a) The true understanding of life –the everlasting and unchanging nature of the nature of the soul in the continually changing phenomena of life, which may be compared to the “still point” on the ever-revolving wheel, at once fixed and yet in seeming motion.

Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance,
And there is only the dance.
                                    T.S.ELIOT

On learns the true meaning of:

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that
Which is the born of the Spirit is spirit.
                                                           JHON 3:6

The life is more than meat, and the body is the more
than raiment.
                                                             LUKE 12:23

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain
the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Or what shall a man give in exchange for his 
soul?
                                                   MARK 8:36-37

b) The higher values of life –the greatness of God and the need for humility, leading to a pure and honest life of truth, chastity, abstinence, and a loving selfless service of humanity. The practice of moral virtues has always been enjoined by all spiritual teachers, as only an ethical life can pave the way for a spiritual life. Christ promised the kingdom of heaven to the poor in spirit; the kingdom of earth to the meek; mercy to the merciful; and the vision of the God to the pure in heart. Before Christ, Moses gave the Ten Commandments to the Israelites. Buddha, the enlightened one, taught the noble Eightfold path of Righteousness to those who took to the order of the yellow robe. Zarathustra, Kabir, Nanak, and the Rishis of old said the same thing in their own words. So it is necessary for the aspirants to gradually weed out moral lapses, one by one, and to cultivate in their place moral virtues for which the maintenance of a self-introspection diary is necessary. It is the Knowledge of our faults and failing that will make us strive to correct them. This is turn leads to true Spirituality.

c) The expansion of the Self. In this connection, we have in the Gospels:

Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do
Good to them that to hate you, and pray for them
Which despitefully use you, and persecute you.
                                                   MATTHEW 5:44

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And second is like unto it: Thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself. 
                                    MATTHEW 22:37-39

It is therefore necessary that we must learn to love all living creatures, and more so our fellow human beings, as all are the children of the same Supreme Father. Thereby we are not only true to ourselves, but true to the community, to the nation or country to which we belong; and above all, to humility at large. This leads to the progressive expansion of the self until it embraces the entire universe and one becomes a world citizen with a cosmopolitan outlook in its truest sense, deserving of God’s grace.

Further, what is the nature of love? It should be an unselfish love, a love, which worketh no ill to anyone, a love that fulfills the law of God that enjoins loving service with a pure heart. Such a love is the means to Self –and God –realization:

He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is 
love.
                                                       I JOHN 4:8

Hear ye all, I tell you the truth –only those who
love can know God.
                                  GURU GOBIND SINGH

Do thou love God; for without love thou canst 
not have peace here or hereafter.
                                                              KABIR

So love God and love all his creation –man, beasts, birds, and reptiles –for they are all members of the family of God.

II. THE SCIENCE OF THE SOUL

As theory precedes practice, it is essential that one must have a crystal clear idea of the theoretical aspect of the eternal truths of life, which are conveyed through the correct interpretation of the various scriptures; the right import of which can only be explained by one who has actually realized Truth for himself and established eternal contact with the Divine Link within him. The ultimate truth is of course one and the same in all religions; but the sages are described it variously, each according to the measure of his own spiritual advancement on the God –way. One who actually traversed the path completely is called a perfect Master or Sant Satguru. He, being fully conversant with the various details of the journey, can explain matters suitably and reconcile the seeming differences, if any, in the scriptural texts. He is a guide on the spiritual path from plane to plane as the soul, after voluntary withdrawal from body consciousness, proceeds along with him. The different scriptures are but wares in the hands of the Master for convincing those who have but little faith in one or another of the religious beliefs. By apt quotations from sacred books of different religions, the Master Saints can emphasize the essential unity of religions on the common ground of spirituality; for each embodied soul, after transcending body consciousness, escapes from all denominational labels attached to the physical body. It is a practical question of Self-Knowledge, and an actual experience thereof is given by the master to each individual at the time of Initiation. Testimony is always based on first hand experience and not on hearsay or book learning. 

Sant Kabir says:

O Pundit, your mind and my mind can never
agree;
For you speak of what you have read in the
scriptures, while I speak what I have seen.

In the Holy Granth, the scriptures of the Sikhs, it is written:

Listen ye to the true testimony of the Saints, for
they give out what they truly see with there
own eyes.
Nanak does not utter a single syllable of his own, 
except as he is moved from within.

Christ said:

I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath
taught me, I speak these things.
                                                    JOHN 8:28

III. THE PRACTICE OF SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE

Insofar as the theory of the Science of the Soul is concerned, it is essentially an experimental science and has therefore to be judged on the level of actual experience. It is said that an ounce of practice is better that tons of theory. The scriptures even tell us not to put faith in the words a Master Saint unless he is able to give some inner experience of what he talks about. But with all that, one must have at least an experimental faith, so as to do what one is asked to, just for the sake of the experiment itself. The spiritual science, as explained above, is the most perfect and exact in every detail, just as two and two make four. Everyone who has grasped the theory and is receptive can be a direct witness of the inner experience, however little if may be, that the Master gives at the very first sitting. 

The absolute truth is of course imageless; but the Power of Truth, or God in action, is a vibratory force pervading everywhere. Its primal manifestation come in the form of Light and Sound; and is for the Master Saint to give an experience thereof by helping each soul to rise above the sensory plane, if only for a short while. If this contact is established on the super sensual plane, one can, under the guidance and with the help of the Master, develop it to any extent he may like. The contact of Light and Sound are the “saving lifelines” within each individual and the Master who manifests this Light and Sound is called a Savior, a Messiah, a Prophet, or anything one wishes to call him. The eternal soul principle is described variously as Sruti ( that which is heard) in the Vedas; Udgit ( the songs of the Beyond) in the Upanishads; Akash Bani ( the music from the sky) or Nad (voice) in the later Hindu scriptures; Kalma (Divine Utterance) or Kalam –I –kadim ( most ancient call ) in the Koran; Sraosha by Zoroaster; Logos or Word in the Bible; and Naam or Shabd in the Holy Granth, the Sikh scripture.

The ancient Greeks, including Pythogoras, called it “The music of the Spheres”; the Thesophical writings refer to it as voice of the silence.” And without actual contact with the Divine Power within, the voice of God and the Light of God, good morals and esoteric teaching by themselves are not sufficient. This is why the Bible emphasizes: 

Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only…
                                                     JAMES 1:22

IV. DEATH IN LIFE AND A NEW BIRTH

The contact with the Divine Link, as described above, comes only when the soul rises from the plane of the senses above body consciousness, and comes into its own on the super sensual plane, for true Knowledge is the action of the soul without the aid of the senses:

Here one sees without eyes and hears without ears, walks without feet and acts without hands, and speaks without tongue;

O Nanak! It is by death-in-life that one understands the Divine Will and stands face to face with reality.

For this experience, the soul has temporarily to disconnect itself from the body and its different sense organs, the mind and the vital airs, all of which are too gross to contact Truth. In other words, an embodied soul has to disembody itself and become depersonalized before it can come into contact with the Master Power, which is subtle and rarified. Therefore Guru Nanak says:

Unless one rises to the level of God, one cannot know God.

The divine power can neither be Comprehended nor apprehended by the lower order of things. With all our righteousness, we are as filthy rags; and when in the flesh, none are righteous. The soul, as it rises above body consciousness, shines forth in its pristine purity, rise into Cosmic Awareness, and feels as it were, the efflorescence of the microcosm into the macrocosm. It is this, which is called Duaya Janma or the “Second Birth,” i.e. birth of the spirit as distinguished from the birth of the flesh. The Bible tells us:

Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John3:3

Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. John 3:5

Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. I Corinthians 15:50.

Thereafter a person walks not after the flesh but after the Spirit. As the process of soul withdrawal is akin to actual death, one gains victory over death, which is the last enemy of mankind. The daily dying at will takes away the sting of death. We may find references to “death in life” in the scriptures of all religions. Kabir, an Indian Saint of great repute, says:

Death, of which the people are so terribly afraid is a source of peace and joy unto me.

Dadu, another Saint, affirms:

O Dadu! Learn to die while alive, for in the end all must die.

In the Koran also, great stress is laid on Mottu quibal az Mootu, or death before the final dissolution of the body. The Sufis lay much store on Fana (death to the life of the senses) for gaining Baqa (life everlasting). Maulana Rumi says:

So long as a person does not transcend the sensual plane, he remains an utter Stranger to the Life Divine.

Similarly in the Gospels, words like “I die daily” and “I am crucified in Christ” occurs. Christ’s own exhortation to his followers, “If a man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9: 23), points to the same things: viz., a true resurrection from one life to another.

V. THE KINGDOM OF GOD

The culminating point of the spiritual journey is the kingdom of God, to which the spirit is gradually led by the Radiant Form of the Master. It is not Something external, for all beauty and glory lie within the human soul. Of this kingdom is said:

The kingdom of god cometh not with observation:
Neither shall say, Lo here! or, lo there! for
behold, the Kingdom of God is within you.
LUKE 17:20-21

In the Holy Koran, the Kingdom of the God is referred to as Maqam-i-Mahmud or the praiseworthy station (17:81). It is the Buddha land for the Bhuddists, a sublime state of conscious rest in omniscience, called Nirvana.

Through the grace of the Master, the spirit then regains the Lost Paradise, the garden of Eden, from which it was forced out:

In flesh at first was the guilt committed;
Therefore in flesh it must be satisfied.

Having paid the wages of sin through suffering, the process of Karmic reactions is finally liquidated by the Power of Naam of Word. Protected and enfolded by the Power of God as manifested through the grace of the Master , the forges ahead unhampered, and finally comes face to face with the Reality. This state of blissful beatitude is spoken of variously as the “New Jerusalem” (Where the Christ Power appears once again); Muqam-I-Haq (the Abode of Truth); or Sach Khand (the Immoral Plane), a place there is no sorrow, no taxation and no vexation.

VI. THE QUEST FOR A TRUE MASTER

A living, perfect Master is the be-all and the end-all of the spiritual path. He is the greatest gift of God and the greatest blessing of the mankind. The important and necessity of a competent Master cannot therefore be over-emphasized. All scriptures sing praises of the Sant Satguru or Master of Truth, who holds the commission from Lord to help the souls who yearn for him and wish to return to the house of their Father:

Without a perfect Master, none can reach a God,
no matter if one may have merits a million 
fold.
It is the fundamental law of God that none can 
even comprehend Him without the aid of 
a Master –soul.
THE HOLY GRANTH

A true Master is Master indeed –a master in every phase of life. As Guru or teacher on the physical plane, he imparts spiritual teachings as any other teacher would do, and shares out joys and sorrows, helping us at every step in our daily trials and tribulations. As Gurudev of the Radiant Form of the Master , he guides the soul on the astral and casual planes. As satguru or the veritable Master and of truth, he leads us into the great beyond. Such souls are the salt of the earth and are very rare indeed, but the world is never without one or more of such beings, as God may ordain. The principle of demand and supply is ever at work, in spiritual as in secular affairs. One has however to guard against false Prophets or “ravening wolves in sheep’s clothing.” How to find such a Master is a difficult problem, but patience, perseverance and judicious discrimination always succeed in long run. When God’s Light shines, it shines forth in fullness and cannot remain under a bushel for any great length of time. “Guru appears when the disciple is ready” is axiomatic truth. This readiness, Kabir tells us, consists of intense longing, humility, compassion and sincerity. When these virtues adorn in aspirant after Truth, God within him, who is his Controlling Power, directs the Master to find him out wherever he may be.

The scriptures tell us some of the signs whereby one may outwardly discern to a true Master:

Never bow ye before him who, while claiming to be a pir (Guru), lives on the alms of others.
A true Master never displays himself among the people, nor takes delight in popular applause.
He never collects alms nor accepts donations for his own use, however voluntarily made.
He who manifests the Infinite in the finite is Satguru indeed and is a veritable sage.
Take him to be a true Master, who engrafts thee in Truth and who makes thee peer into the unfathomable and links thee with the Sound within.

All Master's are worthy of devotion, each in his own place and in his own way;
But him alone would I worship, who is embedded in the Sound Current.

A true Master brings the message of Shabd and talks of nothing else but Shabd.
Hail as a Master Divine he who can draw down the Celestial Music from above.

VII. SURAT SHABD YOGA

No doubt, there are ways and ways of union with the Beloved. But in this age, the most natural form of yoga is the Surat Shabd Yoga or the Yoga of the Sound Current. It can be practiced with equal ease by the young and old alike, and hence it is popularly known as Sehaj yoga or the Easy Path. An initiate in this form of yoga does no, comparatively speaking, have to exert himself much. He is of course to do meditation for two or three hours a day, as enjoined by the Master; which consists of sitting in sweet remembrance of the Lord and in doing mental Simran or repetition of the charged words with the tongue of thought, with the gaze or Surat fixed at the seat of the soul located behind and between the two eyebrows. One is not to presuppose, visualize, or clutch to have one thing or another. The opening of the Third Eye is the task of the Master. The moment the Master takes charge of the soul, he guides it both directly and indirectly, visible and invisibly, on this earth and beyond, in this life and the after-life, and never leaves until the final goal has been attained by the soul. Having had such an experience, one realizes the truth of aphorisms like:

Lo, I'm with you always, even unto the end of the world.
                                                           MATTHEW 28:20

For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
                                                               HEBREWS 13:5

And him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.

To meet a Master Saint and get Initiation from his is so acme of good fortune and the greatest blessing. He holds the keys to the Kingdom of God and leads the world weary and heavy laden back to his Father’s mansion. He rediscovers God for man in the secret chambers of the soul. As the Master is the greatest gift of God, so is God the greatest gift of the Master, for it is only by the grace of the Master that one can have union with god. In fact, there is no difference between the two, for:

I and my Father are one.
                    JOHN 11:30

No man knoweth the son but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

In the holy Granth of the Sikhs also it is said: 

The Father and the Son are dyed in the same color.
The Father and the Son form a convincing-partnership.

Hence the need for a really awakened soul, for without him we continue to grope in darkness and cannot see the Light or have salvation.

Hundreds of moons may shine forth; and thousands of suns may be set aglow; but despite a blinding luster like this, pitch darkness prevails within. Without the Master, one finds not the Way and goes wandering in the dark.

Such a Master-soul may work through a representative in far-off lands and make him a vehicle for the purpose. There is a vast difference, however, between the Master and his representative. The former is perfect in his science, whereas the latter is on the Way, not perfect as yet. So we have always to look to the Master Power working at the chosen pole of the physical Master outside for perfect guidance and help until we can commune with the Master Power within.

VIII. THE ESSENCE OF RUHANI SATSANG

Ruhani Satsang is neither an intellectual nor scholastic system of philosophy, nor is it merely an ethical code of rigid moral virtues, though to a certain extent it partakes of the character of both, insofar as these pave the way for spiritual progress. Spirituality is quite distinct from religion, as it is commonly and popularly known today: a social and moral code of conduct and nothing more. Ruhani Satsang deals with Science of the Soul or contact with the Inner Self in man. It teaches how the Inner Self can be extricated from the clutches of the outer self, consisting of mind and matter and the outgoing faculties, so as to enable it to be witness to the glory of God, to see His Light and to hear His Voice in the inner silence of the stilled mind. It is an experimental science of practical self-analysis, whereby on gains Self-knowledge and God-knowledge. But this depends solely on the grace of God; for no man, however great his learning, wisdom and knowledge, has ever achieved, nor can achieve, success in this field by his own unaided and unguided and unguided efforts. Both God and the God-way are made manifest by the Light of the Godman, who guides the seeker and helps him to rediscover God within his own self. This is the grand lesson in spirituality, of which Ruhani Satsang is a living embodiment, seeking to help all aspirants after true knowledge-the knowledge of realized Truth- which makes all else to become known and leaves nothing unknown. It is the finale of human existence, and efflorescence in the Divine.

CULTURAL DEVLOPMENT THROUGH “MAN-MAKING”

IN THE PRECEDING PAGES, the meaning, purpose, aims and activities of Ruhani Satsang are described and discussed. The emphasis, not unnaturally, was placed on the problems that beset a seeker after Truth and how these problems could be resolved with the help of a living Master who is fully conversant with both the outer and inner difficulties of the practical subject of spirituality. This is not to say, however, that the Master has no interest in the woes of people who do not wish to take up the path in earnest. The Master has love for all, and does not Limit his benefits to disciples only; although of course they enjoy a somewhat special relationship with him, especially after the change we call death.

Today it is becoming more an more difficult for an honest man to live in the world. Virtue is on the decrease and is to many the object of derision. Vice is on the increase, and its practice is even lauded as virtue. The moral fabric of society, which is its warp and woof, is becoming threadbare, and if this process is allowed to continue, the fabric will tear apart. Even art, which in former years was a means used to educate people to nobler way of life, has not escaped this destructive process. In the theatre, cinema and television media, the filth and dirt of perverted intellect is spawned forth with let or hindrance. Even the most respected of all educational institutions, the University, is becoming forgetful of its true function, which is to produce the highest type of citizen dedicated to the service of his fellow man.

It is to counter act this pernicious process that Ruhani Satsang has established both in India and abroad, training centers or study circles where man can learn the true values of life as taught from a spiritual standpoint. In these centers, the students are trained and guided by personal classes, through correspondence, and through submission of progress reports. The progress reports detail the success and failures that are experienced in the practical application of the principles of true living, which are taught to the students in such classes.

These classes are conducted by selected initiates of the Master, who have themselves made some progress in the art of “Man-Making”, which is the means of attaining control over the mind, senses and sense-objects, which at present bind the soul in bonds of steel. Without the knowledge of the science of “Man-Making”, mastery over the self or animal man cannot be achieved, the higher or spiritual part of mans nature cannot come into play. The most urgent need of society today is the active presence of such people, the more there are the better. As mentioned above, selected initiates of the Master are responsible for the dissemination of the knowledge of “man-making” insofar as they themselves have developed it, under the loving guidance of the Master. It is also the responsibility of some of these initiates to visit the various Satsangs to give talks on the Teachings.

The main mission of Ruhani Satsang is to bring all children of God together on one platform so that they may have the right understanding that they are all brothers and sisters in God. Only on such a platform can true integration be inculcated in the hearts and minds of the people at the level of man, soul, then God, whom we worship by different names. It is the intention of this aspect of Ruhani Satsang to help to produce a true Work of Art, that is, a whole man; one freed from the love passions and instincts, which degrade his true nature. Man as intended by God is a noble being with noble qualities and aspirations, directed to the attainment of Self and God realization in his lifetime. He is not on this earth merely to eat, sleep, breed and then die. These are the limits imposed on the lower orders of Creation; but man has the spark of God in him, and he is intended for higher things. 

The seekers are trained and disciplined in order that they may elevate themselves physically, morally and intellectually, which will result in true spiritual progress. This will enable them to face successfully the trials and tribulations that they encounter in their day-to-day living. To help them in this phase of their development, they are enjoined:

The end result of the training thus imparted fits an initiate for the inner journey as well as making him a decent, law-abiding citizen, and so an asset to society. Such a one becomes an ideal man, with his physical body in full bloom and his soul full of the glory and intoxication of the Ringing Radiance of God. He sees himself as part of Creation and wishes, as did Guru Nanak, “Peace be Unseen Power to all the world over, under Thy Will, O God.”