CHAPTER THIRTY

 

THE WORDS OF THE MASTER

 

 

WHEN A PERSON comes to a Master, he must come

with an open-minded outlook. Since he knows that all

his actions hitherto, individual as well as social,

have not so far secured him salvation, he should bid

goodbye to them and ask the Master for his instructions

in the matter of spiritual practices.

 

Having obtained his instructions, he must then follow

them scrupulously, and that alone should constitute his

sole devotion. Whatever the Master ordains, that must

be taken as Gospel truth, no matter whether it stands the

test of mere human reason or not. Our intellect and our

reason, after all, are limited and cannot reach the depths

to which the Master penetrates. He knows the why and

wherefore of his instructions, and like a fully responsible

Field Marshal issues his commands.

 

We must therefore learn to obey him implicitly like a

true soldier, and do what he bids. Hafiz, in this context,

says:

 

Dye thy prayer carpet in wine if thy Master

so desires;

For he is not ignorant of the turns of the

highway ahead.

 

Mere lip loyalty to the Master never pays. The Master

wants full devotion to what he says, for therein lies the

ultimate good of the disciple. In the Gospel it is

emphatically declared:

 

If ye love me, keep my commandments.

JOHN 14:15

 

But be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers

only, deceiving your own selves.

JAMES 1:22

 

Again, mere chatter about spirituality will be of no avail.

 

The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses'

seat:... but do not ye after their works:

for they say, and do not.

MATTHEW 23:2-3

 

For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in

power.

I CORINTHIANS 4:20

 

As the body without the soul is a dead carcass, so talking,

if it be alone, is a dead carcass. St. Paul says:

 

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of

angels, and have not love, I am become as

sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.

I CORINTHIANS 13:1

 

The same may be said of darshan or having a look at the

Master. It may give you temporary peace and quietness

of mind, but the moment you go away the mind begins

to run riot again, and reigns supreme over body and soul.

 

Thus, nothing but doing and performance count on

the Path of the Masters. The Master's words sink deep

into the heart; one can hardly think of not following

him.

 

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you,

ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done

unto you.

Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear

much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

JOHN 15:7-8

 

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

MATTHEW 7:20

 

But he that received seed into the good ground

is he that heareth the word, and understandeth

it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth

forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some

thirty.

MATTHEW 13:23

 

The world is compared to a harvest (Matthew 13:30)

and men at harvest regard nothing but the fruit.

 

Accept the Master's words as Gospel truth,

and harvest well the Fruit of Life.

 

The words of the Master cannot be detached from the

Master. It is from the abundance of the heart that the

tongue speaks. The Master is embedded in the Word

and his words are expressions of what is in him; that is,

Word, Life-impulse, and power. How then can the two

be separated from each other? His words undoubtedly

pierce through the hearts of the aspirants and none other

can know the sweet pangs from which they suffer.

 

As longing for the Lord grew keen, words of

the Master pierced my heart; the mind alone

knows the pangs; who else can know another's

pangs?

 

The more one gives weight to the Master's words, the

more he grows in grace. True devotion to the Master

consists in acceptance of, and doing, what he commands.

Guru Ram Das exhorts us that the thought of the Master

should ever be a companion, no matter what we may

be doing. The Master is hidden in his words, and his

words are in fact the real Master.

 

Holy is the Word of the Master, and through

It one gets the Elixir of Life; for acceptance

of his words gives one immortal life.

Remember ever the Word of the Master, for

herein lies real devotion and truth.

Act in conformity to the Master's word; this

constitutes contemplation aright.

 

The Word of the Master ever abides with the initiates.

No power on earth can snatch it away. Fire cannot burn

it nor can water sweep it off. It is indestructible and

immortal. It fathers the fatherless and protects us at every

step. It strikes at the root of all doubt and skepticism.

Even the angel of death cannot come near it.

 

Contact Ram Naam through the instructions

of the Master;

This nectar can be enjoyed in the company of

Saints;

 

Find thy native home with the help of the Master;

Then there will be no more coming and going.

 

One cannot come into the treasure of Naam by the

performance of deeds on the plane of the senses.

All persons no doubt sing and hear the Gurbani, but

only those benefit from that who really believe in the

words of the Master as Gospel truth:

 

Servants and disciples as they come to the

Master

Chant the holy verses from scriptures divine;

Chanting and hearing is alone acceptable

From all who with faith accept the words of

the Master.

 

Persons who time and again meet the Master come to

love him more and more; and those who regard his

words as Truth become beloved of the Lord.

 

Whatever the command of the Master may be, it must

be followed with unswerving zeal; so that you will be

able to take hold of the Shabd, which will lead you back

to your native home.

 

Whatever the Master says, that ye must do;

Following the Sound Current, come ye to your

own and win for yourself laurels with the

help of Naam.

 

He who acts at the Master's bidding, true

comfort is his reward;

By following his behests, O Nanak! one

fearlessly crosses over.

 

It is absolutely necessary to serve the will of the Master,

for in doing so lies the good of the disciple.

 

Many people indeed meet the Satguru, but that is not

enough. For salvation, one has to obey him in thought,

word and deed.

 

Everyone looks at the Master, yes, the entire

world;

But salvation cannot be had by seeing, without

contact with Naam.

 

The Master must be an adept in Surat Shabd Yoga and

be able to make Shabd manifest within us; that Shabd

which does not exist within the nine portals, but is the

characteristic of the tenth alone.

 

When such a Master has been found, it behooves a

disciple to wholeheartedly submit himself to his yoke and

mold himself accordingly. In doing so, he derives the

greatest benefit from his human birth and renders a

yeoman's service to his ancestors as well as his

descendants, and has nothing of which to be afraid.

 

Blessed indeed is the birth of those who follow

the will of the Master;

For they save their families and bring much

glory to their mother.

He who molds himself in the way of the Master

never gets any ill;

In his way lies the Pool of Nectar and he easily

gets to it.

 

A disciple who follows the will of the Master gets the

Elixir of Life in his own right, and wins the Kingdom of

God as, his birthright.

 

O man! Follow thou the will of thy Master;

Dwell in thy native home and enjoy life eternal.

 

Who understands the will of the Master and follows it

scrupulously? One in whom the grace of the Lord works.

 

In whom the Lord's grace works, he alone

accepts and follows the Master's words.

 

There is no person greater than one who, accepting the

words of the Master, realizes God. We must therefore

aspire for the Word and try to secure a contact with it

through the Sant Satguru.

 

O mind! Always remember the Lord's words;

He who through Word gains his native home

is the crest jewel among men.

 

The blessings of Hari Naam are too numerous to be

recounted. One who becomes dyed in the color of the

Word always chants the glories of God. All his works

automatically take the right shape at the right moment.

 

What he wishes must happen, for Nature herself is at

his beck and call. He is freed from all ills and all evils.

He loses all thoughts of I-ness and my-ness and never

becomes vainglorious.

 

He rises above the pairs of opposites: riches and

poverty, comforts and discomforts, pleasure and pain, fame

and obscurity; for he remains in a state serene and with

equipoise.

 

The poison of mind and matter can have no effect on

him. While in the world, he is no longer of the world,

but is unattached and carefree; he moves about wherever

he likes.

 

The illusions and delusions of the world do not affect

him. He escapes the sway of Kal (Time) for time has

no bondage for him, nor has space any limitations nor

causation any spell.

 

He gains life everlasting and once again wins back the

Kingdom of God, the Garden of Eden from which he

was driven because of his first disobedience to God.

 

He not only saves his own soul but through the power

of the Word saves the souls of many others who come

in contact with him; yes, the souls of his ancestors and

descendants as well.

 

Blessed indeed is a person who has the good fortune

to come into the fold of a Sant Satguru and thus gains

the summum bonum of life.

 

 

[End]

 

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From the Back Cover of GODMAN by Kirpal Singh:

 

 

"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father

which is in heaven is perfect."

 

MATTHEW 5:48

 

Despite the long story of unfulfilled promise and wasted

opportunity that is human history, here and there we find

glimpses of lives that differ from the majority as an oak

tree differs from an acorn. The ideal and possibility of

the Godman - he who has become one with God and is "perfect

even as his Father in heaven is perfect" - is found in

all religious and esoteric traditions; and most religions

derive from the life and teachings of one or more of these

giants, whose life work consists of demonstrating to us, by

every available means, that we also have the capacity and,

in fact, the birthright, to become Godmen.

 

As the author points out in his preface, it was his

privilege to spend twenty-four years at the feet of a genuine

Godman - Baba Sawan Singh Ji of Beas, India - and this

book, an exhaustive study of the origin, nature and mission

of Masters of the Highest Order, based squarely on their

own sayings and writings, was originally written in the

days of his discipleship as a supreme act of devotion to

his Guru. But time has added another dimension to the

books authority: since Baba Sawan Singh's death in 1948,

the author has, in obedience to his Guru's instructions,

been functioning as a great Master himself; so that this

book is the first of its kind - a complete and full study of

supreme mystics by one who is himself a supreme mystic....

 

Index