Shaw Family Photo, Meher Baba in the Barn at Meher Center

Dear Meher Center Family and Friends,

Greetings to you from Meher Center. This coming week, on January 31, Meher Baba’s followers around the world celebrate ‘Amartithi,' the day in 1969 when Avatar Meher Baba, after a lifetime of great suffering and sacrifice, discarded His physical form. Amartithi means ‘eternal date’ and is the celebration of the eternal presence of God in our hearts. Adi K. Irani, Meher Baba’s secretary, sent out the following cable when He ‘dropped His body’ in 1969:

“AVATAR MEHER BABA DROPPED HIS PHYSICAL BODY AT TWELVE NOON 31 JANUARY AT MEHERAZAD TO LIVE ETERNALLY IN THE HEARTS OF ALL HIS LOVERS. BELOVED BABA’S BODY WILL BE INTERRED AT MEHERABAD ON 1 FEBRUARY AT 10 A.M. IN THE TOMB HE HAD ORDERED TO BE BUILT LONG AGO.”

At Meherabad, India, Amartithi is the magnificent and jubilant anniversary where each year tens of thousands of people gather in the fragrance of His presence. It is a festival of love brimming with music, plays, dance, talks and remembrance of the Beloved—the One who has been in our hearts all along.

At Meher Center, Amartithi has traditionally been a more contemplative time of remembrance and gratitude for His loving, guiding presence in our lives.  In our offering next week, we will present a video of the program that will be held in the Barn on Tuesday morning.

In Baba’s love and service, 

Buz Connor

For Meher Center board and staff

Eruch was Baba's right-hand man, and dedicated his life in service to his Master. In this beautiful and heartwarming clip taken at Meherabad during the 1996 Amartithi, Eruch grants us a glimpse into his inner journey of loving Baba.

Video, 9:12

Meherabad, India

Courtesy of the AMBCSC Archives

During an afternoon at Mandali Hall, Baba’s sister Mani gives a moving description of her struggle to accept that her God-brother had dropped His body, and how she learned to keep living for Him.

Audio, 9:59

Meherazad, India

Courtesy of Mandali Hall Talks

Dear friends, I would like to express my appreciation and joy in being able to share with many from so far and near in this significant event of 1984, Avatar Meher Baba’s fifteenth Amartithi anniversary year. Seeing you all gathered here today, I am reminded of an excerpt of a letter from Mani that was printed recently in the Meher Baba Washington (D.C.) Gathering Newsletter. Whilst sitting in Mandali Hall, Mani had a thought which she shared with the group. The excerpt reads as follows: 

“Word comes from Baba’s world family of the many personal trials and difficulties Baba lovers are facing at this time. When Beloved Baba was physically present with us, He carried the cross of the world’s suffering on His shoulders. It’s as if when He dropped His body, this cross fell and shattered into thousands of pieces and each of His lovers now carries a little piece of this cross for His sake, and always with His love to uphold it.” 

So today we find ourselves gathered together, the pieces as it were, each with his or her own unique connection with Meher Baba—the One whose Amartithi we have so recently observed. 

Thinking back on that recent Amartithi celebration, linked so strongly in the minds of many of us and connecting it with Meher Baba’s New Life, two words come to mind: Remembrance and Joy. They have a strong connection, I feel, and bring to the forefront of consciousness something we can share with one another today. 

Two words that truly one connects so strongly with Meher Baba, whose message of Love and Truth certainly corresponds with the message Baba came to bring: “I have come not to teach but to awaken,”[ii] and His words in connection with the Amartithi celebration: “When I drop this body, I shall remain in all who love Me.[iii] I am the Ancient One. I live eternally in the hearts of each one of you.” 

For the mandali, Eruch expressed it thus: “We have not felt that we have lost Baba, but feel His presence with us all the more. May His love be awakened in the hearts of all so that he may reside in them eternally.” 

Remembrance and Joy—our theme for today. 

To begin with Joy. Although Baba used both the words “joy” and “happy” on occasion, and they are often used interchangeably, I feel they have a slightly different connotation. Joy can be perceived as the epitome of happiness, an experience that touches both the heart and the spirit. In one of the Family Letters, Mani points out that joy and sorrow both reveal glimpses of the poignancy of human experiences. Although joy is often preceded by an element of sorrow or suffering, it frequently results in drawing one closer to God. The dictionary defines “joy” as a forceful, sustained state of happiness that is associated with sharing, self-realization, and high-mindedness—an exultation of the spirit. 

Read full talk here

* Excerpted from the book One Fine Thread: Talks on Meher Baba, by Kitty Davy, An Avatar Meher Baba Trust eBook, Copyright 2014, 2015 Meher Spiritual Center Inc.

[ii] From “The Universal Message” (1958). In Purdom, The God-Man, p. 343. 

[iii] May 20, 1958, in Myrtle Beach, SC. Charles Purdom, “The American Sahavas with Meher Baba,” in The Awakener Magazine, vol. 5, no. 3 (Special Sahavas Issue, 1958), p. 7.