Chapter
III GURU:
HIS NEED AND FUNCTIONS (MASTER
POWER) Q. How does one deter mine a 'Great Master'?
A. Swami Ji Maharaj in Sar Bachan has answered
this question very beautifully. He
exhorts that as and when you hear about a Saint or Master, just go to Him and
in deep humility and reverence sit near Him.
Just look into His eyes and forehead like a child with deep
receptivity. You will feel an upward
pull of the soul and Divine Radiation from His eyes and forehead. Besides, if you have any question in your
heart, these will be answered automatically by His discourse without your
effort. Over and above all the testing
criterion for the Perfect
Master is to have the conscious contact of holy Naam within the lowest likes of
which in the from of Divine Light and holy Sound Current must be had on
Initiation. Again He should be
competent to afford guidance for His initiates in the Astral
Plane and must protect the soul at the time of their physical death. Q. What is a Sant or Master?
A. A Sant or Master in the Saints' terminology
is one who goes to Sach khand or the Fifth Plane and comes back at Will, and
who can give you Experience of contact with Word or Naam.A Mahatma is a word in
the vernacular to convey a highly evolved Soul. These words are, however, not properly used these days and an
ordinary person of small degree of piousness may be termed a sant or
master. But you need not worry about
words. Q. What is the history of the Masters?
A. Masters have been coming at all times. The Surat Shabd Science was, however,
enunciated in times of Sant Kabir and Guru Nanak and thereafter by other
Masters
Q. Is it possible to succeed on this Path
alone?
A. No. To succeed on this inner Path, we must
find One who has explored it to its utmost limits. A living Master is an indispensable need, and an indispensable
means to the attaining of Self -Realization.
On the purely physical level, He
serves as a living example of the Perfect Life. He tells us of our True Home and the way that leads to It. One the spiritual side He gives us details
of the inner Path, its intricacies and difficulties, provides His Attention,
with an actual experience of withdrawal from the body and of the inner Light
and Sound, and guides us through the more difficult parts of our inner journey
until we reach our Goal. Q. Recently I had a vivid dream
wherein both Baba Sawan Singh Ji an Yourself appeared sitting side by side
looking at me. Why did a negative dream
ensue? A. The appearance of Master or His Master's
Form in your dream state was rather for you personal conviction and reassurance
that you are under the Divine Protection of the gracious Master-Power. Any negative apparition will fade away
before the repetition of the Five Names. Q. There are many self-styled Masters. How may one know a True Master?
A. A True Master is dedicated to bring souls
back to the True Home of their Father.
A True Master gives more than mere theory. He gives experience to His disciple. He shows the way to God, which is within. God and Master are within. This question usually besets every true
seeker after god. In my boyhood, I had
the same doubts and questioning before me.
I did not dare to go to any Master for fear of encountering an imperfect
master and then my whole life would be one of frustration. So I earnestly prayed to God for
guidance. My prayer was heard. A True Master began to appear to me in my
meditations, about seven years before I came to Him physically, whom I
recognized to be the same Great Master Sawan Singh. Your question remains -how to recognize a True Master? Outwardly
we should see that He has no selfish motives.
He should be living on His own hard-earned money. He should not be fond of outward pomp and
show. He will live a simple life. His
thoughts will be pure. His true Qualifications will lie in His
ability to give the initiate some first-hand experience by opening the inner
eye to see the Light of God and inner ear to hear the Voice of God, the sound
Principle. The extent of this
experience will be according to the background of the initiate and his
receptivity. After Initiation the only rules for judging
for one's self is one's own inner ascent to the Spiritual Planes whereby one
can see for himself, and meet all Masters; Past or Present, wherever they are,
in the Upper or Lower Planes. Those who contact the Master inside and talk
to Him know. Q. In 'Spiritual Gems's -318:
Talking of Maha-pursha (Supreme Lord) brings ecstasy to the soul. His sayings and works are of the quality of
Heavenly Necatar. What are these works?
What are His sayings? Are they the Master? A. Yes, the Living Master is a Mahapursha, the
Great Force of Power Transcendental.
Being One with All- Consciousness He constitutes the Human Pole from
where the God- in-Expression Power works in the world. Every act and every word of the Mahapursha
Proceeds from a Higher Spiritual Level, and is charged with the Spiritual Life
overflowing, which act as a balm to the lacerated hearts, give ecstasy to the
soul, and attracts them to rise into the Beyond. He does nothing on His Own except as He is moved by the Holy
Spirit. Commissioned, as He is from Above, with the sacred duty of guiding the
seekers after Truth to the True Home of His Heavenly Father, He comes into the
world to work for Spiritual Regeneration.
This indeed is His Greatest Work and
whatever else He does is ancillary to this Divine Mission on the earth-plane,
and as such is holy and helps the embodied souls in diverse ways in the
spiritual advancement. Q. How does a Master differ from an ordinary
spiritual teacher?
A. The Master-Saint is outwardly a human being
like any one of us, but through blessings and intense spiritual discipline, He
has risen into Comic-Awareness and Super- Cosmic-Awareness. He has become One with God and is a
Conscious Co-Worker of His Divine Plan.
He is a Living Embodiment
of God's Love and does nothing of Himself.
He is not tormented by any self-interest, but works for; the pure
benefit of suffering humanity. Q. I have been informed several times that a
Master always knows His initiates on sight.
I overheard You ask several if they were initiates while you were here
in Los Angeles, Was I misinformed? I was and still am disturbed about this. Could you explain? I know there is a logical
answer of some kind, but what?
A. Master can know everything about the person
meeting Him, Yet He behaves in such a manner that the others may not feel
embarrassed with such an attitude, and tries to meet the humans on their own
attitude, and tries to meet the humans on their won level. He sees us just as we can see what is there
in a glass bottle-pickle or jam, but in His sheer graciousne tries to hide the
facts lest these actions are considered as transgressions in the ethical
code. An initiate of the competent Living
Master carries the Radiant Form of the Master at the eye-focus, which can be
detected and seen by the Living Master. Q. To what extent do the teachings of sages of lower order help the
sincere students of Sant Mat so as to hasten the day when we meet the Gadiant
Master within and be guided by Him thereafter? A. The teachings of all the Masters, may be of
lower order or higher order, are helpful to the initiates provided the latter
do not indulge in controversial discussions.
Like an intelligent swan (whose beak is blessed with the rare boon of
separating milk from water) the disciple should accept goodness from wherever
it may be available. The charming
Radiant Form of the Master manifests itself in due course by attaining
proficiency in the Divine Principles of holy Shabd-the Sound Current and the
Civine Lights, which are His Astral Forms.
The faithful and disciplined initiates receive guidance at every step
after the Radiant form of the Master is manifested within. The inner receptivity of the disciple
develops wonderfully by regular, faithful and accurate meditations. Ever since Initiation, the gracious
Master-Power becomes the constant and nearest companion of the disciple for
escorting the soul on to the True Home of the Father, with the aid of holy Naam Q. How is Christ-Power transferred from one
Master to another?
A. It is transferred through the eyes. As a matter of fact the chosen human Pole on
whom the Master-Power is to work for the liberation and guidance of humanity is
determined much earlier. There are
living testimonies in this behalf that the dear ones who have never heard about
Sant Mat and living in far
flung countries had visions of the Master much ahead of Him taking the role of
the Living Master. It is the Divine
Form which works for the guidance of the humanity. They are chosen by God-Power or Christ-Power and not voted by
public, or transferred through written documents. Q. Are the God and Gad-Man (Master) considered
one and the same?
A. Yes it is so, but there are very few who can
develop this much receptivity and understand this rare phenomenon. The Physical plane is a realm of duality
where illusion prevails most and only spiritually illumined may testify to such
a statement for their own personal conviction as given by some of them; i.e. 'I
and my Gather are one' and 'Father and Son have taken the same colours' etc. Q. Do Masters welcome sinners?
A. Yes, soul is of the same essence as that of
God and Master looks on all as embodied souls.
So all are dear to Him. He
wishes them to reach to the True Home of their Father. A repentant sinner coming with a sincere
heart is acceptable to Him. We are all
Sinners and we come to Him to be cleansed. Q. How do we obtain true knowledge of God?
A. The knowledge of God is a definite and a
complete Science in itself-unchanged since life began on earth. It is only rarely that one may come across
this Science. It is God-made and not
man-made. It has always remained an
'Unrecorded Science' unwritten and unspoken.
There is one God, and there is only one way to Him. The elementary steps in this direction may
be different. This knowledge has both a
theoretical and a practical aspect. The
theory is quite simple. The Power of
Almighty God works on a selected human Pole Who becomes His Mouthpiece or His
Messiah, to impart His knowledge to those who long for Him and want to be with Him. God is Love, our souls are also endowed with
Love and the way to God is through loving devotion. One has to withdraw his soul-current from the physical body and
enter His Kingdom through the guidance and help of a Practical Master or Saint,
who is Love Personified, and can transcend the body and traverse the Higher and
can transcend the body and traverse the Higher Planes. There is a practical side of the Science of
the Soul. The master Saint is able to
give first-hand experience at the very first sitting to almost all seekers,
however small the experience may be (according to one's receptivity) to have an
inner vision and contact with the inner Sound or the Voice of God, that is
Word, the Primal Manifestation of the God-head then becomes the Guide of man in
the interior of his self. It is the
Master in his Radiant Form that accompanies the pilgrim soul and guides him or
her at each step on the way. The Master
meets and talks and guides the disciple on the way up. Contacting a Practical Master
is, therefore, a must for those wishing to be on the way to God. Telepathy is transference of thought, and thoughts emanate from the
mind, and thoughts emanate from the
mind, and mind has therefore to be stilled; eyes have to be closed from all
external views and the ears likewise from all outer sounds. The soul currents of the body have to be
withdrawn and collected at one centre, the seat of the soul in the body, and
this is done according to the
instructions given at the time of Initiation. This in brief is what is called Spirituality, the proper type of
meditation, the Science of Para Vidya, which has come down from ancient times
and is known today as Sant Mat. Q. From 'My Submission' -page
34: 'Spiritual Life with the help of the Master leads on to 'the Almighty in a
short time.' Will you please explain
'short time' as to one's personal life? A. The term 'short time' as used here is a
relative term. All outer practices, the
performance of rites and rituals, the chanting of psalms and hymns, the telling
of heads, the observance of fasts and festivals, the keeping of vigils and
doing yogic activities, going on pilgrimages are meant for preparation of the
ground and are good actions. Lord
Krishna says: Good and bad actions are
both binding just as chains, may be made of gold
or iron, are equally binding. Those lead you astray from the Path of God which is purely an inner
practical process of self-analysis, consisting in untying the Consciousness
from the body and the mind and tying it with the saving Live-Lines within which
take one straight to the Kingdom of God.
It is only an Adept in this Esoteric Knowledge
(or the Knowledge of the Beyond) and commissioned from Above, Who can do this
job and no one else can. Master has the
competency to pull your soul into its seat in the body and then transcend into
the Beyond in short time by giving a practical sitting. In Matt.
11:27 we have: None knows the Father, save
the Son, and he to whomsoever the son will
reveal Him. Q. Is Master the true
embodiment of all encompassing Love, to pour it upon any one of His choosing,
to open up the depths within to anyone He sees spiritually fit to receive this
tremendous Blessing? A. Yes, The Master is all in all in this
respect. He is a Law unto Himself and
can bestow His Divine Blessings on any one of His own choice. But the start should not be considered as
the end. It is a life long struggle and
the strenuous effort of the disciple, which he or she is required to undergo
grow the growth of his of her inner spiritual illumination, has to be taken
care of. As a matter of fact ever since
the disciple is granted the sacred boon of holy Initiation, he or she is granted
a complete visa for entering into the Inner realms up to the True Home of the
Father. But there are very few who
labour much and lead the life as enjoined by the Master and can progress
within. Please refer to The Jap Ji
stanza 33 in this behalf where it has been explained at length. Q. If I need guidance from the
Master and am not able to go up within and contact Him and get a definite
answer but yet I pray to Him, how will I know whether what I have decided to do
is true guidance or merely my own mind acting? A. The initiate who contacts the Master within
of which the genuineness is tested by the repetition of the charged Names given
to him, can have direct reply which will stand true. Until then an initiate in all his affairs -mundane or spiritual-
should attend to them carefully and do the best he can; with serene detachment
and self-abnegation, attaching no importance to the rewards whatsoever and
leave the rest to the Master-Power working overhead. Q. Why do the Great Master on earth always take
the form of man?
A. The Masters claim that there is only one
Male gender amongst the souls and He generally manifests on the chosen human
Pole of the Living Master. It is a
Divine Law which cannot be questioned by the mortals. Q. We are told our husband (or
wife) is under the protective care of the Master. Does this Protection last
after the disciple dies? Will the one left behind ( non-initiate ) still be
under the Master-Power. A. The sacred loving bonds existing between the
partners in life do invoke Divine Grace of the Master and accordingly the dear
ones lift behind do in some measure enjoy gracious protection of the
Master-Power Q. Now that we have come down
to earth from out Heavenly Home, do we have definite promise that we can remain
there after going up with a Master? A. Yes, there is a definite promise from the
Living that the souls merging with the Father within, are not to be
reincarnated when blessed with the rate boon of holy Initation of Naam. The seed karma being the basis of future
birth of the initiates is burnt in the fire of holy Naam. Guru Nanak Sahib has proclaimed in Granth
Sahib, that having been blessed with the rare boon of holy Naam, the accounts
of the disciple are torn, and he or she has nothing to do with Dharam Rai -the
Judge, appointed by Negative Power for administering justice to the souls,
after the termination of their earthly lives.
They can be sent to the earth to fetch back the souls to God, but not
like prisoner to reap the fruit of their actions. Q. When the Living Master is
called away from this incarnation, will it be possible for us to contact Him,
thus preventing a period of loss or frustration? A. The Radiant Form of the Master can be met
within by regular and faithful meditations, even if the Living Master leaves
the physical plane. It is the
God-Power, Christ-Power, or Guru-Power working at the chosen human Pole, which
continues extending feasible grace and protection and does not leave the
initiates till the end of the world.
The initiate however has to derive the benefit from the Living Master
for outer guidance wherever necessary. Q. Why does a disciple see and
feel a chose affinity with Master Sawan Singh although Master died before this
disciple heard of the Living Master, or was initiated by Master Kirpal Singh?
Why would a disciple feel closer to Master Sawan Singh than to his won Master. A. It is based on past links and affiliations
with the holy Path and shows that this init6iate was granted Initiation by
Master Sawan Singh Ji but could not progress much and has been placed in such
congenial environments, where he could come under the competent guidance of the
Living Master. The same Master-Power
continues working on the chosen human Pole of the Living Master and the dear
ones are led to Him in good time. There
are several instances of this type here and abroad. |