"Baba used to have one of us read jokes every afternoon, and someone asked why He liked jokes. Baba replied because the Universe is God's biggest joke!"

Letters From the Mandali of Avatar Meher Baba, Vol. II (1983),p.72

Weekly Reflections No. 24

from Meher Baba Books

(Los Angeles, California)

Greetings from Los Angeles, in Sunny California;

It is Friday and time for us to meet again in His Love and remembrance. This mini-circular is now celebrating its 24-weeks Birthday. Can not believe that already six months went by?Thank you Baba! and thanks to you readers for your support and kind words.

This week's theme is "Meher Baba and Happiness". We would like to offer this issue as a tribute to Meher Baba's woman Mandali member, Meheru Irani.

Meheru Irani went into Meher Baba's loving embrace on April 21st, 2012, in Meherazad/India. She was 84 years old when she left the earthly plane.

Meheru had the great fortune to be born to two of Meher Baba's very close disciples from His earliest ashram days, Rustom and Freny Irani, Freny being Mehera's sister. From her early childhood, Meheru longed to be a part of Baba's ashram, and as soon as she finished schooling in her mid-teens, Baba accepted her as one of His intimate women mandali. Immediately she dedicated her life to serving her two beloveds, Baba and His dearest Mehera. Meheru's lively, spirited, active nature was combined with a deep sensitivity and grace that served her well as one of Mehera's closest companions, especially after Beloved Baba dropped His body in 1969. In her later years, Meheru was to become the last remaining of Baba's New Life companions, the last of those who were with Baba in His 1952 car accident in the Prague, Oklahoma, and ultimately the last of the Meherazad resident women mandali from Baba's time on earth as Meher Baba.

After Mehera Irani rejoined Beloved Baba in 1989, Meheru continued to care for Baba's home and His personal things in the way Mehera would wish, both at Meherazad and through her guidance of the Trust's archive team. Meheru also continued to welcome Baba-lovers to Mehera's porch for tea and stories -- with touching memories of a life spent with the God-Man and His Beloved (Mehera).

Meheru's lifelong courage, sacrifice, unswerving focus, and whole-hearted dedication comprise a tribute to her Beloved Baba, and an example to all His lovers now and to come.

It is Baba's order for all His lovers and followers to be Happy and remain cheerful in His Love. Remembering He is the only True Reality, and the One in many, makes it easier to stay happy. Once we do our best, He then takes over and creates the result. Isn't this the case?

In this issue and a few upcoming ones, we'd also like to reflect on the topic of "Women In the West and their Roles." Filis Frederick, who was one of the principal founders of our Los Angeles Meher Baba Center, wrote a great account on this interesting topic, which we will draw from. We offer this small circular at His feet and hope He is pleased with it. We hope you enjoy these small occasions for reflecting on the divinity of Beloved Baba's words and life. Keep Happy.

Meheru Irani at Meherazad; photo by Anthony Zois (January 1975)

In His Love and Service,

Meher Baba Books

~~

Meher Baba on Happiness

~~

He Hears the Voice of the Heart

Everyone can be happy, but some feel happy and some feel miserable. Those who constantly want something will never feel happy. Misery is bound to accompany wanting. Those who never want for themselves but for others, they can feel happy. Why? Because they want others to feel happy.

God, who is in everything and everyone, is deaf to formal rituals, ceremonies and prayers in mosques, churches and temples; but He hears the voice of the heart. When you help others, God knows instantly and is pleased. No amount of prayer or meditation can do what helping others can do.

Meher Baba

from Gift of Love: Sayings and Messages of Avatar Meher Baba (1994), , p. 59

* * *

Towards Lasting Happiness

When My Universal Religion of Love is on the verge of fading into insignificance, I come to breathe life into it and to do away with the farce of dogmas that defile it in the name of religions and stifle it with ceremonies and rituals.

The present universal confusion and unrest has filled the heart of man with greater lust for power and a greed for wealth and face, bringing in its wake untold misery, hatred, jealousy, frustration and fear. Suffering in the world is at its height, in spite of all the striving to spread peace and prosperity, to bring about a lasting happiness.

For man to have a glimpse of lasting happiness he has first to realize that God, being in all, knows all; that God alone acts and reacts through all; that God, in the guise of countless animate and inanimate entities, experiences the innumerably varied phenomena of suffering and happiness, and that God Himself undergoes all these illusory happenings. Thus, it is God Who has brought suffering in human experience to its height, and God alone Who will efface this illusory suffering and bring the illusory happiness to its height.

Whether it manifests as Creation or disappears into the Oneness of Reality, whether it is experienced as existing and real, or is perceived to be false or non-existent, illusion throughout is illusion. There is no end to it, just as there is no end to imagination.

There are two aspects experienced in illusion - manyness and oneness. While manyness multiplies manyness, oneness goes on magnifying itself. Manyness is the 'religion' of illusion on which illusion thrives.

In the illusory beginning of Time, there was no such state of mess in illusion as there is today. When the evolution of consciousness began, there was oneness, in spite of the diversity in illusion. With the growth of consciousness, manyness also went on increasing, until now it is about to overlap the limit. Like the wave that reaches its crest, this height of manyness will dissolve itself and bring about the beginning of oneness in illusion. Suffering at its height will cause destruction of this climate of manyness in illusion.

The time has come for the pre-ordained destruction of multiple separateness which keeps man from experiencing the feeling of unity and brotherhood. This destruction which will take place very soon, will cause three-fourths of the world to be destroyed. The remaining one-fourth will be brought together to live a life of concord and mutual understanding, thus establishing a feeling of oneness in all fellow beings, leading them towards lasting happiness.

Excerpted from Meher Baba's "Final Declaration" in

Three Incredible Weeks with Meher Baba (1979),

ed. Malcolm Schloss & Charles Purdom, pp. 115-116

Questioner: How can I have happiness?

BABA: Everyone in the world, consciously or unconsciously seeks happiness in one form or another. You seek it now in your own way. Even a murderer seeks happiness which he hopes to find in the very act of murder, and that is why he commits it. Why or when does a man commit murder? Either through hatred or jealousy, and because he thinks he will find happiness if he commits murder and takes his revenge for hatred or jealousy.

Why does a man drink, because of the happiness he expects to derive from the 'drink'. But what happiness does he derive and how long does it last? Only as long as the effect of the intoxication lasts. No sooner it cools down, he feels broken, dejected and miserable. It is the same with lust and lusty actions. One does it all for the happiness one derives even for a moment. But it is all for the time-being that one derives happiness from one action or another, and when it is over, he is miserable again.

Real happiness is quite different. It never changes, nor ceases. It is Permanent, Ever-lasting -- and it lies there, there within you. It is sleeping (latent), and must be opened (unlocked). Once it is opened, it is always happiness. I am the Source of Happiness, the Sun of all Bliss. But there is a cover (curtain) that veils you from the Sun and you do not see it. Now, because of your inability to see owing to a curtain, you cannot say there is no sun. The sun is there, shining and spreading its luster all over the world. But you do not allow its rays to approach you, obstructing them with the veil of ignorance. Remove that and you will see the sun. I will help you tear open the curtain and enable you to find happiness within. I love you, I love all.

The Answer, pp. 29-30

1972 ? Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust

Do You All Promise to Begin Dying?

Meher Baba

"Now listen very seriously to this lecture. As I said this morning, it is time we started dying. Dying not in the meaning of ordinary death, but the death of low sense desires. It is all bliss and yet all are miserable because of ignorance. This ignorance causes desires to be fulfilled, yet the goal of each and every one is to attain the 'no-desire' state.

"You want millions of things. You say, 'I want this, I want that.' And wanting inevitably leads to suffering. So try your best - your very best - by loving more, and then you will want less and less of that which is beyond your needs. Try seriously. It will be all bliss if you don't want anything. But you must try consciously. The stone wants nothing, but wants nothing unconsciously.

"Let us begin by dying. The more you want the more you are miserable. If you think seriously for just five minutes about what you have wanted all your life - what you have got and what you did not get - and today see if you are satisfied with life. All that you enjoyed all these years, today is nil. All you suffered is nil. It was all illusion.

"So when it is our right to be happy, why try to be unhappy by wanting things? If you do not get that which you want, you are disappointed. And when you do, you do not want it. Long for and want only the one thing that will kill the million other wants. Long for Union. How clear and simple. Try with all your heart. Do not say yes and then not do it. Begin seriously now. You cannot love each other - all right, but try at least to give in to each other. This you do not do. Why? Because you are not honest. That is why I love those in the mad ashram. They are honest in their insanity. You come from afar to love Me and to realize Me and you become fighting cocks and hens. I think I will have to leave you and go to Nepal or send you all to the Himalayas. So begin by wanting less. Try to love more. Try to have more tolerance. It is all sublime, and yet everybody is sad, miserable and suffering.

"Do you all promise to begin dying?" [Each promised to try.]

"If I find disharmony and no willingness to die, it would be better to have you all leave. It is not for name or fame that you have come here. Baba has many disciples. He does not need anybody. I am always alone and always will be, throughout eternity. It is you who need Me until you become Me. But if you do not try, what is the use?

"Now let us be gay! If you were all strong physically then I would take you to Rishikesh to see the real India." Norina brought up the question of food -- how to cater to all and still be economical. Baba Himself took up the subject, and each was asked to give his or her opinion on the subject of food and menus. Once and for all Baba wanted these points clear. He said: "You all have promised to try your best to die, so let us begin with food. Let us have no more clashes. Let Norina go on giving the same as before. As all say, you, Norina, manage wonderfully well but what You lack is gentleness. You are much too blunt. And for the role of Mother you ought to be more gentle. Be one without duality."

from Kitty Davy, Love Alone Prevails (2001), pp. 162-165

Fulfillment of Desires

Fulfillment of desires does not lead to their termination; they are submerged for awhile only to reappear with added intensity. When a person is hungry, he eats to satisfy the desire, but soon feels hungry again. If he eats too much, even in the fulfillment of his desire he experiences pain and discomfort. It is the same with all the desires of the world; they can only yield a happiness that is fleeting. Even in the very moment of their fulfillment, the happiness they yield has already begun to fade and vanish. Worldly desires can therefore never lead to abiding happiness. On the contrary, they invariably invite unending suffering of many kinds. When an individual is full of worldly desires, a plentiful crop of suffering is unavoidably in store for him. Desire is inevitably the cause of much suffering: this is the law....

Desirelessness makes an individual firm like a rock. He is neither moved by pleasure nor by sorrow; he is not upset by the onslaughts of opposites. One who is affected by agreeable things is bound to be affected by disagreeable things. If a person is encouraged in his endeavors by an omen considered auspicious, he is bound to be discouraged by one considered to be inauspicious. He cannot resist the discouraging effect of an inauspicious omen as long as he derives strength from an auspicious one. The only way not to be upset by omens is to be indifferent to auspicious as well as inauspicious omens.

The same is true of the opposites of praise and blame. If a person is pleased by receiving praise, he is bound to be miserable when he receives blame. He cannot keep himself steady under a shower of blame as long as he is inwardly delighted by receiving praise. The only way not to be upset by blame is to be detached from praise also. Only then can a person remain unmoved by the opposites of praise and blame. Then he does not lose his equanimity. The steadiness and equanimity that remain unaffected by any opposites is possible only through complete detachment, which is an essential condition of lasting and true happiness. The individual who has complete detachment is not at the mercy of the opposites of experience; and being free from the thralldom of all desires, he no longer creates his own suffering.

Meher Baba, Discourses, 7th ed, pp. 389-392

I Dare Not Neglect You

It is natural that at times you feel 100% miserable. Be sure that I know everything. When everything goes wrong, the mind becomes helpless and has to rely on the heart. These are the moments when you resign to my will and rely solely on my help. When you leave all to Me, I dare not neglect you, and you get relief from your predicament. I am the Ocean of Love and Compassion.

Indicating the helplessness of a lover, the poet Hafiz has said, "In loving my Beloved, I have become like an ant under the foot of an elephant - safe and secure, but helpless to move." To demand anything from the Beloved is an insult to Love. Love only gives and goes on giving till the will of the Beloved alone manifests through the lover.

Meher Baba

from Mani Irani, 82 Family Letters (1976), p. 176

1952 : Meher Center, Myrtle Beach, SC
Filis is on the far right of the group. Courtesy Glow International magazine

Heroines of the Path

By Filis Frederick

In the early Twenties, Meher Baba predicted His work in the West would be done by women, and in the East by men. And so it has proved, for several decades, both in Europe and America. The strongest personalities and the hardest workers have largely been women, especially those He contacted during His trips to the West in the Thirties. Baba said before He left India for the first time in 1931, that He had to contact all the Western members of His Circle before the Second World War.

I thought it appropriate that our 30th Anniversary issue of the Awakener be dedicated to these several unique personalities who did so much to acquaint the West with the Avatar of the Age, especially since I had the unique privilege of meeting and working with most of them.

Nasik 1933 - Right to left : Elizabeth Patterson, Norina Matchabelli, Jean Adriel & Delia De Leon

I first met Baba's "trio", Princess Norina Matchabelli, Countess Nadine Tolstoy and Mrs. Kenneth (Elizabeth) Patterson in New York city in 1943. At the end of their stay in India in 1941, Baba had sent them West to work together to "spread His message of love and truth." They lived together in a duplex on East 67th Street. Norina gave the public talks on Baba, Nadine welcomed individual seekers, and Elizabeth quietly paid the bills. They were a unique blend of talent, temperament and nationality. Nadine was Russian, Norina Italian, Elisabeth American. When I met them I felt they were old and dear connections and became so close to them I was invited to live with them, which I did from 1944 to late 1946, when Baba recalled Elizabeth and Norina to India, just before the "New Life." Nadine had already passed away.

Actually, I met all three women "inwardly" before I even knew of their existence, or their Master, Meher Baba. I had seen a "vision" of a strikingly beautiful woman in a white turban fastened by a square amethyst, with handsome dark eyes that looked into mine. I had dreamed of a white-haired, blue-eyed lady in a beautiful white and gold room who said to me "Attendez le Maitre Parfait, translation: "Await the Perfect Master ", And again I had a waking vision of a woman in a large blue car who beckoned me to join her, - then we seemed to ride off on a spiral road into the sky! It was only a few weeks later that I very mysteriously got an invitation to hear Princess Matchabelli speak on "Love is the Solution" at a nearby hotel. There I met the other two and recognized them instantly.

Nadine had the bright blue eyes and white hair, Elizabeth I found out later, had been Babas chauffeur many times, for example, on the blue bus tours. And Norina wore her fashion trademark, a white turban (Baba had predicted that one of the Western women in His Circle would wear a white turban).

I mention these unusual experiences because it was Baba's way of working with me in particular; for I have always paid attention to my dreams and visions, they had great meaning in my own development. I had studied Jungian and Freudian dream analysis as well as various types of metaphysics. To be drawn to these soul-companions this way was already a touch of the New Age awakening fostered by Baba.

I shall always be grateful to these three women, for living and working with them prepared me in a very special way for meeting the Avatar. I cleared away some personal karma and learned some very valuable lessons in how to be with a super-conscious Being like Baba. In the West we grow up with so many misconceptions about the spiritual path. One learns, with the Avatar, Who is so unique in His way of working, to throw most of these out the window.

From left to right: Nadine Tolstoy, Mary Backett, Delia DeLeon, Nonny Gayley, Norina Matchabelli, Rano Gayley,

Margaret Craske, Ruano Bogislav, Elizabeth Patterson ... Curtsey of Meher Baba Travel.

Later on, I met other outstanding women disciples of the Master, some of whom Baba declared were in His Circle: Margaret Craske, Ruano Bogislav, Kim Tolhurst, Jean Adriel, Delia De Leon, Hedi Mertens, Kitty Davy and Rano Gayley. Murshida Rabia Martin, head of the Inayat Khan Sufi order, came to stay with us for many months, having heard about Baba on Norina's lecture tour to the West Coast, as had Mildred Kyle in Seattle. Rabia declared Baba was the "Kutub" of the Age and went back to announce this to her group. Mildred Kyle, who had been President of her Theosophy Lodge for almost 40 years, did the same thing. Later, Rabia's successor, Ivy Duce, came to visit us to learn more about Baba. Both Ivy and Mildred brought many precious souls to Baba, as did the other women I mentioned above.

Why did Baba choose women for His main work in the West? A good question. A clue may be found in Baba's statement that in the East it is the men who are spiritual, and in the West, it is the women. He also had said Eastern souls were now being incarnated in West and vice versa.

I also feel it is of great significance that Mehera, Baba's female counterpart, shared suffering of His accident in America in 1952, and that it might symbolize a breakthrough for women everywhere, but especially in the West.

At least since the "Age of Enlightenment" - enlightenment by reason, of course,- it been easier for women in the West to be "religious", as faith leans more on intuition then on reason. The West, for so long, has emphasized the rational or "left brain" activity, supposedly the province of men, that the intuitive or "right brain" functioning has been left to women, often in a derogatory way.

So perhaps it was easier in the Thirties, when the skeptical rationalism of Freud, Marx, Wittgenstein, Russell, etc., (all men!) dominated our thinking, for a group of Western men to step outside of conventional religious roles and follow an "Eastern guru" who emphasized the way of the heart. Baba certainly put some of them to the acid test. In 1933 He invited a number of women and girls to join Him in India, supposedly "for good." only to send them back home in a few weeks to face a blast of publicity from the yellow journalists.

It's time to get acquainted with some of these unusual women. They have been so devoted to Baba, however, that they have played down their lives previous to meeting Him, and "hard" facts are hard to collect. Therefore I emphasize my own reminiscences.

To be continued...

Next week we present "Princess Norina Matchabelli"

from The Awakener Magazine, Volume 20, Number 2