“What hurts me most is the loss of Meher Baba’s pictures and writings.”

Your Friday photo is in remembrance of Meher Baba’s New Life and the 1985 New Life Fire at Meher Mount…

On October 14, 1985, the Ferndale Fire, whipped by Santa Ana winds, came up the southwest ridge of Sulphur Mountain. By 9 p.m. on that Monday night Meher Mount was ablaze. 

The fire burned everything – buildings, equipment, fences, Baba’s Tree, and a 1950 Ford Woody station wagon. This was the station wagon Agnes Baron drove to take Avatar Meher Baba to and from Meher Mount in 1956.

“What hurts me most is the loss of my documents, library and Meher Baba’s pictures and writings.”

— Agnes Baron, Ojai Valley News, 1985

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Meher Mount calls the Ferndale Fire the ‘New Life Fire’ because Meher Baba’s New Life phase started on October 16, 1949.  The fire at Meher Mount was still burning right through the start of the anniversary of the New Life.

Meher Baba’s New Life was a phase of His work. It was a life of helplessness and hopelessness, relying only upon God.

“When the New Life Fire happened at Meher Mount, it literally required Agni to give up everything and start all over,” remembered Bing Heckman.  

She was left shoeless, homeless and with just the clothes on her back.

“What hurts me most,” Agnes told the Ojai Valley News, “is the loss of my documents, library and Meher Baba’s pictures and writings.”

The Baba Room — where Meher Baba spent most of the day with His followers in 1956 — was completely burned by the fire.

The stone fireplace from the Baba Room remains as a touchstone of His visit and His Presence at Meher Mount.

Almost 40 years later, there are plans underway to build the Darshan Courtyard in the footprint of the Baba Room. It will celebrate Meher Baba’s physical presence at Meher Mount.  

The courtyard is planned to create a space to sit, reflect, meditate, enjoy the outdoors, and remember the Divine.

 ~Margaret Magnus, Communications Director

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Sources

• Margaret Magnus & Sam L. Ervin, “The New Life Fire — Keeping Meher Mount through Hellfire and Damnation,” Meher Mount Story Blog, accessed September 1, 2024.

• “Meher Baba’s New Life,” Meher Mount Story Blog, accessed September 1, 2024.

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"This photo brings back fond memories..."

Your Friday photo...

This photo from 1978 brings back fond memories of Agnes Baron, Meher Mount's co-founder and lifetime caretaker.

“This photo captures the Agnes Baron I remember. She really enjoyed having visitors and hanging out.”

— Margaret Magnus, Communications Director

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Agnes Baron was fierce. She was fearless. Determined. Uncompromising. And yet she had a softer side. That's the Agnes I often remember.

And that's why I like this photo. It captures the Agnes Baron who enjoyed having visitors and hanging out.

The time is winter 1978. We’re in the Baba Room at Meher Mount before the 1985 New Life Fire destroyed all the buildings.

In this picture (left to right) are Agnes Baron, Elizabeth Hartzell (my sister) and me, Margaret Magnus. Sam Ervin (my future husband) is taking the photo.

We’ve probably had a day of chopping and hauling wood so Agnes could heat her own house (separate from the Baba House).  

We are bundled up in the Baba House because it’s cold. I don't know why there's no heat. Maybe it didn't work. Maybe Agnes didn’t want to turn it on because of the cost. Maybe the original source of heat was the fireplace that wasn't in use.

But we’re here regardless.

A friend of mine, Howard Babus from Santa Barbara, is also visiting and volunteering. He has offered to do an impromptu flute performance which we are enjoying.

Now the Baba Room has been gone for almost 40 years. There are plans underway to create the Darshan Courtyard in the Baba Room space.

It is planned to provide a sense of intimacy with the Divine. A place of personal reflection and contemplation. A moment to feel Meher Baba’s eternal embrace.

“Darshan” is in the name because Meher Baba spent most of the day in August 1956 giving darshan (the grace of being in His presence) in this space.

~Margaret Magnus, Communications Director

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"I want Agni to know that I love Meher Mount very, very much." - Avatar Meher Baba

Your Friday photo celebrates the 68th anniversary of Meher Baba’s visit to Meher Mount on August 2, 1956…

“I want Agni to know that I love Meher Mount very, very much.”

— Avatar Meher Baba, Meher Mount, 1956

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Agnes Baron, Meher Mount co-founder, describes one of her interactions with Avatar Meher Baba at Meher Mount in 1956:

So on one of the occasions when Meher Baba called me over, He was looking very solemn and very impressive as only Baba can look.

And He stood. And one of the mandali [close disciple who interpreted His gestures] was there.

And Baba said, “I want Agni to know that I love Meher Mount very, very much.” And then, of course, that typical gesture of “very, very much. I am very happy.”

And He really beamed, I mean, He just glowed.

He just gestured, “very, very happy.’’ And He looked it.

And then He said, “And I want her to know that Meher Mount has a very spiritual atmosphere.”

And of course, I made my usual wisecrack, I knew it wasn’t. He stared at me and repeated, “A very spiritual atmosphere.” 

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Sources

• “Agnes Baron Remembers Meher Baba’s 1956 Visit,” Meher Mount Story Blog, October 11, 2021.

• Photograph of Meher Baba at Meher Mount with co-founder Agnes Baron by Darwin Shaw, August 2, 1956. (c)Meher Nazar Publications, Ahmednagar, India. Used with permission.

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"This land is very old, I have been here before." - Meher Baba

Your Friday photo is honor of Meher Baba’s 1956 visit to Meher Mount…

This photo of Meher Baba at Meher Mount is used with kind permission by Sufism Reoriented. And Charmian Duce Knowles shared some of her memories from that day with Meher Baba.

“This land is very old, I have been here before.”

— Avatar Meher Baba, Meher Mount, August 2, 1956*

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"When we visited Ojai in 1956," remembered Chairman Duce Knowles,** "the population was small, the roads were unpaved, and the valley's peace untouched by development.

"As we drove up the mountain to Meher Mount, fog shrouded the mountaintop and concealed the valley below. Still, the center itself looked marvelous.

"Agnes [Baron, co-founder and lifetime caretaker] led us to a guesthouse and swimming pool, through rose and herb gardens, fruit trees, and numerous California oaks, some quite ancient.

"Baba told us the land was very old and that he had been there before. He seemed happy to be back."

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Sources

• *Bhau Kalchuri, Lord Meher: The Biography of the Avatar of the Age Meher Baba, Online Edition, pg. 4065, accessed June 30, 2024. (c)Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust.

• **Charmian Knowles, Spread My Love (Walnut Creek, CA: Sufism Reoriented) , pg. 138. (c)2004 by Sufism Reoriented.

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"I want Agnes to have a special memento of this day." - Avatar Meher Baba

Your Friday photo is honor of Meher Baba’s 1956 visit to Meher Mount…

“I want Agnes to have a special memento of this day.”

— Avatar Meher Baba, Meher Mount, August 2, 1956

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When Meher Baba was at Meher Mount, He spent much of the day in the Baba Room with His followers.

On one occasion, remembered co-founder and caretaker Agnes Baron, “He was sitting in that chair and He called, ‘Charmian! Charmian!’” [silently through gestures]

Charmian Duce (later, Knowles) was filming Meher Baba’s 1956 trip in the US, and she was in the room.

Meher Baba said to Charmian, “You have a camera with you?”

She replied, “Yes.”  

“I want Agnes to have a special memento of this day. You take a picture,” He said.

“So, I came and knelt down by His side,” Agnes explained. “And Charmian took two good colored pictures which I cherish very much now.

“He was doing these fantastic, these really wonderful…these personal little gestures, that, you know, that He always does to make one person particularly happy,” said Agnes.

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Source

“Agnes Baron Remembers Meher Baba’s 1956 Visit,” Meher Mount Story Blog, October 11, 2021.

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"I want you to remain undisturbed and unshaken by the force of life's currents..." - Meher Baba

Your Friday photo is in remembrance of Avatar Meher Baba’s automobile accident in Prague, Oklahoma, on May 24, 1952…

Avatar Meher Baba and His mandali (close disciples) were traveling from the Meher Spiritual Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to Meher Mount in Ojai, California, for a planned nine-day stay.

On the morning of May 24, 1952, near the town of Prague, OK, Avatar Meher Baba suffered a severe automobile accident.

“…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,” Meher Baba said.

He explained that this accident would “result in benefit to the whole world."

The date of this event was foretold by Meher Baba many years earlier. During His first trip to America in 1932, He gave Elizabeth Patterson a small pink wildflower telling her to always keep the flower and write down the date—that someday she would know the meaning.

It wasn't until years after the accident that Elizabeth rediscovered the flower He had given her that day. She had placed it in a family bible and wrote next to it the date, "May 24, 1932," exactly 20 years before the fateful day she would be driving Baba when the accident occurred. 

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Credits

• Quote: Meher Baba Calling, pg. 44, 1992 ©Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust, Ahmednagar, India.

• Photograph: Avatar Meher Baba, Poona, India, 1952. ©Meher Nazar Publications, Ahmednagar, India.

Sources

• Wayne Myers, “…the personal disaster, for some some years foretold by Me took place…”, Meher Mount Story Blog, published May 23, 2017.

• “Meher Baba’s Accident in America,” Avatar Meher Baba Heartland Center.

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"An authentic love and extraordinary commitment..."

Your Friday photo is in honor of International Women’s Day…

On this day Meher Mount is reminded of the indelible and enduring impressions of Agnes Baron (1907-1994), co-founder of Meher Mount whom Meher Baba affectionately called His watchdog.

This photo of Agnes was taken in the late 1970s by Sam Ervin. She is sitting outside on a summer day in front of the main house where she lived.

~ Stephanie Ervin recalls the respect from those who knew her…

My life overlapped with Agnes for 11 years. My father Sam Ervin had a close relationship with her starting in 1968. While I only have a few clear memories of her, I’ve realized that she has influenced me for life.

Only recently, I have seen how important it has been for me to hear men speak about Agnes with tremendous respect and care. Hearing this has been powerful.  

Agnes looked after and tended Meher Mount in her own way. Her ferocity, passion, and devotion was matched only by her environment. When I look at Agnes Baron I see a woman who lived life on her own terms. She valued her independence. She never married, never had children, and did whatever she could to help others.

She didn't compromise her morals or her values and persisted until she found a spiritual teacher — Avatar Meher Baba — whom she felt embodied her beliefs and values.

In honor of International Women’s Day, these are some reflections about Agnes by some of the men who knew her, cared for her, and were inspired by her.

~Ken Ceder: “Agnes could tune in to what the person needed.”

In my experience Agnes was tough, even fighting the local 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 in to what that person needed.

I met Agnes in the late 1980s and was not into caregiving. I find it curious that I ended up caring for her with my brother Len until her passing in 1994.

One of my tasks was doing her laundry. One day she said, I have something important to tell you. I thought, “Oh, she’s going to tell me how special I am for taking care of her,” and I awaited her praise.

She said, “Now, don’t let this go to your head, but you do good laundry.”

My ego went to my knees. She not only had a great sense of humor, but she also knew exactly how to chip away at my big ego or as she used to say, “Chop me down!”

You see I didn’t iron clothes. But when I took them out of the laundry and while the clothes were still warm, I hand pressed them and very carefully folded them. That’s why she liked the way I did the laundry.

~Larry Pesta: “One of my most important spiritual teachers… “

The ‘New Life’ Fire in Ojai happened on Monday, October 14, 1985. I attempted to call Agnes Baron that day, but to no avail. Then, I heard the news from friends that Meher Mount had indeed been destroyed.

The following weekend, I flew down to Los Angeles and drove to Ojai to visit Agnes personally and make sure that she was well. Agnes appeared quite composed and peaceful.

She was interested in showing me the burned out remains of Meher Mount, and we drove up the mountain together. We walked around the property for quite awhile which was still smoldering from the fire. Mostly everything was destroyed.  

Walking out near the tree under which Meher Baba once sat on His famous visit, I felt really sorry for Agnes and her situation. I said, “This must be horrible for you.”

She looked at me and said, “The important question for you to ask is this. Tell me. Could you handle this? I've been burned out. The important question is will you allow Meher Baba to burn you out as well if necessary?” 

I immediately realized that I was not just visiting someone who had lost everything in a fire. I was standing face-to-face with one of my most important spiritual teachers in this lifetime. She was not talking about physical fire but spiritual fire.

~Ray Johnston: “An authentic love and extraordinary commitment…”

In the photo above I am struck most by Agnes' legs. Battered and torn from the tough living and working environment at Meher Mount all those years.

I still have the scars on my legs from years of cuts, bites, scrapes and stickers received as a caretaker at Meher Mount. I was always in awe of how she did it for so many years!

I know how the privilege of a deep relationship with Meher Mount often comes with the demand for blood, sweat and tears.

Agnes Baron possessed an authentic love and extraordinary commitment to the essence and place that is Meher Mount.

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Sources

• Ken Ceder, “Cherished Memories of Caring for Agnes Baron,” Meher Mount Story Blog, published January 10, 2017, accessed online March 8, 2024.

• Larry Pesta, “Will You Allow Meher Baba to Burn You Out?”, Meher Mount Story Blog, published October 8, 2010, accessed online March 8, 2024.

• Ray Johnston, “Cuts, Scrapes & Bruises,” Meher Mount Story Blog, published February 7, 2023, accessed online March 8, 2024.

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