God Walked Here

On my first trip to Meher Center, like many new pilgrims, I went to Brookgreen Gardens. A well-known cultural and artistic magnet only an hour south of the Center, these gardens are enjoyed by people from near and far for their exquisite beauty reflected in artistic history, preservation of nature and love for animals. In the spring, blooming azaleas adorn the gardens, colorful butterflies flutter and a band of birdsong welcomes visitors to heaven-like beauty. But that was not why I went, and definitely not why the gardens brought me to a weeping halt.

Mani wrote in her diaries of the beauty of the gardens during the women’s 1952 visit when Baba took them for outings. Subsequently, on the afternoon of July 28, 1956, during Baba’s second visit, two buses were chartered to take the group to the gardens. Baba and the Mandali rode in a car driven by Fred Winterfeldt. One of the buses was delayed in dropping off a non-Baba passenger. Baba asked to stop His car and the first bus to wait for it. “He got out and stretched His legs, then got in the front seat next to Fred. Fred, happy to be so close to his Master, began to sing and hum songs as one of the Mandali in the back seat had been humming Indian bhajans. He began to sing a strange song about Krishna and His charioteer, making up words and music. Baba, gesturing for him to continue, swayed in time with his impromptu tune.”*

At 3 p.m. the group was welcomed by three-hundred-year-old live oaks with hanging Spanish moss, like draped garlands for His awaited arrival at Brookgreen Gardens. Baba walked around the breathtaking Sculpture Gardens. The wonder of the maker watching His own beauty; and the spark He provides for such beauty to come through man in his art! Walking to a secluded part of the garden, Baba sat under a fruit tree and the Mandali sat around Him. He moved His fingers swiftly and others like Peter Thibodeau and Tex Hightower imitated His movements playfully.

In the ease of companionship on the lush lawns, Baba said, “This reminds Me of the past when Buddha sat under the tree. After Buddha had been fasting for so many weeks, an old woman helped Him by giving Him a rice pudding. Following His eating of that pudding, Buddha sat under the tree, where He attained His goal. As Babajan was to Me, so that old woman was to Buddha, for just as that old woman helped Buddha get super-consciousness, just so did Babajan give super-consciousness to Me.”*

After John Bass fetched sodas for all and Baba tried on the sandals that Tex Hightower had made for Him, the group left the gardens for supper together at the Center.

Darwin Shaw recounts a personal experience while being with Baba at the gardens. “On one occasion when Baba was walking at the head of the group, I walked fifty feet to one side to take the picture of everyone. As I looked up at them, I was amazed to see the whole group following Baba was enveloped in stardust! Thousands of tiny sparks of light flowed from Baba like the wake of a comet, permeating the whole group. I snapped the picture, hoping this phenomenon would be captured on the film, but of course it was not.”**

Perhaps one stellar spark settled on stone in the form of words.

For me, having seen pictures of Baba in the gardens, by virtue of where He had walked, this place was a pilgrimage site. But when I saw a poem at the Poetry Garden, I wept for the unknown touches of God on earth, stemming only from His love and grace upon all who yearn for Him, even those who do not know it. At the entrance to the Poetry Garden, the poem carved on stone read, “Pause friend and read, before you enter here…Herein tranquility and peace abide, for God walks here at the cool of evening tide…There where the ancient trees wait hushed and dim, May you find God and walk awhile with Him.”

* Awakener Magazine, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 24-26
** As Only God Can Love, by Darwin Shaw, pg. 376