love street lamp post 1st 2nd 3rd 4th qtr 1989

THE AVATAR MEHER BABA CENTER OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIANEWSLETTER & CALENDAR FOR WINTER 1989

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Come join us under the Love Street Lamp Post.Like us, you have been drawn w this lane aI. the endofthe world by events and experiences you did notalways understand; by the inviting glances ofyourcompanions-w-be; and by the delical.e scent ofamost irresistabk wine.

Come. The Master's wines/lOp is but around thecomer. He has 1IOl yet thrown open its doors for theevening, so we are passing the time here in happy,aimkss anticipaJion.

Come. Join us.The Love Street Lamp Post is the newsletter

of the Avatar Meher Baba Center of SouthernCalifornia. We are blessed here witb a large andactive Baba community, and we bope to reflect itsvibrant life in tbese pages.

Although our reportage of activities andevents will be focussed on items of immediateinterest to tbe Soutbern California Baba community, we solicit stories of contemporary life withMeber Baba from the entire readership. We alsoenthusiastically solicit artwork, poetry, and letters.

We hope all will be well pleased with tbisnewsletter, and that you will come to consider ityour own. Please share your experiences ofMeher Baba witb all of us.

I belong to no religion. Every religionbelongs to Me. My own personal religion isof my being the Ancient Infinite One, andthe religion I teach to all is of love for God.

MeherBaba

Meherabad MedicineBob Street, familiar W Western pilgrilns to

Meherabad, practices homeopaJhic medicinefuUtime. He works five days a week aI. the MeherHeal1h Center in Arangaon and one day a week aI.

Dr. Goher's clinic aI. Meherazad. He also dispensesremedies from his own room aI. Meherahad next W

the room ofMohammed the Mast.In the following interview Bob discusses

homeopaJhy and other "na/ural' medicinesfrom amedical perspective he has gained in the basecampoftire Aval.ar.

Post: How did you become interested inhomeopathy?

Bob: In 1974 I came to Ahmednagar with theintention of spending the last eigbt months of mytravel visa there and then returning to my job inAmercia working for James Cox. During this period Adi had a heart attack and became bedridden. He asked me to look after the work at tbeoffice, registering pilgrims, attending to theirflight, bus, and train reservations, telegrams, andso on. I ended up doing that for three and a halfyears, beginning in 1974.

It was a very high stress job, and I developedsevere migraine headaches. Maybe three of fourtimes in the period of a year I got headaches tbatwould run two or three days. During a particularlydifficult night in one of these periods woke up inexcruciating pain. It was 2:30 am and it would beat least four hours before I could possibly see anydoctor. I was taking Baba's name over and over,

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wondering how I would ever survive that fourhours, and thinking to myself, "This is a case formorphine injection!", when Adi appeared, havingbeen roused by my distress. When I told him whatwas the matter, he said, "Wait a minute, I'll giveyou some medicine." He returned with a fewhomeopathic pills. I remember thinking to myself,"Well, these pills are fine, but this is not a case forgeneral medicine. This is going to take an extremeremedy!"

Nevertheless, within 10 seconds after takingthe pills, the headache was 90% gone! I had greatrespect for those medicines from that time forward.

Adi encouraged me to study homeopathy. Itold him I didn't have any interest in medicine,that I didn't have any background in science, andthat it wasn't my subject. He said, "Well, this is ascience of a different type." But still I didn't havemuch interest.

Six months later Adi gave me some books andsaid, "Here, you should study this. It will not onlybe helpful to you, but to many other people also."I started reading the books and became quite interested. It was a science of a different type 00 asimple science, but a science, yes!

So I studied with Adi for about three years.At the same time I would ride my bicycle out toMeherazad every morning and sit with Padri forabout half of his clinic; then I would go back toopen up the office.

In 1978 I moved to Meherabad to take up thestudy and practice of medicine full time. I studiedfor another four years or so with Padri.

For the last five or six years I've been going tothe Meher Health Center five days with Dr.[Khambatta] Alu, and spending one day atMeherazad with Dr. Goher.

Post: Did Baba ever say anything about homeopathy?

Bob: Feram Workingboxwalla, who had beenwith Baba since the 20's, and who worked as a secretary for Adi, related the following story to me:

"I [Workingboxwalla] was present when Goher's brother lal came to Baba with his wife. lal'swife had an ailment that was not responding to orthodox treatment, and lal asked Baba, 'What doyou think? Is homeopathy a good thing? Should

we try itT"Baba's response was: 'Homeopathy can bring

the dead back to lifer However, he went on toqualify this statement, saying, '...but this requires amaster ofthat science.'"

What I take Baba to mean by "bring the deadback to life" is that perhaps cases that had no hopewith conventional treatment could be cured byhomeopathy. In my own experience, some casesthat were considered hopeless and terminal havebeen cured.

But Baba said, "It requires a master of thatscience." It takes a deep study to master homeopathy.

Homeopathy was there from the beginningaround Baba. Along with Padri and Adi Sr.,Baba's brother, Adi lr. was a homeopath. So wereDr. Ghani and Baidu!. There was another homeopath named Morley. Chaganmaster practicedherbal medicine along with homeopathy.

Throughout Baba's life he had many differentstyles of medicine practiced all around him. Therewas ayurvedic medicine, allopathic, homeopathic,biochemic...and he had Goher familize herselfwith and keep a few of these medicines. Goherhas always had a great love for homeopathy andsome of the other things, but she doesn't havetime to study them all, and so has encouragedmany of us others to study them: study homeopathy, study the Bach flower remedies, etc.

In general, Baba enjoyed teasing all the doctors. His sign for doctor was [here Bob draws theedge of his extended forefinger down across hischeek]...which is the sign for "barber".

Post: Did Baba ever say anything specificallyabout the Bach flower remedies?

Bob: No, not that I know of. But Goherwould encourage us to study it, among others.

Post: Any more stories about Baba and homeopathy?

Bob: Yes, Padri told me stories. Baba used toask Padri for homeopathic medicine. Baba wouldtake the medicine; then - literally a minute later he would complain, "I don't feel any better."

Padri would explain to him then, "Baba, ittakes some time."

"I see," Baba would say, nodding His head.Then, after another one or two minutes: "I still

don't feel any better!"This went on so often that eventually Padri

told Baba, when He asked for homeopathicmedicine, "Baba, these medicines don't work onyou: they're not effective." But then Baba wouldprotest and - for example - rub his throat and gesture, "Well, you know I have this throat infection,and Goher's given me this, and she's given methat, and Donkin has done this - all these strongdrugs - and nob<xly can make me any better. I really think that homeopathic is the best for me."

So Padri would eventually be led to believethat Baba was really quite serious about takinghomeopathic medicine, and again he would giveHim a dose. Baba would take it: in fact, Hewould sometimes take the entire vial at once!Then, after a very short period of time, He wouldprotest that He felt no better, and would saysomething to the effect that "Ah, you're all barbers. What do you know? Nothing!"

This was a recurring amusement with Baba.On January 31, 1969, when Baba was severely

ill and having convulsions, he was being treated byDonkin, Goher, and Padri. Dr. Ghindy fromBombay was called, as was Dr. Nilu. All were attending Baba with whatever treatment they

THE LOVE STREET LAMP POSTA quarterly publication of the

Avatar Meher Baba Cenlerof Southern California

10808 Santa Monica BoulevardLos Angetes, CA 90025

(213) 474-9454

This newsleller is designed 10 keep the Southern CaliforniaMeher Baba community and friends abreast of Centeractivities, and to provide a forum for contempory accountsof life with Meher Baba as Guide.

Editors: Greg and Gay DunnCOfItributors: Teri Adams, Will David, Brian Drygas, DinaFranklin, Lois Jones, Karina Page, Christi Pearson, AdeleWolkin, Linda Zavala.

Pktue settd aU IIrnkttn- matnial to:Greg and Gay Dunn

22100 Erwin Street #221AWoodtand Hills, CA 91367

(818) 719-9113

Published quarterly (Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct)

All contents copyright @ 1988 by the Avatar Meher BabaCenler of Southern California, except where noted.

thought was indicated. Padri was administeringhis homeopathic medicine.

As usual, Baba was teasing Padri. Every fiveminutes Padri would give him a dose. Baba wouldsay "Your medicine is not affecting me. I'm notany better. Your homeopathy is useless. You'reall barbers. What do you know!"

Then Padri said to Baba: "But Baba, youhaven't taken the last dose [in the treatment seriesof six doses]!"

Baba said "Oh...right! Give me the last dose!"So Padri gave him the final dose, some sort of

powder. Within a few minutes of taking the "lastdose", Baba dropped the body.

Post: Can you relate other stories about Babaand health?

Bob: I think it's important to bear in mindthat, although Baba encouraged people to taketreatment, not just neglect their health, he alwaysstressed that He was the most important thing. Ifyou have a health problem, fine, tend to it -- bepractical. But don't let it consume your life, don'tlet it be the focus of your life. Try to keep Babathere in the center.

I think the reason Baba wanted people to lookafter their health was so that they could focus onHim and be attentive. When people would comefor His darshan, He would always inquire, "Wasthe food all right? Have you slept well?" Hewanted people to be comfortable, and to be ingood health and relaxed so they could payattention to what he was saying. That's what I gatherfrom Goher. She has a balanced outlook, that youleave everything to Baba, yes, but it's your responsibility to do something about your health, also.That's where our sense of discrimination comes in.

Padri would tell me, "Neither pamper thebody, nor neglect it. Don't go to the extremes."

Post: Ifyou were here in the West, and camedown wilh, let's say, psoriasis -- what sort oftreatment would you seek?

Bob: I would take homeopathic treatment forany kind of skin condition. I don't think allopathictreatment is effective in curing chronic skin conditions, and I don't think it's totally ~fe. The suppression of skin conditions can lead to otherproblems. You see so many instances of childrenwith eczema and asthma, and you hear the story of 3

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the asthma getting worse after the skin cleared up,and then the asthma gets better and the skin getsworse. In my own experience I've seen two peoplecontract severe kidney disease after the suppression of a skin disease by allopathic treatment. After taking natural treatment, the skin conditionscame back, but the kidney condition improved.

Post: What specifically was the allopathictreatment given? Cortisone?

Bob: Well, yes, cortisone is one of the favorites. There are zinc ointments. There aremany treatments.

AU the other doctors in our clinics refer theskin cases to me for homeopathic treatment.There's a spirit of cooperation in our clinics, of rcally wanting to help the patient.

Post: Are there particular ailments that get referred to the ayurvedic doctors?

Bob: Ayurvedic treatment is sometimes extremely beneficial for asthma. It's also used fordigestive problems, and women's complaints menstrual irregularities, urinary tract infections.Coughs. I don't know too much about ayurvedicmedicine, although I do use an ayurvedic remedyfor asthma.

Actually, there's not much real, authenticayurvedic medicine practiced in India. I mean thekind where the doctor takes the pulse of the patient and then prescribes a specific herb, or acombination of specific herbs. Ayurvedicmedicine is somewhat similar to Chinese medicine.Unfortunately, India did not record that system ofmedicine as well as the Chinese did. The knowledge, although it has not really been lost, is in sofew hands that it's taking time to rejuvenate.What you're left with mostly today is a lot ofayurvedic patent medicines. In other words, "takethis medicine for all joint pains, or take this for allasthma problems." What is really required formore widespread effectiveness is more specific diagnosis.

Allopathy is practiced on about 3/4 of the patients at the Meher Health Center, and homeopathy on 1/4. The center there sees about 80 patients a day. There's a small ayurvedic practicethere, but not much.

In Meherazad there's a more eclectic ap-4 proach, because pilgrims come through. What-

NOTES FROM THE BOARD- Brian Drygas, President

Since one purpose of this newsletter is to report about the activities of the various committeesthat make up the LA Baba Group's working structure, a short introduction to that structure seemsappropriate here. The Avatar Meher Baba Center of Southern California was formed as a nonprofit organization in 1969. Its business is coordinated by a nine-member Board of Directorselected by the membership yearly in January. Allother committees report to this Board.

The Center's largest and most active committee is the Sahavas Committee. This group plansand coordinates the Annual Silence Day Sahavas("Company of the Master"; a camp retreat) held inJuly. The Service Committee coordinates publicservice activities; in addition, its chairperson ormembers send cards and flowers, on behalf of thegroup, to individuals in times of special joy orsorrow. The Permanent Site Committee makes itsbusiness the locating of a new center site and theraising of money to purchase such a site. TheProgram Committee plans the Saturday nightmeetings and special program activities.

In addition, there is a lot of work performedon an individual basis, and in other committees.All meetings are open to anyone. All work is on avolunteer basis. A copy of the by-laws is availablesimply by contacting the Center.

ever service they have, Goher lets them practicethat. We've seen chiropractic, osteopathy,acupuncture, massage, physical therapy...

Post: Baba took chiropractic treatment, for ex-ample, after his automobile accidents?

Bob: Yes, Dr. Kenmore treated him.Post: Ben Hayman?Bob: Yes.Post: Are there particular ailments that you

have noticed seem to lend themselves to treatmentby acupuncture?

Bob: Well, yes...again, except for homeopathymy exposure is somewhat limited. However, it

DECEMBER BIRTHDAY WISHES TOMEHERA AND MANI

Happy birthday to Mehera J. Irani(December 22), and Mani Irani (December 3).Adele Wolkin provides the followino•• 0mformatlon about Mehera and Mani:

"At our Sahavas in Myrtle Beach in 1958, Iwas there when The Beloved told us: 'Meheraloves me very much. She loves me as I oughtto be loved.' Baba has said that Mehera'radiates love and purity.

"Mani S. Irani, Baba's sister, has alwaysbeen totally devoted to Baba. As Chairpersonof the Avatar Meher Baba Trust, Mani carriesthe responsibility of carrying out in word anddeed Meher Baba's will, along with the othermembers' cooperation. In 1958, during Baba'svisit to the U.S., He said of her that 'She lovesBaba and works for Him from morning to lateat night with correspondence and otherdetails.' Baba has said of her that she lovesHim, and has surrendered to Him one hundredpercent. (See Meher Baba and His Mandali,by Naosherwan Nalavala, p.67.)"

LETTER FROM BOAU KALCHURI[Christi Pearson provides the following excerpts

from Bhau's letter to her, November 1988:]The rain is quite good this year, and

everything is green at present. The school isrunning very well; the afforestation program isin full swing; the veterinary aid center is doing

seems to me that acupuncture is very useful incases of patients who are oversensitive tomedicines, who can't tolerate it, whose nervoussystems are in a state of hypersensitivity. I thinkacupuncture can make the system more normal inits sensitivity to stimulus. Certainly, afflictions ofthe nerves, paralysis, etc. - wherever the nervoussystem is affected, acupuncture can be helpful.

My little exposure to it makes me feel is has agreat range of possibility. For some of the morechronic problems, it's always complemented withherbs.

continued on page 8

very well; the construction of hostel A is goingon; the new pilgrim's camp will be ready byDecember; the road is constructed to join thepilgrim's camp; good water is struck in the wellon the new property for the future pilgrim'scamp; and at the top of it, the new tax law ispostponed for one more year! Therefore thisis a very good picture I am giving you.

An Eye Clinic went off very well and thepatients were discharged on 12th October.They will again be examined on 16thNovember, and will be given glasses. We arealso thinking of having dental, child care, andother types of clinics from time to time between the months from April to October. Inthis way the hospital will be running. For thepresent there are facilities for acupuncture andphysiotherapy, and we will include morefacilities in the hospital. We are now old andtherefore such facilities as we now have will beonly during our lifetime. Then there will befull-fledged hospital for the new trustees totake care of.. The land we have purchased very recentlyIS really very useful, and we are intending topurchase more acres at that site to develop forthe Pilgrim's Camp for the Amartithi. Thedevelopment work has already started on thisland, and if no other piece is purchased it willbecome an ideal place for the pilgrims to beduring Amartithi All the pilgrims can thenlive together in one area. We will utilize thenight soil for manure to grow more and moretrees -- of course, shade trees, no fruit trees.

The school is running very well; secondgrade is introduced this year. It will grow tohigh school grade and then we will constructthe building for the college so that the studentshave not to go out for further education. Wehave sufficient area for educational facilitiesand also medical facilities, but there is difficultyabout residential quarters and facilities for theAmarthiti gathering. Ifwe don't acquiresufficient area for this purpbse the future willblame us and the doors of hell will rmtainopen to receive us!

I will defmitely be coming to LA in my nextbirth if I don't come there either in 1990 or 1991. 5

~ @ t • (1 ~ ~ @ t I Calendar I~ (1 ~ ~ @ t ~ (1 ~

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All events are at the Center, 10808 SantaMonica Boulevard, Los Angeles,(213)454-9454.

JANUARY EVENTS

January 4 (Wednesday), 8pm. STUDYGROUP. Beginning tonight, there will bestudy group meetings at the Center on the 1stand 3rd Wednesdays of each month. We willbegin with Volume 1 of The Discourses. Bringyour copy! Coordinated by Adele Wolkin.

January 7, 6pm. FARSI LANGUAGEMEETING. Films of Beloved Meher Baba.Prayers and Arti in Farsi. All are welcome!

January 7, 8pm. DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY!"When understood, life is a jest." Tonight wewill explore the true meaning of thesestatements. Adele Wolkin leads thediscussion. Your jests are welcome!

January 14, 8pm. "MASTERYINSERVITUDE". Meher Baba said that thekarma for the west is selfless service. Let's talkabout our opportunities to serve and how weapply Baba's motto in our daily lives.Coordinated by Lois Jones.

January 18, 8pm. STUDY GROUP.Discourses, Volume I. Bring your copy!Coordinated by Adele Wolkin.

January 21, 8pm. ANNUAL GENERALMEETING. Tonight we will elect the Board ofDirectors for 1989. Also, reports on all Centeractivities for 1988 will be presented. All arewelcome to attend this meeting, but you must

Flowers for MeetingsWe now have a table for Baba's sadra

box, along with vases for flowers. All areencouraged to bring flowers for theSaturday night meetings.

be a member to vote. Questions? Pleasecontact Adele Wolkin (213) 540-8404.

January 28, 8pm. FILMS OF MEHER BABA.Tonight we will present "Meher Baba's Call",narrated by Darwin Shaw, and "Nasik", theclassic which features film footage of Baba inthe 1930's. The films will be preceded by abrief introduction to Meher Baba. CharlieMorton is our projectionist.

January 30, 8pm. AMARTITHI. Meher Babadropped his physical form on January 31, 1969.Let us join in commemorating the 20thanniversary of the event of His passing. Slidepresentation, and sharing of Amartithi stories.Refreshments served 8:00 to 8:30. Observanceof Silence 10:30 to 10:45, corresponding withMeherabad (India) time of January 31, noonto 12:15. Coordinated by Christi Pearson.

FEBRUARY EVENTS

February 1, 8pm. STUDY GROUP.Discourses, Volume I. Bring your copy!Coordinated by Adele Wolkin.

February 4, 8pm. FARSI LANGUAGEMEETING. Films of Beloved Meher Baba.Prayers and Arti in Farsi. All are welcome!

February 4, 8pm. MEHER BABA ANDSPORTS. Steve Myhro joins us from SanDiego. Steve is a professional runner who iscurrently the American record holder in the

5K (single age group 42) and USTAC Master15K national champion. Steve will discussMeher Baba's influence on sports in relationto his life.

February 11, 8pm. THE GAMES MEHERBADA PLAYED. - Learn about Baba's "playful"side. Tonight, play the games He played,induding "Hearts" and "Seven Tiles", amongothers. Find out how and why Baba playedthese games. Pris Haffenden is our"gameshow" hostess.

February 15, 8pm. STUDY GROUP.Discourses, Volume I. Bring your copy!Coordinated by Adele Wolkin.

February 18, 3pm. ARTISTIC EXPRESSIONS.The works of many of our talented artists willbe on exhibit today, beginning at 3:00pm.

February 18, 8pm. Join a panel of artists asthey discuss Meher Baba's influence on theirwork. Refreshments will be served throughoutthe day. Bring your friends! Coordinated byDiane Lafleur and Lois Jones.

February 25, 8pm. HAPPY BIRTHDAY,MEHER BADA! MEHER BADA'S 95thBIRTHDAY CELEBRA TION. A festiveevening of music, films of our Beloved,birthday cake, and...A BIRTHDAYSURPRISE! Coordinated by Teri Adams.

MARCH EVENTS

March 1, 8pm. STUDY GROUP. Discourses,Volume I. Bring your copy! Coordinated byAdele Wolkin.

March 4, 8pm. FARSI LANGUAGEMEETING. Films of Beloved Meher Baba.Prayers and Arti in Farsi. All are welcome!

March 4, 8pm. HER LIFE WITH BADA. Thisevening, Jeff Maguire will interviewMarguerite Poley. Marguerite will describe theevents in her life which led her to Meher Baba,and she will talk of her life with Baba.Marguerite is an artist whose beautiful

painting of Meher Baba graces the front wallof the Ccntcr's mecting room.

March 11, 8pm. HOW I CAME TO BADA.Several members of our "Baba Family" willshare their stories of coming to Baba.Coordinated by Marc Brutus.

March 15, 8pm. STUDY GROUP. Discourses,Volume I. Bring your copy! Coordinated byAdele Wolkin.

March 18, 8pm. ST. PATRICK'S DAY GUTTANIGHT: "LOVE AND GOD". Many paths leadto God. Let's discuss ours. Refreshment willbe served. Coordinated by Fred Stankus.

March 25, 8pm. MOVIES WITH MEHERBABA. Tonight we will dip into our treasurechest and show "surprise" gems of Baba onfilm. Charlie Morton is our projectionist.

Santa Barbara Baba GroupThe Santa Barbara Meher Baba group

meets every other Tuesday. For meetingtimes and locations call Donna Bayet at (805)682-1877, or Leslie Tejada at (805) %7-4796.

San Diego Baba Gr-oupThe San Diego Meher Baba group meets

the last Sunday of each month at 4 pm forsharing and potluck supper, and the secondand fourth Thursdays of the month at 8 pmfor reading and discussion of the Discourses.For meeting locations, call Scott or AnneMakeig at (619) 481-2941.

The senior members of the San Diegogroup are Marvel Skeels and Zelia WallMcpartland. Marvel resides at Point LornaConvalescent Home, 3202 Duke Street, SanDiego; she welcomes visitors. (In the LosAngeles area, please contact Adele Wolken(213) 540-8404 if you want to visit Marvel.)Zelia hosts the Sunday meetifIgs.

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BOOKSTORE REPORTDina Franklin has graciously agreed to take

over management of the bookstore. She welcomes suggestions, and in particular needs someone willing to take over the mail order business.Her phone: (213) 837-6419.

New Books now available at the Center,and by mail:

Lord MeIJer, Volume III by Bhau Kalchuri,covers Baba's life from July 1925 to August 1929:Beginning of His Silence, Meher and PremAshrams, Toka Ashram, Baba's Return toMeherabad. $40.

When He Taluis Over by Bal Natu. Inspiringstories of life with the Avatar. Includes "BelovedBaba", "My God, My 'Big Daddy''', "He Not OnlyChanges Us, He 'Charges' Us", and more. $5.

The Beloved Is All in All. Ghazals by FrancisBrabazon. First publication of these devotionalsongs by Francis to his Beloved. $8.50.

Determined To Be His, stories from EruchJessawalla told in Mandali Hall, edited by SteveKlein. $3.50.

The Wayfarers by Dr. William Donkin. Justreleased Second Edition of a wonderful chronicleof Meher Baba's "Mast" tours - an important andfascinating aspect of the Beloved's UniversalWork. Many excellent photos of the masts (GodIntoxicated soulS). $30.

Glow Magazine. Back issues on sale now for$2.25. Call, write, or visit Center for a completelist. Naosherwan Anzar edits and publishes thisbeautiful magazine filled with Baba articles fromaround the world.

MAIL ORDER CASSETTE LIBRARYFinally, after two years we have a new catalog!

It contains 48 talks, 11 of them being new for1989, and there are now 27 speakers to choosefrom. Three of the new talks were donated byFilis Frederick, and a talk by Faredoon Driver(Padri), one ofthe earliest of Meher Baba's Mandali, was donated by Meher Lahar, Inc. Uyouwould like a free information packet containingthe catalog, write to: AMBC-CL, POB 3233, Re-

a dondo Beach, CA 90277.

THE LIBRARY PROJECT...continues to be your resource for placing

books on or by Avatar Meher Baba for circulationin public or university libraries. Guidelines forplacement should be requested from the Coordinator Chris Stahlberg (Box 1028, Forestville, CA95436), or from the L.A area coordinator, AdeleWolkin (213) 540-8404.

AVATAR MEHER BABA TRUSTDid you know? In the course of the Trust's

history since 1969, it has been called on topurchase the land for the path from BelovedBaba's tomb to lower Meherabad (in 1977);Meher Nazar (the Trust compound inAhmednagar), which was on lease for 50 yearsfrom the military to Adi K Irani's family; the landon which the Meher hospital lies; and other areassurrounding the tomb and lower Meherabad. Theestate at Meherabad has grown from 16 acres in1959 to 220 acres in 1987, and still needs 200more acres in order to fulfill, in time, the objectsgiven in the Trust deed.

Uyou would like to donate to Baba's ongoing

Meherabad Medicine continuedThe aim of all natural therapies is to stimulate

the vital force. The chiropractor says "we have toalign the spine and get the energy flowing in thebody." The homeopath says "we have to stimulatethe immune system in a very specific way. Thehealth is deranged in a certain way, and we have tomimic that derangement to cause a responseagainst it" The acupuncturist stimulates or rebalances the energy of the body by needles, and thennourishes and treats the nerves with herbs. Theidea behind all of these natural therapies is thatthe patient cures himself. That's why they claimthat they can be curative rather than just paLLiative.We want to make a permanent change in the constitution of the person, not just mask the symptoms.

Goher treats primarily with allopathicmedicine, but she uses a lillie bit of ayurvedic, alillie bit of homeopathic. She often refers chroniccases to me.

work through the medium of the Trust Heformed, please make your contribution to"Friends of the Avatar Meher Daba Trust" andmail it to Karina Page, Trustwalla, 2016-A SouthGarfield Avenue, Monterrey Park, CA 91754, foronpassing to India. As Mani reminds us, "Givingfrom the heart in Baba's love is what counts."

NOTES FROM PUBLIC SERVICEOn November 12th the Center held a benefit

dance in the lovely Garden Room at the CulverCity Memorial Hall. All proceeds from the eventwere used to purchase food for the needy.

Lynne Maguire provided the idea for thedance; Teri Adams and Diane Lafleur providedbeautiful decorations; and Christopher Franklin asDJ kept the very danceable music going all night.Home-baked goodies and sodas were provided bymany for sale. Barbara McReynolds very generously donated lunch for two at the City Restaurant for the first prize of the raffle, which was wonby Stephen Hinkey. Lueky Leslie Tejada tooksecond prize, and will soon be sporting a pair ofdesigner sunglasses from the L.A. Glass Works!Many people made donations far above the $5

I'ost: [fyoll an·ived in a weslern city loday andwere looking for a doctor, or a group ofdoctors,what sorl would yOll look for, and how would yougo about it?

Bob: It depends on your complaint. Each system has something to offer, and it also has its limitations. Allopathic treatment has major failings inthe treatment of chronic illness. But antibioticsare life-saving drugs; surgery has saved lives andhas rehabilitated people and made life liv-able...there's a place for allopathic treatment. Butif I were looking for a doctor, and I had a chronicproblem, for instance joint problems, or chronicdigestive problems, or whatever, I would seek outhomeopathic treatment, or a naturopathic treatment, or Chinese treatment. These natural therapies can be extremely beneficial if they're practiced by someone who is adept at them. They takea deep study - no less, and perhaps even more,than conventional medicine. It's something that

admission to the dance, and to our great joy wefound we had raised $805!!!

Lois Jones, Dina Franklin, Lois's nieceMonique Lampkin, and Chris Haffenden used theproceeds to fill eight huge pushcarts with food!Each of 33 recipient families received a l2-poundturkey with all the vegetables and trimmings, plusbread, mayonnaise, and peanut butter for the daysfollowing Thanksgiving. John Stout, Patti Thorn,and Pat Griffin carried the nearly 100 bags of groceries from our Center to the Second Baptist Churchdowntown, which handled their distribution.

All who participated came away with a wonderful warm feeling knowing how happy (andstuffed!!) the recipient families would be comeThanksgiving Day. Plan on attending the '89dance!

- Dina Franklin

MEIIERMAS '88 SWEEPSTAKESOur Center thanks everyone who lovingly par

ticipated in the Fly-to-India Sweeps. The winnerswill be announced with the next flyer, as thedrawing will not be performed until after thisnewsletter's mailing. THANK YOU!

takes the deepest thought and concentration. Achronic disease is chronic because it's difficult toget over. Whatever medicine you're using, whatever therapy, it has to be someone that really understands the root of that disease. It's not something you can pick up in a few months.

Ifyou've got a chronic problem that's beengoing on 10 years, it's not unreasonable to expectsix months of treatment. I've seen 30-year problems cleared up in six weeks. But they're not alllike that. It takes a longer period for .some peopleand some ailments.

As Baba lovers, the most important thing is totake His name. Then use your brain, try to understand a little bit about your condition.

Post: Would you mix therapies?Bob: I would want to try one thing, and give it

a chance. Sometimes therapies can be mixed beneficially, though. I wouldn't mix allopathic andhomeopathic treatment unless you have a condi- 9

pathology, because their treatment is going to bedirected towards that specific pathology - usingstrong drugs. Of course, the doctors do make mistakes, but diagnosis is often a very difficult matter.

Post: You're saying that one advantage ofallopathic medicine's non-holistic approach tomedicine is that it has led to exceptional skills in thediagnosis ofspecific pathologies?

Bob: Yes. Medical training in the West ispretty thorough. I have a deep respect for theamount of knowledge that Western doctors have.I might disagree sometimes about the manner of

Eruch on Medicine and Healers[Editor's Note: The following comments

were made by Eruch in Mandali Hall,December 1987.]

Post: How can we separate real therapiesfrom bogus ones? There are so many differentkinds ofmedical treatment being offered nowin the West, and it's hard to know what hasreal substance and what is simply voodoo.

Eruch: Baba Himself made use of allopathic medicine, homeopathy, chiropractic,and ayurvedic medicine.

The greatest thing a healer - any healer can do for his patient is to empathize with hiscondition. This is the most healing thing.

God laughs when a physician thinks hehas healed someone. The physician takes onsanskaras, and also gets involved with the patient's sanskaras, when he takes credit for results.

Post: What advice would you give someone with a chronic health problem who hasexperienced many disappointments in seekingto be healed?

Eruch: It is good to seek help, but reliance on Baba means that you resign yourselfto His wish and will with respect to tbe resolution of the illness. Resignation does notmean tbat you cease trying to correct or improve your situation. It just means that youleave the results to Baba, and remain contentwith the outcomes He ordains.

treatment. I like working with allopathic physicians because of their understanding of pathologyand physiology.

Dr. Alu Khambatta, an allopathic physician, isthe head of the homeopathic department atMeher Health Center. (Her name used to bespelled"Aloo", but Baba would tease Dr. Aloo byspelling her name "Alu", which is the Indian wordfor "potato". That's how she spells it now.) Dr.A1u has an interesting history. Baba at one timeordered her not to practice medicine...in fact, "notto do anything", and this was an order that stoodfor several years. This was a difficult order, as shewas a very active person. To pass the time shelearned to play cards and things like that. Around1952 she asked Baba about studying and practicing homeopathy. Baba said "all right", and gaveher some money for books and to go to Bombayto study, where she worked in the homeopathicwing of a large Bombay hospital for four years.For a number of years she was head of the TBsanitarium in Arangaon. She retired there, andhas for the last five or six years been practicing atthe Meher Health Center. She's 85 years old, getson the back of my scooter five days a week to godown to the health center, and works there for 3-4hours.

Dr. A1u has an order from Baba to take Hisname whenever she gives medicine. For her toremember that, she's formed a habit of having thepatient take Baba's name with the medicine. I tryto remember Baba or repeat his name when I givetreatment, and I encourage my patients to take hisname with their treatment. Padri used to say,"Take His name, then this powder, and ifyou die,good!"

Post: How does Dr. Goher's allopathic treatment differ from what yOIt might get from, say, anaverage western physician?

Bob: Goher's connection with Baba makesher unique as a physician. She expresses some ofthe compassion that Baba expressed for humanity.She is an inspiring example of what a physicianshould be. She has a genuine concern for the patient - so much so, that I never tlifnk of her as being "an allopathic doctor", as opposed to "a homeopathic doctor", etc. - I think of her as a real example ofwhat a physician should be - gentle, kind, 11

"I am the only One who loves everyone."

AVATAR MEHER BABA CENTEROF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA10808 Santa Monica BoulevardLos Angeles, California 90025

ADDRESS CORRECTIONREQUESTED

caring. I can't help but think that Baba himselfhas given her these qualities. Not to say tbat otherphysicians don't have these qualities, but she expresses tbem in a way that touches people veryprofoundly. Otber doctors· not necessarily followers of Baba - have come to ber clinic, drawn byits humanitarian work, and have been just overwhelmed by the atmosphere of compassion thatprevails there.

Goher can give the same drug that anotherdoctor might give, and the effect isn't tbe same. IfI really felt that some doctor was tbe kind of person I wanted to treat me, I might overlook tbe facttbat, say, maybe I felt I didn't really like allopathicdrugs. I might take his treatment anyway. I feelthat what is in the mind and heart of the physiciancan cure people, regardless, to some extent, of hisstyle of medicine.

Post: Emch made similar comments to me lastyear - about the importance ofthe healer's attitude.

Bob: Yes, I really believe that the results thatwe're getting in our homeopathic department arebetter than the knowledge of tbose of us that arepracticing homeopathy there. I think it's ademonstration ofwhat can be done whenmedicine is given with His name, and in that spirit.

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NEWSLETTER & CALENDAR FOR SPRING 1989

Meher Baba, The Divine Sportsmanby Steve Myrho

Steve Myhro from San Diego is a professionalronner who currently holds the American record inthe 5K (single age group 42), and is national champion in the Master (over 40) class in the 15Kron.

Sports played an important role in MeherBaba's early life and throughout his advent. Hewas active in sports as a child, cricket being hisfavorite game. Baba formed a field hockey teamand a soccer team; both were disbanded when thesame boy was injured on two different occasions.In high school at St. Vincent's, Baba competed inrunning, high jump, and was the star player incricket. His records are still unbroken to this day.

Whatever you do, do with all your heart.. 'Put yourwhole heart into it, whether it is a game or work.

MeiJer Baba, during games at Meherabad, 1922

From the time Baba was quite young he wasvery disciplined in everything he did, having fixedtimes every day for sports and study. One dayBaba's childhood friend and later early discipleBaily, who was lazy by nature, found his name onthe list to participate in the annual sports competi.tion. Baily went to the principal to explain that hehad not signed his name to the list, but the principal said, "Either play, or be expelled from school!"Baily played, though not very well. He later found

out that Baba wanted to change his friend's lazynature, and had put his name on the list.

In 1922 Baba's early disciples gathered at aplace called Manzil-e-Meem. One day HormujiVayifay, a famous cricket player of India, visitedBaba, and soon became one of the group. Sincecricket was Baba's love, this was a special joy forBaba. One day Baba, along with the men, went tosee Hormuji playing in a cricket match, but foundthat Hormuji's doctor had ordered him not to playbecause of an illness. After a time, with Hormuji'steam losing, Baba himself gave Hormujipermission to enter the game. Hormuji scoredmany runs and his team won, with Baba and themandali cheering from the sidelines.

A year or two later, under Baba's orders,Hormuji could be found selling Upasni Maharaj'sbiography to fans at cricket matches. The fans feltsorry for this once great cricketeer, and purchasedUpasni's books from him!

Also in the Manzil, games were played by themen mandali, such as cricket and Thumps-andBumps (a game involving tossing tennis balls ateach other's heads). Baba, in reference to theirplaying, said, "It refreshed the mi~d and spirit ofall participants. With their concentration entirelyfocussed on the game, they forgot all their cares."

Cricket was played in the early morning in the

2

Manzil courtyard, and Dr. Ghani, being a latesleeper, would not take part in the games theywere playing. His room faced the courtyard withwindows above his bed. Baba would throw theball against the window to wake Dr. Ghani up.Once day Baba threw the ball so hard he brokethe window, and glass shattered all over Dr.Ghani's bed. He awakened and shouted to Baba,"How can I sleep while you throw the ballagainst the window. I know you aredoing it on purpose!" Babareplied, "The only solution isfor you to rise early withthe rest of us, and sleepin the afternoon." ThisDr. Ghani soon did.

Once in 1922 whileplaying cricket, AdiIrani and Vishnu gotinto a heated argument. Baba intervened and said to Adi:"As the cause, so theeffect. The cause maybe big and important, orsmall and insignificant,but the result will be definitely according to it. Thewoes of this world are imaginary,and are the self-created result ofour own ignorance; having no cause, theyare therefore unjustifiable. If there is no reasonor cause, then it naturally follows that the result isunreal, insubstantial, and meaningless. So whyworry about the happiness or misery of this world,which has no cause behind it, except imagination.Just go on observing things as a passive spectator,as they go on around you, keeping the mind freeand happy. As Hafiz says, 'Both the happinessesand sorrows of the world will pass away. So it isbetter to remain peaceful throughout.'"

From 1925 to 1928, sports and games werepart of the curriculum at the Meherabad school,the Hazrat Babajan High School, and the PremAshram. Facilities for every type of game andsport were available, with scheduled cricketmatches held in which Baba himself participated.Throughout Baba's travels and seclusions in the

40's and 50's, he would encourage others toparticipate in sports activities, and he himselfwould take part in the game, even while inseclusion.

A SERIOUS CRICKET GAME

In July 1956, Baba, who was in seclusion inSatara, expressed his wish that a game of cricket

be played very seriously by all present.Baba played on both sides; the

score was equal, and the gamewent on for hours, until all

were physically exhausted.Later, just before Baba'saccident in November

1956, Baba remindedthe mandali as theypassed the site of thematch about how allhad played such hardcricket there. It was

across the street fromthat same site that the

accident occurred.Later, after the acci

dent, upon passing thesame site on the way back

to Meherabad, Baba againremarked how they had played

such hard cricket there.Baba's love for cricket remained,

and one year Baba blessed the Indian cricket teamas they were on their way to England. Baba embraced each player, and Eruch read out a specialmessage, which was printed in the English andIndian newspapers. They all took part in Baba'sarti, and each was given a copy of his messagewhich he gave that day. Baba told them to "takeMy love with you, and you will shine well."

In 1%3 Baba was requested to present thePoona District Cricket Association awards, whichwere held in Guruprasad. Baba gave out awardsalong with his blessings of love. They also receivedhis darshan. Baba said, "I am happy to presentthese trophies today. When I was a boy in schooland college I played cricket. Now I play my DivineUniversal Game, which includes criCket, so I amstill fond of that game." continues p.10

Hopelessly, Helplessly...HisSteve and Zorah Taylor, along with their

daughter Shireen, recently relocated to OrangeCounty from Houston, Texas. The following is thewonderful story oftheir union...in Baba's allenfolding embrace.

"In 1977 I left my home in Myrtle Beach toenter the Peace Corps," Steve begins the story."Having known about Baba for some eight yearsat that point, I had narrowed my choices of servicelocation to countries close to India, finally pickingAfghanistan on the recommendation of the welltraveled Hermes Reiter."

"In the same year," says Zorah, "I graduatedfrom the university in Kabul and took a position asan Administrative Assistant at the Peace CorpsOffice there.

"On one occasion a man I did not know cameinto the office, identified himself as Steve Taylor'scook, and said he had been sent by Steve to pickup his mail. It was a believable story, but I asked ifhe had something in writing to that effect. He saidno, he didn't. After trying without success totelephone Steve, I told the man we could not


Avatar Meher Baba Centerof Southern California

10808 Santa Monica BoulevardLos Angeles, CA 90025

(213) 474-9454

This newsleller is designed to keep the Southern CaliforniaMeher Baba community and friends abreast of Centeractivities, and to provide a forum for contempory accountsof life with Meher Baba as Guide.

Editors: Greg and Gay DunnCommillee Reporler. Diana GoodheartContributors: Teri Adams, Steve Berry, Dina Franklin,Eruch Jessawala, Jeff Maguire, Steve Myhro, GeorgeneTarbox, Adele Wolkin, Linda Zavala.Mailing: Pris Haffenden

PIIas, s,ttd aU n,wslett,r mat,riDt to:Greg and Gay Dunn

22100 Erwin Street #221AWoodland Hills, CA 91367

(818) 719-9113


All contents copyright @ 1989 by the Avatar Meher BabaCenter of Southern California, excepl where noled.

release it without more tangible identification."As it turned out, that batch of mail included a

cashier's check sent to Steve from the States.Such things are easily negotiable on the blackmarket in Afghanistan, and apparently a dishonestpostal employee had seen the check and tipped offthis man. This money later proved quite important.

"Steve seemed different, somehow, from mostof the other volunteers. At first I just noticed thathe was a very nice guy. Later I came to know thathis orientation was quite a spiritual one: mostunusual among the westerners we saw in ourcountry."

Steve remembers that "I always enjoyed seeingZorah when I would go in for my mail. She wasalways so cheerful and happy."

Over the course of several months Steve andZorah had many friendly conversations at thePeace Corps Office. Dates, on the other hand,were another matter. Afghan women are notpermitted to date. In the conservative andtraditional Eastern style,marriages are arrangedbetween families, and there is little contactbetween the fiances prior to the formal union.

Secondly, for an Afgha·n Muslim woman toentertain any sort of relationship with a nonMuslim was (and is) quite forbidden. And finally,the same held true for relationships withforeigners. Therefore, on three major counts, thiswas an impossible relationship. Nevertheless, theattraction existed, and the conversationscontinued.

After six months in Afghanistan, Steve took ashort leave and made a trip to India. While atMeherazad, one of the themes of his personalsearch was the question of marriage versuscelibacy. After much soul-searching and discussion with Eruch, Steve determined that it wasnot, after all, up to him. He determined to givethe matter over to Baba. If he was to marry, Babamust show him that...and also guide him in findinghis partner. ~

Two days before Valentines' Day in 1978,Zorah asked Steve about the Valentine's Daycards that a number of the volunteers had been 3

4

making around the office to exchange with friends.Steve explained about this holiday. Zorah found itcharming and interesting, but didn't fullyunderstand its significance, trying as she was tounderstand through barriers both of language andculture.

*-;; "\1i J 11,1

fDRAWING BY TERI ADAMS

On Valentine's Day Steve came to the PeaceCorps Office to pick up his mail. He wasenormously surprised to find, among his letters, avalentine from Zorah. "I took it to a private placebefore opening it. When I read the card - whichincluded lines of poetry handwritten by Zorah - Ireceived a shock: a jOlt, almost as if beingphysically struck by lightning. I knew, instantly,that this was the woman I would marry."

After many months of a secretive and quiteplatonic relationship, Steve and Zorah arranged adate: dinner at the Intercontinental Hotel inKabul. "We were looking over our shoulders theentire meal," Steve recalls. Another Peace Corpsvolunteer had been arrested on a trumped upcharge after being seen with a woman theauthorities thought to be an Afghan. There couldbe many bad consequences for Zorah's family aswell. But careful preparations were made, an(1 thedinner took place.

Afterwards Steve took Zorah back to hishome - they could go to no public place - where heserved her tea, and told her about Meher Baba."There's something you should know about me,"he said. "This man, Meher Baba, is the most

important thing in my life." Zorah, by this time,had not only a highly favorable opinion of Steve,but also a great respect for his spiritual beliefs.She felt that Baba was probably either a Pir or aSaint: the existence of such people was widelyrecognized in her country.

Steve then asked Zorah to marry him. Shesaid yes. Remember, this is still the first date!

In the blush of love, the plan was made, butthere were immense obstacles to be overcome.Steve had initially hoped they could marry inAfghanistan, but Zorah's family was completelyopposed to their union. Beyond their personalfeelings, such an act would make them socialoutcasts. Zorah began exploring the proceduresfor obtaining a passport to travel fromAfghanistan, only to discover that Universitygraduates were not permitted to leave the countryeven on a visit until they had worked and servedtheir country for at least a year.

But within a few weeks even that obstaclepaled into insignificance, as a Communist coupwas successfully launched against the Afghangovernment. "The entire climate of the countrychanged overnight," Steve and Zorah recall."Suddenly there were tanks - and tank fights - inthe streets, and soldiers everywhere. Travel wasseverely restricted. Countless people withconnections to the former government were jailedand worse. As Americans were considered theparticular enemy of the new government, itbecame dangerous for natives even to be friendlyto them. Passports ceased to be issued except tothose with connections to the new government."

Although most Peace Corps volunteers leftAfghanistan within days or weeks of the coup,Steve stayed. Zorah continued to explorepossibilities regarding the passport. A brother-inlaw who had been a pilot in the military attemptedto intercede in her behalf, but after a number ofweeks, the plan fell flat.

After some months, with the new governmentfirmly established, it was announced that a limitednumber of passports would be issued forpilgrimages to Mecca. A lottery of sorts, usingcolored balls in a large bin, was held. Zorah'sbrother Rohallah went to represent her -- hadZorah gone herself, many suspicions would have

been raised. However, it was not Baba's plan forthe roller coaster ride of hopes and dashed hopesto end so soon: Rohallah drew a red ball, and nopassport was forthcoming. 1

A few weeks after this, it was arranged forSteve to have dinner at Zorah's house, and tomeet her mother for the first time. Zorah'sfather, who had been a government official, theAfghan equivalent to our position of Senator, hadpassed away a few years before.

For this dinner even to take place hadrequired months of gentle wearing through offamily resistance. Zorah's mother saw that herdaughter could not easily be dissuaded from herlove with the American. Zorah's eldest brother,who by Afghan tradition was regarded as thefamily's head, remained adamantly opposed to theidea, anticipating the scandal it would bring uponthe family.

But the heart of Zorah's mother was touchedby Baba at the meeting. She took a great liking toSteve, and became an ally in their quest. Sheapproached a former neighbor, now the head ofthe Ministry of Internal Security - the Afghanequivalent of the Russian KGB - and asked for hisintercession in obtaining a passport for the Meccapilgrimage. Although it was not spoken of, thisman knew of the love between Steve and Zorah,and knew the real purpose of the passport. Nevertheless, he did intercede, and obtained a specialpassport marked for processing with a minimumofred tape.2

Even with this finest of passports, many bribeswere required as Rohallah made the rounds of thcofficials who had to sign off on the passport. If anofficial was reluctant, or placed the application ona stack of papers with an injunction to "come backin a few days", Rohallah would include a bribe inhis parting handshake (so others in the officewould not see). At this, the official would removethe application from the stack, apply the requiredsignature, and send Rohallah on his way.

Through a Peace Corps volunteer who workedfor an airline, Zorah secretly obtained an air ticketfrom Saudi Arabia to the United States. She alsohad to purchase a round trip ticket to Jiddah forthe "pilgrimage". For this she used the money shchad prevented Steve from losing by her firmness

with the imposter at the Peace Corps Office."In spite of the circumstances," Steve recalls, "1

never felt completely comfortable with the factthat we were using the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca)as a pretext for Zorah's escape. But we couldthink of no other way."

Trust God completely and He will solve alldifficulties. Faithfully leave everything to Him

and He will see to everything. Meller Baba

Steve contacted Alfred Dubbs, the AmericanAmbassador to Afghanistan, who was mostsympathetic and helpful, sending a cable to theAmerican Embassy in Saudi Arabia, explainingZorah's plan and arranging for help.3

All arrangements were now made: Stevewould fly from Kabul to West Germany, wait aday, then fly to New York. Zorah would leavefrom another city, Kandahar, a day's drive fromKabul. During her layover in Saudi Arabia shewas to go to the American Embassy.

Zorah's brother-in-law was a pilot for ArianaAfghan Airlines, and arrangements were carefullymade to get her on his ptane where he could keepher separate from the other pilgrims so she wouldnot be missed when she departed during thelayover in Saudi Arabia.

That was about the last thing that wentsmoothly. Somehow the Afghan government gotwind of the plan, and by the time Zorah's planelanded in Saudi Arabia, they were meeting everyplane from Afghanistan, looking for her. A friendof her brother-in-law (the pilot) who was to help

continu-es on page 10

1 Rohallah has also recently joined us in LosAngeles.

2 This man, some time later, was pulled fromhis car and machine-gunned by a rival Communistgroup seeking power in Afghanistan.

3 Dubbs was later abducted by the KGB andkilled just before the Soviets invaded Afghanistan,some three months after Steve and Zorah left.His deep knowledge of Russian a1fairs apparentlywas regarded as a potential source of problems forthe invasion effort. 5

6

All events, unless otherwise noted, are at theCenter, 10808 Santa Monica Boulevard,Los Angeles, (213)474-9454.

APRIL EVENTS

April 1, 12n()()O. APRIL FOOLS: A Weddingat the Baba Center! Patty Thome and JohnStout - two fools in love in His love - will bemarried at Center at high noon, and all are invited.A reception will follow immediately. Please bringfood to share - NO GIFfS.

April 1, 6pm. FARSI LANGUAGEMEETING. Study of Meher Baba's Discourses,in Farsi. Prayers and arti at the end of themeeting. All are welcome! Coordinated by Dr.Mahmoud Ajang.

April 1, 8pm. A NIGHT OF BABA MUSIC.Relax and enjoy an evening of music with localartists. Coordinated by Cookie Jessica.

April 5, (Wednesday) 8pm. STUDY GROUP.Discourses, Volume I. Bring your copy!Coordinated by Adele Wolkin and Harry Thomas.

April? DR. HOSHANG BHARUCHA &FAMILY will be visiting Los Angeles as part of atour ofD.S. Baba groups. He'll be giving a midweek talk while in L.A The date and time areunknown, but will be communicated via meetingannouncements and the phone tree. Be ready!

April 7,8,9. JOSHUA TREE CAMPOUTContact Chris Pearson (213-377-0572) for detailsof this campout at the Joshua Tree NationalMonument, Cottonwood Group Camp No.3.

April 8, 8pm. MEMOIRS OF "THEFRIVOLOUS THREE" In September 1988,Delia DeLeon left her home in London to visit theMeher Spiritual Center in Myrtle Beach, SouthCarolina. To preserve the occasion, a one-hourvideo was made starring Delia, Kitty Davy, andMargaret Craske - a trio Baba once referred to asHis "Frivolous Three". We'll see that videotonight! Videowalla: Charlie Morton.

April 15, 6pm. FARSI LANGUAGEMEETING. Study of Meher Baba's Discourses,

in Farsi. Prayers and arti at the end of themeeting. All are welcome! Coordinated by Dr.Mahmoud Ajang.

April 15, 8pm. FRED'S CABLES TO THEMASTER. Highlights of presentations aboutMeher Baba and His Mandali that have appearedon local cable television. Enjoy those specialprograms you may have missed on IV. TheMyrtle Beach Sweepstakes drawing will beheld at the close ofthe meeting. Coordinatedby Fred Stankus.

April 19,(Wednesday) 8pm. STUDY GROUP.Discourses, Volume I. Bring your copy!Coordinated by Adele Wolkin and Harry Thomas.

April 22, 8pm. HOW I CAME TO BABA STORIES FROM IRAN. Several members ofour Baba family from Iran will share their storiesof coming to Baba. Coordinated by Marc Brutusand Art Ajang.

April 29, 8pm. INTRODUCTION TOMEHER BABA; FILMS OF MEHER BABA.Tonight we will present "God Man" and "Avatar",with a brief introduction to Meher Baba.Coordinated by Brian Drygas.

MAY EVENTS

May 3, (Wednesday) 8pm. STUDY GROUP.Discourses, Volume I. Bring your copy!Coordinated by Adele Wolkin and Harry Thomas.

May 6, 6pm. FARSI LANGUAGEMEETING. Study of Meher Baba's Discourses,in Farsi. Prayers and arti at the end of themeeting. All are welcome! Coordinated by Dr.Mahmoud Ajang.

May 6, 7:30pm. RECEPTION for LeatriceJohnston and Renae Shaw, with refreshments.

May 6, 8pm. OUR LIFE WITH BABA:LEATRICE JOHNSTON AND RENAESHAW. Leatrice and Renae met Baba in May,1952, at the Meher Spiritual Center in MyrtleBeach, with their parents Darwin and JeanneShaw. It has been several years since Leatrice andRenae have given a talk together, making it a

special evening for them as well as for us.Coordinated by John Stout.

May 7, (Sunday) Ipm. POT LUCKBARBECUE with Leatrice and Reruu. Joinour guests at Chris and Christi Pearson's, 6979Grove Spring Drive, Rancho Palos Verdes, (213)541-0059. Maps available at the Center.

May 13, 8pm. THE AUSTRALIANCONNECTION: FRANCIS BRABAZONAND MEHER BABA - a talk by DIANASNOW. Diana, a long time friend of Francis, willtell us how Francis brought Meher Baba toAustralia. Diana resides at Avatar's Abode, and isthe mother of our own Dina Franklin.

May 17, (Wednesday) 8pm.STUDYGROUP.Discourses, Volume I. Bring your copy!Coordinated by Adele Wolkin and Harry Thomas.

May 20, 6pm. FARSI LANGUAGEMEETING. Study of Meher Baba's Discourses,in Farsi. Prayers and arti at the meeting's end. Allwelcome! Coordinated by Dr. Mahmoud Ajang.

May 20, 8pm. JESUS, SAINT FRANCIS, andMEHER BABA - a talk by LARRYPESTA.Larry shares his thoughts after a recent visit toAssisi, Italy. Coordinated by Patty Stout.

May 27, 8pm. FILMS OF MEHER BABA.Irwin Luck's lovely film, "The Human Side of

Santa Barbara Baba GroupThe Santa Barbara Meher Baba

group meets every other Friday. Formeeting times and locations call DonnaBayet at (805) 682-1877, or LeslieTejada at (805) 967-4796.

San Diego Baba GroupThe San Diego Meher Baba group

meets monthly. For meeting times andlocations, call Scott or Anne Makeig at(619) 481-2941.

God", will follow an introductory discussion ofBaba's work with the God-Intoxicated souls hecalled "masts". Coordinated by John Stout.

JUNE EVENTS

June 3, 6pm. FARSI LANGUAGEMEETING. Study of Meher Baba's Discourses,in Farsi. Prayers and arti at the meeting's end. Allwelcome! Coordinated by Dr. Mahmoud Ajang.

June 3, 8pm. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FILlS!Tonight we honor Filis Frederick, our center'sfounder and Baba's chosen editor of the Awakenerjournal, 1953-1986. Filis dedicated her life, andher gifts, in Baba's service. Share a memory or afavorite Awakener selection. Coordinated byAdele Wolkin and Terry Lucas.

June 7, (Wednesday) 8pm. STUDY GROUP.Discourses, Volume I. Bring your copy!Coordinated by Adele Wolkin and Harry Thomas.

June 10, 8pm. GUTTA NIGHT. Meher Babasaid that cheerfulness is a Divine art, and that ithelps others. Tonight we'll discuss how we shareBaba's cheerfulness with others. Refreshmentswill be served. Coordinated by Fred Stankus.

June 17, 6pm. FARSI LANGUAGEMEETING. Study of Meher Baba's Discourses,in Farsi. Prayers and arti at the meeting's end. Allwelcome! Coordinated by Dr. Mahmoud Ajang.

June 17, 8pm. BHAU KALCHURI -- LIVE!Bhau, in transit between Australia and Europe,stops for a visit! Other Baba centers please note:Bhau requests us to inform all that he will,regretfully, be unable to visit other U.S. cities thistrip. Call Christi Pearson (213-541-0059) in Junefor Bhau's full itinerary.

June 18, 2pm. BHAU at Jacko's. Be there!

June 21,(Wednesday) 8pm. STUDY GROUP.Discourses, Volume I. Bring your copy!Coordinated by Adele Wolkin all'! Harry Thomas.

June 24, 8pm. FILM NIGHT. Surprise gemsof Baba on film. Coordinated by John Stout. 7

SoCal Center NewsbeatSahavas Committee. The Sahavas Committee ispleased to announce its guest list for the 1989Sahavas: Viola Farber, Virginia Sidowsky, andElizabeth Socalis - all from New York State - andKusum Singh from Delhi. Viola is a dancer whoperformed for Baba at Myrtle Beach; Virginia andElizabeth are sisters who met Baba in New Yorkin 1956. Kusum Singh is a singer whose familymet Baba in 1953 when the GodMan rented abungalow near door to their property.

The Committee is working to blend pastprogram favorites with new ideas gathered fromlast year's questionnaire. A new focus this year isto provide more opportunity to relax and renewBaba friendships in the afternoons.

Linda zavala reports that there will be aworkshop for artists at Sahavas. Ifyou'reinterested, please bring a piece of your workeither an original or a reproduction - to share withyour fellow artists.

There will also be, as always, an art auction atthe Sahavas to raise funds for the Center.Donations of artwork for the auction will begreatly appreciated.

Behind the scenes, a striking development isthat the committee is functioning without cochairs. This is an experiment with a new structurewhich should enhance sub-committee functions.

Plenty of work lies ahead and the committeewelcomes extra loving hands in the process. Ifyoufeel inspired to contribute from near or far, callVolunteer Coordinator David McNeely at (213)258-9887.

Center Redecoration. Plans to redecorate theCenter are under way. Linda zavala willcoordinate this effort, which should begin in thenear future. Ifyou have ideas about how youwant the Center to look, call Linda at (818) 7958322. She welcomes your input.

New Plwne Tree. A new phone tree list has beenissued. This is a great service to those of us whoregularly contact the local membership aboutprogram changes and recent important Babanews. Please notify Shirley Kelley, our newmembership person, when you change your phone

8 number or address.

Audio Cassette Library. The Center AudioCassette Library has several new titles which mayinterest you; "Piercing the Veil" (Jane Haynes),"How I Came to Baba" (Ann Conlon), and"Spirituality and Intuition" (Filis Frederick) arementioned here to encourage you to look throughthe updated catalog. Librarian Marc Brutusreminds us that cassettes can be borrowed for 50cents each. For a free catalog of available talkswrite to: AMBC-CL, POB 3233, Redondo Beach,CA 90277.Bookstore. The big news from our bookstore isthat video tapes of Avatar Meher Baba are onorder. In the coming months look for "0Parvardigar", "The Ancient One", "Avatar", and"Meher Baba's Call". Prices will range from $25to $75. Look around also for favorite books whichhave been re-ordered.

The recent inventory of our bookstore hasuncovered many old treasures which are nowavailable for sale. In particular, matted photos ofBeloved Baba and unique pieces of jewelry, all ondisplay, may tempt you. Many free posters, suchas "I Have Come to Sow the Seed of Love InYour Hearts", are also available. Our bookstoremanager, Dina Franklin, urges, "If you don't seewhat you want, ask for it!". Watch the shelves!

- Diana Goodheart

Permanent Site. The Permanent Site committeehas taken major steps in the last year. We havemade offers to purchase on two possible sites.Neither one of them has worked out, but we areall learning lots of vital information.

The Committee is continuing to check pricesand locations, zoning laws, space and parkingrequirements, and remodeling feasibility. Asurvey is now being prepared to determine whatCenter member preferences are in a new center.Please help us by expressing yours!

Ten years ago we started collecting funds, andfrom the most meager of beginnings -- $0 -- wenow have amassed, through the generous supportof our Baba family, $41,000. Although additionalfunds will likely be necessary for purchasing, it isvery exciting to have come so far!

- Georgene Tarbox and Steve Berry

CongratulationsBest Baba wishes for nuptial bliss from all of

us to Ralph and Kebi Boose Brown (December),and to Fred and Gisele Dreissen Stankus(January). Congratulations and bon voyage toMehermas '88 Fly-to-India Sweepstakes winnerSarah Dwyer of Los Angeles. Congratulationsalso to our second and third prize winners, Angelenos Barbara McReynolds and Adele Wotkin.

Tehachapi Baba LoversRandy Buck and Marta Hores extend a warm

invitation to Baba lovers passing throughTehachapi (forty miles southeast of Bakersfield onHwy 58) to ring them up for a Baba meeting at(805) 822-6426. "Any evening you come up..."Marta writes, "...we are country folk and extremelyflexible." Overnight accommodations can usuallybe arranged.

Homefor SaleNear Baba~ Myrtle Beach Center

Although the Post does not ordinarily run adsof any kind, the following is presented as a publicservice of potential interest to Baba lovers:

Judy Schoeck of New York reports that herparents, Eloise and Eugene Schoeck (of NorthCarolina) have a home for sale on Surfside Beach,20 minutes south of the Meher Center in MyrtleBeach. The home, purchased new three yearsago, is described as "2 bedrms., 2 bath, loadedkitchen, L-shaped living/dining rm., 1152 sq.ft.,washer/dryer, deck overlooking lake. It is a .manufactured home in a community (notretirement) setting, with pools, a clubhouse, andbeach access. A maintenance fee of $157/moincludes taxes, utilities, and amenities."

Los Angeles area Baba lovers will be bothamused and chagrined to know that the askingprice is $39,900 - almost enough, as we say, to buyan outhouse in L.A! Uyour Southern Californiaimpressions are winding down, contact Judy (516)845-7421, or her parents (919)443-3192.

Trust Donations:A Clarification from Eruch(AU Pkase Note!)

Eruch, writing also for Mani and Bhau, hasrequested that we clear up a possiblemisunderstanding which may have been createdby a short piece on the Trust that appeared in ourlast Lamp Post. In this article, a report regardingthe acquisition of land at Meherabad wasimmediately followed by a request for donationsto Baba's "ongoing work through the Trust."Eruch writes:

"Readers may misconstrue that the Trust isrequesting donations for acquiring land and this isentirely incorrect. The purpose of purchasing landhas been served and no more donations arerequired for this purpose. Therefore, please notethat no more specific donations for acquiring Trustland should be encouraged nor sent to the Trust.

"Donations to the Trust should not beearmarked for land purChase, but be sent, asusual, either for Avatar Meher Baba PerpetualPublic Charitable Trust or for Avatar Meher BabaTrust, (FIRSTLY), for the Beneficiaries of AvatarMeher Baba Trust. Also please note that if yourdonation to Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual PublicCharitable Trust is more than $100.00, it shouldbe marked for the CORPUS FUND of AvatarMeher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trusteven if it is a group donation."

Uyou would like to contribute to the Trust,please contact Karina Page, Trustwalla, 4530Starling Way, Los Angeles, CA 90065, (213) 2253910.

Contributions Sought for the Lamp Post'Please share your artwork, poetry, letters,

articles, and ideas with us. Send to Greg and GayDunn, 22100 Erwin St.#221A, Woodland Hills,CA 91367, or call us at (818) 719-9113. Deadlinefor Summer 89 issue: June 1.

ifThere is no such thing as failure on the journey towards Truth or God.

It is merely a question oftime. Meher Baba .9

Divine Sportsman from page 2

BABA AS CARD-PLAYER

In reference to a question during a game ofLa Risque about Baba's playing cards, Baba said,"My reasons for playing are three-fold: (1) Theburden of my universal work is lightened. (2) Theminds of players are focussed on Me in a naturalmanner. (3) Those who lose have to rub noses onthe carpet before Me, the Highest of the High.This is a privilege filled with significance. Then thelosers become winners."

Meher Baba is the Divine Sportsman, playinghis role to perfection in his universal game ofcreation. His playing is the play of love on theplaying field of earth where He allows us toparticipate actively in his love with all ourShortcomings, attachments, and inabilities tofollow him completely.

Just as with sports and its required repetitionand practice leading toward excellence, Babagives us this life discipline, to think of him

Helplessly His from page 5

Zorah get to the U.S. Embassy managed to boardher plane just ahead of the government agents.Walking casually down the aisle past Zorah, hewhispered to her, "'They know!"

Within moments the agents had boarded.One of them found Zorah and confronted her:"Are you going to the U.S.?" he demanded.Zorah denied it. She was searched. Thanks to herfriend's warning she'd had just enough time tohide her plane ticket in her underclothes.Nevertheless, the agents confiscated Zorah'spassport and health certificate, effectivelyimmobilizing her in Saudi Arabia.

Zorah's brother-in-law, meanwhile, had nochoice but to fly the plane back to Afghanistan he was, after all, its pilot! Zorah was sent to theAfghanistan Embassy, where things went frombad to worse. The embassy officials, uponinspecting Zorah's identification -- which includedan American Embassy I.D. obtained for her job atthe Peace Corps office .. formed the opinion that

10 she was a spy!

constantly and love him wholeheartedly, whichhelps to break old habits and desires that get inthe way of our loving him and pleasing him. Wethen make a change to grow in love, and lifebegins to change for the better. He allows us tomake an effort to go against our nature anddesires, and as He manifests we feel his love,which transforms our life through his grace.

God always existed; God will always exist. Heis never changing, ever the same, and Illusion is

His eternal game. Meher Baha, 1968

The achievement of excellence in sports is anexpression of one's discipline and dedication.When the basis of this dedication is centered inBaba, then all we do in life, whether work or play,is given a hundred percent to him, and we find thereal goal of all our achievements, to think of himmore and more and to make him our constantcompanion.

Zorah was taken to a small storage roomoutside the embassy. It was more than 100degrees outside, and the storage room had littleventiliation. For many hours, Zorah was givenneither food nor drink.

At length, she was allowed a trip to thebathroom. On the way she happened to meet theMD assigned to their pilgrim group by theembassy. This woman proved to be the aunt ofone of Zorah's best friends in Afghanistan! Thiswoman arranged, covertly, for Zorah to phone theAmerican Embassy in Saudi Arabia. Zorahreferred to the cable sent by Alfred Dubbs, butwas refused help because, "You're neither anAmerican citizen, nor do you have a passport."She asked if they would at least forward a messageto Steve at the airport in West Germany, to whichthey agreed. The cryptic message he received:"Your fiance Zorah unable to keep to travelplans."

It seems that Baba, or the Perfect Masters, ora team of angelS, or a combination of the above,were working behind the scenes, as Zorah next

met an elderly, religious man named "Aji" whoworked at the Afghanistan Embassy and who,although he was very private about it, had littleaffection for the communist regime. Zorahconfided in Aji, who consoled her and contactedher aunt who resided in the country. He learnedthat she was making a pilgrimage of her own toJiddah in 10 days.

Afghan Embassy officials told Zorah she mustwait until the Ambassador, who was ill, returnedto work and issued an order to have her returnedto Afghanistan. Upon hearing this ambassador'sname, some light of recognition came on inZorah's mind, but she could not be sure of itsvalidity.

After three days in the storage room .. theydid eventually did bring food and water •• Zorah,feeling she had nothing to lose and that she couldcontinue no longer in such an intolerable situation,insisted upon seeing the ambassador. She wouldnot brook a refusal, and somehow prevailed. Theambassador was summoned. Upon hearingZorah's family name he arose, hugged her, andsaid, "You are just like my own daughter." Thegood gentleman, it so happens, had been a closefriend of Zorah's father while they were servingtogether in the Afghan senate!

The ambassador immediately ordered Zorah'spassport and other papers returned to her, butthis could not be effected immediately due to theresistance of other embassy officials, whoremained unconvinced of Zorah's innocence. Inthe meantime, Zorah was taken to the home ofthe former Attorney General of Afghanistanwhere she stayed until her aunt arrived.

As Zorah's passport remained in the hands ofembassy officials, there was nothing to do but toproceed with the Pilgrimage! It seems she hadbeen telling the truth all along about making theHajj!

Zorah remembers this time in Mecca, in spiteof the circumstances, as "a wonderful andintensely spiritual experience. Near the Kabba,one is literally swept away by an ocean ofhumanity, and simultaneously I felt as if I werebeing swept away by events utterly beyond mycontrol. I was in the hands of a power far greaterthan myself, and had, quite literally, no choice but

to surrender to it." Having been a prisoner at theembassy, she was now securely sequesteredamong friends, being transported around Meccain a limousine, and a spirtual pilgrim in everysense of the term! Her joy would have been quiteunbounded - except for the small fact that shecontinued to have no idea whether she would eversee her fiance again. This was a great battlefieldof impressions, indeed!

Finally·· as the Pilgrimage was ending -Zorah's passport was returned. She wentimmediately to British Airways, on which her flightto New York had been originally scheduled, onlyto hear that there was "no way to get a flight out ofhere this time of year!" There was a long waitinglist for seats.

Again Baba provided critical assistance, in theform of a friendly woman at the AmericanConsulate who, listening to Zorah's story, becamemost sympathetic. As it so happened, thewoman's boyfriend's worked for British Airwaysassigning berths for the in-flight attendant crews.There happened to be a crew member missing forthe next day's flight to London, and therefore aseat, although not, by regulation, a seat availableto a non-crewmember. But what regulation canwithstand the heat of High Romance under thedirection of the Avatar! Zorah went to the airportand obtained the berth.

When union is attained, the Lover knows that hehimself was all along the Beloved whom he lovedand desired union with; and that all the impossi-

ble situations he overcame were obstacles hehimself placed in the path to himself. Meher Baba

Crowding in Jiddah was such that getting ahotel room was impossible, so Zorah, accompanied by her uncle, found a corner at theairport and embarked upon a fitful night's "sleep".

The next day, as boarding time approached,Zorah bid an appreciative goodbye to her uncle,and took her place in the line for the flight.Minutes later she"spotted the un~ of anothergood friend from home, who was also boardingthe jet. In the course of their conversation shelearned that her Pilgrimage visa was good only for 11

a return to Afghanistan! To go anywhere elserequired an Exit visa!

Zorah had no uncle, no money, and no time tocorrect this final, and perhaps fatal, problem. Staytuned...

Meanwhile, in New York, Steve had met everyflight from London for three days running.Finally, with no way of knowing when, or on whatairline -- or if -- Zorah would arrive, he went to hisparents' home in South Carolina, knowing Zorahhad the address and phone number.

Weeks passed. Steve was in a state hedescribes as "hopeless and helpless - the only wayto describe ill" Having caned an relevantCongressmen and exhausted an other possibilitieshe could think of, he made a most heartfelt prayerto Baba: "Please deliver my Zorah from thissituation!"

Literally moments later, the phone rang: itwas Zorah, calling from...London! In the Saudiairport, she had switched from the Pilgrim to theTourist line at the boarding gate, and with thegrace of God in veiling the passport inspector'seyes from the impropriety of her documents,made it on to the plane!

After briefly exchanging stories, the Present'spre-eminence over the Past re-emerged, and Steve



asked Zorah, "Wen, then...when do you want toget married?" Zorah, in a bit of a blur not onlyfrom the events of the past few weeks, but alsofrom a notable lack of sleep, simply answered,"Wen, when I get there, I guess!"

Within an hour of her arrival in SouthCarolina the next day, Zorah, who had by thenhad almost no sleep for three days, fonowing upona month of nights with four hours of sleep duringthe Pilgrimage, found herself arm in arm with .Steve before a York County judge who began themarriage ceremony. "1be Judge peppered theceremony with stretches of unintelligible gibberishI later learned were some sort of esoteric masonicblessing," Steve recans. To Zorah it was alIgibberish -- although joyful and exhilaratinggibberish!

On the way home from the ceremony, with herhead resting on the shoulder of her new husbandand Baba companion, Zorah fen asleep - and soshe remained through the wedding night. Stevedid not complain. He was united with his beloved,and was himself only too happy to surrender to thegentle and nurturing arms of Sleep. The DivineBeloved, who eternally writes the happiest ofendings to His ongoing story of Creation, had seento everything.

Non-Profil O'll"niulion

U.S.Postage

PA I DRedondo Beach, CA

Permit No.196


....-~.+.

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~veStreet,Cam(PosvTHE AVATAR MEHER BABA CENTER OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

NEWSLETTER & CALENDAR FOR SUMMER 1989

Our Last Letter From Mehera[Editor's note: The following message fromMehera was given by her to Gulnar Sukhadwallafor reading to Baba's Western lovers as she visitedus during her recent journey here. It was read outto our group by Gulnar at theLos Angeles Meher BabaCenter on April 22.]

Beloved Baba's dearchildren gathered heretoday, I am happy to wishyou all through Gulnar amost loving Jai Meher Baba.It is so heart-warming toknow ofyour love for Babawho, as Avatar of the Age,came on earth to awaken allhearts in love for God.Beloved Baba loved us allvery dearly and now we mustlove Him with all our hearts.In so many different waysyou can show your love forMeher Baba who is omniscient and omnipresent.Remember Him in all you do and He will guideyou to do what is right. It may not always be whatyou want, but in your love for Him you must askyourself, "What would Baba want me to do?" -and the answer from within you is always forthcoming. Baba says, "The voice of intuition isMy voice."

There are so many guidelines to help you dowhat would please Baba. When you are loving

and helping other people you are loving andserving God. And when you love Meher Babapleasing Him and obeying Him are most important and dear to Him and should be dear to you.

When each of you tries100 percent to do as Babawants He is surely near youhelping you. To do so isoften not easy, but withBaba's help it is notimpossible. Beloved AvatarMeher Baba's coming onearth as man was to help uson our spiritual journey.Know that He does help andguide us on the path to theGoal, which is to Himself.And each one of us, sooneror later, knowingly orunknowingly, must undertake this journey. It is ourjourney to God.

And by offering us His Daaman to hold BelovedBaba is making the journey so much easier for us.

So hold on fast to Meher's Daaman with bothhands and love Him more and more. You are allso fortunate to love Beloved Baba for it is His lovethat you reflect in your hearts.

Much love to you each and all our dear family,ever in Beloved Baba's eternal Love.

Mehera

"She Is My Very Breath..."A Short Biography of Mehera

by Linda Zavala

2

[Editor's note: The following history wasprepared and read by Linda at a memorial servicefor Mehera held May 24, 1989, at the Meller BabaCenter in Los Angeles.]

Mehera Jehangir Irani was born on December22, 1908 in Sukkar city, now in West Pakistan, intoan upper middle class Parsi family, with all theluxuries of that life. Her father died when she wasvery young. Mehera, with her mother and sister,moved to Poona when she was six, coinciding intime with Meher Baba's momentous kiss fromHazrat Babajan.

Mehera and her sister Freni were nurtured ina warm, caring home. It was decided that Meheraand Freni would attend Catholic boarding school,'~nd it was near the school that Mehera had herfirst encounter with Babajan. One afternoonduring recess, a friend, Zeena, suggested they payDabajan a visit. "She is a great person and can

. give you anything you ask for," Zeena told her.They found Babajan sitting by the roadsideoutside the wall of the Convent. Mehera shylyapproach Babajan, who asked her, "What is it, mychild?" Mehera, without any forethought of whatshe would say, blurted out, "Babajan, I would liketo have a nice white horse." Babajan looked ather, smiled and turning her ear sidewards, gazedintently up at the sky. Then nodding her head shesaid "Very beautiful and fine. All the world willlook on him in admiration and love."

In reality, Hazrat Babajan had referred to "theWhite Horse Avatar," which in Hindu mythologyis termed Horse-head, a form assumed by Vishnuto recover the Vedas when they were stolen.Mehera later joined Meher Baba's ashram infulfillment of her desire and recognition ofBabajan's boon.

Mehera's mother, Daulatmai, heard of MeherBaba through Parsi friends in Poona. Sheintroduced Mehera to Baba at the ashram ofUpasni Maharaj for the first time in 1922 whenshe was 14 years old. For a year or so Daulatmaiand Mehera visited Baba as often as possible and

began carrying out Baba's wishes, such as sewingclothes for the poor. When Baba permittedwomen to join his ashram Daulatmai and Mehera,now 16 years old, were among the first to come,leaving for good a life of comfort and luxury.Baba told them they would have to live a verystrict and secluded life, wearing simple clothes,working hard, and maintaining steadfastobedience to His orders. For the next 64 years ofher life Mehera devoted herself completely toserving the Avatar.

Mehera was always shy. Early on in ashramlife it was noticed that she was shy of being lookedat by other men. After a while Baba made thisinto an order -- that she was not to look at or betouched by any man other than Baba. This wasthe rule for many years.

In the beginning Mehera was considered equalto'the others in the ashram, but at one point Babaindicated that she was, of all his lovers andmandali, the most beloved of the Eternal Beloved.It was her destiny as a human soul to fill the postof the spiritual consort to the Avatar of this Age.Baba said of her that she was "the purest soul inthe universe". Mehera was to Baba as Sita was toRam, Radha to Krishna, and Mary Magdalene toJesus.

Mehera and the other mandali lived in variousashrams Baba had set up, under strict discipline,each having specific guidelines from Baba. Theyate very simple meals, usually vegetarian, ofteneating just once a day. They were giveninstructions to fast or keep silence, to repeatBaba's name thousands of times a day, and otherdisciplines. If seen from the outside world,Mehera and the other women mandali lived anextremely harsh life, but Mehera said many timesthat they did not mind it because they always feltsustained by Baba's love.

Mehera travelled to Europe, New York, andMyrtle Beach, South Carolina with Baba. On May24, 1952, while Baba's party was travelling from

continued on page 11

FOR MEHERA'S BI~THDAY

Most fortunate are you through all the ages,Meheramai, you who alone do reignWithin God's heart and feel and know His painMore intimately than others; great sagesAnd saints are not so blessed. All the world ragesFor sight of Him -- seeking in passing gainHis face; or weeps, '0, where is the lover's lane?'Or through hard penance seeks to know the stages.

And I among men am most blessed indeedIn that I write these lines to celebrateThe birth of one to whom all women cedeLove's honor-seat, and patiently awaitTheir turn; one, whose pure beauty's gracePoets will sing as long as lasts our race.

- Francis Brabazon




(213) 474-9454

This newsletter is designed to keep the Southern CaliforniaMeher Baba community and friends abreast of Centeractivities, and to provide a forum for contempory accountsof life with Meher Baba as Guide.

Editors: Greg and Gay DunnCommillee Reporter: Diana GoodheartContriblltors: Teri Adams, Naosherwan Nalavala, Dina.Franklin, Lois Jones, the Lorkalantari family (forbabysitting!), Lynne Maguire, Charles Mills, Karina Page,Christina Riley, John Stout, Adele Wolkin, Linda Zavala.Mailing: Pris Haffenden

Pkase send aU newsletter material to:Greg and Gay Dunn

22100 Erwin Street #221AWoodland Hills, CA 91367

(818) 719-9113

Pkase send address changes/subscription requests to:Pris Haffenden

3616-1/2 S. Centinela AvenueLos Angeles, CA 90066

(213) 390-2779

Published quarterly (Jan, Apr, Jul. Oct)

All contents copyright @1989bytheAvatarMeherBabaCenter of Southern California. except where noted.

Cables, Letters On Mehera's Passing

The following cable from Mani and theMeherazad Family was received by the MeherCenter in Myrtle Beach, May 19, 1989 (U.S.A.)

"Beloved Meher Baba has taken Mehera, Hisbeloved unto Himselfon 20th May, 1989.Mehera's body is being buried next to HisSamadhi on Meherabad Hil~ as specified byBaba. The light ofMehera's pure supreme lovefor her only Beloved will forever illumine theEarth, in the hearts ofHis lovers everywhere."

(signed) Mani and Meherazad Family

Mehera expired at approximately 9:45 a.m.India time on May 20,1989.

Our cable from the AMBCSC sent May 19,1989 at approximately 11 p.m. PST:

''At last Mehera is free, merged in the Embraceofthe Eternal Beloved, Meher Baba. All aliI' loveto Mani and all the Mandali." - AMI3CSC

Excerpt from a letter to all "Dearest friendsand lovers of beloved Meher Baba," from Kitty,Margaret, and Jane in Myrtle Beach:

"We at the Center will gather togethertonight to remember the beautiful life and thematchless love of Mehera for her Beloved,Avatar Meher Baba. How Compassionate isthe Compassionate One to give all of us the jayof seeing His Mehera with her Beloved on filmand video: treasures for all time. The greatesttreasure that He has given us is the picture inour hearts forever: the memories of all the joyand love and remembrance of beloved Babathat she gave selflessly and unstintedly to all forthe past twenty years. And the gifts of gifts fromthe GodMan: the example of the "purest soulin the Universe" whose every breath was forHim; who loved Him as He ought to be loved.

We will help each other to be happy forBaba's Mehera, who so longed to join herBeloved. But our Beloved will understand ourtears of mixed joy and grief. And He will surelygive all our hearts' overflowing 10Je and deepestconsolation to Mehera's Sisters, to each of ourloving Meherazad family; for this love comesonly from Him and by His Grace. " 3

WHY I MADE THE FILMMEHER BABA -AVATAR OF THE AGEby Irwin Luck, Director of Production

[Editor's Note: Irwin Luck's film highlightingthe work ofMeher Baba with God-Intoxicatedmasts premiers publicly in Los Angeles at the NuArtTheatre, 11272 Santa Monica Boulevard, W.LosAngeles, April 18-22. In its press release the film isdescribed as follows: "Meher Baba - Avatar of theAge is a film portrait ofeternal significance forposterity, containing the wisdom and love of theages as given from God to man. TIle viewer isswept away on a mystical and enchanting journeywith Meher Baba, following him as he travels toremote places - into the jungles, rainforests,mOlintains, villages, and marketplaces - where hecontacts advanced souls, the God intoxicated,pilgrims ofthe higher planes ofconsciousness, andsaints in the state ofillumination. TIle film

'provides a rare peek at his work, his suffering5, hissilence, his Masters, his boyhood, his humor, hismission, his love, and his glory."

Meher Baba has already played publicly toaudiences in many cities across the U.S. Irwin says,"To see Meher Baba on the big screen with atheatre's great sound system surrounded by

The film world cannot escape its obligations tothe larger world on which it makes so substantial an impression; and these obligationsdemand that its spiritual potential takeprecedence over the desire to make money. Thescript writers, the producers, and the actorsshould realize their spiritual potential insteadof looking at their art as merely or mainly abusiness. The more vividly they realize this, themore dignified and satisfactory will the result oftheir efforts be; and their inner account withthemselves will be vastly gratifying, even thoughthe same might not be said of their account inthe bank. If the film world cannot or will notgive the greatest importance to this spiritualpotential, it is a failure.

• Baba on the Film World (from The Path ofLove, edited by Filis Frederick, p.12S):

hundreds ofpeople hearing ofMeher Baba for thefirst time is a stunning experience." Describing oneparticular showing, he says, "People became deeplyabsorbed by the film portrayal ofMeher Baba.Many wept profusely and the theatre rang withapplause after the show. "

In a letter to Irwin concerning the film, Manihas written: "Your vivid description and thosemanlelous photos ofHis Name on the marquee [atthe Charles Theatre in Baltimore} and the lines ofpeople queuing up for the show really gave us thefeeling of this exciting new 'scene' in Baba 's PeifectPlay ofgoing public these days. We also appreciatehow much work you have put in behind the scenesdear Irwin to bring it all about -- Behind yOIl, ofcourse, is the Master Producer Himself, turning thekey to open up hearts around Amercia."

Here Irwin talks about his own reasons formaking the film. }

I had met Meher Baba in 1960 and was deeplyimpressed by his life, actions, and statements. For10 years I had contact with him through visits andcorrespondence, until he left his mortal body onJanuary 31, 1969.

This led me to travel around the world over aperiod of seven years directing film crews to filmand document those who had met Meher Babaand to record first hand accounts of what MeherBaba said and did with them. Hundreds ofinterviews were done throughout the USA,Australia, India, Europe, Israel, Persia, and othercountries. This work filled 1/4 million feet of filmand an equivalent amount of videotape, but mostimportant of all was that I also collected manyfilms of Meher Baba himself taken by the people Iwas interviewing.

One particular film was deteriorating rapidlyand would soon become a lost film due to itscondition. This is the film which later became themovie Meher Baba -Avatar of the Age. Not onlydid it contain rare film footage of Meher I3aba butit also contains the only existing film footage evertaken of "Masts".

I decided to engage in directing a work to notonly correct the physical and optical problems of theoriginal film, but also to develop methods andteChniques, both artistic and technical, to turn the


Good News from the BookstoreWe now have a large selection of videotapes of

and about Meher Baba. How wonderful to beable to see our Beloved's form on film in our ownhomes. These are available at the Center, or youcan order them by mail. There are 12 in all.Prices vary from $25 to $75.

"The Ancient One" is a 30-minute video, mostof which is from film taken at the Last PublicDarshan given by Baba in Poona in 1%5. Thesound track features Meher Baba's UniversalMessage in the 64th Family Letter.

"Avatar" is an excellent introductory filmabout Baba to show your friends when they ask,"Just who is this man anyway?" Made by theAustralian group, it has footage of Baba in the50's and 60's at the Poona Center, and also withthe mandali at Meherazad. It has music andnarration, is 15 minutes long, and is $45.

"8eloved With Us". This color film featuresscenes of Meher Baba in Guruprasad.Meherabad and Meherazad in 1959 and 1960.The soundtrack includes some of Baba's favoritewestern songs. The film is 10 minutes long andcosts $40.

"The Future With Meher Baba". This is a 45minute interview with Eruch Jessawalla taken -atMeherazad in 1981, reflecting his life as a closedisciple of our Beloved. The cost is $25.

"Godman". This is a film of the 1976Amartithi at Meherabad, taken through the eyesof pilgrims from all over the world, and includinginterviews with Rano, Padri, Eruch, & Mani. $55.

"The Lord of Love" combines four short silentfilms of Baba with an added soundtrack of musicdedicated to Him. "Dehra Dun 1954", "TheAvatar in Australia 1958", "Happy Birthday 8aba1958" celebrating His 64th birthday atMeherabad, and finally "Walking with the Master1961" showing Baba at Bund Garden, the zoo,and childrens' day at Guruprasad. $65.

"How to Love You". Someone once askedBaba "How can I love you?" Eruch tells us thestory of Baba's reply at Mandali Hall, Meherazadin November 1984. It's 45 minutes long and costs$35.

"Mani in Meherazad Garden". This colorvideo ofMani was taken in February 1982, and

she tells us about her childhood and life with herbrother, the Godman. 35 minutes long, it's $35.

"Meher Baba's Call" is a major filmproduction taken from the original 35mm footageshot during the 1954 period known as the ThreeIncredible Weeks. Darwin Shaw narrates and itgives us a feeling of what is was like to be in thepresence of Meher Baba during such gatherings.3S minutes long, it's $75.

"0 Parvardigar" is Peter Townshend's (of"The Who") wonderful selling to music of theMaster's Prayer, with excellent footage of Baba.At 10 minutes long, it costs $45. (Beautiful to playeach night before bed.)

"Padri". This is an hour's compilation ofvarious interviews with Padri. $35.

"Welcome To My World". This is a marveloustalk with Mani at Meherazad in 1983, wherein sheexplains and demonstrates Meher Baba's uniquehand gestures. Only $25. - Dina Franklin

Avatar Meher Baba Trust[The following has been excerpted from the

Friends of tlte Avatar Meher Baba TnLSt circulars.}"Lovers of Avatar Meher'Baba who are

familiar with His Tomb at Meherabad, Hisdisciples, and His home at Meherazad often hearof Avatar Meher Baba Trust and wonder, 'What isthe Trust? What is it for? Who set it up?'

"In 1959, at Guruprasad, Poona, Meher Babasummoned some of His disciples and expressedHis Wish to form a trust with the sole propertywhich remained in His Name at that time. Thisproperty is comprised of an area of land onMeherabad Hill with all its buildings, includingBaba's Tomb. Incorporating Baba's specificinstructions, the Deed of Avatar Meher BabaTrust was drawn up.

"The primary purpose of the Trust, though ofa temporary nature, was to provide for those ofBaba's disciples dependent on Baba whom Henamed in the Deed as 'beneficiaries.' Its longrange purpose was to maintain th\< existing Trustproperties, particularly Baba's Tomb, and todevelop and expand them for the time whenMeherabad would become a center of pilgrimagefor the world. continued on page 8 5

6

All events, unless otherwise noted, are atthe Center, 10808 Santa Monica Boulevard,Los Angeles, (213)474-9454. Ifyou haveideas or requests for future programs, pleasecontact John Stout at (213) 454-2447.

JULY EVENTS

July 1, Saturday. NO MEETING, DUE TOSAHAVAS. See you next week. Jai Baba!

July 8, Saturday, 8pm. "I HAVE COMENOT TO TEACH, BUT TO AWAKENnNfEHER BABA. What does Baba's silencemean to you? Awakening is a chalIenge.Come share your experience or read yourfavorite selection. Coordinated by JohnStout.

.July 10, Monday, 8pm. SILENCE DAYl~me in silence and see the Beloved onfilm.

July 15, Saturday, 6pm. FARSILANGUAGE MEETING. Study of MeherBaba's Discourses, in Farsi. Prayers and artiat the end of the meeting. All are welcome!Coordinated by Dr. Mahmoud Ajang.

July 15, Saturday, 8pm. A NIGHT OFBABA MUSIC. Relax and enjoy an eveningof music with local artists. Coordinated byCookie Jessica.

July 22, Saturday, 8pm. LEELAINQUIRER. An entertaining look at what'shappening in Baba's world. Join us, withEditor-Host Marc ofHollywood.

July 29, Saturday, 8pm. FILM NiGHT.Tonight you choose the movie!Coordinated by Charlie Morton.

AUGUST EVENTS

August 5, Saturday, 6pm. FARSILANGUAGE MEETING. Study of MeherBaba's Discourses, in Farsi. Prayers and artiat the end of the meeting. All are welcome!Coordinated by Dr. Mahmoud Ajang.

August 5, Saturday, 8pm. POETRY,MUSIC, VISUAL ARTS, AND FUNl Comeshare your latest triumph or tragedy inBaba's world of shared heartful art. Talk,whisper, sing, recite. Will David is the host.

August 12, Saturday, 8pm. NEWUNSEEN VIDEOS OF BABA'S MANDALIlSee Mani in Meherazad Garden and EruchJessawalIa in Mandali HalI. Coordinated byDina Franklin.

August 19, Saturday, 8am-6pm. YARDSALE AT THE CENTER. Save up goodiesand expendables for this fund raiser. Pleasenote: Items you wish to donate can be left atthe center no earlier than August 12. Ifyouwould like to volunteer, please contactcoordinator Behnaz Lorkalantari eveningsat (818) 363-8254.

Santa Barbara Baba GroupThe Santa Barbara Meher Baba group

meets every other Friday. For meetingtimes and locations call Donna Bayet at(805) 682-1877, or Leslie Tejada at (805)967-4796.

San Diego Baba GroupThe San Diego Meher Baba group meets

monthly. For meeting times and locations,call Scott or Anne Makeig at (619) 481-2941.

Flowers for MeetingsWe have a table for Baba's sadra box in

our meeting hall, along with vases forflowers. All are encouraged to bring flowersfor the Saturday night meetings.

August 19, Saturday, 6pm. FARSILANGUAGE MEETING. Study of MeherBaba's Discourses, in Farsi. Prayers and artiat the end of the meeting. All are welcome!Coordinated by Dr. Mahmoud Ajang.

(;c ....~/·:·')M~~"~'H;

. ,/~'" -' <-"!~-.,.

>i /IfGod were to appear !let once again in Iillllll1ll form,Wliat would He sa!l?Wliat would He do?How would we know?

August 19, Saturday, 8pm. BABA FILMAT THE NU-ART! Meet at the center asusual, where we'll discuss the latest newsabout Irwin Luck's film, Meher Baba, Avatarofthe Age - The Human Side ofGod. Thenas a group we all will go to the Nu-ArtTheatre and see the film on the big screen!Refreshments served at the Center after themovie. Coordinated by John Stout.

August 26, Saturday, 8pm. A GENERALINTRODUCTION TO MEHER BABA - HISLIFE, HIS MESSAGE. Public meeting andmovie. Coordinated by Bryan Drygas, JohnStout, and Marc Brutus.

SEPTEMBER EVENTSSeptember 2, Saturday, 6pm. FARSILANGUAGE MEETING. Study of MeherBaba's Discourses, in Farsi. Prayers and artiat the end of the meeting. All are welcome!Coordinated by Dr. Mahmoud Ajang.

September 2, Saturday, 8pm. "HOW ICAME TO BABA": HAYEDEH R.GHASWALLA SHARES HER STORY Aninspirational evening awaits! Coordinatedby Linda Zavala.

September 9, Saturday, 8pm. SPECIALGUEST TONIGHT: ANDY MUIR! Andywill visit us from the East Coast, sharing hisexperience and love with us. He previouslydelighted us as a Sahavas Guest Speaker.Coordinated by John Stout.

September 16, Saturday, 6pm. FARSILANGUAGE MEETING. Study of MeherBaba's Discourses, in Farsi. Prayers and artiat the end of the meeting. All are welcome! Coordinated by Dr. Mahmoud Ajang.

September 16, Saturday, 8pm. ASKMEllER BABA. A unique question andanswer session in which Baba, throughtranscripts of 1934 interviews, will fieldaudience questions regarding career,creativity, health, and spirituality. Emceedby Jeff Maguire.

September 23, Saturday, 8pm.PERFECT MASTERS. Tonight we discusssome interesting things about the PerfectMasters who brought Baba down from theBeyond Beyond state. Coordinated byAdele Wolkin.

September 30, Saturday, 8pm. FILMNIGHT! Our projectionist Charlie Mortonpicks tonight's feature. There will also be abrief discussion on Meher Baba's FinalDeclaration given in 1954. <

7

8

AMBCSC Bulletin Board

Contributions Sought for the Lamp Post'Please share your artwork, poetry, letters,

articles, and ideas with us. Send to Greg and GayDunn, 22100 Erwin St.#221A, Woodland Hills,CA 91367, or call us at (818) 719-9113. Deadlinefor Fall 89 issue: September 1.

CongratulationsCongratulations to Karen Blackmore, winner

of the Center's recent Ry to Myrtle Beachsweepstakes, and to runners-up Kevin Docherty ofLos Angeles and Jack Beymer of Santa Rosa.Thanks to all ticket purchasers for yourcontributions in this fund-raising effort!

Congratulations to John and Patti (Thorne)Stout on their April 1st marriage; and to Ellie andBrent Drygas on the birth of their new baby sister,Lauren Melanie. Lauren arrived April 27th to the

. delighted welcome of parents Brian and Karen.

Thanks. Special thanks to David McNeely and ChrisPearson for constructing and finishing lendinglibrary shelves in the Center office; and to LarryRetcher and Chris for their ongoing work with thetape cassette lending library, which is appreciatedby its many users across the United States.

Volunteers NeededVolunteers are needed for the following

service opportunities: (1) a monthly cleanup ofthe Center; (2) setup of the book lending library atthe Center; and (3) to do promotional work forIrwin Luck's film Meher Baba, Avatar of the Age,to be shown publicly at the NuArt Theatre inAugust (see related article in this issue). Pleasecontact Adele Wolkin if you would like tovolunteer for any of these jobs.

The Love Street Lamp Post needs a reporteror reporters to cover Center events. Call us!

India Travel Companions NeededStephanie Sheppard of Tucson, Arizona would

like traveling companions for her first trip to India,planned approximately for November of this year.She writes: "I am a young Baba-Iover...veryinexperienced in traveling, especially outside the

U.S. I am hoping that some of you may know ofothers going to India around that time[November] that I could get in touch with...Thankyou and Jai Baba." You can write Stephanie at1166 E. Ellis Street, Tucson, AZ 85719.

Mail Order Cassette LibraryIfyou would like a free information packet

containing a catalog of available talks write to:AMBC-CL, POB 3233, Redondo Beach, CA90277.

Northeast Gatheringfor Meher BabaFeaturing guests Charles Haynes, Kusum

Singh, and Peter Saul, this gathering will be heldAugust 25, 26, and 27 at Camp Lenox in theBerkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts.The program will include talks, panel discussions,entertainment and children's programs, films andslides, and an arts and crafts sale. Recreationalfacilities include swimming, canoeing, windsurfing,kayaking, hiking, tennis, baseball, volleyball,football, weight training, and Seven Tiles.

Adult registration for the gathering is $100;teenagers (13-17) are $75; and children 3 and upand $55. For"more information contact DonEucker at (201) 239-Q965, 131 Sunrise Terrace,Cedar Grove, NJ 07009.

Trust News continued from page 5

"The development of Meherabad wasthoroughly detailed by Meher Baba in 1959; nowit has become a place of pilgrimage in the eyes ofthe public and the scope of its facilities is wideningto encompass more and more of humanity, as wasHis wish.

"From the Trust Office comes a loving JAIBABA to each and all the lovers whoseremembrance of the Beloved helps fulfill Hiswishes for His Trust."

[End ofexcerpt. ]Trust donations may be sent to "Friends of the

Meher Baba Trust" c/o Karina Page, Trustwalla,4530 Starling Way, Los Angeles, CA 90065. Ifyou have any questions about the Trust, pleasecall Karina at (213) 225-3910. . Karina Page

Mehera

9

Mehera, by Mehera 1. Irani. Illustrated with 95photos in black & white and color, 320 pages, clothcover with jacket. Order from Beloved Books, c/oGlow Intemationa~Box 10, New York, NY 10185.Price: $40, which includespostage.

By Mehera J. Irani

An Excerpt From the New Book Mani. And yet again Baba's hand went into Hispocket, and out came a third one for Khorshed.

As we were holding these little, bald birds theystarted to cry. "They're hungry," Baba told us,''we'll feed them." We kneaded some chick peaflour with a little ghee and gave it to Baba. he wassitting down with the three parrots perched infront of Him, and they were crying and crying forfood. Then they opened their beaks very, verywide like open suitcases, and Baba put some foodin one baby's beak. The second one cried, "Metoo," and Baba fed that one, and then the thirdone. And by that time the first one was crying veryhard again; he wanted more. So Baba hurried tofeed him, and so it went on. They ate and theyate, until they just sat in front of Baba andgroaned.

Baba said, "Now they've eaten too much, andthey'll get upset tummies. We'll give them awalk."

So Baba set them down on the kitchen floor,and you cannot imagine how ugly they lookedwithout their feathers and covered with this awfulpink skin, and with big red beaks and scrawnynecks. "Now let's push them forward," Baba said,and He pushed them with one finger. Butbecause they had eaten so much, they did notwant to walk. But Baba told us, "No, we have tomake them walk." So we walked them all the wayto the far wall of the kitchen, then Baba turnedthem around and pushed them forward foranother walk. Two or three rounds of the kitchenlater Baba said, "Now they'll all right; put them inthe basket. They'll be fine." They were fine, andin the evening they were hungry again!

These parrots grew up to be very beautifulbirds, and Baba brought them a lovely large, brasscage... Later, when we began to travel, Baba gavethem to some Baba lovers to keep.

One day Baba came up a little earlier thanusual for His lunch. We rushed to quickly prepareHis tray and to be ready to wash His hands, butBaba instead put His hand in His pocket and toldme, "Take this!" I put out my hand, and Babaplaced a baby bird in it! "Oh," I said, "It's so ugly,Baba!" It was a green parrot, but it had not asingle feather, only this skinny, scrawny neck, anda big, red beak. And it looked very, very ugly.Baba replied, "But when its feathers grow it will bevery beautiful. Just wait, you'll see."

Then again Baba put His hand in His pocket,and He brought out another little bald bird for

Painting by Charles Mills ofMyrtle Beach, SouthCarolina. Reproductions ofCharles's paintings areon sale at the Center bookstore.

Avatar ofAge film frampage 4

raw footage into a smooth flowing documentarylove story.

This film was orignally shot with one 16MMhand-held camera. From the 25 minutes of silentfilm footage, a film of one hour and twentyminutes was created, complete with sound track,using optical techniques so precise and demandingthat it took seven years ofwork to develop the rawmaterial into a finished motion picture film.

Many techniques were utilized in creating amovie from the fragmented scenes taken by anamateur photographer so long ago. Each frameof the film had to be worked on and individuallycorrected. Every frame had to be re-centered tocorrect shakiness and shrinkage caused by thepassage of time. Heavy scratch marks wereremoved with light diffusion optics. Bothoverexposed and underexposed scenes were

, restored to make an acceptable or perfect image.

Special effects, techniques, optical work, andediting in many key scenes give the film theappearance of being filmed with three to six .cameras aimed from different vantage points.Adjustments of the film speed allow the viewer tofollow the subtleties of mood, action, andexpreSSion in each scene which would otherwise bemissed.

Finally, the film was given a musical score andnatural sound effects that tell the story of theDivine Romance that Meher Baba lived. All thefilm's words belong exclusively to Meher Baba.No interpretations are given. Meher Baba is seenas presenting himself the way he did in his life and the blending of music, film, and words revealsHim in His advent as never before.

[Ifyou would like to help with publicity for MeherBaba, Avatar of the Age, please contact AdeleWolkin at (213) 540-8404. Showtimes are as follows:Weekdays 5:45-7:30-9:15; Sat.& Sun. 2:15-4:00-5:457:30-9:15, August 18-22.J

A Song to the Beloved from His MeheraMehera J. Irani

Meher Baba, Lord and friendMy Beloved to the end.

You are my heart, my life, my soul.You are my all, my only goal.

Jai, jai, jai, Meher Baba, Lord and friend,My Beloved to the End.

Beloved, I am by Your light:Your love's sun makes my moon bright.


All day long for you I long,Sing your name and your love song.


Though my heart weeps all the whileFor your sake I wear a smile.

Jai, jai, jai, Meher Baba, Lord and friend,10 My Beloved to the End.

Your dear pleasure is my joy.Mine is not to question why.


You who play the Perfect Game,Shape my heart into Your name.


Make me, Lord, Your song of praise.Fill all hearts with Your dear grace.


Meher Baba, Lord and friend,My Beloved to the End.

[Along with these words Mellera composed musicfor this song. You can find it recorded on theallium "In His Love".J

Biography of Mehera from page 2South Carolina to Meher Mount in Ojai,California, they met with an auto accident inPrague, Oklahoma in which Baba and Meherawere seriously hurl. Baba later explained that,through her injuries, He had given Mehera a lilliebit of His suffering to share. Previous to thisaccident Mehera had been carefully secluded fromanything mundane or relating 10 the physical body.

In the course of being treated for her injuries,Mehera was touched by Dr. Burleson, theallending physician in Prague. This was the firsttime in many years she had been touched by anyman besides Baba. After this time she slowlybegan having more contact with the world.During the next 15 years she and several others ofthe women mandali travelled with Baba, primarilyin India. They began having much closer contactwith the western women mandali, attended manyof Baba's Darshans, and wrote manycommuniques to lovers all over the world toinform them of Baba's activities.

Mehera could not remember the 1952accident after it happened, and Baba instructedthose around her never to mention it to her.

When Meher Baba dropped His body in 1969it was as if Mehera's world had collapsed. Shesuffered beyond human comprehension andyearned day and night for her Beloved. For thelast twenty years she rose above her own personallonging, greeting all the lovers coming 10 visit theirBeloved's Home in the East, year after year. Shelived and served until the very day that he calledher back to Him.

When Adi K. Irani was in San Francisco in1979 Murshida Duce asked him about Meheraand her role in Baba's work. He replied: ''It is verydifficult for me to answer, because certainquestions are to be answered by Baba alone.Opinions are our own conjecture, and anybodywho has seen Baba and who has seen Mehera -who has read about Baba and who has read aboutMehera -- can themselves try to understand therelationship between Mehera and Baba. As forme, I feel that with Baba as God, Mehera reallyrepresented for Baba the whole Creation.

I remember that Baba once made a remark, 'Ilove Mehera for my sake, but I love you all for

your sake.' What does it mean? Would you try tounderstand this? His saying 'I love Mehera for mysake' means 'I am God, and I love the entireCreation because 1have work 10 do with thatCreation,' and '1 love you for your sake' means'for your benefit 1 love you, to redeem you fromillusion.'

"One day 1was really astounded to hear Babasay, 'Do you know that 1love Mehera the best?''Yes, Baba.' 'But do you mean to say that I amgoing to give her God-Realization?'

"It is very astounding. Does Baba need GodRealization? He has God-Realization already, soif Mehera is a part and parcel of Baba, naturallyshe is there with him. You can interpret this anyway you like, because except in a very few casesBaba never bothered to give any comments orinterpretations of his messages and declarations,unless he was very pointedly asked and he was in amood to give il."

One day when the blind chiropractor, Dr.Harry Kenmore, was with Baba, Baba said: "HarryKenmore has a very good heart. He is 100percent for Baba, and is the only man to whomMehera was permitted to speak, for five minutes.I have not permitted Mehera to speak to anyman." Baba then asked, "Harry, what did you feelabout Mehera?" Harry replied: "Mehera radiateslove and purity. I felt she was the femininecounterpart of Baba." Baba turned and gave hima kiss.

A tremendous feeling of love which flows fromMehera to the hearts of all those who met her, canbe described in 'Mani's words, "I never understoodthe word 'holy' ,until I met Mehera. There is adepth in her eyes. She sees one thing: Baba."

In the forthcoming biography of Mehera byNaosherwan Anzar, Mani states in the forward:"As Sita was for Ram, Radha for Krishna and

_ Mary for Jesus, for this advent of Meher Baba, it. is Mehera who plays the leading role. This role of• being the chosen counterpart to the God-Man

amounts to the highest, purest, most spiritualrelationship, consisting of Divine Love which theworld cannot imagine."

Baba said, "She is my very breath withoutwhich I cannot live. Mehera loves me as I shouldbe loved."



.-------~ehera----------,by Teri Adams

Mehera -- Our Beloved's Beloved.Mehera -- the lovely Rose of Baba's heart,Pierced by Her perfect love for Him.He has come to pluck this most precious RoseAnd remove its thorns of separation,Drying each tear of longing with its petals.He has arrived on His white stallion,His arms open for her;As they at last embraceThe universe sings the song of Mehera's joy.

In every soul there is a measure of sweet Mehera,A yearning for completeness,A lovely Rose longing to bloomForever in our Beloved's Heart garden.

Thank you, sweet and gentle Mehera.

Non-Profit Organization

U.S.Postage

PAl DRedondo Beach, CA

Permit No.196


....-~

.+..[]] 01 ~','.... v~

~veStreet,Cam(EosLJTHE AVATAR MEHER BABA CENTER OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

NEWSLETTER & CALENDAR FOR FALL 1989

On The Subject of Fault Finding, Backbiting,and "Telling It As It Is"

by AdeLe WoLkin

Meher Baba has said that "Words thatproceed from the Source of Truth have realmeaning. But when men speak these words astheir own, the words become meaningless."l Thewords, the teaching, the awakening we need aboveall to reap from the universal harvest of Hiswisdom pertains to How To Love Him. TheProtector of All, Meher Baba, dispenses the oneand only panacea that can remedy the humanpredicament that erects obstacles to love. Lovefor God is the only remedy and He has shown usand told us in infinite ways how to love Him. Whymust tbere be a "human predicament" - and why isit so persistent when the Protector of all hasprovided us with all the antidotes, remedies, andstrategies to overcome it?

The Avatar's work and teaching has alwaysbeen to awaken us to our birthright which Hedescribed as a state of joy and fulfillment. Yet,there are hurdles that prevent the soul in humanform from realizing its birthright. "The expressionof the divine life... is distorted by the sanskaras,which weld consciousness instead to the...falsephenomenal." Love is the only remedy...andGrace alone leads to this Love.

Our Object is to love God more and more andstill yet more; then how do we act? The

Compassionate Awakener has given us the"Dissertation on Love,,2 as a guide: "To give andnever to ask." "Wishing well for others at tbe costof one's self." "Never backbiting." "Tolerancesupreme." "Trying not worry." "Thinking more ofthe good points in others and less of their badpoints."

F.H. Dadachanji included in his "Notes FromMy Diary,,3, in 1939, a most outstanding quotefrom a discourse that Baba was giving thatdescribed tbe enemies to grace and love:

"Of the three most important things to beeliminated before attaining God realization: greed,lust, andninda, the last, meaning 'backbiting', istbe worst and most disastrous. One can overcomegreed, or even lust, thougb both of these are veryhard to get over; but the worst and the mostdifficult of all to eliminate is this habit of ninda.Speaking ill and trying to find faults or flaws ofothers, because this particular act or vice incursthe burden of sins, or what are technically termedsanskaras of others, which are spiritually very

1 Everything and the Nothing, g.1132 The Path ofLove, discourses by Meher Babacompiled by Filis Frederick, p.98.3 Meher Baba JournaL, Vol.1, February, 1939, p.93.

2

derogatory and reactionary.""The habit of criticizing our fellow-beings is a

bad one. At the back of it often lies selfrighteousness, conceit, and a false sense ofsuperiority. Sometimes it indicates envy or adesire for retaliation. Those who criticize shouldfirst look to themselves. They will find greaterfaults within themselves than in others."'!

"You can counteract a disease only by itsantidote. Love is the antidote to hatred. Whenyou feel like hating a man try to remind yourselfthat he is a form of your own Self."

"For real spiritual service the disciple has to beprepared for all eventualities... When met withaggression he should be like the football that iskicked, for the very kicking raises it aloft andpropels it onward till the goal is reached... Truehumility is strength, not weakness. It disarmsantagonism and ultimately conquers it."S

"To love God in the most practical way is tolove our fellow beings If we feel for others in thesame way as we feel for our own dear ones we loveGod." "If instead of seeing faults in others

6we

look within ourselves, we are loving God.""Neither despise any being, nor look withcontempt on others; but attempt, if you can, togive all a helping hand; for Oneness is the secret,and the journey is towards the same goaL"

Sincere self-examination is integral to honesty."God is infinite honesty. To love God you must behonest. When hypocrisy comes into play it worksmuch greater havoc within one's own psyche thanin the outer sphere. The perceptible damage inthe outer sphere is great, but the unperceiveddamage in the spiritual realm is stupendous."

In further review of some of the things MeherBaba said about backbiting, Kitty Davy quoteshim as follows in Love Alone Prevails: "Don'tcriticize. The habit of criticizing our fellow-beingis a bad one. At the back of it often lies selfrighteousness, conceit, a false sense of superiority.Sometimes it indicates envy or a desire forretaliation"? In the Prayer ofRepentance, Babacautions us in many ways against backbiting: "Werepent, 0 God most merciful, for all our sins... forevery thought that was false, or unjust, orunclean..Jor every word spoken that ought not tohave been spoken..Jor all slander and

backbiting..Jor every action tbat has brought ruinto others... for every word and deed that has givenothers pain, and for every wish that pain shouldbefall others."

And yet, in the same section ofLove AlonePrevails referred to above, Kitty provides thefollowing account of a meeting among theWestern women at Baba's Nasik ashram: "Norinabrought up the question of food--how to cater toall and still be economical. Baba Himself took upthe subject, and each was asked to give his or her


4 From Love Alone Prevails, by Kitty Davy.5 Gleaned from various writings of Meher Baba.6 From "How to Love God" by Meher Baba.7 Love Alone Prevails, p. 164.

Kitty's 98th Birthday Celebrationby Adele Wolkin and MOlY Lloyd Dugan

Kitty was born August 28, 1891 in Englandand has served her Creator from her first meetingwith Him, in 1931. Aside from Birthdaycelebrations for Baba or Mehera, I have neverexperienced a birthday as splendid and colorful.The main program coordinators were DennisMcCabe, Mary Lloyd Dugan, and Lois Breger,They were successful in weaving enormous talentmost harmoniously into presentations of songs,slides, skits, readings, and film. Mary Lloydprovides the following description of the event:

"While Kitty kept wondering, 'Why all thefuss?', we pressed on with our surprise plans.Three days of celebration marked her 98thbirthday. From children's skits to comedyroutines, from puppets to poetry to song and




(213) 474-9454

This newsletter is designed to keep the Southern CaliforniaMeher Baba community and friends abreast of Centeractivities, and to provide a forum for contempory accountsof life with Meher Baba as Guide.

Editors: Greg and Gay DunnCommit/ee Reporter: Diana GoodheartProgram Chairperson: John StoutContributors: Mary Lloyd Dugan, Larry Fletcher, DinaFranklin, David McNeely, Danny Maguire (for babysitting!),Lynne Maguire, Andy Muir, Karina Page, Christina Riley,John Stout, Adele Wolkin, Linda Zavala.Mailing: Pris Haffenden

Please und aU newsktler material to:Greg and Gay Dunn

2616 Vargas WayRedondo Beach, CA 90267

(213) 371-6321

Pkau send address changes/subscription requests to:Pris Haffenden

3616-1/2 S. Centinela AvenueLos Angeles, CA 90066

(213) 390-2779


All contents copyright @ 1989 by the Avatar Meher BabaCenter of Southern California, except where noted.

dance, a good time was had by all!"The Saturday night festivities were poignantly

framed by Friday and Sunday's showing of a twohour interview with Kitty, taped several years ago.In it, Kitty recounts her first meeting with Baba,her early years with Him, and the stages on thepath of her close discipleship. The video materialalone provided enough for a rich storytellingfestival!

'''Love Alone Prevails', the Saturday surpriseprogram, focussed on Kitty's life with the Masterand stressed her example of love and service. Thistheme was introduced with a slide presentationand went on to include songs, stories, readings,and films. The mood was humorous one moment,devotional the next. Rainbow streamers andbouquets of roses turned the meeting place into asea of color.

"Sunday's activities began with an eveningcommunity picnic on the Center, climaxing in amusical round of 'Happy Birthday!' as a gigantic,multi-tiered cake was paraded out to Kitty. Thenthe crowd Slipped back into the meeting place fora children's program of skits and music and a playperformed by children decked out in magicrainbow capes. When the play was finished, thechildren proudly stood in line to recieve littlebirthday presents from Kitty. Then all weretreated to Part II of the video.

"Best of all, the overall feeling of love, warmth,and good will -- toward Kitty and toward everyonepresent -- was yet another experience of theBeloved's bounty and His gifts as he draws uscloser to Him (and to our own Real Birthday!)"

Kitty looked more radiant and lovable thanthe bevy of multi-colored roses that surroundedher. Love Alone Did Prevail both in Kitty and thecelebrants.

Contributions Soughtfor the Lamp Post!Please share your artwork, poetry, letters,

articles, and ideas with us. Sel)d to Greg and GayDunn, 2616 Vargas Way, Redondo Beach, CA90278, or call us at (213) 371-6321. Deadline forWinter 90 issue: December 1. 3

Poems By Andy MuirHermitage Cabin, Meher Spiritual Center

Myrtle Beach, South CarolinaMay 1988

WHERE? OR, WHEN?

Where shall the arrow of this life fall?What land alien to the present will the shaft bury deeply and sprout again?Which man and woman will join? Will I know where I have come?In tropic or what climate shall I play? What length of night or day?How shall I find your daaman? In what tongue shall I cry to you?Will I be woman? Man? Will I live in wealth or starve with flies?Drunk in alley lay? Gracefully ballet? Plant rice or follow plow?Be tycoon? Poet seeking rhyme for Moon or June?Teacher, nurse or other sort of saint? Artist with brush and paint?Will I know again and love again those I've loved the most?Breakfast on cheese and olives, berries from the vine --Cavier and wine, or eggs and toast?Will I live at sea? Be PHd? Pick tea? Eat fast food or fast?Be murderer or thief? With scalpal give relief? A life of joy or grief?How shall I know where to go? Or whom to be?

No choice but leave it all to Thee.You have brought me to your homes East and West where all are blessed.We were face to face in the Barn and you declared our love.Looking in your eyes -- Paradise.I cannot but wonder how another life could be -- as sweet as this to me.You said that Somewhere, Somehow, Sometime -- so I wait...Baba, Dear Beloved, I stand at the locked gate.You hold the Key. I don't care where or who I might be.Early or late, luck or fate.Place the arrow when you will and with your perfect aim and skillSend this soul beneath your feet.If this may be your gift of Grace to me -- or not. I am in your net caught.

I'll happy be and worry not.

4

MEHERBABAThe Movie

(An Impression)

..

by Christina M RileyI was rushing through traffic to the Nuart

theater on Friday, August 18. It was beginning toget dark; the moon was bright and clear andseemed huge even though it was a day from beingfull. Tonite was the opening night of Irwin Luck'sfilm, MEHER BABA - Avatar of the Age. Someof the people who had worked to promote the filmwould be there already. I had been feelingstressed out and frustrated by some of the eventsleading up to this day. One night, weeks prior,sitting at my computer composing a release at2:00a.m, I wondered "How did I get so involved inthis whole thing? Why am I putting myselfthrough what some might even consider selfabuse?" And then, very clearly and succinctly Iheard myself silently answer, "I am doing this forMeher Baba." Simple. But it hadn't been thatmuch a straight matter of fact before thatmoment. And now it was exciting to experiencethe fruit of the efforts, all our efforts, and finallysee the film shown publicly. It was a very specialnight. I flashed that just the day before had beenthe full eclipse of the moon. (Linda Zavala wouldknow what this meant.)

Not surprisingly, there were no long lines atthe ticket booth. The local critics had been harshregarding the film's entertaiment value, butacknowledged it as "highly devotional". Thedramatic question posed in the movie's flyer, "IfGod were to appear yet once again in humanform, What would He say? What would He do?"was provocative enough to elicit an expectedcritical challenge. It was initially disturbing to readone reviewer's response: "Would He have made afilm like this?" But when I got into the theater andheard the trailer right before Irwin's film ask thequestion, "What is HEAVY PETTING?", itoccurred to me that Baba was taking this wholebusiness very lightheartedly.

Attendance started out light and grew with thefilm's run. It was a diverse crowd -- the curious,seekers. I was surprised to see how many who

came had heard about Meher Baba at some timein the past. Some lovers who don't come tomeetings turned up. People had a chance torenew acquaintances and discover who else knowsof Meher Baba. Watching and listening to thegathering in the Nuart lobby between shows onSaturday night, the animated discussions betweenthose new and curious and those older lovers, itseemed more like a gallery opening or a booksigning.

Saturday night was the most highly attendedby the Baba community, with each night afterbringing greater and greater numbers of peoplefrom the general public. The last day, Tuesday,saw 150 people apparently drawn by word-ofmouth in spite of the reviews.

People had very extreme reactions to themovie. When asked, some were confused; somewalked out before the film was over. Some people


Letter from Meheru..."Thankfully Baba keeps us busy in so many

different ways, and talking and thinking of Himand Mehera our days are full. The Pilgrim seasonsince July 1 has opened in a big way with a largeinflux of both Western and Eastern Baba lovers.

...In this New Phase of our life with Baba maywe love and remember Him more and in His dearMehera's footsteps play the role He asks of us.Much love to you...

Nargis Rejoins BabaNargis Dadachanji passed away into Beloved

Baba's embrace on August 31 iJI Meherabad.Nargis, who for many years housed pilgrims in herBombay home, was the sister of mandali memberArnavaz Dadachanji. 5

6

AMBCSC Bulletin Board

Painting by Jurgis Sapkis. Done especially for the1989 Sahavas in lovely Saba colors, the painting iscurrently on display in the Center, and is for sale.

New Look allhe Center. Our hearty thanks toMark who painted the Center downstairs and toChris for providing the paint. The same to NancyMerwan, our new Decorating Chairperson, for hervery lovely work coordinating the Center'sredecoration, which we all now enjoy. Ifyou haveideas or donations relating to decorating pleasecall Nancy at (213) 650-5481. Finally, thanks toJurgis Sapkus for loaning his beautiful largepainting of Baba (above) to hang in the Center.

CongralulaJions to Joy Miller of Myrtle Beachon winning the Sahavas Fly-to-India sweepstakes.Jan Soto of Westlake Village took second place,

winning a copy of MeherBaba Manifesting.Elizabeth Heaney of Tucson had her ticket drawnthird and received a rosewood-framed photo ofBaba and Mehera. As a fundraiser for the Center,this sweepstakes was our most successful ever.We all win!

Audio Casselle Library. The Center AudioCassette Library has several new titles which mayinterest you; "Piercing the Veil" (Jane Haynes),"How I Came to Baba" (Ann Conlon), and"Spirituality and Intuition" (Filis Frederick) arementioned here to encourage you to look throughthe updated catalog. Librarian Marc Brutusreminds us that cassettes can be borrowed for 50cents each. For a free catalog of available talkswrite to: AMBC-CL, POB 3233, Redondo Beach,CA90277.

Serving Baba by Serving Others. A particularthank you is due Dina Franklin for herindefatigable work with the bookstore, and inmany other capacities related to the Center.Dina's traveling to Australia in September, whereamong her objectives are video projects portrayingAvatar's Abode.

Ongoing opportunities naturally exist to helpthose in our own community who suffermisfortunes and ill health. Many people haverecently joined to reach out to those particularly inneed. We are all grateful and appreciative.

At this time Richard Nimmler has heavymedical expenses, and the prospect of more. Tohelp defray these, Richard's large painting of Bababy Lyn Ott is being raffled. Tickets are $50.Contact Linda zavala (818) 795-8322 for details.

Sahavas Committee. The 1990 Sahavas will beheld from June 30 to July 4th. BRADKALCHURI has already made plans tocome...have you? Other guests are still beingselected and invited by the Sahavas Committee. Ifyou would like to participate in this process yourinput is welcome! Also, remember that manycontributions can be made by people living out oftown; for example, last year the Fresno Groupdesigned and made the wonderful name tags bywhich we all got to know one another.

Ifyou feel you don't have the time toparticipate throughout the year but would still liketo serve, there are some committees which require

work only during the Sahavas. Ifyou have theinclination to join our Sahavas effort this year,please don't hesitate to write the SahavasCommittee, c/o the Avatar Meher Baba Center ofSouthern California, or call David McNeely - 213258-9887 for further information.

Membership Gentle Reminder: October isthe month for our annual membership mailing.Southern California Baba lovers, please returnyour membership cards promptly after themailing. This helps us maintain our non-profitstatus. Thanks.

At the BookstoreMehera. More Good News From The

Bookstore: Mehera Arrives! For months now Ihave been besieged with enquiries "when are yougetting the Mehera book?" I'm very happy to say Ihave recently received 100 copies from thepublisher. n has been a long labor of love forNaosherwan Anzar since his first interview withMehera in 1%9. In 1986 he started in earnestcollecting all her talks with many people over agreat period of time. These were then lovinglycompiled & edited by Janet Judson, (anAustralian who has lived in Meherabad for over15 years) with the assistance of Shelley Marrich.

The entire book is written in the first person,actually making it the autobiography of the mostimportant woman in the world... the Most Belovedof our Beloved. As Baba said, "Only Meheraloves me as I should be loved.... she is my verybreath." Her words are a wonderful example forus as to how, so single-mindedly, to love God. Weread how, from her teen years on, her pure focuswas entirely on Baba.

n is truly an amazing story, & one that shouldbe read by every Baba lover throughout the world!The book contains 95 photos, 17 of them in color,many of them previously unpublished. Thephotos that show Baba & Mehera together,illustrate more clearly than words could ever say,the Love Divine between them. Mehera herselfsupplied the captions for all the photos. The colorphoto on the book jacket radiates such purebeauty & love, I can see it being framed & placednext to a favorite picture of Baba. This book will

make a treasured addition to your own collection,but what a wonderful gift to give a loved one.Cost is $40 (including shipping)

Extra Copies of the Glow. Fo{ those of youwho don't subscribe to the Glow ,I have anumber of copies of the May issue which isdevoted to Mehera. It has many beautiful photosof her, plus an excerpt from the above mentionedbook, and is available for $5.50 plus $1 postage.Also just in is an exquisite water color ofthe Samadhi by Maude Kennedy. It is abeautifully printed 5 X 7 foldover card (no insidewriting), with an envelope. Wonderful to send tothat special friend, but absolutely beautiful mattedand framed on your wall. $2.25 each or 6 for$12.50.

Lord Meher. At press time we are expectingVolume IV ofLord Meher, the incredible .biography of our Beloved, by Bhau Kalchuri. Ithas 386 pages, and 100 photographs of Baba andHis mandali in India, England, and America. Thisvolume includes Meher Baba's extensive travelsthroughout northern and southern India, twojourneys to Kashmir (where Baba tells us Jesus isburied!) two journeys to Persia, the first trip toEurope and America and his four meetings withMahatma Gandhi. $40.

T-Shins. Last but not least, notice thebeautiful new T shirts we now carry. As not allcolors are in all sizes, please, with mail orders, givea second and third choice for color. TheBookstore is very happy to handle orders fromanywhere in the Baba world. See you...At theBookstore! - Dina Franklin

1 The Glow International is a quarterlymagazine, compiled, edited and published byNaosherwan Anzar (at Baba's explicitinstructions!) It features current happenings inthe Baba world, stories from the Mandali of theirdays with Baba, and sometimes it will even have apreviously unpublished discourse of Baba's! Youwill also find reproductions of the latest worksfrom our Baba artists. Mr. Anzar uses many ofCharlie Mills' and Lyn Ott's p~intingson thecover, all of which are very frameable! Tosubscribe, send $22 to Glow International, c/o TheMeher Baba Work, P.O. Box 10, New York N.Y. 7

315 ® T • (1 {t 315 ® T ICalendar I. (1 {t 315 ® T • (1 {t

AIl events, unless otherwise noted, are atthe Center, 10808 Santa Monica Boulevard,Los Angeles, (213)474-9454. Ifyou haveideas or requests for future programs, pleasecontact John Stout at (213) 454-2447.

Please note: AIl are invited to share atthe Saturday night meetings. Ifyou havemusic or other art to present, or ideas toshare, please contact the coordinator listedfor each meeting. Your participation isdesired!

OCTOBER EVENTS

October 7, Saturday, 6pm. FARSILANGUAGE MEETING. Study of MeherBaba's Discourses, in Farsi. Prayers and artiat the end of the meeting. AIl are welcome!Coordinated by Dr. Mahmoud Ajang.

October 7" Saturday, 8pm. GUESTSPEAKER VESTA CLINTON will share herexperience in India last May duringMehera's passing. Meher Baba had said, "Intrifles take no risk; in business take a fewrisks; and in spirituality take every risk."After tonight, this may have greatermeaning for all of us. Coordinated by PattiStout.

October 14, Saturday, 8pm. INMEMORY OFADIX.IRANI. Stories,highlights, and discussion lead by Steve,Lynn, and Virginia. Adi was a close mandalifor over six decades, and personal secretaryto Meher Baba.

October 21, Saturday, 6pm. FARSILANGUAGE MEETING. Study of MeherBaba's Discourses, in Farsi. Prayers and artiat the end of the meeting. AIl are welcome!Coordinated by Dr. Mahmoud Ajang.

October 21, Saturday, 8pm. GUTTANIGHT. Baba lovers in love with God. TheDivine Romance, we all experience this inour own way; come and share in Baba's

8 Divine Game. Coordinated by Fred Stankus.

October 28, Saturday, 8pm. PUBLICMEETING AND MOVIE NIGHT. Tonightwe have a special slide presentation: "TheAncient One", created by Cheryl Dreyfussand Michael LePage. The story of Baba'slife is beautifully described through slides,music, and narration. This has been seen inMandali Hall, Australia, and The Palace ofFine Arts in San Francisco, to name a few.Excellent for those new to Baba. Discussionand more movies follow. Coordinated byJohn Stout.

NOVEMBER EVENTSNovember 4, Saturday, 6pm. FARSILANGUAGE MEETING. Study of MeherBaba's Discourses, in Farsi. Prayers and artiat the end of the meeting. AIl are welcome!Coordinated by Dr. Mahmoud Ajang.

November 4, Saturday, 8pm. EVENINGBECOMES ECLECTIC. Karen Drygas willbe your D.J. to God. Bring your favoritecassette tape, CD, or record with thatspecial tune that brings Baba to your mindand heart. AIl kinds of music welcome.Coordinated by Karen Drygas.

November 11, Saturday, 6-7pm. HELPPLAN NEXT QUARTER'S MEETINGS!Have you any creative ideas to share? Meetat the Center to plan next quarter's Saturdaynight meetings. Questions? Contact JohnStout.

November 11, Saturday, 8pm.DIMENSIONS OF THE WORD: POETRY &BABA. Poetry inspired by Baba and poetrythat inspires you to think of Baba. SonglyriCS, flights of inspiration, expressions ofthe heart. Please bring your favorite Babawords. Coordinated by Regi Sadono.

November 18, Saturday, 6pm. FARSILANGUAGE MEETING. Study of MeherBaba's Discourses, in Farsi. Prayers and artiat the end of the meeting. AIl are welcome!Coordinated by Dr. Mahmoud Ajang.

10

Wear ourMaster'sHand uponyour Heart.

~

~"Rainbow Baba" Handpainted in amultitude of. gorgeous colors byBob Fredericks of Chicago. Thisone on black, but also availablewhite. (machine washable gentlecycle) M L & XL $18

T-SHIRTS AVAILABLE

These two are Baba's signatures:

....This one is available in French cut

& regular, S & M only $8.Dusty Rose Pink gray & black.

Written in a rainbow of colors, the shirt iswhite, gray & dark blue, S M L & XL $10.

~

AT THE BOOKSTORE

The top 3 are Hanes BeefyT's, 100% cotton, availablein M, L,& XL $11.White, Peach, Butter,Watermelon, Gray, Green,Blue. & Black.

•

This appears as a 4"x7" insignia over the leftbreast. S M L & XL $9. White, green, cream,dark & light blue.

Pleasealways state

2nd & 3rdcolor choice.

You can purchase these T-shirts at the Bookstore before and after Saturday night meetings, or orderby mail: AMBCSC.10808SantaMonicaBoulevard.LosAngeles.CA 90025.

11

Avatar Meher Baba TrustReprinted with permission from Is That So?,edited by William LePage

It was early in the morning, before the darshanprogram began for the day, and Baba wanted abath. I looked everywhere but I couldn't find a bigvessel for heating the water in. I also couldn't findany kindling to make a fire. There was nothing inor around the house. Baba was waiting and I wasbecoming desperate, how could I arrange forBaba's bath? Just at that moment, as I was tryingto warm the water, I saw someone approachingfrom a distance. It was a man with a big brass poton his head. It turned out that the man was oneof the local Baba lovers. I asked him what hewanted and he explained that he had broughtsome hot water for Baba in case he wanted tobathe. I was wonderstruck at how timely thisman's intervention was--Baba had just expressedthe wish to have a bath and within minutes thisman appeared with a large pot of hot water on hishead. Not only that, but I learned later, he hadcome from quite a distance carrying the water.No one had told him to bring the water, he hadjust felt prompted to do it. I thanked the man

Announcementsfrom the Trust.Meherazad Mandali Needs -- Goher responds

in a letter dated August 5, 1989 to receiving someDispensary supplies that the L.A. group sent:

"Dear Adele - We received the supplies whichyou and the L.A. group so lovingly sent and I sendmy appreciation to every one who made this giftpossible. We are grateful to all who feel soinclined to help tbe poor here, for every gift goes along way to help the people who come to thisdispensary for medical care."

..."What we do need are aspirin, tylenol,multivitamins, calcium with magnesium, strong Bcomplex and vitamin C. Other than that we canalways use antibiotics, both adult and pediatric.Our pediatric are a bit low..." "My loving thanks toyou Adele for organizing these supplies. Weappreciate all your dear efforts."

12 Questions regarding coordinating or sending

sincerely, as you can imagine, since this hot waterhad come just at the right moment and I sent himhome and then immediately took the hot water into Baba so he could have his bath. At the time Iwas deeply impressed that the man had broughthot water at precisely the moment Baba wanted it,but I thanked the man and forgot all about it.Years later, when the Avatar Meher Baba TrustDeed was being drawn up, Baba named thevarious beneficiaries of the Trust. Most of thesepeople were well known to us. They were thosewho had surrendered their all 10 Baba and, beingperfect in every detail, Baba was now seeing totheir needs in the event that he dropped his body.As I said, we were familiar with all of thebeneficiaries, but suddenly Baba added a namethat surprised us. It was the name of this poorman from Andhra who had brought the hot waterso many years before. He was one of only twoBaba lovers from all of Andhra to be named asbeneficiaries. See how the Lord is. I had thankedthe man and forgotten all about him. Man thanksand forgets. The Lord does not always thank, butremembers.

of supplies may be sent to Adele Wolkin c/oAMBC-SC.

Photographs or slides taken prior to October,1971 showing the wall paintings inside Baba'sTomb are requested by the Avatar Meher BabaTrust in India for their records. Materials shouldbe sent to Pat Sumner, c/o Avatar Meher BabaTrust, Post Bag 3, King's Road, Ahmednagar(M.S.), India 414 001, or to Sheila Krynski, c/oSheriar Press, 3005 Highway 17 N. Bypass, MyrtleBeach, SC 29577.

Mani's recent letter about Mehera has beenprinted by Sheriar Press as a 20-page booklet.Free copies are available from Friends of theAvatar Meher Baba Trust, P.O. Box 11356,Washington, D.C. 20008.

For information or donations to the Trust,please write to "Friends of the Meher Baba Trust"c/o Karina Page, 4530 Starling Way, Los Angeles,CA90065

Poems By Andy Muir (cont.)

JAIBABA

When done with love He does it --when done with greed the world does it.

Ego beckons, come this way! -- the highway becomes a road.Anger says, strike back! -- the road becomes a path.Lust sings! -- the path becomes a jungle of thorns.Love takes our hand leading to the Rose Garden!Where the Gardener serves the sweet wine of forgiveness,

heals the thorn-wounds giving the awake-sleep of Grace.No longer hooked by the barbed lures of I-me-mine

but a sweet surrender in the soft net of the Fishermanin the Ocean of Love.

The flies of fear and falsehood no longer concealthe barbed hook of desire.

The worm of wanting is a martyr sacrificed in vain.Then by His will, the Seven Torrents are overcome

and the Final Chasm is crossed.The Pool of Beyond-the-Beyond is Eternal Bliss.

Jai Avatar Meher Baba. Ki Jai!!!

CONFUSIONISM

A child wants to be adult, the elderly dream of youth.The curious join a worthless cult.Ice melts to chill the warm verouth.

A squirrel searches in the tree,for nuts fallen to the ground.

The gambler risks his all.The short want to be tall.

Musicians play with sound.Land may turn to desert sand.

Rain falls on the lake.Snow softly finds the glacier, flake by flake.

The ostrich runs but cannot fly.The weary sick prays to die.

A lake of fire becomes a rose garden.The hanging judge gives pardon.

We fail to understand but trying is such fun.Illusion's path toward the Ancient One.

Telling It As It Is from page 2

opinion on the subject of food and menus. Onceand for all Baba wanted these points clear. Hesaid: 'You all have promised to try your best todie, so let us begin with food. Let us have nomore clashes. Let Norina go on giving the same asbefore. As all say, you, Norina, managewonderfully well but what you lack is gentleness.You are much too blunt. And for the role ofMother you ought to be more gentle. Be onewithout duality. Be gentle and listen to allsuggestions. !fyou can fall in with them, good, ifnot, kiss and say no, gently. This is tact. It hurts ifyou are too frank sometimes. And this I do notwant. So all begin to try now, or seriously I will tellyou all to go. Real harmony, love and peace--notforced. Don't keep the door closed [pointing tothe heart]. Keep it open so that when I want I canenter. Every time I intend enteringI find a closeddoor--all because of useless wants.'''

From the above account it is clear thatNorina's fellow ashramites were speaking veryfrankly about aspects of her personality which theyfound lacking -- they were "telling it as it is". Tosay that they were criticizing her would fall withinthe accepted use of the word. Yet this meeting

was instigated and orchestrated by Baba, who inthe same meeting gave the previously quotedinstructions "Don't criticize."

What then, is the course we should follow? Ithink from this example, and from the story of thediscussion at the Nasik ashram, and by our"common sense" and intuition we may infer thenthat sometimes it is necessary to relate certainfacts about another person, which may be criticalin nature, either for the good of others, or fortheir own good. When doing so, we must,however, examine our own motivations verycarefully, to make sure that our remarks or actionsdo not spring from "self-righteousness, conceit, afalse sense of superiority...envy, or a desire forretaliation." There must be no wish that painshould befall the object of our criticism, and everywish not to bring pain to that person, insofar as itcan be avoided.

Baba, also warned during the same discussionat Nasik: "Do not get angry, but be pleased withhe who backbites you, for he thereby rendersservice to you by diminishing the load of yoursanskaras; and also pity him for thereby he makes

continued on last page

8 Love Alone Prevails, p. 163.

Meher Baba with disciples, including Kitty and Norina, near Bangalore, 1940.

Meher Baba, the Movie from page 5

were fascinated and many were deeply moved,with tears in their eyes. Some said they wouldhave liked to have heard stories about howdifferent individuals came to Baba. Still others feltit was simply a documentary that didn't adequatelydescribe its subject. Others commented that itwas "wonderful", "overwhelming", "a masterpiece,beautiful." "It feels so wonderful to see such a full,complete face." One person even said he wasgoing to use Baba's image for meditations. Mostsaid they wished there was an introduction to thefilm.

After each screening, many from the audiencewere prompted to ask about Baba's life and work.Some were baffled by the concept of 'masts',others still had only a vague idea of who MeherBaba is and wanted to know more. I rememberedwhat Fred Stankus repeated: We are all vesselsneeding filling -- each to their capacity and in theirtime.

Sales of the movie book and tape were brisk.The table, which also held information about theBaba Center, was (wo)manned by theindefatiguable Dina Franklin and the inspiringFred S. Deborah Ash (Campagna) toiled,scheduling a veritable batallion of ushers whoworked diligently handing out programs andanswering questions after each show. Eachperson, in their way, communicated their feelingsfor Meher Baba.

Around Sunday night I decided to see the filmmyself. Having seen it a few times before in smallmeeting rooms, I was looking forward to it in areal theater. I'd had mixed feelings about themovie, but the importance of Baba's work -- givingof himself to the lowest and the highest -- wasclear to me. Baba's love and his total generosityhad always come through in the film. As it turnedout, seeing it there enabled me to compare it withother commercial films I've loved and loathed,and to realize why I felt the way I did about thisone. But I was still struck by the fact that MeherBaba's face and words were on the big screen,playing for general audiences, in the commercialfilm capitol of the world!

Sitting in the theater, the largeness of Baba's

image and the impact of the words and soundtrack grabbed all my senses. His face wasluminous in the dark. It was so familiar to me; Ifeel more comfortable looking at him than myown reflection. After sitting and watching for justa couple of minutes, the focus of my mind gentlyand naturally moved to thoughts of Baba's life, hiswords and his message. Without my even trying, Ifelt my heart open, my frustrations and stress meltaway. I wasn't worrying; it had all been for this.My heart, my mind, my senses were loving him. Iwas becoming immersed in Meher Baba and it'swhere I wanted to be..

Afterwards, I realized it was a testament to thegreatness of Baba's words and presence that thisfilm moves and touches the heart in spite of afailure of direction. Every phrase, every sentencewas (is) potent and profound -- words from theSource.

As I left the theater that night I thought thisfilm was a great gift from Baba, in so many ways. Ilooked at the marquee. What a gift to those who

I would like to thank everyone in thesouthern California Baba communitywho participated in promoting andpublicizing the film, MEHER BABA Avatar of the Age, for their help andsupport.

I appreciate all the work, love andeffort that has gone into getting theword out so that people can come to seeMEHER BABA on the big screen andhear his words in the sound track -spreading the word that God has comeas Meher Baba. I feel the mostimportant thing that all of us are doing isin spreading Meher Baba's message oflove and truth.

Through this film, your effortsalready have and will continue to touchso many people's hearts who have cometo know of Meher Baba for the firsttime.

-Irwin Luck, MBA Productions

15

even drive by! I feel sure that this is just the first ofmany commercial films to be made about MeherBaba. It seems natural that more and more,people will want to express their feelings for Baba-- telling others who he is, each in their own way,just as we all do all the time, in our daily life. Allof our gestures of love for him, all our attempts toplan and execute projects, and all of our successesand failures are Baba expressing himselfexperiencing himself, in unending ways. Baba saidhe alone does his work.

The life of everything and everyone is an openbook to me. It is like a film show that I enjoy atmy own cost. I am the sole Producer of thisever-changing and never-ending film called theuniverse. Avatar Meher Baba

Driving home in the dark under the nearly fullmoon, I thought how glad I was to have been ableto be involved in this project... and how nice itwould be to get back home and get some sleep.



Telling It As It Is from page 14

his load of sanskaras more burdensome."At the same meeting at Nasik, Baba said,

according to the account in Love Alone Prevails,"Petty things take up all your energy, thoughts,and time. So no more of that. Love and forget.This is the only thing that matters. Love, alwaystry to love. You don't like Norina being blunt. -love her all the more. She needs it. If she findsyou weak in your wants, then she too must loveyou -- you need it."

"If a mother found her child sick or weak, shewould fondle it more, love it more. By weak, Imean taken up with desires. Anger is weakness,pride is weakness, and so on. So all try. As Kakasays, 'No discuss, just try.'"

Baba also told us, "We are all One andirritations are only surface ones -- they cannotaffect the love we have for each other deepdown.,,9

9 Love Alone Prevails, p. 164.

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