Meher Baba

(b. Merwan Sheriar Irani, 1894–1969)
Modern religious figure who was born a
Parsi, but whose teachings draw on
Islamic mystical thought and Hindu
devotional (bhakti) teachings. Meher
Baba (“Divine Father”) claimed to be an
avatar or “incarnation” of the divine,
and his followers accept him as such. In
1925 he took a vow of silence, which he
kept for the rest of his life, communicating through gestures and an alphabet
board. Despite his silence, he compiled
his teachings in a five-volume set of
discourses titled God Speaks. Like many
contemporary Hindu missionary figures, Meher Baba emphasized the need
for devotion to one’s guru or religious
preceptor, through which the disciple
would gain all things. For further information from a devotee’s (bhakta) perspective, see Jean Adriel, Avatar, 1947.