“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

---

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

---

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.

---

"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

---

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

---