Weekly Reflections No. 42 - Aug 28 - Baba's Matchless ERUCH!

(Photo courtesy MN Publications) -- This photo was taken at Bindra House in Pune -- the Jessawala home where Baba often visited.

" One should live a normal life and just love Baba, and not be attached to living. Then you will have a curtain of Baba's love protecting you from the world. Do not feel attached. How? By loving me and thinking of me."

--- AVATAR MEHER BABA

Lord Meher online, p. 4094

Weekly Reflections No. 42

from Meher Baba Books

(Los Angeles, California)

Aug, 28, 2015

Hello Dear Companions and Friends:

Greetings from Los Angeles, California, once again. Hope all is well in Beloved Baba's Love and compassion. 

This 42nd issue is the last one till I come back from my trip to India. I am taking the month of September off, and I plan to resume putting the Weekly Reflections together again from the beginning of October with Beloved Baba's help and Love.

B
ackground Story

I am inspired to share with you how this weekly circular came to life. For years, I shied away from social media such as Facebook. Then it so happened that I found myself drawn into that medium, for the purpose of supporting and fulfilling the Meher Baba Center (AMBCSC) and Bookstore (Meher Baba Books) presence there. I started posting Meher Baba's words on Facebook, and found that many thirsty souls and seekers of God were thrilled to read the words and ended up following these postings day after day. After a time, it was a rainy day when I was sitting in a quiet moment at my desk. At that time, I heard an inner voice: "What about people who are not on Facebook? How are they going to hear Baba's words?" 

The idea was communicated, and I felt inspired enough that I shared this concept with my colleague, David, and we both came up with the name "Reflections" and agreed that a weekly circular reflecting on Baba's words would be a good idea. In consequence, this infant was born, and immediately he started moving his hands, kicking his legs, smiling, shaking his head, and communicating with great gusto. Before we knew it, he has grown up so fast, and ended up being 42 weeks old by now. How this work came together was purely orchestrated by Baba, I feel, and He Himself instigated the idea and pushed the work forward. It is a pure joy to share this work with Him and to continue reflecting on His glorious divine qualities week after week. I am grateful.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost I acknowledge my Beloved Master Meher Baba, who is the source and goal of every action of us all. Regarding content, I am grateful to many valuable sources, such as Glow International Publications and Noasherwan Anzar, dear Eric Solibakke for all the great writings anthologized on different subjects, Anthony Zois and his masterful work creating the Meher Baba Travels website, and the Sufism Reoriented organization and our good friends such as Jeanne Kassof, Duncan Knowles, David Pastor, and Cherie Plumlee, all of whom have been helpful in various ways.

Thanks too to our friend, Baba's dear Mandali Bhau Kalchuri and his son-in-law David Fenster, and Lawrence Reiter, who together created 21 volumes of the epic biography Lord Meher, which is always on hand to delve into the life and work of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba. Likewise, thanks to my Farsi friends who have recently helped me with some Persian translations of Baba's words.

At the end, thanks to my colleague and friend David Raphael Israel, who edits the final work and helps make this circular more polished as best he can. May Beloved Baba be pleased with all our deeds, words and thoughts. After all, we are just one big Baba family marching forward and onward on this mysterious journey.

This Week

This week's Reflections are dedicated to the life of Eruch Jessawala, Meher Baba's close disciple, interpreter and friend, who lived most of his life in Meherazad. Eruch joined beloved Baba 14 years ago, on August 31st, 2001. So, this is a good occasion to remember him.

Eruch was an inspiration for followers and devotees of Meher Baba until the end. His rich story-telling about life shared with the Avatar of the Age forms a delightful legacy - heard in person by hundreds of pilgrims to Meherabad and Meherazad in the decades after Baba "dropped the body" in 1969. Eruch was Meher Baba's "fortunate slave" and His companion who accompanied Him in the many various phases of Baba's universal work. We miss dearest Eruch.

~ Meher Baba walking with Bhau (left) and Eruch Jessawala (right) ~

at Guruprasad, Pune, India, mid-1960s

Heroines of the Path

We also continue to reflect on the life and work of women in the west both in Europe and America, especially those whom Meher Baba contacted during His trips to the West in the Thirties.

Cover of the 30th Anniversary issue of The Awakener, published & edited by Filis Frederick. Used with kind permission of The Awakener Magazine online.

The 30th Anniversary issue of The Awakener was dedicated to "these several unique personalities who did so much to acquaint those in the West with the Avatar of the Age, especially since I had the unique privilege of meeting and working with most of them," wrote Filis Frederick. We have been reflecting on them for many weeks now, and this week, we include Filis's account of the life of Delia De Leon (Part 2).

We hope you enjoy these small occasions for reflecting on the divinity of

Mahoo in the Avatar Meher Baba Trust compound

Beloved Baba's words and life. You may email us at:

[email protected]

with any questions and/or requests. Keep Happy in His Love.

In His Love and Service,

Mahoo S. Ghorbani for Meher Baba Books

Notice
:

We strive to give proper literature citations & photo credits where source information is known. If we have missed giving credit where due, please promptly contact us at the email address noted above. (Some omissions or errors can be rectified in a corrected "archival edition" of each new issue.)

~ CELEBRATING ERUCH JESSAWALA's LIFE ~

-- Eruch wih Meher Baba --

-- Who is Eruch Jessawala ? --

Eruch Byramshaw Jessawala (October 13, 1916 - August 31, 2001), born in Bombay , India, was a close disciple of Meher Baba and one of his M andali . He was also the primary interpreter of Meher Baba's alphabet board , and later his unique sign language.

Eruch was born in Bombay to Zoroastrian parents, Byramshaw and Gaimai Jessawala. His father Byramshaw was an engineer, and was the Chief Inspector of Boilers for The Central Provinces, a high post in the British Indian government. The family lived in Nagpur (now part of Maharashtra State). Due to constant relocations of his father, Eruch was placed in an orthodox Zoroastrian boarding school in Nasik at the age of 6. When his father eventually bought an estate, Eruch was transferred to a Catholic school at the age of 8 where he excelled as a student, eventually planning to study engineering like his father.

Meeting Meher Baba

According to Eruch, the first time he remembered meeting Meher Baba was in 1925 at the age of 9, on a trip with his family to Ahmednagar . He met Meher Baba in what later became Meherabad , Meher Baba's main ashram and the site of his Tomb-Shrine today. Twelve years later, while Eruch was preparing to study engineering, Meher Baba called him to Panchgani and asked him, "Will you leave everything and come to be with me?" To this Eruch answered, "By your grace anything is possible." Thus Eruch Jessawala joined Meher Baba as his close companion in 1938, at the age of 21.

-- Eruch Jessawala interpreting Meher Baba's gestures --

Work as translator of Baba's silent gestures

Meher Baba was silent for 44 years, from 10 July, 1925 until His death on 31 January, 1969. Eruch Jessawala was Meher Baba's main interpreter, interpreting both His English language alphabet board and later his sign language . He also transcribed the main portion of Meher Baba's major book God Speaks (1955) from Meher Baba's dictation on the alphabet board, wrote the ninth chapter of that book working from a chart by Meher Baba under Baba's direct supervision, and wrote the book's conclusion. During Meher Baba's lifetime, Eruch dealt with correspondence and acted as companion and valet for Meher Baba on His many journeys in India and around the world. Eruch Jessawala's stories of his life with Meher Baba were published in several volumes during his lifetime.

Meherazad during the 1980s --Eruch Jessawala in Mandali Hall. Photo by Win Coates

Death and legacy

Eruch survived Meher Baba's death by 32 years, continuing to live at Meherazad and assisting Meher Baba's sister Mani Irani in her work as Chairman of the Avatar Meher Baba Trust. After her death in 1996, Eruch continued to go to the Trust Office in Ahmednagar until his own death in 2001.

Davana Brown and Eruch - Photo: MeherBabaTravels website

BABA'S ERUCH

by Davana Brown

In the 32 years since Baba dropped His physical form, not a pilgrim season would pass without Eruch sharing with the Baba-lovers gathered in Mandali Hall how he was waiting for that day when Baba would give him His hand and lift him out of the muck of illusion. He would then regale the crowd with the story behind his statement.

The year was 1949, before the commencement of the New Life. Baba wanted a period of relaxation, so He asked Eruch to think of a place where He could go and relax. Eruch knew that there were two requirements to be met in finding a place for Baba: first, that it was secluded, and secondly that there would be a good mast contact. Eruch suggested a place on the coast, not far from Bombay, called Vengurla; it had long stretches of beautiful secluded beaches and he knew that there was a mast staying in the vicinity whom Baba could contact. Baba agreed and plans were made for Baba and a few of the mandali to stay in the Government rest house there.

One day shortly after their arrival, Baba directed the women mandali to proceed to the beach, go swimming for as long as they wished, and when they were finished, to return to the rest house alone. He and Eruch would continue further along the beach, as Baba wanted to contact the mast.

Meher Baba, Blue Bus Seclusion, Meherabad, June 21 1949 -
photo from Lawrence Reiter

It was midday and the sun was beating down upon them. Eruch explained to Baba they would have to walk about three miles to reach the distant town across the stretch of backwaters, but Baba wouldn't hear of it. Baba gestured to Eruch that it was too far and too hot and why couldn't they cross the inlet waters in one of the dug-out canoes that the fisher boys used to haul the catch.

Vengurla was a fishing community and for as far as Baba and Eruch could see, the waters were dotted with peculiar makeshift fishing boats. These canoes were really huge tree trunks which had their centers carved out to form a hold for the fish and the boys would swim alongside, guiding the boats to the far shore. Eruch didn't like the idea at all and told Baba that it was very dangerous because the boats couldn't hold their weight - they were made for fish not people. But Baba was adamant that everything would be fine and that He was not about to walk the distance in the hot sun, so Eruch had no choice but to acquiesce to Baba's wish, dangerous as he felt it might be.

Eruch called a couple of the young boys aside and told them that if they ferried them safely to the other side he would give the boys a good tip. Of course, the boys assured Eruch that they would be careful. Then Baba climbed into the makeshift boat and Eruch followed.

Meher Baba, after Darshan, with Meherji and Eruch, Sunderbai Hall, Bombay, December 22, 1957 - Jesawala collection

Eruch would describe how he and Baba could hardly move for fear that the boat would tip over, and how, halfway across this backwater bay one of the boys from another fishing boat saw these two strange figures in the boat and swam over to play some mischief on his friends. He dove under the water and pulled the feet of one of the boys ferrying them across, toppling the boat into the murky depths within seconds.

When Eruch would describe this incident in Mandali Hall, he would emphasize how filthy and black these waters were. The moment the boat capsized, he lost sight of Baba and frantically flailed his arms everywhere in the waters trying to catch hold of Baba by feel as he could not see anything. Suddenly, he caught hold of Baba's arm and as they sank to the bottom, with a tight kick, Eruch pushed off with his feet and in a few moments Baba and Eruch shot up to the surface. With one hand holding on to Baba and the other holding Baba's satchel, all Eruch could do was kick with his feet and direct Baba to paddle with His hands. They finally reached the shore, exhausted but safe.

Baba told Eruch to run back to the guesthouse and get Him some fresh clothes. This posed a problem as it would leave Baba unattended for some time, but there was no choice. This was one of the few times in Baba's ministry when He was left alone.

Baba's Eruch -- Source: Meher Baba Travels websote

Eruch ran back to the bungalow to get the fresh clothes, while Baba remained seated under a nearby tree. However, when he got to the bungalow he found it locked, as the women had not yet returned. With Baba waiting alone under a tree there was no time to lose, so he broke into the quarters through a bathroom window, retrieved some clean clothes for Baba and ran all the way back as fast as he could. Eruch found Baba where he had left Him and quickly helped Him to wash with water from a nearby well and change into a clean sadra. Baba then contacted the mast in the town.

Eruch Jessawala, Mandali Hall Meherazad, India

As Eruch would often explain when he told this story, a good mast contact for Baba was His real relaxation, and after such a contact Baba would be in an especially good mood, with even His stride reflecting His happiness. As they stood together, Eruch said to Baba, "I told you it was dangerous Baba. What would the world have thought if you had drowned? It would have been a terrible thing, Baba."

Baba then turned to Eruch and said, "Just as today you have given Me your hand and pulled Me out of these murky waters, a day will come when I will lend you My hand and pull you out of the muck of illusion."

Eruch would then sigh and say, "I am waiting for that day."

And that day finally did arrive on 31st August 2001, in the wee hours of the morning in his room, the Manonash cabin, surrounded by his family and the Meherazad mandali. As Eruch's final moments gained momentum, a clear, barely audible "O Baba . . . O Baba" slipped from his lips as his breath became more and more irregular. His Beloved's name was the last word Eruch spoke aloud.

--TAVERN TALK, 21 September 2001

~ Eruch's room, the east side. Courtesy of:On Sacred Ground ~

-- A Last Goodnight to Eruch --

Eruch Jessawala, Meher Baba's interpreter and friend, lived most of his life in Meherazad in a small room that was made up of the shells of two cabins. These cabins had been erected on nearby Seclusion Hill in 1947 and used by Baba during several periods of seclusion work, culminating with the Manonash Seclusion in 1951. Because it was too windy for Baba's work up on the hill, the mandali brought both cabins down to Meherazad where Padri combined them into one cabin. Baba finished His seclusion here, then lit a Dhuni right behind the structure. The next day He told Eruch to use the cabin as his room, which he did until his death.

Eruch's room is spartan. It has looked like this for as long as I can remember.

On 30 August 2001, the last full day of Eruch's life, he insisted on going to the Trust Office, even though it was his off day, to greet Bhau Kalchuri, who had just returned from visiting the USA. He hadn't been well, and in the afternoon he was feeling weak and drained after the exertions of the day. However, he wanted to come for afternoon tea, and even managed to eat a forbidden chocolate brownie, thanks to chef Alan Wagner and the absence of Eruch's medical overseers.

******

Eruch spent his last hours in his small room. He was prepared for the final journey of his present incarnation. Baba even ensured that he had a bowel movement shortly before he died, because Eruch was always so concerned that he might soil himself, an indignity he was really uneasy about. His was a long-awaited release, and his last words before he stopped speaking were, "Jai Baba, Katie." Katie had just come into his room, and he greeted her, then he spoke no more. In the early morning of 31 August, he died as he had lived, simply and without a fuss.

He has left a void that no one will ever fill, at least not for the next 700 years. His room has been kept as it was during his life, and today many pilgrims go there to sit and absorb the atmosphere created by one who was Meher Baba's "most fortunate slave" and His constant companion for so many years.

-Mehera Arjani for Avatar Meher Baba Trust, 26 March 2015

Source: On Sacred Ground

Eruch's room, the west side. Courtesy of: On Sacred G round

-- Meher Baba and Eruch, mid-1950s, from Jessawala collection --

~~ ONE OF MY TREASURED MEMORIES ~~

I can recall two especially intimate moments with Meher Baba. The one occurred one day at lunchtime. All the other mandali had gone to have their meal. It has been my habit for a long time to not have lunch, and this proved most useful in giving me more time for my work for Baba. On this particular occasion, Baba was sitting in the hall, and I was standing in my usual place, facing Him. Baba gestured for me to get a chair. So I did, and Baba gestured for me to put it near His chair.

I thought that Baba must be tired of sitting in His chair. This was after the accident and Baba's hip gave Him a lot of pain. I thought Baba wanted to switch chairs for a while. But when I went to help Baba, He gestured, "No, you sit." So I sat there, near Baba's chair, looking at Baba. Not a word was said. I just sat gazing at Baba and He looked at me.

Although I spent so much time with Baba, I almost never got the opportunity to simply stare at Him. I was always too busy. Even when I looked at Him, I usually had to concentrate so hard on His fingers, at first to read the board, then His gestures. I would look at His face to catch the vivid expressions which passed with incredible rapidity across it so I would know the right inflection to put on the words I was speaking out, but I never got the opportunity to simple stare at Baba this way.

So I sat in silence gazing at Baba, and He sat in silence staring at me. And I found cool tears streaking down my cheeks. Nothing was ever said, but that remains one of my treasured memories of my time with Baba.

-- Eruch Jessawala

THAT'S HOW IT WAS, pp. 284-285

~ Eruch with Meher Baba -- Source: pinterest.com ~

~~ HE IS IT ~~

Eruch Jessawala

So how does God get His attributes? Baba Himself answered this question.

One day we were sitting with Baba, and on His own He raised this very question. Baba then answered it for us. He said, 'Attributes are given by humans who love Me and want to glorify Me. But who am I? I am infinite and eternal Existence. All the attributes showered upon Me stem from My being infinite eternal Existence, infinite Existence, infinite.'

Baba told us this twice, three times, to bring home to us the idea of infinity. Baba continued, 'That means if I am infinite Existence there is no nook or cranny where I am not, and so people give Me the attribute of being omnipresent.'

'Now, My being omnipresent means that there is no place where I am not. If I am everywhere, then nothing is hidden from Me, and if nothing is hidden from Me, then I must know everything, so they give Me the attribute of Omniscience, all-knowing. And when I become in their eyes omniscient, then I must know how to create. Doesn't it follow that if I know everything, I must know how to create? So I become the Creator. And I must know how to preserve, so I become the Preserver. I know how to dissolve so I become the Dissolver, so the Holy Trinity is attributed to Me. And if I am omnipresent, omniscient, and the Creator, Preserver and Destroyer, then it is only natural for me to be all bliss.'

Then Baba turns to us and says, 'What does it imply when I say I am omniscient, that I know everything? What must My experience be like?'

So we said, 'Well, You must experience that You know everything.'

'No, no,' Baba said, 'I don't want dictionary definitions, tell Me what My experience must be like.'

So we all tried in some way or other, but none of our answers satisfied Baba, so, as always, Baba came to our rescue and told us, 'My experience is that there is nothing to know.'

'Anyone wanting to know anything is a poor attempt to become it. But if I am anything and everything, there is nothing for Me to know, because I am that. I don't have to know it, I am already it. So My experience of being all-knowing is that there is nothing to know. I am everything. I am without attributes, that is My state, but mankind has showered attributes on Me, to glorify Me, to remember Me.'

~ Painting of Eruch by Diana Le Page, incorporating Eruch's ~ common closing and signature to his letters.

Do you follow? You don't have to study yourself to know all about you. I am not you, so if I want to know what your likes and dislikes are, what you're thinking, I have to study you, I have to ask you a lot of questions, but you know all that because you are that. So if Baba is everything, then He knows everything. He doesn't have to study anything. He doesn't have to think about anything because He automatically knows it because He is it. You see?

--THE DIVINE HUMANITY OF MEHER BABA, Vol 3, pp. 152-153, Bill Le Page

" LOVE ME "

" This feeling or devotion, though good, is not love. It should not be mistaken for love, because that real love to see and know God cannot be created. It has to be bestowed. It is bestowed through the grace of the Master, and such grace is conferred on a very, very lucky few. "

-- Meher Baba,

Lord Meher online p. 1157

~~ Farsi Version ~~

~ Heroines of The Path ~

By Filis Frederick

Filis says, "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."

Meher Baba with Delia DeLeon at St. Mark's, Venice - Mandalihall.org

VIII. Delia De Leon "Leyla" - Part (2)

Letter 2

Dearest faithful Leyla:

Will you forgive your Beloved if He writes you a birthday letter one month late? He will make up for it by sending you an extra loving thought with each line. You will remember He told you how busy He would be on His tour and apart from correspondence connected with the tour and the work He has to do on this tour He has written no letters whatsoever. Now is He forgiven? Write by return (mail) and tell Him so . . .

And now there lies before Me so many of My dearest Leyla's letters. But amongst the letters I see there is that beautiful poem translated from the Italian which I love so much that I had it read aloud twice and translated so that all might understand its meaning. Hear part of it again:

'If He offers thee His embrace

Run His caress to meet

If not His withholding is sweet.

If thou hast served Him well

Given Him all that was thine

Loved only the Divine

He never will part from thee,

Wholly in Him shalt thou dwell.

I was staying in Ajmer, a spot I love so much because of its natural beauty and its spiritual atmosphere, and for one night I took all up to the mountains to the Tomb of Piran Pir, a great Mohamedan saint.

It was a most beautiful spot - the finest view we have so far seen on the tour. I had work to do there and it was here in this beautiful spot that I called all together and had your poem read aloud.

I know what a lot you have been through these last two years, but not in vain. You have profited and learnt much. It will be a changed Leyla but yet the same Leyla. You have helped Me a lot by cooperation and not "kicking against the pricks." I would love to have had you here with Me, but you say truly there are lessons that must be learnt even apart from the physical presence of the Master. I teach you wherever you are. But not all make it so easy for Me to teach them as you have done by trying to understand My ways and yourself better. You love Me as few do and because of this deep love I can test you by putting so much on you to work through and overcome for My sake.

~ Delia De Leon- Source: Awakener magazine, volume 20 p. 44 ~

When I draw the curtain you will understand all and smile at My game. It is all illusion. The pain of yesterday is no more - the joy of a week ago is no more -only the present exists and the love you feel for your Beloved. The pain caused from the separation from your Beloved is real as is the happiness that union with your Beloved is real.

But as I have once said, the unconscious self which is God, to become conscious had to go through the apparent opposite process of duality to become aware of the oneness with God and give that conscious union with God which makes lover and Beloved one.

In my conscious state I limit Myself, so too in the conscious state of My Circle I set also limits and when I choose I free them from those limits, but in My own time. Until then be happy, content and know it is all My doing. If you could understand but a little how great is My love for you, you would feel all was worthwhile if it is to please your Beloved.

You make the effort and I will give you the victory. It is a divine struggle with purpose behind it. Don't fight against it.

'Tis in vain the bars to beat Effort and struggle are vain.'

All My love to yourself, your Mother and your family

All My love,

M.S. Irani

c/o M.S. Irani

The Links

Bangalore

from The Awakener Magazine online,

Vol. 20, No. 2 (1983), pp. 46-47, used by kind permission.

Editor's Note:

Delia ( Cordelia ) De Leon

Born : 10 February 1901 - Colon, Panama

Died : 21 January 1993 - Kew, Surrey, England

Nationality : English

Avatar Meher Baba's Samadhi in Full High Definition

The song in the video, the "Gujarati Arti" or "Bujave Naar,"

was written by Meher Baba. The version of it used in the video

is from the cd The Best of Bob and Jane Brown.