From jamesjs@unixg.ubc.ca Sat Mar 27 16:39:08 1999
Newsgroups: alt.meditation.shabda
Subject: (5/7) Jaimal Singh - A Great Saint
From: jamesjs@unixg.ubc.ca (James Shannon)
Date: 28 Mar 1999 00:39:08 GMT




                              A Great Saint
                         
                 BABA JAIMAL SINGH: HIS LIFE AND TEACHINGS   

                                    by

                            Sant Kirpal Singh Ji
                           
                               [Part 5 of 7]
                                            
 

    Baba Ji's grace flowed to all! It was not only his
disciples who benefited from him, but many others who
merely happened to catch his eye by their simplicity,
purity and selfless service. He had read many a scripture
in his childhood and youth, but he spoke not from learning
but from direct inner experience. There was inexplicable
sweetness and charm in what he said and an irresistible
sense of conviction and assurance. Once four great pundits
who dabbled in various yogic practices began wrangling and
debating about the nature of the inner planes. They based
themselves on their spiritual study and the controversy
they waged was lively indeed. Hearing of a Jat Saint of
great attainment, they came to Baba Ji's door. He heard
what they had to say and then lucidly explained to them
the nature of the spiritual regions, reconciling what had
appeared to be contradictory viewpoints and resolving all
their doubts to their satisfaction. The pundits went away,
but one of them, a true seeker who had caught the Saint's
bait, returned and begged for initiation. The boon was
granted; he practiced his sadhnas with regularity but to
little avail.
 
  "Ah Sir! Bless me with some inner vision," he begged.
 
  "Do you think I do not wish you well?" came the reply.

"I wish to the Lord that you reach Sat Lok this day, but
you are not yet ripe and would not be able to bear the
strain."
 
   The prayer was repeated many a time but Baba Ji always
gave the same answer. One day while he was going alone
to collect his pension, the pundit met him at a lonely
spot. "Sir, this is wilderness and no one is by. Bless me
now, at least give me a glimpse of the realms within - no
more - that I may rest in certainty."
 
   "You will not be able to stand it and the strain will
be too much for you."
 
   "What does it matter even if I lose my life if only
I may see what is within!"
 
   Baba Ji could refuse no longer. He asked the pundit to
sit down in meditation and focused his gaze upon him. The
pundit's soul was forcibly drawn up into the higher realms.
When Baba Ji, by his own will, brought it down to physical
consciousness, the pundit fell sobbing at his feet. "I
thought my life was being wrenched out of me and a million
lightnings fell upon my head. Oh, Sir, forgive me my
foolishness. We mortals are indeed unworthy."

   "What is there to forgive?" replied the sage. "It is
you who must forgive yourself for it is not I who suffered.
Now go and make the most of your time, for you have only
three more years to live."

   From that day onward he pundit concentrated on his
meditations and three years later, as predicted, passed
away.

    Such tales are, however, legion, and whole volumes
would not suffice to sing the glory and grace of a true
Saint.  So passing them by, we will concern ourselves with
the most important single event in the annals of Baba Ji's
divine ministry: the initiation of Sawan Singh Ji who was
later to carry on his mission. The story is told by the
great disciple himself and we quote from his letters which
have been published in Spiritual Gems (Beas, 1959):

    "I was fond of Satsang and Parmarth (spirituality)
from my very childhood. I often associated with sadhus
and religious people, and this in part was because my
father was fond of Sadhu seva. Then while in service I
studied Vedanta and discussed Vedanta with people,
specially with the sadhus who, on their way to Kashmir,
stayed at a dharamsala (rest-house) near my house.

    "Later I was transferred to Murree Hills. One day
as I was supervising my work, I saw an old Sikh going up
a hill along with a middle-aged lady. When I noticed him,
I thought he had probably come in connection with some
case in the Commissioner's Court. Little did I think that
he was to be my Master. He was no other than Baba Ji
himself and the lady was Bibi Rukko. This I did not know
at the time, but found out later that Babaj Ji said to
Bibi Rukko, referring to me, `It is for his sake that we
have cone here,' to which Bibi Rukko replied, `But he
has not even greeted you.' Baba Ji said to her, `What
does the poor fellow know yet?  On the fourth day from
this he will come to us.'
 
   "On the fourth day I went to attend Satsang. Baba Ji
was at that time explaining the meaning of Jap Ji Sahib.
Well, I started my volley of questions - so much so that
the audience got tired and began to feel restless at the
large number of questions I had put. The sacred book,
Sar Bachan, was lying there and I objected to the name of
`Radhasoami,' and Baba Ji explained from the book itself
what `Radhasoami' meant.
             
              Radha ad surat ka nam
              Soami ad Shabd nij dham.
   
    Radha is the name of the first or primal ray of
      surat (consciousness);
    Soami is the original source of the stream of
      Shabd.

"Now he wanted to point out the way, but I had read
Vedanta. When I read Gurbani, my opinion was different;
when I read Gita my opinion was again different, and I
was unable to come to a decision. At last I applied for
eight days leave to enable me to study the teachings of
Baba Ji. He advised me to read Kabir Sahib's "Anurag
Sagar." I immediately ordered eight copies of this book
from Bombay so that I could also give some to my friends,
Baba Hari Ram, Gulab Singh, etc., to read and comment
on it.
 
  "After several conferences with Baba Ji, I was
thoroughly convinced and received initiation from him on
the l5th day of October in 1894."
 
  What follows is a moving tale of devotion and obedience
on the one hand and ineffable love and grace on the other.
The letters exchanged between the Master and the disciple
catch something of the esoteric beauty of this tale; and
Baba Ji's epistles are reproduced in the already mentioned
volume of "Spiritual Gems."  In these we learn of the
step-by-step guidance afforded by the Guru to the disciple
who has surrendered himself completely to his Will, and
the bizarre and miraculous way in which his protective
hand helps him at every turn. There were two particular
incidents that Baba Sawan Singh was particularly fond of
relating to his audiences to exemplify the greatness of
Baba Ji and the blessing of having a Pooran Guru or True
Master. We quote again from his letters:
 
  (1) "It was my habit to catch hold of the mane of my
horse and jump upon it while it was going by. But my
servant, in my absence and without my knowledge, had cut
the horse's mane. I did not notice that and as I grabbed
for the mane, my hand slipped and I fell down and broke
my leg. The fracture was painful, no doubt, but much
more painful was the fact that I could neither defecate
nor urinate. The doctors even thought it might be
difficult for me to survive.
 
   "A Mohammedan overseer, belonging to my district,
coming to know of this accident, came to me and said:
`I am your own man, a sort of family member. I belong to
your place. Tell me please, how can I help you?' I said,
`My children are studying as boarders in a school about
eight miles from this place. I do not want them to know
of this accident. But I should like you to send a telegram
to Maharaj Ji (Baba Ji).' He sent the telegram. And when
Baba Ji received the telegram, he said: `Well, if the
Master wants to take him away, he may, for at least he
has got Naam.' But my sister in faith, Bibi Rukko,
pleaded for me with Baba Ji.

  "It was Baba Ji's practice to sit in meditation or to go
into meditation when there was expectation of anything
important happening, and then to give out whatever
information he received within. He sat in meditaton at
8 p.m. or earlier (whenever the information was received
by telegram). At about 3 a.m. he called Bibi Rukko and she
asked, `Shall I bring your food now?' (He had not taken
his evening meal). Baba Ji replied: `No, but you asked
something about Bhai Sawan Singh. Now you can inform
Sawan Singh that he is not going, but the karmas were
very heavy. It was ordained that he had to suffer for five
years but now we will settle the karmas in five months. Is
it not something? We shall not go to him just now, but
after he has been discharged from the hospital. In the
meantime you may acknowledge receipt of his telegram.'
And the moment Baba Ji's telegram was received, I could
pass stools and urine.
 
  "Saints show their mercy but they never talk about it.
Now, while I was reduced to this condition, I had to
suffer from the monetary point of view also. I lost my
sub-divisional allowance, my horse allowance and half my
pay also. The Chief Engineer was very kind to me. He said:
`If only you could come to office every day in a dandi
(a sedan chair), I would consider you on duty.' But I was
very doubtful and feared that my leg being still weak, I
might slip and have another accident. The Chief Engineer
thereupon allowed me one month's leave. I wondered if I
would be fit to work after one month.  The next morning
I saw the Commanding Engineer and he said: `Now you are
going for only one month.' Prior to this Baba Ji came
to see me and told me that I would be absent from duty
for only one more month, but it was hard for me to
believe it.
 
   "At last the month passed and a letter was received
from Baba Ji stating: `We people have not come into this
world to do our own work; we have come here by the orders
of Maharaj Ji (Swami Ji). If he likes, he will get the
work out of us.' It is impossible to describe the reach
or the power of the Saints. I am sure, if the Guru wants,
he can make even the stones carry out his work."
 
  (2) "Baba Ji used to be very kind to me and whenever
I came to visit him, he would give me a place in his own
room. Once I got down from the Beas station at twelve
o'clock at noon. It was very hot and I sat down under a
tree for a while. Then I felt that I had come for Baba Ji's
darshan, yet here I was seeking comfort and delaying that
meeting with the Beloved. Even worldly lovers have done
much better. The thought troubled me. So I started on
foot from the station to the Dera. At the Dera, Baba Ji
Maharaj, who was very sensitive to heat, came out and
began to pace the open courtyard before his room. Bibi
Rukko remonstrated and requested him to go inside his
room, out of the hot sun, but he would not. A few minutes
before I reached the Dera, he went in and then Bibi
Rukko, seeing me coming, exclaimed: `Oh, now I see why
Baba Ji was walking in the hot sun.' (He had himself
absorbed some of that extreme heat so that I would not be
overcome by it on the way). There are so many wonderful
things about Baba Ji that if I go on relating them for one
hundred years, it would not be possible to finish them all."
 
  Indeed "a hundred years" would not suffice and we will
cover as swiftly as possible the rest of the story of Baba
Ji's earthly sojourn. An ever-increasing number of visitors
flocked to his hut at Beas, and his words to Bibi Rukko -

"Here shall rise one day an ever-growing city and many a
house and bungalow shall be built" - and no less the words
of God-intoxicated Kahan at whom the people had laughed -
"I collect these bricks for the town that shall here be
built" - began at last to seem meaningful. Baba Ji spent
the greater part of his time at Beas but often went on
tour to neighboring areas or to to towns farther off, to
minister to the spiritual needs of his votaries.
 
   Once when he was at Ambala, at the behest of some
disciples, Hukam Singh, a friend of his devoted disciple
Moti Ram, a tailor who worked for the British regiment
stationed there, applied for initiation. Baba Ji refused
to grant his request. Hukam Singh approached his friend,
who in turn approached Baba Ji, but to no avail. "He is
not yet fit for the Path," the sage observed, but Moti Ram
was not to be put off. He pleaded again and again for the
case of his friend.
 
   "I have told you before, his karmas don't permit it. So
what can I do in the matter?"
 
   "Holy one, all the more reason you should take pity on
him, for if you don't, who will?"
 
   "Moti Ram, do not press me further. I would rather
initiate four hundred others than this friend of yours."
 
  A Saint cannot refuse a devoted disciple for long and
would even pass through fire for his sake. When Moti Ram
repeatedly pressed, he gave way, adding: "But as soon as
I have initiated your friend, I shall not spend another
moment here, but proceed straight home." True to his word,
Baba Ji, as soon as the instructions were over, packed his
scanty belongings and entrained for Beas. Whoever expressed
a desire to follow him there was told to come two weeks
later. On reaching his hut he lay down in bed and when
local visitors came to see him, they were in consternation
for they found him in the grip of a deadly fever.

Doctors and medicines were sent for but Baba Ji would
take nothing. About a fortnight later the fever subsided
and when Moti Ram received the news, he hastened to
see him and begged forgiveness: "Sir, if only I had known
what it was to mean for you, I would not, for the kingdom
of three worlds, have pressed to initiate my friend."
 
  Baba Ji was in a communicative mood and revealed:
"So heavy were the karmas of Hukam Singh that but for
the intercession he would, for the next seven lives, have
passed through the most trying sufferings and ordeals."

  Moti Ram, humbly thanked him for his unfathomable
grace but Baba Ji, true to his innate humility, simply
repled: "Such was the Will of the Lord."
 
   The grace of Baba Ji radiated like the life-giving sun
to those that came in touch with him. Baba Sawan Singh,
however, as we have already seen, was the object of his
special adoration. The years from 1894 to 1903 were
marked by regular visits to Beas by Baba Sawan Singh Ji
Maharaj which were occasionally returned by Baba Ji.

The sage called his favorite disciple by the name of "Babu
Ji." He had told Bibi Rukko that the handsome government
officer would one day be his successor. On one occasion,
while in an extraordinarily gracious mood, he turned
to his gurumukh and remarked: "You and I have come for
the good of mankind." Sawan Singh replied,

"You, of course, have come for humanity's uplift, but I
myself am only an erring mortal." Baba Ji repeated what
he had said and Sawan Singh made the same reply. Baba
Ji then, raising his eyebrows, said in a louder tone:
"Babu Ji, I am speaking to you. We both have come for
the good of mankind." Sawan Singh sat mute and silent.

At another time the Beas Saint told his disciples: "I
have had to toil very hard for my attainment, yet have
kept my treasures locked and have never displayed them.
But my labors shall bear fruit and he who shall inherit
my mantle shall be known far and wide."
 
    The days passed and Beas became a luminous center on
the spiritual map of the world. He who had never agreed
to the building of halls and houses, at the instance of his
beloved Babu Ji finally relented, and a well was sunk and
a Satsang hall built during his last years. "Why erect any
buildings here when the river may wash them off?" he had
protested, but Sawan Singh was not to be dissuaded. "Even
if you can deliver a single discourse, and the structure
collapses immediately after, I will consider my labors
richly rewarded." Meanwhile, the last days of the Jat-guru,
as he humorously styled himself, were drawing to a close.

Six months before his death, he had told his disciples of
the approaching end. On hearing of the passing away of
Karam Singh of Attock, he had remarked: "I used to meet
him at Delhi. A great soul indeed! But he will have to be
born once again for full liberation, not having practiced
Naam in this life. Well, well, my work is also drawing to
a close and I too shall soon be gone."
 
    The last days saw many pilgrims at Beas. The sage who
once had passed both night and day lost in meditation was
now day and night in the service of his devotees. He
would hardly rest for three or four hours, spending the
rest of the day in meeting those who sought him out,
attending to their problems and goading them to greater
and even greater spiritual effort. The gates of divine
grace were flung open and those that sat by him in his
room during the days immediately preceding his departure
would be inwardly buoyed up and wrapped in samadhi.
 
    The construction of the Satsang hall had by now been
completed, and everyone pressed Baba Ji to deliver a
discourse. He, however, remonstrated. "No, no; the Will of
God is otherwise. He who is to succeed me shall address
you there." Bibi Rukko was equally adamant: "We shall
of course hear him when his time comes, but now while
you are here, let us have the benefit of your presence."
But Baba Ji insisted: "The Will of God is otherwise.
Besides, I wish Babu Ji to discourse to all present during
my own lifetime so that there should be no disputes later."

But the audience had gathered and pleaded that he himself
should speak. Bibi Rukko begged and implored and he at
last moved forward. But after climbing a step or two, he
once again stopped and repeated what he had said. To the
amazement of all who entered the Satsang hall, Baba Ji's
gurumukh son, Hazur Sawan Singh Ji, was seen sitting at
the dais.
 
    The last day finally arrived. All the close disciples
stood by in anxious expectation. It was the 29th of December,
1903, and a cold and piercing breeze blew over from the
waters of the Beas. Baba Ji seemed to be waiting, and cast
restless glances at the door. At last a police officer
arrived and sought for initiation. "It is for you I have
been waiting," replied the great Saint, and without further
ado began explaining the theory and practice of the Surat
Shabd Yoga.

Soon after the instructions were over, he lay down and,
closing his eyes, cast off this muddy vesture of decay.
 
    Thus passed away one of the greatest of modern Saints,
whose life was a lesson in humility and love. He had studied
at no schools or universities, but had delved deep into the
book of life. He had read as a child the scriptures of many
a faith and had early practiced many sadhnas or spiritual
exercises. By the age of eighteen, when other men have
hardly attained mental maturity, he had already won the
crown of life denied to the most rigorous of yogis and
the most industrious of learned men. And yet the rest of
his years were passed in the most perfect humility, his only
ambition being to serve his Master and carry his message
as best as he could.

In his last recorded words he is reported to have said:
"All my life I have sought only to serve my Master and
now whatever work he had to accomplish through this poor
physical frame is over," and his very last hour was
spent in this service. He more than exemplified what he
had once written to his future successor, "Saints are
born not for themselves, but for the liberation of
mankind."

He spoke from inner experience and not from books, and
he initiated about three thousand souls; while the
number of those who unconsciously benefited by his
influence is beyond enumeration. Could one discover
another so selfless, so ready to suffer vicariously
for the sins of others, so boundless in his love, and
so unconcerned with outer differences of sects and creeds?
If one searched one's memory, there was perhaps one name
that came most readily to mind: that of Nanak.

And was it a mere coincidence that the Soldier Saint of
Beas was born in the very district (Gurdaspur) in which
the great medieval Saint, according to his constant
companion and biographer Bhai Bala, had prophesied he
would reappear in some future age in a Jat home? Baba
Ji's disciples did not fail to note the resemblance even
during his lifetime and once questioned him on the subject.

The sage smiled mysteriously and dismissed the question.
But a few minutes later, he casually remarked: "If we
spirits were to speak our minds, who would allow us a
moment's rest and who would spare our skins?"



PART THREE: BABA JI AND THE SCIENCE SPIRITUAL
  
  
   To present the teachings of a past Saint who has left no
compositions of his own either in verse or in prose, and in
whose time shorthand and the tape recorder were yet unknown,
is not an easy task. However, the bunch of letters that Baba
Ji addressed to his beloved "Babu" Sawan Singh Ji have been
preserved and are very revealing. (*1) Further, some of
those who came in contact with him have left suggestive
accounts of his discourses. But most important of all,
Hazur Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj, to whom he passed on the
spiritual torch, has interpreted within living memory the
message in its essence of his great Guru. Piecing all these
together, we can arrive at a clear conception of the nature
and scope of his teachings.

(*1 Most of the citations from Baba Ji's letters in the pages
that follow are translated directly from the Gurmukhi originals.
The reader wishing to read his entire correspondence with Baba
Sawan Singh Ji may consult Spiritual Gems (Beas, 1958)).

  
THE CREATION

    The Absolute Reality in its ultimate form was Nirakar,
Nirgun and Anami - Formless, without attributes, and
Nameless - and could only be expressed in negatives:
"neither light nor darkness," "neither sound nor silence "
etc. It was incomprehensible, ineffable, infinite and
indescribable. It was this Supreme Reality that was
responsible for everything else. When it projected itself
into form, it brought into being the purely spiritual
realms of Agam, Alakh, Sat Naam, etc.; Light and Sound
appearing as its primal attributes. Thence as it
descended downward, it brought into creation the material
current or Kal which gained in predominance as it moved
lower and still lower.

The countless regions that were created below the purely
spiritual realms of Sat Desh could be divided into three
grand divisions: Brahmand, Und and Pind - the causal, the
astral and the physical, or the spirituo-material, the
materio-spiritual and the material.
 
  So long as one lived in the plane of the relative, one
was caught in the web of Maya. One desire was succeeded
by another and pleasure was followed by pain. There could
be no lasting rest, no lasting joy. God, in filling the
cup of man's earthly blessings, had left out happiness and
contentment, to insure that His creature did not wholly
forget his Maker. The only way to attain beatitude lay in
transcending the realm of relativity and reaching the
regions of pure spirit where the soul merged in the
Absolute, became lost in the Ocean of Consciousness,
and was freed from all failings and desires.


THE PATH OF LIBERATION
 
   How was this transcension to be achieved? Baba Ji, like
Kabir, Nanak and Swami Ji, repeatedly affirmed that outer
practices were not of much avail. Reading of scriptures
could awaken one's interest in spirituality, but by itself
it could not insure emancipation. Mystic literature and
religious ritual were useful in many ways: they kept
mankind aware of a deeper Reality than the one they were
accustomed to in everyday life. But this Reality was to be
approached through practical means, and absorption in
intellectual problems and controversies only diverted
one's energies from one's real Path:

   
    Khasam na chinae bawri, ka karat barai,
    Batan bhagat na hohingay, chhoado chaturai.
   
    O man! If you have not realized the Almighty,
      why you brag of your greatness? Let go thine
      intellectual subtleties.
                                           KABIR
   
    Sakhi Shabd Sandes parh mat bhoolo bhai,
    Sant mata kuchh aur hai, khopa so pai.
   
    Don't you be deluded by restricting yourself to
      mere reading and writing of scriptures. The
      Path of the Masters is different. He who is
      truly after it will get it.
                                           KABIR


The devil could quote scriptures, and Baba Ji maintained
that "religious wranglings and disputes, the pride of caste,
the Varnashram, of worship, pilgrimages, mere reciting of
scriptures, worshiping those who were past and gone, and
such other actions and disciplines" were all "a great
deception" and trap set by Kal to keep the soul within the
bondage of the realms of relativity. In like manner, the
outer kriyas or practices of traditional yoga - pranayam
and various mudras and asanas - were ineffective for taking
us to our real goal. Baba Ji, as his life amply testifies,
greatly respected holy men of all creeds and callings, but
he never lost sight of man's highest ideal and lived by the
insight expressed by Kabir:
   
   
    Sadh hamare sab barae apni apni thor,
    Shabd parkhu jo milae tis aagae sir mor.
   
    A1l holy ones are worthy of reverence,
    But I adore only One who has mastered the
      Word.
                                           KABIR


He had at a very early age experimented with many a
yogic method and whenever he pronounced on the subject,
he spoke not as one who bases himself on academic
learning, but as one who has himself practically
experienced what he says. His words carried conviction,
for there was not a trace of prejudice in what he said.
He simply explained that he himself had explored all
avenues and found the path of Sant Mat or Surat Shabd Yoga
to be the highest. He had a great deal to say about the
wonderful miraculous powers that could be acquired
through yogic sadhnas; but his one criterion was: did they
make one the master of one's mind, freeing one from the
tyranny of desire? If so, then there was nothing to be
said against them, but if not (as was usually the case),
then they were hardly of any use.

While in Murree in 1894, he, in response to many questions
addressed to him by Baba Sawan Singh Ji, dwelt at length
on the subject of comparative yoga and concluded by
demonstrating how Kabir and Nanak had assimilated the
best from their predecessors; how they had penetrated far
higher into the Mystic Path; and how they had succeeded
in developing a method for mergence with the Formless
Absolute that was within the reach of all. He would often
quote from past Masters to reinforce his point, and in
particular he would cite what his great Guru had said:


    Sant Mata sab se bara yeh nische kar jan
    Sufi aur Vedanti donon neeche man,
    Sant Diwali nit karen Sat Lok ke mahin
    Aur mate sab Kal ke yun he dhur urain.
   
    The Path of the Masters is far superior to all
      others, believe ye in full faith.
    Sufism and Vedanta can lead you to a certain
      extent but cannot take you to the ultimate
      goal.
    The Saints live eternally in the splendor of the
      Supreme One.
    All other creeds and orders fail to transcend the
      realms of Relativity.
                               SAR BACHAN (poetry)


What was this science of the Surat Shabd Yoga that
represented the crown of mystic achievement? It was, said
Baba Ji, the path most economical in effort and the one
most rewarding for reaching back to the Primal Source of
all life and light. Its secret lay in the insight that if
the soul was to merge back into the point from where it
had descended, the way of ascent must be identical with
that of descent. The Nameless One, when He had assumed
Name and Form, had projected Himself into Shabd, Naam,
Kalma or the Word. It was this spiritual current, whose
primary attributes were melody and effulgence, that
was responsible for all creation. In a letter dated
2lst April, 1903, Baba Ji wrote:

  It is through Shabd that everything came into
  manifestation - Ishwar (God as the sustainer of the
  world), Jiva (individual soul), Maya (the subtle and
  gross material), Brahmand (the physical, astral and
  causal planes) - all were brought into being by its
  motion.

All sages, in their own different ways, had testified
to the working of the Word or Naam Power:
   
   
    Kun kae kehnae sae hoowa alam bapa.
   
    Through the utterance of the Word all things
     came into being.

And again:
   
    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
      was with God, and the Word was God.
                                                  
                                        JOHN 1:1


What the Masters of the Surat Shabd Yoga said on this
subject was nothing new; what was distinctive was their
emphasis on the idea that if everything - even the Jiva
Atman - had come into manifestation through the agency
of Shabd, then Shabd was the best and only means for
reaching back to our Point of Departure, the Nirakar,
Nirgun, Anami and Absolute. The music and glory of the
Word spread through all creation and permeated our
being. If only the Atman could be contacted with it, it
could use this "string from the Nameless Lord" to reach
His Door. But the soul in its downward descent had
loosened the link and had forgotten its real nature.

Acquiring the gross coverings of body and mind, it had
lost sight of its native home and identified itself with
its prison. Baba Ji said in his letter of l5th May, 1900:
  
  Ever since the Jiva Atman has been separated from
  Sach Khand (True Abode) and from Shabd Dhun, it
  has lost its faith in the Sat Purush (True One) and
  Shabd Dhun. But the Shabd always looks after the
  Jiva Atman though it knows it not for it has fallen
  deeply in love with Mind and Maya, with the objects
  of Maya and the senses that are so deceptive. It loves
  them so well that it cannot realize that it is to its
  own detriment, considering as beneficial what is in fact
  harmful. Love for the Mind has left it anaesthetized,
  and the Mind itself has fallen senseless before the
  pleasures of the senses, and finally, Maya has cast
  such a spell that it may never recover from its swoon.


THE PERFECT MASTER

   Our spiritual faculties had got so fogged and cloaked
with the gross coverings of Mind and Maya that, even
though the Shabd was forever reverberating within and
around us, we could not hear its music or see its glory:
  
  
   Nanak sae ankhriyan bae-an jini disindo mapiri.
  
   Those eyes are different with which my Beloved
     is seen.
                                   RAG WADHANS 577


How was this chain to be broken? How could man once
again revive his link with his Maker? For this, Baba Ji
affirmed, one needed indispensably the aid of a competent
Master:
  
  
   Dhur Khasmae ka hukam paya
   Vin Satguru chaitya na jai.
  
   Such is the Will of the Lord -
   He cannot be known except through a living
     Satguru.
                                       
                                    VAR BIHAGRA 556


Without his enlivening touch the soul could not awaken
from its slumber and get attuned to Naam. The Jiva Atman
was too far lost in the gross material to contact Shabd
on its own account. Besides, the inner way was not an easy
one and even if the soul could transcend physical
consciousness and enter the realms within, it could not
proceed very far on its own. The regions Und and Brahmand
were well-nigh infinite and without a spiritual guide it
would remain lost in their wonders. Further, there were
points in the mystic journey, especially between one plane
and another, that were so difficult that but for an Adept
the soul would be forever obstructed there. (*2)
 
(*2  Baba Sawan Singh Ji in a letter to one of his disciples
makes the necessity of a living Master in the Mystic Path
very clear indeed: "When I was in the hospital on account
of the fracture of my leg, one day when I was meditating,
Baba Ji's form appeared before me. Baba Ji, or rather what
seemed to be his form, said: `If, in a case of emergency,
meat and drink are used, there is no harm.' But when I
repeated the Five Names, he got up and walked away. Now
because I had seen Baba Ji in real life and could visualize
him, I found out this trick. But those people who concentrate
on the old Masters who passed away thousands of years ago
are likely to be misled. His (the Saint's) eyes and his
forehead cannot be imitated. Hence, you always require a
living teacher for the pupil, a living physician for the
sick, a living husband for the wife and a living ruler
for the people. I maintain that no one else can help a
disciple so much as a living Master."  (Spiritual Gems,
p. 150.))

   Baba Ji indefatigably emphasized the necessity of a
living Master for success in the field. Past Saints may
have explored all the mysteries of the mystic realms and
may even have left accounts of their experiences. But the
inner worlds were indescribable in terms of human language,
and at best they could only speak in hints and parables.
Since these hints and parables were about a realm of
experience completely beyond ordinary human experience,
they could not be fully understood except through the aid
of One who had himself direct access to the experiences
they described. Thus even to understand the true message
of past Masters, one needed a living One, and it was only
when Baba Ji met Swami Ji that he understood the full
import of the Granth Sahib and the writings of Kabir and
other great Saints.
 
   The spiritual journey was not a matter of intellectual
disquisition. It was a question of practical ascension.
Even for academic knowledge a book could not be a substitute
for the guidance of a perceptive teacher. Then how much
more would this be the case in the spiritual field? The
Jiva Atman was so lost in Maya that, according to Baba Ji,
it could not of its own accord contact the pure Shabd Dhun.
An act of grace alone could put it in touch with the inner
Light and Music, and this grace was the gift of a living
Master:
 
  Radhasoami, Lord of the Soul, full of pity and com-
  passion, came down Himself in the form of a Saint,
  gave us the clues to the Spiritual Regions and showed
  us the way to reach Sach Khand (True Abode) through
  Shabd Dhun.

Past Saints were worthy of reverence. Their lives were
luminous signposts always beckoning us toward our Divine
Home. But it was the law of Nature that the living impulse
could only come from the living, and the task they had
performed for their own age must, in ours, be performed
by One who lived amongst us and who had mastered the way
they had mastered. In fact, their writings, if critically
studied, were an endless testimony of the need for a living
Master.
 
   Who was a competent living Master and how was he to
be recognized? Baba Ji knew that there were countless
wolves that moved about in sheep's clothing, and since
everything depended on finding the true Guide, he laid
great stress on the need for vigilance and discrimination.

His early experiences had shown only too well the rarity
of such great Spirits - one perhaps in an age, at times more
(as with Nanak and Kabir, Maulana Rumi and Shamas Tabrez,
Tulsi Sahib and Swami Ji, who were contemporaries) but
alas always too few - and a man was blessed indeed if he
could come across such a One. The records of past Saints
could be used as a touchstone, as had been done by Baba Ji
during his quest. If a man was a true Master, and further,
a mystic of the highest order, all obscurities and
contradictions that puzzled one while reading the
scriptures would vanish at his touch. He would not only be
able to explain effectively the writings of one school of
mystics, but of all, for he had access to all the inner
realms, not just one. As a lad Baba Ji had met many a sadhu,
but not until he sat at Swami Ji's feet did he begin to
appreciate all the treasures stored in the Granth Sahib.

Mystics of a lower order could interpret records of only
those experiences to which they had access, but One who
had ascended to the highest heights could explain
everything - a point which Baba Ji's meeting with the
four pundits brought out fully.
 
   Another feature of a true Saint was his amazing
humility. It was one of the supreme paradoxes of human life
that those who claimed to be Saints were not, and those who
were, never claimed to be such. Nanak declared himself to
be no more than a slave of the servants of Saints and
Swami Ji maintained unruffied the garb of his humility.

It was not by what a man claimed that he was to be known,
but by what he did; a tree was judged not by its name but
by its fruit; and a Saint was recognized by his perfection
as a man, his freedom from worldly desires, his love and
kindness, his unassuming ways, his concern for the welfare
of others and his unconcern with name and fame. He gave
away his spiritual gifts freely like any other of Nature's
blessings, and maintained himself by his own labors:

   
    Gur, Pir sadai mangan jayae
    Ta ke mool na lagye payae.
   
    Bow not before one who calls himself a guru
    But depends on the charity of others.
                                    
                                     SARANG VAR, 1245


If on the human level it was his perfection as a man that
marked out a true Saint from the rest, on the spiritual he
was to be known by the inner experiences and guidance he
could afford. His ability to give some direct spiritual
experience, however little it may be, to his disciples at
the time of initiation was, Baba Ji insisted, the final test
of a true Master. He did not promise spiritual attainment in
some future life after death. He gave a taste of it here and
now. He linked the soul to the inner Light and Sound and it
was the disciple's task to nurture and nourish this seed to
full blossom and maturity. The gift of Naam was the sole
prerogative of the Satguru and his guiding hand stretched
everywhere, in the inner planes no less than in the world
outside. So great were his love and protection that no
earthly relationship could ever hope to compare to them.

His Radiant Form accompanied the soul after it had
transcended the body, and led it from plane to plane
toward its celestial home; and the perceptive disciple
could see his grace working at every turn. Miracles he
could perform indeed - being one with the Divine Will -
but he was reluctant to disturb the settled plan; and
even if he let his grace take the upper hand, he let it
work unseen, claiming nothing for himself but working only
in the name of his own Master.

He did not concern himself with disputes and controversies:
"Go within and see for yourself," was his constant dictum,
and the stress always fell on the inner and not on outer
forms and rituals.


FAITH, LOVE  AND SELF-SURRENDER
 
   It was indeed a supreme blessing to find a true Satguru.
If the search for a competent Master needed great
perseverance and discrimination on the part of the seeker, 
the qualities most demanded of him after the quest had been
crowned were faith, love and complete self-surrender. It
was not until King Janak had renounced body, mind and
wealth - tan, man and dhan - that he received enlightenment.
To meet a true Master was to realize one's own limitations,
and one's blessedness in being accepted at his feet.

It was also to know that his love and his wisdom were
measureless and infinite. Such a realization must, if one
wished to make the most of one's opportunity, be
accompanied by humility and faith and the acceptance of
his will as supreme. Baba Ji in his discourses and no less
in his letters time and again asserted the necessity of
love and faith on the part of the disciple. Writing to Baba
Sawan Singh on l6th May, 1901, he said:
 
  Shabd is the real form of the Satguru. By linking with
  it you will reach your destination. But the condition
  is that you first develop love and devotion for the
  person of the Master for without it nothing else is
  possible. The Satguru is one with the All-Giver, the
  Anami-Radhasoami, and has assumed a physical form for
  the uplift of jivas. Whosoever develops a strong
  love and devotion for him and regards him as the
  Supreme Lord Himself will contact the Shabd Dhun
  and be saved.


On another occasion he wrote:
 
  Even after a hundred years of Bhajan one does not
  get so purified as by an intense longing for darshan
  (meeting with the Master), provided that the longing
  is real and true and the love for the Satguru is from
  the innermost heart.


Self-surrender was the natural corollary of such faith and
love and Baba Ji's letters return insistently to this theme:
 
  Be not lost in yourself. Let this thought be firmly and
  unshakeably fixed in your mind: "Body, mind and wealth, 
  nirat and surat, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hands, feet -
  yea, all that is in the world is the Satguru's. I myself
  am nothing. Whatever you are doing, do it as Satguru's
  and always seek to do what is the best. Do not forget
  this even for a moment, but take it as a hidayat, a
  commandment.
                                 (24th May, 1901)
 
 
  Never let the idea of "mine-ness" find a place in your
  heart. Even if you get the lordship of Brahmand, do
  not regard that you have any share in it: "I am only
  an agent." Everything is the Satguru's. Let the Master's
  injunction be ever in your mind: "I am nothing, I am
  nothing, I am nothing," and let the remembrance of the
  Lord be your constant thought and the form of the
  Satguru imaged in your heart always.
                        
                                 (7th September, 1900)
         
 
  Weed out all worldly desires from your heart and
  place them at your Master's feet. Claim nothing for
  yourself and try to tune yourself to his Will which
  should be uppermost in your heart. Even if he asks
  you to dig grass, do it, for to obey the Satguru is the
  highest action. If you can cast your heart in this
  mold, then all things will be added unto you.
                      
                                  (18th September, 1902)


When Baba Sawan Singh Ji once wrote that he did not
even yearn for Sach Khand but only prayed that he had
"love and faith at the Satguru's holy feet," Baba Ji was
extremely pleased and replied that such self-surrender was
"indeed the highest karni (discipline)," and assured him
that "he who had such a love for the Master would certainly
reach Sach Khand, and passing through the Alakh, Agam,
Anami-Radhasoami, get merged in the Wonder Region."
                               
                                  (11th September, 1897).


                      [End of Part 5 of 7]

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