On
11 December 1968, Baba dictated this message for his 75th birthday the
following year, but Adi was instructed not to print it and circulate it
until after January:
"To
love me for what I may give you is not loving me at all. To sacrifice
anything in my cause to gain something for yourself is like a blind man
sacrificing his eyes for sight. I am the Divine Beloved worthy of being
loved because I am Love. He who loves me because of this will be blessed
with unlimited sight and will see me as I am."
~ Meher Baba, 1968 Lord Meher, 5375*
*Kind permission to use the
quote from Lord Meher, online edition, p. 5375, has been granted by
the copyright holder, Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable
Trust, Ahmednagar, India
January, 2015
Vol. 8, Issue 1
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Click here to add your email to our newsletter list
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Dear Reader |
In this issue:
Molly Jones has kindly offered an excerpt of her book, Homeward. Brian Drygas shares part four from his thoughtful presentation on Meher Baba and spiritual practices.
There is also a letter from the Board of Directors and a wonderful poetry offering from Irma Sheppard.
Jai Baba! ~Lisa Greenstein
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Meher Baba's Birthday Celebration
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Saturday, February 21st
1:30 - 4:30 PM
The Unitarian Universalist Church at Cedar and Bonita in Berkeley
This year's birthday event will
be an afternoon tea with potluck snacks, birthday cake, chai,
entertainment, door prizes, giveaways and the traveling bookstore.
Set up and decorating will start at 1 pm, and put away and clean up will go from 4:30 pm - 5 pm.
There is much to do for those who wish to help. Planners, organizers and workers are needed. Bring your creativity and love!
contact: Celia Lopez
Click to contact coordinator
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HOMEWARD Pilgrimage to India by Molly Jones
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LINK TO READ EXCERPT Molly
has kindly shared an excerpt of her book about her journey on
pilgrimage to Meherabad. You may access this excerpt by clicking the
link above. The full version of the book is available from our
bookstore.
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Exploring Spiritual Practice, Part Four by Brian Drygas
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This is Part four 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)
In this part, we will
discuss ways of having spiritual practice, "At planned times (scheduled
and/or periodic)." These practices include dressing your soul with
Baba and several other forms of mediation.
Dress Your Soul with Baba
Darwin Shaw mentioned
the method Baba described as sahaj dhyan (natural meditation) many times
in his talks and also in his book, Effort and Grace. For this
meditation, you "dress your soul with Baba" first thing in the
morning. Then you do this again at noon, 5 p.m., and just before you
go to bed. Darwin wrote that in "dressing our soul with Baba" we are
"accepting the Lord of Mercy and all that he is as our reality." I
remember hearing Darwin speak of it as a visualization of a cloak of
Baba encompassing us similar to how a physical cloak would.
Meditation
A large portion of the
Discourses is about meditation. The Discourses cover a multitude of
types of meditation such as meditation of the heart, discriminative
meditation, meditation of action, collective meditation, as well as,
general and specialized meditation. In the Discourses, Baba says that
choosing the same time and location for meditation is helpful.
Baba, in 1930, listed
six meditation methods. One of them deals with contemplation of "I am
not this body. I am not finite. I am the Self. I am eternal." With
this meditation, one is to "mentally gaze intently on the centre of the
forehead from inward for as long as possible, avoiding all other
thoughts, whether higher or lower...". Another meditation uses the
following line of thought, "God is true. All else is false. This world
and all that is seen and perceived is a dream, a mirage, unreal
phenomenon. God is living within my own Self, as the soul of my soul."
With this meditation, one is to "turn one's attention to the heart,
imagine a flame as one's own soul to be there, and concentrate as much
and as long as possible on this imaginary flaming spot in the heart."
These meditations are mentioned in the Spring 2010 Glow magazine
article, "Meher Baba on Meditation".
In this four part series
we have explored the many ways to have spiritual practice. Spiritual
practice can be thought as something which can be performed all of the
time, when opportunity arises or at planned times.
-Brian
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LETTER FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Doug Ross & the Board
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Happy New Year 2015!
Dear Friends and Fellow Baba Lovers,
As the New Year begins, we would like to thank all of you for the contributions, financial and otherwise, that
have enabled us to support the many activities of our Meher Baba
Center. With your help, the Center serves to tie our loose network of
Northern California Baba Lovers together and to support all those in the
greater community who might wish to know more about Meher Baba.
This year we have
had many ongoing varied events including monthly readings of Effort and
Grace, by Darwin Shaw, Infinite intelligence readings, Urban Sahavases
with Ward Parks and Mehera Arjani, concerts with Caris Arkin, Deborah
Ash, David Miotke, and Brian Dolan, continuing Discourses meetings,
Companions in Conversation meetings and more. We also have a lending
library, bookstore, special guest meetings, and music and poetry
events.
Our hope is to
continue to enliven our community with even more creative and inspiring
meetings we can host at our Center, which is a meeting place dedicated
to Meher Baba that evokes His presence. To do so, we need your financial
support. Currently, 5-10% of the community donates regularly. We are
deeply grateful to these people. We are inviting others to help with a
one time, or a recurring donation, so we have enough funding to meet
expenses such as rent, website and newsletter maintenance, general
meetings and small gatherings.
Your much needed and much appreciated help is good karma and is tax deductible.
Thank you for your support, time and consideration. Avatar Meher Baba Ki Jai!
In His Service,
The Board of Directors,
Avatar Meher Baba Center of Northern California
Additionally you may offer your support online at http://meherbabameherbaba.org and click on the Donations and Finance link on the left column or click: Link to Donation Page
You can also call Doug Ross 510-388-6529 or email him at docross@comcast.net if you have questions.
Checks may also be sent to our Center address below:
Meher Baba Center of Northern California 6923 Stockton Avenue El Cerrito, California 94530
The Meher Baba
Center of Northern California is a 501 3 C. nonprofit Corporation,
registered with the Internal Revenue Service and the State of
California. Jai Baba and Many Thanks!
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POETRY CORNER You Alone Are Kissed by Irma Sheppard
| You Alone Are Kissed
On the lips
on the nose
fingertips
between the toes
You alone are kissed.
On the forehead
between the eyes
on cheek or neck
between the sighs
You alone are kissed.
On the hair
on a shoulder
over the heart
growing bolder
You alone are kissed.
On the elbows
on the knees
anywhere
I darn well please
You alone are kissed.
Under the palms
on the street
in the doorway
how discreet
You alone are kissed.
Under an umbrella
in the rain
under an elm
in the lane
You alone are kissed.
In the morning
at high noon
in dusky evening
under crescent moon
Baba, You alone are kissed!
--Irma Sheppard
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Announcements
| 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. |
| 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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| Avatar Meher Baba Center of Northern California | 6923 Stockton Avenue | El Cerrito | CA | 94530
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