Meher Baba's Comments on America's Spiritual Potential
Margaret Magnus
AVATAR MEHER BABA in a charcoal drawing by artist Diana Le Page.
By Margaret Magnus
Avatar Meher Baba (1894-1969) visited the United States six times between 1931 and 1958. He said America had great spiritual potential.
The Spiritual Hunger Is Intense in America
On January 3, 1932, Meher Baba visited Mahatma Gandhi at his residence, Mani Bahawan, in Bombay (now Mumbai), India.
MAHATMA GANDHI
Gandhi, the pacifist leader of India's independence movement from Britain, welcomed Meher Baba with a loving embrace, and they met for about an hour.
"What do you think about the West from your experiences and tours?" Gandhi asked.
Meher Baba replied,
"In America, the spiritual hunger is intense. That is why I went and stayed there for a month. There is everything there materially. There is wealth; there are brains; there is heart. In other words, there is sufficient preparedness for spiritual growth and development." [1]
America Is Where Spiritual Rebirth Will Take Place
In 1933, after traveling in the United States and Europe, Avatar Meher Baba arrived in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and met with a reporter on January 26 from The Ceylon Observer who questioned Meher Baba about why He had gone to America, the meaning of His silence, and religion.
THE CEYLON OBSERVER
About America, Meher Baba said:
"My reason for starting in America is that America, being the most deeply engrossed in material things and suffering the most in consequence, is the soil on which a new spiritual rebirth will first take place. America requires only the guiding hand of a Master to redirect its material powers to the heights of spirituality." [2]
America Can Lead the World Spiritually
In 1952, Meher Baba again traveled to America, first spending time at the Meher Spiritual Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
During His stay at the Center, Meher Baba conducted a number of interviews, including one with Toni Roothbert, a well-known fashion and commercial photographer. She was a social activist and benefactress who had a house in Myrtle Beach.
TONI ROOTHBERT
When Ms. Roothbert saw Meher Baba on May 16, she told him, "I think, as you well know, you will do extraordinary work in the United States."
Meher Baba replied:
"America now leads the material side of the universe and has such infinite possibilities that it can lead the world spiritually, if awakened."[3]
Toni said, "Under the surface and unknown, there is great longing for spirituality."
Meher Baba responded:
"And what is needed for this awakening is love for whatever God one likes. In the form of Jesus crucified, or another. God will do it. He can do it. And now the time is near, very near, when this spiritual upliftment has to take place. Yes, absolutely. It has to be and will be."[4]
References
[1] Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher, The Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba, by Bhau Kalchuri, "Manifestation, Inc.", 1986, pp. 1515. Copyright (c) Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Trust.
[2] Lord Meher, page 1757
[3] Lord Meher, page 3823
[4] Lord Meher, page 3823