Editing Meher Baba (section)

=== 1950–1959 – ''God Speaks'' and automobile accidents ===
After being injured as a passenger in two serious automobile accidents, one near [[Prague, Oklahoma]] in the United States in 1952,<ref>Kalchuri, Bhau (1986). Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher, The Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba. Manifestation.</ref> and one in India in 1956, Meher Baba's ability to walk became limited.<ref>Haynes (1989) p. 60</ref><ref>Purdom (1964) p. 376</ref>

In the 1950s, Baba established two centers outside of India, namely the [[Meher Spiritual Center]] in [[Myrtle Beach, South Carolina]] in the United States and Avatar's Abode near [[Brisbane]], Australia. He inaugurated the Meher Spiritual Center in April 1952. On 24 May 1952, en route from the Meher Spiritual Center to Meher Mount in [[Ojai, California]], the car in which he was a passenger was struck head-on near [[Prague, Oklahoma]]. He and his companions were thrown from the vehicle and injured. Baba's leg was severely broken and he sustained facial injuries including a broken nose. The injured were treated at Prague Memorial Hospital, after which they returned to Myrtle Beach to recuperate.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) pp. 3834–3840</ref> While recuperating at Youpon Dunes, a home owned by Elizabeth Patterson, he worked on the charter for a group of Sufis, which he named [[Western Sufism#Sufism Reoriented|Sufism Reoriented]].<ref>''Glimpses of the God-Man, Meher Baba'', vol. 3, by Bal Natu, Sheriar Press, 1982, pp. 64, 65</ref>

Meher Baba began dictating his major book, ''[[God Speaks|God Speaks, The Theme of Creation and Its Purpose]]'', using an alphabet board in [[Dehradun]], in August 1953.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 4208</ref> He dedicated this book "To the {{nowrap|Universe{{hsp}}{{mdash}}{{hsp}}}}the Illusion that sustains Reality". In September 1954, Meher Baba gave a men-only [[sahavas]] at Meherabad that later became known as the Three Incredible Weeks.<ref>''Three Incredible Weeks with Meher Baba: 11–30 September 1954'', by Charles Purdom & Malcolm Schloss, Sheriar Press, 1979, pp. xi–xii</ref> During this time Baba issued a declaration, "Meher Baba's Call", wherein he once again affirmed his Avatarhood "irrespective of the doubts and convictions" of others.<ref>Meher Baba: "Meher Baba's Call", Pamphlet, 12 September 1954</ref> At the end of this sahavas, Meher Baba gave the completed manuscript of his book ''God Speaks'' to two members of Sufism Reoriented, Ludwig H. Dimpfl and Don E. Stevens, for editing and publication in America.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 4551</ref> The book was published by [[Dodd, Mead & Co.|Dodd, Mead and Company]] the following year.

On 30 September 1954 Meher Baba gave his Final Declaration message.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ambppct.org/messages.php#final |title=The Final Declaration |access-date=8 February 2014 |archive-date=8 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708051427/http://ambppct.org/messages.php#final |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In October 1954, Meher Baba discarded his alphabet board and began using a unique set of hand gestures to communicate, which he used for the rest of his life.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) pp. 4457, 4464</ref>

On 2 December 1956, outside [[Satara (city)|Satara]], India, the car in which Meher Baba was riding lost control and a second serious automobile accident occurred. Baba suffered a fractured [[pelvis]] and other severe injuries. Nilu, one of Baba's [[Mandali (Meher Baba)|mandali]], was killed.<ref>Purdom (1986) p. 289</ref> This collision seriously incapacitated Baba. Despite his physicians' predictions, Baba began to walk again, but from that point was in [[chronic pain|constant pain]] and had limited mobility. During his trip to the West in 1958, he often needed to be carried from venue to venue.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 5450</ref>

In 1956, during his fifth visit to the United States, Baba stayed at New York's [[Trump Park Avenue|Hotel Delmonico]] before traveling to the Meher Spiritual Center at [[Myrtle Beach, South Carolina]]. In July he traveled to [[Washington, D.C.]], and received friends and disciples at the home of Ivy Duce,<ref>''Awakener Magazine'', Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 38–39 {{cite web |url=http://www.avatarmeherbaba.org/erics/heroines7c.html |title=Heroines of the Path, Part 7C |access-date=25 June 2008 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303165218/http://www.avatarmeherbaba.org/erics/heroines7c.html |url-status=live }}</ref> wife of James Terry Duce, the vice-president of the [[Saudi Aramco|Arabian American Oil Company.]]<ref>''Man hasn't spoken in 31 years'', ''Big Spring Daily Herald'', 30 June 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> He then traveled to Meher Mount at [[Ojai, California]] before proceeding to Australia. His final visits to the United States and Australia were made in 1958.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 5457</ref>