asthe Divine Father and the Divine Mother.)These are individuals who fell madly in lovewith God and could not rest until they at-tamed union with the object oftheir fervor.

In today’s world, who would dream that awoman living in a brothel—and reputed to bethe world’s most beautiful woman—was actually a saint? As Meher Baba explained, thebrothel was a cover for Rabia’s real work ofsaving souls. Baba also explained that thelovely Rabia came back to earth again for herfinal lifetime as Hazrat Babajan. (See RabiaofBasra, page 13.)

The great yogi Milarepa is Tibet’s most

famous saint. YetJetsun Milarepa as a youthwas a practitioner ofblack magic and a murderer ofmany people! What better examplecan we find ofthe transforming effects ofGod’sinfinite love? (See Milarepa, page 45.)

Mirabai was a queen whose heart wasaflame with love for Lord Krishna. After herhusband the kingwas killed in battle, Mirabai’sin-laws tried repeatedly to kill her, but her faithin Krishna saved her. Mirabai gave up herposition and her power to wander, penniless,radiant in her rags, singing of her love forKrishna and inspiring all Indiawith her beautyand her bhajans, which are still widely sungtodayin India. (See Mirabai, page 85.)

A young man in England, after experiencing God’s light within, was beaten, spatupon andjailed time after time for speakingout and telling people that God is withineveryone’s heart and no one needs preachersor “steeplehouses” to find God. George Fox’sindomitable courage and impassioned lead-ership changed the British Empire andled toa mystical movement known as the Quakers.(See George Fox, page 125.)

Other subjects include Meher Baba’s favorite poet Hafiz, as well as Rumi, Kabir,Francis ofAssisi,Teresa ofAvila, Ramakrishna,Vivekananda and Hazrat Babajan. The finalchapter is about our own Divine Beloved,Avatar Meher Baba, who while remaining silent for forty-four years inspired and gener

ated a worldwide movement of millions offollowers who accept that all religions are essentially the same, but that religion itself isunimportant, while God is everything.

Souls on Fire is Bill Stephens’ secondBaba book, coming only one year after Foot-

prints in the Sanc4 which Don Stevens, author ofListen Humanity refers to as “a detailedpersonal history ofwhat I would call Chap-terTwo ofBaba’s presence among man” and“a very important contribution.” Stephenscame to Baba after a near-death experiencein 1969 which changed him instantly froman agnostic to a seeker. Stephens has workedboth as a lawyer and a marine naturalist andis the author of seven books about marinescience, animals and underwater exploration.In addition, he and his wife Peggy have coauthored six children’s books about marineanimals.

There have been many favorable prepublication reviews for this book, but I thinkthis one says it best, coming as it does, fromColeman Barks—the man who made Rumithe most famous poet in America 800 yearsafter his death:

“These are the planet’s great love stories,the lives and legends of deeply surrenderedsouls: Francis, Rumi, Ramakrishna, MeherBaba, Teresa, Hafez, and others. The rèligious traditions they grew from are less important than the depth of their loving.”—Coleman Barks, authoi’ The EssentialRumiOcean ic Press, Nashville, TN—Paperback,224pp., Index andBibliography, $12.

•:

Bill Stephens with Eruch Jessawalla

Souls On FireReviewed by Lani Jones, Tennessee

C)C

0z

I

I oveStreet£nmI2bst’ 3 3

I

L ® Q

BeautifulSouls

.

inUgly Cages

byPhyllis Ott,

Myrtle Beach, SC

This booklet was begun at the request ofBeloved Baba’s brother Jal in a letter

written to us, Lyn and Phyllis Ott, on March17, 1981. In the letter,JaI asked that the video,both sight and sound, made in the Poonaleprosorium in 1971 be printed out “...for theworld to see and know that Beloved Baba hasperformed this only miracle after leaving Hisbody.” It is the story ofMeher Baba revealingHimselftojal through 200 lepers as the OneSelfwithin all.

I was able to feel the literal meaning ofBaba’s description ofHis Selfas the same onein every creature in creation.The way I prepared the text for the book was playing anaudio tape ofJal speaking as the Luck broth-ers were filming him with the lepers. I playedit over and over again as I copied down what-everJal said.

The photos now can be printed out fromthe video with a scanner, but we had no ad-vanced equiptment. RalphJackson had to playthe tape, and stop it on the TV monitor toshoot stills with another camera.

The paste-up that I made with thesesnapshots and my typewritten pieces ofcorresponding text were essenially what waspublished. My title for the bookwas “Transfiguration” because that’s what I saw as themiracle. A wreck ofa human body, and eachof the 200 people present in the story wasdeteriorated by disease, yet each was miraculously transfigured to the form ofthe gloriousAvatar, Meher Baba.

I was walking through the Center won-dering how to devise a way that I could affordto print the manuscript. I walked into an oldfriend, Grant Narelle. He opened the conversation by saying that he felt he had paid much

too little for a painting ofmine thathe had acquired a year before. Andthen I told him about thejal book-let and my problem of funding itsprinting.Well, coincidentally, he waspublishing a shipping newspaper inVirginia Beach, and offered to dothatfor mybook. His wife,Judy,witha background in book design tookon the expert work ofart editing.

The large group that finalizedthe booklet is acknowledged onpage 6. But I lost my choice forthe title when the print-readydummy was sent to Mani. She ledthe effort from then on and retitled it Beautiful Souls in UglyCages. Her message on page 38was confirmation ofthe witness,BrotherJal, which completes histestament like a benediction.

[This book, long out ofprint, hasnow been reprinted and is avail-able through the Love Street Book—store, $6.] 1

Beautiful Soulsin

ugly Cages

.:._

ComHed by Lyn and PhU.s Ott

Insidejobs:

Stories for Adults and Other KidsWritten and told byMax Reif

Audio Book Reviewby Kendra Crossen Burroughs

In his youth in rural Ohio, my father was a carnival barker, and he used to imitate the barker’scry for our amusement: “Hurry, hurry, see Little Fatima, she walks, she talks, she crawls on

her belly like a snake!”Something similar could be said about the multitalented Max Reif Hewrites, he paints, he

sings and plays music, he acts, he clowns! Hurry, hurry and get his audiotape, Insidejobs: StoriesforAdults and OtherKids, on which he gets to do almost all these things, telling and acting outhis stories, playing the harmonica, and illustrating the coverwith his artwork.

The tape is beautifully produced by Chris Riger, with original music composed by JeffWilliams, and cool sound effects.

In these stories Max displays a brilliant knackfor the whimsical and the absurd.Ther&s theman whose red face is mistaken for a stoplight, halting traffic. There’s the wish-fulfilling geniewho materializes out ofa can of soup. There’s Fred riding an escalatot which he knows is reallya giant dragon about to gobble him up; but instead ofteffing his mother this, Fred commentsdryly, “This escalator is like the electric shears that the barber uses to shave my neck.”

There’s a cloud who walks into a cafe and asks, in a plaintive falsetto voice, for a small cup ofsunshine. And then there’s the title character of”The Martyr”who declares: “Every morningwhen I wake up, my first thought is, ‘I’m a martyr for the cause!’ But then it takes me some timeto remember what the cause is!”

There are also some gentle and spiritual fairy tales, with pretty princesses, scary forests, andmagical transformations.All ofthe stories have a distinctive and special heart quality It comesin an attractive box with Max’s art work on the cover. $10.

. — I

3% ;;t

Wedding Bells at Meher Mountby Kendra Crossen Burroughs, Meher Mount

S aturday, June 6, was a misty, foggy day:

typicaijune weather on Sulphur Moun

tam—and an auspicious atmosphere

for the wedding ofPamela Wolfe and

Billy Goodrum, to be held at Meher

Mount that afternoon. They say the

weather was just like this when Me-

her Baba visited Meher Mount on

August2, 1956.A large crowd offriends and fam

ily was gathered outside the house,

where, a few days before, Billy and

Pamela had worked to spruce up the

garden and grounds forthe event. The beautiftilPamela emerged on thearm ofher father and be-gan the procession out tothe Baba Tree with thehandsome “WilliamAshby Goodrum”—ledby a kilted bagpiper,George McGillvray.

Under the tree,everyone’s attentionturned to the minister, theRight Reverend . . . wait a minute, isn’t that

JeffMaguire? Jeffproudly announced that

the State ofCalifornia had sworn him in as

Deputy Commissioner ofCivil Marriages,

for one day only. He welcomed the guests

“to Scotland,” and then Baba’s Beloved God

prayer was recited, led by the kids: Danny

Maguire, Josh and Janani Lee, Mia

Campagna, andJohn Matthew and Michael

Griffin.

Jeffpointed out that we were convened

just a fewyards away from where Baba had

sat under the tree in August 1956, and un

doubtedly Baba was just as present with us

today for the wedding. He read out several

pertinent Baba quotes: “Love is no game for

weaklings...;” “It is for love that the whole uni

verse sprang into existence. . . ;“ and “Married

life brings an intensification ofmost human

problems” (Jeffread that line twice for em-

phasis!).Then he told the story ofhowJeanne

Shaw, on her fiftieth wedding anniversary,

summarized the secret of a successffil mar-

riage in one word: “Yield!”

After Pamela and Billy exchanged long

white silk scarves, inspired by a Himalayan

custom conveying blessings, Josh Clayton

sang Paul McCartney’s “I Will.” Jeff re

marked that we were not just witnessing

the ceremony but participating in it, and

that our presence signified our offer of love

and support to the newlyweds.

Street£amji

With the exchange ofgarlands, rings, and

the vows they had written, Billy and Pamelawere united in a long kiss that evokedcheers from the crowd.We afijoined insinging (or tried to sing) “Begin theBeguine,” accompanied by Debra Asheand Michael and Charlie Campagna.The ceremony concluded with a lovinggreeting sent by Bhau Kaichuri.

As we returned to the house, thesky brightened as the sun’s radiance

streamed through theclouds—just as theysay it did on the dayBaba was here.

Then there wasfood, music, anddancing. Jeffremarkedabout the Brazilianband: “Those guysclearly realized theirgood fortune: howoften does a musicianreport for a casual gigand get exposed toMeher Baba, Fred,and Kleiner all at thesame time?”

The victuals werealso excellent. “At first

I was worried there wouldn’t be enough for

everyone,” saidJeff. “But they kept bringing

out more and more and still yet more. I also

got a kick out offinding the food servers out

on the point admiring the view with us. They

felt right at home, as did everyone, which is a

testimony to the kind of people Billy and

Pamela are and to the love that Baba shOwers

down when such an occasion arises.”All told, it was a gorgeous wedding—

complete with teary eyes and sniffles at the

touching toasts ofthe two dads, Cloyd Smith

Goodrum,Jr., andJohn Keller. AsJeffrecalled,

even the weather had been memorable: “the

mist and fog, the chill, then the clearing skies,

the view from the point, and finally the sharply

angled rays of the late sun that rendered a

wedding portrait in gold.” Jai Baba!

LI::#$

:

,

i’ ‘S

I

a =—

__

L::e: (z

The House on Grove Streetby Ed Flanagan

IEditor note. When I received this subrn issionfrom EdI was doubtful we could run somethingso long. Howeveraslwasgetting into the story,a scenefrom the movie “Titanic came to in md:the one where thefilm crew is gathered aroundRose, hanging on her every word, as they real-ize she was actually there! It was history re—lived, brought to life before their eyes. Andso itis with this story...]

I twas 1979. I was living in Greenwich Vii—lage, and almost daily on mybicycie I’d pass

by the double town house just a few blocksaway at #88-90 Grove Street. I had come toMeher Baba just two years before and waswell aware of the fascinating history of thatold house in relation to Baba. In November,1931, Baba’s firstvisit to America, Baba hadbeen invited by the owner, Graham Phelps-Stakes, to stay there following His visit toHarmon-on-Hudson, an hour’s drive north ofManhattan. He returned six months later onhis well-publicized second American tour andgave His first major public darshan on Amen-can soil, and a newsreel crew filmed Him walk-ing in the gardens. On Baba’s third Americanvisit in 1934, He gave darshan there to Hisnew lovers, Darwin Shaw among them.

Graham suffered ten strokes and died in1960. His widow, Lettice Stokes, lived therealone except for daily visits from her maid,and from Graham’s secretary, who even thirtyyears after his death would come several timesa week to “take care of business” and lookafter Mrs. Stokes.

Over the years, Baba lovers would pesterher at all hours to see the house where MeherBaba had stayed, but I never dared to ringthe bell. I was content to simplypass by, imagining Him smiling in the upper window andwaving at me. Very late at night, I would sitquietly on the front stoop, remembering howHe had passed up and down these very steps.He would feel very close and present. Duringthe day, those steps were a favorite hangoutfor winos, who would drift across the narrowstreet from tiny Sheridan Square Park, or fromthe equally close Stonewall Inn.

[I 36

This nearby bar became world-famous in1969 as the scene ofa three-day riot betweenthe NYC-police and the gay and transvestitecommunity. The “Stonewall Riots” were theproverbial “shot heard round the world” demandrng equal nghts for sexual minorities.Theevent led to changes on a global scale. In thisregard, on Christmas Day, 1981, in MandaliHall, Eruch repeated a story Baba had toldabout a perfect master who was a gay transvestite. Baba had told this story to the mandalithirtyyears earlier in 1951, in Lucknow, whereHe was just beginning His manonash workamong a community ofoutcast hijiras (transvestites). During that time, Baba Himselfbe-came the object ofhomophobic hatred andabuse. He said that He was doing universalwork which would one day result in raisingthe consciousness ofthe homosexual community throughout the world.

One hotJuly afternoon, a friend asked meto walkwith him to a store on the other side ofthe Village. As we approached the house, Inoticed a wino sitting on a curb at the edge ofthe park. He was wild and robust-looking, reminding me ofone ofBaba’s masts, but hisintoxication was probably due to the pint ofWild Turkey on the curb beside him. With-out thinking, I shouted at him, “BABA!”Thenext moment, I saw a very elderly lady fern-

Please...Respectthe

owners’privac3

Do not call onthem or ask

to s: the

bling at the lock on the front door ofthe house,and I blurted out, “Oh my God, there she is.”

I thought, “No, I could never, I’m in myshorts, I’m unpresentable, by the time I getthere she’ll be in the house.” I stood therefrozen. Suddenly I made a dash for it andcaught her just in time to help her with thekeys.

Her eyesight was not good and she mis-took me for a neighbor she hadn’t seen for awhile, and invited me for tea the next after-noon.I couldn’tbeieve myears.What a strokeofluck; under mybreath, I thanked Baba.

The next day I appeared for tea, and wesat out in the back garden, where she suddenly realized I was a complete stranger andthat yesterday she had mistaken me for some-one else. She had a wonderftil sense ofhumorand we both had a good laugh over it. I gaveher a copy of Naosherwan Anzar’s The Be-lovec4 and she was happy to see photos of somany old friends, and ofcourse, “the Baba,”as she referred to Him. Thus began a won-derftil relationship with Lettice Stokes andher house and yard, where I began regularlyvisiting and doing gardening.We became goodfriends.

As I brought her up to date on some oftheevents of the last forty years, she seemed verysurprised that He had returned to New Yorkseveral times during the fifties, and that shehadn’t heard about it, He had not contactedGraham, or stopped by. She seemed a bit hurt.Shewas shocked to hear ofthe accidentin OkIahoma in 1952 and news ofHis dropping thebody in 1969 really stunned her. As we sat inthe lovely enclosed garden behind the house,she reminisced about those days in the early

£oveSfreèt amjst’.

.-

I ! :z

L’h (

thirties, her life with Graham before and after

Baba, and the monthly suppers.

Graham Stokes had been part ofa group

of friends and spiritual seekers which

included Elizabeth Patterson and Norma

Matchabelli. Others who would soonjoin in-

cludedjean Adriel, Malcolm Schloss, Nadine

Tolstoy, Anita DeCaro Veillard, Josephine

Ross, and many others contacted by Baba.

At the invitation ofElizabeth and Norma,

Graham went up to Harmon on November 9,

1931, where he first met Baba. He returned

that evening totally enthralled and insisted

that Lettice go back up with him so that she

too could meet Baba. I sensed that she had

some resistance to the idea, since Graham was

the seeker, not her; but she went anyway. Yes,

He was very charming and all smiles, though

silent, and He had the most deeply penetrat

ing and extraordinarilybeautiful eyes, but she

really couldn’t see what all the fuss was about.

“I certainly didn’t swoon like Norma. She

practically fell down the stairs. She went head

over heels, completely overboard, coming out

from meeting Him. She was so overcome.

Elizabeth too, but more calm, more collected.

I’m a more matter-of-fact person, as you prob

ably guessed. Though I can’t say that I went

in for faintingwhen I met Him, I liked Baba.

I liked Him and that meant a great deal.

He radiated energy— not physical, but emo

tional. Only a clod could approach Him with-

out some feeling. I

could easily see what

a tremendous influ

ence He had on

people more versedin spiritual things. I

was never a studentofsuch things, exceptI picked up a fewcrumbs. You couldn’t

live with a person like

Graham for 34 yearsin that atmosphere,

reading scriptures inSanskrit, versed in

the teaching ofmanyspiritual masters,and not have some ofit rub offon you. But I

was never bowled over by any ofthis. Never.

But yes. I did like Baba very much.”

A few days later, she recalled, Graham

returned from Harmon quite upset, saying that

the house up there was no place for a person

ofBaba’s spiritual status, and that he wanted

to bring the whole party down to this house.

The Harmon property belonged to Virginia

Mayo, a famous Broadway playwright, who

lent it out for Baba’s use.

Mrs. Stokes said there were rumors that

the house had been a speakeasy during the

Prohibition era, and perhaps had served other

unsavory purposes, and Graham thought it

unsuitable for Baba. She did not recall, nor

did I know at that time, that

there had been a fire therejust a

few days after Baba arrived,

burning one ofthe guest houses

to the ground. (This made sev

eral people very happy because

they got to move into the main

house, with Baba.)The fire may

have been one reason why Gra

ham offered the Manhattan

house to Baba. The next day, a

caravan ofcars drove down from

Harmon and the whole contin

gent descended on Grove Street.

Mrs. Stokes recalled that one

ofthe people with Baba was the

mischievous and lovable Agha

Ali ofPrem Ashram days. She

said, “He and the Baba stayed

in one room at the top of the

house, and Chanji, Rustom and

Meredith Starr in the other

room. It was pretty hectic here

for a few days, untileverybody got on atrain for California.ButEd,I tellyou,”and here shestarted laughing

again as she recalled those days,“the real whirlwindwas several monthslater when the Babacame back to NewYork.”

On His second,well-publicized, visitto America, Elizabeth chauffeured

him directly to Grove Street from the docks in

Brooklyn. The rest of the party followed in

taxis with Graham and the luggage. Baba’s

room was prepared as before, and staying with

Him in the house were His younger brother

Adi Jr., Quentin Todd, and Meredith and

Margaret Starr. Baba’s brother Beheram,

Chanji, Ghani, and Kaka stayed at the Hotel

Albert.“And Ed, I don’t mind tel]ingyou our quiet

little household was totally disrupted. It was

like Grand Central Station around here with

the crowds, for weeks it seemed, but maybe it

was shorter than that. I thought I might have

to go to a hotel myself I couldn’t even get into

my own bedroom.There’d be people stretched

out across my bed, exhausted, especially

Norma and Elizabeth, who acted as hostesses.

And word went out, and the word spread,

and it was like dropping a pebble in a pond.

On and on it went. There was no end to it.

The reporters started coming and the door-

bell was ringing and the phone was ringing,

and God knows what wasn’t going on. You

couldn’t see the beds for all the coats, with

people coming and going at all hours of the

day and night.Ijust had to get out.The place was swarm-

ing. I’d do my little chores and then I’d get

right out, leaving the place to them. Ofcourse,

Graham was uptown at the office, taking care

ofbusiness. But somebodywould be stationed

at the phone, which rang interminably some-

The viewfrorn Babac bedroom.

The Movietone Newsfooeage ofMeher

Baba in the garden at Grove Street in

May 1932 is available on videofrom

Love Street Bookstore as ‘Meher Babai

1932 Message toAmerica, “ $15.

“ .:.1 :• 37

.. v ..@

one else would be stationed at the door, be-cause Baba was seeing people most of theday. And every time I left the house, therewere people walking up and down, wantingto know, ‘Is Baba in there?’

You just wouldn’t believe what was goingon here, everything is so quiet now. But in theevening things would quiet down, and Graham and I and whoever else was here wouldgo up to His room at the top, and we’d sit onthe floor and talk. And Babawould listen andsmile and laugh. It was delightftii—very in-formal.Then we’d all say good night and go tobed, and it would start all over again the nextday. I’m glad I was young. I don’t thinkl couldhandle it today.

Then finally, Norma and Elizabeth wantedto know ifwe could have a formal reception.And we said certainly, ifthey would send theinvitations. They said, sure, that’s the easiestpart ofit. Engraved invitations were sent out,and that Sunday afternoon over 400 peopleshowed up at my front door from about fourto seven P.M.They kept coming and comingand coming, in through the front door and upthe stairs at #88, into the library and up a fewsteps to meet him in the little meditation room.Then they’d come back down the stairs at #90,so it was a circular thing, you see, so nobodystiimbled over anybody. People were given aspecific time, like one group would be at fourand the next group at four-thirty, and so onthrough the afternoon and evening. The lineswent up and down the blockwith people wait-ing to get in to see Him. The police had toredirect traffic in front ofthe house.

“That same day, the newsreel people cameand filmed Him here in the garden, with all

my neighbors in the apartments above us poking their heads out ofwindows and balconies,trying to see what on earth was going on. I tellyou it was really something. Even for daysafter, it seemed hundreds of people wouldwalk past the house, gazing with awe and try-ing to peer in. And dozens claimed that itchanged their entire lives. And I can believethis, Ed, because for several years after— andthis is the truth—our doorbell would ring atsome extraordinary hour and there would bean utter stranger and—”

Here she began laughing so that she couldbarely catch her breath. “I can’t tell you howfunny life has been in manyways. Little did Ithink when I got married what I was gettinginto. And theywould come in, and they justwanted to come again to the house, and tellhowtheirwhole life had changed. And I wouldsit there and listen to more changes in lifethan would fill ten books. And this went onfor a long time.”

She poured me another cup of tea andcontinued her narrative. “I had an old coloredmammy-cookthen, Anna, and shejust nearlymelted away at the Baba—Bubba, she calledHim. And ‘Bubba this’ and ‘Bubba that,’ ohthe Bubba could do no wrong. And it didn’tmatter how much work there was to do or howmany things He wanted at an extraordinaryhour. It was never too much. She was completely bowled over.” And here she startedlaughing again.

“Now my memory is a bit dim, but it seemswe had to get in extra help, perhaps a relativeor a friend ofAnna’s, and theywould prepareHis meals, you kno and sometimes He wouldcome down to the basement kitchen areawhere they worked, and sit with them. Andthey’d make Him a cup oftea and they’d chat.He was really very sweet to them and theyremembered that, and would talk about it foryears after.”

I nvariably, whether it was one of our out-ings, or a gardening day, or a simple visit,

she would eventually say, “Well, Ed, wouldyou like to go up and spend some time in thelittle room?”This was how she referred to theroom a few steps up from the large sky-lit salon-library on the second floor ofthe house.

When Baba left, Graham reserved thisspot, where Baba had given darshan, as ameditation room, where he would go eachmorning unfailingly before leaving for the of-fice, and again before retiring. He had a rope

with tassels put across Baba’s chair so no onewould sit on it.

When I first entered the little room, it waspitch dark, as Graham had blocked out thewindow. A tiny amber light bulb gave the feelof dim candlelight. It was a spot intimatelyassociated with Him and I could feel the thinwooden runners still nailed to the floor in theleft corner, where Baba had placed the greenmorris chair atjust the right angle for greetingvisitors as they entered the room. Even fiftyyears later, this gave me a sense of exactlywhere He was in the room. I could feel Himsmiling at me.

A photo reproduction which Graham hadmade ofBaba’s portrait hung in the room, andunder it was framed one of Baba’s quotes:WITHIN ME AND WITH1N ALL—THE SAME SU

PREME SELF, SHRI SADGURU MEHER BABA.

There were also images ofJesus, St. Francis,and someone who resembled Zoroaster, to-gether with a picture ofVivekananda, whoseashram in India Lettice and Graham had visited on their honeymoon in 1926. A largemahogany sideboard with heavy drawers wasat the rear wall, and a small table and a coupleofchairs completed the furnishings.

Any time I entered that room and closedthe door, withjust a few moments offocusingI would feel Baba’s presence very strongly. I’dthink, “if only the world knew about thisplace...” while knowing fully that someday itwould. It was similar to the feeling peopledescribe after visiting the Samadhi.

“B ut now for His birthday party after Hewent back to India,” Lettice continued,

“We were all vegetarian, no meat or anythinglike that. So we had some delicious bakedbeans which Anna concocted and put all kindsofthings on, and we had fruit salad and rollsand cocoa, tea, or coffee, and then ice cream

Bedroom at top ofthe house used by Bahac party.

Baba’s Chair and Portrait

The chair used by Meher Baba for darshanat the Grove Street house was sent to the

center at Myrtle Beach for Baba’s firstvisit there,and remains in the Barn to this day.

Also sent was a life-size portrait ofBaba byJulian Lamar, which Baba sat for. (Lamar metBaba at Harmon on November 7, 1931.) Elizabeth Patterson owned the painting until she andher husband Kenneth had a bitter split overBaba. According to Mrs. Stokes, Kenneth wasa Christian Scientist and thought “all this Bababusiness” was “a bunch of hooey.” When thePattersons broke up, Mr. and Mrs. Stokes received this portrait and the garden fountain whichwas still there during myvisits. Graham Stokeshung the portrait in the “little room,” and itnow hangs in Baba’s living room in MyrtleBeach.

.

and cake for dessert. I would pull out the tablein the dining roomwhichwould seat ten nicely,

and set up three or four small tables in thefront room, and then I would get in extra helpto serve and wash the dishes and all that practical business.

Then we would sit there after the disheswere cleared, and Graham would stand in thedoorway and give a little talk. And then, oneby one, or two by two if they were a couple,people would all go up and have a few moments in the little room. Then they’d comeback downstairs where Anna was whipping

up a punch, you see, with ice cream and cake.That made a lovelylittle evening.

That first one was an enormous success,so we said, oh—let’s do this again. We wouldhave a simple supper. And after the first time,people started bringing homemade cookiesand baked goods, and we had this almost upuntil Graham’s death, except for a couple ofyears when he was very sick. Now, Graham’sbirthday was March 18, but that was not aSaturday and these were working people. Sothe second year we moved to the last Saturdayofthe month. And thatwayGraham couldspend the day quietly and prepare for his talk.And that was a great success, since they knewit was also for Graham’s birthday, that made it

extra special.Now everybody enjoyed this so much we

got our heads together and said, why not do

this every month. Sothose little meetingscame to be known

as the “Last Sat-urday Group.”Twenty-eight

people came tothat firstbirthdaysupp er,and the

5 a m egroupandthe

5 a m enumber would

come for years afterwards.We would invite close friends like

Norma and Elizabeth and the new peoplewe had met, and itwas such a lovely thing. Doyou know, Ed, we had them for over 25 years,except forJuly and August, with people away.Always the same ones coming, though a lot ofthem have died now... Theywerejust dear, allofthem, from everywalk oflife, all religions,

Jews, gentiles, heathens—you name it, theycame. Of course I sent their names and everything I had relating to Baba personally toElizabeth down at Myrtle Beach. Have youmet her? Such a marvellous, wonderftil woman.You really must meet her.” She sighed andlooked up at me. “It was really something.”

Then she said I should probably like tosee the rest ofthe house and proceeded

to take me on a tour. My first impression wasthat I was walking through a movie set fromthe early thirties. Everything down to the lastdetailwas strictly from that period, with nothing to even suggest anything from the forties.It was if time had stood still after Baba washere.

On the walls in the hallway were photosand documents from George Washington

(she was a direct descendant)and up in the library werelarge plush velvet chairs and alarge sofa. Everything waslightly faded and lovinglylived-in. The table and floorlamps were valuable antiques.

(A twenties-era torchiere-stylelamp with an amber fluted

given to me about a year later, together with adelicate old colored woodblock print ofMarywith the infantJesus.)

Lettice continued the tour at the top ofthe house, saving the “little room” for last. Itwas an extraordinarily moving experience forme,just seeing the toilet, the sink and faucets,the light switch in His bathroom, and Hisbedroom, which Graham had later convertedto a home office, things that He used andtouched. As we went back down to the second floor I saw Graham’s priceless collectionof ancient Tibetan tankas depicting variousdeities and Boddhisattvas, large museum-quality treasures. There were also exquisiteturn-of-the-century religious paintings, religious statuary and other antiquities.

Those were the days before personalcamcorders, yet how often have I kicked

myseiffor not having the foresight to document this extraordinaryplace for posterity Myonly consolation is perhaps these recollectionsmay help give a feeling for the place and thosespecial times. Graham’s library and personalpapers were willed to the Columbia University Library only authors or those with a needto know have access to them. For the record,this is what Mrs. Stokes told me about thehistory ofthe house; though it may not per-tam directly to Meher Baba, it will get lost ifnot set down here.

The two houses, #88 and #90 GroveStreet, were built identical to each other in1927 for two retired seafaring brothers, Henryand Jesse Halsy. The home of their parentsand grandparents, in Southampton, Long Is-land, has been turned into a museum, and in1980, Mrs. Stokes sent it some letters andother historical records of the Grove Streethouse.

She explained that the only architecturalclue to the original twin buildings was theirremaining stairways and railings. “Grahambought the first house and lived here with his

firstwife in 1915. I didrft comehere until we were married in1926. He bought the adjoin-ing house from his sisterHelen in 1931. It didn’t haveheat or electricity. We brokedown the partitions andbought all new furnishings.

Robert Blum (or Bloom)was an artist who lived herein 1893, around the time I was

un engraved invitation to the 1932

darshan had been sitting in a

drawer/br 47 years!

0’

glass bowl, which was usedwhile Baba was there, was Ed F/aizagaii.

[ Jove5trèet£aifst’ ; 39

born. He added this double-decked buildingon the left side ofthe garden, and rented toartists for studio space. Helen rented the up-per one from an artist who lived here later.That’s how she knew about the house, andwhen it was available she snatched it up, andconnected the double studio house to themain house, and built these charming cloisters. There was a livery stable next door.

There was a very handsome wrought-ironfence dividing the gardens, and after webought the house from Helen, we took downthe fence to join the gardens. Then Grahamgot wind that the neighborhood associationneeded a piece of wrought-iron fence forSheridan-Square Park across the way. Theywere trying to make a division between thefront and back parts ofthe park, which had alot ofbeautiftil old trees. Now ifyou’ll look,you’ll see that the points on the fence dividing the park do not match. That’s the fencethat was here in our garden around the timethat Baba first came in 1931.”

Things that were here when He was here.I was obsessed with that, and kept press-

ing for information. For example, I wanted toknow about the arrangement offtirniture inBaba’s bedroom during Baba’s stays.Lettice explained, “The lease on his uptownoffice was running out, and with his healththe way it was, one day he asked me whatabout making Baba’s bedroom into a smalloffice. And I said, that’s the best idea you’vehad since you asked me to marryyou!” As westood in the room, she said, “There wasjust asmall closet, not this big one. Two twin bedswith a night-table between them. This chestof drawers was here, a big bureau which isnow in the guest room belo and there werechairs and a table, things you’d need in a bed-room.”

I pressed her more. “You kno you shouldreally make a historical record, because oneday when we’re all gone, that record will bevery important.”

“Well, that ftirniture is all family ftirniture, and it’s all allotted to Graham’s familymembers—the younger generation, ofcourse—all the old ones are gone. I had eightbrothers and sisters-in-law—enormous family. And I’m the only one left!”

“So the whole record ofthe things, whenyou go—”

“But there’s nobody that cares, Ed.”“There isn’t anybody at this moment that

you are aware of who cares, but the thingsBaba used—if it turns out that Baba is theChrist ofthis age, and there’s growing certitude ofthat—everything that He came in con-tact with is most sacred.”

“But all these things have been allotted tomembers ofthe family.When I die, it’s all onrecord, they go.”

“Yes, I understand, but whatever thesethings are, ifyou have a record saying ‘thispiece offhrniture was in Baba’s room’ or ‘thiswas used by Meher Baba’ —that’s very precious.”

“But who would want that?”“You’re going to be amazed.”“But who would I give it to? What would

I do with it?”“You could leave that record with me. I’d

see that it got into the proper hands.”“But it’s just a piece of fhrniture. Who

would see it? I can’t have people come knock-ing on the door to see the bed that MeherBaba slept in.”

I chuckled at this irony. With all the stories about the countless beds that GeorgeWashington slept in, here was Lettice Stokes,Washington’s direct descendant, protesting arecord ofthe bed that Meher Baba slept in.

“Whoever gets that bed eventually...”“But they don’t know a thing about Baba!”

“Theywill, and their children will.”“But what’s the point ofit all?”“It’s like whenjesus went to Capharnum

and stayed in someone’s house. That houseand the bed He slept in would one day, afterHis manifestation, be treasured. What youdon’t understand yet is the historical significance ofMeher Baba.”

There was a long pause.Then she lookedup at me and sighed.

“Well... I don’t know, Ed. I can’t promise Iwill do this.”

I’m heartbroken that those simple scrapsofwood went to family members without theirever knowing what they had.

She continued talking a bit more abouthow the nuns at St. Vincent’s Hospitaijust upthe street had been so kind and caring forGraham’s mother after she was struck by a car.“So he decided that when both ofus are gone,the house would be willed to the nuns as arest and retreat home. You see, they workedso hard and such long hours at the hospital,and they really had no place they could flopdown when they really needed to. So Graham put it in the will. This house will go tothem.”

In 1981, I left NewYork and went to India,circling the globe and visiting cities and

places Baba had visited. I settled in Bostonand began a whole new life.

Until Lettice died, I would stop by to seeher whenever I was in New York. She alwayswelcomed me as a dear old friend with sparkleand great warmth. Her last days were such acontrast; when I saw her for the last time, shecould barely recognize me. She had been borna year and a day before Baba, and left us inthe summer of1989 at the age of96. She wasburied beside Graham in a cemeteryin MountKisco, north ofthe city

By that time, St. Vincent’s Hospital hadvery few nuns and the old house was an albatross around the hospital’s neckfor manyyears.It became an abandoned derelict. With muchsadness I would pass by and stare in disbelief. Frozen and broken water pipes took aterrible toll. Everythingwas cracked, paint waspeeling, ceilings were coming down.

I realized why Joyce Kilmer’s poem hadmeant so much to me as a child, and I con-soled myself with the thought that Babadoesn’t give importance to these things thewaywe do. But it seemed heartless, and I’d siton those steps and cry.

I E:X 3 ( x:z

Lettice Stokes in her garden.

The garden where Baha walked.

[1 4° I,. U

I

Finally, we heard that the lawyers for St.

Vincent’s were willing to negotiate the sale of

the house to the NewYorkBaba community

There were find drives, but they fell short ofraising what was needed. I made contact with

Pete Townsend, who was coming to NewYork,

and arranged to take him through the house

and explain all these historical details, with

the prospect ofhis buying it. At thelast minute,

he cancelled the trip, and our hopes were

Qne day around 1995 I was walking by,expecting the by-now-familiar grim

sight of this derelict, when I spied painters

and plasterers at work inside. My heart

skipped a beat. They told me the new owner

was an artist and was having the place restored. Later that day I went by again,just intime to see a man and woman with two youngchildren dash out ofthe house and into a wait-

ing cab. I said, “Excuse me, are you the new

owners?” and explained that Iused to be the gardener here,and that this was a very specialhouse, and that I had information that they would wantto know.

“Oh yes,” the gentlemansaid, “This is a bad time, butwe would definitelylike to talkto you. Can you come back to-morrow?”

The next evening I metPeter Nadin and his wifeAnne Kennedy and their twolittle girls. My biggest surprisewas meeting Tom Stokes,Lettice’s nephew, whom I hadmet once in this very livingroom over 15 years earlier.This was the first time he hadbeen back to the house sincethe daywe met. He told themthat his aunt had been veryfond of me, and had men-tioned me often. So began mynew relationship with the oldhouse and the lucky peoplewho now live there.

They seemed very gratefulfor all my information. Peter said, “We knewwe had something very special here, but wedidn’t know exactly what.” We toured thehouse and garden as I explained what I kneand later I sent them some large photos ofBaba and some books, and a copy ofthe tapedinterview I had done with Lettice Stokes 20years earlier.

Theywere determined to keep everything

that was original, and to restore what neededrestoring, and they did. Later when I hap-pened to pass the house it was good to seelights on and children running around, andoccasionally we’d wave in greeting.

Most recently, onjune 9, 1998, 66 years

after Baba’s first visit, 75 ofBaba’s lovers, to-gether with Bhau Kaichuri, His beloved disciple, night watchman, and biographer, wereinvited by Peter and Anne to come and have

a simple supper and tea, much like in the old

days. Once again, the beautiful garden was

transformed into a place of loving remem

brance and sahavas.

‘Notes From The Internet” Continuedfrom page 13.

P

No matter how offkultcr this group can get

I always thinkwell, Eric’s quote will somehow

move us back to center and what is most im

portant in our lives, as we twist and turn tomaya’s tune like a hypnotized snake in our

respective baskets dancing to the newest flute

that attracts our attention! I think ofyou Eric

as someone who is like a steadfast silent rud

der (perhaps I could think ofBaba that way)...

who seems to know what to say to comfort or

direct as an agent ofsome unseen hand in our

midst—You KnowWho—at other times a hot

knife running through the butter or maybe

evenjust the hot knife as the occasion warrants.Continued on page 45.

—

X:K ,.. t; e:

en I was a child, my favorite poemwas The House with Nobody In It,

byJoyce Kilmer. This is the best I can remember it:

Whenei’erl 1n7/itoSflernLthngt6eErIetrack,

Ipass aJ’oor oi’i6;itse ‘isbj/s6ra/&w anti

IsujPoseI’9t7sseI;tahwidmInines1hrtflafways

stopjorambntte

To/ookattheEotLctthetragIcEo1Lce t&iousewItE

nobodfriIt.

Itneeddnew!ab’ltandsbb(/kc, am1& yb,esto&

trbnmcdwdWBiitwhat#needcmostg/a/hcpeo/,/e/IYbigbiside

A boiisetbatEasethodababv/aiqband/k/dup

&cstumb/bk’t7

IstbesatiWest4j6t xnfrftathnt t&teYeiyour

eyescon/drneet

Idbi9’tba/ih7Ceatid/iX/tU/7theWaVIt115edtO&

So tv/2eneverIgotoSfrrna/ohqtieE17itmcI

Inei’ergotjvtheen99;bouseu’fr6outstqpphganaf

I7Ofit#JJbi7C/

Yet Eu sw&nIfioIatcrumii9tqroo/iandiuts

tersja/Ibzgqpa,z

ForIcanEetEhi1fqqtba’poorofdEouseicaEouse

wItEaJ.v1en&an

Bahac bedroom and private interview room below.

dashed.

CIIAI REcEPTIoN FOR

BHAu KALCHURI

88 Grove StreetGreenwich Village, NY

June9, 1998

7; 30 PAil Group . Guest # 71

[-: 41

Children Speak to God

Dear GOD, In school they told us what Youdo. Who does it when You are on vacation?Jane

Dear GOD, Are you really invisible or is thatjust a trick? Lucy

Dear GOD, Is it true my father won’t get inHeaven if he uses his bowling words in thehouse? Anita

Dear GOD, Did you mean for the giraffe tolook like that or was it an accident? Norma

Dear GOD, Instead ofletting people die andhaving to make new ones, why don’t You justkeep the ones You have now? Jane

Dear GOD, Who draws the lines around thecountries? Nan

Dear GOD, I went to this wedding and theykissed right in church. Is that okay? Neil

Dear GOD, What does it mean You are aJealous God? I thought You had everything.Jane

Dear GOD, Did you really mean “do untoothers as they do unto you”? Because if youdid, then I’m going to fix mybrother! Dana

Dear GOD, Thankyou for the baby brotherbut what I prayed for was a puppy. Joyce

Dean GOD, It rained for our whole vacationand is my father mad! He said some thingsabout You that people are not supposed to

cc0’

For

say, but I hope You will not hurt him anyway.Your friend (But I am not going to tell youwho I am)

Dear GOD, Why is Sunday school on Sun-day? I thought it was supposed to be our dayofrest. Tom.

Dear GOD, Please send me a pony. I neverasked for anything before, You can look it up.Bruce

Dear GOD, IfYou give me a genie lamp likeAladdin, I will give you anything you wantexcept my money or my chess set. Raphael

Dear GOD, My brother is a rat. You shouldgive him a tail. Ha ha. Danny

Dear GOD, Maybe Cain and Abel wouldnot kill each other so much ifthey had theirown rooms. It works with my brother. Larry

Dear GOD, I want to bejustlike my Daddywhen I get big but not with so much hair allover. Sam

Dean GOD, I think the stapler is one ofyourgreatest inventions. Ruth.

Dear GOD, I bet it is very hard for You tolove all ofeverybodyin the whole world. Thereare only 4 people in our family and I can neverdo it. Nan

Dean GOD, IfYou watch me in church Sun-day, I’ll showYou my new shoes. Mickey.

Dean GOD, I would like to live 900 years likethe guy in the Bible. Love, Chris

Dear GOD, We readThomas Edison madelight. But in school they said You did it. So Ibet he stole your idea. Sincerely, Donna

The Chief Rabbi oflsrael and the Popeare in a meeting in Rome. The Rabbi

notices an unusually fancy phone on a sidetable in the Pope’s private chambers.

“What is that phone for?” He asks thepontiff

“It’s my direct line to the Lord!”The Rabbi is skeptical, and the Pope no-

tices. The Holy Father insists that the Rabbitry it out, and, indeed, he is connected to theLord. The Rabbi holds a lengthy discussionwith Him. After hanging up the Rabbi says.“Thankyou very much. This is great! But listen, I want to pay for my phone charges.”

The Pope, of course refuses, but theRabbi is steadfast and finally, the pontiffgivesin. He checks the counter on the phone andsays: “All right! The charges were 100,000Lira.”

The Chief Rabbi gladly hands over apacket ofbills. A few months later, the Pope isinjerusalem on an official visit. In the ChiefRabbi’s chambers he sees a phone identical tohis and learns it also is a direct line to theLord. The Pope remembers he has an urgentmatter that requires divine consultation andasks ifhe can use the Rabbi’s phone.

The Rabbi gladly agrees, hands him thephone, and the Pope chats away. After hang-ing up, the Pope offers to pay for the phonecharges.

The Rabbi looks on the phone counterand says: “1 Shekel 50!”

The Pope looks surprised: “Why socheap!”

The Rabbi smiles: “Local call.”

Three guys wind up at the pearly gates.St. Peter—who turns out to be a lot more

interested in money than anyone ever knew—asks the first guy: “So—how much did youmake last year?”The guy hesitates but finallysays, “Well, about $300,000.” St. Peter says,“That’s great! Come on into heaven.” Thenhe turns to the next guy and asks him thesame thing. That guy hesitates a bit, but finally says, “Uh... 250,000.” St. Peter says,“Great! Come on in.”Then St. Peter turns tothe last guy and says, “Well, how much didyou make last year?” And the guy says, “Well,I was just making minimum wage. . . when Icould work... you see Pvc got these health problems, and...” Hearing that St. Peter breaks intoa big grin, opens his arms, and says, “JAIBABA!!”

—

:. 4e:I •

i;i•t £oveStreet;EbsDE I

I

,

L: : :x : ;r: e: j4 3 @ I

Consumed in theFlame ofLove

The Story of Baba’s Jewel,Carrie Ben Shammai

ofJerusalem

by Etzion Becker

Jerusalem

D ear lovers of Avatar Meher Baba:I wish to share with you the story of

Carrie Ben Shammai, a fiery and fearless loverofBaba who served Him with one-pointeddevotion. It is the story ofBaba’s work in Is-rael, and also the story of how Baba’s Dis

courses came to be translated into Hebrew.Caroline Ruth Ben Shammai was born in

Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on December

9, 1902. She was the daughter ofone of themost respected OrthodoxJewish families inGermany. Her father, Rabbi YaakovRozenheim, was a man ofhigh spiritual cali

ber and religious perfection who excelled inthe sciences as well. He was the founder andfirst president ofWorld Agudat Israel (a political party founded at the beginning of thecentury in order to protect Orthodox Judaism) and is greatly esteemed by the community to this day. Rabbi Rozenheim’sgrandfather gained fame as a wonder-work-ing rabbi. It was said that non-Jewish German soldiers prayed at his grave during WorldWar I, and all ofthem returned home safely.Even during the Nazi regime, German soldiers would sneak into thejewish cemetery topray at the grave ofthis saintly man.

Carrie found the ultra-OrthodoxJewishways ofher family narrow and confining. Once,

she recounted, she asked her father why thefamily’s servants did not eat togetherwith thefamily. Not satisfied with her father’s answer,

she chose to take her meals in the kitchenwith the servants. Driven by her free, independent spirit to seek a broad, universal vi-sion ofreality, she left home, probably in hertwenties, and traveled the world for manyyears in search ofspiritual answers. She spenteight years in Egypt, where she became flu-ent in Arabic. By profession, she was an En-gush teacher, and thus she earned her living.Finally, in Lao Tzu andTaoism, Carrie found

what she had been looking for: a universalspiritual philosophy and way oflife that wasnonexclusive and nondualistic.

Carrie was a manifestation ofthe newlyawakened modern woman. For a woman tolaunch herselfso independently into the greatworld particularlyawoman from such a highlyrespected Orthodox family, in which one’sentire life course is determined from begin-ning to end indicated the depth ofher freeand courageous spirit.

Carrie immigrated to Palestine in 1935the same year that her family was forced toflee Germany. Carrie’s father went to theVatican with otherJewish leaders to discusswith the Pope the prospects of Germany’s

winning the war. This act came to the attention ofthe Gestapo, and a family friend whowas an 5.5. officer warned them to escapeimmediately or risk arrest and imprisonmentin a concentration camp. The Rozenheimfamily went to England, from there to NewYork City and finally, in 1952, to Israel.

In 1948, Carrie was married to Dr. MeirHillel Ben Shammai, an editor, teacher andscholar who was an expert in ancient He-brew and a member ofthe Hebrew Linguistic Academy. His son from a former marriagewas raised by Carrie as her own child. (Sheherselfnever had children.) Meir agreed tobecome a vegetarian according to her wish

(or as a condition for her consent to be mar-ned).

In 1956 Meir won the national lottery,and the moneywasjust enough for one ticketto the United States. Carrie traveled to NewYork City to visit her relatives, and it wasthere, through Fred and Ella Winterfeldt,

that she learned about a great spiritual Masten who was visiting New York at that time:Meher Baba.

When Carrie met Baba for the first time,she simplyfdll madlyin love with Him—thereis no other way to say it. She immediatelyrecognized Meher Baba as the living embodiment ofwhat she had found in Lao Tzu, theend goal ofhen heart’s longing. On meetingBaba, Carrie fell at her Beloved’s feet, sayinthat she wanted to serve Him and spend therest ofher life with Him. Carrie’s photo withMeher Baba appears in the book Love Per-

sonfied taken when she met Baba at theDelmonico Hotel onJuly 16, 1956. I believethat this was hervery first meeting with Baba.Carrie’s body language expresses her totalsunrenderance to Him. She is seen almost lit-erallyfailing into the candle’s flame like a love-mad moth, and Baba is pointing at the candleas a warning not to get burned. “I wanted tobe consumed by His fire!” she told me. Andso she was. Carrie was almost on the verge ofbeing a mastani, but Baba never allowed herto slip over the edge. How to define such love,such hunger for the Beloved? Her pangs ofseparation from Him were simply incredible.

From NewYork, Carrie followed Baba toMeher Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. There, by Baba’s permission (or order),she spent the night in the Lagoon Cabin theonlyperson ever to do so.Jane Haynes commented about this: “It had some significance;certainly we can know that it was a greatblessing.” Joyce Byrd ofChigwell, Essex, En-gland, told the story that during 1958 Babaasked the women present to carry Him in Hischair to the ocean. Joyce remembered that

‘CiirndEhti

% -

%

Carrie Ben Shammai with Meher Baba at the De/moizico Hotel, New York.

L x 3? t ,among the women were Margaret Craske andCarrie Ben Shammai. She shared her opinionthat in this concrete action Meher Baba was“raising the status ofwomen in the world.”

After her return to Israel, Carrie beganspreading Baba’s name unceasingly and fear-lessly, despite hostile surroundings and religious prejudices. In a letter that Mani sent toAdele Wolkin by Baba’s approval on April 8,1960, Adele was instructed to help Carrie financially in obtaining Baba books from AdiK. Irani. Mani emphasized: “The sum, how-ever, should NOT be paid fully by you, butshould be a joint contribution of as manyBaba-lovers as convenient, and desirous ofhelping for this purpose (and so that no onedonor is burdened with a heavy contribution).”

During the early sixties Carrie persuadedher husband to translate some ofBaba’s Discourses into Hebrew, since her knowledge ofHebrew was not adequate to the task. ThatDr. Ben Shammai agreed to this is quite remarkable, because for an OrthodoxJew, theidea ofGod descending on Earth as a man isnonsensical, ifnot blasphemous. (Even thoughJudaism anticipates with great longing thecoming ofthe Messiah to redeem the world,tEejewish tradition envisions the Messiah asa great and saintly leader but not as a divineincarnation.) But Meher Baba works throughthe medium oflove, and because ofhis lovefor his wife, Meir eventually translated intoHebrew six of Baba’s Discourses: “Love,”“God-Realization,” “True Discipleship,” “TheSearch for God,”The Problem ofSex,” and“The Sanctification ofMarried Life.” Theywere published by Carrie in a small, lovelyhardbound book entitled Meher Baba Says,with an introduction by Carrie on “Who isMeher Baba?” The book won a prize for cx-cellence at thejerusalem Book Fair of 1964.A few copies were sent to Baba, who waspleased by her effort. Baba signed one book,which was sent back to Carrie. Later on Car-ne also published the Universal Message inHebrew. She held Baba meetings in Tel Avivand in the Upper Galilee. (In Jerusalem,where she lived, she maintained a room dedicated to Baba in the two-room apartment thatshe shared with her husband.)

Meir continued working on the Discourseswith Ilan Weig, who had come across MeherBaba Says in a library, and became very closeto Baba. Eventually they completed the firstHebrew version ofthe Discourses.

On April 22, 1966, Adi K. Irani sent a

Ii 44

letter to Carrie in which Baba indicated thatshe was “His jewel.” It was a rare and specialcompliment from Baba, who was well awareofall the obstacles that Carrie had had to faceand what was yet to come.

Carrie was a dynamo of energy, exuberance, enthusiasm, and love for Baba. She wasso zealous about Baba that she had no fearwhatsoever in declaring Baba’s divinity fromthe rooftops ofJerusalem. Being fluent in Arabic, Carrie would enter the Arab section of

Jerusalem and enthusiastically greet Arabs byexclaiming, “You and I are brothers!” She alsodistributed Baba cards to them.

The way Carrie was treated by her communitywas mixed. Some appreciated her highidealism, while others simply saw her as amadwoman. But she paid no heed to any ofthis. She would give Baba literature even tothe Orthodox.

I met Carrie during 1972 through han,whom I had met at a spiritual meeting andwho one day suggested that h should meet acertain woman inJerusalem. As soon as I en-tered Carrie’s lavish Baba room and gazed atBaba’s picture, He made me know in a splitsecond who He is: the Highest ofthe High,my ultimate Beloved.

hn 1979 Meir Ben Shammai died, andCarrie’s health was deteriorating. She orderedme to take her to India, where she met herloved ones for the last time. The fire of herlove for Baba was consuming her body: soonafter her return to hsrael she stopped walking.Something was slowly consuming her from thebottom up, and no medical treatment helped.Thisjovial, fiery dancing person became con-fined to a wheelchair till the end ofher life. hspent a very intense year with her until shewas forced to leave her apartment and enteran Orthodox old age home because her legshad became paralyzed.

There was no one else, so I had to takecare ofBaba’s center, which was left alone after Carrie was forced to leave. When I cameto collect the contents ofher Baba room and

take them to my place, her stepson orderedme to take all that stuffright away or else hewould throw it all into the street! Unfortunately the book that Baba signed had beenlost or given away. It felt like a great loss(theclosest remnant of Baba’s presence, secondonly to His very personal presence. There wasno one to share Baba’s love with because allthe people Carrie had shared Baba’s love withhad disappeared. han, who had introducedme to Carrie and helped me so much at thattime, since I didn’t speak English, called me assoon as he heard that Carrie’s Baba centerhad come to me. He asked me to come to hisflat inTelAviv where he gave me all his Babamaterial, indicating that he needed a livingMaster and could not do with a departed one!

So now what was I to do? What I wascapable of, was translating Baba books intomodern Hebrew and delivering them to thepublic. So, in 1982, the first book was pub-lished: a part of Sobs and Throbs, concentrating on the story of Ali, an example ofdedication to the Master under all circumstances. As I worked on it, I realized that Babawas allowing me to share His workwith manyothers for example, the typists, editors, print-cr5, binders, and even the postal workers whodelivered Baba’s material to its destination(some of them of course were unaware thattheywere helping in the Avatar’s project).Thecompleted bookwas sent to all the libraries inIsrael, and a few people were touched by it.

Meanwhile I was visiting Carrie quite of-ten in the nursing home, and while Baba allowedhertoguip the cup ofsufferingto the lastdrop, her slightestwishwas promptlyftiffilled;as Baba Himselfsaid, “I dare not care not for mylovers.”

Again and again we talked about the Discourses, and she gave me a few instruction con-cerning them. I read the Discourses manytimes;I checked Meir’s translation,whichwas writtenin averyarchaic Hebrew andh came to the con-clusion thatitwas impossible to translate it intoHebrew and that people would just have tostudyitin English!

Finallyin 1984 I decided to give it a tryAtfirstitwas an ordeal, likeplowingafield strewnwith heavyboulders. So I cried to Baba, “Baba,it is impossible; greater men than I have triedand did not succeed.”Then Baba turned HisKey and ‘said’ “You can translate three words aday. Translate them literally as they come.” Itsounded crazy to me, butwhen I tried to escapeHis threewords, HeletmefeelHis displeasure.

TI

. . . Carrie would enter theArab section ofJerusalemand enthusicastically greet

Arabs by exclaiming,“You and I are brothers!”

----

___— I

Theworst type ofhellis but a shadowofBaba’s

displeasure. Whydisplease Love? So on I went,

slowly but surely, and the three words became

three sentences, and even more, and the big

boulders were slowlyground into small rocks,

and during the years the rocks became smaller

and smaller till theybecame like fine sand, and

the workstarted to be fun.In 1986 I saw Carrie for the last time, two

months before she passed away. Itwas almost

impossibleto communicatewithher,tillthe topic

shifted to Baba.Then, all ofasudden, to myut

ter astonishment, Carrie became her old self

again, fti]lypresent, fieryand radiant as always.

Dear Carrie passed away on October 27,

1986, abraveBaba soldiertillthe end. I contin

ued the translation, and it was accomplished

during 1991. According toCarrie’s instructions, I had tofind a professional editor tocompare the Hebrew translationwith the original, and thiswas required also bytheTrustvia Don Stevens. A few ex

___________

perts gave me their estimated fees, but they

wereveryhigh, more than ten thousand dollars.

Finallymyoldeditor,Dr.YoramBeck, agreed to

do thejob forfive thousand dollars.Thiswas still

veryhigh, especiallyafter the GuWWar when

all of Israel was in a severe depression. But

Baba’s workmust continue, even slowly. So we

startedwithone chaptereach month, and Ijok

ingly told the Becks that maybe I would build

them aroom insteadofpayingwith money, since

I am in the constructionbusiness.Then, after

three months or so, Dr. Beckasked me tolookat

something under his house. It is a big stone

house on the slope ofahill, and under the house

itwas all dug out, so therewas space for a ninety—

square-meter flat. I did thejob, and then the

neighbors wanted the same kind ofwork. So

what happened was that everything was fully

paidwithinfive months, andl even got agood

project!During 1993 allcame to completion. Since

Baba’sworkhadbecome fun, I feitlike continu

ing the momentum. I searched through the

Babalibrary andthe firstbookthatpopped into

my hand was Stay with God by Francis

Brabazon. I had never opened it before, and

whenl startedleafing through it, I discovered,

to myutter astonishment,Baba’s original signa

ture! What cunning trickery! He kept His sig

nature hidden all these years and revealed it at

the opportune moment!Since 1994, Baba has turned His Key for

Israeland made Himselfknown throughout the

country, using all manner ofmedia, including

TV newspapers, and personal inspiration. Liv-

ing with Baba is a constant wonder—I could

write a book for each sentence that appears

above. Serving Babais alifelong mission with-

out end, with not a moment ofunemployment,

not a moment ofboredom. Most exciting, the

Hebrew Discourses are now approaching

publication at last, bringing to fruition the

work ofB aba’s jewel, Carrie Ben Shammai.

ith thanks for their contributions to:Max Seibert, (memoirs), Tamir

Shachner (computer), Michal Sivan (com

ments), Kendra Crossen Burroughs (English

editing).

[Editor note.Etzion isoffèringBaba-lovers worldwide the opportunityofsharingwithBabacause in IsraeL Don Stevensgave hisfinalgo aheadon beha(fofthe Trustforthepublication of

_____________

BabacDiscourses in Hebrew.]

This project is a tribute to Carrie Ben

Shammai, who started the translation of

the Discourses duringthe earlyl96O’s. During

the 1970’s Carrie requestedMax Seibertto col

lect funds in order to cover the cost ofthis pub-

lication, which he did, and those funds have

helpedwith the development ofthe Discourses

tillnow. Ifyouwish to participate we would be

mostgrateful. SinceMaxis in India atthe mo

mentyou can sendyour moneyorder to:

Meher Baba-Israel,c/oTy Provosty,1306 Spring St.,Cincinnati, Ohio 45210,phone: 513-381-7303.

£ove5treçt£nm

‘Notes From The Internet” Continuer/from page 41.

Anywayl want to thankyou again for yournear thankless task ofbringing me closer tomy center and to the goal, cause this snakesure meets alot offlutes that play some tunes

that turn her pretty little head all day.Very nice Eric, very well done. . . may He

bless you with a special dream ofMani...

[When hepostedthefoiowinglthink Eric was

just having a bit ofjimn.]

“Of course I knew...”

by Bhau Kalchuri

B aba had ordered Dma not to allow anyone to touch his food while she was pre

paring it, and she was usually vigilant not to

let any ofthe servants or other ladies help her.

One day, however, a devotee of Baba’s

came and, though Dma discouraged her the

woman sliced an onion. When Dma presented

the meal, Baba scornfully remarked, “Today, I

don’t want your food.” Dma was taken aback,

and then Baba inquired, “Tell the truth. Has

anyone touched anyofthe ingredients today?”

Dma then understood and admitted what had

happened. Baba reprimanded her for disobey-

rng him, but then forgave her and ate the meal.

Afterward, Dma asked Baba, “How did

you know that someone had touched some-

thing? Were you here when the food was be-

ing cooked in the kitchen!?” Baba spelled out,

“Does it behoove you to ask such silly ques

tions? Of course I knew; that onion in the

food ‘told’ me what had happened. That is

r how I came to know about it.”

This made Dma burst outlaughing, but

thereafter she was more cautious when pre

paring Babas food and in carrying out his or-

ders.LordMeher 1/id. IVpage 1217Copyright 1986 AMBPPCT

[Quite ajèwpeople wrote back to inc congratu—

lating me on having been lucky enough to cook

for Baba!Not owning a copy ofVolume 11< they

were unaware that it covered the years 1 929-

1931, and it doesn say how oldshe was at the

time. She could have been 4Oplus!! I may be a

newly mintedgrandmothei; but Methuselah I

ain’t! Besides, Dma Talatti is pronounced

‘Deena, ‘ not ‘Dinah. ‘—Ed.]

45

E :x 3;% ®i5t eE:K 3

The worst type ofhell is but a shadowofBabac displeasure.Why displease Love?

I

-

Bay Area meetings:Our meetings in Menlo Park, CA (30

miles south ofSan Francisco) are on Fridays,8pm, at the house of Hugh and JeanMacdonald, 300 Yale Road (when we’re notin India) or somewhere else. Call 650-328-6783 or 650-323-1900 to make contact.

God Speaks readings are now being heldat Adele Wolkin’s home in the South Bay area.Ifyou are interested in attending, please callAdele for day and time. 310-540-8404.

LordMther readings are still being heldweekly at Meherabode. For day and timeplease call either Fred at 323-257-8371 orKennedy at 310-393-5752.

God Speaks in Farsi is now available!! Ithas been many long years in the making, butnow atlast it is out on the general market. It isidentical to the recently republished GodSpeaks in English—same charts, photos etc.The first book published by our own LoveStreet Press, it sells for S25.00.

Congratulations

To Teresa and Michael Mendoza (Dma’sdaughter) on the birth of their first child—Nicole Matisse, on August 30th, 81b, 3oz, 20inches long and looking gorgeous.

To Tamara (nee Mark) and Don Short onthe birth oflan Mark Short on April 21st whoweighed in at a strapping 91b, lloz, 23 incheslong and also looking gorgeous.

To Mehernoush Lorkalantari, a Boardmember at Meherabode, and KerryMcPherson ofBritish Columbia.Their wed-ding on September 12th, (photos in the January issue) followed Billy and PamelaGoodrum’s idea oftying the knot under Baba’sTree at Meher Mount. Mehernoush andKerry first met at Meherana Northern California in 1994, and announced their engage-ment lastJuly at Meherabode.

[F 46

Notes FromThe Internet

Chatting With Bhau

Highlights from the Internet chatwith Bhau at”The Palace,”

June 14, 1998

Stephen W.: Bhau, during the chat lastAugust, my older brother died of a heart at-tack... Mybrother did not have any interest inBaba. Is there some comfort in knowing that Iwas focused on Baba in a chat with you at thetime ofhis passing?

Bhau:Though he had no interest in Baba,he was connected with you, and therefore, hewas benefited. Baba has said that ifanyone hasheard Baba’s name with his ears, Baba takesHis name from the ear to the heart. And there-fore, ifhe heard His name, he was benefited.And he was also benefited because he was con-nected with you through impressions and yourlove for Baba.

Tom C.: Ifwe take Baba’s Name at deathand achieve liberation, are we offthe reincarnadon cycle?

Bhau: After liberation, no one ever comesback. All the impressions are wiped out. Andthosewho getliberation enjoyinfinitebliss.Theydo not come back.

Tom C.: Should we prefer liberation andinfinite bliss, or coming backfor more lives untilGod-Realization?

Bhau: It is not anyone’s choice; it is the choiceofthe Beloved, and He gives liberation to thou-sands ofpeople during His advent.

Kendra B . : Bhau, should we be concernedabout posterity—like whether there is going tobe or already is a Baba religion—or should wejust be concerned about our own relationshipwith Baba?

Bhau: Just think about your relationshipwithBaba.Hewilllookafterposterity and there-fore you need not worry There will be no religion for up to 300-400 years.

And though Baba has made it very clearthat He has not come to establish any religionstill when people start ceremonies and rituals,religion is established.

Tom T. : Do you think that we have somehard times coming in the near future, like be-tween now and 2000, and ifso, what should wedo to prepare?

Bhau: Just love Baba wholeheartedly, and

£ovc4Street£amj2st

1- e:don’t worry about the hard times. He is thestrength within everyone, so remember thatstrength, and nothing will happen to you, evenifyou pass through hard times.You will not beaffected byhydrogen bomb or atom bomb. Youwill experience immortality. So be happy, anddon’tworryc Beloved Babawillhelp you.

Tom C.: Does visiting the Center lessensanskaras, or onlyvisiting Baba’s Tomb?

Bhau: When you visit the Center, you getroom in your heart for the Beloved, i.e., yourheart expands. But when you visit His tomb,His Tomb is like the flame, where moths gowithout anyinvitation or information, and theyget themselves burnt. And therefore, ifyou visittheTomb, youwill get thelonging for Him andyou will also get the thirst, and when you arethirsty you may also get wine when you visitthe Center. He is very very active—infinitelyactive at present. And because the Center isestablished under His instruction, you also getthe thirst and the wine there. And therefore, itis important to visit the Center. It is also moreimportant tovisit HisTomb. But ifanyone can-not go there because of some difficulties, it isbetter that he or she should visit the Center.Babahas saidMyrtle Beach Center is His homein theWest, and therefore, those who visit theCentervisit His home.

Frank D. : Baba left us with an abundanceon how to love Him... Did Baba say anythingaboutloving another?

Bhau: Frank, when you love the Beloved,you love everyone, because He is everyone, andthere is no question ofothers.

KendraB.: Whydoes Babalike arid places,like Meherabad and Meher Mount?

Bhau: Once Baba said that He would likesuch places when He was Mohammed. Heselected the desert, and Meherabad is betterthan the desert. Once Mehera asked Him: Whydid you select this place [Meherabad]? Thereis no water.” And Baba said, “I always selectsuch places where there are difficult problems,so that those who come to Me because of lovedon’t care about anything, because Love seeksonly the Beloved’s pleasure. I have selected thisplace, and therefore, those who come here and,in spite ofdifficulties, remainhappy and cheer-flu, theyplease Me.”

Carole: There was recently a discussion onthe Listserv about whether Baba wanted folksto continue to keep silence onjuly 10. Can youshed light on this?

Bhau: In a 1968 circular, He has emphatically said that silence should be maintained on

Continued on page 30.

:ii

Announcements

I

j;i;1s viessagegvfeher Baba

Let love annuiIlateyour lower seffanc(reveai7vfv itfinIte sef

£etyour ears become c(eajto delusIonto enab(eyou to Iear /çy sI&nt

message ojcllvine love.

£etyour eyes become blnclto illusionto receive Me as I am.

Letyour 1;eait open to receive 7vfe injulT

ThIs is message, with .My blessings

toyou all,for ‘December 25th.

,6rIstmas reetIngs

‘Dear Christ upon this Christmas mornLet allmen weep thatyou were born‘Upon this earth that thoughtsojair

That but the Cross whichvou must bear.

The beauty ojthe buclcfing rose,the lovev t{iamond fthe dew,

Proclaim naught but thepainyou choseThat we iniht one lay live as you.

.4 lover speech, alli;fants’cry,sllsicIbedsweat andcçying groan,

syou in us, that we may dieTo us anclave asyou alone.

Let us then, brothers, lfr oui handc.zinplec(ge our souls in hoy bands

To labourfor.-cim through the landcTillearth itsefin Christhoodlstands.

francis ‘irabazon

jvI6er a6ac çfr to ‘usEart6

Out ojinillions ojworlIs in this vast universe,you have chosen this one — earth.

9-fere, ou have adorneclthe lanclwith beauty..J-fere alone ou taIe birth anclwalb among us

On thisyrecious soil; as a man,Tojuffillthe radiant mystery of YourJiln

J-[ow Blsse1it is to be born here!

To serve the earth is to serve you,:Tor here your live tabes root.

5-fere 0 u r lives a repa rt of yo ursJ-fere, your love bearsjruit.

To walb the earth is to waib hovgroundTo touch the earth is to touch gocl vfyste;y.

To know the earth is to bnow godTo serve the earth is tojoin i-iis beauty,

Tojoin 7-fis beauty.

“The Elcments, _‘4n Oratorio In YraIsc oJMchcr ‘J3aba,

©Search(ight, 1984

The Christmas greeting on the facing page reads:

‘During this i-ioflclay easo;i andthrotghout the ‘iew yearnlayyour hearts befilleclwith i-iis Boundless Love.

Both cards on this page 7/,’jt (above) and /m’ed (top) can be viewed in color on Cherie Plumlee’sWeb page:

http://eccinfo.sunyerie.edu/cplumlee/mbartpage.htm

c7?e/ave&

F

Avatar Meher Babacftag in the Meeting Ha/I at Meherabode.”

AVATAR MEHER BABA CENTEROF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

1214 SOUTH VAN NESS AVENUE

LOS ANGELES, CA 90019-3520

Address Service Requested

N 0 N PROFITU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDLOS ANGELES, CA

PERMIT #3 1394

RIIIIII__Il_II...II ..... II,..I.I_II__ 1 I I I I I

11111111

\T ru:puA X2DrL i