Meher Baba's Life & Travels
* There are no photos of Meher Baba taken in Spain on his visit.
This was Meher Baba's 6th visit to the West when he visited Spain.
Meher Baba spent 2 days visiting Avila. This was the only time he was to visit Spain and Avila.
Check-out the other locations Meher Baba visited on his trip to Spain.
There are 3 additional web pages associated with these Spanish locations. They are the 3 railway lines connecting the 4 locations in Spain covered in this website.
MADRID - HENDAYE RAILWAY LINES
ZARAGOZA & ALICANTE RAILWAY LINES
Sunday, 22 October 1933
At Victoria Station, a crowd of about 30 was there to see him off at about midday, despite the fact that his departure was being kept strictly private.
Anita, Norina, Minta, Herbert and Quentin were accompanying Baba and the mandali, along with Tom Sharpley, who went as far as Dover to see them off at the ferry.
It was a foggy and cold crossing of the English Channel, yet the sea was not rough. They arrived in Calais and traveled on the Continental Express train to Paris, where they arrived at six that evening.
Anita left the group in Paris, since it had been previously decided by Baba that she be sent to Zurich to study art at Otto Haas-Heye's design school.
The rest of the group boarded the Paris-Orleans Night Express at 8:40 P.M. from the Gare d'Orsay station in Paris.
Their journey was comfortable in the two compartments they occupied exclusively. The Pickford travel agents had done a fine job and handled all the tour details by having their agents meet them along the way. Baba and the group arrived in Irun, Spain, on the morning of 23 October at 8am, and thereafter changed trains for Avila. There was some mix-up regarding their seating which left Chanji, Adi Jr. and Quentin having to stand for the rest of the journey.
Arriving in Avila that evening at six, Baba and the group stayed at the Hotel Ingles. Baba appeared very happy to be in Spain, which he said reminded him of India more than any other country he had thus far visited. "Baba loved Spain," Norina later wrote. "Its atmosphere and the people." Before dinner, Baba went for a walk with the men past the house of Saint Teresa. "I feel at home here," Baba remarked. "It is like Assisi. It is the spiritual atmosphere that you feel which gives value to the shrines of saints."
Pointing to his wrists and arms, Baba commented, "Saints are like the nerves of my body; they work for me and I guide their lives."
Lord Meher On-line p.1566-7
AVILA RAILWAY STATION
This postcard was sent by Norina Matchabelli to Elizabeth Patterson of Avila's Cathedral.
CONTINUED.....
Baba and the men returned to the hotel and had their last meal for the next 24 hours. Baba had explained to them, "I have very special work in Avila. You must all fast and we must walk together over the hills, although no one should touch me."
The next morning, they visited the cathedral there, and Baba instructed them as they were leaving that four silver coins be given to the sacristan. Led by Baba, the group then walked through the surrounding countryside. The scenery was magnificent. It was to them as though they were walking with Jesus through the hills of Galilee.
Baba revealed, "Long ago, before the cathedral was built, I was here in Avila. I used to walk on this hillside, and quietly rest and meditate here. There were no trees there at the time. It was more desert than countryside."
They returned to their hotel at 4:00 P.M. and broke their fast with fruits. Baba was in a very good mood and revealed further, "My spiritual work is successfully accomplished. How fortunate you are to be with me! Even those of my followers who are not with me will share in the spiritual benefits of this work".
"In Europe, as on other continents, there are holy places connected to great spiritual work. The four centers of Europe are St. Mark's in Venice, Portofino, Assisi and Avila. I have now visited and revisited them all. Wherever I have been and worked, saints have arisen and carried out my work afterwards."
Herbert was ordered to return to Avila in ten days to visit this place, and sit on the same rock on which Baba sat every day.
CONTINUED.....
24th October 1933
Baba's disclosure that Avila was one of the four main spiritual centers in Europe and he had visited it in the ancient past was a surprise to them, as Baba had never before mentioned that he wished in particular to visit Avila. He had left the arrangements of their Spanish trip to them. It was their London travel agent who suggested stopping at Avila on their way to Madrid!
They left for Madrid the same day, arriving at 10:30 that night, and went to the Hotel Principe Don Juan, at Calle de Recoletos. Baba had informed the men, "The rest of our time in Spain will be pure rest and relaxation. It will be a holiday."
* The visit to Spain continues on the Madrid page. Click on the following button link to visit.
