"The ideal prayer to the Lord is nothing more than spontaneous praise of His being." - Avatar Meher Baba

Your photo Friday is in gratitude of Avatar Meher Baba…

In June 2001, visitor Arnie Goldstein attended a concert in Southern California performed by Pete Townshend of The Who and a follower of Avatar Meher Baba.

“I also decided to take a journey afterward to Meher Mount in Ojai,” Goldstein remembered. “It was a sunny day. My mind and spirit were open as I walked the grounds and took in the sights.

“Eventually I entered Baba’s Tree canopy. I brought my portable CD player and had decided to listen to ‘O Parvardigar’ by Townshend while sitting and praying (for Mother Earth) under the Baba Tree.

“There was a bench, and hanging by a string on one end of the bench was indeed a paper with the words to Meher Baba’s Universal Prayer. I sat on the ground, turned on the song, put on my headphones, and prayed.”

He suggested a link to ‘O Parvardigar’ — the Universal Prayer in music form — as a way to express gratitude to Meher Baba.

“The ideal prayer to the Lord is nothing more than spontaneous praise of His being.

“You praise Him, not in the spirit of bargain but in the spirit of self-forgetful appreciation of what He really is. You praise Him because He is praiseworthy.

“Your praise is the spontaneous appreciative response to His true being, as infinite light, infinite power and infinite bliss.”

— Avatar Meher Baba

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Sources

• Photograph: Avatar Meher Baba in Guruprasad, India, 1965. ©Meher Nazar Publications. Used with permission.

• Arnold Goldstein’s story is from a forthcoming book of stories related to Baba’s Tree to be published in 2026.

• Pete Townshend, “Parvardigar” from the Who Came First album. ℗ 2018 Eel-Pie Recording Productions Ltd., under exclusive license to Universal Music Operations Limited. Released on: 1972-10-01. Composer Lyricist, Recording Engineer, Producer, Engineer, Associated Performer, Performer, Mixing Engineer: Pete Townshend Mastering Engineer: Jon Astley

• Beams from Meher Baba, pp. 74-75, © Sufism Reoriented, Inc., U.S.A., 1958, 4th printing May 1996.

• Margaret Magnus, “The Ideal Prayer to the Lord,” Meher Mount Story Blog, February 17, 2022. ©Meher Mount Corporation.

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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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