Birth of the GLOW
In 1965 Meher Baba asked me to share His message of love, truth, and spiritual unity. I took His direction very seriously. I returned home to Dehra Dun to discuss this mandate with a few of His followers. Since I worked as a journalist, everyone felt that a publication should be launched to fulfill Meher Baba’s directive. However, we did not have any funds. My mother gave me 200 rupees ($2.38 at that time) and another follower of Meher Baba also donated 200 rupees.
With these initial funds, I published an eight-page magazine detailing Meher Baba’s visits to Dehra Dun to commemorate the Second Darshan Program in November 1953. I called it The Spark, and it was widely circulated and commended. Meher Baba cabled: “Your deep love for Me sparkles through The Spark and makes Me happy.” After learning that the name “Spark” had been taken by another organization, Meher Baba renamed it The Glow and sent a “Special Message” for the first issue that appeared on the cover:
“I am the SUN which is hidden by the shadow of yourself.
Cease thinking that you are your shadow,
and you will find that the Sun which I am is your own Reality.”
A few days later He sent another message
“Be composed in the Reality of My Love,
for all confusion and despair is your own shadow
which will vanish when I speak the Word.”
Enthused by the initial reaction to the publication, I wrote to Baba describing my plans to continue editing and publishing this quarterly journal devoted to Him. The Beloved One wrote back encouraging me:
“My Nazar is on My Glow.”
The Glow First Edition
Meher Baba continued to send messages to The Glow and to advise His followers through its pages:
The first issue included a transcript of Meher Baba’s conversations with those who had come to see Him in Dehra Dun. The Australian poet Francis Brabazon composed a birthday song commemorating Meher Baba’s seventy-second birthday, and the lyrics were sent to me. Baba’s secretary Adi K. Irani was directed to send me both written and photographic material. He literally opened his archival coffers, offering me the kind of support and encouragement that editors can only dream of. At the same time, Eruch Jessawala sent me a continuous stream of material and shared practical advice for disseminating the Avatar’s message. Meher Baba’s sister Mani S. Irani was also an ardent supporter of The Glow. Her collection of photographs of the Beloved continue to illustrate the magazine.
“Complete remembrance of God, honesty in action, making no one unhappy, being the cause of happiness in others, and no submission to low, selfish, lustful desires, while living a normal worldly life — can lead one to the path of Realization. But complete obedience to the God-Man brings one directly to God.”
Glow in the Flow
When The Glow’s circulation expanded worldwide, it was renamed Glow International. I welcomed an international family of seekers into my life. At times it felt like a roller-coaster and made me anxious, but when each issue was lauded by Meher Baba Himself, I felt amply rewarded. One letter that He sent to me said: “He (Meher Baba) is very pleased with the novel get-up and the selection of the material. He is very touched by your labor of love.” Through Eruch once again, Meher Baba conveyed:
As I continue to publish Meher Baba’s teachings in Glow International quarterly, it is His gift of conviction that spurs me on to share the life of the God-Man who said that His mission was “to raise humanity from the pit of ignorance and to free them from the bondage of delusions.”