A few days later, Baba had added: "Every big city has a wali who is in charge and manages all gross affairs under a pir, who has charge of a number of cities. A wali is therefore like a collector; a pir like a commissioner; and a Perfect Master like a king or emperor.
"There are different kinds of walis. The avtad is the most powerful; abdals , can change their body in a second to suit the need."
On the night of 20 February, Baba further elaborated:
A wali can give spiritual experiences of the Path. He has the power to open the third eye and grant divine sight, if he is in the mood. He can do so by simply looking into the eyes of the aspirant, even if the aspirant is at a distance. When the third eye is opened, all is light. The small circles of light one perceives when one's eyes are tightly shut is the seventeenth lakh shadow of the light one sees when the third eye is opened. So imagine how powerful that is. It is so powerful an experience that the recipient either goes mad or drops the body. That light shows one the Path quite clearly, where one can tread, yet it is not the Real Light.
Sadgurus won't do that. They won't show light by opening someone's third eye. They can take the aspirant directly through the Path.
One type of wali is called avtad. They are very, very few, quite rare. They are very fiery, with piercing eyes that break through anything, even mountains! Their gaze is sufficient to cut an animal in two, hence they always keep their eyes on the ground. (That too is split apart.) For instance, if they look at a flying bird, it falls dead from the sky. The avtad doesn't do it intentionally, it happens automatically, and the one who dies gets no particular benefit.
Abdals can change their bodies. One moment they may be seen in Bombay and the next moment in America in the same body. But they can appear only at one place at a time. Sadgurus can present themselves anywhere, at any time, at many places at the same time, either in gross or subtle form, for they have a Universal Body.
Liberation is the goal. After that some retain their body and some leave it. If the body is retained, they come down for duty after about a month.