CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

 

THE NATURE OF ONENESS

 

VERILY A SATGURU (Master of Truth) is one with

Sat or Truth, as he is embedded in and revels in

Truth. Truth is infinite and all-pervasive, while it

manifests itself and works among people from a human pole

- call it what you will: Master, Satguru, etc.

 

He is a beacon light that sheds the light of Truth on

the tumultuous sea of life, to guide yearning humanity.

He may be likened to a live switch that has behind it the

entire energy of the powerhouse, but doles it out in such

measure as may be needed by each individual according

to his or her requirements.

 

Like a magnetized pole or a live switch, he possesses

a raiment, but in fact is not the raiment, but the Power

inside the raiment. Exactly so is the case of jivas or

embodied spirits.

 

We too are in fact not what we possess and apparently

seem to be - physical entities - but spirits or souls that

enliven the physical bodies.

 

A spirit or soul is purely of the same essence and

power that works in the Master, though clothed in

countless raiments or sheaths and hedged in by numberless

limitations.

 

But when it is able to transcend the various bodies and

become a spirit untrammeled and free, it can then witness

the glory and greatness of the Master, for he is the

horizon where the earth and heaven meet and the sun

of God's Light rises and illumines all space.

 

A veritable sun lies hid in him.

 

We cannot have any adequate idea of God's beauty,

grandeur and greatness by looking at the physical form

of the Master. For an actual experience of Him, we

have to rise to His level.

 

Unless we rise to the level of God, we cannot

know of God.

 

As God is spirit, we too, by self-analysis, must be able to

separate the spirit in us from the material sheaths or

raiments enshrouding it, for spirit alone can see and

experience spirit; not the physical senses nor even the

intellect or mind.

 

The eyes of a Master are charmed casements that open

within on Infinity and without on the finite. In them,

one can get glimpses of Divine Light unparalleled in this

world - a shadowless Light that never is found on sea

or land.

 

Maulana Rumi tells us about him:

 

A Godman is ever in a state of intoxication

without a drop of wine. He is ever satiated

without a morsel of food.

 

His eyes are the eyes of God; his hands are the

hands of God.

 

While living in the world, he is not of the world, nor

he a prisoner in the prison of the body, as we are. He

a free entity and at will crosses over into spiritual realms

and is competent to grant this power and capacity to

thousands of jivas, if he so wishes.

 

A living Master of Truth is one with Truth, and has

in him Truth in fullness, whereby he carries on the work

of salvation entrusted to him.

 

In spite of his form, he is formless. He is Word

personified, a great fountainhead of love, bliss and

peace. Man has to learn from man and, in accordance with

this natural law, Word becomes flesh and dwells among

us to impart spiritual instruction and guidance. Again,

by transmitting his own life impulse he enables us to go

homeward.

 

While doing this work among us, he every day at his

sweet will escapes to his heavenly abode of Truth, so as

to take rest in Nij-anand or imperishable bliss.

 

Master of Truth and Truth are one; for he is polarized

Truth.

 

He is beyond everything, beyond Brahma, the

primal principle;

Nanak has met with such a Guru.

The Master of Truth is eternally the same. He

neither comes nor goes.

He is the imperishable Life Principle that

pervades everywhere.

 

With all our paeans in praise of the Master, we can

never do justice to him; for he existed when nothing was

and from him everything came into being at each cycle

of creation.

 

Who can sing praises of the Master? He is the

source of Truth.

He is eternally unchangeable, the source of all

life from age to age.

 

In Gurbani, it is mentioned that after careful scrutiny

within, one comes to an irresistible conclusion that Master

is Truth and Truth is Master, with no distinction whatever

between the two.

 

When churning the great sea within, one thing

has come to the surface: Guru is Gobind

and Gobind is Guru. O Nanak! There is no

difference between the two.

 

The Almighty in fact resides in the garb of a Saint and

works His plan through him.

 

The Kartar (primal principle) resides in the

Master and he becomes the means of salvation

for many a soul.

 

One knows nothing of love without a Master,

for everyone is devoid of love. Hari resides

in the Master, and blessed Master becomes

the connecting link between a jiva and Hari.

 

Kabir Sahib tells us that he is one with God:

 

Now I am one with Thee and feel satiated and

blessed.

Having reached the highest abode, I am one

with Him; so much so that one cannot

distinguish Kabir from Ram.

 

Similarly, Shamas-i-Tabrez speaks in the same strain:

 

We have become so united, like body and soul,

that hereafter no one can say I am different

from Thee.

 

Christ, too, says:

 

I and my Father are one.

JOHN 10:30

 

He that hath seen me hath seen  the Father.

 

JOHN 14:9

 

God and Godman are indeed just like a sea and its tides.

Momentarily as the tides rise and fall, they appear as

something different, but they are of the same essence as

the water of the parent sea.

 

Exactly the same is a drop of water. When separated

from the sea it is a drop, but the moment it goes into

the sea, it loses its apparent individuality and becomes

part and parcel of the sea.

 

God is formless, while in Godman He assumes form

for instruction and guidance of the people.

 

Nanak has after careful study of the Vedas and

scriptures come to the conclusion that there

is no difference between Parbrahm and

Guru.

 

God is the primal Sound Principle, which He gives to

the thirsty through a Godman.

 

God resides in a Guru and releases the Sound

Current among the aspirants.

Established in Truth, Master revels in Truth.

 

He is at once the Master of Truth and Truth

itself.

In every age, He comes down for the benefit of

the devotees.

 

In the Holy Bible, we read:

 

The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us

... full of grace and truth.

JOHN 1:14

 

In Gurbani, we have:

 

There is not the least distinction between Satguru

and Swami (God-in-action and God).

A contact with the former leads to devotion for

the latter.

 

A man of God is called Satguru or Sat Purush

and he speaks of Hari alone; whoever listens

to him attains salvation.

 

Guru being one with the Almighty is the doer of everything

and sustains the entire creation including the jivas.

 

Guru is the doer and does everything; he is

the true Gurumukh.

Guru is a conscious co-worker with God and is

the sustainer of the entire creation.

Guru is the bestower of peace and comfort and

he is the Kartar (great motor power),

O Nanak! We live and have our being in him

alone.

 

Gosain Tulsi Das, the celebrated author of the Hindi

Ramayana, speaks of the Guru:

 

Salutation to the Lotus of the Guru, who is the

ocean of mercy and God Himself in human

form. His kindly words dispel in us the

darkness born of blind attachments.

 

In the Holy Bible, we read that Jesus once asked his

disciples, "Whom do men say that I the Son of man

am?" And Simon Peter answered and said: "Thou art

the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to

Peter:

 

Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and

blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my

Father which is in heaven.

 

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter,

and upon this rock I will build my church;

and the gates of hell shall not prevail against

it.

MATTHEW 16:13, 16-18

 

On another occasion, he spoke more clearly to them:

 

Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father

and it sufficeth us.

Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time

with you, and yet hast thou not known me,

Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the

Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us

the Father?

Believest thou not that I am in the Father,

and the Father in me?

JOHN 14:8-10

 

Guru Arjan has in very explicit terms told us of his

oneness with God:

 

My temples are in the highest heaven, and my

Kingdom is limitless. My sway is eternal and

countless is my wealth. My glory is known

through the ages and my people live everywhere.

I am worshiped by all and sundry and everyone

is devoted to me. My Father is manifest within

me and now the Father and the Son work together.

O Nanak! The son has become a conscious

co-worker with the Father and there is now

no difference between the two.

 

In the Hindu scriptures, we have:

 

Guru is Brahma, Guru is Vishnu, Guru is

Shiva, and Guru is the veritable Par Brahm;

and we offer our salutations to the Guru.

 

In Mandukya Upanishad, it is stated:

 

As the various mountain streams after passing

through different plains fall into an ocean

and lose their names and separate existence,

so do the knowers of Brahma merge in the

Illustrious Self-Lustrous Being, losing their

names and forms.

 

Here a question arises as to how an all-pervading spirit

can come to occupy a limited space in a human body. In

Discourse 7 of the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna thus

sets at rest this question:

 

Not knowing my transcendent, imperishable,

supreme character, the undiscerning think

me who am unmanifest to have become

manifest.

Veiled by the delusive mystery created by my

unique power, I am not manifest to all; this

bewildered world does not recognize me,

birthless and changeless.

SHALOKS 24-25

 

Again, in Discourse 9, Shalok 11, the Blessed Lord says:

 

Not knowing my transcendent nature as the

Sovereign Lord of all beings, fools condemn

me incarnated as man.

 

Muslim divines also seem to corroborate this, according

to Maulana Rumi:

 

The arm of a Pir (Master) is in no way shorter

than that of God, and the veritable Power

of God works through the former. His long

arm stretches as far as the seventh heaven;

his hand is in the hand of God and no one

besides him shows His greatness. In fact, an

effulgent sun lies hid in him and the greatest

good lies in knowing him, as he is.

 

Again, the Maulana says:

 

The Light of Truth shines in the heart of a

Wali (Godman) - If you are a momin

(Guruman) you may see this as it is.

The Prophet once declared that God Himself

told him that He far transcended the highest

heights, the lowest depths, the earth, the sky

and all the heavens; but strange as it might

seem, He could comfortably rest in the heart

of His devotees, and he who wished to meet

Him could find Him there.

Though he (the Murshid) lives on the earth,

yet his soul spreads out in the limitless

beyond, which all reasoning and philosophy of

the religious cannot reach.

 

Shamas-i-Tabrez tells us in this wise:

 

The King of Kings is enthroned in us, behind

a dense curtain. In the vile garb of flesh, He

comes to grant us access to Himself.

 

Bulleh Shah says:

 

Maula (God) becomes man so as to pull men

up (from their deep slumber).

 

We have in Gurbani many references to this effect

 

God Himself assumed the name of Ram Das.*

Greatly intelligent is our God. He Himself

assumes and takes for Himself the title of a

Saint.

 

O Pipa! Pranva (the Sound Current) is the

only Reality, and becomes embodied as a

Satguru for our instruction and guidance.

 

Satguru is Niranjan (pure, immaculate); do

not consider him as a human being.

A devotee of the Lord himself becomes the

Lord, but man knows not this mystery.

 

*The fourth Guru of the Sikhs.

 

Bhai Gurdas likewise says:

 

Ek Onkar (the one God unmanifest) becomes

Akar (the manifest) and assumes the

appellation of a Guru.

 

He who can tell you of the Reality (impersonal) and

put you in contact with Reality (Truth eternal and

unchangeable permanence), is no other than personal

Reality (Truth personified). He truly is the primal

Sound Current emanating from the Most High.

 

In order to teach mankind, this Sound Current becomes

materialized in the form of Saints. How else can men

have spiritual instruction unless the Spirit of God,

which the Sound Current is, takes a human form and

lives among them, talks to them face to face of mysteries

both human and divine? This is why Kabir says:

 

Brahma cannot speak as Brahma alone. He too

needs a human agency for His self-expression

(among human beings). We, as human entities

encased in flesh and bones, cannot have an idea

of that attributeless Formless One, unless He

assumes a likeness to our own, on this material

plane, and becomes for us a living God capable

of being seen, heard and understood. He is at

once both God and man, and may be called

Godman. He works as a means to an end, a

link between man and God. He is Word personified

so that He may impart instructions about God

and guidance toward God.

 

Peter the Great, Czar of Russia, was anxious to learn

shipbuilding and the art of navigation, so he went to

Holland disguised in the garb of an ordinary laborer. In

the Dutch dockyards there were many other Russian

laborers, working for their living, and Peter worked with

them, talked to them of Russia their native land, and

often asked them to return with him.

 

These poor people were exiles from their country and

would heave sighs because they could not go back however

much they wished. Peter told them that the mighty Czar

himself was known to him, and he might be able to secure

them a pardon. But very few could imagine that a person

in tattered clothes like their own could have anything to

do with the Czar.

 

When Peter started on the journey homeward, after

completing his training, just a few who believed his

words accompanied him. When he entered Russia, he

was received royally from place to place. When the outlawed

laborers saw the honor given Peter, they felt encouraged

and confident that he would be able to have the Czar

reverse the decree of outlawry against them. When at

last they saw Peter enter his capital and ascend the

throne, they were astounded at the change in their

co-laborer.

 

The Master, like Peter the Czar, is the King of Kings.

He comes into the dockyard or prison-house of this world

just as an ordinary laborer or prisoner like us. He also

earns his living as we do, talks to us of our native land,

infuses in us a longing and desire to return home, and

offers to be our companion and guide on the way. A few

who put faith in his words begin to act on his advice,

and they are taken out of this vast prison back to the

throne of God, where they find the Master in his Radiant

Form, more lustrous than thousands of suns and moons

put together.

 

Guru Arjan tells us that He who sent us into exile is

now calling us back to His Kingdom as His true inheritors

and legatees.

 

Again, when Queen Indra Mati completed her course

of spiritual discipline and reached Sach Khand, she

found her Master, Kabir, in the seat of Sat Purush (the

True God). Seeing this, she said, "Master! Why did you

not tell me before that you were Sat Purush yourself? I

would have believed you." Kabir, smiling, replied, "I

could not have convinced you then."

 

All Saints who reach Sat Lok or Anami Desh become

one with God and as such rank equal to each other; and

none can be said to be greater than the other.

 

He who tries to distinguish a Saint from a

Saint starts headlong for hell.

 

Generally, thousands of people congregate around a Satguru

and listen to his discourses, but each one sees him

according to his own mental and spiritual make-up.

Some consider him as a person of piety; some take him

for a philosopher, and some as just a man of learning.

Others regard him as an ideally moral man, and still

others as a selfless worker. Rare indeed are the jivas who

find God in him.

 

Thus each one finds in him a reflection of what he

himself actually is or wishes to become, and so gets from

him that quality, for he distributes to each what he

merits.

 

As a man in physical raiment his foremost duty, of

course, is man-making; and as God personified it is

revealing or manifesting God. So it all depends on one's

own preparedness through the ages. Blessed indeed is the

man who is ready for immediate transformation into

God, for to such an individual he at once reveals his

Godhood; as Krishna revealed his oneness with Kal to

Arjuna, when through ignorance he hesitated to perform

his duty as a Kshatriya prince.

 

A blind man cannot see one with eyes nor can he take

hold of him, unless the man with sight compassionately

takes him by the hand and leads him aright.

 

Similarly, no one can see in a Master the Master of

Truth or Truth itself lodged in him unless he reveals

his real self to him. Even those who constantly live with

him, including his close relatives, can seldom recognize

in him the hidden Godhead.

 

Without the gift of special merit one can never know

of the really intrinsic nature of a Saint (his Godhood)

He who can see and recognize God in him has indeed

found God, for He not only resides in him but manifestly

works through him.

 

He is the pole from where the power of God shines

forth and works out the Divine Will.

 

Bhai Nandlal says:

 

God is ever present before thee; see thou His

blessed form.

 

Guru Nanak similarly says:

 

The God of Nanak is ever before him.

 

In the same way, when Naren (later Swami Vivekananda)

first met Sri Ramakrishna, he asked him, "Master, have you

seen God?" And Ramakrishna replied, "Yes, my child! I have

seen Him as I see you."

 

Thus it all depends on our inner vision. If one is gifted

with this, or if Satguru so wishes, he may see the flashes

of God's Light coming through the Master. The purpose of

all spiritual discipline is the restoration of the lost

vision to the inner eye, so that we may be able to see God,

both as all-pervading in the Universe and as deeply

concentrated behind the mighty breakwater of the Master.

 

This revelation then depends upon the sweet will of

God and no one can claim it as a right. It is just a

pure and simple gift from Him to one who has prepared

himself through the ages.