Meher Baba
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{{Infobox_Philosopher
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| region = Meher Baba
| era = 20th century
| color = #B0C4DE
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| image_name = Meher Baba 1941 2jpg.jpg
| image_size = 240px
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| name = Meher Baba
| birth = [[February 25]], [[1894]] ([[Pune]], [[India]])
| death = {{death date and age|1969|1|31|1894|2|25}} ([[Meherazad]], [[India]])
| school_tradition = [[Sufism]], [[Vedanta]], [[Mysticism]]
| main_interests = [[Religion]], [[Metaphysics]], [[Aesthetics]], [[Ethics]]
| influences = [[Hazrat Babajan]], [[Upasni Maharaj]]
}}
'''Meher Baba''' ([[Devanagari]]: मेहेर बाबा) ([[February 25]], [[1894]], '''Merwan Sheriar Irani''' – [[January 31]], [[1969]]), was an [[Indian]] mystic and spiritual master who publicly declared in 1954 that he was the [[Avatar]] of the age.
Meher Baba was born to a [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] family in [[Pune]], [[India]]. He led a normal childhood, showing no particular inclination toward spiritual matters, until age of 19, when a short contact with the [[Muslim]] holy woman [[Hazrat Babajan]] triggered a seven-year process of spiritual transformation.<ref>Hopkinson, Tom & Dorothy:"Much Silence", Meher Baba Foundation Australia, 1974, p.24</ref><ref>Purdom (1964) p. 20</ref> He contacted other spiritual figures he called "the five perfect masters," and settled in Sakori with [[Upasni Maharaj]] before beginning his public work.<ref>Haynes (1989) pp.38-39</ref> The name Meher Baba, meaning ''"Compassionate Father,"'' was given to him by his first followers.<ref>Haynes (1989) p. 40</ref>
From 1925 to the end of his life, Meher Baba maintained silence, and communicated by means of an alphabet board or by unique hand gestures.<ref name="purdom52"/> He spent long periods in seclusion, often [[fasting]], but would intersperse these periods with wide-ranging travels, public gatherings, and works of charity, including working with [[Leprosy|lepers]], the [[Poverty|poor]], and the [[Insanity|insane]]. He gathered numerous Western followers during several world tours, which he continued despite serious car accidents in the US and India.<ref name="car-USA"/><ref name="car-India"/> He wrote books on metaphysics (''[[God Speaks]]'') and on the life of the spirit (''[[Discourses (Meher Baba)|Discourses]]''). For several years beginning in 1949, he traveled incognito about India in what he called "[[New Life (Meher Baba)|The New Life]]." On [[February 10]], [[1954]], Meher Baba declared that he was the [[Avatar]] (an [[incarnation]] of [[God]]).<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 4283</ref>
Concerned by an increasing use of LSD and other psychedelic drugs<ref>{{cite web| |url=http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/cu/CU50.html|last=Brecher|first=Edward M|coauthors=et al|date=1972|title=How LSD was popularized|publisher=Consumer Reports/Drug Library|language=English|accessdate=2008-07-14}}</ref>, in 1966 Meher Baba addressed their use and discredited any alleged spiritual benefits.<ref name="drug-use">Kalchuri (1986) p. 6399ff</ref> Despite deteriorating health, he continued his "universal work," which included fasting, seclusion, and meditation, until he died on [[January 31]], [[1969]]. His ''[[Meher Baba's samadhi|samadhi]]'' (tomb-shrine) in [[Meherabad]], [[India]] has become a place of international pilgrimage.<ref>Haynes (1989) p. 62</ref>
==Early life==
[[Image:Meherwan irani.jpg|thumb|Meher Baba at 16 years old in 1910]]
Meher Baba was an [[Irani]]<ref>In an Indian context, an [[Irani]] is a member of one of two groups of [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrians]] of that subcontinent, the other being the [[Parsi]]s. They are called "Iranis" by other Indians because they spoke an [[Iranian languages|Iranian language]]. "Those who left Iran soon after the advent of Islam to escape persecution, reached the shores of Gujarat 1,373 years ago. Their descendants are the Parsis. While the Zoroastrians who migrated to India from Iran relatively recently — 19th century onwards — are called Irani Zoroastrians." (quote from Padmaja Shastri,TNN, ''[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/572604.cms What sets Zoroastrian Iranis apart]'', The Times of India, March 21, 2004, retrieved 11 July 2008).</ref> born in Pune, India to a Zoroastrian family.<ref name="Sutcliffe">Sutcliffe (2002); p. 38.</ref> His given name was Merwan Sheriar Irani. He was the second son of [[Sheriar Mundegar Irani]], a Persian Zoroastrian who had been a wandering [[Sufism|Sufi]] [[dervish]] before settling in Pune, and Sheriar's young wife, [[Shireen Sheriar Irani|Shireen]]. His schoolmates nicknamed the sometimes mischievous Merwan "Electricity." As a boy he formed ''The Cosmopolitan Club'' dedicated to remaining informed in world affairs and giving money to charity — money once raised by the boys betting at the horse races.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 186-188</ref> Merwan had an excellent singing voice and was a multi-instrumentalist and poet. Fluent in several languages, he was especially fond of [[Hafez]]'s Persian poetry, but also of [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] and [[Percy Bysshe Shelley|Shelley]].<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 190-192</ref>
In his youth, Merwan had no mystical inclinations or experiences, but was "untroubled by a sense of his own destiny."<ref>Hopkinson, Tom & Dorothy:"Much Silence", Meher Baba Foundation Australia, 1974, p.24</ref> He was more interested in sports, especially [[cricket]]. Baba later explained that a veil is always placed on the Avatar until the time is right for him to begin his work.<ref>Haynes (1989) p. 36</ref> At the age of 19, however, during his second year of college, while bicycling home from Deccan College in Pune, he met a very old Muslim woman, a spiritual master named Hazrat Babajan, who kissed him on the forehead. The event affected Merwan profoundly. He experienced visions and mystical feelings so powerful that he gave up his normal activities.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 198-201</ref> He began to beat his head against a stone to maintain, as he later put it, contact with the physical world. He also contacted other spiritual figures, who (along with Babajan) he later said were the five "[[Perfect Master]]s" of the age: [[Hazrat Tajuddin Baba]] of [[Nagpur]], [[Narayan Maharaj]] of [[Kedgaon]], [[Sai Baba of Shirdi]], and [[Upasni Maharaj]] of Sakori.<ref name="five">Kalchuri (1986) p. 944</ref>
Upasani helped him, he later said, to integrate his mystical experiences with normal consciousness, thus enabling him to function in the world without diminishing his experience of God-realization.<ref>''Listen Humanity,'' ed. D. E. Stevens, 1982. pp. 247-250</ref> In 1921, at the age of 27, after living for seven years with Upasni, Merwan started to attract a following of his own. His early followers gave him the name "Meher Baba," meaning Compassionate Father.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 328-330ff</ref>
In 1922, Meher Baba and his followers established "Manzil-e-Meem" (House of the Master) in [[Mumbai|Bombay]]. Baba required strict discipline and obedience from his disciples and spent this period training his disciples, doing his "universal work," and fasting. After a year, Baba and his disciples moved to an area a few miles outside [[Ahmednagar]], which he called "[[Meherabad]]" (Meher flourishing). This [[ashram]] would become the center for his work. In 1924, Meher Baba created a resident school at Meherabad, which he called the "Prem Ashram" (in several languages "[[Prem|prem]]" means "love"). The school was free and open to all [[caste]]s and faiths. The school drew multi-denominational students from around India and Iran.<ref>Abdulla, Ramjoo: "Ramjoo's Diaries, 1922-1929: A Personal Account of Meher Baba's Early Work", ''Sufism Reoriented'', 1979</ref>
===Silence===
[[Image:Pointingalphabet.jpg|thumb|From 1925 until 1954 Meher Baba communicated by pointing to letters on an alphabet board.]]
From [[July 10]], 1925 until his death in 1969, Meher Baba was silent. He communicated first by using an alphabet board, and later by unique hand gestures which were interpreted and spoken out by one of his mandali, usually by his disciple [[Eruch Jessawala]].<ref name="purdom52">Purdom (1964) p. 52</ref> Meher Baba said that his silence was not undertaken as a spiritual exercise but solely in connection with his universal work.
<blockquote>Man’s inability to live God’s words makes the Avatar’s teaching a mockery. Instead of practicing the compassion he taught, man has waged wars in his name. Instead of living the humility, purity, and truth of his words, man has given way to hatred, greed, and violence. Because man has been deaf to the principles and precepts laid down by God in the past, in this present Avataric form, I observe silence.<ref>Meher Baba: "Meher Baba's Universal Message", World's Fair Pamphlet, 1964</ref></blockquote>
== 1930s ==
===First contacts with the West===
In the 1930s, Meher Baba began a period of extensive world travel, with several trips to [[Europe]] and [[United States|America]]. It was during this period that he established contact with his first close group of [[Western world|Western]] disciples.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) pp. 1405ff</ref>
On his first trip to [[England]] in 1931 he traveled on the [[SS Rajputana]], the same ship that carried [[Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi|Mahatma Gandhi]]. Meher Baba and Gandhi had three meetings onboard including one that lasted for three hours.<ref>Purdom (1964) p. 95.</ref> The British press emphasized these meetings<ref>See articles from the Daily Herald, April 4, 1932 (quoted in Kalchuri (1986), p.1573) and from Sunday Express (April 1932) quoted in Purdom (1964), p.99)</ref> but an aide to Gandhi said, "You may say emphatically that Gandhi never asked Meher Baba for help or for spiritual or other advice."<ref>Landau, Rom: "God Is My Adventure", ''Faber & Faber'', London, 1936. p. 111.</ref>
[[Image:Ancient One.jpg|thumb|Meher Baba in 1925, the year he began his lifelong silence]]
On the journey he was interviewed on behalf of the [[Associated Press]], which quoted him describing his trip as a "new crusade [...] to break down all religious barriers and destroy America's materialism and amalgamate all creeds into a common element of love".<ref name="AP">Mills, James A. (AP), ''Indian Spiritual Leader to Tour the Nation'', Jefferson City Post Tribune, March 25, 1932. p.5</ref> His intention, according to the resulting article, was to convert thousands of Americans from sin. Describing Baba as "The Messiah", the article also claims he listed miracles he had performed, and said that a person who becomes one with the truth can accomplish anything, but that it is a weakness to perform miracles only to show spiritual power. However, another description of the interview states that when Baba was asked about the miracles attributed to him, he replied "The only miracle for the Perfect Man to perform is to make others perfect too. I want to make the Americans realize the infinite state which I myself enjoy."<ref>Kalchuri(1986), p.1541</ref>
Baba was invited to the "Meherashram" retreat in Harmon, New York by Malcolm and Jean Schloss, who refered to him in uppercase as "He, Him, His, Himself".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,753275-2,00.html |title=God on the Hudson |format= |work= |date=1932-05-02|accessdate=2008-06-26|publisher=Time Magazine}}</ref> The [[Time magazine]] article on the visit states that he is described by his followers variously as the "God Man", "Messiah" or "Perfect Master".
On May 20, 1932 Baba arrived in [[New York]] and provided the press with a 1,000-word written statement, which was described by devotee [[Quentin Tod]] as his ''Message to America.'' In the statement Baba proclaimed himself "one with the infinite source of everything," and declared his intention to break his silence: "When I speak, my original message will be delivered to the world and it will have to be accepted". When asked about the Indo-British political situation, he had no comment, but his followers explained that he had told Gandhi to abandon politics.<ref>''Indian Mystic in New York'', [[Associated Press]], May 20, 1932, The Lowell Sun</ref>
In the West, Meher Baba met with interested individuals who had heard of his spiritual status and his work in India. Many of these were celebrities and artists, such as [[Hollywood, Los Angeles, California|Hollywood]] notables [[Gary Cooper]], [[Charles Laughton]], [[Tallulah Bankhead]], [[Boris Karloff]], [[Tom Mix]], [[Maurice Chevalier]], [[Ernst Lubitsch]] and others.<ref>Landau, Rom: "God Is My Adventure", ''Faber & Faber'', London, 1936. p. 108 Available as a [http://books.google.com/books?id=_9DxiBTKdJsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=God+Is+My+Adventure+by+Rom+Landau Google book]</ref> On June 1, 1932 [[Mary Pickford]] and [[Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.]] held a reception for Baba at [[Pickfair]] where he delivered a message to Hollywood.<ref>Purdom (1964) p. 103-105</ref><ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 1654</ref> In 1934, after announcing that he would break his self-imposed silence in the [[Hollywood Bowl]], Baba suddenly changed his plans and boarded the [[RMS Empress of Canada (1922)|Empress of Canada]] and sailed to [[Hong Kong]] without explanation. The Associated Press reported that "Baba had decided to postpone the word-fast breaking until next February because 'conditions are not yet ripe'."<ref>Associated Press, July 13, 1932 , as cited Kalchuri (1986), p.1670</ref> He returned to England in 1936,<ref>Kalchuri (1986) pp. 2040ff</ref> but did not return to the United States again until the early 1950s.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) pp. 1661-1668</ref>
In the late 1930s, Meher Baba invited a group of western women to join him in India, where he arranged a series of trips throughout India that became known as the Blue Bus Tours. When they returned home, many newspapers treated their journey as an occasion for scandal.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) pp. 2338-2421</ref> Time Magazine's 1936 review of ''God is my Adventure'' describes the US's fascination with the "long-haired, silky-mustached Parsee named Shri Sadgaru [sic] Meher Baba" four years earlier.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,848514-4,00.html |title=Men, Masters & Messiahs |format= |work=|date=1936-04-20 |accessdate=2008-06-26|publisher=Time Magazine}}</ref>
===The ''Discourses''===
{{main|Discourses (Meher Baba)}}
During the course of early gatherings of his close circle and followers, Meher Baba gave discourses on various spiritual subjects. Between 1938 and 1943, at the request of [[Norina Matchabelli|Princess Norina Matchabelli]], one of his earliest Western devotees, Meher Baba dictated a series of discourses on his alphabet board for her New York publication ''Meher Baba Journal''.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) pp. 2337</ref> These discourses, transcribed or worked up by close disciples from points given by Baba, address many aspects of the spiritual life, and provide practical and simple direction for the aspirant. During those years, at least one discourse appeared in the monthly ''Meher Baba Journal''. C.D. Deshmukh, a close disciple of Meher Baba, compiled and edited the discourses.
Between 1939 and 1954 in India, a five-volume compilation titled ''Discourses of Meher Baba'' received several printings. In 1967 Meher Baba personally supervised the editing and publication of a new three-volume version of the ''Discourses,'' known as the sixth edition.<ref>[http://discoursesbymeherbaba.org/ 1967 Edition of Discourses online]</ref> The widely available seventh edition of the ''Discourses'' first published in 1987 (after Baba's death), contains numerous editorial changes not specifically authorized by Meher Baba.<ref>''Discourses,'' by Meher Baba, Sheriar Press, 1987</ref>
== 1940s ==
===Work with 'masts'===
[[Image:Meher masts.jpg|thumb|Meher Baba feeding masts]]
{{main|Mast (Sufism)}}
In the 1940s, Meher Baba did extensive work with a category of people he termed ''[[Mast (Sufism)|mast]]s'': persons "intoxicated with God."<ref>Donkin (2001) p. v ff</ref> According to Meher Baba these individuals are essentially disabled by their enchanting experience of the higher spiritual [[Plane (metaphysics)|planes]]. Although outwardly masts may appear irrational or even insane, Meher Baba said that their spiritual status was actually quite elevated, and that by meeting with them, he helped them to move forward spiritually while enlisting their aid in his spiritual work.<ref>Donkin (2001)</ref>
Meher Baba visited literally thousands of ''masts'' throughout the [[Indian subcontinent|subcontinent]], and occasionally set up ashrams where they were cared for. One of the best known of these masts, known as Mohammed Mast, lived at Meher Baba's encampment at Meherabad until his death in 2003.<ref>[http://www.trustmeher.com/message/mohd02.htm A Tribute to Mohammed Mast]</ref>
===The New Life===
[[Image:New Life.jpg|thumb|Meher Baba and one of his disciples begging during the New Life]]
{{main|New Life (Meher Baba)}}
In 1949 Meher Baba began an enigmatic period which he called "[[New Life (Meher Baba)|The New Life]]". Following a series of questions on their readiness to obey even the most difficult of his requests, Meher Baba selected twenty companions to join him in a life of complete "hopelessness, helplessness and aimlessness".<ref>Kalchuri (1986) pp. 3481</ref>
He made provisions for those dependent on him, then he and his companions otherwise gave up all property and financial responsibilities. They then traveled about India incognito, without money, with no permanent lodging, begging for food, and carrying out Baba's instructions in accordance with a strict set of "conditions of the New Life". These included absolute acceptance of any circumstance, and consistent good cheer in the face of any difficulty. Companions who failed to comply were sent away.<ref>Purdom (1964) pp. 163-176</ref>
About the New Life Meher Baba wrote:
<blockquote>This New Life is endless, and even after my physical death it will be kept alive by those who live the life of complete renunciation of falsehood, lies, hatred, anger, greed and lust; and who, to accomplish all this, do no lustful actions, do no harm to anyone, do no backbiting, do not seek material possessions or power, who accept no homage, neither covet honor nor shun disgrace, and fear no one and nothing; by those who rely wholly and solely on God, and who love God purely for the sake of loving; who believe in the lovers of God and in the reality of Manifestation, and yet do not expect any spiritual or material reward; who do not let go the hand of Truth, and who, without being upset by calamities, bravely and wholeheartedly face all hardships with one hundred percent cheerfulness, and give no importance to caste, creed and religious ceremonies. This New Life will live by itself eternally, even if there is no one to live it.<ref>Purdom (1964) p. 187</ref></blockquote>
Meher Baba ended the New Life in February, 1952<ref>Purdom, (1964), p.194</ref> after a period of seclusion and fasting, and once again began a round of public appearances throughout India and the West.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) pp. 3762</ref>
== 1950s ==
[[Image:Meher baba car.jpg|thumb|left|350px|Meher Baba leaving a darshan program, February 26, 1954, riding on the roof of a car so that attendees can see.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p.4328</ref>]]
===Automobile collision in the U.S.A.===
In the 1950s Meher Baba established two centers outside of India: [[Meher Spiritual Center]], in [[Myrtle Beach, South Carolina]] and [[Avatar's Abode]], near [[Brisbane]], [[Australia]]. He inaugurated the Meher Spiritual Center in the United States in April, 1952. On [[May 24]], 1952, en route from the Meher Spiritual Center to [[Meher Mount]] in [[Ojai, California]], the car in which Meher Baba was a passenger was struck head-on near [[Prague, Oklahoma]]. He and his companions were thrown from the vehicle and suffered many injuries. Meher Baba's leg was severely broken and he had facial injuries. The injured were treated and returned to Myrtle Beach to recuperate, including work done at [[Duke University Health System|Duke Hospital]] in [[Durham, North Carolina]].<ref name="car-USA">Kalchuri (1986) p.3834-3840</ref>
===Declaration of Avatarhood===
In September 1953, at [[Dehradun]], Meher Baba declared that he was ''"The Highest of the High."''<ref>Meher Baba: "Highest of the High", Pamphlet, September 1954</ref> On February 10, 1954 in Meherastana U.P., India, Meher Baba publicly and explicitly declared his Avatarhood for the first time, spelling out on his alphabet board "Avatar Meher Baba Ki Jai."<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 4283</ref>
In September of that year, Meher Baba gave a "men-only" [[sahavas]] at Meherabad which later became known as the "Three Incredible Weeks."<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 4451</ref> During this time Baba issued a declaration, "Meher Baba's Call," wherein he affirmed his Avatarhood "irrespective of the doubts and convictions" of others.<ref>Meher Baba: "Meher Baba's Call", Pamphlet, September 12, 1954</ref>
In October of 1954, Meher Baba discarded his alphabet board and began using a unique set of hand gestures to communicate.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 4457,4464</ref>
===Automobile collision in India===
On [[December 2]], 1956, outside [[Satara]], India, the car in which Meher Baba was being driven went out of control and a second serious automobile collision occurred. Meher Baba suffered a fractured pelvis and other severe injuries. Dr. Nilu, a close [[mandali]], was killed.<ref name="car-India">Kalchuri (1986) p. 5130</ref> This collision seriously incapacitated Meher Baba. Despite his physicians' predictions to the contrary, after great effort Baba managed to walk again, but from that point was in constant pain and was severely limited in his ability to move. In fact, during his trip to the West in 1958 he often needed to be carried from venue to venue.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 5450</ref> Baba indicated that his automobile accidents and the suffering that attended them were, like his silence, purposeful and brought about by his will.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 5241</ref>
=== Final visits to the West ===
In July 1956, during his fifth visit to the US, Baba arrived in Washington DC and received friends and disciples at the home of [[Sufism Reoriented|Mrs. James Terry (Ivy) Duce]]<ref>Filis Fredrick, ''THE AWAKENER'', Vol. XX, No. 2, pp. 38-39 {{cite web |url=http://www.avatarmeherbaba.org/erics/heroines7c.html |title=Heroines of the Path, Part 7C |format= |work= |accessdate=2008-06-25}}</ref> wife of the vice-president of the [[Saudi Aramco|Arabian American Oil Co.]]<ref>''Man hasn't spoken in 31 years'', Big Spring Daily Herald, June 30, 1957 ''Note: this article identifies the visit as Meher Baba's 10th US visit, and places the planned date as July 1957, not 1956 as generally accepted.''</ref> Previously he had visited New York's [[Trump Park Avenue|Delmonico Hotel]], and the Meher Center at [[Myrtle Beach]] in [[South Carolina]]. He then travelled to [[Meher Mount]] at [[Ojai]], California, before continuing on to Australia. His final visit to the US and Australia was made in 1958.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 5457</ref>
== 1960s ==
===Seclusion and East-West Gathering===
Meher Baba returned to India and began more periods of fasting, meditation, and seclusion. Meher Baba said that although the work was draining and exhausting. it was done on behalf of the spiritual welfare of all humanity.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 5596</ref><ref>Haynes (1989) p. 60</ref>
In 1962, Meher Baba gave one of his last public functions, a series of meetings he called ''The East-West Gathering''. At these meetings, in which his western followers were invited to meet his Indian disciples, Baba gave [[Darśana|darshan]] to many thousands of people, despite the physical strain this caused.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 6000</ref>
===Addressing the drug culture===
[[Image:Babawoodstock.jpg|right|thumb|Meher Baba poster in scene from the 1970 film ''[[Woodstock (film)|Woodstock]]''.]]
{{main|God in a Pill?}}
In the mid-1960s Meher Baba became concerned with the increasing drug culture in the West and began a correspondence with several Western academics including [[Timothy Leary]] and [[Ram Dass|Richard Alpert]] in which he strongly discouraged the use of all hallucinogenic drugs for spiritual purposes.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) pp. 6412ff</ref> In 1966 Meher Baba's responses to questions on drugs were published in a pamphlet titled ''[[God in a Pill?]]'' Meher Baba stated that drug use was spiritually damaging and that if enlightenment were possible through drugs then "God is not worthy of being God."<ref>''God in a Pill? Meher Baba on L.S.D. and The High Roads'', Sufism Reoriented, Inc. 1966</ref> Meher Baba instructed some of his young Western disciples to spread this message, which increased Meher Baba's notoriety among the young during this period. In an interview with Frederick Chapman, a Harvard graduate and [[Fulbright]] scholar who met Baba during a year study in India, Baba stated that [[LSD]] is "harmful physically, mentally and spiritually", and warned that "the continued use of LSD leads to madness or death."<ref name=UPI07271967>''Spiritual Leader Warning on LSD[[UPI]]'', July 27, 1967</ref>
===Final seclusion and death===
{{main|Amartithi|1969 Darshan}}
From the East-West Gathering onward, Meher Baba's health steadily deteriorated. Despite the physical toll it took on his body, Meher Baba continued to undertake long periods in [[solitude|seclusion]], [[fasting]] and [[meditation|meditating]].<ref>Haynes (1989) p. 61</ref>
[[Image:Meher Baba wheel chair.jpg|thumbnail|upright|Meher Baba in 1968]]
In late July 1968, Meher Baba completed a particularly taxing period of seclusion and emerged saying that his work was "completed 100% to my satisfaction".<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 6641</ref> By this point he was confined to a wheelchair. Within a few months his condition worsened and he was bed-ridden. His body was wracked by intense muscular spasms that had no clear origin. Despite the care of several doctors, the spasms grew progressively worse.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 6713</ref>
On [[January 31]], 1969, Meher Baba died,<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 6650-6714</ref> conveying by his last gestures, "Do not forget that I am God."<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 6713</ref> In time his devotees called this day ''[[Amartithi]]'' (deathless day). Meher Baba's body was laid out for public viewing at his [[Meher Baba's samadhi|samadhi]] (tomb-shrine) at [[Meherabad]]. Covered with roses, and cooled by ice, his body was kept available to the public for one week before its final burial.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 6735</ref>
Before his passing, Meher Baba had made extensive preparations for a public [[Darśana|darshan]] program to be held in Pune, India. His mandali decided to proceed with the arrangements despite the physical absence of the host. Several thousand attended this "[[1969 Darshan|Last Darshan]]," including many hundred people from the U.S.A., Europe, and Australia.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 6739</ref>
==Teachings==
===Metaphysics===
{{details|God Speaks}}
<small>Source: Baba, Meher, Dodd Mead, ''God Speaks, The Theme of Creation and Its Purpose''</small> <ref>Baba (1955)</ref>
Meher Baba's metaphysical views are most notably described in his books ''[[Discourses (Meher Baba)|Discourses]]'' and ''[[God Speaks]]''. His cosmology incorporates concepts and terms from Vedanta, Sufism, and Christianity.<ref name="Choquette"/><ref>Purdom (1964) p. 418.</ref> Meher Baba upheld the concept of [[nondualism|nonduality]], the view that diverse creation, or duality, is an illusion and that the goal of life is conscious realization of the absolute Oneness of God inherent in all animate and inanimate beings and things. Meher Baba compares God's original state to an infinite, shoreless ocean which has only ''unconscious divinity'' — unaware of itself because there is nothing but itself. From this state, God had the "whim" to know Himself<ref>Baba (1955), p. 182</ref>, and asked "Who am I?"<ref>Purdom (1964) p. 415.</ref> In response to this question, creation came into existence. In this analogy, what was previously a still, shoreless Ocean now stirred<ref>Kalchuri (1982) pp.5ff</ref>, forming innumerable "drops" of itself or souls.
====Evolution and Involution====
According to Baba, each soul pursues ''conscious divinity'' by evolving: that is, experiencing form in seven "kingdoms" — stone/metal, vegetable, worm, fish, bird, animal, and human. The soul gathers ''[[sanskara]]s'' (impressions) in each form; these impressions lead to further evolution expressed by taking new, more complex forms. With each new form, increasing consciousness is gained, until the soul experiences and discards forms from all the evolutionary kingdoms. The final form of the soul's evolution is the human form. Only in the human form can the soul experience its own divinity, by entering into ''[[Involution (Meher Baba)|involution]]'', through which it gradually eliminates all impressions which cause the appearance of separateness from God.<ref>Purdom (1964) p. 418.</ref>
====Reincarnation and God-realization====
Baba asserts that in the human form, the soul becomes subject to [[reincarnation]]s, the "involuntary process of assocation and disassociation of consciousness".<ref>Purdom (1964) p. 421.</ref> The purpose of reincarnation is to provide the opportunity for liberation from illusion. The soul reincarnates innumerable times in all conditions of life encompassing the whole range of human experience (e.g. man/woman, rich/poor, powerful/weak, etc.).<ref>Purdom (1964) p. 422.</ref> Through the experience of opposites, sanskaras gradually grow fainter and scarcer.<ref>Baba (1955); p. 107.</ref>Meher Baba describes the process of God-realization this way:
<blockquote>From out of the depth of unbroken Infinfity arose the Question, "Who am I?" And to that Question there is the answer, "I am God!"<ref>Purdom (1964) p. 415.</ref></blockquote>
=== Perfect Masters and the Avatar ===
Meher Baba says that at all times on Earth there are fifty-six incarnate God-realized souls, and that of these souls there are always five who constitute the ''five [[Perfect Master]]s'' of their era<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p.944</ref>. When one of the five perfect masters dies, Baba says, another God-realized soul among the 56 immediately replaces him or her by taking up that office. <ref>Adriel, Jean. ''Avatar: The Life Story of the Perfect Master, Meher Baba'' (1947), p.49 , J. F. Rowny press</ref>
The ''[[Avatar]]'', according to Meher Baba, is a special Perfect Master, the first soul to achieve God-realization. This soul, the ''original'' Perfect Master, or the "Ancient One", never ceases to incarnate. Baba says that this particular soul personifies the state of God which in [[Hinduism]] is named ''[[Vishnu]]'' and in Sufism is named ''[[Parvardigar]]'', i.e. the sustainer or preserver state of God. According to Meher Baba the Avatar appears on [[Earth]] every 700-1400 years, and is 'brought down' into human form by the five perfect masters of the time to aid in the process of moving creation in its never ending journey toward Godhood. Baba said that in other ages this role was fulfilled by [[Zoroaster]], [[Rama]], [[Krishna]], [[Gautama Buddha]], [[Jesus]], and lastly by [[Muhammad]]<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 4216</ref>.
Baba equates the concept of Avatar with terms from numerous diverse traditions, including ''[[Rasul|Rasool]], [[Messiah]], [[Christ]], [[Maitreya]], Savior, Redeemer,'' etc.<ref>Meher Baba: "Discourses", ''Sufism Reoriented'', 6th ed., 1967. Vol III, p. 18ff</ref> Meher Baba describes the Avatar as "a gauge against which man can measure what he is and what he may become. He trues the standard of human values by interpreting them in terms of divinely human life."<ref>Meher Baba: "Discourses", ''Sufism Reoriented'', 6th ed., 1967. Vol III, p. 15</ref>
[[Image:meher lynott8.jpg|thumb|left|225px|Painting of Baba by [[Lyn Ott]], 1970]]
Most of Meher Baba's followers accept his claim.<ref name=Choquette>''New Religious Movements in the United States and Canada: A Critical Assessment and Annotated Bibliography''. Contributors: Diane Choquette - compiler. Publisher: Greenwood Press. Place of Publication: Westport, CT. Publication Year: 1985. Page Number: 12.</ref>, and he is said to be "revered by millions around the world as the Avatar of the age and a God realized being."<ref name=UPI07271967 />
==Legacy==
Meher Baba's travels and teachings left a legacy of followers and devotees worldwide. Although he sometimes participated in large public gatherings, Meher Baba discouraged his followers from [[Proselytism|proselytizing]] or [[Evangelism|evangelizing]] on his behalf. Rather he stated, "Let your life itself be my message of love and truth to others."<ref>Luck, Irwin: "The Silent Master Meher Baba", 1967.p. 17</ref>
There is no central organization surrounding Meher Baba and no coordinated interaction between groups or even any requirement to be part of groups. Accordingly there is no reliable method for counting his devotees. Indeed "the group is so small that it has escaped the notice of religious studies experts."<ref>''Sufis plan new faith center in Walnut Creek'', Contra Costa Times, July 4, 2008</ref> There are no rites, rituals or duties required of his followers (who commonly call themselves "Baba lovers"). However, many devotees observe a few common practices on an informal basis.<ref>Cohen(1977) pp. 152-154</ref> These include keeping pictures and other souvenirs; regular times of personal meditation and remembrance, and refraining from practices Baba disliked, especially the use of [[psychedelic drug]]s including marijuana.<ref>''Eastern Mysticism and the Resocialization of Drug Users: The Meher Baba Cult'', Thomas Robbins, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 8, No. 2 (Autumn, 1969), pp. 308-317</ref>
Gatherings of Baba followers are highly informal and social in nature. Special effort will be made to gather together on [[Amartithi]], the anniversary of Meher Baba's death, and on his birthday. Most Baba Lovers keep silent each July 10 ([[Silence Day]]), observing the request Meher Baba often made of his followers during his lifetime.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 5476, 4933, 5609,6465,2294,3179,3864 etc.</ref>
[[Image:Don't worry, be happy.jpg|thumbnail|150px|''1966 Don't worry, be happy card'']]
Three prayers written by Meher Baba, "[[O Parvardigar]]", the "[[Prayer of Repentance]]" and the "[[Beloved God Prayer]]",<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 4209, 5633</ref><ref>Purdom(1964) p. 238</ref> are recited morning and evening at his [[Meher Baba's samadhi|samadhi]] in India, and are often recited at gatherings of his followers. At [[Meherabad]], his followers maintain Meher Baba's practice of lighting a [[Dhuni (Meher Baba)|dhuni]] fire in a fire-ring on the 12th of each month. After dhuni prayers, participants throw [[sandalwood]] twigs dipped in [[ghee]] into the flame as physical representations of fears and desires they wish to relinquish.
Although Meher Baba had initially begun gaining popular notoriety in the West as early as 1932 as the result of attention received from some celebrities of the time (such as [[Charles Laughton]], [[Tallulah Bankhead]], [[Boris Karloff]] and others), and the rather disillusioned account of [[Paul Brunton]] (''A Search in Secret India'', 1934), he achieved additional attention in the West over three decades later, through the work of [[Pete Townshend#Religion|Pete Townshend]] of [[The Who]].<ref>''Rolling Stone'', No. 71 (November 26, 1970)</ref> Parts of the rock-opera ''[[Tommy (rock opera)|Tommy]]'' (May, 1969) were inspired by Townshend's study of Meher Baba, to whom the album was dedicated.<ref>"Tommy", The Who, Gatefold cover acknowledgements, May 23, 1969</ref> The Who's 1971 song [[Baba O'Riley]] was named in part after Meher Baba and on his first solo album, ''[[Who Came First]]'', Townshend recorded the [[Jim Reeves]] song, "There's A Heartache Following Me", saying that it was Meher Baba's favorite song. In addition, [[Bobby McFerrin]]'s 1988 [[Grammy Award]] winning song "[[Don't Worry, Be Happy]]" was inspired by a popular quote of Baba's seen in numerous Baba posters and inspiration cards.<ref>Bruce Fessier, ''USA Weekend Magazine'', October 21-23, 1988</ref>
==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}
== References ==
* Abdulla, Ramjoo, ''Ramjoo's Diaries, 1922-1929: A Personal Account of Meher Baba's Early Work'' (1979) , Sufism Reoriented
* {{cite book |author= Baba, Meher|title=Discourses |publisher=Sheriar Foundation |location=Myrtle Beach, S.C |year=1995 |pages= |isbn=1-880619-09-1 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}}
* Baba, Meher, ''God in a Pill? Meher Baba on L.S.D. and The High Roads'' (1966), Sufism Reoriented, Inc.
* {{cite book |author=Baba, Meher |title=God Speaks |publisher=Sufism Reoriented |location=Walnut Creek, California |year=1997 |pages= |isbn=0-915828-02-2 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}}
* {{cite book |author= Baba, Meher |title=Silent Master |publisher=Spartacus Educational Publishers |location= |year=1989 |pages= |isbn=0-948867-25-6 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}}
* {{cite book |author=Cohen, Allan Y. |title=The Mastery of Consciousness: An Introduction and Guide to Practical Mysticism and Methods of Spiritual Development |publisher=Harper & Row |location=San Francisco |year=1977 |pages= |isbn=0-06-090371-6 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}}
* {{cite book |author=Choquette, Diane |title=New religious movements in the United States and Canada: a critical assessment and annotated bibliography |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, Conn |year=1985 |pages= |isbn=0-313-23772-7 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}}
* {{cite book |author=William Donkin |title=The Wayfarers: Meher Baba with the God-Intoxicated |publisher=Sheriar Foundation |location=Myrtle Beach, S.C |year=2001 |pages= |isbn=1-880619-24-5 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}}
* {{cite book |author=Haynes, Charles C. |title=Meher Baba, the Awakener |publisher=Avatar Foundation, Inc |location= |year=1993 |pages= |isbn=0-9624472-1-8 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}}
* {{cite book |author= Kalchuri, Bhau |title=The Nothing and the Everything |publisher=Manifestation |location= |year=1982 |pages= |isbn=0-932947-02-6 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}}
* Kalchuri, Bhau, ''Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher, The Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba'' (1986), Manifestation, Inc., Myrtle Beach
* {{cite book |author=Landau, Rom |title=God is my adventure; a book on modern mystics, masters, and teachers |publisher=Books for Libraries Press |location=Freeport, N.Y |year=1972 |pages= |isbn=0-8369-2848-2 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}}
* Purdom, Charles B., ''The God-Man: The Life, Journeys & Work of Meher Baba with an Interpretation of His Silence & Spiritual Teaching'', (1964),George Allen & Unwin, London
* Sutcliffe, Steven J. , ''Children of the New Age: A History of Alternative Spirituality'' (2002), Routledge, London.
==Further reading==
;Books by Meher Baba
*''Beams On the Spiritual Panorama,'' Meher Baba, Perennial; Harper & Row, 1958. 88 pp.
*{{cite book |author=Meher Baba |title=The Everything and the Nothing |publisher=Sheriar Foundation |location=Myrtle Beach, S.C |year=1989 |pages= |isbn=0-913078-67-0 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}}
*''Life at Its Best,'' Meher Baba, Harper & Row, NY, 1957. E P Dutton, 1976. 74 pp. (Fifty-seven short messages given by Meher Baba to the public in the course of his visit to America in the summer of 1956.)
*{{cite book |author=Meher Baba |title=The Path of Love |publisher=Sheriar Foundation |location=Myrtle Beach, S.C |year=2000 |pages= |isbn=1-880619-23-7 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}}
;Books about Meher Baba
*''Meher Baba, an Iranian Liberal'', by Kevin R.D. Shepherd. Anthropographia Publications, 1988. ISBN 0-9508680-5-1
*''That's How It Was, Stories of Life with Meher Baba,'' [[Eruch Jessawala]], Sheriar Foundation, 1995 ISBN 1-880619-14-8
* ''Mehera-Meher: A Divine Romance'', David Fenster, 2003 (3 Volume biography based on [[Mehera Irani]]'s narrative) http://www.meherameher.com
*''Tales from the New Life with Meher Baba,'' Narrated by Eruch Jessawala, Mehera Irani, Mani Irani and Meheru, Meher Baba Information, 1976 (Out of Print)
* {{cite book |author=Laurent Weichberger |title=A Mirage Will Never Quench Your Thirst: A Source of Wisdom About Drugs |publisher=Sheriar Foundation |location=Myrtle Beach, S.C |year=2003 |pages= |isbn=1-880619-27-X |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}}
== External links ==
=== Biography and teachings ===
{{Commons|Meher Baba}}
{{wikiquote}}
{{wikiversity|Meher Baba}}
* [http://www.ambppct.org/meherbaba/online.php The Trust Online Library] Books by and about Meher Baba available to download as [[Portable Document Format|PDF]] files
* [http://lordmeher.org Lord Meher] Complete biography, searchable online
* [http://discoursesbymeherbaba.org Discourses by Meher Baba] Searchable online
* [http://www.theawakenermagazine.org/ Awakener Magazine Archive] 67 issues of ''Awakener Magazine'' from 1953–1986. Searchable online
* [http://www.meherbabadnyana.net/life_eternal/Life_Eternal.html Life Eternal] Anthology of quotes by Meher Baba organized by subject matter
* [http://www.avatarmeherbaba.org/erics/glossary.html Glossary of Meher Baba's terminology]
=== Web portals ===
* [http://www.ambppct.org/ Avatar Meher Baba Trust], Ahmednagar, India
* [http://www.avatarmeherbaba.org/ AvatarMeherBaba.org]
* [http://www.trustMeher.com/ TrustMeher.com]
* [http://www.meherbaba.co.uk/index.htm Meher Baba Association], London, England
* [http://www.meherbabatheavatar.org MeherBabaTheAvatar.org], Delhi, India
* [http://www.meherbabainformation.org/content.asp Meher Baba Information], Berkeley, California
* [http://www.meherbabatampabay.org/ Avatar Meher Baba Lovers of Tampa Bay] Florida
* [http://www.meherestan.com/ Meherestan Group], Ahmednagar, India, Persian Web Site
=== Media online ===
* [http://meherbabafilms.blogspot.com/ Online videos of Meher Baba]
* [http://meherbabaphotos.blogspot.com/ Photos of Meher Baba]
* [http://www.mandalihall.org/ MP3 files of Meher Baba's Disciples going back to 1969]
{{Meher Baba}}
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|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Pune]], [[India]]
|DATE OF DEATH= [[January 31]], [[1969]]
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[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:1969 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian religious leaders]]
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[[Category:Iranis]] <!-- like Parsi, but descended from a later immigration -->
[[Category:Spiritual teachers]]
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