The Community Responds with Love & Prayers
Meher Mount
As the Thomas Fire raged through Ventura County and burned parts of Meher Mount, well wishers sent their love and prayers.
Read MoreStory Blog
Anecdotes, activities and stories about Meher Mount - past, present and future.
Meher Mount Survives Largest Wildfire in California History
Sam L. Ervin
The largest wildfire in California history, the Thomas Fire, started near (Saint) Thomas Aquinas College, about eight miles from Meher Mount and northwest of the city of Santa Paula, on Monday, December 4, 2017 at 6:26 p.m.
It is clear the fire visited nearly every part of the upper section of Meher Mount. Manager/Caretakers Buzz and Ginger Glasky were amazed at how the fire line seemed to stop at critical points.
In short, the fire brushed pass the buildings and equipment, even touching a trellis at the Visitor Center. Both the Visitor Center/Caretaker Quarters and the Topa Topa Patio are intact, although smoke damage is not yet known. Baba’s Tree suffered some damage, but its base remained standing. Some additional assessment and repair of the water system is needed.
Read MoreStone Signs & Markers Guide the Way
Margaret Magnus
It was one of those glorious winter days with clear skies and crisp weather when a group gathered at Meher Mount to install 14 new stone signs and markers. The Stone Sign & Marker project had been carefully planned. The signs were thoughtfully designed. The sizes of stones specifically chosen after several on-site visits. And now the final step was actually installing the signs in the ground.
Read MoreAgnes Baron's 1982 Trip to India
Margaret Magnus
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.”
Read MoreKarma Yoga Is a Central Practice in Agnes Baron's Life
Sam L. Ervin
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.
Read MoreVedanta Leads Agnes Baron to Meher Baba
Sam L. Ervin
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.
Read MoreJean Adriel Writes Avatar - A Biography of Meher Baba
Margaret Magnus
“To the living Christ whose beauty the very heavens cannot contain, but whose presence may be found in every humble, living heart," wrote Jean Adriel in her Dedication for the biography, Avatar: The Life Story of the Perfect Master Meher Baba, 1947
"Besides telling the life story of Baba, the author relates her personal experiences with him, along with those of many other of his close followers. This account of Baba’s life describes many events from ‘behind the scenes’ - it captures the gamut of emotions involved as people struggled variously to comprehend Baba’s unusual ways, to carry out his demanding instructions, to test him, and to love him.” - Back Cover, Avatar
Read MoreThe Caretakers' Life at Meher Mount
Margaret Magnus
What is it like to be a Manager/Caretaker at Meher Mount? Past and current Manager/Caretakers describe their impressions, their joys, and their inspiration.
Read MoreMeher Baba's New Life
Meher Mount
“The New Life was the voluntary suspension of the state of Perfect Master to become a common man and a Perfect Seeker…” - The God Man by C.D. Purdom
Read MoreA Balancing of the Light and the Dark
Sam L. Ervin
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 MoreHow Silence Day Started
Eruch Jessawala
In 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 Legacy of Weeds 'n' Water
Margaret Magnus
The 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 MoreNow for the First Time, I Visit Meher Mount
Renate Moritz
My 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..."
Wayne Myers
"…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 More"Under Baba's Tree" - A Poem
Yolanda Koumidou
In 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 MoreTips for Being a Volunteer
Margaret Magnus
Being 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 MoreThe Personal Benefits of a Being a Volunteer
Meher Mount
Those 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 MoreMeher Baba's Messages for His Birthday
Meher Mount
Avatar Meher Baba sent the following messages in different years for His birthday reminding His followers that each one of us is really God.
Read MoreMehera's Message at the First Amartithi
Meher Mount
Amartithi - 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 MoreCherished Memories of Caring for Agnes Baron
Ken Ceder
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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