Satsang, one of the three pillars of spirituality (part 7 – last part)

 

 

 

(Full text can be read here):
http://www.kirpalsingh-teachings.org/index.php/en/talks/third-world-tour/480-satsang-one-of-the-three-pillars-of-spirituality28.html
 

By Sant Kirpal Singh, in Oakton, Virginia, USA, 29 September, 1972

 
 

The Master prays, “O God, You are the highest of the highest. We are wearing physical bodies, astral bodies, causal bodies, supercausal (bodies). We are on the earth, You are in the sky. How can we meet You, unless we rise up to that level?” You see? “Is there any remedy for that?” They say, “How to come up to that level where You are, nearer to You?” That (remedy) is the company of the Saints, when you become receptive.
Masters tell us in detail everything that is given in the scriptures. To have the right interpretation thereof, you must have somebody who has experienced that (mentioned in the scriptures). I have just been explaining to you one pillar (Satsang) of the three pillars which are most important in the Surat Shabd Yoga.

They (the Masters) give you a contact with Sat Naam within you, and in the company of the “Word made flesh” you have a boost. All other Masters also say the same thing, in their own languages, of course: “To come into contact with the God-into-expression-Power is coming in contact with the water of life, the nectar of life. That is the bread of life.” That comes from where? From heaven. “Whosoever partaketh of it shall have everlasting life.” This (inner) contact can be given by whom? By Him who is already “Word made flesh” – no intellectual can give you that. Of course, if he who is the mouthpiece of that Godpower is a learned man, he will tell you these things, giving so many instances from literature and elsewhere. Even if he does not have any degrees of outward education, He can give you a contact. You can have that by radiation by coming near in the field of action or the area. That’s the only difference.

So man-body is the highest in all creation. In this man-body, the ultimate goal is to have a beatific vision of God. That’s all – before we die!

Amongst the Hindus, there is a custom that when a man is just ready to die, people light a candle and put it on the palm of the dying man and tell him to look into the flame of this candle. The mantra which they read out means, “This light will accompany you hereafter.” The light and the palm of the dying man remain here. What is (the value of) that candle which is outward? “Take heed that the light which is within you is not darkness”, that’s all.

Do you now see the beauty of the Surat Shabd Yoga you have got? No other yoga can vie with it; they have their own scope. That’s right.

What is to be done? When you have got it (the inner contact), enjoy it. Make it a point, you see. That is the most important and most personal question, private work that you have got. We do not find time for that, and for worldly things, which will not accompany us, we put in (time) from morning till night. Then we come and say we have got not time to attend to that (spiritual practices). At least, in that case, if you have got “no time”, then surely you will have time to repent, to cry, to shed tears, at a time when nothing can be done.

So that is why all Masters enjoin, “Catch the time by the forelock. Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time.”

That does not affect your (outer) labels ethically. You are a man, you see; man-body is the temple of God: you are simply to invert (your attention). How to invert? That demonstration is given by a Master; follow it accurately! Every Saint has his past and every sinner a future. So, please, “Time and tide wait for no man.” You know? “Time and tide wait for no man.” Time is passing away. Make the best use of the time at your disposal. What has passed is past; what will come in the future, we will see. Live in the living present. Let no second pass, no minute pass without it (inner remembrance).

This (inversion of attention) is what the Masters want from those who come to them, who are sent by God to them, of course. “It is He who sends and it is He in Him (the Master) who gives, not the son of man.” We respect that son of man (living human pole) through whom this thing (inner contact) is given and in whom He (God) is manifest. Wherever such Masters put their feet, those become the places of pilgrimage. He is the “moving (place of) pilgrimage” on earth. Wherever He sits, that becomes a place of pilgrimage. Make the best use of the radiation you receive in the company of a Saint. Whatever you have got, put more time into it by regular practices. Snatch away as much time as you can for that purpose, because that is your and your only work. That will help you here and hereafter – in both the worlds. All other things will leave you, but the Word and the Word made flesh will never leave you, not even after death. He will be extending all feasible help and protection to you wherever you are, near and far, that makes no difference. All Masters, all scriptures say these things.

 

 

Satsang, one of the three pillars of spirituality (part 6)

 

 

 

(Full text can be read here):
http://www.kirpalsingh-teachings.org/index.php/en/talks/third-world-tour/480-satsang-one-of-the-three-pillars-of-spirituality28.html
 

By Sant Kirpal Singh, in Oakton, Virginia, USA, 29 September, 1972

 
 

There is radiation. Each man has his (own) radiation. Those who have got stronger radiation, that radiation gives what is already within them. Because they are “Word made flesh”, that is radiated. To sit in the field or area of the radiation of the Saints gives you all these things straight away. The only thing required is to be receptive. Maulana Rumi says, “If you have the chance of sitting by a Saint even for an hour” – in the manner as I am explaining to you – “that will give you better results than to sit in penances for a hundred years long!” When you sit by fire, you get heat or warmth; when you try to rub wood against wood, and (strike) stone against other things, how will you get the heat? The radiation works. The physical presence of the Master cannot be underrated. Of course, those who have developed receptivity can derive that benefit even from thousands of miles. Just like radios and televisions – you hear the voice from thousands of miles, and you can see who is speaking and what he is speaking. Similarly, if there is nothing remaining between you and the Master, maybe (you are) living on the other side of the seven oceans and the Master on this side, direct your attention to Him. If you have developed that receptivity, you can derive the full benefit of being near Him. That (receptivity) has to be developed. It (to be near the Master even from thousands of miles) is the fate of those who have developed receptivity. But for others, naturally sitting in the physical presence of the Master gives them radical change if they are receptive.

So Masters tell us what to do. “Sit in the company of the Saint within whom He is manifest.” Then he goes further to say, “To sit in His radiation and come in closer contact with Him”, as a man has got a cloth perfumed, you will touch him, pass by him, your clothes will be perfumed. A man who has got dirty clothes, if you touch him, you will get the bad odour, your clothes will be smelling bad. The whole thing is to sit within the radiation, in the field of action of radiation; you will derive wonderful (results). Not like: (suppose) some people sit here, then (they say), “I did not hear (anything)”, (it is) because he was not there; the body was there of course. So when you’d like to derive full benefit of the physical presence of the Master or suchlike man, then there should not remain anything between you and Him, not even your thinking of the body, either. Look! The eyes are the windows of the soul. These are things written in scriptures.

Now Guru Ram Das speaks about other things: “Those who are coloured with the worldly colour, those who have got bad odour”, He says, “Don’t go near them. They are not in contact with God inside them, they are in contact with the life of the senses outside. All filth is within them. And that very filth is radiated: a bad odour.”

Kabir says, “If you find such a man, you run away from him. You should not pass near by him because you might get an infection.” If you happen to talk to such a man, it is just like a scorpion when it stings. Do you know? It is like an ordinary pinprick, but later on there is terrible pain. If you come across such a man, naturally at that time you won’t be feeling much, but later on that develops more and more. So Saints advise, “Don’t have the company of those who are imbued with the filth of the world.” Their radiation gives you all that filth; the atmosphere is charged with that. Kabir gives you an example, as follows: “If there are some threads, with all knots in them, what will you get from them? Because all knots are there, you cannot draw a long thread out of that, and the cloth cannot be woven.” Similarly He says, “Those people are already in doubt; they have not seen God. They are just given up to outer enjoyments like anything. That very thing radiates from (them in) their company. So, avoid that.” Then again He says, “What should you do? Seek the company of a Saint. Go near Him. Try to remain receptive to the radiation – maybe at thousands of miles, or close to Him – with full receptivity.” The God or Word which is manifest there will give you an incentive or boost: you will find that very God within you, with only a little thought of His! Hundreds may sit; He (the Master) gives a little thought, and the outward expression of our soul, the attention, is withdrawn from outside, from the body, and you have a glimpse of Him (within). Is it not wonderful?

I was defining Satsang, what Satsang is. Make the best use of it. Moreover, Christ said, “When more than one man sit in my name, I am there.” When you sit together in the sweet remembrance of the God-into-expression-Power, or the human pole in which He is manifest, you will have the effect by radiation. When people sit in such rapt attention, they sometimes see the form of the Master, too, with open eyes. This is the feat of receptivity. We should learn how to hold Satsang.

Satsang, one of the three pillars of spirituality (part 5)

 

 

 

(Full text can be read here):
https://www.kirpalsingh-teachings.org/index.php/en/talks/third-world-tour/480-satsang-one-of-the-three-pillars-of-spirituality28.html
 

By Sant Kirpal Singh, in Oakton, Virginia, USA, 29 September, 1972

 
 
Further Soamiji says, “What is the whole creation? It is the expression of God. It all came out of Him. There is no place where He is not.”

The world, you see, is His expression only. The Masters give us an example: there is a tree that is a perfumed tree. When you rub a piece of the wood of that tree, it gives you perfume. Sandal, sandalwood, it is called. Soamiji says, “The whole world is a sandalwood tree.” It is said that the poisonous snakes are in contact with the sandalwood tree, lying around the tree – to give them some peace, or some satisfaction, you might say, or some cooling effect. When these snakes bite or sting somebody, the man who is stung feels like fire in that place, he gets a burning pain. Those snakes remain attached to the tree. Soamiji says, “If you want to have the juice of that tree, how will you have it? The only way is to cut the snakes with your sword and have the juice of the tree.” This is an example to show that this whole universe is the sandalwood tree – it is all God’s expression; but this delusion, the snake of delusion, is all around the tree. So what is the way out? How to rise above, come out of the delusion?

Soamiji says, “With the sword of ‘Gyan'”. What then is “Gyan”? “Knowledge”. “Gyan” is not just literary findings, but it is just rising above body-consciousness and coming in contact with the God-into-expression-Power and see Him. This is the true meaning of the word “Gyan”.

He says, “Take the sword of ‘Gyan'” – that is, rise above body-consciousness, – “and you will see. You will have that enjoyment of God within you.”

All Masters tell us how to come out of this delusion by rising above body-consciousness, which is the source of all delusion because you are identified with the body, which is changing every moment of life; and the world around us, being made of matter, is also changing at the same rate as our body is changing. Because we are identified with this (body), the world appears to be stationary. If you come out of that delusion, you will find that your inner eye is open; you will see that it is all an expression of God outside. So, this is the way.

What will happen if you come in contact (with God), have a conscious, beatific vision of God? The result will be that all your sins which you have committed in the past up to this date, ever since you left the Father’s Home (Sach Khand), will be washed away.

He (Soamiji) gives an example: there are great stores of wood and if you just put a little fire in them, they will burn down to ashes. Similarly, you have got innumerable sins ever since you left the House of the Father. If you take a little bit of the light that the Master gives you, all of these sins will be burned away with it. The reason is that when you become a conscious co-worker of the divine plan, the ego is lost, who will suffer? In all other actions, good or bad, we are the doer: “As we sow, so shall we reap.” If you see that it is that Power which is working, not we, we are mere puppets in His hands, naturally, there is nobody to bear the fruit of it. “As you sow, so shall you reap.” There is nobody to reap it because you have become a conscious co-worker of the divine plan. So, you can get that light from the Master. By coming in contact with that God-into-expression-Power, the two aspects of which are light and sound, you will burn away all your sins, accumulated ever since you have left the Father’s Home.

Masters always say, “Please, whatever you have been given, just stick to it like anything.” Now, Guru Ram Das says, “This is what the Master gives you.” And the Master – what is He? He is “Word made flesh.” He is light personified, He is sound personified. When you come near Him, that very thing which He personifies – the “Word made flesh” in its two aspects of light and sound – that radiates from the body of the Saint, the Master. If you just sit in that field or area and you become receptive, you will have that radiation. As is the case with perfumed flowers, if you sit by them – near them – you will get perfume, isn’t it so? Without touching them! If there is a room and you keep some perfumed flowers in it, the whole room will be perfumed. They say, “What to do? Just sit in the company, have a Satsang in the company of such Saints who are ‘Word made flesh’, and be receptive to them” not being like the man sitting in the church and thinking of the play-ground!
 
 
 

Satsang, one of the three pillars of spirituality (part 4)

 

 

 

(Full text can be read here):
https://www.kirpalsingh-teachings.org/index.php/en/talks/third-world-tour/480-satsang-one-of-the-three-pillars-of-spirituality28.html
 

By Sant Kirpal Singh, in Oakton, Virginia, USA, 29 September, 1972

 
 
Now … that is why they are just under delusion and always receiving impressions from outside. The man whose fate is like that, how can he escape from receiving impressions from outside, through the outgoing faculties? Whoever is in that state of affairs, naturally he is affected by outside life – all these impressions from outside. He has already become unclean or black-sooted, you see. In a house where there is black soot all around him, naturally he will have that very black colour. Those who do not yearn for God – why is it so? Because, on account of that, first, they are under a grand delusion; and moreover, from day-to-day, they are gathering impressions from outside. They are already black, and more black is being added. So they cannot even recognize the Masters, too, as I told you before. But those whose inner eye is opened see God working in all creation. We are waylaid by the outer changes of the world, as I told you yesterday. And all at once, somebody passes away: “What is all that?” Such people (whose single eye is open) see this changing panorama – the body is also changing and we have to leave this body some day – but they are not affected. They are in the world: their boat is in the water, but water is not in the boat. (Do you see) the reason why? The boat has so many holes in it; if they are all closed, then the water won’t enter the boat, and the man sitting in the boat won’t be drowned. If there are holes, then the water will enter, and the boat will sink; and along with that, the man also sinks.

This man-body is the boat given to us to cross over the ocean of life. If there are other outlets from outside, which are our outgoing faculties, through which all impressions can come within us. As I told you the other day, about eighty percent of the impressions are received through the eyes. Fourteen percent from the ears, and the other from other senses. So, naturally, every day, from day-to-day, from hour-to-hour, he (the average person) is just under a delusion, more delusion, and (still) more delusion. But those who rise above these outgoing faculties, with the grace of God or with the grace of the God-in-man, don’t receive impressions from outside. They use these outgoing faculties at their will and pleasure, whereas the average man is being dragged away by these outgoing faculties. Outward enjoyments drag the outgoing faculties, and the outgoing faculties drag the mind. Mind is dragging our soul. The Masters, when they come, give the right way out: they give you a first-hand demonstration of how to rise above body-consciousness and all of your outgoing faculties. When you have a permanent seat here (behind the physical eyes), then outward impressions do not affect you: there are no holes in the boat to drown you. The boat may fill with the water of impressions from outside. So the Masters are in the world – they appear to be in the world – but they are not of it. This is what you get from the society, from the Satsang, from the company of the Saints. This is what they give you. They also give you higher contact with the nectar, the water of life, by raising you above these outgoing faculties at the back of the (physical) eyes. That (contact with the water of life within) has more taste; and when the mind gets more taste within, all of the other enjoyments leave; he is not affected by the outer enjoy­ments. This is the blessing that you have at the feet of the Master, from the Satsang.

Satsang does not mean your bodies are sitting by Him and your minds are wandering outside. I give you an example of two friends. They were going out, and one had a strong mind to attend church. The other friend said, “I want to go to the play-ground.” Each had his own way. One went to the church; the other went to the play-ground. Now, the man sitting in the church was thinking, “My friend must be kicking the football.” His body was there, but his mind was elsewhere. The man in the play-ground was thinking, “He must be saying his prayers now.” So who is the better of the two? To sit by the Master just like that does not give you an effect. You don’t even receive the radiation because you are not receptive. So, Master defines how to attend a Satsang.

Soamiji says, “Hold a Satsang, attend some Satsang meeting.” How? “When you go there, forget the world outside. When you sit there, forget all environment – who is sitting by you. When you sit there, you forget your body, too. Your whole attention should be absorbed! Eyes are the windows of the soul!” Masters define how to attend a Satsang! Instead, when attending so many Satsangs, why do we not derive full benefit? Because our bodies are there, of course, but we are not there: our attention is outside – in the play-ground. So, Soamiji says the right way to attend the Satsang is just like that (with full, absorbed attention). To be at a Satsang (physically) is not sufficient; your mind may be wandering outside, while your body is there. Another man sits there – whole-hearted, with whole attention: “The eyes are the windows of the soul” – (and absorb) by radiation. If you are receptive, you will be affected (by radiation). So, Soamiji says, this is how we can derive full benefit from the company of the Satsang.
 
 

Satsang, one of the three pillars of spirituality (part 3)

 

 

 

(Full text can be read here):
http://www.kirpalsingh-teachings.org/index.php/en/talks/third-world-tour/480-satsang-one-of-the-three-pillars-of-spirituality28.html
 

By Sant Kirpal Singh, in Oakton, Virginia, USA, 29 September, 1972

 
 
Those who want to have a glimpse of God don’t care for these heavens or anything like that; they don’t even care for redemption from life – from coming and going (reincarnation), too. They simply want to have a glimpse of Him. Bhai Nand Lal was such a devotee of the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh. He says, “O my Guru, my Satguru, I had no desire to come to the world but to follow You. As You have come to the world, I also followed You. Otherwise, what is lying in this world? You have incarnated, You are manifesting in the man-body here; so as I was fond of You, I also have come to the world to be with You.” Hafiz is a great poet, mystic poet. He said, in Arabic, in one poem: “O man, if you want to come in contact with God, leave all worldly things. Go out to some lonely place to find Him, to go within you.” And Nand Lal addresses Hafiz: “Look here, Hafiz, God is standing here. Here is God-in-man. Why should we leave this world and go to outside things? Here is God standing!” Well, this is the fate of those whose inner eye is open, you see. (It is the same God when He appears within.) Excuse me, they were persecuted like Christ. Were they not persecuted? Mansur was put to the stake. Shamaz-I-Tabrez’s skin was taken off. Some were burned alive. Who did all this? Who did all this? (Those) whose (inner) eyes were not open. The others (those whose single eye is open) do say, “He (the Master) is the moving God-on-earth.” They say, they see God is manifesting in Him. But when is it said? When your inner eye is open. So those who want a glimpse of Him (God), they never care for the possessions or all enjoyments of this world, or the world hereafter. They can only be satisfied if they have a glimpse of Him – that’s all.

Take the example of a mother whose son has been away. She yearns to see her son – perhaps he is lost. There may be people who give evidence saying, “He is alive; I have seen him.” (The mother says), “O no, unless I look at him I cannot be satisfied.” You see? Something, a strong yearning like that. I mean to say those who are yearning really to see God. Man’s highest goal is to have a beatific vision of God, to see God. This is the ultimate goal of what the Saints pray for. “See and then say.” If you don’t see …? Sometimes in prayers we sit, we shed tears, we cry; when that very thing for which we yearn and cry comes in front of you, how satisfied you feel!

So whatever you are doing, all of these practices outside which relate to the outgoing faculties, body, or intellect, in that you do not see. You simply feel a strong yearning to see so. Surat Shabd Yoga gives you a vision of that Power. All other yogas I mentioned have got different scopes. In Surat Shabd Yoga you have got direct contact with the God-into-expression-Power. If you pursue that way, regularly, with all devotion, He will always be face-to-face with you. He resides with you. Whenever you want to, you close your eyes, rise above body (-consciousness) and then see Him. Guru Ram Das tells us, “This is the state of those who really want to see God.” They are not after this world’s possessions. They simply want to have a glimpse of Him. That is the fate of few. How many people are seen crying, breaking their heads, for worldly things. But how many are there who are crying to see God? Rama Krishna Paramhansa tells us, “If a man continues three days regularly in his yearning for the Lord, God will appear to him.” We cannot even yearn for an hour. So the point is, you see, those who are after having a vision of God – beatific vision – no other thing can appeal to them. They are not satisfied unless they see. But others, the world is full of them – why don’t they yearn to see God? The reason is they are under a grand delusion. That delusion starts from where? From the man-body. He is the indweller of the man-body, but he is identified with the body so much so that he has forgotten himself. He works from the level of the man-body, which is made of matter and matter is changing every moment of life. And the world around is also changing, being of matter, at the same speed as our body is changing.

So, when two things are moving at the same speed, to those who are identified with it, to them this appears that it is all stationary. It is a grand delusion. Take the example of a boat in which some people, say five, six, seven or so, are rowing. The boat is going down the stream. One man is standing on the side (shore) of the river. He cries out, “Dear friends, you are rowing down the stream!” They look at the water around it, and the boat appears to be stationary – not moving. Is it not a grand delusion? The learned and the unlearned, both are under a grand delusion.