"Love is dynamic in action and contagious in effect." - Avatar Meher Baba
Meher Mount
Your Friday photo is a video related to the film Tree of Fire: A Story of Love and Resilience…
“I Have to Tell You” is the story about one visitor who found solace for her grief at Baba’s Tree. It is told by Ellen Kwiatkowski, a storyteller in the film and resident caretaker 2019-2022.
This 3:50-minute video 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.
“Love is dynamic in action and contagious in effect. Pure love is matchless in majesty; it has no parallel in power and there is no darkness it cannot dispel. It is the undying flame that has set life aglow.”
“I Have to Tell You What Happened to Me”
There are different types of experiences that people have here at Meher Mount.
Most of the people that come up here are not people that come for Meher Baba. They come because they heard there is a nice view or they heard that it’s a great place to meditate. They come for that. Or they come because they know there are wildflowers and nature.
“I often notice a difference in people from when they arrive versus when they leave. Some people will want to tell you about what happened while they were here. Some people won't.
A recent thing that happened was really moving for me and for the person who experienced it.
A woman about my age came up. She had never been to Meher Mount before, but she had heard that it is a special place.
She had been having a very, very challenging couple of years, not just because of the pandemic, but because she’s caring for her older mother. Her sister, who was the primary caretaker of her mother, had died, and she was really close to her sister.
So now she was caring for her mom. She was feeling the weight and the burden, her grief, and the tiredness of carrying all that. She spent a long time out at the tree.
When she came back, she started to tell me what happened and to tell me her story.
But first she said, “Thank you! Thank you so much for having this place open and free, taking care of it, and making it available. I have to tell you what happened to me.”
When she was at the tree, she closed her eyes and was sitting there. She felt her sister take her hand, and she smelled her sister.
It brought her a lot of peace. It helped her process her grief. I think it also helped her know that everything was going to be okay no matter how hard life is. You can endure it and everything's going to be okay. She said she couldn’t wait to come back.
There are people who have those types of experiences. Then there are people who come and they’re just sightseeing and touring.
When they leave, they’re brighter, lighter, and so happy. They don’t talk about the energy. They don’t talk about any of that, but they’re affected by it, and you can’t help but notice it.
~Ellen Kwiatkowski, Resident Caretaker 2019-2022
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.
Quote Source: Filis Frederick, editor. The Path of Love (North Myrtle Beach, SC: Sheriar Press) p. 67. ©2000 by Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust, Ahilyanagar, India.