"If you stop worrying, God has to begin to worry for you!" - Avatar Meher Baba
Margaret Magnus
By Margaret Magnus
In February 1950, during the period known as the New Life, Avatar Meher Baba visited the home of Keki and Freiny Nalavala in Dehra Dun, India.
AVATAR MEHER BABA with Keki Nalavala standing beside him at 36 Lytton Road in Dehra Dun, India. (Photo: Beloved Archives Image Collection. Used with Permission.)
Keki Nalavala had rented a small house adjoining his own at 36 Lytton Road to serve as a dispensary for Dr. William Donkin, one of Meher Baba’s close disciples. At 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 28, 1950, the opening ceremony was held.
Meher Baba distributed cakes, pastries and rawa (a sweet semolina dish) to all while Freiny Nalavala and Shehroo Chacha served tea. On that occasion, Meher Baba explained that Dr. Donkin was open a medical practice under Plan One-B to financially help the New Life companions.
Meher Baba on Worry
Meher Baba later spent time in the Nalavala home playing with their four-year-old son, Naosherwan, and nine-year-old daughter, Mahroakh. Freiny complained to Meher Baba that her husband Keki was always worried about something.
Meher Baba advised:
“If you worry about yourself, God does not worry about you. And why should He? If you stop worrying, God has to begin to worry for you! Remember Him wholeheartedly; leave your troubles to Him. Then you will be free to remain cheerful.”
The New Life of Complete Helplessness and Hopelessness
Meher Baba’s New Life was from 1949 to 1952, when Meher Baba disassociated himself from the places, possessions and connections that He had maintained until that time.
This period He called the “New Life” was one of complete helplessness and hopelessness with total reliance on God.
To His companions — the 20 people who eventually accompanied Him on the New Life — Meher Baba said:
“It will be a life of complete helplessness and hopelessness. Hopelessness means renunciation of all hopes. Aimlessness means renunciation of all aims. Helplessness means renunciation of all help.”
In the New Life, Meher Baba and His companions gave up all property and financial responsibilities. They traveled throughout India without money, begging for food, and living in strict accordance with Meher Baba’s conditions of the New Life.
These conditions included absolute acceptance of the circumstances of their lives and consistent good cheer in the face of any difficulty.
Sources
First Quote: Bhau Kalchuri, Lord Meher: The Biography of the Avatar of the Age Meher Baba, Online Edition, pp. 2887-2888, accessed March 19, 2020, . (c) Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust.
Second Quote: Bhau Kalchuri, Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher, The Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba, Manifestation, Inc., 1986, pg. 3481.