As I arrive at the gate at Meher Mount, I see a covey of chubby quail having their Thanksgiving dinner in the parking lot. Typical. I’m always greeted by some form of wildlife when I arrive here.
Sure enough, as I pull up to the front of the Visitor Center, there is a three-point buck and two yearling deer feasting on one of Ellen’s potted plants near the fountain. Don’t tell her. I didn’t chase them away because, well, it is Thanksgiving.
Meher Mount is closed for the holiday. I have the place entirely to myself.
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At Meher Mount, it pays to look up at the skies from time to time for you never know what you might see there.
The latest delight has been the first appearance of California Condors — four of them on one occasion — soaring over Meher Mount’s open fields and swooping down toward the area around the Visitor Center.
The condors first appeared on a windy day, November 7, 2020, “hiding” among a wake of smaller Turkey Vultures (as a flock is called) catching the coveted air currents that rise from the west.
Of course, it would be difficult for condors to hide anywhere since they are such giants of the skies. With wing spans as large as 10 feet, the shadow of a condor flying overhead will take anyone’s breath away.
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Meher Baba gave up the use of the alphabet board completely on October 7, 1954 and continued to communicate using only gestures.
As Francis Brabazon (a disciple from Australia) explains, Meher Baba “communicated by signs, gestures and expression… this was the most eloquent way of all — for he was the master of expression and the perfection of mime.
The mandali and many others who have shared their stories of meeting and being with Meher Baba say they never felt He was silent. “Such flowing gestures that while you were listening [sic] to His gestures, you really never felt that Baba was silent,” said Mani S. Irani, Meher Baba’s sister and interpreter of His gestures.
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I had barely arrived when already the familiar sights and sounds pulled me into a feeling of being taken in, embraced, welcomed. A stillness settled in around me as I breathed in the sense of loving care that emanated all around me.
As I meandered over to Baba’s Walkway, running my hand along the golden cord that protects it in its repose, I suddenly felt a loving presence. A wisp of blue cloth, an imagined hand lifted to point the way. The proud tour guide leading me around back to see the recently planted flowers.
If Meher Mount has taught me anything, it is this: Avatar Meher Baba is ever-present to those who seek Him, and sooner or later, we all find that special place where He always awaits.
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As we learn to navigate the uncharted territory of the current global pandemic, how very fortunate we are to have Meher Baba watching over us.
Throughout His lifetime, so often Meher Baba would go into seclusion, leaving His lovers all over the world to discover the power of their inner connection with Him. Even for those of us who never met Him physically in this lifetime, He continues to make His presence felt by us in ways that seem so personal.
This connection could be a timely reminder in an unexpected email from a close friend or perhaps a post on Facebook or Instagram. Suddenly, we are re-awakened to His presence in our lives – no matter how caught up in thoughts of toilet paper and hand sanitizer we may become.
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It’s safe to say that no one associated with Meher Mount foresaw that two years – almost to the day – after high winds and the 2017 Thomas Fire felled most of Baba’s Tree, that what was left of the tree would be recovering nicely and is now the centerpiece of what is emerging as Baba’s Tree Grove.
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When representatives from the Ojai Raptor Center (ORC) arrived at Meher Mount on August 15, 2019, to release an American Kestrel and a Red-Tailed Hawk, Jaclyn DeSantis, wildlife rehabilitator and ORC supervisor, warned all of us to have our cameras ready.
Her 11 years of experience in doing bird releases taught her that these gorgeous creatures take their chance at freedom very seriously. “This will be over in ten seconds once I open the box,” she said, “so don’t anybody blink.”
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Every spring at Meher Mount, amid the stirring of new life – nesting birds, blooming wildflowers, tender new leaves on the ubiquitous Coast Live Oak trees swollen from recent rains – volunteers from far and wide gather to perform the rituals of weed abatement.
It is mandatory in Ventura County, CA, that by June 1st a strict protocol of reducing hazardous vegetation and creating defensible spaces around buildings and roads must be completed by all property owners in anticipation of the upcoming fire season.
This year, 21 volunteers arrived in shifts from May 11 through May 24, 2019, to help. Some were young, some not so young. Some new to Meher Mount, others who mark their calendars for this time of year. Some who were a few hours’ drive away, others who came from across the country. It is the joy of working with such enthusiastic and friendly folks that makes volunteering such a memorable event.
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Just after dawn this morning – as with most mornings – three or four California quail coveys drink at the pond, followed by hordes of Dark-Eyed Juncos, three different species of Goldfinch, and several Spotted Towhees. All are gathered for their morning ablutions and chatter fest.
This morning there is a special guest among the avian visitors. As a cool mist envelops the top of Sulphur Mountain, there is a rarely seen Hooded Oriole, the latest addition to the Meher Mount bird family. He repeatedly makes his appearance at the Hummingbird feeders to the delight of onlookers. The Oriole balances precariously on the feeder rim while sipping the sweet nectar with his long slender beak.
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My mind is like still water as I sit on the veranda of the Visitor Center. Next to me is a friend who has been helping me take care of Meher Mount for several weeks. It is evening, the sun is about to set, and even the busy hummingbirds are settling in to partake of the peace of this special place.
“This is all Meher Baba,” my companion remarks with deep emotion in his voice as he spreads his arms to indicate the whole of Meher Mount.
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If the Thomas Fire has taught me anything, it has taught me that one just never knows when something will “catch fire” at Meher Mount. Priorities are constantly shifting and even as the list of projects to be done continues to spark more lists of projects to be done, it is always Meher Baba who finds a way to ignite one’s passion at just the right moment.
What seems to be catching fire for visitors, volunteers, and caretakers alike these days is the remnant of a sandstone walkway that begins at the northeast edge of the circular driveway and extends for about 10 feet or so toward the side of the Visitor Center/Caretaker Quarters. Avatar Meher Baba walked on these exact same flagstones.
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That Meher Baba fellow sure knows how to throw a work party!
As I drove up to the entry gate around 9:30 a.m., I found half a dozen people vigorously cultivating the ash-hardened ground under the Coast Live Oak tree there. All were new faces to me, but I was greeted with cheerful waves and a hearty chorus of “Jai Baba.”
So, began the first workday of 2018 in response to the devastating Thomas Fire that so heartrendingly damaged Baba’s Tree, crippled the fragile water system, and sent Manager/Caretakers Buzz and Ginger Glasky racing for their lives down a flaming Sulphur Mountain Road on December 4, 2017.
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