The Spiritual Hierarchy

In these dark days, it seems that the world has been overrun by the forces of evil and that the spirit of humanity is being submerged by a ruling elite. At such times, I need to remind myself that there is a spiritual hierarchy overseeing the affairs of this planet and that the real power lies in their hands. In 1934, Meher Baba stated that:

Out of 160 or 170 [very advanced] souls on earth, only 76 are conscious of their body and the gross world. The rest are masts. Twenty of these 76 are 'indifferent' [without duty]; 56 perform different duties, under the five Perfect Masters. Numerous walis, pirs and saints at different stages of advancement work as agents. Every place, village, town and city has its agent [chargeman]. The Hyderabad agent is a wali who moves about in rags and is unknown to people.

Ten years earlier, in 1924, Baba has said that:

... there exist in the physical cosmos 18,000 planets with human life forms, and millions of planets with evolutionary life forms, along with millions and millions of universes which are in a state of cosmic evolution. But he clarified that earth was the only planet where the process of involution occurred — that only on earth do human beings experience the planes of spiritual consciousness. And he further explained that not only were the five Perfect Masters on earth, but also the entire 7,000 member spiritual hierarchy of saints and advanced souls. 

Baba provided an interesting table, shown in Figure 1. He goes on to explain the details behind this table. This occurred in 1943.

Figure 1

Now, after the human form reincarnates 84 lakhs of times, how does the soul enter the subtle world?

There are always and eternally 84 lakhs of souls who experience subtle experiences. Among them, there are seven who are the chiefs and can experience the mental world in the same subtle body. These seven have duty. The 84 lakhs of subtle experiencers are existing even today. The figure is always constant. There are an equal number who experience the mental world. But in each new unwinding, one of the seven chiefs with duty becomes less, meaning he gets no normal consciousness nor duty. How many out of the seven chiefs get duty in the subtle? Seven. In the mental, six have duty; in the God-state, five. 

On the gross plane: 84 lakhs of reincarnations, although there are millions of human beings in the world. On the subtle plane: 84 lakhs of souls who experience the subtle world. Out of these 84 lakhs of those experiencing the subtle world there are seven chiefs who have duty. When these seven cross over to the mental plane, only six have duty and one remains dormant. When these seven cross over from the mental to the God-state, five have duty and two remain dormant. In the God-realized state, out of 56 there are five heads and two majzoobs. The majzoob state is attained on the seventh plane.

In 1926, Baba had explained that:

The key to the world is only one, but it is in the hands of the five Perfect Masters. For example, a safe has only one key and no other key can unlock it. The five Perfect Masters control the safe [the world]. One Master is the keeper of the key, without which the safe cannot be opened. The second guards the safe which cannot be opened without his prior consent. The third is the one who alone has the authority to use the key to unlock the safe. The fourth is the one who has the right to distribute the riches in the safe. And the fifth Master is the one who has the power to authorize the distribution. Thus there is only one key to the world, equally shared among the five Masters.

The five Perfect Masters, plus the 51 other God-realized souls [majzoobs and Jivanmuktas] control the key. These 51 are members of the parliament of the five Perfect Masters. Fifty-one plus five equals 56; this number 56 never changes. Each of the Perfect Masters has a circle and each circle consists of twelve members. In this way does the game of the world go on and on. All this I am telling you is a secret.  

Baba said in 1953 that:

When the Avatar descends, there are five Perfect Masters who sustain him. These five have always sustained me: Sai Baba, Upasni Maharaj, Babajan, Narayan Maharaj and Tajuddin Baba. Sai Baba was Perfection personified, a very rare type even among Sadgurus. Babajan was after all the Shahenshah [Emperor] of Sadgurus. So, there are five Perfect Masters who sustain me from eternity. In every age, when I come, they sustain me. Sai Baba made me what I am; Babajan made me feel what I am; Upasni Maharaj made me know what I am. And what I am, I am! 

Later, in 1956, Baba added that:

Now that my five Perfect Masters, who actively worked, have left their bodies, I carry the entire burden myself, and all who share in it are most fortunate. 

Baba left us in 1969 and so, at this time, the world's affairs are being directed by the five Perfect Masters, whoever they may be, and so we must endure. The current oppression may wane or even intensify but the temporal forces that are oppressing humanity will pass away. As Baba explained, God has no rival in the form of Satan. Only God IS and it is to God that we will all return one day. In the meantime, life in illusion continues.