TRUE
MASTER AND
HIS MISSION
Translation and substance of a talk given in
Hindi at Sawan Ashram
Once Raja Parikshat asked his minister as to why in times
of a moral crisis or a calamity God Himself comes to the rescue of His
children even when He has innumerable attendants at His beck and call and
can direct any of them to do the job for Him. The minister replied that
a loving Father, as God is, cannot help coming down to help His children.
The Raja asked the minister to substantiate his statement, and the latter
promised to do so in course of time.
After some days, the minister made a doll that looked
just like the Raja's son and dressed it in the fashion of the prince. He
placed the doll on the bank of a pool in the garden where the Raja used
to go for a walk. The doll could be manipulated to move with strings from
a distance. When the Raja next went to the garden with his minister, he
saw the prince sitting on the bank of the pool. While he was wondering
as to how his son was there, he saw the prince taking a plunge into the
pool. The Raja could not bear this heart-rending sight and instantaneously
jumped into the pool to save his son from drowning. To his great surprise,
the Raja found that it was a doll and not his son. The Raja called for
an explanation from the minister, who humbly replied that the farce was
enacted to substantiate the truth of what he had said sometime ago about
God coming down to save His children in critical moments.
We all are children of God, fashioned by Him in His own
image. The soul in man is of the same essence as God. Kabir says: "The
soul, though embodied, is but a part and parcel of the All-Pervading essence
enlivening the universe." It is nothing but a drop of the sea of All-Consciousness.
Environed on the physical plane by the limiting adjuncts of mind and matter,
we have completely identified ourselves with the world and all that is
worldly so much so that we have forgotten our truly divine origin. The
natural result of this forgetfulness is pain and suffering. Physical life
is all misery, declared Buddha, the Enlightened One. The ever-loving Father,
when He hears the piteous cries of His children for a way out of this magic
maze of the world, cannot but descend in the garb of a man to reclaim the
lost sheep back to His fold.
God is the Guru of soul, for soul is of the same essence
as God. When in agony, it cries for help and God comes down to its rescue.
When in deep anguish, one yearns for a way-of-life, the Word, or the Power
of God, materializing in the form of a Godman, call Him what you may. He
comes to give all possible help and to lead the world-weary and heavy of
heart back to His own Kingdom. We are here in this world on probation.
When the time comes, God makes arrangements through His "Elect,"
or the Chosen One, to establish a spiritual contact with Himself. Nanak
has drawn a beautiful pen picture of a soul suffering the pangs of separation:
"Having forgotten the real source of life, the soul in perpetual delusion
is bewailing her lot."
In our descent to the earth plane, we have so wrapped
the "self" in us in mantles of mind and matter of varying degrees
of density peculiar to the different levels of our existence - causal,
mental, and physical - that we are completely lost to the self and are
endlessly wandering in delusion in the mighty maze of the world. In spite
of brief momentary awakenings, we are prone to go astray by force of habit
that has become our nature. Our condition may be likened to a woman who,
having been deserted by her husband, goes back to her parents and lives
there forgetful of her husband. The husband may still be loving her, but
she has no knowledge of it, nor does she try to know her own weaknesses
which brought about the forced separation between them. Howsoever the parents
may provide her with dainty comforts, yet she is in exile. How different
would be the picture if she were to reform herself and render herself worthy
of her consort. Most of us are in such a plight.
We all are children of the Father-God, the God of us all;
and our souls are essentially at one with the Divine Principle sustaining
the universe. The Lord Himself is the consort of all the souls, but how
sad it is that, while in exile here on the physical plane, we have altogether
forgotten Him and while dwelling with Him in the same body, have not had
an opportunity of coming face to face with Him. We are separated from God,
have forgotten our true Home, and by constant association with mind and
matter are completely lost in the enjoyment of sense pleasures. We are
ever a prey to all kinds of deadly sins. Like a spider we are inextricably
caught in the web of lust, anger, greed, and attachment, and are obsessed
with the ever-assertive ego, all of which conspire to lead us further away
from God.
We have two alternative courses before us. There is a
class of persons who believe in a life of worldly enjoyment - eat, drink,
and be merry. They are even worse than those who are merely ignorant of
their true self and of God and are leading a quiet life of blissful ignorance.
The former are in a pitiable condition. They might appear to be enjoying
life, but how long will they do it? The pleasures of the world are ephemeral
and end in smoke, leaving you a wreck - physically, mentally, morally,
and spiritually. The bliss you get from the love of the Lord, you cannot
get from anywhere else, not even from parents and others whom you consider
as near and dear ones and on whom you so fondly rely. Should this awakening
arise in you, then friends and relations will look like messengers of death.
If we are able to create such a state in us, it is but natural that the
Lord Who is already within us, befriending and sustaining the soul, will
definitely heed our wailings full of pain and anguish.
In the words of Guru Nanak, the soul bursts forth:
"O my Beloved, attend to my woebegone tale
of sorrow.
While Thou art happily settled in Thy ever blissful
state,
I am confined and entombed in a mold of clay."
All Masters say the same thing. Swami Ji says: "O
spirit, thou wert a ray of the eternal Truth."
The soul in us is a scion of the Royal Blood. It has a
glorious origin. But alas, by constant association with the mind and senses,
she has degraded herself to this wretched state! Verily mind is an abode
of sense-pleasures and the various sense organs are full of filth; but
we are so blinded by lusts of the flesh, that we do not see what is underneath
the surface. If the soul were to become aware of its true home - the home
of eternal bliss and existence - it would naturally strive to get back
there, and a cry of anguish from the depths of the heart is sure to move
the Lord of Compassion. It is nothing but an earnest prayer, a supplication
from the torn and tormented spirit and cannot but move Him to pity. But
our attention is all the time running out and downwards through the nine
portals of the body - eyes, ears, nostrils, mouth, rectum, and procreative
organ quite unaware of the tenth opening or center in the brain that provides
us access to the Kingdom of God within. Howsoever we may try to escape
from the body, we cannot do so, as we are subject to the great Controlling
Power of God - the Holy Word or Naam - of which we are yet quite ignorant.
Nanak, everything rests in Naam;
but it is in the fullness of time that one gets
to it.
It is the God-in-action Power (the Holy Word) that is
controlling and sustaining all that is visible and invisible. One who realizes
this great truth cannot but wander restlessly in quest of it. All the Great
Souls have emphatically spoken of this vital Life-Force. Maulana Rumi says:
Shame to thee, that hast heaven as a true abode,
And yet are happy with shadowy forms and colors.
How long wilt thou be playing in dust,
and whittle away life like children.
Please remember that the heart which is stirred by this
awakening for inner life gradually begins to yearn for it; and this yearning
in course of time assumes the form of a ruling passion, so much so that
day and night he piteously cries for it until God, the great Ocean of Mercy,
is stirred to His very depths and provides him with the means of a way
out of His magic house of the body and draws him to Himself. This then
is the power of a prayer coming out of the depths of the heart.
What should I say and to whom shall I turn? This is then
the cry of a bewildered soul when it comes to its own. It turns around
and sees no comfort on any side. As a last resort it calls upon the Lord
God, the True Comforter and Savior of us all. Prayer, as you know, is the
last weapon in the armory of man and also the most effective weapon. It
is in these hopeless moments of despair that hope comes to illumine the
way. The Power of God then appears in the garb of a Godman and says: Follow
me. I am the Way, the Truth, the Life. I am the Imperishable Way, the Infallible
Truth, the Eternal Life. I am the most Noble Way, the Ultimate Truth, the
True Life, blessed and uncreated.
But when does God take pity and appear in the form of
a Guru? The answer is very simple. The Master comes to the aid only when
one abstains from all the lusts of the flesh.
Christ assured forgiveness even to the worst of sinners
if they desisted from future wrong doing. He cried a halt to His followers,
put a dead line to the past, and commanded: "Sin no more." Tulsi
Sahib also said: "Adopt truthfulness, humility, and respect for womanhood;
surely then shalt thou have God, and I stand guarantee for that."
Such a soul then pleads:
O thou who have access to the Kingdom of God,
carry the message from one in exile;
tell Him to take pity on one who is waiting all
the while with eyes full of tears.
With tearful eyes saying Thy praises and nothing
to recommend,
how can I approach the Beloved Lord?
Thus, the soul in the pangs of separation from the Lord
cries to the Divine Messengers Who have a free access to His court and
seeks Their help in this sad predicament.
The soul now pleads her inability to reach the path Godwards
of which she has no knowledge and hence conveys her helplessness through
God's Elect. Clouds always precede the showers. God's grace descends when
the soul is in utter agony and cries in bewilderment with eyes full of
tears and heart throbbing with love. In mystic language this is called
the dark night of the soul on the threshold of beatitude:
The sacred books are aids to the Master,
and by following Him one is ferried into the beyond.
Unless a Master-Soul reincarnates on the earth
plane,
none can even get at their true import. - Gurbani
Although the Divine Principle of the Light of Life is
present in all human beings, It lies dormant unless It is reactivated.
And Who does this? The One Who has made it manifest within Himself may
make it manifest for us. Herein lies the competence of a Satguru - a chosen
human being in which the Power of God works for the benefit of mankind.
Call Him man-in-God or God-in-man, for it is one and the same. This is
how God works out His plan of redemption. "No man cometh unto the
Father but by Me," said Jesus. And again: "No man knoweth who
the Father is, but the son, and he to whom the son will reveal Him."
The Guru or God-in-man appears only when the disciple is ready is an age-old
saying: "The merciful Father hath commanded: Give unto my children
whatever is desired."
If we do yearn for God in all sincerity, there is no reason
why God shall not provide means to manifest Himself. There is always food
for the hungry and water for the thirsty. Where there is fire, oxygen must
come to keep it alive. Christ says: "Ask, and it shall be given unto
you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."
Similarly, we have in the Holy Koran: "Whatever my child shall ask,
that shall be granted." Here we must pause for a while and see what
we ask for. We never ask for God from God. We ask from Him success in our
worldly endeavors, advancement in life, name and fame, escape from illness
and the like. In short we ask for worldly things and the same are provided,
no matter if now or in the future. The wheel of life, thus, is ever on
the move. If we ask for Him, He will come into the world Himself; and we
shall not have to be reborn again and again in evolutionary search for
Him. Like King Parikshat, He will take the plunge Himself, for that is
the law. Man is the teacher of man. God, too, has to assume a human form
for teaching human beings. His power and glory shine from the human pole
from where He works for the uplift of mankind. Such are the Chosen Few,
or the Elect, that appear from time to time in response to the crying need
of the hour and the place. My Master used to say that like attracts like
and, as such, God-in-man alone leads man's soul.
Should you chance to meet a real Master,
surrender thy all unto Him without any scruples.
- Gurbani
When we do meet a competent Master, we have our own part
to play. Generally speaking, there are three kinds of mental reservations
with us; and those act as a positive hindrance in our progress. We do not
shed our bodily pride, pride of possessions and riches, and lastly pride
of intellectual attainments pertaining respectively to tan (body),
man (mind), and dhan (wealth). This is why emphasis has been
laid to surrender them all at the feet of the Master. It may, however,
be noted that a real Master does not need any of these things, not the
least. It simply means that these are to be considered as gifts from Him
and must be kept as a sacred trust from Him and used in the best possible
way in the service of the children and the family for repayment of karmic
debts, the society and the country, the truly needy, the indigent, the
sick, the hungry and thirsty. The acts done in the dedicated spirit of
an agent of the Master will hardly have any binding effect on you, and
you will easily and readily escape from the otherwise inexorable law of
karma - as you sow, so shall you reap. This will render you spiritually
clean in all your actions - physical, mental, and moral. This will endow
you with true humility and a spirit of selfless service or service before
self, all of which are so very necessary for a pilgrim on the path of love.
Filled with the Power of God,
The Master doles out the Holy Word. - Gurbani
When we free ourselves of attachments to all created things
and dissolve our will in the Divine will of the Master, then the Holy Word,
already within us, comes uppermost in our consciousness or, in other words,
is revealed and can be practiced by actual communion.
Raja Janak once called a convention of all the pandits
and religious leaders of the realm and asked if anyone in that exalted
assemblage could impart to him the Divine Contact, but none could do so
except Yajnavalkya who could just explain the theory of Spirituality but
was unable to give a practical demonstration. Sometime later, another similar
conference was convened for the same purpose, and the king desired that
anyone competent to give a direct and immediate inner experience to him
in a short time taken in riding a horse should come forward. It was, of
course, granted to the king by the sage Ashtavakar, an oddly deformed person
with eight humps on His body as His name indicates. Herein lies the greatness
of a competent living Master. It is easier said than done. There may be
many who can give learned discourses, expound the scriptures, recite vedic
hymns, narrate epics; but a rare soul can lead you within and give a direct
contact with the Light of Life in you - the Light that "shineth in
the darkness and the darkness knoweth it not." A real Godman is God
- incarnate in flesh - Word made flesh, as Christ puts it. Tulsi Sahib
has said: "I adore a Satguru Who can lift me above body-consciousness
in a short time of three hours."
This then is the touchstone for judging a genuine Master,
for otherwise there is no dearth of the so-called Masters. Of the competent
Master, it is affirmed:
It is the magnetic pull of the Guru that can effect
a withdrawal of the sensory currents from the body. - Swami Ji
God resides in every heart. His Light shines in and enlivens
the body, and we possess the lift-of-life in the Music of the Soul; but
have we ever experienced these saving lifelines: the Light of God and the
Voice of God, upholding all that exists? A real Master grants an actual
experience of a direct inner contact with these saving lifelines.
Who then can effect such a miracle, the miracle of linking
us with the Music of the Soul? He alone can do this Who Himself is Word-incarnate
for He is filled with the Word from top to toe.
Now let us consider the price that one has to pay:
Surrender thy body, thy riches, and thy mind to
the Guru:
Follow His instructions implicitly and then shalt
thou get. - Gurbani
When Raja Janak asked for God experience, the sage Ashtavakar
in turn demanded of the royal disciple his ceremonial and customary dues
as a preceptor, and laid claim to the king's body, mind, and all his possessions.
The king being anxious for the highest mystic experience readily agreed
to do so. Thereupon the sage ordered him to get down from his throne and
sit at the far end of the court, right at the place where the shoes of
the courtiers were lying. It was too much for the king to do, but as he
had stipulated to surrender his body and mind and all to the Guru, he could
not help complying with His behests. Not content with this, the sage inquired
of the Raja as to where he was sitting, and the latter had to affirm before
his court that he was occupying the meanest place. The object of the Guru
was to dispel from the mind of his disciple the pride of place and status.
Having done this, He commanded Janak not to interfere in the worldly possessions,
riches and wealth, which were now his (Guru's) - not even by entertaining
thought of the same for they were no longer his (Janak's) as he had given
away the same to his Guru.
Janak felt perplexed as he looked at his erstwhile pomp
and glory and heard the voices of his courtiers. To escape from all these,
he shut his eyes and closed his ears. But the force of habit is terrible
indeed. In spite of shutting his eyes and ears and his best efforts to
keep his thoughts under control, his mind was yet in all those things -
palaces, courtiers, and royal pomp and splendor, his queens and children.
On being questioned about his mental state, be replied to the Guru that
his mind was at that moment just like a bird perched on the mast-staff
of a boat on high seas, attempting to fly again and again; but finding
no place of rest on the waters, it returned to the mast. The Guru then
commanded him to stop all mental vibrations as the mind which projected
those thought waves was no longer his (Janak's); and he had, therefore,
no business to use it.
The words went home and momentarily Janak felt in him
a mental vacuum for the Rishi by His own thought force pulled the disciple's
consciousness from out of his bodily mold into the Great Beyond above the
plane of senses. This is what a real competent Master does. He gives a
practical mystic experience by means of concentration, after gradually
weaning the mind of the disciple from the world and all that is worldly,
collecting the sensory currents of the body at the eye focus, and retaining
them there for some time.
God is where there is nothing. We have to disenfranchise
the self in us by stripping it of the person or the marks of the bodily
adjuncts of mind and matter before we can get a spiritual experience. The
Guru does not need your body, mind, and possessions. They all remain with
you as ever before, but enriches you a thousand-fold by providing you with
subtle spiritual riches of inestimable value. We have to "forsake
the flesh for the spirit, for flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom
of God." "He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that
loseth his life for my sake, shall find it," declared Christ. We have,
in fact, to chose between the two: life of the flesh and the life of the
spirit. It does not mean that we have to shirk our duties and responsibilities
and take to the wilderness. True renunciation means inner detachment and
making a proper use of everything that God has given us in trust, as any
trusted agent will do for his principal.
This is the price for attaining divinity and it has to
be paid without any mental reservation. While in the midst of plenty, consider
your all, including your mind and body, as belonging to the Guru and never
employ them for gratification of the senses. The more you will empty yourself
of the love of the created things, the more will you be filled with the
love of God and verily come into greater communion with the Holy Word.
So when we earnestly implore for divine beatification,
God in the garb of a living Master instantly comes to our aid for that
is the law. Christ when questioned as to where He was going, replied: "I
have yet many sheep to look after."
One day in the month of June, I happened to be with my
Master at Beas. As the weather was sultry and the heat oppressive, I suggested
to Hazur to spend some time at Dalhousie (a hill resort in Punjab). He
replied smiling: "Look, Kirpal Singh, people perhaps think that I
go to the hill station for my personal comforts. But this is not so. I
do so in the hope that some lost souls may yet be ready enough to listen
to the message of God and be prepared to retrace their steps Godwards.
To me personally, heat or cold makes no difference in the least."
Such Master-Souls scour the world in search of us and not we for Them.
They come here with a Divine Mission to pick up those destined for the
Holy Path, or such as may be world-weary and piteously crying for a way
out.
This earth plane is a vast prison house. It is not the
true abode of the virgin soul. It is here temporarily till it gets reconciled
to the Divine Consort and is called back from the forced exile here. Whenever
a soul in an alien land feels the pangs of separation, God plans a way
out through a God-realized Saint, a Saint Who is filled with the unseen
Power of God, a living embodiment of the Divine Word:
Satguru is the Immaculate One Himself,
though in human form.
Again it is said:
The servant of God is God-like in spite of his
physical raiment. - Gurbani
We all are in the making. We are gradually striving towards
perfection. This world is a training center towards that end. Suffering
is the best teacher. It awakens in us a yearning for crossing the limitation
of the flesh so that we may attain a state where there is perfect serenity.
Whenever we feel helpless in our struggle, and we do feel helpless in diverse
ways, we call for the unseen hand of God to our aid. When we do so, the
Power of God is stirred. Some Man-of God, endowed with His power, comes
our way, consoles us in our misery, offers His helping hand to us, and
lifts us up from the mire of despondency, puts us upon our feet, and offers
to lead us Godwards.
A Godman, then, is not a man of this world as we are,
nor is His spirit bound down in the prison house of the physical body as
ours is. At one with the supreme Power of God, His spirit knows how to
vacate the body at will and soar into the spiritual realms beyond mind
and matter. Wonderful indeed is the house we live in. It is given to man
to transcend the limitations of the flesh and to work wheresoever we may
like in the material world, the materio-spiritual, the spirituo-material,
or the purely spiritual, unlike all other creatures who are tied to the
body only. The microcosm is fashioned on the pattern of the macrocosm.
But we have altogether forgotten our capabilities in the
mighty swirl of the world and have come to identify our great self with
the physical raiment, not knowing how to rise above body-consciousness
into the cosmic and super-cosmic consciousness. A divinely gifted person
not only reminds us of our vast potentialities, but also gives us an experience
thereof, no matter at what level and encourages us to develop the same
to whatsoever extent one may like to do. He, in brief, tells us: Learn
to die so that you may begin to live. We are certainly a drop from the
Ocean of Consciousness. In the limitations of the senses, busily engaged
in the enjoyment of sense-objects and environed by the mind, we are lost
to our real self, just like a proverbial lion cub of a shepherd who brought
him up in the company of his sheep and goats, as Hazur used to illustrate
so lucidly. A lion passing that way was greatly distressed to see the cub
grazing on grass and herbs. Taking pity on the cub, the lion took him aside
to a pond of water, showed him his image in the water which resembled his
own, and advised him to roar along with him. The moment the two roared
together, the shepherd and the flock all ran helter skelter, leaving their
erstwhile companion in the company of the lion. A Master-Saint likewise
reminds us of our intrinsic greatness, helps us to get out of our make-believe
complacency, and puts us on the road to self-knowledge and God-knowledge.
God is the Soul of the universe. He willed to manifest
Himself into so many forms of different patterns and colors. From one current
of His power, multitudes of creations came into being. The soul in us,
too, has innumerable capabilities but is engaged in outer pursuits. Master-Saints
tell us to gather in and collect the outgoing spiritual currents at one
center, the eye focus. They give us an experience of the withdrawal of
the life currents. By daily practice we get into a habit which in course
of time becomes a second nature. Surdas says: "As one proceeds along,
the mind follows suit."
We wish to do this but have not the will to do it. We
need some competent Master to help us on the Path - One Who has trans-humanized
the human in Him, and has become the mouthpiece of God. Nanak says: "Nanak
opens His mouth only when He Is bidden to do so." Similarly, Christ
says the same thing: "I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath
taught me, I speak these things."
A Master-Saint by His own life impulse gives a green signal
to the human spirit lying smothered under the dead weight of mind and matter,
and gives to it a glimpse of the way up. We, too, have been gifted with
that power but are helpless as our life currents are every moment flowing
downwards and outward into the world of matter and towards all that is
material. A competent Master, like a powerful magnet, pulls the spirit
currents up and magnetizes them into a living and conscious soul. In this
temple of the body, we dwell along with the spirit of God.
The human soul is like an over-loaded donkey, burdened
with karmas of the past, out of memory, and incurring more and more karmas
from day to day, it is deeply stuck in the quagmire of sensuous life. In
this sorry and woebegone state it is well nigh impossible to take a single
step forward unless some kindly Godman takes pity, lightens the smothering
karmic load, and pulls us out of the quicksand of life. We are filled to
overflowing with the thoughts of the world and all that is worldly and
are so enchained hands and feet that we cannot possibly find a way out.
In this sad plight of utter hopelessness and helplessness, we do stand
in need of some powerful Friend Who may be able to lend a helping hand
and infuse in us courage and persistence through His Grace. He, at a single
sitting, by His concentrated attention, helps a gathering of ten, twenty,
or hundreds of persons and gives a practical inner experience to all as
the sage Ashtavakar gave to Raja Janak. It is the work of some God-centered
Saint Who can make us transcend the self-conscious Self-hood to witness
the clear Light of the void (Beyond). With this initial experience, we
can develop our inner life, which at every step opens out new vistas into
the innumerable realms beyond. Being anchored in the Power of God, He does
not lose anything by imparting His life impulse. An ocean would suffer
no loss if millions of creatures were to drink from it to their fill. The
yogis and munis and the rishis with all their laborious
practices for years and years never had a glimmer of the inward Light.
But a truly great Sage may, by His kindly glance, open the inner vision.
In the Gospel of St. Matthew we have: "For verily I say unto you,
that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which
ye see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which ye hear,
and have not heard them."
I remember how my son, when at the age of four or five,
once accompanied me to Hazur and made a request for initiation. Hazur gave
him some sweets and he was satisfied. Next time when he went again, he
prayed for that gift which had been granted to his father. Hazur took him
inside, made him sit in front of Him, and asked him to concentrate and
see within. In an instant the lad witnessed a star-spangled sky and Hazur
asked him to open his eyes saying that it was enough at that stage. He
came running outside saying that he had got Naam as far as the stars and
inquired up to what stage had I been taken. Herein lies the greatness of
a Saint.
While soaring into ethereal regions, He remains true to
the kindred points of heaven and earth which are verily linked by the Power
of God working in Him in a manifested form. He is the human pole from where
the invisible hand of providence works visibly. Whosoever comes in contact
with Him and implicitly follows His instructions, he, too, is alchemized
or transmuted from dross into sterling gold. The Master is sent into the
world to salvage souls for the Kingdom of God. From the Wordless state,
the Word is made flesh to dwell amongst us for regeneration of mankind:
This much that man was made like God before,
But that God should be made like man much more,
God clothed Himself in vile man's flesh, that so
He might be weak enough to suffer woe.
- John Donne
Being one with the Divinity, a true Saint gives us first-hand
knowledge of His experience with the Divine. All the scriptures of the
various religions are nothing but fine records of the spiritual experiences
of Their authors with God. In fact, a living Saint is much more than all
the scriptures put together for He, being in direct contact with the God
Power, is able to impart God-knowledge directly, and grant actual experience
of the saving life line. He gives us a correct import of the ancient scriptures.
While reconciling the seeming inconsistencies, He presents an integrated
picture of the science of the soul which has eternally been the same and
shall be the same in spite of linguistic differences born of geographic
variations and historic backgrounds:
Attend ye to the true testimony of the Saints,
For They tell us of Their own actual experiences.
- Gurbani
It may be taken as gospel truth that none can know in
fullness the greatness of a Saint. With all our learning and worldly wisdom,
we cannot rise to His level, much less know of Him. Godman is vastly different
from a mere human being. "Nanak has met the Guru Who manifested the
glory of the God beyond. "
Guru Arjan declared that He searched the entire universe
(Brahmand) but could find none who could come up to the level of His Master
(Guru Ramdas). Guru Arjan saw in His Master, God Himself clothed in human
form. We, living on the plane of the senses, cannot understand the significance
of a Master- Soul. But those whose inner vision is opened know and see
what in reality a Guru Power is. Maulana Rumi says:
The hand of the Pir (Guru) is no less than the
hand of God;
His hand is not apart from the Power of God.
His gracious hand is outstretched beyond seven
heavens.
As the sway of the Master extends to the highest heaven,
so do follow the sincere seekers after Truth when in company of the Master.
The great Maulana beautifully describes this by means of a parable. A small
mouse was running on the ground when a pigeon flying in the air happened
to see him. The pigeon inquired of the mouse as to where he was running
so fast. The mouse replied that he was on his way to Mecca for a pilgrimage.
The pigeon pitied the little creature and swooping down instantly carried
the mouse in his claws and flew with him to Mecca and put him down in the
sacred precincts.
Entangled in the clutches of mind and matter, our spirit
cannot by itself escape from the prison house and reach the purely spiritual
region (beyond Pind, And, and Brahmanda - physical, astral, and causal)
which is our true home. As I have just said that a donkey overloaded with
burden cannot be extricated from a marshy swamp unless he is first relieved
of the load and then pulled out. Similarly, when a seeker comes to the
Master, the latter, by His words of encouragement and attention, momentarily
lightens the load off his mind and makes him see things clearly in their
true perspective. The Master then directs him to enter into the laboratory
of his body for an actual experiment. By doing so, the disciple gets some
inner experience that he is asked to develop by daily practice. His basic
instruction to the disciple is to rise above body-consciousness. He tells
him how to do it and helps him. This is how He gives him a way up and pulls
him out of the mire of sensuous life, in which he has been stuck for endless
ages ever since he wandered away from his native home, the Garden of Eden,
and went into self exile on the plane of mind and matter. He comes to heal
the spiritually sick and suffering humanity. Mohammad Iqbal, a great Urdu
poet of Punjab, says:
O Power invisible, manifest Thyself but for once,
that I may offer myriads of salutations to Thee.
When such a piteous cry spontaneously escapes from the
heart, the Power of God, which is All-Pervasive, reveals Itself in some
human form.
When is the Word, or the Power of God, put on the covering
of flesh? It does so when children of God restlessly yearn for Him. If
a child begins to cry, the mother gives him a toy; and, if in spite of
it he persists in crying, she brings still another and yet another; but
when nothing satisfies him, the mother leaves off everything, lifts the
child into her lap, and hugs him tenderly.
If we have a genuine yearning for Him in our hearts, He
shall reveal Himself, for like a loving father He is keenly waiting and
watching for the moment when we turn our eyes towards Him. This is how
He appears in the form of a great living Soul to meet His children and
to shepherd them back to His eternal mansion, Sachkhand - the perennial
Abode of Truth. It is well nigh impossible to comprehend a Godman and His
greatness, much less to describe His powers, limitless and ineffable as
they are. He is just a conduit for the Power of God to work in the world
in a manifest form and serves as a prefatory note to the Book of God. To
come in close and living touch with Him is to come near God. Without Him
we cannot possibly know of God and much less come in direct contact with
the Power of God working within each individual and sustaining the entire
creation - hence the paramount need to search for and contact a living
embodiment of the Godly Power. To know something of Him is to know something
of God. If He is God personified, or Word made flesh, He will surely attract
our soul, as it is of the same essence as of God. The more we think of
Him, the more we will begin to love Him and become like Him. "As you
think so shall you become" is a well-known adage.
When Master-Saints come to the earth plane, people are
attracted by the Divine Glow of Their eyes and the soothing radiance They
emit from the pores of Their body. At first sight, They appear to be dignified
gentlemen. As one comes nearer to Them, one finds something unearthly about
Them. Gradually this changes into the light of other-worldliness which
in time forms a divine halo around Them until They look nothing short of
God, for one begins to see the Power of God working in Them. They are then
God-in-action, manifestations in flesh of the Absolute God Whom no one
has seen or can see. In a state of divine ecstasy, Bhai Nand Lal, a great
mystic poet, says: "Here and hereafter I sacrifice at the feet of
my fair-faced Beloved." He goes on to explain as to why he does so:
"None of them can compare with the beauty of a single hair of Him."
Hafiz, a Persian mystic, speaks in much the same strain
when he says: "Should that ravishing beauty of Shiraz (Murshid) accept
my suit, I would just for a mole on his check give away the Kingdoms of
Smarkand (meaning both worlds here and hereafter) in dower unto Him."
If ever any beauty I did see,
which I desired, and got,
it was a dream of Thee. - John Donne
This then is the vein in which the devotees speak of the
really great Saints, for they get from a single glance of Theirs an ecstatic
intoxication which even thousands of barrels of the purest wine would not
give. They come to serve divine vintage to the thirsty by imparting Their
own life impulse. The sacred books, however great, are mighty bloodless
substitutes for life. They constitute a valuable treasure house of the
recorded experiences of their authors, experiences that they had in their
search of their own inner self and of God. They, of course, inspire us
and encourage us to emulate the sages and seers of the past, but by themselves,
cannot impart the life experience which comes only through the grace of
a living competent Master. Spirituality cannot be taught,
but It is caught as an infection from a God-infected soul.
I saw Kaaba (house of God) whirling round and round
an entrance to an avenue where Lived a Man-of-God;
0 God, what type of man is he? Is he really a man
or an enchanter practicing black magic? - Maulana Rumi
One is really astonished at such strange utterances. But
they contain a marvelous truth in them. A Godman is a mouthpiece of God
Himself:
God Himself speaks through a Sadh (an Enlightened
One). - Gurbani
When such a Master accepts you, He will never leave you.
He is always with you wherever you may be. He becomes a constant friend
and companion, a sure and unerring guide in the most unpredictable and
bewildering situations, even after the much dreaded physical death that
ends all worldly connections. Even before the judgement seat of God, He
appears as an intercessor and leads the soul on its upward journey, bypassing
all perilous pitfalls and warding off dangers. He never leaves the soul
even for an instant until the soul reaches the mansion of the Lord and
is safely enthroned there. He is commissioned from God to gather the lost
sheep and to bring them to His fold. After having discharged His commission
in one part, Christ went to another remarking: "I have yet to tend
many more sheep." Every Saint, like a good shepherd, has to tend to
many a sheep, here, there, and everywhere. From place to place, He moves
the world over, administering to the spiritual needs of the hungry souls,
regardless of personal hardships and privations, public taunts and rivalries,
and open persecutions and indignities. All these trials and tribulations
He undergoes and to what end? Just to help the helpless, to soothe the
lacerated hearts, and to put people on their own feet on the path of self
knowledge and God-knowledge. We can only have a fleeting glimpse of Their
inner greatness and grandeur, occasionally and in passing as They may drop
a hint here and there, just as Kabir did: "Kabir knows fully well
the divine mysteries, and He has come with a message from God."
Other Saints, too, have spoken likewise. Hazur also gave
such like hints: "When we come into the world, we bring our staff
with us. When our work is finished at one place, we are commissioned to
go elsewhere." "It is His pleasure that He should now reveal
Himself to the Americans."
Human birth is a precious privilege. We must make the
most of it. First things should come first. Our foremost duty is to realize
God. How can we do this? We must make friends with one Who is God-realized
so that He may help us to be likewise. God's Power or the Word of God shines
in fullness in one who has realized Him. What is electricity after all?
Can we separate it from the bulb through which it illuminates? If one bulb
gets fused, we replace it by another. Electricity itself never dies.
Christ Power is eternal and shines forth from time to
time to meet the needs of the people. Whosoever comes in contact with the
Christ Power, through the agency of God's Elect, wherever He may be, the
Agent never rests until He delivers the goods to His principal (God). Who
would not like to find the Elixir of Life and be a living soul forever?
The people of the world befriend us so long as we are capable of serving
their interests. They leave us one by one when we become helpless on account
of poverty and indigence, prolonged sickness and disability, or otherwise
when we cannot be of any use to them. Even the so-called nearest and dearest
friends and relations whom we proudly claim as our very own may not stand
by us till the last moment. They, too, can be of no avail to us when we
are in the throes of death and gasping for breath. All that they can do
is to pray for our easy and speedy exit from the world. We, therefore,
stand in need of such a one Who may be our constant companion here and
hereafter and be with us everywhere we may happen to be: in the deepest
depths of the sea, on the snow-capped mountain tops, in the burning desert
sands, suspended in midair, in wild forests, or even before the judgment
seat of God.
Take hold of the garment of a brave soul,
One Who moves freely between earth and heaven.
- Maulana Rumi
We do need a friend capable of working on all the levels
of existence so that we may have the benefit of His instructions and guidance
here in this life, as well as in the life hereafter, on realms astral,
causal, and spiritual and who will take us to the home of our Father. Who
then can do all this? None else than God Himself and He is the true guide
and Master:
One Who stands supreme from beginning to end,
Take Him to be our guide and friend.
Swami Ji also says:
The Lord of the soul graces the earth plane in
the garb of a man so as to guide the humanity Godwards.
Once Sahib Ji Maharaj of Agra came to Beas, and for His
discourse He took up the hymn beginning with this couplet. He asked Hazur
if there were in the Sikh scriptures any verses corresponding to these.
Hazur presented several verses with similar connotations, and I give you
just one of them:
He who sent thee here, now calls thee back;
Return ye to his eternal Home and live in peace.
Such kindly Souls come from afar, from the very bosom
of God Himself. They hold a Divine Mandate. Why do They come? It is His
will is the only answer They give. From One proceeds all things according
to the Divine Will. When They come to the earth plane, They abide by the
laws of the land where They live for the time being. We, too, do likewise
here on earth and live accordingly. But here we are the bondage of the
karmic law of action and reaction throughout the ages ever since we separated
from Him. When we suffer, and at times we suffer terribly under the heavy
load of accumulated karmic burden, we feel helpless to get out of the magic
maze of the Lord of this universe and piteously cry for help. When the
Father-God within hears our tale of agony and torture, He is stirred to
His very depths, takes pity at our woebegone state, and manifests Himself
in the form of a Saint to lead us back to Himself. Thus, He Who sent us
(from time out of mind) comes to call thee back. What does He do? He by
suitable instructions reminds us of our ancient lineage, gives us a glimpse
of the saving lifelines provided by God in each individual. He connects
our spirit with them and gradually helps us to untie the Gordian knot between
the body and the soul, until we become free from the body and capable to
travel into higher planes along with Him in His radiant form (Divya Sarup).
Mind that all this is done by a voluntary process of practical self analysis
under His guidance while living and without total disruption of the silver
cord which finally takes place at the time of death (or dissolution of
the material body). A true Saint is the greatest gift of God as much as
God is the greatest gift of the Saint. It is said: "God is All-Wisdom;
and when He manifests Himself on a human pole, He is known as a Saint.
"
Can we see God? This is the next question and here is
an affirmative answer:
In the company of a Saint one sees the Lord in
Himself.
In the holy Gospels, we have:
All things are delivered to me of the Father: and
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. - Matthew
11:27, Luke 10:22
Nanak emphatically declares: "God of Nanak is All-Apparent."
And Christ in no ambiguous terms says: "Behold the Lord." Guru
Arjan tells us: "On land and in the water, He is in His fullness."
He pervades the very fiber of all beings. This is how
Guru Arjan sees the All-Pervading Power of God vibrating everywhere. Can
we see likewise? Yes, we, too, can by becoming a Gurumukh (i.e. by implicitly
following the instructions of a Guru - a God-realized being). Is it then
possible to see God with the two eyes that we have?
O Nanak, the eyes that see God are quite different
from what we have.
The eyes of the flesh can only see things of the flesh,
for mortal eyes perceive only what is mortal. It is the inner eye that
can witness the glory of the Lord. It is "Divya Chakshu" of the
Hindu Saints, "Single Eye" as termed by Christ and the "Nukta-i-Sweda"
of the Muslim divines. A Master-Saint like an ophthalmic surgeon helps
in opening this inner eye which is now shuttered. Shams-e-Tabrez, a great
Saint, tells us that He provided eyes to thousands of congenitally blind.
So far as the experience of God goes, we are all blind. We have all our
life been reading of God in sacred books and hearing of God from others
but never had a personal experience of God. This is how we are blind, leading
a blind life in the brain. Nanak so beautifully defines a blind man:
They are not blind who have no eyes on their faces;
but such as are alienated from God are blind indeed.
All the founders of the various religions in the world
are one on this point. We have been gifted with inner perception and audition,
independent of the sense organs; for perfect knowledge is an action of
the soul. The soul is, however, smothered under the deadweight of mind
and matter for myriads of ages, and has never had an opportunity of attending
to the Divine Light and the celestial strains of the Inner Music. A Master-Saint
helps in lifting the karmic burden and thereby releases the soul, freeing,
it gradually from the various enveloping koshas or enshrouding veils and
different limiting adjuncts until it comes to its own, disengaged of the
love of all created things and becomes a disembodied soul, shining in its
own luminosity and capable of thinking and acting independently on its
own. St. John of the Cross puts it succinctly:
Hence the soul cannot be possessed of the divine
union until it has divested itself of the love of created beings.
The means for effecting this union are the Light of God
and the Voice of God. God is self luminous Light (Swayam Jyoti Swarup),
Father of all lights as the Christians speak of, and Nurun-ala-Nur
(the light of Lights) of the Muslims. He is also spoken of as the Song
of the Soul, the Voice of the Silence, the Music of the Spheres, the Shabd,
the Vak, the Word, the Nad - all signifying the same thing. Both these
saving life lines are within each individual. We live and move and have
our very being in and through them, but like the proverbial fish in water
do not know what water is:
God is in the soul and the soul is in God
as the sea is in the fish and the fish is in the
sea.
These then are the two means whereby the Master takes
the soul Godward: the Way of Light (Jyoti Marg) and the way of Sound
(Sruti Marg). All the great teachers the world over led their followers
along these paths that, of course, are not exclusive but complementary
to each other, one leading to the other. They come from time to time to
lead us back to the mansion of our Father, while we, like the prodigal
children, are busy elsewhere, knocking about restlessly from pillar to
post, ever a prey to chance winds and waters in the storming sea of life,
while our rich heritage in heaven is lying neglected. Swami Ji says: "Your
crown and scepter are lying unattended in the Kingdom of God."
Guru Nanak also says:
O join ye in the glorious music of bliss,
And live eternally absorbed in the divine.
This inner music is the expression of the Power of God
working in each one of us. We can by communion with the Word reach the
place from where these Celestial strains are coming. This is the true home
of the soul now wandering in exile on the earth plane, while the Father-God
is looking forward to our homecoming: "Come ye home, 0 friend! Return
ye to thy native abode."
This Music is coming down to give us a call back so that
we may live in peace and plenty hereafter.
Now that the call has come, answer the call and start
on the way back: "With the God-head revealed within, what else remains?
Thy labors ended, be ye still like a polestar."
When by the grace of the merciful Master, the Power of
God is made manifest within, you come into your own, and see the Reality
face to face. You have nothing more to do. That Power now does everything
for you and you find yourself but a mere onlooker in a pantomime show of
the world. You have to commune with the Holy Word. It
will gradually lead you back to your eternal home. There will then be one
more descent to the earth plane, not, at least, like a prisoner to serve
a sentence of life imprisonment under the compulsive force of karmas, but
under a divine command to fulfill the purpose of God:
With the joyous peals of the inner music the Lord
Himself shall come to receive thee. - Gurbani
Just as in the outer world, we play trumpets and drums
to express our delight, so also in the inner world all are greeted by sublime
soul- enlivening strains of Celestial Music, when we proceed heavenward
in the company of the Gurudev (the radiant form of the Guru). To
where does all this lead? We are now being led to the source of all lights,
the Father of Lights, where there is nothing but eternal Light and eternal
Music, uncreated and fathomless and yet the material and efficient cause
of all created things, and as such a veritable connecting link between
the Creator and His creation, between heaven and earth. Naam then is the
Name for the Power of God, the primal manifestation of the Nameless One,
embodying as it does the Holy Light and Holy Choir. This is the only way
leading Godward. We may talk as much of it as we may like, but mere philosophy
will not help us in getting nearer the Truth. The more we may theorize
the further we get away from the Reality. It is the mystic experience within
the laboratory of the mind that counts, for it links us directly with the
divinity and this experience we can get with the help and grace of some
Man-of-God.
A competent Master-Soul may, if He so likes, put even
a child on the Sound Current, which serves alike the young and the old,
the learned and the ignorant. Everyone can derive benefit by communion
with Holy Word, irrespective of caste, color or creed, age, sex or vocation.
That is not possible in other forms of yogic discipline. Jnana Yoga, for
instance, requires a highly developed intellect and skill capable to ratiocinate
and deduce conclusions: If Jnana Yoga requires the intellect of Shankara,
the Bhakti Yoga calls for the heart of Buddha; and the Karam Yoga, the
hand of a warrior like prince Arjuna. With all these accomplishments and
arduous disciplines, one still remains in the realm of duality; and until
one is able to rise above it, one cannot reach a state of Oneness. In the
present age, Yoga has come to be associated merely with health and vigor
and longevity. The Surat Shabd Yoga (the Yoga of the Sound Current), on
the other hand, aims at the highest union, the union of the Surat or soul
current with Shabd or the Sound Current, which is made manifest by a Godman,
thus coupling the two in eternal relationship. This then is the direct
way to God. A real Godman is capable of giving this marvelous practical
experience to any number of people at a single sitting, irrespective of
their different religious faiths and beliefs, their social modes of life
and their worldly status, and all other types of affiliations. All this
He does by just imparting His own life impulse. Once this seed is sown
in the heart of an individual, it cannot but fructify in course of time,
for no power on earth can render it ineffective:
Who is greater than God to annul His Power (once
made manifest in man)? Oh, none.
When a Master-Soul appears on the earth plane, there descends
along with Him an irresistible avalanche of Spirituality. The purpose of
His descent, as I have been explaining, is to unite all the children of
God at one level, the level of the soul in man, and then awaken them to
the life of the spirit by revealing in them the Light and Life of God.
Such Great Souls have always been very rare, and it is our proud privilege
that we were associated with Hazur. Such Souls are never bound down by
physical and mental limitations, though They may appear as such. Their
inner power transcends all that is of the world, for it can work at will,
at any level it may choose to do, whether in the Brahmand or even in the
beyond into purely spiritual realms. Such Power is limitless and eternal.
It never dies with the death of the body, but eternally remains working
forever and ever, no matter in whose form and from what pole. He is, therefore,
not to be taken as a mere human being. The human in Him has been trans-humanized
in spite of the human form that He keeps up for the people of the world,
for man is to be the teacher of man. Without His teachings and practical
guidance here and in inner planes, we cannot know of God, much less practice
Him, realize Him, and be one with Him. Hence, there is the greatest need
to contact a living Master, wherever He may be:
The Beloved by my side is a guardian angel.
He guards me in all odd moments here and hereafter.
- Gurbani
He is a never-failing friend and comes to our rescue,
wherever we may be, even when we stand before the judgment seat of the
Great Judge to render an account of our deeds: "Dharam Rai is obliged
to tear the karmic balance sheet, 0 Nanak, when the Master squares up the
karmic account."
Like a master liquidator, He once and forever liquidates
all our karmic debts and liabilities incurred in innumerable ages in the
past, and in this life span lying stocked and stored, heaps upon heaps,
for future dispensations. It is not an easy task and none but a karmic
free soul can discharge such a Herculean task of making one Nehkarma
or karma free.
To meet a competent Master is a great blessing indeed.
Guru Amardas, third in succession to Guru Nanak, was able to contact a
Satguru (Guru Angad) after a long search of no less than seventy years.
Of His memorable meeting He tells us: "When I grew tired of performing
countless deeds, all of a sudden I came across my Master."
When and how does a great Master-Soul find His way to
us, for it is He Who comes our way to help us; and it is not for the blind,
as we are, to find our way to the Enlightened One:
Satguru picks us up in the fullness of time,
And He attunes our spirit with the Holy Word.
The communion with the Word is the highest and the most
natural way back to God. Everyone, young or old, male or female, can benefit
from this. But how? The answer is: Be steady and waver not, and depend
upon the words of the Guru.
Those who love the Master and follow His commandments
are ever blessed in this world and in the worlds beyond: "Whatever
the Guru says, I keep tightly tied in my heart."
This is why Christ emphatically asked His disciples:
Be ye the doers of the Word and not the hearers
alone.
And again:
Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot
bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except
ye abide in me.
I am the vine; ye are the branches: He that abideth
in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me
ye can do nothing.
If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye
shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my
love; ...
- St. John 15: 4,5, 7 & 10
We must learn to practice and live up to what the Master
says so as to derive the greatest benefit from His teachings. My Master
very often used to say: "What is the good of taking a medicine if
we do not use it?" By keeping it in the cupboard we cannot cure ourselves
of the disease. It may be that the seed of Naam once sown does not perish,
and a human birth, in more congenial conditions, is assured in future;
yet is it worth our while to come again in the prison house of the world
for another round? Why not settle it here for all times to come, rather
than to pass through the same process over again:
He who takes refuge in the Satguru,
God Himself comes again to his rescue.
- Gurbani
Man is generally described as an inverted tree, for his
roots are in the eye focus, the seat of the soul above, while his limbs
and branches are spreading downwards in the world. As it is by the roots
that a tree draws its sustenance from the soil, so our roots, the soul
currents, draw their food for us from the Sound Current made manifest within.
It is thus the Master-Soul that provides us with manna or the Bread
of Life and Elixir or the Living Water.
It is by linking the soul current with the Sound Current
that a perfect Master provides the means wherewith the spirit gets its
substance and helps to keep the mind and the body under proper control.
The more one partakes of this heavenly food, the more one grows from strength
to strength, until one becomes a living soul, fully conscious of the Divine
Power playing in and around him.
On reaching the court of God, one gets a right royal welcome
from the spirits already there. This is how the law of divine dispensation
works and God fulfills His purpose. When He sees us crying helplessly in
the iron grip of toils, troubles, and tribulations with no way out of the
giant mill stones of the world, His compassion is stirred to the core,
and He hastens the process of deliverance and reveals to us the avenues
of escape through His Elect. Nanak says: "One who gets a Satguru by
his side, all his accounts are settled right here and now."
What is stated above is perfectly correct. We, however,
delight to take things by halves, as may suit our own convenience and cleverly
try to distort the truth by looking at it obliquely. If we on our part
do our duty towards the Master by abstaining from the wrongful acts, then
alone the Master absolves us from the accumulated sins of past ages. We
must, therefore, learn to stand and hold our ground firmly, somewhere,
before we can make a beginning for the inner journey that lies ahead. In
the time of Hazur, whenever a person got up in the congregation to confess
a deviation from the path of rectitude, Hazur used to lift His hand and
graciously say: "Thus far and no further." He exhorted sincere
repentance for the past, admonished against future lapses, and strongly
advised meditation (communion with the Holy Word) as the sole panacea for
all ills of life. It may be possible to cure a person of the poison already
taken and in the stomach, provided, of course, no further doses of it are
swallowed. What do we do? We cry and cry with convulsions and contortions
and yet go on taking more and more of the deleterious matter. This is how
Hazur, in such simple words, used to advise all defaulters. A Master-Soul
looks after His jivas more tenderly than any mother would take care of
her child. We, like a newborn babe, as we are for the Master, can hardly
know and much less realize the loving care He bestows on us and the way
He saves us at every step from coming to any harm, and guides us on the
inner spiritual path leading to the Kingdom of God. "Strange are His
doings:" Nanak glorifies Him. Isn't it really strange that God Himself
sends us into the world and again He Himself (in the garb of a Godman)
comes to take us back. His greatness defies all understanding:
O Nanak! Satguru opens the inner eye.
And one begins to see Truth within oneself.
This then is the secret of God-realization. It needs no
special qualifications. It is not necessary to leave one's hearth and home.
Live in the world, amidst your kith and kin, make an honest livelihood
for yourself, help your friends and relations. Alongside this routine of
family life, practice the Holy Word as may have been advised by a Master-Soul.
You will, in course of time, become a changed man - totally changed from
what you were and see for yourself how God's Power works for you and does
everything for you. You will become altogether free and fearless.
Whenever a Master-Saint comes into the world, He showers
His blessings on all alike. We sitting here can hardly do justice to the
glory that was Hazur's. A Godman like God Himself is Indefinable and Unfathomable.
Blessed indeed are they who had an opportunity to see Him and meet Him,
came in direct contact with Him, and had the good fortune to be associated
with Him.
A faqir (mendicant) once came to Prophet Mohammad.
As the Prophet was not at home, the faqir went away disappointed. On his
return, the Prophet, when informed by his servant about the faqir, asked
him if he (the servant) had met the faqir. The servant said he had only
had a glimpse of him as the faqir had by then turned his back and was going
away. The Prophet blessed the servant at his good luck of having seen such
a sage, even from behind. Such indeed is the glory of a person who meets
a Man-of-God, what to speak of those who met Hazur face to face, sat at
His lotus feet, and drew inspiration from Him. We must strive to be the
worthy children of the worthy Father so that the world may glorify Him.
It can be done not by mere acknowledgement, but by actually following and
living up to His teachings. Every father wishes that his son should excel
him in prowess and prestige. But who can excel the Godman? Should we become
Guru-man, this would be quite enough. What I mean to stress is that we
may practice the Word and commune with the Word, the living manifestation
of the living God, revealed unto us by the God-in-man. (Hazur).
Hazur was never tired of telling us that the path of Light
and Sound was the basis of all the religions. Socrates spoke of an "Ethereal
Sound" which led him to a wondrous world quite unknown to him before.
Goethe referred to It as "Music of the Spheres." Pythagoras described
It as "Light and Music of all harmonies." In the Vedas It is
addressed as "Vakya" and "Jyoti." Zoroaster lighted
the eternal and unending fires and practiced "Sraosha." When
Sidhartha, the Prince of Peace, witnessed the Light within Him, He truly
became the Enlightened One, and the Buddhists to this day worship and adore
the unknown and unknowable Power with the words "Aum Mani Padme Hum,"
which means that the "Aum" shines resplendently like a crest
jewel, emitting the sound like that of a distant thunder.
This then is the most ancient thing that has come down
to us through the ages extending back to the hoary past. This is the great
Truth that Hazur placed before us; and with a twinkle in His eyes and a
smile on His lips always adding, "Should you in your search find something
nobler than this, please accept it by all means and let me also know of
it." But we have with all our endeavors not yet been able to find
anything more sublime than this; and all our research in the realm of religion
has revealed that Truth, the manifest Truth is based on the twin principle
of Light and Sound. Should we come across a Master-of-Truth and the latter
condescends to enliven our "self" with His own life impulse,
what will be the result? This human life will have its fulfillment. How
fortunate we are. We did meet a Master-of-Truth; we sat at His feet; He
accepted us and blessed us by revealing in us the Holy Word and by contacting
us with this Audible Life Stream.
The first and foremost task that a really great Master-Soul
sets before Himself is to unite on a common plane all the children of God,
no matter to what religious order they owe allegiance.
It was at the behest of Hazur that this forum of Ruhani
Satsang came to be established. It is a common meeting place for the people
of all religious beliefs and diverse faiths. It is not embellished with
sectarian signs and symbols of any one religion or the other. It is just
a training ground, or call it a school of Spirituality where Spirituality
is preached alike by Mahatmas of all religious orders and practical steps
are taken to inculcate the moral and spiritual values in the vast congregations
of people comprising all shades of religious opinion. Spirituality is the
rich heritage of mankind - greatly cherished in all times - and in all
climes, but appearing and disappearing like a stream as it meanders in
and out of the thick foliage of doubt, suspicion, and mistrust that the
people generally have in their work-a-day world which is full of untold
anxiety and fears. As and when we lose sight of this priceless human heritage
and find ourselves going down in the scales of human values, God in His
infinite mercy provides us with the means to reorientate us by manifesting
His own Divinity through the agency of some human being of His own choosing
and at a place He thinks best. In comparatively recent times Swami Ji Maharaj
revived this age-old and half forgotten science, and it has come down to
us and we are benefiting from it. It behooves us then to make ourselves
worthy of this great treasure house which is ours. We must strive to be
clean in our thoughts, sweet and courteous in our words, kind and gentle
in our deeds, and above all we must regularly devote some substantial time
every day to the practice of the Holy Word and thereby equip ourselves
for the Kingdom of God within us.
It is all Hazur's Grace that He accepted us as His very
own, contacted us with the Light and Voice of God by revealing the same
to us; and we ought to be thankful to Him every moment of our life. Even
a hawker when he returns to his hut in the evening takes a count of his
earnings for the day. A shopkeeper similarly draws up a balance sheet of
his profit and loss account every six months or so, if not oftener. We
have to see where we were and where we are now. If we are better than before,
it is all right; and, if not, what are the reasons for lagging behind?
Are we at least maintaining the capital, the stock-in-trade with which
we were provided, the experience of inner perception and inner audition
that He gave us; or have we altogether lost everything by our negligence,
carelessness, and maladroitness? All these questions need our serious consideration.
We must see how we can develop and extend that experience with which we
started on the first day. We must, if necessary, have a refresher course
from some advanced brother-in-faith so that whatever difficulties beset
us are overcome and we are enabled to go ahead. The revelation of the Holy
Word is a priceless gift of the great Master and, mind it, It has been
given to us freely and fully and on trust, and, therefore, should on no
account be allowed to slip through the fingers simply because It has not
cost us anything in terms of worldly money.
I remember, some Americans once wrote to Hazur that they
were quite prepared and willing to exchange their temporal wealth that
they had in abundance for some of the spiritual wealth with Him. Do you
know what reply He gave? He told them that He was not in need of their
worldly riches for He had in surfeit the Godly wealth of Naam and that
like all other free gifts of God - light, air, and water - He was here
to share His spiritual treasures with all the children of God wherever
they happened to be. Such high Souls come into the world with a Divine
Mission to remind the people of their long forgotten heritage, of which
we can hardly dream because of the smoke colored glasses on our eyes: They
come into the world for no other purpose but to look after the lost sheep,
the morally and spiritually sick, so as to lead them back to the fold.
Let us, therefore, render our grateful thanks to Him -
the great Master - Who has already put us on the
Path and is still putting others likewise. It is all His Grace that He
is looking after us from the spiritual planes within and is ever ready
to reveal His radiant form within if we just turn inside towards Him. He
is keenly awaiting us at the eye focus to shower His multitudinous blessings
upon us. Let us strive our very best to do our part and reach unto Him
to enable Him to pull us up and lead us on to His Eternal Home.
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