A Stanza About Meherabad

Once when You were in Ahmednagar,

You walked with Your usual sprightly steps

Down a deserted country road,

Only to stop suddenly under a neem tree.

At this place merged time and space,

As You marked the future spot of

Hearth and home and work and rest.

You named it Meherabad, and here

Compassion flourished as almost nowhere else.

You were an ideal exemplar of the selfless servant,

As You established a free hospital and dispensary,

An ashram for lepers, whom You bathed

Until they were free of the stains from our ignorance,

And an ashram for the poor, whom You clothed and fed

Until they could forget our cold indifference.

Always on the go, You cleaned latrines and engaged

In Your mandali’s work yoga of grinding grain.

Among Your other endeavors at Meherabad,

You opened a free school for boys

Who were taught the ways of the world

As well as the ways of the spirit,

Including the three R’s of Zoroaster:

Right thoughts, right words, and right deeds.

Some took to You like a long-lost lover,

Rising at midnight to remember You.

You were to move these tender buds

Into the nursery of the Prem Ashram.

Basking in the rays of Your glory,

Watered by their own sobs and throbs,

Soon these seedlings sprouted into

Fledgling masters or chota (little) Babas.

Now let us hope and pray

That we all find one day

Their courage and strength to dare

To soar on the wings of Meher.

As you completed much of your Universal Work,

The understanding of which lies far beyond our ken,

Your servitude showed the way to mastery,

Giving spiritual and material aid to so many

At Meherabad, the model community for the New Humanity!