Sassoon Hospital

 Last night, laying in bed and awaiting sleep, I remembered that Meher Baba was born in a Jewish hospital. I asked NotebookLM the following:

Can you confirm that Meher Baba was born in a Jewish hospital and can you include all the information you have about the hospital and Baba's stay in it.

Yes, the sources confirm that Meher Baba was born in a hospital maintained by a Jewish family. Specifically, he was born on February 25, 1894, in Sassoon Hospital in Poona (now Pune), India, which the texts note "was maintained at the time by a well-known, philanthropic Jewish family".

Here is all the information provided in the sources regarding Sassoon Hospital and Meher Baba's connections to it:

• His Birth: Meher Baba (born Merwan Sheriar Irani) was delivered at Sassoon Hospital.

• His Sister's Birth: On December 15, 1918, his sister Manija (Mani) was also born in Sassoon Hospital. Merwan would often cycle to the hospital to bring food for his mother, and he was the first to see the new baby, picking her up and kissing her before the nurses even gave her a bath.

• Visiting a Dying Friend: When his childhood friend Ramnath fell critically ill after returning from Burma, he was admitted to Sassoon Hospital. Merwan visited him there every day. During one of these visits, Ramnath passed away with his head resting on Merwan's lap.

• 100th Anniversary and Blessing: In 1968, Sassoon General Hospital celebrated its 100th anniversary. The organizing secretary requested Baba's blessings for the occasion, and Baba dictated the following message on September 10, 1968: "I give my blessings to the administrative, medical and worker staff of this hospital in which I, the Deliverer of the world, was delivered to the world". Baba also gave a donation of Rs. 1,000 towards the centenary celebration.

• Commemorative Plaque: As part of the centenary events, a special function was held on December 9, 1968, to unveil a marble plaque on the outside wall of the hospital building where he was born. The plaque reads in both English and Marathi: "AVATAR MEHER BABA WAS BORN IN SASSOON GENERAL HOSPITALS ON 25TH FEBRUARY 1894".

I also remembered that he attended a Catholic high school and so I asked NotebookLM the following:

Can you provide as much detail as possible concerning Meher Baba's eduction: primary, secondary and tertiary. 

Meher Baba (born Merwan Sheriar Irani) began his formal education around the age of five when he was admitted to the Pudumji School, a Gujarati-medium primary institution. He studied there for three years, learning the Gujarati alphabet and basic numbers. He disliked arithmetic, but it was during an arithmetic lesson taught by Miss Ratanbai that he had a profound mystical experience, visualizing "a great glitter of circles with tiny points in them as if suns, moons and stars were being projected from those points". At age nine, on 31 August 1903, he entered the Poona Camp Government English School, a school built by the British. During his five years there, he proved to be a highly disciplined student who maintained fixed times for his studies, reading, and prayers, while also excelling in athletics.

For his secondary education, Merwan began attending St. Vincent's High School on 4 January 1909. St. Vincent's was an all-boys Roman Catholic preparatory school in Poona run by Christian missionaries, known for its strict discipline. Merwan completed his grades here with high credit. Academically, he ranked high in almost all subjects, particularly Persian, which he loved. His main interests were literature and history; he eagerly read works by William Shakespeare, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Wordsworth, and Sir Walter Scott. Conversely, he cared little for geography, science, and mathematics, though he never failed them. Outside the classroom, he was an outstanding athlete who won cups and medals in long-distance running, high jumping, soccer, and field hockey. His favorite sport was cricket, where he played first string as a wicket-keeper and set school records that remained unbroken for years. In December 1911, he passed the matriculation exam given by Bombay University.

At the age of seventeen, Merwan entered Deccan College in Poona for higher studies in Inter Arts. At the time, it was considered the finest educational institution in the province. He was an exceptionally bright student, well-regarded by his professors, and seen as a natural leader and arbiter among his peers. He formed an organization called the Cosmopolitan Club, which was open to members of any caste or religion and was dedicated to charity, staying informed on world affairs, and strictly prohibiting gambling and coarse language. He also joined the college boat club and remained a star player on the college cricket team.

During his college years, his passion for literature blossomed. His classmates nicknamed him "The Poet" or the "Atta-and-Dal Poet" due to his effortless ability to compose rhyming verses in Gujarati, Urdu, and Persian on diverse subjects. Under the pen name "Homa," he published poetry in Sanj Vartman, a popular vernacular newspaper in Bombay.

His tertiary education was permanently interrupted during his second year. In May 1913, while studying for his final exams at a local fire-temple, nineteen-year-old Merwan was called over by the ancient Perfect Master Hazrat Babajan. She kissed him on the forehead, unveiling his divinity. Although he continued to attend his college classes for a short time after this momentous meeting, his spiritual awakening led to a complete absorption in God-consciousness, bringing an end to his formal schooling.

What strikes me is the diversity of religions that he had contact with:

• Judaism: he was born in a Jewish-run hospital
• Zoroastrianism: his was a Parsi family that followed the teachings of Zoroaster
• Christianity: he attended a Catholic high school
• Islam and Hinduism: growing up in Poona he was surrounded by followers of both these religions

I also asked the following:

What interaction did Meher Baba have with Buddhism and Buddhists during his lifetime?

Meher Baba identified himself as the Avatar of the Age, explicitly stating that he was the same ancient entity who had previously incarnated as Gautama Buddha, as well as Zoroaster, Rama, Krishna, Jesus, and Muhammad. Because he taught the fundamental unity of all religions, he engaged frequently with Buddhist sacred sites, practitioners, and concepts throughout his life. 

Here are the key interactions and connections Meher Baba had with Buddhism: 

Early Realization of His "Buddha" Identity 

During his college years, before fully embarking on his spiritual mission, a close friend named Ramnath showed young Merwan (Meher Baba's given name) a book titled Buddha Bhagwan. When Merwan read a passage where Buddha prophesied his return as Maitreya (the Lord of Mercy), he experienced a sudden, profound inner realization: "I am that, actually". Encouraged by Merwan, Ramnath traveled to Rangoon, Burma, to study Buddhism. When Ramnath fell critically ill, he returned to India and died with his head resting on Merwan's lap, unknowingly leaving his mortal body "on the lap of his beloved Lord Buddha". 

Visits and Seclusions at Buddhist Sites 

Meher Baba frequently visited significant Buddhist shrines and temples, sometimes for his internal spiritual work: 

• Sarnath and Sanchi (India): Baba took his disciples to Sarnath, where the Buddha gave his first sermon. While there, Baba reminisced about his past incarnation and remarked, "Buddha is now silent". He also visited the Great Stupa at Sanchi multiple times, telling stories of the Buddha's life, though he clarified that Buddha himself never lived there. 

• Ceylon (Sri Lanka): In 1933, Baba visited a Buddhist temple in Bandarawela. When a novice monk asked Baba's group to remove their shoes, an old man emerged, instructed the novice to let them enter, and exchanged peculiar hand signs with Baba. Baba later revealed the old man was a fourth-plane spiritual agent working for him. During another stop in Ceylon, Baba retired to a Buddhist temple for 24 hours of strict seclusion, aided by a centenarian who instantly recognized Baba's spiritual authority. 

• Penang (Malaysia): During his 1932 world tour, Baba stopped in Penang specifically to visit the local Buddha and Snake temples. 

Interactions with Buddhist Practitioners Baba attracted and guided several individuals with strong ties to Buddhism: 

• Christmas Humphreys: The president of the Buddhist Society of London visited Baba with his group in 1931. Humphreys was deeply moved by the encounter, stating, "If there were more Meher Baba’s in the world today, war would end for want of causes. This man of love sets all men an example!". 

• Frederic Fletcher (Prajnananda): An Englishman who had been living in India as a Buddhist monk for seven years, Fletcher attended an extensive 1930 interview between Baba and the writer Paul Brunton. 

• Pritam Singh Sahni: An Indian businessman living in Thailand who was highly honored by local Buddhists simply because he came from the land of the Buddha's birth. This reverence awakened a spiritual thirst in him to find the "living Buddha," prompting him to leave his business, return to India, and ultimately dedicate his life to Meher Baba. 

Philosophical Connections and Teachings 

Meher Baba often used elements of the Buddha's life to explain his own spiritual mechanics. He directly compared Hazrat Babajan (the Perfect Master who unveiled his God-realization) to the old woman who gave the Buddha a bowl of rice pudding just before his enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. 

Furthermore, observers noted that Baba's methods deeply mirrored Buddhist traditions. Like the Buddha, Meher Baba disliked when disciples plied him with intellectual questions, preferring to awaken direct spiritual experience rather than satisfy the intellect. His close disciple Jean Adriel noted that Baba's psychological technique of demanding total acceptance to achieve spiritual freedom was "basically the same as the teaching of Zen Buddhism". 

Ultimately, Meher Baba stated that his mission was not to establish a new religion, but to "bring together all religions and cults like beads on one string". He declared that he had come to reorient and revitalize the core truths hidden within all faiths, explicitly including "broad Buddhism," so that their original spiritual vitality could be kept alive.

Reading the reports from NotebookLM, his proficiency in languages was notable. I asked NotebookLM the following:

What language did Meher Baba (Merwan Irani) regularly speak in his home when growing up?

Based on the provided sources, Meher Baba's (Merwan Irani's) "mother tongue" was Gujarati. He even began his formal education around the age of five at a Gujarati-medium primary school. 

Because he grew up in a Persian Zoroastrian (Irani) family, Persian was also prominently spoken in his home. His father, Sheriarji, would read the Persian poetry of Hafiz to him, and his mother and grandmother were noted to sing together in Persian. 

In addition to his native Gujarati and Persian (Dari), he also learned to speak English, Hindi, and Urdu during his youth.

Meandering

Figure 1: screenshot of my Google Site's website

I like the word meandering. I guess that's why I choose it for the name of my Google Sites website: Mystical Meanderings. Figure 1 shows a screenshot of the home page as it currently looks.

What's the etymology of the word meander?

There is some interesting information to be found on this site, from we learn that it derives from the Greek Μαιανδρος which transliterates to Maiandros and thence to Maeandrus or Maeander in Latin.

It seems that Maiandros or Maeander was a son of Oceanus and Tethys and the father of Cyanea and Canaus:

He was a river-god of Karia (Caria) in Anatolia (modern Turkey). The River Maiandros had its headwaters in the highlands of southern Phrygia and, flowing west through Karia, entered the Aegean Sea opposite the town of Miletos (Miletus). The major neighbouring rivers were the Kaystros (Cayster) to the north and the Indos to the south.

Figure 2 shows an interesting map of the river's mouth and the evolution of silting of Miletus Bay during Antiquity (source). It's remarkable how much the topology has changed over the millenia.

Figure 2: source

Figure 3 shows a Roman Statue of the River God Meander from the Baths of Faustina 170 BC.

Figure 3: the River God Meander

This site provides a good description of the usage of the word:

Ah, the Lazy River: the most wonderful waterpark ride for the indolent among us. After a long day of riding gigantic slides, standing on even more gigantic lines, and trying not to swallow questionable pool water, the Lazy River's meanders are more welcome than the softest bedsheets. There's no fear involved, no skill, no complications; you just give yourself over to the current and let your inner tube meander where it will. And the best part? While you drift along past grinning tikis and sublimely fake palm trees, your thoughts are free to meander too, as aimless and relaxed as the Lazy River itself. 

We'll try not to get sidetracked here: meander commonly functions as a verb to refer to the taking of a twisty, purposelessly circuitous track. A path or road that meanders stretches out in bends, curves, and spirals, taking strange or unnecessary detours and maybe even doubling back on itself. Winding, lazily flowing rivers (even those found at waterparks) are among the most common things said to meander in this way, but the word can also be used to talk about the courses of things like country roads and mountain passes. 

Unless you're navigating a river, though, you'd probably encounter meander in reference to aimless, nonlinear roaming. If you set out on a walk with the intent to meander, you've already kind of defeated yourself, as the word implies a movement without any sort of purpose, motivation, or logic. Meandering is also often thought of as slow and easy, perhaps a result of a relaxed or confused mind. This is the kind of ambling you might do when you've got absolutely no clear thoughts; you're just sort of heading wherever the mood strikes, stopping to smell any flower that attracts you and letting your feet do the thinking. 

Meander is also commonly used a little more figuratively to describe rambling in speech or thought. When giving an important speech or trying to write a poignant letter, it's probably not a good idea to meander from topic to topic, as doing so might make your message boring or nonsensical. However, allowing your mind to meander from time to time can be both relaxing and stimulate creative thinking, as everyone who's ever tried freewriting knows. So when you're actually composing that important speech or letter, or even just trying to come up with ideas for fun, don't be afraid to let your thoughts wander in circles! 

Meander can sometimes function as a noun, too, although this type of usage isn't especially widespread. You might hear someone describe the bends and detours of a river or trail as its meanders (technically, you could call just one such bend a meander, but here the word's mostly used in the plural to refer to curvature as a whole). A meander can also be a long, unfocused trip taken at a gentle pace, full of distractions, changes in course, and general aimlessness. If you were to take your dog to the park and just follow him as he sniffed around, you'd be engaged in a meander.

The same site provides some derivative words:

Meandrous: This adjective characterises something as wandering and undirected either in path or in focus. 

Example: Following the elderly professor's meandrous lecture became difficult. 

Example: Having spent an hour and a half driving over the meandrous country roads, I pulled out a map to make sure I was going in the right direction. 

Meanders: This simple present form of the verb meander is used when a singular third-person subject wanders aimlessly or follows an intricately bending path. 

Example: The stream meanders through woods and plains before reaching a lake. 

Meandered: This preterit form of meander is used when a subject rambled or moved in a twisting, intricate fashion in the past. 

Example: The lexicographer's various examples meandered from subject to subject. 

Meandering: The progressive form of meander is used when a subject is currently moving in a circuitous fashion or roaming without clear purpose. 

Example: Every morning finds the rooster meandering contentedly about his pen.