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).