THE ELECT AND THE SELECT

 
There are always five Perfect Masters (Qutubs or Sadgurus) who are the leading lights of the saintly hierarchy which governs the world.

Every Qutub or Sadguru has an esoteric circle of twelve disciples, whom it is his divinely incumbent duty to make as perfect as himself.

The disciples are one with the Master in point of Realization, but differ in duty and authority. Realization may be likened to the store-house of Divine Treasure and authority is the ability to help others therefrom. Want of this authority to use the Divine Powers born of Realization is much more tantalizingly painful than the longing and thirst for God-realization itself. Indicative of this poignant situation is the statement of a Hindu saint who said that he would suffer being born a dog a hundred times if it enable him to redeem a single soul from the bondage of Maya.

A Qutub or Sadguru at the fag-end of his mission in life always takes care to appoint his chargeman to whom he transfers all his spiritual heritage. That which is given by a Master to the chargeman is not power which is already in him but the authority to use it for the spiritual awakening of others.

The beginning or end of a cycle of time connotes the Avataric Period (Daur-e-Nabuwwat), when one from amongst the five Perfect ones, comes to be known as an Avatar — Prophet — or Qutubul-Aqtab.

Unlike the five Perfect ones, the Qutubul-Aqtab or Prophet has 120 members to his esoteric circle, i.e. 10 concentric circles consisting of 12 members in each and each outer circle being subservient or dependent in point of duty on the inner one. Besides the other members of the circle who perform duties much in the manner of different vital organs and limbs of the body in order of their utility and importance, it always falls to the lot of the one from amongst this number to play the unenviable role of "Judas."

There are always two types of recipients of a Perfect Master's spiritual grace — the Elect and the Select. The Elect are the chosen ones for reasons of a spiritual connection with the Master and their number is always fixed; while the Select ones are those who earn and induce the grace of a Master by service and sacrifice and their number is unlimited.

To speak exoterically, because of my spirituality being derived from two Masters — one a Hindu and the other a Muslim, i.e. Shri Upasni Maharaj and Hazarat Babajan, my circle of disciples will be a cosmopolitan one consisting of Hindus, Muslims, Zoroastrians and Christians (Westerners).

All the members of the esoteric circle have always existed with me in my past incarnations and have played their individual parts round about my personality. It is this service and sacrifice, or even antagonism, rendered unto me in the past that determines the spiritual relationship or connection with the Master. In this Path, position, learning, wealth, or blood relationship does not count. Past connection with the Master entitles the aspirant to claim spiritual heritage.

It was between 4 and 5 A. M. in the early morning that Babajan gave me Divine experience, and it was the same time when Maharaj brought me down to normal consciousness. The members of my circle too, shall get Realization between the same hours 4 to 5 A. M.

From the viewpoint of Divine gnosis, the Muslims progress from Oneness (Wahadat) to Manyness (Kasrat) and the Hindus from Manyness to Oneness, i.e. the Hindus and the Muslims represent the extreme opposite points of a diameter of a circle with God as the centre. Zoroastrianism is midway between the two extremes and hence the choice at this juncture of a Zoroastrian form in me as the vehicle of spirituality derived from Hindu and Muslim sources.

The East represents that portion of the bubble on the ocean of Cosmic Consciousness which is directly in touch with the ocean and the West is that part of the bubble which is farthest away from it. Hence East is the land of spirituality and West is the land of materiality. Even in the East, India represents a unique position in the world of spirituality and as it happens today, all the five Perfect Masters are functioning in India only.