THE PERFECT MASTER Our spiritual faculties had got so fogged and cloaked with the gross
coverings of Mind and Maya that, even though the Shabd was forever reverberating
within and around us, we could not hear its music or see its glory: Nanak sae ankhriyan bae-an jini disindo mapiri. Those eyes are different with which my Beloved is
seen. RAG WADHANS 577 How was this chain to be broken? How could man once again revive his
link with his Maker? For this, Baba Ji affirmed, one needed indispensably the
aid of a competent Master: Dhur Khasmae ka hukam paya Vin Satguru chaitya na jai. Such is the Will of the Lord - He cannot be known except through a living Satguru.
VAR BIHAGRA 556 Without his enlivening touch the soul could not awaken from its slumber
and get attuned to Naam. The Jiva Atman was too far lost in the gross material to contact Shabd
on its own account. Besides, the inner way was not an easy one and even if the
soul could transcend physical consciousness and enter the realms within, it
could not proceed very far on its own. The regions Und and Brahmand were
well-nigh infinite and without a spiritual guide it would remain lost in their
wonders. Further, there were points in the mystic journey, especially between
one plane and another, that were so difficult that but for an Adept he soul
would be forever obstructed there. (*2) (*2
Baba Sawan Singh Ji in a letter to one of his disciples makes the
necessity of a living Master in the Mystic Path very clear indeed: "When I was in the hospital on account of the fracture of my leg,
one day when I was meditating, Baba Ji's form appeared before me. Baba Ji, or
rather what seemed to be his form, said: `If, in a case of emergency, meat and drink are used, there is no harm.'
But when I repeated the Five Names, he got up and walked away. Now
because I had seen Baba Ji in real life and could visualize him, I found out
this trick. But those people who concentrate on the old Masters who passed away
thousands of years ago are likely to be misled. His (the Saint's) eyes and his
forehead cannot be imitated. Hence, you always require a living teacher for the
pupil, a living physician for the sick, a living husband for the wife and a
living ruler for the people. I maintain that no one else can help a disciple so
much as a living Master." Baba Ji indefatigably emphasized the necessity of a living Master for
success in the field. Past Saints may have explored all the mysteries of the
mystic realms and may even have left accounts of their experiences. But the
inner worlds were indescribable in terms of human language, and at best they
could only speak in hints and parables. Since these hints and parables were
about a realm of experience completely beyond ordinary human experience, they
could not be fully understood except through the aid of One who had himself
direct access to the experiences they described. Thus even to understand the
true message of past Masters, one needed a living One, and it was only when
Baba Ji met Swami Ji that he understood the full import of the Granth Sahib and
the writings of Kabir and other great Saints. The spiritual journey was not a
matter of intellectual disquisition. It was a question of practical ascension. Even
for academic knowledge a book could not be a substitute for the guidance of a
perceptive teacher. Then how much more would this be the case in the spiritual
field? The Jiva Atman was so lost in Maya that, according to Baba Ji, it could
not of its own accord contact the pure Shabd Dhun. An act of grace alone could
put it in touch with the inner Light and Music, and this grace was the gift of
a living Master: Radhasoami, Lord of the Soul, full of pity and com- passion, came down Himself in the form of a Saint, gave us the clues to the Spiritual Regions and showed us the way to reach Sach Khand (True Abode) through Shabd Dhun. Past Saints were worthy of reverence. Their lives were luminous
signposts always beckoning us toward our Divine Home. But it was the law of
Nature that the living impulse could only come from the living, and the task
they had performed for their own age must, in ours, be performed by One who
lived amongst us and who had mastered the way they had mastered. In fact, their
writings, if critically studied, were an endless testimony of the need for a
living Master. Who was a competent living Master and how was he to be
recognized? Baba Ji knew that there were countless wolves that moved about in
sheep's clothing, and since everything depended on finding the true Guide, he
laid great stress on the need for vigilance and discrimination. His early experiences had shown only too well the rarity of such great
Spirits - one perhaps in an age, at times more (as with Nanak and Kabir,
Maulana Rumi and Shamas Tabrez, Tulsi Sahib and Swami Ji, who were
contemporaries) but alas always too few - and a man was blessed indeed if he
could come across such a One. The records of past Saints could be used as a
touchstone, as had been done by Baba Ji during his quest. If a man was a true
Master, and further, a mystic of the highest order, all obscurities and
contradictions that puzzled one while reading the scriptures would vanish at
his touch. He would not only be able to explain effectively the writings of one
school of mystics, but of all, for he had access to all the inner realms, not
just one. As a lad Baba Ji had met many a sadhu, but not until he sat at Swami
Ji's feet did he begin to appreciate all the treasures stored in the Granth
Sahib. Mystics of a lower order could interpret records of only those
experiences to which they had access, but One who had ascended to the highest
heights could explain everything - a point which Baba Ji's meeting with the
four pundits brought out fully. Another feature of a true Saint was his amazing humility. It was one of
the supreme paradoxes of human life that those who claimed to be Saints were
not, and those who were, never claimed to be such. Nanak declared himself to be
no more than a slave of the servants of Saints and Swami Ji maintained
unruffied the garb of his humility. It was not by what a man claimed that he was to be known, but by what he
did; a tree was judged not by its name but by its fruit; and a Saint was
recognized by his perfection as a man, his freedom from worldly desires, his
love and kindness, his unassuming ways, his concern for the welfare of others
and his unconcern with name and fame. He gave away his spiritual gifts freely
like any other of Nature's blessings, and maintained himself by his own labors: Gur, Pir sadai
mangan jayae Ta ke mool na lagye payae. Bow not before one who calls himself a guru But depends on the charity of others.
SARANG VAR, 1245 If on the human level it was his perfection as a man that marked out a
true Saint from the rest, on the spiritual he was to be known by the inner
experiences and guidance he could afford. His ability to give some direct
spiritual experience, however little it may be, to his disciples at the time of
initiation was, Baba Ji insisted, the final test of a true Master. He did not
promise spiritual attainment in some future life after death. He gave a taste
of it here and now. He linked the soul to the inner Light and Sound and it was
the disciple's task to nurture and nourish this seed to full blossom and
maturity. The gift of Naam was the sole prerogative of the Satguru and his
guiding hand stretched everywhere, in the inner planes no less than in the
world outside. So great were his love and protection that no earthly
relationship could ever hope to compare to them. His Radiant Form accompanied
the soul after it had transcended the body, and led it from plane to plane
toward its celestial home; and the perceptive disciple could see his grace
working at every turn. Miracles he could perform indeed - being one with the
Divine Will - but he was reluctant to disturb the settled plan; and even if he
let his grace take the upper hand, he let it work unseen, claiming nothing for
himself but working only in the name of his own Master. He did not concern himself with disputes and controversies: "Go within and see for yourself," was his constant dictum, and
the stress always fell on the inner and not on outer forms and rituals. |