(June 1963) Baba was in a mood to give a discourse that day. He began explaining about fana – annihilation of the false mind:
Fana is of three types – fana-fillah, fana-fi-Sheikh and fana-fi-Rasool. In the first, a person becomes One with God. There are always fifty-six persons existing in this state.
In fana-fi-Sheikh, a person becomes One with the consciousness of a Qutub. He is One with the Infinite Consciousness of the Perfect Master, but he is not One with the office of the Qutub. In this state he does sometimes use, to a very limited extent, his infinite power-knowledge-bliss. The person in this state drops his body immediately after the Qutub, who had brought him to that state of fana-fi-Sheikh.
There are always five Perfect Masters existing on Earth. In fana-fi-Rasool, which is a very rare state and also occurs very rarely, a person becomes One with the Avatar (Rasool). When it does happen, it is during the Avatar’s physical presence in the world and just before the unique worldwide manifestation of the Avatar. It is a rare occurrence. It has happened in the past. (1)
No one from the state of fana-fillah can attain the fana-fi-Rasool. Only an ordinary man who is gross conscious is chosen by the Avatar himself and is bestowed with the state of fana-fi-Rasool. In this state, the person chosen becomes like the Avatar, but does not hold the Avatar’s office. He drops his body immediately after the Avatar drops his body.
(1) It is said that Laxman, the step-brother of Ram, was in this rare state. He followed Ram wherever he went, even into jungle exile, and was known as Ram’s “shadow.”
Lord Meher, Original Publication, Bhau Kalchuri, Vol. 18, p. 6190