Editing Meher Baba

{{Short description|Indian spiritual master (1894–1969)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox philosopher
| name             = Meher Baba
| image            = Meher Baba 1945.jpg
| caption           = Meher Baba in 1945
| birth_name       = Merwan Sheriar Irani
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1894|2|25|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [[Pune]], [[Bombay Presidency]], [[India]]
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1969|1|31|1894|2|25}}
| death_place      = [[Meherabad]], [[Ahmednagar]], [[Maharashtra]], India
| main_interests   = {{hlist|[[Religion]]|[[metaphysics]]|[[aesthetics]]|[[ethics]]}}
| notable_works            = {{hlist|''[[God Speaks]]''|''[[Discourses (Meher Baba)|Discourses]]''}}
| signature        = Meher Baba (signature).jpg
| signature_size   =
| website          = {{URL|https://avatarmeherbabatrust.org/}}
|other_names       = ''The Awakener''
}}

'''Meher Baba''' (born '''Merwan Sheriar Irani'''; 25 February 1894 – 31 January 1969) was an Indian [[spirituality|spiritual]] master who said he was the [[Avatar]], or God in human form, of the age.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 2324</ref><ref name=":22">{{Cite book|last1= Anthony|first1= Dick|title= Religious Movements in Contemporary America|last2=Robbins|first2=Thomas|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1975|isbn=978-1-4008-6884-1|location=United States of America|pages=479–514|chapter=The Meher Baba Movement: Its Affect on Post-Adolescent Social Alienation|doi=10.1515/9781400868841}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last= Sedgwick |first= Mark|title=Western Sufism: From the Abbasids to the New Age|publisher=Oxford Scholarship Online |date=2016|isbn=9780199977642|location=Online|pages=|chapter=Introduction|quote=The most important less Islamic tendencies were represented by Meher Baba, an Indian understood to be an avatar, and by Pak Subuh, an Indonesian guru.}}</ref> A spiritual figure of the 20th century,<ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=Religion and the Subtle Body in Asia and the West: Between Mind and Body |publisher= Routledge|year=2013|isbn=978-0-415-60811-4|editor-last=Samuel|editor-first= Geoffrey |location= New York|pages=179|chapter=The Subtle Body in Sufism|quote=It would be useful, however, to highlight the views of just four major figures of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries – Inayat Khan, Meher Baba, Javad Nurbakhsh, and Robert Frager.|editor-last2=Johnston|editor-first2=Jay}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Billington|first=Ray|title=Understanding Eastern Philosophy|publisher= Routledge |year= 1997|isbn=0-415-12964-8|location=United States of America, Canada|pages=20|quote=This period ended with the emergence of a number of dynamic spiritual leaders in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, Gandhi, Meher Baba; this was a period of increasing apperception of Hinduism in the West.}}</ref> he had a following of hundreds of thousands of people, mostly in India, with a smaller number of followers in North America, Europe, South America, and Australia.<ref name=":22" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Bowker|first=John|title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions |publisher= Oxford University Press|year=2003|isbn=9780191727221|location=Online|pages=|quote=The Baba's tomb at Meherabad is now a centre of pilgrimage. While it has attracted several thousand people in the West since the 1950s, the overwhelming majority of 'Baba lovers' are still to be found in India.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sovatsky|first=Stuart|date=2004|title=Clinical forms of love inspired by Meher Baba's mast work and the awe of infinite consciousness|url=http://www.atpweb.org/jtparchive/trps-36-02-134.pdf|journal=The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology|volume=36|issue=2|pages=134–149|quote=He remained in silence after 1925, made several teaching tours throughout Europe and America and drew a following of many hundreds of thousands worldwide who believed him to be an avatar, the most mature of saints in the Indian terminology. |access-date=15 December 2020|archive-date=3 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903154624/https://www.atpweb.org/jtparchive/trps-36-02-134.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

Meher [[Baba (honorific)|Baba]]'s [[God Speaks|map of consciousness]] has been described as "a unique amalgam of [[Sufi]], [[Vedic]], and [[Yogic]] terminology".<ref>{{Cite journal|last= Sovatsky|first= Stuart|date= 2004|title= Clinical forms of love inspired by Meher Baba's mast work and the awe of infinite consciousness|url= http://www.atpweb.org/jtparchive/trps-36-02-134.pdf|journal= The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology|volume= 36|issue= 2|pages= 134–149|quote= His elaborate map of consciousness (formulated in the 1930s and 40s), a unique amalgam of Sufi, Vedic, and Yogic terminology, can be found in his Discourses (1967/2002) and God Speaks (1955/2001).|via= |access-date= 15 December 2020|archive-date= 3 September 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210903154624/https://www.atpweb.org/jtparchive/trps-36-02-134.pdf|url-status= live}}</ref> He taught that the goal of all beings was to awaken to consciousness of their own [[divinity]], and to realise the absolute oneness of [[God]].<ref name=":22" /><ref name=":02">
{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=Encyclopedia of World Religions
 |publisher= Encyclopædia Britannica, Incorporated
 |year= 2006|isbn =978-1-59339-491-2|location= |pages= 706}}
</ref>

At the age of 19, Meher Baba began a seven-year period of [[spiritual transformation]], during which he had encounters with [[Hazrat Babajan]], [[Upasni Maharaj]], [[Sai Baba of Shirdi]], [[Tajuddin Muhammad Badruddin|Tajuddin Baba]], and [[Narayan Maharaj]]. In 1925, he began a 44-year period of silence, during which he communicated first using an alphabet board and by 1954 entirely through hand gestures using an interpreter.<ref name=":02" /> Meher Baba died on 31 January 1969 and was entombed at [[Meherabad]]. His tomb, or "[[Samadhi (shrine)|''samadhi'']]", has become a place of pilgrimage for his followers, often known as "Baba lovers".<ref name=":3" />

==Overview of teachings==
Meher Baba's teachings concerned the nature and purpose of life. He described the [[phenomenal]] world as illusory, and taught that the Universe is imagination. He taught that God alone exists, and each soul is God passing through imagination in order to realise its own divinity.<ref>''God Speaks'', 2nd edition, 1973. p. 170</ref> He advised followers wishing to attain God-realisation, emphasizing love and selfless-service.<ref>''Discourses'', 7th edition, 1987. p. 315</ref> His other teachings included discussion of [[Perfect Master (Meher Baba)|Perfect Masters]], the Avatar, and those on the various stages of the spiritual path, which he termed [[Involution (Meher Baba)|involution]]. ''[[God Speaks]]'' and ''[[Discourses (Meher Baba)|Discourses]]'' are regarded as among his most important written works.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26609184|title=Sanskrit Pathshala to a Deemed University|author=Shigwan, Ramchandra |journal=Bulletin of the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute|date=9 March 2024 |volume=77|pages=261–270|jstor=26609184 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/20024777|title=Spiritual Innovation and the Crisis of American Civil Religion|author1=Anthony, Dick|author2=Robbins, Thomas|year=1982|journal=Daedalus|volume=111|issue=1|pages=215–234|jstor=20024777 }}</ref>

For decades he declined to speak and later refrained from communicating via written language. This practice has remained a topic of discussion among some of his followers.<ref>Purdom (1964) p. 407&nbsp; "Why he ceased to speak and write Baba has explained only vaguely, though much natural curiosity is aroused; the first question asked when people come to know about him or to see him is why he does it. That both silence and nonwriting are of great significance is certain; not surprisingly Baba does not explain. Silence is the answer to silence."</ref><ref>''Meher Baba's Silent Semiotic Output'', José Sanjinés, ''Signs and Society'', Vol. 2, No. S1, Supplement 2014, The University of Chicago Press, p. S121</ref>

==Wider influence==
His legacy includes the Avatar Meher Baba Charitable Trust he established in India, and a handful of centers for information and pilgrimage. He has influenced [[pop culture]] creators and introduced the common phrase "Don't worry; be happy". This was used in [[Bobby McFerrin]]'s hit 1988 song [[Don't Worry, Be Happy|of the same name]]. Among his followers were well-known musicians such as [[Melanie Safka]] and [[Pete Townshend]], as well as journalists including [[Tom Hopkinson|Sir Tom Hopkinson]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last1=Anthony|first1=Dick|title=Religious Movements in Contemporary America|last2=Robbins|first2=Thomas|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1975|isbn=978-1-4008-6884-1|location=United States of America|pages=479–514|chapter=The Meher Baba Movement: Its Affect on Post-Adolescent Social Alienation|doi=10.1515/9781400868841}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Hopkinson|first1=Tom|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1124575231|title=The Silent Messenger: The Life and Work of Meher Baba|last2=Hopkinson|first2=Dorothy|publisher=Gollancz|year=1974|isbn=978-1-78904-057-9|location=Winchester, UK|pages=|oclc=1124575231|access-date=15 December 2020|archive-date=20 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220034724/http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1124575231|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1971, Meher Baba's following in the United States was estimated at 7,000. Some commentators have suggested that the size of the movement has been underestimated due to the rarity of proselytising by Meher Baba's followers, and that in 1975, the movement was larger than the more visible [[Hare Krishna movement]].<ref name=":2" />

Meher Baba was accepted as the leader of a Sufi organization based in California which he renamed [[Sufism Reoriented Sanctuary|Sufism Reoriented]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 1, 2023 |title=Meher Baba {{!}} Sufism Reoriented |url=https://www.sufismreoriented.org/meherbaba}}</ref> Meher Baba's Sufi influence is said to have drawn from [[Sai Baba of Shirdi]], whom Meher Baba designated as a ''[[Qutb]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Srinivas |first=Smriti |date=May 1999 |title=The Brahmin and the fakir: Suburban religiosity in the cult of Shirdi Sai baba |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13537909908580865 |journal=Journal of Contemporary Religion |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=245–261 |doi=10.1080/13537909908580865 |issn=1353-7903 |via=}}</ref> However, some commentators have asserted that Meher Baba's interpretation of Sufism shared very few similarities with the [[Sufi Movement]] apart from [[universalism]] and anti-dogmatism.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sedgwick|first=Mark|title=Western Sufism: From the Abbasids to the New Age|publisher=Oxford Scholarship Online|date= 2016|isbn=9780199977642|location=Online|pages=|chapter=Conclusion|quote=One branch of the Sufi Movement retained the word "Sufi" in its title, but joined the Meher Baba movement, which had nothing in common with the Sufi Movement other than universalism and anti-dogmatism.}}</ref>

== Life and works ==
===Early life===
[[File:Meherwan irani.jpg|thumb|upright|Meher Baba (as Merwan Irani) at 16 years old in 1910]]
Meher Baba was born to [[Irani (India)|Irani]] [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] parents in 1894 in [[Pune]], India (formerly Poona).<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 people|Parsis]]. 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, [https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/What-sets-Zoroastrian-Iranis-apart/articleshow/572604.cms "What sets Zoroastrian Iranis apart"], ''The Times of India'', 21 March 2004. Retrieved 11 July 2008.)</ref><ref name="Sutcliffe">Sutcliffe (2002); p. 38.</ref> He was named Merwan Sheriar Irani, the second son of Sheriar Irani and Shireen Irani. Sheriar Irani was a Persian Zoroastrian from [[Khorramshahr]] who had spent years wandering in search of spiritual experiences before settling in [[Pune]].<ref>Purdom (1964), pp. 15–17</ref>

As a boy, Baba formed the Cosmopolitan Club, which was dedicated to remaining informed on world affairs and donating money to charity.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) pp. 186–188</ref> He was a multi-instrumentalist and poet. Fluent in several languages, he was fond of the poetry of [[Hafez]], [[William Shakespeare]], and [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]].<ref>Kalchuri (1986) pp. 190–192</ref><ref>Purdom (1964), p. 20</ref><ref>Haynes (1989), p. 37</ref>

His spiritual transformation began when he was 19 years old and lasted for seven years.<ref>Hopkinson, Tom & Dorothy: ''Much Silence'', Meher Baba Foundation Australia, 1974, p. 24</ref><ref>Purdom (1964) p. 20</ref> At 19, he met [[Hazrat Babajan]], an elderly Muslim saint. He was cycling past a tree that she had made her abode, when she called to him. When he approached her, she kissed him on the forehead, causing him to enter a nine month-long trance which he described as "divine bliss", with a lack of consciousness of his body.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sovatsky|first=Stuart|date=2004|title=Clinical forms of love inspired by Meher Baba's mast work and the awe of infinite consciousness|url=http://www.atpweb.org/jtparchive/trps-36-02-134.pdf|journal=The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology|volume=36|issue=2|pages=134–149|quote=At 19 years of age, Meher Baba (nee Merwan Sheriar Irani, 1894–1969) received a kiss on his forehead from the highly venerated Muslim, Hazrat Babajan (alleged to be 122 years old at the time), and then kissed her hands. That evening, he entered an altered state of blissful, ''electrified'' consciousness wherein he did not sleep or eat for nine months.|via=|access-date=15 December 2020|archive-date=3 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903154624/https://www.atpweb.org/jtparchive/trps-36-02-134.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Landau|first=Rom |title=God Is My Adventure: A Book on Modern Mystics, Masters, and Teachers |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|year=1935|isbn=|location=New York|pages=105–118|oclc=525882}}</ref> Babajan predicted that he would become a spiritual leader.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chryssides|first=George D.|title=Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements|publisher=Scarecrow Press, Inc.|year=2011|isbn=978-0-8108-6194-7|location=United States of America|pages=213|quote=As a youth, he became acquainted with Hazrat Babajan, a Muslim who was said to be one of the five "Perfect Masters", and she predicted that he would become a spiritual leader.}}</ref> He then encountered [[Upasni Maharaj]], who he later said helped him to integrate his mystical experiences with ordinary consciousness, thus enabling him to function in the world without diminishing his experience of God-realisation.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chryssides|first=George D.|title=Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements|publisher=Scarecrow Press, Inc.|year=2011|isbn=978-0-8108-6194-7|location=United States of America|pages=213}}</ref><ref>''Listen Humanity'', ed. D. E. Stevens, 1982. pp. 247–250</ref>

Over the next several years, he encountered other spiritual figures, namely [[Tajuddin Muhammad Badruddin|Tajuddin Baba]], [[Narayan Maharaj]], and [[Sai Baba of Shirdi]], who, along with Babajan and Upasni Maharaj, Baba later said were the five "Perfect Masters" of the age.<ref>Purdom (1964) p. 270</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=Encyclopedia of World Religions|publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica, Incorporated.|year=2006|isbn=978-1-59339-491-2|location=|pages=706}}</ref> By early 1922, at the age of 27, Baba began gathering his own disciples.<ref>Haynes (1989) pp. 38–39</ref> They gave him the name ''Meher Baba'', which means "compassionate father".<ref>Haynes (1989) p. 40</ref>

In 1922, Meher Baba and his followers established Manzil-e-Meem (House of the Master) in [[Mumbai]]. There, Baba commenced his practice of demanding strict discipline and obedience from his disciples.<ref>Purdom (1964), pp. 29-30</ref> A year later, Baba and his [[Mandali (Meher Baba)|mandali]] moved to an area a few miles outside [[Ahmednagar]] that he named [[Meherabad]] (Garden of Blessing).<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 501</ref> This [[ashram]] would become the center for his work. During the 1920s, Meher Baba opened a school, hospital, and dispensary at Meherabad, all of which were free and open to all [[Caste system in India|castes]] and faiths.<ref>Purdom (1964), pp. 49–50</ref>

From 10 July 1925 until the end of his life, Meher Baba maintained silence.<ref name="Religion, Macmillan Publishing Company 1995, p. 346">''Encyclopedia of Religion'', Macmillan Publishing Company, 1995, vol. 9, p. 346</ref><ref name="Haynes 1989 p. 2">Haynes (1989) p. 2</ref><ref>Baba (2007) p. 3</ref> He now communicated first through chalk and slate, then by an alphabet board, and later via a repertoire of gestures unique to him.<ref>Haynes (1989) p. 41</ref> On 1 December 1926, he wrote his last message, and began relying on an alphabet board.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Dowling |first1=Elizabeth |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412952477 |title=Encyclopedia of Religious and Spiritual Development |last2=Scarlett |first2=W. |date=2006 |publisher=Sage Publications, Inc. |isbn=978-0-7619-2883-6 |location=California |pages=285–286 |doi=10.4135/9781412952477}}</ref><ref>Purdom (1964) p. 66</ref> With his ''[[Mandali (Meher Baba)|mandali]]'' (circle of disciples), he spent long periods in seclusion, during which time he often fasted. He also traveled widely, held public gatherings, and engaged in works of charity with [[Leprosy|lepers]] and the poor.<ref>Haynes (1989) p. 70</ref>

===1930–1939 – First contact with the West===
Beginning in 1931, Meher Baba made the first of many visits to the West. Throughout that decade, Meher Baba began a period of world travel and took several trips to Europe and the United States. It was during this period that he established contact with his first close group of Western disciples.<ref name="Kalchuri 1986 p. 1405ff"/> He traveled on a Persian passport, as he had given up writing, as well as speaking, and would not sign the forms required by the British government of India.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 1249</ref> Here, he attracted more followers.<ref name="Kalchuri 1986 p. 1405ff">Kalchuri (1986) p. 1405ff</ref>

[[File:Baba dictating.jpg|thumb|left|Meher Baba dictating a message to a disciple in 1936 using his alphabet board]]

On his first trip to England in 1931, he traveled on the ''[[SS Rajputana]]'', at the same time as [[Mahatma Gandhi]], who was sailing to the second [[Round Table Conferences (India)|Round Table Conference]] in [[London]]. Baba and Gandhi met three times on board. One of these exchanges lasted for three hours.<ref>Purdom (1964) p. 95.</ref> The British press publicized these meetings,<ref>See articles from the Daily Herald, 4 April 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: A Book on Modern Mystics, Masters, and Teachers'', ''Faber & Faber'', London, 1936. p. 111.</ref><ref>''Indian Mystic in New York'', [[Associated Press]], 20 May 1932, The Lowell Sun</ref><ref>{{cite news |agency=[[Associated Press]] |title=Meher Baba Hopes to Elevate People Here to "Infinite State" He Enjoys. He Will Establish Spiritual Retreat at Harmon, N.Y., and Seek to Break Religious Barriers |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A0CE0DD163EE633A25755C2A9659C946394D6CF&legacy=true |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=26 March 1932 |access-date=10 September 2017 |archive-date=8 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808075549/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A0CE0DD163EE633A25755C2A9659C946394D6CF&legacy=true |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the West, Meher Baba met with a number of celebrities and artists, including [[Gary Cooper]], [[Charles Laughton]], [[Tallulah Bankhead]], [[Boris Karloff]], [[Tom Mix]], [[Maurice Chevalier]], and [[Ernst Lubitsch]].<ref>Landau, Rom: ''God Is My Adventure: A Book on Modern Mystics, Masters, and Teachers'', ''Faber & Faber'', London, 1936. p. 108 Available as a [https://books.google.com/books?id=_9DxiBTKdJsC Google book]</ref> On 1 June 1932, [[Mary Pickford]] and [[Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.]] held a reception for Baba at [[Pickfair]] at which he delivered a message to [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]].<ref>Purdom (1964) pp. 103–105</ref> As a result, says [[Robert S. Ellwood]], Meher Baba emerged as "one of the enthusiasms of the '30s".<ref>Ellwood 1973 p. 281</ref>

In 1934, after announcing that he would break his self-imposed silence in the [[Hollywood Bowl]], Baba changed his plans abruptly, boarded the [[RMS Empress of Canada (1920)|RMS ''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, 13 July 1932, as cited Kalchuri (1986), p. 1670</ref> He returned to England in 1936<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 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 and [[British Ceylon]] that became known as the Blue Bus Tours. When the tour 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 magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,848514-4,00.html |title=Men, Masters & Messiahs |date=20 April 1936 |access-date=26 June 2008 |magazine=Time Magazine |archive-date=2 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602032109/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,848514-4,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== 1940–1949 – Masts and the New Life ===
[[File:Wayf 154.jpg|thumb|upright|Meher Baba with a [[Mast (Sufism)|mast]] in Bangalore, 1940]]

In the 1930s and 1940s, Meher Baba worked with [[Mast (Sufism)|mast]]s, or those "intoxicated with God".<ref>Donkin (2001) p. vff</ref> According to Baba, these individuals are disabled by their enchanting experience of the higher spiritual [[Involution (Meher Baba)|planes]]. Although outwardly masts may appear irrational or insane, Baba claimed that their spiritual status was elevated, and that by meeting with them he helped them to progress spiritually while enlisting their aid in his spiritual work.<ref>Donkin (2001) p. 9</ref> One of these masts, Mohammed, lived at Meher Baba's encampment at Meherabad until his death in 2003.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.trustmeher.com/message/mohd02.htm |title=A Tribute to Mohammed Mast |access-date=30 August 2007 |archive-date=27 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927210408/http://www.trustmeher.com/message/mohd02.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

During his journey in 1946, Meher Baba went to [[Sehwan Sharif]] to meet a [[Sufi saint]] and descendant of [[Lal Shahbaz Qalandar]], [[Nadir Ali Shah|Murshid Nadir Ali Shah]], whom Baba referred to as an advanced [[pilgrim]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Wayfarers: Meher Baba with the God-Intoxicated|last=Donkin|first=William|publisher=Sheriar Foundation|year=2001|isbn=1-880619-24-5|location=Myrtle Beach, S.C}}</ref>

In 1949, Baba began a period that he called the New Life. Following a series of questions on their readiness to obey even the most difficult of his requests, Baba selected twenty companions to join him in a life of complete "hopelessness and helplessness".<ref>Purdom (1964) p. 177</ref>

He made provisions for those dependent on him, after which he and his companions otherwise gave up nearly all property and financial responsibilities. They traveled around India incognito while begging for food and carrying out Baba's instructions in accordance with a strict set of "conditions of the New Life". These included 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>

Concerning 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>}}

Meher Baba ended the New Life in February 1952<ref>Purdom, (1964), p. 194</ref> and once again began a round of public appearances throughout India and the West.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 3762</ref>

=== 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>

=== 1960–1969 – Final years and death ===
In 1962, Baba held one of his last public functions, a mass meeting in India called the East-West Gathering. At these meetings, at which his Western followers were invited to meet his Indian disciples, Baba gave [[Darśana|darshan]] to many thousands, despite the physical strain this caused him.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 6000</ref><ref>''Awakener Magazine'', Volume 9, Number 1–2, 1963, p. 1</ref> Despite deteriorating health, he continued what he called his "Universal Work", which included [[fasting]] and [[seclusion]], until his death on 31 January 1969. His ''[[Samadhi (shrine)|samadhi]]'' in [[Meherabad]], India, has become a place of international [[pilgrimage]].<ref>Haynes (1989)  p. 62</ref> In the mid-1960s Baba became concerned with the drug culture in the West and began correspondences with several Western academics, including [[Timothy Leary]] and [[Ram Dass|Richard Alpert]], in which he discouraged the use of [[hallucinogen]]ic drugs for spiritual purposes.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 6412ff</ref> In 1966, 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 his young Western disciples to spread this message; in doing so, they increased awareness of Meher Baba's teachings. In an interview with Frederick Chapman, a [[Harvard]] graduate and [[Fulbright Program|Fulbright]] scholar who met Meher Baba during a year of study in India, Baba described [[Lysergic acid diethylamide|LSD]] as "harmful physically, mentally, and spiritually" and warned that "[its continued use] leads to madness or death".<ref name=UPI07271967>''Spiritual Leader Warning on LSD'', United Press International, 27 July 1967</ref> Baba lovers in the United States, Europe, and Australia initiated an [[anti-drug]] campaign during this period. Though some contend that this campaign was mostly futile, it attracted new followers to Meher Baba.<ref>Bruce Hoffman, 'Something on an Inner Level,' Glow International Feb 1990, p. 17</ref> Furthermore, some of Baba's views entered into [[academic]] debate on the merits and dangers of [[hallucinogen]]s.<ref>Albert Moraczewski, 'Psychedelic Agents and Mysticism,' Psychosomantics Vol. 12:2 (1971), 95–96</ref>

From the East-West Gathering of 1962 onward, Meher Baba's health deteriorated. Despite the physical toll it took on his body, he continued to undergo periods of seclusion and fasting.<ref>Haynes (1989) p. 61</ref> In late July 1968, Baba stated that he had completed a particularly taxing period of seclusion and noted that his work was "completed 100% to my satisfaction".<ref>''Awakener Magazine'', Volume 13 Number 3-4, p. 75</ref> He was by then using a wheelchair. Within a few months, his condition had worsened and he was bedridden, wracked by [[spasm|muscle spasms]] without clear medical origin. Despite the care of several physicians, the spasms worsened. On 31 January 1969, Meher Baba woke up in the morning. He had a few pieces of papaya. At 12:15{{spaces}}p.m. he died at 74 years of age after a violent spasm wracked his body.<ref>''Encyclopædia Britannica'', retrieved 7/2/14,</ref> He conveyed by his last gestures, "Do not forget that I am God."<ref name="Kalchuri 1986 p. 6713">Kalchuri (1986) p. 6713</ref> In time, his devotees called the anniversary of his death ''Amartithi'' (deathless day). Meher Baba's body was placed at his [[Samadhi (shrine)|samadhi]] 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> Prior to his death, Meher Baba had made extensive preparations for a public [[Darshan (Indian religions)|darshan]] program to be held in [[Pune]]. His mandali decided to proceed with the arrangements despite the absence of the host. Several thousand attended this "Last Darshan", including many hundreds from the United States, Europe, and Australia.<ref>James Ivory, The Talk of the Town, "Jai Baba!", The New Yorker, 21 June 1969, p. 28</ref>

==Silence==
From 10 July 1925, until his death in 1969, Meher Baba was silent.<ref name="Religion, Macmillan Publishing Company 1995, p. 346"/><ref name="Haynes 1989 p. 2"/><ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 738 "Meher Baba had observed silence three times before, but the silence beginning July 10th, 1925, was to last until the end of his life."</ref> 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, often Eruch Jessawala.<ref name="purdom52">Purdom (1964) p. 52</ref> Meher Baba said that his silence was not undertaken as a [[Spiritual practice|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 [[precept]]s laid down by God in the past, in this present [[Avatar]]ic form, I observe silence.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ambppct.org/messages.php#u_message |title=The Universal Message |author=Meher Baba |publisher=Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust |access-date=16 December 2013 |archive-date=8 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708051427/http://ambppct.org/messages.php#u_message |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}

[[File:Pointingalphabet.jpg|thumb|From 1925 until 1954 Meher Baba communicated by pointing to letters on an alphabet board.]]

Meher Baba often signaled the moment "that he would 'break' his silence by speaking the 'Word' in every heart, thereby giving a spiritual push forward to all living things".<ref>Haynes (1989) p. 66</ref>

{{blockquote|When I break My Silence, the impact of My Love will be universal and all life in creation will know, feel and receive of it. It will help every individual to break himself free from his own bondage in his own way. I am the [[Divine]] Beloved who loves you more than you can ever love yourself. The breaking of My Silence will help you to help yourself in knowing your real Self.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ullman|first=Robert|author2=Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman|title=Mystics, Masters, Saints, and Sages|publisher=RedWheel / Weiser|year=2001|isbn=1-57324-507-0|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781573245074|page= 125}}.</ref>}}

Meher Baba asserted that the breaking of his silence would be a defining event in the spiritual [[evolution]] of the world.

{{blockquote|When I speak that Word, I shall lay the foundation for that which is to take place during the next seven hundred years.<ref name="Haynes 1989 p.67">Haynes (1989) p. 67</ref>}}

On many occasions Meher Baba promised to break his silence with an audible word before he died,<ref>Purdom (1964), p. 278</ref> often stating a specific time and place when this would occur,<ref>See for example: Kalchuri (1986), pp. 900, 915, 5648, 5655, 5787, 5807, 6015, 6024, 6027, 6037, 6105, 6061, 6090, 6151, 6166, 6170, 6172, 6206, 6164, 6318, 6319, 6341, 6370,, 6425, 6532, 6548, 6579, etc.</ref> but according to all contemporary accounts, Meher Baba remained silent until his death.<ref>Two close disciples have reported hearing Baba speak or make sounds in the days preceding his death. In 1992, Eruch Jessawala, a close disciple of Meher Baba, recalled that "a few days before Meher Baba dropped his body [...]Meher Baba had covered his mouth with his hand and shouted with great intensity:...'Mmmmmmm!'" [''Glow International'', May 1992, pp. 13-18]. Similarly, Bhau Kalchuri recalled in 2001 "Baba actually spoke two words to Bhau: 'Yad rakh [remember this]!' and then gestured, 'I am not this body!'[...]'Although Baba's voice was feeble,' Bhau recalled, 'the sound was audible and clear, and its intensity and impact very, very forceful. It conveyed so great an impression, that my mind itself neither registered nor questioned the fact that Baba was speaking." [see {{cite book|last= Kalchuri |first=Bhau|title=Lord Meher|publisher=Meher Mownavani Publications|year=2005|edition=Second (India)|volume=8|page=4765}}] although this recollection contradicted his own earlier accounts [see Kalchuri (1986) p. 6710] and Kalchuri later clarified those recollections, saying that actual words had not been spoken [''Glow International'', Spring 2012, p. 3].</ref> His failure to break his silence disappointed some of his followers, while others viewed it as a test of their faith.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 1668</ref> Some of his followers speculate that "the Word" will yet be "spoken" or that Meher Baba broke his silence in a spiritual rather than a physical way.<ref name="Haynes 1989 p.67"/>

For many years Meher Baba asked his followers to undertake austerities on 10 July, the anniversary of the day his silence began, such as keeping silence, fasting, and praying. In his final Silence Day request to his followers in 1968, he asked only that they keep silent.<ref>''Glimpses of the God-Man, Meher Baba'', vol. 6, by Bal Natu, Sheriar Foundation, 1994, p. 77 – "I want all my lovers to observe complete silence for twenty-four hours, from midnight of July 9th to midnight of July 10th, 1968."</ref> Many followers continue to celebrate Silence Day by keeping silence in his honor.

==Teachings==
Meher Baba's teachings can be divided into two main categories: his metaphysics on the nature of the soul and the Universe, and practical advice for the spiritual aspirant. The two are interrelated. His [[metaphysics]] is mostly found in his principal book on the subject, ''[[God Speaks]]''. It contains detailed statements on his [[cosmology]], the purpose of life, and the progression of the soul. His teachings on the practical spiritual life are mostly contained in the ''Discourses'', although it also covers many metaphysical areas mirroring or amplifying ''God Speaks''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ambppct.org/library.php |title=Avatar Meher Baba Trust Online Library |access-date=4 June 2013 |archive-date=3 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703045254/http://ambppct.org/library.php |url-status=live }}</ref>

===''God Speaks''===
{{Main|God Speaks}}

''God Speaks'' describes the journey of the soul from its original state of unconscious divinity to the ultimate attainment of conscious divinity. The whole journey is a journey of imagination, in which the original indivisible state of God imagines becoming countless individualised souls which he likens to bubbles within an infinite ocean.<ref>''God Speaks'', Revised 2nd edition, 1997, p. 7</ref> Each soul, powered by the desire to become conscious, starts its journey in the most rudimentary form of consciousness. This limitation brings the need of a more developed form to advance it towards an increasingly conscious state. Consciousness grows in relation to the impressions each form is capable of gathering.<ref>''God Speaks'', Revised 2nd edition, 1997, pp. 8–27.</ref>

According to Meher Baba, each soul pursues conscious divinity by evolving; that is, experiencing itself in a succession of imagined forms through seven "kingdoms" of stone/metal, vegetable, worm, fish, bird, animal, and human.<ref>''God Speaks'', Revised 2nd edition, 1997, pp. 28–30</ref> The soul identifies itself with each successive form, becoming thus tied to illusion. During this evolution of forms, the power of thought increases, until in human form thought becomes infinite. Although in human form, the soul is capable of conscious divinity, all the impressions that it has gathered during evolution are illusory ones that create a barrier against the soul knowing itself. For this barrier to be overcome, further births in human form are needed in a process known as [[reincarnation]].<ref>''God Speaks'', Revised 2nd edition, 1997, pp. 31-40</ref>

The soul will reach a stage where its previously gathered impressions grow thin or weak enough that it enters a final stage called [[Involution (Meher Baba)|involution]]. This stage also requires a series of human births, during which the soul begins an inner journey, by which it realises its true identity as God. Baba breaks this inner journey into seven stages he called "planes". The process culminates, at the seventh plane, with God-realisation, at which the goal of life for the soul is reached.<ref>''God Speaks'', Revised 2nd edition, 1997, pp. 41–54</ref>

===''Discourses''===
The ''Discourses'' are a collection of explanations that Meher Baba has given on topics that concern the advancement of the spiritual aspirant. These topics include: sanskaras (mental impressions), [[Maya (illusion)|Maya]] (the principle of illusion), the nature of the ego, [[reincarnation]], [[karma]], violence and non-violence, [[meditation]], love, discipleship, and God-realisation.<ref>''Discourses'', 7th edition, 1987, p. v</ref> His explanations often include stories from the lore of India and the Sufi culture. One such story, the wise man and the ghost, shows the power that superstitious beliefs can have on a person, while another, [[Layla and Majnun|Majnun and Layla]], shows how selfless love, even in human relations, can lead one to discipleship.<ref>''Discourses'', 7th edition, 1987, p. 147</ref>

Meher Baba's suggestions include putting theory into practice, internally renouncing desires, offering selfless service to humanity or the master, spontaneity, and avoiding actions that bind one to illusion. Rather than lay out moral rules, Baba explains why some actions bind the individual whereas others aid emancipation.<ref>''Discourses'', 7th edition, 1987, pp. 5, 42, 46, 53, 62, 65, etc.</ref> Several chapters discuss the mechanisms by which consciousness gets caught up between the opposites of experience, such as pleasure and pain, good and evil, and suggest how to transcend these opposites.<ref>''Discourses'', 7th edition, 1987, pp. 26, 61, etc.</ref>

=== Perfect Masters and the Avatar ===
{{Main|Perfect Master (Meher Baba)}}

Meher Baba related that there are 56 incarnate God-realised souls on [[Earth]] at any given time. Of these souls there are always five who constitute the five Perfect Masters of their era.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 944</ref> When one of the five Perfect Masters dies, another God-realised soul immediately replaces him or her.<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 Baba, is a special Perfect Master, the first soul to achieve God-realisation. This soul, the original Perfect Master, or Ancient One, never ceases to incarnate. Baba indicated that this soul personifies the state of God called [[Vishnu]] in [[Hinduism]] and [[Parvardigar]] in [[Sufism]], i.e. the sustainer or preserver state of God. Baba taught that 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 creation in the endless process of moving toward Godhood. Baba claimed that in other ages this role had been fulfilled by [[Zoroaster]], [[Rama]], [[Krishna]], [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]], [[Jesus]], and [[Muhammad]].<ref>''The Path of Love'', by Meher Baba, Sheriar Press, US, 2000, p. 30.
(originally published in 1976 by Samuel Weiser, New York)</ref>

Baba described 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>

Most of Meher Baba's followers accept his claim of avatarhood,<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. p. 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 ==
[[File:Meher Baba Samadhi2.jpg|thumb|Meher Baba's tomb in [[Meherabad]]]]

Meher Baba's travels and teachings left a legacy of followers and devotees worldwide.<ref name="Religion, Macmillan Publishing Company 1995, p. 346"/>

The Avatar Meher Baba Charitable Trust, established by Meher Baba in 1959, maintains his tomb and [[pilgrimage]] facilities, as well as a free school and dispensary, a [[cataract]] clinic, and a veterinary clinic.<ref>[http://www.ambppct.org/medical.php Medical facilities at the Trust] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122154512/http://ambppct.org/medical.php |date=22 January 2016 }}), [http://www.ambppct.org/education.php Educational programs at the Trust] ().</ref> The Trust follows the charter Meher Baba left for it, but does not act as spiritual authority over groups. Likewise, the Trust does not engage in [[propaganda]], promote [[creed]]s or [[dogma]]s, or seek [[Religious conversion|convert]]s.<ref>[http://www.ambppct.org/arts.php Avatar Meher Baba Trust Website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160123072235/http://ambppct.org/arts.php |date=23 January 2016 }} "Meher Baba never wanted nor encouraged propaganda. The Trust does not, accordingly, work to promote creeds or dogmas, nor does it seek "converts"."</ref> Baba discouraged [[evangelizing]], stating, "I need no propaganda or publicity."<ref>Baba, Meher (1954): [http://www.avatarmeherbaba.org/erics/realwork.html "What Baba Means by Real Work"] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928180109/http://www.avatarmeherbaba.org/erics/realwork.html |date=28 September 2011 }}), Universal Spiritual League in America, Inc.</ref> Rather, he encouraged his followers to "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> and to "spread my message of Love and Truth as far and wide as possible".<ref>Purdom (1964) p. 282.</ref> Though some followers of Meher Baba have no established [[ritual]]s, others perform practices such as [[Puja (Hinduism)|puja]]s, [[aarti]]s, prayers, music, plays, and viewing films of Baba.<ref>Cohen (1977) pp. 152–154</ref> The primary focus for many followers is living as Meher Baba would approve, such as by abstaining from [[Cannabis (drug)|marijuana]] and [[psychedelic drug]]s,<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> and trying to remember God with love.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

Gatherings of Baba followers are generally informal. Special effort is made to gather together on Amartithi, the anniversary of Baba's death, and on his birthday. Many Baba followers keep silent on 10 July (Silence Day), observing the request Baba frequently made of his followers during his lifetime.<ref>Kalchuri (1986) pp. 5476, 4933, 5609, 6465, 2294, 3179, 3864, etc.</ref> [[Aarti]] is performed morning and evening at [[Samadhi of Meher Baba|Baba's samadhi]] in India. At [[Meherabad]], his followers maintain Baba's practice of lighting a [[dhuni]] fire on the 12th of each month.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

==In popular culture==
[[Meher Baba Newsreel Footage|Meher Baba had gained public attention]] in the West as early as 1932, due to contacts with celebrities of the time, and from the rather disillusioned account of [[Paul Brunton]] in his ''A Search in Secret India'' (1934).<ref>Brunton, Paul, ''A Search in Secret India'', First published in England by Rider & Co., London, (1934), First American publication, New York, S. Weiser, (1935)</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Kemp |editor1-first=Daren |editor2-last=Lewis |editor2-first=James R. |title=Handbook of New Age |date=2007 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-15355-4 |quote=Meher Baba came from a [[Zoroastrian]] background. He took a [[vow of silence]] in 1925, claiming to be the [[avatar]] for the present age, just like [[Krishna]], [[Buddha]], [[Jesus]] and [[Muhammad]] had been in their time and place. His [[messianic]] teachings are recorded in Paul Brunton's A Search in Secret India (1951/1934). }}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}</ref> Baba received further attention posthumously via various mentions in Western pop-culture.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Townshend|first=Pete|date=26 November 1970|title=In Love with Meher Baba, by Pete Townshend|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/in-love-with-meher-baba-by-pete-townshend-237859/|access-date=18 February 2022|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US|archive-date=18 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218003240/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/in-love-with-meher-baba-by-pete-townshend-237859/|url-status=live}}</ref>

For example, [[Pete Townshend#Religion|Pete Townshend]] of [[the Who]], became a follower of Baba and dedicated his 1969 [[rock opera]] ''[[Tommy (The Who album)|Tommy]]'' to him in the [[gatefold]].<ref>''Tommy'', The Who, Gatefold cover acknowledgements, 23 May 1969</ref> The Who's 1971 song "[[Baba O'Riley]]" was named in part after Meher Baba,<ref>{{cite AV media notes|title=The Who: The Ultimate Collection|title-link=The Ultimate_Collection (The_Who_album)|author=The Who|year=2002|pages=12|publisher=MCA Records}}</ref> and Townshend recorded several Meher Baba tribute albums and [[music video]]s including ''[[Happy Birthday (Pete Townshend album)|Happy Birthday]]'', ''[[I Am (Pete Townshend album)|I Am]]'', ''[[Who Came First]]'', ''[[With Love (Pete Townshend album)|With Love]]'', and ''[[You Alone Exist]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thewho.info/PTAlbums.htm |title=The Who – Pete Townshend Albums |access-date=13 September 2013 |archive-date=23 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423104131/http://www.thewho.info/PTAlbums.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1969, [[Indian film]]maker [[Jagat Murari]] co-produced the [[ethnographic film]] on Meher Baba titled ''[[The Awakener (film)|The Awakener]]''. The 35-millimeter, 118 minute found footage film was distributed by [[Films Division of India]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://avatarmeherbabatrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/700814.pdf|title=The Awakener – Meher Baba, Jagat Murari productions |access-date=24 October 2023}}</ref>

In 1970, [[Melanie Safka]] (stage name "Melanie") mentioned Baba in the spoken word intro to her song "[[Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)]]". Listed as a standalone piece entitled "Candles in the Rain", the lyrics are "Meher Baba lives again".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lyricsfreak.com/m/melanie+safka/candles+in+the+rain_20605400.html |title=Lyric Freaks – Melanie Safka Candles in the Rain Lyrics |access-date=13 September 2013 |archive-date=26 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110226030037/http://www.lyricsfreak.com/m/melanie+safka/candles+in+the+rain_20605400.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Bobby McFerrin]]'s 1988 [[Grammy Award]]–winning song "[[Don't Worry, Be Happy]]" was inspired by Baba's adage, which has appeared on many posters and inspirational cards depicting him.<ref>Bruce Fessier, ''USA Weekend Magazine'', 21–23 October 1988</ref>

Various Indian films produced by [[Edida Nageswara Rao]] have depicted Meher Baba's images.<ref name="Frame by frame">{{Cite news |date=8 August 2009 |title=Frame by frame |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/Frame-by-frame/article15919290.ece |url-status=live |access-date=2020-12-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308133632/https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/Frame-by-frame/article15919290.ece |archive-date=8 March 2021}}</ref> Works such as ''[[Swathi Kiranam]]'' (1992) were exclusively filmed at the Meher Baba center in [[Tapeswaram]], [[Andhra Pradesh]], depicting life size images of Meher Baba.<ref>{{cite web|author=30 Jun 2011 – Ranjana Dave |url=http://www.asianage.com/dance/meaning-movement-323 |title=The meaning in movement |publisher=The Asian Age |date=30 June 2011 |access-date=4 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406122118/http://www.asianage.com/dance/meaning-movement-323 |archive-date=6 April 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mirchi9.com/movies/chit-chat-with-edida-nageswararao-parts3tv1/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140320100029/http://www.mirchi9.com/movies/chit-chat-with-edida-nageswararao-parts3tv1/|url-status=dead|title=Chit chat with Edida Nageswararao Parts(3):TV1 &#124; Mirchi 9 – Telugu TV Shows &#124; Telugu Movie Trailers &#124; Telugu Movie Interviews &#124; Telugu Game Shows &#124; Telugu Serials<!-- Bot generated title -->|archivedate=20 March 2014}}</ref>

Elements of Meher Baba's [[philosophy]], as well as an unnamed character based upon him, have appeared in the works of [[comic book]] writer and [[screenwriter]] [[J. M. DeMatteis]]. Works particularly influenced by Baba include DeMatteis' scripts for ''[[Doctor Fate]]'' and DeMatteis creator-owned comic book ''Seekers into the Mystery''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.jmdematteis.com/2013/02/avatar-meher-baba-short-answer.html |title=jmdematteis.com – Avatar Meher Baba: the Short Answer |access-date=27 August 2013 |archive-date=1 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130301020843/http://www.jmdematteis.com/2013/02/avatar-meher-baba-short-answer.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[The Theme of Creation]]'' (2005) was an American documentary film produced, written, edited and directed by Tim Thelen.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/film/reviews/the-theme-of-creation-an-exploration-of-meher-baba-s-god-speaks-2005|title=The Theme of Creation: An Exploration of Meher Baba's 'God Speaks' (2005)|website=The A.V. Club}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=origxorig:format=jpg/path/se80bcf7e1bbfb507/image/i8d4d400d66e5f3d1/version/1459066172/image.jpg|title=Tim Thelen, Filmmaker, White House Journal, Dec 1995|website=whitehousehistory.org}}</ref>

In 2012, the feature film ''[[Nema Aviona za Zagreb]]'' premiered in the Netherlands with an exclusive interview with Meher Baba filmed in 1967.<ref>[http://www.eyefilm.nl/nema-aviona-za-zagreb EYE film] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228011936/http://www.eyefilm.nl/nema-aviona-za-zagreb |date=28 December 2013 }}</ref> In the interview, Baba explains the difference between God-realisation and drug-induced hallucinations<ref>Kalchuri (1986) p. 6531</ref><ref>''Draaiboek, Nema Aviona Za Zagreb, Een film van Louis van Gasteren, Eeen Spectrum Film Publicatie'', (2012), pp. 18–19.</ref> and the scene plays a pivotal role in the documentary's narrative.<ref>Seventy Fourth Family Letter, 1 September 1967, ''82 Family Letters'', Mani S. Irani, Sheriar Foundation, 1976. "The appearance of the Avatar in my film is more than functional, it is necessary, to give all the other happenings and sequences the final and right dimension." (Louis van Gasteren to Meher Baba in 1967)</ref>

"THE VISA – A Meher Baba film" was produced by [[Western Sufism#Sufism Reoriented|Sufism Reoriented's]] American Young Adult Sahavas team in 2018, and stars followers of Meher Baba such as Natasha K. Mehta.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ99JJ1K6C4|title=THE VISA – A Meher Baba film|date=9 January 2019 |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref> Meher Filmworks produces and archives remastered film footage of Meher Baba.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.meherfilmworks.org/|title=Meher Filmworks|website=www.meherfilmworks.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://trustmeher.org/meher-baba-websites/meher-baba-online-resources-publications/meher-baba-media-websites/meher-film-works-2.php | title=Meher Film Works | date=13 August 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mehermedia.com/video.html|title=Meher Baba Media :: Video|website=mehermedia.com}}</ref>

== Gallery ==
<gallery mode="packed" style="font-size:88%; line-height:130%; border-bottom:1px #aaa solid;" heights="160" caption="Major centers of pilgrimage">
File:Upper Meherabad.jpg|Upper [[Meherabad]], near [[Ahmednagar]], India
File:Meherazad, Ahmednagar, India.jpg|Mandali House in [[Meherabad#Meherazad|Meherazad]], Ahmednagar, India
File:Meher Baba's House.jpg|Meher Baba's House in [[Pune]], India
File:Byramangala.jpg|Universal Spiritual Center in [[Bidadi|Byramangala]], [[Karnataka]], India
File:Meher Baba Cave Khajaguda.jpg|Meher Baba's Manonash Cave in [[Khajaguda]], [[Hyderabad]], India
File:Main Entrance, Meher Spiritual Center.jpg|[[Meher Spiritual Center]] Entrance in [[Myrtle Beach]], [[South Carolina]], USA
File:Meher Baba Heartland center.jpg|Meher Baba Heartland Center in [[Prague, Oklahoma]], USA
File:Meher mount.jpg|Meher Mount Center in Sulphur Mountain, [[Ojai, California]], US<ref>{{Cite news |last=Netburn |first=Deborah |date=2025-02-26 |title=Looking to calm your mind? 6 places in Ojai to meditate, recharge and find peace |url=https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/list/spiritual-meditative-things-to-do-ojai-california |access-date= |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>
File:Sufism Sanctuary.jpg|[[Sufism Reoriented Sanctuary]] in [[Walnut Creek, California]], USA
File:Baba's House Avatars Abode.jpg|The Avatar's Abode in [[Kiels Mountain, Queensland]], Australia
</gallery>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
{{Refbegin|2}}
* {{cite book |author= Abdulla, Ramjoo|title=Ramjoo's Diaries, 1922–1929: A Personal Account of Meher Baba's Early Work |publisher=Sufism Reoriented |year=1979}}
* {{cite book |author= Baba, Meher|title=Discourses |publisher=Sheriar Foundation |location=Myrtle Beach, S.C. |year=1987 |isbn=1-880619-09-1 |edition=7th }}
* {{cite book |author= Baba, Meher|title=Discourses |publisher=Sheriar Foundation |location=Myrtle Beach, S.C. |year=2007 |isbn= 978-1-880619-34-6 |edition=rev 6th }}
* {{cite book |author= Baba, Meher|title=God in a Pill? Meher Baba on L.S.D. and the High Roads |publisher=Sufism Reoriented, Inc |year=1966}}
* {{cite book |author=Baba, Meher |title=God Speaks |publisher=Sufism Reoriented |location=Walnut Creek, California |year=1997 |isbn=0-915828-02-2 }}
* {{cite book |author= Baba, Meher |title=Silent Master |publisher=Spartacus Educational Publishers |year=1989 |isbn=0-948867-25-6 }}
* {{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 |isbn=0-313-23772-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/newreligiousmove00choq }}
* {{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 |isbn=0-06-090371-6 }}
* {{cite book |author=Donkin, William  |title=The Wayfarers: Meher Baba with the God-Intoxicated |publisher=Sheriar Foundation |location=Myrtle Beach, S.C. |year=2001 |isbn=1-880619-24-5 }}
* {{cite book |author=Ellwood, Robert S. |title=Religious and Spiritual Groups in Modern America |publisher=Prentice-Hall |location=New York|year=1973|isbn=0-13-615641-X }}
* {{cite book |author=Haynes, Charles C. |title=Meher Baba, the Awakener |publisher=Avatar Foundation, Inc |year=1993 |isbn=0-9624472-1-8 }}
* {{cite book |author= Kalchuri, Bhau |title=The Nothing and the Everything |publisher=Manifestation, Inc. |year=1982 |isbn=0-932947-02-6 }}
* {{cite book |author= Kalchuri, Bhau |title=Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher, The Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba |publisher=Manifestation, Inc. |year=1986}}
* {{cite book |author=Landau, Rom |title= Magazine |publisher=Books for Libraries Press |location=Freeport, N.Y. |year=1972 |isbn=0-8369-2848-2 }}
* {{cite book |author=Purdom, Charles B. |title=The God-Man: The Life, Journeys & Work of Meher Baba with an Interpretation of His Silence & Spiritual Teaching |publisher=George Allen & Unwin |location=London |year=1964|isbn= 1-880619-36-9 }}
* {{cite book |author=Sutcliffe, Steven J. |title=Children of the New Age: A History of Alternative Spirituality |publisher=Routledge |location=London |year=2002}}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links | wikt=no | commons=Meher Baba | b=no | n=no | q=Meher Baba | s=no | v=no | voy=no | species=no | d=no }}
* [https://avatarmeherbabatrust.org/online-library-2/ The Trust Online Library] Books by and about Meher Baba available as [[Portable Document Format|PDF]] files
* [http://www.theawakenermagazine.org/ ''The Awakener'' Magazine Archive] Principal Meher Baba magazine from 1953–1986
* [http://www.avatarmeherbaba.org/erics/glossary.html The Master's Glossary] Glossary of Meher Baba's terminology

{{Meher Baba|state=collapsed}}
{{philosophy of religion}}
{{Hindu reform movements}}
{{Portal bar|India|Religion}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meher Baba}}
[[Category:Meher Baba| ]]
[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:1969 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian educators]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Educators with disabilities]]
[[Category:Elective mutes]]
[[Category:Revivalists]]
[[Category:Universalists]]
[[Category:Angelic visionaries]]
[[Category:Founders of new religious movements]]
[[Category:Indian people of Iranian descent]]
[[Category:Indian people with disabilities]]
[[Category:Religious workers with disabilities]]
[[Category:Indian spiritual teachers]]
[[Category:Indian spiritual writers]]
[[Category:Indian Sufis]]
[[Category:Irani (India) people]] <!-- Like Parsi, but descended from a later immigration -->
[[Category:Iranian Sufis]]
[[Category:Parsi people]]
[[Category:People considered avatars by their followers]]
[[Category:People from Pune]]