A Gift for Service

One of the buildings that Meher Center visitors have had the pleasure to return to in the last month has been the Saroja Library. For many, including myself, this quaint spot is a favorite! In thousands of handpicked books lining its white pine shelves, there are many stories waiting to be read and re-read by hungry seekers, but what many may not know is the equally charming story of how this Library came to be. This is a story of the parallel paths of love, devotion and desire of two women who loved Baba, and how their paths crossed. All under Baba’s direction.

Ruth White met Meher Baba in 1956 at Meher Center after knowing Him spiritually for ten years. She was 87 years old at the time, and Baba in His infinite compassion and care asked her to move to Myrtle Beach (from California) to live with Elizabeth Patterson. The following year Ruth moved into Youpon Dunes, Elizabeth’s house in Myrtle Beach. She was given the “sunny, front ocean view room that Baba occupied after the accident in 1952.”* When the household moved to Dilruba, Ruth followed. Kitty Davy, the other key character in this story, had lived with Baba in India for fifteen years but had been left behind by Him in 1952 to work with Elizabeth at the Center. Kitty and Ruth shared the south wing of Dilruba, and as the years passed Kitty became more and more involved in Ruth’s care.

Simultaneously, Kitty ran a small library at the Center out of a room in the Green Building. If anyone has stayed in what is now the Upper Room, it’s not hard to imagine that this room was soon too small for the expanding literature that the Center had to offer. The Library was then moved to the Pine Lodge in 1965. This location was better but still not ideal. While happily giving out books at Pine Lodge, Kitty garnered a dream – of one day having a real library at the Center.

This is where the two women’s desires met. Ruth’s desire had been to pay Kitty for the loving care she was providing her, but Kitty would not accept any remuneration. It was not in vain that Baba had called Ruth “My soldier” at the East-West gathering. She was determined and she persisted. In regard to Kitty, she finally had a brilliant idea. She wrote to Baba asking if she could donate funds to build a library at the Center as a gift for Kitty’s service. Baba gave His approval and blessing to this idea with a condition that the library be called ‘Saroja’ which was Baba’s name for Kitty. On the eve of Silence Day, July 9, 1967, the Library was dedicated in a ceremony and was ready to be used. It went on to host Baba movie screenings, meetings and concerts until the Meeting Place was built in 1970.

Saroja in Hindi means ‘Lotus,’ or ‘Lake born.’ The Lotus is a symbol of purity and higher self. In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna adjured Arjuna to become like the lotus, to work without attachment and dedicate all action to God. Another symbology of the lotus is its ability to be unperturbed in its beauty by the muddy waters around and beneath it. I am reminded of reading about the time soon after Kitty had first met Baba. Quite unexpectedly He asked her, “Is there anything you want?” Without time to think she said, “Yes…an increased capacity to love and increased opportunities for service.” As an afterthought she added, “And yes, spontaneous goodness.” Baba said, “You will have all in a few days.”**

Those who knew Kitty witnessed her bubbling goodness, love and service. But what about those of us who did not know her? As I rock myself on a cushioned rocking chair overlooking the lake, with a book in my lap, I see the namesake library in a new light. In the harmonious coexistence of words and silence, I see a trail of legacy. A living serving reward. A wish granted. A promise fulfilled. A lasting gift from the Master, now for us all.

*”Who Is That Woman With Baba?” by Glady A. Spratt, The Whitehorse Journal, June 1995
*Love Alone Prevails, by Kitty Davy, p. 14.