Tag Archives: Mandali
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A Very Fortunate Bird
The following is an excerpt from 82 Family Letters by Mani. This was written in the fall of 1963. At the time the weather was changeable, the garden full of beauty, and several birds got to enjoy Baba’s grace. Meherazad, 26th September–3rd October, 1963. Dearest Family, I was determined not to begin the letter with…
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Ballet (and Baba) Lessons with Miss Craske
In the early 1980s after college, I moved to New York City to study ballet with Margaret Craske. Baba lovers often asked what it was like to study ballet with her, so, years later, I got the idea of offering a “Miss Craske-style” ballet class at the Northeast Gathering for Meher Baba. I sent in…
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Gulmai: Meher Baba’s Spiritual Mother
This Mother’s Day, I thought of Gulmai. The humble, steadfast and silently suffering woman who Meher Baba called His spiritual mother. Gulmai was the wife of Kaikhushru Sarosh Irani, a prominent businessman and civic leader in Ahmednagar. She was also one of Upasni Maharaj’s disciples. She was then 36 and the mother of four children….
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Insights into Francis Brabazon’s ”Dawn through to Sunrise”
In early May 1952 at the Meher Center, Francis Brabazon met Meher Baba for the very first time. Six weeks earlier in New York he had a significant experience which he felt inwardly prepared him for that meeting. This occurred when he met “Sparkie” Lukes, a friend of Charmaine Duce. Sparkie was a beautiful young…
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Excerpt from Life’s Surrender: Countess Nadine Tolstoy, Disciple of Avatar Meher Baba
The following excerpts are from the recently published Life’s Surrender: Countess Nadine Tolstoy, Disciple of Avatar Meher Baba by Christopher Wilson and Charles Haynes (Sheriar Foundation, 2025). Drawing on her unpublished private papers and articles that Nadine published during her lifetime, the book traces the deepening of Nadine’s relationship with Meher Baba, from the moment…
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“The Treasure Untold”
Kitty Davy gave the following talk on the 19th Amartithi in 1988 at the Meher Spiritual Center in Myrtle Beach. It is excerpted from the book One Fine Thread, Talks on Meher Baba by Kitty Davy.1 Hidden in your penniless hands is Treasure untold Your beggarly life will be the envy of kings! —from the…
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A Christmas Greeting from Mani Irani to Kitty Davy, 1961
Meherazad December 31, 1961 Hello, dear Kitty, This letter will be a snow goose and fly to Canada specially with a special load of love to you from Meherazad. We miss you very much particularly on these occasions, Kitty — birthdays, Christmas, etc. The pattern we used to observe in the old days has changed…
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Writing as an Act of Love
I’ve always enjoyed reading Bal Natu’s series of Conversations with the Awakener. In the Preamble to his first book, he poses the question, “Are these ‘conversations’ true or false, real or imaginary? What can I say?”1 And in his third book he answers his question: “The conversations are neither totally ‘real’ nor completely ‘fictional.’ The percentage of ‘truth’…
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Kitty Davy and the Way of Perfection Part Three
At age 100, Kitty Davy “slipped into her darling Baba’s arms”1 in December of 1991. Several months before, Mani in India noticed a picture of Kitty with Baba in Venice which prompted her to write this to Kitty: “Seeing Baba and you in this picture made my heart say: this is a picture of God’s…
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Kitty Davy’s Unflagging Enthusiasm, Part Two
One day, Wendy Connor was sitting with Kitty Davy in her office in Dilruba, which she affectionately called the “book room.” Wendy was reading aloud a letter that had just come from Professor William (Billy) Baum. He and Kitty had a long correspondence and they both enjoyed discussing words and their etymology. This letter was…
