OJAI WORDFEST 2017 features "Religious Texts, Spiritual Teachings," including selected readings from Avatar: The Life Story of Avatar Meher Baba, written in 1947 by Jean Adriel, a co-founder of Meher Mount in the upper Ojai Valley.
Meher Mount is taking part in the 2017 Ojai WordFest, the seventh annual literary festival of words, ideas and stories.
The festival will feature “Religious Texts, Spiritual Teachings” on Saturday, November 11, 2017 from Noon to 5:00 p.m. at the Ojai Library.
As part of this program on spiritual teachings, Sam Ervin, chairman of the board at Meher Mount, will read from Avatar: The Life Story of Avatar Meher Baba by Jean Adriel.
Jean Adriel, a co-founder of Meher Mount, wrote one of the first biographies of Meher Baba. She was living at Meher Mount in the upper Ojai Valley at the time Avatar was published in 1947. She first met Meher Baba in New York City in 1931.
In 1953, Meher Baba publicly announced that he was the Avatar of the Age, God in human form. He said he was the same Ancient One known in the past as Zoroaster, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, and Mohammed.
As one of the first major works on Avatar Meher Baba, Avatar “…is a classic. The story was still in progress when [it was] written. This book captures the times and travels of Meher Baba's life and works…up to and through WW II. It covers a range of topics that touch the heart and inform,” wrote Bing Heckman in his review on Amazon, October 5, 2012.
THE THIRD PRINTING of Avatar: The Life Story of Avatar Meher Baba by Jean Adriel, 1971, by The Beguine Library.
"Meher Baba was silent from 1925 until He dropped His physical form in 1969. Nonetheless,” continued Heckman, “his life and work are quite dynamic. His work is for the awakening of humanity; it is universal. This book provides a fascinating view into this extraordinary person.”
"Besides telling the life story of Baba, the author relates her personal experiences with him, along with those of many other of his close followers. This account of Baba’s life describes many events from ‘behind the scenes’ - it captures the gamut of emotions involved as people struggled variously to comprehend Baba’s unusual ways, to carry out his demanding instructions, to test him, and to love him.” - Back Cover, Avatar