CHAPTER SIX

 

THE NEED OF A MASTER

 

THE FORMLESS GOD pervades the Universe in the form

of Shabd or Word; but we cannot feel blessed unless

we are enabled to contact It within.

 

The entire atmosphere is charged with electricity but

one cannot derive any benefit from it so long as one

cannot reach out to an electric switch that controls the

energy coming from the power-house.

 

Once this contact is established, it gives us light, hot

or cold breezes as we may need, and helps us in innumerable

ways in sweeping the house, cooking our food and the like.

It carries huge industrial loads like the proverbial demon

and does work that a thousand persons put together cannot do.

 

In exactly the same way, if one could but reach out

to some human pole where God's energy in the form of

Shabd is manifest, one can become truly blessed and

reap a rich spiritual harvest beyond all measure. Saints,

prophets, seers, and Master Souls are such manifested

poles that radiate God's Light, Life and Love.

 

They are the Children of Light and come to give

Light to the world which is steeped in utter darkness.

They are Shabd personified and, so to say, polarized

God within the world.

 

Holy men of God spake as they were moved by

the Holy Ghost.

 

II PETER I:21

 

The spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his

Word was in my tongue.

 

II SAMUEL 23:2

 

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a Light

unto my path.

 

PSALM 119:105

 

Satguru or Master of Truth is then the pole wherefrom

God's energy works for the Divine Will. This energy

or Shabd is the Subtlest Form of the Great Unknown

and the Unknowable. It is through the Satguru that one

can know even this much and come into contact with

Shabd.

 

It is from the physical that we move to the subtle.

The Master and the Master's Sound Current are the

means to the end. They alone can lead the spirit

Godward. The Master solves for us the mystery of God and

saves us from the tentacles of mind and matter.

 

His long and strong arm pulls a spirit out of body and

mind consciousness and makes it Spirit Consciousness

by linking it with the Sound Principle.

 

The Radiant Music next leads the spirit to the source

or region from which It is emanating. The Master and

the Sound Current are not two different entities; they are

but two aspects of the same thing.

 

As he works on the physical plane, he has to assume

and work through a physical vehicle, without which

spiritual instruction cannot be imparted. But as soon as

he disengages a human spirit from the various sheaths

and coatings, he also assumes and works through a subtle

Form - luminous and resplendent.

 

This process goes on until the spirit of man becomes

identical with that of the Master. This is the grand

purpose for the fulfilment of which Masters come into this

lowest region which is so full of misery and woe. Armed

with the Saving Grace of God, in the form of the Holy

Ghost - variously called Shabd, Word, Naad, Bani or

Kalma - the Master saves such souls as are ripe for

redemption, listen to him, and work'out their salvation

by following his instructions.

 

Unless God comes in the garb of man and dwells

among us, we cannot know of God in spite of His

immanent presence everywhere.

 

Someone must churn clarified butter from milk, and

strike fire out of the granite blocks, before we can know

that butter is hidden in milk and fire in stone. "Word,"

therefore, becomes flesh and dwells among us, as we

learn from the Holy Gospel.

 

When spirits grow restless from their long exile into

the physical plane, helplessly cry out for homecoming

and see no way out of the clutches of Kal's all pervading

limitations of time, space, and causation, the Saving

Grace of God is stirred by the piteous appeals and comes

into the world in the form of a Sant Satguru (Master

of Truth) to help them out of the impasse.

 

It is the living Master who can do this job. No one

else can. It is through the Voice of the Silence that He

speaks. His is an unwritten law and an unspoken language.

 

Scriptures, however sacred and authoritative, contain

bare references to spiritual regions and record the

experiences of their authors, but can neither impart

spiritual instruction nor be a guide on the spiritual path.

 

The Word of the Master works as an "Open Sesame"

to the heavenly regions. He holds the key that unlocks

the Kingdom of God, now a lost province to us. It is

out of compassion and love for the lost sheep that the

Shepherd comes out of his fold, treads the stony path in

an endless search, picking up lost souls here and there.

 

I am the light of the world: he that followeth

me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have

the light of life.

JOHN 8:12