DISCOURSES & TALKS BY MEHER BABA

THE KEY

11th June, 1926

Baba observed:

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.

Lord Meher On-line page 673

Lord Meher Vol.3 p.810