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| A 1974 magazine issue, a 2001 book. Same title. |
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Awakener Magazine issue, 1974 Volume 15 Numbers 1 & 2 Often mistaken as a book |
I had inadvertently caused this confusion by neglecting to say how one can locate one of the most important sources of this material about planets, i.e. Silent Teachings of Meher Baba by Ramjoo Abdulla. You can find the pertinent parts on planets here.
A little explanation of the origin of this material in the Awakener is necessary to avoid confusion. There was originally a book by Ramjoo Abdulla published in Nasik in 1933 titled Shri Meher Baba, His philosophy and teachings, compiled from His own dictations. In 1954, 1955 parts of the book were serialized in Awakener Magazine. Then in 1974 Awakaner Magazine rereleased the same material as a 20 year anniversary issue Volume 15 Numbers 1 and 2. However they did so under a new title, Silent Teachings of Meher Baba. To make matters more confusing, there is another book by the same title published in 2001 by Naosherwan Anzar, Beloved Archives, New Jersey. The magazine issue and the book are unrelated.
However, in 1974, Filis Frederick who published the Awakener apparently accidentally neglected to add the year, 1974, and used the copyright date of 1954, 1955 in reference to its first release 20 years earlier. You can see this dating error (or misleading dating) here.
Filis did not make the same mistake in Volume 15 Numbers 3 and 4. It is clearly and correctly marked 1974.
This obviously unintentional error had the misfortunate of leading some people to believe there was a 1955 book of Baba's teachings titled Silent Teachings of Meher Baba. You can see that error at WorldCat here. They refer to it as a "book." It was not a book. It was Volume 15 Number 1 of Awakener Magazine, inappropriately marked. Meherbabaravels.com lists it as a 1955 book as well here and here. And Meherbabalibrary.com makes this mistake here. Unfortunately people reading my blog and another website called Life Eternal on planets have innocently ordered the Beloved Archives book thinking it was the book of Baba's quotes containing information about planets, and been sadly disappointed.
One can see what was mistaken as a book cover at Awakener online here. It's simply the cover of Volume 15 Number 1.
Timeline
1933: A 112 page book by Ramjoo Abdulla, Shri Meher Baba, His philosophy and teachings; compiled from His own dictations, is published in Nasik, India. The teachings were given by Baba on the alphabet board from 1927 to 1933.
1954, 1955: Awakener Magazine republishes certain material from the 1933 book as a serial, starting with Volume 2 Number 2, p. 17.
1974: Awakener Magazine redoes its 1954, 1955 serial as Volume 15 Numbers 1 and 2. It renames it Silent Teachings of Meher Baba, reverses the order of Chapters IV and V, and replaces the diagrams with clearer ones redrawn by Peter Justin. The magazine neglects to state the date of new release, giving the false impression it is a 1955 book to some who have come across it by itself.
2001: Naosherwan Anzar publishes a new book, unrelated to the material by Ramjoo, under the title Silent Teachings of Meher Baba; Discourses and Conversations, Beloved Archives, New Jersey. The book is a revised edition of two short books, Silent Revelations of Meher Baba (1944) and The Answer (1972).
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Note: For those interested in reading the material from Philosophy and Teachings of Meher Baba by Ramjoo Abdulla included in the Awakener, the material continues in Numbers 3 and 4 here. The Awakener's original 1954, 1955 serialized version with the original diagrams begins here.
Update 10-26-14:
There is also a lesser known earlier adaptation from Philosophy and Teachings. It is Meher Baba - His Philosophy and Mysticism, written by Dr. Ghani. It runs as a serial in the Meher Baba Journal from November 1941 through August 1942 and totals about 103 pages.
See: Meher Baba - His Philosophy and Mysticism (The original "Meher Baba – His Philosophy and Teachings" by Ramju Abdulla) Revised and enlarged by Dr. Abdul Ghani Munsiff.
(Meher Baba Journal, Vol 4 No 1, November 1941, p. 41)
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