Meher Baba Australia June – August 2020 Australia ‑ Divine Song

Sarah McNeill

The legacy of ’s early history preserves in the pale light. Daulatmai, who was standing near the memories from the ground-breaking years before Meher window, turned quickly and whispered, “Baba is dancing!” Baba began his silence in 1925. At the time when the They all rushed to the window to see. Just for one second, they women were first called to join Baba, while they saw Baba’s figure in the dawn light, do a few very graceful occupied the old Post Office building near the railroad that movements and gestures. “He looked very sweet and beautiful separates Lower and Upper Meherabad, Baba used to walk in a white sadra, his hair loose, with his very slim face, and over to visit them almost every day and those were times he was singing beautifully. It was a Hindi song, ‘Apne maula especially treasured by Mehera after he took silence and ke mein jogan banu’ … a song about one who has renounced she missed so much the sound of his voice and above all, everything for God.” 1 his singing. Her recall of one particular incident gives this There are many accounts from others who heard the indelible picture: sound of his voice in the early years and who remembered … one morning, they were up at the crack of dawn, hearing him sing. Khorshed, who lived with her parents … when Daulatmai said, “Wait, wait. Baba is singing a in Bombay, tells how they were instructed by Baba to visit different song today. Can you hear him?” They stood and him daily at Manzil-e-Meem, … where she had the joy of listened … and they could hear Baba clearly … they heard hearing him speak and sing for more than three years before Baba’s voice coming nearer, and from afar, they saw his figure he began his silence. She was the only mandali at the end of

Meher Baba relaxing on a dholak with Gustadji, circa 1920, Kasba Peth, Poona. Photographer not known. © Meher Nazar Publications.

2 June – August 2020 the 20th century who could remember Meher Baba’s indescribably beautiful voice. (…) Baba said, “Khorshed, look, I just composed this song. It took only ten minutes, Now I will teach you the song because I want you to sing it for me.” So Baba began singing “Premne seema …” As he sang, I would follow. Baba gave me the melody which is the same as “Ishtiake”. Baba said, if anyone sings this song every day, it’s like a prayer.” That song is called “Jalva Giri”. It is about love. “Premne seema” means, Out of everything in the world, the greatest thing is love. Part of the song, roughly translated, says: All the world is connected by love. Even little things are connected by love. Everything is drawn out of God’s love. Flowers open for God’s love. Whatever troubles or difficulties arise bring the lover closer to God. In love the king and the commoner are just alike. Even the king is brought low in love. When love is there, one is always humble Because love is most important. In those days, Baba was still speaking and singing. His voice was especially loving and beautiful. And Baba loved music. Many times he would have professional singers come and perform. He liked bhajans, but his favourite Meher Baba outside Manzil-e-Meem, Bombay, late 1922-1923. Photographer: songs were the qawwals. Baba appreciated the Asthma. Colorized by Cherie Plumlee. © Meher Nazar Publications. great love for God expressed in these songs.2 In fact, in the street Butler Mohalla, where Baba grew for his friends called ‘The Cosmopolitan Club’. Music up in Poona, it is said the neighbours would rise early, and singing were included as part of members’ Sunday to make sure they didn’t miss hearing Merwan sing his activities, and his friend Baily, whose later diaries describe morning prayers. Pendu, whose family also lived close by, much of those early years, outlined details of one such likewise recalled such moments from those days: session: In my childhood, Baba used to sing Persian poems in praise Without the accompaniment of ‘tabla’ or ‘harmonium’, just of God very loudly at the crack of dawn. Every morning at by playing his ‘dholak’ with both hands, he would sing the five a.m. I remember hearing his voice as I was sleeping in my Urdu, Gujarati, Farsi songs and ‘shayaris’ so melodiously that bed. No one in the neighbourhood would complain about it members would start swaying in the midst of the song and disturbing their sleep because they liked the song and his voice. several members would utter in praise, “Wah, wah, Merwan” They would say,“Ah! Merwan is singing”.3 and “Sabash, Merwan!”4 While at secondary school, Merwan formed a club Continued on next page

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on the afternoon of the day they were due to leave, Merwan began singing with great fervour. His singing was so beautiful it captivated their attention … the sweetness of Merwan’s voice brought other guests out of their rooms. Everyone enjoyed Merwan’s singing so much they requested that he sing another and another and he continued singing ghazal after ghazal. An elderly gentleman was so affected that he complimented Merwan as he patted him on the back. “The glow on your face while you sang, and the ghazals you yourself composed to the glory of God, lead me to believe that someday you will be a great man whose name will be known throughout the world.”5 Upon their return to Poona, Shireen, seeing that Merwan was recovering from his former apparent inertia, made it clear she expected him to find a job, and Merwan went to work in his father’s toddy shop in Sachapir Street. There, as well as the daily chores, he also he used to sing, especially when a poor or destitute alcoholic came into the shop begging. At times, a customer became intoxicated from too much to drink and Merwan would sit with him and sing Tukaram’s abhangs (devotional songs). The drunkard would merrily join in, clapping his hands and singing along and in this way the toddy shop truly became a Tavern of Song, with Merwan as its keeper, distributing the wine of love to all who came 6 Mehera once remarked that this was her favorite photograph of Baba. there. Circa 1926-27, Meherabad. Photographer not known. Hand colorised by Then, when the period of his descent was Meelan. © Meher Nazar Publications. coming to an end and Merwan was spending The story of the later years, leading up to Babajan’s kiss time with , Adi describes seeing him at and the agonising period of his subsequent descent from Sakori singing aloud as he went about his work. the state of God-Realisation back to normal consciousness, He moved about talking and singing as though he wished is documented by several of the friends who stayed close to to conceal from others his oceanic depth of experience. He had him at the time – Baily, Khodu, Lattoos and Behramji – a beautiful voice, strong, rich and resonant. … Meher Baba and so it was natural for them, when Merwan expressed spent time each day in arduous work. In the heat of the day, his intention to visit the ancient Zoroastrian fire temple when work was done, Merwanji could be heard singing. The in Udwada, that they should all travel together. Staying sound of his voice would carry across the fields and be heard at a local guest house and attending the fire temple each by the villagers. All who stopped to listen, held by the music’s morning for prayers, they would relax afterwards under vibrant intensity, would feel a deep love for this new disciple the shade of palm trees or take walks along the beach, and of Maharaj.7

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It’s an image of Baba as a young man singing his heart out for all to hear. Such occasions delighted local villagers. All would stop to listen to his song. At those moments when he was moved to sing, his melodious voice would fill the rural solitude of Sakori. Song after song would pour from him as if sweet echoes from the waves of the Divine Ocean filled the air. Listening to him too, Upasni Maharaj would occasionally shed tears of joy in testimony to the divine bliss of Meher’s songs.8 We feel it as a loss that the phonograph and sound recording techniques, then in their infancy, could not have been deployed to capture for posterity the sound of Baba singing – but have to accept that such a loss was also his wish. It is said his voice stirred the spirit of those who heard him sing, urging them to love God. Some said, His voice carried like waves … and all things would merge in its sound. … There are no words to the Divine Song. The singer utters the story in the language of song which only he and those who heard it can understand.9 Part of Baba’s legacy to us all now is surely the gift of singing bestowed on many of his lovers down the years – and we hear the music of Divine Song in all the songs sung for him wherever Baba Meher Baba gestures silence, 27 December 1950, Mandali’s quarters near the Aga Khan’s bungalow, Mahabaleshwar, India. Photographer: Padri. Hand colorised by lovers gather to praise his name. Meelan. © Meher Nazar Publications.

References 1. MEHERA-MEHER p.136. 2. FORTUNATE TO LOVE HIM p.55. 3. LORD MEHER p.175. 4. BAILY’S DIARIES, vol.i, p.9. Drown all sound in 5. LORD MEHER p.160. 6. LORD MEHER vol 1, p.235. My Silence to hear My 7. THE SILENT WORD p.63. 8. LORD MEHER p.321. 9. LORD MEHER p.215. Word of Words.

Meher Baba, Guruprasad 1960. LORD MEHER Online, p 4636. © Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Trust.

5 Meher Baba Australia ‑ Meher Baba and the Family of Man

An essay by Ken Lux Ken Lux was a dear friend of Carolyn and mine while we all lived up in the state of Maine for many years. His life was deeply dedicated to his Beloved Meher. He wrote extensively of Baba: essays, articles, booklets of the Manifestation and his personal in-depth introductory book, “Meher Baba, Avatar of the Tortoise” (an excellent read). This essay “Meher Baba and the Family of Man” was brought to light by the editor Kendra Crossen Burroughs (Mischievous Peeps) in 2017 when she received all of Ken’s unpublished works after he died in November 2016 in Myrtle Beach. It speaks to the worldwide Baba Family and how by Baba embodying both the Father and Mother roles in this Advent, that all of humanity are part of the Baba Family. I find this essay to be apropos during the time of the pandemic helping us all to move forward together as children of our Beloved. — Daniel Montague.

I attended the Baba meetings at Fred and Ella Winterfeldt’s midtown Manhattan, and the long corridor that led to apartment in New York during 1968, about six months to their apartment, which was at the end. It’s strange, though, a year after I had heard about Baba. I didn’t live in New but I can hardly remember the content of the meetings, York at the time, although I am from New York and my what they were about, and what constituted a meeting. parents still lived there, but I would get into New York Oh, I can imagine that various messages of Baba were read whenever I could and I would go to the meetings there. and discussed, and maybe films were shown, but I can’t I still remember well getting into the elevator to go up really remember. But what I do remember most vividly to their floor in a very high-rise apartment building in is the sense of excitement that existed about the meeting,

Painting by Laurie Blum.

6 June – August 2020

Fred and Ella Winterfeldt. Ken Lux. this buzz of energy that preceded it and most especially at Baba meetings, seems to me to be, among other that followed it. At the meeting’s end, Ella would go into things, the energy of a family gathering—or rather, the the kitchen and bring out some juice and cookies for the family gathering. We were still getting the Family Letters many of us that seemed to be squeezed into every corner from Mani back then, and I noted the name “Family and on every available sitting surface in their living room. Letters,” but aside from perhaps thinking it a nice homey We would then stand around or sit in various clusters, designation, I didn’t pay much attention to that word. But eagerly gulping and munching down our refreshments, and after two recent visits to India, and reading Kitty Davy’s engage in very animated and spirited conversation—about book, Love Alone Prevails, I have become much more aware this and that, but essentially about Baba. It seemed like we of the term Baba Family, and connect this now back to my would go on like that forever and never stop, and Fred and early experience at the Winterfeldts’ meeting. Ella had to finally get rid of us by practically sweeping us We Baba-lovers really are a family, and the term is not out the door with a broom. merely a cliché, as I myself might have taken it that way But that wasn’t enough. A significant number of this in-the past, had I thought about it at all. To see how we are group would then carry the “meeting” over to a nearby a family, we can look at two uses of the term, one being the Horn and Hardart restaurant, when it was still an automat most basic meaning of family which is one’s own biological with a teller in the center dispensing nickels on a marble family, and the other is in the concept of “the family of tray, and carry on the activity there until even later into the Man.” night. To talk about a Baba Family we are not, of course, I had little understanding of all this then, and associated talking about a biological family but we are making the all of this energy and activity in some general and comparison. A biological family implies closeness and undifferentiated way with Baba. We joked about how common identity and some measure of common history. Baba-lovers never seemed to want to end the meeting, These are present in one degree or another with Baba- and how Baba in His silence had for followers a group of lovers. We can see this through the idea of “coming to nonstop talkers. Baba.” We all have come to Baba, thus our common But what was this energy? Yes, of course, it was Baba, identity. This is our shared genealogical heritage, although but in what way Baba? What part of Baba? Looking each of us is still an individual, just as each family member back at it now, I see it as the beginning of my contact is an individual. Baba is our common nexus, but we have with and membership in the Baba Family. That energy, each come to Him in our individual way. In coming to that current of enthusiasm, that I still feel in some way Continued on next page

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Him we interacted with one another, with others who had or oneness is not formed out of an exclusive grouping of come to Him, or who were also coming to Him—thus ourselves as against the otherness of the rest of the world, there is a social and personal closeness with some other but emerges from our finding the commonality that is Baba-lovers of a very intimate nature, since coming to intrinsic to all of humanity, and will be experienced by Baba is a most intimate matter. And since Baba is the all as they discover it. In this, our family sense becomes common link of all who have come to Him, whether quite different from the family sense of a biological we have actually had contact with those others or not, family, say, the Smiths. They are a family because they are we share a potential intimacy with all of the others, the differentiated from others who are not Smiths. There is same as if they were cousins, let us say, or even brothers nothing wrong or bad in this, but is quite natural to what and sisters whom we had never met. With those Baba- makes a family a family. And a healthy family, such as the lovers whom we do have, or have had, a personal contact Smiths may be, will try to inculcate in its members that with, there is a common history. We were at the same in addition to being Smiths, they are also members of the meetings together, such as the Winterfeldts’, or were in larger human family. The fact remains, however, that they India together, or at Meher Spiritual Center, or the same are a family because they are Smiths. But the marvelous gathering, and so forth. And since these events are all very and quite startling fact of the familyness of Baba-lovers important to us, whether totally good experiences or not, is that they are a family because their principle of special our common history as a result of these shared experiences commonality—Meher Baba—is the same principle that is also significant and important. makes all of the human race one family. But so far, what I have described does not distinguish In a way, like so many other aspects of the life of the in kind the family of Baba-lovers from any other group of spirit, it is a beautiful paradox. The specialness that makes people who share a common interest, such as the poetry the Baba Family a family is very much based on the of Dante, or stamp collecting, or membership in the deep recognition that there is no specialness, and that all Elks; and there is a distinction between the Baba Family humanity is one. I have come to see that it was this aspect and these groups which is critical, apart from the level of Baba that was in large part responsible for the social of intensity that may be more or less in any one of these dimension of that energy that was so prominent at the groupings or the other. To see this distinction, which lends Winterfeldts’, and has been a part of all Baba contacts and a certain specialness to the Baba Family, we need to look at gatherings. the other concept of family—the family of Man. To describe it as a family experience as I have done That phrase, as some may recall, was used as the title for still does not exhaust its meaning and significance, and I an exhibition of photographs curated by Edward Steichen suspect that this meaning will continue to unfold as Baba’s at the Museum of Modern Art, which was later put out Age unfolds. For now I can see that to say we are a family as a book. The theme photo (by Eugene Harris) that does not mean that we all love each other, or necessarily represented the collection was, curiously, that of a smiling even like each other, or that we always get along. Certainly, Peruvian boy playing a wooden flute—Krishna himself. our experience of the various schisms in the Baba Family The photos of humanity in its many shapes and guises, shows that this is so on a group scale, and we each know taken by 273 photographers (primarily Western), created of its personal truth. And as I write the word schism, I can a warmth and conveyed a sense, and even a longing, to hear someone say, “What do you mean by schism? Those make that identity with others that one felt was needed in on the other side aren’t really following Baba.” That may be this world, fragmented and alienated as it is. So the Family so, but what we must remember is that all people, whether of Man collection was very aptly named, and caught the they follow Baba or not, or even if they have not heard of yearning and urge that all humanity feels in some measure, Meher Baba, are really still part of the one human family, but cannot easily put into practice. and since Baba is the real Father of that family, in this way Well, we in the Baba Family are a family, not just because all people are part of the Baba Family. we have an interest in or a love for a common “object,” but As a matter of fact, it is the Father role of God—and the we are very aware that this common object—the Avatar Mother role as well—which makes all human beings part of the Age—is really common to all people, whether they of one family: we all have the same Father and Mother. I know it or not. In other words, our sense of commonality believe that without the recognition of God, the one God,

8 June – August 2020 human beings have great difficulty in recognizing that As a thirsty sheep in summer they are spiritually brothers and sisters, and this is why wanders with head hung and bleating, the species is in such antagonistic fragments today. So one so I sought, Beloved, the stream thing that the coming of Meher Baba means is that people of fair friendship’s smile and greeting; will be able to find their unity as part of the one human now I know that only in dust family. If, or when, this happens, then we can see how at your feet is true friends’ meeting.* the world problems of today, resulting from selfishness and estrangement from one another, can be resolved. * THE EAST-WEST GATHERING by Francis Brabazon, p. 33. Meher House Publications, 1963, Beacon Hill, NSW, Australia. The unity that humanity will discover will not be a static See the Trust e-Library for the free PDF uniformity, imposed from without such as in an army, but https://www.ambppct.org/Book_Files/eastWest.pdf. the organic and differentiated unity of the members of a family. As Baba-lovers, then, we participate in the beginning of a family realignment of humanity. This is not to say that we are perfect or that our family is perfect, as I have already indicated; but by loving Baba we automatically become part of a maturing as well as a growing Baba God is indivisibly Family. We are not trying to form a family either, as in an intentional effort to make a community (and probably in everyone all such efforts will in some way fail), but by loving Baba we become “family” members as a byproduct, so to speak. Meher Baba We cannot put the cart before the horse—especially in the case of a white horse. It follows from this that the deeper God is indivisibly in everyone and our love for Baba, the better the connection with Him, the everything. The apparent separateness better we will be as a family—the more we will understand is due to ignorance. what this means, and the more we will be able to live it. A drop in the ocean is one with the Perhaps it is my growing love for Baba over the years that ocean, and as soon as a bubble forms enables me to see now what I only dimly perceived then, over it, it becomes separate from the back at Fred and Ella’s, about the reality and meaning of ocean. And when the bubble bursts, the the Baba Family. As I said, it was reading Kitty’s book drop is again one with the ocean. that helped crystallize this recognition, and this no doubt came out of the deep and central ties that she had to “the In the same way the soul, when it Father,” so that something was made clear to me through is covered by the bubbles of mind, her that I was largely unaware of. energy and matter, becomes separate I might have taken the communal energy and good from God. But as soon as the bubble is burst, which is when the ego-self is feeling of the Fred and Ella group as the typical social annihilated through love for God, it aspect of being in any group, such as the stamp collectors, finds that it is One with God. and incidental to the reason for the group, which was Meher Baba. But now I see that as part and parcel of who LORD MEHER, vol. 7, p. 4246. Baba is and what he stands for, and not incidental. It © 2005 Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual rather is true that the fellowship of all groups is based on Public Charitable Trust, King’s Road, oneness with God, whether the members are aware of it Ahmednagar, M.S. 414001, India. or not, and this basis is most explicit and real when the One who is the One-in-all is the center of the group. This is expressed by Francis Brabazon in a lyric from The East- West Gathering, as follows:

9 Meher Baba Australia ‑ Thank You Meher Baba

Reg Love ©

In 1969 I finished High School and Malawi, climbed to the top of Mount became a bummer. Then the weather qualified for university. But I didn’t Kilimanjaro, and even got malaria turned cold and miserable, and I was want it. I didn’t want to use years in Tanzania. We ended up on the cold and miserable. I was stuck inside doing a degree that I would never northern beaches of Kenya, and spent a small flat with five other Aussies, use properly. I just wanted out. So three months there. Warm clear water, and then I came down with the flu. with the savings that I had acquired and good clean waves. There was only Then one afternoon one of the guys working school holidays, I jumped three of us surfing, and we had the came home with an album – vinyl on a plane with a backpack and whole of Kenya to ourselves! records in those days. It was the first my surfboard and flew to Africa. One thing that I remember solo album from of Everyone said I was crazy - going to travelling from the bottom of The Who, and it was called “Who Africa, and going all on my own. I Africa to the top of Kenya, was that Came First”. didn’t know anyone there. whenever I looked out of the car On the back cover was a photo After two days I was on the beach in window at the sky, or sat on the beach of a man astride a donkey. Stuck at Durban, in South Africa, and met all at night looking at the stars, there was home in bed with the flu, I played the other Aussie surfers. the feeling that there was something, the album over and over again, while All seven of them. I was in heaven. or someone up there, who was looking at the man on the donkey. Miles and miles of beautiful empty looking out for me. This became my Who was this man on the donkey? beaches and we were the only ones secret, for fear of being ridiculed, but It was Meher Baba astride the in the water. Warm water, clear deep inside me I knew it was real. donkey, Champa, and he was waving water and good clean waves. We After Kenya we flew into England. while riding the donkey. I couldn’t were young and fit, surfing all day, We arrived in London, and I was take my eyes off the photo. strict vegetarians with heaps of fresh broke and had to get some kind of The next morning I got up fruit and vegetables, doing yoga, work. I was told about a job as a early and went straight to The and reading The Tibetan Book of The lifeguard at an indoor swimming pool Theosophical Society Bookshop in Dead and Swami Vivekananda. We so I went. Central London, (it was the only were in our own unique world. And I said to the manager “I hear you place I knew of back then) and asked that’s how it felt. After a while our are looking for a lifeguard?” if they had any books about Meher friends were the Indians who lived in He looked me up and down, could Baba. They had one copy of one Durban. We were part of the world, see I was young and fit, and tanned volume of the Discourses. So I bought but not part of it. And that’s how we with blond hair. And he said “Are you it, and took it home, and started liked it. Australian?” reading it. That was it, for as much as I bought a camera, and fell in I said “Yes” I had loved Vivekananda, this was up love with photography. I ended up He said “You’ve got the job” another level. It was uncomplicated surfing all over South Africa, (spent a The job was great, and the money and to the point. The words were winter at Jeffreys Bay), Mozambique that I was earning allowed me to saying to me “Get on Board”. and even South West Africa (now enjoy London. The book became my secret, (for Namibia). Back in Durban, I teamed After three months I left, and spent fear of being ridiculed again) and I up with two other Aussie surfers, the next four months surfing in read it while I was alone. I would read and we decided to head up over land Cornwall and Wales. And then back it in the park, and then look up into through Africa. On the way we spent to London, which was a buzz to drive the trees and the sky, and feel that a week at Victoria Falls (still Rhodesia back into, but if you didn’t have the Meher Baba was there. then), traversed the length of Lake money to go out and party, then it And then back to Sydney, Australia.

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I had fallen in love with photography while travelling and that is all that I wanted to do. I went out every day and showed my photos taken while travelling to commercial photographers all over Sydney, with not much luck. And then I had an interview for an apprenticeship with an advertising photographer, who was one of the best in Australia. I showed him the poster that I had of Hafiz that contained “I am the slave of the Master...” and he was so impressed that I was so willing to be his slave that he gave me the job. I moved into an old boat- shed in North Sydney, living right beside the harbour. On my first day on the job he handed me a broom, and told me that the broom and myself were going to become good friends. I got in early every morning and swept the whole studio. I loved the job, it was the highest quality, and we were dealing with advertising agencies and creative people. It was all about good ideas, and being visually creative. I had found my niche. I would work long hours all Meher Baba riding Champa the donkey, circa July 1936-1937, Upper Meherabad. Photographer: Mani. © Meher Nazar Publications. week, and then on Saturday morning get the ferry into the city, and go to all the bookstores Then one Saturday in the paper seen the photo of Meher Baba on the and look at all the photography in the classifieds there was an ad for donkey, and I had the one volume books, and photo magazines. And I “Films of Meher Baba”. of the Discourses (by now battered would walk around the streets taking I had to go. At that stage it had and dog eared). And I had never met photos. been nearly two years since I had Continued on next page

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Meher Baba’s Samadhi, Upper Meherabad, India. Photo © Reg Love. another Baba person during that time. tea and cake. These people were ok. to Meher Baba at the Samadhi I was That evening I caught the bus In 1974 five of us shared an old in awe, and very nervous. So I just out to Balmain, an inner suburb of battered car from Sydney to Avatar’s simply said “Thank You Meher Baba”, Sydney. The films were being shown Abode in Queensland, for the and that is what I do every time I in an old warehouse, so I went up Anniversary. It was there that I met have been there since. the stairs and into a large room Francis Brabazon, and he had a huge At the Samadhi I never ask for with tiered seating and posters and effect on me. I loved Francis, and anything, I just say thank you. At photos of Meher Baba all around. I respected him so much. that moment I completely accepted was blown away. These were the first I asked him if I could take his Him, and I felt that Meher Baba had photos that I had seen of Meher Baba photo, he said thank you for asking, accepted me. That was a big deal since the photo of Meher Baba on the but he wanted to know all the details for me. I also realised that all the donkey. that I had in mind for the photo. times before when I had looked up I was very wary of so called spiritual Every time I asked to take his photo, to the sky and the stars and felt that groups so I kept to myself. I sat up the I had to fully explain what I was there was someone there, then that back and just nodded to people. Then trying to achieve, while he asked a lot someone was Meher Baba. Thank you people came over to say hello, and of questions. Years later when I was Baba. they were all Australians, and I was showing my portfolio to art directors As the years have rolled on Meher a bit relieved. And then a wonderful and writers, I came to realise that Baba has been a big part of my life. lady came over to say hello, and her Francis had trained me with how to Each trip to India confirms to me that name was Judith Garbett, and I came deal with creative advertising people. Meher Baba is the real thing. In 2020 to treasure her ever after. And then Francis Brabazon and Robert Rouse it is now 48 years as a Baba lover. they showed films of Meher Baba. To became two of my heroes. Now that I am retired, I live beside see Meher Baba moving and smiling, In 1976 I made my first trip to the beach at Maroochydore, not far always smiling, and then waving, and India. I was going anyway, and agreed from Avatar’s Abode. I go to the beach using the alphabet board, and well it to be the camera assistant to the every morning, and look out across was more than ok, it was great. Seeing movie “The God Man”, which was the ocean and the sky, and watch the Meher Baba on film, wow, he was being filmed during the Armatithi. It sun rising out of the ocean on the truly amazing. And I was completely was an amazing experience. horizon. hooked. I even stayed around after for The first time I went to bow down And I thank Meher Baba.

12 June – August 2020 Purposelessness and the Play of Love

Ross Keating

“If the world is a stage, God is the only producer, and you can never be anything but a trivial actor if you are not in unison with Him.”

Meher Baba, The Spiritual Potential of the Film World.1

I’m sure we’ve all had the experience when reading one of Meher Baba’s messages – one we’ve read many times before – that it seems as if we are reading it for the first time. Suddenly all the words bounces off the page awakening in us a new understanding. It confirms the idea that only when the heart and mind are ready will the eye take in the words it reads. This happened to me recently when reading Baba’s message, “Purposelessness in Infinite Reality.”2 It was like a new A Baba poster from the 1960s or 1970s. discovery. Sourced from https://www.meherbabatravels.com/books/posters-prints-large-cards/ The force of Baba’s words suddenly struck me and got reason. God was dead, the universe itself. In this way, Baba presents me thinking. For one, I saw it as was blind to human concerns, devoid purposelessness in a whole new, providing a direct response to the of meaning and purpose. Man was positive light: “Reality is Existence feeling of angst and the sense of the abandoned, on his own. All was infinite and eternal. Existence has no absurdity of life that troubled many contingent. To be authentic one purpose by virtue of its being real, minds in the post-World War II years had to admit, and choose freely to infinite and eternal. Existence exists. through to the early sixties, when this encounter, the stark reality of life’s Being Existence it has to [Baba’s message of Baba’s was written. meaninglessness. Struggle alone gave emphasis] exist. Hence Existence, the Richard Tarnas nicely captures meaning”.3 Reality, cannot have any purpose. It the mental climate and state of It seems to me that Baba’s opening just is. It is self-existing.” To think lostness that surrounded this time: statement in “Purposelessness in that underpinning all of creation is “Man [sic] possessed no determining Infinite Reality” directly addresses a Reality that has no purpose was a essence: only his existence engulfed what Tarnas outlines not only with radical idea for the time – and still is. by mortality, risk, fear, ennui, the convincing power of divine There was also a prevailing idea contradiction, uncertainty. No authority but with an impeccable during this period that everyone was transcendent Absolute guaranteed logic. somehow thrown into being with no the fulfilment of human life or In this message Baba gives a say in the matter. And that the only history. There was no eternal design whole new spin to the idea of “authentic” way forward, as Tarnas or providential purpose. Things purposelessness. He states that it is outlines, was to struggle forth and existed simply because they existed, not life that is purposeless, as was the and not for some ‘higher’ or ‘deeper’ outcry of the time, but rather Reality Continued on next page

13 Meher Baba Australia ‑ assert a kind of precarious emphasis is maintained]. freedom. But this sense of And so everything in life being seemed to be nothing is riddled with purpose, more than an overly- otherwise it would not be worked self-consciousness. here. This is why creation People seemed unable to exists as we know it; it is all break through this limiting sustained by our purpose. sense of themselves to a In other words, we keep deeper Reality. this creation show on the In His message, Baba road because, deep down, points out that such a this is what we want. Baba deeper Reality does exist. writes: “Purposelessness He makes it clear that is of Reality; to have a there is no choice in purpose is to be lost in the matter of Existence, falseness. Everything no one is thrown into exists only because it has It for It “... just is. It is a purpose. The moment self-existing.” It is the all- that purpose has been pervading, eternal given. accomplished, everything In Baba states: disappears and Existence is “Existence is independent; manifested as self-existing whereas, life is dependent Self.” upon mind, energy and And what is the moment gross forms. Existence A Baba poster from the 1960s or 1970s. Sourced from when our purpose is is [Baba’s emphasis]; https://www.meherbabatravels.com/books/posters-prints-large-cards/ accomplished? It is, as whereas, life appears to be. Baba says, when we Existence, therefore, is not life.”4 read along with “Purposelessness in become “shed of purpose.” It is to One of Baba’s roles as the Avatar Infinite Existence,” is extremely useful realise deep down in our bones, that was to “bring a new release of power, in its establishment and definition “Purpose presumes a direction and a new awakening of consciousness, a of key concepts and terms to aid this since Existence, being everything new experience of life — not merely understanding. and everywhere, cannot have any for a few, but for all.”5 I think one Continuing with His message Baba direction, directions must always be manifestation of this awakening writes that a person would not be in in nothing and lead nowhere.” was the sudden change in people’s life if they did not have a purpose. consciousness by the end of the That it is purpose alone that gives us How to Act sixties, particularly in young people. our separate sense of being. In this without Purpose This change could be described as light, it could be said that purpose is The question of how best to act in life an intuitive awakening. Suddenly synonymous with life: “Everything is an ancient one. In the Bhagavad- many people became inwardly aware – the things and the beings – in Gita Krishna says to Arjuna, “He who of their own infinite actuality, of Existence has a purpose. All things can see inaction in action, and action their Existence. Not as a full-blown and beings have a purpose and must in inaction is the wisest among men. realisation but as a deeply felt and have a purpose or else they cannot be He is a saint, even though he still acts. valuable insight. Baba even provided in existence as what they are. Their The wise call him a sage; for whatever the needed language to make sense of very being in existence proves their he undertakes is free from the motive this intuition. His discourse in God purpose; and their sole purpose in of desire [purpose], and his deeds Speaks, “Existence is Substance and existing is to become shed of purpose, are purified by the fire of Wisdom. Life is Shadow,” which needs to be i.e. to become purposeless” [Baba’s Having surrendered all claim to the

14 June – August 2020 results of his actions, always could conclude that “real contented and independent, intelligence,” being love, is in reality he does nothing “devoid of all purpose.” even though he is apparently What I would like to acting.”6 propose is that the only Baba Himself gave a whole human activity that is devoid discourse on “Action and of all purpose is play. Play Inaction” and also stated that is a kind of a non- during His 1954 tour of intellectually driven action Andhra, “All actions, whether (that produces a result) yet good or bad, just or unjust, could also been seen as an charitable or uncharitable, are inaction in that it is not responsible for making the result-centred but more a bond of illusion firmer and state of consciousness in tighter. The goal is to achieve which any result is but a perfect inaction, which does natural by-product. I am not mean merely inactivity. not thinking of play as a When the self is absent, one mere flight of fantasy, nor achieves inaction in one’s having anything to do with every action ... the only ritualistic behaviour, nor way to live a life of absolute following a pattern of rules inaction is to completely as in a set game. It is above A Baba poster from the 1960s or 1970s. Sourced from surrender to a Perfect Master, https://www.meherbabatravels.com/books/posters-prints-large-cards/ all spontaneous. And if this so that one dies to oneself idea is followed through then entirely and lives only for the Perfect inherent in the nature of love to do. it is in a certain kind of play that real Master, to act and fulfil the dictates of Here also, Baba is linking love with intelligence or love acts. It is where the Beloved One.”7 Existence as both are purposeless. So Existence shows It’s face. And I remember Eruch once when we love, Existence is expressing said, that Baba actually wants us to Itself not our separate purposeful self. The Play of Love do nothing [inaction], but in His In the Discourses, Baba states: “The Francis Brabazon after meeting compassion, He gives us something to dawn of love facilitates the death of with Meher Baba in 1952, and after do. Something to help us draw closer selfishness. Being is dying by loving.”9 completing his monumental work to Him.8 But how to act and yet I don’t think anyone, even the Stay With God gave a talk in Bombay “achieve perfect inaction”? What does Avatar, can say what love is, for on Baba’s birthday. This occurred this mean on a practical level? anything that could be said would soon after he arrived in India in In the message “Purposelessness be a limitation on what is inherently 1959 to live as one of Baba’s close in Infinite Existence” Baba gives a unlimited and has to be experienced mandali. In this talk Francis states: direction for solving this question: to be known. At best, you can only “The Lord is our Brother. This is how “Love alone is devoid of all purpose point a finger in the direction of the greatest of saints like Chaitanya and a spark of Divine Love sets fire love. And this is what I think Baba and Tukaram in India and Francis of to all purposes.” Putting this another is doing when He says that “Love is Assisi in the West approached God – way, when a person is acting with real intelligence capable of realising not as a Saviour, but as a Brother, an a desired purpose in mind they are truth; intellect is best suited to Intimate Friend [Francis emphasis] 11 acting without love. Adding to this, know all about duality, which is without Whom one could not live.” acting out of love is a kind of non- born of ignorance and is [Baba’s This paradox of “Lord and brother” purpose action (an inaction) for it is emphasis] entirely ignorance.”10 So expresses Francis’s acknowledgment simply love expressing itself which is putting Baba’s words together you Continued on next page

15 Meher Baba Australia ‑ of Baba as His divine Lord, times different things would worthy of his deepest act of happen.”13 obedience and surrender, I remember once at and yet at the same time his Meherazad asking Rano closest and most intimate how she went about drawing friend. Both of these qualities for Baba. Of course, Baba of Francis’s relationship with commissioned her to do Baba fill his writing. certain paintings and, in At the conclusion of his talk some cases, specifically Francis describes his intimate directed her what to do. relationship with Baba as But I was interested in her that of his “Playfellow” and drawings. She told me that says “He [Baba] loves the she would sit down in the play He Himself created; morning with her paper and He loves our playing of the pencils and simply begin roles of this play and He to draw Baba’s face. If the loves playing with us in these drawing was flowing and she roles.” I think this holds the was not toiling over it, she key to understanding how felt that this was a sign that Francis wrote his ghazals in Baba wanted to have His his following years living face drawn that morning; with Baba. In this light, his she felt His pleasure. But if ghazals are not a disciple- the drawing was not going poet, Francis, crying out to well she felt Baba did not Baba for inspiration, but are want His image drawn and Poster made by Leigh and Stephen Campbell, circa 1960s. Sourced composed with Baba as co- from https://www.meherbabatravels.com/books/posters-prints-large-cards/ she would put her pencil writer, Francis’s “play-fellow” down. On the surface, this participating in the play of love-dialogue, as love-play. sounds like a very simple writing itself. And the completed In Bhau’s Awakenings you find once approach but it does speak of a very ghazal is an expression of the love play more this same quality of play in intimate and playful relationship; between them. which you can sense Baba enjoyment with Baba leading the play and Rano And after reading Bal Natu’s in “playing” along with Bhau in his responding. It reminds me of Baba’s three books, Conversations with the writing. It seems that Baba can’t resist remark in Nasik in 1937: “I never Awakener, you get a sense of this joining in as an intimate playfellow. make plans, never change plans. It is same idea; that Baba is “playing” with This is how Bhau described Baba’s all one endless plan of making people Bal and the reader can feel Baba’s playfulness: “I want to make it very know that there is no plan.”14 enjoyment and playfulness in the clear that Beloved Baba sometimes A most telling remark is one made way they are written. In his preamble appears before me. I feel what He by Elizabeth Patterson who was the to the second book Bal writes: “. . wants to convey to me, and that central person in the establishment . in Your unconditional love, You feeling I have expressed through these and the initial running of the Meher have designed a way most natural Awakenings. Sometimes, He would Center in Myrtle Beach. She said that for me to come closer to You. It’s a make gestures, and the gestures I living with Baba was all “spur of the sort of private avenue where I can would interpret through my feelings. moment.”15 This was how, she said, stop anywhere and have an intimate But He would not do this all the Baba trained her while living with dialogue with You on any subject.”12 time. He would start something, Him in India, and how she continued This is what I would describe as and I would feel it. Then I would to serve Him at the Center after Baba writing without purpose, as intelligent express my feeling through words. At had put aside His physical body. It

16 June – August 2020 was no different whether Baba was in the body or not. Spur of the moment is how play happens. It is not following a set Karmic Outlook Privacy Policy routine. It is in knowing Baba’s The purpose of this Karmic Outlook voice and then acting on it as if in Privacy Policy is to communicate to you His play. It is Baba directly entering how we deal with your personal information. into the concrete decision-making As our valued client we want you processes of one’s daily living. It is to understand the importance Baba as intimate “playfellow.” Having we place on the privacy Meher Baba as one’s playfellow in of your personal information. life transcends all paths to Him for The information you have provided in playing with Baba you are already is defined as “personal information” under the Privacy Act of Creation. with Him. Although the information we collect References is held without your knowledge 1. Meher Baba, THE PATH OF LOVE, The and consent its accuracy is guaranteed Awakener Press: Hermosa Beach 1986, by our long-term working partner p. 127. 2. Meher Baba, THE EVERYTHING Universal Reincarnation Services. AND THE NOTHING, Meher House Unless otherwise ordained by God, Publication: Sydney, 1963, p. 62. we collect, hold, use and disclose 3. Richard Tarnas, THE PASSION OF THE all your thoughts, words, and deeds WESTERN MIND, Ballantine Books: NY 1991, p.389. only for the purpose of providing you 4. Meher Baba, GOD SPEAKS, Dodd, Mead with your next most suitable incarnation. and Company: New York, 1973, p. 289. While the Avatar tends not to interfere 5. Meher Baba, THE MOVING FINGER WRITES part 2, Pioneer Press: Dacca, with the running of Karmic Outlook, 1967, p.89. He does at times take liberties 6. Shri Purohit Swami, (trans.) THE but these are always in line with GEETA, Faber and Faber: London, 1969, p. 34. the best long-term prospects of our clients. 7. http://www.lordmeher.org/rev/index. The nature and extent of information jsp?pageBase=page.jsp&nextPage=3486 that we collect is available to all our clients 8. Personal recollection of the author. under our policy of open transparency. 9. Meher Baba, DISCOURSES, 7th ed. Sheriar Press: Myrtle Beach, 1987, p.13. Please observe your own temperament 10. Don Stevens, (ed.) LISTEN, and the pattern of your present life HUMANITY, Harper Colophon: NY, as a record, concretised in lived experience, 1971, p. 17. 11. Francis Brabazon, THE LORD IS OUR of your personal information held by us. BROTHER, no publisher: Bombay, 1959, All the team at Karmic Outlook look forward p. 3. to serving you in what will be, God willing, 12. Bal Natu, MORE CONVERSATIONS only a few more remaining lifetimes. WITH THE AWAKENER, Sheriar Press: Myrtle Beach, 1993, p. vii. 13. Bhau Kalchuri, THE AWAKENING OF BHAU FROM BELOVED AVATAR Ross Keating MEHER BABA, vol. 1, Meher Nazar Books: Ahmednagar, 2011, p.xiii. 14. Tom and Dorothy Hopkinson, MUCH SILENCE, B. I Publications: Bombay, 1975, p. 49. 15. I heard this remark from Wendy Connor who was a close companion of Elizabeth.

17 Meher Baba Australia ‑ After the Flood

After the flood But when we tried to praise you of our desolation our words were as foolish as drunken trumpets. after the twisted steel and the broken concrete We could not make one small song after in the shape of your beauty. the flood of Grace The days sprawled and heaved of God-Man’s Word in our hearts Like swollen seas against rocks. and our hearts They grieved and the face of the earth Like superannuated clocks. had been washed clean They were ashamed as paternal cocks of stain and monuments Lust-spent and lust-deceived; those of us Alarmed as power-bosses who have achieved who remained Those progresses which the bed mocks. after the fall of the cities Time tyrannized and survived the wandering The days. And you, God, suffered the chain came together in silence And the iron beak — total man pain — in an open space Suffered and synchronized in a new morning Man-time and God-time again — empty By men to be realized. but for the sun newly risen out of the ocean. The words of the Word — your gift to men. And one found voice for all of us: The words that are a flame in the mouth We have to admit, God, that you did the right thing. to illumine your Name: We had become loused-up. A man’s word that Name which the stars were singing Had the stink but not the weight of his turd. as we your sons We had forgotten, every son-of-a-bitch of us, how danced past them to sing. on our way to Man-state. What is a man until he has been drowned Our cities were hills that drew no rain, And has risen again from the flood-of-you From which no virtue flowed out over earth With a river of song in his mouth, has found Sustaining structure and flowering that mirth His own shape in the image of the blood-of-you? Which makes eyes dance across a surging plain. In everything we had been wrong. Our cities were coagulated again; We did not believe that God-Man was your face, The Good Life thrown on a garbage-dump; thin That in his Word was the total Grace — Love hung up on nerves, like bits of tin Already present in the Creation Song. In winds of belly-laughs of the insane. We had lost the gift of high decision. Our cities were maps with squares marked ‘treasure’ We conceived that tomorrow was merely today’s For which one dug and found a rotten bone; revision. Dialled wrong numbers on a telephone; Markets where one shopped for packaged pleasure — Yet we were troubled at times Back home unwrapped it and found only pain when we saw the new moon Untouched by hand and wrapped in cellophane. when we heard certain old songs. At times our pain was like trembling Extract from ‘After the Flood’ from THE WORD AT drops of rain. WORLD’S END, Francis Brabazon © 1971. John F Kennedy University Press, Berkeley USA.

18 June – August 2020 The Boys Prem Ashram Days with Meher Baba and Ever After

We are approaching publication date, for this new book on Meher Baba’s Prem Ashram. Giving birth to the multi- layered book has been a challenge for co-authors Bob Mossman and Farshid Namiranian. The seed for The Boys: Prem Ashram Days with Meher Baba and Ever After, was planted in mid-2015, with a re-reading of the book Sobs & Throbs, which tells the story of Syed Aga Ali, and his association with Baba’s newly established free, all-faith, international ashram / school that began in 1927. Aga Ali’s father initially begged Baba to take his son into the school, but soon after bowing to peer pressure from the Muslim community in Bombay, removed his boy from the ashram / school. Almost immediately, Ali escaped from Bombay to return to Baba. The escape would not be the last one for Ali, who over and over again ran away from his father to return to the ashram in Meherabad, India. Esfandiar would maintain his physical connection with Initially, Baba established only the Meher Ashram, which Baba throughout his long life; Abdullah, who achieved the offered a full academic curriculum as well as instruction in sixth-plane of consciousness at the Prem Ashram, would spirituality. Just months after the ashram began, a number physically separate from Baba in late 1929, never to see of boys began to lean much more towards the spiritual him again. And, Syed Ali, who would travel to the Western offering, which on many days was being given to them world with Baba in 1931, would never physically have directly by Spiritual Master Meher Baba. contact again with his Spiritual Master after 1935. In a short time, a few of the boys developed a thirst for The different lifetime stories associated with our Prem only God, losing interest in the academic subjects offered. Ashram trio in The Boys adheres tightly to the original This soon led Baba to establish the offshoot Prem – Love Prem Ashram spiritual connection established; and how all – Ashram, which eventually would drop the Oxford three treasured and held fast to this precious Divine Love University approved academic curriculum in favour of throughout their adult lives. strictly spiritual daily instruction. Oceanic Publishing is a self-publishing venture created Divine Love quickly took hold of a handful of primarily for book publishing. youngsters. Two previous books, include: Divine Drama: The Valiant The pages of The Boys looks at three of these lads – Life of Charles B. Purdom (2015); and Slave of Love: The Esfandiar Vesali, Abdullah Pakravan (Chota Baba), and Life of Dr. William Donkin with Meher Baba (2012). Syed Ali – our hero of Sobs & Throbs. Their challenges, Author Bob Mossman, a retired Canadian journalist, has their agonies, and the unbounded ecstasies each achieved, been a follower of Meher Baba since 1967. He lives beside while under Meher Baba’s guidance and strict regime of the sea and divides his time between Nova Scotia and spirituality at the Prem Ashram. South Carolina. Within six years, all three boys would separate physically from Meher Baba, and begin to pursue their very different adult lives in India and Persia.

19 Meher Baba Australia ‑ Works in progress at Avatar’s Abode

Wheelchair- friendly path Construction is underway of an Australian Standards wheelchair-friendly path connecting the disability toilet block to Baba’s House and the entertainment Shed at Avatar’s Aode. The path will be constructed from coloured concrete with an exposed aggregate finish to ensure it is both practical and aesthetically pleasing. The new pathway will run from The Shed steps to the toilet block, and then continue to Baba’s House while maintaining the approved gradient for a wheelchair-friendly path. [See the concept plan drawing above.] To achieve this, some clearing of the garden area between Baba’s House and the toilet block will be required. Landscaping will be incorporated around this pathway. Restoration of the Reception Centre roof and some walls This restoration work is necessary due to previous major termite infestations. As part of the restoration, and to reduce the risk from bushfires, ember guards will be installed in the roof gutters and valleys. We will also re-plumb the guttering so that all of the water from the Reception Centre is collected. A call-centre-connected smoke alarm system will be installed in the Reception Centre and Bookstore. ABOVE: Looking down the path towards The Shed (Lorraine Brown). We continue to monitor termite activity Page 21 TOP LEFT: Jethro Hitchens at work with the excavator (Sue Jamison). Page 21 TOP RIGHT: Tony Foley helping with the pickaxe (Sue Jamison). around Avatar’s Abode through our regular Page 21 BOTTOM LEFT: Looking from The Shed steps towards the disability toilet (Sue schedule of termite inspection, prevention Jamison). and treatment. Page 21 BOTTOM RIGHT: Further up the path closer to disability toilet block (Lorraine Brown).

20 June – August 2020

21 Meher Baba Australia ‑ The Great Realisation: Hindsight 2020 Child: Tell me the one about the virus again. Then I’ll go to bed. Father: But, my boy, you’re growing weary, sleepy thoughts about your head. Child: Please! - That one’s my favourite. I promise, just once more, ... Father: OK, snuggle down my boy, though I know you know full well, this story starts before then in a world I once would dwell. It was a world of waste and wonder. Of poverty and plenty. Back before we understood why hindsight’s 2020. You see, the people came up with companies to trade across all lands. But they swelled and got much bigger than we ever could have planned. We’d always had our wants, but now, it got so quick. You could have anything you dreamed of in a day and with a click. We noticed families had stopped talking. That’s not to say they never spoke. But the meaning must have melted and the work life balance broke. And the children’s eyes grew squarer and every toddler had a phone. They filtered out the imperfections but amid the noise, they felt alone. And every day, the skies grew thicker, till you couldn’t see the stars. So we flew in planes to find them while down below, we filled our cars. We’d drive around all day in circles. We’d forgotten how to run. We swapped the grass for tarmac, shrunk the parks, till there were none. We filled the sea with plastic because our waste was never capped. Until, each day, when you went fishing you’d pull them out already wrapped. And while we drank and smoked and gambled, our leaders taught us why, it’s best to not upset the lobbies, more convenient to die. But then, in 2020, a new virus came our way. The governments reacted and told us all to hide away. But while we all were hidden, amidst the fear and all the while, the people dusted off their instincts. They remembered how to smile. They started clapping to say thank you. And calling up their mums. And while the car keys gathered dust they would look forward to their runs. And with the skies less full of voyagers, the earth began to breathe. And the beaches bore new wildlife that scuttled off into the seas. Some people started dancing, some were singing, some were baking. We’d grown so used to bad news but some good news was in the making. And so when we found the cure, and were allowed to go outside, we all preferred the world we found to the one we’d left behind. Old habits became extinct and they made way for the new. And every simple act of kindness was now given its due. Child: But why did it take a virus to bring the people back together? Father: Well, sometimes you’ve got to get sick, my boy, before you start feeling better. Now, lie down and dream of tomorrow, and all the things that we can do. And who knows, if you dream hard enough, maybe some of them will come true. We now call it The Great Realisation and yes, since then there have been many. But that’s the story of how it started, and why hindsight’s 2020. https://youtu.be/hw0JDJUu548

22 June – August 2020

48

If anyone asks for proof that God exists — let him disprove His own existence. Let him declare what makes his mind move. When I was in India Ali Ramjoo, It is not for the lover to prove, but to be. the son of Ramjoo, Baba’s mandali, God save him then from the slightest hypocrisy, said to me, “There was a bit of rivalry between Dr Ghani and For with that he is both a witless fool and a liar, Ramjoo. Ghani was a poet but A green log smoking making out it is fire. Ramjoo wrote only one line: Mind demands proof of what is entirely beyond mind. One understands in the blink of an eye; One day it will learn to sit still and not ask, and find. otherwise a whole lifetime can’t make it any Whatever one can say is but a figure of speech, clearer. Like, The sun rises, The moon sinks, The waves wash on the beach. Ali said he only remembered one Love delights in poetry and parables, of itself it is sure; thing about Francis Brabazon: Mind demands the prose of logic because it is insecure. We don’t make progress with Baba. You Let the demander question and sort — for trash is his treasure. just run like mad standing still.” The lover has another occupation — his Beloved’s pleasure.

Ghazal 48 from IN DUST I SING, Francis Brabazon. Geoff Gunther Copyright © 2019 Avatar’s Abode Trust, Australia.

Meher Baba Australia

Steven Hein, MBA Editor

What is ‘Meher Baba Australia’? The digital email PDF version? It is a volunteer run, non-profit initiative. We also have the low cost PDF version we We publish a newsletter that aims to connect distribute by email. Many of our subscribers the community of lovers of Beloved Meher choose to subscribe to receive both email and Baba. hardcopy versions. Interested in assisting with production? Contact How do we ask you to renew each year? Steven Hein, Editor. stevenhein101@gmail. It will be an email request or a coloured slip inside com. your MBA hardcopy. Your response helps us Frequency - four issues a year keep your (confidential) info and address on our March, June, September, December. mailing list up to date. Avatar Meher Baba, 1954 Andhra, India. Cost? Editorial policy Donations can be made via PayPal at There is no charge as such. We do however ask The MBA editorial policy is pretty simple – avatarsabode.com.au/donations.html readers to subscribe, to actively choose to receive / MBA will not publish any content that is keep receiving the journal. divisive, political, disruptive or disrespectful. The Or by direct bank deposit or Electronic Funds Transfer to How do we cover printing & postage costs? editors reserve the right to accept or decline any Account name: Meher Baba Australia We welcome donations. Occasionally, if costs submitted articles. Editors also reserve the right BSB: 064424 go up and funds run low, we even invite and to edit any or all accepted articles for length and Account number: 10379525 encourage donations. content prior to publication. Please include your initial and last name for reference. MBA contacts Actual costs of a hardcopy issue? Suggested annual donation To produce, print and post within Australia, each Editor: [email protected] $8 AU Email PDF (Global) – 1 year, 4 issues. issue costs us approx $7.50 AU. For the 4 issues Mailing List / Subscriptions: David Bowling $30 AU Hardcopy (Australia) – 1 year, 4 issues. that’s about $30 AU a year. International postage [email protected] $40 AU Hardcopy (Overseas) – 1 year, 4 issues. costs a bit more.

23 Meher Baba Australia What’s on at Avatar’s Abode June – August 2020 Editor: Steven Hein Avatar’s Abode Design, Layout and Digital Image Cleanup: Liz Gaskin Virtual Anniversary Proof Reading: Steven Hein. Contact editor if you can The 62nd anniversary will be celebrated from help too [email protected]. th th Mailing List and Subscriptions: David Bowling. Friday 5 to Monday 8 June 2020. [email protected] Email for information. The Anniversary of Beloved Avatar Meher Baba’s 4-day Next Issue: Please email submssions for the next Meher [email protected] visit to His Abode in June of 1958 is held at Avatar’s Baba Australia to or mail to Abode in early June. However, with the extraordinary MBA, PO Box 335, Woombye, QLD 4559, Australia. events happening throughout the world due to the Photos to be minimum of 1MB, preferably over 2MB. ongoing pandemic, this year we will be celebrating the PLEASE NOTE that the editor reserves the right to 62nd Anniversary “virtually”. There is a silver lining! edit all published articles for length and content prior to A virtual Anniversary creates an opportunity for Baba publication. Deadline Next Issue: lovers worldwide to participate and contribute. NO LATER THAN 15th July 2020. How will the virtual Anniversary work? Cover: drawing by Claire Mataira © 2020. We are working to create a mix of performances, presentations and virtual socialising, all of which will be scheduled and presented online. Sydney Meher Baba Community The live streaming of the raising of Baba’s flag at His Dates and details below are subject to change, however Abode on Friday the 5th June at 11:30am AEST will all effort will be made to ensure late-breaking updates are signify the opening of the Anniversary, the lowering provided by email and/or Facebook. of the flag at 2.30pm on Monday 8th, the close.

Monthly Meetings at Meher House How do I attend? Last Sunday of every month. Prayers and Arti, open https://avatarsabode.com.au/anniversary_at_avatars_ discussions about Baba, occasional guests, vegetarian abode.html is your link to the 2020 Anniversary page potluck meal. Contact; Ross Keating M: 0416 883 373 on the Avatar’s Abode website. Here we will be posting E: [email protected]. all updates, including the event’s program, schedule, and instructions on how to access and participate in the Monday Night Discourse Meetings virtual Anniversary. Most Mondays at the home of Kris Wyld. Occasional special guests. Contact Kris Wyld M 0407 481 323. All regular meetings and gatherings at Avatar’s Abode have been ceased until it The Meher Baba Sydney community is is deemed safe to begin these again. always searching for volunteers to serve in Baba’s cause and love and in a variety of ways. For further Monday Mornings information contact Kevin Mossberger on 0412 559 402. 10am–11.30am in the Meeting Hall. Information: Lorraine 5446 8005 or [email protected]. All are welcome to join with stories, readings, poetry, songs and a cuppa. Melbourne Regular Baba Meetings Mid-Month Brunch Tuesday Mornings In Camberwell. Ring Cynthia on 0409 880 005 for You are most welcome to join us in the Bookstore, 11am– information. 12pm. Geoff Gunther (07) 5442 2467.

Last Sunday of the Month Tuesday Afternoons Reading Group Avondale Heights, 1pm. Lunch provided. Ring Jasmine 4.30pm–5.30pm in the Bookstore. Contact Wilma 0438 300 193 for information. Pearson phone 0404 775 789 or (07) 5473 9947, email [email protected].

New Zealand Saturday Film Nights Contact Jill Hobbs, 19 Brassey Road, Wanganui. First Saturday of the month 7pm. Contact: David & Glenda Phone: (06) 347 2974 Hobson (07) 5442 1220 or Jim Frisino 0417 112 668. Email: jillhobbs1954@ gmail.com WA Meher Baba Gatherings Phone Paul Morris 0429 310 169 or Julie Lee-Morris 0428 250 294. Meher Baba Australia is a non-profit publication independent of the Avatar’s Abode Trust. The views expressed in articles in Meher Baba Australia are solely those of the authors.