MEHER  SPIRITUAL CENTER

 

Sth Carolina flag
Sth Carolina flag
Meher Baba viewing the Meher Center Long Lake - July 1956. Cropped image of the above in LM ; p.4996. Image redition by Anthony Zois.
Meher Baba viewing the Meher Center Long Lake - July 1956. Cropped image of the above in LM ; p.4996. Image redition by Anthony Zois.

 

Visit the Meher Center web site :

https://www.mehercenter.org/

 

Meher Baba visited the Meher Spiritual Center 3 times.

1952, 1956 & 1958( click on the years dates to visit the webpages for more details )

 

On the 1952 visit, both male and female close followers ( mandali ) accompanied Baba.

On the subsequent 2 later visits Baba only had 4 different men with him on each visit.

 

 

Meher Spiritual Center is a sacred site established by and dedicated to Meher Baba. It is a spiritual retreat for rest, meditation, and renewal of the spiritual life, where those who visit can experience Meher Baba’s enduring love and presence and learn more about His life and teachings. Meher Baba sanctified Meher Center with His physical presence when He stayed here in 1952, 1956, and 1958. He called the Center His “Home in the West,” and He said “I never leave. Remember, I do not leave, because this is my home.” The paths Baba walked on, the buildings He spent time in, the accounts of what He said and did at the Center, all serve as remembrances and tangible links to His never-ending presence here.

 

Meher Spiritual Center offers a refuge from everyday life where visitors can experience spiritual renewal in a most personal way—it provides a unique atmosphere of intimacy, quietude, peacefulness and simplicity which enhances that experience. This retreat atmosphere is available to all who come, whether for an hour or two weeks.

Meher Baba said the Center would become “a place of pilgrimage for all time” and as He requested, it is preserved in perpetuity as a sacred site and spiritual retreat. Since its founding in 1944, every effort has been made to protect and maintain the Center’s physical property, natural beauty and unique atmosphere, and to ensure its continuing availability for all who love and follow Meher Baba, and all who know of Him and want to know more.

 

 

continued .....

Courtesy of the Meher Sp. Center website.

 

Meher Baba outside the Guest House, Meher Spiritual Center 1952. Courtesy of Glow International magazine - summer 2009
Meher Baba outside the Guest House, Meher Spiritual Center 1952. Courtesy of Glow International magazine - summer 2009
Painting by Diane Cobb
Painting by Diane Cobb

 

In 1941 Meher Baba sent two of His early Western disciples, Elizabeth Patterson and Norina Matchabelli, from India to the United States to find and establish a Center for His work there. Baba had been to the U.S. three times and He said of His coming to this country “there is greater energy in America than elsewhere, but most of this energy is misdirected. I will divert it into creative and spiritual channels.” Baba specified that the property which would become Meher Spiritual Center should meet five conditions:

The climate should be equable.
It should have more than ample water.
It should be virgin soil, never built upon.
It should be land that could be tilled.
And it should be given from the heart.

 

Elizabeth and Norina searched unsuccessfully throughout the country for almost three years. Then in 1943 while visiting her father in Myrtle Beach, Elizabeth remembered seeing, years earlier, a large tract of undisturbed oceanfront property. Upon revisiting the spot she felt with certainty that it was the place they had been looking for. The land, owned by Myrtle Beach Farms Company where her father, Simeon Chapin, was a partner, met the first four of Meher Baba’s conditions. Elizabeth’s father who had met Meher Baba and had deep respect for Elizabeth’s spiritual quest was eventually able to obtain the property and give it to her; she then offered it with love to Baba, fulfilling the final condition. Baba sanctioned the gift, and in 1944 work began to prepare the Center which would become His “home in the West.”

 

Baba Himself directed many details of the Center’s development; every phase of the work was done with the thought of pleasing Him. And He remained actively interested and involved with all Center activities throughout the years following His three visits in the 1950s.

 

On Meher Baba’s first visit He expressed His pleasure with all that was done to establish the Center saying “… I am so happy to be here, and most of all I am deeply touched with the love and devotion shown by both Elizabeth and Norina throughout the past years in preparing such a unique spot for my work and comfort… of all the homes I have visited, this is the home that I love the best, because it was given to me and built for me with such love.” After a pause he added, “I never leave. Remember, I do not leave, because this is my home.” Accompanied by eleven companions from India, this first visit was for a month during April and May, 1952. It was a quiet, intimate, and special time with Baba when many westerners had the opportunity to meet Him for the first time.

 

continued.....

Courtesy of the Meher Sp. Center website.

 

 

 

MAPS

 

Courtesy of " Myrtle Beach-a history " - p.27
Courtesy of " Myrtle Beach-a history " - p.27
Winter : Looking south towards the Centre ( green patch / space between the buildings )
Winter : Looking south towards the Centre ( green patch / space between the buildings )
Summer : Looking south towards the Centre ( green patch )
Summer : Looking south towards the Centre ( green patch )

 

Meher Baba’s sister Mani describes her first impressions of the Center in 1952: “On our arrival I felt that Baba had already been there. His presence was so strong and I realized Baba had blessed the Center long before. Every nook had so much of His Presence—on the bridges, under the trees, at the beach, in the Barn, by the lake. Naturally, it is the one place in the West Baba had specifically directed to be found—but He had already found it before He sent Elizabeth and Norina to look for it. He gave the conditions, so that the conditions were like clues to the place where Baba already was! He had already planned it before He sent them out to look for it—like a treasure hunt.”

 

Meher Baba’s second visit to the Meher Center was in 1956, for six days at the end of July. During that stay Baba was radiant and full of vitality, walking throughout the Center, and engaging all those He met. Hundreds of people came to be with Him and the Center’s official dedication ceremony was held during an “open day”, on July 27.

 

Meher Baba’s third visit to Meher Center, for eleven days in May, 1958, was noticeably different from His previous two visits. Due to a painful hip injury, Baba required assistance when walking even short distances, and most of the time He was carried in a chair or driven around the Center in a car. Before He departed the Center, Meher Baba told those gathered around Him that this would be His last visit. Elizabeth Patterson recalled that this statement prompted her to ask Baba, “Then who can come to the Center and stay here?” and He responded, “All those who love and follow me, and those who know of me and want to know more.”

 

In an 1977 interview, Elizabeth described Meher Center’s unique legacy: “The Center was a beautiful place of nature before Baba came. But after He came, it has a ‘plus’ quality that’s indescribable. It’s spiritual.”

 

Early devotees came to Meher Spiritual Center to meet Meher Baba, many for the first time, and to have His “darshan” (auspicious sight) when He was here in the 1950s. Since that time the Center has continued to draw many thousands of pilgrims over the years. Meher Spiritual Center remains, as Meher Baba said it would, a place where He stays and is at home, where all can come to meet Him; a “place of pilgrimage for all time” imbued with His presence and inspired by His remembrance.

 

Courtesy of the Meher Sp. Center website.

 

 

Sunset ; looking south towards the Center from North Myrtle Beach - photo by Anthony Zois
Sunset ; looking south towards the Center from North Myrtle Beach - photo by Anthony Zois
1952 : Meher Baba at the Meher Spiritual Center, Myrtle Beach, SC.
1952 : Meher Baba at the Meher Spiritual Center, Myrtle Beach, SC.
   Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge

 

 

Meher Spiritual Center

Photo of the Boat house by Sher DiMaggio Zois
Photo of the Boat house by Sher DiMaggio Zois

 

 

The following photos of the Myrtle Beach Spiritual Centre property were taken by

Sher DiMaggio Zois  ( 2011 )

 

Courtesy of Google Maps

 

 

 

David Barison
David Barison

Lagoon Cabin

Courtesy of Lord Meher ; Bhau Kalchuri - p.5002
Courtesy of Lord Meher ; Bhau Kalchuri - p.5002
Baba's chair in the Lagoon Cabin - photo by Sher DiMaggio Zois
Baba's chair in the Lagoon Cabin - photo by Sher DiMaggio Zois
Lagoon Cabin & Baba's Flag
Lagoon Cabin & Baba's Flag
1958 ; Gregg Rosen
1958 ; Gregg Rosen
1958 ; Gregg Rosen
1958 ; Gregg Rosen
Painting by Katie Rose
Painting by Katie Rose
Babas flag : Photo by Jeff Craddock-Silence Day, 2015 - Over the Lagoon Cabin
Babas flag : Photo by Jeff Craddock-Silence Day, 2015 - Over the Lagoon Cabin

 

 

The Barn

 

2013 ; photo by Anthony Zois
2013 ; photo by Anthony Zois
1956
1956
1956
1956
1956 ; Baba with his men mandali and Elizabeth Patterson outside the Barn. The man on the far left is Dr. Birdie and the lady in the floral dree is Edith Bradbury.
1956 ; Baba with his men mandali and Elizabeth Patterson outside the Barn. The man on the far left is Dr. Birdie and the lady in the floral dree is Edith Bradbury.

 

 

September 2016

 

Dedication ceremony on the newly restored Barn in late 2016

Boat House

Photo of the Boat house by Sher DiMaggio Zois
Photo of the Boat house by Sher DiMaggio Zois
Charlie Mills
Charlie Mills
David Barison
David Barison
2015
2015
Jan. 2021 : The Boathouse with new decking. Photo taken by Anthony Zois.
Jan. 2021 : The Boathouse with new decking. Photo taken by Anthony Zois.

 

 

Meher Abode - Baba's House

 

Photo by Sher DiMaggio Zois
Photo by Sher DiMaggio Zois
Photo by Sher DiMaggio Zois
Photo by Sher DiMaggio Zois
Baba inside the compound
Baba inside the compound
Baba inside the compound
Baba inside the compound
1958 : Darwin Shaw kissing Baba's hand inside the compound. The men mandali behind Baba are ; ( L-R ) Eruch Jessawala, Nariman Dadachanji and Adi K. Irani
1958 : Darwin Shaw kissing Baba's hand inside the compound. The men mandali behind Baba are ; ( L-R ) Eruch Jessawala, Nariman Dadachanji and Adi K. Irani
1958 - Baba exercising with Darwin Shaw inside the compound
1958 - Baba exercising with Darwin Shaw inside the compound
1956 : Meher Baba with Marion Florsheim. Image captured by Anthony Zois from a film by Sufism Reoriented.
1956 : Meher Baba with Marion Florsheim. Image captured by Anthony Zois from a film by Sufism Reoriented.
David Barison
David Barison
December 2018 - View of Long Lake. Photo taken by Anthony Zois
December 2018 - View of Long Lake. Photo taken by Anthony Zois

 

The Library and Reading Room

 

 

 

The Meeting Place

 

2016
2016
David Barison painting - Courtesy of Bobbi Bernstein
David Barison painting - Courtesy of Bobbi Bernstein

 

 

Dilruba

 

Administration building ( once Elizabeth & Kitty's home ) - Photo by Anthony Zois
Administration building ( once Elizabeth & Kitty's home ) - Photo by Anthony Zois
Late 2016
Late 2016

Sand dunes and the Beach

Jan.2016 - Center Beach - photo taken by Ken Neunzig
Jan.2016 - Center Beach - photo taken by Ken Neunzig

 

1956

Meher Baba on the beach at Meher Center, 1956, with thanks to Steve and Duck Klein. Image was edited by Anthony Zois
Meher Baba on the beach at Meher Center, 1956, with thanks to Steve and Duck Klein. Image was edited by Anthony Zois
1952 : On the beach with the women mandali
1952 : On the beach with the women mandali
1956 : ( R-L ) Don Stevens, Adi K.Irani, Lud Dimpfl, Meherjee Karkaria, Meher Baba, Eruch Jessawala, Elizabeth Patterson, unknown, Darwin Shaw & Beryl Williams
1956 : ( R-L ) Don Stevens, Adi K.Irani, Lud Dimpfl, Meherjee Karkaria, Meher Baba, Eruch Jessawala, Elizabeth Patterson, unknown, Darwin Shaw & Beryl Williams
1956 : Beryl Williams is standing behind Baba, also Dr. Nilu with Eruch Jessawala holding the umbrella.
1956 : Beryl Williams is standing behind Baba, also Dr. Nilu with Eruch Jessawala holding the umbrella.
1956 : Center beach - ( L-R ) Ivy Duce, Don Stevens, Adi K Irani,Lud Dimpfl, Baba, Eruch & Meherjee
1956 : Center beach - ( L-R ) Ivy Duce, Don Stevens, Adi K Irani,Lud Dimpfl, Baba, Eruch & Meherjee
 1956 - Image captured by Anthony Zois from a film.
1956 - Image captured by Anthony Zois from a film.
1956 - Image captured by Anthony Zois from a film.
1956 - Image captured by Anthony Zois from a film.
Baba placing something on Lud Dimpfl's head. Eruch holding the umbrella.
Baba placing something on Lud Dimpfl's head. Eruch holding the umbrella.
Courtesy of Charles Haynes ; Jane Haynes is at the left rear with scarf
Courtesy of Charles Haynes ; Jane Haynes is at the left rear with scarf
1958
1958
Baba being carried across the beach. Kitty is front-right
Baba being carried across the beach. Kitty is front-right
1956 : Photo from the Shaw Family Collection, Myrtle Beach, SC, visit - Courtesy of Meher Archive Collective
1956 : Photo from the Shaw Family Collection, Myrtle Beach, SC, visit - Courtesy of Meher Archive Collective
Photo by Sher DiMaggio Zois - View of the beach from the Center's dunes
Photo by Sher DiMaggio Zois - View of the beach from the Center's dunes
Near dune bridge - photo by Anthony Zois
Near dune bridge - photo by Anthony Zois
Sand dunes - Artist ; Gregg Rosen
Sand dunes - Artist ; Gregg Rosen
Sand dunes - Artist ; Gregg Rosen
Sand dunes - Artist ; Gregg Rosen
Sand dunes - Artist ; Gregg Rosen
Sand dunes - Artist ; Gregg Rosen
David Barison
David Barison
Painting by Charlie Morton
Painting by Charlie Morton
Painting by Katie Rose
Painting by Katie Rose
2016 : Sunrise on Center Beach -  photo taken by Ken Neunzig
2016 : Sunrise on Center Beach - photo taken by Ken Neunzig
Courtesy of LSLP ; Apr-June 2000
Courtesy of LSLP ; Apr-June 2000

NOTE :This image is a composite of two images.

Avatar Meher Baba around 1950s. This is the bridge at the Meher Spiritual Center in Myrtle Beach, and the protective wire was added in the 1990s.


Meher Baba at Meher Spiritual Center, July 28 1956
Meher Baba at Meher Spiritual Center, July 28 1956
 Artist : Gregg Rosen
Artist : Gregg Rosen
Artist : David Barison
Artist : David Barison
1956 - Image captured by Anthony Zois from a film by Sufism Reoriented.
1956 - Image captured by Anthony Zois from a film by Sufism Reoriented.
Courtesy of the MN Collection
Courtesy of the MN Collection

 

 

Winter 2010

 

David Barison
David Barison

 

 

MYRTLE BEACH  - 1956

 

Copyright Sufism Reoriented
Copyright Sufism Reoriented
Copyright Sufism Reoriented
Copyright Sufism Reoriented


1956

Courtesy of "God Alone Is"  - video

(l-r) Marion Florsheim, Elizabeth Patterson Meher Baba, Meherjee Karkaria & Eruch Jessawala. 1956 -  Image captured by Anthony Zois from a film.
(l-r) Marion Florsheim, Elizabeth Patterson Meher Baba, Meherjee Karkaria & Eruch Jessawala. 1956 - Image captured by Anthony Zois from a film.
Lake view - David Barison
Lake view - David Barison
1958 : Eruch & Nariman either side of Baba, Pater Saul & Don Mahler in the far rightCourtesy of Charles Haynes
1958 : Eruch & Nariman either side of Baba, Pater Saul & Don Mahler in the far rightCourtesy of Charles Haynes
1958 : Charles Haynes opening the door for Baba.  Courtesy of Charles Haynes
1958 : Charles Haynes opening the door for Baba. Courtesy of Charles Haynes
Gregg Rosen
Gregg Rosen
(L-R) Lee McBride,Mike Cauthen,Charles Haynes,Jane Viscardi Brown,Dean Nordquist,Barbara Plews,Marshall Hay,Jeff Woverton,Hettie Johnson,Deborah Smith,Jenny Zenner,Carole Kelly,Jennifer Tinsman?,Mina Brustman,Malcolm Clay and Dennis McCabe
(L-R) Lee McBride,Mike Cauthen,Charles Haynes,Jane Viscardi Brown,Dean Nordquist,Barbara Plews,Marshall Hay,Jeff Woverton,Hettie Johnson,Deborah Smith,Jenny Zenner,Carole Kelly,Jennifer Tinsman?,Mina Brustman,Malcolm Clay and Dennis McCabe

 

The history of Burroughs & Chapin Company in Horry County and Myrtle Beach began more than 150 years ago with the arrival of Franklin G. Burroughs in nearby Conway. An enterprising young man, he soon established successful building, mercantile, turpentine and other business ventures there. And as his businesses grew, the town flourished as a primary destination on the Waccamaw River.

 


After service in the Civil War, Burroughs returned to Conway and with his new partner, Benjamin Grier Collins, expanded the company's commercial interests into timber, farm credit, consumer goods and riverboats. His turpentine manufacturing business grew to be one of the largest in the country, and riverboats such as the “F.G. Burroughs” linked Horry County to the rest of the world.

A true visionary, Franklin Burroughs foresaw that one day the beaches of the Grand Strand would grow to rival the then-famous northern resort destinations of Coney Island and Atlantic City. He died in 1897 before his efforts to link the beach, via railroad, to the rest of the world were realized. In pursuit of their fathers' dreams, the sons of Burroughs and Collins completed the railroad and built the Seaside Inn in 1901, the first oceanfront hotel in Myrtle Beach. It was followed by a bathhouse and a wooden pavilion around which beach houses were constructed. By 1907, the “New Town” by the sea, as Myrtle Beach was then called, had become a popular vacation spot. Beachfront cottage lots sold for $25 each. When a contest was eventually held to name the new beach resort, Burroughs' widow, Miss Addie, suggested “Myrtle Beach” for its proliferation of wild wax myrtle bushes.

In 1912, Simeon B. Chapin, son of a prominent Chicago merchant, joined with the Burroughs family to form Myrtle Beach Farms Company. Known for his philanthropy and keen business sense, Chapin shared the belief that Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand offered unlimited potential for future growth. His financial resources and business experience, coupled with the Burroughs' vast real estate holdings, provided for a period of sustained economic growth.

As Myrtle Beach began to take shape, Myrtle Beach Farms Company nurtured the community's growing need for roads, schools, churches, hospitals and parklands with a sense of commitment and pride.

In 1990, Myrtle Beach Farms Company and Burroughs & Collins Company merged to form Burroughs & Chapin Company, Inc. with land holdings throughout Horry County. The commitments to accomplishing planned, quality growth and giving back to the community that were established so long ago by Franklin G. Burroughs and Simeon B. Chapin continue today.

 

Main Street in Myrtle Beach in the 1940s
Chapin Park , Myrtle Beach
Chapin Park , Myrtle Beach
Detail soil map of the 1900s for the Myrtle Beach area. ( cropped version ) - Courtesy of Dee & Dixon  Withers-Julian
Detail soil map of the 1900s for the Myrtle Beach area. ( cropped version ) - Courtesy of Dee & Dixon Withers-Julian