“Hellfire and damnation” is how co-founder and lifetime caretaker Agnes Baron (1907-1994) described her life keeping Meher Mount for Avatar Meher Baba.
Agnes, a fearless and fiery woman, dedicated 48 years of her life to making sure that Meher Mount would be here for Meher Baba, today and in the future.
Sam L. Ervin, board president and long-time friend of Agnes Baron, shares some specific incidents in Agnes’ life where she fought to keep Meher Mount. Sam spoke at the 2022 Anniversary Sahavas commemorating Meher Baba’s visit on August 2, 1956.
Take a moment now to watch this video that portrays Agnes Baron’s fierce determination, her unvarnished view of events, and her dedication.
Sam L. Ervin at Meher Mount, 2022 Anniversary Sahavas
Introduction to Sam L. Ervin
By Margaret Magnus
One of Sam’s first visits to Meher Mount was on May 19, 1968, to pull weeds on a special day of silence called for by Meher Baba. He continued to visit to pull more weeds, re-roof Baba’s House, cleanup after two fires, chop wood, carry water, clean the pool, and serve Meher Mount. His teen years of hard physical labor on a cattle ranch in Porterville have come in handy.
Then, inspired and encouraged by Agnes to go into social services, he got a Master’s in Social Work in administration and planning in 1975. Sam went on to be the founder and CEO of the non-profit SCAN Health Plan.
There he pioneered an innovative senior program, which required securing six acts of Congress. A key achievement was keeping more than 20,000 frail seniors living safely at home instead of nursing homes. By the time he retired in 2002, the company had grown from 1 employee to 640 employees and served 55,000 seniors in four counties.
After his retirement, Sam returned to Meher Mount to once again pull weeds. By then there was a non-profit board, and he has served as president for the past 20 years, relying on his planning, managing, and CEO skills working in non-profit organizations.
Sam’s focus is continuing Agnes’ promise to hold Meher Mount for Meher Baba, even if it’s through “hell, fire and damnation.”
Former caretaker Elizabeth Arnold shares her stories of keeping Meher Mount for Avatar Meher Baba through “hell, fire and damnation.” She spoke at the 2022 Anniversary Sahavas commemorating Meher Baba’s visit on August 2, 1956.
"It takes dedication, hard work, luck and Meher Baba being at your side." - Elizabeth Arnold
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“Meher Mount is an incredibly difficult, as well as rewarding, place to be involved with. The experience one has here is not just fleeting. It leaves something behind, footprints deep in our soul.” - Ray Johnston
Former caretaker Ray Johnston shares his stories of keeping Meher Mount for Avatar Meher Baba through “hell, fire and damnation.” He spoke at the 2022 Anniversary Sahavas commemorating Meher Baba’s visit on August 2, 1956.
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Agnes Baron drove Meher Baba and the mandali from the hotel in her "Woody" station wagon to Meher Mount.
Along the way, Meher Baba admired the rich agricultural land and asked many questions. "What is being grown, how was the land irrigated, are there orchards?"
"Baba was talking as if He were a real estate agent," Agnes cracked.
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In 1978, Agnes Baron (Meher Mount's co-founder, lifetime caretaker, and one-time owner) sent the following letter to Sam Ervin (long-time volunteer and board president) who will be a guest speaker at this year's Anniversary Sahavas:
“Could you come this long weekend… If only for a day. You might not want to stay longer – no water! Pump is off again – as of 3 weeks. Everything dying – dismal. I haul from the Spring – and some dirty stuff in bottom of pool. Trial with Sears on pump not until 14 Sept.
"Can’t decide whether to go to expense of pulling and buying new pump or to drill a new well in the walnut orchard – and have sweet water – maybe with a windmill.” (1978, Agnes Baron)
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I would like to share one story that speaks to the enormous purpose or connectivity, not only of Meher Mount, but also of Baba’s Tree.
During my tenure as caretaker (2002-2010), I had to travel to Santa Fe, NM, as part of my work. On my travels there, I liked to go to the Santa Fe flea market. When I was at the market, I noticed a gentleman that was selling honey and bee pollen.
The bee pollen was extraordinary. It was almost psychedelic in color. It was so colorful, and it felt alive. I was really drawn to this guy, his honey, and his bee pollen.
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One Sunday morning, a friend and I did a tree tour of the Ojai area, and we came up to Meher Mount to see Baba’s Tree. I couldn’t believe it was one tree.
After that, I got my family involved. My kids were 10 years old and 15 years old at the time. It was important for me that they learn to appreciate and love nature.
When I initially had the idea to go up to Meher Mount, they were like, “Oh yeah, right, dad. Sure. It’s a tree. Big deal.”
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“We are all meant to be as honest as God, as loving a God, as happy as God: and only the Christ suffers for humanity, although He is the source of all happiness. You see Me in this physical form, but every moment I am crucified. Only those fortunate ones know this. I suffer as no one could suffer. I suffer because I love.”
— Avatar Meher Baba
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One day, a group from out of town visited. They had heard about Meher Mount in downtown Ojai, but they were not familiar with Avatar Meher Baba. The group was visiting because they were interested in sacred places and teachers and that sort of thing.
After hearing a description of the property, one of the men said, “So, all you have is this fountain, this visitor center that's closed [due to COVID], and that path that goes out to a tree?”
I said, “Yes.”
“Well, I have to tell you, I’m a little disappointed that you don't have a gift shop or something we can buy, some Meher Mount souvenir or at least a statue of this Meher Baba,” the visitor responded.
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When Meher Mount asked for memories and stories of Baba’s Tree, Leslie Callarman shared the following:
I gratefully sat under Baba’s Tree one day, thankful for the blessing of being able to physically be in a place where I knew Baba had been.
I imagined that the area would be eternally supercharged with the Divinity that He channeled through His physical form.
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It was a late Sunday afternoon at Meher Mount in early October 2010, warm, dry, and quiet. A family of three, husband, wife, and young son, took a break for a country drive and found their way up Sulphur Mountain Road to Meher Mount, somewhat inexplicably so they told me.
Just as they were about to head out to see the views and Baba’s Tree, I felt prompted for some reason to ask the boy, “Do you like tarantulas?”
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One day while sitting on Mehera’s porch at Meherazad*, I showed Mehera a photo I had taken of Baba’s Tree. The photo was taken at a distance from Baba’s Tree as the sun was beginning to rise.
The sky was filled with beautiful vibrant pinks and blues. The blue was the sky blue of Meher Baba’s flag.+
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I was visiting with my two young boys. Baba’s Tree was really inviting, and they both started to climb the limbs on the tree. Then I noticed all the flowers at the base of the tree and thought maybe my boys shouldn’t disturb anything.
I started to tell them to climb down from the tree, but before I would even say the words, Meher Baba’s face appeared to me (kind of see-through and sparkly like) about a foot from mine.
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I remember this Hafiz poem-rendering coming to mind being at Baba's Tree at Meher Mount, and that poem then, and still does, take on special meaning for me now.
And I remember once reciting this poem to Eruch Jessawala* who said: "The sky is a tree and the stars its branches ever reaching for us, like God."
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It was our first family trip after COVID, and our primary objective was to go to a Meher Baba place. We wanted to document that experience and capture candid family moments and the breathtaking view.
Kids don't generally appreciate nature or seeing God in nature anymore since they are distracted with TV and mobile devices these days. But our daughters were particularly enamored with Baba's Tree. They sat and looked out at the views. They just wanted to take it in.
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We were all standing around under Baba’s Tree, almost in a circle. We prayed and said our “Jai Babas,” and before I knew it, Fred Stankus started to sing “Mind, Mind, Stupid Mind" [formally, “Manonash Calypso”].
I was new to Meher Baba then and had never heard Fred sing this song. I laughed, and then I felt all the words in my heart. Even though it wasn't a typical spiritual song, it ran through the branches and, I think, all the way to the ocean.
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That day at Meher Mount in 2007, I felt like I was breathing new life, new inspiration with every inhalation. The phrase ‘every breath a graduation’ came to my mind because it seemed every time I took a breath I was receiving additional acknowledgement — finding new graduations of insight and achievement.
My poem doesn’t mention Meher Mount or Meher Baba, but it is about my experience one afternoon communing with the ancient oak, Baba’s Tree.
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About prayer, Avatar Meher Baba said,
“The ideal prayer to the Lord is nothing more than spontaneous praise of His being.
“You praise Him, not in the spirit of bargain but in the spirit of self-forgetful appreciation of what He really is. You praise Him because He is praiseworthy.
“Your praise is the spontaneous appreciative response to His true being, as infinite light, infinite power and infinite bliss.”
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Wildfires are an inevitability in Southern California where Meher Mount is located.
“…there is nothing unusual about fires in Los Angeles [Southern California], which is, after all, a desert city [region] with only two distinct seasons: one beginning in January and lasting three or four months, during which storms come from the northern Pacific and it rains… and one lasting eight or nine months, during which it burns or gets ready to burn.” (Joan Didion, “Fire Season in Los Angeles,” September 4, 1989, The New Yorker)
That’s why, even in the December pouring rain, Caretaker Eric Carlson was tending to fire prevention. He sent this email describing the day’s activities.
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“The meaning of forgiveness is to forget the insult. When you remember it, how could you have forgiven it? After forgiving, you should not remember the incident or hold anything against him.”
Meher Baba continued, “Today is New Year’s, and you should make a resolution to forgive and forget. Only by forgetting can you truly forgive. Otherwise, what is the use of merely saying the words, ‘I forgive you’? It must be from the heart.”
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