After Avatar Meher Baba’s visit to Meher Mount on August 2, 1956, He was scheduled to to continue His around-the-world trip and go to San Francisco next with a group of His followers.
The following is the interchange during His visit – as told by Agnes – between her and Meher Baba about her intention to drive to San Francisco the following day.
“Baba,” I said, “I am going to drive up in the station wagon. A lot of people have given me books to take.”
“No!” Baba said, “You have to come with Me in the plane.”
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According to the account in Lord Meher, Agnes was about to leave her guests and go to Meher Baba, when Ivy asked for something. Agnes was in such a hurry to leave she did not fulfill Ivy's request, causing Ivy to make some disparaging comment about Agnes.
Fuming, Agnes came to Meher Baba and said, “Baba, you say you have to love everybody, well I don't love everybody — what am I going to do about it?"
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One of the ways in which Agnes supported herself and Meher Mount was by being a substitute teacher. Some of her former students and a co-teacher posted their memories on Facebook in September 2020.
“She was a substitute teacher for me and other teachers at Isbell [Middle School]. I remember talking with her many times and receiving some of her home canned goods, herbs, or produce. The kids called her Bacon Lady but mostly in a loving way since she told such great stories. Never needed to leave sub plans for her!" – Linda Pittman Spink
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Agnes Baron recounts her first moments with Meher Baba:
“There are no words to describe it. It was so fantastic. All my doubts just flew out the window. The first thing Baba did was to open his arms and put my head on his shoulders. Something out of this world happens to you when Baba puts his arms around you. It's indescribable. What I saw sitting on the couch and what I felt was sitting on the couch were two different things. Without any more rationalizing, I accepted him one hundred percent.
“The love just poured out of him. His vibrations were like a hummingbird…you couldn't see the vibrations, but you knew the vibrating. You felt that in Baba...his eyes were so full of compassion, just utterly irresistible…. I was hooked…that was it. I didn't care about obedience. I didn't give a damn about anything like that. He was utterly irresistible.”
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Thirty-five years ago, in September 1982, Meher Mount co-founder and lifetime caretaker Agnes Baron took her first and only trip to India to meet with Meher Baba’s mandali (close disciples) regarding the future of Meher Mount.
She wanted the mandali’s advice on what to do with Meher Mount. At the time of her trip, Meher Mount was in her name, and she was wrestling with what to do with the property in the future. She had told Meher Baba in 1952 that she would keep Meher Mount for Him through “hell, fire and damnation.”
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Through the study of Vedanta, Agnes Baron found a conceptual construct that supported a driving force that had always been present in her life: Karma Yoga. Agnes often said that service to others had always come naturally to her.
Karma Yoga is one of the major “ways” or yogas for the life of the spirit. It is the discipline of selfless action, working and serving without attachment, egoism or expectation of gain or reward.
Throughout her 48 years at Meher Mount, Agnes continued to find ways to practice Karma Yoga.
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Agnes Baron, co-founder and lifetime caretaker of Meher Mount, spent a year living the life of a Vedanta nun before her time at Meher Mount. Vedanta played an important role in Agnes’ life, particularly in helping to prepare her for recognizing and accepting Avatar Meher Baba.
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On March 7, 1970, two of Avatar Meher Baba’s closest and longest tenured disciples, Adi K. Irani and Meherjee Karkaria, arrived at the Meher Spiritual Center in Myrtle Beach, SC. It just so happened on that same day an eclipse of the sun was visible along much of the east coast of the US, including Myrtle Beach.
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When I met Agnes Baron, a co-founder and lifetime caretaker of Meher Mount, I was living in Santa Barbara at the time and had avoided going to Meher Mount in Ojai because I had heard that Agnes was an “an old bitch” from some other Baba lovers.
In my experience, Agnes was tough and even fought the oil companies that were abusing land rights, but she had a softer side. When certain people visited, under circumstances that I didn’t realize, she would be gentle and treat them with kid gloves. Agnes could tune into what that person needed.
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In her quest to continually improve the DART (Drug Abuse Rehabilitation Training) program, Agnes Baron asked my then wife, Martha Ervin (now Aubin) and me to drive her in June 1972 to Arizona where she wanted to research several drug rehabilitation programs that were getting good press. We had previously been working as drug counselors with Agnes in the DART program in Ventura County, CA.
Although investigation into drug abuse programs initially led Agnes Baron to Arizona on a research trip, the related events of that trip proved to be the most memorable for me.
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“I bullied them into funding it,” said Agnes Baron of her efforts to get funding from the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to start the Drug Abuse Reorientation Training (DART) program.
“Meher Baba said a whole generation of leadership would be lost if they continued to get caught up in illicit drugs, so I told the board of supervisors they would be responsible if they did not do something to show they were serious about offering young people a non-punitive approach to dealing with drug problems,” she said.
“I embarrassed them for not having done anything about the problem, so they shut me up by funding the DART Program with $20,000 to get it started,” she recalled.
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In the summer of 1972, Agnes Baron asked me and my wife at the time, Martha Ervin (now Aubin), to drive her to Phoenix, Arizona, to visit some drug programs. She also expressed interest in visiting the Navajo and Hopi Indian reservations.
Driving on the Hopi Reservation, we came to a small hut where an old Hopi man sat in a simple wooden chair, serenely gazing out at the horizon. Agnes said, “Stop. I want to talk with him.” She got out and walked toward him.
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Before learning of Avatar Meher Baba, Agnes Baron, co-founder and caretaker of Meher Mount, lived the life of a Vedanta nun for a year at the Vedanta Temple in Montecito near Santa Barbara, California.
There she learned to love the Vedanta stories that impart spiritual and practical life lessons. One of her favorite stories, whose lesson she tried to incorporate into her own life was "Hiss, But Don't Bite."
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What Agnes Baron did, she did for Meher Baba alone. And that, in the scheme of things, was all that mattered.
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I had an experience with Agnes Baron once that gave me a great sense of validation. Evidently, I needed it. It happened just after visiting her for the very last time.
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Agnes Baron loved to tell stories from the Vedanta tradition. These stories illustrated various spiritual lessons or insights. One of her favorites was "The Second Loincloth."
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Agnes Baron (1907-1994) is remembered because of her dedication to Avatar Meher Baba, for her role as a founder and lifetime caretaker of Meher Mount, for her fiery nature and no-holds barred approach to life, for her selfless service, and for the many lives she touched.
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A humorous story wherein Margaret Magnus and Sam Ervin attempt to get a new car for Agnes Baron at Meher Mount sometime in the late 1970s/early 1980s..
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On the occasion of Agnes Baron's 105th birthday - January 17, 2012 - Meher Mount published this photo as a part of a short biography of Agnes. After seeing this photo, former Manager/Caretaker Ray Johnston sent the following email.
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I once traveled to Meher Mount for a work party after the fire. It was pouring rain.
I parked my rent-a-car near the work site. Agnes Baron [then caretaker of Meher Mount] jumped into the car.
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