Conversations about Meher Baba

Oct 31, 2021 Late Night Chat with Jeff Wolverton, focus on your Baba stories, Live on Zoom

We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But twice a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for spontaneous chat, more readings, songs, quotes, you never know what treasures will be uncovered! Dear folks of Baba, This Sunday, Steve Berry will share his story of coming to Baba, along with many of the intimate times he spent beginning in the early 1970s with the mandali, including Adi K. Irani and Bhau Kalchuri. He has a very significant story of being with Adi while touring Andhra state in south India. He came to Baba in the early 1970s and was part of the young group in Los Angelos that gathered around Filis Frederick and Adele Wolkin, two of Baba’s close ones who came to Baba in the 1940s. He has many interesting stories and exchanges from his times with Baba’s mandali. I know you will enjoy spending time with Steve. In His love, JeffTo join the email list for Jeff's Chats: send an email request to babazoom77@gmail.comThis 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

Oct 24, 2021 Late Night Chat with Jeff Wolverton, focus on favorite Baba inspiration, Live on Zoom

An except from from the discourse on Readiness to Serve: The aspirant always has to be in readiness to serve the cause of humanity. He need not apply himself to any type of work irrespective of his capacity. He has to select that portion of work which he is qualified to do by virtue of his individual aptitude and abilities. But whatever service he can render by virtue of his capacity, he renders even when the circumstances are most trying. The ordeals through which he may have to pass are many, but the determination to serve whenever possible must remain unshaken… If he were to seek opportunities for himself to render service it would be a form of selfishness. In service which really counts in the spiritual life there can be no thought of the self at all…The self in all its forms has to be left entirely out of the picture. Service should spring out of the spontaneity of freedom if and when it is necessary; and it has to come in a co-operative spirit in which there is no insistence on the claims of the limited “I’.Some possible questions to ask ourselves. Which ones can you most relate to?:How could seeking opportunities to serve others be a form of selfishness?What does it mean to be in readiness to serve others?How can we distinguish between being ready to serve and wanting to FIX THINGS? i.e., intruding, or interfering.How do we keep from feeling or thinking, "I KNOW BEST”?What is the difference between doing good and acting out of the spontaneity of love?How do we determine when service is needed? What faculty discerns the need indicated in a situation?Is Baba nudging us?: LET THE HEAD RESPOND TO THE HEART, AND THEN ACT ACCORDINGLY. How do you see this at play in your life?If we take pride in our service, is it really service?How do you feel about those who are rarely helpful in situations where you need help?Does the “ideal" of service seem impossible because it is too far out of reach? Or do we evolve gradually, through trial and error, toward a life of service? Or is it a gift from Baba Himself?If SPONTANEITY is key to keeping one's service ‘free and unbinding,' how can we manage to BE spontaneous? Does being CONSCIOUS of doing service take away from its meaningfulness?Baba has said, “I give you opportunities to serve so you can draw closer to Me.”In His love, JeffWe have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But twice a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for spontaneous chat, more readings, songs, quotes, you never know what treasures will be uncovered! To join the email list for Jeff's Chats: send an email request to babazoom77@gmail.comThis 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

Oct 3, 2021 Late Night Chat with Jeff Wolverton, focus ”Who’s to blame?” Live on Zoom

Dear Folks of Baba, Here is another quote from Baba that is thought-provoking and is sure to move us to explore our own inner experience of Him. It is a challenge to our everyday weakness of blaming ourselves and others. It is an excerpt from Baba's discourse on “The Questioning Mind” in the book, The Everything and the Nothing: One of you has said, ‘.I am doing my duty honestly, yet I am not happy.” Who is to be blamed for this? Does God take advantage of my weaknesses? I am happy for your frankness, but you have yet to come to the honesty which will show you that you cannot blame anyone for your condition. Whatever you want to be, that you become. However, if you want to blame anyone, blame me, for everything in the universe has come out of me and so I am the only one that can be blamed. But you have no idea of my love and compassion that sustains your very being. In love is infinite compassion and whatever happens is already tempered by compassion. You cannot understand this until you go beyond the reach of the mind. If at all I did take advantage of your weakness, it would only be for your advantage. Weakness is but a degree of strength. As Infinite Life I experience myself as everyone and everything; I enjoy and suffer through you to make you aware that you are Infinite.Some questions that might stir some thinking:Do you sometimes blame others, like I have, for the conditions you find yourself in?Do you think everything is being tempered by compassion as Baba says? Is it something you take on faith, or do you sometimes know this experientially?Do you have any blocks or resistances to holding Baba accountable for what happens? Or are you inclined to hold others accountable?Have you found in retrospect certain experiences were really in the end compassionate and helpful in your understanding of love?Have you found that experiences of suffering in your life turned out to contribute to your feeling more whole over time?What if there were no unpleasant or painful experiences. Would you grow and awaken? What if winter with its destruction were eliminated from the seasons, wouldn’t it upset the balance of nature.Does acceptance of "what is" lead to wholeness?Do you sometimes look upon your relationship with Baba as a contractual agreement: I’ll do this for you if you do that for me?Is being happy the goal?Do you sometimes think that God can be punitive as some religions depict Him? In His Love, Jeff We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But twice a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for spontaneous chat, more readings, songs, quotes, you never know what treasures will be uncovered! To join the email list for Jeff's Chats: send an email request to babazoom77@gmail.comThis 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

Oct 17, 2021 Late Night Chat with Jeff Wolverton, focus on Worry, Live on Zoom

We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But twice a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for spontaneous chat, more readings, songs, quotes, you never know what treasures will be uncovered! To join the email list for Jeff's Chats: send an email request to babazoom77@gmail.comDear folks o’ Baba,Here is a excerpt from Baba’s discourse, Will and Worry, found in the book, The Everything and the Nothing. It is valuable, I feel, to explore these words as they relates to our inner attitude with Baba: “When the intensity of your faith in my will reaches its height, you say goodbye to worry forever. Then all that you suffered and enjoyed in the past, together with what you may experience in the future, will be to you the most loving and spontaneous expression of my will. And nothing will ever be able to cause you worry again.”Some questions to ask ourselves:Do I really take everything that has happened to me in my life as the most loving and spontaneous expression of Baba’s will?What are the events in my life that I haven’t been able to take as the most loving and spontaneous expression of Baba’s will?Do I find it easier, in retrospect, to look upon the things that have happened in my life as Baba’s most loving and spontaneous will, and yet, in the moment, when things are happening I often take others or myself or fate as the “doer"?Are there ways to increase the intensity of faith in Baba’s will? Can it be cultivated? What part does trusting Baba play in deepening faith in Baba?Can I be content with “What Is?”Does gratitude play a part? Can I really be grateful for adversity? What does it take in us to experience adversity as a “gift”?Can you think of painful incidents in your life that have helped to develop important qualities or capacities that would not have been developed otherwise?To what degree are you able to accept that everything that happens is all really Baba’s love?In His love, JeffThis 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

Oct 12, 2021 Late Night Chat with Jeff Wolverton, guest Pratap Ahir (#3), Live on Zoom

Personal stories by Pratap Ahir from the Guruprasad days with BabaDear folks o’ Baba, Pratap Ahir will share his first-hand stories of being with Baba during the 1950s and 60s, especially during Baba’s summer stays at Guruprasad in Pune. There are vey few left who spent so much time in the informal gatherings with Baba during those years, observing Baba’s intimate exchanges with His close ones and the humor that was always part of those times. Pratap is always open to any questions you might have about the things that Baba said with His lovers. In His love, Jeff We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But twice a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for spontaneous chat, more readings, songs, quotes, you never know what treasures will be uncovered! To join the email list for Jeff's Chats: send an email request to babazoom77@gmail.comThis 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

Oct 10, 2021 Late Night Chat with Jeff Wolverton, ”Something new by our own inner vision.” Live Zoom

Dear folks o’Baba,The following quote of Baba is from the book, "Listen, Humanity,” and appears on page 151. It brings up the possibilities of how active we can actually be in our inner life with Baba. To what extent can we participate creatively in the unfolding of the deeper dimensions within ourselves? "Truly happy people are rare in spite of the smiles which are usually the brave front for varying degrees of internal misery. Yet everywhere and in every walk of life, man is longing for happiness and searching desperately for some means of breaking out of the trap which his life has become. It is not his fault if he assumes that the solution to his deep dissatisfaction lies in a sensual life, or in achievement in business or the social world, or in a life of exciting experiences. Neither is it his fault if life is not usually long enough to teach him factually that he would find even more profound disillusionment if these goals were to be fulfilled to the hilt. If he would suspect that his ideas of achieving a successful and happy life were wrong, and that he must try some new way of living, then the stalemate might be broken. A new line in the divine picture is sketched only when some individual takes life forcefully in his hands, breaks up the old patterns and insists on creating something new by his own inner vision.”What do Baba’s words, “create something new” by our own “inner vision,” mean to you?Do you sometimes feel that your life has become a trap, or even that you’re not living at as inspired a level as you would like?Can you see yourself breaking up the old patterns of reactivity toward outer events and instead responding from the deeper heart?What beliefs, ideas and ideals about life that you have embraced in the past (or even now) have brought you unhappiness and discontent? For example, what goals or dreams in your professional life that you aspired to have you failed to achieve?Are the inner spiritual goals that you have set for yourself complicated by an impossible perfectionism?What approaches or perspectives in your life do you find to be deeply meaningful and fulfilling?Baba talks about breaking up the old patterns and creating something new by our own inner vision. Is there a new way you would like to envision yourself to be, or are you basically content with how you are?In our last chat, Baba was quoted as saying, “Whatever you want to be, that you become."Does this quote inspire you to take a more active role in determining what happens in your life at an inner or outer level?Do you tend to favor letting things happen over making things happen?Can you be happy and content on one level (say spiritually), but not happy because of your life’s circumstances?"Darwin Shaw on free will and predestination. We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But twice a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for spontaneous chat, more readings, songs, quotes, you never know what treasures will be uncovered! To join the email list for Jeff's Chats: send an email request to babazoom77@gmail.comThis 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

Oct 5, 2021 Late Night Chat with Jeff Wolverton, special guest Pratap Ahir (#2), Live on Zoom

Dear folks o’Baba, We have Pratap Ahir again to share with us his many intimate times with Baba. He left off last session in December 1950, and now he is about to tell us of his visit to be with Baba by His invitation for two weeks (I think) in Mahabaleshwar when he was just 14 years old. That was the beginning of his seeing Baba many times in Pune, especially during Baba’s stays at Guruprasad during the Indian summer months. On these many occasions, he was there as one of the workers to help with the darshans programs that Baba gave on the weekends. He was one of the musicians in the Pune Bhajan Group that entertained Baba over the years, leading His lovers in the very touching devotional songs to Him. He also spent hundreds and hundreds of hours informally in Baba’s company and has many stories to share. There are very few of Baba’s close ones left from the Guruprasad days and so we are very fortunate to hear his first-hand experiences. Come to listen, and Pratap is happy to answer any questions. In His love, Jeff We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But twice a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for spontaneous chat, more readings, songs, quotes, you never know what treasures will be uncovered! To join the email list for Jeff's Chats: send an email request to babazoom77@gmail.comThis 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

Sept 28, 2021 Late Night Chat with Jeff Wolverton, special guest Nick Principe (#2), Live on Zoom

Dear folks of Baba,Our guest tonight is Nick Principe, who has many wonderful stories from his times with Baba's mandali, including Baba's own immediate family, His brothers Jal and Behram, Baba’s twin nephews and niece Gulnar and other members of the family.The term mandali is a household word. When someone meets a guest at the door, they call out "mandali, mandali", which means all the members of the household are summoned.That is, mandali means a family member, the close ones, which is the endearing name Baba gave to HIs disciples.Although Baba’s mandali are all unique and different, they were the same in their personal love for each one and their dedication in trying to please Baba in every little thing.Nick lives in Myrtle Beach and also spends months every year in Assisi, which is made famous by St. Francis and a place that Baba visited in the 1930s. We are catching Nick just before he leaves for Italy.Nick also has a joke or two, some of them that Jal entertained Baba with.A lovely quote from Saint Theresa of Avila:“Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours and no feet but yours. We have the privilege of being His hands and feet, but we have to discipline ourselves to do it."In His love, Jeff We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But twice a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for spontaneous chat, more readings, songs, quotes, you never know what treasures will be uncovered! Join the email list for Jeff's Chats: request to join. 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

Sept 26, 2021 Late Night Chat with Jeff Wolverton, focus: beyond virtue and vice, Live on Zoom

Topic: Living Beyond the Opposites of Vice and VirtueDear folks o’ Baba,Darwin Shaw told me that when he read the following discourse from Baba below, he actually had a cosmic experience. In it, Baba reveals one of the central truths of His teaching, the distinction between morality and spirituality. See what thoughts and questions it brings up in you. When Baba was staying in Satara in January 1955, an incident occurred that gave rise to the following discourse from Baba. Giving the background, Aloba was in charge of two servant boys whose job, among other duties, was to prepare the morning chai for Baba and the men mandali. The routine was that Aloba would wake the boys up at 5 a.m. and the tea should be ready by six o’clock. On this particular morning, when Baba and the mandali came for chai a little after six, it was not ready. The boys had fallen back to sleep! Aloba pitched a fit and was very rough with the boys. His behavior was so harsh that the other mandali found it disturbing. Later in the day, when Aloba and Bhau were walking with Baba to one of the cottages, Baba said to Bhau, “What are you thinking?” Bhau replied that he was thinking of Aloba’s harsh treatment of the servant boys. Baba said pointedly that he should go to some other ashram where he could live a virtuous life, and then gave this discourse:With me, no one can live what the world considers a moral life. Here, we are concerned with spirituality, not morals. A spiritual life is not ruled nor bound by any principles. The sanskaras of each one are different, and so the behavior and temperament of everyone are different.In a virtuous life, evil is suppressed and good surfaces; but the evil is still there. The bad sanskaras remain and have to be worked out, if not in this life then in the next or the one after. In the spiritual life, both good and bad sanskaras express themselves, and both get nullified. A spiritual life leads one toward naturalness, whereas a virtuous life, in the guise of humility, inflates the ego and perpetuates it! A spiritual life, though, is only led under the guidance and orders of the Avatar or Perfect Master, who knows the pulse of everyone and treats everyone according to his particular "malady."You don't like Aloba's behavior, but his behavior was quite natural and necessary for him. How can you understand that? People of the world act according to moral standards and socially acceptable behavior, but the Avatar or Perfect Master deals with everyone according to his or her sanskaras. Thus spiritual life is totally different and cannot be judged on the basis of morality, ethics or any principle.Some questions to ask ourselves:What was your initial reaction to this discourse? Were you shocked or disturbed or perhaps relieved?What are the limitations of good or virtue?Is it possible to be very, very good and yet have little love?Evelyn Underhill (a favorite writer of the early Western followers of Baba) wrote: “It seems so much easier in these days to live morally than to live beautifully. Lots of us manage to exist for years without ever sinning against society, but we sin against loveliness every hour of the day."Where is love in relation to good and bad, virtue and vice?Does it seem in this quote that Baba is giving license to Aloba’s bad behavior? Or is He making an issue of Bhau’s judgmental attitude? What does it mean when Baba says that this process can only happen under the unerring guidance of the Avatar or a Perfect Master?How is it that in a virtuous life, bad is suppressed and does not get worked on and dealt with? Any examples of how this plays out?Can self-justifying good and virtuous behavior keep one in denial of their baser impulses and shadow side.Will Baba's perspective make us less judgmental of others and also of ourselves?In His love, JeffWe have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But twice a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for spontaneous chat, more readings, songs, quotes, you never know what treasures will be uncovered! Join the email list for Jeff's Chats: email babazoom77@gmail.comThis 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

Sept 21, 2021 Late Night Chat with Jeff Wolverton, special guest Pratap Ahir, Live on Zoom

Dear folks of Baba, In tonight’s chat, we have as our guest, Pratap Ahir. Pratap was one of a group of young students who gathered around Dr. Ghani, Baba’s childhood schoolmate, when the doctor left the New Life and moved to Pune. They would stay up late listening to Ghani’s many colorful stories of being with Baba. A music group was formed of these students known as the Pune Bhajan Group, and they sang frequently for Baba from 1950 through the 1960s, especially during the months each year that He and the mandali spent at Guruprasad. Pratap and Digambar Gadekar are the only surviving members of this groupthat led thousands in singing bhajans before Baba over the years. Baba took such intimate care of Pratap who was a frequent and invaluable helper during Baba’s stays at Guruprasad. Pratap has many personal, humorous and touching stories from those times, and he is always open to questions. Unfortunately there are only a few left who had such close contact with Baba. Come and enjoy! In His love, Jeff We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But twice a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for spontaneous chat, more readings, songs, quotes, you never know what treasures will be uncovered! Join the email list for Jeff's Chats: email babazoom77@gmail.com to join.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