“The voice that is heard deep within the soul is my voice – the voice of inspiration, of intuition, of guidance.” -Avatar Meher Baba
Meher Mount
Your Friday photo is a video…
“I would like to share a story that speaks to the enormous purpose and connectivity, not only of Meher Mount, but also of Baba’s Tree,” said caretaker Ray Johnston in telling this story of “The Bees.”
This 4:07-minute video “Tree of Fire Stories: The Bees” is an outtake (a scene filmed for a movie but not included in the final version) from the award-winning documentary film Tree of Fire: A Story of Love and Resilience.
“The voice that is heard deep within the soul is my voice – the voice of inspiration, of intuition, of guidance.”
“The Bees”
During my tenure here, I had to travel quite a bit. I was called to travel a lot to Santa Fe, New Mexico, as part of my work. One thing that I liked to do was go to the Santa Fe flea market each year.
I noticed there a gentleman that was selling honey and bee pollen. And the bee pollen was extraordinary. His bee pollen was almost psychedelic in color. I was really drawn to this guy, his honey, and his bee pollen each year.
Each time I travelled through Santa Fe, I purchased some of the honey and pollen and brought it back to Meher Mount. After a few years, the gentleman, whose name was Gary, explained to me that this was going to be his last year in Santa Fe. He was moving to Australia to be a beekeeper.
It shocked me. Where am I going to get such quality honey and bee pollen?
“Well, maybe I can help you find it somewhere else,” he said. “Where do you live in California?”
“It’s a small town you probably don’t know it. It’s called Ojai in Southern California.”
He said, “I know Ojai. Where in Ojai?”
“You may or may not know, but there’s a mountain range and a mountain called Sulphur Mountain,” I explained. “It’s up on Sulphur Mountain where I live.”
“Well, I'm kind of familiar with Sulphur Mountain. Where on Sulphur Mountain?”
I replied, “I'm sure you wouldn’t know, but it was part of the property there of Agnes Baron and Meher Mount.”
He exclaimed, “Oh! I know the Agnes Baron property!”
“Amazing! How?” I asked.
And so he told me the story. It was in the early 1970s, when he was at a crossroads in his life, trying to decide what he was going to do for his profession. He made a pilgrimage to Meher Mount, much the same as a lot of people do. He felt drawn and guided to sit under Baba’s Tree and to reflect on what decisions he needed to make for his future.
While he was sitting under the tree, he looked up and noticed that there was a bee’s nest inside one of the branches of the tree. And he felt the inspiration, or heard the voice, that he was supposed to be a master beekeeper.
It was so amazing to learn that this man had this inspiration years ago under the tree at Meher Mount, where I was now at the time, the caretaker.
He had moved to Santa Fe and had created this extraordinary product from his inspiration that all these years later ended up coming back and being a touchstone for me at Meher Mount, all the way from Santa Fe.
Gary never did make it to Australia. He actually passed away. I hadn’t seen a beehive in the tree for the entire period that I am talking about, but after his passing, there was the beginnings of a new beehive in a hole in the limb of the tree. I guess the hole had traditionally held bees.
This is one of the more fascinating stories of how Meher Mount and Baba’s Tree are like a magnet for many people.
~Ray Johnston, Resident Caretaker 2002-2010, Current
Tree of Fire: A Story of Love and Resilience
This award-winning documentary about Baba’s Tree at Meher Mount is a story of heartfelt story of loss, survival, and spiritual connection. After a devastating fire, a once-thriving massive oak – blessed by Avatar Meher Baba – rises from the ashes to offer love and solace.
Against all odds, volunteers worked together to nurture the tree back to health.
The survival of Baba’s Tree becomes a living symbol of resilience and Divine love. Through personal testimonies and breathtaking imagery, the film invites you to rediscover your own capacity for healing, transformation, and spiritual awakening.
