ABOUT |
MISSION: |
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To collect, preserve, and share Meher Baba’s Divine legacy of materials, artifacts, and words with integrity, love, and transparency for the benefit of humanity.
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Meher Archive Collective seeks to create a safe space to preserve knowledge and objects associated with Meher Baba’s advent. Technology changes quickly, and we intend to stay on top of the changes, perhaps causing us to rapidly adapt and convert old stored media into new formats.
Primary goals:
SHARE KNOWLEDGE & RESOURCES
Meher Archive Collective intends to help other Baba archives in need of any of the services mentioned on page 1. Insofar as our resources allow, trained volunteers can organize work trips to help with on-location projects (scanning, rehousing etc.), as well as perform database work from home. Our goal is to work in close cooperation with all Meher Baba archives for the mutual benefit of His lovers and humanity as a whole. This close cooperation can lead to “complete” records being gathered digitally, and then stored in strategic locations around the world to reduce the chance of any one regional calamity (fire, war, or natural disaster) from wiping out a whole collection. The tools and the talent are available. Will you join us in donating time or financial resources to make this vision a reality? For more information, email us. |
Meher Archive Office
What we do:• Surveying
Work with Baba archives and individuals to find out what is out there and who needs help. • Planning / Assessments How much Baba material does a person have and what resources do they need to archive? • Rehousing Placing physical documents and objects in protective containers in an organized way. • Conservation Long term care and storage in a safe, climate-controlled facility. • Digitization Scanning paper, transferring old audio / video to digital. • Digital Archive / Database Organization and processing of digital files searchable by date and subject; protecting the files with redundancy, duplication; staying ahead of technological changes • Sharing / Dissemination Ongoing searchable website hub, connecting all Baba archives. Keeping copies of “complete” database in strategic places around the world with a 700 year preservation plan. |
THE TEAM
Ken Blackman, Scott Tower, Jean Brunet, Hugh Huntington, Renee Bussanich, Eruch Adams
Board of Directors
Hugh HuntingtonHugh began his relationship with Baba a in his late teens as he understood there was a different Jesus than he was learning of in his Christian upbringing. He has followed a spiritual path for years seeking a clearer understanding of his relationship with God.
While living in Taos, NM Hugh learned of Baba and shortly afterwards made his first visit to the Meher Center in Myrtle Beach. There he first experienced Baba’s writings in The Discourses which had a profound impact on his professional work. Hugh's profession focused primarily on team development in businesses, leadership, group dynamics, executive coaching, and the relationship between organization structure and organization performance. Now semi retired Hugh brings to us an understanding of how to organize in a manner that invites the larger Baba community to participate and take ownership for the establishment and development of Meher Archive Collective. Renee BussanichRenee Bussanich first visited Meher Baba’s Samadhi in 1971, an event which changed her life. She is grateful to have had the opportunity to meet so many of the Mandali and to have spent 9 months in India in 1976 and has made several pilgrimages both to India and to the Center in Myrtle Beach. She has been on the Board of the Berkeley Meher Baba group, been a part of the Baba community in Oregon, participated in planning and putting on Sahavas there, and for the past 10 years has been a part of the Meher Baba community in Asheville, NC.
In her personal work, she has been a psychotherapist for the past 23 years working primarily in schools but also in mental health clinical settings and with private clients. Her work has focussed mainly on children and families. She helped organize an award winning program for Native American children in New Mexico and was instrumental in developing the crisis response teams in the county schools. She is committed to helping preserve the many artifacts not only from Meher Baba but also from the Mandali whose lives of love and service are an enduring inspiration. Jean Brunet LudwigJean first heard of Meher Baba in 1971 after reading Listen Humanity and almost immediately recognized that He was the one she had been searching for since 1966 when she had read The Sleeping Prophet, the story of Edgar Cayce. That book planted the seed and her search began.
Jean & her husband Phil were hosts many times over the years to many prominent Baba Lovers from around the world, having large Baba gatherings in their home. Bhau Kalchuri, Aloba, Adi, Henry K, Bill LePaige and many others gave talks and stayed with them. Jean and Phil moved to Asheville in early 2016, where they have become active in the Meher Baba community. In the past Jean has been a realtor, insurance agent, air pollution expert and had her own skin care business throughout the 90’s finally retiring in 2004 to have time to enjoy her four grandchildren. Jean volunteered for years at Beloved Archives in New Jersey, where she gained an appreciation for the care needed in preserving Meher Baba’s legacy. She hopes to be of help in reaching out to Baba Lovers in the US and Canada who may have collections, big or small, and helping them to preserve and find homes for their precious Baba materials with the help of Ashville’s Meher Archive Collective. |
Ken BlackmanEmerging from early inclinations to understand the meaning of life, Ken was drawn to spiritual disciplines and practices in meditation, Tibetan Buddhism, Arica, Yoga, etc. He received his fist degree in Psychology from Rutgers in 1971. In New York, in 1972, Ken was introduced to the works and life of Meher Baba and soon journeyed to the Center in Myrtle Beach where, “I had a personal and deeply profound experience with Meher Baba. I have since been involved with Baba groups in California, Seattle, Tucson and now Asheville. I continually strive to integrate my understanding of Baba’s teaching into my personal and professional life.”
Professionally Ken worked as a counselor, helping run rehab programs for adolescent offenders, he spent several years in the ARE medical clinic which was based on the work of Edgar Cayce. Having received a degree in Naturopathic Medicine in 1984, Ken established a private medical clinic integrating holistic medicine and mind body therapies. Certified by the Arizona Group Psychotherapy Assosiation as a group counselor, he ran multiple groups for 25 years. Ken additionally managed a real estate business and spent spare time as a founding participant in the visioning, development, and building of an award winning ecological co-housing community comprising 27 family homes and various common facilities. Three years ago Ken retired from his medical practice and fulfilled his dream of building his own home in Asheville. “My intention upon retirement has always been to serve Baba, trusting that he would guide me in his own imitable way.” Scott Tower MaloneyScott Tower Maloney has a family link to Baba through his grandmother who met Him in 1958. After many years of exploring philosophy, psychology and both eastern and western mysticism, his own personal connection to Baba crystalized in 1985 on his first visit to Meherabad.
After graduating with a degree in religious studies from Yale, he spent two years in China in the early 80s, where he was exposed to Chinese medicine. He followed this path to Taiwan and the UK before moving to California where he lived and practiced for 15 years. While there, he started the Center for International Medicine, a multidisciplinary center inspired by his time volunteering at Dr Goher’s clinic in Meherazad. He was also an active member of the Baba community in Berkeley, and served for a time on its board. In 2001, Scott moved to the U.K, where he lived for eight years. He came to Asheville in 2009, where he was on the faculty and also Dean of the Daoist Traditions College. For a number of years he had a practice downtown and now primarily teaches internationally in the field of Chinese medicine. Scott brings to MAC extensive experience with non-profits and educational institutions. He founded and was president of the National Foundation for Integrative Medicine in California, and has served on the boards of several professional organizations. He has a passionate interest in promoting global access to the words, artifacts and images connected to Baba and His legacy for generations to come. |
Archive Director
Eruch Adams
Eruch was born into a Baba family. He grew up around Baba centers and sahavases his whole life. Los Angeles, New Mexico, Myrtle Beach, Montana, the Bay Area, and now Asheville Baba groups have been his spiritual centers. Participating in the Youth Sahavas for 17 years gave Eruch a wonderful opportunity to work with large groups of people in a combination of structure, deadlines, and room for spontaneity.
Eruch is a writer and graphic designer and IT manager by trade. His technical background in computers and interest in preserving history and photographs led him to help his father with the Meher Legacy Project, to share some unseen private archives, to restore old photos of Baba for Charles Haynes and the Jessawala collection, and take an interest in the global Baba archiving projects. Now he oversees archiving and office management for Meher Archive Collective while lending graphic and web design skills for the MAC website and publishing needs, including video, photoshop, hardware acquisition and training, and interfacing with other technical professionals. Eruch also is an archive contributor and brings many contacts throughout the Baba Community.
Eruch is a writer and graphic designer and IT manager by trade. His technical background in computers and interest in preserving history and photographs led him to help his father with the Meher Legacy Project, to share some unseen private archives, to restore old photos of Baba for Charles Haynes and the Jessawala collection, and take an interest in the global Baba archiving projects. Now he oversees archiving and office management for Meher Archive Collective while lending graphic and web design skills for the MAC website and publishing needs, including video, photoshop, hardware acquisition and training, and interfacing with other technical professionals. Eruch also is an archive contributor and brings many contacts throughout the Baba Community.