Apr - Kirpal Singh

35 Pages·2004·2.44 MB·English

the
message of the Masters
The Kingdom of God
Jesus said :
If those who draw you say to you,
Lo, the Kingdom is in heaven,
Then the birds of heaven will precede you.
If they say to you,
It is in the sea,
Then the fish will precede you.
But the Kingdom is within you
And outside you.
When you know yourselves, then you will be known,
And you will know that you are the sons of
The living Father.
But if you do not know yourselves,
Then you are in poverty
And you are poverty.
—From the Secret Sayings of Jesus
(2) (80.10-81.5)
Sat
sandesh
April 1969 Volume two number four
FROM THE MASTER
The Master speaks : Delusion of doership page 2
Questions answered 30
OTHER FEATURES
Poem : The Kingdom of God inside front cover Jesus
Cry of the soul 11 Darshan
The inner vision 26 Bhadra Sena
Diamond Jubilee celebrations 12
The true mystic-adept 18 Dr. George Arnsby
Jones
Lives of saints 27 Annemarie Ruthenberg
Wisdom of the ages inside back cover
Sat Sandesh, Sawan Ashram, Shakti Nagar, Delhi-7, India. Editor : BHADRA SENA. Printer
and Publisher : Bhadra Sena. Printed at : Nalanda Press, D-39, N.D.S.E., Part I, New Delhi-49.
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contributions published.
THE
MASTER
SPEAKS
Delusion of doership
What a rich mine of precious Name is O Shahansha! Those who know how
within thee! to sit within themselves, they are
Why hankereth thou after shells ins­ freed from all doubts and delusions.
tead of pearls?
Thou hath forgotten thy demesne and IF we want to gain proficiency in any
seeketh burial grounds and crema­ branch of knowledge, we have to go
toriums, to a school or a college. If, for instance,
And wandereth like evil spirits igno­ we wish to learn physiology, we shall
rant of the God of love. have to sit at the feet of physicians,
Like a blood-hound thou tracketh competent to teach us anatomy by the pro­
blood, unmindful of the ambrosia cess of dissection and practical demons­
in thee, for tration of the various parts of the body.
Thou careth not for the elixir of divine By the same analogy, if we are seekers
knowledge and uselessly grindeth of God, we shall have to go to one who
the husks. has realised God for himself in his own
In the end thou shalt repent when thy self. The company or association of
pranas shall take leave of thee, such a person is technically known as
2
Satsang. Satsang literally means an such a competent Master, we cannot have
association with Sat or Truth—an Un­ an experience of Divinity. When Mira,
changeable Permanence. God is Truth. a Rajput princess and a seeker after God,
Those who have attained Truth can impart came to Ravi Das1, the cobbler-saint, and
to us knowledge of Truth and give us experienced the Spirit and Power of God
an experience of Truth just in the same in her own person, she involuntarily ex­
way as we get a practical demonstration claimed: “Mira Bai is perpetually in a
in a science laboratory. Similarly, it is blissful union with the Lord.”
in Satsang that we learn for ourselves
as to how to work for Truth in the labo­ Satsang is the only way whereby we
ratory of the human body. As teachers can have the knowledge and experience
impart knowledge to the students, the of the Divine in us. It is a panacea
Master-souls give us divine knowledge for all ills of life. Most of us are swayed
and show us in a practical way some­ by feelings, emotions or inferential know­
thing of the Spirit and Power of God. ledge on the level of intellect. But
Such Master-souls are qualified in divine we have no first-hand inner experience
wisdom and hold a commission from of God. The Masters tell us that they
above to link the aspiring beings with have seen Him. There is also another
the strands of life. One who is so quali­ side of the picture. Some great saints
fied and has been so authorised, is known have declared that no body has seen God
as a Sant-Satguru or a Sadh-Guru. Such nor can one see Him. It is true that
a living Master emphatically exclaims God-in-absolute cannot be seen by the
that God is within us and can be expe­ eyes of flesh nor can we hear Him. But
rienced within with the active aid and God-in-action or His Power-in-expression
guidance of one who has realised God. can certainly be seen as well as heard;
Man is the highest rung in the ladder of for Light and Sound characterise that
creation. It is in the flesh that one can Power. The Masters term this Power
know the true God and gain life everlast­ as Naam, the holy Word or Kalma.
ing. Being one with this Power, they have the
authority to grant us a conscious con­
‘Listen ye to the testimony of saints, tact with it. When that Absolute Power
They speak of that what they wished to come into being, there was
actually see.’ a commotion, a vibration and with it
Light and Sound came as natural con­
Herein lies the difference between the comitants. It is this Light and this Sound
teachers of the world and Doctors that can be communed with. Satsang,
of Divinity. Whereas the former give strictly speaking, is association with such
us only a book-knowledge on the level perfect Masters who are Word-personi­
of the senses and appeal to our feelings fied. Nanak2 speaks of Him as: “The
and emotions or at the most to our intel­ Lord of Nanak is visible like a noon-day
lect, the latter give us a direct and imme­ sun.” Christ when asked about God,
diate revelation of the God-power in us. replied: “Behold the Lord,” Kabir3,
‘What an ill luck! how can we be blessed in much the same strain said: “I have
when we have not met the Lord within now no misgivings about God as I have
us.’ Those who have not themselves seen the ineffable Light-immaculate within
seen God, how can they make us see me.” Guru Arjan4 said: “He who in
Him? ‘One may wander all the world His fullness is immanent in waters and
over, but cannot meet God without the lands is palpably visible in the entire
help of a Satguru.’ Unless we meet creation.”
3
In similar words Parmahansa Rama­ trolling Power is known as spirituality—
krishna5 replied to his celebrated disciple or the science of soul.
Vivekananda when questioned about
God’s existence: “Yes, my child I see God The psalm you have just heard tells
just as I see you—nay with more clarity us that we are endowed with the treasure
than this.” Dadu Sahib6 says: “All speak of Naam and yet we are wandering with­
of God from hearsay but I bear testi­ out in search of peace. Spirituality is
mony of Him from personal experience neither spiritism nor spiritualism. Spiri­
within myself.” So if you are keen to tism is just a belief in the existence of
have the vision of God, you will natu­ disembodied spirits who roam about in
rally have to go to some adept who has the lower strata of the astral world.
seen Him and can make you do likewise. Spiritualism is to establish a contact with
There are people who meditate on astral such spirit, by means of mind-force and
colours or space without having been press them into service of one form or
initiated by any competent Master. How another just to make a show or to earn
can they contemplate One who is beyond a livelihood. Spirituality, on the other
all space and spatial adjuncts, forms and hand, means to realise the ‘Self’ and then
colours? to establish a conscious contact with the
Overself or God-power, which too is in
I am speaking in a very frank language. us. All this is done by a practical pro­
He who has not seen God, cannot cess of self-analysis whereby one rises
make you see God. It is a question of above body-consciousness and begins to
inner revelation. Christ says: “Son commune with that Power. Without a
knows the Father and others to whom direct and immediate experience of it
the Son may reveal.” A living Master through the active aid and guidance of
is truly the Son of God and comes to some Godman one cannot do it on one’s
give us the knowledge and experience own howsoever hard one may try.
of God. You shall appreciate that reve­
lation means to bring into manifestation Kabir, therefore, says: “O brother,
that which is already there but is hidden a Satguru who claims himself to be a
in the folds of the mind. He is within Sant, must be competent enough to reveal
all of us. We live, move and have our to us, what is hidden in us (the Spirit
very being in Him. The living Master, and Power of God).” This experience
in a practical way, brings home to us this once gained, can be developed to any
divine Truth. He does not put into us extent by daily practice, under the direc­
anything from without. ‘All things have tion, and control of a Godman. Kabir
been made by Him (the Word); and with­ has thrown a challenge to one and all
out Him is not anything made that has so that those who claim to be saints or
been made.’ So long as the life-current Satgurus, must be competent enough
is in us, we live. This very life-principle to make us rise above body-conscious­
is sustaining and keeping us as well as ness and give us a direct conscious con­
the entire universe well under its control. tact with the Light and Sound of God
If it were not so, we could easily escape within. If you apply this touchstone,
from the prison-house of flesh with so you will know how many real Satgurus
many open doors and windows in It. are there—very rare indeed. You may
But can we do so? No. Why? There is come across so many who may be able
the divine Power controlling all our out- to give you elementary lessons as aids
breathings through the sense-organs. To to spiritual progress and make you feel at
have a practical experience of this Con­ home on the level of senses and intellect.
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All practices of Apravidya — like the births.”
study of scriptures, worship of images
and idols, visit to places of pilgrimages, Contrarily, when one begins to see
performance of rites and rituals etc.— the Spirit and Power of God, he at once
and inferential knowledge, though good becomes an agent, a mere cog or an in­
in themselves, are not enough. These significant instrument in the divine set­
things can be learnt from anybody and up. Then he is a Neh-karma and all
from anywhere, but it is not spirituality his seeming acts are acts of the invisible
or knowledge and experience of ‘Self’ Power and he is only a sakshi or a wit­
by separating it from the clutches of ness thereof. This is figuratively called
mind and matter, and to witness the becoming conscious co-worker of the
divine glory within. Spirituality, be it Divine Plan. Once this delusion of doer­
known, cannot be taught but may be ship is dispelled, there remains nothing
caught from one who is himself affected to bind the individual. Guru Nanak
with it. One who really catches it says: “I do not wish anything on my
is in a position to testify to it and say own. Whatever pleaseth Thee, comes
that he has seen the Light of God and to pass.”
heard the Voice of God and thus has
actually come into contact with God-into- When one ceases to be the ‘doer’
expression Power. An association with the sanchit karmas (karmas stored-up
a perfect Being then is a real Satsang. through the ages) become infructuous
Such sacred Satsangs are very rare. These like pop-corns. When the Master grants
were rare in ages gone by and so are this inner conscious contact of divi­
they in the present age but the world nity and helps us to see the divine Light by
is not without them. The eternal law imparting his own personal life-impulse,
of supply and demand operates at all he provides us with ‘stock-in-trade’ for
times and all levels of existence. There future development. ‘In the company
is food for the hungry and water for the of a Saint, one sees the Lord within.’
thirsty. When you once see His splendour, you
will begin to relish His Spirit and Power
A continued and sustained search by in you and feel really blessed. Dadu
earnest and sincere seekers after God, is likewise says: “Dadu speaks of Him
bound to bear sooner or later, the much- after having seen Him, while all others
coveted fruit. All that you might be speak from hearsay.”
doing is just a preparation of the ground
and when the inner yearning grows truly, Just find out for yourselves as to how
you will not fail to find a real teacher— many persons have actually seen God.
nay he will find you out. Just as clouds Everybody quotes the scriptures on the
precede rain, so are good and pious deeds. existence of God or speaks of Him on
But unless you do not become a seer of the authority of ancient Masters who
God, there is no salvation, because all are no more with us, and as such can­
actions on the sense-level serve to feed not instruct us and guide us on the
the ego. Good as well as bad actions God-path. Dadu says that he has actual­
bind the doer; the one with chains of ly seen Him, whereas all others speak of
gold and the other with those of steel: what they have heard of Him from others.
“So long, as one feels that one is the Now let us take a Psalm of Kabir:
doer,
One cannot escape from the cycle of Kabir says that you cannot become
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a devotee by merely talking of devotion. learned Pandit in Kabir’s times. He
Give up all idle talk. Arguments will was called Sarbjeet because he had con­
not take you nearer God. God has to quered all the learned people of his age
be practised and lived through. Learn in polemics. He was proficient in
to revel in God and bask in the sunshine dialectics. His mother was a great de­
of His glory. Herein lies the summum votee of Kabir and consequently was
bonum of life on the earth-plane. Be ye gifted with right understanding of the
a flute in the hands of the divine musi­ holy Path. She wanted to bring her son
cian. Let Him work through you, Guru to the right course. One day she told
Arjan says: “What does the poor wooden her son that he could not boast of being
doll know? It is the player who makes a Sarbjeet unless he vanquished Kabir
it play.” in argument. It is said that in a fit of
egotism he carried a cart-load of his
An intellectual giant will give you a scriptures and went to Kabir for a dis­
very learned talk and may even offer cussion. Kabir greeted the young man
to link-up heaven and earth, but all this and enquired from him the purpose of his
by tall and loud harangues only. What visit. When he heard the story of the
does he know of God but as a figment vainglorious braggart; Kabir, to satisfy
of his own imagination and a spark of Sarbjeet’s vanity, told him that he could
his heated brain. A Muslim divine says: gladly accept defeat without entering
“The seeker of God lose sight of God. into any discussion. The young man
They drown God in the ocean of their wanted affirmation in writing so as to
talk.” show to his mother. Kabir asked him to
write out whatever he liked and offered to
Mind has a vast power over us. We sign on it. Sarbjeet hastily wrote a line
are swayed by the why and wherefore affirming defeat and got it signed. On
of God and He fails to take roots in us. reaching home, his dismay knew no
Without a personal conviction at the bounds when he placed before his mother
level of the spirit, we keep vegetating the roll of honour, wherein he had admit­
on the surface of the sea far from the ted his own failure at the hands of Kabir.
centre of our being. Satsang means a He was greatly puzzled at his own folly
congregation presided over by a seer of and once again rushed back to Kabir.
God. It is in his company that we can Kabir smiled naively at the man and ask­
have some first-hand inner experience. ed him to be careful this time. Again, in
Dadu was not a literary person, but a his confusion he wrote as before and on
God-realised saint. What he has stated returning home felt humiliated and lost.
is on the basis of his own personal ex­ This gave a big blow to Sarbjeet’s vanity
perience. His forceful words inspire and he penitently went to Kabir to un­
us with hope and we can follow in his derstand the mystery. Kabir took pity
footsteps. Similarly, Jesus, Kabir, Nanak on the young man and explained to him
and Mohammed never joined any school divine truths in simple and easy terms.
or college, and yet they were the seers When an able surgeon undertakes a big
of Truth and have left behind them pre­ operation, he does not allow the least
cious treasures of divine wisdom for our infection to remain in the body. Kabir
guidance. Hear ye the true testimony then said: “O Pandit! how can we two
of the Saints. They speak from personal agree? What I say is from personal
experience.’ experience, while you talk from what is
written in books.” The scriptures pro­
You may have heard of Sarbjeet, a vide us with essential knowledge and help
6
us in understanding the subject but can­ Why pass away in a coma.” One must
not deliver the goods. Even for right depart from this world in full conscious­
and correct interpretation of the scrip­ ness. We must know before-hand as to
tures we have to come to an adept who when we have to go and whereto. The
has himself experienced the divine truths performance of good deeds in accordance
recorded in the books. All the seers with our religious doctrines is just the
tend to converge toward the centre where­ first step, but not an end in itself. For­
as the intellectuals differ variously. Mau- merly, the social structure was based
lana Rumi7 frankly told the learned Kazis: on the pattern of work in which the
“I know not what is rhyme and rhythm? people were engaged. The knowers of
But my verses are all honeyed sweet.” Brahm were called brahmins. Those
The words of the Master-saints come who took to the sword in defence of the
from the depth of their being and spring country became Kshtriyas while those
spontaneously at the Lord’s bidding and who engaged themselves in any trade,
as much are artistically perfect. Kabir business, or vocation, like tillage and
further explained: “I try to make you husbandry came to be known as Vaish.
understand in simple and plain words, The rest ot the people who under took
while you talk in riddles and are enme­ to serve others were termed as Sudras.
shed in them. I tell you to rise into But now those days are gone. Kabir
higher consciousness, while you prefer therefore stresses the importance of inner
to remain in stark blindness.” awakening for all. One can have this
awakening in the company of awakened
Kabir lays emphasis on the life of spi­ souls, and not from book-learning like
rit, free from entanglements of mind and Sarbjeet who believed in intellectual
matter. This physical body of ours in wranglings and disputations which go to
which we are so much lost, is in a state add more to our ignorance rather than
of continuous flux, although apparently enlightenment.
it looks to be static. We have therefore
to wake up to the reality and know a Kabir goes on to explain: “I tell you
spade as a spade. All rites and rituals to develop inner detachment, while you
we perform according to our own beliefs are drifting helplessly into the world.”
and dogmas are not sufficient in them­
selves for our spiritual awakening. Hence I tell you human birth is something
the stress is on personal knowledge and rare. It has come to us through good
experience of God by introversion, by past karmas (pralabdha). Why not make
rising above body-consciousness. We the most of it, while there is yet time?
must be the seers of God and the hearers Take care of proper sowing in season
of God in our own right and within us. and the harvest will come on its own.
The Vedas exclaim: ‘Awake, arise and If we become cut-throats, we shall have
stop not till the goal is reached!’ Un­ to pay in the like coin. It is simply a
less we actually come to understand and matter of give and take. We must
bask in the sunshine of God, we are yet happily score out old accounts and pay
far from Him. Again, Kabir says: “O off all the debts incurred, but be careful
dear soul! why doth thou slumber on? not to add any more load to the heavy
The night hath passed away, why waste burden on our heads. The invisible pen
the live-long day?” All great Masters of the Lord moves according to our
speak in much the same strain. deeds. God is a stern judge and He
judges sternly. I had an occasion to be
Guru Arjan says: “O wake ye up ! present in the court where a murder trial
7
was on. After hearing the prosecution Is it not a matter of great regret if
and defence arguments and the verdict the conscious spirit in man bows down
of the jury, the Sessions Judge declared: before images made by human hands
“In view of the facts and the law placed and worships birds, trees and reptiles—
before me, I find the accused guilty of all on lower rungs of the ladder of life?
murder and sentence him to be hanged It naturally means going down into the
by the neck till he is dead.” You must scale of creation. To fall from a moun­
understand the basic concepts of life. tain-top is a sad fall indeed. Christ
All the worldly relations like those of calls it the ‘death of the soul.’ Now
husband and wife, parents and children, the times have considerably changed.
sisters and brothers are the result of The Masters come again and again to
karmic reactions to past actions. We awaken us. And we again and again
have to run through the gamut of them fall into the pit as soon as they depart
all, as best as possible and also work from the scene of life. They come to
for the highest aim of life—self-realisa­ revive the same age-old Truth and offer
tion and God-realisation. If we fail to old wine in new bottles in conformity
achieve this aim, our life goes in vain with the needs of modern times, in a
and we remain steadily in the cycle of language, simple and lucid, so as to be
births and deaths according to our intelligible to the common man. Finally,
deeds. Kabir cannot but use the strongest pos­
sible terms in condemning the so-called
Kabir says: “From age to age, I teachers who profess to teach spirituality
have tried to make thee realise this: I without any knowledge of spirituality
wonder why doth not the truth come itself:
home to thee.” Here Kabir is referring
to his advent in all the four cycles of “You wander about like a profligate
time for the spiritual regeneration of who has never known the pleasures
man and affirms that by and large the of true love,
people did not pay heed to his sage And you having lost all self-respect
counsel. The Masters offer their sub­ are now in dire distress.”
lime teachings to the suffering humanity
and when they fail to find a happy One who has not known true God
response, they revolt against the dogmatic and truly witnessed His glory, is no better
beliefs and superstitions. ‘The same than a prostitute making with all who
good old custom corrupts itself.’ The come in one’s way. The words used are
outer modes of worshipping the Light no doubt harsh and yet are very true.
and Sound in shrines and temples; The learned intellectuals have mere book­
churches and synagogues were introduced ish knowledge and when they are over­
to make people understand the import­ taken by the vicissitudes of life, they
ance of tapping inside the human body— exhibit in themselves but very poor speci­
a temple of God. God dwells in every men of humanity with no roots in the
heart. He is within us and in the rest divine wisdom which they professed so
of His creation. If (as conscious entities) enthusiastically to teach the world. One
we start worshipping the less conscious, who has no conscious contact with the
what spiritual benefit would it bring to Lord within has no right to teach others.
us. Guru Arjan therefore says : “By a One who has verily wasted his own
mighty good fortune one comes to the precious human existence should not
human level. What a shame ! if one does attempt to lead others. If a blind,
not commune with the Word.” man leads the blind, both are sure
8