"It was as if I had called central casting..."
Meher Mount
Your Friday photo is a video…
Former resident caretaker Billy Goodrum tells the story of a biker arriving one afternoon at Meher Mount on his Harley Davidson motorcycle. “It was as if I had called central casting and requested that they send over a Hells Angel,” Billy recalled. Hear the complete story in this 1:56-minute video.
“The Biker” 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.
“People just get drawn to Baba’s Tree and have an experience there.”
As Billy tells the story:
One afternoon when we were caretakers there [at Meher Mount], someone drove up on their Harley and they were a full-on biker from Ventura. Beautiful Harley, lots of tattoos, big beard. They didn't have colors or anything. It wasn't like a biker gang, but a serious biker.
And he said, “What is this place?” He asked what the place was. And I said, “Well, it's, you know, a universal spiritual center.” And I just pointed him in the direction of the tree. And I walked halfway down with him and then pointed out Baba’s Tree to him.
And he walked down, and he was under there. And then about 30 minutes or so later, I heard the Harley drive off and that was that.
And then a week later, he showed back up with his girlfriend on the back of his bike and another guy on a Harley sent over from central casting. They looked like the Hells Angels. And he gets off his bike and he kind of walks over to me and goes, “Hey, is it okay if I show him the cathedral tree?”
And I was like, “Yeah, no go right ahead.” And then he walked down with his girlfriend and his friend and they were down there. And then I later heard the motorcycles drive off and never heard from him again.
But people just get drawn to that tree and have an experience there.
~Billy Goodrum, Resident Caretaker (2000-2002)