From jamesjs@unixg.ubc.ca Mon May 31 04:27:42 1999
Newsgroups: alt.meditation.shabda
Subject: "Godman" - Kirpal Singh (3/10)
From: jamesjs@unixg.ubc.ca (James Shannon)
Date: 31 May 1999 11:27:42 GMT






                                  GODMAN

                                    by

                               KIRPAL SINGH

                                 [Part 3]




                               CHAPTER SEVEN

                                PAST SAINTS

          TODAY a person who is ill cannot have the benefit
        of medical advice from Dhanwantri (the progenitor
        of medical science), nor can a litigant ask Solomon to
        decide his case, nor can a lady marry Adonis and bring
        forth children.

          Similarly, Saints who appeared in the past from time
        to time and conferred spiritual benefit on those who
        came into contact with them, cannot do anything for
        the present generation. Each had his commission, and on
        completing it, entrusted the work of regeneration to his
        successor. Man can learn only from man, and God works
        His ways through living Saints.

                Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he
                  revealeth his secret unto his servants the
                  prophets.
                                                AMOS 3:7

          Some people think that past Mahatmas continue to
        live in spiritual regions and can even now confer spiritual
        benefit on the aspirants. Let us see how this holds good
        in the light of reason:

          1. Each Saint has his mission in life and comes with
        a definite instrument of instruction. As soon as he
        completes his job, he retires from this world (physical
        plane) and goes back into the Spiritual Ocean from which
        he sprang, leaving the work of further reorientation to
        his successor.

          2. Again, in accordance with the Law of Nature, even
        if the predecessor has had to do something for his
        followers, he does it through the living successor to whom
        he entrusted the work on retirement; and only the latter
        as a brother-in-faith or Gur-bhai may help and guide
        his brethren on the physical plane.

          3. It is only when we are able to leave the physical
        plane at will or at the time of death that we can contact
        the Master who initiated us if he has left the body
        Even while living on this earth his resplendent and
        luminous form never comes down from the Gaggan (astral
        heaven), for he always awaits human spirits at the
        threshold of the materio-spiritual regions.

          4. Again, in the hope and belief that the ancient
        Saints and sages can even now help us, we begin to
        attach great importance to ill-shaped and ill-formed
        currents and undercurrents of thought and feelings, and
        try to work on the suggestions of our own subconscious
        mind, little understanding its true import, and taking
        for granted that the impressions are from this or that
        past Master.

          These manifestations may even have been stirred up
        by some agency other than that of our Isht Dev, or the
        past Master of our choice. This cannot be seen in its
        proper perspective unless one is first gifted with inner
        vision (Divya Drishti), which can successfully penetrate
        through the veil of mind and matter and see clearly and
        judge correctly the nature of the ill-conceived inner
        urges, as they swim up indistinctly to the mental surface.

          5. Alongside the above, we cannot possibly understand
        the working of a prophet whom we have never met
        and seen with our eyes, nor have we the means to verify
        his modus operandi. In these circumstances, we can easily
        be deluded by any wandering spirit or will-of-the-wisp,
        or may even fall easy prey to the Negative Power, with
        its diverse ways of enticing untrained souls.

          6. If, for instance, it may for the moment be admitted
        that the ancient sages can still lead us on the spiritual
        path and the present Master is not needed for spiritual
        instructions, then the very idea of having a Guru at any
        time in the past or present is at once eliminated, for
        God can directly teach man easily without any prophet
        or Messiah.

          7. The very fact that a sage or seer appeared at one
        time or another and helped people Godward is in itself
        proof, conclusive and positive, even in this age, that
        there is need of such a Godman; for without him one cannot
        know of God or move Godward.

          8. God by Himself can teach man only by becoming
        man, for man alone can teach man. He has perforce to
        put on the garb of man-call him what you will: a
        Sadh, Sant, prophet, Messiah or Rasul. Like attracts like
        is an incontrovertible dictum.

                God appears as a Sadh.
                God takes on the appellation of Sant.

        This does not mean at all that past Masters are dead
        and gone. Far from it; they have attained Immortality.
        Having finally traversed the physical, the subtle, and
        the causal planes, they are at One with the Cosmic
        Awareness. If with all their devotion and spiritual
        advancement, they were still to wander under the moon,
        they would have wasted all their endeavors.

          It will not serve any useful purpose to enter into
        theoretical discussion and disputation. Everything will
        become clear if one searches for a real Master, well
        versed in the art and science of spirit, and learns from
        him an easy and natural way of approach to God.

          There will be no need to wait for the result until
        death. If the seed is sown properly and watered, the
        fruit must appear quickly and in abundance in one's,
        very lifetime.

          A living Master can grant eternal beatitude in its
        fulness. A simple touch with the dynamic power of the
        higher consciousness in him is enough to charge one with
        the radiating waves of spirituality. The spirit is drawn
        inward and upward and riding the magnetic-like radiant
        strains, crosses from plane to plane. Blessed indeed is
        the spirit that contacts such a Master and comes under his
        protection.

          It is a matter of common experience that a person
        bound for any foreign country consults directories,
        collects data about shipping companies, the various boats
        scheduled by each, the facilities they offer, the ports of
        embarkation and call, the route that each boat would
        follow, and the time that each would take, the places of
        interest on the way, and ultimately where he would stay
        on reaching the destination.

          After having laid his plans, he has to obtain a passport
        from his own government, without which he cannot
        leave his country; and he also has to arm himself with
        a landing permit from the government of the country to
        which he is bound.

          In exactly the same way, a person who intends to
        leave the physical plane for any of the spiritual planes
        has to obtain a passport and a landing permit from some
        competent authority, some vice-regent of God (a Saint),
        who works on all the planes.

          This is granted to him at the time of Initiation, when
        acquainting him with the various ports of call on the
        way, the different signs and signals wherewith to
        distinguish and recognize each place, the difficulties of
        the journey and the like. In this way, he grants the
        traveler the necessary passport, and a landing permit for
        disembarkation. Once the seed of Naam is sown in a jiva,
        it cannot but fructify, and he must one day reach the
        Kingdom of God, the Garden of Eden, from which he has
        been an exile from time immemorial. And no power
        here or beyond can stand in the way of his homecoming.

          The next thing the Master does is lay down the correct
        path that leads to God. Like a veteran seaman, he
        plans the entire route for the traveler, as without it he
        cannot, with all of his sincere devotion and steadfast
        effort, reach the destination.

          The correct lead Godward is the second preparatory
        stage for this venture on the unknown seas. The Master
        himself charters the boat and underwrites the disciple's
        safety en route, by telling him of the shoals and the
        submerged rocks in the way and other dangers besetting
        the journey, and how best to avoid them.

          He does not stop here. Master of both Heaven and
        Earth, he every day traverses at will the various
        spiritual, regions. Sach Khand or Muqam-i-Haq is his
        perpetual abode from where he comes down every day to
        the earth plane, to discharge the lowliest duties cast
        on him.

                Type of the wise, who soar, but never roam;
                True to the kindred points of Heaven and
                  Home.

          Since he has a personal knowledge and actual experience
        of the journey which he performs so often every day,
        and is a resident of the highest plane, he gives a cheery
        call to the world-weary:

                Come ye all, my unhappy brothers and sisters,
                  into the Kingdom of Heaven and into the
                  Gracious Presence.

          He not only gives us first-hand knowledge of the
        Kingdom of God, plans our itinerary for the journey and
        books our passage homeward, but also offers to accompany
        us and be our guide. He may even pilot us, and
        does not rest content until he escorts us to the mansions
        of the Lord.

          We can verify for ourselves some salient features of
        the account given by him, by reference to the directories;
        and should the latter seem to support him in broad outline
        we take courage and depend on him and his competency with
        confidence.

          The scriptures are nothing but directories which record
        the personal experiences of those sages and seers
        who in the past traveled on this path, and a living Master
        refers to them in his talks and discourses simply because
        we by nature have dogmatic faith in them, and he wants to
        take us up from the line of least resistance.

          We may break the and ground by careful study of
        scriptures, but these per se cannot help in liberating the
        spirit from body and mind consciousness, and in leading
        her across to the spiritual regions. It is the strong and
        long arm of the living Master that can accomplish this
        Herculean task of cleansing the Augean stables, of carrying
        the spirit beyond all limitations and concepts, and
        steering her course safely and getting back for her the
        lost Kingdom.

                It is the fundamental Law of God that no one
                  can think of Him unless he is reminded of
                  Him by some Master Soul.
                                                NANAK

        Bhai Gurdas says:

                Endless queries, without treading the Path,
                  cannot lead thee to thy Beloved.

        One cannot understand God by means of intellect alone,
        however sharp and keen it may be. How can an instrument
        by nature limited in its scope measure the Limitless?
        Some higher consciousness can lead the little
        consciousness to the Great Consciousness, for he serves as
        link between the two:

                If one could reach God alone, why then the
                  pangs of separation?
                Meet Him through a Sadh, and have beatitude,
                  O Nanak.

                A quest in the wrong direction cannot lead
                  to success. O Kabir, take with thee a guide
                  and find the great jewel. A sure guide will
                  help thee to reach the goal quickly, however
                  distant it may seem to be.

        We feel the need of a teacher at every step. A student
        in cookery, for instance, has to learn it from one expert
        in the culinary art. A student in medicine has to seek
        the aid of a professor of medicine. A novice in surgery
        has to master the art from some reputed surgeon, and so
        also a pupil in engineering, painting, and so forth. Books
        and learned treatises on these various subjects cannot
        by themselves make a student expert in the subject.

          It is the practical demonstration, the experiment at the
        table, and the actual operation in the theater under the
        guidance of an adept in the profession that matters.

          If all of these physical sciences that belong to the
        realm of Apara Vidya and are studied and mastered
        on the plane of the senses require the help of a teacher,
        the need of a teacher is still greater for spiritual science
        (Para Vidya), which is an inner process far beyond the
        ken of the senses, to be studied in the depths of the mind
        and experimented with in the laboratory of the soul.

          It has been locked up for ages upon ages and is
        enshrouded in stark darkness and there is no visible
        approach to it. The fact is that a person who denies and
        derides the necessity of a Master in Truth and yet wants
        to learn Truth all by himself does not in fact want it.
        His case is just like that of a man who prefers to dig a
        well for himself rather than quench his thirst at a spring
        of cool and refreshing water nearby, with a waterman
        ready to serve him.

        Bhai Nandlal says in this context:

                None but a lover of rubies can understand the
                  value of a ruby.

                It is only the jeweler's eyes that can at a glance
                  give value to it.

        The need of a Guru or Master is absolute, and there can
        be no exception to the rule. Suppose, for instance, a
        person wants to have a joy-ride in the air. No one will
        allow him to enter a plane by himself. Even if he enters
        it surreptitiously, he will find the machinery locked.
        If somehow or other he overcomes this obstacle, he will
        not know how to handle the various parts of the machine.
        Should he dabble with it and the plane starts, he cannot
        take it up for want of necessary training, nor can he
        bring it down, nor steer it correctly. The result, sooner
        or later, will be a crash and loss of life. The mechanism
        of the human body is much more complicated and delicate
        than that of any machine; therefore the need of a
        spiritual adept is all the greater, both for success in
        the practical process of self-analysis and also for the
        approach to God Himself and the understanding of the
        working of the divine Will.

          The spirit imprisoned in the body cannot per se separate
        itself from it. With its seat above the focus of the eyes,
        it permeates the entire system, and the two are indissolubly
        intertwined with each other. Should it somehow or other
        find itself freed momentarily and collected and gathered
        up at its center, it cannot enter the airliner of Shabd.
        If it may find a way in, it does not know where to go,
        how to go, and how to return.

          But if the master pilot (the Sant Satguru) could be
        there to take the spirit along with him, and the two could
        enter the plane and take a few joyful rides together in
        the spiritual realm, the spirit could also learn how to
        handle the heavenly liner, and to repeat the spiritual,
        experiments.

          One well-versed in the mechanism of the human body
        (which is composed of three coverings: physical, mental,
        and causal, plus the living sentient entity underneath),
        a habitual traveler to the heavenly regions, day in and
        day out, can initiate a spirit into the mysteries of
        spiritual knowledge, and by a practical demonstration
        show her a "Way Out."

          By actual guidance and help, the Master himself steers
        her safely from plane to plane, and explains on the way
        the dangerous signals and points, sharp turns and twists,
        and the dangers of the unknown and untrodden spiritual
        realms. Blessed indeed is the spirit that comes across
        such an adept in the science and art of Spirituality.

          Nothing but ill luck would dog a spirit's footsteps if
        she were to spurn his offer and attempt the divine
        journey by herself, unattended and unaided by a Master
        soul.

          Maulana Rumi, therefore, in no ambiguous terms
        warns against such a course:

                Find a Master Spirit, for without his active
                  help and guidance this journey is beset with
                  untold fears, perils, and dangers.

        In essence, Naam or Dhun Atmic Shabd (Word) is an
        unwritten law in an unspoken language, and, hence, It
        cannot be had from scriptures and other holy books.
        This wealth can be obtained only from some adept in
        Naam, for he is Word personified. He alone is competent
        to make It manifest to the spirit, and no one else can.

                It is a fundamental Law of God that none can
                  manifest Naam except Satguru (Master of
                  Truth).

                The Shabd of a Master Soul can be heard only
                  through His Grace, and no one else can even
                  make It manifest.

        A Master of Truth is fully conversant with all the
        mysteries of spirituality; hence his testimony carries
        weight and his charged words drive home and prove
        effective.

                Listen to the true and infallible testimony of
                  Saints, for they have a first-hand experience
                  of what they say.

        Gurbani also in unambiguous terms emphatically declares
      the imperative necessity of a Master Soul. The embodied
      spirits for ages upon ages have been leading a life of
      the senses, and have never known that there is another
      side of the picture as well. Truth can neither be known
      nor experienced except through the grace of a Master of
      Truth.

                Without a Master no one ever found Truth
                  in the past nor in the present. The Crest
                  Jewel of Naam has been kept in the hands of
                  a Master, and He is competent to manifest
                  the same in the jivas.

                It is through God's Grace that one comes
                  across a Master of Truth. After a spirit has
                  passed through cycles of births, then the
                  Master makes her hear the Sound Current.

                Listen ye all with attention and learn that
                  there is none so great a philanthropist as a
                  Satguru; for he bestows upon jivas the gift
                  of precious Naam. Those who are prepared
                  to lose their lives (i.e., come above the
                  physical life of the senses), shall find Truth
                  on contacting a Master Soul.

        All Saints with one accord declare that without a Godman,
        one cannot reach God and attain Godhead. Go Himself
        made this abundantly clear:

                It is a cardinal principle of God that one
                  cannot even think of Him without the Grace
                  of a Satguru.

                Nanak has learned from God that one cannot
                  gain salvation without the active aid of a
                  Master.

        Satguru is a great ophthalmologist and an expert eye
        surgeon. We are all stark blind. God is within us, and
        darkly we grope for Him without. But a contact with
        a Satguru restores to us the lost vision and we begin to
        realize and experience God in the laboratory of the
        human mind:

                The entire mankind is blind and is blindly
                  engaged in deeds of darkness, and finds not
                  a Way out. O Nanak! when a spirit meets
                  a Master of Truth, she begins to see with
                  her own eyes (inner, of course) and she
                  realizes the Truth in the depths of the soul.

        We are nothing short of truly blind, for we see not,
        regardless of physical eyes. Blindness consists not in
        the loss of eyes, but in keeping away from God. Nanak
        says:

                Call them not blind who have no eyes, O
                  Nanak!
                Such in fact are blind who see not the Light
                  of God.

        Guru Arjan tells us that even a person with eyes may
        yet be blind, if he sees not God Who is the very soul
        of his soul, and thus he commits sins:

                A person in full possession of his senses may
                  yet be blind; if he considers that God, the
                  very Soul of his soul, is far removed from
                  him, and thereby he shamelessly engages
                  in evil.

        With physical eyes we witness the physical world
        around us. But the Shiv Netra or Third Eye in each
        of us is closed. When this eye opens, we can see the
        wonders of the subtle and causal worlds, and even those
        of the purely spiritual world beyond these:

                Blind is one who performs deeds of blindness,
                  because his inner eye is closed.

        All of us are concerned with matter, and know not
        there is anything else.

                Ever engaged in mind and matter, he does not
                  even think of God;
                Bound for Hades, he is ever in perpetual
                  misery;
                Blind and deaf, he does not see beyond;
                A slave of the mind, he is immersed in sins.

        It is impossible for anyone to enter the higher regions
        by his individual efforts. It is imperative for an aspirant
        of these to take with him an adept who daily treads the
        sun and moon in his heavenly journeys.

          Maulana Rumi says:

                A person desirous of making a pilgrimage
                  should take with him an experienced pilgrim
                  for the purpose - no matter whether
                  that pilgrim be a Hindu, a Turk, or an
                  Arab.

        The Satguru, like a master surgeon, can restore vision
        to the inner eye.

          Shamas-i-Tabrez tells us:

                Should you like to see God, apply the dust of
                  a Godman's feet to thine eye, for he can give
                  sight even to the born blind.

        Naam or Shabd is the collyrium that makes a person
        capable of seeing heavenly visions. Without Its use one
        forever remains blind, and human birth avails him not:

                Without contact with Shabd, a person is both
                  blind and deaf, and gains naught from
                  human birth.
                The greatest asset is the blessed Bani, which
                  restores the sight that can apprehend God.

                                                       NANAK


        God is permeating through and through, but we do not
        see Him, as we suffer from myopic vision:

                Accursed is the person who sees him not,
                  though He is within;
                All persons, O Tulsi, suffer from cataract over
                  their eyes.

        Eyes are a great blessing. Without them a person gropes
        in the dark. The whole physical world is just a blank
        sheet to a blind person. But how grateful would he feel
        if some expert surgeon were to restore his sight by means
        of an operation.

          The inner eye is a thousand times more useful than
        the outer one, as without it one cannot see anything
        beyond the physical plane, and for ages upon ages he has
        been blindly staggering, ever since the dawn of creation.
        The Master of Truth bestows vision to this third eye
        that has long been lying sealed as it were by constant
        disuse. Is it not a pity that such a valuable organ should
        be rendered useless, and that we have not taken the
        time even to think of the helpless state in which we are?
        Such indeed is the overpowering influence of mind and
        matter upon the embodied spirit.

          It is not only human beings, but also the gods that
        stand in need of Light for the third eye, for without
        It they, too, cannot see anything beyond themselves and
        their surroundings. Located as they are in the descending
        order, one below the other, they cannot even see their
        own Mother-Shakti (Energy) - from which each of
        them has sprung.

                The entire creation is born of Shakti (Energy),
                  which works through three distinct agencies:
                  Brahma (Creator); Vishnu (Sustainer);
                  and Shiva (Destroyer). Though all three
                  are under her direction and control, yet
                  strange as it may seem, they know her not.

        Tulsi Sahib also tells us that none can safely cross the
        sea of life except through the Grace of a Guru:

                None has ever crossed the fearful stream of life
                  except with the aid of a Guru, no matter if
                  he may have been an intellectual giant, like
                  Shankara.

        When great personages like these stand in need of
        guidance and help of a Guru, the puny child of clay
        simply cannot do without a Master Soul.

                Without a beneficent Guru no one finds a way
                  out, although he may perform myriads of
                  charitable works and deeds of merit.

        Again, Tulsi Sahib says:

                Tulsi, without the aid of some Murshid-i-Kamil
                  (perfect Master), you cannot have salvation
                   nor can you see the way thereto.

        In Gurbani we find emphatic reference to the need for
        a Guru:

                Let there not be the least doubt in the mind of
                  any, for none has ever crossed the tempestuous
                  and fretful seas of life without a Guru.

        The world is a fearful ocean. The Word of the Guru
        is the boat, and he is the captain thereof. It is with his
        grace that one can reach God, and there is no other way.

                Guru is at once the barque and the captain,
                  and without him none can cross. God is the
                  veritable gift of Guru, and the way to
                  salvation lies through Him.

        In the scriptures of the Hindus also, we find many
        references. In Katha Upanishad I:ii, we have:

                Very few indeed are the persons who have the
                  good fortune to hear of God, and fewer still
                  who can know of Him. Blessed is the high
                  souled one who talks of Him, and blessed
                  are they who have access to such a personage,
                  and truly blessed is he who with his help
                  and guidance finds God within him.

                Mere thinking and contemplation are of no
                  avail. Without Initiation one cannot know
                  of God. Unless you learn of God from some
                  Master Soul, you shall not experience Him.

                He is so subtle that thoughts fail to reach Him
                  and intellect cannot apprehend Him.


        In Chandogya Upanishad IV:ix-3, we have:

                From the pious and the holy who are just like
                  Gurus, we have heard that without a Master
                  Soul we can neither know nor experience
                  the true nature of the Self.

        In Mandukya Upanishad (I Mandukya, Khand 2, Shalok 7:12),
        we read:

                It behooves a Brahmin to disengage himself
                  from the desires for the fruits of Karmas and
                  acquire a spirit of detachment, for God is
                  self-existent and cannot be attracted by
                  deeds of merit. To know Him, he must, like
                  a true seeker and disciple, go to a Guru who
                  is adept in the knowledge of Brahma and is
                  fully embedded in Brahma.

        Without a Guru one cannot even have true import of the
        scriptures. In Svetasvatara Upanishad VI:23, it is
        recorded:

                He who is extremely devoted to God and has
                  the same amount of devotion for his Guru,
                  he alone can understand the significance of
                  the text herein.

        Let us now turn to Manusmriti, Chapter II:

                A disciple must stand before his Guru in
                  perfect equipoise, with full control over his
                  body and bodily organs.

                                                        SH.192

                A disciple must everyday before the commencement
                  of his daily lessons and after completion of
                  the same do obeisance at the feet of his Guru
                  and act according to his instructions.

                                                        SH.71

                Those who try to follow the Vedas on hearsay
                  authority only, do a great disservice to the
                  Vedas - for none can truly learn the Vedas
                  without a Guru - and such go to hell.

                                                        SH.116

                Whosoever imparts to you knowledge either
                  exoteric or esoteric is worthy of your respect.

                                                        SH.117

        In Bhagavad Gita IV: 34, we have:

                The practice (of spirituality) can best be done
                  at the feet of a Master Soul, fully conversant
                  with the Reality, for such alone can guide
                  properly.

        We cannot know the spiritual path without the help of
        a Godman and our search should, therefore, begin with
        the latter. In the Holy Gospel, it is said:

                No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

                                                JOHN 14:6

                No man knoweth ... who the Father is, but
                  the Son and he to whom the Son will reveal
                  him.

                                                LUKE 10: 22

                No man can come to me except the Father
                  which hath sent me draw him.

                                                JOHN 6:44

                He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he
                  that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

                                                MATTHEW 10: 40


        In short, the sacred books of all religions repeat the
        same thing; to wit, that man cannot gain salvation
        except through a Master of Truth.

          The Shastras, the Vedas and the Smritis all converge
        at one point: no one can have salvation except through
        grace. Right contemplation will bring home this universal
        Truth to you as well.

          The easiest and the quickest way to reach God is
        through devotion to some Master Soul. The Prophet
        of Arabia, while exhorting Ali, said:

                O Ali! thou art a lion in the cause of Truth,
                  brave and steadfast, but depend not on thy
                  prowess and strength. Far better it would be
                  for thee to take shelter under a tree laden
                  with flowers and fruits.

                O Ali! of all the ways leading to God, choose
                  one that is of the Beloved of God, for long
                  and strong is his arm and he can easily
                  take the seekers after Truth into His Holy
                  Presence.

        Maulana Rumi also exhorts in the same fashion:

                The ever oscillating mind cannot be stilled
                  unless it comes under the overpowering
                  influence of some Saint. Should you come
                  across one, take hold of him with a firm
                  grasp. Take rest under the shelter of an
                  accepted one, for the proximity of a liberated
                  Soul shall liberate thee as well.

                Dove-like sigh thou night and day and search
                  for the hidden treasure from some darvesh
                  (man of God).

        Again:

                There is no Friend greater than Satguru; He is
                  the protector here and everywhere.

                Search for such a one right and left, high and
                  low, and never rest until he is found.

                Never turn away from the holy and pious, but
                  diligently try to understand them and their
                  real greatness.

        The path of spirituality is strewn with dangers and
        difficulties and cannot be safely trod except with the
        help and guidance of a Master.

          Every soul is clothed in three distinct sheaths; the
        physical, the astral, and the causal. It is through each
        of these that she can operate in the three corresponding
        planes. Her native plane, however, lies beyond the three.

          The physical plane itself is beset with terrible snares
        and difficulties. The astral or subtle plane is full of
        inconceivable temptations from which it is impossible for
        a jiva to escape unscathed.

          Similarly, still greater glamor awaits a jiva in the
        causal plane. Again, it is no small adventure to enter
        spiritual planes by oneself alone. This path is strewn
        with thorns and is sharp as a razor's edge.

                Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which
                  leadeth unto life, and few there be that
                  find it.

                                                MATTHEW 7:7

        It is, therefore, all the more necessary that a seeker after
        Truth must first find an adept in Truth, fully conversant
        with the spiritual path leading to Reality, and obtain
        his lessons from him, and practice them under his direct
        supervision, guidance, and control. Without these
        prerequisites there cannot be a ghost of a chance for
        success. In Katha Upanishad, we come across a dictum:

                Awake, arise, and stop not until the Goal is
                  reached.

        The knowledge of God can be had from a man of God.
      At every step an aspirant feels the need of the Master's
      strong and long arm, which alone can reach him, save him,
      and keep him on the path and lead him correctly.
      Maulana Rumi says:

                First find a Pir (adept in the line) for without
                  a Pir the way is beset with dangers,
                  difficulties and tribulations.

                Whoever attempts to walk on this path by himself
                  is sure to be led astray by Satan and
                  thrown down the precipice.

                Without the overpowering influence of a Godman
                  you are bound to become bewildered by
                  the howling cries of ghouls.

                Many a wise and intelligent person attempted
                  this path alone but by the wiles of the negative
                  powers came to a sad end. Many a time
                  the ghouls imitate the sounds of the Master,
                  and these may drag thee to perdition.

        It is through the loving grace of the Master that a spirit
        can get out of the prison-house of the body. From here
        the Luminous Form of the Master directly takes charge
        of the spirit, and protects her at every step with his loving
        grace.

                The intricate and bewildering turns and twists
                  of the path are easily passed through with
                  the help of the Satguru.

        The subtle and causal planes are a vast wilderness for
        the soul, and it is unsafe for her to traverse them by herself.
        Maulana Rumi tells us in this context:

                Take a fellow traveler with thee and travel not
                  alone on this path. Do not venture in this
                  wilderness by thyself alone.

        Hafiz Sahib also gives the same advice:

                Do not attempt these stages alone.
                  In the bewildering darkness,
                  you are sure to lose your way.


                             [End of Part 3]

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