"Vanity Fair" - August 1934

  Photo By: Arnold Genthe

*** Arnold Genthe was the same photographer who took Meher Baba's portrait in NY.

Click on his name ( in blue ) to visit his web page.

Born : 31st March, 1899 - Mannheim, Germany

Died : November 13, 1970 - New York, New York, USA

Married : Albert Roothbert ( b. 1874 - Frankfurt Germany  -   d. 1965 )

Albert's name appears on Memorial Tower in Lower Meherabad, India. His number is #272.

He was a financier and philanyhropist.

AMERICAN

PROFESSIONAL / FASHION PHOTOGRAPHER, ENVIRONMENTALIST

https://www.roothbertfund.org/about

https://www.mullenbooks.com/pages/books/168041/charles-h-van-horne/antonie-von-horn-roothbert-1899-1970-notes-for-a-biography

https://www.theridgefieldpress.com/news/article/The-Roothberts-photos-and-philanthropy-15394153.php

*** A special thank for Jonathon Burroughs for his assistance with this web page.

Karma yoga of selfless service demands two things which are very difficult to do. Help others, serve others, but in a way in which you are, not even for a moment, conscious of having helped or served them. This is possible only if you forget yourself 100 percent and become lost in the service. That is why Masters say the only way to help human beings is not just tending to their physical needs, but to give them spiritual upliftment, making them know that the purpose of life is knowing God in perfect honesty, not by hearsay or hearing.

So you feel the need to do something for the needy, for others. Help others; that is very good indeed. But unless you know how to do it, there is always a chance of getting into a mess.

This is very subtle. What happens is you save me from starvation, and if you feel you have done a good turn, your ego is fed, and I automatically get the mental impression of being helped, which I must repay to you in some way or the other. [Consequently], sanskaras or impressions are added to you.

Karma yoga of selfless service demands two things which are very difficult to do. Help others, serve others, but in a way in which you are, not even for a moment, conscious of having helped or served them. This is possible only if you forget yourself 100 percent and become lost in the service. That is why Masters say the only way to help human beings is not just tending to their physical needs, but to give them spiritual upliftment, making them know that the purpose of life is knowing God in perfect honesty, not by hearsay or hearing.

So you feel the need to do something for the needy, for others. Help others; that is very good indeed. But unless you know how to do it, there is always a chance of getting into a mess.

The meals for those attending the sahavas were being catered by Muriel Houston's Driftwood Restaurant, and Jane had earlier remarked to a friend, "I don't know about what a Master is, but I've heard the food is going to be good."

Suddenly Baba asked her, "Have you eaten?" When she said no, he told her with a twinkle in his eyes, "Go and have something nice to eat." She left the Lagoon Cabin, but hardly had she sat down in the kitchen with Toni Roothbert when Kitty came running in and said, "Baba says you must sit next to him. He has decided to let everyone come, and that you are to sit by him."

Lord Meher Online Edition Page 4359

ALBERT ROOTHBERT

Albert's name appears of the Memorial Tower at Lower Meherabad, India. His number is #292.

On 14 May 1952, Toni Roothbert had had a second interview with Baba, at which time Baba explained to her:

I understand all. Even if you had not said anything, I know all. So take very seriously what I explain especially for you. I will explain it to you very clearly, and if you grasp it thoroughly, you will never again be confused. Mind has a habit of getting exalted and then going down — sometimes full of faith, sometimes full of doubts. So, in spite of our trying to seek Truth, one sometimes lands in a mess and feels so dry at heart.

What you have to understand is that God and loving God are not child's play. It is like drowning in an ocean of fire! Jesus was never serious about anything, except about God — whose incarnation he was. He was serious about himself and God, with whom he was one. Otherwise, he was so lighthearted! Jesus even got crucified for others with this lightness of heart. Why? Because he had no want at all. He did not want; he gave.

So, the only thing God wants is not ceremonies, not yogas, not prayers; he wants love — the love that makes you forget yourself in Him. All "isms" are the same. Love and become God, not by practice of ceremonies, but by dying for God. Baba has no creed at all. Societies, groups, mean nothing. Baba is above all these creeds, ceremonies and "isms." Everyone in India knows that I have no ism at all and am not attached to any. I have reoriented Sufism, Vedanta, Buddhism, so that Truth in them is kept alive. The marrow should be taken in, the bones thrown off!

Do you know what Jesus told his disciples? "Leave everything and follow me." Now, if I were to tell you this, your mind would fluctuate. It will think: "Is it true? Is it like Jesus? Is Baba right or wrong?" So, unless and until you are wholeheartedly prepared to follow someone whom you think true — like Jesus — the best thing for you would be not to submit to anyone. Just go on following the inner voice, having absolutely nothing to do with anyone, including Baba. But can you surrender absolutely to Baba? Just ask yourself and be honest to the very core. Can you surrender wholeheartedly, as Norina, Elizabeth and Ivy Duce have? Just find out for yourself.

Not for one moment should you think of making [ your husband ] unhappy. That would not do. If you think by surrendering wholeheartedly to Baba you will make him unhappy, then you should not do it. Everyone is Christ. What is new in it? Anyway, I advise you to make him happy, not to leave him for anything, and in your heart, if you love Baba, you will know how to love God. That much I can tell you. Love Baba in your heart. If possible, follow the new Sufism. If not, do not bother about it, either.

Love me in your heart, and make your husband happy, and God will see how you love Him.

Baba concluded, "Remember what I have told you now, and do it."

When Toni saw Baba for a third time on 16 May, at 4:35 P.M., she told him, "I think, as you well know, you will do extraordinary work in the United States."

Baba replied, "America now leads the material side of the universe and has such infinite possibilities that it can lead the world spiritually, if awakened."

Toni said, "Under the surface and unknown, there is great longing for spirituality."

Baba responded, "And what is needed for this awakening is love for whatever God one likes. In the form of Jesus crucified, or another. God will do it. He can do it. And now the time is near, very near, when this spiritual upliftment has to take place. Yes, absolutely. It has to be and will be."

"So that the terrible catastrophe which is overhanging the world can be avoided?" Toni asked.

"It is reaching its climax," Baba replied. "Then, there will be a change."

"Will the climax be war, or can war be avoided?"

Baba answered, "I know about it all, but be sure of one thing: America is destined to lead the world spiritually."

"Those who love God will be the prey," Tony opined.

"Truth never fails, and lovers of God will soon triumph," Baba declared. "I am happy. I see that you are a genuine lover of God."

"In this country, unfortunately, the youth are not taught about spirituality," Toni said. "A youth does not even get ethical education!"

"Yes," Baba stated, "but be sure these very youths who now know not of God, but know only to eat, drink, be merry and do lustful actions, will soon get the shock of their lives and know that only loving God is real life!"

 Lord Meher Online Edition Page 3080-2

Toni von Horn was among the first woman professional photographers and was the first to join the stable of Conde Nast’s Vogue and Vanity Fair, and Harper’s Bazaar during those magazines’ glorious years of the early 1930s. Active as Tony von Horn, her images were regular features, along with such luminaries as Edward Steichen, Adolf de Meyer and George Hoyningen-Heune among others, in the magazines from the end of 1930 to 1935. Now, essentially forgotten, this website provides some background and information about her life and career.

1932  First images in Harper’s Bazaar; studio moves to Tudor City

1970  Toni von Horn Roothbert dies at Topstone Farm, Ridgefield, Connecticut

http://www.roothbertfund.org/about/founders2.html

http://www.derringerbooks.com/shop/derringer/18642.html

http://www.vonhorn.info/pers/toni_1899.html

"Mehera-Meher, Volume III: A Divine Romance"

The women were tied up all the time in the Guest House. They did go to tea at Toni Roothbert's ( a friend of Norina's ) +  and to Brookgreen Gardens.

+ Antonie "Toni" von Horn Roothbert, 53, a German immigrant who had made a name for herself in New York as a fashion photographer, lived at 167 Palmetto Lane in Briarcliffe, near the Center. Her unusual house was built on the banks of a lake.

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*** Daniel Stone and Carol Russo currently live in this house.

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