Meher Spiritual Center in North Myrtle Beach, SC., is advertising for a newly created position of executive director to help guide it in the fulfillment of the charter given to it by Avatar Meher Baba.
This is probably more than anything else a response to Sufism Reoriented of Walnut Creek, Ca. flexing its muscles in the acquisition of Youpon Dunes in downtown Myrtle Beach, a former residence of Elizabeth Patterson who founded Meher Center. Sufism Reoriented, which also received its charter from Avatar Meher Baba, now owns three properties to promote its contentious mission: the newly constructed 50 million dollar sanctuary in Walnut Creek, a Washington DC property and the Myrtle Beach property.
The new position of executive director promises to confuse the primary and longstanding purpose of Meher Spiritual Center to be a retreat center for “rest, meditation and the renewal of the spiritual life”. This has been its stated purpose since its founding over 60 years ago. But now the issue of power and control of Meher Baba’s message is becoming a factor in the management of the retreat center.
Why would this newly created position of executive director supplant the existing administrative structure governing Meher Center? This is a mistake. Meher Center does not need a propaganda department, and it most certainly does not need a propaganda department in charge of its primary function as a retreat center.
The problem of Sufism Reoriented is real and lasting. They are a powerful institutional cult that is dedicated to promoting an outrageous lie regarding their alleged mandate. But why should this make Meher Center insecure?
It is instructive to note that both Sufism Reoriented’s and Meher Center’s charters are minefields of ambiguity; SR has already hung itself through a willful interpretation of their mandate. There is no good reason Meher Center should do so as well.
Update 8/04/2017
After having posted the above entry, and having discussed this material with a few people, I now wish that I had more boldly stated my opinion about the recent Meher Center announcement about the newly advertised executive director position.
This is a terribly conceived and written announcement. The first point to make is that the new position could not possible fulfill the responsibilities that it describes. The job description is impossibly large and far reaching. Why would any sane applicant want to apply for such a job description? There is an infinite irony here: any person who would want this job is at once disqualified by applying for it! There are three or four jobs contained in this job description. What sane applicant would agree to such a herculean task?
Who wrote this announcement? Did a committee draft it?
As I intimated in my initial post, there is something very wrong with the motivation behind this proposal. It is essentially a power play: consolidate all the real and imagined mandates in the Meher Center charter into one overarching position that radically destabilizes the historic role of Meher Center to be a retreat center for ” rest, mediation and the renewal of the spiritual life.”
Darvish, I think a lot of the back chatter about this position and the Center intentions is not based on solid fact and so it gets shaky with only a little exploration. 1. The current structure was a change from the old structure of hierarchical authoritarian of Elizabeth, Kitty, and Jane. Baba gave Elizabeth total authority to decide how the Center would run. But that wasn’t easily sustainable to carry on that model forever. Things went to a highly democratic process in the mid-90’s and jobs were based largely around the particular needs and skill-sets of those tapped for the… Read more »
Hi Eruch; My adducing SR as the probable reason for the reorganization of Meher Center leadership is a guess; obviously, the new executive director position is in part about exerting a more powerful presence in the nearby community and even beyond Myrtle Beach. Is seems most unlikely that this perceived need has nothing to do with the leviathan Sufism Reoriented. It is not to projects such as Happy Club- which I did not know was discontinued, that I refer. My main point is why would the reorganization of Center leadership consolidate in the one new position the old duties of… Read more »
From what I’ve heard, current leadership will stay on for at least the first year. But after that, I totally agree that this is too much for one job. Current president already does unbelievable quantities of work. I think they want to get more organized with fund raising and anyone can project what “outreach” might mean. It could mean cooperation with other groups or global archive projects? Or nothing we’re thinking. I don’t automatically assume the worst. There’s a lot more to unpack here than can be done in a blog comments box. But I agree that, if the Center… Read more »
I believe the ambiguity and vagueness of the Center charter will get the better of the executive director unless extraordinary clear thinking is brought to bear on what’s involved in projecting Meher Center into the world. This is a trap, pure and simple. The references to SR are not for nothing. They have an even more bizarre charter- and aspects of which have been ignored for years, i.e. the prohibition against officers serving for more than three years when Ira Dietrich has served as president for decades. The much emphasized “democratic” aspect of the sufi charter has been completely suppressed.… Read more »
Eruch….Thank you for your concerns and your efforts to participate in the present and future of the Baba world. It seems that most of the views that are openly expressed generally come from ‘Grumpy old Farts’ like me. It makes me happy to read a well balanced and well written opinion from the ‘Next’ generation of Baba Lovers. The world seems to be getting crazier and crazier. I think that Baba has a big stick that He is using to stir up shit all over the world….and it seems to be working! But how can we let go of our… Read more »
My succinct, simplistic take on this?
BABA’s “home in the west” does not need to hire a professional bureaucrat.
A decision not to be made by a D.C. head hunter or a local sociopath.