PART FOUR
Reminiscences of the City of Lost Angels
By Filis Frederick
It is July, 1956.
PART FOUR
"Remarkably, a snake charmer was the guest on the show just preceding our appearance, and before we appeared Joe Pyne had both a boa constrictor and a dove in his hand. A hippie who had been called up to defend LSD before the camera, fainted with a strange shaking while he was talking. "By now the Joe Pyne TV show had appeared both in Los Angeles and in New York. It will follow a syndicated schedule around the country appearing one week'" one major city. The next week in another" A strange "coincidence" was the last words Baba said to Rick when he met Him in India. "Remember where the snake Is, the dove is!"
The 60's breakthrough for Baba here in Los Angeles came as swiftly as it did in other cities. Ivy Duce and her Sufi Center (near the Avalon Ballroom and Haight-Ashbury) was inundated with young seekers many stoned on drugs and in full 60's regalia long hair, beads, dirty jeans and sandals, backpacks and following mad diets. The "flower children" had burst into bloom everywhere no doubt in response to Baba's inner "call". He had told them, His 'jewels' would be coming to Him. As Allan Collen wrote Mani -" Interest and familiarity -with Baba's Name has been rising at a rapid rate. Unquestionably, Baba's tempo in the U.S. is speeding up spectacularly - word of the Beloved has quickened the hearts of many who have been yearning for they knew not what. He seems to be reaping a harvest of ripe souls with the ancient tools of love and inspiration. And even the infinitesimal part of His management of the 'Love Farm' which I see leaves me in wonderment and awe of His seemingly incredible Mastery of its technology, administration and most minute detail! JAI BABA!!"
Everywhere a network of underground newspapers flourished promoting with equal zeal drugs, rock music, anti-establishment and anti-war feelings Greenpeace and spiritual search. Kerouac’s "On the Road" beatniks had moved on and their place was taken by hordes of mobile (downwardly mobile?!) youngsters — usually from upper or middle class families with a safety net of a check from home in the back pocket of their jeans, who casually tramped the highways and byways of the United States and abroad. The Hollywood Free Press appeared in L.A. and I promptly placed ads for Meher Baba, offering free literature and information. It turned the key: Baba's beauty beckoned amidst the gritty sex ads and cartoons, and the wave of "new" Baba lovers began. One of the first new-age hippies in all his almost-naked splendor (big Afro, great torso, shorts, surfer's tan) was Billy Gray, demanding to know all about the Avatar of the Age. Billy, though he'd been on 200 acid trips, had one of the most brilliant minds I ever encountered, and his questions about Baba were equal to a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy, which brings up an interesting point. "New age cults" (with which the Meher Baba movement is still classified) have been analyzed from all sorts of points of view — sociological, medical, psychological, theological, etc., but very few writers have touched on one key-note: these youngsters wanted better answers to the age-old questions of whence and whither, i.e. better philosophy, better cosmology. They were really seekers after wisdom, not just counter-culture escapists. And Meher Baba, as we know gives better answers.
Surfing in California creates an up-and-down-the-coast (and into Mexico) fraternity — everyone knows everyone else — and in 1965 the Baba-fuse lit by one or two surfers like Billy Gray and Jimmy Irons sputtered and caught fire among a whole generation. Soon my living room was packed with young people, asking about Baba, feeling drawn to Him and His Divinity. He's the Avatar? Wonderful! Tell us more. Gone were the metaphysical arguments, the theological debates of the 40's and 50's in New York and even of those older-generation seekers I'd met early on in L.A. It was definitely a nouveau vague of seekers. In rebelling against their parent's goals of success, fame, profits, security and social stratification, they also rebelled against the dry and barren religions, or in many cases, agnosticism, of their parents. Even the pseudo-mystical drug experiences did their part, as Meher Baba has said in "God in a Pill".
Dealing with young people on drugs, though, was sometimes a sad experience. As the San Francisco police reported to Allan Cohen, of those who experimented with LSD, one-third died, one-third went insane, one-third survived. I had to deal with some of these cases; people who had been literally experimented on by psychiatrists or psychologists investigating "super" consciousness (sic! sick!) It was also the heyday of TM, Kriya Yoga, tantric yoga, aura balancing, etc. — a general mishmash of Eastern and Western religious practices. I called it a transfusion of Eastern thought with a dirty needle, into Western minds.
My own psychic experiences came in very handy. The "torn" aura of a drug abuser is pathetic to look at. Then there were those convinced because of their drug high, that they were advanced on the planes or even God-Realized! As Eruch said, "Only in America!" But many biggies made this mistake, Dr. John C. Lilly and Aldous Huxley, for example. Alpert (now Ramdas) himself had to hear the truth from Meher Baba: God is not God if He can be reached by drugs.
The young souls who came to Baba in the 60's struggled to obey His definite NO on drugs. Most succeeded and it amazes me to this day how loyal to Baba they have been right into the 80's. The seeds of love Baba planted then in their hearts have flowered so well — the flowers of love for Him have blossomed in His flower children!! The backbone of most Baba groups around the world is in this age group. Now they're all middle-aged, and some are facing normal mid-life crises! Another factor, that the media were then open to Baba's message on drugs in the 60's, helped make the public familiar with His message. Rick Chapman founded Meher Baba Information, "The Box" 1101, in Berkeley and gave away thousands of information packets. He also wrote How to Choose a Guru. Peter Townshend, the rock idol, on whose photo Baba had emphatically placed His thumb, listed Avatar Meher Baba as his "producer" on some of his albums. His hit rock opera, "Tommy" was a well-disguised allegory of the spiritual search for God. The Rolling Stone Magazine had a cover story on Baba in August 1969. What a trip that was, to see it strung up in rows on a New York newsstand! Peter Max quoted Baba on his psychedelic posters for Fifth Avenue buses. On the New York subways, 60's posters were big, and "The Ancient One" poster caught the eye of so many young hearts, as did the first and favorite of a snowstorm of Baba cards — "Don't Worry, Be Happy!" Buttons were in, and Baba buttons (oh! blessed buttons — if you find one) were sought after.
Now my house couldn't hold all the seekers, so I improvised meetings on the beach, in public parks (Alondra, Rancho, Griffith) and bank community rooms. We were excluded finally from American Savings (Manhattan Beach) because we sported beards, sandals, painted vans, and because someone stole a can of deodorant from the men's room! I felt it was time the youngsters conduct their own meetings, and learn to reach out to others. For a while, we met at Antoinette's home on a Venice canal. Then came our first Baba bookstore, in Hermosa Beach, opened by Ivan Mosko, my boss's nephew. He had quit Mattel to do so and for a while I thought I might be fired for "influencing the young." Then another bookstore was opened on Pacific Avenue in Venice. A third was started in Pasadena by John and Judy Page, a fourth in Huntington Beach by Barbara MacReynolds and Ken Pellman, then a fifth in Santa Barbara, where a wave of love for Baba opened up suddenly through Paul Siem and a talk I gave there. Paul and Mike Thorne composed and played our first original Baba songs on guitar.
It was the era of the "crash pad” and some bookstores became such as well as meeting places. Several romances and marriages got started this way and, in fact, I know of one handsome youngster who started his life journey right in our Hermosa Store! Hermosa City Hall had made us promise: No candles, no incense, no posters, only white walls, and no more than two people inside at a time! But two are two enough.
Hitchhiking was "in" in the mobile 60’s and the Baba cards went along. It was through a card left on a bar in San Blas, Mexico, a big surfing spot, that Jack Small and others had come to Baba. Jack drove all the way from Mexico to hear of Baba. He arrived in a long white caftan on crutches (he had had hepatitis) with a long red beard and red hair, and a headband, supported by his friend Mike. He had been on drugs (he passed his bar exam stoned on LSD). Baba was a turning point in their lives. I advised them to visit the Center in Myrtle Beach and it was Elizabeth who persuaded Jack to cut his hair. It was at the Center where Virginia’s* love for Baba was awakened. Both returned to LA, and became part of the ever-growing group.
Virginia was one of the few pro-Baba parents. I used to get quite a bit of static from irate parents. I had to hide one boy, Duncan Guild, in my apartment for a week. Another girl was kidnapped by her parents, held in a motel in Long Beach to be "deprogrammed" by Ted Patrick. She escaped and called me. Later, she voluntarily returned to the motel so as not to "upset her parents," feeling she could hang on to Baba regardless — which happened. Other parents literally tossed their underage kids out onto the street. One girl molested by her step-father, had told her mother, only to be turned out helpless and penniless. When we rescued her and helped her — especially to get off drugs― the mother upbraided me! There were many stories like this. In all the years, only one parent, that of Brigit Saviskas, even thanked me for helping get her child off drugs. That was a special moment.
What were the meetings like at the old Venice bookstore with the flower-painted windows? Guitar music, Om and Baba name chanting, Baba readings, occasional Baba movies; we even experimented for a while together with Allan Hill with some group therapy and games. Many times someone came in, stoned, off the street and we had to deal gently with them. We made up plays about Baba's life, new Baba songs, and discussed the Discourses (on sex, God-Realization, what Baba wants, who am I?) Romance bloomed and here and there there was a Baba wedding. Merwan Scott was our first baby. Baba lovers then and now cannot afford babysitters, so we had to get used to these screaming participants.
Strangers knocked on my door, too, at any hour. Wandering Baba lovers were common and expected instant food and shelter. I got used to that, too. I was earning my title as "Mother of the Hippies" and "Cosmic Mother." But, on the whole, the "nouveau vague" were great kids and I enjoyed their company. They weren't actually street people; most were college dropouts and very intelligent and well-mannered, underneath!
Here are a few highlights from John Page, one of the earliest LA. Baba lovers: "It was March, 1969, when the scent of Beloved Baba's Divine Love first wafted out of a small storefront at 31 West Union St. in Pasadena, California. In those halcyon days of hippies and "flower power" a small group of Baba's lovers began meeting in a part of Pasadena's "Olde Towne" area. We all thought our street address was significant: "31" was the year Baba first came to the West. And "Union" street was about as close to "Love Street" as one could get! Plus, Union St. was a one-way street!
"In this section of west Pasadena there were many "new age" businesses and store fronts, just one block from Pasadena's skid row. In fact, not long after we opened, the landlord rented the store next to us to a motorcycle club, which turned out to be a gang (the "Chosen Few")! The landlord was so afraid of them, that when they got behind in their rent, he was scared to go to them to demand payment! Sometimes we would have a meeting, and Baba's lovers would have a hard time finding a place to park because there were customized "choppers" lining both sides of the streets! Actually the gang members were nice enough. They left us alone and we left them alone. But we did have to pick up their littered beer cans occasionally.
"The building itself was quite old. Our storefront was approximately 900 square feet, with a skylight in the ceiling. We painted the walls a Baba-pink, and covered them with posters and photographs. We even had flowers painted on the front window! Our storefront was one long room which we partitioned into four areas. The front two were devoted to books and posters for sale. With an occasional exception, only books by or about Baba or Perfect Masters were offered for sale. The third section of the bookstore was a meeting room with enough space for 50 people. The last section was for storage although it had been the residence of the early caretakers.
"This was the era of the "flower children" and Baba's lovers were no exception. They were an interesting mixture of all types, from many backgrounds. Some were conservative, some liberal, some rich and some poor, but all shared a common focus - Baba! Many had been taking drugs until they heard of Baba's warnings. We all knew Who Baba was, which led to a close feeling of family.
"Our meetings ranged from studying Baba's discourses, to singing songs devoted to Baba, to having a special guest speaker. We were fortunate to have talks by: Adi K. Irani, Meherjee Karkaria, Sarosh Irani, Murshida Duce, Lud Dimpfl, Filis Frederick, Rick Chapman, Max Häfliger, Allan Cohen, Darwin and Jeanne Shaw, Virginia Rudd, Rano Gayley, Viloo Irani, and many, many others.
"We were known then as the Meher Baba Bookstore. But there were also other bookstores in Southern California that were dedicated to Baba. At different times there were bookstores in: Hermosa Beach, Venice, Huntington Beach, and Santa Barbara. All were full of Baba's Love and channels for spreading His message of Love and Truth but none lasted beyond the mid-1970s.
PART ONE THROUGH PART SIX THE WHOLE STORY