At 2 p.m. Shri called the mandali and inquired, “Which is worst jail in India?” Some replied, Sabarmati in Gujarat, others said Visapur Jail in the Ahmednagar District, still others opted for Yerwada Prison in Poona. To all this answered, The biggest prison is our own gross body!” From this starting point he went on to explain about then three states of Knowledge, Bliss, and Power that derive from the Highest, as follows. —Chanji’is Diary.
When one attains to the Truth, one is said to have entered into the Eternal Knowledge, Bliss, and Power of the Highest State. These three—Knowledge, Bliss. and Power (or Jnan, Shakti, and Anand)—are the different aspects of the Highest.
To attain to this state of the Highest with its eternal Knowledge-Power-Bliss seekers after the Truth follow three different routes or margs and pass through three different stages (tabaqahs). The different routes are called bhakti, jnan, and karma yoga. Bhakti marg leads eventually to the Eternal Bliss, jnan marg to the Eternal Knowledge, and karma marg to the Eternal Power of the Highest Truth. The three different stages in the ascent are the gross, astral (or subtle), and mental planes. The seeker has to pass through and gain the experience of these planes, as is explained below.
He who adopts the bhakti marg (or path of devotion) and enters into the astral plane is rewarded by occasional glimpses of that Eternal Joy through, whose rays he passes. Nonetheless, the final goal remains a long way off. The seeker has yet to cross this astral plane before reaching the mental, and once the mental plane is attained, though he enjoys Joy directly, he is not yet one with it. More often than not the seeker remains in that blissful state for a long time. He enjoys the Bliss (Anand) aspect of the Highest but has not yet become Bliss (or Anand) himself. He remains a mere bhakta in bhakti.
“Meher Baba’s Tiffin lectures”, p379
13-February-1927