Norina Matchabelli
Source: Norina’s Gift: Messages from Meher Baba Received through Princess Norina Matchabelli (1997), Introduction by Christopher Wilson and Charles Haynes, pp. 49-50.
Norina linked the work of thought-transmission to the awakening that Meher Baba promised would occur when he broke his silence and spoke what he termed “the divine word.” In 1941, about the time that Norina began her work of thought- transmission, Meher Baba issued the following statement about the breaking of his silence:
I will speak on the 1st of August 1941 the divine word to myself and in myself, the word of the will of God, that will begin the resurrection of the dead world and start the general adjustment of the world; and this speaking-to-myself operation will continue till the 15th of February 1942, the day that I will publicly and universally speak, the day that my world manifestation will come to full expression, the day that the six months self-speaking operation will bring out the subsequent unfoldment of the spiritual revival and the day that the disciples of my circle will realize the Truth. My present seclusion will continue till April 15 th, but from April 15th 1941 to February 15th 1942 my seclusion will be more absolute.
M. S. Irani
Although no one knows precisely what Meher Baba meant by this message or the dates he mentions (since he was not known to have literally spoken aloud at that time), Norina felt that the work of thought-transmission was a clue to the inner dynamic of Baba’s “speaking.” She kept a copy of the above statement by Baba in a folder that also contained announcements of her lectures and typed explanations of thought-transmission. In July 1949, she referred to Baba’s words when she inscribed a copy of the newly printed Fragments* for Elizabeth (whom she often addressed affectionately as “Bettina” or “Tina”):
Baba said in 1941 “I shall speak thru my self to my self.” This booklet makes it clear.
To my beloved sister self Tina
*Fragments from a Spiritual Diary, which is reprinted in Norina’s Gift.