In
Western Sufism, I left
Sufism Reoriented, the American group descended from
Inayat Khan that shifted to
Meher Baba and left the Western Sufi milieu, running a preschool in California. A new
article by
Amos Barshad in
Fader reports that it has also built a large “sanctuary” (pictured) in Saranap, California, designed to withstand Californian earthquakes and last 700 years until the expected return of Meher Baba. This project is said to have cost around $35 million, most of it donated by
David Overton, a long-term member of Sufism Reoriented who grew rich from his worldwide chain of Cheesecake Factory restaurants. The Sanctuary sounds a bit like a
survivalist project, with two thirds of its space under ground. Curious.
My thanks to C for drawing my attention to this article.
