BOOK REVIEWS

IN QUEST OF THE FACE OF GOD,  A picture book of pantings of Meher Baba, by the painter,  Lyn  Ott. Hardbound,  105 pages,   color illustrations Sheriar Press,  $22.95

Meher Baba told His lovers, "I am not this form you see. Try to see Me as II really am." Lyn Ott has taken this literally. His personal quest of the face of God has led him to write a book of the same name. A   book  which   is  more   than a stunning  compilation of 17 magnificent paintings by Lyn Ott,  one  radiant  photograph of Meher Baba with him and  accompanying text. A book which is more than an absorbing personal story and fascinating, if idiosync- cratic view of art history. For this book springs from the very tap-root of true art, and thus, is unified in a way that little in Western culture is. In fact, in this day and age it is really the beginning of a new art form, an art  which emerges from a funda- mental understanding of the purpose of life, which is to know serve and love the Beloved.

The purpose of art then is to give that knowledge, service and love expression. It is this unity of purpose which informs the whole book, and which makes it reflect the spiritual paradox where each element, the text, the quotes from Baba, the paintings, make up the whole; but the whole, the search for the face of God, is also present in each part. Thus it is impossible to meaningfully separate Lyn's account of his coming to Baba from his paintings of Baba's face. For Lyn's paintings are but the creative expression of his inner journey. Lyn's recognition of Baba as the Beloved is not integral to his painting in the sense that it is the theory or framework within which he works, rather it is the very palette from which he pours his colors.

There is nothing in Lyn's book which is not an attempt to find the face of God – to reveal that face immanent behind the facade of western art, to display that face hidden beneath the veil of a personal history, and to paint that face into which all the other faces have merged, the face of Meher Baba. Lyn uses Baba's portrait as the starting point of his quest to see Baba's real face.