Meher Baba: Biography from Answers.com

Generally known by the name of Meher Baba or The Awakener, Indian mystic Merwan Sheriar Irani (1894 - 1969) attracted many followers around the world throughout his lifetime. "Baba-lovers," as they are known, believe that Meher Baba (along with Jesus Christ, Buddha, Mohammed, Krishna, and Zoroaster) was the Avatar, an extraordinary soul who periodically takes a human form as the incarnation of God.

Ordinary Beginnings

The son of Persians, Meher Baba was born on February 25, 1894, in Poona, Maharashtra, India. As fervent Zoroastrians, his parents centered their spiritual life around the Avesta, which describes the religious system founded by Zoroaster and espouses the worship of Ahura Mazda in the context of a universal struggle between the forces of darkness and light. In fact, Baba's father had been a wandering Sufi dervish - the equivalent of a monk - in his younger years and had only been persuaded by "a voice" to return to his home in Poona, where he would find a wife and bear a child. This child, he was told, would "complete his search for God." He continued to live as an ascetic for another decade, until 1883, when he announced that he would marry the then-five-year-old Shireen. Her parents permitted the girl to marry Irani when she was 14 and he was 39. He would later run a teashop in Poona.

Despite their religious beliefs, the Iranis (a common surname of the period meaning "from Iran") sent their son to St. Vincent's High School, a Jesuit Catholic school in Poona. Beginning in 1911, Baba attended Poona's Deccan College.

Accounts of his early life suggest that Baba led a happy, active and normal childhood. His mother, Shireen, who had one other son, called Baba her "most beautiful child," and, when he was a little older, friends nicknamed the charismatic young man "Electricity." He reportedly had an interest in mystical topics and the occult from an early age, although he also enjoyed sports such as cricket. In college, Baba became a talented musician and poet and enjoyed reading Shakespeare, Shelley, and Wordsworth, as well as Sufi poets such as Hafiz.

A Momentous Event

Baba's life is said to have changed abruptly in 1913, when at the age of 19 he was bicycling to his classes at college and felt compelled to stop and sit with an old woman who was a fixture in Poona. Named Hazrat Babajan, the Mohammedan woman lived under a neem tree and was thought to be at least 100 years old. She was also believed to be one of the five Sadgurus (Perfect Masters of the Age), those beings who are responsible for the birth of the Avatar ("first soul" or "ancient one") in each Avataric age. The day they met, she briefly embraced Baba and sat with him for a time silently.

After a number of such meetings, one night in January 1914 she kissed Baba on the forehead, thereby transferring to him what he later termed "God-realization," or the knowledge that he was the Avatar. This state of being, Baba later explained, was a permanent one which consisted of a continuous experience of infinite bliss, knowledge, and power.

The awareness of his true identity caused Baba to appear to lose his mind. Much to his family's and friends' dismay, he stopped eating and sleeping and wandered randomly throughout the area. Baba's parents took him to doctors and put him on medications, but despite their efforts the young man spent most of his time sitting and staring. During this period he was reportedly led to each of the other four Perfect Masters. Mrs. Irani even went to Babajan to see what she had done to her son. The old woman merely told the distraught mother that Baba was not insane but that he "was destined to shake the world into wakefulness." Meanwhile, as he later recalled, Baba was completely involved in "experiencing God" and was so unconscious of the world that he kept a stone in his room to knock his head against in order to bring an awareness of his surroundings to his mind.

As legend has it, after nine months Baba began sleeping and eating again. He offered to teach Persian to a friend, Behramji, who became Baba's first disciple. In April 1915, Baba announced that he would be traveling for a time, and - although he was still considered insane by most - he departed Poona for the first time.

Then Baba was guided to another Perfect Master in Kedgaon, Narayan Maharaj, who did "spiritual work" with him and helped him back to "more normal consciousness." Baba then returned to Poona for some time but ventured forth again to seek out the third Perfect Master, Tajuddin Baba, who helped him become more aware of his divine nature. In December 1915 Baba met the fourth Perfect Master, Sai Baba, who lived in Shirdi and who reportedly exclaimed Parvardigar! ("God Almighty Sustainer!") upon seeing Baba. Sai Baba sent Baba on to the fifth Perfect Master, a hermit named Upasni Maharaj, who threw a rock at the approaching man that hit him exactly where Hazrat Babajan had once kissed him on the forehead. Upon sustaining this blow, Baba reportedly became even more aware of his divine purpose.

Returned to Everyday Life

From 1915 to approximately 1922, Baba held a series of jobs, including managing a theater and working in his father's tea shop. The elder Irani decided to sell alcohol at one point to improve business, but his son frequently chastised customers to quit drinking. Eventually, Baba and Behramji took over the shop, but their mismanagement of it combined with the Noncooperation Movement (a civilian protest against goods made in Britain) soon forced them to close the business.

Meanwhile, Baba was working with Upasni Maharaj to integrate his consciousness of God with everyday human existence. At the end of 1921, Upasni was so impressed with Baba's progress that he declared him to be a Perfect Master as well as the Avatar. In 1922, Baba began to attract a small group of dedicated followers who began to call him "Meher Baba," or "Compassionate Father." Although his disciples considered him to be a Perfect Master and some even began to call him a messiah, Baba did not openly state what he believed to be his destiny. In the next several years, people from all over India came to see him as word spread of his presence, and eventually he announced to his growing body of followers, "I am infinite power, knowledge and bliss. I am the Ancient One, come to redeem the modern world."

Established as Spiritual Leader

Baba next established an ashram (the secluded residence of a guru and his or her religious community) in Bombay (now Mumbai) named Manzil-e-Meem (House of the Master). There, he trained his disciples. He insisted that his followers live under strict discipline, giving up "selfish thoughts" and all possessions, as well as obeying Baba in all matters. The ashram dissolved in about 1923, and Baba relocated with his most dedicated followers, the mandali, to another ashram in Arangaon, outside Ahmednagar.

In 1923 - 1924, Baba fasted, traveled around India, and held spiritual discussions. The new ashram was named Meherabad after its leader, and under its guru's watchful eye, an entire city developed there by 1925, complete with a post office, free school, and free hospital. Because many people of all different backgrounds lived there, getting the community to run smoothly was especially challenging in such a religion-and caste-conscious society. Nevertheless, Meherabad would become Baba's spiritual base.

Began Decades of Silence

On July 10, 1925, Baba began what he initially said would be a short period of silence "to save mankind from monumental ignorance." The leader assured his followers that he would end his silence when "suffering on earth was at its height" and would be linked to "the universal awareness of God on earth." His controversial silence would last 44 years - for the remainder of his long life.

At the beginning of his vow of silence, Baba would communicate through writing and promised that he would soon speak again. He and his mandali fasted and worked intensively together. Meanwhile, Baba began writing a book of spiritual thoughts. It would never be published. In 1927, he began using an alphabet board to communicate and also established a school for boys of all religions and castes to teach them secular and spiritual subjects. The school closed in 1929.

Introduced to the West

By 1930, news of Baba had begun to reach the West. He traveled to England in 1931 and 1932, meeting there with Indian political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi. Baba gave many interviews to curious reporters, and when asked if he was the Messiah did not deny that the salvation of mankind was his purpose. In one of these interviews, he reportedly declared, "I have not come to establish any cult, society, or organization, nor to establish a new religion. The religion I shall give teaches the knowledge of the One behind the many." He also spoke of a book that he would write that would hold "the key to the mystery of life." His claims prompted contempt, hostility, and amusement, and many skeptics called him a false prophet. Baba refused demands to perform miracles, saying that the only miracles he could cause were the "awakening of the heart" and the breaking of his silence.

Baba visited the United States in 1932, where he was especially well received in Hollywood. Top celebrities of the day, including Douglas Fairbanks, Tallulah Bankhead, and Mary Pickford, attended a large reception there for him. From 1932 to 1936, Baba traveled to Europe and Asia several times. Beginning in 1936, he initiated a campaign to gather together all of the mast-Allah ("God-intoxicated ones") that he and his disciples could find. (According to Baba's accounts, these individuals appear insane but are actually in such blissful states that they cannot relate to the everyday world in any meaningful way. He believed that these people are found only in Eastern countries.) Baba set up special ashrams for the masts, as he called them, where he personally bathed, fed, and clothed them.

Near the end of the 1930s, Baba founded a new ashram in Nasik, India, for his Western followers. The discipline there was much less rigorous and had more Western-style conveniences than the ashram at Meherabad. Apparently the most difficult aspect of life there was learning to get along with other Baba devotees, but the guru preached, "If you cannot love each other, then learn to give in."

Baba divided his time among the mast ashrams and the Nasik ashram until 1941, when he shut down all but the Meherabad group because of Word War II. However, he continued with his search for masts throughout India until 1948.

Start of "New Life"

In 1949, Baba shocked and dismayed his followers by announcing that he would immediately begin a "new life," saying that all his ashrams except Meherabad would be closed down or would have to operate without his guidance. Baba said that from this point on he would "rely solely upon God" and would renounce his role of Perfect Master, instead calling himself a common man, or Perfect Seeker. He permitted only a few of his closest devotees to remain with him as he entered this phase of his life, which he said comprised "complete renunciation of falsehood, lies, hatred, greed, and lust" and which would "live by itself eternally, even if there is no one to live it."

Baba and his small circle of followers began to wander throughout Nepal and India in what would become a severe test of their devotion. Baba personally bathed lepers, washed the feet of many poor people, and handed out grain and clothing to the needy. He called his existence during this period "Helplessness and Hopelessness," but insisted that his followers "wholeheartedly face all hardships with 100 percent cheerfulness." After several years of this strict regimen, Baba secluded himself in order to achieve mano-nash, or "annihilation of the mind," saying, "We must lose ourselves to find ourselves.… We must die to self to live in God; thus death means life.… Being is dying by loving."

"Fiery Free Life"

In 1952 Baba entered a new phase of his life that he called the "Fiery Free Life." The goal of this period, he said, was to "dissolve the bindings of every soul, and establish to the world that everyone and everything is one with God." Later that year, he announced publicly for the first time that he was the Messiah…God in human form. Baba said that injuries he sustained in automobile accidents in 1952 and 1956 were the modern equivalent of the physical traumas suffered by the world's great spiritual leaders. He proclaimed that his "physical bones were broken so as to break the backbone of the material aspect of the machine age, while keeping intact its spiritual aspect." By now, thousands of worshippers, sometimes as many as 100,000 in one day, were traveling from all over India just to see Baba from a distance.

In 1954, Baba had stopped using the alphabet board and was communicating with his closest subjects using their sign language. By then, he had dictated his 1954 book God Speaks using the English-alphabet board. Starting in 1957, he held many darshan (divine blessings or viewings), one of which united his Eastern and Western followers for the first time. A year later, his mandali issued "Meher Baba's Universal Message," which comprised all the leader's sayings and teachings that they had gathered together. In it, Baba pronounced, "I have not come to teach, but to awaken.… Because man has been deaf to the principles and precepts laid down by God in the past, in this present Avataric Form I observe silence.… My present [form] is the last Incarnation of the cycle of time. Hence, my manifestation will be the greatest. When I break my silence, the impact of my love will be universal and all life in creation will know, feel, and receive of it.… I had to come, and I have come. I am the Ancient One."

Baba's last trip to the United States was in 1958, when he visited the Meher Spiritual Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The center had been established to study his teachings. Baba's popularity surged in the 1960s with the rise of the hippie culture in the United States and Australia. Young people experimenting with drugs were especially attracted to the leader, but when Baba sternly warned against the dangers of drug use, these followers left him in droves. However, many devotees felt even more strongly attached to him because of this message. It was also around this time that Baba is credited with coining the now popular phrase, "Don't worry, be happy."

Seclusion Again

Baba went into strict seclusion again in 1967 despite strong demands from his audience. Only a select few of his closest associates were permitted to see him during this phase, which he said was part of his "universal work," the results of which would be "intensely felt by all the people of the world." He pledged that he would give a public darshan in 1969, although the 75-year-old Baba's health was quickly declining.

By January 1969, the guru was reportedly in chronic major pain from a hip that he had broken in one of the automobile accidents in the 1950s, but he announced that he had finished his "universal work." On January 31, 1969, in Pimplegaon, India, to the great dismay of his many followers, Baba died without breaking his long silence, only signing to a disciple the message "Do not forget that I am God." Over the following week, mourners came from all over the world to pass through Baba's tomb prior to his burial in Meherabad. From April through June 1969, his followers carried out the final darshan that their leader had promised. Thousands attended the ceremonies in Poona and at Baba's tomb.

After his death, Baba retained a strong following all over the world. Baba-lovers observe "Silence Day" every year on July 10, and dozens of Internet sites are dedicated to disseminating information by and about him. Pilgrims continued to frequent several sites at which Baba's spirit is thought to be especially strong: the ashram at Meherabad, Avatar's Abode in Australia, Meher Mount in California and the Meher Spiritual Center.

Online

"The Life of Meher Baba," The Northern California Meher Baba Center,http://www.meherbabameherbaba.org (December 16, 2003).

"Meher Baba," Meta-Religion,http://www.met-religion.com (December 16, 2003).

"Meher Baba, Avatar of the Age, Biography," Avatar Meher Baba,http://www.avatarmeherbaba.org (December 16, 2003).

Meher Baba

Full name	Meher Baba
Born	February 25, 1894 Poona (now Pune), India
Died	January 31, 1969(1969-01-31) (aged 74) Meherazad, India
Era	20th century
Region	India
School	Sufism, Vedanta, Mysticism
Main interests	Religion, Metaphysics, Aesthetics, Ethics
Influenced by Hazrat Babajan, Sai Baba of Shirdi, Upasni Maharaj, Hazrat Tajuddin Baba, Narayan Maharaj
Signature

Meher Baba (Devanagari: मेहेर बाबा, Urdu: مہر بابا), (February 25, 1894 – January 31, 1969), born Merwan Sheriar Irani, was an Indian mystic and spiritual master who declared publicly in 1954 that he was the Avatar of the age.

Merwan Sheriar Irani was born in 1894 and led a normal childhood, showing no particularly strong inclination toward spiritual matters. At the age of 19, a brief contact with the Muslim holy woman Hazrat Babajan began his seven-year process of spiritual transformation.^[1]^[2] Over the next months, he contacted four additional spiritual figures whom, along with Babajan, he called "the five Perfect Masters." He spent seven years with Upasni Maharaj, one of the masters, before beginning his public work.^[3] The name Meher Baba means "Compassionate Father" in Persian and was given to him by his first followers.^[4]

From July 10, 1925 to the end of his life, Meher Baba maintained silence, communicating by means of an alphabet board or by unique hand gestures.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8] With his mandali (circle of disciples), he spent long periods in seclusion, during which time he often fasted. He also traveled widely, held public gatherings, and engaged in works of charity with lepers, the poor, and the mentally ill.

In 1931, Meher Baba made the first of many visits to the West, where he attracted many followers.^[9] Throughout most of the 1940s, Meher Baba worked with a category of spiritual aspirant called masts,^[10] whom he said are entranced or spellbound by internal spiritual experiences. Starting in 1949, along with selected mandali, he traveled incognito about India in what he called "The New Life." On February 10, 1954, Meher Baba declared that he was the Avatar (an incarnation of God), ^[11] and on July 10, 1958 he released his Universal Message.

After being injured as a passenger in two automobile accidents, one in the United States in 1952 and one in India in 1956, his ability to walk became severely limited.^[12]^[13] In 1962, he invited his Western followers to India for a mass darshan called "The East-West Gathering."^[14] Concerned by an increasing use of LSD and other psychedelic drugs,^[15] in 1966 Baba stated that they did not convey real benefits.^[16] Despite deteriorating health, he continued what he called his "Universal Work," which included fasting and seclusion, until his death on January 31, 1969. His samadhi (tomb-shrine) in Meherabad, India has become a place of international pilgrimage.^[17]

Early life

Meher Baba at 16 years old in 1910

Meher Baba was an Irani^[18] born in Pune, India to a Zoroastrian family.^[19] His given name was Merwan Sheriar Irani. He was the second son of Sheriar Mundegar Irani, a Persian Zoroastrian who had spent years wandering in search of spiritual experience before settling in Poona (now Pune), and Sheriar's young wife, Shireen.^[20]

His schoolmates nicknamed him "Electricity." As a boy he formed "The Cosmopolitan Club," which was dedicated to remaining informed in world affairs and giving money to charity. Money was raised by donations and sometimes by gambling, e.g. betting at the horse races.^[21] He had an excellent singing voice and was a multi-instrumentalist and poet. Fluent in several languages, he was especially fond of the poetry of Hafiz, Shakespeare, and Shelley.^[22]

In his youth, he had no mystical inclinations or experiences, and was "[u]ntroubled as yet by a sense of his own destiny..."^[23] He was more interested in sports, especially cricket, and was co-captain of his high school cricket team. Baba later explained that a veil is always placed over the Avatar until the time is right for him to begin his work.^[24] At the age of 19, during his second year at Deccan College in Poona (now Pune), he met a very old Muslim woman, a spiritual master named Hazrat Babajan, who kissed him on the forehead. The event affected him profoundly; he experienced visions and mystical feelings so powerful that he gave up his normal activities.^[25] He began to beat his head against a stone to maintain, as he later put it, contact with the physical world. He also contacted other spiritual figures, who (along with Babajan) he later said were the five "Perfect Masters" of the age: Hazrat Tajuddin Baba of Nagpur, Narayan Maharaj of Kedgaon, Sai Baba of Shirdi, and Upasni Maharaj of Sakori.^[26]

Upasni helped him, he later said, to integrate his mystical experiences with normal consciousness, thus enabling him to function in the world without diminishing his experience of God-realization.^[27] In 1921, at the age of 27, after living for seven years with Upasni, Merwan started to attract a following of his own. His early followers gave him the name "Meher Baba," meaning Compassionate Father.^[28]

In 1922, Meher Baba and his followers established "Manzil-e-Meem" (House of the Master) in Bombay (now Mumbai). There Baba began his practice of demanding strict discipline and obedience from his disciples.^[29] A year later, Baba and his mandali moved to an area a few miles outside Ahmednagar that he named "Meherabad" (Meher flourishing).^[30] This ashram would become the center for his work. In 1924, Meher Baba created a resident school at Meherabad that he named the "Prem Ashram" (in several languages "prem" means "love"). The school was free and open to all castes and faiths. The school drew multi-denominational students from around India and Iran.^[31]

Silence

From July 10, 1925 until his death in 1969, Meher Baba was silent.^[6]^[32] He communicated first by using an alphabet board and later by unique hand gestures which were interpreted and spoken out by one of his mandali, usually by his disciple Eruch Jessawala.^[5] Meher Baba said that his silence was not undertaken as a spiritual exercise but solely in connection with his universal work.

Man’s inability to live God’s words makes the Avatar’s teaching a mockery. Instead of practicing the compassion he taught, man has waged wars in his name. Instead of living the humility, purity, and truth of his words, man has given way to hatred, greed, and violence. Because man has been deaf to the principles and precepts laid down by God in the past, in this present Avataric form, I observe silence.^[33]

From 1925 until 1954 Meher Baba communicated by pointing to letters on an alphabet board.

Meher Baba often spoke of the moment "that he would 'break' his silence by speaking the 'Word' in every heart, thereby giving a spiritual push forward to all living things."^[34]

When I break My Silence, the impact of My Love will be universal and all life in creation will know, feel and receive of it. It will help every individual to break himself free from his own bondage in his own way. I am the Divine Beloved who loves you more than you can ever love yourself. The breaking of My Silence will help you to help yourself in knowing your real Self.^[35]

Meher Baba said that the breaking of his silence would be a defining event in the spiritual evolution of the world.

When I speak that Word, I shall lay the foundation for that which is to take place during the next seven hundred years.^[36]

On many occasions Meher Baba promised to break his silence with an audible word^[37] before he died, often stating a specific time and place when this would occur.^[38] His failure to fulfill these promises disappointed some of his followers, while others regarded these broken promises as a test of their faith.^[39] Some followers speculate that "the Word" will yet be "spoken," or that Meher Baba did break his silence but in a spiritual rather than a physical way.^[36]

According to all contemporary accounts, Meher Baba remained silent until his death, but more than thirty years later one close disciple recalled that Meher Baba had spoken to him a few hours before he died,^[40] although this recollection contradicted his own earlier accounts.^[41]

Each July 10, many of Baba's followers celebrate Silence Day to honor him.

1930s

First contacts with the West

In the 1930s, Meher Baba began a period of extensive world travel, with several trips to Europe and the United States. It was during this period that he established contact with his first close group of Western disciples.^[9] He traveled on a Persian passport because he had given up writing as well as speaking and would not sign the forms required by the British government of India.^[42]

On his first trip to England in 1931 he traveled on the Rajputana, the same ship that was carrying Mahatma Gandhi, who was sailing to the second Round Table Conference in London. Baba and Gandhi had three meetings onboard, including one that lasted for three hours.^[43] The British press highlighted these meetings,^[44] but an aide to Gandhi said, "You may say emphatically that Gandhi never asked Meher Baba for help or for spiritual or other advice."^[45]

Meher Baba in 1925, the year he began his lifelong silence

On the journey he was interviewed on behalf of the Associated Press, which quoted him describing his trip as a "new crusade . . . to break down all religious barriers and destroy America's materialism and amalgamate all creeds into a common element of love".^[46] His intention, according to the resulting article, was to convert thousands of Americans from sin. Describing Baba as "The Messiah," the article also claims he listed miracles he had performed, and said that a person who becomes one with the truth can accomplish anything, but that it is a weakness to perform miracles only to show spiritual power. However, another description of the interview states that when Baba was asked about the miracles attributed to him, he replied "The only miracle for the Perfect Man to perform is to make others perfect too. I want to make the Americans realize the infinite state which I myself enjoy."^[47]

Baba was invited to the "Meherashram" retreat in Harmon, New York by Malcolm and Jean Schloss. A Time magazine article on the visit states that Schloss referred to him in uppercase as "He, Him, His, Himself" and that Baba was described by his followers variously as the "God Man," "Messiah" or "Perfect Master."^[48]

On May 20, 1932 Baba arrived in New York and provided the press with a 1,000-word written statement, which was described by devotee Quentin Tod as his Message to America. In the statement Baba proclaimed himself "one with the infinite source of everything," and declared his intention to break his silence: "When I speak, my original message will be delivered to the world and it will have to be accepted". When asked about the Indo-British political situation, he had no comment, but his followers explained that he had told Gandhi to abandon politics.^[49]

Meher Baba at Paramount Film Studio, London, April 1932

In the West, Meher Baba met with a number of celebrities and artists, including Hollywood notables Gary Cooper, Charles Laughton, Tallulah Bankhead, Boris Karloff, Tom Mix, Maurice Chevalier, Ernst Lubitsch and others.^[50] On June 1, 1932 Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. held a reception for Baba at Pickfair where he delivered a message to Hollywood.^[51]^[52] As a result, Meher Baba emerged as “one of the enthusiasms of the ‘30s.” ^[53]

In 1934, after announcing that he would break his self-imposed silence in the Hollywood Bowl, Baba suddenly changed his plans and boarded the Empress of Canada and sailed to Hong Kong without explanation. The Associated Press reported that "Baba had decided to postpone the word-fast breaking until next February because 'conditions are not yet ripe'."^[54] He returned to England in 1936^[55] but did not return to the United States again until the early 1950s.^[56]

In the late 1930s, Meher Baba invited a group of Western women to join him in India, where he arranged a series of trips throughout India and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) that became known as the Blue Bus Tours. When they returned home, many newspapers treated their journey as an occasion for scandal.^[57] Time Magazine's 1936 review of God is my Adventure describes the US's fascination with the "long-haired, silky-mustached Parsee named Shri Sadgaru [sic] Meher Baba" four years earlier.^[58]

Discourses

Main article: Discourses (Meher Baba)

During the course of early gatherings of his close circle and followers, Meher Baba gave discourses on various spiritual subjects. Between 1938 and 1943, at the request of Princess Norina Matchabelli, one of his earliest Western devotees, Meher Baba dictated a series of discourses on his alphabet board for the Meher Baba Journal.^[59] These discourses, transcribed or worked up by close disciples from points given by Baba, address many aspects of the spiritual life and provide practical and simple direction for the spiritual aspirant. During those years, at least one discourse appeared each month in the journal. Chakradhar Dharnidhar Deshmukh, a close disciple of Meher Baba, compiled and edited the discourses.

Between 1939 and 1954 in India, a five-volume compilation titled Discourses of Meher Baba was printed several times. In 1967 Baba personally supervised the editing and publication of a new three-volume version of the Discourses, which became known as the sixth edition.^[60] A widely-available seventh edition of the Discourses, first published in 1987 (after Baba's death), contains numerous editorial changes not specifically authorized by Baba.^[61]

1940s

Work with 'masts'

Meher Baba with mast Shariat Khan in Bangalore, 1940

Main article: Mast (Sufism)

In the 1930s and 1940s, Meher Baba did extensive work with a category of people he termed masts, who are persons "intoxicated with God."^[62] According to Baba these individuals are essentially disabled by their enchanting experience of the higher spiritual planes. Although outwardly masts may appear irrational or even insane, Baba indicated that their spiritual status was actually quite elevated, and that by meeting with them he helped them to move forward spiritually while enlisting their aid in his spiritual work.^[10] One of the best known of these masts, known as Mohammed Mast, lived at Meher Baba's encampment at Meherabad until his death in 2003.^[63]

The New Life

Main article: New Life (Meher Baba)

In 1949 Baba began an enigmatic period that he called "The New Life". Following a series of questions on their readiness to obey even the most difficult of his requests, Baba selected twenty companions to join him in a life of complete "hopelessness, helplessness and aimlessness."^[64]

He made provisions for those dependent on him, after which he and his companions otherwise gave up almost all property and financial responsibilities. They then traveled about India incognito while begging for food and carrying out Baba's instructions in accordance with a strict set of "conditions of the New Life." These included absolute acceptance of any circumstance and consistent good cheer in the face of any difficulty. Companions who failed to comply were sent away.^[65]

About the New Life Meher Baba wrote:

This New Life is endless, and even after my physical death it will be kept alive by those who live the life of complete renunciation of falsehood, lies, hatred, anger, greed and lust; and who, to accomplish all this, do no lustful actions, do no harm to anyone, do no backbiting, do not seek material possessions or power, who accept no homage, neither covet honor nor shun disgrace, and fear no one and nothing; by those who rely wholly and solely on God, and who love God purely for the sake of loving; who believe in the lovers of God and in the reality of Manifestation, and yet do not expect any spiritual or material reward; who do not let go the hand of Truth, and who, without being upset by calamities, bravely and wholeheartedly face all hardships with one hundred percent cheerfulness, and give no importance to caste, creed and religious ceremonies. This New Life will live by itself eternally, even if there is no one to live it.^[66]

After a period of seclusion and fasting Meher Baba ended the New Life in February 1952^[67] and once again began a round of public appearances throughout India and the West.^[68]

1950s

Meher Baba leaving a darshan program, February 26, 1954, riding on the roof of a car so that attendees can see.^[69]

Automobile accident in the United States

In the 1950s Baba established two centers outside of India: the Meher Spiritual Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in the United States and Avatar's Abode near Brisbane, Australia. He inaugurated the Meher Spiritual Center in April 1952. On May 24, 1952, en route from the Meher Spiritual Center to Meher Mount in Ojai, California, the car in which he was a passenger was struck head-on near Prague, Oklahoma. He and his companions were thrown from the vehicle and suffered many injuries. Baba's leg was severely broken and he sustained facial injuries, including a broken nose. The injured were treated at Duke Hospital in Durham, North Carolina, after which they returned to Myrtle Beach to recuperate.^[12] While recuperating at Youpon Dunes, a home owned by Elizabeth Patterson, in Myrtle Beach, he worked on the charter for his group, which he named "Sufism Reoriented".

Declaration of Avatarhood

Meher Baba began dictating his major book about the purpose of creation, God Speaks, in Dehradun, August 1953.^[70] In it he explained the difference between the Avatar and the Sadgurus.^[71] In September 1953, at Dehradun, Meher Baba declared that he was "The Highest of the High."^[72] On February 10, 1954 in Meherastana U.P., India, Meher Baba publicly and explicitly declared his Avatarhood for the first time, spelling out on his alphabet board "Avatar Meher Baba Ki Jai."^[11]

In September of that year, Meher Baba gave a "men-only" sahavas at Meherabad that later became known as the "Three Incredible Weeks."^[73] During this time Baba issued a declaration, "Meher Baba's Call," wherein he affirmed his Avatarhood "irrespective of the doubts and convictions" of others.^[74] At the end of this sahavas Meher Baba gave the completed manuscript of his book God Speaks to two attending American Sufis, Lud Dimpfl and Don E. Stevens, for editing and publication in America.^[75] The book was published by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. On September 30, 1954 Meher Baba gave his "Final Declaration" message, in which he made various enigmatic predictions.^[76]

In October 1954, Meher Baba discarded his alphabet board and began using a unique set of hand gestures to communicate.^[77]

Automobile accident in India

On December 2, 1956, outside Satara, India, the car in which Baba was being driven went out of control and a second serious automobile accident occurred. Baba suffered a fractured pelvis and other severe injuries. Dr. Nilu, one of Baba's mandali, was killed.^[13] This collision seriously incapacitated Baba. Despite his physicians' predictions to the contrary, after great effort Baba managed to walk again, but from that point on he was in constant pain and was severely limited in his ability to move. In fact, during his trip to the West in 1958 he often needed to be carried from venue to venue.^[78] Baba indicated that his automobile accidents and the suffering that attended them were, like his silence, purposeful and brought about by his will.^[79]

Final visits to the West

In 1956, during his fifth visit to the US, Baba stayed at New York's Hotel Delmonico before traveling to the Meher Center at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. In July he traveled to Washington, D.C. and received friends and disciples at the home of Mrs. James Terry (Ivy) Duce,^[80] wife of the vice-president of the Arabian American Oil Co.^[81] He then traveled to Meher Mount at Ojai, California before continuing on to Australia. His final visits to the United States and Australia were made in 1958.^[82]

1960s

Seclusion and East-West Gathering

Baba returned to India and began more periods of fasting and seclusion. He conveyed that although the work was draining and exhausting, it was done on behalf of the spiritual welfare of all humanity.^[83]^[84]

In 1962, Baba gave one of his last public functions, a series of meetings he called The East-West Gathering. At these meetings, in which his western followers were invited to meet his Indian disciples, Baba gave darshan to many thousands of people despite the physical strain this caused.^[85]

Addressing the drug culture

Main article: God in a Pill?

In the mid 1960s Baba became concerned with the increasingly prevalent drug culture in the West and began a correspondence with several Western academics, including Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert, in which he strongly discouraged the use of all hallucinogenic drugs for spiritual purposes.^[86] In 1966 Baba's responses to questions on drugs were published in a pamphlet titled God in a Pill? Meher Baba stated that drug use was spiritually damaging and that if enlightenment were possible through drugs then "God is not worthy of being God."^[87] Meher Baba instructed some of his young Western disciples to spread this message; in doing so, they increased awareness of Meher Baba's teachings among the young during this period. In an interview with Frederick Chapman, a Harvard graduate and Fulbright scholar who met Baba during a year of study in India, Baba stated that LSD is "harmful physically, mentally and spiritually", and warned that "the continued use of LSD leads to madness or death."^[88]

On this basis, an anti-drug campaign was initiated by Baba lovers in the United States, Europe and Australia. Although the campaign was largely unsuccessful,^[89] it created a wave of new followers, and some of Baba’s views found their way into academic debate on the merits and dangers of hallucinogens.^[90]

Final seclusion and death

Main articles: Amartithi and 1969 Darshan

From the East-West Gathering onward, Baba's health steadily deteriorated. Despite the physical toll it took on his body, he continued to undergo long periods of seclusion and fasting.^[91] In late July 1968, Baba completed a particularly taxing period of seclusion and stated that his work was "completed 100% to my satisfaction."^[92] By this point he was using a wheelchair. Within a few months his condition worsened and he was bed ridden. His body was wracked by intense muscular spasms that had no clear origin. Despite the care of several doctors, the spasms grew progressively worse.^[93]

On January 31, 1969, Meher Baba died,^[94] conveying by his last gestures, "Do not forget that I am God."^[93] In time his devotees called this day Amartithi (deathless day). Meher Baba's body was laid out for public viewing at his samadhi (tomb-shrine) at Meherabad. Covered with roses, and cooled by ice, his body was kept available to the public for one week before its final burial.^[95] Before his death, Meher Baba had made extensive preparations for a public darshan program to be held in Poona (now Pune), India. His mandali decided to proceed with the arrangements despite the physical absence of the host. Several thousand attended this "Last Darshan," including many hundreds of people from the United States, Europe, and Australia.^[96]^[97]

Metaphysics

For more details on this topic, see God Speaks.

Source: Baba, Meher, Dodd Mead, God Speaks, The Theme of Creation and Its Purpose^[98]

Meher Baba's metaphysical views are most notably described in God Speaks. His cosmology incorporates concepts and terms from Vedanta, Sufism, and Christianity.^[99]^[100] Baba upheld the concept of nonduality, the view that diverse creation, or duality, is an illusion and that the goal of life is conscious realization of the absolute Oneness of God inherent in all animate and inanimate beings and things. Meher Baba compares God's original state to an infinite, shoreless ocean that has only unconscious divinity — unaware of itself because this original unconscious state has no means for any self-knowledge. From this state, God had the "whim" to know Himself,^[101] and asked "Who am I?"^[102] In response to this question, creation came into existence. In this analogy, what was previously a still, shoreless Ocean now stirred,^[103] forming innumerable "drops" of itself or souls. Baba often remarked "You will find all the answers to your questions in God Speaks. Study the book thoroughly and absorb it.".^[104]

Evolution and Involution

According to Baba, each soul pursues conscious divinity by evolving: that is, experiencing form in seven "kingdoms" — stone/metal, vegetable, worm, fish, bird, animal, and human. The soul gathers sanskaras (impressions) in each form; these impressions lead to further evolution expressed by taking new, more complex forms. With each new form, increasing consciousness is gained until the soul experiences and discards forms from all the evolutionary kingdoms. The final form of the soul's evolution is the human form. Only in the human form can the soul experience its own divinity by entering into involution, through which it gradually eliminates all impressions that cause the appearance of separateness from God.^[105]

Reincarnation and God-realization

Baba asserts that in the human form, the soul becomes subject to reincarnation, the "involuntary process of association and disassociation of consciousness".^[106] The purpose of reincarnation is to provide the opportunity for liberation from illusion. The soul reincarnates innumerable times in all conditions of life encompassing the whole range of human experience (e.g. man/woman, rich/poor, powerful/weak, etc.).^[107] Through the experience of opposites, sanskaras gradually grow fainter and scarcer.^[108] Meher Baba describes the process of God-realization this way:

From out of the depth of unbroken Infinity arose the Question, "Who am I?" And to that Question there is the answer, "I am God!"^[102]

Meher Baba described heaven and hell as transitory and illusory states between incarnations:^[109]

The states of heaven and hell are nothing but states of intensive experiences of the consciousness of the soul, experiencing either of the predominant counterparts of the opposite impressions while the soul is dissociated from the gross human body or form.^[110]

Perfect Masters and the Avatar

Baba explained that at all times on Earth there are fifty-six incarnate God-realized souls and that of these souls there are always five who constitute the five Perfect Masters of their era.^[111] When one of the five Perfect Masters dies, Baba asserted that another God-realized soul among the fifty-six immediately replaces him or her by taking up that office.^[112]

The Avatar, according to Baba, is a special Perfect Master, the first soul to achieve God-realization. This soul, the original Perfect Master, or the "Ancient One," never ceases to incarnate. Baba indicated that this particular soul personifies the state of God which in Hinduism is named Vishnu and in Sufism is named Parvardigar, i.e. the sustainer or preserver state of God. According to Meher Baba the Avatar appears on Earth every 700–1400 years and is 'brought down' into human form by the five Perfect Masters of the time to aid in the process of moving creation in its never-ending journey toward Godhood. Baba asserted that in other ages this role was fulfilled by Zoroaster, Rama, Krishna, Gautama Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad.^[113]

Baba described the Avatar as "a gauge against which man can measure what he is and what he may become. He trues the standard of human values by interpreting them in terms of divinely human life."^[114]

Most of Meher Baba's followers accept his claim of avatarhood^[99] and he is said to be "revered by millions around the world as the Avatar of the age and a God realized being."^[88]

Legacy

1966 Don't worry, be happy card

Baba's travels and teachings left a legacy of followers and devotees worldwide. Although Baba participated in large public gatherings, he discouraged evangelizing, stating, "I need no propaganda or publicity."^[115] Rather, he encouraged his followers to "let your life itself be my message of love and truth to others"^[116] and to "spread my message of Love and Truth as far and wide as possible."^[117]

The Avatar Meher Baba Trust, established by Meher Baba, maintains his tomb and pilgrimage facilities, provides support for aging mandali, and engages in other activities. The Trust, however, does not act as a central spiritual authority.^[118]

Followers of Meher Baba have no obligatory rites, rituals or duties, as in most religions. Many followers do undertake certain rituals and prayers, but the choice is personal.^[119] The primary focus for followers is living a life Meher Baba would approve of, for example, refraining from the use of psychedelic drugs, including marijuana,^[120] and trying to remember God with love.

Gatherings of Baba followers are highly informal and social in nature. Special effort is often made to gather together on Amartithi, the anniversary of Baba's death, and on his birthday. Most Baba followers keep silent on July 10 (Silence Day), observing the request Baba frequently made of his followers during his lifetime.^[121]

Three prayers written by Meher Baba, "O Parvardigar", the "Prayer of Repentance" and the "Beloved God Prayer," ^[122]^[123] are recited morning and evening at his samadhi in India and are often recited at gatherings. Many followers personally repeat these prayers daily. At Meherabad, his followers maintain Baba's practice of lighting a dhuni fire on the 12th of each month. After dhuni prayers, participants throw sandalwood twigs dipped in ghee into the flame as physical representations of limitations and desires they wish to relinquish.

Although Baba had initially begun gaining public attention in the West as early as 1932 as the result of contacts with some celebrities of the time (such as Charles Laughton, Tallulah Bankhead, Boris Karloff and others) and from the rather disillusioned account of Paul Brunton (A Search in Secret India, 1934), he achieved additional attention over three decades later through the work of Pete Townshend of The Who.^[124] Parts of the rock-opera Tommy (May 1969) were inspired by Townshend's study of Baba, to whom the album was dedicated.^[125] The Who's 1971 song "Baba O'Riley" was named in part after Meher Baba, and on his first solo album, Who Came First, Townshend recorded the Jim Reeves song "There's A Heartache Following Me," saying that it was Meher Baba's favorite song.

Concepts of Meher Baba's philosophy, often including characters resembling Baba, have frequently appeared in works of comic book writer J. M. DeMatteis, including Dr. Fate, Seekers Into The Mystery, The Last One and Batman: Absolution.

Bobby McFerrin's 1988 Grammy Award-winning song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" was inspired by a popular quote of Baba seen in numerous Baba posters and inspirational cards.^[126]

Notes

^ Hopkinson, Tom & Dorothy: Much Silence, Meher Baba Foundation Australia, 1974, p. 24
^ Purdom (1964) p. 20
^ Haynes (1989) pp. 38–39
^ Haynes (1989) p. 40
^ ^a ^b Purdom (1964) p. 52
^ ^a ^b Haynes (1989) p. 2
^ Kalchuri (1986) p.738 "Meher Baba had observed silence three times before, but the silence beginning July 10th, 1925, was to last until the end of his life."
^ Baba (2007) p. 3
^ ^a ^b Kalchuri (1986) pp. 1405ff
^ ^a ^b Donkin (2001)
^ ^a ^b Kalchuri (1986) p. 4283
^ ^a ^b Kalchuri (1986) p.3834-3840
^ ^a ^b Kalchuri (1986) p. 5130
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 5942ff
^ Brecher, Edward M; et al. (1972). "How LSD was popularized". Consumer Reports/Drug Library. http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/cu/CU50.html. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 6399ff
^ Haynes (1989) p. 62
^ In an Indian context, an Irani is a member of one of two groups of Zoroastrians of that subcontinent, the other being the Parsis. They are called "Iranis" by other Indians because they spoke an Iranian language. "Those who left Iran soon after the advent of Islam to escape persecution, reached the shores of Gujarat 1,373 years ago. Their descendants are the Parsis. While the Zoroastrians who migrated to India from Iran relatively recently — 19th century onwards — are called Irani Zoroastrians." (quote from Padmaja Shastri,TNN, What sets Zoroastrian Iranis apart, The Times of India, March 21, 2004, retrieved 11 July 2008).
^ Sutcliffe (2002); p. 38.
^ "I am called Meher Baba, but that is not my real name. I will tell you my family name but please don't disclose it as I travel under that name and I wish to remain incognito. I am a Persian, born in Poona on February 25, 1894. My father was a spiritually minded man and from boyhood until he was a grown man spent his life wandering in the jungle in search of spiritual experience. At the age of 35 he was told that he should resume a normal existence. This he did. He married and had six children. I am the second son. I was brought up as a Zoroastrian, the religion of my ancestors." http://www.avatarmeherbaba.org/erics/ceylon.html
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 186-188
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 190-192
^ Hopkinson, Tom & Dorothy:Much Silence, Meher Baba Foundation Australia, 1974, p.24
^ Haynes (1989) p. 36
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 198-201
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 944
^ Listen Humanity, ed. D. E. Stevens, 1982. pp. 247–250
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 328-330ff
^ Kalchuri (1986) p.380ff
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 501
^ Abdulla, Ramjoo: "Ramjoo's Diaries, 1922–1929: A Personal Account of Meher Baba's Early Work", Sufism Reoriented, 1979
^ Kalchuri (1986) p.738
^ Meher Baba: "Meher Baba's Universal Message", World's Fair Pamphlet, 1964
^ Haynes (1989) p. 66
^ Ullman, Robert; Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman (2001). Mystics, Masters, Saints, and Sages. RedWheel / Weiser. ISBN 1573245070. page 125.
^ ^a ^b Haynes (1989) p.67
^ Khauchuri (1989), p. 4586
^ See for example: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27]
^ Kalchuri (1986) p.1668
^ "Baba actually spoke two words to Bhau [Kalchuri]: 'Yad rakh [remember this]!' and then gestured, 'I am not this body!'...'Although Baba's voice was feeble,' Bhau recalled, 'the sound was audible and clear, and its intensity and impact very, very forceful. It conveyed so great an impression, that my mind itself neither registered nor questioned the fact that Baba was speaking." Kalchuri, Bhau (2005). Lord Meher. Volume 8 (Second (India) ed.). Meher Mownavani Publications. pp. 4765.
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 6710
^ Kalchuri (1986), 1249
^ Purdom (1964) p. 95.
^ See articles from the Daily Herald, April 4, 1932 (quoted in Kalchuri (1986), p.1573) and from Sunday Express, April 1932 (quoted in Purdom (1964), p.99)
^ Landau, Rom: "God Is My Adventure", Faber & Faber, London, 1936. p. 111.
^ Mills, James A. (AP), Indian Spiritual Leader to Tour the Nation, Jefferson City Post Tribune, March 25, 1932. p.5
^ Kalchuri(1986), p.1541
^ "God on the Hudson". Time Magazine. 1932-05-02. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,753275-2,00.html. Retrieved 2008-06-26.
^ Indian Mystic in New York, Associated Press, May 20, 1932, The Lowell Sun
^ Landau, Rom: "God Is My Adventure", Faber & Faber, London, 1936. p. 108 Available as a Google book
^ Purdom (1964) p. 103-105
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 1654
^ Ellwood 1973 p.281
^ Associated Press, July 13, 1932 , as cited Kalchuri (1986), p.1670
^ Kalchuri (1986) pp. 2040ff
^ Kalchuri (1986) pp. 1661–1668
^ Kalchuri (1986) pp. 2338–2421
^ "Men, Masters & Messiahs". Time Magazine. 1936-04-20. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,848514-4,00.html. Retrieved 2008-06-26.
^ Kalchuri (1986) pp. 2337
^ 1967 Edition of Discourses online
^ Discourses, by Meher Baba, Sheriar Press, 1987
^ Donkin (2001) p. v ff
^ A Tribute to Mohammed Mast
^ Kalchuri (1986) pp. 3481
^ Purdom (1964) pp. 163–176
^ Purdom (1964) p. 187
^ Purdom, (1964), p.194
^ Kalchuri (1986) pp. 3762
^ Kalchuri (1986) p.4328
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 4208
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 4789
^ Meher Baba: "Highest of the High", Pamphlet, September 1954
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 4451
^ Meher Baba: "Meher Baba's Call", Pamphlet, September 12, 1954
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 4551
^ AMBT
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 4457,4464
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 5450
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 5241
^ Filis Fredrick, THE AWAKENER, Vol. XX, No. 2, pp. 38–39 "Heroines of the Path, Part 7C". http://www.avatarmeherbaba.org/erics/heroines7c.html. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
^ Man hasn't spoken in 31 years, Big Spring Daily Herald, June 30, 1957 Note: this article identifies the visit as Meher Baba's 10th US visit, and places the planned date as July 1957, not 1956 as generally accepted.
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 5457
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 5596
^ Haynes (1989) p. 60
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 6000
^ Kalchuri (1986) pp. 6412ff
^ God in a Pill? Meher Baba on L.S.D. and The High Roads, Sufism Reoriented, Inc. 1966
^ ^a ^b Spiritual Leader Warning on LSDUPI, July 27, 1967
^ Bruce Hoffman, 'Something on an Inner Level,' Glow International Feb 1990, p.17
^ Albert Moraczewski, 'Psychadelic Agents and Mysticism,' Psychosomantics Vol. 12:2 (1971), 95–96
^ Haynes (1989) p. 61
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 6641
^ ^a ^b Kalchuri (1986) p. 6713
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 6650-6714
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 6735
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 6739
^ James Ivory, The Talk of the Town, “Jai Baba!,” The New Yorker, June 21, 1969, p. 28
^ Baba (1955)
^ ^a ^b New Religious Movements in the United States and Canada: A Critical Assessment and Annotated Bibliography. Contributors: Diane Choquette – compiler. Publisher: Greenwood Press. Place of Publication: Westport, CT. Publication Year: 1985. Page Number: 12.
^ Purdom (1964) p. 418
^ Baba (1955), p. 182
^ ^a ^b Purdom (1964) p. 415
^ Kalchuri (1982) pp.5ff
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 6233
^ Purdom(1964) p.418
^ Purdom (1964) p. 421.
^ Purdom (1964) p. 422
^ Baba (1955); p. 107
^ Kalchuri(1986) p. 1076
^ Baba (1955) p.34
^ Kalchuri (1986) p.944
^ Adriel, Jean. Avatar: The Life Story of the Perfect Master, Meher Baba (1947), p.49 , J. F. Rowny press
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 4216
^ Meher Baba: "Discourses", Sufism Reoriented, 6th ed., 1967. Vol III, p. 15
^ Baba, Meher (1954): "What Baba Means by Real Work," Universal Spiritual League in America, Inc.
^ Luck, Irwin: "The Silent Master Meher Baba", 1967.p. 17
^ Charles Purdom: The God-Man. London: Unwin Brothers Limited, 1964, p. 220.
^ The Trust does not, accordingly, work to promote creeds or dogmas, nor does it seek “converts”. "http://ambppct.org/trust/index.php".
^ Cohen(1977) pp. 152–154
^ Eastern Mysticism and the Resocialization of Drug Users: The Meher Baba Cult, Thomas Robbins, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 8, No. 2 (Autumn, 1969), pp. 308–317
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 5476, 4933, 5609,6465,2294,3179,3864 etc.
^ Kalchuri (1986) p. 4209, 5633
^ Purdom(1964) p. 238
^ Rolling Stone, No. 71 (November 26, 1970)
^ "Tommy", The Who, Gatefold cover acknowledgements, May 23, 1969
^ Bruce Fessier, USA Weekend Magazine, October 21–23, 1988

References

Abdulla, Ramjoo (1979). Ramjoo's Diaries, 1922–1929: A Personal Account of Meher Baba's Early Work. Sufism Reoriented.
Baba, Meher (1995). Discourses. Myrtle Beach, S.C.: Sheriar Foundation. ISBN 1-880619-09-1.
Baba, Meher (2007). Discourses (rev 6th edition). Myrtle Beach, S.C.: Sheriar Foundation. pp. 904.
Baba, Meher (1966). God in a Pill? Meher Baba on L.S.D. and The High Roads. Sufism Reoriented, Inc.
Baba, Meher (1997). God Speaks. Walnut Creek, California: Sufism Reoriented. ISBN 0-915828-02-2.
Baba, Meher (1989). Silent Master. Spartacus Educational Publishers. ISBN 0-948867-25-6.
Choquette, Diane (1985). New religious movements in the United States and Canada: a critical assessment and annotated bibliography. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-23772-7.
Cohen, Allan Y. (1977). The Mastery of Consciousness: An Introduction and Guide to Practical Mysticism and Methods of Spiritual Development. San Francisco: Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-090371-6.
Donkin, William (2001). The Wayfarers: Meher Baba with the God-Intoxicated. Myrtle Beach, S.C.: Sheriar Foundation. ISBN 1-880619-24-5.
Ellwood, Robert S. (1973). Religious and Spiritual Groups in Modern America. New York: Prentice-Hall. pp. 334. ISBN 013615641X.
Haynes, Charles C. (1993). Meher Baba, the Awakener. Avatar Foundation, Inc. ISBN 0-9624472-1-8.
Kalchuri, Bhau (1982). The Nothing and the Everything. Manifestation. ISBN 0-932947-02-6.
Kalchuri, Bhau (1986). Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher, The Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba. Manifestation.
Landau, Rom (1972). God is my adventure; a book on modern mystics, masters, and teachers. Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press. ISBN 0-8369-2848-2.
Purdom, Charles B (1964). The God-Man: The Life, Journeys & Work of Meher Baba with an Interpretation of His Silence & Spiritual Teaching. London: George Allen & Unwin.
Sutcliffe, Steven J. (2002). Children of the New Age: A History of Alternative Spirituality. London: Routledge.

External links

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Biography and teachings

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Meher Baba

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The Trust Online Library Books by and about Meher Baba available to download as PDF files
Lord Meher Complete biography, searchable online
Discourses by Meher Baba Searchable online
The Awakener Magazine Archive 67 issues of The Awakener Magazine from 1953–1986. Searchable online
Life Eternal Anthology of quotes by Meher Baba organized by subject matter
Glossary of Meher Baba's terminology

Media online

v d e Meher Baba

Publications	God Speaks Discourses God in a Pill?

Traditions	Amartithi Silence Day Dhuni O Parvardigar Meher Baba's missing book Meher Baba's flag Samadhi of Meher Baba 1969 Darshan

Organizations	Avatar Meher Baba Trust Sufism Reoriented

Centers and retreats	Meherabad Meherazad Meher Pilgrim Center Meher Spiritual Center Avatar's Abode Avatar Meher Baba Delhi Center Meher Mount

Terms and concepts	God-realization Perfect Master Involution Mast Sanskara Mandali New Life

Major figures	Mehera Irani Mani Irani Sheriar Mundegar Irani Shireen Sheriar Irani Bhau Kalchuri Eruch Jessawala Faredoon Driver Norina Matchabelli Kitty Davy Francis Brabazon Charles Purdom Meredith Starr Quentin Tod

Contacted masters	Hazrat Babajan Upasni Maharaj Sai Baba of Shirdi Hazrat Tajuddin Baba Narayan Maharaj

Persondata
Name	Baba, Meher
Alternative names	मेहेर बाबा (Devanagari)
Short description	Indian mystic
Date of birth	February 25, 1894
Place of birth	Poona (now Pune), India
Date of death	January 31, 1969
Place of death	Meherazad, Ahmednagar District, India

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