"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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