55 Facts About Meher Baba

Meher Baba taught that the goal of all beings was to gain consciousness of their own divinity, and to realise the absolute oneness of God.

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 Baba, and Narayan Maharaj.

Meher Baba died in 1969, and was buried in Meherabad.

Meher Baba's tomb has become a place of pilgrimage for his followers, often known as "Baba lovers".

Meher Baba described the phenomenal world as illusory, and presented the idea that the Universe is imagination.

Meher Baba taught that God alone exists, and each soul is God passing through imagination in order to realize its own divinity.

Meher Baba presented advice to followers wishing to attain God-realization, and thereby escape the wheel of birth and death, emphasizing love and self-service to others.

Meher Baba's legacy includes the Avatar Meher Baba Charitable Trust he established in India, a handful of centers for information and pilgrimage.

Meher Baba has had influence on pop culture creators and introduced the common phrase "Don't worry; be happy".

Meher Baba was a self-identified Sufi, and considered a leader of the Californian branch of Western Sufism, though his version of Sufism shared very few similarities with the Sufi Movement, apart from universalism and anti-dogmatism.

Meher Baba was born to Irani Zoroastrian parents in 1894 in Pune, India.

Meher Baba was named Merwan Sheriar Irani, the second son of Sheriar Irani and Shireen Irani.

Meher Baba was cycling past a tree that she had made her abode, when she called to him.

Meher Baba 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-realization.

Meher Baba traveled widely, held public gatherings, and engaged in works of charity with lepers and the poor.

Meher Baba now communicated first through chalk and slate, then by an alphabet board, and later via a repertoire of gestures unique to him.

Meher Baba 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.

In 1934, after announcing that he would break his self-imposed silence in the Hollywood Bowl, Meher Baba changed his plans abruptly, boarded the RMS Empress of Canada, and sailed to Hong Kong without explanation.

In 1949 Meher Baba began an enigmatic period that he called the New Life.

Meher Baba made provisions for those dependent on him, after which he and his companions otherwise gave up nearly all property and financial responsibilities.

Meher Baba ended the New Life in February 1952 and began a round of public appearances throughout India and the West.

Meher Baba inaugurated the Meher Spiritual Center in April 1952.

On 24 May 1952, en route from the Spiritual Center to Meher Baba Mount in Ojai, California, the car in which he was a passenger was struck head-on near Prague, Oklahoma.

Meher Baba's leg was severely broken and he sustained facial injuries including a broken nose.

Meher Baba began dictating his major book, God Speaks, The Theme of Creation and Its Purpose, using an alphabet board in Dehradun, August 1953.

In September 1954, Meher Baba gave a men-only sahavas at Meherabad that later became known as the Three Incredible Weeks.

On 30 September 1954 Meher Baba gave his Final Declaration message, in which he made enigmatic predictions.

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 remainder of his life.

On 2 December 1956, outside Satara, India, the car in which Meher Baba was being driven went out of control and a second serious automobile accident occurred.

Meher Baba then traveled to Meher Mount at Ojai, California before continuing on to Australia.

In 1962, Meher Baba held one of his last public functions, a mass meeting called the East-West Gathering, held in India.

At these meetings, at which his Western followers were invited to meet his Indian disciples, Meher Baba gave darshan to many thousands, despite the physical strain this caused him.

Meher Baba instructed his young Western disciples to spread this message; in doing so, they increased awareness of Meher Baba's teachings.

On 31 January 1969, Meher Baba died at his home in Meherabad, 25 days short of his 75th birthday.

Meher Baba's body was placed at his samadhi at Meherabad, covered with roses and cooled by ice.

Meher Baba's body was kept available to the public for one week before its final burial.

Meher Baba's mandali decided to proceed with the arrangements despite the absence of the host.

Meher Baba 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.

Meher Baba said that his silence was not undertaken as a spiritual exercise but solely in connection with his universal work.

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".

On many occasions Meher Baba promised to break his silence with an audible word before he died, often stating a specific time and place when this would occur, but according to all contemporary accounts, Meher Baba remained silent until his death.

Meher Baba's metaphysics is mostly found in his principal book on the subject, God Speaks.

In God Speaks, Meher Baba describes the journey of the soul from its original state of unconscious divinity to the ultimate attainment of conscious divinity.

The Discourses are a collection of explanations and elucidations that Meher Baba has given on many topics that concern the advancement of the spiritual aspirant.

Meher Baba related that there are 56 incarnate God-realized souls on Earth at any given time.

When one of the five Perfect Masters dies, according to Meher Baba, another God-realized soul among the 56 would replace him or her at once.

The Avatar, according to Meher Baba, is a special Perfect Master, the first soul to achieve God-realization.

Meher Baba claimed that in other ages this role had been fulfilled by Zoroaster, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad.

The majority of Meher Baba's followers accept his claim of avatarhood, and he is said to be "revered by millions around the world as the Avatar of the age and a God-realized being".

The primary focus for followers is living a life Meher Baba would approve of, for example, refraining from the use of psychedelic drugs, including marijuana, and trying to remember God with love.

Meher Baba had gained public attention in the West as early as 1932, as the result of contacts with contemporary celebrities of the time, and from the rather disillusioned account of Paul Brunton in his A Search in Secret India.

Meher Baba received further attention posthumously via various mentions in western pop-culture.

Pete Townshend of the Who, became a follower of Meher Baba, and dedicated his 1969 rock opera Tommy to him in the gatefold.

Works particularly influenced by Meher Baba include DeMatteis' scripts for Doctor Fate and DeMatteis creator-owned comic book Seekers into the Mystery.

In 2012, the feature film Nema Aviona za Zagreb premiered in the Netherlands with an exclusive interview with Meher Baba filmed in 1967.