"I
belong to no religion.
Every religion belongs
to me. My personal
religion is my being
the Ancient, Infinite
One, and the religion
I impart to all is
Love for God, which is
the Truth of all
religions."
~
Meher Baba, The
Awakener Magazine,
Fall 1954, Vol. 2, No.
2, pg 13
April,
2014
Vol.
7, Issue 2
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Quick
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Newsletter
wallas:
Lisa
Greenstein, Doug
Ross,
Alan
Talbot & Karen
Talbot
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Dear
Reader
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In
this issue:
Information
on seeing to the
care and future of
your Baba items,
part 2 on
spiritual
practices by Brian
Drygas, a
remembrance of
Howard Schwartz,
and the upcoming
urban sahavas with
Deborah Ash.
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Elaine
& Sean
decorate for
Baba's
Birthday 2014 |
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Matt
& Steven
with daughters
at Baba's
Birthday
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Jai
Baba!
~Lisa Greenstein
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Caring
for Baba's
Treasures by
Lisa Greenstein
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Of
course, the Real Treasure is
Meher Baba's ever active
presence in our lives. But,
if one has been entrusted
with special items in
relation to Baba, there is a
need for seeing to their
care and preservation beyond
our lifetime. At our recent
workshop on this subject, we
were reminded that one hair
from Muhammed's head has an
entire Mosque built around
it.
This is
a brief synopsis of the
workshop that Matthew Talbot
conducted at the Meher Baba
Center of No. Ca. Matthew is
an attorney in the state of
California, with a
specialization in elder law,
therefore, these suggestions
apply to California
residents. If you are not in
California, please check
with a local lawyer to see
what is needed in your case.
There
are four legal documents
relevant to this issue:
1.
Health Care Directive and
Power of Attorney
2.
Financial Power of Attorney
3. Will
4.
Trust
It is
important to designate a
Power of Attorney during
one's lifetime because if
you ever develop dementia or
undergo a health decline
which disables you from
making your own decisions,
you will want someone who
knows and respects you to
take charge and make sure
that your wishes are carried
out both during and after
your lifetime.
Matt
stressed SPECIFICITY. What
do you want done with each
of the Baba items in your
possession? He said that it
is important to attach a
separate document to your
will or trust that lists
each item individually and
specifies what your wishes
are. For example: give to a
specific person; give to a
specific Baba Center; do not
sell, etc. You can make your
wishes in this document an
enforceable specific gift
and mandatory by
incorporating it as an
attachment to your will or
trust. This lessens the
chance of any disputes
arising from multiple
documents with differing
instructions.
Matt
suggested using specific
language, for example:
I
distribute the Lyn Ott
painting to.............
I
distribute Baba's hair
to.............
It is
also a good idea to take
photographs of each specific
item, then number and list
them with a description and
provenance (ie: given to me
by Mansari). Also, be sure
to say where each item is
located in your home.
If this
is not spelled out in a Will
or Trust, your Baba
treasures will be lumped
into "household
furnishings". Will the
person removing things from
your place know that your
costume jewelry belonged to
Mehera and not just toss it?
Or worse ...not know the
little envelope of hair in
your drawer is from the head
of the Avatar?
"You
have no idea what just one
scrap of My sadra will mean
to the world in the future."
-Meher
Baba
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A
Letter from Jack
Mormon
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Meher
Baba's Treasures
Is it
time to return your Meher
Baba Treasures to India?
Many of
us were fortunate to be able
to be in India in the 60's,
70's and 80's. Many of us
were fortunate to be able to
be given some wonderful
Treasures. Many of the items
should remain with you and
be given to someone who will
understand that these
Treasures should be shared
and given only to those who
will both respect them, love
them and pass them on to
future generations.
The
Trust in India has built a
beautiful, safe and secure
Archives Building at
Meherabad, and they are both
preserving and sharing these
Treasures with our Meher
Baba Community worldwide.
Please
check out the Archives on
the Meher Baba website:
If you
are unsure of where to leave
your Treasures, please
contact me, Jack Mormon. I'm
in the process of helping
Meher Baba followers
preserve these wonderful
items and decide what to do
with them.
I can
direct you as to what to do
and how to disburse and
distribute your Treasures.
I'd even be happy to take
your items back to India for
you. Not every item needs to
go to India and I can help
with that.
Please
contact me, Jack Mormon at:
510
232-1894
for
further information
In Him
Jack
Mormon
AMBKJ
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Exploring Spiritual
Practice, Part two
by Brian
Drygas
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This
is part two from the
series based on a
participatory
presentation, "Exploring
Spiritual Practice" given
at the
Center.
There
are different ways to
categorize when spiritual
practice is performed.
These can be thought of
as:
- All
of the time
- When
opportunity arises
- At
planned times (scheduled
and/or periodic)
We
will discuss three ways of
having spiritual practice
all of the time.
- 1. Keep
Meher Baba as a constant
companion:
In a
letter sent to the
devotees in Kovvur,
Andhra, Meher Baba wrote:
"Make
me your constant
companion. Think of me
more than you think of
your own self. The more
you think of me, the more
you will realize my love
for you. Your duty is to
keep me constantly
with you throughout your
thoughts, speech and
actions. They do their
duty who, sincere in their
faith and love, surrender
to me - guided by the
implicit belief in my
divinity as Baba."
- 2. Knowing
the presence of God.
Meher Baba had this to
say to a group of
celebrities from
different Bombay film
companies, "So my
message to the film
world is: Do not play to
the gallery or the
salary, but play to the
Infinite within. Live
in the presence of God,
even while acting your
part, so that you can be
true to yourself, to
your partners and
employers, and to the
larger and One
Indivisible Life of
which you are each an
inseparable part. 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."
- 3. Living
in the eternal Now. In
the Discourses
Meher Baba says, " Sadhanain
the spiritual field ...
aims at bringing about a
radical change in
the quality of life
so that it permanently
becomes an
expression of the
Truth in the eternal
NOW. Only
through such living can
the spiritual infinity
of the Truth be realized
in life."
In
part three we will discuss
ways of having spiritual
practice when the
opportunity arises.
-Brian
Drygas
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Upcoming Urban
Sahavas with Deborah Ash
& Company
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Meher
Baba Center of Northern
California will hold an
Urban Sahavas on Saturday,
May 3, 2014 and Sunday,
May 14, 2014.
Our
guest, Deborah Ash, is
from the Meher Baba Center
of So.Ca.(L.A.).
Deborah
is a long time Baba Lover
and the Queen of the Baba
Blues. She
is a professional musician
and singer. She
is also the Program Chair
of the L.A. group. Most
of all, she is a real
delight.
The
program will also include
six speakers - three on
Saturday and three on
Sunday. They
will tell their stories of
how they came to Baba. Sean
Touhey, Ed Munnich,
Cynthia Blohm, Adrienne
Shamszad, Jess Maron, and
Jamie Keehan.
Where: El
Cerrito Meher Baba Center-
6923 Stockton Street, El
Cerrito, 94530.
When: Saturday,
May 3, 2014.
3:00
- 3:30 p.m. - Meet and
greet the guests
3:30
- 5:00 p.m. - Deborah Ash
concert (with Brian Dolan
on guitar)
5:00
- 6:30 p.m. - Pot Luck
dinner - Bring a dish to
share
6:30
- 8:00 p.m. - Jess Maron,
Sean Touhey, and Jamie
Keehan share their tales
of coming to Baba.
Where: Home
of Alan and Karen Talbot -
721 Crossbrook Drive,
Moraga, Ca 94556 -
925-286-2864; 925-376-4325
When: Sunday,
May 4, 2014
12 -
1:00 p.m. - Pot Luck lunch
- Bring a dish to share
1 -
2:30 p.m. - Ed Munnich,
Adrienne Shamszad, and
Cynthia Blohm share their
tales of coming to Baba.
2:30
- 3:00 p.m. - Chai Break
3:00
- 4:30 p.m. - Deborah Ash
concert (with Brian Dolan
on guitar; David Miotke on
piano)
Hope
you can join us.
Suggested
voluntary donation for
the Urban Sahavas
Single
Day:
30
year old and up......$15
18
- 29 year olds
...........$5
Family
max ................$30
Both
Days:
30
year old and up......$25
18
to 29 year
olds.......$10
Family
max ................$50
18
and under - no cost
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Remembering
Howard Schwartz
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Howard
Bert Schwartz
(May 6, 1943- Feb. 26, 2014)
Howard passed
away in his long-time
Oakland apartment while a
friend read him mystic
poetry, ending a long
confrontation with liver
cancer, heart disease, and
chronic digestive problems.
He was a long-time member of
the folk club who frequently
attended the Friday night
sessions at Faith's. He was
well known for his ability
to play accompaniment in the
singing room, regardless of
song or key. He also
attended various other folk
gathering in the Bay Area,
and he played for numerous
Sufi dance events.
Most of the local
folkies are unaware of
Howard's many other
accomplishments. Howard
was a professor of sociology
for many years, beginning
with a position at Harvard
and moving on to other
positions that seemed right
to him. He was uninterested
in prestige or a high
salary, preferring work that
spoke to his sense of
authenticity. He described
his specialty area,
ethnomethodology, as the
study of everyday and
common-sense thinking.
Recently a journal in
England republished Howard's
scholarly papers because
they liked his work and felt
it reflected the early
foundation of that branch of
sociology. With a friend
Howard co-authored a
sociology text book, a text
notable for the sprinklings
of humor Howard insisted
upon. It continues in use
and is translated into
multiple languages.
Subsequently he
successfully transitioned
into computer programming
jobs. Long after he retired
from that work, he continued
to help friends with his
techy skills.
Howard had many
other sides to himself. His
playful side delighted in
entertaining people with his
stock of magic tricks. With
children he could interact
at their level, without
pretense and with mutual
enjoyment. In earlier years
he was an avid folk dancer
and skilled tap dancer --
the latter dating back to
his days as a child actor.
(He had significant parts in
an episode of the TV
series, Dragnet, and in the
film, Marjorie
Morningstar.) For many
years he was active in the
community of followers of
Avatar Meher Baba, and he
traveled to India several
times to go to the Meher
Baba center.
Encouragement of
loving attitudes and
community feeling motivated
Howard throughout his life.
Many of his friends were
glad to share these
qualities at a "Living
Farewell" recognition event
for Howard in April 2013. A
memorial gathering will take
place in May.
Howard created
a website where he posted
photos, some academic
papers and other essays he
wrote, and links to him
playing guitar and/or
singing (very very home
made). You can easily
access this site! Do so
by by going to the site,
and entering this
username and password:
Password:
enter
Memorial
for Howard Schwartz
Time -- Sunday, May
18, 2-4 pm
Place -- 6320 San
Pablo Ave., near
Alcatraz and 63rd St.,
Oakland/Emeryville
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Jenny's Song
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Don't worry, be happy
Meher Baba loves us all
Illusions are many,
but underneath them all
there's one reality
that you and I are one
and God is love
and love is God
and God and man are one..
so...
Don't worry, be happy...
(repeats)
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Announcements
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Center
Library Note:
Would you like to be a
"patron"? We have a library
for your reading pleasure
and convenience. Our library
is housed upstairs in a
bookcase at the MBCNC Center
on Stockton Street. We have
had 14 borrowers over the
past year. You may access a
list of the holdings at the
web page
meherbabameherbaba.org; look
for library, and open the
book or video pdf files.
When you visit the Center,
remember to check out the
library books. We would also
like donations. For a list
of books we need, see the
section at the end of the
library holdings.
Contact the Newsletter about
donations. |
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The
Trust
All
who wish to share in the
commitment laid down by
Meher Baba through
the Trust should contact
Jack Mormon, ambkj@aol.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meher Baba Information For
introductory information
about Avatar Meher Baba,
e-mail:
info@MeherBabaInformation.org
or write to P.O. Box 1101,
Berkeley, CA 94701.
http://MeherBabaInformation.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meher
Baba Center of Northern
California
6923 Stockton Avenue
El Cerrito, California 94530
(510) 525-4779
www.meherbabameherbaba.org
The meeting schedule
is now included in our
online calendar (web link
above), and can be printed
directly from the calendar.
Directions
to our Center:
From Highway 80,
Interstate 5, going north
or south, in El Cerrito,
take the
Central Avenue exit
exiting east, toward the
hills. Cross San Pablo Avenue.
Go under the BART train
tracks and less than a
block after the tracks,
turn left on Richmond
Avenue. Head north on
Richmond Avenue until
Stockton Avenue (the
first stop light), turn
right on Stockton. About
two blocks onward, the
Center is located on the
left side of the street.
Address and phone are
listed above.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More Local Meetings:
Sonoma County -
Arti happens once a month,
usually the first Sunday.
Locations vary. Call
Ellen Van Allen at
707-528-0357 for specific
information.
Los Gatos
- Sunday Evenings
At the home of Clint
Snyder
Call (408) 395-6865
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