From jamesjs@unixg.ubc.ca Thu Mar 04 03:03:05 1999
Newsgroups: alt.meditation.shabda
Subject: The Fruit and Its Casing
From: jamesjs@unixg.ubc.ca (James Shannon)
Date: 4 Mar 1999 11:03:05 GMT





                        THE FRUIT AND ITS CASING

                                   by

                          Sant Kirpal Singh Ji


        THE FRUIT AND ITS CASING is the transcript of a tape
        recording made at Sawan Ashram of a personal talk by
        the Master to Mrs. Mildred Prendergast ("Millie"),
        his Representative in Boston, on the eve of her
        departure from India, February 15, 1966; and through
        her it was sent to all Satsangis. It was issued as
        Circular 49, and published in Sat Sandesh under the
        present title in October 1971.
        ---------------------------------------------------


  DEAR MILLIE: Now you are going back to your home, worldly home. I
would like you to convey my message to my brothers and sisters over
there. Tell them that God-Power or the Master Power is always with
the initiates, and once that Power takes over the charge of any soul,
that Power never leaves him until the end of the world. The work of
the Master is just to take the soul to the lap of Sat Purush, and
from there the Sat Purush takes the soul to the Absolute God in
stages. They are fortunate, over there, to have had such Master
Power working over their heads.

  The criterion of a Master is that he should be able to give
firsthand experience of rising above body consciousness. That is the
only outer criterion that you can have. And, if one can give some
personal experience like that, then I think that He can also be
considered capable of leading you further. Tell them all over there
that they are on my mind. If they remember me, the reaction is there,
I do remember them. It is the Master who first loves us - our love
for him is only reciprocal.

  I wish them to lead a very righteous life, full of good thoughts,
good words and good deeds. Let these words of wisdom reflect in
their physical life, and not simply be repeated by lips. The
initiates should remember the Master and actively live up to what
he says. For that purpose, the initiates have been given self-
introspection diaries, which they should maintain regularly and
scrupulously. By this means they will be, at least, remembering the
Master's enjoinders during the day. If they don't keep the diaries,
they will simply forget to act up to what they have been told ...
so this is one good of keeping a diary. Moreover, when Master
initiates someone, He resides with him; He watches all of his actions,
guides him further where it is needed; especially those who turn their
faces to Him. If you do forget, He does not forget.

  Recently I had a mind to go to Europe, but for some reason or the
other, I could not go. When the foreign tour program is prepared,
there is hope, God willing, to see all of them over there personally.

  One thing they might be told, one and all, is that this Corporation*
(* This refers to the incorporating of Master's work in the U.S.,
which had taken place about a year before this talk was given.)
arrangement is only for management. Spirituality cannot be incorporated.
So this corporation is not for organizing spirituality. For spirituality,
all are directly under me. For the purpose of management, those who are
in charge over there, including one and all, are there simply to see
that management goes along all right. As regards the rules and
regulations that have already been made, some people are under the
impression that this corporation is only a worldly corporation - which
is not correct. At the time of our Master, at first when there were
not very many initiates and when there were still only a few groups
operating, there was no need for any corporation, and so there were
no rules or provision for management. But now there are many groups
all over the world. About 71 centers are working in the United States
(east, west and south) and in Canada and South America. Some
formation is considered absolutely necessary for management of and
coordination of all of them. It may, however, be mentioned that in
the time of Hazur Maharaj Baba Sawan Singh, there were some rules to
go by in Beas and at other places where Satsangs were carried on;
although the groups were not registered under the government. Now,
at Beas, there is a regular registered body to carry on the work.

  To those who are under the impression that this corporation is
meant only for control and material gain, I would say: No. I would
think there is no control and no profit-making as with other corporations.
This corporation is only to insure that the communications and temporal
affairs among the Satsangis go on quite amicably. And about some other
issues, I have already written to them. For example, if there are any
rules and regulations which appear to be unworkable and harsh, I told
them to just put their heads together and simplify them as best they
can, so that there may be no difficulty in their operation. I am not
after hard and fast rules, but simply that all should be able to sit
together and cooperate together as one body at one place; and others
who, for one reason or another, are not cooperating, should be induced
to take part, to join them. If there is any inclination to supply
anything - for example: circulars, books, and so forth - the
corporation is there for their convenience. Suppose I should like to
convey something to all of the brothers and sisters there, I will
convey it to one center, which will convey such material to all of
the members attending the Satsangs and also to those who are not
attending the Satsang. It may be mentioned here that all Representatives
and others who met at Washington and Chicago, on my last tour there,
decided to have a corporation, which later on came into being. The
corporation is only meant for this purpose.

  If there is a fruit, then to save the kernel we need some casing.
Even nature provides for that. If the casing is not there, the fruit
is spoiled. So, inner spiritual work remains safe only if it is
conducted with a little casing. The casing is required only when we
have to keep the pure inner kernel in its natural state. If there is
no casing, then the fruit is spoiled in a day. Some have referred to
my Master, that when He was asked once He said that no corporation
was required. Well, at that time, there were only a few initiates and
as a consequence there was no need of it then. If a small group of
initiates makes a beginning and after a while this small beginning
expands into so many centers all over the United States and everywhere,
then there must be some casing to insure that the activity goes along
all right. If then there is any complaint, such as the non-supply of
books, and so forth, it may be handled expeditiously. For example,
I have already suggested that books should be printed in India and
supplied from there in the required quantity.

  So naturally these people in the centers over there have to carry
on this work in a businesslike way. When these centers are working
under a corporation, they have to abide by certain rules. Even here,
I have a kind of corporation, duly registered under Government law.
I have to submit all accounts to the Registrar to be duly audited by
authorized auditors. So naturally we all have to keep accounts. There
is no growling here about their calling for the current financial
accounts and, for instance, how many books we have sold or how the
selling of books is managed. Such questions are natural, you see.
Such information is only for management's sake.

  So I tell them clearly that I love them from the very core of my
heart. How can a father or mother forget his children? Can he? Never.
The children might forget, might go astray, but the father cannot forget
the children. Even the lost child is accepted, you see. So I have love
for them all.

  One thing especially which I would like to convey to them over there
is that upon the spiritual health depends the life of mind and body both.
We develop physically and intellectually; yet with all that, we are not
happy and we cannot be happy. We give food to the physical body and
we are physically strong; we give food to the intellect; but what food
are we giving as the Bread of Life to the soul? The soul is a conscious
entity. The Bread of Life or the Water of Life can only be a conscious
Thing, and That is God. And where is God? God is the very Controlling
Power keeping us in the body. So we have to contact Him.

  I will give you an instance from the Hindu parables of how this is.
Sometimes, you see, Masters give talks straight - sometimes they give
talks through parables. Parables are more effective sometimes, you see.
So with the Hindus there is a parable which says that Lord Shiva was
residing at the top of a hill. And there was one Parvati who wanted
to marry him. Some other people there asked her, "Well, what are you
after?" She said, "I am only after marrying Shiva. Even if it may
take millions of births, I must meet him for he is the solace of my
heart." So this is a parable to illustrate some point. What does this
parable mean? The word Parvati means "one living on the mountain."
And what is that "one"? That one is our own self, our soul. The seat
of the soul is at the top of the mountain of the body, just at the
back of the eyes; and also located there is the very Controlling Power,
the true Husband of our soul, God, waiting for her. So soul cannot
find rest until she finds the Oversoul. Ever since the soul has been
sent down to the world, she has not gone back to Him. Otherwise, you
would have been in another state of affairs. Soul says, "I will try
my utmost for years and years - hundreds of years - and won't rest
until I find Him." So our soul is the same essence as that of God.
Ever since it has been sent to the world, it has not gone back so far.
So soul cannot find rest unless it meets the Oversoul: God.
This situation is what the parable is to show.

  So we are all embodied souls. All religions concern our bodies.
Social and political affairs concern our bodies only. And soul is
concerned with God only. We may remain in any society, in any religion,
observing any outer forms or rituals, or anything we have customarily
followed, and we can continue to follow them. But soul has now been
identified with the body so much so that it has forgotten itself.
Unless the soul is analyzed and withdrawn from the body and comes to
its seat at the back of the eyes and gets some self-awareness or self-
knowledge, she cannot know the Overself or have God-knowledge. So
self-knowledge precedes God-knowledge. All Masters who came in the past
have given out as the prerequisite that we should know our own self.
We are conscious beings, not physical bodies. We are wearing these
bodies only. All of these outer religions are schools of thought in
which we are joined to know our Selves and to know God.

  We have never been without Him. He has all along been with us. We
are living in Him just like a fish lives in the water. The water is
never away from the fish - the very life of the fish is water. So our
very life is God, the Controlling Power which keeps us in the body.
So, unless we know our own self, we cannot taste the kernel within.
You may remain in any religion you like, because religions are only
concerned with the outer forms - they are the casing only, I would
say. We are to dip into this casing. We can taste the kernel by the
only way that exists: by contacting the one in whom God is manifested.

  God resides in every heart, but God is not manifested in every man-body.
That same God which is manifested at the man-body of the Living Master
resides in us, too; but as we are identified with the body, we cannot get
a glimpse of Him unless we rise above body-consciousness. The one in
whom God is manifested has the competency by virtue of the God in him
to withdraw our souls from outer concerns. The outgoing expression of
the soul is the attention, called surat. That Surat is withdrawn from
the outside first. The man-body is the temple of God, into which we
have to enter first. We live in the body, and Who we want is also living
in the body, and is the Controlling Power keeping us in the body. The
one who has got that control over his attention is truly Self-centered:
the whole body-machinery works at his beck and call. Such a person,
when he is met, has the competency or the power in him to enable us to
withdraw from the outside and enter the physical body, and to raise us
into the Beyond. That power is called the Master Power.

  That power is also within us; just as the rays of the sun don't burn
us but, if we pass them through a convex lens, they will bum anything
at the focus on the other side of the lens. In a similar manner, that
very Power of the Master is within us too, but our attention is
dispersed outward by being identified with the body and outside things.
If we withdraw that attention, and go within to the seat of the soul
in the body and become the mouthpiece of the Controlling Power, God,
we can work wonders. So that soul which has manifested God has great
power and has become the mouthpiece of the Overself. Then what can
such a soul not do? God, with one Word of His, created the whole world;
and the soul, which is a drop of the Ocean of All Consciousness, since
we are of the same essence as that of God, also has a great power.
But that power is frittered away by going outside, by identifying with
the outside things.

  So, with the grace of God, tell them over there that they have been
put on the Way. Some experience is given to them at the time of
Initiation, and they have to develop spiritually by regular practice
and with due regard to how they pass their days, by self-introspection.

  Consider the parable of the seed, given by Christ. The seed was sown.
Some seed fell on the road; some fell in the thorny hedges; some fell
on the rocks; and some seeds fell on the quite clear land which had
been divested of all foreign matter. That seed which had fallen on the
hard open ground or the road is eaten away by the sparrows; the seed
that was thrown on the rocks grows but there is no depth of soil
beneath such seeds and, little by little, such growth fades away; and
naturally, those seeds which fell in the thorny hedges will grow, but
they cannot fully grow - they are retarded; and any seed which fell
in the quite prepared land will grow abundantly. If you put one seed
in of anything, that will give you hundreds of seeds like that. For
instance, you put one mango in the ground, and that will give a tree
which will give you hundreds of mangoes. So there is abundance in
nature. This parable, then, shows what? The "seed" is the contact with
the Light and Sound Principle, which is the expression of Word or Naam
in the hearts of the initiates. For those who simply take it, the
negative powers use it up because they never put in time for that,
although they are given the "seed" - the seed is sown in them - but
as they do not put in time at all, and they don't care, after
Initiation the seed is lost.

  Concerning those seeds that fall on the rocks and beneath which
there is little or no underlying soil, after Initiation that seed
should be fed,by Satsangs; for if those seeds are not watered by
Satsangs, you see, naturally they fade away - they also don't grow -
they come for a few days, then leave it. So that is why I tell the
people, "Leave hundreds of urgent works to attend the Satsangs." Those
seeds that fell in the thorny hedges won't grow there encumbered by
the distracting thoughts and other kinds of hedges; they are just like
those who have too many irons in the fire, they have no time to
attend to these things; they say they have no time. Such people also
don't grow. Only such a seed which has fallen in the quite prepared
land grows fruit in abundance. So you will find that the purpose of
this diary, which I always enjoin to be kept, is to weed out all
imperfections from the soil of the heart. Those who keep the diary
regularly, who put in time regularly, naturally they progress. If
they are not progressing there is something wrong somewhere, which
is explained to you by just referring to this parable given by Christ.

  However, they are all dear to the Master, I tell you. Those who
have got the seed are fortunate, for that seed cannot be burned away.
That seed must grow; and if they have not put in any time in this
physical life of the man-body, naturally they will have to come back;
but they won't come back below the man-body - that is the only
concession they can have. Why not put in time, grow now, and finish
this returning? You come into contact with the Light and Sound
principle within, and by progressing, you are intoxicated with that.
That has more bliss in it. We get more enchantment and more bliss
inside and naturally we are withdrawn from the outside things. Such
a soul can never return, and lives in and is kept in the Beyond after
the death of the physical body. Such souls have to progress there too,
but this takes a longer time as compared with the time it takes in
the physical body. So it is always better to develop here, the more
you can, the most you can, so that you can straightway go to that
higher plane to which you have developed here. So tell them all that
I wish them to progress. They have gotten, by the grace of God,
first-hand experience at the time of initiation. If anything goes
wrong, it is due to the result of these things as I have explained.

  So I wish to see them, God willing, sooner or later, and I also
wish them to be here with us whenever they can afford it. These
people sitting over here have great love for them, their brothers
and sisters over there. There is a loving relationship between those
who are initiated by a competent Master, which is a permanent
relationship, never dissolved at the time of death; they meet even
after death. Our Master used to say, "When crossing a river, those
who have crossed first will meet, there on the other side, those
who come next. All others follow them sooner or later." Between those
who have been initiated, this is the true relation that we have been
given by the Master, and this relation never ends. So they are
fortunate.

  Convey to them over there my love. No words can express love; love
cannot be expressed in words. The love of the mother can only be
known by the child who is devoted internally. Even if the child is
not turning his face to the mother in his activities and playing and
so forth, even then the mother cares. What for? The child must be
fed, so she takes the food and forces him to eat it. Similarly, it is
just like my enjoining them, "Put in more time, please." Develop
physically and intellectually, but that is not sufficient; you must
develop spiritually also. For such spiritual development, the Master
always enjoins that which results in most care for the child. So
convince them over there of my love for one and all. All are dear to me.
Though you are placed to carry on the work and are also dear to me,
the others are not less dear to me.

  As I told you, this corporation - tell them again - I think it has
created some misunderstanding with a few people there. This corporation
is only for management; by it no physical control or power is to be
exercised over the people over there - they are directly under me. For
example, once I went to Germany and there were some initiates who
complained to me that their Representative would not permit them to
talk with me directly. They were crying like anything. So I went there
and told them, "Well, look here, you're with me, you are under me, the
Representative was put there only to help you."

  You observe how those speaking on television can be seen and heard
over thousands of miles; so God-Power is also pervading everywhere.
That is the very Controlling Power within this man-body keeping us in
the body. Tell them over there that a child cannot, I think, imagine
how much love the mother has for the child. Can he ever do so? I don't
think so. So even if they come to know some of my love for them,
perhaps they will dance in intoxication. Convey my love to them as
you are going there. They are all dear to me. They must live up to
what they have been told from time to time. I am sending them messages,
now and then, only as reminders to live up to that. Our teachings
should reflect in our actions, We must be humble, sweet. A sweet word
doesn't cost anything. If we are all laborers in the field of the
Master, then where is the ego? A little ego enters sometimes and that
spoils the show. All this little grumbling sometimes is the result
of ego. "Love and all things shall be added unto you."

  So convey them my love, the best you can; although I think that no
words can express love. They should turn their faces this way and I
hope they will get radiation too.

  You have been here, so dear to us. But as a person has to go, after
all, you go home with all my love and blessings. Convey my love to
your dear husband as well, he is so good; so also to the followers
who are working there; and to all others. I do remember them and
think that they should live up to what they have been told and they
will progress, sure and certain. Thank you.

                                                    - (Kirpal Singh)          

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