From jamesjs@interchange.ubc.ca Fri Dec 24 03:16:49 1999
Newsgroups: alt.meditation.shabda
Subject: "Meditation and Withdrawal" - Part 2 (Letters from Kirpal Singh to Vermont Initiates)
From: James Shannon <jamesjs@interchange.ubc.ca>
Date: Fri, 24 Dec 1999 03:16:49 -0800





                 EXCERPTS FROM LETTERS FROM KIRPAL SINGH

                  CONCERNING MEDITATION AND WITHDRAWAL,

                    THE SOUND CURRENT AND ATTENTION

                               [Part 2]



Letter #4

    When you see the Golden Swirl, please fix your gaze in the center
thereof and not on the outer edges thereof. Light will sprout forth
therefrom and at times it so happens Master's face appears therein.
If there are causes that stand In the way of meditation at 3 o'clock
in the morning, devote time at night before going to bed, and at other
times convenient - soon after rising in the morning or during the day.
Adopt any posture convenient, but it must be remembered that the
assumed posture must be fixed and not changed, and that one is all of
the time conscious and not sleeping.

    When you see the stars, find a big star amongst then and fix your
inner gaze on that big star. Then that big star will burst and you will
find your way through It. Then you will have to cross the moon. If you
see the moon, just fix your gaze on it.


Letter #5

    A sort of trance-like stupor or similar state of consciousness is
not sufficient. The Master prescribes putting in regular time with
full devotion to the spiritual practices. Withdrawal of the current
from the physical body inevitably follows as a result of Simran or
constant repetition of the five Names and by fixing at the same time
your inner gaze on the darkness just between the two eyebrows (as if
it were in front of you) constantly, minutely penetrating. While doing
so, you should neither be conscious of the breathing going on nor of
the withdrawal of the spirit current from the physical body. This
procedure will give you definite results. Just put in some time and
find the change.


Letter #6

    For this withdrawal sit in a posture In which you can be quite
relaxed and which will be convenient to you for a longer time without
any tension in the body or any consciousness of the breathing or of
the process of the withdrawal of the spirit current going on. Close
your physical eyes and take your attention away from the physical eyes
altogether just as when you go to sleep. Without any strain on the
physical eyeballs, eyelids, or forehead. Fix the inner gaze (which is
quite independent of the outer physical eyes) on the darkness which is
betwixt and behind the two eyebrows (as if this darkness were in front
of you) minutely and constantly, and, at the same time, without any
anxiety or impatience to see things beyond.


Letter #7

    The reason why no marked progress is had so far is apparently due
to the fact that we have not put in time in the spiritual practices
accurately. If we put in time in the following manner, I hope you
will have experience by the Grace of the Living Master and you will
see the Master face to face by and by. Sit in one posture in any easy
pose and do not move. Your entire body should be in a still position
without any tension in the body.

    You are breathing all the time during the day while working but
you are not conscious of the breathing going on then. During meditation
let breathing go on as freely as ever: you should pay no heed whatsoever
to it. Moreover, you should look with a fixed inner gaze into the
darkness, just behind and betwixt the two eyebrows, and continue looking
in the center of it minutely and continuously without a break, without
any tension in the physical eyes, eyebrows, or the forehead. You should
not do the work of an overseer to see how far the spirit current is
withdrawn from the body. The withdrawal is the work of the Master who is
waiting for us at the tenth door behind the eyes. If we but remain there
a few minutes, we are withdrawn there with His Grace. Your job is only
to look with a searching inner eye Intently and minutely with no thought
of the body below or outside. If you sit at the door, you receive help
in withdrawing the spirit current and opening your Inner vision. You
should sit in this posture at least a half hour and increase the time
to an hour in due course daily in the morning and in the evening.


Letter #8

    I am glad that you are feeling much better in the way of spiritual
practices. Sometimes in meditation one is apt to fall asleep. This comes
about when our gaze is not rightly fixed with a full attempt not being
made and we see a void. When you are gazing within, you should gaze
intently and constantly within the darkness. This alertness will prevent
the sleep from overcoming you. It would be better to have a bath or walk
just before sitting in the practices so that you may be wide awake.

    Bhajan and Simran, if done with accuracy, bring forth quicker results.
I see when men are initiated here that they have the experience in the
very first day of initiation, and those initiated by me as well as the
senior initiates of my Master are progressing wonderfully under proper
guidance and help.

    As regards the location of the third eye, it is near to the place
where the two optic nerves of the physical eyes meet. That third eye is
the inner eye which looks through the two physical eyeballs outside.

    At the time of meditation we have to cease looking through the
physical eyeballs and fix the inner gaze on the darkness behind and
betwixt the two eyebrows as stated above. When we close the physical
eyes, there is something which sees the darkness within. That which
sees may be called the inner eye.

    As regards hearing the Sound Current, It would be better if you
would reserve the night time for hearing the Sound Current and the
morning time for Simran. When hearing the Sound Current do not do
Simran but devote full attention to the inner ear and hear the sound
coming from the right while sitting with attention at the eye focus.
This will give a clearer Sound.

    If time is put in spiritual practices regularly in an accurate way
as instructed at the time of initiation, the inner experiences will
increase from day to day. One necessary thing is to keep the pose
steady for a longer period of time and keep the inner gaze fixed
constantly on the Light within. This will insure further progress.
Master-Power is overhead and will extend all feasible help.

Letter #9

    I appreciate your inner feelings of Love and Devotion towards me.
I am glad that you are experiencing real aspects of meditation and I
wish you speedy progress. When sitting for practices, please let your
inner gaze be fixed on the darkness just betwixt and behind the two
eyebrows in a penetrating way just as if to look beyond it, with no
thought of the breathing going on (just as at other times during the
day) and no thought of the withdrawal process in the physical body.
The withdrawal process should be left solely to the good Will of the
Master within, with no anxiety or hurry for the higher possibility.
This procedure will give you better results.

    WITHDRAWAL.-

	The first thing is to have complete withdrawal of the spirit current
from the physical body. That you will have, if you do the spiritual
practice in the right way. Withdrawal up to the heart center shows that
you were watching the withdrawal In the body. If you leave off watching
withdrawal in the body and stick to the door at the back of the eyes
the withdrawal will be complete. It is the feat of the Master. Our task
is to stick at the door and do repetition mentally and no third thing.
When withdrawn, you see the Light; when coming down into the body again,
the Light is gone. True religion starts when you are completely withdrawn
from the physical body. A time factor is necessary in order to attain
the goal.

    The sensory current will withdraw if the spiritual practice is
properly explained to and understood by the initiates.

    The expression `tongue of thought' used previously means to do
repetition mentally. Many disciples of the Master are doing repetition
either with the physical tongue or with breathing or while being conscious
of the breathing going on. This retards complete withdrawal of the
spirit or sensory current from the body. Such people feel withdrawal
only up to the lower limbs as breathing starts at the navel and goes
up to the mouth. This entails other physical ailments. Also, they feel,
as they withdraw, unbearable pains in the body. Moreover, this is the
way of Yogis and not the Way of the Masters. This way is time-consuming.
The Masters eliminated all of this to suit all types of people - young
and old alike .... the Masters effected the withdrawal by concentrating
on the Surat (Attention) alone. An experiment can be successful only
if it is done accurately. If any of the old initiates are not progressing,
that is the result of wrong effort in the majority of cases. They will
have guidance, if necessary, upon referring to me.


Letter #10

    When looking minutely with the inner gaze, repeat the five Names
slowly, not with physical tongue, gullet (throat movements), or heart,
but with the tongue of thought, i.e.. mentally. While doing so, you should
not do the work of an overseer concerning how far the physical body has
numbed, i.e., how far the sensory current has been withdrawn. The work of
withdrawing the sensory current is for the Master to do and not for you.
Your job is only to fix your inner gaze as directed and repent the five
Names mentally without thinking of the meaning of the Names, etc. The
rest is to be done by the Master.

    By sitting in one pose over one-half hour, the inner vision by the
Master's Grace will open, and you will see the Way before you and
traverse it into the Beyond. You will be born anew, as explained at
the time of Initiation. The Master is waiting at the tenth door behind
the eyes, and whoever sits at that place is drawn inside by Him, and
his further progress into the Beyond is started. It is for the Master to
draw you up. Your part is only to sit at His door (the inner eye focus
at the center of the inner darkness) wholly and completely.

    When people sit, as explained above, Master helps all of them to
experience the withdrawal of the spirit current from the physical body,
and their inner vision in opened, they see Light, etc., without exception.
If you fix your inner gaze on the Master, sweetly so that you begin to
forget yourself, Master will talk to you and you will begin to understand
what he says.

    When the soul is completely withdrawn, the physical body becomes as
if paralyzed. There is nothing to fear, however, for when you leave the
spiritual practices, just direct your attention to the physical body,
and the sensory current will descend in to the body and resume its work
there. Then you can stand up and go about your worldly duties. Do not try
to stand up quickly unless the soul current has been resumed in the
physical body.

    Unless the outgoing faculties are stopped and the mind is controlled
and the intellect also becomes stilled, a man can have no experience of
the Way to.

    When by regular practice at the seat of the soul behind the eyes
the soul is concentrated at that seat, the whole physical body below
is benumbed and the inner vision opens to give you light within. The
tingling and pain is experienced during the withdrawal process
whenever we watch the process of withdrawal going on. If you but stick
to the sent of the soul behind the eyes (an explained previously) not
thinking of the body below or outside and you continue to look,
penetratingly into the dark veil between the two eyebrows (as instructed),
you will have withdrawal from the physical body without any tingling or
any pain whatsoever.

    When doing Simran you should not listen to the Sound Current at all,
for if this is done, the work of withdrawal remains incomplete and one
cannot, as a consequence, transcend the physical body.

    Food is for the hungry and water for the thirsty. Thanks to the
Almighty that you are on the Way.


Letter #11

    Should it feel as though something has touched the forehead whereupon
an electric-like shock goes through one dragging one Home, this touch was
Master's Hand overhead and competent Power is working. If pain is
experienced in the navel and solar plexus, it is due to the fact that one
is conscious of the breathing going on in the physical body which results
in the withdrawal of the Prana current (Motor current) as well, and this
is the cause or all of the trouble and still is the way of Yogis and not
the procedure prescribed by Saints. If we are not at all conscious of the
breathing going on or of the process of withdrawal of the sensory current
from the physical body, the Soul is withdrawn without the least trouble
just as a hair is pulled out of butter without the least trouble.


Letter #12

    I am glad that you had Initiation and experienced a sense of a
Holy Presence. This Presence was the Master overhead working. You also
felt a detachment of the body and saw `cloud forms of blue and orange.'
Master was ordering you within to let go of the breathing which you
could not do as you had formed a habit. This you have to unravel, and
now you find your sittings very restful within with no sense of your
physical body at all. That shows complete unconsciousness of the
physical body or, so to say, withdrawal of the spirit current from the
body.

    The new men who are initiated by me here do, at the very first
sitting, experience withdrawal, inner vision opened, and hear the
higher sounds: bells, conch, and thunder, etc. They are enjoined to
devote regular time day to day. Those who are putting in regular time,
even an hour or so, experience all these whenever they sit. A good
number of then have transcended the Big Star, the Moon, and reached
Master within and talk to Him. There are a few who can convey messages
to the Master at their will and get His replies in a short time. Out
of the new initiates there are some who have reached the first plane
-- the Sahansdal Kanwal and even crossed it.

    The withdrawal of the sensory current from the physical body is
painful only when we do not do the practice correctly, as explained.
If the practice is done correctly, no pain is felt. The reason for
this is that the sensory current which feels pain is completely
rivetted at the seat of the Soul behind and betwixt the two eyes,
and the Prana currents (the motor currents) are not touched in the
withdrawal process -- they are allowed to go on unconsciously
working as heretofore.

    Some men at Initiation even fall down and have no consciousness
of the physical body, and others feel withdrawn. Both remain conscious
within of all they see and experience at the time, and they remember
even after that. It is no flash or vision (under some influence of
the body) but a real withdrawal inside. New and old Initiates are
filled with wonder on the day of Initiation to experience and see
such things. It is all the Grace of the Master.

    The withdrawal of the sensory current, as explained, does not
leave any strain on the energy or life principle of man. The withdrawal
done along with practice of the Prana current gives excruciating pains
and may put a strain on the energy or life principle.

    I have been at the Feet of the Master for over 24 years. There has
been no such case as that of the withdrawal of the sensory current
cutting short a man's life, and I have verified this from Master within
even now. By withdrawal in the proper way, a man feels refreshed,
buoyant, and blissful, with no reason to speak of strain, etc. Bhajan
and Simran correctly done do not shorten a man's life. A man's life
is shortened by living a life of the physical senses and giving up to
the enjoyments of such a life.


Letter #13

    When traversing into the higher planes, the soul experiences Light
and Sound. The first step, of course is to withdraw from the physical
body and be `born anew' into the Beyond. You will be able to go along
the Way inside if you but follow the instructions implicitly which
were given to you at the time of Initiation. The Sound and Light meet
the traveling soul on the way up. This is the right form of meditation.

    If you put in time doing the prescribed spiritual practices, you
will withdraw inside and your inner vision will open. The Light of
heaven will begin to be visible to you in different colors. This Light
is seen when the soul withdraws completely from the body and goes out
of sight when we again become conscious of the physical body.

    The fact, as you say, that you come to the point of being almost
unconscious of your physical body shows that you withdrew from the
body to that extent. At that time the Light becomes visible to you and
you also hear the Sound of the bell clearly. You have to develop this
by giving time accurately in a regular way. Try to fix your gaze
constantly, and further things will follow and Master will appear to
you in due course.


Letter #14

    I am glad to receive your letter and to learn that you had an
Initiation experience of opening of the inner Vision and of hearing of
the Sound Current. If you are regular in your practices in an accurate
way as explained to you at Initiation, you are sure to progress
splendidly.

    When to soul withdraws, it traverses with the astral body into
higher regions and sees figures, etc. At that time you should repeat
the five Names. The figures will disappear. Only such persons will
stand before you who go to the fifth plane and you can derive benefit
from them. The soul traverses here and there and sees many events which
are going on elsewhere. But we should not waste our time in engaging
ourselves in such things, as this will retard our further progress. If
you are regular at putting time into the spiritual practices, you will
go ahead and surely meet the Master face to face.

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