“When Beloved Baba walked this earth as the beautiful God-Man, He left His imprint in everything and everyone He touched. The dishes that He ate from and the cups that He drank from, the clothes that He wore, the games that He played with… these tangible links to Him come to us today suffused with His fragrance.
“Baba’s sadra, His alphabet boards, His precious hair – each is a unique and irreplaceable link to His human form.”
Read More
“I always feel Meher Baba’s Presence at Meher Mount, but last Saturday was something special,” said Jim Whitson remembering the Darshan Dhuni.
On Saturday, June 12, 2021, more than 40 people gathered at Meher Mount to hear and read the 185 personally meaningful Meher Baba quotes sent from all over the world. These quotes are to be part of the Darshan Courtyard foundation in the form of dhuni (sacred fire) ashes.
“From the moment we all got together and said the prayers, I felt tremendous power emanating from where we were all standing. And I wasn’t the only one,” Jim continued.
“It was magical,” agreed Robert Turnage, another reader.
To capture some of this magic and share this special event with all, Meher Mount engaged Square Productions of Ojai, CA, to produce a film of the Darshan Dhuni. This 56-minute film is a meditation on Meher Baba’s words and His messages of Love.
Read More
It’s safe to say that no one associated with Meher Mount foresaw that two years – almost to the day – after high winds and the 2017 Thomas Fire felled most of Baba’s Tree, that what was left of the tree would be recovering nicely and is now the centerpiece of what is emerging as Baba’s Tree Grove.
Read More
Caretakers of a beloved oak tree in Upper Ojai say they're cautiously optimistic the tree will survive.
Baba's Tree, on the property of the Meher Mount retreat, at 9902 Sulphur Mountain Road, was shattered by the Thomas Fire, which consumed the main trunk of the tree and destroyed 90 percent of its canopy.
But now the iconic tree is coming back to life. "It's looking good, so far," said Meher Mount President Sam Ervin.
The giant coast live oak, named for Indian spiritual master Avatar Meher Baba, overlooks the Pacific Ocean from the brow of the mountain, 1,200 feet above the Ojai Valley. Meher Baba sat under the tree and sanctified the property during his only visit in August 1956.
Read More
Just days before the December 4, 2017 Thomas Fire struck Meher Mount, well-known Meher Baba artist Charles Mills approached Meher Mount about doing a painting that would represent Meher Baba’s 1956 visit to Meher Mount.
“I didn’t know if a painting was needed,” Mills said later, “I just made myself available.”
In discussions with Board President Sam Ervin, they talked about a painting that would represent the energy of Meher Baba’s visit as captured in the 55-minute film Meher Baba, The Awakener made in 1994 by Tim Thelan. The footage of Meher Baba at Meher Mount starts at 43:22 minutes.
Read More
One day while working at Meher Mount, I heard Sam Ervin call to me, “Margaret, come look at this.”
Feeling it wasn’t something I wanted to see, I said, “No.”
Sam replied, “Yes, you have to come look at this.”
Again, I said, “No.”
He insisted, “Come look at this it.”
After six months of repairs, clean-up, and small fix-it jobs turning into big fix-it jobs following the 2017 Thomas Fire, I just didn’t want to discover one item that needed attention. But, I knew I couldn’t escape. I went to take a look.
Read More
The following is a reprint of an article from the Ventura County Star published on April 30, 2018, about Baba's Tree, the 2017 Thomas Fire, and re-purposing the wood from the tree.
Read More
The news coverage started with Perry Van Houten, who had written an earlier article “Ojai’s Trees” for the Winter 2014 edition of The Ojai Valley Visitors Guide, which included Baba’s Tree as one of six trees featured. He approached Meher Mount for a story for a story about Baba's Tree after the Thomas Fire. His article, “Group mounting significant effort to try to save Baba’s Tree,” was published on February 2, 2018, in the Ojai Valley News.
Later, Claudia Boyd-Barrett, an Ojai resident and journalist who had visited Meher Mount before, contacted Meher Mount to set up an interview. She talked with Board President Sam Ervin, Manager/Caretaker Buzz Glasky, arborist Michael Inaba, and Interim Caretaker Cassandra Bramucci. Her story for the Ventura County Star, “Baba's Tree, burned in Thomas Fire, fights for survival in Ojai,” was published on February 18, 2018.
Read More
The following is a reprint of an article about Baba's Tree and the 2017 Thomas Fire from the Ventura County Star published on February 18, 2018.
Read More
A humorous story wherein Margaret Magnus and Sam Ervin attempt to get a new car for Agnes Baron at Meher Mount sometime in the late 1970s/early 1980s..
Read More
If you spend anytime at Meher Mount, you discover there is an unseen pull of destiny that seems to draw visitors to Meher Mount by sheer happenstance. That pull of destiny also draws those who choose to be Manager/Caretakers at Meher Mount.
Read More
Each has his own personal tale to tell of how he came to Avatar Meher Baba or in truth how Meher Baba came to him. Mine is simple. In 2002, on browsing through the small ads in Caduceus, a British metaphysical journal, I came across a somewhat familiar face.
The ad was placed by the U.K. Meher Baba Association and the face was Meher Baba’s. The quote beneath said more to me than all the literature that I had read to date on a 10-year spiritual quest.
This was an answer to my inner searching that spoke directly to the heart. What it said is long forgotten but what it contained embedded in me a spark that changed my life beyond recognition.
Read More