9902 Sulphur Mountain Road
Ojai, CA 93023-9375
Phone: 805-640-0000
Email: info@mehermount.org
Wednesday-Sunday: Noon to 5:00 p.m.
Monday & Tuesday: Closed
Buzz & Ginger Glasky
Sam Ervin, Preident
Ron Holsey, Vice President
Ursula Reinhart, Treasurer
Jim Whitson, Director
Richard Mannis, Director
Margaret Magnus, Secretary
Anecdotes, activities and stories about Meher Mount - past, present and future.
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.
Read MoreIn 1979, just 10 years after Avatar Meher Baba dropped His physical form, The Glow magazine published this account by Eruch Jessawala regarding the observance of Silence Day. Eruch was a close disciple of Meher Baba's and often interpreted Meher Baba's hand gestures.
From 1969 until Eruch's passing in 2001, Eruch would sit in Mandali Hall in Meherazad, India, and answer pilgrims' questions about life with Meher Baba and share his insights regarding the meaning of Meher Baba's words and actions. In the excerpt below, Eruch is answsering questions about Silence Day which is observed every July 10th.
Read MoreThe Weeds 'n' Water fundraising campaign and new water treatment system in 2003 started a chain reaction. It set in motion a number of projects and ongoing activities along with a planning approach that continue to shape Meher Mount today.
Weeds ‘n’ Water was both a fundraising campaign to raise $24,000 and a project to provide potable water and purchase a ride-on mower for weed abatement and fire protection for Meher Mount.
Its success demonstrated the power of planning and fundraising with community support and participation. In addition, Weeds ‘n’ Water helped to create a better visitor experience and to make the Manager/Caretaker job more manageable.
Read MoreMy own travels have taken me to places Avatar Meher Baba visited in Europe, Australia, South Carolina, and India. Now for the first time, I visit Meher Mount in Ojai, CA. I adore it.
Always loaded with spiritual expectations, we get stripped there. All what one might envisage of a spiritual center was not there: no discourses, no meditation sessions, no designated prayer spots, no singing.
Read More"…the personal disaster, for some years foretold by me, took place in the form of an automobile accident while crossing the American continent… It was necessary that it should happen in America. God willed it so." - Avatar Meher Baba
Read MoreIn January 2016, Yolanda Koumidou visited Meher Mount for Amartithi - a commemoration of the day in 1969 when Avatar Meher Baba dropped His physical form. She was inspired by that visit to write this poem "Under Baba's Tree."
Yolanda later return to Meher Mount in February 2017 to be a temporary caretaker. "What a privilege it was to be the caretaker of Meher Mount for a few days. It is truly a sacred space. Every time I return from Meher Mount, I am never the same."
Read MoreBeing a volunteer provides psychic rewards to you, concrete benefits to Meher Mount, and can help you expand and deepen your skills and knowledge to benefit you in your career and personal life. Here are a few tips on helping to make it a rewarding experience.
Read MoreThose who volunteer are healthier, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service. They “…have lower mortality rates, greater functional ability, and lower rates of depression later in life than those who do not volunteer.”
Scientific studies have shown that individuals who volunteer enjoy psychological and physical benefits, including increased satisfaction, an improved sense of belonging, lower blood pressure, increased protection from Alzheimer's, and decreased mortality.
Read MoreAvatar Meher Baba sent the following messages in different years for His birthday reminding His followers that each one of us is really God.
Read MoreAmartithi - or Eternal Day - marks the day, January 31, 1969, when Avatar Meher Baba dropped His physical form. Tens of thousands of pilgrims gather in Meherabad, India, at His Samadhi (tomb shrine) and elsewhere around the world to commemorate this event.
Mehera J. Irani was his closest woman disciple whom Meher Baba described as the purest soul in the universe. Meher Baba said she loved Him as He ought to be loved.
At the first Amartithi in 1970, approximately 1,700 of His lovers gathered on Meherabad Hill. Mehera, fighting back the tears, read out this message.
Read MoreWhen 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.
Read MoreOn Christmas morning in 1962, Avatar Meher Baba distributed chocolates to each of the mandali (close disciples) and stated:
Read MoreAvatar Meher Baba gave these comments about spiritual masters using the analogy of a water-diviner — a person who locates where a well should be dug.
Read MoreIn 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.
Read More“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.
Read More“Often the question is asked, what has been gained from one’s contact with [the] God-Man, what has one learned from the Lord in His Advent as Meher Baba?
“What can one say? The answer seems to lie within the words of Dr. William Donkin when he was asked that question: ‘It is not what I have gained, but what I have lost in the form of useless mental baggage.’
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreInspired by "National Read a Book Day" - observed annually on September 6 - Meher Mount shared these resources for books about Avatar Meher Baba and His life and words.
Read MoreIn 1956, Avatar Meher Baba circled the globe in 30 days and flew 30,000 miles crossing five continents. This journey included a three-day stop in Southern California with a visit to Meher Mount on August 2, 1956.
Because 1956 is such a significant year in the history of Meher Mount, there is a “1956” board on Pinterest to identify other memorable events around the world that year.
The following are photos of some of the 1956 events that intersected with Avatar Meher Baba.
Read MoreMeher Mount is often a source of inspiration to artists. That’s why painter and art instructor Jennifer McChristian has been conducting day-long en plein air painting classes here since 2009.
“I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something mystical about the place,” she says. “I feel so happy every time I go there.”
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