In God's Hand: Explanations of Spirituality in Meher Baba's Own Hand
Merwan Sheriar Irani, known as Meher Baba, was born in Poona, India on February 25, 1894, to parents of Zoroastrian faith. In 1913, while still in college, Merwan met Hazrat Babajan, an ancient Muslim woman who was one of the five Perfect Masters of the age. Babajan gave Merwan God-Realization and made him aware of his high spiritual destiny.Merwan’s spiritual mission began in 1921 with the drawing together and intensive training of his first close disciples. One of these gave him the name Meher Baba, which means "Compassionate Father." In the mid 1920s, Meher Baba founded Meherabad, a colony near Ahmednagar, where his work encompassed a free school, free hospital and dispensary, and programs for the poor. Through his instructions and personal example, he guided followers from different castes and creeds ina life of love for God, spiritual understanding, and selfless service.On July 10, 1925, Meher Baba began keeping silence, which he maintained throughout the remaining 44 years of his life. For the first eighteen months, he communicated through writing; after 11927, he used an alphabet board, which in turn he gave up in 1954, "speaking" with others through his own uniquely expressive hand gestures.Between 1931 and 1958, Meher Baba traveled to the West thirteen times; he also traveled extensively throughout the Indian subcontinent. Meher Baba suffered severe injuries in two car accidents. It was during this period that he first declared himself publicly to be the Avatar of the age. Over the last twelve years of his life, he withdrew increasingly into seclusion at his residence I Meherazad, engaged in the fulfillment of what he called his universal work. Meher Baba passed away on January 31, 1969. His tomb at Meherabad has become a center of pilgrimage for thousands of people around the world who have been touched by his love and his message of truth.