"My grace is always there..." - Avatar Meher Baba

Your Friday photo…

Photographer Juan Mendez captured this image of a fox drinking from a bird bath at Meher Mount. On Sulphur Mountain, birds and animals of all sizes visit because they are thirsty and looking for water.

The following story of thirst and Meher Baba’s grace is from Befitting a Fortunate Slave: Meher Baba's Eruch by Davana Brown. Eruch Jessawala (1916-2001) was one of Meher Baba’s closest disciples and often interpreted Baba’s hand gestures and use of the alphabet board. Davana Brown is a resident volunteer at Meherazad and was Eruch’s assistant.

“My grace is always there; it is like a torrential river that is ever flowing. If you are thirsty you go to the river.”

— Avatar Meher Baba

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It was not unusual for the theme of grace to be discussed during pilgrim sessions in Mandali Hall (Meherazad, India) or around Eruch's table at the Meher Baba Trust Office (Ahmednagar, India) during teatime musings, Davana Brown writes.

The topic was talked about from every imaginable perspective. Eruch Jessawala responded:

“You are asking me, how do you receive His grace. For that you need the container. The thing is, we are all longing and begging for His grace asking. 'When will Your grace descend on us that we can love You and see You as You really are?'

“But Baba says, 'My grace is always there; it is like a torrential river that is ever flowing. If you are thirsty you go to the river. What is there to stop you? But the trouble is, in order that you should have the full advantage for receiving My grace, you need to have the container to hold it. And that vessel is your thirst. Without thirst there is no way out.'

“Grace needs the container, and suffering and His remembrance increase our thirst, which helps to shape the container.”

~Eruch Jessawala, Close Disciple of Meher Baba

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Source
Davana Brown, Befitting a Fortunate Slave: Meher Baba's Eruch, Volume I: By Your Grace Anything is Possible, pg. 303. (Myrtle Beach: Sheriar Foundation) ©2024 Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust, Ahmednagar, India.

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"Look well therefore to this day..."

Your Friday photo…

This scenic photo by guest caretaker Juan Mendez perfectly captures a late summer day at Meher Mount looking toward Baba's Tree and Avatar's Point. Clouds cover the Heritage Valley below with the South Mountain ridge peeking above them. The Santa Monica Mountains appear much farther in the distance.

“Look well therefore to this day;
Such is the salutation to the ever-new dawn!”

— Attributed to Kālidāsa

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Look to this day:
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course
Lie all the verities and realities of your existence.
The bliss of growth,
The glory of action,
The splendor of achievement
Are but experiences of time.

For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow is only a vision;
And today well lived, makes
Yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well therefore to this day;
Such is the salutation to the ever-new dawn!

~Attributed to Kālidāsa

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This poem is widely attributed to Kālidāsa, a renowned 4th-5th century Indian poet and dramatist considered one of the greatest Indian writers of any epoch. His plays and poetry written in Sanskrit are primarily based on the Hindu Puranas.

However, there's an important caveat about the poem's authenticity. The specific poem "Look to This Day" is likely a modern adaptation or paraphrase inspired by Kālidāsa's themes.

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"It whispers to the flowers all, kissing the shining dew..."

Your Friday photo…

This lovely photo of a bee among the lilies at Meher Mount was taken by guest caretaker and photographer Juan Mendez. The poem is by Mani S. Irani, Avatar Meher Baba’s sister and close disciple.

“It whispers to the flowers all
Kissing the shining dew
Says words that every flower knows,
Oh Baba Loves me too. ”

— Mani S. Irani

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Meher Baba’s Love

There dwells in a desolate countryside
On a far off lovely hill,
Its head turned up to the wide
Blue sky,
A yellow daffodil.

As it sways with joy in the gentle
Breeze.
It sings a song or two,
Which hold the sweetest words
On Earth.
Oh Baba, I, too, love you.

Around a pink rose in my garden
Hovers a bumble bee.
From rose to rose it dances wild in sheerest
Ecstasy.

It whispers to the flowers all
Kissing the shining dew
Says words that every flower knows,
Oh Baba Loves me too.

~Mani S. Irani

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Source: Poems to Avatar Meher Baba, an Avatar Meher Baba Trust eBook, pg. 89. ©1985 Manifestation Inc., North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

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"Love is the cleanser that wipes the mirror bright..." - Avatar Meher Baba

Your Friday photo…

Artist and photographer Natalie Farsi took this photo at Baba’s Tree on a recent visit to Meher Mount. She calls it “Mirroring Divine Presence.” The quote from Avatar Meher Baba is shared by frequent visitor Martha Aubin.

“Love is the cleanser that wipes the mirror bright and enables you to behold with increasing clarity the indivisible Entity that permeates all life.”

— Avatar Meher Baba

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I place these mirrors in wild landscapes, framing and shape-shifting the living world in ways that invite another way of seeing and connecting.

The series explores thresholds between the seen and unseen, the human and more-than-human.

Through this visual alchemy — presence, reflection, and transformation — the mirror opens a gateway into the liminal realm, where perception shifts and new ways of seeing and transcending can emerge.

Here, the mirror rests in the gnarled branches of Baba’s Tree so the old can reflect the new — illuminating past, present, and future. The volcanic interior of the Earth, held within the obsidian mirror, gazes back at itself, capturing young leaves and rays of light from ever-present sources.

~Natalie Farsi, Photographer

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Source

Meher Baba, Life at Its Best, edited by Ivy O. Duce, pg. 49, (Walnut Creek, CA: Sufism Reoriented) ©1957 by Sufism Reoriented, Inc.

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"The only Real Surrender is that in which poise is undisturbed" - Avatar Meher Baba

Your Friday photo is in honor of National Relaxation Day…

This view from a bench along the Old Well Road at Meher Mount was taken by visitor Stephanie Ervin.

“The only Real Surrender is that in which poise is undisturbed by adverse circumstance, and the individual, amidst every kind of hardship, is resigned with perfect calm to the will of God. ”

— Avatar Meher Baba

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Source

Meher Baba, Discourses, Sixth Edition, Volume I, pg. 2 (Myrtle Beach, SC: Sheriar Foundation) ©2007 Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust, Ahmednagar, India.

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"The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers..."

Your Friday photo…

This photo of two ground squirrels enjoying the warmth of the sun at Meher Mount was taken by guest caretaker Juan Mendez in August 2024.

Ground Squirrels generally live in parts of Washington, Oregon, California, and Baja California and are often seen at Meher Mount.

Some of the animals that call Meher Mount home stay out of the sun during the day, but bask in the sun in the evening to warm themselves.

“The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the wide world’s joy.”

— Henry Ward Beecher

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Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) was a Congregational minister whose oratorical skill and social concern made him an influential Protestant spokesman in his time. He was an abolitionist and worked with the women's suffrage movement in the United States. He often used metaphors of nature to convey moral and spiritual lessons about universal love.

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"It's just leaves and branches. It shouldn't be that quiet."

Your Friday photo is in honor of Tree of Fire, a documentary of Baba's Tree…

A consistent theme for visitors to Baba’s Tree at Meher Mount is the silence they experience at the tree.

“When I would go under Baba’s Tree, I would feel like it was much quieter than it had any right to be,” remembered former caretaker Billy Goodrum.

“There are no walls. It’s just leaves and branches. It shouldn't be that quiet.”

This photo of Baba’s Tree taken in 2014 by visitor Stephanie Ervin shows some of the leaves and branches of the tree’s giant canopy.

“There are no walls. It’s just leaves and branches. It shouldn’t be that quiet.”

— Billy Goodrum, Resident Caretaker, 2019-2002

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“One thing that Meher Baba says is things that are real are given and received in silence,” said former caretaker Pamela Goodrum.

“For us, Baba’s Tree was a place of extraordinary silence.

“A place where you could go and you could really listen and hear something — a voice or something that you might not be able to hear otherwise anywhere else. And for some that might be Meher Baba, and for others that might be something else.”

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Tree of Fire: A Story of Love and Resilience

Billy and Pamela Goodrum were resident caretakers at Meher Mount from 1999 to 2002. These comments are from their interview for the upcoming documentary about Baba’s Tree.

Tree of Fire is the journey of a seemingly ordinary oak tree blessed by the presence of Avatar Meher Baba. For decades, Baba’s Tree fulfills its role of inspiring others. Then one night it is felled by fire and high winds. Its very existence is threatened.

Through the tree’s own resilience and love, it is transformed by fire to emerge even more powerful in radiating Meher Baba’s love.

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"It makes that instant of Meher Baba at Baba's Tree particularly intimate and private."

Your Friday photo celebrates Avatar Meher Baba’s visit to Meher Mount on August 2, 1956…

“What I find particularly interesting about Meher Baba’s interaction with Baba’s Tree at Meher Mount is that there are no photos of Him under the tree," noted guest caretaker and board member Agnes Montano.

“To me, it makes that instant of Meher Baba at Baba’s Tree so particularly intimate and private.”

Over the years, guests have placed photos of Meher Baba under the tree in remembrance of Him.

In 2017, Wayne Myers and a friend visited. “We brought flowers and arranged them around the heart rock [marking the spot where Meher Baba sat] with one of my ‘travel Baba photos.’ It was just a spontaneous touch,” he remembered.

“To me, that makes that instant of Meher Baba at Baba’s Tree so particularly intimate and private.”

— Agnes Montano, Guest Caretaker & Board Member

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Agnes Montano’s comments are from her film interview for the documentary, Tree of Fire: A Story of Love and Resilience:

“I’ve always been intrigued by the fact that on August 2, 1956, when Meher Baba was at Meher Mount, there were people taking photos. They were filming Him. But no photos of Him under Baba’s Tree.

“Throughout His presence on earth, Meher Baba had many interactions with trees. I have a whole collection of photos of Meher Baba with trees where He’s climbed on the tree, leaned on it, touched the leaves… but then here at Meher Mount, there’s no image of that moment.

“Meher Baba went under Baba’s Tree and had such a private moment.  He asked everyone else to stay away, and He was there alone. He left such a gift there.

“I see people visiting who have never heard about Meher Baba and all of a sudden, they just show up at Meher Mount because they feel that they need to be there.

“So, the presence of Meher Baba is calling people. It’s like a beacon calling people, almost like a lighthouse.”

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"It was like seeing a champion boxer just beaten and bloody on the ground..."

Your Friday photo is in honor of Baba’s Tree…

The comments from Ron Holsey, board vice president and guest caretaker, are from his interview for the feature documentary on Baba’s Tree — Tree of Fire: A Story of Love and Resilience.

This photo was taken by Margaret Magnus, producer of Tree of Fire, after the 2017 Thomas Fire and high winds felled Baba’s Tree. This picture shows a major section of the trunk lying on the ground after it broke off.

“The first time that I saw the tree after the fire, it was this grand majestic, strong living being that had been just decimated and was suffering.

“It was like seeing a champion boxer just beaten and bloody on the ground. It was this towering giant that had been felled. It was heartbreaking.

“I had a lot of empathy for tree. I just felt bad that Baba’s Tree tree had to go through that.

“It had been through so much. It had survived one fire already.”

— Ron Holsey, Board Member and Guest Caretaker

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Tree of Fire: A Story of Love and Resilience

Tree of Fire is the journey of a seemingly ordinary oak tree blessed by the presence of Avatar Meher Baba. For decades, Baba’s Tree fulfills its role of inspiring others. Then one night it is felled by fire and high winds. Its very existence is threatened.

Through the tree’s own resilience and love, it is transformed by fire to emerge even more powerful in radiating Meher Baba’s love.

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"...you are Infinite within.” - Avatar Meher Baba

Your Friday photo is in honor of the 100th Anniversary of Avatar Meher Baba’s silence on July 10th of…

On one occasion, Meher Baba said to His followers:

“From today I want everyone to sit silent and alone for five minutes and try to look within. It is not a meditation, it is just a ‘looking within.’ Now, how to do this?

“Sit in a relaxed position — don’t think of anything, not even of Baba. Close the eyes and mentally look within and imagine yourself as Infinite within.

“Let the idea that you are Infinite remain for five minutes.

“How do you imagine yourself Infinite?

“You can imagine the Infinite as sky, ocean or vast emptiness. And let this one thought be in your mind — that you are Infinite within.”

— Avatar Meher Baba

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Why Meher Baba Observed Silence — FREE eBook

Why did Avatar Meher Baba observe silence for 44 years? Was there a spiritual benefit? What is the deeper meaning of His silence?

Why do Meher Baba’s followers observe Silence Day on July 10th every year?

This eBook provides perspectives on Meher Baba’s silence. It’s a collection of stories about Meher Baba’s silence including comments by Him and His close disciples.

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Sources

• Kitty Davy, Love Alone Prevails, pg. 166 (North Myrtle Beach, SC: Sheriar Press, Inc.) 1981 ©Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust, Ahmednagar, India.

• Photo by guest caretaker Juan Mendez of a sunset seen from Meher Mount.

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"I speak more eloquently through gestures and the alphabet board." - Avatar Meher Baba

Your Friday photo is in honor of the 100th Anniversary of Avatar Meher Baba’s silence on July 10th…

This photo of Meher Baba using gestures to communicate was taken in Meherabad, India, in 1949. Courtesy of Meher Nazar Publications.

“...I would say I am not silent, and that I speak more eloquently through gestures and the alphabet board.”

— Avatar Meher Baba

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Meher Baba explained about His silence:

“If you were to ask me why I do not speak, I would say I am not silent, and that I speak more eloquently through gestures and the alphabet board.

“If you were to ask me why I do not talk, I would say, mostly for three reasons. Firstly, I feel that through you all I am talking eternally. 

“Secondly, to relieve the boredom of talking incessantly through your forms, I keep silence in my personal physical form.

“And thirdly, all talk in itself is idle talk. Lectures, messages, statements, discourses of any kind, spiritual or otherwise, imparted through utterances or writings, is just idle talk when not acted upon or lived up to.”

~Avatar Meher Baba

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Why Meher Baba Observed Silence — FREE eBook

Why did Avatar Meher Baba observe silence for 44 years?

Was there a spiritual benefit? What is the deeper meaning of His silence? Why do Meher Baba’s followers observe Silence Day on July 10th every year?

This eBook provides perspectives on Meher Baba’s silence. It’s a collection of stories about Meher Baba’s silence including comments by Him and His close disciples.

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Source

• Bhau Kalchuri, Lord Meher: The Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba, Online Edition, pp. 3555-3556, accessed May 23, 2025. ©Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust, Ahmednagar, India.

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"The voice that is heard deep within the soul is my voice..." - Avatar Meher Baba

Your Friday photo is in honor of the 100th Anniversary of Avatar Meher Baba’s silence on July 10th of…

Sitting at Avatar’s Point at Meher Mount provides a moment to be surrounded by silence and listen to the voice within. Photo by guest caretaker and board member Ron Holsey.

“Yet I am never silent. I speak eternally.

The voice that is heard deep within the soul is my voice — the voice of inspiration, of intuition, of guidance.”

— Avatar Meher Baba

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Why Meher Baba Observed Silence — FREE eBook

Why did Avatar Meher Baba observe silence for 44 years? Was there a spiritual benefit? What is the deeper meaning of His silence?

Why do Meher Baba’s followers observe Silence Day on July 10th every year?

This eBook provides perspectives on Meher Baba’s silence. It’s a collection of stories about Meher Baba’s silence including comments by Him and His close disciples.

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Source

• Bhau Kalchuri, Lord Meher: The Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba, Online Edition, pg. 1795, accessed May 29, 2025. ©Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust, Ahmednagar, India.

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"The inaudible sound is from heart to heart..."

Your Friday photo is in honor of the 100th Anniversary of Avatar Meher Baba’s silence on July 10th…

“Those who have been in his presence know that Baba communicates through his silence.

What proceeds from him is beyond words, does not need words, could not be contained in them.

The inaudible sound is from heart to heart: silence that penetrates mind and heart.”

— C.B. Purdom, The God-Man

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The God-Man, by C.B. Purdom, is the first authoritative biography of Avatar Meher Baba. It includes Purdom's personal recollections and messages he took down as they were being conveyed by Meher Baba, along with selections from diaries and memories of other witnesses present.

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Why Meher Baba Observed Silence — FREE eBook

Why did Avatar Meher Baba observe silence for 44 years? Was there a spiritual benefit? What is the deeper meaning of His silence?

Why do Meher Baba’s followers observe Silence Day on July 10th every year?

This eBook provides perspectives on Meher Baba’s silence. It’s a collection of stories about Meher Baba’s silence including comments by Him and His close disciples.

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Sources

• C.B. Purdom, The God-Man: The Life, Journey and Work of Meher Baba with an Interpretation of his Silence and Spiritual Teaching, Second Edition, second printing with corrections (2010), Avatar Meher Baba Trust eBook, June 2011, pg. 410. ©1964 C.B. Purdom, ©Meher Spiritual Center, Inc.

• Photo: Avatar Meher Baba, Meherabad, India, 1954 by Darwin Shaw. Courtesy of Meher Nazar Publications.

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"You have asked for and been given enough words..." - Avatar Meher Baba

Your Friday photo is in honor of the 100th Anniversary of Avatar Meher Baba’s silence on July 10th…

In this photo of Meher Baba in India, 1949, He is using the alphabet board to communicate. The photographer is Beheram Sheriar Irani, one of Meher Baba’s brothers; courtesy Meher Nazar Publications.

“You have asked for and been given enough words – it is now time to live them.”

— Avatar Meher Baba

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Meher Baba explained about His silence:

“Man’s inability to live God’s words makes the Avatar’s teaching a mockery. Instead of practicing the compassion he taught, man has waged wars in his name.

“Instead of living the humility, purity, and truth of his words, man has given way to hatred, greed, and violence. 

“Because man has been deaf to the principles and precepts laid down by God in the past, in this present Avataric form, I observe silence.

“You have asked for and been given enough words – it is now time to live them.”

~Avatar Meher Baba

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“Why Meher Baba Observed Silence” — FREE eBook

Why did Avatar Meher Baba observe silence for 44 years? Was there a spiritual benefit? What is the deeper meaning of His silence?

Why do Meher Baba’s followers observe Silence Day on July 10th every year?

This eBook provides perspectives on Meher Baba’s silence. It’s a collection of stories about Meher Baba’s silence including comments by Him and His close disciples.

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Source

• Avatar Meher Baba, “The Universal Message,” ©Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust, Ahmednagar, India.

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"To bring you love is but to offer you your own."

Your Friday photo…

Meher Mount was given archival, out-of-print issues of The Awakener: A Journal Devoted to Meher Baba to share with His followers and visitors to Meher Mount.

The poem, “Your Eyes” by Sam Ervin, Meher Mount’s board president, was published in The Awakener issue pictured below in 1972.

There are free copies of this issue and others available on request.

“To bring you love is but to offer you
your own.
To worship is but yielding fruit
you’ve sown.”

— Sam Ervin, Board President

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I’ve searched everywhere in faces
for eyes
that meeting mine engender
no surprise,
but joy and sorrow and a wish;
a longing that is flame,
consuming all that isn’t,
illumining your Name.
To bring you love is but to offer you
your own.
To worship is but yielding fruit
you’ve sown.

Your eyes, my love, are promises
of kisses
no mortal man can know.
Do I dare? Do I dare
to turn around in me
and set one trembling foot upon the path
known also as abyss
and face the windswept desolation
of my heart?
And could I think to win
where gain is loss?

Your eyes, my love, are portals
to unfathomed night
where purity in silence lies;
where light, one piercing ray
may turn my inner night
to brightest day.

~Sam Ervin, The Awakener, Volume XIV, No. 1, 1972

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The Awakener: A Journal Devoted to Meher Baba

The Awakener: A Journal Devoted to Meher Baba was published from 1953-1986.

It was produced by Filis Frederick with the direct approval of Meher Baba. The Awakener was dedicated to spreading Meher Baba’s message of Love and Truth.

There are a few remaining copies of the original issues available to you for free.

These journals contain messages, discourses and pearls of wisdom given by Meher Baba. In addition, there are fascinating first-hand stories told by many of His closer followers from all over the world.

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More Information

• The Awakener: A Journal Devoted to Meher Baba, Meher Mount Story Blog Post.

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"I have been waiting all these years for you to come."

Your Friday photo is in remembrance of Avatar Meher Baba’s automobile accident in Prague, Oklahoma…

Meher Baba said of the injuries He had incurred on May 24, 1952, “It was necessary that it should happen in America. God willed it so.

“America forms the best foundation for the spiritual upheaval I will bring about in the near future. America has tremendous energy, but most of its energy is misdirected. I intend to divert it into spiritual and creative channels,” He said.

Meher Baba and His mandali (close disciples) were traveling by car from the Meher Spiritual Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to Meher Mount in Ojai, California, for a planned nine-day stay.

There are no photos related to the accident. This photo taken by Lud Dimpfl in 1956 is of the guesthouse at Meher Mount (right) where Meher Baba would have stayed.

“I have been waiting all these years for you come.”

— Agnes Baron to Avatar Meher Baba

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Prior to the trip, Agnes Baron met with Meher Baba in Myrtle Beach to discuss the planned nine-day stay in detail.

“Now do not go to any trouble,” Meher Baba told her. “I can sleep under the trees or on the floor.”

“Trouble!” Agnes replied, “I’ve just been waiting all these years for you to come. Everything has been painted and scrubbed.”

“Do not go to any trouble," Meher Baba repeated.

Meher Baba instructed five of the men mandali — Adi K. Irani, Dr. William Donkin, Gustadji Hansotia, Meherjee Kakaria, and Vinayak Nilkantha 'Nilu" Godse — to leave a day early for Meher Mount.

They were to make sure the proper arrangements were made at Meher Mount for for Meher Baba and the women mandali.

They arrived at Meher Mount on May 23, exhausted, as they had been told to drive as fast as possible. They were having tea the following morning when they learned about Meher Baba’s automobile accident.

Dr. Donkin flew back immediately, and the others drove back across the county.

“There was nothing but tears in our eyes and bleeding in our heart,” said Adi K. Irani.

“This was God’s will, and it will result in benefit to the whole world,” Meher Baba said. He said on other occasions that it would be necessary in His incarnation as Avatar to undergo this Self-sacrifice.

All the passengers in both automobiles survived, despite some severe injuries.

Four years later in 1956, Meher Baba returned to America. Upon this visit, Meher Baba at last fulfilled His intention of coming to Meher Mount. 

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Sources

• Wayne Myers, “…the personal disaster, for some some years foretold by Me took place…”, Meher Mount Story Blog, published May 23, 2017, accessed online April 21, 2024.

• Wayne Myers, Agnes Baron Meets Meher Baba for the First Time, Meher Mount Story Blog, published May 4, 2020, accessed online April 21, 2024.

• “Meher Baba’s Accident in America,” Avatar Meher Baba Heartland Center, accessed online, May 21, 2025.

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"It feels kind of enchanted."

Your Friday photo is in honor of National Love a Tree Day…

Baba’s Tree at Meher Mount is beloved by many. It was graced by the presence of Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba in 1956. Today, many visitors spend time at the tree in quiet contemplation to find inspiration, solace and joy.

This photo of the deer grazing by Baba’s Tree, which is to the right out of the picture, was taken by guest caretaker Juan Mendez.

Eric Carlson, former resident caretaker, describes how the deer interact with the tree and area around it. His comments are part of his interview for the upcoming documentary about Baba’s Tree, Tree of Fire.

“It feels kind of enchanted.”

— Eric Carlson, Resident Caretaker, 2019-2022

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I would say that all of nature recognizes on some level, something going on that goes beyond the tree itself.

I have sat at Baba’s Tree for hours and noticed that animals, like deer and coyotes, seem to be attracted to the area. Now you could say, well, that's just the geographic location. It could be a strategic crossing.

But it does seem like they like to hang around the area.

Sometimes I'll go down to Baba’s Tree, and there will be deer bedded down inside the low roped-off enclosure. And I feel kind of bad for spooking them out of there. I want to say, “Wait, wait, you don't have to go. You can stay.”

And sometimes when I'm there, the deer won't even go that far. They literally see you and they don't feel that threatened.

So that's what I observed at Baba’s Tree. It feels kind of enchanted.

~Eric Carlson, Resident Caretaker, 2019-2022

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Tree of Fire — Coming Late Summer

The documentary, Tree of Fire, is the journey of a seemingly ordinary oak tree blessed by the presence of Avatar Meher Baba. For decades, Baba’s Tree fulfills its role of inspiring others. Then one night the tree is felled by fire and high winds. Its very existence is threatened.

Through the tree’s own resilience and love, it is transformed by fire to emerge even more powerful in radiating Meher Baba’s love.

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National Love a Tree Day

On May 16th each year, National Love a Tree Day celebrates the joys of life provided by trees.

Trees provide more than just beautiful landscapes and a shady canopy on a sunny day. They provide habitat and structure for strong ecosystems. They play a significant role in reducing erosion, moderating the climate, and providing oxygen. Large quantities of carbon are stored in their tissues as trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

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"Let me tell you this fact: There is nothing to worry about..." - Avatar Meher Baba

Your Friday photo…

The following from Avatar Meher Baba, suggested by visitor Erin Sommerville, reminds us of Meher Baba’s central message which is to love God. The photo from Juan Mendez at Meher Mount captures the everyday beauty in our lives that brings us joy.

“Let Me tell you this fact: There is nothing to worry about, nothing to be disheartened about.

“We are all, each of us, meant to be happy.

“God, Who is within us all, is to be experienced as infinite happiness, and it can be done only through love for Him.”

— Avatar Meher Baba

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Source

You and I: A Personal Selection of the Words of Avatar Meher Baba, complied by Rick M. Chapman, pg. 149. (Berkeley, CA: The White Horse Publishing Company, © 2019) Quotes of Meher Baba are copyrighted by the ©Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust, Ahmednagar, India.

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"It is a manifestation of the path we all walk in life..."

Your Friday photo…

Gordon Meier visited on a foggy, cool day this spring and was inspired to create this painting representing his visit. Gordon shared his observations gleaned from that day at Meher Mount.

“It is a manifestation of the path we all walk in life, and the truth in our inability or lack of awareness to see, with our eyes, what lies much further in front of us. ”

— Gordon Meier, Visitor

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Our visit was wonderfully peaceful.  

I had only heard the name “Meher Baba” referenced by other spiritual vessels prior to our visit. Which I now feel was a blessing in order to be open to all the energy there.  

A cloud covered Meher Mount and the surrounding area on the morning we arrived. We were the only visitors.   

I love these days of blurred anonymity and horizonless landscapes.    

It is a manifestation of the path we all walk in life, and the truth in our inability or lack of awareness to see, with our eyes, what lies much further in front of us.   

We sat by Baba’s Tree and meditated.   

The cloud surrounded us, a fine mist gathered on our clothes and faces. The birds moved ever closer.

We were absorbed into all, in stillness, in muted colors — washed out in the oneness enveloping us.    

And that, what I later learned, was the message.

Always present.   

With gratitude and many more returns, 

~Gordon Meier, Visitor

Postscript: I had not realized until after creating this painting and reading more about Meher Mount and Sulphur Mountain, there is a feeling that this place is the meeting of heaven and earth, which is almost a literal depiction in my painting. Amazing.

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"Let my love open the door..."

Your Friday photo is in honor of the 45th anniversary of the release on April 21, 1980, of the hit song, “Let My Love Open the Door,” by Pete Townshend.

This photo of the heart gate at Meher Mount was taken by Caretaker Ray Johnston just after he finished building it in 2003.

Volunteer Stephanie Ervin shares her Meher Baba coincidence involving the heart gate and Pete Townshend’s song.

“Let my love open the door...”

— Pete Townshend, Songwriter & Musician

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Stephanie Ervin recalls her preparations for being a guest caretaker at Meher Mount in September 2018:

“I made a playlist for the two-and-a-half hour drive to Meher Mount with some of my favorite songs — one of which was ‘Let My Love Open the Door’ by Pete Townshend. It seemed fitting, since Townshend is a follower of Meher Baba, and the song always felt like it was surreptitiously about Meher Baba.

“The playlist was on shuffle, so I didn’t know when the song would play during my drive. Just as I reached the heart gate at the entrance to Meher Mount, this song started playing.

“I put my car in park to unlock the gate, leaving the music playing so I could hear it and chuckle as I opened the gates to drive through.”

“Let My Love Open the Door” on the album Empty Glass, was a Top Ten hit in 1980 for musician Pete Townshend of The Who. It was his only solo Top Ten hit.

Townshend, a follower of Meher Baba, originally brushed the song off as "just a ditty" after its release. Later in 1996, he revealed it was about Divine Love.

“It’s supposed to be about the power of God’s love,” Townshend said in a Rolling Stone interview. “That when you’re in difficulty, whether it’s major or minor, God’s love is always there for you.”

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Lyrics — “Let My Love Open the Door”

When people keep repeating
That you'll never fall in love
When everybody keeps retreating
But you can't seem to get enough

Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
To your heart

When everything feels all over
Everybody seems unkind
I'll give you a four-leaf clover
Take all worry out of your mind

Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
To your heart, to your heart

I have the only key to your heart
I can stop you falling apart
Try today you'll find this way
Come on and give me a chance to say

Let my love open the door
It's all I'm living for
Release yourself from misery
There's only one thing gonna set you free
That's my love
That's my love

Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door

When tragedy befalls you
Don't let it drag you down
Love can cure your problems
You're so lucky I'm around

Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
To your heart

Songwriter: Pete Townshend

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Sources

• “Lyrics and Meaning of ‘Let My Love Open the Door’ by Pete Townshend,” Song Meanings Blog, accessed April 16, 2025.

• Alli Patton, “The Spiritual Meaning Behind Pete Townshend’s ‘Let My Love Open the Door,’” March 28, 2023, American Songwriter: The Craft of Music, accessed on April 16, 2025.

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