From jamesjs@unixg.ubc.ca Mon May 31 04:40:39 1999
Newsgroups: alt.meditation.shabda
Subject: "Godman" - Kirpal Singh (8/10)
From: jamesjs@unixg.ubc.ca (James Shannon)
Date: 31 May 1999 11:40:39 GMT





                                 GODMAN

                                   by

                              KIRPAL SINGH

                                [Part 8]


                           CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

                  THE BLESSINGS OF GOD AND THE MASTER


          THE PATH OF SPIRITUALITY is not a highway that one
        may tread easily. It is an arduous and an uphill task,
        tortuous and difficult.

        In Katha Upanishad, we find:

                Awake, arise and get illumination by sitting at
                  the feet of Masters. The wise say this way is
                sharp as a razor and as difficult to walk on.

        Farid, a Muslim divine of great repute, says:

                O Farid! Get up and tread the world over in
                  search of some Godly man, for then alone
                  can you be truly blessed.

        In the Holy Koran this path is termed Pul-i-Sirat, and
        is described as "sharp as a razor's edge" and "narrow as
        a hair."

          Bhai Gurdas also speaks of Gur Sikhi (Master's Path)
        in the same words, "narrower than a hair and sharper
        than a razor's edge."

                Because strait (narrow) is the gate, and narrow
                  is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few
                  there be that find it.
                                                MATTHEW 7:14

        In the Vedas, too, there are texts prescribing countless
        rules and regulations for the performance of yogic asans
        and sadhans so difficult that the thought of them makes
        one's hair stand on end.

          With such hardships ahead, how can a puny child of
        clay, powerless as he is, constantly ridden by mind and
        matter, entangled in the meshes of blind infatuation and
        beset with desires, anger, greed, attachment and egoism,
        escape unscathed by himself and become a successful
        pilgrim on the Path?

          In such a weird setting, all baffling and bewildering,
        with no way out, God takes mercy on His creatures. He
        Himself comes down in vile man's attire, to suffer woe
        so that His children may be blessed. But again the same
        trouble confronts us.

          To understand the teachings of the Master and strictly
        follow them from day to day, to confide in him and to
        completely surrender one's self, body and soul, to his will,
        is not an easy thing to do. Unless God and Satguru both
        take pity on a jiva, he cannot possibly see through to
        Reality and escape from bondage.

                Himself the Master of the Universe, He may
                 draw in a jiva, and effect a union.

        We with our limited understanding cannot even listen
        comprehendingly to the Master's words.

          But in the fullness of time when it so pleases God, He
        brings about a meeting between a jiva and a Sant Satguru,
        who establishes his contact with Naam - the power of God
        or God in action - the Primal Sound Current, wherewith
        a jiva is gradually led on and on until he reaches the
        source and the fountainhead of Shabd or the Sound Current.

                Those who serve not Truth wither away like a
                  broken reed,
                O Nanak! Whom the Master blesses gets linked
                  with Naam.
                With a special merit alone one meets a Satguru;
                  and he brings about a union between
                  Surat and Shabd.
                Meeting with a Master is a pure gift of God,
                  and so is the union with Hari Nam (God).

        The Master is in the likeness of God, though in physical
        raiments. He, too, is endowed with the same attributes
        as God Himself. He, too, comes to save the sinners and
        administer His Saving Grace among the rest. He washes
        the jivas clean of their sins and gives the gift of Naam,
        which acts as a sovereign remedy against all ills,
        physical, accidental and spiritual.

                My Master takes away all sins and I depend
                  on him. Forgive all my trespasses, O
                  Master! Nanak prays for this alone.
                Great are the blessings of a perfect Master.
                With the worship of Hari comes eternal bliss.
                The union with the Lord is the gift of a perfect
                Master. Eternally forgiven, I now soar limitless
                  and free.

        The seventeenth century English poet Dryden, speaking
        of Christ, tells us:

                See God descending in thy human frame; the
                  offended, suffering in the offender's name.
                All thy misdeeds to Him imputed see; and all
                  His righteousness devolved on thee.

        The grace of the Master is as limitless as his greatness,
        so much so that he forgives even those who talk ill of him
        and accepts them as his very own.

                One who talks ill of the Master may yet turn
                  around,
                To find his saving grace leading him to his fold.

        Countless are the persons whose sins are forgiven and are
        safely ferried across the sea of life.

                With Shabd he burns to ashes the Karmic
                  impressions of many a soul;
                Like a Captain, he pilots the ship through
                  many a shoal.

        The Master truly is God. He is a sea of heaving compassion.
        All kinds of gifts eternally flow from him like perennial
        springs of cool and refreshing water.

                Narain (Creator) in Guru is compassion incarnate
                  and a true friend;
                In his pleasure is everything, and Nanak is a
                  sacrifice unto him.

        The greatest gift of God and Guru is just one thing - Naam.
        They always bestow upon their devotees the blessings of Naam,
        and thus bring about their salvation.

                Devotees of God ever revel in Naam; with saving
                  grace they ever march on.
                The very sight of Him is a rare blessing; the
                  truly blessed can have it; with the mercy of
                  the Merciful, Satguru confers the gift of
                  Naam.

        In this world and hereafter, there is no gift greater than
        that of Naam.

                Priceless is the treasure of Naam; a True One
                  may grant it at his will.

        One can secure the gift of Naam and thereby find an
        approach to God through Satsang and Satguru.

                Whomever the Master may bless, he may have
                  the Love of the Lord.
                The compassion of God comes into commotion
                  when one is truly blessed by a Sadh, O
                  Nanak.

        The saving grace comes through contact with Naam,
        and continuous cherishing of His love and saving grace
        in turn helps the other way. Both grace and Naam work
        in reciprocity and help in developing each other.

                O Nanak! Naam comes from grace alone.
                  There is no friend other than Ram Naam.
                Getting above the Pairs of opposites, stick to
                  Naam and He shall bless.
                The moment I forget Truth, that moment is
                  wasted.
                Remember Him with every breath, and His
                  grace shall be with us.

        His grace descends by acceptance of His bhana (will)
        and recognition of His hukam (commandment).

                He who knows His hukam has no occasion to
                  regret;
                O Nanak! engrave the gift of His Naam on thy
                  soul.

        The seed of Naam, once sown by a Saint, cannot but
        fructify - no power can stop it; and the jiva must sooner
        or later reach the goal, viz., self-realization and God-
        realization.

                Truth one gets through grace alone; none has
                  the power to stop Its growth.
                Naam is watered by death-in-life, and Gurumukhs
                  do it; God grants them this treasure
                  and none can snatch It.

        Even Kal (Time) and Maya (Delusion) can have no
        effect on the seed of Naam, for It is conceived in a region
        much higher than their domains.

          Besides, the sower of the seed - the Satguru - is Sat
        Purush Himself (His manifested form); and so Ishwar
        (Niranjan, Lord of the Subtle Region) and Parmeshwar
        (Om, Lord of the Causal Region) cannot interfere in
        his work.

                The gift of the Guru is eternal; It has the
                  saving grace for the recipient.
                The Shabd of the Master reigns supreme,
                  O Nanak! The Master is no one but God.

        The blessings of the Supreme Lord are limitless and do
        not at any time suffer from scarcity, but one partakes of
        them only by extraordinary merit. A particle of grace is
        enough to save a jiva from the ceaseless cycle of
        transmigration.

                Once He showers His blessings, there is an
                  end to endless births;
                As comings and goings cease, one at home finds
                  eternal rest.

        It is only the Gurumukhs who get this grace and not the
        manmukhs.

                O Nanak! He does all by Himself, and Gurumukhs
                  enjoy His favor.
                The bitter words of the Master taste sweet;
                His sweet words are a boon all his own;
                His words, whatever they are, bear fruit in
                  abundance,
                But the idle words of others go in vain.

        One works out Naam through His grace alone.

                Thy grace alone helps in developing the power
                  of Naam;
                Without any shortcomings, one ever engages in
                  Naam.

        Man by himself is just a helpless creature and can do
        nothing. He must not therefore feel vainglorious for what
        he seemingly does.

                God alone is the Doer of all acts; He knows the
                  innermost secrets of all hearts.

        The panacea for all ills and the only way to win God's
        grace is perfect surrender in all humility at the feet of
        the Master Soul.





                           CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

                       THE SOLICITUDE OF THE MASTER    


          THE RELATIONSHIP of the Master and the disciple is
        unique in character and we find no parallel to it on
        earth. Still, Saints have tried to make us understand
        something of it. While all worldly connections and ties
        are more or less tainted by selfishness, the relation
        between the Master and the disciple is purely one of
        selfless love.

          Just for the sake of analogy, we may consider the love
        of a mother for her child. An infant at birth is just a
        mere helpless mass of tender flesh and bones. He cannot
        express himself and his needs, nor can he look after
        himself, but the mother takes tender care of the tiny piece
        of humanity. She attends to his every need and looks
        after his comforts. In his happiness lies her happiness
        and in his sorrow she feels distressed. Day and night she
        tirelessly works for the child's welfare and does not
        consider any sacrifice too great. She denies herself
        everything so that her child may have all that she can
        afford to give and is ready even to lay down her life for
        his sake.

          As the infant grows, he begins to imbibe his mother's
        love. The kindly rays of love pass from eyes to eyes. In
        mute language he begins his first lessons in love.
        Gradually, the toddler is taught to speak, at first in
        broken syllables, and the mother's delight knows no
        bounds at every success in her endeavors, until he grows
        big enough to look after himself.

          In exactly the same way, when a person is accepted
        by the Master he takes a second birth, as it were, into the
        Master's house. He comes into the Master's fold full of
        worldly attachments and dyed deep in the darkest shades
        of mind and matter. He is so identified with his body
        and bodily relations that he can never think that he is
        something apart from them.

          With all his worldly wisdom, whatever riches, name
        and fame he may have, he is blank in matters spiritual.
        Having lived all his life on a sensual plane, he is
        conscious of nothing but sense pleasures which are the end
        and all for him.

          With his birth in the Master's house, the Master takes
        upon himself an immense load of responsibility. By
        individual instructions and attention, he gradually weans
        the jiva from sense pleasures. He tells the disciple that he
        is neither body nor mind nor intellect, but something more
        glorious - soul or spirit - and has been endowed by Nature
        with various faculties to serve a high purpose in life.
        By spiritual discipline, the Master enables him to free his
        mind of mental oscillations. Now he develops a state of
        equipoise, and with it he begins to evaluate life from a
        different angle. His entire outlook is changed and a
        consciousness of spirit dawns in him.

          He is no longer a slave of his senses engaged in sensual
        pursuits, but finds an inner satisfaction, peace and
        serenity which keeps him engrossed all the time at the seat
        of the very Self. All this is the work of the Master, and
        much more besides. To wash clean a jiva from the impurities
        of the world is no mean task, but it is absolutely necessary
        for a spiritual life.

          He has to be pulled up from his senses, mind and intellect,
        and this no one but a Master can achieve.

          To stop the course of the mighty rush of sensory currents
        flowing headlong into the world, and to hold them at one
        center, is a gigantic task in itself. The next job of the
        Master is even more important than this.

          After the preliminary cleansing process, he pulls scales
        from the inner eye and gives it vision and Light; and he
        breaks the seal on the inner ear, making the jiva hear
        the inner music of the soul. By his individual attention
        and care he makes an adept out of trash and scrap  -
        capable of understanding and enjoying the unspoken
        language and unwritten law of God, and of doing actions
        without the aid of outer organs and faculties.

          The Master takes care of the disciple with his own
        life impulse.

                Blessed indeed is the Master, who by his
                  instructions purifies us through and through.
                Satguru cuts asunder all the shackles of the
                  disciples.

        As Wordsworth sang of his sister, so a disciple sings of
        his Master:

                She gave me eyes; she gave me ears;
                  and humble cares and delicate fears;
                A heart the fountain of sweet tears,
                  and love and thought and joy.

        The Master always saves his disciples, no matter how
        dangerous a situation they may be in. His protecting
        arms serve as a shield and buckler, and the disciple leads
        a charmed life, as it were. The Master does all this
        simply because he has taken charge of a jiva; there is no
        obligation on the disciple's part, nor does he necessarily
        know about it.

          Again, the Master takes upon himself the burden of
        his disciples' sins and iniquities.

                All thy misdeeds to Him imputed be
                  And all His righteousness devolved on thee.
                                                DRYDEN

        He takes in his own hands the entire process of winding
        up the karmic impressions of the jiva. Having freed him
        from the sensual plane by reversing his sensory current
        so that it flows upward, the Master renders him incapable
        of sowing any more karmic seeds for future harvesting;
        and whatever trespasses he may still commit through
        weakness of the flesh, the Master himself gently and
        firmly deals with here on earth, leaving no debit balance
        to be carried forward. In this way, the account of Kriyaman
        karma (present deeds) is settled and squared.

          Next come the Pralabdha karmas, which determine
        what we call fate or destiny, and because of which we
        come into the world. The Master does not touch them
        and happily the disciple weaves his way through their
        spell.

                Through the compassion of the Lord all trials
                  and tribulations fly;
                Satguru himself saves a jiva from all harm.

        Last but not least, the Master feeds the jiva with the
        Bread of Life and quenches his thirst with the Water of
        Life (Naam) until he grows into spiritual adolescence
        and is capable of a certain amount of self-reliance. The
        touch of the spark of Naam (God-in-Action or the
        controlling power of God) burns out the storehouse of
        unfructified karma of ages upon ages (Sanchit or
        store-house), thus rendering them incapable of germinating
        in the future.

                Satguru keeps his sikh (disciple) on manna
                  and elixir;
                So very kind is the Master to his disciple.

                I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me
                  shall never hunger; and he that believeth on
                  me shall never thirst.
                                                JOHN 6:35

        The protective care of the Master is much more than
        that of a mother for her child. He ever keeps his loving
        eyes on his disciple and guards him from all that is
        harmful, for his love knows no bounds.

                As a mother tends her child and ever looks after
                  him;
                Gives him food and nourishment for growth all
                  around;
                So does the Master look after his beloved with
                  Godly love.
                As mother loves the child, and fish the water,
                  so does Master love his own man.

        In this respect, distance is of no consequence and it does
        not count with the Master. His long and strong arm can
        reach everywhere, and his penetrating gaze can pierce
        through all space.

                His hand is the hand of God, and the power of
                  God works through him.
                                                MAULANA RUMI

        Wherever a disciple may be, however extreme his outer
        circumstances, the Master is always with him and guides
        him at every step, for that is his eternal promise:

                Everyman, I will go with thee and be thy
                  guide;
                In thy most need to go by thy side.

        A skylark is a pilgrim of the skies, and yet she hatches
        her eggs by giving them her whole attention. Similarly,
        the Master always keeps his disciple within his gaze,
        nurtures him with the Water of Life - the seed of Naam
        sown in the seeker's soul - until the spirit is able to
        break through the triple-shelled egg (physical, astral and
        causal sheaths) and shines forth in her own self-radiance.

                O Nanak! Master takes care of the disciple
                  with his, very life impulse;
                He keeps him safe in his own hands and looks
                  after him all the time.

        Love alone is the cementing force that binds the Master
        and the disciple. Through unbounded compassion he
        delivers God's message to suffering humanity and prays
        that they may be saved from the imperceptible fire in
        which all are being consumed.

        Maulana Rumi says:

                He calls the people toward the Kingdom of
                  God;
                He prays to God for their forgiveness and
                  salvation.

        Satguru is the real friend of the disciple. He saves him
        from tense and hopeless situations. He comes to his aid
        when he has despaired of all hope and relief, and is
        surrounded by seemingly powerful forces arrayed against
        him, From time to time the disciple feels the overpowering
        influence of the Master working for his good. At times he
        works in ways that are difficult for the disciple to
        understand. just as a mother waits in the early morning
        hours for her sleeping child to awaken, in the same
        way, even more anxiously, the Master looks forward
        wistfully to the time when his disciple, steeped in deep
        ignorance born of matter and mind, will raise his head,
        look toward him and gladden his heart.

          The loving care of the Master becomes more manifest
        at the time of the disciple's final leave-taking from the
        world. While all his relatives and friends helplessly
        wait beside the sickbed, and the doctors declare the case
        hopeless, the Luminous Form of the Master appears to
        take charge of the departing spirit and guide it to the
        new world, to the judgment seat of God.

          After that, he takes it to whatever region he thinks
        best, for further discipline and advancement on the path.

                Serve the real Satguru and secure tightly the
                  riches of Truth;
                At the last moment he shall come to thy rescue.
                He alone is a friend who accompanies me on
                  my last journey, and stands by me before the
                  judgment seat of God.
                My Master is all in all and the source of all
                  comforts.
                He links me with the transcendent Brahma and
                  comes to my aid at the last.

        Maulana Rumi says:

                O ignorant fool! Quickly take hold of a guide;
                  for then wilt thou be saved from the horrors
                  of the beyond.

        All our worldly ties and connections are of an ephemeral
        character. Some leave us in poverty, some in adversity,
        some in illness. A few may stay beside us all through
        life, but they too fall away at the time of death. But
        Satguru is the real friend, who always overshadows the
        disciple and keeps his protecting arms around him
        wherever he may be. He stands by him at the time of his
        death and even goes along with his spirit as a guide to
        the other worlds.

                O Nanak! Snap asunder all ties of the world,
                  and find some friendly Saint;
                World attachments shall leave thee even in life,
                  while the Other shall stand steadfast unto
                  death and beyond.

        A soul awakened to Reality by a Satguru cannot be a
        prey to the messengers of death but must go with the
        Radiant Form of the Master, which comes to receive it
        when it casts off its physical raiment.

          Kabir Sahib tells us that gold does not rust, nor steel
        eaten by worms; so a disciple of the Master, no matter
        how good or bad, never goes to hell.

                Gold attracts not rust nor steel the worms;
                The disciple of the Master will never go to hell.

        The Master is the Master indeed, both in this world and
        the next, and helps a jiva in both the worlds. There is
        no greater friend.

                I have taken hold of my Hari; He is my
                  sustainer and is ever with me.
                He is a guardian angel in both the worlds; for
                  almighty and ever merciful is the Satguru.
                I have with me Satguru, who helps me in all
                  my needs; blessed is the Satguru, who reveals
                  God to me.
                There is no friend greater than Satguru; he is
                  the Protector, here and everywhere.

        If and when a jiva comes across a Satguru, he may thank
        his God, for the Guru underwrites life eternal for him.
        Full of compassion as he is, he unhesitatingly helps him
        through difficult situations, and without the least thought
        of obligation.

        Maulana Rumi says of him:

                Kind hearted and selfless is the friend;
                He helps in dire difficulties and hard times.

        The Guru is pledged to help the helpless. Through sheer
        compassion he extends his saving grace to all humanity.
        His company is the most beneficial; with Guru by his
        side, one may successfully defy millions of enemies.

                When Guru is thy shield and buckler, millions
                  of hands cannot strike thee down.

        Truly blessed are the jivas who have had access to the
        charmed precincts of the Satguru, for they have nothing
        to worry about here or hereafter.

                The world bows to him in adoration; regions
                  divine anxiously await his advent;
                For perfect is he who is in touch with the
                  Perfect.
                How very very fortunate are the disciples
                  who are under the shadow of his holy wings;
                  in their lifetime and beyond they march
                  with leaps and bounds on the grand
                  trunk road of spirituality.


                             [End of Part 8]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

