Conversations about Meher Baba

Late Night Chat with Jeff: Major Crises and Baba, Jan 5, 2025, live on Baba Zoom

We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But once a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for conversation, more readings, songs, quotes - you never know what treasures will be uncovered! Topic: Major Crises and BabaDear folks of Baba, This topic was suggested by several of you recently: dealing with major crises. In the life of everyone, there are the inevitable ups and downs, and we usually manage to muddle our way through them with Baba and soon are back on an even keel. However, every few years we encounter in our path a major crisis which persists for months or years in spite of all our sincere efforts to give it over to Baba. This might be the death of a near and dear one, a major disaster like the recent hurricane that totally upends our living situation, a romantic break-up that plunges us into profound hurt and self-doubt, the humiliation of being fired from our job, dealing with a persistent addiction in ourselves or our children—crises which cast a shadow over our life that persist despite our continuous focus on Baba. How have you handled these extreme situations and what helped you move through them most effectively? What methods have worked for you? Has it been of help to go to India or other Baba places for relief and clarity? What painful stages has your heart had to go through in regaining your composure? Why are such situations built in to the fabric of life? Why has Baba designed life for everyone with these serious obstacles, painful situations and setbacks? Have these crises contributed to your inner growth and awakening? Has your faith in Baba sometimes been shaken and have you come through shocking circumstances with a deeper maturity and compassion for yourself and others? Have you learned new and invaluable things about Baba’s presence in your life that could not have been learned in any other way? Would we have the empathy we have today without these painful crises? Has it resulted in a more intimate companionship with Baba? In the case of a natural disaster, people of different political stripes, social standing and opposing religious beliefs sometimes forget their differences in an effort to help one another--a sense of real community emerges for the time being. Have you noticed that such major crises have had a lasting positive effect in you, drawing you closer to Baba? He has said, “Great suffering and intense sorrow indicate that happiness is about to dawn. Anything beyond your capacity will necessarily change your capacity, because so long as everything is within your limits, you don’t know what is beyond them.”In His love, Jeff To join the email list for Late Night Chats, contact AngelaThis event was recorded live. To be first to be notified of a new video on this channel, please hit the red subscribe button, then the notifications bell. To join future live events, see www.babazoom.net. Please join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/meherbabafamily

Irwin Luck Christmas Message, Dec 24, 2024, recorded live on Baba Zoom

Irwin will allow Baba to inspire his talk to us today! He will share experiences of his life with Meher Baba, through stories, poetry and his personal correspondence with Meher Baba. Irwin's talks are always wonderfully infused with Meher Baba's Love and Humor. Hosted by Diana Goodheart in NCThis event was recorded live. To be first to be notified of a new video on this channel, please hit the red subscribe button, then the notifications bell. To join future live events, see www.babazoom.net. Please join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/meherbabafamily

Late Night Chat with Jeff: Mehera, Baba’s Beloved, Dec 22, 2024, live on Baba Zoom

We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But once a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for conversation, more readings, songs, quotes - you never know what treasures will be uncovered! Dear folks of Baba, This Sunday is the 117th Anniversary of Mehera’s birth, Baba’s Beloved, whom He referred to as “The purest Soul in the Universe.” Of her, He has said, “She is My very breath without which I cannot live.” “Mehera and I are One.” “Mehera loves Me as I should be loved.” With all this praise from Baba, in meeting her one felt a total absence of self-importance—in her eyes, Baba was all-important, the One she lived for day and night, from her early teenage years until she passed on 82 years later in 1989. For those who met her and spent time with her, she radiated a love that very few of us have ever experienced, a love so heavenly and yet so very personal. Anyone in her presence witnessed her all-loving eyes full of her one-pointed attention and grace. There was no one like her! Some of Baba’s followers and close ones think that this was her last life in Creation, that in passing she joined Baba forever, and there are others who think of her as His eternal counterpart, that she is with Him each time He comes, as she had once disclosed to one of Baba’s Western women. In this latter view of Mehera, this would mean that, among others, she had been Mary Magdalene in the time of Jesus, Sita in the time of Lord Ram and Radha in the time of Krishna. However one thinks of her, she is the embodiment of the highest love for Baba, ever encouraging us to lay down our lives and all our love at Baba’s feet as she had done. She is the living inspiration of what it means to love our Beloved. Now on her birthday, we invite anyone to share any experiences they have had of her, either when physically with her or since her passing. What was it like being with her, what are some of the exchanges? Are there any stories from her life that have touched you deeply? How has Mehera’s life and loving example impacted your life in Baba? In 1967 at Meherazad, Francis Brabazon, one of the resident mandali, wrote this in a poem which was read out to Mehera and Baba by one of the women mandali:I sing of you, Mehera, belov’d of the Beloved of all mankind.Before He began the creation the Beloved created you To mirror to Him His love so that He would know it ever anew.Francis ends with these words:The Beloved because of a whim, caused the whole creation to be. In a One-word poem He contained it—you are its melody.I sing of you, Mehera, belov’d of the Beloved of all mankind.In His love, JeffTo join the email list for Late Night Chats, contact AngelaThis event was recorded live. To be first to be notified of a new video on this channel, please hit the red subscribe button, then the notifications bell. To join future live events, see www.babazoom.net. Please join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/meherbabafamily

Sahavas for Everyone, guest Michelle McKeever, Dec 19, 2024 live on Baba Zoom

Sahavas for Everyone. First and third Wed of the month.Avatar Meher Baba is in each one of us. And His Love is the focus of this gathering. Open discussion with each session having a topic or theme. Hosted by Laurent Weichberger in SC. Guest today Michelle McKeeverJai Baba!This event was recorded live. To be first to be notified of a new video on this channel, please hit the red subscribe button, then the notifications bell. To join future live events, see www.babazoom.net. Please join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/meherbabafamily

Late Night Chat with Jeff: Pilgrimages, Dec 15, 2024, live on Baba Zoom

We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But once a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for conversation, more readings, songs, quotes - you never know what treasures will be uncovered! Dear folks of Baba, I thought to continue with last week’s topic that was rudely interrupted by some octogenarian’s birthday. No really, I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for your very kind words and touching acknowledgement; I couldn’t help thinking during the celebration what love Baba has generated over the entire sweep of a lifetime; how fortunate we are to have the Lord of Creation looking after all of us and participating so personally in our lives!Here is this Sunday’s topic again:The Late Night Chat Sunday December 15th 10 pm ESTTopic: Pilgrimages to Baba PlacesDear folks of Baba, I have just returned from my yearly pilgrimage to Meherabad and Meherazad, where I stayed for nearly six weeks in these two most heavenly places on earth. This isn’t to say that Baba’s presence is not equally everywhere, but there the veil of illusion is infinitely more transparent compared to most other places on the earth. As soon as I come into the environs of Meherabad and Meherazad, my whole being is lightened; you might say my mass of sanskaras (my conditioning) is dissolved to such an extent that I instantly experience the spiritual or the more refined side of myself. Due to Baba’s work in these places, Meherabad and Meherazad are treasure houses of His divine impressions which spontaneously and gradually dissolve our good and bad impressions and fill us with His love. Eruch used to say that our pilgrimage to Meherabad is “your gift to Baba.” Of course, we all know that it is His gift to us, but it is our gift to Him as well. As early as the 1930s, Baba said, “In the future, Meherabad will be like Jerusalem. For My spiritual work, it is the best place. It will always be the center of My work.” On another occasion, He said, “The whole universe is Mine, but this place is especially Mine.” Meherabad is one of His major hospitals, so to speak, with all the latest equipment and technology to perform the most sophisticated treatments and operations when a doctor’s house visits are not succeeding. His work within us is usually done with an anesthetic, though on rare occasions His surgery can be painful. In either case, we are relieved of spiritual blockages, complexes and other weaknesses often unknown to us, which may have been impeding the flow of our love. I have found that other places where Baba has been such as the Meher Center, Meher Mount and the Heartland Center also have Baba’s divine impressions and uplifting atmosphere. Also, the places His lovers have dedicated to Him--and their very homes--definitely hold His loving atmosphere. Baba once gave a graphic metaphor about the need for pilgrimages to sacred places, that they are like crime scenes: blood hounds are brought in and given some article of clothing and personal items of the fugitive to smell, and then they set out in all directions, following the scent. But sometimes, when they are too far afield, the dogs lose the scent of the quarry and have to be brought back to the scene of the crime. Likewise, Baba says, when His lovers return from Baba places to their life in the world again, over time they often lose the divine scent and need to be immersed in it again. From time to time, people who haven’t been to the Center in decades admit that they had forgotten the intimacy of Baba’s special loving presence that can be felt here, and they are uplifted in His love. What have been some of your experiences in being in India, the Meher Center or any of the other places dedicated to Baba? What effect has it had on your inner life with Him? Feel free to share any treasured stories of your pilgrimages.In His love, JeffTo join the email list for Late Night Chats, contact AngelaThis event was recorded live. To be first to be notified of a new video on this channel, please hit the red subscribe button, then the notifications bell. To join future live events, see www.babazoom.net. Please join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/meherbabafamily

Surprise 80th birthday party for Jeff Wolverton, Dec 8, 2024 live on Baba Zoom

A lot of folks pre-recorded birthday greetings for Jeff Wolverton, and then we opened the floor to another hour of live participants on Baba Zoom, taking over his Late Night Chat time slot! So much love and gratitude flowed!If you want to see the *pre-recorded* playlist of greetings, it is here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW-i-86M1PScV1rmI9ajSeS8ivOf2rsjU Hosted by Dyan Ullman in CAThis event was recorded live. To be first to be notified of a new video on this channel, please hit the red subscribe button, then the notifications bell. To join future live events, see www.babazoom.net. Please join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/meherbabafamily

In Touch with the MAC (Meher Archive Collective): Raymond Lee, Dec 7, 2024, live on Baba Zoom

Our guest speaker for the December MAC Baba Zoom program is Raymond Lee. Evie Lindemann will be interviewing Ray, an Asheville resident, about his many years working with audio and video recordings, and his wonderful website, Mandali Hall Talks, at mandalihall.org. Ray has spent hundreds of hours dedicated to recording, editing, and digitizing Baba talks and music, providing a rich resource for the worldwide Baba community. He will share his insights and expertise with us as well as answer questions from viewers. Jai Meher Baba!Hosted by Evie Lindemann in NC on behalf of the MACTech hosted by Cheryl Johnson in CA and Diana Goodheart in NC This event was recorded live. To be first to be notified of a new video on this channel, please hit the red subscribe button, then the notifications bell. To join future live events, see www.babazoom.net. Please join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/meherbabafamily

Sahavas for Everyone, ”How to Love God,” Dec 4, 2024 live on Baba Zoom

Sahavas for Everyone. First and third Wed of the month.Avatar Meher Baba is in each one of us. And His Love is the focus of this gathering. Open discussion with each session having a topic or theme. Hosted by Laurent Weichberger in SC. Jai Baba!This event was recorded live. To be first to be notified of a new video on this channel, please hit the red subscribe button, then the notifications bell. To join future live events, see www.babazoom.net. Please join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/meherbabafamily

Giving Thanks in Perfect Surrender - a talk by Charles Haynes, Nov 28, 2024 live on Baba Zoom

Giving Thanks in Perfect Surrender:A Story of Meher Baba and Nadine Tolstoy Shared by Charles Haynes.Hosted by Betty Lowman in ORThis event was recorded live. To be first to be notified of a new video on this channel, please hit the red subscribe button, then the notifications bell. To join future live events, see www.babazoom.net. Please join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/meherbabafamily

Late Night Chat: guest Angela Lee Chen, Nov 24, 2024, live on Baba Zoom

We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But once a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for conversation, more readings, songs, quotes - you never know what treasures will be uncovered! Topic: Special Guest Speaker: Angela ChenDear Folks of Baba,Our next guest speaker on Sunday, November 24th will be Angela Chen, who is known to most of us, as the initiator and coordinator of babazoom and through her many Baba-related activities over the last so many years. Hereunder is her bio:Angela has been engaged in creating and organizing Baba meetings soon after coming to Baba in 1995. She became involved with the annual Northeast Gathering in 1997 and served as its bookwalla from 1998-present. She also served as the President of Meher Baba House from 2001-04, during which time she filmed precious archival videos of visiting speakers, now all made available on youtube. From 2005-2014, Angela served on the AMB Heartland Center Board, making the pilgrimage to the accident site annually for board work retreats. While working for them, one of Angela’s biggest achievements was handling the logistics for the 200-attendee 2012 Sahavas, located far away from any major city or community of Baba lovers. People converged from all directions for a four-day Sahavas, all mingling freely in love!After moving from New York to Myrtle Beach, Angela served on the Board of the AMB Circle of Friends from 2018-2020, where her interest was in creating meetings to supplement the events already organized by the Meher Spiritual Center, located literally across the street. When the pandemic hit, she took Baba meetings into Zoom. The workload became so great, she stepped down from the Circle of Friends to dedicate herself entirely to Baba Zoom, now an independent organization more officially called Meher Baba Family – Worldwide.As its Coordinator, she inspires creative new kinds of meetings and cajoles people to make them a reality. She also coordinated service projects small and large. The most significant 2021 project was to raise $43,500 for Covid relief work in India, funneling the funds to known Baba Family participants who were already spontaneously initiating direct help to their neighbors – funds directly benefited real people, with no middle men nor bureaucracy. The same pattern has emerged for the 2024 project to fundraise for Asheville area recovery post-Helene, where $72,000 (plus an unknown value in donated goods and musical instruments) has been raised and used to support Baba lovers, and the work of Baba lovers doing relief work on the ground.Angela is the tech emergency line for Baba Zoom, handling issues as they arise during live meetings and helping people get online. She maintains the calendar and website to up-to-date accuracy, promotes events via email, Facebook and Whatsapp. She handles the video work – downloading from the Zoom cloud, uploading to Youtube and editing them. All in all, since April 2020, this work has been and still is a second full-time job! I am sure I can speak on behalf of all of us on zoom, when I say that Angela is a Baba-dynamo with her tireless and selfless efforts in service to our Beloved Baba. In His Love and Service,Jeff and GoherPS here is the link to the Virtual Holiday Bazaar. Items will be either from Asheville area businesses (who will receive full sale value) or other vendors who will contribute a significant portion to the Baba Zoom Hurricane Relief Fund. Here is the link (you may safely donate to this site, or the Bazaar items are under the "Auction" tab) https://givebutter.com/c/NbSnXbTo join the email list for Late Night Chats, contact AngelaThis event was recorded live. To be first to be notified of a new video on this channel, please hit the red subscribe button, then the notifications bell. To join future live events, see www.babazoom.net. Please join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/meherbabafamily