How Sufism became Meher Baba in Australia - by A Foley in USA, 9 Jul 2017

"How Sufism became Meher Baba in Australia"

Speaker: Tony Foley

Occasion:  Usual Sunday program at Meherabode, Los Angles, 9 July 2017

Purpose

•         To provide a chronology of how Sufism became Meher Baba in Australia

•         In doing so, I hope share information which might bring clarity to two contentious issues in the Baba and Sufi worlds, namely:

•         Murshida Rabia Martin’s role in recognizing and adopting Avatar Meher Baba as her Sufi Order’s leading light

•         Shiek Momen’s (Baron Von Frankenberg) acceptance of Meher Baba as the leading light of the International Sufi Order for which he was the Australian Representative.

1880’s – Baron’s parents & birth

•         Parent marry in San Francisco on 29 Jan.1887  (Press Clipping - Australian Town & Country Journal)

•         Father:  Friedrich Wilheim von Frankenberg-Luduiosdorf

•         Mother:  Jessie Elliot - father was the founder of Drug House of Australia

•         Father had the Title, but Mother had the money

•         Son born on 2 Jan. 1889 in St Paul, Minnesota named Friedrich Elliot Von Frankenberg und Ludwigsdorf

•         Possibly eligible for American citizenship

1914 – German War Service

•         Baron served as a Dispatch Rider for the German Army during WW1

•         Oral history has it that the Baron, facing the horrors of war, made a pact with God, like Armit’s father Kumar did, that if God delivers him from this nightmare, he would serve Him.

1916 – Baron publishes book

•         Baron publishes “How Peace Emanates – Questions of Conscious and Answers”.  English translation by Swiss-Australian Baba-lover Felix Schmid

•         Published in Bern, Switzerland in 1916 - UNLIKELY to have heard of Sufism at that time.  Found by Michael Le Page in German library.  Some of the theme which Felix says are canvassed in the book are:

•         Despite being published during WW1, no direct mention is made of war

•         Starts with an invocation to the Gods to lift up humanity

•         Suggest that we not blame Governments and Princes for the state we are in, but look rather at the state of our own conscience, consciousness and character

•         Maintaining a healthy body will lead to better character and a better relationship with God

•         Take responsibility for our actions, don’t be foolish or indecisive, rather act with composure, focus, self control and courage

•         See the consequences of actions and do the right thing

1916 – Comments on Baron’s book

•         German-Australian Baba lover Annette commented that, from a woman’s perspective, the book is about “living life the way it should be lived, and was very much in line with Baba’s teaching”.

•         Michael Le Page’s commented that the 27 yr old was: passionate, confident, demonstrated a real fire and intensity, power, and conviction of his words

•         Joanna Bruford commented that she was astounded by the humor in it, a side of the Baron’s character which she did not know existed

1926 & 27– Attends Sufi School

•         Baron attends Sufi Summer School at Hazrat Inayat Khan home in Paris during 1926 & 27.  Studied 6 mths in total

•         Sufi Summer School continues at same location to this day outside Paris in locality called Suresnes

•         House was unusually large and stood alone in a field in the 1920’s, but is now surrounded by housing

•         Originally planned to include a university, accommodation, & serve cultural and spiritual functions

•         Similarities to Meher House: use of stone, large timber beams, included many planned components which did not materialize

1927– Baron moves to Australia

•         Travels on a Swiss passport and arrives in Freemantle (WA) on 2 Jan 1927 by boat from Europe

•          Height:   5 ft 10 inch,  Hair:  dark brown

•         Joanne Bruford commented Baron came to Australia to overcome a problem his mother Jessie Elliot was having receiving her inheritance following the death of her wealthy father

•         Inheritance held up due to mother's German connections

•         Australian Government stopped funds following into German hands during WW1

•         Sam Saunders commented Francis said Baron had told Inayat Khan that he would inherit land and wealth in Autralia, and Inayat Khan recommended he move to Australia to spread Sufism, just as he had done by leaving India and travelling to the West

1927 - Inyat Khan passes away

Provide a summary of the history of IK work in the West,  return to India and passing and appointment of successor Rabia Martin.

1934:  Press Articles

Sydney Sun - 10 Jun 1934

Baron begins a life long public speaking and media relations campaign aimed at brining knowledge of God, spirituality and Sufism to Australian ears

1936:  Death of mother Jessie Elliot

•         Sydney’s largest news paper Sydney Morning Herald on 19 Sept 1936 reports death of Baron’s mother Jessie Elliot in Switzerland

1938: Baron uses Social Pages

•         Melbourne Argus 19 Feb 1938 press clipping:

•         Melbourne biggest paper records visit from Camden, NSW of the Baron and his wife Lila, following a trip to Europe and USA as Official Representative of the International Sufi Order which has its Headquarters in San Francisco. 

•         Lila spoke of the peace and prosperity and freedom and lovely landscapes we enjoy here in Australia, in comparison to the strife abroad

•         At this time the Nazi Party undertaking relentless racial genocide on the Jews and preparing for WW2.

1939: Murshida Visits, Baron Speaks

•         Murshida of Inyat Khan's International Sufi Oder Rabia Martin and the Baron (Shiek Momen), the Order's representitive in Australia, tour Australia. 

•         Adelaide Advertiser reports Rabia has been devoted to Sufism since 1911, and following the death of Inayat Khan in 1927, had become its successor.

•         Brisbane paper reports Rabia arrived via China and praised the Chinese people and government on the way they went about things.

•         Brisbane lecture titled “Talks on Unity of Faith”

•         Sydney talk titled “Sufi Training for Self Realisation”

•         Ray Kerkhove commented Reg Pavell met Rabia Martin in during her visit in 1939

1942: Baron in Court, meets Francis

•         Sydney Morning Herald report 18 Nov 1942

•         Baron appeared in court to contest rectification of his obligation to pay maintenance to his former wife in Germany with whom he had a son (Vatkin).  He lost the case.

•         Joanne Bruford commented that earlier in life on Avatar’s Abode she answered the door at Bruford house and provided directions to a man who said he wanted to speak to Francis.  She believes it was the Baron’s son who may have been enquiring about the estate of his father the Baron.  She said he spoke with Francis and left the property after a brief period.

1942: Francis meets Baron

Bernard Brudford commented Francis was discharged from Army Service in 1941 or 1942, and met the Baron who was giving Public Lectures in Melbourne on subjects which would be of interest him.  Francis attended regular meetings of people interested in Sufism

1942: Rabia Martin hears of Baba

•         Rabia Martin met Norina Matchabelli and Elizabeth Patterson, who had come to California to investigate sites for Baba's proposed American center.

•         After listening to their descriptions of their Master, Rabia became convinced that Meher Baba was an extraordinary spiritual figure.

•         Rabia was profoundly affected by her internal experience of the Master and offered her Sufi retreat center in Fairfax near San Francisco for Baba's use. 

•         Elizabeth wrote Baba in India: "Rabia's offer seemed to come from the heart and we all agree that she is the most advanced and understanding soul we met in California.

•         Lord Meher Volume 9, Page 3066

1942: Francis lives with Baron

1945: Rabia letter to Meher Baba

Hollywood, California

August 24th, 1945

Divine and Beloved Master,

At your request, I briefly state the journey of the past five months has opened – and opened my consciousness of greater vistas of Love, Light and Truth – than I experienced when I came first to New York and said in simple words to you, "I come to learn and serve." What you have awakened in my heart, my intuition, is without discrimination, analysis, and you cleared the deck of my mind through your Divine Light so fast, I could honestly, earnestly say, "I know:" until my heart panted by the water brooks of your God-Realized experience – and never was there room for doubt, never. You have often said to us – "You know not love," and yet the love in my heart increased for Baba, and I would cry out in my soul to Love more (which) must be to cry out for you to come and teach, and most of all awaken the great potentials hidden in the love in my heart for you, the Avatar, and be! my experience.

Did not Hafiz say: "Me this heritage reached, from the dawn of the creation" – and so my Divine Master, I understand in some degree "Love" as the rightful owner of our soul which you exemplify as far as I understand and am concerned: Your utterances and activities are all Love, Light, Truth.

Feeling is living – I feel what you awaken and teach – so I must cry out and ask you to come and fill my heart and our hearts so full of love, that only Love can remain.

Great exaltations cannot be written – there is nothing to this task I brought but an emptying, and a stirring to experience some of the spiritual grandeur and the simplicity bound up in One Divine Man called Baba – beyond Name and form – in Reality – but who must, to our limited state of consciousness, come down – personify and help me – help us all to realize who we are – and what we may become! You have then – in Holiness – in the Beauty of Holiness – blessed this striver with both knowledge and service.

O, come and lead us consciously through the mazes of our limited existence – to the Limitless Love, Light, Truth, God!  With whatever love and light thou hast granted me – Rabia – she rededicates it to the service of her Beloved, Divine Master, for humankind.                                       

Lovingly, faithfully,                          Rabia

1945: Murshida commits Sufi Order

•         At Myrtle Beach Rabia Martin commits herself and her Sufi Order wholly to Meher Baba's guidance. In the following months, she began to share her understanding of Meher Baba with her closest Sufi students, including Ivy O. Duce, Don Stevens and Samuel Lewis. She also moved to formalize her commitment to Baba by giving him all the material resources and possessions of her Sufi Order, including her retreat at Fairfax.

•         Lord Meher Volume 9, Page 3068

1946-1949: Baron’s lecturers

•         Melbourne: 8 May 1946:      “The Wisdom of the East applied to Western Civilization”

•         5 March 1947:        “The Passion Play of Self Realisation on the Stage of Life”

•         12 February 1949:      "How to combine Religious Truth with Modern Life”

•         “Mankind at the Cosmic Dawn”

1946-47:  Francis travels to USA

Baron aware of Rabia’s comand that her Mureeds adopt Meher Baba as their leading light, and if unwilling to do so, are free to leave the Order. 

Baron sends Francis to USA with a view to undertaking further training at the Fairfax Sufi Center, and accompanying Rabia Martin on her visit to personally meet with Meher Baba

Rabia’s health deteriates rapidly and is unable to travel.  Rabia appoints Ivy Duce as her successor prior her death on 31 August 1947

Sam Lewis delegated by Murshida Ivy Duce to initiate Francis Brabazon during his stay in Fairifax, CA

1948:  Baron accepts Baba

Monday 4^th October, 1948

Spring Hills Farm

Private Mailbag, Camden NSW, Australia

Hazrat Meher Baba, Kings Rd, Ahmednagar, India

Your Holiness,

The letter from Dr Ghani Munsif, dated 11^th Sept. has, as far know, solved most of my difficulties.  I accordingly put my relationship as mureed of Inayat Khan and his successor Rabia Martin into Your hands.  At the same time, I ask permission to offer you all mureeds, initiated by me into the Sufi Order, in as much as they have not deserted me and I am responsible for them.  Please have me informed what I am to do about them, before I inform them of this letter, so that I may give them your directions at the same time.

Regarding myself and my private life, I crave your blessing, strengthening and healing, and complete forgiveness, so as to enable me to have no desires but God and at the same time may become able to make use of all things according to true Wisdom and Faith.

I intend to realize Your true Presence ever more and inwardly commit all my merits and demerits to You at all times, hoping to be able To obey your orders, within and without, and in this present life thereby attaining to the goal.

As words seem rather useless in the case of this letter – You knowing me and all my past incarnations – I just commit myself wholly to your mercy and forgiveness, as I may be or appear to be and give my fullest possible confidence and love.  I am sure You will bless all my faculties and so soon as possible release me from all ignorance.  Following a tale of Jillalu’din Rumi, may You graciously consider that You are herewith sought by a part of Yourself.

Under my full name

Momen, Fritz Elliott von Frankenberg und Ludwigsdorf.

1948:  Ivy Duce meets Baba

•         At her first meeting in 1948, Ivy Duce had asked for Baba's guidance, as she had been appointed to the leadership of the Sufi order after Rabia Martin died and knew that she was not a Realized soul. Baba assured her not to worry about her limitations; he would see to the welfare of the organization and restructure it with himself as its head.

•         Lord Meher Volume 11, Page 3806 

1942-49:  Account in Lord Meher

Francis Brabazon had been attempting to meet Baba for several years. A poet and writer, Brabazon was spiritually inclined and had studied metaphysical literature. He had become attracted to the Persian Sufis and had found out about Sufism and Meher Baba through the Australian Sufi leader Baron Von Frankenburg. He had been sent by Baron Von Frankenburg to San Francisco, California, in September 1946, to accompany Murshida Rabia Martin to India to meet Meher Baba. But Rabia Martin fell seriously ill with cancer and could not travel to India prior to her death in 1947. Brabazon could not go alone and he remained in America until the next appointed Sufi Murshida, Ivy Duce, returned from meeting Baba in India, during January 1948. Upon Ivy Duce's return she telephoned Brabazon in San Francisco and assured him that Meher Baba was indeed "the Qutub of all Sufis." Brabazon was directed to return to Australia, work hard, save his money and await Baba's call. In 1951, when Von Frankenburg died, Brabazon was appointed head of the Australian Sufis by Ivy O. Duce.   -  Lord Meher Volume 11, Page 3789 

1949:  Beacon Hill land purchase

•         Land purchased in Francis Brabazon’s name in Beacon Hill, a suburb on Sydney’s North Shore

•         Presumably funded by the Baron

•         Just over 1 acre

•         Cost 179 pounds

•         Presumably the Baron and Francis collaborated in the planning and the purposes the property would serve

1950:  Baron dies 30 March 1950

•         Sydney Morning Herald reports:

  “Eastern Cult Named in 144,190 pound Will  

…  the residue to go to Francis Brabazon of Brookvale on the condition that Brabazon was willing to succeed him as the Australian representative of Sufism, and to neither add to, nor take away from, the teachings of Inayat Khan and would continue to administer and propagate these teachings in the same manner as he had done in Australia”

•         MLP said he does not know what to make of it

1950 – Baron loved by community

•         Jo-Anne Bruford, daughter in law of early Sufis John and Joan Bruford, visited Camden and spoke to elderly locals who remembered the Baron and described him as “a lovely man … very active in the Show Society and the Masonic Lodge”

•         Source: ……………..

•         John Bruford’s daughter Joanna Bruford said she was just a young girl when a suave and sophisticated man she called ``Mr Uncle'' would regularly visit her family's home and talk about his religious movement Sufism which attracted more than 100 members from Sydney and Melbourne.

•         Source:  Interview by …………………….

1951:  Francis reflects on “Credit”

Francis wrote to his Australian Sufi Group in 1951. 

"If it hadn't been that Pir o'Murshida (Rabia Martin) of our Order, had sufficient insight to recognise the fact that this was an Avataric Age, and that the Avatar was on earth at the moment, and by her example and leadership had led us to the same conclusion.  So the whole credit, if we are allowed to use such a word, so that whatever we are allowed to do for Baba, or whatever blessings he gives us, are to our Pir.  Maba Baba, Meher Raj, Ki Jai“

Letter given to Michael Le Page by Beven Robinson in 2014.  He used this quote to conclude a 2 hour presentation at Avatar's Abode in 2014 Spring titled "Beginnings of Sufism in Australia“ which you can view on Youtube.

1952 – Francis travels to meet Baba

1952:  Baba meets Ivy and Francis

And I want four five pillars of Sufi work in the West.  Sufism as understood by 99% of people is not real Sufism.  The term Sheik, Murshid, Moorid, are so lightly treated that real Sufism is lost sight of.

As Jalaluddin says – the only way to know Sufism is not by works or practice or discipline, but by becoming dust of the feet of the Master.  Of those who have attained to freedom of God he says “Kar ra bogosar” (which) means stop speaking, discipline, practice is “Kar”,  “Hal” is experience, so to gain experience, dedicate yourself to “Kamel”, and what 90% of people understand of Sufism, Sheik, Moorid, that Murshid can be master guide teacher even before experience the “Fana” state is absolutely vague. Truth is hidden, unless one has attained to “Fana” and acquired the “Baqa” one can not lead others to perfection.  So when we ourselves do not experience that state and when we ask others to follow us, it means we are insulting Sufism, and all over the East and the West it is being done.  And by God’s Will, I intend to change the whole affair, overhaul the whole thing, because I love Sufism with all my …

Courtesy of Glow International Magazine Summer 2009

1952 : A Special Message

A special message from Baba, dictated by him on July 7^th 1952, had been posted on a bulletin board (at the Sufi Center). Jeanne Shaw had been assigned the duty of requiring everyone to read it. It read:

I am equally approachable to one and all, big and small.

To saints who rise and to sinners who fall,

Through all the various Paths that give the Divine Call.

I am approachable alike to saint whom I adore

And to sinner whom I am for,

And equally through Sufism, Vedantism, Christianity,

Or Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, and other “isms”

Of any kind and also directly through no medium of “isms” at all.

Lord Meher, 1st. ed., Bhau Kalchuri, Vol. 11, pp. 3872 – 3873.

Baba later explained his message:    This poster must have made it very clear to all that I can be directly or indirectly approached. That means through different “isms,” sects and different formations; or personally by direct contact; or in the Indian term“sahavas,” which means literally physical nearness and service. But today we are concerned with Sufism, so I will not go into details about the direct approach, but can tell those who are in personal contact through love or service that I can be realized by their direct approach.

If you take Baba to be perfect and one with God, Baba is then the Ocean and these different paths – Sufism, Vedanta, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Jainism and Christianity – are as rivers to the Ocean. But now the time has arrived and a period has arrived when these rivers have more or less become dry. Those who follow these different paths do it only in form. More importance is given to ceremonies and practices, but the real purpose is lost sight of.

Vedanta, which is based on unity and assertion, finds its goal in the “Aham Brahmasmi,” (“I Am God”) state. Buddhism, which is based on good living, finds its goal in Nirvana. Zoroastrianism, which is based on pure thoughts, pure words and pure deeds, has its goal in Ahuramazda. Christianity, which is based especially on Christian mysticism, has its goal in becoming one with the Father. And Sufism, which is based on love, ends in fana and baqa, the annihilation and the becoming. And the different yogas – bhakti yoga, dnyan yoga, karma yoga and raja yoga – have their endings in Nirvikalpa samadhi.

All these ends mean becoming One with God, and living the life of God – in short, deification.  But, as I say, the time is such that these rivers have gone dry and so the Ocean itself has to go out and flood these rivers. So it is now time for me to reorient these different “isms” which end in one God.  I intend to make one unique charter regarding this reoriented Sufism and send it to Ivy Duce from India in November, with my signature, and entrust the American Sufism work to her. This charter will have an entirely new aspect but not lose its originality. 

In the same way I intend to reorient the different “isms” and entrust the work to responsible workers and worthy persons. Now when I send the charter and constitution, and the instructions, it will be applicable to the whole Sufi world – and will, by God’s grace, be lasting in its effect and influence.  I give you all my love, including all of those who could not be present here. 

Lord Meher,  Vol. 11, pp. 3872 – 3873.

1953-56:Francis builds Meher House

1953 onwards:   Why didn’t Francis follow Ivy’s lead?

So why, after Baba spent much time writing the Sufi Reoriented Charter, back at Youpoon Dunes after the accident, did Francis, the duly appointed head of Sufism in Australia and recipient of a signed copy of this Charter, conduct himself differently to Murshida Ivy Duce?

Conclusion:  I don’t know

I don’t know, but it does appear Baba gave Francis, and everyone else for that matter, free reign to approach Him as they saw fit. 

Rather than continue along the Sufi path, it appears Francis saw fit to make a break and focus on Meher Baba and his teachings, free of any obvious allegiance to one particular religious tradition.

Evidence may exist which explains Francis’ reasoning as to why, after coming in contact with Meher Baba’s teachings via his involvement with Sufism under the Baron and Murshida Martin, he moved the focus of his discourse away from Sufism, portraying Meher Baba’s teachings as the best possible explanation of the same spirituality which is contained within every religious tradition, and that the person giving it was no other than the Messiah, the Avatar, the Highest of the High, the one who has appeared through the ages as Zoroaster, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus and Mohammed, giving mankind a fresh version of the Truth which is remembered for millennia.  But I have not come across that documentary evidence yet. 

But that was yesterday.  Today I read part a thesis by Celia Genn given to me by Jo-Anne Bruford which provides a great deal of information on this topic.  Google suggests her PhD Thesis is titled Exploration and Analysis of the Origins, Nature and Development of the Sufi Movement in Australia - 2004 - School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics, Brisbane: Uni of Queensland.

It contains notes of many interviews with people who were students of the Baron and contemporaries of Brabazon and who have lots to say about the refocusing of Sufism to Meher Baba in Australia in the mid 1900s .

In comparison, my presentation today is simply a collection of the research and publishing efforts of others.  I have not undertaken a scrap of research myself.  I have simply drawn on the work of Michael Le Page, Tony Zois, Bhau Kalchuri, David Fenster, Jo-Anne Bruford, Dr Ray Kerkhove, Charmaine Foley, Nosherwan Anzar, and others.  So don’t be surprised if parts of what I have said are found to be erroneous in the light of fuller, more accurate information. 

But better still, undertake your own research if this subject interests you.  Undoubtedly you will add to the retelling of this fascinating story. 

Thank you very much for inviting me to speak.  Jai Baba!

END 

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FURTHER RESEARCH    -   last edited 19 Oct 2017:

Tony Foley canvassed views held by Michael Le Page in a conversation at his home in August 2017.

After Francis returned from meeting Baba with Ivy in mid 1952, he was naturally perplexed about how Baba's reorientation of Sufism would go. So naturally when Francis travelled to India and toured with Baba in early 1954, the big question on his mind, the proverbial "elephant in the room", was discussion about how he would conduct the reoriented Sufi Order back home.

But being a good Sufi, or maybe just a well-read seeker, the last thing Francis was going to do was raise the question. Michael refereed to the story about a seeker asking a Master for something, and getting poison instead of the divine milk, which he would have got he if had waited to be offered. As you may know, Francis was openly critical of Claris Adams and Ena Lemmon asking Baba to visit Australia again - students do not ask the Master.

Michael stresses the importance of Francis's interpretation of Baba having not discussed the matter at all. He believes he took it as clear indication that Baba did not see any need for Sufism to continue in Australia under his tutelage, and that he was free to interpret how he might go about his future spiritual teaching work, unencumbered by his earlier association with Sufism and formal appointment by Ivy Duce as the Murshid for Australia.

Michael points out that Francis and the Sydney group were in fact slower to move away from the style of Sufism practised by the Baron, than were the Melbourne group. Things evolved, greatly influenced by Francis's two trips to India in 1954. The Avatar of the Age had given more than adequate unspoken instruction on how He should be loved and obeyed. Possibly Francis believed the Avatar did not need to be presented as emanating from a particular religious tradition, being the emminator of all of them.

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Murshida Carol Conner views regarding these matters:

(The Glow - p. 28 - Winter 2009 - Article titled: Understanding Meher Baba's Charter - Murshida Carol Conner answers a few questions.  The answer below was in response to the Glow's question: Do you feel that Meher Baba's Charter given to Sufism Reoriented is to give a spiritual push to the western world or is it for all humanity?}

...  As though to demonstrate that America was where this was now to be achieved, Meher Baba first gave a prototype of what became the Sufi Charter to a small Sufi group in Pune led by Dr. Ghani in 1948, but it quickly died out. 

In 1952, he also gave a copy of the completed Charter to Francis Brabazon, who led the small Sufi group in Australia and had particpated in Baba's meetings with Murshida Duce on the Charter at Myrtle Beach. 

Francis was to apply the Charter in Australia according to Baba's instructions, but it failed to take root there, and Francis later left to join Baba at his ashram in India. 

Only in America, under Murshida Duce's guidance, was their sufficient energy and enthusiasm for the new Sufism to take root during Baba's lifetime and to grow and flower in the decades after his passing. ...

Key points Murshida Carol made in the letter to Charmaine Foley dated 31 August, 2017 in response to her question "did Francis like Sufism?" (I was a secondary recipient of this letter) :

I am not free to do library research regarding your question.

Francis was appointed Sufi Murshid for Australia under Baba's new Charter.

When Francis returned home to take up that role, he found there were no followers.

This was depressing for him, and as a result and of his own accord, he decided to move to Meherabad.

Murshida believes he was not invited to do so by Meher Baba, but rather it resulted from an inner urge.

It wasn't that he didn't like Sufism (which was the question Charmaine had asked Murshida), he just didn't want to be a Murshid, especially as no students appeared in the very early days.

Key points Hank Mindlin made in an email to me on 31 August, 2017 in response to having viewed my Power Point presentation titled "How Sufism Became Meher Baba in Australia" together with comments by MLP on this question:

Hank's comments are based on the explanation Murshida Carol gives about Australia in a general overview of the history of reoriented Sufism. 

Australia lacked the spiritual energy at the time to support a working Sufi group.

Baba had tried to get one going in India with Dr Ghani in 1948 and people found they did not have the time or interest.  Australia possibly also lacked the surplus energy in the early 1950's.

The only place where there was lots of energy, albeit unfocussed, was America, so that is where Baba started building a model for Sufism in the future.  Baba made it clear that it was applicable for all continents and would be followed in that way in the future.

Guidance would be by true Murshids, which means teachers with 6th plane consciousness, of which there are currently only 6 in the world.

How things might unfold in Australia and elsewhere is up to the spiritual hierarchy of the future, but it will.

Murshid McKie speculates the when Baba said to Ivy and Francis when they met at Myrtle Beach in 1952, "You will have to wear the robe" (of Murshid), that Francis might come back in the future as a Murshid to finish up whatever was started with Sufism in Australia.

Hank supposes the Baron could have wavered back and forth concerned that he did not want to betray his allegiance to Inayat Khan.  Murshida Martin found that to be the most difficult thing as well, both being initiated by him and feeling their first love and loyalty was to him, their Teacher.

Murshida Martin had direct experience of Baba through the agency of Princess Matchabelli.  The Baron's letter suggests he had similar experience of Baba, but he may have waived as he entered the last years of his life.