Meher Baba Calls Everyone into the 'Baba Room' - 1956
Margaret Magnus
“You are so lucky to be with me so closely…”
By Margaret Magnus
“You are so lucky to be with me so closely,” Meher Baba said when He visited Meher Mount in 1956. “You do not realize how very fortunate you are when I embrace you all.” [1]
At 4:00 a.m. on the morning of August 2, 1956, preparations were made to drive Avatar Meher Baba and about 150 of His followers from the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard to Meher Mount in Ojai, CA – a trip of about 85 miles.
“Thursday, August 2, was a day we had all been looking forward to, a day when Baba would be free of interviews, when we could all be more closely with him in the beautiful setting of Meher Mount,” Darwin Shaw said in his book, As Only God Can Love. [2]
“Everyone was in a happy mood for the day’s outing,” Darwin continued. [3]
AVATAR MEHER BABA with His followers at Meher Mount on August 2, 1956. The building in the background was a farmhouse and garage on the property, which burned in 1985. In the picture are: (Left to right): Adi K. Irani (light grey jacket); Eruch Jessawala (dark suit); Bili Eaton (light scarf); Meher Baba (blue coat); Agnes Baron (orange skirt); Tex Hightower (striped shirt); Frank Hendrick (light grey suit); Marie Adair (black suit and pants); and Peter Saul (green shirt). Agnes Baron drove Meher Baba to Meher Mount in the ‘Woody’ station wagon pictured in the background while many of His followers traveled by bus. (Photo: Darwin Shaw, ©Meher Nazar Publications)
Two buses were chartered to bring the group to Meher Mount. Meher Baba and His men mandali (close disciples) — Eruch Jessawala, Adi K. Irani, Vinayak Nilkantha 'Nilu" Godse (also known as Dr. Nilu), and Meherjee Karkaria — rode separately with Agnes Baron in her ‘Woody’ station wagon.
When they arrived on the mountain, Meher Baba told Agnes, “I love Meher Mount very much and feel happy here.” [4]
“…we sat all sort of crowded around Baba, but in a comfortable way.”
After the two buses reached Meher Mount, Meher Baba called everyone into the ‘Baba Room’ of the guesthouse.
“…we all went inside and sat wherever we could, all sort of crowded around Baba, but in a comfortable way,” remembered Darwin. “Baba sat where everyone could see him. He seemed very relaxed and happy to be among his lovers.” [5]
AGNES BARON, co-founder and lifetime caretaker of Meher Mount is seated on the floor next to Avatar Meher Baba in the ‘Baba Room’ at Meher Mount in 1956. This room (later destroyed by wildfire in 1985) was where Meher Baba gave darshan (His blessing) to His followers. The window in the background overlooks the Ojai Valley. (Photo: Archives) .
Meher Baba asked several people in the group how they liked Meher Mount. One said, “It has a spiritual atmosphere.” Another said, “It compares to Meherabad Hill [in India where Meher Baba’s Tomb Shrine is located].”
A third commented on the lovely fragrance. Filis Frederick, who wrote the account of Meher Baba’s trip to Southern California in her publication The Awakener, said, “It reminds me of the hills of Assisi [in Italy where St. Francis lived].” Jeanne Shaw agreed, “It has instant appeal.” [6]
After lunch, Meher Baba again called His lovers inside. He was seated in a large chair, and Filis Frederick described Him as being in “a jolly mood.” [7]
With everyone seated around Him, Meher Baba said, “I want you all to close your eyes for five minutes. Do not think of anything, just think of Baba.” [8]
At another time, He smiled and said, “This afternoon, you all have a chance to laugh and feel relaxed. …here today, we feel relaxed, happy. I come down to your level so that we can laugh and be free together; but do not forget at the same time that I am the Highest of the High.” [9]
“You do not realize how very fortunate you are…”
HURRYING TO KEEP UP with Avatar Meher Baba (blue coat) as He tours Meher Mount with co-founder and lifetime caretaker Agnes Baron (light orange skirt) on August 2, 1956. Lud Dimpfl is the man in the suit in front. (Photo: Darwin Shaw, ©Meher Nazar Publications)
Later on, after the fog had cleared, Agnes Baron took Meher Baba on a tour of the Meher Mount property, and everyone followed. “We then came back inside,” Darwin noted. [10]
When He gathered everyone together again, Meher Baba said, “You do not realize how very fortunate you are when I embrace you all.
“In India, when I go out to give my darshan [blessing], in southern India, Andhra State, traveling about from east to west, there are thousands who come for my darshan, and they all love me very much; a number of them are ready to lay down their lives for me at my signal. Yet they have no chance for my embrace or my close company because the rush is so great. When they approach me, the person behind is pushing them on, and the one behind him is pushing too; so, just for a second, they can have my contact and then it is finished. They do not have any chance of sitting near me or embracing me, although they love me very much.
“In Los Angeles, there was no time for you all to sit near me as you are doing today, for so many people came there and I was so busy. Therefore, I wanted particularly to have a [free] day here.” [11]
Footnotes
[1] Bhau Kalchuri, Lord Meher: The Biography of the Avatar of the Age Meher Baba, Online Edition, pg. 4065, accessed May 11, 2021. (c)Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust.
[2] Darwin C. Shaw, As Only God Can Love: A Lifetime of Companionship with Meher Baba (North Myrtle Beach, SC: Sheriar Foundation, 2003), pg. 391. (c)Darwin C. Shaw.
[3] Shaw, ibid., pg. 392.
[4] Kalchuri, op.cit., pg. 4065, accessed online May 11, 2021.
[5] Shaw, op.cit., pg. 392.
[6] Kalchuri, op.cit., pg. 4065, accessed online May 11, 2021.
[6] Kalchuri, ibid., pg. 4065, accessed online May 11, 2021.
[7] Kalchuir, ibid., pg. 4065, accessed online May 11, 2021.
[8] Kalchuri, ibid., pg. 4066, accessed online May 11, 2021.
[9] Kalchuri, ibid., pg. 4066, accessed online May 11, 2021.
[10] Shaw, op.cit., pg. 394.
[11] Kalchuri, op.cit., pg. 4068, accessed online May 11, 2021.