THE FREE LIFE
THE FREE LIFE
Meher Baba in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in 1952
Meher Baba in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in 1952
Until July 10, 1952, Baba continued with his 'Complicated Free Life,' in which "bindings would dominate freedom." Then from November 15 started the "Fiery Free Life," in which "freedom and bindings would by the grace of God be merged into the Divine Life!" During this second period Baba made several comments on this phase of life: "I have no connection with politics. All religions are equal to me. And all castes and creeds are dear to me. But though I appreciate all 'isms,' religions and political parties, the absolute truth, while equally including them, transcends all of them and leaves no room for separative divisions, which are all equally false. The unity of all life is integral and indivisible. It remains unassailable and inviolable, in spite of all conceivable ideological differences."
He declared: "The result of this Fiery Free Life will make the world understand that Meher Baba and every one is one with God."
In April of 1952 Baba with five men and six women members of his mandali visited America. He stayed at the Meher Spiritual Center at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where two of his American disciples, Elizabeth Patterson and Norina Matchabelli had established a retreat for him. The retreat covered a sprawling 500 acres. At the Center a large house was erected for him and his men companions and a guest house for the women. A large cypress wood barn was used for meetings and interviews. At the various gatherings which Baba gave, people came from many parts of the country and Baba met them individually or in small groups. He told Elizabeth Patterson that the Center was to be devoted to the following purposes: a spiritual academy; a house of advanced souls; an abode of the saints; a 'mad' institute; solitary quarters for meditation; and a resting place for the afflicted. Baba also said that this Center was his home in the West and one day it would become a place of pilgrimage.
On May 24 while proceeding to Meher Mount, Ojai, California, Baba and the women mandali were involved in a serious accident with an oncoming car. Baba was thrown out of the vehicle, his head bleeding and his left arm and left leg fractured. While the women members in the car were badly hurt, some with fractured arms, wrists and broken ribs, Baba was the only one to have lost blood. He had previously prophesied that he would shed blood on American soil, and here he was bleeding profusely. Dr. Burleson, the Surgeon of the Prague Clinic, Prague, Oklahoma, later recalled:
Meher Baba recuperates in Poona after the accident in America in 1952
Meher Baba recuperates in Poona after the accident in America in 1952
"When I finally got round to attending to Baba I was surprised to see an individual who was injured as badly as he was, still smiling. I was also astounded to find that he did not speak a word or make any sound denoting discomfort. I assumed that he could not, but was informed soon by Dr. Irani that he did not speak because of a willful act. I knew that we were going to have to give him a general anesthetic (pentothal) to set his fractures and suspected that he would say something at that time, but he didn't. The most attractive quality of his personality that first day was the way he would look at me with those big brown eyes as if he were reading my mind."
On June 13, Baba issued a statement: "The personal disaster for some years foretold by me has at last happened while crossing the American continent causing me, through facial injuries and a broken leg and arm, much mental and physical suffering. It was necessary that it should happen in America. God willed it so...."