THE TEACHINGS OF
KIRPAL SINGH
The Complete Set of Fve Books
Combned n One Volume
Compiled and selected from
the writings of Kirpal Singh
by Ruth Seader
RUHANI SATSANG DIVINE SCIENCE OF THE SOUL
ABOUT KIRPAL SINGH:
Consdered by many people who met hm n the East and n the West to have been a lvng example of a true Sant of Sprtualty, Krpal Sngh was born n a rural settng n Sayyad Kasran n the Punjab (then n Inda, now n Pakstan) on February 6, 1894. He followed the career of a cvl servant n the government of Inda, and retred on hs own penson n 1947. Followng nstructons from hs Master (Sawan Sngh J Maharaj, 1858-1948), he founded and drected RUHANI SATSANG. He was Commssoned by God and authorzed by hs Master to carry forward the sprtual work of contactng sncere seekers after God wth the WORD (or NAAM). He contnued n that capacty untl he left the earth plane on August 21, 1974. Elected four tmes, consecutvely, as Presdent of the World Fellowshp of Relgons, he upheld the truth that, though the varous relgons are dfferent schools of thought, the Am of all relgons s One and the Same. Krpal Sngh vsted the major ctes n the Unted States on the occasons of each of hs three world tours: n 1955, n 1963-64, and agan n 1972, stayng n ths country for three months or more, each tme. From hs ntense study at the feet of Sawan Sngh J Maharaj and from hs own personal nner experences of a sprtual nature, Krpal Sngh was emnently qualfed to convey to sncere people everywhere the mportance of self knowledge and God realzaton.
I have written books without any copyright—no rights reserved — because it is a Gift of God, given by God, as much as sunlight; other gifts of God are also free.
—from a talk by Krpal Sngh, wth the author of a book after a talk to students of relgon at Santa Clara Unversty, San Jose, Calforna on November 16, 1972.
Asde from punctuaton and captalzaton correctons, no changes have been made to the text of ths book. It s exactly the same as what was approved by Master Krpal Sngh.
Ths Edton publshed n 2009 by: RUHANI SATSANG®
DIVINE SCIENCE OF THE SOUL 250 “H” Street, #50 Blane, WA 98230-4018 USA www.RuhanSatsangUSA.org
Tel: 1(888) 530-1555 ISBN # 978-0-942735-33-8
Prnted n the Unted States by Prnt Graphcs Pros • (949) 859-3845
Krpal Sngh (1894-1974)
Sawan Sngh (1858-1948)
Dedicated
to the Almighty God
working through all Masters who have come
and Baba Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj
at whose lotus feet
the author imbibed sweet elixir of
Holy Naam — the Word
Sant Krpal Sngh passed on from ths earth n 1974. As such, He s no longer takng on new people to gude out of ths world and back to God. He left many books that explan, as much as can be n a worldly language, the meanng of lfe. The books and the Ruhan Satsang web-ste http://www. RuhanSatsangUSA.org are mantaned to help str an nterest n God and to help people know what to look for n ther search for the way back home.
When asked about a successor, we can only offer ths quote from the Master:
“Today there is a great awakening beginning. Some have got the answer, some have not, but the search to solve the mystery of life has been born all over the world. The day that question arises in the mind is the greatest day of one’s life, for once it is born, it does not succumb until it is satisfied.
So, make your life an example of the teachings you follow — live up to them.
If you have a strong desire to get it, then God Himself will make the arrangements for you.”
Preface
W
hen our beloved Master Sant Krpal Sngh J graced our shores wth Hs bengn presence n 1972, fve manuscrpts contanng a categorzed complaton of Master’s wrtngs were gven to Hm n Phladelpha for Hs approval wth the request that possbly some addtons should be added to them from the tour.In Sant Ban Ashram some two weeks later, t seemed to me that Master should not read the books now, but wat for the revsons and addtons.
I went to the Master to see f the books could be returned. Master was sttng on Hs bed n the beautful house the dear ones had lovngly bult for Hm at the ashram. The fve books were on Hs nght table. I found that Master had already read the books; I was qute surprsed. Wth Hs busy schedule n New York, Boston and at Sant Ban, when dd He fnd tme?
He told me that the three books should be prnted. I sad, “Master, there are fve books.” Master looked at me wth a surprsed yet playful expresson and sad questonngly, “Fve books, let me see.” Wth that, He took each of the fve books, one by one, and started countng slowly — “one... two... three... four... fve...” Master looked at each book very long and hard, wth Hs full and concentrated attenton. I realzed that Master was chargng each book, the words of whch were already charged as they came from prevously
prnted dscourses. He counted them once, and then recounted them, slowly and carefully. He shook Hs head and sad, “Yes, there are fve books,” addng, “These books wll help many people.”
Later, on three separate occasons, Master agan sad three books and I sad, “No Master, there are fve books.” After two years there came the realzaton that the fve manuscrpts would best be released and prnted n three volumes: Book I: The Holy Path; Book II: Diary/Meditation; Book III: New Life in the
World/New Life in God.
The lesson: when the Master takes fve books n Hs holy hands and says, three books, you know t for certan as you gaze on the fve books that there are really three books there. The Master s always rght.
Table of Contents
BOOK ONETHE HOLY PATH
1. Man’s Plght: Attachment to the World ...3
2. At the Mercy of the Mnd and Senses ...7
3. The Way Out: Guru, The Greatest Gft of God ...15
4. Apra-Vdya and Para-Vdya ...30
5. The Holy Path: Surat Shabd Yoga ...32
6. Intaton: The Awakenng ...34
7. Medtaton: All Is Wthn ...41
8. Satsang: To St In Hs Presence ...42
9. Prayer: Your Dalogue Wth God ...50
10. The Commtment: Responsblty of Intaton ...55
11. Self Evaluaton: The New Drecton ...60
12. Obedence ...64
13. Testng The Dscple ...72
14. Tme Factor s a Necessty...73
15. Karma: The Wheel That Bnds ...75
16. Turnng From The Path ...83
BOOK TWO
SELF-INTROSPECTION
1. Importance of Keepng the Dary ...99
2. Self-Introspecton and Man-Makng ...101
3. Attachment ...108
4. The Importance of Beng Self-Centered...109
5. Change Your Ways ...113
6. Tme Factor ...118
7. The Need For Prayer and Effort ...119
8. Purfcaton ...122
9. How To Do Your Dary...124
10. Ahmsa ...129
11. Truthfulness ...137
12. Chastty: Brahmcharya ...139
13. Love For All ...153
14. Det ...159
15. Drugs ...163
16. Selfless Servce: Physcal ...164
17. Selfless Servce: Fnancal ...169
18. Sprtual Practces: Medtaton ...171
BOOK THREE
MEDITATION
1. The Importance of Medtaton ...183
2. The Change of Drecton ...188
3. The Need for a Guru ...190
4. Shabd ...192
5. Benefts of Communon wth Naam ...198
6. Helpng Factors ...207
7. Regularty ...213
8. Create New Habts ...216
9. Sprtual Background Plays a Part ...219
10. Tme Element for Development ...220
11. Patence and Perseverance ...222
12. Smran ...223
13. Wthdrawal: Rsng Above Body Conscousness ...225
14. Guru Dev: Radant Form of the Master ...228
15. Dffcultes n Medtaton ...231
16. How to Overcome Inaccuraces n Medtaton ...241
17. Dangers and Ptfalls on the Way ...244
18. Dry Spells ...247
19. Retardng Factors ...249
21. Intellect ...252 22. Attrbutes of Mnd ...254 23. Obstacles of the Mnd ...257 24. Befrend of the Mnd ...264 25. Stllng the Mnd ...268 BOOK FOUR
THE NEW LIFE IN THE WORLD
1. True Lvng. . . 2772. Worldly Attachment . . . 282
3. Stay n the World: An Inner Detachment s Needed . . . 287
4. True Lvng: to World and to God . . . 289
5. Rght Thoughts, Rght Actons. . . 293
6. Famly. . . 302
7. Marrage . . . 307
8. On Rasng Chldren. . . 313
9. Protecton to Famly and Frends . . . 315
10. Det. . . 315 11. Sckness . . . 320 12. Adversty . . . 322 13. Morbdty . . . 326 14. Prayer . . . 327 15. A Dscplned Lfe . . . 328 16. Assocaton wth People. . . 330
17. Work. . . 333
18. Rches, Responsblty . . . 335
19. Gfts . . . 336
20. Death . . . 337
21. Relgon and Rtual. . . 340
22. Mracles and Yogc Powers . . . 341
23. Sprtual Healng . . . 344
24. Other Yogc Powers . . . 347
25. Astrology, Rencarnaton Investgatons, I Chng . . . 350
26. On Mltary Servce . . . 351
27. The Master . . . 352
28. Correspondence . . . 353
29. Hearng Shabd Before Intaton . . . 353
30. Dreams . . . 354
31. Pets . . . 354
32. It s a Noble Search . . . 355
BOOK FIVE
THE NEW LIFE IN GOD
1. Love . . . 3672. Smran . . . 385
3. God's Grace. . . 396
4. Purty. . . 400
6. Prayer and Grattude . . . 404
7. Humlty . . . 404
8. Devoton . . . 409
9. Impedments to Devoton . . . 412
10. The Words of the Master. . . 416
11. The Physcal Presence of the Master . . . 421
12. Receptvty . . . 423
13. Lve n God's Wll: Become a Conscous Co-Worker of the Dvne Plan. . . 434
14. Self-Surrender . . . 444
15. From Master's Messages . . . 452
References Book One . . . 459
References Book Two . . . 461
References Book Three. . . 463
References Book Four. . . 465
References Book Fve . . . 467
THE HOLY PATH
The Holy Path
Man’s Plight: Attachment to the World
S
O ALL TRUE MASTERS say that realzng God s a smple matter—What s there to realzng the Lord? Just uproot the attenton from here and plant t there. It s smply a matter of wthdrawng and gatherng together the scattered attenton.1 Thewhole thng depends upon your attenton, or surat as t s called, whch s the outward expresson of your soul. Wherever you keep t engaged or attached, those very thoughts wll always be reverberatng wthn you.
We have to make the best use of thngs of course, but we are not to become attached to them. If we can only attach our soul to somethng hgher wthn us, we would be alrght. But, f our attenton s dverted through the outgong facultes so much so that t becomes dentfed wth the outer thngs, what s the result? You cannot wthdraw your attenton from them.
It s a queston of the attenton or surat, whether you keep t engaged to the outsde thngs or nvert and attach t to your Overself. So for that, you must see where you are drven away through the outgong facultes of seeng, hearng, smellng, taste and touch. These are the fve outgong facultes workng through the fve physcal outlets. Unless these are wthdrawn
from outsde, you wll not be able to have some awareness of your own self or be able to contact the Hgher Self or God wthn you, whch s Lght and Sound Prncple.2
Whatever you do — whether for one day, two days, ten days, a month or two — naturally becomes a habt. Habt s strengthened nto nature. If you want to go to one place, and you are attached somewhere else, your mnd wll go one way whle your feet wll go the other way.
You know what s needed? God s wthn you, but unless you wthdraw from outsde, how can you contact Hm? If you are attached to outsde thngs you cannot wthdraw from outsde. If you leave ths buldng you are the same. When you leave ths body you are not changed. You are what you are now. After leavng the body you cannot become a learned man.3 If you are attached here whle lvng n the
world, your attenton wll stll be n the world even after leavng the body. Where wll you go? Where you are attached. Where should we attach ourself? The soul s a conscous entty; t should be attached to the Overself, whch s all Conscousness, even n lfe. Then whle remanng n the world you won’t be attached to the world. You wll be n the world and yet out of t. When you leave the body, you wll go to the feet of the Lord.4
As long as we reman wth the body, the body s glorfed, but we are prsoners wthn t and reman so untl we are released by the Controllng Power.
And how can ths Power be experenced? It cannot be known by the senses, for whle the senses, mnd and ntellect are not stll, there s no experence. So God cannot be known by senses, mnd, ntellect, or even pranas. He can be experenced by the soul alone, when practcally, through self-analyss, the soul comes to know tself. By separatng matter from conscousness, we can learn what t s that controls all our facultes. You can say that we come to know the attenton, for wthout the attenton even the senses do not work. You wll have notced, for nstance, that f your attenton s fully focused on somethng, you wll not hear f anyone calls you.5
So we must have control over all our outgong facultes. We should be able to use them when we requre, not to be dragged outsde. It s for ths reason that the dares are ntended. You must know where you are attached. You are gven some contact wthn by the grace of God. You see the Lght of God wthn you, hear the Sound Prncple. When you turn your whole attenton to the Sound Current, t wll, lke a touchstone, drag you up. Even those who are gven a contact wth the Lord wthn wll lose t f they do not keep ther self-restrant. Only f you have some control over yourself, can you drect your attenton wherever you lke.6
So we are here to make the best use of all outward thngs, but not to be attached to them. We should make them a steppng stone to reach the Hgher Self. If you are addcted to or become dentfed wth any
enjoyments outsde, so much so that you cannot even wthdraw from them, then how can you nvert and have that contact wthn you wth God, whch s gven at the tme of ntaton? So these outer facultes should be under our control. Whenever we lke, we should make the best use of them, but they should not drag us out.7
When you see for yourself that you are the ndweller of the physcal house and not the dwellng house tself, whch you tenacously beleved htherto, your angle of vson s altogether changed, and you begn to see everythng n a dfferent vson. You can understand ths more clearly from a sngle example. It s the reflecton of your own soul current when attached to anythng that gves you a feelng of pleasure or enjoyment. You are sttng n an opera house enjoyng the show, along wth others sttng around you. The play s on and everybody s mmersed n the so-called pleasure. All of a sudden a messenger comes to the hall and breaks the news to you that your son has accdentally fallen from the housetop and s lyng unconscous because of a severe shock.
In spte of ths harrowng news the play s gong on as t was, but your attenton s dstracted and you are overtaken by sorrow and remorse on account of the great attachment to your dear son who has been hurt, wth the result that the same nce show whch so much engrossed your attenton s now nspd and vod of all pleasure.
show but was just the reflecton of your own sngle-mnded attenton that you had bestowed upon t. Ths very prncple works everywhere and at all tmes. The Master knows t and sees t workng as vvdly as we see each other. Now He comes to our rescue and tells us to bnd our attenton wth somethng whch s of a permanent nature and enjoy everlastng happness or blss.
All that we see wth the ad of our physcal eyes s n a perpetual flux and s constantly changng n form and color.8 That whch we beleve s gvng
us satsfacton s not true; t s merely that our attenton s there and the enjoyment comes from that, so happness s not n the thng but n ourselves. How can pure conscousness (the soul) get any happness out of matter?9
At the Mercy of the Mind and Senses
T
HE LORD s not separate from us and we are not separate from Hm, but, because of extroverson at the plane of senses, we have lost our dentty. What s requred s that we should dsengage our attenton from worldly pursuts and ‘tap nsde’ as Emerson calls t. Ths s the act of recedng back. Ths does not mean that we should suppress our senses, but they should be channelzed n such a way so as to assst the sprt on the physcal plane as well as on the nner.10Mnd n ts present state s burdened wth a huge karmic load of past lves. It s enthralled by the outgong facultes of senses and s thus drven helplessly nto the mre of sense-gratfcaton. The alphabet of sprtual progress commences wth the control of mnd. It s sad that, unless mnd s stlled, we cannot have experence of Self-realzaton. The human body s just lke a charot wheren soul s the rder, mnd s the drver, ntellect s the rens, and senses are the powerful steeds runnng amuck n the mre of sensuous gratfcaton. It s for ths reason that for havng a retrace of the facts, the senses are to be dscplned, ntellect stlled, and mnd controlled so that the nner experence of the soul can be had.
Mnd s accustomed to roam about externally through ages. Unless t s offered somethng more joyous wthn, t cannot be controlled. The four man attrbutes of mnd have to be dvnzed before any perceptble rght understandng of the subject can be arrved at. Just as at the present we are so greatly mpressed by the facts of externalty of lfe that we have lttle or no knowledge of hgher sprtual truths full of Dvne beattude, whch s gross gnorance; smlarly, unless we have frm convcton of ths lfe of the Beyond, there s no hope of our mnd takng the rght turn. It s only n the presence of the Lvng Master, who has full command and control of Hs mnd, that we fnd radant reflectons of nner stllness and equpose of the mnd. A Sant has exclamed aptly:
If you are firmly resolved to proceed to the Beloved Lord, you should put one foot on the mind and the other will enable you to reach the alley of the Friend.11
Self s the frend of self and self s the foe of self. The mnd, actng as a slave to the senses, runnng after the sense-objects, debases tself. As a reckless sower of the karmic seeds, t has, per force, to reap and garner an abundant harvest, n lfe after lfe, n an endless seres. The poor soul, n the lght and lfe of whch the mnd works, s hopelessly and helplessly relegated to the background, and the mnd assumes the supreme command of the ctadel of the body. What a pty! The prncess of the royal blood s swayed by the wles of a trckster who hmself s beng pleasurably duped by the sren songs of the senses and, s unwttngly dancng to ther tunes on the stage of mundane lfe. No wonder that t poses a menace to the securty and ntegrty of the soul, runnng a handcap race wth formdable, and at tmes, nsurmountable hurdles n the way. We have, therefore, to subdue ths nveterate foe before we can smoothly tread the sprtual path. To subdue the mnd by force s mpractcal. It has to be won over steadly by persuason and by gvng t some fore-taste of the real happness whch a Master Sant alone can do.12
Human mnd s so fashoned by Provdence that t does not lke to be captvated. It s ever restless unless t reaches ts true abode. It s an agent of the Negatve Power ted to each soul and wll not allow the latter to
proceed to the True Home of the Father. The Masters nstruct us for tamng t for the hgher purpose of sprtual progress. As a matter of fact, mnd s helpless aganst the onslaught of senses, whch are n ther turn drven nto the jungle of gratfcaton.
A careful analyss wll show that the lower cate-gores of creaton, who are endowed wth one sense prevalng as uppermost, are done to death or lve ther whole lfe under captvty. For nstance, the moth s overwhelmngly fond of lght on account of ts sense of sght, whch takes ts precous lfe. A moth wll never hestate to burn tself on the burnng candle. Flower-fly s fond of smell and outer fragrance. It rushes on to the blossomng flowers and prefers to de n t than leave t. Fsh s the fastest creature and enjoys ts lfe n runnng waters. It has weakness of taste or lure of tongue. The fsh-catchers put some eatable on the rod and the fsh s caught helplessly on the hook and serves as eatable. Deer s one of the most nmble-footed anmals whch can rarely be overtaken by a horse, but t has a weakness for hearng. The hunters go to the wood and beat the drum n such an enchantng manner that, unaware, the deer s rresstbly drven near, and places ts head on the drum and loses ts freedom for lfetme. Elephant s one of the mghtest creatures but t has the weakness of lust whch provdes for a not very dffcult way of capturng t by dggng deep pts n the jungle and coverng them wth grass and bushes. An artfcal she-elephant, lke a decoy, s placed over t. The lustful anmal rushes towards t and s thrown
nto the deep well, where t s kept for several days hungry and thrsty. When t s taken out, t s so weak and feeble that t s put under the ron goad for the entre lfe.
From all ths, t s pretty clear that the souls whch are consdered as bound n lower forms of creaton are so much over-powered by one sense. Where les the safety of human souls who are endlessly entced by all the fve powerful senses of sght, smell, sound, taste, and touch? By sheer habt t has become mred, roamng the world over lke a wld elephant n a forest. Feedng fat on the lusts of the flesh, from moment to moment, t has grown out of all proportons. The sprtual dscplnes are rksome and gallng to t, for they mpose serous restrants on ts free movement. Ths s why the mnd does not relsh any dscplne, and plays all knds of trcks to evade them, posng at tmes as an honest broker pleadng on behalf of our frends and relatons and whsperng sermons on our dutes and oblgatons towards the world n vared aspects of lfe. Unless one s very vglant and s equpped wth a quck dscernment, one fals to see through ts pranks and falls an easy prey to them.
It s the outstretched gracous hand of the Master whch helps us to wade through jungles of sensuous wlderness. Ethcal dscplne, f cultvated under the protectve gudance of the Master, s helpful for sprt-ual progress. Ethcs and sprtsprt-ualty go hand n hand. The former s the sol and the latter the seed whch thrves and blooms n favorable crcumstances.13
The human form, because of the soul wthn t, s the hghest n all creaton and s accepted as the form next to God. It s next to God, a part of God, havng the same nature, s tself a conscous entty, and yet wth all ths, t s full of msery. Havng ted tself to the mnd, the passons and attachments of the senses are draggng t from one place to another. The pleasures of the world control the senses, the senses control the mnd, and the mnd controls the ntellect.
Ths process s called Kam (passonate desres and other appettes). Kam also means work, and f we put ths desre or drve nto reverse and become engaged n the opposte type of work, then we wll acheve the true peace of beng. A true Master always prays, “Oh Lord, keep my ntellect n Your control.”
At present the whole system s wrong, for the horse should have been pullng the cart, but nstead the cart s n front. The soul should be gvng strength to the mnd as and how t wshes, but the mnd, ntellect, and senses are stealng the strength, wth the soul a helpless slave to them. It s all wrong. That s why Masters have advsed “Know thyself,” for t s the only way to cut the evl from the root. Have you been able to control your senses and make them do whatever you wsh, stoppng ther acton whenever you desre to? Have you reached that stage? A certan pece of machnery has an electrc motor whch s connected to the powerhouse. There are many sectons comprsng ths machne, and one can swtch off any secton n a second. Smlarly, we should be
n control of our beng, and be able to swtch off our whole machnery f we wsh to.14
God s wthn you, He s not to come from out-sde. It s your I-hood or ego that stands n the way. Ths ego comes up when you are conscous of the body, whether physcal, astral, or causal. When you rse above the physcal body, the physcal I-hood s elmnated. When you rse above the astral body, you lose the astral I-hood. When you rse above the causal body, then you wll completely under-stand who you are. Your wll s the wll of the Lord. The Lord’s wll s wthn you.15
When we come to ths world the greatest knowledge we can have s that only n the physcal form can we realze the Truth or God. How can we know God? He cannot be known through the senses, mnd, ntellect, or through the pranas (vtal ars). If God s to be realzed, only the soul can do t. When can the soul get ths experence of realzaton? When t has freed tself from the mnd and the senses.16
As long as we do not have an nner experence of the soul, we reman n utter darkness. Booksh knowledge becomes a headache as t draws the mnd out nto the world through the senses and makes us feel dentfed wth the senses by constant assocaton wth the world. On the contrary, self-knowledge satsfes the nnate cravng and hunger of the soul for peace and happness. All that we need learn s the Book of Man, for the greatest study of man s man.17
We frequently see the lfeless physcal forms beng taken to the crematon ground and have perhaps on occason lt the flame wth our own hands, but t has never occurred to us that we wll also de one day. Ths can also be attrbuted to the fact that, beng the reflecton of the Truth, we consder we are eternal and all happness. God s all blss. We also want all happness, and for ths reason we are constantly searchng for t. How long does our earthly joy last? For as long as our attenton, whch s happness, s attached to the source of t. It may be a good thng or a bad thng, but by puttng our attenton there we get some joy out of t, because essentally we are all blss ourselves.
Why are we not fully aware of ths nnate nature? Because we have forgotten who we are. The start of all ths forgetfulness was the brth nto the physcal form. Ths body s the orgn of lluson. We are not the body—we are the ndweller. The body s attractve because we (the soul) are enlvenng t. We are surrounded by the senses, and wth ad of the ntellect we attempt to thnk of a soluton—but f only we would awaken wthn ourselves. . . The whole world s asleep through attachment and forgetfulness; all s lluson. Beng dentfed wth the body, the soul loses tself n attachment more and more, creatng a new world for tself—a world of deluson, derved by seeng thngs n dfferent appearance than they actually are. We thnk that the body and all ts surroundngs are part of the Truth—and ths s a deluson. Can we not observe that the body and ts condtons are never
consstent? How can one who has become an mage of the body and s ndulgng n outer practces expect to rse above the body? There s only one soluton, and that s to search out one who has hmself escaped from the lluson; t s an mpossblty for us to free ourselves.18
The Way Out: Guru, the Greatest Gift
of God
I
N GURU NANAK’S Jap Ji Sahib, he tells us:There is One Reality, the Unmanifest
Manifested;
Ever-Existent, He is Naam, the Creator, pervading all;
Without fear, without enmity, the Timeless, The Unborn, Self-existent, complete within itself. Through the favor of His true servant,
the Guru,
He may be realized.19
The truest rches and the greatest gft of God s the Godman, the person who, havng realzed hmself, s establshed n hs Godhead. He s n a sense a polarzed God or pole from whch God manfests Hmself amongst Hs people. Lmtless and nfnte as God s, He s beyond comprehenson by fnte powers of percepton. He can, however, be apprehended n the Master somewhat as a vast sea can be apprehended at the beach wth bathng ghats, where sea waters gently flow n so bathers can have a safe dp.
As lke attracts lke, man must of necessty have man as hs teacher, for no one else can teach hm. The way to God, therefore, les through man. Some Godman alone can tell us of the “Way out” from the world and a “Way n” nto the Kngdom of God, now a lost provnce to manknd n general. The fall of man was brought about by man, and the regeneraton of man too s to be brought about by man. But there s a world of dfference between man and Man —the latter beng God-n-man.20
When people see the Guru lvng lke an ordnary human beng, eatng, drnkng, etc., they become careless n thought and respect. You should always remember that a Master’s lfe s two-n-one. He s the son of man, acceptng all as brothers, havng no ll thought for anyone, lvng lke a true human beng, sharng happness and msery wth others. He also suffers n the sadness of others, and sometmes sheds tears of sympathy too. But, as hs true Self, he leads the souls wthn and up. Those unfortunate people who consder hm merely a man reman at the level of man and lose the golden opportunty.21
The greatest prayer a person can therefore offer to God s that He may, n Hs unbounded mercy, establsh hs contact wth Hs prophets who may lead hm Godward. The Godman or the Prophet shows hm the way—the Grand Trunk Road that leads to God. It s nothng but the Sound Current or Sound Prncple, dfferently called by dfferent sages: the Word or the Holy Sprt by the Chrstans; Kalma, Bang-e-Asman
or Nda-e-Arsh by the Mohammedans; Udgt, Akash Ban, Naad or Srut by the Hndus; and Shabd or Naam by the Skhs.22 Zoroaster calls t Sraosha and
the Theosophsts “The Voce of the Slence.” Chrst speaks of t as “The Voce of the Son of God.” God overflows n the Guru and untes man wth the Word to reach back to hs true Home.
Ths Sound Current s the means to salvaton. It s the Master Key that unlocks the Kngdom of Heaven. It bestows lfe eternal on man and restores hm once agan to the Garden of Eden from whch he was drven away by dsobedence to God. What greater boon can a man seek from God but restoraton to the Kngdom lost by hm? It marks the end of hs long exle through countless centures as He hals back the lost sheep to Hs fold. The Master s the knd shepherd who, out of compasson, does all ths for errng humanty. Such hgh souls hold a commsson from the Most Hgh.23
No longer s he an exle n the world but an nhertor of the Kngdom of God, establshed once more n hs natve Godhead.
Ths s the true fulfllment of the covenant between God and man, and the true resurrecton or rsng from the dead as vouchsafed by the Son of God to man. Ths s the fulfllment of God’s Law and the purpose of human brth. Heren les the greatness of Master-souls. They effect a reunon between man and God. The long-drawn perod of separaton comes to an end, and the lost chld s restored once agan to the Father. It marks the Grand Homecomng through
endless trals and trbulatons. The Savng Grace of God s strred by the Godman and the purpose of lfe s fulflled. Henceforth, the Son and the Father are not only reconcled but become one.24
It s a queston of graftng—graftng a branch of one tree nto another tree. What happens? The frut of the second tree, whle retanng the shape and color of ts own, acqures the taste and flavor of the other. Ths s exactly what happens when the Guru-power or lfe-mpulse of the Guru works upon the dscple. Whle remanng as before, the dscple s now no longer hs prevous self, for he has been bought wth a ransom. To be one wth God (Fana-fil-allah) one has frst to be one wth the Godman (Fana-fil-sheikh). Ths s the easest way to reach God.25
We have as yet no experence of God, and have therefore no concepton of Hm nor of Hs powers. Our knowledge of Hm, however lttle t may be, s a secondary one derved from the study of books or heard from persons as gnorant of Hm as we are. In such a state we can contemplate nothng. But there may be a person who may have drect knowledge of God and be nwardly n tune wth the nfnte. There s a pecular charm n Hs company. Hs weghty words of wsdom at once snk deep nto the mnd. Hs utterances, charged wth Hs power, have a magnetc nfluence. One feels a knd of serenty and an nward calm n hs holy presence. He does not reason of God. He smply talks of Hm wth authorty, because he has a frst-hand knowledge of Hm and conscously lves
n Hm every moment of hs lfe. Such a person may be termed a Prophet, a Messah, or a Godman.
The Gospel tells us that God speaks through Hs Prophets or the chosen ones. It s but a natural thng. Man alone can be a teacher of man, and for God’s scence we must have some Godman to teach us that. Sant Satguru s the pole from where God’s lght s reflected. From hm alone we can know of the path leadng to God; and he can be a sure gude who can be depended upon, n weal or woe, both here and hereafter. From what has been sad above, t naturally follows that Godman or Sant Satguru s the rght person to be approached n the frst place and to whom all our prayers should be addressed. Fath s the keynote of success n all our endeavors. We must, then, have frm and full fath n the competency of the Master. Wth love and humlty we must make an approach to Hm f we want to make a begnnng n the sprtual scence. We must pray to hm sncerely from the depth of our heart. We should thnk t fortunate ndeed f n Hs grace He accepts us for mpartng knowledge of self and knowledge of God—whch n fact s the seed-knowledge from whch all knowledge sprngs.26
We should go to the Satguru and plead to Hm to take us out of here—“He has the love, and we are prsoners—He also has come as a prsoner, just for our sakes—He put on ths bag of flth, ths human form, just to release us. O Satguru, f you do not help us, then who can?”
He who has left the house and s standng on the roof can catch hold of another’s hand and drag hm up. The powerful Guru drags the soul out. By gvng a boost, the complete Master gves an experence of rsng above the body conscousness. We need ths help, otherwse how would we rse above by ourselves? We get an nner contact and a taste of the Maha Ras—Greater Nectar whch wthdraws one completely from the outer attractons. So wth Naam, the mnd can be controlled. And to receve connecton wth Naam, one must go to the Satguru.27
How does one determne a Great Master? Swam J Maharaj, n Sar Bachan, has answered ths queston very beautfully. He exhorts that as and when you hear about a Sant or Master, just go to Hm and n deep humlty and reverence st near Hm. Just look nto hs eyes and forehead lke a chld wth deep receptvty. You wll feel an upward pull of the soul and dvne radaton from Hs eyes and forehead; besdes, f you have any questons n your heart, these wll be answered automatcally by Hs dscourse wthout your effort.
Over and above all, the testng crteron for the Perfect Master s to have the conscous contact of holy Naam wthn, the lowest lnks of whch n the form of Dvne Lght and holy Sound Current must be had on ntaton. Agan he should be competent to afford gudance for hs ntates n the astral plane and must protect the soul at the tme of ther physcal death.28 . . . When you go to a God-realzed man wth
full sncerty and humlty, queston hm as much as you lke, and when you are satsfed take hs path and work for t. You should also remember that no true Master wll mpose hs wll on anyone, but he wll develop one’s better understandng untl the subject has some appeal.29
Man hestates and fears to approach a Master Sant because hs lvng s tarnshed, maybe less n one and more n another. Never fear to go to a Master Sant because you are a snner. He s meant more for snners than for others. He has a remedy for every wound. Approach hm and through hm wll be found a way to become rd of sn. If one s far away, he can be contacted through correspondence. He has means and methods to meet every case. He s competent.30
Godmen come nto the world not to make any new laws, nor to destroy the laws as they exst, but only to uphold the unversal dvne law, unchangeable as t s. Ther message s one of hope, fulfllment, and redempton for those n search of the dvne n man and, as such, they consttute a great cementng force transcendng all denomnatonal creeds and faths and presentng a workable way out of theoretcal polemcs of the so-called relgous strongholds. They soar hgh nto the ethereal atmosphere of the sprt and lke a skylark establsh an abdng lnk between the mundane lfe on earth and the free and untarnshed sprtual haven. All relgons are thers and yet none bnds them, for they place before humanty what s essentally sublme n essence at the core of each.31
They do not come to establsh a new relgon and they preach from no partcular scrpt; from ther celestal abode they come wth a law pecular unto themselves, and ths s why the worldly people often fal to understand them. As for the strct trals and tests of ftness, t s gratfyng to know that these have been done away wth durng ths Kal Yuga (Iron Age); but whenever necessary they do put searchng questons to the asprants.32
The Master always speaks wth an authorty born of convcton for he has a frst-hand knowledge of everythng, whch comes from hs drect commun-on wth the Unversal Cause or Orgnal Source.33
Every word uttered by a Sant s pregnant wth unalterable truth whch les far beyond the human ken.
They are the mouthpiece of God and whatever they utter comes to them from above,
Though it may appear to be coming from mortal throats.34
Whoever has a sncere yearnng for the Lord wll most defntely get Hm. Many wll say, “I want God,” but they should analyze ther desre and see why they are wantng God. It wll be dscovered that they really want the health of ther chldren, wealth, name and fame, the removal of ther unhappness, or peace n the hereafter, and many other thngs. Everyone seeks solcted favors; no one really wants God and God alone. All cry out for worldly satsfacton, and God goes on grantng ther wshes. The Father Krpal
(Mercful) has ordered thus: Whatever a chld wants, he shall be gven. And he who truly desres the Lord and the Lord alone—most defntely he wll get hs heart’s desre. Such sngle-ponted devoton s the deal condton for realzng the Lord.
I do not want Swarg (heaven) or Vankunt (hgher heaven);
I only want to repose in the lotus feet of my Guru.
How can one reach God f one desres the fruts of ths world or the next? Comb your heart and fnd out f you truly want the Lord. True desre does exst, but t s very rare.35
The frst thng for man s to rse to God’s level. In the Godman, God s fully manfested. If we become Guruman, we rse to the level of God, and we begn to see the power and sprt of God n hm. We can nether vsualze God nor contemplate Hm, as He s formless. In the Guru, He assumes a form. Devoton to Guru then s devoton to God n hm. Guru, n fact, s not the body but the Godpower workng n and through that body. He s the human pole on whch the Dvne Power works and carres on the work of regeneraton. Ths power nether takes brth nor does t de. It eternally remans the same.36
You may call Hm by any name you lke—Guru, Sadhu, Mahatma, Master, or anythng else. When they asked Hazur what to call hm, he sad, “Call me brother, or thnk of me as a teacher, or equal to your
father, but lve accordng to my advce; and when you reach the hgher regons and see there the glory of the Guru, you may say what s n your heart.”37
To love, revere, and feel grateful to our fellowman s to love and revere God. So, too, the love for the vsble Master, our closest connectng lnk wth God, s n realty love for the Supreme Father. It has sprtualty as an end and s not dolatry. The atmosphere n whch such a genune Master moves s charged wth currents of peace and love whch affect those who come nto contact wth Hm. Even letters wrtten by or on behalf of Hm carry a current of ecstasy that nfluence the nnermost recesses of the heart. Guru precedes God.38
Thus God moves as an ordnary man n dsguse. As a man, externally, no one can recognze Hm except one who contacts the Master-Sant wthn. Ths s accordng to the dvne scence, .e., the laws he has lad down for man’s use. Externally, f one takes a Master-Sant as an ordnary man, he can derve no beneft from Hm. If one accepts Hm as a superman, the beneft s much more. If one takes Hm as All-n-All, the beneft becomes a truly great blessng. When he contacts the Master wthn, he receves all and everythng.39
Master can know everythng about the person meetng hm. Yet he behaves n such a manner that the others may not feel embarrassed wth such an atttude, and tres to meet the humans on ther own level. He sees us just as we can see what there s n a glass bottle—pckle or jam, but n hs sheer gracousness
tres to hde the facts, lest these actons are consdered as transgressons n the ethcal code. An ntate of the competent lvng Master carres the Radant Form of the Master at the eye-focus, whch can be detected and seen by the lvng Master.40
He s a law unto Hmself and can bestow hs dvne blessngs on any one of hs own choce. But the start should not be consdered as the end. It s a lfe-long struggle and strenuous effort of the dscple whch he or she s requred to undergo for the growth of hs or her nner sprtual llumnaton has to be taken care of. As a matter of fact, ever snce the dscple s granted the sacred boon of holy ntaton, he or she s granted a complete vsa for enterng the nner realms up to the true home of the Father. But there are very few who labor much and lead the lfe as enjoned by the Master and can progress wthn. Please refer to
The Jap Ji stanza 33 n ths behalf where t has been
explaned at length.41
You have no power to speak or be silent, No power to ask or to give,
You have no power over life or death, No power over wealth or state for which you are ever restless.
You have no power over spiritual awakening, No power to know the Truth, or to achieve your own salvation,
Let him who thinks he has the power, try. 0 Nanak! none is high or low, but by His Will.42
Wthout a God-man the mystery of the soul s never realzed. It remans a sealed book. The ascent of the soul to the hghest regons s mpossble unless one s ushered nto those planes. Of course, one may be able to wthdraw the sprt current wthn the eyes from the body through Smran, or see some lght at tmes, but there s nothng to take or gude hm upward. Many were held n these elementary stages for ages and ages, and no help came to gude them up. Some have called ths stage the be-all and end-all, but they stll lnger at the outskrts of grosser matter and n the stronghold of the fner matter. It s here that the help of some competent body s needed to extrcate the devotees from the ron-hold of the subtle matter. That somebody should be the man who has gone through the dfferent stages of sprtual development and travelled to the Regon of Pure Sprt, the Sat Naam, far beyond the hold of matter.43
When a Guru ntates a dscple on ths path, he wll not leave hm untl he has taken hm to the lap of Sat Purush, God n Hs true form. After that the Sat Purush wll take hm to Alakh, Agam and Anam, stages of mperceptble, nconcevable and nameless God. A Guru’s duty s very exactng. In truth, a Guru s God Hmself. In whchever pole God has manfested Hmself, that pole s known as Sadhu, Sant or Mahatma, or Master. He never says, “I am the doer,” but always refers to the wll of God.44 It s God’s law
that nobody can reach Hm except through a Master Soul. Ths s what s gven out by almost all the Sants who came so far.45
Postve and Negatve Powers are the two phases of Absolute, dervng power from Hm. The functons of these powers are dverse—one s for the nner recesson beyond the senses, whereas the other leads outward. A Master of the hghest order ntates the souls nto the mysteres of the beyond for proceedng back to the true home of the Father. Hs msson s purely sprtual, based on ethcal lvng. The Negatve Power s the controllng force of ths plane and demands adjustment of each farthng n accordance wth the law of karma. The ntates are advsed, n ther own sprtual nterest, to abde by the holy commandments to ncur the least karma, and by attunng themselves wth the holy Naam wthn to evade the load by reposng n Hs wll and pleasure. Every pleasure has ts prce—ths s the law of ths power. The sprtual asprants should regulate ther lves to strct sprtual dscplne, and pursue such a sublme pattern of lfe.46
You are n the custody of a true Master from the very day he gves ntaton. He becomes the very breath of the dscple. Baba Sawan Sngh J used to say that from the day the Master gves the blessngs of Naam, the Guru becomes the ndweller, along wth the soul. From that very moment, he starts formng the chld wth love and protecton, untl ultmately he takes hm nto the lap of the Oversoul. Untl that tme, he does not leave hm for one mnute.47 It s merely
out of hs nnate compasson that he rears us wth hs own lfe-breaths of the dvnty n hm.48
It s true that the Master wnds up the karmas, but not just lke that; he adjusts them to further the manmakng of the dscples. He takes the chldren n hs charge, but he wll make them nto somethng worthwhle before takng them home. It s hs duty to clean them frst; nobody packs drty clothes away n storage. When people are ntated they rejoce and say, “We have got a Master; we have got salvaton.” When meetng the Satguru, you wll get salvaton f you obey hs words.49 The Guru may gve happness
or msery, for he has to make a beautful form from a rough pece of stone and therefore has to wnd up all the karmas; but a true follower wll never complan, no matter what hardshps the Guru allows.50
The bonds or relatonshp between Master and dscple are the strongest n the world. Even death cannot sever them, for they are ted by the dvne and omnpotent wll of God. The Master remans wth the dscple wherever he may be. Death and dstance are mmateral n the relatonshp of the Master and the dscple. He s always by hs sde, here and hereafter.51
He who resgns hmself to the wll of the Master, places hmself under the Master, who hastens to awaken the dvnty n hm. He talks face to face wth hs devotee and gves hm counsel n tme of need. He molds the dscple nto the lkeness of God and makes hm a lvng temple of the Dvne Conscousness.52
Whosoever’s mnd s stayed on Hm wth full fath He wll keep hm n perfect peace. There s hope for everybody. Master Power comes nto the world to save snners and to put them on the way back to God.
It s for you to reman devoted to Hm and keep Hs commandments. The rest s for Hm to do.53
The Guru bestows the lfe force—the ncomparable gft. There are many knds of gfts, but the gft of Naam s above all others, and havng gven t, the Master then develops t wthn you, because he wants you to reach the same stage as hmself. He wants you to enjoy the blss that he enjoys.54
So know that f you meet a true Guru, you have met the Lord. He s not only a Guru but a messenger from God, come to take you back to Hm. Go wherever he leads you. If you obey hm, you wll become what he s. If not, f your mnd steps n and nterferes, you wll not be able to get anywhere near hm. Those who have met a Perfect Master are greatly blessed.55 A
true Guru wants nothng from hs chldren; he only feels grateful that another soul has become free and s returnng to ts own home. He has true love for the soul.56
No Perfect Sant has ever faled hs dscples. Realze fully, ths one wll not fal you. Thnk deeply upon ths rare prvlege; a dvne dspensaton has been granted to you. Master s not the body. He s the power functonng through the body, and he s usng hs body to teach and gude man.57
So the Master affrms wth convcton that ths place s not the place of permanent abode for your soul, but a halfway house for a lmted perod, assgned to you for the hgher purpose of sprtual perfecton. If you wll vew thngs from ths lofty vewpont, you wll
fnd that our lfe so far has been as futle as anythng. It s a matter of deep concern for each one of us, and we must assess the poston carefully before t gets too late n the day and we are forced to fght a losng game.58
Wthout the nstructon from the God-man the Word cannot be communed wth, but when ths communon s had, t leads the soul to the Lord, from whch the Word emanated and all our efforts have ther full reward. When you, through mmeasurable good fortune, fnd such a holy person, stck to hm tenacously wth all your mnd and all your soul, for you can realze through hm the object of your lfe— self-realzaton and God-realzaton.
Do not look to hs creed or color. Learn the scence of the Word from hm, and devote yourself heart and soul to the practce of the Word. Master s one wth the Word. The Word s n hm and ncarnates n the flesh to gve nstructons to manknd. Truly the Word s made flesh and dwells among us.59
Apra-Vidya and Para-Vidya
O
UTER TEACHINGS, whch we call Apra Vidya, are helpful, but one should not accept them blndly. Investgate the reasons why certan rtes are performed—why the lamps are lghted and the bells are rung, and so on. If you contnue your nqures untl you fnd some real nformaton, your tme wll be well spent. To blndly perform rtuals may yelda lttle peace of mnd but they offer nothng vald. No matter what we do, unless we ncrease n awakenedness t wll amount to lttle. Learn to df-ferentate. Inhert the truth and make the best use of the untruth. Go to one who s fully awake, who has full powers of dfferentaton. You may call hm by any name; some say Guru, or Sant, or Mahapurush, or Satpurush. Although all are man, yet Mahapurush s one who s awakened—true man. Satpurush s he who becomes one wth the Truth tself. We are all purush or conscous bengs, and we are all fortunate to have been gven the human form; t s a grand opportunty to realze the Lord.
Apra Vdya s a term whch categorzes the outer practces: repetton of names, austertes, prayers, devotonal rtuals and customs, plgrmage, alms and donatons, scrpture study, songs of prase, etc.—they are all connected wth the mnd and senses. We wll gan reward from these good actons, but n dong them one’s doershp remans, and as long as we regard ourselves as the doers, we shall contnue to revolve around ths ntermnable cycle of brth and death. Whle the ego remans, both good and bad actons are bndng; as Lord Krshna sad . . . lke gold and ron shackles.60
Para Vdya s to connect the soul wth the Truth. Ego and attachment are consumed by the fre of Shabd; Gurumukh gets the everlastng lght. Ths Shabd can only be receved from the Guru. There s Ashabd, whch s the Wordless God, but when He
expressed Hmself, that expresson s called Shabd or Word. Through the Shabd, creaton came nto beng, and through the Shabd, dssoluton occurs. Creaton, dssoluton, and agan creaton—t all happens by the power of the Shabd. And where s the Shabd? Shabd s the earth, Shabd the sky; through the Shabd the Lght came; Creaton came after the Shabd; O Nanak, the Shabd s n every beng. Shabd s also known as Naam, so we have: Naam s the nectar of lfe, t s the name of God, and n ths body does t resde. When can you see t? When the senses are controlled, the mnd s at a standstll and ntellect s calm—then the soul perceves n crystal clearness. It s the frst stage of realzng the Lord. Self-knowledge precedes God-knowledge, so when one knows who one s, by rsng above the senses, one then realzes why t s sad that “self-knowledge s God-knowledge.”61
The Holy Path: Surat Shabd Yoga
T
HE REFERENCES to Lght and Sound, say the Masters of the Surat Shabd Yoga, are not fguratve but lteral, referrng not to the outer llumnatons or sounds of ths world, but to nner transcendent ones. They teach that the transcendent Sound and Lght are the prmal manfestatons of God when He projects Hmself nto creaton. In Hs Nameless state He s nether lght nor darkness, nether sound nor slence, but when He assumes shape and form, Lght and Sound emerge as Hs prmary attrbutes.62When we say the Surat Shabd Yoga, communon of the soul wth Naam, s easy, we are usng the words relatvely. It s easer when compared wth other forms of yoga: karma yoga, jnana yoga, bhakti
yoga, raj yoga, hatha yoga, the tradtonal ashtang yoga, all of whch call for stern and severe outer
dscplnes, whch a common busy man n the work-a-day world of today has nether the patence nor the tme nor strength nor the lesure to do wth all hs wts about hm. The Surat Shabd Yoga, on the other hand, can easly be practced by every one, man or woman, young or old, wth equal ease and faclty. It s because of ts naturalness and smplcty that t s often termed Sehaj Yoga.63
The course of Surat Shabd Yoga, as descrbed by Guru Nanak, s the most natural one. Even a chld can practce t wth ease. It s desgned by God Hmself and not by any human agency, and therefore, t admts no addton, alteraton, or modfcaton.64 You thnk
the Holy Path s an extremely dffcult undertakng. Maybe so, but t s made easer by the gudance and grace of the Master. The benefts whch are to be derved from ths path are mmeasurably great. What, therefore, f a lttle physcal sacrfce s to be done to acheve ths, the great sprtual end?65
In the olden days, a man had to spend many years at the Guru’s feet before he would be gven anythng. In these days, who can do ths? The Guru must now frst gve somethng, and then the dscple learns to purfy hs lfe. You wll be able to observe that the more the
Kali Yuga (negatve age) ncreases ts force, the more
grace does the Guru bestow—to save any soul.66
The path s straght and narrow and dffcult, very dffcult and exactng, but for one who s truly wllng, every help s promsed, and he can attan the goal n ths very lfe; a goal that sets all other goals to shame, for besde t there are no goals at all but empty baubles and toys, at best half-way houses.67
Initiation: The Awakening
I
T IS THE “Word” personfed or the Master Power that gves ntaton, and t does not matter where the Master s at the tme of ntaton. Regardless of whether the Master hmself s near at hand or far away overseas, the Master Power always works. In case of dstance, the authorzed representatve conveys the Intaton nstructons, generally n the mornng hours. At the tme of Intaton, the Master takes Hs seat at the Thrd Eye of the ntate and takes care of hm henceforth. The accepted asprants, who are sncere and receptve durng ntaton, do have a perceptve frst-hand nner sprtual experence (there s a dfference between the psychc and the sprtual) at whch tme the sprtual (thrd) eye s opened to see the Lght of God and the nner ear s opened to hear the Voce of God—the Creatve Sound of the Beyond whch has a soothng and healng effect. Occasonally, an asprant may feel, for one reason or another, that the ntal experence was lackng.Ths could be due to over-exctement and nablty to dscern the more subtle type of experence granted such a person n lne wth hs background. However, n due tme, ths ndvdual receves a magnfed experence whch erases any feelng of lack should such stll exst. The Master Power, from the moment of Intaton, gudes and protects one even after the end of the world and beyond.68
The nstructon n the esoterc teachngs conssts of the exposton of Smran, Dhyan, and Bhajan; that s to say, repetton (mental wth the tongue of thought only) of the words whch are charged wth the power of the Master: concentraton or medtaton (fxng conscousness or gaze) at the center of the two eyebrows; and lnkng the sprt wth the savng lfelne wthn, ever reverberatng n the form of the perennal Sound Current, the very lfe-breath of the unverse, of whch the Master hmself s the lvng embodment. As soon as a devotee s able to transcend the physcal body, the Radant Form of the Master (Guru Dev) appears n the subtle plane and becomes a gudng force to the sprt on the journey nto hgher sprtual realms, brngng hm back to the True Home of hs Father. Henceforth the Master-sprt never leaves the soul but contnuously helps and drects, vsbly and nvsbly, drectly and ndrectly, n ths lfe and the lfe hereafter, as the occason may demand.69
Wth ntaton and sprtual sadhna or practce, one gradually becomes aware of hs shortcomngs and tres to weed them out, and the more he purfes
hmself, the more he grows nto Dvne Lfe. As the scales begn to drop off, the true values of lfe become more and more apparent. The sprt gradually gets freed from the shackles of the world and s enabled to transcend the physcal body and make flghts nto the hgher regons. Hereafter, “he walks not after the flesh but after the sprt.” Lvng n the world, he s no longer of the world. He now delghts n the blss of hgher sprtual regons and not n the pleasures of the senses and sense-objects. The gft of Naam or Word comes only from a Master-soul who, by njectng hs own lfe-mpulse, befts an ntate for the sprtual journey.
The measure and speed of advance, however, depends on the ndvdual’s own make-up, the ground on whch he stands, and the preparaton that he may have made n past ncarnatons. As each one has a dfferent background, each one has hs own startng pont. The seed s sown, but ts unfoldment, growth and development depends on the nature of the sol n whch t s planted.70
Each one however, as sad before, takes hs or her own tme for efflorescence and fructfcaton. The dormant sprtual facultes begn to qucken wth lfe and the ntate feels wthn hm a sort of fullness, a satety, a blessedness. Ths s a gft mpershable and ndestructble. It can nether be stolen nor washed away. The seed of sprtualty, once sown n the nnermost depths of the soul, must bear flowers and fruts n the fullness of tme. No power on earth can
stand n the way of ts growth or stfle t n any way whatever.
He who has once been ntated by a competent Master s assured, once and for all, hs lberaton from the bondage of mnd and matter; t s but a queston of tme. The seed of sprtualty sown n hm s bound to sprout and fructfy. The sprtualty when awakened and the sprtual experence ganed must develop, and the Master Power cannot rest contented untl the chld owned s reared and taken home to the house of the Father.71
Man has got hmself so enmeshed n mnd and the outgong facultes that hs release from them can only be brought about by struggle and perseverance. Hs plght s, n a way, smlar to that of a brd that has been kept n a cage for so many years. Even f you should open the door of the cage, the brd wll be loathe to fly out. Instead, t wll fly from one sde of the cage to the other, clngng wth ts talons to the wre mesh, but t does not wsh to be free and fly out through the open door of the cage.
Smlarly, the soul has become so attached to the body and the outgong facultes that t clngs to outsde thngs and does not wsh to let go of them. It does not wsh to fly through the door that has been opened by the Master at the tme of Holy Intaton, at the threshold of whch the Radant Form of the Master s patently watng to receve the chld dscple. True dscpleshp does not start untl one has rsen above body conscousness.
It s from ths pont that the dscple wll feel not only comfort, but wll begn to experence the joy and blss that awats hm n the Beyond. He wll have as hs companon the charmng Radant Form of the Master, who s ever at hand to mpart the gudance that s so necessary n order to avod the ptfalls on the way. Untl ths pont s reached the dscple s, as t were, on probaton, but such probaton that cannot be severed. It s durng ths probatonary perod that the soul wll feel some dscomfort. It has become so besmeared wth the drt of the senses that t has lost ts orgnal purty of heart and s not ft to be rased up out of the prson house of the body.
Even though the door has been opened, the soul s so attached to the thngs of the outsde world that t does not wsh to be free. It s only when the soul begns to regan ts orgnal purty of heart and mnd that t can at last want to be free of the desres of the flesh and outward attachments.
The lovng Master tres to avod all possble ds-comfort for the chld dscple by explanng what are the vces to be avoded and the vrtues to be developed n order to regan ths purty.72
Unfortunately, more often than not, the words of the Master do not snk n, and lttle or no acton s taken by the dscple to amend hs ways. Therefore, the Master Power must take frmer measures to brng home to the dscple the mportance of the truths that have been explaned n words. Hence, the dscomfort that s sometmes felt by the dear ones n ther
day-to-day lvng. If mplct obedence would be gven to the commandments of the Master, all the dffcultes and dscomforts would vansh. If a chld gets tself so drty that the only way the mother can wash t clean s by usng a scrubbng brush, can t be sad that the chld wll feel comfortable durng the scrubbng process? It would only feel comfortable after the scrubbng has ceased and t s shnng clean and pure.
God-realzed souls are always present n the world but n the past they were few, and even now they are very rare. Who then are the prvleged ones who get to meet them? Those whose hearts are true. Those wthout decet n the heart not only have the prvlege of the Lord’s own arrangements for meetng the Guru; wth a clean heart they are able to absorb the full beneft of that meetng. The best atttude of mnd s to sncerely serve n humlty, and n more and more humlty. Then the guru will come by Himself. God Hmself makes the soul hungry—and then He feeds t. There s really no need to worry about anythng; smply be sncere and true to your own self. He has sent you to the rght place and He s the gver. It s a very subtle and exactng subject; what can I say about t? If a person thnks of hm as Guru outwardly, tremendous change wll take place. . .73
All the gfts of nature are free. Sprtualty s also a gft of God, not of man. Why should t be sold? It s not a marketable commodty. Knowledge s to be gven away free. Do we have to pay for the sun that shnes on all of us? Why then should we pay for
the knowledge of God? It s God’s gft, and t s to be dstrbuted free and freely. So no true Master wll ever accept anythng n return. He gves freely.74
Q. Please explain the importance of Initiation.
A. Intaton by a perfect Lvng Master assures an escort n unknown realms by one who s Hmself a frequent traveller to those regons. He knows the presdng detes or powers of these planes, conducts the sprt step by step, counsels at every turn and twst of the path, cautons aganst lurkng dangers at each place, explanng n detal all that one desres to know. He s a teacher on all levels of exstence: a Guru on the earth-plane, a Guru Dev (astral radant form) n the astral worlds, and a Satguru n the purely sprtual regons. When everyone fals n ths very lfe, at one stage or another, Hs long and strong arm s always there to help us, both when we are here and when we qut the earth plane. He plots the sprt nto the beyond and stands by t, even before the judgement seat of God.75
The Guru’s blessng s such that no matter how dsobedent a chld s, t wll never come under the rule of Yam Raj agan. What a concesson that s! When the soul realzes, the records of Dharam Raj (another name for the Lord of Death) are burnt. The back records of the ndvdual are transferred from the negatve power nto the hands of the postve power—the Guru.76
Q. When the inner Guru is felt, that He is leading or guiding, is this the initiation—the inner initiation?
