                         Guru, Gurudev and Satguru

     "I have heard that many have seen You
     But actually none has known You,
     what You really are."

Satguru, myriads upon myriads of people greet You and bow in obeisance at
Your feet, but few recognize Your greatness in the measure in which You may
choose to reveal. "Son knows the Father and those to whom the son may
reveal." He is a living embodiment of the Father of Light and it is only
through His Grace that He manifests this Light of God in others. I shall
now tell you what the Guru is. It is best to know of Him from some
Gurumukh; that is, One Who has become a mouthpiece of the Guru, for it is
said: "A Prophet alone can recognize the Prophet."

All great Masters the world over have presented the same eternal Truth,
each, of course, in His own inimitable way. They say that the Divine
Power-of-God resides in every human heart, but the heart wherein it is
manifested the most is worthy to be adored. A perfect living Master is an
embodiment of the Power-of-God and, as such, He is much more then what He
appears to be. He does live in this world but is not of this world, as the
soul in Him is in tune with the infinite.

"0 Lalo, I do not speak anything on my own; but whatever I utter, I am
inspired by Him."-Nanak

Though physically He, like us, may look to be a denizen of this world, yet
inwardly His soul is free from the shackles of mind and matter and is in
perfect harmony with the universal life-principle. All great Masters bear
testimony to this sublime Truth. Who can give us the tidings of God? Who
can unite us with the living lifelines as provided by Him? Since He is
peerless, self-created and the causeless cause, how can we possibly get to
know Him and realize Him and with whose help? It may, therefore, be taken
for granted that merely by our own manifold efforts, we cannot get near
Him. If there is God, there must also be a God-way which, in turn, leads to
the irresistible conclusion that there should be a Godman Who has practiced
God and is competent enough to lead us on the God-path. Without such a
human polestar, we cannot know of the Pole. It is just a plain talk. It
does not involve any ratiocination nor is there any ambiguity about it.
Sages and seers have always spoken in the third person for our guidance.
"Kabir (speaking of Himself) says that He is conversant with tile Mysteries
of the Beyond and has brought a message from the Most High."

My Master, Hazur Sawan Singh Ji, also was a messenger of God. If we were to
hear directly from such Master-souls, we would get from Them sublime Truths
illustrative of Their inner greatness. Once He said: "Whenever we come to
this physical plane, we bring with us our own staff to work with us. When
our work is finished on one side, we are deputed on to the other." You can
well understand what this signifies. Similarly, all other Masters in the
past have said the same thing. The tenth Guru (Guru Gobind Singh) says:
"Having become one with Him, I had no intention whatsoever to come back to
this world; but willy nilly I was made to do so to fulfil the Divine
purpose."

Christ also said the same thing. "I and my Father are one. He who has seen
me, has seen the Father. Father knows the son and the son knows his
Father."

Guru Arjan says: "The Father and son are dyed in the same color. The Father
and son have entered into a Divine partnership.'

All Masters have given Their own version of the same thing. Shamas-e-Tabrez
says: "0 people of the world, do not look at my tattered clothes; just try
to peep into the innermost recesses of my mind, for then you will know of
the vast Kingdom of God to which I belong. Do not take me as a poor
mendicant or a helpless being like yourself . I am much more than what I
appear to be and blessed with untold treasures of spiritual riches."
Continuing in the some strain He says: "We may be likened to an experienced
physician. We need not feel the pulse or test the urine of the ailing
patients, but through their eyes we look deeply into the deep-rooted
maladies of the mind. We have with us a panacea for all ills of life and
freely dispense the same. "

During my last tour in the USA, I happened to give a talk on Christmas Day.
I told the congregation that Christ lived long before Jesus did. It is just
2,000 years ago when Jesus come into the world, but Christ Power was always
there working for the spiritual welfare of the humanity at large.
Significantly enough Christ remarked: "I am that I am." The Master-soul
never dies. It is eternally present from end to end. The great Divine Power
when manifested at some physical pole is known as the living Master. Just
try to understand that Guru Power is nothing but the Power-of- God.

"He who is the ever-living God Power is called a Guru when It adopts some
human-pole for working in this world."

"Satguru is the great immaculate Power;
Do not mistake Him for the human-pole from which It works."

"The servant of Hari (God) is like Hari Himself. Please do not be mistaken
by the physical raiment of the Servant." -Gurbani

As explained so many times, Hazur was the Sun of Spirituality. He is ever
with me and lives with me.

The Spiritual Stalwarts come whenever the world is in need of Them. Guru
Nanak came when there was a tremendous rift between Hindus and Muslims.
Kabir also came in the same period. Both of Them preached: God is one and
all mankind is one. All persons are ensouled bodies. The soul is of the
some essence as that of God. The various religious orders were set up for
just one purpose: spiritual emancipation. But, alas, they have degenerated
into strong fetters and manacles for our hands and feet.

"We had started Godwards, but unfortunately got stuck fast on the way."

We had entered into religious orders for God-knowledge and God-
realization, but became contented with the labeled liveries of
socioreligious forms and formularies. The result is that we have failed
hopelessly in our search for God. We had joined the different social orders
just to equip ourselves for the realization of God but sidestepped God and
got engaged in internecine quarrels with each other in the blessed name of
religion. Millions of people have been sacrificed on the altar of religious
fanaticism. Hazur, too, come at a critical juncture when many sects, at
variance with each other, were at loggerheads.

Guru Nanak, when questioned as to Who He was replied: "If I say that I am a
Hindu as apparently I happen to be with all the outer hallmarks of Hindus,
you will surely kill me; but at the same time I am not a Muslim either in
the sense in which you take it to mean by outer signs. My real character is
that my physical being is made of five elements of nature, while within me
the God's Divine Power is at work."

As we are usually apt to forget this great lesson, the Masters come to
revive it as and when necessary. The first problem the Masters tackle is to
knit the children of God in the silken bonds of love, sacrifice, and
service of one and all. They have to bring all children of God together to
one common platform. My Master came to the earth plane when there were many
diverse sects in Christianity, Sikhism, Hinduism, Islam, and many other
creeds. He delivered His Divine message to the people-to learn to sit
together with love and to try to understand the basic concepts of the one
Divinity that is working in the entire creation.

"The wisdom of the seers is all alike." -Gurbani

Those who have realized their own self regard all mankind as one. The
various sects, creeds, and religions are like so many schools of thought
and outward forms like so many hallmarks adopted by us. But, all the same,
in spite of these seemingly differences, we are basically human beings; and
the soul in man has the same attributes on a miniature scale as those of
God. From this lofty viewpoint, all are alike. It was Hazur's great desire
that there should be some common platform for teaching the science of soul
to all, despite differences in their outlook on world, color, or creed.
Ruhani Satsang was the name suggested by Hazur for such a forum. He was a
Jivan-Mukt, a liberated Master-soul, and had come for the liberation of
humanity.

It was once suggested to Hazur that He should form a distinct sect or
religious order dealing exclusively with Spirituality. You will be
surprised to know how gracefully He replied: "What earthly good will it do
to dig more wells where too many already exist." All that was needed at the
moment was to find out the Water of Life already referred to in various
scriptures. Truth or divinity is already existing in man, and those who
have realized it say the same thing. But those who have not seen the
Reality are vainly engaged in fighting the varying ideological beliefs and
doctrines. The principal aspect of His teachings was that we should be able
to sit together in love for understanding the divinity that forms the
common bedrock for the humanity. We are already one and must try to know
the One in us. We are blessed with the same type of eyes, ears, hands,
feet, etc.; and from the level of the soul, we are also one. The God we
worship is also One for the whole human race. He is the Lord of us all. As
we are likely to lose sight of this fundamental Truth, the Masters come
from time to time to revive It. So the first lesson which we get from the
Master is that we should, while remaining in our respective religions,
strive to realize our true self, and then realize the self of the universe,
and finally the great Truth which is the very life of all creation. To find
this Truth it is necessary that we should know what is "true living."

"True living is higher than knowing the truth." -Nanak

A truly blessed life flavored with Divine Love is above everything else.
Such a living is conducive to spiritual uplift. Just as an electric bulb
when clean and neat sheds clear light, so does a life free from all
blemishes. The purity of life -or man-making, as it is called- was the
outer work which my Master accomplished, and it is admittedly the only way
that leads to the welfare of humanity and prepares the way for spiritual
development. It is Spirituality alone that offers any hope for the security
of man.

I once happened to talk with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime
Minister of India. He listened to me with rapt attention for about fifty
minutes. And since then in his speeches he used to emphasize that
Spirituality was the only common ground where mankind could live in peace
and amity. Spirituality then is the only remedy for all ills of mankind;
and leaders of all thoughts, social, political, or religious could derive
their inspiration from it. We are all worshippers of One God. As men we are
all alike.

It is on this common ground we can meet, irrespective of differences in
religious creeds and beliefs, social customs and living habits, which are
of little consequence. The Rig Veda exhorts us to participate in
congregational prayers in which thousands may join to glorify the Lord.
This great lesson of the Vedas has once again been revived by the great
Master (Hazur). It is not something new. It is the ancient science. Since
we had forgotten it, He came to remind us of it. Historically the Vedas,
which contain the wisdom of the ages, is the oldest of the scripture;
whereas the Guru Granth Sahib is the latest compendium incorporating the
teachings of as many great souls of different times and climes as could
possibly be collected at that time. We have great respect for all who have
enriched our spiritual heritage and have left for our guidance a valuable
record of their personal experiences with the great "Self" within.

All great Masters have, in fact, said the same thing, of course, in Their
own language. The holy Quran says that God sent His Prophets to different
parts of the world. A true Muslim is one who believes in all the Messiahs
of God. Similarly, a real Sikh is one who accepts the teachings of all
Masters as recorded in the Guru Granth Sahib, a veritable banquet hall of
Spirituality. If this Divine message is carried to all, then peace and
harmony will reign supreme in all homes, societies, and countries.

In my last tour of the West, I had an opportunity to meet political leaders
of different shades of opinion, and I always dwelt on the principle of
"live and let others live." God had put so many children of His in their
loving care, and it was their duty to serve them as best as they could. If
one country could not, for one reason or another, properly look after the
welfare of its people and attend to their legitimate needs, let others
extend their helping hand to them. Why resort to violence and shed the
blood of millions of His creatures. By the Grace of God, the timely
realization of this basic truth actually helped in preventing a crisis on
two different occasions when things were getting out of hand. I received an
S.O.S. from a third place as well. I am placing these facts before you just
to stress the importance of spiritual unity which is the only way out from
our present difficulties, as it will enable us to get nearer to each other
and be able to solve our problems. But here there is one difficulty:
differences in views and cross purposes. Guru Arjan has, therefore,
suggested a remedy: "Let us put our heads together; and in a spirit of
friendliness, iron out all our differences with a determined will born of
burning faith in God."

Just learn to sit together in love, leaving aside all thoughts of duality
for we all are children of God. Do we not worship one God Who is God of
all, though our modes of worship may be different according to the
environments in which we are born and brought up? When we are already one
on the common ground of Spirituality, like rosary beads of different
designs and colors, then where is the scope for conflict?

"Let us get united in the Name of the Lord, for we are not apart from Him."
-Gurbani

So this is the way that leads to unity in diversity, for diversity circles
around the center, the unchangeable permanence. Guru Arjan has also
emphasized: "Sit together shoulder to shoulder in the company of one Who
has become Gurumukh." Gurumukh means the mouthpiece of the Guru, Who is the
human-pole from which the Power-of-God works. I would like to stress the
importance of spiritual understanding. Kabir says: "In this world there is
none more munificent than the Guru. In fact, He alone is the giver of all
gifts."

The blessings of the Master are indeed very precious. Let us see what He
actually bestows upon the disciple.

"Satguru has granted me a priceless boon (the Holy Naam) and has explained
to me the Mysteries of the Beyond." -Gurbani

This is something that lies beyond the pale of the senses, mind and
intellect. He alone is in a position to grant such a boon and no one else
can for none can give what he does not have himself. It is something that
one cannot acquire by mere learning and wisdom by the study of the
scriptures. Who would give the wonderful of the Power-of-God?

"He grants us His own life-impulse and makes manifest the saving lifelines
within.
Who can do this?
None but a polarized God on earth." -Gurbani

Guru Arjan also says like this: "Having manifested Him in the Master, He
Himself distributes the holy Shabd."

On the one hand there is the Absolute God, and on other is the Power-of-God
or God-in-action; and unless the Power-of-God becomes manifest in us, we
cannot possibly have a contact with God. As it is the living Master Who can
grant us this contact, His importance to begin with surpasses that of God
Himself. Though the two are but one and the same, yet in finite terms, have
to differentiate between the two:

"When the Master and the Lord both are standing before me, to whom should I
offer my obeisance?"

"Definitely, I will bow to the Master Who has been the means of uniting me
with Govind (the Lord)."-Kabir

God the Absolute is an abstraction that no one has known and can know, and
hence can bow only to the personified God where God's Power works. Just as
there is a powerhouse that you have not seen, but you see in your house a
small switch that serves your purpose. Similarly, the living Master is in
possession of all the Divine virtues and powers granted to Him by the
Absolute God for the spiritual welfare of humanity. Thus it is quite clear
that we have to adore a living Master, for the physical body of the Master
is superbly Divine, having been made by invisible hands for a specific
purpose - to work through Him in bringing about a union of human souls with
Himself. If with all this we still regard the Guru just as any one of us on
the human level, it is our misfortune. Kabir says those who take the Master
as nothing more than a mere human being will come again and again in lower
forms of creation. Again He says, "Kabir's mind has become so subtle and
pure that even the Lord is now after Him."

One whose mind is pure and intellect is at rest will surely reflect the
Light of God. We are to be worshippers of the Light of life, no matter to
which social religion we owe allegiance. Every religion speaks of this
Truth.

"In Whom the Light of God shines in its fullness, He alone is Khalsa (the
pure in heart).

Khalsa is my own form and I reside in Him. Khalsa is the true Master
All-Powerful." -Guru Gobind Singh

When such great Souls come, Their mission in life is to unite all mankind
in one great family of God. One Who views all beings from the soul-level is
really a great Master for God works through Him.

What does He give after all? He gives something that the senses cannot
comprehend. We have to find such a Guru Who can do this. This quest is one
of supreme importance for all of us, irrespective of sex. The physical
relationship between man and woman ends with the holy wedlock. Next comes
the spiritual relationship: the wedlock of the soul - whether of the male
or female - with the Oversoul. The scriptures tell us that Paravati, the
consort of Shiva, accepted Narada as her Guru. Sita, the consort of Rama,
took Anasuiya as her Guru. Those who consider that there is no necessity of
a Guru for women are mistaken. Both men and women do need a Guru for the
emancipation of their souls from the meshes of mind and matter. The spirit
of each one of us cries for liberation no matter in what bodily raiment it
may be clothed.

The institution of marriage only provides us with a life companion, a
standby in weal or woe in the life's journey. This stage of a householder
(Grihastha Ashram) is an important integral phase in one's life and must,
therefore, be gone through happily. Marriage is no bar to Spirituality. It
rather helps in spiritual advancement when both are engaged in spiritual
sadhna (practice). Procreation is one aspect of married life. In the bygone
days the married people were contented with just one or two children and
thereafter they would renounce the world and retire into jungles for
meditation and God-realization. Christ has emphasized that husbands should
love their wives as Christ loved the church. It is good to be married; but
after begetting one or two children, the rest of the life span should be
dedicated to the highest purpose of life- God-realization. It is a pity
that we regard marital life as a means of sense-enjoyment. Some Masters in
the past were householders and had children.

In ancient times there were gradations in brahmacharya (period of
celibacy), the minimum being that of 25 years. These days we can hardly
find one who observes complete brahmacharya -in thought, word, and deed -
for even one year. With this sad state of affairs, how can we aspire for a
truly spiritual life?

The one great lesson that we learn from the life of Hazur is that of
brahmacharya (continence). He married before attaining the age of 25, but
His wife died before consummation of marriage. He married a second time
after He had attained the age of 25, which meant an observance of complete
brahmacharya for all these years. His wife lived with Him intermittently
for brief spells that hardly totaled six months. Besides, He had in Him all
Godly virtues. God is immortal and so are our souls. He is All-Truth,
All-Wisdom, and All-Bliss; and our "self," too, is endowed with all these
attributes. But the "self" in us, environed as it is by mind and matter,
has forgotten its essential pristine nature and has so identified itself
with the body and bodily adjuncts that we cannot see anything beyond this
physical world. Whenever great Souls come, They tell us of the right path
and give us right understanding and a correct lead.

Now, where lies the path homewards? There are so many yogic systems; some
aim at physical development, others provide the means for prolonging the
life span. There is Bhakti Yoga that tells us how to develop love and
devotion. So long as man remains in constant search for spiritual
enlightenment, he does not descend to lower gradations of the creation.
Ramakrishna Paramhans was the worshipper of God as a Divine Mother, and he
saw Her immanent in all creation. He thus remained in a state of duality
and could not transcend into the beyond. When he went to Guru Totapuri, the
latter gave him the secret of the eye-focus, behind and between the eyes,
and then hit him hard in the forehead with a piece of glass and directed
him to meditate at that point. It was then that he was able to transcend
body-consciousness and pass from duality to oneness. Then there is the path
of Gyan Yoga of ratiocination and inference, fit only for those gifted with
strong intellectual powers. It cannot be practiced by everyone. How are the
young, old, and imbecile people to benefit from it?

The great sage Patanjali has defined yoga as yogish chiaavriti nirodha;
i.e., stilling the vibrations of mind. In reality this, too, is but a
preparatory stage that paves the way to God-realization. The sage
Yajyavalkya has defined yoga: yogish atma Paramatma sanyog (the union of
soul with the Oversoul). But, there is something beyond this. It is
self-realization or constant awareness of the "self" which comes as you
rise above body-consciousness; gradually cast off physical, astral, and
causal vestures and develop cosmic and super-cosmic awareness. And last of
all, you are a wave of the Ocean of All-Consciousness. How can this be
achieved?

"Nanak, without self-analysis the miasma of delusion does not disappear."

So long as you do not rise above body-consciousness, you cannot even get an
idea of the "self" within. You have to uncover your "self" from the various
enshrouding sheaths of physical, astral, and causal, all of which are
illusory. Even the great Shankara hinted at something far above and beyond
when He said: "0 Lord, I know that there is no difference whatsoever
between You and me. Yet I am Yours. You are not mine for the river has its
waves, but the waves do not have the river." On the one hand, there is
self-awareness; and on the other is cosmic-awareness; and yet transcending
them is the state of super-cosmic-awareness. Saints have always referred to
this state of super-cosmic-consciousness. All great Masters have done the
same and are known for Their catholicity. Hazur used to tell us that He was
for all and accepted all, and that it was the foremost duty of a real
Master to unite all children of God.

All human beings, all religions, all nations, and all countries are His in
spite of seemingly differences due to geographical and climatic conditions,
because they live on the same earth and under the same blue canopy and are
charged with the same life impulse. Saints give to all alike the same inner
contact with the overflowing Ocean of Divine Intoxication lying hidden in
every soul and long since forgotten because of the heavy pressure of the
work-a-day life. The Master helps us to gain access to the Divine Nectar by
raising us a little above body-consciousness. A great Master has His
soul-currents well under His control, while ours are flowing out through
the sense organs. The sunrays do not ordinarily burn; but when made to pass
through a convex lens, these are collected and burn anything on the other
side of the lens. It is our own attention that gives life to mind and
intellect. If instead of flowing outward through the senses, it could be
collected at the center of the soul, you could well understand its
potentiality. It is a subject of actual experience and not of theory only.
The living Master then is a great Ocean of Divine Bliss and Harmony: "A
Godman is ever in a state of Divine Intoxication."

Those Who really become Men of God, They need no outer aids to get lost to
Themselves. This is why Mira Bai exclaimed that she remained in a state of
constant intoxication without any wine.

"It is not by bread alone that man lives." -Christ

"The mind remains fully engrossed in the music of the soul." -Guru Ramdas

The living Master is just like a blooming tree laden with fragrant flowers
and luscious fruits. Blessed indeed is one who happens to meet such a
Master. Please remember that the eyes are the windows of the soul. The
power that a Saint has within is imparted through the eyes. His soul is
charged with Divinity. This realization one can have from Him.

Every Master has had His own "bola" (a chosen form of remembering God) and
whatever the "bola," it is charged with all the magnetic force of the
Saint. Guru Nanak very often used to exclaim "Sat Kartar," meaning that the
Creator was All-Pervasive. Similarly, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu went about
saying: "Hari Bol" (take ye the name of the Lord). Once he happened to pass
by a pond where washermen were busy washing clothes. He asked one of them
to say "Hari Bol," but the latter did not pay any heed, taking him to be a
beggar. But when Chaitanya once again emphatically asked the washerman, the
latter could not resist but repeat the words "Hari Bol" and began to dance
in ecstasy with the refrain of the words. Very soon other washermen nearby
caught the rhythm of the charged words and the whole place began to ring
with the merry chant "Hari Bol" in rhythmic unison. You see, my point is
that the words of a Master-soul, no matter whatever they be, are highly
charged on account of His personal contact with the God-head within Him
and, as such, cannot but profoundly affect the hearers and help them in
spiritual advancement. The eyes are the windows of the soul, and a single
love-laden glance from His God-intoxicated eyes is enough to raise the
spirit to heights immeasurable.

"0 Master Divine, give me just a draught from the holy vintage which may
bring peace to my lacerated heart."
"0 Master give me that elixir of life which is not available even in
paradise." - Shamas-e-Tabrez

"A single tumbler from the Water of Life is more exhilarating than two
thousand barrels of wine." -Bhai Nandlal

"It is not a subject of discussion on intellectual level but one of seeing
yourself." -Guru Gobind Singh

"He who knows does not speak out as it is not given to mortal imagination.
It is a subject of seeing only. Those who speak out that they know, they
really do not know." -Bhika

"If I were to tell something of this state, then all the infidels of the
world would instantly turn into Godmen." -Maulana Rumi

After all, what do the Masters give? It is something supremely Divine and
defies description. The great Maulana then goes on to say:

     "If after my death, manure were made of my body,
     And if that manure were scattered in a field of wheat,
     The cook and bearer of chapatis made therefrom will dance in ecstasy,
     And even the very oven will start emitting flames of love."

The Maulana has said this much, without telling us what will be the state
of one who partakes of the food thus prepared, for that is ineffable.

The Path of the Masters is a straight one involving no physical yogic
practices. He gives a direct contact with the strands of life within. This
consists of linking the soul-currents with the Power-of-God in which we
actually live, move about, and have our very being. It is a matter of
direct inner perception quite apart from all kinds of reasoning, feeling,
emotion, and inferential knowledge that are all fallible. Actual seeing is
believing, leaving no place for scepticism. Guru Amardas came to this rich
heritage at a fairly advanced age of seventy; and when He experienced God,
He said: "If one is fortunate enough, one may get in touch with a
Master-of-Truth (Satguru) and get from Him communion with the Holy Word or
contact with the inner Sound Principle, the Light of Life."

While philosophical treatises deal with the theoretical aspect of
religions, the mysticism brings you face to face with the Divine
Power-of-God.

Even small children can be attuned with the Light of God. Nothing is taken
for granted and no make-believe is required. It is simply a direct and
conscious contact with the God-into-Expression-Power within, the primal
manifestation of Light and Sound Principles. Hazur was an adept both in the
theory and practice of Surat Shabd yoga. In this modern age, this science
started from Kabir and the Sikh Gurus, and, in turn, came to Tulsi Sahib of
Hathras and on to Swami ji, Baba Jaimal Singh Ji, Hazur Sawan Singh Ji, and
the same Power is now working through the living Master. It is Hazur's
Divine Grace that everybody, without exception, is being blessed with inner
experience of Light and Sound. It is indeed a Priceless Gift. Guru Nanak
speaking of It said: "Nanak remains all the time in a state of continuous
ecstasy."

I was talking to you of meditation and the natural question you would like
to ask is: What should one meditate upon? One cannot meditate upon
something one has not seen. In other words, how can we meditate on the
Abstract and Absolute God? Contemplation is a dangerous thing. If you are
lucky enough to get in touch with a perfect Master, then it may be well.
But if perchance, and God forbid, your teacher is not competent to fulfil
his promise and you contemplate on his form, you will be lost in the
wilderness. During the early days of my discipleship, I once questioned
Hazur as to what one should fix one's attention on after the withdrawal of
one's sensory currents. He smilingly replied: "We all the time usually
think of our children, friends, and other worldly possessions. So where
then is the harm to contemplate for some time on the form of a Sadh?"

"God Himself comes in the form of a Sadh." -Gurbani

After some time, when I once again questioned Hazur about dhyan
(meditation), He lucidly explained: "When the Master initiates a person,
He, in His radiant form, becomes a constant companion of the disciple. You
may, while sitting for contemplation, think of His form or you may not; but
when you will progress within, you are sure to meet Him there. The Guru,
after all, is not a human being as one may generally take Him to be, but
something much more than that; for in Him works the Power-of-God in Its
plentitude for the benefit of humanity. He does not leave nor forsake His
chosen souls till they are safely led to the true home of His Father.
Fortunate are they who had the privilege to get holy communion or inner
contact from Hazur Maharaj Ji. The contemplation of His holy form is all
that is needed.

But herein comes another great obstacle. We can easily contemplate on any
human form like our own, but it is not possible to visualize the form of a
highly advanced soul like the Master's, which is one with the Divine. We
may try to visualize His form within by thinking of His milk-white flowing
beard, His radiant face, His turban, His tall stature, His regal gait, or
anything else associated with Him; but it will be our make-believe and not
the real form and hence of not much benefit. It is because of this that do
not advise anybody to contemplate on any form, even of the Master, but to
look straight ahead into the eye-focus and therein see intently whatever
comes into view -light or darkness- and mentally repeat the charged Names
very, very slowly, may be a intervals, so that the inner gaze is not
disturbed. As the loving gaze will grow steadily in intensity, the Divine
form of the Master (the radiant pole at which God is working) will appear
of Itself within and begin to stay, at first momentarily and then for a
longer time with the development of inner perception. On initiation here in
India, it generally happens that some 25 to 30 percent of the initiates do
see within them the radiant form of the Master and ofHazur Maharaj, even
those who had never met Him at all. The appearance within of the Master
may, therefore, be left up to Him. It is His job. We can do nothing much in
the matter. He is God in-man and knows best the level from where and how to
work. He may come alone or along with His Master or any other benign soul,
for They all are children of the Light of God. Guru Arjan says: "The
Gurudev (the radiant form of the Master) has opened my eyes (the inner eye)
to see His Light. I have now no delusions and all my strivings have come to
an end."

With the coming in of the radiant form of the Master, half the bhakti
(Gur-bhakti) is accomplished. We must, therefore, unceasingly pray to God
to bring us to the Divine pole or the live switchboard where His power is
fully manifest. The immutable law of demand and supply works equally at all
levels. There is always food for the hungry and water for the thirsty.
There are instances of lovingly devoted souls who get inner experience of
the Master's form much before they actually come in contact with Him on the
physical plane. In Pakistan there are still many persons who used to see
the radiant form of Hazur though they had never met Him before. In my case,
Hazur's lustrous form often visited me inside seven years before I actually
met Him and got my initiation.

I was telling you that our prayers must spring from the bottom of our
hearts. Frankly speaking, I did not favor the idea of having a Guru, though
I knew that without a competent Guru one could not make headway in
Spirituality. I was, however, afraid of the fake Gurus in which the world
abounds. But how was I to find a true Master when there was a swarm of them
and each held out high hopes and was ready to bless you for a pittance? So
I used to pray earnestly: "0 God, grant me inner guidance in my quest." My
humble prayer was granted and Hazur began revealing Himself to me and
continued to do so for seven years before I was formally initiated. I did
not know then Who He was, and always took Him for Guru Nanak. I also
composed some verses in praise of Him.

I was extremely fond of rivers. Wherever I happened to be, I would look for
a stream nearby and find a solitary spot for my meditations. When I went to
Lahore, I had river Ravi. And so it was at Jehlum. For hours together I
would sit by the riverside absorbed in thought. While at Lahore it struck
me to see Beas river. It was this lure of the flowing water that led me to
Beas. It was a fine Sunday morning that I took a train for Beas. I inquired
from the stationmaster at Beas the location of the river. Surprisingly
enough, he asked me if I had come to visit the sage of Beas. I exclaimed as
to whether there was any sage living there. He then told me of Hazur. Thus
the visit to Beas was amply rewarded. It gave me an opportunity to see both
the river Beas and to meet my Master-to-be.

On reaching Dera (colony), my surprise knew no bounds when I discovered in
Hazur the likeness of the radiant form that had visited me in my
meditations all these years. I imploringly inquired as to why He had
delayed our meeting for such a long time. He, with a benignant smile,
replied that that was the most opportune time for the meeting.

A competent Master reveals Himself even before initiation. There is hardly
any need to conjure up any images while engaged in spiritual practices. The
Master plants His own image at the time of initiation and His radiant form
comes in of Its own when we completely get into the eye focus. The secret
of success lies entering into the eye focus completely and entirely, and
the real Master's form does come regardless of any invitation. This is
comparatively easier and the most natural way of God-realization. Guru
Bhakti is the surest way back home to God, but the Path is quite slippery
as well. When the end of Maulana Rumi approached near, He said: "Little
doest thou know of the great King within me; See thou the radiance in this
house of flesh and bones."

When a disciple rises to this level and becomes a Guru man, he becomes
truly blessed. I have told you just two things that the Guru does: Firstly,
He teaches that all the children of God should sit together, for this is
the only way out for the entire human race to escape from the trials and
tribulations of the world. Secondly, He gives us such a Divine wealth as
cannot be had from anywhere else. It is, therefore, of supreme importance
that while looking at the physical form of the Master, one should be
conscious as well of the spiritual radiation emanating therefrom. Maulana
Rumi says: "0, Shamas-e-Tabrez, if I see somebody other than God in the
mirror of Your face, I would be worse than a infidel."

To meet a real Master is to get closer to God, whereas to be away from Him
is to be away from God. Whenever the Master come into the world, They do so
to serve us with the Nectar of Life. It is said: "The scriptures are useful
to the Guru for teaching the masses. Without a living Master, we cannot
even get the right import of the sacred books."

It is God alone Who can lead us into Him. The Master the true lover of God
and is competent to narrate the story of His Beloved.

"Get hold of a perfect Master and follow His instructions fully,
Then shalt thou gain salvation even while engaged in worldly duties.
God is with thee from eternity;
Thou hath but to turn thy face unto Him." -Bhai Nandlal

"God has come to assume the name of Ramdas." -Guru Amardas

For Guru Arjan, Ramdas (His Guru), was not only a mere human being, but was
an embodiment of God Himself and God verily dwelt in the form of Ramdas.

A disciple who does not see in his Master the Power-of-God is not yet a
true disciple. He is yet on probation and continues to be so until he sees
in him the glory of God; and this, in the true sense, happens only when the
Master reveals His radiant form within the disciple. It is this
resplendently luminous form that guides the soul from plane to plane in the
spiritual journey Homewards. When this radiant form comes, you may converse
with Him, for then many problems will resolve of themselves. The Guru, Who
works as a human guide on the physical plane, is known as Gurudev when He
manifests Himself in His astral radiance; and the same Power, when It
escorts the soul on to the highest region of unalloyed bliss and harmony,
is called Satguru (Truth personified or Master-of-Truth). Those who are
Gurubhaktas, they see something superb in the living Master.

A Sikh disciple truly lives in sweet remembrance of the Guru. Just as an
infant depends for his very existence on the milk of his mother, so does
the disciple depend on the "Water of Life" or the "Blood of Life" with
which the Master continuously feeds him. He loves him with every breath of
His life and constantly takes care of his well being in diverse ways that
the poor infant does not know. How fondly the mother takes care of her
baby, herself undergoing all sorts of privations to make him comfortable. A
Master does much more than this. It is a pity that we do not realize the
greatness of the Guru. We know only that much which He may, in His Grace,
choose to reveal to us. If a mother were to ask her child if he knew her,
he may say "yes" but "how much" can he? Similarly, we the disciples cannot
possibly fathom the greatness of the Guru.

After all, why all this adoration? What do They give us to merit such
encomiums? They impart to us Their own life-impulse and transmit to us that
Divine ecstasy of which we have read so much in the scriptures. All this is
done through Their magnetic eyes from which highly charged spiritual
currents pass on to us. Life comes from life as does light from light. A
really living Reservoir-of-Life can help us to find the Fount of Life, and
nobody else can do this. This is the immutable law of nature and admits no
exception whatsoever. Our Hazur was a limitless Ocean of the Life-Giving
Water.

"The teachings of the great Masters are the same for one and all.
Listen ye to the direct testimony of the Saints for They speak of what They
actually see with Their inner eyes." -Gurbani

The testimony of Saints, then, is direct and immediate and not one based on
hearsay or on the authority of scriptural texts. In succinct and lucid
terms They tell us of Their inner experiences with Their own "Self" and
with God. Having a direct contact with the Power-of-God within, They are
able to give us correct interpretation of the various scriptures, ironing
out the seeming differences, and present an integrated picture of the
Reality as seen by sages and seers of all times. It is said: "Those who see
God face to face shall all tell the same thing.

The differences come in only because of the means of approach in each case,
the language of the time employed, the mode of expression then prevailing,
and the intellectual level of the age. Again, these differences are not in
essentials but only in nonessential details.

To "sit together" is a sovereign remedy for all the ills of mankind. What
the Masters give is an invaluable gift of pure Spirituality which cannot be
taught but may, like an infection, be caught from the radioactive rays that
emanate from Them.

I may tell you that Spirituality, too, is a kind of science not unlike
other sciences. It is a science of metaphysical experiences, the results of
which can be verified with precision and exactitude. The credit for
presenting It as a regular science and for the scientific approach to the
abstruse and abstract subject that has ever baffled mankind goes to Hazur.
With the change in the temper of the people in this scientific age, it was
He Who conceived that it could appeal most only if it was presented in a
spirit in conformity with the present times. It is an age-old subject, the
most ancient, coming from time immemorial. It is to our advantage that
Hazur revived this as a science of soul. Though spiritual awakening is
given by many, yet the Divine Revelation is granted by few. It is due to
His good Grace that so many are acquiring the inner experience of holy
Light and Sound principle which can, of course, be developed by practice
with loving concentration.

Let us strive to be worthy sons of our Father. Try to understand the facts
of Divine life. Hazur has not gone away from us. His Divine Power is ever
with us in spite of ostensible change of covering. And even now the same
Divine Grace is working in abundance.

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