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Meher Baba said repeatedly that he did not wish to establish a new cult or religion, but rather to revitalize the great religions of the world.

I have not come to establish anything; I have come to put life into the old.

I have come not to establish any cult, society or organization - nor to establish a new religion. The Religion I shall give teaches the knowledge of the One behind the many. The Book which I shall make people read is the book of the heart, which holds the key to the mystery of life.

My object in coming to the West is not with the intention of establishing new creeds or spiritual societies and organizations. I see the structure of all the great religions of the world toppling... I intend to bring together all religions and cults like beads on one string and revitalize them for individual and collective needs.

Meher Baba did inspire a movement however. Although there are no formal estimates as to how many people follow Meher Baba, the closest guess is that there are about 100,000 in India and consirderably fewer in the rest of the world. In spite of Meher Baba's small movement and pilgrimage to his various centers around the world, Baba followers take pains not to organize into a formal religion with membership rolls, etc. There are no initiation rituals and there is no central authority or hierarchy. There is also no central Meher Baba organization beyond the Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust left behind by Meher Baba to administrate his estate in Meherabad and Meherazad India.