CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

 

GURU IS GODMAN

 

MASTER is in truth the perfect manifestation of God.

Filled with Godly Light he is the torch-bearer of

God. He is the pole from which God works out His plan

of redemption. God, having made man after His own

image, placed an iron wall between Himself and the spirit,

owing to the first sin of disobedience to Him. Man

was thus driven out from the Garden of Eden and placed

in the physical world, so the story goes, to earn his bread

with the sweat of his brow, and to work out his salvation

through a Saviour - the Son of Man, in which garb God

Himself comes with the key to unlock the Kingdom of

Heaven for leading in the lost sheep.

 

The Word becomes flesh and dwells among us, God's

Light shines through his eyes, God's voice speaks through

him, and God's Grace works out salvation for those who

hunger and thirst for Him. Like a common man) he lives

among us, shares our joys and sorrows, gives us

instructions in spirituality and guides us on the path.

Embedded in the Father he works out His Will.

 

All things are delivered unto me of my Father:

and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father;

neither knoweth any man the Father,

save the Son, and he to whodinever the Son

will reveal Him.

MATTHEW 11:27

 

Maulana Rumi also says:

 

In the Master is lodged both God and the

Mediator. There is in fact not the least

distinction between the two. Drive all

thought of duality from thy mind, or else

thou shalt get lost in the wilderness,

and so also shall be the fate of thy first

lessons in spirituality. He who considers

the two as separate entities has not yet

learnt anything from, or known anything of,

the Master.

 

Master is the form of the formless God - the form that

we can see and have relationship with. It is this very

form that imparts to us the knowledge of God, and again

it is this very form, luminous of course, that

accompanies us on the journey Godward and directs our

footsteps on the path.

 

In each plane, physical, causal, and beyond, there is

increased splendor of the Master, and his limitless sway

and power becomes more manifest to the companion

spirit as it travels along.

 

Godman as he is, in the world his form is the Kibla

and Kaaba of the Muslims, the altar of the Christians,

the eternal light of the Zoroastrians, the temple, the

synagogue and the Gurdwara, for he alone is fit to be

worshiped.

 

Like electricity in the atmosphere, the universe is

charged through and through with God. There is no

place where He is not, and yet He is hidden from view;

and Guru or Master is the mighty switch, the source

and fountainhead that makes it possible for us to witness

His greatness and get glimpses of His power.

 

In short, Master is the pole at which God actually

works, and therefore he may fittingly be called polarized

God as distinguished from the latent state in which He

is at one with everything and yet we know Him not.

 

The greatness and the puissance of God is manifested

in the Master in abundance. So long as a person does

not come in contact with some Godman, God just remains

an idea with him, a mere figment of his everyday mind,

a shadow with no real substance at all.

 

In the Godman, one finds a living God on earth, just

as anyone talking and smiling with us, guiding us by

word and example and helping us through from stage to

stage. Blessed indeed is a spirit that can establish a living

contact with, a living Master - the greatest gift of God

to mankind.

 

Man indeed is the teacher of man. Unless a Godman

gives us Light, we cannot have the Light of Reality, and

like blind men we grope in utter darkness.

 

In the physical world we, with physical eyes, can see

nothing but physicality around us. The subtle vision can

see the subtle world, and the causal can view the causal

universe. Master of all three and even beyond, he bestows

inner Light that illumines the inner darkness and one

begins to witness an endless panorama of spiritual vistas

ever expanding and bringing to view new delights at

every step. All this work he does by means of the

Sound Current or the Voice of God, hearing which the

dead are quickened with Life and attain life everlasting.

He is the connecting link between a soul and the Oversoul.

With roots embedded in God and branches spreading

throughout the world, laden with flowers and fruits of

Paradise, he provides spiritual food to all who come to him.

 

Maulana Rumi in this context says:

 

O Friend! sit near one who knows the condition

of thy heart (and who can make it whole).

Rest a while under the shade of a tree that is

laden with fresh and fragrant flowers.

Loiter not in the market place from shop to shop,

as idlers do. Go straight to one who has a store

of honey with him.

 

Take hold of the garment, O brave soul! of one

who knows well the various planes: physical,

mental, supramental, and beyond; and is

able to remain with thee like a true friend,

whether in life or in death, in this world or

in the next.

 

The form, physical or astral, of the Master or God-in-man

which helps us through in our journey Godward, is better

by far than the native invisible form of God which is

beyond all thought and contemplation.

 

Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Ishwar (Niranjan) and Parmeshwar

(incarnations of Brahma) are all worthy of our respect and

adoration.

 

We have read much about them, religiously, in sacred

lore. They figure as heroes and heroines in mythological

tales, but as such are nothing but figments of human

imagination.

 

When Satguru or the Master of Truth takes charge

of a spirit (at Gaggan), He gradually reveals the true

significance and way of each of them. All of them have

existed since creation, and are engaged in carrying on

the duties assigned to each of them.

 

But we cannot know them or their handiwork and

authority unless the Satguru takes us along and shows

us the nature of this mysterious hierarchy.

 

God Himself in the garb of man (Saints and prophets)

informs us of His Own Natural Self. Guru Amar Das has

therefore declared:

 

It is the basic principle of God that without a

Master of Truth, no one can even think of

Him.

 

Sant Kabir also tells us:

 

The Master is greater than God. Ye may very

well think over this dictum. Devotion to God

keeps a person entangled on this side (in the

physical plane); but devotion to the Guru

leads him across to God.

 

The greatness of the Master lies in this: that he connects

the souls with the Unknown Reality, and puts a stop to

the cycle of births and deaths. The Oversoul, even when

with us, could neither manifest Itself directly nor could

It take the soul out of the physical plane and liberate it.

 

Only through instructions from a Guru (Master Soul

or Godman) and association with Shabd (Word or God-

in-Action) can one achieve these wondrous results.

 

Without Word one can have no escape (from

bondage).

Word Personified is the Master and he can

manifest It in us.

God may turn His back and one may not

mind, but if the Master does so, none can

bring about reconciliation.

 

KABIR

 

If Siva gets estranged, the Master can reconcile

us to him; but who can reconcile us to the

Master?

 

In this respect Sehjo Bai, a lady devotee, sings to us in

melodious strains of the greatness of her Master - Charan

Das:

 

I may give up God, but cannot for a moment

forget the Master, for God Himself cannot

come up to him.

God drove me into the wilderness of the world,

but the Master has snapped for me the

ceaseless cycle of transmigration.

God set on my heels the five deadly sins (desire,

anger, greed, infatuation, and egoism),

but the Master taking pity on my helplessness

saves me from them.

God entangled me in the meshes of the family

ties, but the Master cut asunder these bonds.

God delivered me to disease, decay and death,

but the Master with his yogic powers delivered

me from them.

God bound me hand and foot in the web of

karmic reactions, but the Master revealed to

me my true nature - and I have now found

out that I am soul, the spirit of the universe.

God in me hid Himself behind a curtain, but

the Master with his torch of Truth revealed

God to me.

Again God created both bondage and salvation,

but the Master put an end to all these

chimerical fantasies.

I would sacrifice my very body and soul for

Charan Das, my Master. I would rather

surrender God for the Master's sake.

 

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