“You must understand that this was God’s will, and it will result in benefit to the whole world.” - Meher Baba | | ANOTHER MOMENTOUS EVENT! | | The Prague Clinic and Hospital in the early 1950s. | | |
On Friday, August 14th, the Heartland Center signed an agreement with the City of Prague legally securing our private access to Baba’s hospital room and ensuring our right to purchase the original hospital when it is no longer in use.
The room will soon be sealed off from the rest of the hospital and an exterior door will be added for visiting pilgrims, allowing for a private darshan experience. Baba stayed in this hospital room for 11 days, following what He called “…the greatest of My sufferings.”
Many visitors recount profound experiences of Baba’s presence in His hospital room. One pilgrim said “I felt as if I were in the middle of a beating heart in that room.”
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In 1952, Baba recuperated for eleven days in the room with the single window shown above.
A door will be added for the exclusive use of the Heartland Center.
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The Prague Regional Memorial Hospital was established by Dr. Ned Burleson just months before the accident. He was the doctor who provided expert and compassionate care to those injured. For many years, the Heartland Center enjoyed easy access to Baba’s hospital room, thanks to the accommodations by the hospital administration and staff. This access, though, had been lost in recent years, and there had been little hope of recovery.
However, one day in late 2025 Baba turned the key, and the opportunity appeared for the Heartland Center to gain not only access to the room but eventual ownership of the original hospital. This came about because in the previous year, we had purchased a vacant lot next to the hospital. When the administrators expressed a need to expand their patient services, we were able to offer them that land in exchange for the agreement.
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Board member and resident caretaker Jane Montgomery and Prague City Manager
Jim Greff signing the agreement on August 14, 2026.
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It’s hard to believe the succession of events that has unfolded so rapidly over the last few years. From its inception, the fundamental mission of the Heartland Center has been to secure the two sacred sites associated with Meher Baba’s 1952 auto accident near Prague, Oklahoma.
By His grace, both the site of the accident and its surrounding land as well as the hospital room where Baba recuperated for 11 days, have become permanently and exclusively part of the Heartland Center. We remain profoundly grateful to Meher Baba for His all-pervading love and blessings, and to all who are and have been inspired to participate in this most worthy effort.
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Every morning, these lucky Arizona Cypresses are watered so they'll be ready to be planted at the accident site during the September landscaping retreat.
Click on the image for a moment of watering Zen!
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Memorial Garden Coming to Life!
The landscaping retreat scheduled for September marks the culmination of more than a year’s planning by the Heartland Center landscaping committee. Baba has assembled a fabulous volunteer team of talented and experienced gardeners to plant trees, shrubs, and flowers in the memorial garden adjoining the accident site. Five of our volunteer team will be coming to the Heartland Center for the very first time, which reflects the ever-widening and much appreciated circle of support from our extended Baba community.
There are nearly 30 trees to be planted, along with 80 native deciduous shrubs and 21 evergreen shrubs, so the gardening team will be busy! One of the garden beds will surround the newly built gazebo. This bed will be dedicated to Baba’s beloved Mehera and filled with flowers native to Oklahoma, though it is designed to be evocative of her garden at Meherazad. The other large garden bed is located beside the fence line very near the actual site of the accident. This, too, will be filled with beautiful native plants and pollinators to welcome pilgrims who come to pay homage to the sacrifice of Meher Baba and Mehera.
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75th Anniversary Sahavas and Inauguration of the Meher Heartland Memorial
On May 21-24, 2027, a very special in-person Sahavas will be held to honor the 75th anniversary of Meher Baba’s accident and to officially inaugurate the “Meher Heartland Memorial,” which includes the accident site and the hospital. Participants will be accommodated at St. Crispen’s Conference Center with transportation provided to the sites.
Information will be forthcoming about the program and registration. In the meantime, we hope you will reserve this time on your calendar and plan to join us for what we believe will be a most special and unique occasion. And if you want to reserve your spot in advance, please send us an email at contact@heartlandcenter.org.
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WARD PARKS AT THE HEARTLAND CENTER
Ward Parks will be teaching a course on Infinite Intelligence from October 4th - 10th. At this time all available seats have been claimed. If you’d like to be on a wait list in the event a spot opens up, please write to us at: contact@ambheartlandcenter.org
SPECIAL SCREENING OF TREE OF FIRE
In the midst of Ward’s workshop on Wednesday, October 7th, the highly lauded film, Tree of Fire: A Story of Love and Resilience, will be shown and open to the public. If you’re in the area please do come and see it! Bing Heckman will host.
The 75-minute documentary tells the story of the loss and recovery of a magnificent oak that Baba sat beneath during His visit to Meher Mount in 1956. Margaret Magnus, writer, co-director and producer of the film commented: “I was inspired by the film you did, 'The Greatest of My Sufferings.' It helped prompt me to do something about Meher Baba and Meher Mount and try to live up to the same quality.”
And we are in awe of the quality of Tree of Fire!
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ONE FINAL NOTE
We are pleased to welcome Lynne Berry and Alisa Genovese onto the Heartland Center board. Both have been instrumental in the Heartland Memorial Initiative and will be important contributors moving forward.
As always, we are enormously grateful to everyone who has donated and are continuing to help make this future site of world pilgrimage a reality!
With much love from the Heartland Center Board of Directors,
Lynne Berry, Pamela Butler-Stone, Alisa Genovese, Jane Montgomery, Sharon Phillips, and Daniel Stone
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The Heartland Center is sustained by the continuing presence
of Meher Baba and is maintained
through the loving contributions of all who support it.
Avatar Meher Baba Heartland Center, Inc. is a 501(c)(3)
charitable non-profit organization.
Contributions are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
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Donations by check may be made out to AMBHC
and mailed to the address below.
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AVATAR MEHER BABA HEARTLAND CENTER
1319 N BARTA AVENUE, 7804 NBU, PRAGUE, OK 74864
www.ambheartlandcenter.org
contact@ambheartlandcenter.org 405-567-4774
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