"It's just leaves and branches. It shouldn't be that quiet."
Meher Mount
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.”
“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.”
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.