October 8, 1988
by Ali Akbar Shapurzaman (Aloba)
Mandali Hall
Meherazad, India
TRANSCRIPTION INSTRUCTIONS
A.) Find the BOLDED title below to select and click to open the pdf transcript.
B.) On the right side of this webpage (below for mobile), select and play the talk with the same title.
C.) Read along as you listen to Aloba’s talk.
Note: Only BOLDED titles have transcriptions.
1. Protected in Babas Name
2. Stories of Calling Baba
3. Ordained for Baba's Work
4. The Form of the Avatar
5. Stories of Mani's Lost Things
6. Universality of Baba's Touch
7. Davana and Jerry Singing
8. Sarah McNeil Plays BBC Tape
9. Songs for Baba
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Aloba and Eruch narrate incidents where calling upon Meher Baba averted violent robbery, including an attack halted by a protective animal and a cashier held at gunpoint who engaged the robber in conversation about his Baba badge. Davana Brown follows with the account of Patty Thorne, who was accosted by armed men at night after a late shift and caused them to flee by repeating that Meher Baba loved them.
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Mani and Eruch recount stories demonstrating Baba's responsiveness to fear and danger, including a newcomer saved from an assailant by a police car and a telephone operator in Nagpur whose cries for Baba produced disembodied voices that scared away ambushers. Aloba then describes a desperate mother in Tehran whose critically ill child was immediately cured after the mother wept and repeatedly called out to Meher Baba in the middle of the night
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Mani recalls a dream of an earthquake that flattened everything except the room where Baba's name stood, leading into her retelling of the 1952 car accident in Oklahoma and explaining that the suffering was intentionally ordained for Baba's universal work. She recounts how Elizabeth Patterson found a dried flower in her Bible that Baba had plucked for her in 1932, inscribed with the exact date of the accident twenty years before it happened.
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Eruch explains the spiritual shift from being a seeker to becoming the sought, prompting Davana to read verses by Shams-e-Tabrizi expressing that God is within and does not need to be searched for. Mani and Eruch then engage in lighthearted banter about why the Avatar always takes a male form, recounting past conversations where Eruch teased Baba to incarnate as a woman to experience the love of men.
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Mani relates instances of losing sacred objects, including a lost shipment of Baba photographs, the Babajan portrait she secretly kept from Harvey Roberts until returning it years later, and losing a gold sari pin during Mehera's birthday celebration. The recording concludes with an attendee recounting how she worked through the emotional collapse of her brief marriage, only to find the diamond missing from her antique engagement ring at the beach.
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A pilgrim describes losing and recovering a diamond ring, leading Mani to narrate how Baba once blessed an entire box of photos by touching only the top one. Eruch follows with a story about an Avatar Meher Baba ring given away by a jeweler, explaining that Baba's name completely washes away sanskaric impressions.
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Davana opens the gathering with a community singalong of the popular hit song about not worrying, noting how Baba's message has entered mass merchandise. Jerry Edwards follows by leading the hall in an adapted rendition of a classic standard focusing on walking on Baba's side of the street.
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Sarah McNeil plays an unreleased BBC audio production that uses modern musical styles to teach European youth about human rights and unity. The presentation leads into an audience conversation about cultural musical blends, concluded by Mani's humorous anecdote about interpreting English into English.
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Davana introduces Kusum Singh from Delhi, noting her history of singing directly before Meher Baba Himself. Accompanied by the harmonium, Kusum performs two devotional compositions for the gathering, concluding with praise and applause from the hall.