The Spiritual Hierarchy

 This follows on from the previous post The Journey of the First Soul. 

Gemini asked me: 

Would you like to explore how the First Soul, upon attaining God-Realization, established the eternal "Spiritual Hierarchy" and the role of the Avatar to guide subsequent souls?

I said I would and here was Gemini's response:

The First Soul and the Origin of the Divine Plan

When the First Soul (also referred to as Adi Purush, Adam, or the Ancient One) completed His direct, unencumbered journey through evolution and involution, He became the very first drop-soul to achieve God-Realization independently on the seventh plane (Ars-e-Maula or Vishnu Pad).

Unlike souls who might remain solely absorbed in divine bliss (Majzoobs or Brahmi-Bhoots), the First Soul simultaneously gained complete, direct consciousness of all Creation. Realizing that millions of other drop-souls remained trapped in the illusion of separateness, He felt infinite compassion and laid out the Divine Plan [cite: 583, 590, 602]. To execute this plan, He established the Spiritual Hierarchy—the permanent, universal administrative structure designed to guide all subsequent souls through the maze of illusion back to God-Realization.

The Structure of the Spiritual Hierarchy

According to Meher Baba, the Spiritual Hierarchy operates continuously on Earth:

The 56 God-Realized Souls: At all times and in all ages, there are exactly 56 God-Realized human beings (Shiv-Atmas) living on Earth.

The Five Perfect Masters (Qutubs or Sadgurus): Out of these 56, exactly five souls hold the active governing offices of the Five Perfect Masters. They control the movements of the universe, maintain the cosmic balance, and guide pilgrims through the inner subtle and mental planes [cite: 17, 60, 136, 517, 595]. One of these five acts as the Qutub-e-Irshad, the head of the universal administration.

The Unique Status and Return of the Avatar

The First Soul, by virtue of being the first to achieve God-Realization, established the eternal office of the Avatar (the God-Man, Christ, Messiah, or Prophet):

Man Become God vs. God Become Man: A Perfect Master is an ordinary human soul who progressed through evolution, reincarnation, and involution to become God (Man become God) [cite: 137, 138, 400, 425]. In contrast, the Avatar is God directly descending into human form (God become Man) without undergoing evolution or reincarnation.

The Avataric Advent: Every 700 to 1400 years, when spiritual decline reaches its lowest point and materialism reigns, the Five Perfect Masters conjointly precipitate the direct descent of the Avatar into human form.

The Veil of Vidnyani Sanskaras: To allow the Avatar to function in a human body, the Five Perfect Masters place a temporary veil (vidnyani veil) over His infinite consciousness at birth. At the designated moment in His life, the Perfect Masters rend this veil, awakening Him to His divine Avataric identity and handing over the sole charge of the universe into His hands.

Guiding Subsequent Souls & The Avataric Circle

Because subsequent souls carry a heavy burden of accumulated, unnatural sanskaras, they cannot cross the inner spiritual planes or the final abyss between the sixth and seventh planes by independent effort; they strictly require the grace and direct help of a Perfect Master or the Avatar.

The Universal Push: When the Avatar manifests on Earth, His physical actions release immense spiritual forces across all planes, giving a simultaneous "Universal Push" to all animate and inanimate creation, accelerating the evolution and involution of consciousness everywhere.

The Eternal Avataric Circle: In every advent, the Avatar brings with Him His permanent Inner Circle of 12 men and 2 women (a total of 14 offices), alongside outer circles totaling 122 members. While the specific human personalities change in each age, the 14 specific cosmic offices/roles (such as the roles filled by Peter or Judas in the time of Jesus) remain identical across all Avataric advents. All members of the Avatar's Inner Circle attain God-Realization during or shortly after the Avatar's life on Earth.

The Journey of the First Soul

 Using my Meher Baba notebook, I asked Gemini the following question:

Can you summarise what Meher Baba said about the differences the first person’s reaching the seventh plane of consciousness made to the attempts of subsequent aspirants wishing to attain this state.

This was the response:

Meher Baba explained that the journey of the very first soul to attain the seventh plane of consciousness was fundamentally different from the path of all subsequent spiritual seekers in its speed, ease, and requirement for external guidance.

The Journey of the First Soul

• The "First Soul" or "First Pilgrim" navigated the evolutionary kingdoms in just seventy-seven forms and progressed through the seven planes of involution very easily.

• His journey was significantly quicker than that of any subsequent soul because He lacked a heavy burden of accumulated impressions, or sanskaras.

• When facing the vast abyss between the sixth and seventh planes, He transcended His own mind and crossed over completely independently, without any external help.

• This First Soul instantaneously passed from Majzoobiyat (a God-merged state) to Qutubiyat (Perfect Masterhood).

• By doing so, He established Himself as the Personal God—the "Nameless Ancient One"—and was the first to occupy the eternal throne in the seventh heaven.

The Challenge for Subsequent Aspirants

• Unlike the First Soul, subsequent seekers accumulate innumerable sanskaras during their long evolutionary process, forcing them into a slow, zigzagging cycle of reincarnation to wear these impressions down.

• Because of these dense impressions, their progress through the inner planes is fraught with the risk of becoming enchanted or trapped by the ecstatic experiences of the subtle and mental heavens.

• It is entirely impossible for later aspirants to cross the deep abyss separating the sixth and seventh planes through their own independent efforts.

• To attain the seventh plane and achieve God-realization, subsequent souls absolutely require the direct grace, touch, or guidance of a Perfect Master (Sadguru) who has already realized the ultimate truth and can pull them across the final threshold.

The figure of 77 forms for the first soul prompted me go directly to the notebook and ask the following:

"The "First Soul" or "First Pilgrim" navigated the evolutionary kingdoms in just seventy-seven forms and progressed through the seven planes of involution very easily." I find this confusing as normally 500 million forms are required. The number 77 seems preposterous. Can you clarify my confusion.

Here was the response:

The contrast between the 77 forms taken by the First Soul and the millions of forms and lifetimes required for all subsequent souls is one of the most unique aspects of Meher Baba's cosmology.

1. The Journey of the "First Soul" (The First Pilgrim)

According to Meher Baba, the First Soul (also referred to as the First Drop, Adam, or the Ancient One) was the very first individual drop-soul to emerge from the unconscious state of God at the OM Point when the original Whim ("Who am I?") arose.

• Only Natural Sanskaras: When creation first emerged, there were no accumulated "unnatural" sanskaras—such as complex desires, lust, greed, or binding psychological attachments. The First Soul gathered only the bare minimum of natural sanskaras strictly necessary to unfold consciousness.
  
  
• A Direct 77-Form Evolution: Because His journey was completely pristine and unencumbered by unnatural impressions, He did not need to branch off into millions of sub-species or repeat evolutionary forms. He moved smoothly and directly through key archetypal stages—the First Stone, First Metal, First Plant, First Worm, First Insect, First Reptile, First Fish, First Bird, First Animal, and into the First Man—taking exactly 77 major forms in total.
  
  
• Independent Realization: During involution, because He had no dense web of desires entangling Him in the inner heavens, He traversed the seven planes effortlessly. When He reached the vast abyss between the sixth and seventh planes, He transcended His own mind completely independently—without any external help—becoming the first God-Conscious human being.
  
  

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2. Why Subsequent Souls Require Millions of Forms

For every soul (jeevatma) that follows the First Soul, the process is radically different:

• Accumulation of Unnatural Sanskaras: As creation develops, subsequent souls accumulate dense, complex, and unnatural sanskaras through their experiences and desires in illusion.
  
  
• 50.4 Million Evolutionary Forms & 8.4 Million Species: To develop full consciousness and wear out these impressions across the seven evolutionary kingdoms (stone, metal, vegetable, worm, fish, bird, animal), subsequent souls must pass through approximately 8.4 million species (or 50.4 million total sub-human forms).
  
  
• 8.4 Million Human Reincarnations: Once human form is attained, the soul is caught in a cycle of 8.4 million human births and deaths (reincarnations) to balance and thin out its accumulated impressions before involution can begin.
  
  
• Need for a Perfect Master: Because of their heavy sanskaric burden, subsequent souls cannot cross the spiritual planes or the final abyss on their own; they strictly require the direct grace and intervention of a Perfect Master or the Avatar.

In short, 77 forms applied exclusively to the First Soul because His journey was 100% natural, direct, and free of unnatural sanskaras. For all souls following Him, the web of accumulated impressions expands the journey into millions of forms and reincarnations.

God and Ego

For some reason I was reminded of the equation:$$ \text {GOD}=\frac{1}{\text { EGO}} $$It's an effective way of communicating a spiritual truth to someone with some mathematical or scientific understanding. As Meher Baba said:

The less you think of yourself and the more you think of Baba, the sooner the ego goes and Baba remains. When you - ego - go away entirely, I am One with you. So bit by bit, you have to go.

Here is what Gemini had to say about the equation.

The equation GOD = 1/EGO is a spiritual metaphor meaning that God and the ego have an inverse relationship, where as one increases, the other disappears. 

The Inverse Relationship

• Opposite forces: You cannot be full of your own self-importance and fully aware of the divine at the same time.
• Growing the ego: When your ego goes up toward infinity, your connection to God approaches zero.
• Surrendering the ego: When your ego drops toward zero through humility, your experience of God approaches infinity. 

What the Ego Means

• Separation: The ego makes you feel like a separate, isolated creature fighting for survival and status.
• Edging God out: It traps your identity in your body, possessions, and reputation.
• Blindness: A loud ego blocks you from feeling love, peace, and unity with others. 

What God Means

• The infinite whole: God represents the universal reality and unconditional love that exists beyond human pride.
• What remains: God is what you experience when you finally let go of the illusion of your separate, fragile self. 

There are many variations on this theme:

You Alone Exist

I've copied the following from the Avatar Meher Baba Bombay Centre's daily email so that it can be easily located:

(Sept. 1962) . . . Bhau was translating some of the discourses into Hindi. One day, Baba handed him the manuscript and gestured, “I want you to translate this into Hindi and make it interesting [for the Hindi speaking people].”

Bhau said, “If it is interesting in English, naturally it will be interesting in Hindi.”

Baba replied, “That I don’t know. I want you to make it interesting and the language should be simple.”

Bhau thought over what Baba had said. It occurred to him to put the whole book in dialogue form, and he completed one discourse in this style. He read it to Baba, who was pleased and complimented him, “Yes, this is what I meant.”

Baba also suggested songs should be included, and mentioned there should be a prayer, too. Bhau remembered that back in 1959 Baba had given him a special couplet in Hindi: He found the couplet, made it the first couplet of the ghazal, and composed eleven more to go with it.

The next evening when he went for watch, Baba asked, “Did you compose the prayer?” and hearing that he had, Baba asked Bhau to read it to him. Baba was pleased, but stated the prayer should be longer. Baba was in a very good mood that day and, drumming his thighs with his fists in rhythm to the lines, he began composing new couplets, which Bhau wrote down. Sitting on his bed, Baba dictated seventeen more couplets, and thus, the poetic prayer Tumi Tau Ho (God, You Alone Exist) came into being. In a later period, Meher Baba stated that one day this prayer would be recited by people in their homes throughout the world. The following is the entire prayer. (1) 

YOU ALONE EXIST

 

O priceless treasure of Knowledge!

You are within and without, and You are the Ocean of Mercy.

You are in all the worlds; You are the Ocean of attributes!

O Meher, God-Incarnate, You alone exist!

You are Yezdan. You are Ezad.

You are Allah and Ishwar.

You are Ram and You are Buddha.

You are Beloved Lord Krishna,

Who with one finger lifted the mountain; You alone exist!

You are the Beyond God and the Beyond-Beyond God also.

O Ocean of Kindness, You alone exist.

You are Muhammad, You are Perfection Personified.

You are Knowledge Itself, and You alone exist. 

You live in everyone and You are everyone.

O Beloved, You are the Enlightened One, and You alone exist.

You are with attributes and without attributes!

You are the sole player in the divine game. You alone exist.

You are matchless, the Only One!

You reside in every heart, and You alone exist.

You are eternally motionless, and immovable is Your abode.

You are the Highest, for You alone exist.

You are the Doer, the deed, and the cause of doing!

The sustainer You are, and the Master of Masters.

You alone exist.

You are the seeker, the worship and the sadhana. (2)

O Meher, God-Incarnate, You alone exist!

You are in front and behind, You are above and below,

O Lord, You live in every house, and You alone exist.

You are beyond Beyond, yet You remain within everyone.

You are All-Pervading, and You alone exist.

You are in each neighborhood. You are the Sustainer.

You Yourself are all worlds, and You alone exist.

Everywhere, whether above or below,

You are complete; You alone exist.

You are unseen, yet seen also.

You live in everyone forgiving each his sins. You alone exist.

There is no one without You!

You are manifesting and unmanifest, as You alone exist.

You are man. You are birds.

You are fish and animals, for You alone exist.

You are bugs and gnats, You are snakes and scorpions,

You are ants and mosquitoes, for You alone exist.

You are insects. You are lice.

You are dogs, asses and pigs. You alone exist.

You are deer and elephants;

You are cats and monkeys; You alone exist.

You are the moon and the stars, the dawn and the night,

and the sun and also the light. You alone exist.

You are wind and water,

and the animals of the water; You alone exist.

You are silver and gold, You are copper and iron,

You are brass and stone; You alone exist.

You are tea and coffee, and the sugar also; You alone exist.

You are paper and the book,

You are the school and office; You alone exist.

You are pen and ink and You are the gifted writer. You alone exist.

You are the door and window.

You are the marble floor; You alone exist.

You are the medicine and the disease

and the Doctor also; You alone exist.

You are the game and the Player,

and the spectator also; You alone exist.

You are the flower and the thorn,

and You are the fragrance. You alone exist.

You are the Singer. You are the musical instrument.

You are the sweet tunes, for You alone exist.

You are the Prayer and the words of the prayer.

You are the forces of evil and the powers of light. You alone exist.

You are the soldier, the army, and the Supreme General.

You alone exist.

You are the Sailor, the ship, and the wide Ocean;

You alone exist!

You are the storm’s turbulence and the tranquil waters.

You are the pearl and You are the shell. You alone exist.

You are the shore, the Ferryman, and the sea also, 

for You alone exist.

You are the Beggar, the giver, and the charity; You alone exist.

You are the slave and the Lord;

You are the Beyond God. You are God. You alone exist.

You are Mother and Father;

You are Master, brother and friend.

You are family and relatives; You alone exist.

There is no one besides You!

Eternally You are, for You alone exist!

You are Pran (3) and You are heart.

You are also the Beloved of the heart; You alone exist.

You are the Beloved and the Lover,

and You are the nectar of Love, as You alone exist!

You are breath and life itself.

Our minds are enthralled by Your beauty! For You alone exist!

You are the house. You are the inhabitants

and the bricks and furnishings. You alone exist.

You are the Worshipper, his worship,

and the One worshipped, as You alone exist.

You are Consciousness and the Way to Consciousness!

O Meher, God-Incarnate, You alone exist!

You are Khwaja, (4) You are Qutub!

You are Pir and Qalandar! (5) You alone exist.

You are Hafiz, You are Sanai! (6)

You are Dara and Alexander! (7) You alone exist. 

You are Jesus Christ! You are Elahi!

You are the Ocean, infinite and pure; You alone exist.

You are the Koran and the One who prays!

You are Vali, (8) and You are the Messenger; You alone exist.

You are the Beginning, and You are the End.

You are also beyond the Beginning and beyond the End.

You alone exist.

You are infinitely beautiful and infinitely close!

O Meher, God-Incarnate, You alone exist!

You are Brahma and You are Vishnu;

You are the guileless Shankar. (9) You alone exist!

Bhau says, “O Beloved Meher, You are The Word

and You are The Letter! You alone exist!”

 

1. This prayer was first printed in its entirety as part of the introduction to The Nothing and the Everything by Bhau Kalchuri, which was his first book published in English written under Meher Baba’s direction, 1982.
   
   
2. Sadhana is a yogic spiritual practice or discipline. Refer to Meher Baba’s Discourses.
   
   
3. A Sanskrit word, Pran is the original underlying Force or Energy in the universe, as the original Space is called Akash. Refer to The Nothing and the Everything, pages 32-34, regarding the original conflict between Pran and Akash causing the beginning of creation or Matter.
   
   
4. Khwaja, meaning Lord, may refer to the Persian Perfect Master Khwajah Khizr, who is a legendary figure who discovered and drank the water of life and became immortal, and from time immemorial presides over the well of immortality.
   
   
5. Khizr is a divine post of a Perfect Master who bestows Realization and Perfection upon a man who has no physical connection with a living Perfect Master. In such instances, Khizr takes a physical form and bestows his divine grace of Perfect Masterhood. Two known instances when Khizr intervened was the perfecting of Francis of Assisi and Narayan Maharaj of Kedgaon.
   
   
6. Qalandar, literally meaning freespirited in Persian, is a Muslim ascetic or monk who gives up all possessions and wanders in the world.
   
   
7. Sanai was a Persian Sufi Perfect Master and renowned poet of Shiraz, Iran, author of Hadiqatul Haqiqat — Garden of Truth. Died 1131.
   
   
8. Alexander refers to the Greek conqueror of Persia, Alexander the Great, king of Macedon, (356 B.C.-323 B.C.) 
   
   
9. In Arabic, a Vali or Wali-Allah means a Friend of God, a fifth plane mental conscious pilgrim who is said to speak with God, or hear the voice of God. In Vedanta, a man of the fifth plane is called Shiv. In Sanskrit and ancient Hindu mythology, Vali was the name of a king who was punished by God (Vishnu) in his incarnation as Vamana (the Dwarf), for his excessive charity and condemned to rule over the nether world. The name Vali was also of a monkey chieftain mentioned in the epic Ramayana. He was killed by Ram.Shankar is another name for Shiva; in Hindu mythology, the First Man. Shankar is also the abbreviated name for the Vedic philosopher, Sankaracharya (788-820).

Lord Meher, Original Publication, Bhau Kalchuri, Vol. 18, pp. 5932 – 5935

After Death

I got Gemini to create the following report based on this query:

What has Meher Baba to say about the life after death and that time between our physical death and a new incarnation.

Life After Death and the Transition of the Senses

According to the spiritual teachings of Meher Baba, physical death is not an end, but a transition. He described ordinary physical death as a temporary state of rest—comparable to a long, dreamless sleep—from which the soul inevitably awakens. While the physical body is discarded like an old garment, the limited ego, mind, and subtle body remain entirely intact, carrying the accumulated impressions (sanskaras) that shape the soul's next destination and its ultimate journey back to oneness.

The Immediate Aftermath of Death

Following the dropping of the physical body, the soul undergoes a specific transition before entering its subjective after-death state:

• The Threadlike Link (1 to 5 Days): For the first one to three days, the subtle body retains a highly sensitive, threadlike connection to the discarded gross body.
• The Astral Transit (40 to 72 Hours): During the first 40 to 72 hours, the disembodied soul remains stationed in the sub-subtle or astral world. The soul is highly sensitive to its physical surroundings and the emotions of its loved ones.
• The Harm of Grieving: Because the departed soul is drawn to those it loved, intense grieving and weeping by relatives can distress the soul and anchor it to the earth plane. Conversely, when loved ones celebrate the soul's release, it becomes much easier for the soul to sever its attachments and progress.

The Transition of the Senses Across the Planes

As a soul progresses up the planes of consciousness, it gradually sheds its reliance on the physical senses until only a singular, spiritual sense of "seeing" remains on the sixth plane:

• The Gross Sphere: The soul experiences the outer world through the physical body and is bound to a wide range of experiences, including seeing, hearing, smelling, eating, sleeping, and clearing the bowels.
• The Subtle Sphere (Planes 1–3): As consciousness turns inward, sensory experiences are reduced to three subtle faculties: seeing, smelling, and hearing.
• The Mental Sphere (Planes 5–6): The soul becomes completely unconscious of both the gross and subtle worlds. On the fifth and sixth planes, only a single sense remains: the mental sense of "seeing." On the sixth plane, the soul uses this inner eye to see God face-to-face continuously in everything and everywhere.

The Metaphor of the Seven Doors

Meher Baba likened the spiritual journey to passing through the "Sevenfold Veil," comparing the stages of involution to the seven physical openings in the human face:

• First Plane: Entered through the first door, represented by the mouth.
• Second and Third Planes: Crossed via the second and third doors, represented by the right and left nostrils.
• Fourth Plane: Crossed via the fourth and fifth doors, represented by the right and left ears.
• Fifth Plane: Crossed via the sixth and seventh doors, represented by the right and left eyes.
• Sixth Plane: The pilgrim arrives at the center of the forehead. Here, the inner "third eye" is fully opened, allowing the soul to see God everywhere.

Comparative Chart: After-Death States and Destinations

The table below summarizes the different spiritual paths, experiences, and resolutions for souls transitioning from the physical world, depending on their state of consciousness and the nature of their death:

State / Destination	Condition / Cause	After-Death Experience	Duration & Resolution
Normal Reincarnation	Average human life with a standard balance of positive and negative impressions.	Subjective states of heaven or hell experienced in the subtle body. Experiences are magnified tenfold or a thousandfold compared to earthly life.	Temporary. Once the predominant impressions are exhausted, the residual opposite impressions goad the soul to reincarnate.
Sudden / Accidental Death	Physical life cut short abruptly by accident, illness, or disaster before the natural lifespan is complete.	The soul is reborn almost immediately in order to complete the exact remaining "time-span" of the previous life.	Reborn quickly. This explains the spiritual cause of childhood deaths, as the child is finishing the residual time-allotment of their past life.
Immediate Reincarnation	Good and bad impressions happen to achieve near-perfect balance at the exact moment of death.	Bypasses the heaven and hell states entirely, avoiding the intensive subjective period of review.	Immediate. Reincarnates directly into a new physical form on earth.
Suicide	Violent, self-inflicted termination of physical life, violating natural spiritual laws.	The soul remains bound to millions of unspent gross impressions without a body to exhaust them. Suspended in the astral world.	Can remain suspended as a "ghost" for centuries. Can only be released through the direct, merciful intervention of a Perfect Master or Avatar.
Spiritually Advanced	Pilgrims who have actively progressed on the inner planes of consciousness.	The soul travels upward beyond the lunar sphere. They bypass heaven and hell, remaining in high spiritual stations.	They may temporarily utilize the bodies of earth-conscious individuals to help work out impressions until they reincarnate to finish the path.
Connected to a Master	Disciples and lovers who are deeply connected and surrendered to a Perfect Master or the Avatar.	The soul completely bypasses heaven, hell, and the general laws of after-death illusion.	The Master absorbs the soul directly into Himself, allowing them to rest or live eternally within His divine presence.

Conclusion

Ultimately, Meher Baba's teachings emphasize that the transition of death is a highly organized, purposeful process designed to thin out our bindings. Whether through the slow, subjective processing in heaven and hell, or the swift cycle of accidental rebirth, the soul is continuously guided toward the ultimate goal: the final "Real Death" of the limited ego, resulting in the realization of its true identity as infinite, eternal God.

Functioning on the Higher Planes

I asked the following question of Gemini using the sources in my Meher Baba Notebook:

I find it hard to understand how people on the higher planes of consciousness can be oblivious of the physical world and yet continue to function in it with a physical body. What do the sources have to say about this?

Here was the response:

To understand how an individual on the higher planes of consciousness can be completely oblivious of the physical world yet continue to eat, walk, and function within it, Meher Baba compares their state to that of a somnambulist or sleepwalker . While this appears contradictory to ordinary human understanding, Meher Baba explains the mechanics of this phenomenon through several core principles:

A somewhat flawed graphic generated by Gemini
based on its response to my query

The Analogy of Sleepwalking and Reflex Actions

• When a person walks or talks in their sleep, those around them can hear and observe these physical actions, yet the sleeping individual is completely unaware of performing them.
  
  
• Similarly, individuals on the subtle or mental planes are totally unconscious of gross physical actions, even though they appear to ordinary observers to speak, eat, drink, or move around.
  
  
• In the case of a Majzoob - a God-merged soul on the seventh plane who is conscious only of the "I am God" state and utterly oblivious to the three worlds - any apparent physical preference, emotional reaction, or bodily movement is an automatic reflex action of which they are entirely unconscious, much like the sound of snoring is to a fast-asleep man .
  
  
• When a Majzoob walks, he is functioning as a "divine sleep walker," and if he speaks, he is talking in his divine sleep .

Subconscious Energy and Divine Sustenance

• Once an advanced pilgrim directs their conscious energy entirely toward the inner spiritual life beyond the domain of the intellect and physical senses, they become unconcerned with bodily requirements.
  
  
• All conscious energy is absorbed in the inner planes, leaving the physical body and its ongoing sustenance to its own subconscious energy and to direct support from God.
  
  
• Meher Baba noted that when the mind stops paying attention to the physical body, the body automatically survives and looks after itself.
  
  
• For those in states of deep divine intoxication (*masts*), the divine power of *Vidnyan* (superconscious knowledge) that vibrates the universe directly sustains and cares for their physical frames.

Indirect Utilization of the Body

• Although an aspirant on the subtle or mental planes is unconscious of the gross body, they still work through that body indirectly from their respective spiritual station.
  
  
• An individual with subtle consciousness functions consciously in the realm of energy, while one with mental consciousness functions in the realm of mind.
  
  
• Because their subtle and mental bodies are fully developed, they can unconsciously utilize the gross body for basic functional aspects such as eating, drinking, seeing, and sleeping, while their actual awareness remains exclusively anchored in the inner spiritual worlds.

The Reflection of Consciousness

• Meher Baba clarifies that what ordinary gross-conscious people observe as physical actions performed by someone on the mental plane is merely the gross interpretation of the reflection of their mental activity.
  
  
• He illustrates this using the reflection of the moon in a lake: as long as your gaze is directed at the water, the moon appears to be in the lake, but it is actually only a reflection.
  
  
• In the exact same way, the true consciousness of an advanced soul is not present in the physical world; only the reflection of their consciousness is here, making it appear to observers as though they are conscious of the gross plane.

Ultimately, while the physical shell continues to operate through natural laws, automatic bodily reflexes, and divine support, the individual's true awareness is entirely detached from matter . Their physical form remains visible and active to ordinary observers, but their consciousness is fully absorbed in the profound grandeur, power, and beatific vision of the inner spiritual realities .

About The 84 Lakhs

I asked the following of NotebookLM:

Meher Baba mentions that "The soul goes through 84 lakhs (8.4 million) of shakes (births and deaths) during this process". I'm unclear as to whether these are human births and deaths or whether these are the total through all the stages of evolution: stone, metal, vegetable, worm, fish, bird and animal. Can you seek clarification within the literature?

Here was the response:

Source: Gemini

The number 84 lakhs (8.4 million) is highly significant in Meher Baba's cosmology and actually applies to both the stages of pre-human evolution and the cycles of human reincarnation, which often causes confusion. Meher Baba explicitly noted that "Ninety-nine percent of the pundits have blundered in taking both evolution and reincarnation changes and rounds of births and deaths as 84 lakhs".

Here is how the literature clarifies the exact meaning of this number across the two different stages:

1. Reincarnation (Human Births and Deaths) When Meher Baba speaks of the soul going through 84 lakhs of "shakings" or reincarnations, he is directly referring to the exact number of times a soul takes a human form.

• Once the soul has attained the human form, the process of evolution is complete, and the process of reincarnation begins.
  
  
• To wear out the accumulated impressions (sanskaras) from evolution, the soul must experience exactly 8,400,000 human lifetimes (births and deaths), alternating between male and female, rich and poor, and different nationalities to gather a complete balance of opposite experiences.
  
  
• Meher Baba refers to these 84 lakhs of human reincarnations as "shakings" because the soul is being shaken loose from its tight grip of sanskaras before it is ready for the process of spiritual realization.

2. Evolution (Pre-Human Forms) Before the soul ever reaches the human form, the number 8.4 million also dictates the exact number of species the soul must traverse during evolution.

• During the evolutionary journey, the soul passes through six primary pre-human stages: stone/metal, vegetable, worm, fish, bird, and animal.
  
  
• Meher Baba explained that there are exactly 14 lakhs (1,400,000) of species in each of these six pre-human forms. Multiplying 6 by 14 lakhs equals 84 lakhs (8,400,000) of species or "bindings".
  
  
• Thus, the soul experiences 84 lakhs of changes in species during evolution.

The Distinction: "Shakings" vs. "Sleeps of Death" To further clarify this distinction, Meher Baba's close disciple Eruch Jessawala provided an important note in God Speaks. He explained that the "Eighty-four lakhs of shakings or reincarnations are in human form". However, if one were to count the actual number of individual "deaths" or shedding of forms during the entire pre-human evolutionary process (moving from one individual stone to another, one plant to another, etc., rather than just counting the broad species), the soul goes through approximately "fifty crores [500 million] of sleeps of death" before it even reaches the human form.

In summary, the 8.4 million "shakes" or "reincarnations" strictly refer to the number of human lifetimes a soul experiences. However, during the prior evolutionary journey, the soul also traversed exactly 8.4 million species of pre-human forms (from stone to animal). The number is fixed for both processes independently.

The Senses and the Planes

I asked NotebookLM the following:

What did Meher Baba say about the process by which the senses were lost as one progressed up the planes of consciousness until only the sense of sight remained on the sixth plane?

Here was its response:

Source: Gemini

According to Meher Baba, as a soul evolves and progresses through the inner planes of consciousness, it gradually sheds its reliance on the varied senses of the physical body until only a singular, spiritual sense of "seeing" remains.

Baba described this process by categorizing the soul's experiences within the three spheres of existence—gross, subtle, and mental:

• The Gross Sphere: Souls with gross impressions experience the gross world through the physical body. In this state, consciousness is tied to a wide and diverse range of physical experiences, including seeing, hearing, smelling, eating, sleeping, and clearing the bowels.
  
  
• The Subtle Sphere (Planes 1–3): As the soul's consciousness turns inward and enters the subtle sphere, it becomes disentangled from the gross body and begins to use the subtle body. In the first three planes of the subtle sphere, the soul's sensory experiences are reduced to only three subtle faculties: seeing, smelling, and hearing.
  
  
• The Mental Sphere (Planes 5–6): When the soul transcends the fourth plane (which acts as a threshold) and enters the mental sphere, it becomes completely unconscious of both the gross and subtle bodies. Identifying strictly with the mental body (the mind), the soul in the mental world has now only one sense remaining: the mental sense of "seeing".

The Sixth Plane and the Third Eye By the time the pilgrim reaches the sixth plane of consciousness, the mind itself becomes the "Inner Eye". The soul has no thoughts, but functions entirely through feeling. On this plane, the soul uses its singular mental sense of sight to actually "see" God face-to-face continuously in everything and everywhere. Because the soul still identifies itself as the mind, it experiences the duality of the "seer" and the "seen" and suffers an intense longing to finally merge with the God it is continuously seeing.

The Metaphor of the Seven Doors Meher Baba also used a physical metaphor to describe this progressive withdrawal of the senses. He likened the spiritual journey to passing through the "Sevenfold Veil," comparing the stages of involution to the seven physical openings in the human face:

• 1st Plane: Entering the first plane involves passing through the first door, represented by the mouth.
  
  
• 2nd and 3rd Planes: Further progress through the subtle sphere involves passing through the second and third doors, represented by the right and left nostrils.
  
  
• 4th Plane: Arriving at the highest plane of the subtle sphere involves crossing the fourth and fifth doors, represented by the right and left ears.
  
  
• 5th Plane: Entering the mental sphere involves crossing the sixth and seventh doors, represented by the right and left eyes.
  
  
• 6th Plane: Once all these physical doors are passed, the pilgrim arrives at the "entrance to divinity" represented by the center of the forehead. Here, the inner "third eye" is fully opened, and the pilgrim achieves "conviction by sight," seeing God everywhere.

A Simple Message

BABA’S INSTRUCTIONS TO A GROUP OF HIS LOVERS IN MAY 1943

The following instructions, if carried out wholeheartedly by you, will allow you to help my work of spiritualizing the world. They are not to be treated like long-established sermons, read, heard and forgotten. They are not to be understood in the light of philosophical slogans preached merely for the sake of preaching.

They are simple, eternal truths which I want all of you to try your utmost to live.

The instructions are:

1.  Amidst all your duties and attachments, let the background of all your thoughts be only the one thought that: “God alone is real, and all else is illusion.”

2.  Infuse into others the idea that the ultimate goal of all life is to know God in His true, infinite aspect.

3.  Think less of yourself and more of others by trying to make others happy, even if you have to suffer for it.

4.  Learn for yourself, and teach others that recognition of God’s Will means not to complain of your lot, that control of the mind means not to be upset by misfortunes;

6. That loving all as children of the same One God means not to be jealous of anyone, and not to hurt the feelings of anyone.

Lord Meher, Online Version, pp. 2340 – 2341

Avatar Meher Baba Bombay Centre - AMBBC 

Meher Baba on March 14th

It's been a while since I used my notebook for Meher Baba in NotebookLM. I decided to test it out to find out what Baba was up to on Pi Day (March 14th) through the years. Here was the result.

Based strictly on the provided Lord Meher volumes, here is a comprehensive and detailed record of Meher Baba's activities explicitly dated March 14th across the years.

• March 14, 1923: More articles appeared in the Bombay newspapers slandering Meher Baba. Amazingly, the more this opposition spread, the more his name came into prominence. One Gujarati newspaper, Insaf, even printed an appeal to public leaders to "take drastic steps to rip to pieces the net of the corruptive and depraved trio of Meher Baba, Babajan, and Upasni Maharaj!".
  
  
• March 14, 1930: The disciple Anna 104 arrived from Ahmednagar and requested that Baba grace the wedding of Anna’s nephew in Sholapur.
  
  
• March 14, 1944: Meher Baba traveled to Paithan with Adi Sr. and Jalbhai. Over the five-day period he spent there, almost 3,000 persons were given grain, and Baba personally oversaw this charitable work.
  
  
• March 14, 1947: In the morning, Eruch drove Baba and the women mandali from Poona (where they had stayed the previous night) to Meherabad. Baba stayed there for six days, sleeping at night on the hill and coming down during the daytime for his work.
  
  
• March 14, 1948: Baba traveled to Bombay in Elizabeth Patterson’s green DeSoto, driven by Adi Sr. He was accompanied by Jalbhai and the Pimpalgaon women mandali. The women stayed with Arnavaz at her and Nariman’s apartment (Ashiana), while Baba, Jalbhai, Adi Sr., and Baidul stayed at Meherjee’s home.
  
  
• March 14, 1965: Sarosh was permitted to bring his grandson and family to Meherazad so the baby could be with Baba on his first birthday.

I can use the prompt for any day I choose so that's useful.

Sassoon Hospital

 Last night, laying in bed and awaiting sleep, I remembered that Meher Baba was born in a Jewish hospital. I asked NotebookLM the following:

Can you confirm that Meher Baba was born in a Jewish hospital and can you include all the information you have about the hospital and Baba's stay in it.

Yes, the sources confirm that Meher Baba was born in a hospital maintained by a Jewish family. Specifically, he was born on February 25, 1894, in Sassoon Hospital in Poona (now Pune), India, which the texts note "was maintained at the time by a well-known, philanthropic Jewish family".

Here is all the information provided in the sources regarding Sassoon Hospital and Meher Baba's connections to it:

• His Birth: Meher Baba (born Merwan Sheriar Irani) was delivered at Sassoon Hospital.

• His Sister's Birth: On December 15, 1918, his sister Manija (Mani) was also born in Sassoon Hospital. Merwan would often cycle to the hospital to bring food for his mother, and he was the first to see the new baby, picking her up and kissing her before the nurses even gave her a bath.

• Visiting a Dying Friend: When his childhood friend Ramnath fell critically ill after returning from Burma, he was admitted to Sassoon Hospital. Merwan visited him there every day. During one of these visits, Ramnath passed away with his head resting on Merwan's lap.

• 100th Anniversary and Blessing: In 1968, Sassoon General Hospital celebrated its 100th anniversary. The organizing secretary requested Baba's blessings for the occasion, and Baba dictated the following message on September 10, 1968: "I give my blessings to the administrative, medical and worker staff of this hospital in which I, the Deliverer of the world, was delivered to the world". Baba also gave a donation of Rs. 1,000 towards the centenary celebration.

• Commemorative Plaque: As part of the centenary events, a special function was held on December 9, 1968, to unveil a marble plaque on the outside wall of the hospital building where he was born. The plaque reads in both English and Marathi: "AVATAR MEHER BABA WAS BORN IN SASSOON GENERAL HOSPITALS ON 25TH FEBRUARY 1894".

I also remembered that he attended a Catholic high school and so I asked NotebookLM the following:

Can you provide as much detail as possible concerning Meher Baba's eduction: primary, secondary and tertiary. 

Meher Baba (born Merwan Sheriar Irani) began his formal education around the age of five when he was admitted to the Pudumji School, a Gujarati-medium primary institution. He studied there for three years, learning the Gujarati alphabet and basic numbers. He disliked arithmetic, but it was during an arithmetic lesson taught by Miss Ratanbai that he had a profound mystical experience, visualizing "a great glitter of circles with tiny points in them as if suns, moons and stars were being projected from those points". At age nine, on 31 August 1903, he entered the Poona Camp Government English School, a school built by the British. During his five years there, he proved to be a highly disciplined student who maintained fixed times for his studies, reading, and prayers, while also excelling in athletics.

For his secondary education, Merwan began attending St. Vincent's High School on 4 January 1909. St. Vincent's was an all-boys Roman Catholic preparatory school in Poona run by Christian missionaries, known for its strict discipline. Merwan completed his grades here with high credit. Academically, he ranked high in almost all subjects, particularly Persian, which he loved. His main interests were literature and history; he eagerly read works by William Shakespeare, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Wordsworth, and Sir Walter Scott. Conversely, he cared little for geography, science, and mathematics, though he never failed them. Outside the classroom, he was an outstanding athlete who won cups and medals in long-distance running, high jumping, soccer, and field hockey. His favorite sport was cricket, where he played first string as a wicket-keeper and set school records that remained unbroken for years. In December 1911, he passed the matriculation exam given by Bombay University.

At the age of seventeen, Merwan entered Deccan College in Poona for higher studies in Inter Arts. At the time, it was considered the finest educational institution in the province. He was an exceptionally bright student, well-regarded by his professors, and seen as a natural leader and arbiter among his peers. He formed an organization called the Cosmopolitan Club, which was open to members of any caste or religion and was dedicated to charity, staying informed on world affairs, and strictly prohibiting gambling and coarse language. He also joined the college boat club and remained a star player on the college cricket team.

During his college years, his passion for literature blossomed. His classmates nicknamed him "The Poet" or the "Atta-and-Dal Poet" due to his effortless ability to compose rhyming verses in Gujarati, Urdu, and Persian on diverse subjects. Under the pen name "Homa," he published poetry in Sanj Vartman, a popular vernacular newspaper in Bombay.

His tertiary education was permanently interrupted during his second year. In May 1913, while studying for his final exams at a local fire-temple, nineteen-year-old Merwan was called over by the ancient Perfect Master Hazrat Babajan. She kissed him on the forehead, unveiling his divinity. Although he continued to attend his college classes for a short time after this momentous meeting, his spiritual awakening led to a complete absorption in God-consciousness, bringing an end to his formal schooling.

What strikes me is the diversity of religions that he had contact with:

• Judaism: he was born in a Jewish-run hospital
• Zoroastrianism: his was a Parsi family that followed the teachings of Zoroaster
• Christianity: he attended a Catholic high school
• Islam and Hinduism: growing up in Poona he was surrounded by followers of both these religions

I also asked the following:

What interaction did Meher Baba have with Buddhism and Buddhists during his lifetime?

Meher Baba identified himself as the Avatar of the Age, explicitly stating that he was the same ancient entity who had previously incarnated as Gautama Buddha, as well as Zoroaster, Rama, Krishna, Jesus, and Muhammad. Because he taught the fundamental unity of all religions, he engaged frequently with Buddhist sacred sites, practitioners, and concepts throughout his life. 

Here are the key interactions and connections Meher Baba had with Buddhism: 

Early Realization of His "Buddha" Identity 

During his college years, before fully embarking on his spiritual mission, a close friend named Ramnath showed young Merwan (Meher Baba's given name) a book titled Buddha Bhagwan. When Merwan read a passage where Buddha prophesied his return as Maitreya (the Lord of Mercy), he experienced a sudden, profound inner realization: "I am that, actually". Encouraged by Merwan, Ramnath traveled to Rangoon, Burma, to study Buddhism. When Ramnath fell critically ill, he returned to India and died with his head resting on Merwan's lap, unknowingly leaving his mortal body "on the lap of his beloved Lord Buddha". 

Visits and Seclusions at Buddhist Sites 

Meher Baba frequently visited significant Buddhist shrines and temples, sometimes for his internal spiritual work: 

• Sarnath and Sanchi (India): Baba took his disciples to Sarnath, where the Buddha gave his first sermon. While there, Baba reminisced about his past incarnation and remarked, "Buddha is now silent". He also visited the Great Stupa at Sanchi multiple times, telling stories of the Buddha's life, though he clarified that Buddha himself never lived there. 

• Ceylon (Sri Lanka): In 1933, Baba visited a Buddhist temple in Bandarawela. When a novice monk asked Baba's group to remove their shoes, an old man emerged, instructed the novice to let them enter, and exchanged peculiar hand signs with Baba. Baba later revealed the old man was a fourth-plane spiritual agent working for him. During another stop in Ceylon, Baba retired to a Buddhist temple for 24 hours of strict seclusion, aided by a centenarian who instantly recognized Baba's spiritual authority. 

• Penang (Malaysia): During his 1932 world tour, Baba stopped in Penang specifically to visit the local Buddha and Snake temples. 

Interactions with Buddhist Practitioners Baba attracted and guided several individuals with strong ties to Buddhism: 

• Christmas Humphreys: The president of the Buddhist Society of London visited Baba with his group in 1931. Humphreys was deeply moved by the encounter, stating, "If there were more Meher Baba’s in the world today, war would end for want of causes. This man of love sets all men an example!". 

• Frederic Fletcher (Prajnananda): An Englishman who had been living in India as a Buddhist monk for seven years, Fletcher attended an extensive 1930 interview between Baba and the writer Paul Brunton. 

• Pritam Singh Sahni: An Indian businessman living in Thailand who was highly honored by local Buddhists simply because he came from the land of the Buddha's birth. This reverence awakened a spiritual thirst in him to find the "living Buddha," prompting him to leave his business, return to India, and ultimately dedicate his life to Meher Baba. 

Philosophical Connections and Teachings 

Meher Baba often used elements of the Buddha's life to explain his own spiritual mechanics. He directly compared Hazrat Babajan (the Perfect Master who unveiled his God-realization) to the old woman who gave the Buddha a bowl of rice pudding just before his enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. 

Furthermore, observers noted that Baba's methods deeply mirrored Buddhist traditions. Like the Buddha, Meher Baba disliked when disciples plied him with intellectual questions, preferring to awaken direct spiritual experience rather than satisfy the intellect. His close disciple Jean Adriel noted that Baba's psychological technique of demanding total acceptance to achieve spiritual freedom was "basically the same as the teaching of Zen Buddhism". 

Ultimately, Meher Baba stated that his mission was not to establish a new religion, but to "bring together all religions and cults like beads on one string". He declared that he had come to reorient and revitalize the core truths hidden within all faiths, explicitly including "broad Buddhism," so that their original spiritual vitality could be kept alive.

Reading the reports from NotebookLM, his proficiency in languages was notable. I asked NotebookLM the following:

What language did Meher Baba (Merwan Irani) regularly speak in his home when growing up?

Based on the provided sources, Meher Baba's (Merwan Irani's) "mother tongue" was Gujarati. He even began his formal education around the age of five at a Gujarati-medium primary school. 

Because he grew up in a Persian Zoroastrian (Irani) family, Persian was also prominently spoken in his home. His father, Sheriarji, would read the Persian poetry of Hafiz to him, and his mother and grandmother were noted to sing together in Persian. 

In addition to his native Gujarati and Persian (Dari), he also learned to speak English, Hindi, and Urdu during his youth.