The seven rings of splendour are not described by the Master. He calls it indescribable. But yet by the Grace of Master the nature of these rings are revealed though very vaguely to the author. The rings of splendour are regions of the original manifestations of the Kshob. At this stage they are only latent motions or vibrations which later on take more concrete forms in the realms of the Mind region and the Heart region. My meditations on these realms were long and the predominant theme was on what Rev. Babuji Maharaj wrote in Efficacy of Rajayoga in the context of Central region. "Thus as a result the solar system and everything in the Universe is complete." Therefore the readers are cautioned not to take the commentary on these realms in the gross sense but try their best through meditations and prayer to grasp the refined consciousness of this region. The realm of splendour is a realm of supernal happiness, refined Bliss and unmanifested beauty. The Divine plan of expression is revealed in its original (mother tincture as expressed by the Master) shade.

The experience of the author in this realm is the only reason for the commentary and he can only convey his humility and place the matter for the readers to verify the same. He begs forgiveness if he is not clear as they would wish him to be. Perhaps this is the first time such an attempt is made. These experiences were never analysed earlier. For that matter perhaps no such experiences were mentioned in other systems. It is my Master's grace alone that makes it possible to write anything in this matter.

The origins of the Zodiac are here. The manifestation which starts from the Base or Center first expresses itself as Grace of the Master or Love. This is the state of unadulterated joy. The gross manifestation is the joy of the child which has no barriers. This is the beginning of the Solar manifestation in its super finest form. The beginning of the Divine Lila or Drama. The sunny smile has its origin here. This is the region of Ushas, the Dawn of the Reality. Experiences at this level do not have even the little heat that is experienced during Arunodaya (early hours of the day: sunrise).

The feeling at this stage is a sense of immense joy at the remembrance of the Master. There is nothing but a faint remembrance of the Master, yet there is immense joy the immensity of which is known to the heart only and is not measurable in any sense of the term.

The splendour here is the joy of Absolute Ignorance.

The second ring of splendour from the Base relates to the aspect of Moon. It is the refined expression of that Mahat. This is origin of form and number. This is also the root for prosperity, prophesy and tradition. The joy or bliss of this region is felt as attachment to the Guru and the love for the Guru in its super finest inexpressible terms. It is the state of the bubble of joy yet to reach its surface. (The soap bubble that is emerging from below the sheet of water is the closest example we have).

The feeling at this stage is the joy arising out of the awareness of the all pervasiveness of the Master and the splendour of His omnipresence deeply experienced in the heart. It is not any sensory awareness of the experience of Divine manifestation but an awareness at once intrinsic and instantaneous.

The splendour here is the joy or happiness of satisfaction arising out of sense of perfection.

The third ring of splendour from the Base relates to the aspect of Guru. The formation of first coverings of the identity or the beginnings of individuated consciousness at its superfine level. This is the stage of manifestation of Man. The struggle of manifestation of Man is the beginning of the Holy War with the Divine. This is from this stage the individuated consciousness develops love of itself and this bliss is the root cause of the later developments of ego. The crossing of this region and entering into the second one is an impossibility without the Divine intervention and Guru's grace.

The splendour here is the joy or happiness of ascetic aloofness.

The fourth ring of splendour from the Base relates to the aspect of Mercury (Budha). The first lessons or Jnana are experienced and immense joy is felt. Of course this is all not conscious and it is reminded again that these stages are all in the realm of jnana hinata. The point to note is this is the root cause for all Jnana that is acquired later. Because of the attachment to the Joy or bliss or splendour of this Jnana later the soul tries to acquire and accumulate jnana and also feel proud of it. The ring is also the beginning of Veda. We do experience bliss which is tinged with the awareness of vibrations, that is motions behind the Omkara. Grossness is not there of any type in the normal sense of the term.

The splendour here is the joy or happiness of siddhi or awareness of competence. This may be taken as a joy of awareness of the summarisation of knowledge gained through that knots. (A fine inversion of the stage at knot XII).

The fifth ring of splendour from the Base relates to the aspect of Mars. The actual manifestation of the Zodiac starts here. The Mesha (first sign of the Zodiac) is born. Activity at its root level takes shape. The joy of spring at the super finest level is experienced. There is enormous enthusiasm and bubbling with energy that is experienced here.

The splendour here is the joy or happiness of bhakti. The original state of Bhakti which gets inverted over twice before expressing itself in knot 3.

The sixth ring of splendour from the Base relates to the aspect of Venus. The root aspect of Beauty for the first time gets experienced. The beauty of harmony (laya), the beauty of orderliness (Rtam), the beauty of Raga, Tala and Geeta is experienced here. The music is not heard but is felt deep within. The origin of womanliness starts here. The man gets united with the woman and the Gemini is born.

The splendour here is the joy or happiness of worship. In worship the Divine is not as intimate as in Bhakti in as much as the Divine has already got distanced itself from the aspirant. This is a fine state which gets twice inverted before expressing itself in knot 2.

The seventh ring of splendour from the Base or the first ring of entry into the regions of splendour relates to the aspect of Saturn. The awareness of the Lord which seeps into the soul and which makes it reveal in it with rapture is what is experienced here. The awareness of the spiritual wealth that the sadhaka is going to have is the peculiar shade of splendour.

The splendour here is the joy or happiness of knowledge due to super fine state of awareness of the Divine in all its aspects which is knowledge of superior variety and is different from the stage of oneness or Ignorance which is the last stage.

The realm of splendour is the realm of manifestation of the Divine in its initial stages. The original stir or Kshob which has caused many ripples in an otherwise silent state of Divinity, we have seen has been unfolding a plan. The Divine plan of manifestation for the exclusive purposes of the Divinity Joy or Lila is all happiness and bliss.

It is obvious that laughter is a reflection of the Pure Joy of the soul, which is a reflection of the Bliss or splendour beyond the realms of Maya and Egoism, where identity begins. We know joy is reflected in the mental plane as happiness, on the emotional plane as enjoyment and on the physical plane as pleasure. Of course in daily usage these words are interchanged. The ego is capable of appropriating and obscuring and consequently distorting any of them. Even the essence of happiness, bliss the ego will try to appropriate. Laughter is an expression of mirth, happiness and enjoyment.

The Master's laughter captured in the hearts of those who moved with him in the physical plane is ever fresh. Those who came to his fold after His Mahasamadhi may have to satisfy themselves with photographs of the same. For a person who has crossed all levels and living in the Ultimate consciousness it may appear to us a bit odd that he should be mirthful and joyous. The rings of splendour which is experienced as beyond bliss consciousness has its own contribution in the matter.

The Ahankara distorts in the unevolved, the wise Saturnian smile to a saturnine, sardonic or even satanic laughter. For the discerning the difference is obvious.

Similarly the loving smile of Venus may become an irritating erotic giggle or a jealous sneer or turn into an uncontrolled fit of hysteria.

Likewise the victorious self-laughter of Mars may become a mere guffaw, a spiteful laugh or a vulgar demonstration of ego triumph over others.

The spontaneous pure sense of humour of Mercury may turn into a conventional grimace or the grin of the bore.

Even so, the 'jovial' laughter of Jupiter may turn into scornful roar or the frightening grimace of the dictator and the smile of Realization and wisdom of the Moon sphere into a mad howling of a lunatic.

But there is no possibility of the bliss, mirth and consequent laughter of the realm of the first ring from the Base, the realm related to the Dawn or the origins of solar manifestation, getting adulterated by Ahankara. This is the laughter of the Master we know. It is with that the author noted how surprising is the laughter of the man (was he?) whose inner life is not understood by many who moved with him and perhaps was considered to be a fool by many. Possibly he was a fool, possibly he was a Divine Fool, with the unconcerned sunny laughter of Liberty, amused by the Play of Ignorance and God-forgetfulness, smiling at the Beauty of Life, inexpressible in any other way than the signs of Joy and Bliss.

Rev. Babuji clarifies very clearly about the condition at this stage in his 'Efficacy of Rajayoga'. "People may call this stage as Truth. It is not really Truth we have arrived at. Truth has been left behind and we are no more abiding in it. Truth carries with it the sense of something which is not there. Truth is really the refuse of the condition described as 'Nothingness'. To make it more clear, I would add that generally people admire 'Truth' as it appears in the form of consciousness. Consciousness is not our goal. It is only a toy for children to play with. We have to reach a point where consciousness assumes its true form (i.e., what it really ought to be). We have to make a search for the Mother Tincture from which medicines are actually prepared. We are searching for the potentiality which creates consciousness, and if that too is gone then we find ourselves on the verge of true Reality, pure and simple".