"To the living Christ whose beauty the very heavens cannot contain..."
Meher Mount
Your Friday photo is in honor of National Read a Book Day…
Jean Adriel, Meher Mount co-founder, wrote one of the first biographies of Avatar Meher Baba — Avatar: The Life Story of the Perfect Master Avatar Meher Baba, published in 1947.
She’s pictured at Meher Mount during the month of silence, July 1949. Escrow closed on the property in Ojai which became known as Meher Mount on July 31, 1946.
“To the living Christ whose beauty the very heavens cannot contain, but whose presence may be found in every humble, living heart.”
Jean Adriel writes in the preface of Avatar: The Life Story of the Perfect Master Meher Baba:
When Meher Baba told me, in India, to spend most of my time meditating upon him and writing down the fruits of my meditation, I little thought that they would find their way into print.
I finally came to the conclusion that the most fruitful course for me would be to write the life-story of my Master, Meher Baba, as I knew it, with particular emphasis upon my own experience with him.
Now, as the book is finished, word has come from him that he places his blessing upon and wishes it given to the world.
In anticipation of his coming again to America a Center has been established for him at Myrtle Beach in South Carolina, and on the West coast, in the Upper Ojai Valley, a beautiful place, Meher Mount, awaits him.
~ Jean Adriel, Meher Mount
Upper Ojai, California.
September 1, 1946
“Avatar is one of the earliest descriptions of the atmosphere of love and grace that surrounds Avatar Meher Baba. Jean Adriel performed an enormous service to the world by writing this book,” wrote Laurent Weichberger in his Amazon review.
“As one of the first major works on Meher Baba it is a classic,” said Amazon reviewer Bing Heckman. “The story was still in progress when written. This book captures the times and travels of Meher Baba's life and works in a dynamic time for the world, up to and through WW II. It covers a range of topics that touch the heart and inform. His work is for the awakening of humanity; it is universal.”
Avatar: The Life Story of the Perfect Master Meher Baba, A Narrative of Spiritual Experience was first published as a special author’s edition in 1947 by the J.F Rowny Press, Santa Barbara, CA.
A paperback edition, Avatar: The Life Story of Avatar Meher Baba, was published in August 1971 by The Beguine Library, Meher Baba Information, in Berkeley, CA.
The book is out of print. Avatar is available online at the Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust website.
National Read a Book Day
National Read a Book Day on September 6th encourages all book lovers to spend some time of the day reading. Bringing new worlds to life, books enlighten us and transport us. They can challenge our perspectives on the human experience in ways unmatched by other media. National Read a Book Day encourages us to silence the noise and turn the pages for a while.
More Information
”Jean Adriel Writes Avatar — A Biography of Meher Baba,” by Margaret Magnus, Meher Mount Story Blog, September 11, 2017.