rapport with the Master in India and receive "thought-orders" or "intuition-orders" direct from him, relevant to day-to-day occurrences, on this side of the globe. She actually, at such times, seemed to lose or "drop" her external personality and sink into some inner state. Her eyes closed and her voice changed to a much deeper vibrant tone. The pronoun 'I' henceforth referred only to "Meher Baba," and the tone of the discourses was on a much higher plane and devoted to spiritual themes. These were usually taken down verbatim by someone else, were often long and exhausting, and when she "came out," she had little or no recollection of what she had said. Her two companions accepted this in whole or in part, and many of the 'intimate few' who came regularly to the smaller meetings often sought and accepted her advice on their personal affairs as that of the Master himself. Others equally devoted to the Master, rejected the whole situation completely, particularly those who had met him previously. These were the war years and the Master did not travel to the West again until 9 years later, in 1952. The Master neither affirmed or denied this intuition order of the Princess, though he always encouraged her public work, except in the 'famous' telegram of the summer of 1944, in which he briefly touched on the different capacities of each of his disciples and stated: 'Norina has my intuition-order.'

Though this identification with the Master and subsequent 'ordering' of the lives and of those around her definitely antagonized many and drove them away, it attracted many more, who found in her a strong spiritual link with the Master in absentia. Records of unusual spiritual experiences, visions and illuminations in connection with her exist. She was undoubtedly at times in an exalted state of consciousness, or as St. Theresa calls it, 'the light of contemplation,' so that she was unconscious of her surroundings; and simple physical contact with her often produced the same exalted state in others. In any case, as a fascinating and most complex personality, a true heroine of the Path, she had a great effect on many hundreds of people and stimulated their spiritual search. Of the hundreds of souls who finally came to meet the Master in his 1952 visit, at least two-thirds, I would say, came through her during the years 1941 to 1945, when her frail body and exhausted nerves broke under the strain. After one year of severe illness, in which the doctors gave her only a few months to live, the Master called her and Mrs. Patterson back to India, where, in his own sudden but loving way, he healed her.

However, in 1946, her good right hand, Countess Nadine Tolstoy, or 'Nadja', had already passed away after a lingering illness. At this time the three women were living in a home, the old Chandler* mansion of charming Dutch design on 19th street. Mrs. Patterson had bought it as a more suitable center for meetings; it had a beautiful top-floor studio, but alas, the illness of these two women prevented much public work from the winter of 1945 on to 1946, when the house was sold. Another friend, Mrs. Mildred Kyle, stayed with them all of 1945. She was then 83 years of age, and had been for over 40 years, the leader of the Theosophical group on the West coast. As students of this group know, they teach of the coming Avatar, but except for the flurry over Krishnamurti in the early part of this century, have never announced who he is. Mrs. Kyle, however, accepted Baba as the Avatar and brought some of her group with her. The rest 'divided away,' as one might say.

To this remarkable woman we owe the formation of our little 'Monday Night Group.' With the other two women too ill to see anyone, this most loveable old soul started a Monday-night reading and discussion group in the ground-floor parlor of the house on 19th St. She read one of Baba's discourses and followed it with a question and answer period and a short meditation — the form we still follow today. She was a clever and able leader of such discussions, though weighing her interpretations heavily with Theosophical meanings. To this meeting, all the old 'regulars' came, plus the 'comers and goers' as usual. Agnes Bourne, John Bass, Darwin Shaw were still there, myself (who had become interested in 1943) and my friend Adele Wolkin, by then living in the house with the women; Dr. Honora Bozka, our 'metaphysician,' Gladys Smith, Frances Barnvard, Mrs. Bahjahjian, and a few others.

*Correct spelling - Chanler

The three ladies lived at 141 East 19th Street. According to the Blue Book of Society - 1930, Mrs. William Astor Chanler lived there. During the same time Robert W. Chanler lived a few doors down at 147/9 and that is where he had his famous studio. Reference: Letters written to them from Baba to 141 East 19th St. - held by Charles Haynes-2009.- -webmaster JK