Initiation and drugs by Param Sant Kirpal Singh
(Ek-Onkar) [Q]: Well, if you don't believe in the words of the
Master before you have an experience, you have a lot of trouble having the
experience, don't you? [K]: I tell you, no. Books are there. A learned and
unlearned man both have to do the same thing. An unlearned man does not require
any rules or any evidences from the past Masters, this and that - he doesn't
care. The learned man would like to know whether it is true, whether anybody
else also bears testimony to it; he is taught very cautiously. There is a
building with hundreds of stairs to reach up to the top. There are two men; one
is learned, the other is unlearned. They are told, "All right, you go up
to the roof, to the top of the roof and you'll see the sun rising." The
unlearned starts going up. And the other one says, "How many steps are
there? My foot might slip down. What will be the proof that I will be
saved?" Then he goes up ten steps and says, "Oh, there's no light,
how do you know there will be light?" You see? As you near the top, you
have some light. When you go up, you'll see. That's all. It's something like
that. Two men, one learned and the other unlearned, both went to a Master. To
the unlearned man He said, "All right, I'll charge you a single fee."
The learned man came up, "I think everything should be free." But the
Master said, "I'll charge you a double fee." Why? "Because I
first have to make you unlearned and then you can start. I will have to do this
by explaining this and that thing." One lady came to me: "I don't
want any theory, give me experience." She got an experience. Children see Light. They don't want any theories or
any discussions or what one Master said or what the other said. They simply sit
and see Light. That's a boost given by a Master. That's the only criterion of
judging whether a Man really has something to give. What He has to give may not
be full but it is at least something. It is a start when you rise above body
consciousness. Where all world philosophies end, there the religion starts.
"Re" means back, "legio" to bind. People have forgotten,
you see. They're giving their whole time to singing, lighting candles, this and
that thing. That's all right. That's preparation of the ground: good actions.
But you are the doer. First see and then say. The difference between a Saint
and other men is that He sees and then says. The other men do not see; they
simply read and say. So any one can say, "God is Light; God is all
Light." But one who sees it says, "God is all Light," because he
has seen He is all Light. A man who is blind from birth has never seen the sun.
Similarly a man who has read in a book, "God is Light," saying
"God is Light" is just like a blind man saying he has seen the sun.
All outer performances of what you do are only to help you to further prepare
the ground. There is reaction there, good reaction but there is no emancipation
unless you become an initiate of a Saint and the criterion of a Saint is that
he must give something to start with. A man gives a very good lecture on
business lines, very wonderful, very convincing, very helpful, but if the men
to whom he is talking have no money, what will he do? Talk to him, give him
some capital to start with. So he must be able to give something. Is there any
proof? Where is the proof? You will find there are hundreds of so-called gurus.
Most of them advanced by hypnotizing, by mesmerizing, or by radiation. They're
also very few. Other gurus simply say, "Go on and do this, you'll have
more. Be rest assured your salvation is definite." This won't do. This is
on credit, you see, you must have cash. [Q]: Do those who take drugs such as LSD and have
certain experiences, are they valid experiences? [K]: No, no. They are hallucinations. Any thought
reverberating, that brings forth a hundred times more, mind that. Why do we
stop such intoxication, any intoxication; because we are conscious beings.
Anything that makes the subconscious a little morbid we are not to use. That
results in the death of soul. You follow me? [Q]: Drugs result in the death of the soul? [K]: The death of the soul, yes. Consciousness is
lessened and naturally they have to go on to the lower planes. That is what all
this intoxication starts. [Q]: What about taking LSD then? [K]: It is still more death of the soul. [Q]: There's a great deal of talk that LSD is the
foundation or a basis of a religion of the future or at least an improvement on
the kind of religion that is now existent. [K]: No, no, no. It is deterioration. Definitely
going down to beastlihood. Their consciousness is marred. Animals are also
conscious. Even a snake is conscious but they have a different degree of
consciousness. Man's consciousness is very evolved. But if you use suchlike
things your consciousness is affected. If you are intoxicated by such means
your consciousness is affected, and you will have to go to the lower planes. [Q]: Do those who come to you from a background of
drug experience start then with a very definite handicap? [K]: Surely, sometimes at initiation they are given
a double sitting. They are made to sit twice. Hitherto, men were prepared for
initiation: those who came to the Master had to live with Him for months. When
they were ready, only then they were given something. Now the times have
changed. Who can live with the Master for months and months? So some things are
given all at once at the start. Then it should be maintained by
self-introspection. It is wonderful, of course, how we can have this on the
very first day. All do get something. Some more, others less, that's another
thing; but they do get it. It's a special gift of God. In the Iron Age, the
worst of times, still God's grace is more, so that many may be saved. [Q]: Of course, it's obvious that when You initiate
them here that everybody is getting an experience. I mean, you can see it, you
can count it, but I don't knowif that is necessarily as obvious when Your
assistants do the initiating elsewhere. [K]: I tell you, if the group leaders use their own
ego, then they don't succeed. But if they become a mere channel, all get It. I
receive initiation reports. Most of them get something, some do not get. I tell
the group leaders to give them a second sitting, sometime when they're fresh
and buoyant. Sometimes they're hurrying, they come running in and are made to
sit. How can they have an experience? The initiation should be done when
they're calm and quiet and when he who is just the means, becomes a channel and
is not exerting. So these things stand in the way. In my time when my Master
once came to Lahore where I used to live, He initiated some people there. Then
He told me, "All right, I have sown the seeds; you give them water. You
water them." I told Him, "Master, I'm a mere pipe. The water that
you'll send, I'll give them." You see? The other pipes are only there so
that the water you send runs through them. Otherwise they are hurt. See the
goal - not the personality. I say, "All right, you can give them a
sitting." It doesn't mean that he's giving the initiation. The more of a
channel he becomes, the more experience they get. Sometimes they are not ready
or they are tired or they are hurried up, or the man does not surrender to the
Master Power within. That sometimes stands in the way. Some do get very
wonderful experiences. Of course, here and there we find some that do not see.
Then I tell them, "Give them a second sitting." Sometimes there's
some inaccuracy in their doing the practices, sometimes the instructions are
given hurriedly, sometimes the channel is just feeling that he's the boss. Then
the trouble arises. [Q]: Would you recommend then before a person is
initiated he undergo some kind of preparation for that initiation; I mean
several hours of meditation or something of that nature? [K]: You see, concentration can be done only when
you have something to stand upon in an effective way. When you close your eyes
and if you have nothing to see, to stand on, you've got the darkness before
you. There you'll stay like a child shut in a dark room with the door closed;
he'll break the door, he'll cry. But if he sees something that's attractive and
enchanting, then he'll not cry. So there must be something to stand on. Most of
the, excuse me for saying this, the so-called masters say, "All right,
visualize my face." But I never recommend, never tell anybody that. Why?
If you visualize anybody, God forbid if he is not perfect, then you'll become
what he is. It's very dangerous. It is very dangerous. God is one who comes of
Himself. That figure that appears of itself in the calm and quiet silence in
the heart, that is from God. You are not to visualize. I never tell people to
visualize. They should pray and sit. That's another thing. If somebody is of a
higher level than you are and you visualize him, he won't come in fully. Some
days you'll see his turban, some days his hand. Then you'll say, "I saw
him there." The mind will be running. Those who are of your level or those
who are below you, you'll just think and you see their face. So most of the
people nowadays - I've come in touch with all these heads of religions - all
tell to visualize a form. They give you a photo. Photos are only for
remembrance just like a friend. What comes of itself within and manifests, that
is true. That's the difference. That is why my way is different. Most do see
something. But they stay, then leave. Naturally if they don't stay they don't
get more. You can sit down on any chair, as a child, and you'll see His Face. So light is the only thing to stand on. What light?
Not physical light but the inner Light. That is the God-into-expression Power.
Some people light the candle and visualize the candlelight. Think of the cow
and the cow will become a sister, is it not? "I think of the Master, all
right; he's got a very good face, very good turban; He is a very gentle man;
very elegant; He's a very good actor." But what He is, you see, can be
tested only by Initiation. There's a very vast difference, you see. Don't go by
propaganda. Propaganda is made when a man fears or is incompetent. Don't go to
such a person. I allow everybody to freely go. Go if you can get something
better. Then all right. Take me with you. I'll be thankful to you. Drugs [Q]: Do those who take drugs such as LSD and have
certain experiences, are they valid experiences? [K]: No, no. They are hallucinations. Any thought
reverberating, that brings forth a hundred times more, mind that. Why do we
stop such intoxication, any intoxication; because we are conscious beings.
Anything that makes the subconscious a little morbid we are not to use. That
results in the death of soul. You follow me? [Q]: Drugs result in the death of the soul? [K]: The death of the soul, yes. Consciousness is
lessened and naturally they have to go on to the lower planes. That is what all
this intoxication starts. [Q]: What about taking LSD then? [K]: It is still more death of the soul. [Q]: There's a great deal of talk that LSD is the
foundation or a basis of a religion of the future or at least an improvement on
the kind of religion that is now existent. [K]: No, no, no. It is deterioration. Definitely
going down to beastlihood. Their consciousness is marred. Animals are also
conscious. Even a snake is conscious but they have a different degree of
consciousness. Man's consciousness is very evolved. But if you use suchlike
things your consciousness is affected. If you are intoxicated by such means
your consciousness is affected, and you will have to go to the lower planes. [Q]: Do those who come to you from a background of
drug experience start then with a very definite handicap? [K]: Surely, sometimes at initiation they are given
a double sitting. They are made to sit twice. Hitherto, men were prepared for
initiation: those who came to the Master had to live with Him for months. When
they were ready, only then they were given something. Now the times have
changed. Who can live with the Master for months and months? So some things are
given all at once at the start. Then it should be maintained by
self-introspection. It is wonderful, of course, how we can have this on the
very first day. All do get something. Some more, others less, that's another
thing; but they do get it. It's a special gift of God. In the Iron Age, the
worst of times, still God's grace is more, so that many may be saved. |