THE
MASTERS TALK
Right understanding exalted
A human being
can benefit from another to the extent of that person’s knowledge. First, we
should remember that the whole world is at the mercy of the mind, which has
four phases. One phase is absorbed attention; the second is the result of that,
in mind –activity; the third phase differentiates, through the intellect; and
the fourth draws inferences out of the differentiation, through which an
intoxicated, intense sense of pleasure occurs-and this is pride. These are the
functions of the four phases of mind whatever one learns, one can pass on to
others. Those who have journeyed along the of inference can in turn teach
others whatever they have learned –again through inference. But they cannot
through inference give any practical experience.
I once went to
a gathering in Kanpur, where the people were listening to talks on the Gita.
The secret teaching is mentioned in holy books, but for want of a realized
person, the meaning is not understood. In the fourth and sixth chapters of the
Gita it is clearly written that one must go to a God-realized person and will
all sincerity question him and get the answers. It states, further-more that
when you are satisfied, you should follow the instructions of that God-realized
person, and you will also gain the realization. Then in the seventh, eighth,
ninth, tenth and eleventh chapters it is explained even more openly that one
must go behind the eyes, and so on. Now this obviously is something that can
only be done practically, and if this scripture is not heard through the
discourse of one who has actually gained the knowledge is experience, how can
one follow the correct importance.
So, in Kanpur
one brother stood up and said, “Brothers, get ready, for I am just now going to
give you the Darshan of the Lord.” Naturally everyone was most impressed to
hear this statement. He gave a very good talk – most praiseworthy.
Intellectually he very beautifully explained the subject, and brought it to a
conclusion that there is some higher power, and could not show it to the
people. What I am illustrating is that a man can only guide others up to the
level he has himself reached, and not beyond that. He who is surrounded by mind
and senses, and talks on the same level – no matter how wonderful the talk may
be – but has not himself risen above the mind, intellect and senses, how can he
possibly take another beyond then?
It is very
necessary to give some serious thought on this particular point. Reading,
writing, and thinking are the first steps along the way. To read the holy books
is not a waste of time, for they are
the expressions in words of the realized souls who really experienced the
truth. Do you understand? Listen to the Master’s true words; he speaks of what
he sees. Whatever the Masters see, they give out. when they saw, they sang, and
those songs gave forth fruit. Those who were caught up in mere feelings – “God
is ever existent, I feel him to be so” – and so on, were most voluble in
describing this ever existent nature, but only be feelings. It is rather like
the proverbial group of blind people who tried to describe the elephant. One
man felt the elephant’s legs, and said, “Oh, he is like a pillar.” One man felt
the ear, and said, “Brothers, he is like a fan.” Another felt the stomach and
declared the elephant to be like a barrel, and one felt the trunk and insisted
he was like a rope. Now none of these blind men had actually seen the elephant,
so the judgment of them all was inaccurate; because they were relying on
feelings only.
So those
people who listen to the statements of those who speak from feelings, will
remain themselves governed by feelings, and will ever be at conflict among
themselves, supporting their respective guru’s versions. When the elephant is
described by one with his eyes open, he will say, “Yes, his legs are like
pillars, his stomach like a barrel”, etc.. He will place the whole picture in a
very clear-cut and accurate manner. It is worthwhile understanding this point
very fully: that you can be guided only up to that point which your guide has
reached; and if he is deeply involved in his feelings, he will preach what he
feels is true, and in this way any number of conclusions can be reached whereby
people will fight among themselves over the controversies.
God is one –
but his power is working in different ways. Some people worship in different
ways. Some people worship God as Lord Shiva, and some as Lord Vishnu. The Shiva
devotee will say, “I do not want to see Vishnu’s face,” and the Vishnu devotee
will not wish to see Shiva’s face. Oh brothers, this is one and the same power
from the same source, but working at different types of work. The person whose
eye is open to the truth sees clearly that these are different phases of the
same God-power. The power which comes from a power house is at one place
heating through fire, and at some other location is freezing through ice. The
man using the heat may be of the opinion that electricity can only produce
heat, and the man in the freezing plant may stubbornly insist that electricity
can only be used for freezing, but the expert from the power house sees and
knows that electric power can do many things. Each man speaks from his own
level of knowledge, be it restricted or comprehensive.
The mystery of
life must be solved; but he who feels the solution will just describe his
feelings, and he who reaches a conclusion through interference will just
explain his theory of inferences; and what of the person who has walked the
emotional path? He will start dancing, for he can only express himself
emotionally. This is all due to the fact that none of them have seen –that is
why their statements will differ, and that is why their statements will differ,
and that is why their statements will differ, and that is why their statements
cannot be absolutely correct. One can begin to see why there is always so much
conflict on the subject of religion. The Vedas, in this regard, say, Truth is
one, but people through intellect have explained it variously. We should always
remember this point: that this subject is such that cannot be completely
grasped by intellect. And what does the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad say? It says
that to bring God into intellectual term is as impossible as trying to quench
the thirst with wine or extract oil from sand. On this same subject, Guru Nanak
says, it cannot be achieved by thoughts, though the thoughts be millions. It is
not a subject for thinking, although thinking may take one a little nearer
toward finding it; so when will the riddle be solved? When: Senses are
immobile, the mind at rest, and the intellect is stilled, and then the soul
perceives.
Without a
Perfect Master, there is no right understanding, and therefore no real
progress. Without the right understanding each one sits in pride, saying “My
way is the right one” and attempts to force everyone else to accept it. Why all
the conflicts and dissention when all these different phases have the same
Source? Even in the matter of way of life, some say the householder’s life is
the best, and some say the renaunciate’s life is the best. So which is better?
The Master say, Happiness lies neither in the home, nor in leaving it: happiness
lies in the knowledge gained from the Master’s company. Finding true happiness
does not rest with renouncing or not renouncing the worldly life, and can only
be found by contacting the Truth at the feet of a Master. The Masters are those
who have seen the Truth, and therefore are not their statements more correct?
The holy books contain the words of those who had right understanding – they
saw, and they gave out.
Now that is
right understanding? In a few words, there is someone who gave us birth (father
and mother) but brothers, there must be someone who is responsible for the
creation of all life, and through whom
all births comes about. This is an inference of the intellect, is it not? All
worship the Maker in one form or another, call Him Ram, Allah, or God. Now Ram,
Allah and God are not all different beings. The creator of the creation is one,
but was given various names by the Rishis, Munis and Mahatmas. In truth, He has
no name. Bow down to the Nameless. But to help the people remember Him, the Master
gave Him names. For instance, He was called Ram; This word comes from rum which
means “reverberating in all creation.” He is immanent in all forms, and to
realize that Being with many names, we entered one or another of the religions.
Hundreds of lover, but the Beloved is one for all; Religion and caste are
different, but the work is one for all. This statement is really the very basis
for right understanding, and if right understanding develops, where is
conflict, where is dissension?
The soul is conscious
entity. God has given a physical form to each one, the outer and inner
construction of Which is the same in all – even the appearance is the same. The
same sickness attack the physical form.
Furthermore, each soul is under the influence of the mind and the senses, which
in turn drag it outward toward the worldly enjoyments. So he who separates the
soul from mind, and mind from senses, and senses from enjoyments, get the right
understanding in truth. He is a devotee of the
one creator, and by sitting beside such an enlightened devotee of God,
one can also gain this right understanding. Of rack of it, man remains trapped
in the world. All Men, in all religions, are subject to this imprisonment, and
if you want to release yourself from this depressing condition, then when
Senses are immobile, the mind at rest and the intellect is stilled, when the
soul perceives. You can see that even the cure for Man’s misery is one and the
same for all. Go to one who has stilled his mind and senses. If you go to an intellectually
learned person you will hear a very fine discourse, with perhaps five or ten
different meanings to one point, the inference; but he will not have seen what
he is speaking of, and what is more important, he cannot show it to you. Swami
Ji Maharaj says, If you desire release from the world, listen to the true
Master’s instructions.
When I spoke
of these things in the West, they asked
me, “You have described the Truth in
very simple and clear words; Why has it been so difficult to understand up to
Now?” I explained that those who described the Truth for them had themselves no
experience of it, and could merely express some ideals at the intellectual
level. In this context, Truth has been described so often an in so many
different was that whatever was known of it originally has been forgotten. No
wonder it is now difficult for people to understand all these different
theories. Those who had no first-hand knowledge were just beating about the
bush. A person with even a little discernment will see the difference between
the words of a Master and those of an ordinary man. The Gurbani describes this
as the undeveloped words of the spiritually enlightened come directly from some
higher power. Actually all speech is sustained, but there are two types of
sound: one being hidden and the other apparent. The hidden Sound sustains
everything – since when? This sound started beyond the four yugas; it vibrated
the Truth. The sound which becomes apparent is sustained by pranas, the vital
airs or energy; but the hidden Sound is not sustained by anything. We are all
worshippers of the latter.
What should
one do to gain right understanding? Enjoy Satsang –the company of
intellectuals, lectures, hypocrites, propagandist, or paid preachers. All
Masters advice that to solve the mystery of life one should first develop right
understanding: to understand in reality that we are soul in the body, embodied
soul, no matter whether we are Hindu, Muslim, Christian, or any other religion.
Recognize all men’s caste as one. There is no difference between he who lives
in the city and he who lives in the jungle; for all men are truly embodied
souls, and all are truly embodied souls, and all are sustained by the same
power: that which controls the soul in the body. Just consider that there are
nine physical orifices, yet the soul cannot run through any of them. only when
the sustainer or controller withdraws does the soul also leave the body. The
breath leaves the body; it could remain outside, but there is something
controlling that, something drawing it back. This is the mystery of life,
solving which you will gain right understanding you will have right
understanding. Without right understanding nothing worthwhile is achieved, but
with right understanding you will have right thoughts, and right thoughts will
give you right speech and right actions; from then on, love for all mankind
develops automatically. There will be no question of fighting with others over
petty differences; you will express what you have seen, and not what has been
inferred.
It is a great
blessing to have been given a human life, and the aim of the human life is to
solve the mystery of it. If you cannot as yet still the mind, intellect and
senses, then keeps the company of him who can do this. Where the Satguru is,
there is the company of the truth. Satsang is not where we hear stories about
the past and the future for the sake of earning someone’s livelihood, where
even the scriptures are explained in a thousand different lights of
understanding. Right understanding cannot be developed like this. Excuse me,
but the volume of preaching is at a peak in this age –I do not think it has
ever been so rife before. And the result of it all is hatred for one another.
The steps we were talking were misdirected and still we re doing today. So what
is the remedy? As I have said: to sit beside someone who has the right
understanding. We will now take Guru
Nanak sahibs hymn:
When you
meet a true Satguru, you get the jeweled right knowledge.
Satguru is the
image of truth, who has become the true knowledge and who sees that the Lord is
the doer of all things and is working is all creation. Know a Satguru to be one
who brings everyone together. This does not mean a guru of any particular sect,
but a Guru of the world: of all mankind. Such a Guru does not see your
religion, but rather he sees you –that you are soul in the physical form. He
has freed himself from all shackles, and can free others also. The question of
how the senses can be withdrawn from outer attractions, how the mind can be
free from the mind, are all part of a practical science, of which the Satguru
is a competent expert who can give the scientific experience to the aspirant,
who in turn, with the guidance and instruction of the Satguru, learns to
increase that experience daily through regular daily through regular practice.
With such a method the disciple can become as expert as the Guru. There is a
great difference between a Master and a philosopher stone; the latter makes
gold from iron, but the formers stone cannot make another philosophers stone,
but the Master can make souls realized. This is why all Master stress that
reading, writing and thinking are something apart from spirituality.
Reasoning is
the help, and reasoning the bar. If you go on poring over books and drawing
inferences intellectually, you will at least be taking the first steps with the
help of the words of the Master found in the holy scriptures; but all this
cannot be of any use in a practical science of withdrawing the senses from sense
objects and releasing the mind. For this some higher bliss must be enjoyed,
which up to now the mind has never had the opportunity to taste. It is all a
practical matter, and he who has realized the object practically can given the
secret knowledge of it. One must seek his company.
When I was
searching for truth, I can tell you that my search was intense. I would start
to read a certain book in the night, and without ceasing would study the whole
night through; only to rise in the morning with yet no way out discovered. The
books held very good thoughts –like green orchards, very refreshing. The heart
starts to desire those things mentioned therein; but how? The books say, “God
is ever existent no place is without Him he is ever apparent.” But how to see Him?
This is the burning question, is it not? I can only repeat that it is a
practical subject. In this regard, bulleh shah says, why read this pile of
books? Burdening your head with all these thoughts! Read the words, leave all
calculations, drive away these atheistic ways. Is it not true that one becomes
more confused by excessive reading –tiring the brain needlessly? Bookish
knowledge is all wilderness there is not way out. the love of one should dwell
in your heart; that is all. Is this not the purpose behind reading scriptures
–to love the Lord? Tulsi sahib says, reading and reading, the whole world died,
no one become a teacher; if you dwell on the word “love” and develop that in
yourself, you will become a real pandit (a teacher).
The purpose of
reading is to become a devotee of the Lord, and to love all being as the Lord
is in each one. People do not do this. Instead, they become lectures, etc., but
they become lecturers, etc., but they do not develop love in themselves. All
the worlds’ conflicts are due to lack of love. And all conflict due to those
who did not realize the truth, but choose to become powerful through learning;
and they are responsible for the discord and strife from which mankind is
suffering. Had they realized the truth, they would have spoken it out, but they
said, “no, only our religion is the right one.” In this way they built
controversial conditions, and them sat down and watched while men shed their
blood for these useless causes. We have a clear example in the partition of India
and Pakistan which came about through such like conditions, and those who
created them sat aside while approximately fifteen hundred thousands
[1,500,000] persons were butchered needlessly. If they had had even a little
right understanding this tragedy would never have happened.
Some years
ago, during our hazurs lifetime, there had been some trouble in multan (now in
Pakistan), between some Hindus and Muslims. Baba Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj went
there and held a Satsang, hearing which the people said, “if only you had come
earlier, this trouble would not have arisen.” Master come to the world to join
the brothers and sisters together, not to break them apart. And they come to
rejoin the souls back to the Lord. This is the work of the Masters. They say,
“love.” In love there is oneness, union; not aloofness.
Naam is the
sustainer of khand is the right understanding. The only true thing the only
pure thing, is the Naam. Tulsi sahib says, they chant the four Vedas, eighteen
puranas, nine viakran, and six shastras, but lose the truth given out in them!
such is the case with followers of all religions. They go on reading their holy
scriptures parrot like, and do not follow the meanings underlying them. not
only was the truth lost by the reading all these, but he also says, without
knowing the surat shabd, one is like the chandool bird, and can initiate all
words without the underlying meaning. While the attention or soul does not meet
God, the over soul, and surrounded by mind and senses remains a prisoner because
it has not been analyzed from them, them what is the value of book learning?
Tulsi sahib likens this to a chandool bird, which copies any sound it hears. It
does not mean that one should never write or think, but alone they have no
value.
The true aim
behind reading the scriptures. If one fully understands what one reads, is to
gain the realization. Since the world began, jiva did not leave the books, did
not get true happiness. What a clear statement! We just cannot let go of the
holy books and scriptures. Of course, outer knowledge is like a great of
flowers adorning a realized person who will then explained the path of truth in
many ways and thereby help the different types of seekers to understand; but a
realize soul is a realized soul, with or without worldly degrees, and whatever
he says is pregnant with meaning, overflowing with love and truth. Sheikh saadi
says, that if a learned man is unrealized, them reading and writing is like a
donkeys burden upon his head. On this very subject Guru amardas Ji says that it
is like making a sweet dish without any sugar –stirring it with a spoon from
morn to night, will it give any sweet taste? So Guru Nanak is explaining the
importance of right understanding.
When you
meet a true Satguru, you get the jeweled right knowledge;
Giving your
mind to your Guru, you get the imperishable love.
Right
understanding will only come when the soul transcends the mind. Just think
about it carefully: you are on the minds level, and as yet have not solved the
mystery. If you remain at that level, how will you get full understanding?
When swami
Dayanand went to the Guru, he had his books under his arm, and the Guru said,
“Dayanand, first throw away those books –into the river.” Dayanand asked the
Guru the reason for this order, and the Guru replied, “that which I want to
give you cannot be got through books.” They were holy books, but he threw them
into the river; it is a very good expression of Guru bhakti. If it be
considered a sin committed against the holy scriptures, yet he did not commit a
greater sin: that of disobedience to his Guru. I read once that sometimes when
Dayanand could not understand the true import of the written words, his Guru
would beat him with a stick. On such occasions, Dayanand would say, “Maharaj, I
am a great trouble to you.” What very fine Guru bhakti he had! Guru bhakti is a
matter of love –when heart speaks to heart.
When you go to
a realized soul to get right understanding, go with all humility, put aside
your views. What you know, you know. While you are with him, try and understand
what he is saying. Consider the level he is speaking from, and them compare
your own knowledge. Many would hesitate to go to him for pride of their own
knowledge. The man of prominent worldly position will not go, for he is
intoxicated with his own power; and a rich man will not go to him for pride of
their own Power; and a rich man will not go, for he is lost in pride of wealth.
Remember, the God realized person cannot be bought with money, impressed by
Power, pushed by force. When you go to him, put aside your own ideas –after
all, no one can rob you of them! we make the mistake of measuring what he is
trying to say with what we already know: “we have heard that before”; “so and
so said that” –etc. brothers, he will say all this and more, for he must speak
on mans level for fuller comprehension, and will quote many truths that others have said, that the seekers wants to
receive, he must still his intellect for a while, and sit in all humility. If
the cup is placed below the pitcher, it will be filled; but if it is placed
above the pitcher, how can it be filled? That is why it is said, when the mind
is sold to the Satguru, such a disciple’s work is crowned with success.
When
ashtavakra gave the knowledge to king janak, do you know what he asked for? He
asked the king for his body, his wealth, and his mind. Body and wealth are
sustained by the mind, so wherever the mind goes, everything goes. Guru Nanak
is telling us that if one gives the mind to the Guru, one gets the permanent
love. Swami Ji Maharaj says, O knowledge , you are very ignorant; you know not
the value of a Master: Masters are a surging ocean of love: love for the Lord
and love for humanity. But man would test them with his intellect; an
impossibility, for they are full of the nectar of love; in their company, true
hankering for thee bursts forth to have an overflowing cup of love for God and
humanity. Put aside your intellect and become receptive, and then you will see.
Once in Berlin, Germany, during my talk which was being interpreted from
English to German, during my talks which was being interpreted from English to
German by an interpreter, the audience told the interpreter to stop as the
interpretation was not necessary –“we understand more from his eyes.” Eyes are
the windows of the soul through which the intoxication and the import thereof
is conveyed.
Giving up the
mind does not mean one loses ones reason or intellect; it means, first of all,
to still the mind completely and fully grasp what the Guru is saying. If you
put aside the I hood, you will get the right import, thereby becoming receptive
to absorb the perpetual radiation of Power from the Guru. Kabir sahib has
warned us what can happen: mind is given elsewhere, body is in the Master
company; Kabir says, how can you dye an unbleached cloth? Swami Ji says, do
Satsang by being receptive –someone! It does not matter if you do not
understand the words if you can be receptive, for his radiance will give you
some intoxication. That precious jewel of understanding. Which you gain when
you meet the Satguru, is priceless, invaluable; but it is not received at the
level of the mind. The mind must be stilled for a while, and them you will get
such love –love like a surging ocean it will surge within you. Your whole being
will be uplifted by this overflowing love. After this, your mind can be stilled
at will. O lord, how can we leave the company of such a saint, by seeing whom
the mind gets stilled? You can say it is a judging criterion for a Master, for
you cannot get this gift in the company of intellectuals. The waves affect the
sincere seeker even though the disciple is thousands of miles away, the same
effect the can be received by directing
the attention. If radio can pick up transmissions from thousands of miles, why
cannot our surat become affected?
Swami
Vivekananda was said at one time to have been an atheist. He would challenge
people, saying, “is there anyone who has seen God?” he finally found sri
Ramakrishna, who in those days lived in Calcutta and who was a realized soul
although he was not learned academically. Learning is the mother of books, and
knowledge is the mother of all. Ramakrishna had knowledge; if he had no special
book learning, did that matter? Swami Vivekananda put the question to him,
“Master, have you seen God?” and Ramakrishna replied, “yes, my child, I see Him
as I see you –more vividly than that.” He was satisfied.
Later, when
Vivekananda went to the United States, he was requested to represent the Hindu
religion at a parliament of religions. Now, sitting among ones own countrymen
and giving a talk amid familiar surroundings is vastly different than
addressing a selected gathering and discussing with distinguished members of
the clergy. After speaking for about ten minutes, he suddenly became non pulsed
bereft of words. A speaker may pause for a drink without creating any
misgivings, so he asked for a glass of water. While quietly waiting for the
water, he put all his attention on his Guru. Now Guru Power or you can call it
God Power, is working at that human pole and is ever present. As he
concentrated upon sri Ramakrishna, he contacted a wave of Guru Power. He
started speaking even before the water arrived, and went on to speak for more
than five hours, causing eventually a good deal of anxiety among some of the
clergymen. If Vivekananda had stayed in America longer, all would have been
drawn to him.
So to achieve
this jewel of knowledge, the Satguru is essential. One gets an intoxication
from a truly realized soul just by focusing the attention on the Guru, thereby
becoming receptive. A man who is proud of his mental development and advanced
intellect may see the Guru on an occasion, but he gains no effect from that.
This is the difference in men. Remember, the mind material –not conscious;
furthermore it is besmeared with the mud of ages past. A magnet can have no
effect on dirty, mud covered iron filings; but if they are clean and free form
soil they quickly respond to the magnetism. The Master can be linked to a most
powerful magnet, and our soul is of the same substance, but besmeared with the
muddy experience of our past. Remove the mud, and it will naturally be drawn to
its source. Put this to the test: sit beside a Master and put your mind
together aside for a while, and see how much bliss and intoxication you
receive. Love will them begin to grow and overflow in you, for God is love and
the soul is his entity –a drop of that ocean of love –although it is at present
scattered widely in a thousand attractive outlets at the mind and sense level.
Separated for a brief space from all this outer tinsel, and centered or
concentrated, it will be dragged toward that love which gushes forth from the perennial
source. This is an established law. We read the words of the Master, the valuable
gems they left behind, but we rarely understand their true meaning. So he tell
us:
Giving your
mind to your guru,
You get the
imperishable love;
you receive
the gift of salvation,
Which
erases the dirt of all sins.
With right
understanding, the mind is cured from the state of diffusion that it suffers
from, by the soul filed glance of the Master. Is it not said in the scriptures
that salvation is gained through the Naam or word? What is the Naam? That is
the name or word of God which sustains all creation. And when will you get this
gift which erases all imperfections? When you sit beside a Master in a
receptive mood. Even if you do not understand the language he is speaking, yet
you will gain the benefit of the radiation. If you also understand his word, so
much the better. Guru Arjan sahib says,
by coalescent Darshan all sins are finished. Becoming fully absorbed and in
union with someone is different than merely seeing a person. It must be a
coalescence: the two hearts should become one, so that the soul is receptive.
Christ said, I am the vine, ye are the branches –only them can understand this
subject –he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much
fruit; for without me ye can do nothing. This is what is called Guru bhakti. If
you are really devoted to someone, you will obey that person. Christ also said,
if ye love me, keep my commandments. Wherever love is, a human being responds.
The Masters
tell us that the right understanding is: you are not the body, I am not the
body, you are the soul, I am a soul; our life sustainer is God, and my soul is
in unison with him; by his mercy you will also be rejoined to him. The God
Power working in the Guru guides the disciple constantly; so if you receive
this gift, all your faults and imperfections will be erased. Our biggest fault
is that our attention is scattered disseminated among outer things; this is our
basic problem. But when the mind starts tasting the higher nectar, why would he
revert to lower enjoyments again?
Oh brother,
without the Guru there is no knowledge;
Ask Brahma,
narad, Veda vyas.
In the Srimad
Bhagavat it is written that when Brahma made the four Vedas, he became very
sorrowful. Do you understand why? Because reading, writing, learning and the
acquisition of letters are not necessary for realization of the truth. He says,
go ask narad about this, and sukhdev, son of ved vyas. This thing cannot be
realize without a Guru. When the mind is stilled, one receives the radiating
waves of the Guru which are already emanating from the human pole of the
Master, and have great charging. Those who are receptive enjoy these charged
waves, of the Guru which are the already emanating from the human pole of the
Master, and have great charging. Those who are receptive enjoy these charged
waves of the Guru which are already emanating from the human pole of the
Master, and have great charging. Those who are receptive enjoy these charged
waves, to the extent of each one’s receptivity. The learned and the unlearned
both can become receptive; but as long as the mind is not set aside, there is
no spiritual advancement. He tells us to go and ask anyone in authority, and
they will tell you that it cannot be achieved without a Guru. Guru Nanak also
says, without a Satguru, no one had knowledge of the divine, and no one can
have it!
Concentration
upon the indescribable sound principle, the nad, is the knowledge.
That sound
cannot be expressed in words, but is given various names: udgit, nad, word,
Naam. To experience it is true knowledge. And of the greatness of the Guru who
makes possible this knowledge, paltu sahib says, whoever can make the sound
coming from the gaggan [seat of the soul in the body] audible, he is my
gurudev. Whoever can make it possible for one to hear the sound at the gaggan,
and connect one to it is truly a Guru. He gives a little way up, and opens the
path. That great light which is God leads ones attention away from outer
attractions. It is a small experience with God. My Guru gives me the light of
the Lord Naam. In the gayatri mantra the same thing is mentioned: O lord, take
up to the light of the rays of the sun within. go and search for such a
personality who can reveal this light to you –wherever you can find Him. Why
can we not have this knowledge without a Guru? Understand very carefully that
we are surrounded by the senses. And have become the very image of the physical
form. We have forgotten our true selves. When one asks a small child who he is,
for he has some awareness left of his true self, but when he grows up he
declares, “I am ram das, I am Ram Singh, I am Mr. Khan,” etc. that small
fraction of awareness we must have the help of a guru. If one hundred moons and
one thousands suns arose with all this light, there is but dense darkness
without a Guru. If the inner eye is not open, how can one see? This eye is
called the shiv netra, the third eye, the single, they whole body shall be full
of Light. Also, if the ten senses are controlled, in that soul with all the
Light become effulgent. But how to control and invert the senses? This secret
the Satguru tells. All outer learning has connection with the attention when
scattered only, but the attention when scattered only, but the true knowledge
is gained through inversion. It is the ABC of spirituality. Where the world’s
philosophies end, there the true religion starts. So meeting the Satguru opens
the path of right understanding, by experiencing the inner knowledge. When the
Satguru is met, inversion occets, brother. Even for outer learning we need someone’s
help, so naturally this more exacting type of knowledge cannot be achieved
without the help of an expert. That small experience given at the beginning is
them increased by the daily contact. Death while living unravels. The mystery.
You become the one who sees. When the attention withdrawn and the body becomes
numb, then you can say; “yes, I have experienced it,” the one who receives the
experience can acknowledge it as practical proof, even if it be but little. It
is like a scientific subject, and not one on the level of sense or feeling, for
the soul itself has the experience, and as it rises higher, through the astral
and casual planes, the more experience will it get. Finally the soul sees that
I and my father are one –he works through me.
Concentration
upon the indescribable sound is the knowledge;
The fruit
giving tree of the Guru is green, and its shade is deep.
The Guru is
likened to a huge shady tree whose leaves are verdant, whose flowers are full
of fragrance. Those who sit in its shade receive the coolness. Maulana rumi
says that our heart should sit beside one who knows its condition. He them
himself asks how that can happen, and replies that one should sit under the
tree whose flowery fragrance permeates, and should not roam around the world
aimlessly, but rather sit in the shop where honey is sold; for in the world
many things are taught, in huge boiling pots, and one should not go there with
ones cup with the first giving thought. There is the lot of back marketing in
the world , but more so where so called spirituality is concerned. There was on
occasion when Christ became very angry with the Pharisees for defiling the
precincts of the temple with their money changing activities, and he drove them
out. bulleh shah has described this very clearly: in holy places live the
cheats, in the temples live the thugs, in the mosque live the professionals,
but true lovers live elsewhere. It illustrates the decline in man.
Religions are
well and good, but they should have a proper teacher a realized soul. Instead, one
finds this poor soul. Instead, one finds this poor soul who is earning money
for his living this way. He must do this. Or be cast out. now, what can people
get from such poor beings? All these social bodies were based upon the noble
thought, but everything has gone down with corruption; they are not up to the
mark now. They want offerings of money, flowers, ets., and them gives their
blessings, saying, “go child, your salvation is assured,” giving some “holy
food” to complete the transaction. The same good old custom has corrupted
itself. The customs were made for the purpose of helping the people to gain
freedom, but they have become binding chains in themselves. A man who belongs
to a certain religion is afraid to visit another. This is the result of wrong
teaching. Our Hazur, baba Sawan Singh Ji, used to say, “this is a gift given to
you; go where you like, and if you find anything better than that, then take
it, and I will also go there.” We are devotees of the truth, and should go
wherever we can get it.
The fruit
giving tree of the Guru is green, and its shade is deep;
In the
Gurus Bandar, precious jewels are found.
The guru’s Bandar
[treasure house] is a place where one gets something invaluable; go and sits in
that refreshing shade. After trudging long in the hot sun, a man gets re
enlivened for a while when he sits in the cool shade of a leafy tree. Sitting
at the feet of a realized soul, one becomes more conscious of what is real and
of the worlds unreality. In the company
of the Master, there is awareness of the Lord. In his company, the Lord seems
very near, and when one leaves that company one reverts to the same condition.
This jewel of knowledge which right understands is found in the Gurus Bandar
and is gained at his feet.
In the Guru’s
bandana you get the pure love of Naam.
First he told
us we would get the precious jewels –the jewels of understanding. Gurbani is
most praiseworthy, for not only does it contain the words of the Master, but
those words are such that they explain fully so that there is no
misunderstanding. Then he says you will get the pure love of Naam; it means
that there is such a name which is pure. God is anaam nameless. He has no name.
He is absolute God. When he expressed himself, he said, “I am one, but will become
many.” In the gurbani, it is written, from one source, millions, and millions
of rivers sprouted forth. The Koran says, he ordered and all creation came into
expression is called Naam, and various other names, given by the rishi and
mahatmas, but these are merely names; the pure Naam is that Power –the truth
the contact with which is given in the gurus bandana. Anyone can give in the
Gurus chandara. Anyone can give mere words, and tell the person to go and
repeat a certain name they have allotted to the Lord although every respect
should be given to all his names. I scarifies myself on all thy names. Now the
questions arises, “what is that Naam, repeating which one acrosses the ocean of
life?” those who have not found the Guru consider that the words applied to God
mean everything. The Hindus say that he is om or ram. The Muslims say that he
is waheguru. Who is correct? Each insists that salvation is gained through
their own choice of name, but in fact these are merely words given to that holy
Power of Naam. We should practice that Naam which is the Power itself: the truth. Only through that Naam can salvation
be received. The controller of the nine riddhis [supernatural Powers] is the
nine riddes in this body. This is not a subject for physical sight; you must
raise above the senses to see these things in truth. This name has an
enchanting sweetness. Anyone can teach outer turuals, prayers, mantras, but
with prayful thought I say that if only religious leader would give out the
correct teachings, there would be great love among all men; this is the basic
aim of all religions. Why is there so much conflict? Because of the different
levels of understanding. They regard everything from the levels of mind,
intellect, emotions, feelings, and inferences, and it is all due to the lack of
right understanding. Remember that this type of people has always stood against
the God realized souls, and principally the learned priests, who were at the
level of mind. The great saint, Guru Nanak sahib, was called an enticer, and
was said to be misleading the people. He was refused entry into one city,
called kasur. Some people have propagated that I am the Representative of the
negative Power and that no person should look upon my face for fear of being
mislead. Just see, even today these things are still going on.
With the
full mercy of the Guru you get the true merchandise.
If in your
search you have found a truly God realized soul who has realized that which is
written of in the scriptures –has actually experienced that them there is no
need to read the holy books which speaks of such a Guru. You may put them
aside. To get what they got, meet such a realized soul who will take one along
the path that he has traveled. No one has ever achieved any real progress just
by reading and never will.
To see this
worldly ocean is terrifying –having no beginning nor end;
There is no
boat, no raft, no pilot.
The world can
be likened to a vast ocean frightening to regard; we can see no beginning or
end to it all. Furthermore, we can see no means of crossing this ocean safely;
we have only the mind as a helper. The mind as a helper. The mind, with its
four departments –its reservoir of impressions, its reasoning Powers, its
intellect, and its ego –all are blockages, keeping one from be truth. Their
help will only extend to consider the subject. Reasoning is helpful, but
nothing can be realized through it. So is there any real means of crossing this
worldly ocean? Guru Nanak himself answers this:
The ship is
the Satguru, whose gaze will take you across.
A single
glance from the Satguru can put on that ship of Naam, the connection to which
is given only by the Satguru; it is the very key to salvation. In the book “bal
kand” [part of the ram charitra mansa] written by tulsidas, it is said in
praise of Naam, with or without attribute, both are Brahma’s image; but I
consider Naam Power is higher than any attributed or non attributed form of
God, but indescribable. That is why it is said, how much can I say in praise of
Naam? Ram himself could not sing its praise. This is a clear comparison of Naam
and ram, showing Naam to be higher; for even Lord Rama could not find the words
to praise it. O nanak, with devotion read hundreds of thousands of tons of
paper; with limitless ink, write at the speed of the wind; but your description
cannot be scribed, O Naam. The whole worlds scriptures would weigh less than
one hundred tons, but he speaks of reading many hundreds of thousands of tons
of books; of writing as fast as the wind; but Naam cannot be speaks of reading
many hundreds of thousands of tons of books; of writing as fast as the wind;
but Naam cannot be expressed in words. Naam is Naam. All say Naam, Naam, Naam,
but one has got it; Naam is unique. If you want to start to understand what
Naam is, go to the God realized person in whom it is manifested. In his Bandar,
that treasure is stored. All other treasures and wealth is perishable.
To cease
his remembrance, even for a second-
All
happiness leaves, and misery results.
Why are we
unhappy? O nanak, the whole world is unhappy; only he is happy who is sustained
by the Naam. God is our life sustainer, and we are truly happy only when we
turn away from God, mystery enters our lives. Swami Ji Maharaj says, O soul,
you are unhappy, we know from the day you deserted the shabd and befriended the
mind.
That tongue
should be burned out, which does not repeat the Naam.
The tongue
which has never tasted that sweet nectar is in fact worthless –fit only to be
cut out and thrown away. We should be grateful to Him who gave us life and goes
on sustaining us, but we never give this a single thought. Much loved are the
gifts, forgotten the giver; knows not, gives never a thought the giver, knows
not, gives never a thought to the awaiting death. with this tongue of thought,
go on being thankful to Him. The thankless tongue should be burned out.
When the
physical crumbles and death. makes his claim, there is naught but misery and
regret.
If this
important work is not done in this life, the misery will increase with the
physical forms decay, when you will go into the keeping of yama, the Lord of
death. you will then bear the fruit of whatever you sword during life, and so
around the cycle you will continue. But if you rise above the senses and taste
the sweet nectar of Naam, then your coming and going will cease. Living at the
senses level will keep you tied to the everlasting chain of births and death,
no matter how many good karmas you accrue. The jeweled wealth is of the beyond;
it is separate from the senses, and so cannot be realized through them. the
Guru who keeps and can give this treasure is very rare. During the life of king
janak, only one could found the whole of India namely ashtavakra. Sukhdev swami
found only one also –king janak. Of course, the more there are, so much the
better for the world. It makes no difference where a realized soul lives: in
the jungles or in the towns. When you meet a perfect Master with all
attributes, salvation is gained while living, laughing, and wearing ordinary
cloths. He will not advise you to leave home and household duties, but he will
say that, out of twenty four hours each day, set aside two to three hours for
this holy purpose. This work must be done as well as the worldly duties, so
earn your own living and stand on your own feet.
In olden days,
those who renounced the world for the spiritual life never collected money for
their sustenance, and they had no possessions. They ate whenever food was
offered them. but these days, this type of life has become a business, and they
have started collecting not only goods but money too. It is now something far
different from the original purpose, and blind men are leading the blinds. This
is mainly why the name of the guru Dom is scorned by the people at large, who
are saying that reading the scriptures at home is better than going to a guru.
“its mine,
it’s mine,” they say, but they left without body, wealth, wife, or family.
The whole
human race is engaged in possessing, but when each soul leaves, he takes
nothing with Him –neither possessions nor people –not even the body, which was
his first worldly companion, will accompany Him. He has frittered away his
whole life’s attention.
Without the
Naam, all outer riches have no value,
Because
they have forgotten the path.
We are the
indweller of the physical form, but have become identified with it, so much so
that we have forgotten ourselves. We see, not at the level of soul, but at the
body level. It is a very deep forgetfulness. Rich and poor, literate and
illiterate, alike are all in the same state of illusion. The body is made of
matter; the world is made of matter; and both are changing at the same rate.
Being identified with it, we consider we are still and unchanging at the same
rate. Being identified with it, we consider we are still and unchanging. The
whole world is suffering from two kinds of illusion- jar Maya and chaitan Maya
coarse and subtle types of illusion. We rise out of the clutches of these when
some Master soul brings us above them and opens the spiritual eye and puts us
on the path. Without this, there is no difference in having outer knowledge and
not having it; the spiritual ignorance remains. Actually the man without
intellectual learning will succeed more rapidly on the spiritual path, for he
is told, “go up,” he will start without delay or question; but the learned man
will stand and ask, “why? How many steps are there? What is at the top? I hope
I will not slip and fall.” This intellectual hesitancy will keep him where he
is; he will keep him where he is; he will never climb up. However it is true
that he who has learning but does not allow it to stand in the way will be more
valuable than others; but such cases are rare. Outer knowledge is like a
garland of flowers adorning a realized person, who will explain the truth in
many ways. Such knowledge in an unrealized soul is like a burden on a donkey’s
head.
By serving
the true Master, the Guru much will know the unexpressed.
Become the one
who serves him in whom the ever existence and imperishable Lord is manifested:
the Master . who can know Him? Only a
Gurumukh. And what is a Gurumukh? He who is one with the Guru. One fakir has
said that the seekers of God have lost Him in the waves of the minds ocean –in
the thoughts of the intellect. Go and seek for some true Master, for the right
understanding.
Coming and
going around the wheel of life according to the karmas-
How can
what is written be erased?
The law is
the law.
What is
written comes from the beyond one must go through it. Those who have love for
the world and its environments will return to it again and again. Good actions
will bring them happiness and had actions misery. Hell, heaven again and again
birth. By rising above the senses and experiencing inner knowledge one can
become neh-karma (free from karmas). For such a person the perpetual wheel of
life ceases to turn. The only reason for our continual return to the worldly
life is our attachment to it. When we love God a little, it is usually for some
worldly life is our attachment to it. When we love God a little, it is usually
for some worldly gain, and not to realize Him for his own sake. When the God
realize Him for his own risk. When the God realize person gives the right
understanding. He reaches the true values of life, nad how to make the best use
of everything.
Without
Gods Naam there is no freedom, but the Guru’s knowledge gives the connection.
We cannot
realize this name or Naam by ourselves, for whatever practices we do are at the
sense level. We must depend on the
knowledge of the Guru, for life comes from the life, and light is lit from
light.
Without Him
I have no one; he is my life and breath.
He is speaking
form experience, for he has seen that everything is sustained by the Lord.
Being outwardly scattered, we cannot experience that. The Master do not speak
of themselves, but their words come from the Lord direct; for they are in
constant and direct; for they are in constant and direct contact with Him. They
are joined to the Lord. One fakir explains that whatever the Master say, the
Lord himself is saying, although the words may seem to come form a human
throat.
All are
consumed in ego, attachment, greed and pride;
O nanak,
meditate upon the shabd and realize the supreme unity.
Shabd is the
same as the Naam. God is a shabd, but his expression is shabd. Creation and
dissolution come through the shabd; through the shabd comes recreation, it is
the Power behind all creation and dissolution. There are two kinds of this
shabd; through the shabd comes
recreation. It is the Power behind all creation and dissolution. There are two
kinds of this shabd, Naam, or word: one is outer, at the level of the mind and
intellect, and one is above these. The latter is the one receives by the grace
of the Guru. Get the connection to that shabd, and meditate upon it. The result
will be that you will gain a wealth of knowledge, you will gain the greatest of
achievements: to know the music of the spheres.
This was a
hymn of Guru Nanak sahib, who has very openly tried to teach us the way of
right understanding and its incalculable value. Now in dhani dharma das Ji, who
succeeded Kabir, says:
O Lord,
where have you placed me?
That
unchangeable place is where the Hans lives, and this is but the play of the
negative.
It is protest
to the Lord. “I am a conscious entity, a soul, and my place is sat lok, I am a
dweller of the true home, and yet where am I now? That unchangeable place is
where an I now? That unchangeable place is where the Hans live –those who can differentiate
truth from untruth. How have I become trapped in this negative illusion?” O
loved one (soul), your place was one of all consciousness, but you have tied
yourself in the matter. Man, there was no matter in your home, for you were the
dweller of the pure place; and yet here you are imprisoned in the mud and
water. One hundred wise men will have but the same thought. Guru Nanak says,
you are residing in the mud and water. One hundred wise men will have but the
same thought. Guru Nanak says, you are same thought. Guru Nanak says, you are
residing in the imperishable true home, and I am lost in perishable matter. So
learned to die so that you may being to live. If you yearn for everlasting
life, then learn to die before death. to learn how to leave the body while
living has been the teaching of all Masters.
Through the
play of nirgun and sagun, you got into the clutches of kale, the negative
Power.
So many people
are trying to gain good attributes, or are trying to reach a stage above
attributes. Why not reach that which sustain both nirgun (without attributes)
and sagun (good attributes)? To be without attributes is an attribute in
itself, so we must go beyond nirgun and sagun, and get connected there. What
high thoughts these Master have –and just see where we are standing!
The
imperishable nectar sustains, in the country of the sat purush [the true
being].
The place is
beyond the circle of kale maha kale [the forces of the negative and greater
negative Powers] where dissolution and grand dissolution does not reach. His
name is Satguru, who knows the sat purush, in whose company the disciple gains
salvation; O nanak, sing the praises of God. Also, when the Satguru is met, the
eye sees. The Master will make the soul reach to the same stage as himself. He
who has become one with the soul reach to the same stage as himself. He who has
transcend pind is no doubt due some respect, but we should see how far beyond
pind he has gone. It is even possible that the words of some of the Masters who
went on were never found at all. So it is difficult to discover who has reached
where. Kabir sahib says, do not say that these holy books are lies; liar is he
who does not practice what he reads. If you go within, you will meet those
Masters, just as you meet the people here when you come to Delhi.
Dharma das
pleads with folded hands;
O Lord,
take me to your country,
I cannot
bear this noose of the Lord of death;
Use any
means, but keep your attention, on me.
The world is a
place of birth and death –“take me to my true home, O Satguru, it is in your
hands alone.” That God Power, the truth, is working in the human pole of the
Satguru. It also works in us all, but has not manifested itself in all men.
Wealth, attachment, all are illusion –all a play of kale. Due to the never
ending disseminations of thoughts, the world is lost in forgetfulness. Wherever
your attention is, so there you will be also, and that is why again and again
you must come to the world. The Guru reveals the hole where the secret is
hidden; by closing the doors, the anhad [unstruck sound] is heard. When you
come to know the anhad, it means you have succeeded in your mission. This will
be only when you have fully and completely withdrawn from all outer
attractions, and have risen above the mind and the senses.
Cut
illusion, attachment, and give me Nirvana,
That
everlasting place of the Hans,
Which only
a few will reach;
Dharm das
pleads with foded hands, to realize his aim and release him from this wheel.
“O Lord, bless
me with that state beyond the three attributes. This wealth and attachment is
dragging me here, again and again. Take me out of it all, and put me in that
place which is ever existent and permanent where very few reach –only those
like the hands, those who can differentiate the truth from untruth.” It is his
plea to the satguru’s mercy.
This is the
teaching of the Masters –the people who have realized the true knowledge. Live
wherever you wish; live in your own religion; but make your life good, pure,
and righteous. Stay away from the outer senses, the enjoyments. Be fully
controlled. Sit at the feet of a realized Master and get the contact within.
day by day to the practice and earn progress within. You will be a success in
life.
A Trip to the Source of Our
Light
Sharleene Sherwin shares with us, through excerpts
from her diary and a transcribed tape, some highlights from her stay in India
in December, 1969.
With well
meaning thoughts but complete naivete we here in New York and Long island
thought we could bring Master a gift, something needed at Sawan ashram. After a
very short period at the ashram. After a very short period at the ashram, the
realization dawned that Master doesn’t need or want any of the material thing
we in the west consider so essential to life. Master wants us, only us. He
collects all the pieces and puts us together so we can go to Him whole,
collected, one centered. But in the meantime there I was in the airport customs
section, in pieces, registering two items for customs duty. In the other lobby
were two sweet disciples with the exact amount of the declared merchandise
which Master had handed them before their departure for the airport to help if
needed. Such is his constant love, protection and awareness of our every
situation, both spiritual and mundane.
It was not yet
light as the car wound its way through the streets of old Delhi on the way
through the streets of old Delhi on the way to the ashram. We are concerned as
we see the poverty and poor housing –by our standards. (Very clear when in
Masters physical presence was his ability to read our minds and answer our
unstated questions. He was heard to say at a later date that it is the poor who
have simple lives, have nothing to distract their attention from God. When they
become wealthy their attention goes to making more money - “you are where your attention is. Maintain
purity of life.”)
One of the
first questions Master asked was about my family –“especially give your husband
my love.” I saw the word love come alive in Master’s face and become a living
force. I realize then as I was to realize again and again during the next two
weeks that Master is a total personification of God love. You can see it and
almost touch it in his presence.
We are pining
for you in America and feel your love. “Master come to give love. Like the
waves in a huge ocean, one never knows how far reaching the waves are.”
In reply to
the messages of love from his disciple, he said, “Where is it? –the love.”
Master has such great love for his children; our love is only reciprocal. One
message was to give Master our love and tell Him that we need Him. “I am glad
some people over there need me. Where there is a need, the need will be
fulfilled.”
The highlights
of our visit in Sawan ashram were our morning and evening Darshan. Master would
meet with the small group of western disciple and with complete attention and
concern, answer our questions and give short talks. Written immediately after
as best as we could remember, these are some of the questions and answers:
About the
degeneration and corruption in America –“a golden age will arise from this iron
age.”
Should we
devote equal time to the sound and light practices at each sitting? “depends on
your needs. Spend more time on the practice you wish to develop more. But
devote attention fully to one practice only. Open only one drawer at a time.
Close it, then open up the other drawer.”
Listening to
the holy sound current –“if you hear it when not in the posture, it keeps your
mind off the world. But put in time in the prescribed posture because that
sound takes you up and then the sound comes from above.”
At one of our
first Darshan talks Master talked about receptivity: when you are in the
physical presence of the Master it is easy to become presence of the Master it
is easy to become receptive to his radiation, like being close to the sun; the
burning rays are very strong and penetrating. Master says that while the
physical presence of the Master cannot be underrated (there is great blessing
and radiation from his physical presence), receptivity can be developed so that
Masters form can manifest from any distance both inside and outside and speak
to you. “he is always with you. You only have to develop receptivity and you
will see Him working – I issued a circular just recently on how to develop
receptivity. When you become receptive you feel his presence all the time.”
Master then told us the story of a young lady in India who wrote to Master
saying that he should leave for some time, at least while she was busy. The
Masters form was with her all 24 hours. When the Master did withdraw at her
request she came crying like anything. “so you only have to become receptive
and that Power will even materialize and that Power will even materialize and
lead you by the hand to guide you. Just direct your attention to Him. Like a
radio or TV from thousands of miles receives images let nothing stand between
you and the Master .
“when one
become truly receptive, what he says is the same as the Master would say. He
simply remembers the Master and that radiates. When two become one, that is the
greatest fear of the love –that is the greatest feat of love that is what is
needed to become the mouthpiece of the Master . St. Paul said, ‘it is I, not
now, I but Christ lives in me.”
“Master will
never leave you. He is always there waiting for you. All that you have to do is
go within. Master will talk to you within. he is wanting to talk to you. You do
not want to talk to Him.”
Do the inner
experience have anything to do with the past karma? Is it the karma that makes
the veil so heavy to lift? “yes. Each one comes with his own past background.
The past karma, the time and effort have all to deal with experience. But even
a person who puts in regular time and perseveres, with bad background, can
progress further than one who has good background and doesn’t try. So it is by
earnestness and perseverance that we become saints. Every saint has his past
and every sinner a future. There is hope for everybody. Even you can become a
saint.
“We should
tithe our time for meditation, putting in one tenth of the 24 hours at least
–the tradition has been that way for so long in all religions. Put in two to
three hours at least.
“water, water
everywhere, but we haven’t got a speak of it. We are digging so many pits
instead of digging a well. Life. Decide what you want, and then live for it
wholly and solely.
“go inside to
sit for meditation sweetly and buoyantly, freshly, as though you are going to
meet a good friend.
“God is alone
and he wants you to come alone. Go alone to meet God.
“Be regular,
preserve, and keep your diary. Introspect your life. Be critical not of others
but of yourselves. Evaluate and meditate on your past, present and future
situations and attitudes.
“meditate at
times you are not needed for worldly matters that have to be taken care of.
“Master makes
the union between married couples stronger. One soul in two bodies united by
God. No one should disunite by God. No one should disunite whom God unites.
Give love, more love. When love is perfect, there will be no problems.”
To say that a
man has a good spiritual background –does this mean that he has merits that
entitle him to be more in contact? “man is in the make. Some progress faster,
others slower and others have to start afresh. Why all of this questioning,
though? Leave off all questions and just attend to your meditations with heart
and soul. All questions are answered as you progress. Go inside and you will
see. When I sat at the feet of my Master I asked only three questions answered
as you progress. Go inside and you will see. When I sat at the feet of my
Master I asked only three questions in the beginning. I learned by sitting at
his feet, hearing what he said and looking into his eyes. Leave off all this
questioning. If you find something gives you some good candy to eat, don’t ask
questions –eat it.
“the more you
contact the Light and sound, all questions will go away of themselves. You will
become satiated. If a man is hungry, when he takes food, the hunger goes away.
Similarly, when you give food to the soul, all questions leave off.”
I would like
to do something about my emotional nature, Master. “Construct a house of
bricks, leave no opening put them (emotions) in there to stream, then go to
meditate.” Did you say to leave an opening, Master? “no, no opening, steam will
escape.”
About leaving
ego and arrogance behind: he said as one becomes more and more in tune with the
divine sound and the Master within, you realize it is not you who is the
controlling Power and the ego will leave slowly.
About leaving
to prepare non vegetarian food, under compulsion, for members of your family.
“that’s all right. Prepare it with love, no hatred or resentment in your heart.
As you love more and more, they will demand it less and less.”
Should appease
the very strong desires of the mind, like the desire to talk a lot here at the
ashram? “if a man wants to see a show and he would be satisfied by seeing that
one show and he would be all right. But by seeing one show, he will want to see
more and more. If you appease it once it will react with double force, then it
becomes habit and forms into nature. So prevention is better than cure.”
But if the
frustration in the mind gets very strong? “the mind is simply our attention
directed to the outside. At these times put your attention on something else.
Take a walk or keep the company of righteous people. Why water a plant if you want it to die? The more you feed it the
stronger it will get. Sometimes you just have to start to be of resolute will.
If you don’t stop now, someday will. If you don’t stop now, someday you will
have to face up to it.”
* * *
CHIRSTMAS DAY
1969
Everyone has
been walking around today looking more intoxicated than usual. What a shower of
love Master has been giving us for Christmas as the symbolic Santa Claus come
to life.
After
meditation this morning, Master came into our meditation room a usual, but
after talking to us, he said, “You wait here,” and left. After ten minutes
someone called for us to go into Masters house. There he sat, smiling, with
flowers and Christmas messages next to him, each one of which he had personally
signed. We had not been taping Masters talks, but today a rape recorder was
placed at his feet with his permission. He gave us a beautiful stronger
gestures. At one point in his talk while telling us to learn to die daily, bear
our cross, he made a cross of his body. “Take up your cross daily –learn to
rise into the beyond.”
Later we were
called to our meditation room which our dear brothers and sisters and
transformed into a banquet room with a surprise Christmas dinner on the table.
Master came in. he stood looking at the table for a while and we stood looking
at Him, mute. He asked “whose birthday are you celebrating? Where are the
candles? How many should you have?” he spoke about the symbolism of the tree of
lights: body is the tree and the lights are found within. Master is in the tree
of lights.
He then asked
if he could have something. He took an orange, sat down so we could take his
picture, then left for an appointed meeting.
Several times
during that day he told us to go realize the Christ Power within you meditate
rise above body consciousness.
* * *
Master, I am
in the service and in two months be sent to Vietnam. I wondered about what to
do if I get into combat? “well, they are fighting less and less over there.
President Nixon just announced that they will be withdrawing some troops. But
there are many duties besides fighting.”
Yes, I am
being rained as an engineer to build bridges. What should I do if I am told to
go into combat instead? “you are an engineer, you will build bridges. Do your
duty. You have no say in the matter. Do as you are told. You should not take
life where you cannot give life. Treat others as you would yourself like to be
treated. Those in charge are responsible; you have nothing to say in the matte.
I was once serving right on the firing line, too. Bombs were on the firing
line, too. Bombs were flying, machines guns going like anything. I felt no fear
at all. The Master Power working overhead extends all feasible help and
protection.”
Master, I feel
ashamed of being an American citizen because of the atrocities being committed.
“what can you do about committed. “what can you do about it?” I don’t know,
Master, what can I do? “it is those who are in nothing you can do once they are
in Power. When there is something you can do, then do it; but it is quite out
of your hands. There is a higher Power controlling such things. Have sympathy
in your hearts; that’s all right.
“its is a pity
that we give votes to such like people. Unless you have full conviction about a
man, it is better not to vote at all. The leaders should be first of good
character, integrity. Second, he should have history of selfless service.
Third, he should have a history of selfless service. Third, he should know the
need of the people. Further, when he takes office he should become the son of
the county, not the son of the party. It after a year the man doesn’t come up
to the mark, he should be recalled, not permitted to go on for four or five years.
The law should be like that. Maybe someday it will. You cam help by wisely
using your vote. We should study a man very carefully before giving a vote; a
vote is a very important thing. There are many candidates coming up from the
parties in the country. These are the tings that will make up good governments
in the future.
* * *
MASTER “David,
you have lost your wallet.” Yes, Master. “well, don’t worry. If you lose your
wealth, you have lost nothing; if you lose your health, you have lost
something. If you lose your character, you have lost everything. I will give
you some money.” And he did.
* * *
Master, how
can we best invoke Master’s blessing and grace before meditation? “prayer.
Short prayer, sincere, which comes from the heart. Sit like this. (Master
closed his eyes and showed us how to sit –so sweetly.) Christ said, ‘go inside
your closet and pray.’”
* * *
A man from
Lucknow came to evening Darshan and told about a lady who was very ill. She
prayed to God, asking if there was anyone who could give her peace. Master
appeared within and gave her initiation into the Surat Shabd Yoga. She
recovered and a few weeks later went to a Satsang where she was Master’s
picture. She embraced it, saying, “It was He I saw inside.” Master’s comment
after the story was, “It is God Power working everywhere.” Master has such
humility. Incidents similar to this are always happening, and always Master
gives all credit to His Master, Sawan Singh Ji, and God Power or Master Power
working overhead.
* * *
Master,
is there any harm in wearing clothes
made of dead animals, like furs, leathers, etc.? “Have
you read the book the Wheel of life? I think this is answered there. Even
breathing is sin, you see. While breathing, so many insects are killed, while
walking too. Truly speaking, everything is sin so long as you remain the doer –
until you become conscious co-worker of the Divine Plan. We wear leather shoes,
but it is a comparative sin, you see. Do as little as possible, the least you
can.”
Master, my
mind is active – when I meditate I talk to you. “Where
there is love, there is silence. Love is mute. There should be no clutching.
Sit sweetly. When you go to a friend, would you like to hear what he says, or
be lost in yourself?”
* * *
THE LAW OF
GRATITUDE “You are having some light,
dim – but light. Admit it. Be thankful. Thank God. You will get more next time.
Love gives and gives. We get tired of receiving. Master has so much to give us
we think we can't take it all. God can give His wine only according to the size
of the glass. If the glass is two, three, four ounces. He can’t give the whole
bottle, it would kill him.”
* * *
WORK: Master’s
disciple acquire a great respect for work while in the physical presence of the
Master – He Himself setting an example in this area as a tireless worker for
humanity. One of our basic responsibilities on this path in Man Making is to
stand on our own two feet and earn an honest living by the sweat of our brows.
I asked Master
about staying home more to meditate. “No,” Master said, “Work is worship.
Meditate when you are not needed as there is worldly work to be done.”
Master seems
to expand the days for working disciples as they relish every working disciple
as they relish every free moment for spiritual practices.
* * *
How much
sleep does the body need? “Both sleep and diet can
be brought to a very little. For a workingman, at least five to six hours
required. As you live in the beyond more and more, you will required less. The
Prophet Mohammed was asked, ‘Do you sleep?” Master explained how attention
goes up in conscious sleep and down in unconscious sleep. “But don’t try to
force the number of hours. Five to six hours minimum.
“The more you
contact the light and sound, all questions will go away of themselves. You will
become satiated. If a man is hungry, when he takes food the hunger goes away.
Similarly, when you give food to the soul, all questions leave off.”
* * *
Master often
spoke about serving others, the God in them, sharing with others rather than
giving charity. He said that if you serve for the sake of service it is
binding. If you serve for the sake of Master, it is not binding. If you serve
any person, you serve for the sake of Master, it is not binding. If you serve
any person, you serve God; God is in all. And he quoted Jesus –“if you put food
in another person’s mouth who is hungry, you just put food in my mouth” –and
pointed to his mouth.
* * *
This section
is transcribed directly from a tape.
MASTER “what
is greed? Greed comes under –you want something at the cost of others. You
squeeze blood of others –it is the blood that stains the cloth. If we squeeze
the blood of others by fair means or four, then comes under non violence.”
Master, when
we go back to the U.S. –hate to think about it . . . .
MASTER “look
here, live in the living present. There is yet two days more –be thankful you
are here. When we are sitting we are here. When we are sitting we are always
pondering over the past or the future. Two sprites take possession of our thoughts.
Live in the living present –joy, joy, be thankful for it. That’s part of your
devotion. When you go, then its all right; we’ll talk about it.” That’s the
whole thing –why not make the best use of your time while you’re here two days
more? Be here wholly and solely: forget your past, friends and relations, even
your body.
“You know you
are here only for a short time. Even short time, make the best use of it. You
are busy writing letters to your friend. I am here, today I saw this . . . in
this way you are nor deriving the full benefit of the time here. Short time
fully benefit of the time here. Short time fully devoted will give you more
benefit than a year.
“There were
two friends; one was very fond of going to church, the other of paying in the field.
They were obstinate in their own ways, so one went to the church and the other
to the play ground. The one in the church was all the time thinking, ‘oh, my
friend must be kicking football.’ The one in the field was thinking ‘my friend
must be sitting in prayer.’ Who is better? The one who plays football.
“When you are
here, you shouldn’t be writing too many letters, only the few that are
unavoidable. I am not hard. I am simply showing you how you can make the best
use of your time here. You are here. You are wholly and solely with me. Christ
once said –you know what he said?’ eat me and drink me.’ What did it mean? How
can you eat the Master? Master is word made flesh: you have to eat the word
made flesh: you have to eat the word and drink me.’ What did it mean? How can
you eat the Master? Master is word made flesh: you have to eat the word and
drink it –that word within him –by ‘eyes are the windows of the soul’; soul
charged with that will give you that if you are wholly and solely there; if you
keep your gaze there, soul speaks through the eyes.
“People become
very much learned but we don’t follow what we read.
“These are
small tips –these things are not given in books, they are there, but garbed in
a way, just like an almond: you need to take off the shell to get the kernel.”
* * *
It was
inevitable for that last day of departure to come. Master said that Guru Arjan
once prayed to his Master said that Guru Arjan once prayed to this is how we
all feel when we are about to leave the physical presence of Master. Each
disciple receives the same complete loving farewell. As we leave, we know that
we can never really leave Master as he is so firmly embedded in us, his
disciples.
As Master was
handing us some parshad, he said to tell them (them future recipients of this
blessed candy) to take a little piece before meditation and it will become true
parshad, otherwise it is only candy.
The last words
I remember Master saying on new year’s eve as we left to meditate in the new
year: “learn to stay longer in the beyond –it is the highest thing you can do
in the man body.”
The True and the False
L.
Gurney Parrott
CONVERSING
RECENTLY with a friend, I happened to mention the living perfect Master, which
brought the immediate question, “how do you know he is a perfect Master?” to
which I replied, “How do you know the sun is shining?” and them more,
specifically, went on more or less as follows:
It is not a
matter of opinion. Differences of opinion are permissible, indeed, are the
natural outcome of human thought on almost every subject under the sun, save
one: TRUTH.
Truth is an
absolute, without qualification; it cannot be modified; it is synonymous with
God. The perfect Master is the embodiment of truth, not because I or anyone
else believes it, but because I or anyone else believes it, but because he
gives clear and unmistakable evidence in his person, in his life, and in his
exhortations, written and verbal.
When a Master
cannot be faulted in any one of the following essential qualities, and if, in
addition, he teaches and demonstrates the way back to God through the word, or
audible life current, then he becomes self evident as truth –a perfect Master
–and one’s whole being responds in joyful recognition.
1. HUMILITY.
He evinces a natural, inborn humility, not acquired, which is strikingly
evident, though never consciously evident, though never consciously exercised.
Like the scent of a rose, or the color of its petals, it is innate, not
assumed.
2. LOVE. He is
the embodiment of love for all living creatures and the entire humanity, above
all distinctions of race, color or creed.
3. PURITY.
Godliness and spirituality flow from him, expressed in every thought, word and
action. His purity is not the result of pious of pious words and religious
activity, but, again, is effortless, as the reflection in the surface of a
still lake.
4. A GIVER. He
is always the giver, never the recipient, living on his own resources and not
on the charity of others. He gives spirituality free; it flows from him as
naturally as a river flows down from the mountain source to the valleys below.
5. APPEARANCE.
He has no affectation in dress, no outer indication entitling to special
respect. He does not need it, for his mere presence evokes instinctive
recognition in the beholder of his spiritual stature.
6. POWER. He
does not perform miracles to attract followers although all Power is his; but
he exercises his Powers always under the divine will as necessity may arise,
avoiding publicity or sensationalism of any kind.
7. TEACHING.
His teachings are in strict accord with those of all the great Master in the
past.
Our Master,
Sant Kirpal Singh, is a perfect exemplar of all the seven prerequisites in a
perfect Master, but he can be credited with yet another, an eighth.
This last
proof of his spiritual stature and greatness is his crowing glory, clear
evidence of his statues as divine ambassador with a special commission from God
to free embodied souls from their material prisons and lead them back to Him.
This is the Power to open the eyes and ears of those who go to Him, that they
may see the Light of God and hear the voice of God, linking them with the
shabd, or word, or the celestial music –what we in Christian countries would
call “The holy spirit” –which carries the spirit, under his guidance, to its
native home.
It is this
manifestation of the Word, which distinguishes the perfect Master from Masters
of any and every other kind. None but a perfect Master has the authority and
power to do this marvelous work.
There are
Masters in the world of every sort and degree, true and false, and some may be
able to help souls to a certain extent, consistent with their own level of
attainment; but they cannot liberate souls from the wheel –the endless cycle of
coming and going in these material regions –nor lead them to the highest, for
they themselves are not free; and such Masters, and their followers alike, must
continue in the round of rebirths until release by perfect Master.
All this, of
course, is well known to satsangis who have studied and teachings of our Master
and his predecessors, and the reader may well ask why this article has been
written.
My object, in
addition to sharing one or two problems later, is to stimulate and encourage
fellow pilgrims who have not had the privilege of meeting the Master, and who,
through circumstances beyond their control, may never it in this world.
The joyous
fact and unique feature on this path is that while to meet the Master in the
flesh is an immense blessing, failure to do so does not it, any way prevent or
hidden one’s spiritual progress after one has been initiated. Indeed, there is
a danger that to have been with there is a danger that to have been with the
Master may result in some complacency and a tendency to think that future
effort is thereby rendered less mandatory.
The immensely
encouraging promise in this teaching is that if the aspirant so orders his
outer life and carries our accurate the inner exercises as directed, his
receptivity to the Master’s radiation will become more and more perfect until
he reaches the pint where he meets the Master in his radiant form on the inner
planes. This is the point, which we are all expected to reach, with Master’s
grace. Compare with this wondrous achievement, whether we have or have not been
with the Master in the physical body is of little importance.
Fellow
satsangis will have experience the curious fact that, even when ear is given to
such a statement as this, accompanied by a careful study of the Master’s
wonderful written expositions and those of his predecessors –nay, more than
this: even if many satsangis add their experience with the Master, there is not
an immediate rush to become his disciple.
The pure
teaching itself is so perfect, answering every intellectual problem, that one
would expect any honest seeker to leap at it. Formal religions and the host of
parasitical or splinter societies know nothing of the inner experiences know
nothing of the inner experience of the soul, or of the grand scheme of finer
subtler worlds leading upward from this, the coarsest material expression, to
the highest region of pure consciousness and the supreme Lord. They only give
vague hope of a future “heaven” as indicated in books; none of their teachers
have any personal experience of the beyond.
The path of
the Masters- the grand trunk road to spirituality –along which the living
perfect Master is ready and willing to guide us, offers something so incredibly
wonderful that one would naturally think the whole world would seize the opportunity.
Why do they not? Hundreds of thousands have done so, but relative to the
population of the world the response is small. If many are called certainly few
are chosen.
The answer is
threefold: (a) the Master has repeatedly stated that those who come to his is
in this life are predestined to do so; (b) our karmic fate, or destiny; and (c)
the fact that the Master is the “doer” and will drawn to himself those whom he
has come to seek. We, therefore, are not the doers; it is all his work, and if
he uses us as a link to take any soul to Him, it is a privilege granted to us
for our advancement and not his need.
So we should
not feel discouraged if we meet with resistance, or indifference, for it is not
the time for such souls to meet the Master, nothing can bring it about.
At first,
immediately after my initiation in 1966, I was very disappointed and worried
when I met with no response, or with only a little flicker of interest that
quickly died. The Master put me right and now I understand enough to stand
aside and have no sense of personal responsibility or of “proselytizing zeal.”
I expect all
Satsang will have met this problem. There are others, but one in particular may
be worth discussing in the people that sharing experiences may help.
In the application
for initiation into Sant mat, one is required to “note that practices involving
breathing for meditation, spiritual healing (instantaneous or otherwise) are
forbidden by the Master, and all other forms of meditation that may have been
practiced should be discontinued.”
It is
astonishing to find some initiates still hankering after former practices,
especially spiritualistic mediumistic and occult ones. Some still read books
published by various society or individuals, and even continue to profess allegiance
to one or the other, or even to more than one, as well as to the Master. But
“no one can serve two Master; and he who is not for me is against me,” said
Jesus, having evidently met the same phenomenon among his followers.
(1)
What is Sant mat, or the path of the
Master? It is royal way back to God, our father. It is the true high way of
spirituality and dates from the dawn of humanity. It was designed by the
creator himself.
(2)
Along this grand highway are lay byes,
cul through sacs, by the, country lanes of interminable length losing
themselves in a vast jungle; secondary roads leading to scenes of great beauty;
major roads leading to wondrous realms. Without the perfect Master, pilgrim
souls are lost in these enticing deviations.
(3)
The positive pole in creation lies in
the realms from sach khand –the filth inner plane –upward, and it is from here
that the perfect Master descends and operates in the regions of the negative
pole (casual, astral, physical).
(4)
The Master task or mission is to take
souls to the highest and the whole science of the Master is so designed.
(5)
It follows that to achieves success we
must give ourselves entirely to this objective. Can we think that this wondrous
goal is gained so easily that we can afford to squander time and energy in any
other direction?
(6)
The above mentioned deviations may
have a lot of good in them and do in rare cases take souls to quite advanced
states where they imagine they have reached the goal. But the Masters (who know
because they have gone higher) sate categorically that they are still within
the sphere of the negative Power. The only way to the highest is by the sound
current or shabd. When we need water, do we take a sieve to the well?
(7)
It is true that Master says that one
may stay in whatever society we are in, with no need to change one’s religion.
Surely this means that if one sincerely practices one’s religion. One must
automatically reach the point of inner ascension where the Master point of
inner ascension where the Master takes over without any conflict at all.
The Master
could have millions of nominal followers, as many religions can claim, but he
would rather have five hundred (or five) really sincere and genuine disciple.
Isn’t that the trouble with our world of today –the gap between professional
and execution –between words and deeds?
So the
conclusion of the matter is: if we are sincere and loyal to the truth, and if
we want to succeed on this royal way, we must give ourselves up wholly to the
quest. Acquaintance with various spiritual cults in the world and some
discriminating knowledge of the countless books with people; but to become attached
or absorbed in them is to dissipate the Powers of the soul which should be
concentrated on the true target.
The Master gives
us a yardstick by which to assess these fascinating intellectual bypaths. They
are so cleverly constructed that they look very much like the main thoroughfare,
or offer promising short cuts; but let us not be deceived and risk losing our
ways in the forest of doubt and the jungles of intellectual titillation to
which they lead.
We should give
high priority to the study of the Master books and teachings and not be tempted
or lured into activities which will hinder our progress. Counterfeit currency
is very hard to detect, but “by their fruits ye shall know them”; and the
simple test is to stop, if we are involved with such, and inquire, “where do they
stand?” if, after many years or even a long life of study of some religious
cult, we find that their hierarchy has only books knowledge and theoretical acquaintance
with oriental teachings, it would be foolish to continue wasting precious time
and effort toying with fascinating intellectual speculation and getting
nowhere.