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THE PATH OF LIBERATION How was this transcension to be achieved? Baba Ji, like Kabir, Nanak and
Swami Ji, repeatedly affirmed that outer practices were not of much avail. Reading
of scriptures could awaken one's interest in spirituality, but by itself it
could not insure emancipation. Mystic literature and religious ritual were
useful in many ways: they kept mankind aware of a deeper Reality than the one
they were accustomed to in everyday life. But this Reality was to be approached
through practical means, and absorption in intellectual problems and
controversies only diverted one's energies from one's real Path: Khasam na chinae
bawri, ka karat barai, Batan bhagat na
hohingay, chhoado chaturai. O man! If you have not realized the Almighty, why you brag of your greatness? Let go thine intellectual subtleties. KABIR Sakhi Shabd Sandes parh mat bhoolo bhai, Sant mata kuchh
aur hai, khopa so pai. Don't you be deluded by restricting yourself to mere reading and writing of scriptures. The Path of the Masters is different. He who is truly after it will get it. KABIR The devil could quote scriptures, and Baba Ji maintained that
"religious wranglings and disputes, the pride of caste, the Varnashram, of
worship, pilgrimages, mere reciting of scriptures, worshiping those who were
past and gone, and such other actions and disciplines" were all "a
great deception" and trap set by Kal to keep the soul within the bondage
of the realms of relativity. In like manner, the outer kriyas or practices of
traditional yoga - pranayam and various mudras and asanas - were ineffective
for taking us to our real goal. Baba Ji, as his life amply testifies, greatly
respected holy men of all creeds and callings, but he never lost sight of man's
highest ideal and lived by the insight expressed by Kabir: Sadh hamare sab barae apni apni thor, Shabd parkhu jo milae tis aagae sir mor. A1l holy ones are worthy of reverence, But I adore only One who has mastered the Word. KABIR He had at a very early age experimented with many a yogic method and
whenever he pronounced on the subject, he spoke not as one who bases himself on
academic learning, but as one who has himself practically experienced what he
says. His words carried conviction, for there was not a trace of prejudice in
what he said. He simply explained that he himself had explored all avenues and
found the path of Sant Mat or Surat Shabd Yoga to be the highest. He had a
great deal to say about the wonderful miraculous powers that could be
acquired through yogic sadhnas; but his
one criterion was: did they make one the master of one's mind, freeing one from
the tyranny of desire? If so, then there was nothing to be said against them,
but if not (as was usually the case), then they were hardly of any use. While
in Murree in 1894, he, in response to many questions addressed to him by Baba
Sawan Singh Ji, dwelt at length on the subject of comparative yoga and
concluded by demonstrating how Kabir and Nanak had assimilated the best from
their predecessors; how they had penetrated far higher into the Mystic Path;
and how they had succeeded in developing a method for mergence with the
Formless Absolute that was within the reach of all. He would often quote from
past Masters to reinforce his point, and in particular he would cite what his
great Guru had said: Sant Mata sab se
bara yeh nische kar jan Sufi aur Vedanti donon neeche man, Sant Diwali nit
karen Sat Lok ke mahin Aur mate sab Kal ke yun he dhur urain. The Path of the Masters is far superior to all others,
believe ye in full faith. Sufism and Vedanta can lead you to a certain extent but cannot take you to the ultimate goal. The Saints live eternally in the splendor of the
Supreme One. All other creeds and orders fail to transcend the realms of Relativity. SAR BACHAN (poetry) What was this science of the Surat Shabd Yoga that represented the crown
of mystic achievement? It was, said Baba Ji, the path most economical in effort
and the one most rewarding for reaching back to the Primal Source of all life
and light. Its secret lay in the insight that if the soul was to merge back
into the point from where it had descended, the way of ascent must be identical
with that of descent. The Nameless One, when He had assumed Name and Form, had
projected Himself into Shabd, Naam, Kalma or the Word. It was this spiritual
current, whose primary attributes were melody and effulgence, that was
responsible for all creation. In a letter dated 2l st April, 1903, Baba Ji
wrote: It is through Shabd that everything came into manifestation - Ishwar (God as the sustainer of the world), Jiva (individual soul), Maya (the subtle and gross material), Brahmand (the physical, astral and causal planes) - all were brought into being by ist motion. All sages, in their own different ways, had testified to the working of
the Word or Naam Power: Kun kae kehnae sae hoowa alam bapa. Through the utterance of the Word all things came into
being. And again: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
JOHN 1:1 What the Masters of the Surat Shabd Yoga said on this subject was
nothing new; what was distinctive was their emphasis on the idea that if everything
- even the Jiva Atman - had come into manifestation through the agency of
Shabd, then Shabd was the best and only means for reaching back to our Point of
Departure, the Nirakar, Nirgun, Anami and Absolute. The music and glory of the
Word spread through all creation and permeated our being. If only the Atman
could be contacted with it, it could use this "string from the Nameless
Lord" to reach His Door. But the soul in its downward descent had loosened
the link and had forgotten its real nature. Acquiring the gross coverings of body and mind, it had lost sight of its
native home and identified itself with its prison. Baba Ji said in his letter
of 15th May, 1900: Ever since the Jiva Atman has been separated from Sach Khand (True
Abode) and from Shabd Dhun, it has lost its faith in the Sat Purush (True One)
and Shabd Dhun. But the Shabd always looks after the Jiva Atman though it knows
it not for it has fallen deeply in love with Mind and Maya, with the objects of
Maya and the senses that are so deceptive. It loves them so well that it cannot
realize that it is to ist own detriment, considering as beneficial what is in
fact harmful. Love for the Mind has left it anaesthetized, and the Mind itself
has fallen senseless before the pleasures of the senses, and finally, Maya has
cast such a spell that it may never recover from its swoon. |