“Your beloved Baba looks on you and yours, and will not let you falter."
The following is written by Cassandra Bramucci who was the interim caretaker at Meher Mount in 2018 and continues to be an active volunteer and supporter. She offered to share this story because she and others found it inspiring during the COVID-19 pandemic and the “safe-at-home” orders.
By Cassandra Bramucci
As we learn to navigate the uncharted territory of the current global pandemic, how very fortunate we are to have Meher Baba watching over us.
Throughout His lifetime, so often Meher Baba would go into seclusion, leaving His lovers all over the world to discover the power of their inner connection with Him. Even for those of us who never met Him physically in this lifetime, He continues to make His presence felt by us in ways that seem so personal.
This connection could be a timely reminder in an unexpected email from a close friend or perhaps a post on Facebook or Instagram. Suddenly, we are re-awakened to His presence in our lives – no matter how caught up in thoughts of toilet paper and hand sanitizer we may become.
Looking for Guidance from the Trials of Others
AVATAR MEHER BABA with Walter Mertens in Switzerland in the 1930s. (Source: Lord Meher: The Biography of the Avatar of the Age Meher Baba by Bhau Kalchuri, print edition, pg. 1748.)
From time-to-time, it is worthwhile to look back at how Meher Baba’s lovers dealt with the difficulties of their times, such as the early 1930s when a new world war was beginning to look more and more inevitable in Europe.
Meher Baba was often in seclusion in those days while many of His lovers in the West anxiously looked to Him for reassurance and guidance.
Ever vigilant in His boundless compassion, Meher Baba continued through personal correspondence to remind those in fear and distress that He was keeping a watchful eye on his lovers.
On August 9, 1935, during one seclusion period, He responded to a letter from Walter Mertens – one of His close Western disciples in Switzerland – with these words of encouragement: [1]
“It will all straighten out, in my time.”
By the time Meher Baba made His second visit to Europe in April, 1932, word had already spread among spiritual seekers throughout England and the European continent that this Indian master was the one they were all seeking.
Walter Mertens and his wife Hedi were among those introduced to Meher Baba in 1932. On subsequent European trips in 1934 and 1937, Meher Baba and His party stayed at the Mertens’ 15-room home in Feldmeilen near Lake Zurich. From 1931 to 1937, Meher Baba traveled to Europe and the West 10 times.
During the World War II years, Walter suffered huge losses to his landscaping business and difficulty in his marriage to Hedi, who was called by Meher Baba to India to live among the women mandali (close disciples). In spite of all this, Walter continued to work tirelessly on Meher Baba’s behalf, devotedly following His every wish until Walter’s death on December 25, 1943.
The following is an excerpt from a letter Meher Baba sent to Walter Mertens circa 1934. In it, Meher Baba said: [2]
EXCERPT OF A LETTER from Avatar Meher Baba to Walter Mertens, a Western disciple in Switzerland, circa 1934, during the lead up to World War II (September 1, 1939 - September 2, 1945). (Source: Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust Archives)
Walter Mertens did have the good fortune in November 1938 to make his way to India for some landscaping work arranged by Meher Baba and staying and traveling with Baba until January 9, 1939. Here is an excerpt translated from Walter Mertens’ diary/letters during that time. [3]
“Feel like a tree, which outwardly has gotten new leaves, inwardly feels the sap of new life. Life with Baba was externally so spartan, but how strong the inner nourishment through the energy of his close proximity.
“It's not until early the next morning that a light goes on for me concerning being ‘happy’. I have to keep my ‘mind’ clear. Have to be free and happy in Baba's spirit. Cooly [sic] throw off the temptations of thoughts (worries, wishes, longings, self-pity, etc.), which squelch the spirit and don't let me go into myself.”
“I think of you always…”
I feel our job these days is to nurture that inner connection with Him as much as possible. To notice His hand at work in this seeming chaos. To play our parts as purveyors of His compassion in our daily lives.
For me, the following quote from a letter written to Meher Baba from Ruano Bogislav dated December 9, 1933, sums it up nicely. [4] Ruano (1876-1956) was an opera singer, actress and businesswomen living in Paris when she met Meher Baba in 1933 in Portofino, Italy.
“I think of you always, my beloved Baba, and when I think of you, the way becomes smooth and the shadows disappear. I know all will turn out for the best, even though there are so many difficulties. I long only to do what you wish. How wonderful it will be when we are all together again!”
How wonderful indeed!
AVATAR MEHER BABA.
Sources
[1] Meher Baba’s letter to Watler Mertens, August 1935, cited in Lord Meher: The Biography of the Avatar of the Age Meher Baba by Bhau Kalchuri, Online Edition, pg. 1688, accessed March 25, 2020. (c) Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust.
[2] Letter from Avatar Meher Baba to Walter Mertens, Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust Archives.
[3] Walter Mertens, “Letters from India: 1938-39,” The Awakener Magazine Online, Vol. 21, No. 2, pg. 66, accessed March 25, 2020. Used with permission.
[4] Ruano Bogislav’s letter to Meher Baba, December 9, 1933, cited in Lord Meher: The Biography of the Avatar of the Age Meher Baba by Bhau Kalchuri, Online Edition, pp. 1584-1585, accessed March 25, 2020. (c) Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust.