[Tavern-Talk] Two New Programs from the Trust Library

[tavern]

Two New Programs from the Trust Library

Two exciting new programs have been launched in recent weeks through the 
Trust Library under the direction of Gokaran and Urmila Shrivastava. The 
first of these programs is "Welcome to His World: An Exhibition on the Life 
and Work of Avatar Meher Baba," a collection of photographs currently on 
display in the Study Hall Room located in the upper story of the Meher 
Retreat on Meherabad Hill near the Samadhi.  The Meher Retreat has a long 
and rich history; and as well as having served as a residence for the women 
mandali in the late 1930s, a decade before that, prior to the construction 
of the upper story in 1938, Baba secluded Himself in one of its ground 
floor rooms in 1926 while writing part of “the Book.”

Welcome to His World is intended to be the first of many exhibitions that 
will be held in the Meher Retreat. These exhibitions are intended for all, 
but most particularly for a comparatively new kind of pilgrim, that is, day 
pilgrims who visit Meherabad as one stop on a bus tour and who come knowing 
little or nothing of Baba’s life and work.  These pilgrims take Baba's 
darshan at the Samadhi, and afterwards, many seek to learn more about Baba. 
To meet this need, the Trust Library intends to keep this exhibition and 
others like it open through the daylight hours so that people can access it 
and learn. In the future, exhibitions might also include short films shown 
to groups on a widescreen television.

In the current exhibit, there are 120 stunning black and white photographs, 
measuring 12" by 15," which present Baba’s life and work in thirteen 
phases, for example, His childhood and family, His interaction with the 
Five Perfect Masters, the early days at Meherabad, His seclusion work, His 
work with masts, and His trips to the West. Running beneath these photos, 
is a series of larger photographs, each one 2 feet by 3 feet, which are 
blowups of frames taken from colour films.  These blowups give the viewer 
the sensation of being in the midst of the events which they depict. One is 
virtually surrounded by and engulfed in the historical events.

At the center of the room is a table with a large chart displaying a 
pictorial representation of Darwin's theory of evolution. This is 
juxtaposed against Rano Gayley's chart showing the journey of the soul. The 
combined charts present a clear comparison of the two and will help 
newcomers to understand Baba's spiritual cosmology.

Many people assisted in preparing these materials, notably Martin and 
Christine Cook, who reproduced the photographs, Sue Chapman, who was 
instrumental in developing the exhibit’s themes and organizing the 
placement of the photographs, and Ted Judson, who oversaw the setting of 
the display boards.

The exhibit was festively inaugurated on October 8 at an event under the 
Tin Shed on Meherabad Hill. About two hundred people assembled there for 
the opening ceremony, that included talks by the chairman Bhau Kalchuri, 
trustee Jal Dastoor, and others.

Less than two weeks later, the second of the Trust Library's new programs 
was launched. On October 22, the Library’s lecture series was inaugurated 
with a program about the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the 
1958 Australian Sahavas at Avatar's Abode in Australia. While the 
photographic exhibitions in the Study Hall are most immediately intended 
for newcomers to Baba and wayside pilgrims, the lecture series is intended 
for all pilgrims as well as the residential community and will address 
serious topics of interest.

The scheduled main speaker for the inaugural lecture was Bill LePage, one 
of Baba's earliest lovers in the West, who first heard of Him in the 
1940's. Unfortunately, Bill was unable to attend due to illness; in his 
stead Gokaran provided extensive background on the Sahavas and showed a 
video of Bill speaking very movingly about his experiences at the 1958 
event. Then various people who attended the commemoration spoke about their 
impressions; they poignantly conveyed a sense of the love that suffused 
this summer’s event at Avatar’s Abode and made clear to us that Baba’s 
presence there was palpable. Jal and Dolly Dastoor, Dara and Amrit Irani, 
Ted Judson, and Ward Parks, attendees at the Avatar's Abode commemoration 
in May, gave the audience a sense of the selfless dedication evinced by the 
event's hosts in addition to providing personal impressions.

The Trust Library's current plans are to have a lecture about once a month, 
if possible. The subject matter of the lecture series will include 
discussions of Baba’s books, commemoration of major events from Baba’s 
life, and recounts by old-time Baba lovers of their experiences with the 
Beloved. The goal is to foster an atmosphere which helps us all to share 
and grow in our spiritual understanding through examining Baba’s work and 
studying His words. For as Baba said, "Of [the] different types of service, 
the service which is concerned with spiritual understanding is the highest
"

Both the exhibition and the lecture series serve as a fulfillment of Baba’s 
wishes expressed in the Trust Deed: "For depicting and unfolding the life 
and words of Avatar Meher Baba through establishment of or helping in the 
establishment of museums, memorials, study-halls, libraries, fairs or 
exhibitions, or 'melas' at such places as may be feasible."

The Welcome to His World exhibit and Australian Sahavas commemoration talk 
are inspiring examples of Baba's workers enthusiastically using their 
specific talents cooperatively, without fuss, and without drawing attention 
to themselves.

Diana Bloise
for Tavern Talk
11 November 2008  
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