Meher Baba Books (Los Angeles, California) Jan‐02‐2016

Meher Baba & Adele Wolkin

"I am always with you and I am not away from you. I was, am and will remain eternally with you, and it is for promoting this realization that I have severed external contact. This will enable all persons to realize Truth by being bound to each other with internal links."

-- Meher Baba (last message on alphabet board)

Weekly Reflections No. 53 from Meher Baba Books (Los Angeles, California) Jan‐02‐2016

Hello Dear Friends and Companions:

Greetings from Los Angeles, California. Happy New Year! and enjoy the cold crispy weather, if you are in the Northern Hemisphere.

This issue of Weekly Reflections comes with warm New Year's wishes, as we begin a new cycle together in His remembrance.

For our weekly appointment (delayed a day in deference to New Year's day on Friday), we turn to reflect on the life of Adele Wolkin (April 9, 1918 December 21, 2015), a notable lifelong Babalover who recently completed her round of days on Earth.

A stalwart devotee of Avatar Meher Baba, Adele first learned of the Master along with her friend Filis Frederick in the mid1940s, when the two young women joined a circle of aspirants surrounding Baba's close Western women disciples Elizabeth Patterson, Norina Matchabelli, and Nadine Tolstoy in New York City. Adele and Filis were invited to live in Elizabeth's home for several years, while this dynamic cluster of women prepared the new Meher Spiritual Center for Baba's anticipated returnvisit to the United States. Adele and Filis met Beloved Baba for the first time in Myrtle Beach in 1952. Drawn to a life of service, Adele served as a nurse both in the US and in India. In later years, Adele played a vital role in the history of the Avatar Meher Baba Center of Southern California. She lived here 25 years in a Redondo Beach apartment before shifting east to live in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for her remaining years, passing away twelve days ago at the age of 97.

Adele in her apartment in Redondo Beach, California

In comparison with some of Baba's other notable Western women disciples, not so much has been written and published about Adele Wolkin, who has somewhat "flown under the radar" of public record. Yet as a dynamic member of the Meher Baba community (in NYC, LA and Myrtle Beach), her love for Baba touched many lives. I met Adele six months after I came to Baba, and she played an instrumental role in my spiritual life. She had the ability to encourage, to inspire, and to bring out the best in people including me. We worked together in planning and designing weekly programs for the Baba Center for many years. What an opportunity this was to learn discipline, selfless service and total devotion from her. Adele was my mentor in many ways.

Included in this circular are the words of the last message given by Meher Baba on his alphabet board, on October 7, 1954, after which Beloved Baba abandoned use of the board that had been his method of "texting" for so many years. So many times I heard Adele read aloud this message, I practically know its words by heart. Special thanks to all the writers who have contributed to these reflections on Adele's life. Thanks also to David Raphael Israel for collaborating with me in organizing and editing this material.

On January 3, in our first regular meeting of 2016, we will gather at Meherabode in Los Angeles to celebrate Adele's life, in a program including live music, a video of Adele, and group sharing of memories by many. In tribute to Adele's long life of devotion, we've assembled a wealth of personal writings and article and interview excerpts more than can fit into a single issue of Weekly Reflections. So we will share Part 1 this week, and Part 2 next week, reflecting on dear Adele's life of seeking and finding her Beloved.

In His Love and Service,

Mahoo S. Ghorbani for Meher Baba Books

~ A Tribute to Adele Wolkin's Life of Service to the God-Man part (1) ~

-- Meher Baba's Last Message on His Alphabet Board --

There is no reason at all for any of you to worry. Baba was, Baba is, and Baba will also be eternally existent. Severance of external relations does not mean the termination of internal connections. It was only for establishing the internal connections that the external contacts have been maintained till now. The time has now come for being bound in the chain of internal connections. Hence external contact is no longer necessary. It is possible to establish the internal link by obeying Baba's orders. I give you all My blessings for strengthening these internal links.

I am always with you and I am not away from you. I was, am and will remain eternally with you, and it is for promoting this realization that I have severed external contact. This will enable all persons to realize Truth by being bound to each other with internal links.

Oh, My lovers! I love you all. It is only because of My love for My creation that I have descended on Earth. Let not your hearts be torn asunder by My declarations concerning the dropping of My body. On the contrary, accept My Divine Will cheerfully. You can never escape from Me. Even if you try to escape from Me, it is not possible to get rid of Me. Therefore have courage and be brave.

If you thus lose your heart, how will it be possible for you to fulfill the great task which I have entrusted to you? Be brave and spread my message of love far and wide to all quarters, in order to fulfill my Divine Will. Let the words "Baba, Baba, Baba" come forth from every nook and corner of the world and from the mouth of every child, and let their ignorance be reduced to ashes by the burning flame of my love.

Come together in order to fulfill My Will by taking your stand on truth, love and honesty, and be worthy of participating in my task. I give you all my blessings for spreading my message of love.

‐ Meher Baba (October 7, 1954) Lord Meher online, pp. 3651‐52 (emphasis added)

Memories of '52

"When the Beloved opened His wings of Love He made even the angel Gabriel run after Him"

... On the way down clouds formed Baba's name in Persian script in the sky. We also passed a bad accident on the road. I felt an odd feeling as we drove by. At last we came to the Meher Center gate. My diary says:

"Suddenly I heard the Universe stop. I heard it STOP. All motion came to an end right here. 'Godman is in residence right here,' I said to myself: the whole creation stops. To this eternal Now all motion comes and drops its burden and there is Stillness. The true mind, the Divine Mind, is still. O,. how beautiful! And yet as we drive by the gate and see one rose, one red blossom, it is as if a current came out and touched us of Love."

We drove to the Lafayette Hotel. At 1:30 pm., I picked up the phone to call Elizabeth. No answer, no phones: Baba was resting. I called at 3:00: Elizabeth answered in her bright voice, "You will see Baba tomorrow morning. O, yes He's expecting you!" I almost dropped the phone. I never got over that! God expecting me! A restless night, no sleep! almost. The sounds of the merrygoround outside. A dream: the blue dress I was making to meet Baba in, because blue is His favorite color, was full of pins, and Baba's hand pulled them all out one by one.

So, in the blue dress, I was driven with John Bass and Adele to the Center. It was 9:30 a.m. when Delia, standing on the steps of the Lagoon Cabin, said, "Shri Meher Baba, this is Phyllis Frederick." How would Baba look? I did not know. I thought of Jesus, but at my first glimpse of Baba the thought flashed in my head, "He looks Egyptian!" The long eyebrows, dark almond eyes, the golden skin. He embraced me and my heart beat fast, "He is mine. He is mine." He gestured to a chair beside Him. Baba "asked" through Adi. "How do I look?" I said to Adi (because someone had misinformed me we could not speak directly to Him in the New Life), "He looks ill," As soon as I said it, I felt 'No! He looks beautiful.'

Eyes like black diamonds looked lovingly into mine. I felt my heart overflow with His Love. He seemed so familiar, so intimate, so close. Then he called in Adele, my "twin." Here are Meherjee 's notes of our first "conversation" with the Silent Beloved:

To Adele: "I heard about you from Norina, Elizabeth, Margaret, and I heard you from within. When I see such souls who love Me I feel very happy and strong. People like Filis are intimate ones. I love you because you love Me so much."

To both: "These two girls, I heard so much about you both, Filis and Adele, from Elizabeth, Norina, Donkin, and Margaret, and I heard you from within, that I feel so happy that at last I have seen you. Are you not nervous? (no). I am overjoyed. Are you happy? (very happy). No more happy than I am in seeing you. When you know Me you will love Me like a little child. I am a child grown up. You (to Adele) are like Mani to me."

"I love humor. I love to tease and work hard here at various places while talking to you now and today Filis and Adele have met Me; and when you love Me with pure simple love, there should be no barrier. Love pure simple then all doubts go away. Until then, mind gets tempted to doubt. Even if love is there, the mind goes on working thinking this is right or wrong, but love does not bother. Do you love Me honestly? (yes). What more can you do for the Beloved? I want love nothing else. Love Me and let God love us. That is what I want when you love Baba, God will love you. and God's loving means everything. So, Filis and Adele both I am very, very happy. One who is the humblest of the humble is greatest of the great. But it has to be in all honesty, in all truth. Better not believe in God than be a hypocrite. So let us love, love, love all else is illusion. So Adele, what more can you do if you really love Me? Do you love Me? (YES!)

I recall Baba 'saying,' "Do you love Me? (yes). Do you know where that love is coming from? (yes). When you love Baba, God's love means everything." At that moment I felt the circulation of love from His heart to our hearts, back to His, so strongly, never again could I say "I love God." That love is His gift. To say it is mine would be like a drop of dew saying, "I am the sun," when it sparkles. Baba gestured, and I understood I should go and meet the women mandali. As I left the cabin, I pointed to His feet, saying, "Baba, I love your feet." He knew I longed to touch them but this was still the New Life. I walked over the bridge to the Guest House and there they all were: Mehera, Mani, Kitty, Rano, Mehru, Dr. Goher. Embracing Mehera for the first time was like putting your head down on your mother's breast peace, love, coming home. If meeting Baba was like meeting the sun, meeting Mehera was like meeting the moon. Then there was Mani, Baba's sister gay, sparkling. Baba's niece, Mehru, was a handsome, shy teenager, Rano and Kitty were the Westerners who had been with Baba so long in India over twenty years. And dear Dr. Goher. We all felt a little shy and happy and excited. Other women came in too after having met Baba.

Later in the day, Adele and I were called to the Guest House. Baba was seated on His 'gadi'; His bare feet rested on the low table in front. All the women were seated around Him, including Elizabeth, Delia and Margaret. He looked so beautiful, so radiant, His hair floated free. We had a chance to give Baba our gifts. by Filis Frederick

From The Awakener Magazine, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 67 Used by kind permission of The Awakener online

Editor's Note: From Jeff Maguire's interview with Adele (see below for other parts of that interview) regarding Baba saying to Adele "You are like Mani" to me, Adele explained:

When Meherjee said that [interpreting Baba's alphabet board], with his Indian accent, I thought he was saying that I was like "money" to him! I must have looked bewildered. Baba had him repeat it three times. Finally, Meherjee said, "Baba says you are like Mani, Baba's sister!" It was humorous.

(After that, Baba said "I love humor..." as noted above.)

Adele in Meherabad, India, Jeff Maguire in LA Center's Meeting Hall AMBCSC Archive

Awakening to God Adele Wolkin's story of coming to Meher Baba Interview by Jeff Maguire

Jeff: When did you first learn about Meher Baba?

Adele: In one of the classes at Columbia [in the early 1940s] there was a very nice boy, Victor Barnow, who would say to me, "You know, I see where your interests lie, and I have a friend I think you might enjoy meeting. One day I'll bring her to class," which he did. That day, I was outside with a petition ‐‐ it might have been the Quakers or some activist group ‐‐ and I approached a lady whose name was Filis Frederick outside of Saint Paul's chapel, next to the philosophy building. I didn't know anything about her, but I was approaching people to sign the petition ‐‐ against war or the like ‐‐ and approached Filis. She wasn't interested, and she told me so!

Then I went to my seminar but before it began, Victor came up to me and said, "I want you to meet my friend." I had gone away with the impression, "Well, that lady is rather aloof of such matters." But I met her and then the instructor proceeded to explain [the philosopher] Alfred North Whitehead. I didn't know what he was talking about, but Filis was invited to comment, and her comments were so much in line with the way my undisciplined mind ran that I was quite impressed with Filis, from that very first day; and we developed a great friendship that continued into her last illness in 1987 (she died on March 19, 1987).

Jeff: And you two would go to various spiritual groups?

Adele: Till I met Filis I was exposed to Western writers on spiritual subjects. Filis was the first to introduce me to the work of Ramakrishna, Vivekananda and the Buddha. So I consider Filis my link to Eastern thought. For three years before we heard of Meher Baba, we went to the Ramakrishna / Vivekananda Center [in New York City].

Filis never remembered how she first heard that there were three women disciples of Meher Baba in New York who were giving talks about Baba, one of them being Princess Filis (Source: AMBCSC Archive) Norina Matchabelli. But she went to one such talk, and I remember so well how she called me up and said, "You know, I really heard something that should interest you." That was all. Then she said, "I have an invitation for you." My invitation was to go to the home of Elizabeth Patterson, where Norina and Countess Nadine Tolstoy were also living. I think it was near Christmas of 1943, so I went there, and as I was traveling by bus to 67th Street, where Elizabeth had a duplex apartment, I felt, "This is strange ‐‐ this is a very real crossroads in my life. A real moment in time." I was just out of my body, so to speak. I couldn't reflect on it objectively, I was just overtaken by a sense of unusual comfort and upliftment.

The first person to greet me was Elizabeth Patterson. It was evident that this home had the ambiance of elegance and culture. Filis and I were then in our twenties ‐‐ I was twenty‐five and Filis was three years older ‐‐ and we were amongst the youngest. Most of them were people who were drawn to Norina, Elizabeth and Nadine through personal contact. That day I heard Norina for the first time. Princess Norina Matchabelli (Meher Baba Travel website)

Jeff: Could you explain how Norina gave talks in those days.

Adele: I had to understand what was "spiritual thought transmission." Adi Irani had explained it in his introduction to the small book called Fragments from a Spiritual Diary written in 1940.

Jeff: Then it was in 1944 that you began to prepare for Meher Baba to visit. What was involved with those preparations?

Adele: Elizabeth had received five conditions for the spiritual center Meher Baba wanted her to find for him. It had to have an equable climate, soil that could be tilled properly, fresh water, and it had to be given from the heart. There was one other condition... oh, virgin soil. Meher Center in Myrtle Beach was only opened officially in 1956. We went down there in the 40's, of course.

It was a wilderness then. It was just primeval forest, and what Elizabeth and Norina did there is out of this world. When Baba's conditions were met and the land was given to her by her father, from the heart, she notified Baba immediately. Cables kept flying back and forth about everything they ever did. That was in 1944, when she knew for sure.

Elizabeth was the prime example of a selfless worker. She was really the prototype of what Baba would like in the Western world, more so even than Nadine and Norina, because she was a karma yogi to the hilt. (Karma yoga means "selfless service activity.") Nadine Tolstoy was one of the three disciples Meher Baba prepared for his work in the US. Elizabeth supported Norina and Nadine, on Baba's orders. When I first met Nadine privately, I felt very close to her, very close.

As for Filis and myself, we still worked in New York, and did whatever we could to help. Then Nadine, and later Norina, became ill, Baba asked me to take care of them. When Nadine got ill, maybe a few months after we moved in, she needed nursing help.

Jeff: Baba asked you to take care of her food?

Adele: Yes, along with other duties. I could spend a whole evening talking about Nadine. This is the first time I ever witnessed death or anyone dying. She died with ease, so beautifully, although she suffered from a debilitating disease. People could not console her because she was so cheerful, so bright, so able to talk about spiritual subjects.

Jeff: I want to go now to April 20, 1952, when Baba arrived at 4:30 a.m. at Idlewild airport, in New York. Was that an exciting night, just knowing that Baba was coming?

Adele: Yes, it was. Elizabeth and Norina had come back from India, and we did see them a lot, though we didn't live with them again. Norina continued to give some talks, not through thought transmission, and people gathered around her.

Jeff: Meher Baba arrived at Idlewild airport at 4:30 in the morning. They took the next day as a rest day and then they were going to take the midnight train from Pennsylvania station [in Manhattan] down to Myrtle Beach that evening. He actually didn't have any interviews with newcomers for several weeks. But Filis found out when the train was leaving Pennsylvania station? L-R: Adele Wolkin, Filis Frederick, Mani, Rita (Sparkie) Lukes, Ivy O. Duce, Meher Baba, Mehera, Delia DeLeon and Meheru, Meher Center, Myrtle Beach, SC. 1952 Courtesy Glow International magazine

Adele: Yes, and she told me the time. We lived together, someplace in Spanish Harlem. She knew about the arrival schedule. There we were talking and thinking about Baba, and we stayed up all night. We made a garland, though I never did know what we did with it. We may have saved it to give to Baba in Myrtle Beach. We were there at least an hour ahead of time, hiding on the third balcony behind the pillars, looking down. It was the very beautiful Pennsylvania Station. Actually, I was looking down. Somehow it was decided that I would be the watchdog.

It was early in the morning, deliberately I think, very early when really nobody else was coming or going. Then, suddenly, this whole entourage of people came, like out of paradise, Baba wearing his sadra and his hair flowing. He wore his hair long then, and he really looked like you'd imagine Jesus. And with Baba was Mehera and all the women, and the men who came with him.

All I could see was Baba, but still this whole procession was impressive to me, and I said, "Oh Filis, you have to look." But she didn't look, she just wanted me to tell her everything I saw. "Tell me everything," she said.

Jeff: She didn't want to look because she didn't want to disobey Baba's orders? Adele: Well, this was a new bug in her head. When we first went down to the station, she never thought about the question of disobedience. But then she said, "Just tell me exactly what you see." It is true that Elizabeth had told us the schedule, and along with that description, we were told that Baba was not giving any private interviews. And not giving "any interviews" allowed, as far as I was concerned, a lot of leeway with regard to just looking and seeing Baba.

Jeff: [Filis] said she found out later that at the time Baba spelled out on his alphabet board "Filadele," which was then the term he always used for Filis and Adele. Did you get any sleep that night?

Adele: No. After that night, we waited to go to Myrtle Beach. Baba had written to Elizabeth that he wanted us to be his guests there. We were just Baba's guests, that's how we went there. Then he changed it from some three weeks to two weeks, then from two weeks to one week. But we were Baba's guests on the Center, so we felt it was a very high privilege. Actually, that Baba even knows about one is inconceivable in a certain sense, although it is the way Baba contacts a person in one lifetime or another.

Jeff: So, about twenty days passed, and then you drove down there in early May with the Winterfeldts.

L‐R: Mehera Irani, Meher Baba, Filis Frederick and Adele Wolkin

Adele: We were Baba's guests in the Twin Cabin or the Lantern Cabin, I forget which one. One May 10th we met Meher Baba. At 10:00 in the morning, Filis had her appointment a half hour ahead of me. It was Delia who brought us into the Lagoon cabin. Baba was relaxing on a kind of semi‐lounge.

Jeff: Were you nervous at all?

Adele: I was very unsteady. I had been living with women whom I admired and felt were so much worthy of Baba. But I just couldn't feel that way, and therefore I never felt worthy to meet him. At the end of the interview I said, "What can I do for you?" I don't remember whether it was that day or the next, but I remember Baba saying, "All you can do is just love me. Let us just love God together." He loves us ‐‐ that's all Baba would talk about, about just loving him and how all else would follow.

Jeff: So how were you feeling about all this?

Adele: Well, the feeling one gets is that Baba, in the perfection of Love, is giving you something eternal. He is forever, for you, the Divine Father, the Divine Mother, and the Divine Beloved. He has given the example that is inscribed forever in my heart. And it was so purifying. You can read great philosophy, poetry, see great art and great theater, but you do not have the ability to have that kind of pure example. I mean the purity of Baba is such that you can't... he has the gauge. By just being there, just measuring up against him, you naturally, without his saying so, have derived something forever, eternally, that will allow you to know what it is when he talks about the pure in heart.

And that is why the guilt that you feel when you are not pure in heart, thought, word, or deed is intensified, so that you are a much more sensitive person. That's the final result. I would say the purest love I had known was through my mother and father and through my imagination. I had loved Jesus very much, I had some wonderful experiences with people who also loved Jesus very much, and then I had known the women [Elizabeth, Norina, and Nadine]. But Meher Baba, nevertheless, was the mother and father that I knew, because of his intimacy. Baba makes you feel very family‐like. Baba told Filis and I, "You are part of my family."

Jeff: What else did Baba say to you?

Adele: Baba said to me, "What are you going to do?" After I had helped take care of the two Baba ladies, I had helped take care of other Baba‐lovers as well. So, some time before meeting him, in a letter Baba had asked me whether I wanted to go into nursing or do something else. I had replied that before I had moved in with Norina I had been working on a masters degree course. So Baba had said, "Well, just finish that. That's good discipline." But I just couldn't finish it. My paper was on the role of intuition and the limits of reason. I couldn't get anybody at Columbia to listen to my reconciliation of the teachings of Meher Baba ‐‐ the Discourses and other writings of Baba ‐‐ with the rest of the philosophers ‐‐ St. Augustine, Plotinus especially, and the others ‐‐ though eventually it was done very beautifully by other Baba‐lovers. So I told Baba, "No." I looked awful about it. I hung my head. Filis said, "You looked as if you were ready to go into the ground when you said it." But Baba looked very proud, and very cheerful, and wiping away all my worry, he said, "Don't worry. I'm your Master's thesis!"

Jeff: Just to back up now to that first meeting, was it there that Baba said that you and Filis were twins?

Adele: No. Once, when we went into his house, Baba said to me, "You can open the door." He gave me the key and I opened the door, and Filis' reflection was very insightful. She said, "When Baba gave Adele the key, it recalled to mind that Baba had said, 'Russia holds the key to the peace and the war.'" And I am of Russian extraction, so that was interesting. But this [other] time he opened it, and then, at the steps, Baba looked at us, and he went something like this [gesturing and holding up two fingers together]. I said to Baba, "What does that mean? Baba indicated his heart, just the heart. Meherjee said that Baba says you and Filis will come to him. I later said to Filis, How do you interpret that?" "Just that we both come to him," she said. I felt that he was indicating that we are both in his heart.

[Excerpted from an extensive interview which originally appeared in Glow International (August 1992); thanks to Jeff Maguire and Glow International.]

~ Sharing About Adele ~ Source: AMBCSC Archive

-- Remembering My Dear Adele -- A true lover and servant of her Lord Meher Baba

Born to Russian immigrants, Adele was the only girl in a family of four children. Adele was a seeker of God from her younger years. As a teenager, she initially rebelled against God for the catastrophe of the holocaust. She kept questioning and wanted to know God's existence. Though her quest through academia and philosophy did not satisfy her inner yearning, it was in the world of the university and classrooms where she first heard the dear name of Meher Baba.

Around the year 1940, a mutual classmate and friend, Victor Bruno, rekindled the link between two beautiful souls, Adele and Filis, whom Baba lovingly referred to as 'Filadele', with a gesture unique only to them (Meher Baba used his index and middle finger joined together when he named them). Adele waited nine long years to finally meet her beloved in Myrtle Beach on May 10th 1952, which she often referred to as her 'real' birthday.

During those nine years, Adele, along with Filis, had the good fortune to live with Baba's early western women disciples, Nadine Tolstoy, Elizabeth Patterson, and Norina Matchabelli. These incredible women were true examples for Adele; they showed her how to serve God through their actions and genuine love, as they had by then been so well trained by Meher Baba. Later on, Adele was asked by Baba to help take care of Nadine who suffered from an incurable disease--Adele was with her till the very end. And later on, again she was given the task of taking care of Norina when she had become ill. Her 'amateurish' nursing care was extended to her own mother, which ultimately led her to pursing a nursing degree under Baba's direction.

Throughout the 50's and 60's, Adele had many exchanges with Meher Baba: she met him on that most memorable day in May 1952, in Myrtle Beach, then again in 1954. She lived in India for a brief time while doing her nursing training (by Baba's order), and also attended the East-West gathering in Pune, India. So many memories she shared of her time with Baba, seeing his beautiful form, experiencing His 'incomparable love', and the many things Baba shared with her. I remember especially that Baba had told her and Filis they were part of His own family and that she reminded Him of St. Catherine of Sienna (the great servant and helper of the sick).

Adele was very active in the 'Baba world', spreading his name in New York and Los Angeles and bringing many people into Baba's orbit. She continued this till the very end. Many have witnessed her loving and intuitive ways of relating, especially with newcomers. Adele's whole life was devoted to Baba. She had a one-pointed focus. She made great effort to please Baba and often reflected on her day to repent for her weaknesses. She would be deeply affected if she felt she had been in the wrong and would make great effort to correct the wrong. I witnessed this many, many times.

The telephone was her medium of connection. Those who remember her sweet, humble little home - so filled with Baba's love - may also remember that in the center of her home was a table with a telephone and a chair right next to it. Day or night, she was on that phone, guiding, consoling, prompting, and at times reprimanding!

Source: AMBCSC Archive During one of her meetings with Baba in Myrtle Beach, Adele was sitting near Baba with her head down and looking glum. Baba gestured, 'what is the matter? "Adele then said to Baba, "Baba I disobeyed you . . . I didn't finish my thesis" and Baba gestured, but "I am your thesis!" and what a thesis she has written through her life story of absolute devotion and service to her lord Meher Baba.

L-R: Glenn Russ, Payam A. Russ, Adele

My dearest Adele, I salute your love for Baba. You were a true friend to the young and old. How you would captivate the little ones, sitting on the floor with them even in your 'older' years, showing your love in simple play and games. I am so very grateful for having you in my life, for your guidance, profound words, and genuine love and care for my whole family, and for all your prayers and sweetness. It has been a privilege to have known you. You were one of the few remaining jewels of Baba.

Avatar Meher Baba Ki Jai! In your loving memory and in His infinite compassion, Payam Ajang Russ

-- Remembering Adele Wolkin --

I first met Adele Wolkin in 1967, after returning from a Fulbright year in India and meeting Meher Baba at Meherazad during that time. As I left India Baba relayed the message that it was now time to tell the American people about "the Truth that I alone am," and you can be sure that every day, every week, every month that followed felt to me as if Baba's Infinite Manifestation was just around the corner, really, just a centimeter or two behind the present moment. I joined Allan Cohen in Berkeley in late June, 1967, and by September we were spending some significant time in Los Angeles, visiting Filis Frederick and her small group there and appearing on a seemingly endless series of radio and television programs talking about Baba. Psychedelic drugs were a major topic then, during that "summer of love," and Baba's message about drugs could not have been more timely. But neither Allan nor I had any real credentials, nothing in our resumés that would suggest that we had any business to be taken seriously.

(L‐R) Robert Dreyfuss, Allan Cohen & Rick Chapman ‐ Source: Meher Baba Travel

No problem! Adele Wolkin to the rescue! In Los Angeles that year, and later in New York, Adele somehow magically charmed top executives of the nation's most popular programs into featuring Allan, or me, or both of us, on their precious air time. Adele! Always seeming slightly incoherent (was that her secret weapon?) and completely unafraid to "tell it like it really is" as far as the Avatar of the Age was concerned, she booked more acts than Bill Graham. The nationally syndicated "Joe Pyne Show" was the pinnacle, with fifty million viewers across the country; our particular interview produced considerable drama, with an LSD apologist from the audience passing out in the midst of his defense of using psychedelics, so that program was shown and re‐shown in market after market.

Of course Adele never took any credit for any of it, and I, for one, was too young and green at the time to understand the dimensions of her accomplishments. Having just returned from India and touring Baba's heartlands, still "high" from meeting thousands of the most passionate lovers of the Lord at every turn, I think that I assumed that this was just the way it was all supposed to be: Baba says talk, and the talks materialize. Simply said, Baba clearly "turned the key" to make it all happen, but He used His very dear and intimate disciple Adele Wolkin in the process, in keeping with His strict rule of not letting anything He does appear to be a deus ex machina contrivance. And how could Adele succeed? Because she was all for Baba and all Baba's with nothing left over for herself‐that total surrender to the Master gave her the courage and the confidence to meet the most jaded media execs on their own turf and lay them low, bowling them over with the packet of Truth that she was carrying in her heart.

Dear Adele, unique among Beloved Baba's close ones: you will continue to inspire us, His lovers, for decades and centuries to come with your true humility and your absolute dedication to your Divine Beloved!

‐ Rick M. Chapman

Adele Wolkin (photo by Greg Butler)

-- Remembrances of Adele --

I was introduced to the Meher Baba group in 1985 at the Los Angeles Silence Day Sahavas at Pilgrim Pines. I'm doing my best to search my memory banks to recall if I met Adele at that Sahavas or if my acquaintanceship commenced at the numerous afterSahavas gatherings that were held at Filis Frederick's apartment in which Bhauji (in his first appearance in the West) However, as I move into full verifiable remembrance, scores of fond and strained memories flood my consciousness. What immediately comes to mind is how passionately committed Adele was to Meher Baba's ongoing cause for truth and love. When it came to speaking about, or placing books in libraries, or organizing a Baba event or serving on a committee or participating in a function dedicated to serving the Master; Adele's involvement would be total as well as enthusiastic.

If there was a sore spot in my recollections of this tireless and indefatigable worker it would be in her predilection for brutal honesty and unfiltered wording in terms of what she felt about you or your actions at any given time. Sometimes her confrontational stance might provoke a stunned or angry response within me and I would often retaliate verbally with equal intensity. But afterwards, when coolness of thoughts and feelings were restored (usually after a few days), the preservation of our friendship would roll grandly along.

But these types of heated or passionately differing confrontations in my relationship with Adele constituted the minority of the time. The vast majority of our interactions were cooperative and focused on the Avatar's work either presently or historically. Additionally, I had the wonderful fortune of visiting Adele on numerous occasions at her apartment on the Pacific Coast Highway not far from the ocean. With Adele, even if my visit lasted several hours, we had the delightful ability to talk about Baba (and activities/people related to him) in a fresh and joyous way for the entire visit. We would trade stories, insights and reflective observations that had the animated quality of buoying our spirits and further strengthening our solid and spiritually Also, Adele would repeatedly ask how my family was doing. "How's Delytte (my mother) "How's Desiree" (my sister) and so on. She would send Christmas cards to my sister and would speak of her and other family members with familiar grace and respectful inquiry.

Mani Irani, Adele and ? From: AMBCSC Archive

I had the distinction of serving on numerous Baba functions with Adele which was especially true of the Sahavas Committee where Adele would always be a supportive working member. As with all other instances, her dedication would be entirely complete and uncompromising. Additionally, I have scores of memories of Adele and myself being either the last two or in a small group of others who would stay at the Center after the event to restore things to cleanliness and order. Later when she wasn't driving any longer, this lastof theBaba folks would extend to whoever was driving her home that day or evening. Adele would inevitably want to remain at the Center until all the afterevent work was completed to her When she moved to Myrtle Beach, my communication was confined to the occasional phone conversation or email exchange. I would also see her whenever I visited the Meher Spiritual Center and I deeply appreciated these visitations.

I will truly and sincerely miss Adele and fervently hope that I'll be able to personally exhibit and sustain the type of dedication to Meher Baba that she exemplified and embodied every waking hour of her selfless life of unconditional service to the GodMan.

Farewell Adele and I can smile and nod in gladdened knowing that you are reunited with your Beloved and in that felicitous union, will be splendidly happy and embraced.

Harry Thomas

Adele Wolkin and Mehera Irani: Source: AMBCS Archive

I would like to share a little story that involves Adele Wolkin. About 12 years ago we sold a small camper van. When we signed the papers in our home in Oregon, the buyer looked up at a painting of Baba and said "Meher Baba the Silent One," and he went on sharing the story about how his parents had survived a concentration camp in Poland and came to the United States, and how he would go to summer camp to get fresh air and health along with other Holocaust survivors and their children.

One summer at camp he was not feeling so well and spent a day at the infirmary. The nurse was keeping silence in honor of her master Meher Baba. This made a great impression on him and he had great respect for Meher Baba and the nurse who kept silence. Adele via email confirmed that she in fact was the nurse at that camp for one summer only, and remembered fondly many of the children and even had saved photographs of them.

Adele went on to explain that that she thought she would have been fired if it had been known that she was keeping silence, but a small fire broke out at the camp and her silence went unnoticed except by the few children in the infirmary that day.

- Mette Ipsen

-- Universal Toddy Shop --

Welcome to the Toddy Shop! -- where you can stop by each week to enjoy some amusing anecdote from Beloved Baba's life. The original toddy shop was run by Merwan Seth (later known as Meher Baba) during the period when His Consciousness was being perfected by Sadguru Upasni Maharaj, and in the early years of His universal spiritual work.

Kasba Peth bhajan room in Poona photo by Barbara Connors courtesy of Meher Baba Travels website

-- Kitty Kills a Fake Snake --

Baba asked Kitty to tell the story about her days in India, when the Eastern women had decided to tease her. Mani created a fake snake out of dough and paint, and when Kitty saw it, she dashed bravely out to kill it, kitchen knife in hand, to the merriment of all.

(1956 at Meher Center, Myrtle Beach) - from Lord Meher online, p. 4017

The story dates from the time Baba was with his New Life Companions at Mahabaleshwar in 1951. It is told in detail in Mehera-Meher, as follows:

Naja usually oversaw the cooking, but while Kitty and Rano were in Mahabaleshar, Naja was sent to Poona, and later Bombay. It was decided that, until Naja returned, the cooking would be done on a rotating basis: for three days Kitty would cook, for three days Mani, and for one day Meheru.

Mani and Meheru each prepared food for both meals, lunch and dinner, in the morning. When Kitty was cooking, she wanted to prepare something fresh for Baba's evening meal, so she returned to the kitchen at four every afternoon. Somehow every time she was washing her hands, she noticed a snake in the crevices of a stone wall outside the house. Although Kitty had an aversion to snakes, she knew she should try to kill it. By the time she went to get the snake-killing stick (kept by the verandah door), the snake disappeared into the wall. It happened so many times that it became something of a joke.

Kitty did not display her fear of snakes much, but the others knew she was afraid of them, and Mehera and Mani decided to play a trick on her. Mani fashioned a snake out of chapati dough, and then, to make it even more realistic, she colored it with a bit of tumeric dust, and charcoal. But before doing so, the "snake" had to dry properly. Mani placed it on their verandah, just outside the railing, which faced the sun. Kitty hardly ever came on their verandah, so there was little likelihood she would see it there.

That afternoon, however, when Goher was returning from the mandali's after accompanying Baba there, she saw the "snake." Quickly grabbing a stick, she started beating it. Mehera and Mani flew out of their room, shouting, "No, Goher! Stop!" and there was laughter over it.

Mani mixed dough and made another snake. When this one was dry and colored, all admired it. It looked exactly like a real snake.

"We all waited for the day when Kitty was doing the cooking again," Meheru related. "We told Baba about it also. No one wanted to miss the show. When Kitty was in the kitchen, Mani placed the fake snake on the ground near the wall. We all went upstairs to the verandah that encircled Baba's room, which overlooked the back lane. We waited and waited for Kitty to see it. But that day she must have been so involved with what she was cooking that she wasn't looking out the window.

"To draw her attention, Mehera broke some dry twigs from the overhanging tree and threw them on the tin roof below. Still no movement from Kitty. When Mehera did it once more and still nothing happened, I picked up a large branch and threw it down. It landed with a crash.

"Kitty looked out the window and saw the snake. She rushed out the door, took the stick, and started whacking it. For once, the snake was there! As she was hitting it, we all burst out laughing."

"This is most extraordinary!" Kitty exclaimed. I hit it once and it flew into a thousand pieces!"

A bit annoyed, she asked Mani, "Why did you pull my leg?"

But the incident helped Kitty conquer her fear of snakes, Meheru stated. "Later, when Kitty was living at the Meher Center in Myrtle Beach -- where there were far more snakes to deal with than in India where we were staying -- somehow, that action of goading herself to kill the snake, made her realize that when the time came, she was able to do it fearlessly. It helped her a lot."

"I suppose, in that way, Baba took the fear away," Kitty herself said, "Because I've never been afraid of snakes since then."

Offering a Favorite song of Adele's "How Deep Is The Ocean" (recorded in 1946), by Frank Sinatra

In honor of Adele our Beautiful friend in Baba She sang this song privately for us, many times. "How Deep Is Τhe Ocean"

How much do I love you? I'll tell you no lie How deep is the ocean? How high is the sky?

How many times a day Do I think of you? How many roses Are sprinkled with dew?

How far would I travel To be where you are? How far is the journey From here to a star?

And if I ever lose you How much would I cry? How deep is the ocean? How high is the sky?

How many times a day Do I think of you? How many roses Are sprinkled with dew?

How far would I travel To be where you are? How far is the journey From here to a star?

And if I ever lose you How much would I cry? How deep is the ocean? How high is the sky? How high is the sky?

The new Meherabode Gazette is out!

Autumn Issue No. 7: "I Will Turn the Key" Including contributions from Charles Haynes, Bill Le Page, Ward Parks, Tim Garvin, David Raphael Israel and more. The main theme of this issue is an exploration of Meher Baba's mystical utterance "I will turn the key." Check it out!

The Joyous Path The Life of Avatar Meher Baba's Sister, Mani by Heather Nadel 2Volume, Hardcover Set, 1,170 pages ($95)

This lovely biography of Mani is now available.

Manija S. Irani (19181996), Meher Baba's younger sister, and one of His closest disciples, was a vivacious personality, a gifted writer, a sensitive musician, and an integral participant in all phases of Meher Baba's spiritual work. Long awaited, Heather Nadel's detailed, twovolume biography of Mani has at last been published.

Divine Drama The Valiant Life of Charles B. Purdom, by Bob Mossman Paperback, 386 pages ($25)

Charles Purdom (1883‐1965), a British author, drama critic, town planner, and economist, was Meher Baba's early biographer, having written The Perfect Master(1936), the first detailed biography of the Master published in English, followed by The God‐Man: The Life, Journeys, and Work of Meher Baba (1964, 1971, 2010), which remains a valuable biography. Purdom also edited God to Man and Man to God(1955) an edition of Meher Baba's Discourses.

NEW Avatar Meher Baba Calendar 2016 Size: 11 x 9" folded, 11 x 18" open ($13.50)

Perfect Holiday Gift for your Loved Ones!! Be greeted every day with finely‐reproduced photographs of the Avatar ‐‐ along with well‐chosen messages, and indications of events from Meher Baba's life.

Beloved Songs New CD by Jim Meyer ($15) For nearly 50 years, Jim Meyer has been involved in singing and recording music dedicated to Meher Baba: he has performed at numerous Baba functions world wide. In December, 1968, Meher Baba designated Jim as one of His "chief young lover workers" in the USA and England.

Why Do We Suffer? Intensive Seminar by Ward Parks 4 DVD Set ($30)

In July 2015 Beloved Archives hosted a two‐day intensive in Hamilton, New Jersey, on Avatar Meher Baba's teachings on Suffering and the Conditions of Happiness. The Intensive titled, "Why Do We Suffer?" was conducted by Dr. Ward Parks. The 4‐DVD set is approximately 9 hours long.

Bhajan a novel by Tim Garvin Paperback, 400 pages ($14)

When Bluey Macintosh adds a Bengal tiger named Bhajan to his mobile zoo, he is merely trying to change a few minds‐maybe even a few hearts. But Bhajan, raised by an Indian mast, one of the so‐called god‐intoxicated, has a different plan. He intends to change the world. And does.

Glimpses of Baba in Meherazad & Guruprasad with pets Intimate film glimpses of life at Meherazad and Guruprasad with Baba taken by Mani & Beheram in 1965-1967. ©Sheriar Foundation used by permission. "Daisy Babas" composed & performed by Mischa Rutenberg. Music © Sufism Reoriented

See You next week. Keep Happy in Baba's Love. He Alone Exist.

Meher Baba Books (Los Angeles) www.meherbababooks.com

Avatar Meher Baba Center of Southern California 1214 S. Van Ness Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90019 email: [email protected]