Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2006, Page 92
identifies ―Firoze‖ as Baba‘s leading disciple, whom her mother sees as a St. Peter figure.
However, I had always been told that Baba‘s cousin ―Addi K. Irani‖ (Meher Baba had been
born ―Merwan Sheriar Irani‖) was Baba‘s chief disciple, although I knew that Addi had died
in the 1970s. The other leading male disciple I used to hear about was ―Eruch Jessawalla,‖
who had a more dynamic presence than Addi K. Irani and who had greater contact with
Western pilgrims who came to the Ashram. It is Eruch, according to a friend of mine who
follows Baba, who is undoubtedly ―Firoze.‖ (Rachel Brown obviously employed
pseudonyms.) Baba‘s leading female disciple, whom she calls ―Paribanu,‖ seems to be the
woman I have long heard of as ―Mehera.‖ I find these name changes a bit disconcerting. If
Rachel Brown had grown up among the earliest Christians, she might have represented St.
Peter as ―George‖ or St. Paul as ―Walter.‖
Parenthetically, although I never went to India and never met Eruch/Firoze, I did once meet
Addi K. Irani, who came over from India and stayed at the Myrtle Beach Baba Center
sometime between 1969 and 1971. One day he came up from Myrtle Beach to visit Chapel
Hill, North Carolina, which had a large Baba community. It was arranged that Addi would be
feted at Tijuana Fats‘ Mexican restaurant, of which I was at the time co-proprietor. Mexican
food was not served rather, various Baba-lovers prepared Indian dishes (generally curries)
in their homes and brought their concoctions to the restaurant, which supplied Coca-Cola.
After the communal meal, Addi came up to me and thanked me profusely for the dinner. I
was a bit embarrassed, and I hastened to emphasize that Tijuana Fats‘ had not created the
feast, but we had merely provided the Cokes. ―I had three Cokes,‖ replied Baba‘s great
disciple. As epiphanies go, perhaps this wasn‘t much, but I‘ve never forgotten Addi‘s
statement.
To sum up, Rachel Brown definitely sees Baba-loving as a ―cult‖ and does relate various
pressures to conform. However, a careful reading will indicate that Baba-lovers are not just
another dogmatic sect. At one point, Rachel relates confessing to her father and his new
wife that she does not accept Baba‘s divinity. She expects them to ―freak out,‖ but she is
told they don‘t care. Somewhat similarly, I was accepted as part of the Baba community in
Chapel Hill and Myrtle Beach even though I continually said irreverent things about Baba
and made fun of the religion. Ultimately, the Baba community is somewhat dissimilar to a
stereotypical ―cult‖ because it does not really have doctrinal criteria for membership,
although there might possibly be particular subgroups of Baba-lovers who are more rigid.
The Baba community is thus rather less regimented and ―destructive‖ than some other new
movements (although I‘m not a wholehearted supporter of the ―destructive cult‖
demonology).
There is indeed some tendency for the Baba community to attract persons who are in some
way eccentric or unbalanced. Rachel Brown relates how, upon reaching the Ahmednagar
Ashram, some devotees impulsively and exuberantly threw away their [psychiatric]
medications, sometimes with unfortunate consequences. Nevertheless, as ―cults‖ go, one
could certainly do a lot worse.
Finally, reading this book made me feel old. Like Hare Krishna or the ―Jesus Movement,‖
Meher Baba was originally a surging ―youth culture religion.‖ Eventually, such groups make
fewer converts and come to depend on the loyalty of the second generation. The second
generation, to judge from Rachel Brown‘s evolution, may not always cooperate. I miss
feeling that I‘m on the cutting edge.
Thomas Robbins, Ph.D.
identifies ―Firoze‖ as Baba‘s leading disciple, whom her mother sees as a St. Peter figure.
However, I had always been told that Baba‘s cousin ―Addi K. Irani‖ (Meher Baba had been
born ―Merwan Sheriar Irani‖) was Baba‘s chief disciple, although I knew that Addi had died
in the 1970s. The other leading male disciple I used to hear about was ―Eruch Jessawalla,‖
who had a more dynamic presence than Addi K. Irani and who had greater contact with
Western pilgrims who came to the Ashram. It is Eruch, according to a friend of mine who
follows Baba, who is undoubtedly ―Firoze.‖ (Rachel Brown obviously employed
pseudonyms.) Baba‘s leading female disciple, whom she calls ―Paribanu,‖ seems to be the
woman I have long heard of as ―Mehera.‖ I find these name changes a bit disconcerting. If
Rachel Brown had grown up among the earliest Christians, she might have represented St.
Peter as ―George‖ or St. Paul as ―Walter.‖
Parenthetically, although I never went to India and never met Eruch/Firoze, I did once meet
Addi K. Irani, who came over from India and stayed at the Myrtle Beach Baba Center
sometime between 1969 and 1971. One day he came up from Myrtle Beach to visit Chapel
Hill, North Carolina, which had a large Baba community. It was arranged that Addi would be
feted at Tijuana Fats‘ Mexican restaurant, of which I was at the time co-proprietor. Mexican
food was not served rather, various Baba-lovers prepared Indian dishes (generally curries)
in their homes and brought their concoctions to the restaurant, which supplied Coca-Cola.
After the communal meal, Addi came up to me and thanked me profusely for the dinner. I
was a bit embarrassed, and I hastened to emphasize that Tijuana Fats‘ had not created the
feast, but we had merely provided the Cokes. ―I had three Cokes,‖ replied Baba‘s great
disciple. As epiphanies go, perhaps this wasn‘t much, but I‘ve never forgotten Addi‘s
statement.
To sum up, Rachel Brown definitely sees Baba-loving as a ―cult‖ and does relate various
pressures to conform. However, a careful reading will indicate that Baba-lovers are not just
another dogmatic sect. At one point, Rachel relates confessing to her father and his new
wife that she does not accept Baba‘s divinity. She expects them to ―freak out,‖ but she is
told they don‘t care. Somewhat similarly, I was accepted as part of the Baba community in
Chapel Hill and Myrtle Beach even though I continually said irreverent things about Baba
and made fun of the religion. Ultimately, the Baba community is somewhat dissimilar to a
stereotypical ―cult‖ because it does not really have doctrinal criteria for membership,
although there might possibly be particular subgroups of Baba-lovers who are more rigid.
The Baba community is thus rather less regimented and ―destructive‖ than some other new
movements (although I‘m not a wholehearted supporter of the ―destructive cult‖
demonology).
There is indeed some tendency for the Baba community to attract persons who are in some
way eccentric or unbalanced. Rachel Brown relates how, upon reaching the Ahmednagar
Ashram, some devotees impulsively and exuberantly threw away their [psychiatric]
medications, sometimes with unfortunate consequences. Nevertheless, as ―cults‖ go, one
could certainly do a lot worse.
Finally, reading this book made me feel old. Like Hare Krishna or the ―Jesus Movement,‖
Meher Baba was originally a surging ―youth culture religion.‖ Eventually, such groups make
fewer converts and come to depend on the loyalty of the second generation. The second
generation, to judge from Rachel Brown‘s evolution, may not always cooperate. I miss
feeling that I‘m on the cutting edge.
Thomas Robbins, Ph.D.
