MEHER MOUNT

9902 Sulphur Mountain Road
Ojai, CA 93023-9375

Phone: 805-640-0000
Email: info@mehermount.org

HOURS

Wednesday-Sunday: Noon to 5:00 p.m.
Monday & Tuesday: Closed

MANAGER/CARETAKERS

Buzz & Ginger Glasky

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Sam Ervin, Preident
Ron Holsey, Vice President
Ursula Reinhart, Treasurer
Jim Whitson, Director
Richard Mannis, Director

OFFICERS

Margaret Magnus, Secretary

9902 Sulphur Mountain Rd
Ojai, CA, 93023
United States

(805) 640-0000

Story Blog

Anecdotes, activities and stories about Meher Mount - past, present and future.

Meher Mount Survives Largest Wildfire in California History

Sam L. Ervin

The largest wildfire in California history, the Thomas Fire, started near (Saint) Thomas Aquinas College, about eight miles from Meher Mount and northwest of the city of Santa Paula, on Monday, December 4, 2017 at 6:26 p.m.

It is clear the fire visited nearly every part of the upper section of Meher Mount. Manager/Caretakers Buzz and Ginger Glasky were amazed at how the fire line seemed to stop at critical points.

In short, the fire brushed pass the buildings and equipment, even touching a trellis at the Visitor Center. Both the Visitor Center/Caretaker Quarters and the Topa Topa Patio are intact, although smoke damage is not yet known. Baba’s Tree suffered some damage, but its base remained standing. Some additional assessment and repair of the water system is needed.

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Stone Signs & Markers Guide the Way

Margaret Magnus

It was one of those glorious winter days with clear skies and crisp weather when a group gathered at Meher Mount to install 14 new stone signs and markers. The Stone Sign & Marker project had been carefully planned. The signs were thoughtfully designed. The sizes of stones specifically chosen after several on-site visits. And now the final step was actually installing the signs in the ground.

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Agnes Baron's 1982 Trip to India

Margaret Magnus

Thirty-five years ago, in September 1982, Meher Mount co-founder and lifetime caretaker Agnes Baron took her first and only trip to India to meet with Meher Baba’s mandali (close disciples) regarding the future of Meher Mount.

She wanted the mandali’s advice on what to do with Meher Mount. At the time of her trip, Meher Mount was in her name, and she was wrestling with what to do with the property in the future. She had told Meher Baba in 1952 that she would keep Meher Mount for Him through “hell, fire and damnation.”

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Karma Yoga Is a Central Practice in Agnes Baron's Life

Sam L. Ervin

Agnes Baron (1907-1994) was a co-founder and lifetime caretaker of Meher Mount. Her natural desire to serve led her to care for Meher Mount for 48 years, often with great difficulty, or as she put it, “through hellfire and damnation.” She also found ways to serve others in the community.

By Sam L. Ervin

Karma Yoga Is a Central Practice in Agnes Baron’s Life

Through the study of Vedanta [1], Agnes found a conceptual construct that supported a driving force that had always been present in her life: Karma Yoga. Agnes often said that service to others had always come naturally to her.

Karma Yoga is one of the major “ways” or yogas for the life of the spirit. [2] It is the discipline of selfless action, working and serving without attachment, egoism or expectation of gain or reward. [3]

Throughout her 48 years at Meher Mount, Agnes continued to find ways to practice Karma Yoga.  

AGNES BARON and an unidentified woman working in the garden at Meher Mount. (Photo: Meher Mount Archives, late 1940s)

AGNES BARON and an unidentified woman working in the garden at Meher Mount. (Photo: Meher Mount Archives, late 1940s)

Agnes would often advise the young Meher Baba lovers who showed up at Meher Mount to, “forget yourself in service to others.” She would paraphrase a quote from Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, “To work thou hast the right, but not to the fruits thereof.” [4]

“Don’t say you are helping others,” she would say. “You don’t know whether you are helping someone or not, you just serve as best you can.

“When you are serving others without attachment or thought of reward, you are serving God in them.” Agnes echoed Avatar Meher Baba’s words, “Real happiness lies in making others happy.”

Agnes Baron’s Work in the Community

Agnes devoted her life to helping others.  After having helped many refugees escape terrible fates in Europe before World War II, she assisted many immigrants over the years to adjust to life in America.  She helped them find jobs and make connections.  Agnes stayed in touch with many of these people from various countries, and they admired her and appreciated her always being there for them.

AGNES BARON writing instructions to volunteer Sam L. Ervin during a “work party” at Meher Mount on Silence Day.  (Photo: Margaret Magnus, late 1970s/early 1980s).

AGNES BARON writing instructions to volunteer Sam L. Ervin during a ‘work party’ at Meher Mount on Silence Day. (Photo: Margaret Magnus, late 1970s/early 1980s).

She helped start the first Head Start program for pre-school children in Ventura County.  She studied Montessori education and taught in Montessori schools.  She also worked as a substitute teacher in public schools to support herself and pay Meher Mount expenses.  Agnes inspired quite a few young adults to study Maria Montessori’s books, and some went on to become Montessori teachers.  In the 1950s, Agnes helped start a school at Meher Mount that operated for a few years.

Inspired by Meher Baba’s admonitions in the 1960s regarding the dangers of drugs and His call to help young people get off drugs, Agnes provided a temporary residence for a dozen people in a drug rehabilitation program at Meher Mount in the late 1960s.

She also “bullied” the Ventura County Board of Supervisors into funding the DART (Drug Abuse Reorientation Training program) for teenagers arrested for drug offenses in 1970. [5]

AGNES BARON also loved animals.  For a brief period of time, she boarded horses at Meher Mount as a way to support herself and Meher Mount.  (Photo: Lola Long, 1970s)

AGNES BARON also loved animals. For a brief period of time, she boarded horses at Meher Mount as a way to support herself and Meher Mount. (Photo: Lola Long, 1970s)

Separately, Agnes worked to assist many programs for alcoholics, ex-convicts, juvenile delinquents and others.  

Agnes was a regular phone volunteer on the Suicide Prevention Hotline.  In the evenings, she would sit by her phone, and if a call was routed to her, she would talk to the person contemplating suicide.  She would both counsel them and determine if she thought intervention by police or mental health professionals was appropriate.

Agnes worked and advocated on behalf of various social and environmental causes.  She encouraged the young people who came to Meher Mount in the late 1960s and 1970s to work for the causes that were important to them.

As part of her regular routine – even with all the responsibilities she faced caring for Meher Mount – Agnes would search the newspapers to identify people in need.  Then she would contact them, even driving down the mountain to find them, and offer whatever assistance was possible.  She would advocate fearlessly and passionately for people she felt could not represent their own needs. 

Agnes Baron did not just talk about selfless service or Karma Yoga.  She practiced it as her way of serving Meher Baba.

Agnes’ immersion in Vedanta and the study of the great Perfect Master Ramakrishna appears to have helped prepare her for her complete dedication to Avatar Meher Baba when the opportunity came.

Thus, when Meher Baba asked her to take care of Meher Mount for Him, she responded that she would keep it for Him through hell, fire and damnation. Accordingly, Meher Baba nicknamed Agnes His "watchdog."


Footnotes

[1] Vedanta is one of the great schools of Hindu thought and tradition. Vedanta is based on the Vedas, the sacred scripture of India. It affirms the oneness of existence, the divinity of the soul, and the harmony of all religions. Vedanta is one of the world's most ancient spiritual philosophies and one of its broadest.
[2] There are four paths of Yoga: Karma Yoga –The Yoga of Action; Bhakti Yoga – The Path of Devotion or Divine Love; Raja Yoga – The Science of Physical and Mental Health; and Jnana Yoga – The Yoga of Knowledge and Wisdom. (International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres
[3] International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres, accessed October 17, 2021.
[4] The Bhagavad Gita, often referred to as simply the Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture in Sanskrit that is part of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. (Wikipedia) The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Ramayana. (Wikipedia)
[5] Sam Ervin & Margaret Magnus, “I Bullied Them into Funding the DART Program,” October 4, 2016, Meher Mount’s website, accessed September 11, 2017.




Vedanta Leads Agnes Baron to Meher Baba

Sam L. Ervin

Agnes Baron, co-founder and lifetime caretaker of Meher Mount, spent a year living the life of a Vedanta nun before her time at Meher Mount. Vedanta played an important role in Agnes’ life, particularly in helping to prepare her for recognizing and accepting Avatar Meher Baba.

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Jean Adriel Writes Avatar - A Biography of Meher Baba

Margaret Magnus

“To the living Christ whose beauty the very heavens cannot contain, but whose presence may be found in every humble, living heart," wrote Jean Adriel in her Dedication for the biography, Avatar: The Life Story of the Perfect Master Meher Baba, 1947

"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 

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How Silence Day Started

Eruch Jessawala

In 1979, just 10 years after Avatar Meher Baba dropped His physical form, The Glow magazine published this account by Eruch Jessawala regarding the observance of Silence Day. Eruch was a close disciple of Meher Baba's and often interpreted Meher Baba's hand gestures.

From 1969 until Eruch's passing in 2001, Eruch would sit in Mandali Hall in Meherazad, India, and answer pilgrims' questions about life with Meher Baba and share his insights regarding the meaning of Meher Baba's words and actions. In the excerpt below, Eruch is answsering questions about Silence Day which is observed every July 10th. 

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The Legacy of Weeds 'n' Water

Margaret Magnus

The Weeds 'n' Water fundraising campaign and new water treatment system in 2003 started a chain reaction. It set in motion a number of projects and ongoing activities along with a planning approach that continue to shape Meher Mount today. 

Weeds ‘n’ Water was both a fundraising campaign to raise $24,000 and a project to provide potable water and purchase a ride-on mower for weed abatement and fire protection for Meher Mount.

Its success demonstrated the power of planning and fundraising with community support and participation. In addition, Weeds ‘n’ Water helped to create a better visitor experience and to make the Manager/Caretaker job more manageable.

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Now for the First Time, I Visit Meher Mount

Renate Moritz

My own travels have taken me to places Avatar Meher Baba visited in Europe, Australia, South Carolina, and India. Now for the first time, I visit Meher Mount in Ojai, CA. I adore it.

Always loaded with spiritual expectations, we get stripped there. All what one might envisage of a spiritual center was not there: no discourses, no meditation sessions, no designated prayer spots, no singing.

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"...the personal disaster, for some years foretold by me, took place..."

Wayne Myers

"…the personal disaster, for some years foretold by me, took place in the form of an automobile accident while crossing the American continent… It was necessary that it should happen in America. God willed it so." - Avatar Meher Baba

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"Under Baba's Tree" - A Poem

Yolanda Koumidou

In January 2016, Yolanda Koumidou visited Meher Mount for Amartithi - a commemoration of the day in 1969 when Avatar Meher Baba dropped His physical form. She was inspired by that visit to write this poem "Under Baba's Tree." 

Yolanda later return to Meher Mount in February 2017 to be a temporary caretaker. "What a privilege it was to be the caretaker of Meher Mount for a few days. It is truly a sacred space. Every time I return from Meher Mount, I am never the same." 

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Tips for Being a Volunteer

Margaret Magnus

Being a volunteer provides psychic rewards to you, concrete benefits to Meher Mount, and can help you expand and deepen your skills and knowledge to benefit you in your career and personal life. Here are a few tips on helping to make it a rewarding experience.

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The Personal Benefits of a Being a Volunteer

Meher Mount

Those who volunteer are healthier, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service. They “…have lower mortality rates, greater functional ability, and lower rates of depression later in life than those who do not volunteer.”

Scientific studies have shown that individuals who volunteer enjoy psychological and physical benefits, including increased satisfaction, an improved sense of belonging, lower blood pressure, increased protection from Alzheimer's, and decreased mortality.

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Mehera's Message at the First Amartithi

Meher Mount

Amartithi - or Eternal Day - marks the day, January 31, 1969, when Avatar Meher Baba dropped His physical form. Tens of thousands of pilgrims gather in Meherabad, India, at His Samadhi (tomb shrine) and elsewhere around the world to commemorate this event. 

Mehera J. Irani was his closest woman disciple whom Meher Baba described as the purest soul in the universe. Meher Baba said she loved Him as He ought to be loved.

At the first Amartithi in 1970, approximately 1,700 of His lovers gathered on Meherabad Hill. Mehera, fighting back the tears, read out this message. 

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Cherished Memories of Caring for Agnes Baron

Ken Ceder

When I met Agnes Baron, a co-founder and lifetime caretaker of Meher Mount, I was living in Santa Barbara at the time and had avoided going to Meher Mount in Ojai because I had heard that Agnes was an “an old bitch” from some other Baba lovers.

In my experience, Agnes was tough and even fought the oil companies that were abusing land rights, but she had a softer side. When certain people visited, under circumstances that I didn’t realize, she would be gentle and treat them with kid gloves. Agnes could tune into what that person needed.

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