At the moment, I’m missing Tiruvannamali and Ramana Maharishi’s ashram, which I hope to return to in a few weeks. In the meantime, the only thing that will satisfy my craving is to read other spiritual books. Interestingly, my trip to India started around this time last year at Meher Baba’s Abode on the Sunshine Coast. I sat in meditation in the ashram here begging Meher Baba to tell me what to do next in life and then a booming voice rang in my head saying, “Go to India!”. My time in India completely transformed my life, and all I want now is ashram living, spiritual talks, and books. As a result, I felt it was appropriate to return to Meher Baba’s Abode.
This morning, one of Meher Baba’s followers told me about the book “The Wayfarers,” which describes Baba’s long, arduous journey through India in the 1940s to make contact with extraordinary humans.
When a person is completely devoted to becoming one with God, they become so preoccupied with seeking it that the ordinary ways of being in the mundane world become a hindrance, and so they follow a path that diverges from the typical patterns of life.
Meher Baba devoted many years to locating, spending time with, and supporting these individuals, who are known as Masts.
Masts may appear insane to the average person, but the nature of their mental states and the spiritual significance of the results they achieve are vastly different. While it is true that Masts find it difficult to deal with everyday situations, this is because they have become so enamoured with the feeling of the Infinite God source that they have lost interest in mundane activities. Since their sole concern is the path to Truth-realization, they have no interest in everyday normal life tasks and goals.
I believe that Thoppi Amma (watch video below), a well-known Advoota and Siddhar in Tiruvanamali, is what Meher Baba referred to as a Mast.
Meher Baba interestingly classified these spiritually advanced souls as God-merged, God-intoxicated, God-absorbed, God-communed, and God-mad.
Masts can exist on various planes of existence, including the fifth, sixth, and seventh.
The book then explores masts through the definition of Sufis, which I will not describe in detail here, but I find it intriguing to explore some of it in order to perplex the reader’s mind.
In addition, the five basic types of advanced souls can overlap and interweave within their categories by adopting the traits of others. For instance, a God-merged mast, who appears to be a rare species, possesses the trait of God-intoxication, which can fluctuate between being more and less merged in God.
Some Masts, such as a salik-like mast, are conscious of the physical environment to a certain extent, while maintaining a certain level of consciousness of the spiritual plane on which they are located. (pg.27)
God-realized souls are also referred to as ghous, who are masts capable of detaching their limbs from their bodies when in a certain state of consciousness. Meher Baba describes these masts as having a light, springy gait and a propensity for remaining hidden from people.
In addition, I will briefly describe the following types of masts, primarily for my own reference should I encounter one while travelling:
- Jalali is notoriously hostile and quick-tempered.
- Jamali is mild-mannered and never abusive; he frequently speaks in riddles and moves his fingers and hands frequently.
- A mahbubi is always joyful and wears bangles, earrings, and rings.
- The Ittefaqi are intoxicated with Divine Love and wear iron rings and other iron accessories. Favours fruits and enjoying tea, tobacco, and bread. They prefer the city’s outskirts and sit in an awkward position while occasionally making sweeping arm movements.
- A madar-zad is born as a mast and looks like a madman who roams filthy, often naked, places. They are extremely restless, as they rarely sit or rest throughout the day and night in my residence. They have abnormal tastes and will even consume raw flesh.
The God-absorbed and God-commune can keep their bodies relatively clean although it is intriguing that the God-mad, God-intoxicated, and God-merged all have filthy bodies and reside in filthy environments.
Meher Baba says that a God-mad individual has a pristine mind. A person who is intoxicated by God has no thoughts. A God-merged individual has no thoughts because they are completely merged with God.
The Wayfarers: Meher Baba with the God-Intoxicated book contains over 400 pages on these spiritually advanced souls, which cannot be adequately covered in a brief blog post. Nonetheless, I hope to have piqued your interest and provided you with information that may be useful on both of our spiritual journeys.
As promised….
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