Meher Baba Manifesting

Marguerite Poley April 4, 1909- November 14, 2005
By Linda Zavala, Los Angeles

On November 14, 2005, Marguerite Poley gently passed into the loving arms of her Beloved. She had been a resident of several convalescent homes in the past five years due to an anesthesia accident suffered during a knee replacement surgery which left her unable to walk. Her hearing and sight gradually diminished yet she remained strong, bringing the living spirit of her Beloved to the many devoted Baba lovers who visited her over the years. Dearest friends and devoted caregivers Marian Weiser and Heidi Hormuz were with her virtually on a daily basis, attending to her needs and keeping her spirits bright. Recently, despite the devoted efforts of her caregivers, she moved closer and closer to the Beloved until she quietly slipped away.

Marguerite was a woman of extraordinary character; cheerful, warm, canny and perceptive in a practical, loving way. She was always thoughtful, and would frequently put others first, as in giving away her food gifts to the next Baba lover who came to visit even though she herself lived on an extremely modest fixed income. She would accept an organic chicken, so lovingly given to her by a friend, and cook it up for her 17 cats, her darling babies; then she would happily eat rice and beans knowing her cats were really happy.

She was a truly cheerful person. Her cheerfulness seemed not an avoidance of reality, but a reflection of her understanding of Baba's words, "Among the many things the aspirant needs to cultivate, there are few that are as important as cheerfulness, enthusiasm and equipoise." Perhaps Marguerite's ability to be cheerful was etched on her soul by the extreme pain she suffered in life being counterbalanced by the bliss she received from her Beloved.

At a young age Marguerite learned to ride a horse and became an ardent enthusiast of the horse kingdom. Later, this led to an intuitive connection with Meher Baba as the Kalki or White Horse Avatar. Over the years she drew and painted many images of Baba riding triumphantly on a white horse. In Hindu tradition, Kalki is the name of the tenth and final Maha Avatara (Great Avatar) of Vishnu the Preserver, who will come to end the current Kali Yuga (The Age of Darkness and Destruction).The name Kalki is often a metaphor for "Eternity" or "Time" or "The Annihilator of lgnorance." In Hindi Kalki avatar means "tomorrow's avatar." In the Sanskrit language, one meaning is simply "White Horse." Before Baba arrived in the 50s, Marguerite was one of the earliest Baba lovers living in the Los Angeles area. She shared in the preparations for His 1956 visit with Jean Adriel, Agnes Baron, Hilda Fuchs, John Bass and others. She met Baba in Hollywood at the Roosevelt Hotel, again in Meher Mount in 1956 and at Myrtle Beach in 1958. Sadly she was not able to travel to Baba's home in India due to her head injuries and other circumstances.

Marguerite's presence at Baba meetings was always a joy and she contributed to the Baba community in many ways, including offering her paintings to support Meherabode's activities. Marguerite was born in Zurich, Switzerland April 4, 1909. As an only child, her parents were completely devoted to her happiness. Her father, an artistic professional photographer, took many wonderful photographs of Marguerite, using her as a model and taught her to ride horses at an early age. She was also encouraged to draw and paint.

In 1925, when just a teenager, her father died. She and her mother immigrated to America, booking passage on the Cunard liner RMS Berengaria. On arrival in Pennsylvania, Marguerite, having been educated in religious schools, decided to enter a Catholic convent while her mother found work as a seamstress. After being there for just two weeks, one day a very clear inner voice spoke to her saying, "Why does this again?" The voice was so strong, she left the convent immediately. She pondered what to do next. She decided to try to make a living working with horses.

Being an excellent rider, she was fortunate to find work with Adele Parker, who started the Parker Ranch School near Cleveland, Ohio, where amateur and professional horsemanship was taught. She eventually became a professional stunt rider, and moved on to work in traveling circuses as a bare-back rider on magnificent Belgian Perc heron horses. She lived the life of an itinerant performer, working 16-18 hour days, sometimes not getting paid, traveling on trains, going hungry, sleeping on any surface that would allow rest, learning animal folk remedies, living with Gypsies and other unusual people throughout the U.S. and Canada. In the off season she worked for other people caring for their pets or chauffeuring (highly unusual for a young lady in the 30s), such people as George Jessel, the well-known Master of Ceremonies and his actress-wife Norma Talmadge.

One day while performing a stunt on a horse, she suffered a serious back injury when the horse fell and rolled over on her. After recuperating for several months, Marguerite and her mother moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a different life.

On a fateful hot, dry day in November, 1944, her life changed forever. She was working inside a large power shear in an aircraft parts factory. Suddenly she realized that her hairnet had been caught and she was being pulled into the shear. She struggled to save her life and her hair and scalp were pulled off before the machine could be stopped. Later she would realize that the accident was a decisive life-turn towards a spiritual life. While she was lying semi-conscious, not knowing if she was dead or alive, she heard a voice from within say, "Wake up! Wake up!" She knew she was going to live. She endured more than two years of hospital care during a long series of skin grafts.

For several years after her head injury, suffering from the skin grafts which didn't take, frequent shaking spasms, and trying to come to grips with the loss of her scalp and beautiful auburn hair, she contemplated suicide many times. Horrific, wrenching dreams plagued her every night. She would awake drenched in sweat. While the dreams continued, her friends tried to interest her in spiritual movements to ease her internal anguish. When the path of the spirit she was destined to follow was revealed, the frightening dreams began to fade. One day when she was reading a book on Eastern thought, she read, "When the pupil is ready, the master will appear." From that point on she began to feel inwardly happy.

It was not until sometime later that Marguerite realized her life had already been touched by Meher Baba before she actually knew of Him. The first time was when Baba visited the U.S. in 1932. She overheard the circus people around her reading the newspaper aloud and talking about how an Eastern master was claiming to be the same as Jesus Christ. They all laughed and mocked the idea. She looked at the paper and saw His photo and never thought of it again until much later.

The second occurrence came in one of her terrible dreams. She found herself in a Chinese torture cage made of bamboo. She could neither sit nor stand. The pain became excruciating and she felt, "I can't take this any longer." All of a sudden it occurred to her to completely surrender to God and she said to herself, "Oh God, if it is Thy will I can put up with this forever." In this surrender she felt great relief and internal joy. She then saw a very slim and beautiful woman in a long blue gown with large luminous eyes walking towards the cage. Taking Marguerite by the wrist with a lovely smile and holding her gaze, she freed her from the cage and led her onto a path, then disappeared. Several years later when Marguerite was looking at photos of Meher Baba's women mandali, she pointed to one of the ladies and said to Jean Adriel in amazement, ''This is the lady who I saw in my dream who released me from the torture cage. “The woman in the photo was Mehera, Meher Baba's chief woman disciple.

>One night during another one of her dreadful dreams, in desperation she declared, "In the name of Jesus Christ, please deliver me.'' Nothing happened. She said it again and again, ever more firmly. Again, nothing happened. Finally, she declared, “Only if this is thy will, oh God, then let it happen.” She felt suddenly relieved. The devils didn't stop appearing, but it was the beginning of her conscious surrender to the will of God.

In 1947 Marguerite and two other friends heard that a spiritual master was coming to Meher Mount in Ojai. After one friend said, "Oh, no don't go there, he is too erratic. No, don't ever go there," she and the other friend looked at each other impishly and immediately got into the car to go to Ojai. There they met Jean Adriel, saw Baba's photos, and bought Jean's book Avatar. Marguerite said she was unimpressed with the whole experience. A few weeks later, Baba turned the key. Suddenly, while reading Avatar she realized that Baba was the real thing - God Incarnate. She felt struck "as if by a lightning bolt." She fell into bliss for three days. She knew that she had "come home."

Outwardly she continued to live a normal lite, doing odd jobs, but inwardly there was a deep and profound awakening. For nine years she and others in LA eagerly awaited Meher Baba's visit to the United States. Marguerite distributed letters received from Baba and Mani giving news of Baba's activities or orders they could carry out to share in His work. Marguerite recalls that in 1950 Dr. Donkin arrived from India to tour a few cities asking devotees to share in Baba's work. She remarked that he was such a charismatic person that she forgot where she was driving and drove to her home in Canoga Park instead of taking him to Malcolm Schloss's apartment in Hollywood. Since she had not met Baba physically, it was exciting to meet Donkin and hear stories of Baba in India.

The wonderful day came when Meher Baba arrived in Los Angeles in 1956. Marguerite met the other members of the welcoming committee at the airport. They were embraced by Baba. When He embraced her, she remarked afterward, that she did not feel that He had a physical body. She felt that they were in the clouds together and there was nothing else in the universe except them. Later, they rushed on to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel to greet Baba on the steps as He came in, but again Marguerite was in such a trance that she got lost and suddenly realized that she had to move quickly to get to the hotel. When they arrived Baba had already gone in. Baba received people at the hotel the next day and then on the third day Baba, the mandali and a few lovers went to Meher Mount. Sadly, they said goodbye as He boarded the plane for San Francisco on the fourth day.

She was inspired to start painting and began what became a series called the "White Horse Avatar" paintings. The first painting was sent to Baba's home at Meherazad. In 1948, she sent "Pegasus," a winged horse flying toward the heavens. Mehera wrote back, "So often Beloved Baba's eyes have lighted up when looking on it. One little child had asked if it was really Baba's horse and we had said, 'Yes, it is flying towards the light and the light is Beloved Baba."

After Baba had dropped His body, Marguerite sent another painting in 1971. In a letter Mehera wrote to her she said, "When first saw it; I felt my Beloved has come to me on His beautiful white horse. I feel the love which has inspired this painting. The whole effect is indescribably lovely and ethereal as though Beloved Baba, the God-Man, is coming down from the Beyond state." Marguerite completed about twenty paintings of Baba. Since she could not travel very far, with her head injury, the paintings were a continuing source of communion with Him.

In 1958, Marguerite had the second opportunity to meet Baba in Myrtle Beach. She resisted going for all kinds of reasons, but Dana Field insisted she go. Dana, Marguerite and a few others took a plane and experienced the harrowing trials of many hours of air travel in those days, arriving late and disheveled. Baba called them immediately, leaving no time for them to compose themselves. As Baba had told them to "forget the world while you are here with me," Marguerite felt the bliss of being with the limitless oneness which the God-Man personifies. Marguerite continued to live in Los Angeles until her ninety-sixth year, giving those she touched inspiration and joy in knowing someone who put into action the lessons she learned and the transformation she experienced from her true Beloved.