SHANTI DELORIS GASKINS

A Life of Love

Shanti Deloris Gaskins lived love. From her earliest years, she was a seeker and lover of God. This fundamental thread wove through the myriad phases, accomplishments, trials and triumphs of her life.

Born April 11,1934, Deloris Estelle was the second daughter to Vincent Morris and Lillian Martin of Philadelphia. She and her sister, Lynette, lived together with their mother until age eleven, when Lynnette began living with their father. Deloris said of her mother, “She was my friend, confidante, teacher, inspirer, nurturer, protector and a bottomless well of love. She made my childhood beautiful. She gave me a sense of my own specialness. ‘You are fine silk’, she used to say to me. ‘Fine silk! People have a tendency to want to spot fine silk. Don’t let them.” Her mother passed away when Deloris was 16. And her father not long after, died when she was 23. However, that sense of specialness and love would buoy her her whole life.

As a child, curious and imaginative, with a keen intellect and love for learning, she entertained herself by frequenting Philadelphia’s many museums and cultural exhibits. A voracious reader, the Free Library of Philadelphia was her sanctuary. There she cultivated her love for literature, opera and classical music.

Graduating with honors from the Philadelphia High School for Girls, Deloris would say of her high school, “They prepared me so well for college that this little lady from North Philly was able to go to one of the best colleges in the country and hold my own with students who had been skimmed from the cream of the crop and to graduate with honors.” She attended Swarthmore College, one of only three black students at that time. Political Science/International Relations was her major, with a minor in Economics. She loved languages, learning to speak French, German and Russian. She began vocal lessons with a coach and her interest in theater sprouted as she acted in and directed school productions. She graduated from Swarthmore with the intent, as she said, to set the world on fire!

In a small church in North Philadelphia Deloris found her first love, Oscar Norman Gaskins. He won her heart with his marvelous good humor, wit, intelligence, immense kindness, and drop-dead good looks! Fresh out of the army, she encouraged him to go to college and then to law school. He went to the University of Pennsylvania and would later become a prominent criminal defense attorney. They married during their junior year in 1954. Together they would go on to fight for racial equality and own one of Philadelphia’s early black newspapers,The Independent, and a bowling alley. Deloris managed Oscar’s law office, and his political campaigns when he twice ran for public office.

Deloris and Oscar had four children together, Vincent, Kimberly, Stacey and David. Although their marriage ended in the late 60’s, they would remain lifelong friends. When Melanie was born from Oscars second marriage, she was a joyous addition to the Gaskins clan. She adored her children. Like her mother she too was a bottomless well of love, their greatest well-wisher, nurturer, and friend.

Deloris began her acting career in the local theaters of Philadelphia. While helping Oscar fight injustices and raising four small children, her acting career flourished. (She would say she didn’t know how she did it all!) Breaking barriers, she auditioned for and won roles that, at the time, were exclusively cast for white actresses -- Kate in Shakespeare’s "Taming of the Shrew,” Princess Winnifred in " Once Upon a Mattress". “Luv”, “South Pacific”, “Finnian’s Rainbow”, and “Brecht’s Three Penny Opera” with Sherman Hemsley were some of the plays she delighted in doing. She would also write, direct and co-produce "Tell it Like it Was", a weekly Black history television program, hosted by her friend, Dallie Mohammad.

Deloris shifted her career to New York after her separation from Oscar. She worked with the New York Shakespeare Festival and the Negro Ensemble Company. She won critical acclaim for her role as Julia in the Hartford Stage Company’s production of  “A Wedding Band” and as Ruth in “A Raison In The Sun” with Claudia McNeil. She worked with James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad in Joseph Papp’s all black production of Anton Chekov’s “A Cherry Orchard”.

Maintaining her home and family in Philadelphia, she had rented a tiny apartment in New York. Her best friend and actress, Marilyn Coleman, had the tiny apartment downstairs. Together, their little spot became a hangout for talented black actors, writers, directors to play, laugh, riff, write, and sing. She loved this time in her life at 435, as she would call it. It was her sanctuary. It saw her through joys and sorrows, challenging times and triumphs and it would be the place where she began the greatest journey of her life.

“There was a period of my life when God systematically knocked out from under me the props I had built my life on. The message was clear. I could never know lasting happiness and peace unless He became the foundation of my existence.”

In 1974, a glance at a poster led her to meet Siddha Yoga Meditation master, Swami Muktananda (Baba). She was captivated by the joy she saw in his face and the knowing in his eyes. Through him, the practice of meditation and the Siddha Yoga path, she would experience God within herself and, in time, attain the lasting happiness and peace she so longed for. “I experienced myself as rapturous, scintillating light, whose nature was pure joy, a joy that filled the entire world.” Baba gave her the name Shanti which means peace.

Her love and enthusiasm for Siddha Yoga, with its central teaching that God dwells with you, everyone and everything, led her to open the first Philadelphia Siddha Yoga Meditation Center in her home. For the rest of her life, in gratitude for what she had received she offered her service as a teacher, speaker, writer, performer and mentor, and inspired countless people to begin the journey of self-discovery and transformation. Shanti loved this path of Siddha Yoga.

When people describe Shanti, they all speak of her as a “force” and her love was infectious.

In her later years Shanti worked as an executive secretary for several prestigious law firms. She remained passionate about her political activism, always saying, “… you have to water the grassroots!” She fought fervently for local and national candidates and getting people to the polls. She was known as Granni G on Facebook, keeping people informed, encouraging them to vote, call their congressman and write letters, always an example that a spiritual life means serving your world and community.

Shanti loved spending time with her children and grandchildren, some of whom live in California. She enjoyed family gatherings. She loved being out in nature and watching the sun set over the water. And she loved opera! Watching it, singing it, listening to it, sometimes at a very high volume.

Shanti lived a long, amazing, and fruitful life. She loved so many and is loved by so many. We will miss you! Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti!

Shanti is survived by her children, Vincent Gaskins, Vaishnavi Kimberly Lewis, Stacey Gaskins, Shiva David & Vallabha Robin Gaskins, and Melanie Gaskins & Marcus Willaims. Her grandchildren, Luna Yashoda Lewis, Sunanda Gaskins, Anthony Gaskins, Tucker Gaskins, Morgan Williams. Nieces and Nephews, cousins. And by all the many that she inspired and encouraged with her ever present love, wisdom, faith, and humility.

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