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25 February 1894: Meher Baba, Indian mystic, was born

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 2/25/2021 11:12:45 AM

Known for his mystical teachings throughout his life through a spiritual transformation at a very young age, Meher Baba or Merwan Sheriar Irani was an Indian spiritual master. In a remarkable development, he declared himself to be an incarnation ('avataar') of God whose aim was to propagate spirituality. He assumed complete silence for much of his later life, communicating only through gestures and small written words. Family background and early life Meher Baba was born in a Parsi family in Pune, Maharashtra in 1894. His father Sheriar was also moved by the spiritual aspects of the world. The young Meher was a natural poet, could play multiple instruments and could speak several languages at ease. As a child, he was the founder of a club which used to collect money for charity. He was very active in sports and was selected as the captain of his school cricket team. He was sent to the Deccan College for his further studies. Encounter with his spiritual gurus Meher was never spiritually inclined before he met Hazrat Babajan, a local saint. This Muslim woman is believed to have incorporated the soul of the Almighty into this young lad by kissing him on his forehead. Since then, he used to get visions of God and underwent mystical transformations, which eventually made him sacrifice the worldly pleasures to be closer to God. He also met some of the other spiritual gurus, like Sai Baba of Shirdi, Narayan Maharaja, Tajuddin Baba and Upasni Maharaja. By the age of 27, he had himself attained the stage where he could attract his own followers. His name, Meher Baba, was given by his disciples, and meant "compassionate father". Contribution to the world Meher Baba set up the Manzil-e-Meem, an ashram of sorts, in 1922 in Mumbai, with an aim to inculcate strict discipline among his followers. He established his Ashram in Meherabad, which is few miles ahead of Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, and also established another called the Prem Ashram, which was also a resident school. Here all the students, irrespective of caste and creed, could study and soon it was populated by candidates from both India and Iran. He used to travel to the West a lot in order to understand the western spiritual culture and had met several well-known celebrities during his stay there. Later he also worked extensively with Masts, who were considered to be insane; but to Baba these were "intoxicated with God", having elevated levels of spiritual attainment. In the late 40s he started travelling all across the world and called this the "New Life".