On Hymns of Swami Ji Maharaj

Maharaj Kirpal Singh tells us that the Saints lead the seeking souls into the life of the spirit “each in his own time, according to the then prevailing conditions and people’s aspirations; for they (Masters) always try to lead them from the line of least resistance and dole out the basic goodness in terms that may readily appeal to and fit in with their mental make-up, for a step higher in the process of evolution or unfoldment of the of the spirit.”

When Hazur Sawan Singh instructed Baba Somanath to leave the Dera and return to South India to propagate the teaching of Sant Mat, He said: “Somanath, the body in which your soul dwells is highly suitable for spreading the teaching of Sant Mat in South India for you have both the understanding of the ways of the people of the South and with the Grace of the Masters have perfected the meditation after passing through every lower stage of the journey. Go and commence the work of Satsang.”

We find that Baba Somanath’s Satsangs are filled with a wealth of words, names, places and concepts from the Sanskrit epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharat, from Hindu traditions prevalent at the time of His mission, and from Vedanta and other branches of Indian philosophy. To translate this feast of spirituality into English with no reference to His original words would be disservice to His meaning and to the deep devotional atmosphere that pervades His discourses. Further, Baba Somanath loved to draw on puns and folk etymology to explain complex spiritual truths to His sangat that was comprised, to a large degree, of farmers and mill workers; and much of His meaning would be lost without reference to the original Hindi.  Therefore, many Hindi and Sanskrit words appear in the translations, and it may be helpful here to say a few words about the methodology employed to transliterate them.

The transliteration scheme used in these Satsangs has one goal — to give an intuitive approximation of the correct pronunciation of the Hindi sounds for readers who are unfamiliar with the sound systems of Indian languages. The transliteration follows the familiar pattern used in the bhajan book In Praise of Kirpal. A little extra information has been added with diacritics drawn from IAST (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration) and from other established historic usage. If you encounter an unfamiliar Hindi word, diacritics can offer clues to how that word is pronounced.

VOWELS
If you are going to remember only one thing while reading the transliterated Hindi, let it be the distinction between the short “a” (as in “alive”) and the long “ā” (as in “father).  Short vowels have no added diacritic. Long vowels have a dash (macron) above the vowel. You can safely ignore everything else about the transliteration scheme and do just fine. 

If you are up for a little more detail, here is the full list of long and short vowels:

a   as in alive, achieve

ā   as in calm, mom

i    as in sit, knit

ī    as in sweet, Rita

u   as in foot, brook

ū   as in school, rule

And to round out the vowels, here’s what remains:

e         like hay, rain (but not a diphthong, that is, no “ee” sound at the end)

ai        like west, zest (regionally, may also be pronounced like cat, sat)

au       like draw, shawl

ri/rhi  pronounced like “ri” in ridge or “ru” in ruse, depending on the region

An informational side note here: all Hindi vowels (with the exception of the vocalic “ri”) can be nasalized. You don’t need to give much attention to this point, but just be aware that when you see a vowel with a tilde (ã, ẽ, ĩ, õ, ũ, aĩ, aũ, ā̃, ī̃, etc.) it means the vowel is nasalized. If you are a French speaker this will be a snap for you, because nasalized vowels are common in French (bon, maison, lavande, Antibes). Otherwise, you can think of vowels pronounced through the nose with a country and western twang.

CONSONANTS
Consonants should be fairly intuitive and should not present any difficulty. Simply pronounce them as you would in English and you’ll be fine.  

But if you’d like to know a little more about the sound systeml, read on…

A distinction that you may already be familiar with from In Praise of Kirpal is that some consonants are followed by a “h”, indicating that Hindi speakers pronounce those letters with an extra puff of air (aspirated). You can safely disregard this extra aspiration and pronounce “th” as “t,” or “dh” as “d” and so forth.

Also, sometimes you’ll notice a dot under a consonant. These dots usually indicate retroflex sounds, that is, consonants pronounced slightly farther back in the mouth than their equivalent English consonants.  In fact, the English pronunciation is already close enough to the Hindi retroflex to make it an acceptable substitute. (The one tricky set is “ṛ” and “ṛh.”  You can just pronounce them both as the “r” in “rhyme” and be close enough. You can also approximate the “ṛ” sound more closely by pronouncing it as the “rd” in the word “Urdu.” The tongue bends back, strikes the palate and flips forward. But, unless you are actually learning to speak Hindi, there is no need to master that sound set.)

Sometimes, the dots with consonants can indicate a Perso-Arabic sounds in loan words. These words are common in Sufi literature and in the ecumenical Sant literature drawn, as it is, from a vast array of religious traditions. If you encounter these letters, you can just pronounce them as you would in English and disregard the dots. (For instance, kḥ is usually pronounced simply as “kh” in modern standard Hindi, but the Perso-Arabic letter actually sounds like the “ch” in the Scottish “loch” or the German “Bach.”)

Nasal consonants have been simplified. All nasal consonants are transcribed as “n”, “m”, or “ṇ” (retroflex n). We have already mentioned that nasalized vowels are marked with a tilde (ã, ĩ, õ, etc.)  No distinction is made for ṅ, and ñ; both are transliterated as “n”. Usually, no distinction is made within a word between between anusvāra and anunāsika. Final anunāsika is transcribed as the appropriate vowel with a tilde rather than using the IAST transcription “ṃ”.

Also, IAST transliterates regular “sh” as “ś” and retroflex “sh” as “ṣ”.  Since most readers would be unfamiliar with IAST conventions, we have chosen to use regular “sh” as “sh” and retroflex “sh” as “ṣh”.

It is worth mentioning the letter “v.” In some regions, “v” is pronounced as “w” and is often represented in English spellings of Hindi words as “w,” for instance, in the word “Swami.” So, in the case of “v,” we use “v” when specifically transliterating a Hindi word, but in the text, we stick with the English spelling for words such as “Swami” that have a commonly accepted English form. 

Finally, we don’t usually add diacritics to commonly known words such as “prana.” But if those words appear in lists where diacritics are necessary for unfamiliar words, we add diacritics to everything for consistency, for instance, in this sequence describing the koshas or sheaths: “annamaya, the food sheath; prāṇamaya, the sheath of the vital airs; manomaya, the mental sheath; vigyānamaya, the sheath of knowledge, with two aspects, gyān and vigyān (gyānamaya, concerned with knowledge of the material planes and vigyānamaya, concerned with enlightenment in the spiritual planes)  and, lastly, anandamaya, the sheath of bliss, the final gossamer-thin kosha covering the soul.”

SANSKRIT vs. HINDI

The inherent “a” at the end of words is silent in modern Hindi, and so is not usually transcribed. However, it may be included for words taken directly from Sanskrit. Visarga is transcribed as ḥ, but again it is confined to Sanskrit words. The Sanskrit conjunct “jña” is transcribed as “gya” which is the more common modern pronunciation.

For the grammatical form of Sanskrit words in the text, we have been guided by Baba Somanath’s own usage. For instance, He usually favors “ātmā” (nominative singular) over “ātman” (the neutral “dictionary” form) to indicate “soul” or “self,” and we follow His lead.

Swami Ji Maharaj

There is no washerman equal to the Guru,
For He cleanses the cloth of the surat.

Dhubiyā Guru sam aur na koya

धुबिया गुरु सम और न कोय । चदरिया धोई सूरत जोय  ।।१।।
मैल सब काढ़ा निर्मल होय । कहूं क्या गुरु की महिमा सोय ।।२।।
घाट पर बैठे दीखें मोहिं । सुरत मैं डारी चरन समोय ।।३।।
धार अब आई कसमल खोय । चटक कर दीन्ह चदरिया धोय ।।४।।
शब्द संग लागी प्रेमी होय । भेद राधास्वामी पाया गोय ।।५।।

Sār Bachan Radhāsvāmī, Chand Band
Bachan 37, Prāpti Shabd va Shukarānā Satguru, shabd 21

There is no washerman equal to the Guru, for He cleanses the cloth of the surat.

This is the bani of Param Sant Satguru Hazur Swami Ji Maharaj. Since time immemorial, when the jivas first came into this mortal world, they have endured the suffering of the 84 lakh life forms, trapped in the wheel of birth and death, and the only Power that can rescue them from their plight is the Guru. In this world, there is no other remedy for stilling the restless mind and scrubbing away the encrusted filth of age upon age.

Rites and rituals, worship of gods and goddesses, prayers and recitations, daily ablutions and offerings, yogic sacrifices, mantras and austerities — all of these are part and parcel of the mind. The outer ceremonies and practices are created by the gross mind; supernatural powers and miracle working arise from the subtle mind, and merging into the form of Brahm1One Mahavakya, “Great Saying,” from the Upanishads states “aham brahmāsmi” – “I am Brahm,” expressing the unity of the individual soul (ātmā) with the Universal Power (Brahm) that permeates all of creation. is inspired by the causal mind. But the ātmā or soul is a resident of Sat Lok-Sach Khand, a denizen of Sat Naam.  And when that pure, shining ātmā entered the body of five elements and permeated every cell of the physical form, then that ātmā became jiva, or embodied soul. Weighed down by the karmas from ages past, the mind-ridden jiva is covered in filth and defiled by stain upon stain. And each impure current sets in motion the undulations of Maya. Moment after moment, waves of thought arise in the heart, and the motivating power behind all of these thoughts is the entrenched sense of “I and mine.” Because of this I-ness, the thoughts go on churning, from morning till nightfall, many lodging in the storehouse of memory, many sinking into the depths of forgetfulness, each one shaping the doings of the heart in its own image.

There is no soap in this world that can cleanse away the filth of the mind. In the outer way, if coal merchant or someone who works with greasy machines brings their clothes to the washerman, he will tell them, “Take your dirty clothes away, and wash them in the ocean. I can’t accept them, because if I try to wash them, the oil and grime from your clothes will spoil all the other people’s clothes.”

In this same way, the cloth of the mind is so dirty that it has become pitch black.  Who would be willing to wash such filthy cloth?  This blackness is heaped up within everyone. Outside the body looks okay, but within, the mind is as black as coal. What washerman can we find to clean it?

You can take your outer clothes to some washing company to have them cleaned, but there is no washing company for the mind. Therefore, Kabir Sahib Ji tells us that the only Washerman who can cleanse the dirt of the mind is the Guru. The word “Guru” does not mean a mere human being. The Guru is not just a person who gives out religious teachings. The Guru dwells within us; He is the Power of Truth. That Power of Truth has been referred to variously as Guru, Naam, or Lord in different places.

Now, two Powers dwell within us. One is the Power of Truth, the Guru Power; and one is the power of falsehood, the mind. Until we meet the True Washerman — the Guru — the dirt of the mind cannot be removed, and the dazzling whiteness of the soul cannot shine forth.

Therefore, He says that for cleaning the mind, there is no washerman in this world equal to the Guru. You do not have to pay Him for His services — He accepts no fee. He washes away the dirt of the mind free of charge. He washes the cloth of the surat sparkling clean and makes it brand new.

He removes all the dirt and makes it spotlessly pure.
What can I say about the greatness of such a Guru?

Now, He has washed away all the stains and filth of egotism. How can I praise such a Guru? What can I say of His Glory? His Power lies beyond the limits of language. No matter how much I may sing of His magnificence, my praise will always fall short. Kabir Sahib says:

सब धर्ती कागद करूँ, लेखनी करूँ बनराय ।
सात समुंदर मसि करूँ, तो भी गुरू गुण लिखा न जाय ।।

If I make paper of all the earth and from the vegetation fashion a pen,
If I change all the seven oceans to ink, still I cannot describe his greatness.

I behold Him seated on the high dais;
Drawing my surat upward, I bow at His holy feet.

The Satguru sits enthroned on a high dais, and I have gone into His shelter. I have laid the cloth of my soul at His feet.

The stream of Shabd removes all my stains and sins,
And imparts a brilliant, white radiance to the cloth of my surat.

Instantly, the Grace of the Satguru flowed over me. In just a moment, the stream of Shabd cleansed away the stains accumulated over millions of yugas and millions of lifetimes. For me, there is no more birth, no more death. In an instant, all my soul’s connection with this mortal world was severed forever.  

Merging into the Shabd, the surat becomes a true lover,
And beholds the hidden secret of Radhaswami.

When the soul merges into the True Love of the Shabd, then it becomes the form of Shabd.  Then the hidden experience of the Lord is revealed. This is not a matter of empty talk. Outwardly, your words may fly on the wings of imagination, you may impart wisdom gleaned from sacred scriptures, or you may relate colorful stories from the lives of the great souls, but without the True Inner Knowledge it is all a pretentious masquerade.

Audio: H003

Swami Ji Maharaj

O Surat! I know you have been unhappy here

Surat tū dukhī rahe ham jānī
सुरत तू दुखी रहे हम जानी  ।। टेक ।।
जा दिन से तुम शब्द बिसारा । मन संग यारी ठानी ।।१।।
मन मूरख तन साथ बँधानी  ।  इन्द्री स्वाद लुभानी ।।२।।
कुल परिवार सभी दुखदाई  ।  इन संग रहत भुलानी ।।३।।
तू चतेन यह जड़ सब मिथ्या  ।  क्यों कर मेल मिलानी ।।४।।
ताते चेत चलो यह औसर  ।  नहिं भरमो तुम खानी ।।५।।
सतसंग करो सत्त पद खोजो  ।  सतगुरु प्रीत समानी ।।६।।
नाम रतन गुरु देयँ बुझाई  ।  उलट चलो असमानी ।।७।।
इतना काम करो तुम अब के  ।  फिर आगे की सतगुरु जानी ।।८।।
राधास्वामी कहन सम्हारो  ।  दुख छूटे सुख मिले निशानी ।।९।।

Sār Bachan Radhāsvāmī, Chand Band
Bachan 14, Chitāvanī, part 1, shabd 10

O Surat! I know you have been unhappy here,
Since the day you forgot the Shabd and struck up a friendship with the mind.

This is the bani of Param Sant Satguru Hazur Radhaswami Ji. He says, “O soul! You have been suffering since time immemorial. You have brought all this suffering on yourself through your friendship with the mind, and now you have become the form of the mind itself.”   Through that friendship with the mind, which is a destructible thing, you have become the form of Maya. By constant association with that which is destructible, you are destroying your life. You are overflowing with desires, and those desires remain unfulfilled. And because your desires are unsatisfied your heart remains ever restless; since that day when you first forgot the True Name, you have been enduring suffering upon suffering.

The foolish mind has become tied to the body; you are enticed by the taste of the senses.

The ignorant mind, turning its back on the conscious soul, has struck up a friendship with this material body formed of the five elements. The body has come under the control of the senses. The senses in turn seek pleasure in the outside world, while the mind, taking up its seat in our within, finds fleeting happiness in those outer enjoyments. And lost in these outer enjoyments, you have forgotten your own True Self; the individual ego has overpowered you. You think, “I am the body. This body is mine.”  But the body belongs to Maya. This is the reason for all your unhappiness. This world is destructible, and you are being destroyed along with it.

The family and relations all bring you misery. But lost in illusion, you remain in their company.

The taste of even one sense pleasure can enslave you to such a degree that you can never become free of its addiction your whole life long.  Someone may have the habit of drinking liquor. They leave their home with a vessel wrapped up in a cloth. They squander all their money buying liquor to fill the vessel; they drink all that liquor and then return home. The taste of just one sense pleasure can destroy your life, but so many cravings fill your within.  Someone may have a taste for good foods. Or someone might like to look at good things. Now so many cinema houses have been constructed — every day a new one opens its doors. And the cinemas are always packed with people because the eyes control us. In this way, the taste for all these sense pleasures is ruining our lives, and we don’t even realize it. We think: “Whatever I am doing, it is a good thing.” We are helpless before these outer tastes, and we are spoiling our precious human birth.

All this suffering comes through the body.  We are trapped in the give and take of children, family, relatives, caste, clan, wealth, property. All these things bring us suffering, but we have made them our own. We think, “I have this duty. If I don’t take care of everything, who will do it?”  Our ego tells us that everything depends on us, and we remain ensnared in the worldly responsibilities until death overtakes us. How long do you think your relationship with these worldly things will last?  We had no connection with them before we were born, and in the end, they will not remain with us. In between birth and death, for a brief “four days” of life, we have become bewitched by the material world, but in the end, death stands waiting for us.  Our attachment to all these things is the cause of our suffering, but we spend our life in their service and consider them a source of happiness.

You are conscious Spirit, but this illusory world is composed of gross matter. Why form a friendship with falsehood?

Now He clarifies that you are a conscious soul. Matter, which makes up the outer world, is unconscious; it is unreal. Our perception of the material world is an invention of our own buddhi or intellect. How can day come together with night? Unconscious matter is the form of darkness and ignorance; it appears real to us, but it has no innate reality of its own.  In contrast, our soul is conscious. It is self-existing; it is the form of Light. How can the conscious soul converge with unconscious matter?  Where there is night, there is no day, and where there is day, there is no night.  But we are caught in between the two in a state of ambiguity, which we call illusion. Illusion is neither truth nor falsehood.  Caught in this ambiguity, we perceive the world through inference; all the jivas pass their lives understanding this illusion as reality. We think, “What if this happens to me tomorrow? In the future, my condition may become like this. My children may become like that. And then I will do such and such for them.” But this is all a game of “what if?” It is all inference and guesswork; we have no idea what will actually happen tomorrow. And all the world is caught up in flights of fancy and speculation. We waste our precious lives in these useless daydreams and remain in a state of ignorance. This ignorance is called illusion.

Wake up now. If you lose this opportunity, you will keep wandering in the four kinds of birth.

Now we have the human body, and it is time to wake up. If we develop right understanding now, well and good; if we don’t, we will be thrown back into the wheel of transmigration.

There are three powers at work.  

[Baba Somanath Ji asks Pushpamma Ji to sing a Kannada hymn from the Mankuthimmana Kagga. 2Written by Dr. D. V. Gundappa (“Mankutimma”) and published in 1943]

nāneṁbudoṁdaṁśavitara jagavoṁdaṁśa |
nānu nīnugaḷaḷida sarvaikyavoṁdu  |

I am one power, the second power is the world,
When “I” and “you” are eliminated, Unity remains [the third power]

The poet tells us that the individual “I” who is speaking is the first power. The material world is the second power. And the third Power unites the other two. Three powers are at work. The jiva with an individual identity is one power, the second power is the created world, and the third is that Conscious Power that permeates and yet is separate from the other two. The action and interaction of these three powers keep all the creation running.  

dhyānisuttaikyavanu pālisuvudubhayavanu |
jāṇinā nāṭakavo – maṁkutimma ||793||

Remain absorbed in the Unity while you attend to your worldly work.
O Mankutimma! The wise devotee understands that this world is just a play.

The devotee who is wise and alert practices the meditation and remains absorbed in the Lord’s devotion day and night. Such a devotee works within the first two powers, but remains detached from them. Rising above the individual self and the created world, the devotee becomes one with All-Consciousness.  For such an enlightened and awakened devotee, this world is just a play. The devotee watches the play with an air of detachment. As long as such devotees remain in the created world, they think: “I am acting out my role in this play.” Having risen above their individual identity, they are no longer bound by it. Such devotees see that all this world is a play.

[Baba Ji returns to the hymn of Swami Ji]

Therefore, Swami Ji Maharaj says that in this human birth, you should remain awake and alert. Otherwise, you will have to keep wandering through the four kinds of birth3The four kinds of birth are moisture-born, seed-born, egg-born, and womb-born. and all the 84 lakh lifeforms. But this is your opportunity to come out of the cycle of births and deaths; if you stay alert now, you can accomplish the work you came for.

Going in the Satsang, seek the Realm of Truth; become absorbed in Satguru’s love.

What is the importance of attending the Satsang?  If we go on hearing the Truth, then the falsehood and illusion of the outer world that have grown strong within us are gradually rendered powerless. Love and devotion for the Guru awaken, and following the Guru’s instructions, we begin to meditate with accuracy and regularity.  This is what we gain from attending Satsang. Just to hear the discourse is not Satsang. Satsang means to become the form of Truth.  Many people listen, but when it comes time to apply the Guru’s words to their lives, they become lazy.  No matter how much you may listen to the Satsang, until you act on what you have heard, you cannot gain any benefit. Satsang only lasts for one hour. We pass all the rest of our time sitting at home involved in the feverish activity and hubbub of the world. It is only in that one hour of Satsang that we hear the Truth and can devote some time for the upliftment of our soul.   But Sant Mat is the Path of experiencing the Truth, and without practicing the meditation, we cannot see this Truth with our own eyes. Many satsangis get together here when I come once a year on tour, but for the rest of the year, they do not show their faces in the Satsang. When you ask them why they do not attend, they say, “I had some pressing work,” or “I live too far away.” Someone else says, “There were many difficulties at home.” Friend, it is to become free of these very difficulties that you should ignore the dictates of your mind and remain regular in your attendance at Satsang.

You never miss a meal. You never forget that it is time to eat; you never postpone having your food. You expect your meals at the fixed time, and when the food is served, you are never absent. But for attending Satsang you make up one excuse after another. “We have some work to do; how can we come from so far; there are problems at home.” This is your attitude to the Satsang. Therefore, He says, “When you attend the Satsang, the Guru tells of the Truth that lies within you. You should search out that Truth by practicing the meditation.”

Then the Power of Satguru’s Love will manifest in your within, and you will become absorbed in that Power. The love of the world will automatically disappear from your heart, and the True Love will manifest in its place. That Power never dies, and it will liberate you from birth and death.

Satguru reveals the jewel of Naam. Reverse your attention and ascend to the seat of the soul.

The Satguru doesn’t give us some outer mantra or incantation to repeat. Your within is a veritable treasure house filled with the wealth of Naam, but in order to extract that wealth, the mind has to turn within.  What does Satguru do for us?  He tells us the method to still the mind within and gives us a connection with the Naam.  And Naam is the treasure house of spiritual wealth. That wealth never runs out. In the end, it makes you immortal. If you listen to the Satsang with attention and true love, then you will earn this benefit.  Kabir Sahib says:

देखा देखी भक्ति को, कबहूं न चड़सी रंग
The one who practices the devotion just imitating others
will never be dyed in the true color.

The people who imitate others think, “If they are doing the devotion, I will do what they are doing. If they are going to take Naam initiation, I will do the same thing.”  You can never gain anything by doing the devotion in this way.

Complete this work now, and when you ascend within you will attain the knowledge of the Satguru.

He tells us that raising our attention to the seat of the soul is our duty.  When we withdraw from the body and reach the still point between the eyes, then the intellect ceases to function. Only the Satguru and the true Power of Naam remain.  Until we vacate the nine doors and come to the tenth door, we have to go on making efforts. But from that point on, the Satguru himself takes complete charge of the soul.

When we need a bathroom cleaned, we call a sweeper to take care of that work, not a Brahmin.  In the same way, we ourselves need to clean away the dirt of the five elements, and the Satguru tells us the means to accomplish this task.  Our job is to have faith in Him and practice our meditation regularly according to His instructions.  And when we reach up to the gateway of the astral realm, Satguru is standing waiting for us and will take care for all our needs on the journey beyond.

Attend to the words of Radhaswami; your sufferings will vanish, and you will gain peace and happiness.

Treasure His every word in your heart and mold your within according to His teachings. Then all sorrow will be banished, and you will become the form of Bliss.

Audio: H019

Swami Ji Maharaj

I am calling out to You; today, listen to my plea!

Karat hū̃ pukār, āja suniye guhār

Sār Bachan Radhāsvāmī, Chand Band
Bachan 33, Faryād aur Pukār, śhabd 3

करत हूं पुकार, आज सुनिये गुहार,
मैं दीन हूं अधीन, तुम दाता दयार हो ।।१।।

I am calling out to You; today, listen to my plea.
I am poor and helpless, but you are the Gracious Giver. (1)

This is the bani of Param Sant Satguru Hazur Swami Ji Maharaj. The loving soul is offering a prayer at the feet of the Sant Satguru saying: “O Satguru! I am praying and requesting at Your feet. Have mercy on me, and listen to my plea. Enslaved by Maya, I am suffering unending pain.”

अब करिये सम्हार, मेरी नाव है मँझधार,
मैं दुखिया अति भार, तुम खेवट अगार हो ।।२।।

Please come to my rescue now — my boat is drifting in mid-stream.
I am in great distress, and you are the Expert Ferryman. (2)

You are my only Protector; no one else will come to my aid. In this world, You and You alone are my Gracious Benefactor. Therefore, I offer this prayer at Your feet again and again. My boat of life is adrift in this ocean of the world, and only You can take me to the other shore. So, now, please come to my aid. O Lord, please ferry me across the ocean of this world. I am filled with misery. You are the boatman, the ferryman, the Kolī4“Kolī” is an ethnic group of fishermen. Baba Somanath Ji’s sangat included a number of Kolīs who had taken initiation and adopted the vegetarian diet.. You alone are the captain of my ship.

दूत और दुष्ट मोहिं, घेर लिया वार, दुख देत हैं अपार,
भय दिखावत जमद्वार, तुम रक्षक हुशियार हो ।।३।।

The messengers of death and agents of evil surrounded me and gave me untold suffering. They terrified me with the horrors of hell.
But now, O my Wise Protector, you have come to my aid. (3)

My within is filled with countless bad qualities and evil tendencies — lust, anger, greed, attachment, and ego. Day and night, they cause me untold suffering. The messengers of Yama have surrounded me and are giving me endless suffering in this ocean of the world. Not only do they persecute me here, but they also fill me with dread of the world to come, opening before me the unspeakable horrors of Yama’s hells. O Satguru, only you can comfort me and deliver me from this torment. I have fallen at Your holy lotus feet, and time and time again, I cry out for your help.

लेना अब ख़बर मोर, मैं तो हूं सरन तोर,
काल किया बहुत ज़ोर,
धूम धाम करत शोर, तुम सूरन प्रधान हो ।।४।।

Now, please grant me your support; give me a place in your refuge.
Kal is exerting all his might and wreaking havoc,
But You are the Bravest of the Brave. (4)

Eradicating the pain of millions of births, wiping away the suffering of unnumbered years, you have saved me. I have come into your shelter and have thrown myself at Your feet. Now hear my plea, and listen to my sad plight.

Kal has bound me within by countless chains of Maya, forged from my own evil deeds. Through the force of karma, Kal has enslaved me. Kal wields so much power that, day and night, he stirs up a tremendous turmoil in my inner mind (antaḥkaraṇa). My agony has become unbearable, and yet, I cannot free myself from it. But you are the mightiest of all Heroes. You and you alone can remove my suffering — no one else can accomplish such a feat.

मेरी बुद्धि है मलीन, मन सुरत है अलीन,
बल पौरुष सब छीन, तुम सतगुरु प्रबीन हो ।।५।।

My intellect and understanding are spoiled. My mind and surat are impure.
All my strength and vigor have been snatched away;
But You, O Satguru, are the All‑Powerful Adept. (5)

Controlled by Maya and trapped in the sense enjoyments, my understanding is besmirched with filth. Committing sins day and night, my intellect has become impure. All-Powerful as You are, please wash away all the dross, and keep me at Your holy feet.

मोहिं दीजे इक दान, मैं माँगत हूं निदान,
सुर्त शब्द का निशान, तुम समरथ सुजान हो ।।६।।

Therefore, I implore you; please grant me this one boon.
You are omnipotent and omniscient;
Reveal to me the secret of Surat Shabd. (6)

Please grant me this one request. You are the Giver of Peace. Do not let me look to anyone else; keep my attention fixed at Your holy lotus feet. This is the blessing I crave. Anchor my soul in the Shabd day and night. Shabd is the supreme weapon that vanquishes all sorrow. You are the All-Powerful Lord; only you can remove my suffering.

विरह नाहिं, प्रेम नाहिं, भक्ति भाव चाव नाहिं,
सरधा परतीत नाहिं,
काम क्रोध लोभ माहिं, कैसे करोगे निर्वाह हो ।।७।।

I have no longing, and I am wanting in love. I lack the eager spirit of devotion.
Devoid of faith, bereft of belief, I am drowning in lust, anger and greed.
How can you ferry me across? (7)

I am asking for Your blessing, but can I give in exchange for such a treasure?  I have no good quality in me, no yearning, no true devotion. I have nothing to offer at all. I am devoid of devotion and my faith is shaky. Day and night, lust and anger overwhelm me.  How can you save a sinking stone like me? I have this doubt within me.

रोग सोग नित सतायँ, भजन सुमिरन बनत नाहिं,
भोग बास घटत नाहिं, चिंता डर अधिक दाहिं
और कोई सुनत नाहिं, तुम ही मेरे बैद हो ।।८।।

Sickness and sorrow torment me daily.
I do not apply myself to Bhajan and Simran.
My desire for the pleasures does not abate,
And the flames of fear and worry burn hotter within me.
No one listens to my cries. You alone are my Physician and Healer. (8)

Day and night, worldly worries weigh on my mind, and sickness troubles my body. Even though I have suffered so much, still my desire for the sense enjoyments does not become less. Instead, it grows day by day. Wherever desire has the upper hand, it brings misery in its wake, and I remain always afraid. When we are trapped in falsehood, fear dogs our every step. Now, no one else will listen to my cries; you are my only Vaidya (physician). Only You can chase away this sickness. There is no other cure.

संतन बिन कोइ नाहिं, सतगुरु बिन ठीक नाहिं,
करम भरम नीक नाहिं,
शब्द बिना सीख नाहिं, यही भीख दीजिये ।।९।।

Except for the Saints, I have no one to call my own;
The door of the Satguru is my only fixed abode.
There is no virtue in rites, rituals, and superstition.
Shabd is the only true teaching — grant me this blessing (9)

What support does the jiva have except the Saints? Who but the Satguru will give out the teaching of Truth? I have no store of good karma. I have no righteous conduct to my credit. Except for the teaching of Shabd, there is no other firm footing. Without the Shabd the inner experience does not manifest. Nothing but the Shabd can cut our fetters.  I have come to your door seeking alms. I stand here as a beggar. Have mercy on me, and grant me the boon of Naam.  

सुरत को चढ़ाओ आज, शब्द का दिखाओ साज,
सहसकँवल जाय भाज, देखे व्हाँ का समाज,
मन को तब होय लाज, यही काज कीजिये ।।१०।।

Raise my surat now; show me the splendor of Shabd.
Let me hurry on to Sahas-dal Kanwal and behold the holy congregation there.
Then my mind will be put to shame; please fulfill this request of mine. (10)

Withdraw my consciousness from the nine doors, and take me upward into the etheric realm. Connect me with the Shabd, and let me behold that Power within. May my soul reach Sahas-dal Kanval and experience its radiant beauty first‑hand.

So much Power lies hidden within me.  When my soul will at last come to experience that Power, then my mind will stand shamefaced. Even though such a mighty Power was always been close at hand all the time, still the mind lured me into the empty outer world and shackled me inextricably in its chains of illusion. Therefore, shower grace on me now, and open that glittering vista before me.

बंक परे त्रिकुट घाट, खुले फिर सुन्न बाट,
महासुन्न खोल पाट, भँवरगुफा बाँध ठाट,
सत्त शब्द पाय चाट, सतपुर पहुंचाइये ।।११।।

Crossing through the Banknal, may I scale the heights of Trikuti.
Open before me the path leading on to Sunn; remove the barrier of Mahasunn, And transport me through the Bhanwar Gupha.
Making me taste the bliss of Sat Shabd, take me to Satpur, the City of Truth. (11)

Then please escort me through the crooked tunnel of Banknal, so that I may climb to the lofty heights of Trikuti. Open to me the further path into the Sunn (the Void) and escort me onward into the region of Par Brahm.

Guide me across the dark, impenetrable expanse of Mahasunn and into the dazzling realm of Bhanwar Gupha, the Whirling Cave. Then escort me into Sat Lok, the Realm of Truth, and make me one with Truth.

The darbār (court) of the Satguru is in Sat Lok, and He Himself guides you all the way there. But when you reach that point, it is the Power of Sat Purush that will transport your soul higher.  Up to Sat Lok, it has been the duty of the Satguru to give you the message of Truth.

जहँ से परे अलख देख, लोक एक अगम पेख,
राधास्वामी पद अलेख, पंडित न जाने भेख,
क़ाज़ी न मुल्ला शेख़, संत बिन न जाइये ।।१२।।

Beyond, let me behold Alakh and then the region of Agam Lok;
Finally, may my soul come to rest in Radhaswami Dham;
Of that realm the pandits, kazis, mullās and sheikhs have no knowledge.
No one gains entry there except through the grace and mercy of the Saints.

Beyond Sat Lok lies the realm of Alakh, the Imperceptible. Then you come to the realm of Agam, the Inaccessible. And finally, you reach the region of Anami or Radhaswami Dham, the Self-Existing Plane beyond all creation. This knowledge is hidden from those who only practice priestcraft — the pandits, the religious leaders, the swamis and faqirs. No kazi (judge) or mullā (religious scholar) has discovered it. Without the help of the Satguru, you can never attain these heights. No one else can open the way to you; they don’t even have an inkling that such exalted regions exist.

एक कहूं सीख मान, मन की तू छोड़ ठान,
गुरु की गति अगम जान, शब्द भेद ले पहिचान,
तेरी बुद्धि है अजान, काम क्रोध त्यागिये ।।१३।।

Then the Sat Guru replies: “I tell you one thing — pay heed to my advice.
O disciple! Give up the obstinacy of your mind.”
Realize that the stature of the Guru is beyond comprehension;
Learn the secret of Shabd from Him, and delve into its mysteries.
Accept that your intellect is ignorant and can offer no guidance.
Cast aside your anger and lust. (13)

Moved to mercy, the Satguru replies: “O disciple, heed this teaching of mine. Never follow the dictates of your mind.” Always remember that the Guru is the All-Owner — the Lord of all that exists. Day and night, fix your attention in the Shabd. Here your intellect cannot help you — this mystery lies beyond its understanding. Lust, anger, and all the evil tendencies are still lurking in your within; keeping the Guru’s teachings always before you, cast out these offenders.

सतसंग की क़दर जान, नर शरीर दुर्लभ मान,
नाम रस करो पान, गुरु स्वरूप धरो ध्यान,
इन्द्री मन कसो आन, पर्ख पर्ख चालिये ।।१४।।

Understand the importance of Satsang. Appreciate this precious human birth.
Imbibe the nectar of Naam, and anchor your attention in the Guru’s Form.
Bring the mind and the senses under your control;
Then step by step, proceed forward with great care. (14)

Tulsi Das tells us:

संत समागम हरि कथा तुलसी दुर्लभ दोय।
सुत दारा और लक्ष्मी, पापी के भी होय ।।

O Tulsi, two things are precious and rare beyond reckoning —
The fellowship of the Saints and praise of Almighty God.
Son, wife, and wealth — even the sinners possess these trifles.

The human birth is the highest in all creation, and in this age, many souls are blessed with the human body. The population has grown so much that there are people everywhere; even the inaccessible and inhospitable mountains and rocky plains are inhabited. But Swami Ji tells us that it is not enough just to get the human birth. Even after we have received such a boon, still it is rare to get the company of the Saints and even rarer to make the mind accept Their teachings. When you go to the Saints, if your mind doesn’t accept Their words, then what can you hope to accomplish?  

Therefore, day and night, go on doing the Simran of Naam. Let no other remembrance arise in your heart.

आस एक सतनाम की, दूजी आस निरास
Place your hope in Sat Naam; all other hopes lead to despair.

Keep your hope fixed on the True Naam. Never allow other desires to multiply in your heart. Repeat the Simran in such a way that your soul withdraws from all outside things and collects within. Focus your attention fully on the enchanting form of the Guru. Become totally absorbed in this contemplation. Then what will happen? All the dirt of the mind that has accumulated for ages and ages will be washed away, and your soul will shine forth, spotlessly pure. And when your soul is cleansed of all outer dross, it will unite with the Immaculate Power of the Shabd within.

But if you allow the evil tendencies to make their home within you, if you accept the influence of the mind and senses while you are practicing the remembrance of the Lord, it is just like putting drops of poison into a jar of nectar. If you do the meditation with pure thoughts and then allow the senses to lure you back into the enjoyments of the world, all of your good deeds are reduced to ashes. It is just like setting out one day and traveling ten or twenty miles along the way to your destination, and then, suddenly turning around and returning to the point where you had started from. Everything you have accomplished can be brought to naught in a moment. Therefore, you must rein in the mind and senses, keep them firmly under your control, and practice the meditation with undivided attention and wholehearted devotion.

मित्र तेरा कोई नाहिं, कुल कुटुंब लूट खाहिं,
जोबन धन साथ नाहिं, जक्त भर्म फाँस माहिं,
काल कर्म खोस खाहिं, खान चार जाईये ।।१५।।

No one is your real friend. Your family and relations will plunder you.
Your youth and riches will not accompany you;
The noose of illusion is tied around your neck.
Kal and karma are snatching away your precious breaths.
You will go again into the four categories of birth5The four categories of living creatures according to their mode of birth are: “(i) Andaj: those born from eggs, like birds, snakes, fish, etc.; (ii) Jeraj: those born from the foetus, like men and animals.; (iii) Utbhuj: those that sprout from seeds, like trees, shrubs and vegetables. (iv) Setaj: those that grow out of sweat, filth, etc., like lice and worms, etc.” Kirpal Singh, The Jap Ji: the message of Guru Nanak (Delhi, India: Ruhani Satsang, 1964) p 111. (15)

Other than our Guru, do we have any real well-wisher in this world? No, not one. Therefore, Swami Ji warns us that our friends, our family, and our relations are devouring our life and wealth bite by bite.  

Do you think your youth will remain with you forever? If you use the time of your youth for meditation on Naam Simran and devotion to the Lord — if you manifest the first-hand spiritual experience in your within — then you will enjoy happiness in this world and the next. But if you squander your youth in worldly pleasures, you will become hollow and empty within. And when your end time comes, you will leave repenting and weeping. Therefore, Swami Ji is warning us that at the time of death neither wealth nor youth will accompany us. Only the Naam and the Guru will go with us. No other power can come to our aid.

In this world, you have become ensnared in the trap of illusion. Kal has bound you with the rope of karma and will devour you one day.

जन्म जन्म नर्क बास, जम दिखावे अधिक त्रास,
तड़पे तू स्वाँस स्वाँस, पुजवे न कहीं आस,
पावे न सुख निवास, कष्ट बहु भोगाइये ।।१६।।

Birth after birth, you will be thrown back into the hells.
Yama will torment you and give you great suffering.
With every breath, you will writhe in agony; Your desires will not be fulfilled.
The abode of happiness will remain beyond your reach,
And you will suffer agony and pain. (16)

When the human body goes out of your hands, you descend to lower bodies, and after every birth, you will endure the torments of Yama. He will hurl you into the “naraks” or hells, and then once again, you will revolve in the wheel of 84 lakh forms of life. Sometimes you will come as a cat, sometimes as a snake, sometimes as a scorpion. You will have to suffer through countless difficult incarnations.

When you are suffering in the hells do you think someone will come to rescue you? No one will help you there. The scriptures have tried to enumerate the sufferings in these hells, but how can they describe such horrible tortures? The torments of those hells are beyond the power of words to express. You have to endure terrible pain, and there can be no hope of escape through death. The astral body that is bearing all that agony does not die. In that region, no matter how much that body is burned or roasted, no matter what torture is inflicted on it, the soul cannot leave that body.  You have to undergo whatever punishment has been decreed. The miseries of that place are beyond count. You are powerless there, and no one listens to your cries.  

In that place, there is not even a glimmer of happiness. Day and night, there is only suffering and despair. Some souls are thrown into the kumbhi narak,6In the kumbhi narak, the jivas are boiled in oil and subjected to other tortures. Kumba means “jar” or “cooking vessel.” some are roasted in the fire, some eat sand. There are so many different torments that it is impossible to describe them all.

जक्त भोग छोड़ चाह, सब से तू हो अचाह,
संतन को खोज जाय, सतगुरु की सरन आय,
बचन उनके मन समाय, बंद से छुड़ाइये ।।१७।।

Throwing off the chains of worldly pleasures and desires, become detached from all.
Seek for the company of the Saints. Come into the Satguru’s shelter.
Cherish His teachings in your heart, and He will release you from chains that bind you. (17)

There is only one way to escape from these sufferings. Cast the worldly pleasures out of your heart. Become detached from sense indulgences, and free yourself from desire.

Therefore, He tells us to go into the company of the Saints. In this world, True Saints are very, very rare and hard to find. Otherwise, the world is flooded with so-called saints; you can find platoons of them with no difficulty — but that is a different matter. The True Saint is something totally apart. Therefore, He says: “Set off in search of a Saint without delay. Hurry into the refuge of the Satguru.”

Treasure every single word He utters. Just as you would weave together hundreds of pearls on one string to form a necklace, so string His precious words together in your heart like pearls. Keep them always before you, and draw inspiration from their luster. Then all your evil tendencies will leave you.

Of course, we do listen to the Guru’s words, but, unfortunately, they go in one ear and out the other. It is as if there were a direct tunnel from one side to other, and the words pass right through.

पूरा सतिगुरु क्या करे, शिष्यों में है चूक,
अंधे एक न लागई ज्यों बाँस बजाइये फूंक ।

What can the Perfect Master do, if there is some flaw in the disciples?
The blind ones don’t absorb even one word;
It’s like blowing air through a hollow bamboo pipe.

What can the Perfect Master do? He is not going to pick up a stick and beat us. Instead, He will try to explain to us. If we understand and adopt His teachings, well and good. If not, then there’s an end to it. Therefore, He says that we should take every single word into our hearts and become inspired to act on His instructions. Then liberation in this lifetime comes within our reach.

गुरु का तू बचन पाल, मन की मति तुर्त टाल,
बुद्धि के सांचे ढाल, मनमुख का संग जाल,
गुरुमुख की यही चाल, काल हाल जारिये ।।१८।।

Always obey the words of the Guru,
And immediately discard the mind’s advice.
Pouring the Guru’s words into the mold of right understanding,
Abandon the company of the manmukh.
The Gurumukhs conduct themselves in this manner;
Adopt their ways and reduce Kal to ashes. (18)

What criterion goes to show we are following the words of the Guru? If we are obeying the Guru, then we will reject the dictates of the mind.  But if we become drawn into the mind’s schemes, then know it for certain that we have pushed the Guru’s teachings aside. We don’t have to ask someone else to confirm this. Our own mind will bear witness to our condition.

When you want to fashion a fine tool or a beautiful necklace, first you need to make a mold.  Then, when you pour the molten gold or other precious metal into that mold, that molten metal will fill the mold and take on its exact shape. Similarly, if you wish to keep the molten gold of the Guru’s words in your heart, first you need to make a mold of your intellect.  Then, when you pour the Guru’s words into that mold, your intellect will preserve those precious words in your heart in the form of right understanding.

At the same time, you also have to give up the company of the manmukhs. The manmukh has a sinful influence. Even if you have spent hundreds of years doing spiritual practices, just in a day everything can be spoiled and all your hard-earned benefit lost. Therefore, to maintain your right understanding, you must avoid the company of the manmukhs. 

Swami Ji is speaking of the Gurumukh’s way of life. In the Ramayana we read that because of one word from Kaikeyi everything was changed. When her mind overpowered her, she told King Dasharatha to send Ramchandra into exile and make Bharat his successor.  Because of evil influences, in just a second, her way of thinking was changed. As a result, Ramchandra had to go into exile in the forest retreat, and the old king wasted away and died.7King Dasharatha had three wives: Kaushalya, the mother of Ramchandra; Kaikeyi, the mother of Bharat; and Sumitra, the mother of Lakshman and Shatrughna. Ramchandra was the eldest son and heir to the throne. Kaikeyi was a mighty warrior and, many years earlier, she had saved the life of Dasharatha in battle. At that time, he had granted her two boons: Ramchandra would be sent into exile for 14 years, and her son Bharat would be crowned king. Through the years, she had come to love Ramchandra and recognize him as the rightful heir, but Manthara, a maid of Kaikeyi, poisoned the mind of her mistress against Ramchandra and convinced her to hold Dasharatha to his former promises. Baba Somanath Ji is giving this as an example of how the bad influence of a manmukh can affect a devotee and undo all the benefit they have gained through their good practices. Therefore, Swami Ji Maharaj says that the sincere, loving devotees must shun the company of the manmukhs if they want to do the true bhakti.

सूरत नैना सम्हाल, तिल आकाश फाड़ डाल,
निरखो जोती जमाल, द्वारे धस बंकनाल,
अनहद पर धरो ख़्याल, गगन में चढ़ाइये ।।१९।।

Concentrate your surat (soul) between the eyes.
Pierce through the Tisra Til and enter the etheric realm.
Behold the dazzling Jyoti (Light), and enter into the gate of Banknal.
Listen to the Anhad Shabd and raise your surat to the Gagan. (19)

Focus your attention within at the still point between the two eyes. Adopt a comfortable position, and do not move from there. We use the word āsana for a fixed posture, but this is not the true meaning of āsana. Āsa means “desire” and na means “no.” So, sitting in an āsana really means to have no desire. How can you achieve such a state? First, concentrate the mind so that no desire can disturb its stillness. Then, crossing over the Tisra Til, rise into the etheric realm.

There a brilliant, Self-Luminous Light radiates day and night. Pierce through that Light and journey beyond it. Then, you come upon the entrance to Banknal, the crooked tunnel. Following along that way, your soul will first rise upward, then descend steeply, and finally, climb up once again. This crooked tunnel is called the Banknal. Traveling through this tunnel, your soul enters the next region.

Now, you catch echoes of the Anhad Bani reverberating from above. Absorb all your attention in that Sound coming from the Higher Realms, and it will lead you onward towards its source. There will be no need to ask directions from anyone along the way.

सुन्न शिखर चन्द्र देख, दसम द्वार सेत पेख,
सरवर में मुक्ति लेख, किंगरी धुन सुन बिशेख,
कर्म की मिटाओ रेख, हंस रूप धारिये ।।२०।।

In the lofty Region of Sunn, catch sight of the moon;
There, behold the white, scintillating rays of Daswan Dwar.
Bathe in the Mansarovar pool — emancipation is at hand.
Listen to the matchless melody of the kingri,8This simple stringed instrument is played with a bow; the kingri produces a plaintive and evocative melody.
The lines of Karma are erased, and the swan soul flies free. (20)

In the lofty heights of the Sunn, you are immersed in exquisite, indescribable moonlight, and you behold the pure, white radiance of Daswan Dwar.9The terms Sunn (Void) and Daswan Dwar (Tenth Door) are used interchangeably for this entire region, though Daswan Dwar is sometimes used specifically to indicate the entryway where the soul crosses into the Par Brahm region from Trikuti. This is the realm where the soul bathes in the Mansarovar, and all traces of the lower worlds are washed away. In this region, you find the pool of Mansarovar (Triveni), where the souls wash away their sins and emerge as immaculate hansas. Outwardly, we go on pilgrimage to Triveni at Prayagraj to have a ritual bath where the Ganges, Yamuna, and Saraswati Rivers10In modern times, the Saraswati River has vanished, but tradition still holds that all three rivers flow together at Prayagraj. flow together. But this outer Triveni is only a copy of the inner Triveni, the confluence of three radiant streams in Daswan Dwar.11The Sikhs bath in the outer pool at the Golden Temple, believing it will remove their sins. But the outer pool is only a copy of the Mansarovar of the Sunn Region. Similarly, the Hindus bath at Triveni, which is also an outer representation of the real inner Triveni. Hazur Maharaj Sawan Singh describes it in this way: “When the Sikh Gurus built the Golden Temple at what is now the City of Amritsar they surrounded it with a pool of water, to represent on earth the Mansarovar Pool or Lake, of the third Spiritual Region. This pool they called Amritsar, which has the same meaning as Mansarovar — the pool of the Nectar of Immortality. In the same way, the Indian Rishis and Munis (sages and holy men of the past), called the confluence of the Ganges, Jamuna and the now vanished Saraswati, Tribeni, to symbolize on earth the meeting place of the three great streams of refulgent Light in Daswan Dwar. But the real thing that gives liberation lies within and not without.” Sawan Singh, Discourses on Sant Mat (Beas, India: Radha Soami Satsang, 1975) p 23. We think that bathing in that water washes away all our sins, but in this, we are deluded. No outer water can remove the accumulated sins of ages.

Only by bathing in that inner Mansarovar can we remove all vestiges of the physical, astral and causal coverings still clinging to the soul. In that pool of nectar, the sheaths of the various states of consciousness — jāgrat (waking), svapna (dreaming), shuṣhupti (deep sleep), turyā (super-consciousness) and turyātīt (beyond super-consciousness) — are all removed. The soul becomes a spotlessly pure hansa or swan. The music of the kingri is resounding and, hearing that enchanting melody, the soul merges into it, becoming the form of Sound. Now the soul flies free; no downward pull of desire remains. This radiant, untrammeled soul is called a hansa.12Just like Sunn and Daswan Dwar are used to indicate the whole of the third region, so the Saints often use the terms Mansarovar and Triveni interchangeably to indicate the holy waters where the souls are purified. Swami Ji also uses the term Triveni to specifically indicate the confluence of three radiant streams at the very top of the Sunn Region: “Surat bathes in Mānsarovar, and joins the assembly of Hansas. Turning round, it ascends to Sunn Shikhar (top of Brahmand) where Kingrī and Sārangī (the fiddle and the violin) are resounding incessantly. Hearing these sounds, it attains excellence, and goes across Tribenī. It reaches the threshold of Mahā-sunn, and acquires the secret knowledge thereof.” Shiv Dayal Singh, Sar Bachan Radhasoami (Poetry) of Param Sant Puran Dhani Soamiji Maharaj, Pt 2, Bachan 26, The Shabd of the Third Heavenly Sphere, trans. S.D. Maheshwari (Soami Bagh, Agra, India: Radhasoami Satsang, 1970) p 120.

महासुन्न अंध घोर, घाट अगम सुगम तोड़,
सूरत जहँ कीन पोढ़, सतगुरु संग चली दौड़,
भूँबरगुफा सुना शोर, सोहँग में समाइये ।।२१।।

Mahasunn is a region of deep, dense darkness.
But in the company of the Satguru, you will easily break through that impregnable barrier.
Once your soul breaks through, speed on in the company of the Satguru.
Listen to the sound of Bhanwar Gupha, and merge into Sohang. (21)

Beyond this lies the impenetrably dense, dark region of Maha Kal. After bathing in the Mansarovar, the soul shines forth with the light of twelve suns. But when that Radiant Power of the soul gets connected to the gross physical body, we forget our true nature. Confined in the body, we see from the physical level only, and then we assert: I am a woman, I am a man, I am a child, I am an old person, I am a Brahmin, I am a Kshatriya, my name is this, that, or the other. But in reality, when all vestiges of the material realm are washed away, then we recognize that we are truly Self-Luminous Light.

Traveling upward from the Mansarovar, the soul encounters Mahasunn, a vast region of total darkness, inaccessible and impossible to traverse. No one can cross over its dark expanse through their own power. But by the grace of the mighty Satguru — taking the support of the Sar Shabd — we can easily sail across.

Next comes Bhanwar Gupha, the Whirling Cave. Surdas Ji, was a devotee of Lord Krishna. He said so much in praise of the sweet music Krishna played on the murali and the bansari.13The words “murali” and “bansuri” are both used for the bamboo flute. But “murali” can also refer to the double-reed, gourd-like instrument played by the snake charmers, sometimes called a “pungi” or “been” (not to be confused with the veena, the classical stringed instrument). But when he met a perfect Satguru and did the meditation of Shabd Naam, he rose to the region of Sohang (Bhanwar Gupha). Hearing the music resounding in that place, he said: “I would sacrifice a thousand Krishna’s on this beautiful melody of the bansari.” The heart-ravishing Sound of that place is indescribably sweet. 

आगे की गली लीन्ह, धुन अनन्त शब्द चीन्ह,
हंस मिले अति प्रवीन, प्रेम भाव बहुत कीन्ह,
सत्तलोक द्वार लीन्ह, बीन धुन बजाइये ।।२२।।

Proceeding along the way, you are surrounded by the music of endless Dhuns and Shabds.
Sublime and noble hansas come forward to meet you and extend a loving welcome.
As you reach the gate of Sat Lok, the sweet strains of the veena fill the air.14The veena is a lute-like instrument with melody and drone strings; the deep, rich, shimmering sound of the veena is central to Indian classical music. Saraswati, the goddess of arts and learning, is often portrayed playing the veena.  (22)

After crossing the region of Sohang, your soul climbs higher still. And there the pure hansas come forward to meet you and welcome you with great joy. Having escaped unscathed from the many traps of creation, the souls dwelling in this realm, possess a unique greatness. The matchless melodies of the veena and the breathtaking beauty of Sat Lok lie far beyond the feeble power of words to describe.

वहाँ से फिर चली पार, अलख लोक जा निहार,
अलख पुरुष धुन सम्हार, देखा अचरज उजार,
किया जाय धुन अधार, अलख दर्श पाइये ।।२३।।

Go onward and view Alakh Lok, the Imperceptible Realm.
You will hear the Dhun of Alakh Purush and behold the matchless Radiance of that region.
Making the Dhun your support and strength, have the Darshan of Alakh Purush. (23)

Next you come to Alakh Desh; the marvels of that realm cannot even be imagined.  The region is called alakh or “imperceptible.” Only the immaculately pure hansas can glimpse the splendor of the region, and even they have no words to describe it.  We people are used to hearing the wandering yogis cry out “Alakh Niranjan” when they go from door to door to collect money, but what do they have to do with the Imperceptible Realm? The “Alakh Niranjan” of the beggars and the inconceivable glory of Alakh Desh are vastly different things.

अगम लोक ख़बर पाय, ऊपर को चढ़ी धाय,
अगम पुरुष दर्श पाय, तेज पुँज अजब जाय,
अमी सिंध पहुंची आय, अगम रूप धारिये ।।२४।।

यहाँ से भी चली सुर्त, किया जाय वहाँ निर्त,
जस समुद्र नदी रलत, चरनन पर सीस धरत,
राधास्वामी संग मिलत, निज घर अपना पाइये ।।२५।।

Now intimations reach you from Agam Lok, the Inconceivable Realm.
Rushing upward, have the darshan of Agam Purush.
Storm the treasure house of unique refulgence;
Plunge into the Ocean of Nectar and become the form of Agam. (24)

Dancing in ecstasy, go on to the end of the journey.
Just like a river flowing into the sea, place your head at His Holy Feet, and
merge into Radha Swami.
Thus, at long last, you return to your True Home. (25)

Going beyond Agam Desh, you reach Anami, the Nameless Region. At that time, the soul is overflowing with happiness and bliss. When the monsoon rains fall, then the swollen rivers break through all barriers and plunge into the sea with a great rush and roar. In the same way, the intoxicated soul dives into the divine ocean and becomes one with that ocean. This Self-Existing state lies beyond all commentary and comprehension. There is nothing to be said.

कहूं कहा बहुत कही, यही बात है सही,
जन्म जन्म भूल रही, चरन धूर धार लई,
करम भरम सभी बही, राधास्वामी गाइये ।।२६।।

What more can I tell you?
I have revealed enough, and every word I have spoken is true.
You have been wandering astray for innumerable lives.
Now, put the dust of His Holy Feet on your head;
Let all deeds and delusions be washed away.
Go on chanting the Holy Name of Radhaswami. (26)

Here, He says: “What more can I tell you? Everything that needs to be said, I have revealed openly to you. I have left nothing out.” For millions of lifetimes, you have wandered lost in forgetfulness; now put the dust of Satguru’s feet on your head.

Here, He tells us: “Now, all remnants of delusion and taints of past deeds have been swept from my heart. Immersed in the stream of Shabd day and night, Radha, my soul, has merged with, Swami, the Primal Lord.” This is the Self-Existing State.

लाओ अब प्रेम प्रीत, सतसंग में धारो चीत,
पाओ फिर सत्त रीत, गाओ यह अगम गीत,
बाज़ी यह लेव जीत, जग में कोइ नाहिं मीत,
मेरी तू कर प्रतीत, दिया सब बुझाइये ।।२७।।

Now, proceed with love and devotion. Fix your attention in the Satsang.
Adopt the true practice. Sing this Agam Gītā — the Inner Song.
Play the game and win the gamble; you have no other friend in this world.
Place your faith in me. I have explained everything. (27)

Therefore, fill your heart with affection and devotion. Fix your attention in the Satsang with deep love. Until love manifests within you, the words of the Satsang cannot touch your heart.

You will learn how to find Truth, how to practice Truth, how to live Truth. This is the Agam Gītā — the Inner Song. One person may speak of the Bhagavad Gītā. Someone else may talk of the Aṣṭāvakra Gītā.15In the Aṣṭāvakra Gītā, the hermit Ashtavakra, following a question by King Janaka, explores the nature of the soul. A third person will tell you of the Tilak Gītā.16The Tilak Gītā is a Marathi translation and interpretation of the Bhagavad Gītā completed in 1915 by independence activist Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Its formal title is Shrimadh Bhagvad Gītā Rahasya. And a fourth will mention some other Gītā. But the primal Agam Gītā17When Swami Ji speaks of the Agam Gītā (Inconceivable or Unfathomable Song), He is describing the primal Sound Current as it came into manifestation and descended through all the planes of creation: “Before the creation, Shabd existed in its latent form and as such had no name. In this state, It was something completely established in Itself and was thus known as Ashabd (soundless), Anaam (nameless), Alakh (ununderstandable), Agam (inconceivable), Akeh (unutterable) and Akath (indescribable). When It came into manifestation, It was called Shabd or Naam.” Kirpal Singh, Naam or Word (Delhi: Ruhani Satsang, 1970) p127. resounding within is the greatest of all. That Inner Song is Self-Existing and all these outer Gītās that are created and consumed by our senses are as nothing before it.

Now, you have gotten the human birth; in this game, you have won the jackpot.  But nothing in this world remains. No one is the friend of the heart.  One day you will have to leave everything here, and all the worldly relations will be separated from you. So, in the end, Swami Ji says, “Believe in my words. I have explained everything that you need to understand.”

Audio: H023

Swami Ji Maharaj

O dear soul, contemplate on the form of the Guru

Guru kā dhyān kar pyāre, binā is ke nahīŋ chuṭnā
गुरु का ध्यान कर प्यारे  ।  बिना इस के नहीं छुटना ।।१।।
नाम के रंग में रंग जा । मिल तोहि धाम निज अपना ।।२।।
गुरु की सरन दृढ़ कर ले  ।  बिना इस काज नहि सरना ।।३।।
लाभ और मान क्यों चाहें ।  पड़ेगा फिर तुझे देना ।।४।।
करम जो जो करेंगा तू  ।  वही फिर भोगना भरना ।।५।।
जगत के जाल से ज्यों त्यों  ।  हटो मरदानगी करना ।।६।।
जिन्हों ने मार मन डाला  ।  उन्ही को सूरमा कहना ।।७।।
बड़ा बैरी यह मन घट में ।  इसी का जितना कठिना ।।८।।
पड़ो तुम इसही के पीछे  ।  और सबही जतन तजना ।।९।।
गुरु की प्रीत कर पहिले ।  बहुरि घट शब्द को सुनना ।।१०।।
मान दो बात यह मेरी  ।  करें मत और कुछ जतना ।।११।।
हार जब जाय मन तुझ  से ।  चढ़ा दे  सुर्त को गगना ।।१२।।
और सब काम जग झठूा  ।  त्याग  दे  इसही को गहना ।।१३।।
कहें राधास्वामी मझाई  ।  गहो अब नाम की सरना ।।१४।।

Sār Bachan Radhāsvāmī, Chand Band
Bachan 19, Guru aur Nām Bhakti, śhabd 2

O dear soul, contemplate on the form of the Guru;  without contemplation, you cannot attain liberation.

This is the bani of Param Sant Satguru Hazur Swami Ji Maharaj.  He tells us that the mind entered the outer world and became connected with it in two ways: first, through remembrance of the things of this world, and second, through contemplation on the those things. Through millions of yugas and millions of births, the mind has remained extroverted.  We have become the image of the outer world and go on revolving in the cycle of 84 lakhs births and deaths.  We do not know who we are, we cannot remember the land from where we came, and we have no idea where we will go when we depart from this life. Every person says, “I am a human being. I belong to this country. I am so and so’s father, I am so and so’s son. I come from this caste and clan.” But in reality, we belonged to no caste or clan before our birth, and no cast or clan will accompany us after death.  Before coming into this world, no one knows in what country they will be born or who their mother and father will be. And no one knows where they will go after death or where the soul came from originally.  For millions of yugas and millions of lifetimes, we have been wandering in this forgetfulness and delusion.

It is to become free from this suffering that we have gone into the shelter of the Guru. What does the Guru teach us? He says: “Brother, that force that has brought you into the world — that has made you extroverted — has to be reversed.”  How can we change the direction of that force? Through Simran, remembrance of the Guru, and Dhyan, contemplation on the Guru. When we contemplated on the outer things, we became the image of this external world. Now Swami Ji tells us how to turn that force inward. He says, “Do the contemplation of the Guru.”

Now, the question arises, “Can’t I achieve the same thing by contemplating on the form of Brahma or Vishnu or Shiva, or the other gods and goddesses? Can’t I contemplate on the form of my favorite personal god, my Isht Deva?”  Truly speaking, our soul is conscious, but all these outer idols and images of the gods and goddesses are unconscious – we have fashioned them ourselves according to the fantasies of our mind. In order to awaken that conscious soul and turn it inward, we need to contemplate on some conscious Power. Such a feat cannot be accomplished by contemplating on that which is unconscious. Therefore, He tells us that the Guru is conscious, and the soul is also conscious. The goal of your contemplation should be to become so absorbed in the Guru that you become His very form – you no longer remain, only He remains. This is what is meant by contemplation. Without such absorption in the Guru, you cannot achieve emancipation. Until your contemplation is perfected and you have that experience of Oneness within, the Guru Power will not manifest fully within you, and you cannot achieve liberation from this world.

Become dyed in the color of Naam; then you will reach your True Home.

When that conscious Power of the soul crosses beyond the nine outer doors of the body, it becomes self-luminous; it becomes the image of Light. There the conscious, Radiant Form of the Guru is waiting for the soul. When your attention becomes absorbed in the Guru’s Radiant Form, then your within is flooded with scintillating Light. On this subject, Tulsi Das Ji has said in the Ramcharitmanas:

श्री गुरु चरण नख मणि गण ज्योति,
सुमिरत दिव्य दृष्टि हिय होती ।।

Dazzling light flashes from the nails of the Guru’s feet.
When I remember Him, His divine vision fills my heart.

The veil of Maya has been thrown over your inner eye. Until the Light of the Guru’s feet dawns in your heart, this veil of illusion, ignorance, and sin cannot be flung aside. So He says that you should contemplate on the Guru in such a way that your sins and transgressions are removed, and your within becomes pure.  Once you become purified, the outward pull exerted by Maya and the desires is finished off; the world holds no more attraction for you.  The Radiant Form functions in the astral planes, and the Power of that inner Radiant Form of the Guru will connect you with that Shabd, which is the true Form of the Guru in the higher realms. The soul is the form of Shabd, and Shabd is the Almighty Lord. Shabd pervades Brahm. Shabd pervades Parbrahm. Shabd is Truth.  Shabd escorts you back to your Original Home by the Royal Road. Don’t look to any other guide.

Take firm hold of the Guru’s refuge; otherwise, your work cannot be accomplished.

Until you become established in the Guru’s devotion with one-pointed attention, and until you have successfully completed your course in Gurubhakti, your efforts cannot bear fruit. The inner door stands open for the Gurumukhs, but the manmukhs cannot enter there. Therefore on this subject, Tulsi DasJi says in the Ramayana:

मनोबुद्धि तमन्नास्ति, गुरुबुद्धि विशेषता
The wisdom of the mind cannot comprehend Him, but the Guru’s wisdom  reveals the Almighty Lord.

The wisdom of the Guru unites our soul with the Almighty Lord; the wisdom of the Guru is founded on experience of the Truth.

Why do you long for material gain and worldly honor? The price you pay will be steep.  

Because of the desire for material possessions and worldly prestige, all sentient beings – the gods and goddesses, the yakshas (demigods) and gandharvas (heavenly musicians), the human beings, the animals and birds – stay bound to this world. Therefore, Swami Ji says you should empty your heart of these desires.  You run after the material things and strive for the applause of your fellows. You long for these things, and you labor to achieve them, but one day you yourself will have to settle your accounts and pay the karmas you have created.  In your pursuit for honor and adulation, you have amassed heavy karmas that become fetters binding you to this world.  You wish for happiness and comfort, but that very happiness becomes a source of bondage. Therefore, He says, “Root out the desire for gain and honor.”

All the karmas you are creating will have to be paid for one day.

Whether you are performing the deeds openly or in secret, you will have to bear the reaction of those deeds. First, the thoughts and desires arise in your inner mind, then they become the cause of action, and this action creates new karma that is added to your already existing store. And who will bear this reaction? You are the one who will have to settle this account. When you sow seeds in your own field, you yourself will have to reap that crop and feast on that harvest.  In the same way, everyone’s heart is filled with the impression of the past karmas. And whether those karmas are bad or good, it is the person who created them who will have to suffer or enjoy the reaction.

For this reason, keep the wholesome thoughts, the thoughts of the Lord, in your heart day and night. Don’t let any other thought strike there.  Tulsi Das says:

जहाँ सुमति तहं संपत्ति नाना, जहाँ कुमति तहं विपत्ति निदाना

Where the thoughts are good, prosperity flourishes; where the thoughts
are bad, they bring misfortune.

No one has bound your soul from outside.  Your own misdeeds and arrogance are the fetters that keep the soul tied. And it is through your good thoughts and actions that these fetters can be cut.   You create and destroy your own bondage; it is not imposed on you by someone else. But you don’t understand the matter correctly.  

Whatever actions you are performing, you always think, “This will bring me profit and happiness.”  But there is no profit in these actions; there is no happiness.  In fact, the worldly things you acquire become the source of your bondage.  Whether you perform the action openly or in secret, the impression of that deed remains in your inner mind.  Deep in your within, you know whether your action is sinful or virtuous. You cannot hide anything from the mind. If you do something in secret, still the mind is aware of it.  Not only is the mind aware of it, the mind is also the source of it. It is the nature of the mind to conceal its misdeeds. For this reason, whatever bad intention the mind has formed, whatever secret sin the mind has resolved on committing, never act on its suggestion.  Keep the love and devotion for Sat Naam and the Guru in your heart. Then you will not be sowing seeds for future crops, and you will not have to eat that harvest.

Be brave and free yourself from the net of this world in any way you can.  

Kal has ensnared all the jivas in the trap of this world, just like a fisherman. The fisherman casts his nets into the flowing water and fastens them on all sides, leaving one side open, and through that opening, the current sweeps all of the fish into his snare.  In the same way, the Lord Kal has created this universe, and in it, he has set the nets of sanchit, pralabdh, kriyaman, and agamya karmas.  These are the four categories of karma. Sanchit karmas are the karmas created in past lives that have been stored for future payment. The pralabh karmas determine this lifetime, whether we take birth in a good or bad household, in the home of a sadhu, or a wealthy man, or a king. The karmas that shape our destiny in the present life are called the pralabh karmas.  The karmas that we are continually creating in this life, whether good or bad, are called kriyaman karmas.  Further, we go on planning to carry out actions in the future, creating agamya karmas.  We are ensnared in the net of these four karmas.

Sometimes the resolve to perform an action arises in our heart, and we think, “I want to do this thing. How will I accomplish it? I will do this. I will do that.” This very thought that arises creates an impression or sanskara, and that sanskara binds us to some future course of action. This is agamya karma.18Agamya karmas are plans for action that remain in the realm of thought; they do not manifest on the physical plane. After death, no specific karmic reaction will be carried into future lives, but impressions are left on the mind that influence future action. Then further, every day we go on making new karmas through our constant activity: we eat, we drink, we work, we rest.  All the activity of the present life creates kriyaman karmas.  The karmas that determined the present life and formed this body are the pralabh karmas. The soul is weighed down by all these four types of karma. Sometimes we see that even after performing righteous deeds, we reap a bad result. The reason this occurs is that we are paying off the reaction in this life for something from the past that had been stored in our sanchit karma.

One day the blind king Dhritarashtra asked Lord Krishna, “O Lord! I have the knowledge of my one hundred past lives, but in those lives, I performed no such deed that could make me blind in this birth.” Then Lord Krishna answered, “In your hundred and sixth past life, you committed this sin.” So you should understand what a thick veil of karma has been thrown over the soul. That veil is made up of our own deeds, taken from the vast storehouse of our sanchit karma.

Stretching the nets of these four types of karma, the Lord Kal has captured all the jivas. At the time when we are creating the karmas, we do not understand what a powerful force karma is. Why do we act as we do? The intellect within us has been shaped by the karmas from our past lives. And according to our intellect, we perform deeds in the present. And then we become bound by those fresh karmas as well.

Whoever comes out of this trap can be called brave.  You say, “I am a brave. I am a man.” Friend, if you consider this carefully, you will understand that you are not yet a  true man, a true human being. “Purush” means man – “pur” plus “ush.”  Pur refers to the body, and ush (ish) refers to the enlivening Power of the soul within the body. Whoever gains knowledge of the soul while dwelling in this body can truly be called purush. Only a few rare ones achieve this. Just growing a big mustache doesn’t turn you into a purush. Whoever breaks through this net of Kal and karma is the real purush, the brave one.

Whoever has subdued the mind, that person is the brave one.

Whoever brings the mind under control, whoever kills the mind, that person is the brave warrior; the rest are all cowards. Many great warriors like Karna and Bhīma came, but those poor fellows were under the control of Kal. They did not understand their own minds. Getting trapped in the outer arrogance of the world, they became involved in wars and fighting to fulfill their Kshatriya dharma, their duty to their Kshatriya caste.  They were faithful to their worldly dharma, but they did nothing for the dharma of their souls.

In Punjab, there was once a king named Katās Rāj.  And just like Hiranyakashyap, he had imprisoned all the sadhus, the renunciates, the yogis, the sanyasis, and devotees of the gods and goddesses. He proclaimed, “I am the God of this time. You have to worship me alone. Whoever worships me as God can go free, all the rest will remain in prison.” He had locked up over a thousand sadhus. One day, when a sadhu was being taken away to prison, all at once he addressed the king, saying, “Maharaj, we are all willing to worship you, but among the sadhus, there is one great sadhu who is the highest of all. When he agrees to repeat your name, then all of us will do likewise.” So Katās Rāj said, “Who is this yogi?” The sadhu told him, “Machindra Nāth is sitting performing austerities at Shimla Dwip, and if he accepts you, then we will all repeat your name.”

So then Katās Rāj told his chief minister, “O minister, gather my army. We march immediately for Shimla Dwip to confront this yogi.” The chief minister replied, “Maharaj, for years upon years Machindra Nāth has been sitting in meditation, going without food and water. His body will be all dried up, just skin and bones. What need do we have of armies to do battle with him? Let us go talk with him, just you and I.” So the king and his chief minister went to where that yogi was sitting. The minister thought, “He has been sitting here for such a long time performing his austerities. If we disturb him suddenly then he will burn us up with his yogic gaze.” So thinking this, the minister fashioned three figures out of rags and straw, and each one looked just like the king. Then, using a method known to the minister, they brought Machindra Nāth out of his yogic trance. When he awakened and opened his eyes, he saw a straw man before him and, with the heat of his gaze, he reduced it to ashes. He did the same to the second straw man, and then to the third one as well. The minister thought, “The anger of the sadhus is like milk boiling over; it seethes up suddenly and then is quickly finished. He has burned up these three straw men, and his anger is quenched. Now, on the fourth try, it should be safe to approach him.”

So the minister told the king, “Now you can go and stand before him.” The king went up to Machindra Nāth, and the yogi asked him, “Who are you? Why have you come here?” The king replied, “I am Katās Rāj, the king of Punjab. Not only am I king, I am also God Almighty Himself. Everyone has to worship me, and no one is allowed to bow before any other so-called gods. If you repeat any other name, you will be hauled off to prison and locked up.” Then Machindra Nāth replied, “Brother, what you say is alright, but I have one enemy.  If you can bring that enemy under your control and emerge victorious over him, I will understand you as God Almighty, and I will worship you. This enemy is so powerful that he has conquered the three worlds. Even Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and the 33 million gods and goddesses are numbered among his slaves. Everyone is in his power — the human beings, the yakshas (demigods) and gandharvas (heavenly musicians), the animals, everyone. That enemy is very mighty and powerful.” So Katās Rāj replied, “Brother, don’t praise my enemy in front of me. Just tell me where he is. How can I find him?  I will set out right now to defeat and slay him. And if I don’t succeed, I will throw myself into the fire and die.” Then the yogi asked him, “Do you mean this?” and Katās Rāj replied, “Yes, I swear it.”  So then Machindra Nāth told him, “This enemy is your mind. If you can bring your mind under your control, then I will acknowledge you as God, and I will worship you.”  But how could such an arrogant man control his mind? In the end, admitting defeat, he burned himself to death.

The meaning of this story is that if a person can bring their mind under control, they become the owner of the whole world. He who conquers the mind conquers the world. But until you have conquered the mind, how can you conquer anyone else?  Your mind is within you, and still, you cannot control it, so how can you expect to control the minds of others?

Mind is a mighty enemy; it dwells in your within. Victory over such an enemy is hard won.

The only enemy of all the jivas is the mind.  That enemy dwells within everyone.  It is a simple matter to conquer the whole world.  But it is very difficult to conquer the mind within you.  The great kings and emperors like Ravana conquered all the world and the heavens as well. But they couldn’t overcome the mind.  Whoever overcomes the mind, becomes God Himself.

Pursue the mind with determination. Give up all other methods.

It is only in this human body and not in any other that we can come to understand the nature of the mind and experience its power.  It is in the human body that we can make the mind steady through meditation.  Therefore, Swami Ji says, pursue the mind and keep a careful watch on it. Endeavor to make the mind still. Give up all other pursuits.  Once the mind comes under your control, then you will gain everything.

First, have love for the Guru; then, listen to the Shabd in your within.

Swami Ji tells us the method to bring the mind under control.  How can this be accomplished?  Through love for the world, our attention has become extroverted. Now, it is essential to attach our love to the Guru. Why?  If you want to see your face, you need to take the help of a mirror; you have to go look into it. The mirror doesn’t summon you, saying: “Come look in me and see the reflection of your face.” It is up to you to seek the mirror’s help. Similarly, when you want to see the Self-Existing Soul within, you have to request the help of the Guru, you have to attach your love to the Guru.  Because of the waves of the mind, your attention has become attached to the things of this world, to such an extent that if you see a worn-out broom, you will say, “That is mine.” You want to lay claim to that useless broom. In order to turn your attention away from all the worldly objects and make it one-pointed, you need to contemplate on the Guru’s form.

How can you love and contemplate on the gods and goddesses whom you have not seen? You don’t know if they are dark or fair, if they are tall or short. You don’t know anything about them, because you have never laid eyes on them. You have heard about them from the Shastras, and you have formed a picture of them in your own mind. What was Krishna like? You say he had a dusky complexion. What was Ram like? He was also dark-skinned. The Shastras have praised them and have given you a description of them, but you have never seen for yourself if they are dark or fair.  So how can you contemplate on what you have not seen?  It is impossible.

On the other hand, you have seen the Guru. Therefore, your concentration should be riveted on the Him. By meditating on the Guru, your love for the world and worldly things fades away, and your love for the Guru becomes firm. So the Guru tells us, “Brother, the Naam within you is the form of Love. Get connected to the Lord’s Naam. You don’t need to ask for anything else.”

Accept these two methods; don’t become involved in other practices.   

He tells us, “If you desire to become liberated in this lifetime, if you want to have the experience of the Lord, then make two methods foremost in your heart.”  What methods are these?  Dhyan of the Guru and the Simran of Naam. Never let your attention waver from these two practices. In earlier times, people did not have matches or lighters, so what did they do when they needed fire? They would strike a piece of flint against a steel plate to create sparks, and the sparks would ignite a char cloth and tinder. In this way, they could build a fire.

Similarly, when we do the Dhyan of the Guru and the Simran of Naam, the two strike together and ignite the char cloth of egotism in the antahkarana, or inner mind, and they kindle the fire. In that fire, all the impurity of the inner mind is burnt away.  So if the mind leaves the Simran of Naam, then anchor it in the Dhyan of the Guru. And if it wavers from the contemplation of the Guru, then fix it in the remembrance of Naam.  Never let your mind be without one or the other of these two practices. Then your inner mind becomes purified, and the pure Power of the Shabd will drag your attention upward.

When you have conquered your mind, then raise your surat into the Gagan (inner sky)

Through these methods of contemplation on the Guru and the Simran of Naam, all the grossness of the mind will be removed, and it will accept what you say. Then you should tell it to ascend to the seat of the soul. Until your mind is willing to obey you, how can it rise to that inner realm? Now when you sit for meditation in the morning, the mind is running here and there, bound up in the worries of the world.  You are just like the crane who stands with closed eyes, seemingly engaged in the contemplation of the Lord, but really waiting to catch a fish.  Your body is sitting in meditation with closed eyes, but your mind is wandering outside. So how can you do the remembrance of the Lord? When you repeat the Simran, the mind withdraws and focuses within; when it accepts your commands, then you can instruct it to rise into the spiritual realms above.  But when your mind refuses to obey you, when it is running outside, how can it make the inner ascent?

All the other works of this world are false; abandon them and devote yourself to the true work.

He says all the activities, all the happiness, and all the honor and respect of this world are false. Only this spiritual work is true. So when you give up all the false works, and attach your thoughts to this true work, then your task will be accomplished.  Thousands of people fill their stomachs, and then — lost in the worldly thoughts — they go on repeating, Rama, Rama, Rama.  Friend, where is this Rama you are worshiping? Does he know of your devotion? What relationship do you have with him?

Radhaswami says, “Take hold of the support of Naam.”

Swami Ji Maharaj says, “Give up everything else and attach your thoughts to the Naam.” The deer hears the hunter beating out an enchanting rhythm, and intoxicated with that sound it comes near to the hunter and lays its head on the drum. In the same way, you should become so absorbed in the inner Sound, that you become the form of that Sound.

Audio: H031

Swami Ji Maharaj

Without Shabd all the world is stark blind.

Shabd binā sārā jag andhā
शब्द बिना सारा जग अंधा । काटे कौन मोह का फंदा ।।१।।
शब्द बिना बिरथा सब धंधा । शब्द बिना जिव बंधन बंधा ।।२।।
शब्दहि सूर शब्द ही चंदा । शब्द बिना जिव रहता गंदा ।।३।।
शब्द बिना सबही मतिमंदा । शब्दहि नासिह शब्दहि पंदा ।।४।।
शब्द कमावे मिले अनंदा । शब्द बिना सबही की निन्दा ।।५।।
ताते शब्दहि शब्द कमाओ । शब्द बिना कोइ और न ध्याओ ।।६।।
शब्द भेद तुम गुरु से पाओ । शब्द माहिं फिर जाय समाओ ।।७।।
शब्द अधर में करे उजारा । शब्द नगर तुम झाँको द्वारा ।।८।।
शब्द रहे सबही से न्यारा । शब्द करे सब जीव गुज़ारा ।।९।।
शब्द जानियो सब का सारा । शब्द मानियो होय उबारा ।।१०।।
शब्द कमाई कर हे मीत । शब्द प्रताप काल को जीत ।।११।।
शब्द घाट तू घट में देख । शब्दहि शब्द पीव को पेख ।।१२।।
शब्द कर्म की रेख कटावे । शब्द शब्द से जाय मिलावे ।।१३।।
शब्द बिना सब झूठा ज्ञान । शब्द बिना सब थोथा ध्यान ।।१४।।
शब्द छोड़ मत अरे अजान । राधास्वामी कहें बखान ।।१५।।

Sār Bachan Radhāsvāmī, Chand Band
Bachan 9, Mahimā Shabd Svarup, shabd 5

Without Shabd all the world is stark blind. Who can sever the fetters of attachment?

This is the bani of Param Sant Satguru Hazur Radhaswami Ji. Describing the glory of Shabd, He says, “Without the Shabd, all the world is stark blind.” Where there is no Shabd, there is no means of knowing. Inwardly, we receive Knowledge directly through the experience of the Shabd or Word, but when we encounter some worldly object, we gain knowledge of it through outer words.  

We share our thoughts and feelings with each other through words. Not only the human beings, but even the animals and birds each express themselves in their own languages.

The heavens, the mortal world, and the nether regions below are all created and supported only by the Power of the Shabd. But if no one has ever described the heavens to us, then how can we even picture such places or grasp their mysteries? Only when we hear outer words describing the heavens do visions of the celestial realms unfold before our eyes. Similarly, if someone mentions hell, unless we have heard descriptions of the despair and suffering of that place, how can we conjure up any image of the infernal regions?19 Throughout this Satsang, Baba Somanath Ji draws a contrast between outer and Inner forms of the Shabd. On this subject, Baba Sawan Singh Ji tells us: “Shabd is of two kinds: manifest and inner. The manifest Shabd is called Varnatmik and the inner Shabd is called Dhunatmik. Knowing the Varnatmik Shabd, it is possible to know to a certain extent the Dhunatmik Shabd. On hearing words of love, every pore of our being is thrilled with delight. On hearing words that speak of detachment and self-effacement, we begin to entertain feelings of detachment and surrender. On hearing harsh words, we become angry. Sweet words produce happiness, and bitter words, pain. Words of sympathy give hope and unsympathetic words depress. All these powers are inherent in Shabd: “Shabd killed them and they died. Kings lost their kingdoms because of Shabd. Those who always remembered Shabd, Succeeded in their mission. Shabd is the cause of happiness:
Shabd is the cause of pain: Shabd is the cause of hope: Shabd is the cause of despair.”(Kabir Sahib)
The greatness of Shabd is unfathomable and limitless. If this is true of the manifest Shabd, it can well be imagined how powerful the inner Shabd is. On listening to the melody of a violin, one gets peace. It attracts our attention and makes us become absorbed in it. When a gross outer sound can produce such a condition, how powerful would the inner Shabd be?” Baba Sawan Singh Ji, Philosophy of the Masters, Series 4 (Beas, India: Radha Soami Satsang, 1966) p 110.

So, we can see that the Inner Shabd or Word is immanent in all and supports all that exists. And in our outer dealings, we have to have recourse to the outer shabd or words. Within and without, no one can accomplish anything without the support of Shabd. Therefore, Swami Ji says that without the Shabd, the whole world has been plunged into dense darkness.

And then He asks, “What other Power could cut us free from the noose of attachment?” Shabd and Shabd alone wields the Power of salvation. Without the Shabd, we cannot remove attachment. Without, the Shabd we cannot break the chains that keep us bound. Shabd is the very life-essence of everything that exists — Shabd is all in all.

Without the Shabd, our deeds are all in vain; without the Shabd, the jiva is shackled in chains.

If we are not united with the Shabd, then all our inner thoughts and outer deeds are binding — we cannot escape their pinching effects. Shabd is also the support of all our worldly dealings. If the buyer is not supported by the Shabd, then how can they order the merchandise they require? And if the seller is not supported by the Shabd, how can they supply the buyer’s request?  Even the paisa and rupees, the silver and gold, that change hands are also supported by the Power of Shabd. It is the active life-principle behind all the exists. No outer or inner activity transpires without its enlivening touch. So here, Swami Ji tells us that because we jivas remain ignorant of that True Power of Shabd, we have become shackled in unbreakable chains. We are trapped in deep darkness.

Shabd upholds both the sun and moon. Without the Shabd the jiva remains covered with filth.

No doubt, the sun and moon illumine the outer world, but without the support of Shabd, we cannot even perceive their light.  And when someone speaks outer words in praise of the sun, we gain more knowledge of it; a mental picture of the sun’s lustrous radiance forms within us. When someone praises the moon, their words bring up the image of moonbeams in our hearts. This is all the play of the Shabd. Swami Ji says, “Shabd upholds both the sun and moon.” And without that True Shabd, the jiva remains covered with filth, drowning in the deep, dark well of ignorance.

Without the Shabd all the paths lead us astray; Shabd is the Teacher and Shabd itself is the True Teaching.

Without Shabd, the True Path does not open within us. Without Shabd, we have no inspiration to begin our quest, we remain deaf to True Knowledge, and the inner experience of the Lord eludes us. When the Guru speaks words of instruction, the disciple imbibes those sacred words; but without the support of Shabd, neither Guru nor disciple exist. The Shabd itself sits within the Guru giving out the teaching, and the same Shabd sits within the disciple drinking in the wisdom of spirituality. Shabd alone exists; there is nothing but Shabd.

Words can break our chains, and words can secure our bondage. All the words uttered under the control of the ego, words arising from the sense of I-hood, keep us bound to this world.  But the words that are spoken selflessly — the words that are inspired by the Shabd — liberate us from the prison house. One word gives rise to the disease, and another word applies the healing balm.

Meditating on Shabd, we obtain True Bliss; without Shabd all other practices are a mockery.

Swami Ji says that those who meditate on the Shabd, those in whom the Shabd has manifested, they are worthy of the name Anand (Bliss). All the other Anands20 “Anand” is a common given name in India. — Paramanand (Supreme Bliss), Mahananda (Great Bliss), Sukhanand (Bliss of Happiness), Sadanand (Eternal Bliss), Swanand (Self-Existing Bliss) — they are “Anand” in name only. Only the Shabd can impart the True Bliss. If someone has been given the name Anand, that’s alright. Maybe you are called Nikhilanand (Total Bliss), but, my friend, what Bliss do you receive from having that name? If you meditate on Shabd and manifest that Shabd within yourself, then the real Paramanand (Supreme Bliss), Mahanand (the Great Bliss), and Sukhanand (the Bliss of Happiness) will manifest within you.

Next, He tells us that except for the meditation on Shabd Naam, all the other practices are like a mockery of God. Now when we visit the temple, we perform puja to the gods. We bring water and bathe the idol. We offer flowers and leaves to it, we anoint it with fragrant oil, we offer food to that stone idol and burn incense before it. But the True Shabd — the Almighty Lord — is not manifested there. And so rather than glorifying the Lord with all our rites and rituals, we are instead belittling Him. The idol before you does not see your puja. It does not hear your recitations, it does not see the light you are waving, it does not hear the bell you are ringing, it does not eat the food you are offering.  In fact, worshipping a piece of stone and accepting it as the Almighty Lord is not less than offering an insult to God. For this reason, Swami Ji says that without Shabd, all your practices and performances are like making a mockery of the True Lord.  

Therefore, meditate on Shabd and Shabd alone; abandon all other contemplation.

Therefore, Swami Ji Maharaj advises us to do the meditation on Shabd. Shabd is the only true practice. Do not let any stray thoughts disturb your heart. You have received the support of the One Shabd. Guru Amar Das tells us:

नानक जिन्ह कउ सतिगुरु मिलिआ तिन्ह का लेखा निबड़िआ

O Nanak, whoever has met the Satguru;
Their karmic accounts are all settled.

When the Satguru reveals the secret of Shabd to someone, that person’s karmic account will be wiped clean.21 As the soul rides upward on the Shabd, it gains the strength to bear past karmas, and, crossing beyond Trikuti, escapes the realm of karma altogether. Hazur Sawan Singh Ji tells us: ”Joys of the world will not elevate and its sorrows will not depress him. The fate actions are stored in the eight-petalled lotus in Anda above the eyes. Their influence is felt forcibly as long as that centre has not been crossed. When that centre is crossed and the Master’s astral form is seen – for that Form resides there – the influence of the fate actions will be perceived nominally. The mind has then become strong and it has the power to bear them without effort. But fate cannot be effaced or altered; it will have to be undergone. An arrow after leaving the bow must find its mark. The reserve actions are stored at the top of Trikuti; and only when a spirit has crossed the third mind or Trikuti, is it said to be free from all karma.” Baba Sawan Singh Ji, “On Karma.” Sat Sandesh, April, 1975, p 19.

There can be no higher good fortune. But if we become weak-minded, if we fill ourselves with thoughts of the world and think that we can unite our own impure intellect with the immaculate Shabd, how ignorant and how unfortunate we are.  

Taking the secret of Shabd from the Guru, merge yourself into that Shabd.

The Shabd is Ever-Present, but we must obtain its secret from the Guru — we cannot gain knowledge of that Shabd and manifest it on our own. Every person communicates by means of words; those words are an outer manifestation of the Inner Shabd. Mantras and tantras (incantations) are made up of words. The Vedas and Shastras are also written in words. All the great scriptures of the world are composed of words. Even the debate within your own heart, all the wavering back and forth, is nothing but words. But which of these words should we take hold of? Which will lead us to the True Shabd within?

When the yogis still their attention through the practice of pranayama, the dashvidhi nād —- the “ten-fold” sounds of the lower chakras in the body22The sounds of dashvidhi nād that become audible through pranayama are distant echoes of the True Shabd, and bear some resemblance to the Higher Sounds. For instance, the Hamsa Upanishad enumerates the sounds of dashvidhi nād as: “chin” (buzzing), “chin-chin” (tinkling), bell, conch, veena, cymbals, flute, bheri (drum), mridanga (double-headed drum), thunder. The exact description and number of the sounds varies from tradition to tradition, but all these sounds are bound to the body and cannot pull the soul upward. — become audible within them. Believing these sounds to be the highest Shabd, they become stuck fast and don’t progress any further. But the dashvidhi nād is not the True Shabd. Therefore, Swami Ji tells us that we should take the secret of Shabd from the Sat Guru and meditate every day with regularity according to His instructions. Don’t allow your intellect to waylay you or your progress will be halted.  

The Shabd has been with you since the beginning and is even now reverberating within you day and night; you don’t need to embellish it with any fabrications of the intellect. You should absorb your whole consciousness into the Sound that is already playing at the seat of the soul. Your attention should not be divided. Do not try to listen to the Shabd with a mind full of fantasy and speculation: “I should be hearing this or that. Why is such and such not happening?” When the buddhi or intellect is racing, the Sound of the Shabd will grow faint and die out.

The Light of Shabd brightens your within; you can glimpse the City of Shabd through the open door.

Everything that Swami Ji Maharaj has proclaimed openly about the Shabd has also been alluded to by other Saints and Mahatmas.23When Swami Ji began His mission, He gave discourses in the Māīthān Gurdwara and then “shifted the venue of his teachings to his private apartments in Punni Gali and continued his discourses from the Granth Sahib (the copy he used was brought by Hazur Sawan Singh Ji from Agra and is still treasured in the archives of Dera Baba Jaimal Singh at Beas in the Punjab). This system of addressing private gatherings at his home continued for quite a long time; but on Basant Panchmi Day in the year 1861, the floodgates of Surat Shabd Yoga as revived in this age by Kabir and his contemporary Guru Nanak, and firmly entrenched by his successors in the Gurbani, were now thrown open by Swami Ji to the general public.” Kirpal Singh, Baba Jaimal Singh: His Life and Teachings (Anaheim, CA: Ruhani Satsang, 1987) p 12. For the spiritual practitioner, there is no aid and support equal to that True Shabd.

The Shabd within you does not depend on any other power. It is Self-Existing and needs no other support. When you cross over the threshold to the Inner Realms, then that Shabd becomes audible within you. In the material plane, when the Shabd mingles with the five elements, it becomes inextricably alloyed with them. But when you rise into the Beyond, you begin to encounter the pure, Self-Existing stream of Shabd. No doubt, the lower manifestations of the Shabd are supported by that pure Higher Shabd, but because that Higher Shabd has mingled with the five elements, it has, to some degree, taken on the qualities of those elements. Accordingly, those qualities influence even our power of speech, the workings of our intellect, and the functioning of our individual ego.  

Now, when you ring a bell, the musical overtones reverberate and linger even after you have struck it. When you beat a drum, the resonant cadence endures on the air. Why? That lingering sound arises from the higher Inner Sound of Shabd that is intermingled with the material elements of the physical instrument.24Sant Kirpal Singh Ji points out that science is beginning to detect the presence of the higher energy mixed with matter: “Scientists are doing research in all spheres of life, and they have found out some gleanings of the Truth. Some scientists met me in the USA. I told them that they had made wonderful research in the realm of energy and asked them whether they were able to create an ounce of consciousness. They replied in the negative. They said that analyzing the atom, they had found that there was a rhythmic and controlled movement in them. What is that power which keeps the minutest atoms under control? Now science has discovered a sound principle and flickering of light in the atoms. We respect science. It is finding out something in the laws of nature.” Kirpal Singh, “Right Understanding,” Sat Sandesh, October 1968, p 6-7.

But until the soul rises above those elements, until it crosses into the Inner Realms, it cannot obtain real Knowledge of the Shabd. The poor person sitting below the eye focus, entangled in the thoughts of the intellect — what can they achieve?  

The Shabd remains separate from all; yet, Shabd sustains each and every jiva.

Now what does He tell us? The Shabd remains detached from everything, and yet each jiva is supported by that very Shabd. The Shabd is present within everyone; Shabd supports our talking, our walking, all our actions. But because we have become attached to the material body through the allure of those very activities, still no thought of the True Shabd arises in our heart. That Shabd dwells within all, and yet it remains separate from all.

Know Shabd as the Essence of all that exists; accept the Shabd and attain salvation.

The king is created by Shabd, the subjects are created by Shabd. Seated on his throne, the king rules all his subjects through the power vested in him.   Whenever the king issues a decree, all his subjects must obey. In similar fashion, the Self-Existing Shabd is the Supreme King. Dwelling in every heart, Shabd is the Giver of Life, supporting all that exists. Such is the Power of Shabd.

O friend, meditate on the Shabd; conquer Kal with the might of Shabd.

Now what does He say? O friend! O dear one! Do the meditation of Shabd day and night. Kal flees the place where Shabd manifests, because Shabd is the form of Self-Luminous Radiance. In the outer world, the sun and moon give off light, but they remain under the dominion of Kal, who governs their cycles. Understand this as the principle of Kal. The word “Kal” means time. Kal is the power that devours all the jivas.  Our earthly life is subject to Kal, the Lord of Time. We tick off the time: “Now it is eight o’clock; now it is nine o’clock; now it is ten o’clock. Today is Monday. Today is Tuesday.  A month has passed. A year has passed. Fifty years have passed.”  Even when someone dies, the passage of the years goes on as before. Just because a person dies, it does not mean that time comes to an end. When will time die? When the moon and sun are no more. All the beings under the sway of the sun and moon are controlled by time; they are all the slaves of Kal. Whether they are gods and goddesses dwelling in the heaven worlds or residents of this mortal world, it makes no difference. All are ruled by Lord Kal. But when you do the meditation on Shabd and become absorbed in the Self-Luminous Sound, then the sun and moon have no more influence over you — your own Light will impart radiance to them.

Discover the seat of Shabd within the body; behold that Beloved who is Shabd and Shabd alone.

From what source is that Shabd arising? On what ground do we listen to that Sound? First of all, take the knowledge of this technique from the Guru. Now, the Shabd is spread downward into all the senses. But the seat of the Shabd is the door into the Inner Realms. Fixing your attention at that place, listen to that Shabd with your inner hearing faculty. Shabd is the Lord of Lords — there is no higher power.  Once you obtain the secret of Shabd, the straight road to your True Home opens before you, and you can proceed without let or hindrance.

Shabd erases the line of karma; Shabd alone can unite you with Shabd.

What does He mean by the line of karma?25The Saints tell us that six things come written in our fate: riches and poverty, health and sickness, honor and ignominy. Many traditions have developed systems to read a person’s destiny through the lines of the forehead, hands, and feet. The real “line of fate,” the prālabdh karma that determines this present life, is stored in the eight-petalled lotus in Anda at the back of the eyes. The Saints describe this prālabdh karma as the arrow that has already left the bow; it cannot be recalled. When Swami Ji Maharaj says: “Shabd erases the line of karma,” He is not suggesting that Shabd will give you riches from poverty, health from sickness, or honor from ignominy, but rather He is indicating that the Power of Shabd finishes off all karmas and frees the soul from the realm of action altogether. When some calamity befalls as a result of our bad actions in the past, we say, “What can I do? This is my fate karma.” Or if we meet with some happy windfall as result of some good actions in the past, then we say, “What good fate karma I have! The Lord is showering a lot of grace on me.” All these ups and downs of fate are written in our karmas, drawn from the vast storehouse of our past deeds.  Shabd and Shabd alone can bring the endless cycle of karma to a close.26The Satguru finishes off the karmas of the initiate. Sant Kirpal Singh describes the process: “At the time of Initiation, the Master begins the process of winding up all Karmas of the initiate. He gives him a contact with the Sound Current, by practising which the Sanchit account is burnt away. The process is similar to putting a handful of seeds in a pan and placing them on a fire, which then causes the seeds to puff up and lose their property of growing again. Then the Kriyaman account is dealt with. After warning his disciples to guard against opening any new account of bad deeds, the Master grants a general clemency in respect of past deeds, part of which the disciple has already settled in this life up to the time of Initiation. He is enjoined to lead a clean life and to weed out all imperfections in him by self-introspection from day to day. The Prarabdha Karma is not touched by Saints because this is the cause of the physical body, which would vanish due to the interference with the Law of Nature. Thus, a very small amount of Karma now remains to be tolerated in the physical body for the remaining years of the life of the disciple, but even this is softened by the grace of the Master. The law of grace works wonders and a devotee, who out of loving devotion, reposes all his hopes in the Master, passes off unscathed from the pinching effects of the reactions of past Karmas.”  Kirpal Singh, The Way of the Saints, (Sanbornton, New Hampshire: Sant Bani Ashram, 1976) p 56-57.

There are four types of karma within us, and the soul is weighed down under that load. We have the sanchit karma, the prālabdh karma, the kriyamāṇ karma, and the āgamya karma. Sanchit or storehouse karma has brought about our births for millions of yugas and has kept us coming again and again into this world. It is just like the farmer who sows his crop this year, and then, at the harvest time, saves back some seed for the next planting. The following year, he will sow that seed for a new crop, and when he reaps another harvest, he will once again save out seed for the future. Similarly, we have a storehouse full of karmas from our previous births. The word “sanchit” means stored or collected. 

Next come the prālabdh or fate karmas. These are the karmas that form our current body and influence our actions in this present birth. All the major circumstances, good or bad, in this lifetime are the result of the prālabdh karmas — what household we will take birth in, whether our outer form is dark or fair, what good and bad qualities predominate within us, whether we are born in the house of some righteous person or in the palace of a king. One person takes birth here, another somewhere else. This is all based on our prālabdh karmas.

The kriyamāṇ karmas are the deeds we go on performing every day. The wise person is not concerned with the past karmas. Instead, they focus on performing righteous deeds in the present — Naam Simran, contemplation, devotion to the Lord. The prālabdh and sanchit karmas are a closed book to the intellect. But we can think carefully and control the kriyamāṇ karmas that we are making in the present, because we are creating those kriyamāṇ karmas according to the advice of our intellect. Using discrimination, we can perform the pure deeds now that will shape our future. Then, no matter what karmas we have done in the past, whether we reap the reward of previous good deeds or endure the punishment for past bad deeds, still, we will not be afraid; we will feel no pinching effect. So, this is the nature of the kriyamāṇ karmas. The kriyamāṇ karmas of this life become the prālabdh karmas of the next life. If our kriyamāṇ karmas are good, then a brighter future is assured.

And finally, we have the āgamya karmas. The āgamya karmas27Some Saints include āgamya karma under the heading of kriyamāṇ karma, and some detail it as a separate category. But the meaning is the same no matter how it is classified. Sant Ajaib Singh has commented on the unfulfilled desires of the current life affecting future births: “Mahatmas lovingly tell us: There is no one in this world who has finished or fulfilled all his desires. He may have finished or fulfilled some of his desires, but not all: and you may even find someone who has finished most of his desires, but there will still be a couple which were not fulfilled. So, at the time of the death of such a person, all the desires which are not fulfilled come up in front of him, and he starts worrying about them; he says: That desire was not fulfilled, or, I should have done this, or, I should have done that. So according to the desires and imaginations and fantasies which he is having at the time of death, he gets his next birth: because our desires have to be fulfilled either in this birth or the next. So, according to this, because of his unfulfilled desires he gets another birth. In that birth, those desires are fulfilled, but he creates many other desires which are not. So, in this way he gets another birth, and this cycle of birth and death goes on and on. As long as he is involved in desires, he goes on coming and going into this world again and again.” Ajaib Singh, In the Palace of Love (Sanbornton, New Hampshire: Sant Bani Ashram, 1992) p 77. are like a trap we set for ourselves. Many people act wisely and create good kriyamāṇ karmas, but then they forge a painful future through the āgamya karmas, the unfilled fantasies and desires that carry us from this life into future incarnations: “I wish I could do this. In the future, I must achieve that. My children need to do such and such. I should have done this or that.” Thinking of the future, we make plans: “What can I do next year? And then what will I do the year after that? How will my children get by in the time to come?”  All this worry, forms the āgamya karma; we set our course for future action. But the Almighty Lord is caring for us today, in the past, he helped us, and in the future, He will stand by us also.  All your worry for the past came to nothing, and your worry for the future will be the same. Therefore, you should put the past behind you, my friend, and tie up this ghost of the future. Karma is a deep and mysterious subject — very difficult to comprehend. Concerning karma, Swami Ji Maharaj tells us that whoever does the meditation on Shabd, the Shabd manifests in their within, and the four types of karma are reduced to ashes.

In the lower physical body, we have relied on the outer shabd — the words created from the 52 letters. 28“[The six plexuses or centers in the physical body are:] (a) Muladhara (Basal Plexus) with a four-petaled lotus, extending on four sides; (b) Svadhishtana (Hypogastric Plexus) with a six-petaled lotus, extending on four sides plus one below and the other above; (c) Manipuraka (Solar Plexus) with an eight-petaled lotus, having four additional sides in between the original four sides; (d) Anahata (Cardiac Plexus) with a twelve-petaled lotus. It is a lotus of the unstruck sound as the name denotes; (e) Vishuddha (Pharyngeal Plexus) with a sixteen-petaled lotus, being an all-pervasive ethereal lotus. It is a center of great purity as the name indicates; (f) Aggya (Cavernous Plexus) with a two-petaled lotus, also called Ajna Chakra, meaning the center of command.
  Besides the above plexuses, there is the Antahkaran (consisting of chit, manas, budhi and ahankar), with a lotus of four petals, thus making in all fifty-two petals, corresponding to the fifty-two letters of the alphabet in Sanskrit, the mother of all languages. We have, however, to rise above all Akshras to a state beyond called Neh-akhshra para, which is eternal and ever-abiding and of which Kabir says: “The three lokas and the fifty-two letters are one and all subject to decay, But the eternal and the everlasting holy Word is quite distinct from them. KABIR”
Kirpal Singh, Crown of Life: a Study in Yoga (Franklin, N.H., USA: Sant Bani Ashram, 1980), 64-6. But the Self-Existing stream of Shabd is coming from above. If we rise above and unite with that stream, then all our chains are cast off. The Guru is not the body; the disciple is also not the body. The Shabd is the Guru; the soul is the disciple. [end of audio]

Without Shabd all knowledge is false;
Without Shabd all contemplation is hollow.
O ignorant one! Radha Swami is explaining to you —
Never abandon the Shabd.

Audio: H055

Swami Ji Maharaj

With a gentle heart and a mind full of compassion,
Set out to solve the mystery of life.

Komal chitt dayā man dhāro, paramārath kā khoj lagānā
कोमल चित्त दया मन धारो । परमारथ का खोज लगाना ।।१।।
इन्द्री थान विषय को त्यागो । सुर्त शब्द में नित्त लगाना ।।२।।
सार पदारथ गुरु से पाओ । चरन कँवल में प्रीत बढ़ाना ।।३।।
धारा अगम पकड़ सुर्त जोड़ो । इस सतसंग में सदा समाना ।।४।।
चली सुरत नभ द्वारा झाँका । अंडा तीन लोक दरसाना ।।५।।
परे जाय ब्रह्मण्ड समानी । सुन्न सरोवर कँवल खिलाना ।।६।।
अब तो काल कला सब हारा । मानसरोवर पैठ अन्हाना ।।७।।
अक्षर रूप निरखती चाली । छोड़ दिया अब देश बिगाना ।।८।।
सूरत साफ़ ऊड़ी ऊँचे को । छूट गया सब महल पुराना ।।९।।
आगे चढ़ चढ़ अधर समानी । शब्द शब्द का मर्म पिछाना ।।१०।।
संत बिना कोइ समझे नाहीं । आगे जो जो भेद दिखाना ।।११।।
कहने में आवे नहिं पूरा । उलटा सुलटा करत बखाना ।।१२।।
बाचक अपनी उक्ति लगावें । अमल बिना नहीं बूझ बुझाना ।।१३।।
संतन की गति संतहि जानें । और कहो कैसे पहिचाना ।।१४।।
अपनी उक्ति चतुरता त्यागो । संत बचन को करो प्रमाना ।।१५।।
वह कहते देखी निज अपनी । तू सुन सुन क्यों बुद्धि लड़ाना ।।१६।।
राधास्वामी सब से कहते । संत भेद कोइ भेदी जाना ।।१७।।

Sār Bachan Radhāsvāmī, Chand Band
Bachan 20, Upadesh, Shabd Abhyās, shabd 27

With a gentle heart and a mind full of compassion, set out to solve the mystery of life.

[initial audio missing] Therefore, He says that you should first make your own heart gentle. Make it spotless and pure. When you are true within, then you are ready to set out in search of spirituality.

Leave this plane of the senses behind, abandon the sensual pleasures,
And keep your surat (soul) constantly anchored in the Shabd.

Swami Ji’s bani is written in very simple language, and everyone can understand the meaning of His words. But the deeper meaning that He is conveying can only be grasped by someone with first-hand inner experience. What does He tell us first of all? Make your heart gentle and spotlessly pure. And how can this be done? At present, your heart is defiled with the sense pleasures and worldly passions, and until you remove all this dross, the heart cannot be purified.

But once you remove all the sense pleasures and indulgences from your heart, then mercy, continence, peace, and love will make their home there. When your consciousness radiates purity, when no thought of the world remains in your within, then attune your attention to the Shabd. Once your soul is purified, since the Shabd is also pure, then the two will unite, and the conscious Power of the Shabd will transport your soul to the higher regions.

The technique is very simple; nevertheless, as Tulsidas tells us:

सकल पदारथ है जग माहीं ।
कर्म हीन नर पावत नाहीं ।

All things are available in this world,
            But you cannot achieve them without effort.

This world is filled with good things. But the karmas we made in the past have shaped our intellect. Our intellect guides our deeds, and we receive the fruits of happiness and sorrow accordingly. So, the Saints teach us this simple method. First, purify your heart and draw back the fluttering veils of sense pleasures and evil tendencies that are obscuring your consciousness. Once your consciousness has become purified, then merge into the Shabd and ascend within. The technique is so simple, but as long as our heart remains lifeless and hard like stone, we will not be able to discern the subtle currents of higher consciousness flowing within us.

Take the True Essence from the Guru, and increase your love for His lotus feet.

Now, along with this, He tells us that if anyone thinks that they can achieve success through their own efforts, then they are deluded because this is not possible. Because whatever we say on our own is based on the speculation and conjecture of the intellect. But the intellect itself is stark blind and unconscious. We have to take the guidance from the Inner Conscious Power; whether we call it Guru, or Light, or Soul, or Naam, it is all one and the same.  So, first, we have to go to the Guru learn the Essential and True Path from Him. And then, according to His teachings, fix your contemplation in the Guru’s lotus feet. Tulsidas tells us:

श्री गुरु चरण नख मणि गण ज्योति,
सुमिरत दिव्य दृष्टि हिय होती ।।

Dazzling light flashes from the nails of the Guru’s feet.
When I remember Him, His divine vision fills my heart.

When you go on contemplating, then gradually your sense of I-hood will dissolve and only the dazzling light of His lotus feet will remain. When the soul and the attention become pure, then a natural connection with the Shabd is established.

But if we try to accomplish this through our own intellect, then our efforts are doomed to failure. There will always be some selfish purpose inherent in our actions. When we assert with our own intellect, then we are always harboring some ulterior motive. In this way, we block the untainted conscious Power within us, and it cannot come to our aid.

Catch hold of the Shabd coming from Agam, the unfathomable region, and unite your surat with it. Remain always absorbed in the inner Satsang.

Swami Ji says that the stream of Shabd is cascading down from Agam, the unfathomable region. That stream is Self-Existing and beyond the reach of the intellect. Uniting with that stream of Shabd, become the form of Shabd. Whatever thoughts keep coming in the mind — I am listening to the Shabd; this type of sound is coming; I am separate from the sound; now, I should be hearing some different kind of sound — all of these thoughts that go on arising in the mind must be removed. You must become the form of the Shabd itself; then, that Shabd will attract your soul and transport you into the higher regions.

Satsang means “the company of Truth.”  So, when we contact the Shabd within, this is called Satsang; and, that gathering where the Guru gives out the teachings of Truth is called Satsang as well.

The surat ascends and, glimpsing through the door in the inner sky,
It has the darshan of the astral realm and the three worlds.

When the soul crosses beyond etheric realm (Ākāsh Manḍal), then it has a direct view of the physical, astral and causal planes. The soul sees all that is below the third eye in the material world; it views the astral realm with its heavens, paradises, gods and goddesses, riddhis and siddhis (supernatural powers), all and sundry. And further still, the soul also experiences the Brahmand and in this way, comes to know the three worlds.

Becoming absorbed in Brahmand, the soul travels beyond into Par Brahm.
The lotus blooms on the lake of Sunn.

Beyond Brahmand lies the realm of Par Brahm. Here you enter into the region called Sunn (Void) or Daswan Dwar (Tenth Door), where the soul bathes in the pool of Mansarovar. This is the region of the six-petalled lotus. It is in the Sunn region that you totally divest yourself of the four bodies: physical, astral, causal and super-causal. Here, the soul emerges in its pristine form and is called a hansa or swan. When all vestiges of the four bodies covering the Soul are washed away, the immaculate hansa flies free. Understand this as the state of Self-Knowledge or Ātma-Gyān; here, you attain complete knowledge and experience of the Soul.

All the powers of Kal are defeated when the soul bathes in the Mansarovar.

When Dissolution occurs, all the regions up through Trikuti are rolled up. But when you rise above Trikuti and go into the region of Sunn, then you have risen beyond the reach of Kal. In this verse, Swami Ji refers to the “powers of Kal,” meaning Kal’s dominion over time.  The cycles of the sun and moon are under his control. Day and night belong to him. Our life may last a day, a month, a year or a hundred years but in the end, we die — this is all under Kal’s control. What to speak of the physical plane, even in the heavens, the gods and goddesses, dwell there for a fixed span, and then they are destroyed.  And further, when Dissolution or Grand Dissolution occur, one cycle of time ends and another begins. But, once the soul reaches the Mansarovar, then all the powers of Kal — which were in full force below — those powers are all destroyed and the soul emerges in its Self-Existing form. Once the Soul reaches that level, then it is no longer subject to birth and death in the lower three worlds.29“The process of Dissolution works up to the realm of Triloki or three worlds (physical, astral and causal planes) and that of Grand Dissolution up to the subtlest of the causal planes, but it cannot reach Sach Khand, or Sat Lok or, Mukam-i-Haq as the Mohammedans call it (New Jerusalem of the Christians), for it is the veritable Kingdom of God, as spoken of by Christ. The Saints have therefore set Sach Khand as their goal, which is beyond the ken of Dissolution and Grand Dissolution.” Kirpal Singh, Simran: the Sweet Remembrance of God (Delhi: Ruhani Satsang, 1967), p 4-5.

Traveling onward, the soul merges into the form of Akshar (Par Brahm),
Leaving this foreign land behind.

Then the soul travels upward to the region of Akshar or Par Brahm. Saints refer to the creation up through Onkār (Trikuti) as the region of Kshar (perishable). When you go above Onkār (Trikuti), you enter the region of Par Brahm, where Akshar, the imperishable realm, begins, and all the alien lands, that is, the lower regions of creation, are left behind. For numberless days, the soul was imprisoned in those perishable worlds, but now it becomes detached, merges into Akshar, and travels onward.

The purified soul soars skyward; the old palaces are all abandoned.

Becoming free from all coverings, the soul now ascends untrammeled. The realms where it has been imprisoned are all left below; that is, once the soul has been purified in Par Brahm, it ascends even higher into the Nī‑Akshar, the Realm of Truth, and becomes absorbed there.

Climbing higher and higher, you rise into the realms beyond;
Stage after stage you discover the unique mysteries of Shabd.

Shabd reverberates in the realms beyond.  Here, in the material world, the Shabd is at once intermingled with the five elements and also separate from those elements. When you reach the etheric astral world, there also Shabd permeates the whole region and yet remains separate from it. And when you ascend to Brahmand, once again you find that the Shabd is all-pervading and yet it is separate from all. In the region of Brahmand, the Shabd takes becomes the sound of onkār. When you cross over into Par Brahm, it resounds as rārang. But through all its stages, it remains separate and unattached. Shabd is complete in itself, the supporting Power behind all that exists and yet taking support from none. And when the soul rises higher still, it merges into the Sar Shabd, leaving aside all the lower sounds. And finally, taking the support of the True Shabd (Sat Shabd), it reaches the primal home of the soul, Sach Khand.  

Without the Saint, no one can understand the revelations that unfold as you ascend.

When you ascend into the Par Brahm and beyond, your entire experience arises from Shabd and Shabd alone. The vital airs (prāna vāyu) do not reach to that place; the buddhi (intellect) does not function there; the brahmākār vritti, and the knowledge that comes from complete identification with Brahm have been left behind.30In the three worlds, the soul acquires knowledge through the vrittis — rays emit from the mind, strike an object and then return to the mind as vibrations. The five vrittis are: 1) Correct knowledge (pramāna); (2) Incorrect knowledge (viparyaya); (3) Imagination or fantasy (vikalpa); (4) Sleep (nidrā); (5) Memory (smrti). But when the soul reaches Brahmand and becomes the form of Brahmand, its perceptions are the perceptions of Brahm; all knowledge is laid bare through the working of brahmākār vṛitti and through complete identification with Brahm. But when Brahm and all the lower planes are transcended and the soul rises into Par Brahm, then all the coverings are removed. In the region of Par Brahm and beyond, all experience and knowledge come directly by means of Shabd. Only the soul who has manifested the higher Shabd and has experienced its secrets within can understand this condition. All the others who have only heard about these inner planes get some conviction about their existence. But they can only imagine with the mind’s eye the nature of the Shabd, the mysteries that lie hidden there, and the joy of the soul that attains that status. They have no actual proof from first-hand experience.

Without the inner experience, we can’t properly describe the inner Shabd. Our descriptions are just a meaningless jumble of words.

Until we have the inner experience, we cannot speak of the inner realms with the conviction of Truth. We take some words from here, some from there and put them all together to describe the inner reality. But our words can carry no authority, because they are not backed up by actual experience.

Scholars build castles in the air, but without meditation and practical experience, the Light of illumination does not dawn.

The difference between the meditator with practical experience and the scholar who just talks is as great as the difference between heaven and earth. If some lowly laborer starts prattling about the grandeur of the royal court, what glory can he shed on its magnificent splendor. The poor fellow has never even seen it. In the same way, the scholars take one thing from this scripture and something else from another scripture. They pore over the Shastras, the Puranas, the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and so on. Pulling together quotes from all the various holy books, they can deliver impressive sermons, explaining the mysteries of spirituality for the benefit of others. They become great orators. But if you glimpse within their hearts, you will find a barren wasteland. They are just playing with words without any idea of what lies behind them. But, in the end, spirituality is a matter of doing, not of talking. Until we have first-hand experience of the within, we are not capable of saying anything about the higher realms.

The scholars who rely on bookish knowledge do not practice the meditation and open the inner eye. And as long as the divine eye (divya chakshu) or eye of knowledge (gyān chakshu) does not open, we are unable to have a peep within. Instead, we collect the words that are spoken by the mahatmas who have experienced the inner worlds and then interpret their words according to our own intellect. We multiply everything ten times, add masala (spice) from here, there, and everywhere, and then give memorable lectures to other people. But nothing is accomplished like this. When your own heart is empty, you have nothing to share with others. It is like a person with tuberculosis trying to train a wrestler: “Now, every day you should drink three or four seers of milk. Then you should apply yourself to a program of vigorous exercise.” That wrestler might well ask: “My friend, what about your own condition?”  And then, that trainer would have to admit: “Truly speaking, I only have about three or four days left to live. Then I will be departing from this world.”

So, this is the condition of those with bookish knowledge only. They have not controlled the mind, and they have not done any meditation, but with great enthusiasm they go on advising others about spirituality. What can be gained from this? Nothing at all. These learned people have no wealth in their wallet to distribute, and their listeners will go away empty-handed.

Only a Saint knows the status of the Saints. How could anyone else fathom Their profound depths?

Until you experience the Shabd, you can know nothing of it. Therefore, Swami Ji explains to us that a Saint — one who has experienced the Shabd and discovered its secret — can understand the stature and condition of the Saints. This is the hallmark of the Saints — They first see and then say.

Give up your conjecture and cleverness; acknowledge the Saint’s words as true.

Now it is clear that your intellect must, first and foremost, accept the Guru’s words.  If you want to grasp this subject through your own intellect, you can go on trying for your whole life long, but you will not get a glimmer of understanding.  Instead, believing in the words of the Saints, we should follow Their instructions. And what do they tell us: “If you meditate in this way, you will achieve that exalted status.” Such knowledge is totally inaccessible to the intellect.  

But the intellect is such a mighty power that it is not ready to accept anyone else’s understanding. Your intellect will always try to interfere, putting some objection or other before you. And if you are swayed by its arguments, you are only harming yourself; what harm can it do to the Saints?

He tells you what He has seen Himself. Why do you listen to His words and then twist them to suit your own limited understanding?

The Saints have seen the truth for Themselves; They have the proof of Their own eyes. And whatever They have experienced, They say only that much. But we people indulge in intellectual wrestling. We think the understanding of our intellect is more important than the words of the Saints. My friend, the intellect is stark blind, so what knowledge can you hope to gain from it?

Radhaswami says to one and all: only someone who knows the inner secret can fathom the mystery of the Saints.

Now, Swami Ji has told us everything. He has spoken of the secret of the Saints. When the Saints are gracious, They reveal this secret. And those who accept the Saints’ words and apply themselves with firm faith will experience this mystery within themselves.

Audio: H060

Swami Ji Maharaj

The fickle mind does not obey me.

Man chanchal kahā na mānẽ
।। शब्द चौथा ।।
मन चंचल कहा न मानें । मैं कौन उपाय करूँ ।।१।।
गुरु नित समझावें साध बुझावें । सतसंग में चित जोड़ धरूँ ।।२।
सुन सुन बचन बहुत पछताऊूँ । बहुर भुलावे भर्म रहूं ।।३।।
अपनी सी बहु जुक्ति सम्हारी । कैसे मन को मार मरूँ ।।४।।
सुरत शब्द का घाट न पाया । फिर क्योंकर मैं गगन भरूँ ।।५।।
डावाँडोल रहे संशय में । जगत आस से नाहिं टरूँ ।।६।।
सतगुरु सरन पकड़ कर बैठूं । तो इस मन की व्याधि हरूँ ।।७।।
जगत जाल यह अति दुखदाई । इसी अगिन में नित्त जरूँ ।।८।।
बिना मेहर कुछ काज न सरिहै । अब राधास्वामी की सरन पड़ूं ।।९।।

।। शब्द पाँचवाँ ।।
चमरिया चाह बसी घट माहिं । गुरु अब कैसे धारें पायँ ।।१।।
दुक्ख सुख नितही आवें जायँ । करम फल भोगत मन के माहिं ।।२।।
शुद्धता सब ही भागी जायँ। प्रेम और भक्ति नहीं ठहरायँ ।।३।।
विरह अनुराग निकासे जायँ । करूँ क्या कोई जतन अब नाहिं ।।४।।
बहुरि फिर गुरुही लेयँ बचाय । नाम बिन करे न कोइ सहाय ।।५।।
करूं अब सतसंग सरन समाय । शब्द में निस दिन लगन लगाय ।।६।।
राधास्वामी कीन्ही दृष्टि झुमाय । चमरिया घट से भागी जाय ।।७।।

Sār Bachan Radhāsvāmī, Chand Band
Bachan 31, Man aur Indriyõ ke Vikār, śhabd 4-5

The fickle mind does not obey me. How can I bring it under control?

This is the bani of Param Sant Satguru Radhaswami Ji. He tells us that a concentrated mind leads to liberation, but a wavering mind leads to bondage. At present, all the world is groveling before the mind. We pass our lives following the mind’s dictates and have become its mouthpiece (manmukh). If you consider this carefully, you will observe that from the lowliest to the most exalted — even the gods, goddesses, yakshas, gandharvas and kinnars31Yakshas, gandharvas, and kinnars are three different classes of demigods. Yakshas are ruled over by Kubera, the Vedic god of wealth. They generally appear as nature-spirits — sometimes benevolent, sometimes destructive — dwelling in trees and lonely, wilderness spots. Gandharvas are renowned as the celestial musicians, who perform in the heavenly palaces of the gods and goddesses. Kinnars, like the yakshas, are attendants on Kubera, but, similar to the gandharvas, they are mostly associated with music and dance. — all are controlled by the mind. On the surface, each appears to have a unique form, but if you delve a little deeper, you will discover that, in essence, they are all a manifestation of one and the same mind.

The ever-restless mind sits within everyone, and whatever it commands us to do, we obey without question. Compelled by the mind, we create the karmas and then must endure the consequences of our actions. We mistake our bondage for happiness, and, in this delusion, we throw away our precious lives and are cast back into the wheel of 84 lakh births and deaths.

This has been our condition — not just in the present incarnation — but for millions of lifetimes and through millions of ages. Now, at least, we should take stock of our life. From our childhood up to the present moment, we have been following the dictates of the mind; we have acted according to the instructions of the mind; we have wasted our whole lifetime trying to please the mind.

The mind has taken up residence within us and draws pleasure from sense indulgence. But the soul also has its seat in this human body, and, birth after birth, it has suffered the reactions of the mind’s deeds. Therefore, Swami Ji tells us that the foundation stone of the spiritual edifice is to bring the mind under our control. No other means has the slightest effect. In order to still the mind and make it understand, we keep fasts, offer devotion, practice hatha and raja yoga, repeat mantras and endure austerities, but for all our efforts, we accomplish nothing at all.

The mind is such an immense power. Although it will readily listen to all the spiritual teachings and will perform all the devotional practices, still it will never willingly give up its old habits. The mind enjoys reading all the sacred scriptures. It will read the Bhagavad Gita; it will read the Puranas. It will listen to stories from here and there and even quote the scriptures to others. But its essential nature remains unchanged.

Swami Ji says: “The mind is so disturbed that it won’t pay any attention to my words. What method can I adopt to control it?” Sometimes, people who have not brought their own minds under their own control go about instructing everyone else on the best way to control the mind. My friend, first rein in your own mind — then, you can teach others. Until your mind obeys you, how can you preach to someone else? Kabir Sahib tells us:

पहिले अपना मन परबोधे, पीछे औरन समझावे ।
First, awaken your own mind; then, you can make others understand.

Until your own mind comprehends the reality, how can you impart knowledge to others? Therefore, Swami Ji says: “What is the most important task? It is to bring your own mind under your control.” Then your work is complete. Until the mind becomes obedient, your spirituality remains full of fancy phrases, but devoid of practice.

The Guru daily instructs me and explains the practice.
I sit in Satsang with rapt attention.

He says that the Guru explains to me every day how to still the mind. The Sadhus lay great emphasis on this principle. All the Vedas and Shastras attest to its importance. And I also long to make the mind still so that True Knowledge may dawn within me. But the mind, sitting within everyone, listens to all these teachings, but still refuses to change — it goes on committing sins unchecked. So, Swami Ji tells us: “Daily I listen to Satsang and try to make my mind understand the Truth.”

I listen to His every word and bitterly repent my past follies;
But then the mind dupes me once again and leads me astray.

While I sit listening to the Satsang, every single word touches my heart, and my mind deeply regrets its past failures. Swami Ji describes the condition of the mind in this way:

आगे पाछे बहु पछताऊं समय पड़े पर होवत चोरा ।
After committing a sin, I always repent sincerely,
But at the first opportunity, once again, I become the thief.

As soon as we leave the Satsang, the ghost of the mind enters our within. That mind starts to order us about, and, according to its commands, we perform all our actions in this world. We do repent for our bad actions and think: “I should not be doing this. I should be doing bhajan and simran. My human birth is going wasted.” At heart of hearts, we understand the reality and repent. But then mighty power of the mind surges up within us, and as soon as we leave the Satsang, we come under its control once again. We do not take the benefit from the Satsang with us, but remain exactly the same as we were before. Lost in forgetfulness, we go on wandering about in delusion.

On my own, I have tried so many methods to subdue it.
How can I put an end to this troublesome mind?

Try as I might on my own, I am always defeated. No matter what I do, this mind still won’t obey me. So how can I subdue it? How can I destroy the mind? In spite of all my efforts, I have not succeeded. The mind always throws me down in defeat.

I have not reached the high dwelling place of Surat Shabd.
How can I merge my consciousness into the inner sky?

Now, He tells us that there is only one way to destroy the mind. When we bring the mind in contact with the Shabd, then its restless activity ceases, and it becomes still. But to meet with the Shabd, you must rise above the physical level and reach the inner sky. And the mind will not, of its own volition, ascend to the plane of the Shabd. In fact, it fears that contact and resists any attempt to rise above. Its tendency is downward, and it has an affinity for the outer practices. The mind is attracted to the outer religions — it rotates the rosary, practices fasting, and relishes philosophical discussions. It is all eagerness for anything associated with the outer world, but stubbornly refuses to go within. And even when we sit for bhajan, the mind prefers to run about in the outer world. It won’t sit still for a moment and avoids the inner ascent.

So, Swami Ji says: “No matter what I do, the mind will not even try to contact the Shabd. It refuses to rise up to the exalted level where the Shabd is resounding. Now, tell me. How can I lay hold of it and bring it under control?”

Assailed by doubt, my mind is always wavering.
I cannot let go of the worldly desires.

The mind is always unsteady and full of doubts. The word we use for this world is “sansār,” which combines sansā (doubt) and sār (essence) — the essence of doubt.  This is the meaning of “sansār.” And the root of all this doubt is the mind. Sitting within us, it remains uneasy. It is always wavering and changing. It is filled with doubts. It cannot stay still and so the Higher Power within can offer it no aid. The mind’s works can never be fully accomplished; whatever virtuous deed or sinful action it may perform, it always remains in the grip of doubt.  When it sits for bhajan, again it is overcome by doubt. It can stick to no fixed resolve. Thoughts crowd in: “I should be sitting in such and such a way. I should be seeing this or that. Now, I am seeing the moon, the sun, the stars. Oh, some ghost has come! Some deity has appeared within. The form of some woman has manifested.” This is all the play of the mind, sent to distract us.

How do we reach your goal? The path is clear before you, and you should march along that straight path, not looking to the left or right. Deities like Rama may appear to you, but these forms are false — just figments of an overwrought imagination. When you rise above and have such visions, it is your own mind spinning one fantasy after another. This deity has come, that deity has come. Well, if all these deities come, how will you fit them all in? There is no extra room for even one deity, and you are trying to bring along seventeen.  

All this illusion is arising from the doubting mind. You have not established the Guru and the Naam firmly within yourself when you do the meditation practice; that is why doubts come in your within. If you were to head straight for your goal, if you were to follow the Naam, then you would meet the Guru and, contemplating on the Guru, you could then proceed further. What about all the other sights you will encounter? When you go into the within, stars will appear here and there, the sun and moon will rise. But your goal is to have the darshan of the Guru. If the other sights appear, let them come, but always proceed straight forward, searching only for the darshan of the Guru, which is your sole aim.  

But now when you sit for meditation, you find that you are still bound by worldly desires. Until you remove those desires and severe your connection with the world, how can you ascend within? When you are still attracted to the outer world, how can you hope to transcend this plane and rise up to the higher spiritual regions?

If I take refuge in the Satguru’s shelter,
Then I can cure the mind’s disease.

There is only one remedy for this dilemma. On my own, I have read the six Shastras and the eighteen Puranas; I have practiced all the rites and rituals; I have performed the outer worship; and, I have tried to contemplated on the forms of the deities.  But even after pursuing all these avenues, I have achieved nothing. 

Only one method will work. Now, I must go into the refuge of the Satguru and remain there with firm determination, whether my meditation is perfected or not, whether I achieve salvation in this lifetime or not. And even if I have to take rebirth, no matter where I am placed, still, I should remain in the refuge of the Guru with unwavering resolution. This is my only hope of achieving my cherished goal.  

The trap of the world causes great agony.
Daily I am burning in the fire.

If I don’t practice that method, then I will become the food of Kal. I will be trapped in the snare of Yam Raj (The Lord of Death), and bound in that trap I will die. There is only one remedy — to go in the shelter of the Guru. Nothing else will work.

Without grace and mercy nothing can be accomplished;
Now I have taken refuge with Radhaswami.

So, in the end, Swami Ji has made this matter perfectly clear. Until the grace of the Guru descends, nothing can be accomplished. Superficially, the mind has learned to say: “It is all the Guru’s grace.” But my friend, do we earn the Guru’s grace just by learning to parrot a few words? Many people speak of the Guru’s grace, but that does not mean they have understood that grace or become worthy of receiving it. They just mouth the words: “It is all the Guru’s grace.”

Where do you find that fountainhead from where the Guru’s grace is flowing? Outwardly, you are extolling His grace, but you should just look at your inner condition and see where you stand. When you have never even contacted that flowing stream of grace, what can you hope to gain from such pretense? The True Guru does not reside anywhere outside. The Guru is the form of Shabd; the Guru is the Light within. But you have not even met the True Inner Guru, so who are you imagining will shower the divine grace upon you? My friend, when the Guru manifests within, He unites you with the Shabd. This is the true meaning of the Guru’s grace. But if you have not gone within and met with the Shabd Guru, then what do you mean by saying that it is all the Guru’s grace? If a son is born, it is all the Guru’s grace. If there is a wedding, it is all the Guru’s grace. If, by some means fair or foul, you earn Rs100,000, it is all the Guru’s grace. My friend, this is not the Guru’s grace, this is the grace of Kal and Maya. You acquire more worldly wealth and comfort, and then you think this is the grace of the Guru. How can that be possible?

Therefore, Swami Ji tells us: “I know that until the grace of the Almighty Lord descends, my work cannot be accomplished.  Therefore, with whole-hearted devotion, I have come into the shelter of the Guru.” And once we surrender to the Guru, we should not go on splitting hairs. “Why is it like this? Why is it like that? This is not how I would do it.” On and on. How can this be called going into the Guru’s shelter?

The desires of the cobbler have made their home within me.32The desire of the cobblers (chamār), is to work with skins (chamaṛe), and Swami Ji is using this image to indicate that we see the world like a cobbler, looking only at the value of the outer flesh, while ignoring the divine spark within. The expression Swami Ji uses — chamariyā chāh — literally means, “the desires of the cobbler’s wife.” (chamariyā = cobbler’s wife and chāh = desires)
How can the Guru come to dwell in my heart?

Now He says: “What is the nature of this world? It is a dwelling place of cobblers.” As long as our soul remains separated from its own pure, conscious, and transcendent nature, as long as it maintains its relationship with this body of flesh, we will go on seeing the whole world from the point of view of the flesh, the outer covering of skin. All our dealings will be with the skin.

The people who make sandals out of leather are called chamār or cobblers, but, in reality, we are all cobblers. We are sitting in the body made of skin and flesh, and our thoughts are all directed to the outer world. We see everyone — our children, our family, our relatives — from the point of view of the outer covering of skin, just like a cobbler.  But what do we know of their true nature? Until we stop looking at world with the eye of a cobbler, how can we rise above to the spiritual realms? “The desires of the cobbler have made their home within me.” As long as we are only concerned with the covering of skin, how can we hope to achieve liberation?

But once you set aside the lusts of the flesh, then you will enter into the sublime presence of immaculate Guru. But now, introspect your own heart. Ask yourself: “Is my Guru residing there, or is my heart filled with the worldly desires?” Then you will see where you stand.

I am daily visited by pains and pleasures;
I have to endure the consequences of my karmas.

Because of our karmas, we daily experience pain and pleasure. We are forced into servitude like a potter’s donkey. We have to endure the reactions of our past deeds.  Otherwise, how could the transcendent soul be bound? How could it become enslaved? The soul is free and self-existing consciousness. Who would have the power to bind it? In fact, we are bound by our own karmas. It is only to bear those karmas that the soul has become imprisoned in this body of flesh. Bewitched by this play of the mind, we go on reaping the fruits of our past actions.

Purity has abandoned me;
Affection and devotion do not stand firm.

If we make the heart immaculate and pure, then love and devotion will awaken of themselves. But instead, we have filled our within with the dirt of the world. How can dirt give rise to purity? We are intoxicated in egotism and cling to “I and mine”: These are my children; this is my family; these are my relations; this is my wealth. We are lost in the vanity of the flesh, and the worldly thoughts crowd out everything else. If any material thing is lost, we break down weeping. And if we accumulate more worldly wealth, then we laugh for joy.  But what cause do we have for happiness when we have not attained the true love or performed the true devotion?

Yearning and love have flown away.
What can I do? All my efforts are in vain.

He says, “I have no longing within, no affection, no true love for the devotion. What can I do when all my efforts have failed?” Search your own heart, and judge your condition. “Only a rare one from millions does the bhajan and meets the Lord.”  The devotees of the skin cannot achieve anything, but He tells us that the true devotees are very rare — one in a million.

No one but my Guru can save me.
Except for the Naam, I have no other support.

There is only one remedy. Without the Guru’s grace, I cannot be rid of the lusts of the flesh, nor can the devotion of Naam manifest within me. If the Guru showers His grace and awakens Naam bhakti within me, then I will break free from these chains that bind me. Otherwise, I will remain trapped — taking birth and dying, taking birth and dying, over and over. My worldly thoughts will keep dragging me back here because “wherever your desires are, there you will be also.”

Now I have come into the Satsang, and I remain in His shelter.
Day and night, I attach myself to Shabd.

Now, Swami Ji says: “After a long search, I finally found the one means to liberate my soul. Becoming true within, I have kept the company of Truth — I have taken refuge in the Guru’s Satsang. Now, I no longer fill myself with the useless things of this world, and doing the meditation of Shabd day and night, I have become the form of Shabd.”

When Radhaswami turns His gracious glance on me,
The lusts of the flesh all run away.

When Radhaswami showered His grace upon me, I no longer saw with the eye of a cobbler. My divine vision was thrown open, and merging into the Lord, I became the form of the Lord.

Audio: H070

Swami Ji Maharaj

Listen to the Guru’s words, and fix your attention in the Satsang.

Guru bachan kahẽ so sun re, ab satsang mẽ chit dhar re
गुरु बचन कहें सो सुन रे । अब सतसंग में चित धर रे ।।१।।
तुझे नाम मिला है अजर रे । तू सुरत सम्हार पकड़ रे ।।२।।
गुरु खैंचे तोहि अधर रे । उनके संग बाँध कमर रे ।।३।।
तू फैला बहुत पसर रे । गुरु खोवें तेरी कसर से ।।४।
और मारें काल पकड़ रे । फिर खोवें सभी अकड़ रे ।।५।।
तू सुरत लगा दे जकड़ रे । तेरा मिटे चौरासी चकर रे ।।६।।
मन माला फेर सुमिर रे । गुरु कुंजी हाथ पकड़ रे ।।७।।
ले अनहद शब्द खबर रे । घट फोड़ो गगन अबर रे ।।८।।
तू छोड़ विरह के सर रे । सुन घोर मानसर चल रे ।।९।।
कर सुन्न शिखर पर घर रे । धुन सुनता चल सतपुर रे ।।१०।।
फिर अलख अगम जा तर रे । राधास्वामी धाम अमर रे ।।११।।
यह आरत नित ही कर रे । गुरु करें दया तुझ पर रे ।।१२।।

Sār Bachan Radhāsvāmī, Chand Band
Bachan 20, Upadesh Shabd Abhayās, shabd 28

Listen to the Guru’s words, and fix your attention in the Satsang.

This is the bani of Param Sant Satguru Huzur Radhaswami Ji. He tells us that this world has been fashioned by the working of opposing powers — gurumat (the Path of the Guru) and manmat (the path of the mind), truth and untruth, eternal and changeable, invisible and visible, day and night, auspicious and inauspicious. Controlled by ignorance, we have remained attached to the phenomena of destructible Maya for millions of yugas and millions of incarnations. Yet, over and over, all the illusory objects have vanished into thin air, and we ourselves have been destroyed. Since time immemorial, we have gone on revolving endlessly in the ever-turning wheel of births and deaths.  The root cause of all this is duality. In a creation born of the union of two opposing powers, we have become hopelessly trapped in the wheel of transmigration.

Now, in order to free ourselves from that wheel, in order to escape from the endless cycle of reincarnation and the torments of Yama, we have gone into the refuge of the Satguru. For countless ages, we have passed our earthly incarnations bowing to the dictates of the mind. And in this servitude, we have squandered lifetime after lifetime.  Now the time has come to forget the world forever and, meeting with the Beloved Lord, to become His very form. In this way only can we shake off our shackles and escape from the cycle of birth and death.

Therefore, we have come into the Satguru’s shelter. And the Satguru has told us of the Unchanging and Immortal Power that resides within us. Now, we have to unite with that Power. Then the restlessness of the mind will be stilled. The pride of worldly possessions, the vanity of the body, and the arrogance of “I and mine” will all be removed. Then, that Immovable, Conscious Power will manifest within us, and the soul will achieve liberation.

So here, Swami Ji Maharaj says that you should take the Satguru’s words into your heart and understand them as Truth. You should mold your mind according to His instructions. This effort to transform the mind is called sadhana, and the Guru explains to us the correct method to adopt. Unless we obey the Guru’s words, no matter how many other practices we may perform — still all our efforts will only lead us back to mind and Maya. Therefore, the Guru’s words form the root of all mantras.

ध्यानमूलं गुरोर्मूर्तिः पूजामूलं गुरोः पदम् ।
मंत्रमूलं गुरोर्वाक्यं मोक्षमूलं गुरोः कृपा ।।

The Guru’s form is the foundation of contemplation;
The Guru’s lotus feet are the essence of all worship.
The Guru’s words are the root of all mantras;
The Guru’s grace is the source of emancipation.

When we enshrine the Guru’s words in our heart, then our practice will bear fruit. When we go on performing the practices, then little by little the darkness and ignorance will be dispelled, and the radiance of True Naam will flood our soul. All the thoughts of the mind will be banished and the soul will find salvation. This is the meaning of Truth. This is the meaning of sadhana. All the other sadhanas that exist in this world are invented by the intellect — they do not arise from actual inner experience of the Truth. Therefore, the Guru’s teaches us the highest method of all. We should understand the Truth of His words and strive to act in accordance with His instructions.

This is the real meaning of Satsang. Satsang is not just listening to some stories. Our within will not be illumined merely by hearing the histories of the past mahatmas. When the Conscious Power of the soul spreads out in this unconscious material body, then the soul itself takes on the quality of unconsciousness. And in this unconscious state, the soul becomes trapped by mind and Maya. It cannot become free of that bondage through mere words. Therefore, day and night, we must keep the company of Truth. Satsang means that the conscious Power of the soul must remain in contact with the Power of Truth.

एक तिल्ल प्यारा बिसरै, जानों बरस पचास ।

If I were to forget You, O Lord, even for a moment,
It is like fifty years to me.

If we let the remembrance of the Naam slip away from our heart for a moment, it as if fifty years had passed by. So, Satsang means remaining connected with the True Naam. We should immerse our soul in the company of Truth.

You have received the Eternal Naam,
Focus your surat and catch hold of the Inner Sound.

Naam is Unchangeable Permanence; it never decays. Daily you should meditate on the Naam and connect your thoughts with that Immortal Power.

It is very difficult to get the Naam initiation. And once you have been granted that boon of Naam, you will find that practicing the meditation every day is not easy. It is an uphill task. Tulsi Das says:

कहत कठिन समुझत कठिन साधत कठिन बिबेक ।

It is difficult to explain, it is difficult to understand,
And it is difficult to practice with discrimination.

First of all, to explain the nature of Naam is very difficult because the Naam Power is nirākār — it has no form. Naam is not like anything in this world and so it is not possible to understand through examples and comparisons. It stands alone — separate from all.

Naam lies beyond the grasp of our intellect, and our heart is ignorant. And yet, the Guru must explain to us in some way that will inspire us within. He must make accessible to us that which is inaccessible. He must present the unknowable in a way that will enlighten our intellect and kindle love in our heart. For this reason, it is said that to explain the Naam is very difficult.

Someone may give a talk about the lives and teachings of the past saints. They take their discourse from some sacred scripture: this saint said such and such; many souls got great benefit from his teachings; and he traveled far and wide for the sake of the dear ones. But this is all hearsay. The person speaking has no proof or experience of the events they are relating; it is nothing but empty talk. Only when the person speaking has some real experience within can their words touch the soul.  And, thus, we can see how difficult it is to explain the nature of Naam.

Even if someone can explain, still understanding is also difficult. Our intellect is unconscious, and can only understand from its own level. It is not ready to hear the Truth. Only when we listen to the words in Satsang with an open heart and mind can we understand what is being said. When someone speaks of the Truth, we have to hear those words in the same spirit. Only then can those words take root within us. Only then can we appreciate the true import of the Satsang.

So, we can see that it is difficult to explain and it is difficult to understand. But once someone has explained the Truth to us, and we have accepted that Truth into our heart, still we must do the meditation practice with discrimination. Devoting ourselves to that practice, we must witness the Truth within ourselves, which is the most difficult of all.  The dear ones listen to the Satsang, but once the Satsang is over, only a few rare ones remember what the Guru has said. Everyone else dusts off the Guru’s words even before they leave the Satsang place. Once again, Maya throws the veil of illusion over their hearts, And, in that condition of forgetfulness, they go back to their homes. When they are sitting in Satsang, they will say, “Oh, this Satsang is very good.” My friend, the very good Satsang is the one we take home with us.  If we discard the teachings of the Satsang and go away empty-handed, where is the value in that? When we go into a shop, we may see some very useful item. But only if we purchase that item and put it to use will we get any benefit from it. If we leave it sitting in the shop, how can it do us any good?

So, it is difficult to explain the Truth and difficult to understand it. But once you do get some understanding, then you must also put that Truth into practice. Only then can you achieve success. Then the Satguru imbues your soul with the Immortal Power of Naam — the Name of the Lord that never decays. And when you receive this blessing of the Guru’s grace, anchor your attention within and catch hold of the Divine Sound showering down from above.

The Guru will lift your soul into the Inner Realms;
Prepare yourself now to go with Him.

If you rise up to the level where the Satguru resides, He will unite you with Himself. The Guru is the Shabd, and the surat is the disciple. When your conscious attention becomes fixed at the point between the two eyes, you will cross over into the astral plane. There the Guru is waiting to greet you and merge your soul into the Shabd, which is His True Form. And as soon as you unite with the Shabd, then all the gross unconsciousness that was lingering in your within is driven away.

Your attention is spread throughout the material world;
The Guru will correct this shortcoming.

Now, He says, “You are so attached to the worldly objects that you have become the image of the world.” If an old broom is sitting outside your house and someone tries to take it away, you will say: “Hold on there! That broom belongs to me.” Just see how trapped you have become. Every cell, every vein in your body is attached to the world. The Satguru has to liberate your soul, but it has become inextricably bound to the gross, material objects. After all, it is just an old broom!

In order to divert our love away from these material objects, the Guru uses so many means. We may have to suffer hardships. We may have to deal worldly problems. We may have to endure disgrace. We may lose our wealth or experience so many other deprivations.  But if we are the true beloveds of the True Guru, then we will benefit from this adversity. We will understand it as the Guru’s grace. We will turn away from the world and search within ourselves for the Reality. 

When the soul becomes attached to Guru within, then no matter what difficulties assail us in this outer world, we will remain unperturbed. The Almighty Lord is Beparvāh — the One Without Worry. He is never disturbed; He remains separate from all and worry-free.

Now, if you introspect your own heart, you will see where you stand.  Your heart is so bound up in the worries of this world that it is difficult for you to become free from them. But the washerman’s duty is to clean the clothes.33At the time when Baba Somanath Ji gave this Satsang, traditional dhobis were numerous, and the work of those dhobis was arduous. Depending on how soiled and stained the clothes might be, they would apply soap, boil the clothes, use brushes and bleach, and, finally, whirl the clothes over their heads and slap them down vigorously on large stone slabs to remove the dirt. Just as those washermen would accept the clothes of both the gentleman and the oil merchant, so the Saints are ready to clean the souls of the virtuous and the sinners alike by any means necessary. First, he applies soap to remove all the dirt. If the clothes are cleaned in this way, well and good. But if those clothes are still dirty even after applying soap, then he will toss them into the cauldron and boil them with some strong detergent or bleach. And finally, he will beat those clothes on the rocks until their natural radiance shines through. In the same way, the Satguru is like a washerman, and the mind is like the dirty clothes. He will use any means necessary to clean those dirty clothes and make them spotlessly white.  

He will capture Kal and put an end to him;
Then, He will rid you of arrogance and conceit. 

But the Satguru does not stop there. He separates the soul from the power of Kal and unites it with the Almighty Lord; He transforms the soul into the image of the Lord. Many people think that the word “Kal” refers to death. When someone dies, they say, “Oh, he has entered the domain of Kal. His time cam and, now, he is a denizen of that realm.” Dying is called “going into the domain of Kal.”  They consider this a kind of victory.

But the real Kal is with us every day. Our whole existence is spent in the domain of Kal.  Kal governs both day and night, and, within those two divisions of time, we are subject to the three states of consciousness — waking (jāgrata), dreaming (svapna), and deep sleep (suṣhupti). For twelve hours we remain awake, and during those twelve hours we take care of all our give and take, all our eating and drinking, all our worldly affairs. In that waking state, we go on from morning till night, and there is no count of our underhanded dealings, no reckoning of our false deeds. Most people in the world are caught up in this sinful existence, mistaking untruth for truth. We don’t realize that we are involved in falsehood, that we are committing sins. Our focus is to collect more money by any means. And for all the twelve waking hours we are lost in that storm of falsehood.

Then at night, when we lie in the state of dreams, figures from the account books swirl in our heads, because that is what we have been engaged in all day long. But in that groggy state, everything is confused, so, when the soul drifts into dreams, then all the activities of the day resurface in a jumbled way. And later, when the soul falls into a deep, heavy sleep, we don’t even know who we are or where we are. We have no recollection of the world at all. Our soul is sunk in deep darkness. In this way, Kal has thrown the veil of these three states of consciousness over every soul.

But when we cross beyond these three states, we enter into to an awakened state of clear consciousness. There the outer sun and moon do not measure out day and night. When the radiance of the soul itself shines forth, this is called the chetan avasthā,34The fourth state of consciousness is described by the yogis as turiya pad, where the soul rises above the gross physical senses and the antahkarana or higher mind.  In Sant Mat, turiya pad is the eight‑petalled lotus located above the antahkarana. When the soul rises above the body to the threshold of the astral realm, it is greeted at turiya pad by the Radiant Form of the Satguru.  Here, Baba Somanath refers to the fourth state as chetan avasthā, meaning the states of higher consciousness experienced by the soul on its ascent through the astral, causal, and super-causal regions, as it journeys to the Realm of Truth — Sach Khand. the super-conscious state. Therefore, He tells us that when we cross over the three lower states of consciousness and rise into higher consciousness, then these veils of Kal are removed from the soul. As the soul ascends higher and higher, the arrogance of “I and mine,” is eradicated. The friction between mine and yours fades away. Here, Swami Ji Maharaj assures us: “He will rid you of arrogance and conceit.”  When He disentangles the soul from the three lower states of consciousness, and unites it with True Consciousness, then no room for “I and mine” will remain. This is the true victory over Kal.

Fix your consciousness firmly within;
Then, you will be freed from the wheel of eighty-four.

Swami Ji has described how the Satguru aids and supports the jiva. Now He explains the duty of the disciple: “You should keep your thoughts firmly fixed on the Sat Naam given to you by the Satguru. Never let your thoughts stray away from the Lord’s True Naam.”

Two powers are at work — forgetfulness and wakefulness. Wakefulness does not mean waking up from the state of sleep. The true meaning of wakefulness is to never let your heart forget the Naam of the Lord, even for a fraction of a second.  

Rotate the rosary of the mind repeating the Simran of the Lord.
Take the Guru’s key in your hand.

Here, He gives a further instruction to the disciple — rotate the rosary of the mind.  The rosary He is referring to is not made up of string and beads. At present, your mind is stuck fast in the world. So, you have to invert the mind and attach it within. When the mind stops racing here and there outside, when it is no longer filled to overflowing with worldly thoughts, when it becomes still and remains connected to the Naam — that is what is meant by turning the rosary. Once the mind inverts within, then your Simran becomes true. But when the mind is still roaming about outside, then whose simran are you engaged in?

We repeat the Simran half-heartedly, just like a rite and ritual. But Simran becomes truly beneficial only when the mind remains focused within. When the Simran is done with the mind, then the simran of the world that is swirling within us will cease. This is why Swami Ji tells us to turn the rosary of the mind. He says that when our remembrance is absent-minded and wishy-washy, then our effort will bear no fruit. When we follow the technique He has taught us, then our efforts will stir the Divine Grace. And what does He tell us? First engage the mind fully in the Simran, then our attention will remain fixed inside, and all the dirt of the mind will be washed away.

Attune yourself to the Limitless Shabd;
Pierce through the clouds in the sky of Trikuti.

Then the Limitless Shabd Dhun will manifest. Focus your attention in that Dhun to such an extent that you become the form of the Dhun. Set aside all the distraction of the mind: “Now, I am listening to the Sound. Now, I am seeing this or that.” Listening to the Inner Sound with total absorption, become the form of the Sound itself. Then what will happen? The Conscious Power of your soul will rise within and, crossing beyond the inner sky, it will proceed further and further, till it finally merges into Truth and becomes the form of Truth.  

Loose the arrow of yearning,
And listen to the deep, rumbling Sound within.
Ascend to the pool of Mansarovar.

Viraha or yearning means that you do not want to be separated from the one you love. Except for the thought of the Beloved, you do not let any other thought enter your heart. When you remain absorbed, day and night, in the remembrance of the Beloved, this is called viraha or yearning. If you will remain attached to the Naam with deep inner yearning, that Naam, that Sound, will transport you to the region of Daswan Dwar and the pool of Mansarovar.

Become established at the peak of Sunn, and listening to the Dhun, Proceed onward to Sach Khand, the Realm of Truth.

Climbing beyond the pool of Mansarovar, reach the peak of Sunn and become established there. Then, travel onward towards Sat Lok, from where the Primal Sound issues forth. Merging into that Sound, follow it back to its Source — Sat Lok-Sach Khand.

Sail on through the regions of Alakh and Agam,
And come to rest in your True Eternal Home — Radhaswami Dham.

Beyond Sat Lok you cross over the regions of Alakh and Agam. And, finally, you enter Radhaswami Dham, also called Anāmi (Nameless) or Akeha (Unspoken), because it lies beyond the Naam or Name. Now, the soul becomes freed forever from the mortal world and the tyranny of Kal. It comes to rest, at last, in its own True Home, the Source from where it came.  

Perform this arti every day with regularity,
And the Guru will shower His grace and mercy upon you.

Now, He tells us to perform the ārat or arti.  The word “ā” means “come” and “rat” means “repeat.” So, when we perform the true arti, we must to come (ā) away from the world and repeat (rat) the Name of the True Lord within. This is the real meaning of arti. So Hazur Radhaswami Ji is telling us: “Perform the arti every daily with regularity. Then, you will achieve salvation through Satguru’s grace.”

Audio: H074

Ji

Swami Ji Maharaj

Have the darshan of the Guru within, taking your seat at the Tīsra Til.

(Guru kā daras tū dekh rī, til āsan dār)
गुरु का दरस तू देख री । तिल आसन डार ।।१।।
शब्द गुरु नित सनो री । मिल बासन जार ।।२।।
गुरु रूप सुहावन अति लगे । घट भान उजार ।।३।।
कँवल खिलत सुख पावई । भौंरा कर प्यार ।।४।।
गुरु ज्ञान न पाया हे सखी । जिन घट अंधियार ।।५।।
पूरा सतगुरु ना मिला । भरमत भौ जार ।।६।।
मैं तो सतगुरु पाइया । जाऊूँ बलिहार ।।७।।
ज्यों चकोर चन्दा गहे । रहूं रूप निहार ।।८।।
सतगुरु शब्द स्वरूप हैं । रहें अर्श मँझार ।।९।।
तू भी सुरत स्वरूप है । रहो गुरु की लार ।।१०।।
नैनन में गुरु रूप है । तू नैन उघार ।।११।।
सरवन मैं गुरु शब्द है । सुन गगन पुकार ।।१२।।
राधास्वामी कह रहे । यह मारग सार ।।१३।।
जो जो मानें भाग से । सो उतरें पार ।।१४।

Sār Bachan, Chand Band
Bachan 4, Mahimā Darśhan Rādhāsvāmī, śhabd 8

Have the darshan of the Guru within, taking your seat at the Tīsra Til. Always listen to the Sound of the Shabd Guru. Attach yourself to Him, and burn all desires to ashes.

This is the bani of Param Sant Satguru Hazur Swami Ji Maharaj. 
Every spiritual path teaches us that the Guru’s darshan and the Guru’s devotion are the essence of all practices. We people attend Satsang daily, and there, through the Guru’s darshan and Guru’s grace, we are inspired to devote ourselves whole-heartedly to the practice of meditation.

It is very difficult to practice the sadhana taught by the Satguru; it is very difficult to ascend within on the Guru’s Path. All the other sadhanas — repetitions, austerities, yogic practices and drawing inferences — only serve as an intoxicating soporific, pacifying the mind and lulling it into a state of dull complacency.  But to manifest the Guru within is something entirely different; it is the most difficult sadhana of all.  As long as the slightest trace of doership remains within, the Inner Guru will not appear. Here, Swami Ji is explaining to us what method to practice in order to contact the Guru Power already residing within us.

He tells us to divert our thoughts away from the world and to focus our attention between the two eyes. In this way, we bring the mind to a standstill. Gaze within with one-pointed attention at whatever you see before you.  When the form of the Guru manifests there, keep your attention riveted on Him, and merge into that form.

आपु छोडि गुर माहि समावै

Giving up all sense of I-hood, become absorbed in the Guru

Then you no longer exist, and only the Guru remains.

Within us are two faculties of higher perception — the faculties of inner hearing and inner sight — and at the time when we concentrate within, these two powers become active.  Through the faculty of inner sight, we have the darshan of the Guru within and through the faculty of inner hearing, we hear the Sound of the Shabd. When we invert our attention and exercise those faculties, then the mind automatically withdraws from outside and begins to perceive the inner reality. Then we enjoy the true darshan of the Guru.  

That inner Guru is always with you, closer than hands and feet; you only have to look within to see Him. Wherever you may go, the mind always accompanies you, but likewise, the Guru is also always by your side. And whatever questions you may ask, the Radiant Form of the Guru will give a reply to your queries. He is always present at the Tīsra Til, the still point at the center of the forehead between the two outer eyes.

When no worldly desire remains in your heart, when you become absorbed in the Sound of Shabd within, when your thoughts merge into the Conscious Inner Light, then, at that time, all awareness of the body disappears. And when no awareness of the body remains, then the outer world is also completely forgotten.

The Guru’s Inner Form is supremely beautiful, like a radiant, shining sun.
When the lotus blossom opens in full bloom, the black bee is enchanted.

When the sun rises, the dark night is dispelled, and all the earth is bathed in light. In the same way, for millions of ages and lifetimes, the heart has been enshrouded in darkness, but when the brilliant sun of the Guru’s Radiant Form rises within, then the heart is flooded with the Light of Spirituality.

Within the body are six lotuses and a seventh is located above in the astral plane.35The six lotus lotuses correspond to the six chakras in the body up to the āgyā chakra at the third eye. The seventh lotus is the crown chakra or sahasrār kamal, the thousand-petalled lotus, in the astral region. When the Guru manifests within, these lotuses are drenched in the Self-Radiant Light of the Guru’s form. Just as when the sun rises, the outer lotuses bask in the sun’s rays and unfold their petals, so, in the same way, the inner lotuses blossom in the Guru’s Radiant Light.  And the mind becomes totally enamored with their form and color and beauty, just as the black bee becomes infatuated with the outer lotus flowers. So, in this way, the black bee of your mind should become so absorbed in the beauty of the inner lotuses radiating the Light of the Guru, that all thought of the outer world is banished. And then, with a stilled mind, the soul revels in the vision of the Guru’s Radiant Form. This is what we call having the darshan of the Guru.

O friend, those whose hearts are enshrouded in darkness cannot receive the Guru’s knowledge.
They do not meet the Perfect Satguru and wander lost in the labyrinth of this world.

Having received the human body, if you do not take advantage of the treasure bestowed on you, then your life passes uselessly. Your coming into this world is worthless, and you depart empty-handed. Therefore, He says that your human birth has no meaning unless you manifest the Guru’s knowledge — the practical inner experience given by the Guru — in your within. This what is meant by the Guru’s knowledge or Guru gyan.

Manifesting the knowledge of the Guru does not mean reading sacred scriptures, reciting mantras, bathing at the places of pilgrimage or performing yogic practices. These outer rites and rituals have nothing to do with Guru gyān. The real knowledge of the Guru is the Light that illumines your heart. When your soul unites with the Naam, this can be called Guru gyān. But if you do not receive that knowledge from the Guru, your within will be filled with ignorance; your soul will remain enshrouded in darkness. 

You do not need to enquire from anyone else about your own inner condition. Just close your eyes. Do you see darkness or Light? Daily you consume a quarter or half or even a whole seer36Approximately 2.75 lb or 1.25 kg of food and water.  And yet you have no idea where all that nourishment goes in the body. It is all darkness within. When you close your eyes, all you see before you is blackness. And as long as that inner darkness prevails, you cannot not say that you have manifested Guru gyān.

What is the reason for this unfortunate state of affairs? Until your good fortune is awakened, you cannot meet with the perfect Satguru. And until you get the company of the Guru, who will tell you of the True Path? But here, there, and everywhere you will find countless gurus who just whisper some mantra into your ear. And there is a vast world of difference between those so-called gurus who tell you to repeat a few words and the Power of the Limitless, Unstruck Shabd that can transform you into the form of the Almighty Lord Himself.

Therefore, He says that up till now you have not met the Perfect Satguru. When you meet with such a Guru, He will instruct you in the True Path. And once you have had the great good fortune to find such a Guru, could you ever abandon Him and go to some other door? Where else could you find such a refuge?

But now, by good fortune, I have met the Satguru, and I sacrifice myself on Him.

Here He tells us: “I have met the Perfect Satguru. Now, He dwells in my heart, and, over and over, I sacrifice myself on Him.” Just as the sense of “I and mine” in foremost in everyone, so for me, my Guru is all and all. Whatever He tells me to do, I will follow His instructions whole-heartedly.

Like the moon bird gazing at the moon, I am lost in contemplation of His marvelous form.

My soul becomes enraptured gazing at the Guru’s beauty, just like the moon bird (chakor) contemplating the moon. As soon as the moon rises in the east, the moon bird becomes enthralled by its shimmering rays. The moon bird is absorbed to such an extent that as the moon travels high in the sky, the moon bird’s head follows it, and when the moon’s path reaches its zenith, then the beak of the moon bird is pointing straight up in the air. Its attention is riveted on the moon, and that attention never wavers. And when the moon starts to sink in the west, the moon bird cannot bear to break its contemplation long enough to turn its body around to look in that direction. Instead, it twists its neck as its beak follows the descent of the moon like a needle, till the moon sinks below the horizon. As long as its beloved moon is visible in the sky, the moon bird does not look away even for the fraction of a second. Its contemplation is unbroken.

So, Swami Ji says, “I am lost in the contemplation of His beautiful form, just like the moon bird gazing at the moon.” How can any thought of the world and the worldly things — sons and daughters, family and relatives, wealth and possessions, comforts and pleasures — intrude there?  Whoever beholds the enchanting form of the Guru, their attention remains transfixed on that radiant vision.

Satguru is the form of Shabd and has taken up His seat in the Inner Sky.
You are also the form of Surat (the soul), so follow in the Guru’s footsteps.

Hardly anyone has spoken so openly as Swami Ji Maharaj concerning Guru bhakti and the features of the Inner Path. Now, what does He tell us?  He says, “My Satguru is the form of Shabd. When I incarnated in the gross material body created by Maya, at that time the Guru Himself also took up the human form. In order to separate me from the body and the qualities fashioned by Maya — to free me from the unconsciousness of the material world — He gave out the Truth through the Satsang. When I followed His instructions and closed the nine doors of the body, then the Conscious Power within me ascended to the tenth door, and there I had the darshan of my Gurudev. Earlier, my soul was trapped in mind and Maya, but when I rose within, then I realized that the Guru is a Conscious Power, and the disciple is that same Conscious Power.  And when Light merges into Light, the two become one. I realized that the true form of the Guru is Shabd, and taking the support of that Shabd Power, my soul merged with the True Guru within. Supported by the Power of Shabd, I crossed over the astral plane, and riding on that Inner Sound, I was transported to the regions beyond.”

The soul and the Shabd are not two different things. Because we are attached to the physical body, we think the Conscious Power within is something separate from us. But truly speaking, the Shabd and the soul are one and the same Power. They appear to be different only because of the veil of mind and Maya that has come in between.  

Guru’s Form dwells at the still point between the two outer eyes. Open your inner eye and behold Him there.
Guru’s Shabd is resounding in your ears. Listen to it calling from the Gagan.

He says, “Guru’s Form dwells in your eyes.”  When your inner eye opens, then you will discover that the Guru’s form is sitting within you. Then, naturally, the question arises: Why didn’t we see Him earlier?

As long as your eyes are attracted by the mirage of the world and worldly forms, the Power of your soul will remain extroverted. The veil of mind and Maya totally obscures the inner realms, and you will perceive only the illusory material objects of the outer world. 

But the inner eye, is a doorway into the inner realms. And at that juncture, the Guru sits waiting for you. Therefore, Swami Ji tells us, “Open your inner eye and behold Him there.” And the Guru’s Shabd is also resounding within you; open your inner hearing faculty and listen to its enchanting melody. That Sound cannot be perceived by the outer ears; only the subtle inner ear can catch its celestial strains.

Radhaswami is revealing openly the secrets of the True Path.
The fortunate soul, who accepts His words, sails across the ocean of existence.

Now, He tells us that there is no question of debating and intellectual wrangling; there is nothing here to assert or refute. When the secrets of the True Path are revealed before your very eyes, what is the point of arguing pro and con? When you can see plainly that something does not exist, you have no need to argue it away. And when the Unchangeable, Immutable Reality is open before you, then of what use are your proofs and embellishments. Therefore, He tells us: “I am not refuting one thing, nor asserting another. I am laying before you the True Path leading to the Almighty Lord — the primal way laid down before the beginning of time. I am sharing with you the Truth I have seen with my own eyes. But who will accept my words and believe in them? Only those with great good fortune. The worldly people will obstinately refuse to listen, and so, how can those poor fellows gain any understanding?” 

Audio: H120

Swami Ji Maharaj

Now Agahan, the sixth month of the year, has arrived

Āya mās Agahan ab chhaṭhā

।। अगहन मास छठा।।
आया मास अगहन अब छठा  ।  अघ की हानि हुई मल घटा ।।1।।
मन हुआ निर्मल चित हुआ निश्चल  ।  काम क्रोध गये इन्द्री निष्फल ।।2।।
धरन छोड़ सुर्त चढ़ी अकाशा ।  शब्द पाय आई महाकाशा ।।3।।
शब्द संग नित करे बिलासा  । देखे अचरज बिमल तमाशा ।।4।।
छोड़ा यह घर पकड़ा वह  घर  ।  खोया जग को पाया सतगुरु ।।5।।
जब से सतगुरु सरना लीन्हा  ।  सत्तनाम  धुन घट में चीन्हा ।।6।।
धन सतगुरु धन उनकी संगत  ।  जिस  प्रताप पाई मैं यह गत ।।7।।
कर सतसंग काज किया पूरा  । पाप नसे मानो  खाया धतूरा ।।8।।
पाप पुन्य दोउ गये नसाई  । भक्ति  भाव जिव हृदे समाई ।।9।।
अब यह सतसंग गुरु का पावे ।  हिल-मिल चरन माहिं लिपटावे।।10।।
चरन सेव चरनामृत पीवे । गुरु  परशादी  खा  नित जीवे।।11।।
दर्शन करे बचन पुनि सुने ।  फिर सुन-सुन नित मन में गुने।।12।।
गुन गुन छाँट लेय उन सारा  ।  सार धार तिस करे अहारा ।।13।।
कर अहार पुष्ट हुआ भाई  ।  जग भौ  लाज अब गई नसाई ।।14।।
गुरु भक्ति जानो इश्क़ गुरु  का  ।  मन में धसा सुरत में पक्का ।।15।।
पक पक घट में गड़ा थाना  ।  थान गाड़ अब हुआ दिवाना ।।16।।
गुरु का रूप लगे अस प्यारा  ।  कामिन पति मोना जल धारा ।।17।।
सतसंग करना ऐसा चहिये ।  सतसंग का फल येही सहि है।।18।।
सतसंग सतसंग मुख से गावे ।  करें नित्त फल कछू न पावें।।19।।
सतसंग महिमा  है अति  भारी  ।  पर कोइ जीव मिले अधिकारी ।।20।।
अधिकारी बिन प्रगट नहीं फल  ।  सतसंग तो कीन्हा सब चल चल ।।21।।
चल चल आये सतगुरु आगे ।  बचन न पकड़ा दरस न लागे।।22।।
सतसंग और  सतगुरु क्या करें  ।  सो जिव भौजल कैसे तरें ।।23।।
पत्थर पानी लेखा बरता  । जल  मिसरी सम मेल न करता ।।24।।
बाहर का  संग जब अस  होई  ।  सतगुरु सम प्रीतम  नहीं कोई ।।25।।
तब  अतंर का सतसंग  धारे  ।  सुरत चढ़े असमान पुकारे ।।26।।
बोले अर्श और  गरजे गगना  ।  बैठा  कुर्सी मन हुआ मगना ।।27।।
ला-मुक़ाम पाया लाहूत  ।  छोड़ा नासूत मलकूत जबरूत ।।28।।
हाहूत का जाय खोला द्वारा  ।  हूतलहूत और हूत सम्हारा ।।29।।
हूत मुक़ाम फ़कीर अख़ीरी  ।  रूह सुरत जहाँ देती फेरी ।।30।।

।। दोहा ।।

अल्लाहू त्रिकुटी लखा, जाय लखा हा सुन्न ।
शब्द अनाहू पाइया,  भँवरगुफा की धुन्न ।।31।।
हक़्क़ हक़्क़ सतनाम धुन, पाई चढ़ सचखंड ।
संत फ़क़र बोली जुगल,  पद दोउ एक अखंड ।।32।।

Sār Bachan, part 2, bachan 38, Bārahmāsā, Agahan

Now Agahan, the sixth month of the year, has arrived; sin is destroyed, and filth is cleansed away.

This is the bani of Satguru Hazur Radhaswami Ji. All the saints and mahatmas, in their writings or hymns, describe the Bārahmāsā, the poetic cycle of the twelve months, in terms of the human birth. Some of these great souls include all twelve months in just one hymn. Other Saints compose separate hymns to describe each of the twelve months.  Swami Ji has composed a separate hymn for each month and, describing the month of Agahan (November-December), He refers to it as the sixth month of the year. 

Why does He call it the sixth month?  The New Year begins at different times in different parts of India. In Maharashtra, the New Year begins in Chaitra (March-April). In Rajasthan, the Marwari New Year is celebrated in Kārtik (October-November). According to the English calendar, January is the first month of the year. But Swami Ji is writing according to the reckoning used in Agra, Braj, Mathura, and Vrindavan, where the year begins in the month of Āsāṛh (June-July). According to that reckoning, Agahan is counted as the sixth month of the year.  In Maharashtra, Agahan is referred to as Mārgashīrṣha.

Speaking of Agahan, Swami Ji tells that “ag” means “sin.” In the month of Agahan, we should remove the sins from our soul. Becoming pure within, we should ascend to the realm where the soul attains salvation.

The mind has become purified, and the attention is stilled; lust and anger have departed, and the senses are of no consequence.

Describing purity of mind, Swami Ji tells us that the mind has now become free of its base inclinations. It is only because of the dirt of the mind that the attention wavers. Once purity manifests within the mind, then the attention becomes fixed at the still point between the eyes. Lust, anger, sense indulgence, and the other bad deeds go away by themselves. From where do lust and anger draw their strength and power? From the impurity of the mind. Once the mind becomes purified, then lust, anger, and all the other passions lose their force and cool down naturally.

Leaving the earth behind, the soul rises into the astral realm; catching the Shabd, it ascends to Trikuti.

He says that leaving this body, the soul climbs to the astral realm. Catching hold of the Sound Current flowing down from Trikuti, it rises upward to the causal region.

In the company of the Shabd, the soul now revels in continual bliss;
It witnesses the wonder of the divine spectacle.

When the Shabd and surat meet, then the mind and intellect experience such an intoxicating delight that they cease to work — they are paralyzed. The inner scenes cannot be described by comparing them to anything in this mortal world. Only those who have enjoyed this experience can understand what it is like. When the mind becomes pure, and the soul meets with the Shabd, it is something without parallel.  It lies beyond the power and scope of human language.

Leaving this worldly home behind, the soul finds its True Home; losing this world, it gains the Satguru.

The house of the material body has been created by mind, Maya, and the senses. But once the mind becomes purified, it joins with the soul (the soul rises above the realm of the mind). And because the soul is pure, it merges into the Shabd.  Abandoning this material dwelling, the soul ascends to its original home, Sat Lok, the Realm of Truth. The home of the soul and the home created by mind and Maya are not the same. The home created by mind and Maya is supported by egotism — the sense of “I and mine.” When the soul leaves this sense of I-hood behind and unites with the Shabd, its attachment to this world is broken.

Since I have taken refuge in the Satguru, I hear the melody of Sat Naam resounding in the body.

When was this state attained? He tells us: “Since I have gone into the refuge of the Guru with wholehearted devotion, I have gained the support of Sat Naam.  Meditating on Sat Naam, I have become the form of Truth.” The foundation of all devotion is taking refuge in the Guru. Until we go into the refuge of the Guru, our egotism will not leave us. Until we remove the veil of egotism, we cannot experience that Self-Existing Power.

Hail to the Satguru. Hail to His Blessed Company; through His greatness, I have achieved this status.

When the soul attains this state and experiences the inner bliss, the true happiness, it cries out: ”Hail to my Satguru, who has shown me the True Path. Through His mercy, He has made me reach the Realm of Truth. He is blessed. He is worthy of praise. No matter how much I sing His Glory, it will never be enough.”

Kabir Sahib tells us:

सब धर्ती कागद करूँ, लेखनी करूँ बनराय ।
सात समुंदर मसि करूँ, तो भी गुरू गुण लिखा न जाय ।।

If I make paper of all the earth and from the vegetation fashion a pen,
If I change all the seven oceans to ink, still I cannot describe his greatness.

He says: “Even if I use all of Brahmand, the earth and its nine divisions37The Puranas mention jambudvīp (one of the saptadvīpas, or seven continents, of Puranic cosmology), which is divided by mountain ranges into nine latitudinal strips. as my paper, even if I make ink of the seven oceans, even if I fashion my pen from all the vegetation in the creation,38“Aṭhārah bhār vanaspati” means 18 loads of vegetation.  The expression indicates all the vegetation existing in the creation. still, in the end, all these materials will be used up. But the praise of the Guru has no end; He is limitless. All these other things in the creation come to an end, but His Power has no end.  The Guru who has manifested such a Power within me and has made me meet with the Almighty Lord, I am grateful to Him, over and over. Only through His greatness have I attained this state.”

When we thank someone in Hindi, we say dhanyavād. In earlier times, dhanyavād conveyed:  “May you be blessed!” — an acknowledgment of our deep indebtedness for some great favor bestowed.  But what has happened to that deeper sense of gratitude? Nowadays, we have adopted the English phrase “thank you,” and we use it very casually; we say, “Thank you,” if someone hands us a pen.   “Thank you” and dhanyavād both express gratitude, but how does using “thank you” for insignificant things like a pen relate to the profound gratitude inherent in the word dhanyavād?  This is what we have come to.

The Saints have described their experience in their banis and other writings, and many people wish to translate those writings into English and other languages. But how do we capture the profound spiritual experience those writings describe? How will we distinguish our gratitude to the Almighty Lord for his Grace and Mercy, from the mere formality of acknowledging that someone has handed us a a pen? What words can we draw on? If we translate the acknowledgment that someone has given us a trifling object like a pen with “thank you,” then what word will we choose to convey our boundless gratitude to the Lord for granting us the human birth and the means to liberation? If we translate literally, word-for-word, without thought for the deeper meaning, then the inherent Truth, the boundless depth, and the heartfelt sincerity of the original will be obscured.

Once Maharaj Sawan Singh Ji was giving Satsang and used the English word “teacher” when referring to the Satguru. One initiate of Baba Jaimal Singh, named Inder Singh, spoke up and said, “Don’t use the word ‘teacher.’ Please, say ‘Guru’ instead.“  On hearing this, Maharaj Ji said, “It shall be as you wish.” The word “teacher” does not bestow any glory and honor on the Guru. A teacher gives instruction at some college or school, a very ordinary thing; but the word “Guru” resonates with depth and gravity. The word “Guru” has great spiritual significance, but what spiritual significance is there in the word “teacher?” A teacher is a schoolmaster. How can this compare with the ineffable greatness of the Godman?

Attending the Satsang, I have accomplished my work.
My sins have been destroyed, as though I had consumed datura.

Now He says: “Attend the Satsang of the perfect Sant Satguru.”  What is the meaning of Satsang? Gratitude is important, but the greatness of Satsang is much more. What is the principle of Satsang? That perfect being — the Satguru — is the form of Sat Purush. By going in His congregation, all the shortcomings in your heart are removed. When the mind becomes pure, and love is awakened in your soul, then through that love, your soul can contact the Naam; this is the meaning of going in the Satsang.  True love dawns in your within, and through that love you meet the Almighty Lord. This meeting with the Truth is called Satsang.

Swami Ji tells us that by going in the Satsang, you become free from the sins. The root of sin is our sense of “I-hood.” When you listen to the teachings of the Guru in the Satsang, it will seen that you have taken datura; to others it will appear that you have gone mad. Datura is an intoxicating drug. When you grind the seeds of the datura plant and drink them in a beverage, or when you put the datura it into a hooka and smoke it, then you act like a madman. Does Swami Ji mean that the Guru is giving the Satsang to make us mad? No, it is not like that. He says that when you become intoxicated in the Guru’s Satsang, you may appear crazy to the worldly people, but in your within, you have come in contact with Truth. You have become absorbed in bliss. When you do not follow the ways of the worldly people, they will call you crazy. When you give up the ways of the world and adopt the path of the Guru, then as far as the worldly people are concerned, you have become a madman.

Sins and virtues have both been destroyed, and the spirit of devotion fills my heart.

In the heart of the devotee, neither sins nor virtues remain. When we commit sins, we have to perform righteous deeds to remove those sins. If we don’t commit any sins, then what is the need to perform those righteous deeds?  What benefit would we get from those righteous deeds? Their only purpose is to remove our sins.   We have no need of sins or righteous deeds.  We need only devotion to the One Naam. If we perform righteous deeds, then we go into the heavens. If we commit sins, then we go into the hells. But the true devotees give no thought to these regions. They have become absorbed in the True Happiness. What do they have to do with heavens and hells?

Now I have come into the Satsang of the Guru, and I hold fast to His holy feet.

Swami Ji says that when you gain admittance into the Guru’s Satsang, only the Guru’s feet should dwell in your heart, all the hours of the day. “Whenever I look within, I see the Guru’s feet manifested there.” This is called gurubhakti — devotion to the Guru — and gurubhakti is no small thing.  Kabir Sahib tells us:

एक जन्म गुरु भक्ति कर, जन्म दूसरे नाम.
In the first birth, we practice devotion to the Guru,
and in the next birth, we get the Naam.

Without even completing our course of devotion to the Guru, we still think we are fit to take the support of Naam and ascend within.  Many people think they can follow the Shabd without practicing the Simran and the contemplation. The Shabd is a conscious Power. Until you have removed the gross tendencies covering your soul, how can the Shabd pull you within? For this reason, in one place, Swami Ji Maharaj tells us:

गुरु भक्ति बिन शब्द में पचते ।
वो भी मानिष मूर्ख जान ।।

If someone tries to become absorbed in the Shabd
without first doing the devotion,
Understand that person as a fool.

If you do not first perfect your devotion to the Guru, how can the Shabd accept you? Therefore He says: ”First perfect your love for the Guru; manifest the Guru in your within.” The Guru is the Power of Shabd. When you manifest Him within yourself, then you can contact the Shabd; then you can forge that inner connection.

But the fool abandons this connection with Shabd and establishes a connection with the mind. He thinks, “What more is needed? I have received the Naam initiation. That’s enough. There is nothing else to obtain from the Guru. The Guru gives the Naam initiation, and I have already received that. There’s nothing more to it.”

I serve His Holy feet and drink the charanamrit; I live by eating the prashad of the Guru.

Now he explains the meaning of going into the Guru’s refuge. Many people think: “I always remain with the Guru. I always carry out whatever tasks He gives me to complete.  Therefore, I am a devotee of the Guru.” Friend, you cannot perfect your gurubhakti through these outer activities. When the inner Guru manifests to you, when you constantly enjoy His company within, when you drink the charanamrit — the nectar of the Guru’s feet — and when you partake of the Guru’s prashad, then you are worthy to be called the Guru’s devotee.  You may say: “I do all these things. I take the prashad given by the Guru. I wash his feet and drink that holy water, that charanamrit. After doing all this, how can my devotion be incomplete?”  The truth is you have only drunk the outer nectar of the Guru’s feet.  You must concentrate at the still point between the two eyes and manifest His feet in your within. When you contemplate on the inner feet of the Guru, when you drink that inner nectar, then you can perfect your devotion.  Tulsi Das tells us:

श्री गुरु चरण नख मणि गण ज्योति,
सुमिरत दिव्य दृष्टि हिय होती ।।

Dazzling light flashes from the nails of the Guru’s feet.
When I remember Him, His divine vision fills my heart.

When the Guru’s radiant feet illumine your within, you should become absorbed in those feet. Then the inner nectar, the real charanamrit, will shower down. And when you have tasted that nectar even once, all the suffering of birth and death comes to an end.  And drinking that charanamrit, you become a fit vessel for the Guru’s grace.

What is true prashad? We eat up the halva, we munch on puffed rice, we enjoy some sweet sugar candy and say we have taken the prashad. Friend, this puffed rice prashad is distributed outwardly, but the Guru distributes another prashad within.  What does Swami Ji tell us? When this nectar from His holy feet rains down in the within, then the devotee becomes worthy of receiving the Guru’s grace — the true prashad.  When you rise above the practices of the outer world and immerse yourself in the inner practices, then He showers His grace upon you. This grace is the real prashad.  When your whole life becomes the form of grace, this is called prashad.  

I have His darshan and listen to His holy words; remembering them again and again, I cherish them in my mind.

When you listen to His every word with reverence, holding His words in your heart and contemplating on them day and night, then you can be called a devotee of the Guru. But now your within is filled with mental wrangling, with love and hate, with criticism, praise, and backbiting. What room is left for you to contemplate on the Guru’s words? What can you accomplish like this? Nothing at all.  

As soon as you hear the Satsang, you have already forgotten it. When you are leaving the Satsang, you do not remember even one word of the bani; you are vacant within. By the time you reach home, nothing remains in your heart from the discourse; your heart is empty. In the Satsang, you should rivet your attention on having the Guru’s darshan. What do you gain from His darshan? The filth of your heart is cleansed away.  When you hold His image in your heart day and night, when you dwell constantly on His words, remembering them over and over, then the waves that arise in your within will be stilled; the oscillations of your mind will cease. What does Kabir Sahib tell us?

मोटी मोटी माया तो सब कोई तजै, झीनी तजै न कोई ।
जो कोइ प्राणी झीनी तजै, कोट जन्म सफल होय ।

Everyone discards gross Maya, but who can slip out of Maya’s subtle nets?
Whoever breaks free from subtle Maya,
millions of their births are crowned with success.

We remove the outer, gross forms of Maya through having his darshan. The subtle, inner Maya — the inner wavering and unsteadiness of the mind — can only be removed by hearing His words and singing His praises. Only when you have become purified, both within and without, when your soul is spotlessly clean, then you become capable of merging into the Shabd. How simple this Path is, but it is very difficult to walk on it. 

Carefully sifting out the spiritual from the gross, I grasp hold of the Essence, and I draw my sustenance from it.

His words are so clear, but only when we make ourselves worthy of hearing them will the nectar and bliss they contain manifest in our hearts.  Now Swami Ji says: “How can you understand His greatness and discern the inner meaning of His words?”  When you become separated from the gross tendencies of the outer world, when you listen to the words of the Satsang with deep reverence, and when you lovingly cherish those words in your heart, then all the thoughts and worries of the world will be banished from your within. This is called listening to Satsang. 

It is just like using a winnowing basket. First, the stalks are threshed to loosen the grain from the husk and straw. Then the grain is poured into the winnowing basket and is tossed rhythmically into the air. The light, hollow chaff is blown away by the wind. The fine sand and dirt collect in one corner.  And as the bigger stones rise to the top, you pick them out and throw them away.  Finally, only the pure grain remains.  In like manner, you should pour the spiritual grain of the Guru’s words into the winnowing basket of your heart. Let all the worldly thoughts and sense pleasures that have filled your heart blow away in the wind. Pick out the big stones and discard them; the gross physical attachments are the big stones.   And finally, remove the fine sand and dirt of the subtle attachments through hearing and singing His praises. Then only the grain will remain — the Essence of Essences. Nourish yourself on that food.

Brother, from that nourishment, I grow strong and hearty; the fear of Yama and public shame have left me.

When the soul receives the inner sustenance of Sat Naam, day and night, then the true nectar of the Guru’s love will manifest in the heart. Once the soul grows strong and healthy, then the fear of the world, the worry about public shame, the blind adherence to tradition — all these weaknesses — will leave you. What is the meaning of weakness? First, we think, “I could never do that. I’m too afraid of what people would say.” Then lust and anger appear. They seize us and pull us in whatever direction they want. This is called weakness. Kabir Sahib says:

कामी-क्रोधी लालची, इनसे भक्ति न होय ।
भक्ति करे कोई सूरमा, जाती वरन कुल खोय ।

The lustful, the angry, and the greedy ones cannot do the devotion.
Only some brave one can do the devotion,
Leaving aside all thought of caste and color.

The power of the Guru can manifest only when you remove your egotism and pride of the body. This pride became your companion at the time your body was formed. Sometimes, when you sit in Satsang and hear the words of the Guru, for that brief time, your pride is suppressed, and you become a devotee. But after the Satsang is over, the mice and rats of ego and pride dig their way back out and steal all the benefit.  

Understand devotion to the Guru as love for the Guru; penetrating my mind, that love permeates my surat.

When such devotion to the Guru enters your heart, then you can rest assured your gurubhakti is complete. Your soul can merge into the Shabd.  Otherwise, you remain a devotee of the mind.  Mind and Naam cannot coexist. The thief and the wealthy man cannot live under one roof. If you are a thief within, how can the True Shabd accept you?

My devotion is complete; it is firmly established in my within. Absorbed in the devotion, I have become mad in His Love.

In this way, true devotion awakens within you. Your course of devotion is complete, and you are no longer tied to this world. Freed from all attachment, you have become mad in His love.

Just as the husband is dear to the wife, just as the water is dear to the fish, so the Guru’s form is dear to the devotee.

What can we compare to the love that true devotees have for the form of the Guru? He says that just as the wife loves the husband and is engrossed in his form, just as the fish loves the water and cannot live without it, in the same way, the devotees should love and cherish the Guru within. We say that the water and the fish are one because water is the life of the fish.  When the devotees manifest such love in their hearts for the Guru, this is called gurubhakti.  If we compare our own devotion to the Guru with this true gurubhakti, we will see how far we fall short of the mark. But we people think, “Why should we introspect ourselves? If our devotion is complete, that’s fine. If it isn’t, never mind.“

 You should attend the Satsang in such a way that you achieve true benefit.

Now he sums up saying that you should attend Satsang in such a way that you gain real benefit from it. Otherwise, you just hear Satsang and return to your home. Friend, tell me what took place within you during the Satsang? We say Satsang was held at Worli or Satsang was held at some other location. The question is not what happened at Worli or some other outer place. The question is what happened within you?

We say, “Satsang, Satsang.”  We attend Satsang every day, but we take no benefit from it.

Now consider Swami Ji’s words — they are very apt.  We go on saying, “Satsang, Satsang.” We attend every day.  But we take no benefit with us when we leave. We get up, and when we brush off our garments, we brush off everything we have heard. We leave all the benefit right there at the Satsang place and return home empty-handed.

Great is the glory of Satsang, but only the deserving souls recognize its worth.

He says that the glory of Satsang is indescribable and infinite — beyond the confines of mortal words. Swami Ji says that only the rare deserving souls can comprehend it. If one is not deserving, then how can they understand? There is a saying: “Playing your veena before a bullock.” How can the poor bullock appreciate the veena’s dulcet tones? It is just like Nandi puja (worship of Shiva’s Bull) in the Shambū temples.39Nandi is the gate-guardian of Kailash (Shiva’s heaven) and is also the vehicle of Lord Shiva. 

Everyone goes to the Satsang as a matter of routine, but its benefit manifests only in the deserving ones.

We wish to take advantage of the Satsang, but we cannot do this fully until we make ourselves deserving. Only the deserving ones reap the benefit.

Over and over they come before the Satguru, but they don’t take His words to heart; they never lose themselves in His darshan.

We say, “Let’s go to the Satsang.” The children, the old people, the neighbors, everybody goes. But what do they gain? It is like going to a fair; everyone attends, and then they return home.  What did the Satsang mean to them? For them, it was just another get-together. They think: “Everybody is going. I’m going to go too.” You get dressed up in good clothes, attend the Satsang and then head back home. Some people want to sit at the front of the congregation, thinking: “I am a prominent satsangi.” Friend, what difference does it make if you sit in the front or the back? Where you sit is not the point. The point of going to Satsang is to grasp the meaning of the Satguru’s teachings. We sit right in front of the Satguru at the Satsang. We attend every day; we are never absent. But if the Guru’s words don’t penetrate into our hearts, what benefit can we receive?  We think: “I have been initiated for so many years. I am a very old satsangi.  I was initiated by the previous Guru. I am somebody.” My friend, if you have not ascended into the inner realms, what difference does it make if you were initiated by the previous Guru or by the Guru who came before Him. You say you are old satsangis. Well, the old satsangis get eaten up by the worms and the ants.

What can the Satguru and the Satsang do for them?  How can such jivas cross over the ocean of existence?

He says, “What can the Satguru do for these undeserving jivas? What benefit can they derive from the Satsang? They will drown in the ocean of this world.”

Water has no effect on the stone, but it dissolves rock candy.

When such an unconscious person comes into the Satsang, what is their condition? Swami Ji says it is like throwing a stone into the water. The stone does not dissolve; it doesn’t absorb even a drop of water. The stone remains a stone. But if you throw mishrī (rock candy) into water, that mishri mixes into the water and makes the water sweet. It dissolves completely. This is the case of the deserving person who goes into the Satsang. That devotee is like mishrī dissolving in water.  But the undeserving person remains like the stone; the water has no effect on the stone at all.

When we have the Satguru’s company outwardly, nothing should be more dear to us than Him.

Now he describes the way to take benefit from the outer company of the Guru. The physical connection we establish outside with the Guru should be such that we see no form other than His. Not seeing any other thing in this world but the form of the Guru is called outer Satsang.

Then the devotee can become absorbed in the inner Satsang; the surat ascends into the inner sky, from where the Shabd is calling.

Then the devotee’s soul becomes concentrated, and it establishes a link with the Naam — the form of Oneness. Connecting with the Naam, it becomes the form of Naam. This is the inner Satsang. If we do not have love for the outer form of the Guru, how will we develop love for His inner form? If there is no water in the well, from where will the bucket be filled?

The sky of Sahans-dal Kanwal is resounding; and thunder roars in the Gagan.
Taking its seat upon the throne, the mind becomes enraptured.

Then your soul rises into the inner sky of Sahans-dal Kanwal. You hear the thunder sounding in the Gagan of Trikuti. If you become absorbed in this Sound, the inner scenes will open before you. But if instead of going inside, you only sit outside and talk about the inner realms, what is the use of such idle talk?

The surat gains access to Sunn or Lāhūt Lā-Muqam;
Nāsūt (physical plane), Malkūt (astral plane) and Jabrūt (casual plane) are left far below.

The Sunn region is also called Lāhūt Lā-Muqām. Going beyond the plane of Sahans-dal Kanwal, you reach the plane of Trikuti. Then as you merge deeper into the Shabd, the region of Sunn appears.

Now the surat opens the door to Hāhūt (Maha Sunn) and secures ingress to Hūtal Hūt (Bhanvar Gupha) and Hūt (Sat Lok).

Going further still, you reach Bhanwar Gupha, which the Sufis call Hūtal Hūt. Then comes Hūt or Sat Lok and the sound of Haq-Haq (Truth); entering into this realm, we become the form of Truth.

Hūt (Sat Lok) is the final stage of the Fakirs. The surat circumambulates the throne of Sat Purush.

Sat Lok, also called Sat Muqām, is the realm of the Fakirs. Sometimes people use the word “fakir” as an insult. Someone says: “You’re just a fakir.” The other person takes offense: “Who are you calling a fakir?” They come to blows over it. But what is the significance of the word “fakir.” Becoming free from all care and taking on the form of Truth — this is the real meaning of the word “Fakir.”  When the soul leaves the nine doors and sheds the physical, astral and causal bodies, it reaches Sat Muqām, the True Home. This is called liberation. 

The Surat beholds “Allahū” in Trikuti and “Hā” (Hū) in the Void regions.
On reaching Bhanwar Gupha, the soul hears the Sound of “Anahū.”
“Haq-Haq,” the sound of Sat Naam, resounds in Sach Khand.
Sant and Fakir, two words for one Power;
Haq and Sat, two names for one Realm — indivisible and imperishable.

In our Hindi language, we call this Power “Sant.” In Muslim terms, that is in Persian, we call that Power “Fakir.”  Two different words, in two different languages, but the Power is the same.

Audio: H202
SBSJkS, Book 3, Satsang 22

Swami Ji Maharaj

The Guru exhorts us again and again

Guru kahe pukār pukār

गुरु कहें पकुार पकुार । समझ मन करलो सुमिरनियाँ ।।1।।
स्वाँसो स्वाँस घटे तेरी पूँजी । चली जाय यह उमरनियाँ ।।2।।
वक्त मिला यह तख़्त नशीनी । छोड़ बान अब घुरबिनीयाँ ।।3।। 
यह मारग अब गुरु बतावें । पकड़ गहो तुम उर  धुनियाँ ।।4।।
शब्द सगं तुम सरुत लगाओ । रहो नित्त गुरु मुजरनियाँ ।।5।।
दया लेव तुम हरदम उनकी । सरन पड़ो उन चरननियाँ ।।6।।
वह तो भेद बतावें घट का । पकड़ शब्द भौ तरननियाँ ।।7।।
लागी लगन बहुरि नहिं सूझे । सरुत अजर में जरननियाँ ।।8।।
जिन जिन संग करा गुरु  पूरे । छुटा जन्म और मरननियाँ ।।9।।
जगत जार तज सार समझ तू । मिटे चौरासी भरमनियाँ ।।10।।
सतसंग करो प्रीत घट धारो । देख रूप चढ़ दर्पणनियाँ ।।11।।
गगन गिरा परखो धुन बानी । यही कमाई करननियाँ ।।12।।
पहुँचो जाय अधर में प्यारी । गाँठ खुले तब तन मनियाँ ।।13।।
या जग में कोइ सुखी न देखो । गहो गुरु के बचननियाँ ।।14।।
दुख के जाल फँसे सब मूरख । तू क्यों उन संग फँसननियाँ ।।15।।
मैं तूं मोर तोर सब त्यागो । गहो राधास्वामी सरननियाँ।।16।।

Sār Bachan Radhāsvāmī, Chand Band,
Bachan 15, Chitāvanī, pt 2, shabd 21

The Guru exhorts us again and again: “Devote yourself to Simran with attention and understanding.”

This is the bani of Param Sant Satguru Hazur Radhaswami Ji. He tells us that the whole world is involved in simran of one name or another. No one is without it.  Everyone does some remembrance or meditation on their Iṣhṭ Deva, their own personal god. So, He asks: “When everyone is repeating the simran, why don’t they receive some spiritual benefit from that repetition?”  Because no one is doing that simran with attention and understanding. Therefore, Swami Ji Maharaj explains that when we repeat the Simran of the five charged names, we should be fully attentive; otherwise, we won’t have any effect from it. We regularly perform some repetition in remembrance of our favorite god; we going on repeating some customary prayer or formulaic recitation. When we rise in the morning, we rotate the rosary ten times. We chant Ram-Ram or Krishna-Krishna or the name of some other god, and then we set it aside.

In many communities and religions, when you greet someone in the morning, it is customary to inquire: “Have you eaten yet?”  It is just a polite phrase like “How are you?” In some communities, you will hear: “Have you performed your sandhya snān (sacred morning ablutions)?” The inquiry seems to be related to sacred practices, but, in fact, it is just a way of asking: “Have you eaten yet?” In other communities, people say — “Have you completed your Shiva Puja (ritual worship of Shiva)?” But they are actually enquiring: “Have you had your food yet or not?” According to the customs of their own social groups, people repeat all these formulaic greetings without much attention or significance.

Similarly, many people perform their simran practice without giving much importance to the words or their meaning.  Some recite customary prayers and hymns hoping to receive one boon or another. Others perform their practices as a religious observance. They say: “Our mothers and fathers bequeathed this tradition to us.” Everyone goes on repeating their simran without understanding its true significance. But you don’t receive anything from this type of simran; it makes no difference whether you repeat it or not. Until you do the simran with understanding and attention, no matter how much you repeat it, you can’t hope to achieve any benefit.

So, Swami Ji Maharaj explains that the Satguru tells you to first, make the mind understand, and then, perform the simran. He says, “O mind, before engaging in the Simran, understand its significance. Understand how to do it properly.”  When the time comes for Simran, unite your mind with the Naam, and then repeat the Simran with your full attention. What will you achieve? The sinfulness of the mind will be removed. The mind will become infused with the power of Naam. Until we perform the Simran in this manner, the mind and the Naam remain far apart from each other. And as long as the mind and the Naam are not in contact, nothing is gained.

Kabir Sahib Ji also tells us

मन और पवन टूट चालै नहीं
If the mind and the pavan remain apart, nothing can be achieved.

Both the mind and pavan, that is the vāyus, should remain attached to the Naam Simran. If the vāyus are flowing in one direction and our mind is running in another direction, then you can’t establish a connection with the Naam (that is, if the attention is not focused at the eye center where the Naam is resounding). You won’t be able to understand the Naam. Even if you go on with mindless repetition for a hundred years, your effort will be fruitless.

Until your mind becomes united with the Shabd, until your mind is filled with the power of Naam, its flaws cannot be eradicated. Your mind will remain separated from the Naam, just as it has been for ages. You sharpen knives and swords with a grinding wheel. That grinding wheel goes on turning, but as long as there is even a hair’s breadth between the knife or sword and the wheel, you cannot sharpen the edge. In the same way, the grinding wheel of Naam is turning in your within; but until the mind comes into contact with the Naam, that conscious Power will not penetrate the mind and remove its grossness.

With every breath, your wealth is diminishing. Your life is passing away.

What does He tell us? We all pass through four stages of life: childhood, youth, middle years, and old age. Now we are in the prime of life. We are busy caring for our families and raising our children; but in the end, we will reach the fourth stage, and old age will overtake us. It would be good for us to dedicate that fourth and final stage of life to the Almighty Lord. The shastras also prescribe this: “Once I grow old, I will engage myself in the Lord’s devotion.” But just consider. A certain number of breaths is allotted in our destiny. When that count of breaths is finished, our life expires. During the 24 hours of the day, we take 21,600 breaths. According to that reckoning, we use up 15 breaths a minute. With each and every breath, our body is being emptied out; our lifespan is shortening. Therefore, He says, “With every breath, your wealth is diminishing. Your life is passing away.” The allotted breaths become fewer and fewer till eventually, the body becomes totally hollow. It will be of no use at all. Therefore, Kabir Sahib says:

काल करे सो आज कर, आज करे सो अब ।
छिन में प्रलय होएगी, फिर करेगा कब ।।
What you have to do tomorrow, do today.
What you have to do today, do right now.
In a moment, Doomsday will descend;
What can you accomplish then?

You alone can complete your work. Do you think someone else will do all the work and then hand you the earnings? The son does not eat what the father has earned; the father does not eat what the son has earned.  You yourself will have to accomplish whatever work you have been assigned. What you have to do tomorrow, do today; what you have to today, do it right now. In the space of a moment, the entire creation can roll up in Dissolution; and you will be carried along with it. What work can you complete then? Many people put off doing the devotion until they reach old age. Kabir Sahib tells us:

आछे दिन पाछे गये, किया न हरि से हेत ।
अब पछताए क्या करे, चिड़ियाँ चुग गई खेत ।।
Your good days are behind you,
and you have not done the devotion of the Lord.
What is the point in repenting now;
the birds have already picked the field bare.

When the crop ripens, if instead of bringing in the harvest, the farmer sips a glass of cold lassi and stretches out to relax, then the birds will eat up all his grain. His field will be stripped bare, and there will be no harvest.

In the same way, if you didn’t guard your field during your youth, then all the birds of lust, anger, greed, attachment, ego, children, family and relations will devour your crop. In the end, you become old, and your body becomes hollow. You start to cough, your eyes don’t see anymore, your ears don’t hear anymore, your hands and feet start to shake and tremble, and you don’t even have teeth left to chew your food. So consider. At that time, you are no longer fit for any work — not for the work of the world, not for the work of spirituality. When the worldly people despise you and toss you out, do you think the Lord will be recruiting all the discarded old people?  Once you grow old, what work can you do? Why not practice the devotion when you are young, while your intellect is sound and you have all your wits about you.  There is a Marathi saying:

साठि बुद्धि नाटी, हाता पाठी काठी
His wits are wandering, and he hobbles about with a stick.

You get around with the support of a stick. What else are you good for?

The time has come to take your seat upon the throne; give up rummaging in the garbage.

When you get the human body, the time has come to return to Sat Lok, claim your birthright, and take your seat upon the throne.  But instead, you are wasting this opportunity in worldly pursuits. You were supposed to seize this auspicious opportunity, reach your True Home, and leave behind forever the pain of birth and death. 

But instead, you are rummaging in the garbage. At the dump where the village people throw their trash, chickens scratch around looking for food. This world is a big garbage heap. If you rifle through that garbage heap, can you hope to discover anything pure and untainted?  The only thing you will find is a foul stench and garbage upon garbage. Therefore, Swami Ji says to give up scavenging in the garbage heap of the world. 

Now the Guru has shown you the path. Take hold of the Inner Sound and cherish it in your heart.

How can we be saved from the difficulties of this world? How can we come out of the wheel of 84 lakh species of life? How can we be freed from the torments of Yama, the angel of Death? The Guru tells us: “Brother, that Inner Voice is calling you from within, that resounding Shabd is streaming down from on high.” Put your thoughts to one side, turn your attention within and remain all alone. Once you are contained within yourself, focus your attention, and unite it with the Shabd, which is the form of Oneness; then, that Shabd will transport you directly back to its source.

You don’t need to undergo any extreme hardship. You don’t need to give up eating. You don’t need to abandon your worldly works and relations. You don’t need to run away to some lonely, wilderness spot. Only one thing is required — in the midst of all your worldly activities, practice your meditation with a loving heart. The Lord is already within you, but He is hidden behind the veil of “I and mine.” Through your loving meditation, remove that veil and meet with the Lord.

Attach your surat to the Shabd. Constantly wait upon the Guru and pay homage to Him.

Day and night, our thoughts should be turned to that Shabd. Just like the mother’s love is centered on her child, and the child’s love is centered on its mother, in the same way, we should focus our thoughts on the Lord. In one place, Kabir Sahib explains:

तुझे है शौक मिलने का, तो हरदम लौ लगाते जा
If you want to meet the Lord, fix your thoughts on Him every moment.

If you want to meet Him, then fix your thoughts on the Shabd. For a few days, it may seem dry and uninteresting because your thoughts remain spread outside in the world. If you go on with the practices — regularly, lovingly, and with firm faith — you will succeed.  Do you think the Lord has gone away to some other place? He is within you and, sooner or later, He will give you His darshan. But if you remain indifferent to Him, if you cling to the world and worldly things, then all you will get is the world. If you attach your love to the Lord, then you will get the Lord.

For this reason, Swami Ji says that you should always listen within to the Shabd and keep your thoughts fixed on it.  Keep your attention engrossed day and night in the Shabd, contemplate on the Guru’s form and cherish the love of the Guru in your heart.

आपु छोडि गुर माहि समावै
Giving up all sense of I-hood, become absorbed in the Guru.

This is the goal for which you should strive. You do not remain; only the Guru remains. Then your heart will be bathed in light; all your sins will be washed away. The conscious power of your soul will come in contact with the conscious power of Shabd. Even now, the soul and the Shabd both dwell within the body. So why have they not come in contact with each other? Because we have not practiced the technique taught by the Guru. We have not applied it wholeheartedly with love.

Consider the example of the telephone. On this side, one person is waiting for a phone call, and on the other side, another person is trying to place the call.  But the caller doesn’t know the correct phone number and keeps on dialing the wrong number. So how can the call go through?  In the same way, the Lord is within, the soul is also within, and we desire to bring them together, but how can we accomplish that meeting? We don’t understand the correct technique or how to apply it. We don’t realize how much perseverance will be required to achieve success. We think, “If it works, well and good. Otherwise, forget it.” And the One within also says, “This is up to you. Make the effort if you feel inspired to do it; if not, then do whatever you would like.” He has no needs or desires. He dwells beyond all care and sorrow. 

Accept his grace and mercy every moment; go into the refuge of His holy feet.

Kabir Sahib has said:

एक जन्म गुरु भक्ति कर, जन्म दूसरे नाम ।
तीसरे जन्म में मुक्ति पद, चौथे में निजधाम ।।

In the first birth do the bhakti of the Guru:
In the second become absorbed into the Naam.
In the third birth, you gain liberation,
And in the fourth, you will reach your True Home.

Now, many people ask: “How many days do we have to do the meditation before we get the inner awakening?” Friend, there is no set course of time. You can’t say that after one year, two years, four years, eight years, or twenty years, you will achieve success. It’s not like that. What does he tell us? “You will succeed when true love dawns in your within.” The Lord is Love. Love will merge into love. If you have no love in your within, then success will still elude you even after a hundred years, or a hundred lifetimes or a hundred yugas.  Further, Kabir Sahib says:

मोको कहाँ ढूँढ़े बन्दे, मैं तो तेरे पास मे।
ना मैं आकाश ना मैं पाताल ।
खोजि होय तो तुरंत मिलिहौं, पल भर की तलाश में।।

O, man! Why do you search for me outside? I am dwelling with you.
I am not in the heavens or in the nether worlds.
Look within yourself for a moment, and you will find me.

He says: “Where should you search for me? I am not far away in the heavens nor in the nether regions. If you wish to find me, then delve into your within, and search for me there with true love. Then you will meet me in a moment; no, in less than a moment.” There is no set time to complete the course of spirituality. If you think you can find Him by force, then you won’t complete the course, even in a million lifetimes. Therefore, Swami Ji says, “First become absorbed in the contemplation of the Guru.” You do not remain; only He remains. Then, by His grace, your within will be flooded with light. Your heart will become pure and spotless, and the power of grace will unite you with the Naam.

We think, “We have no need of a teacher, but we definitely expect to pass and receive a diploma.”  Who is going to pass you and award you a diploma except for the teacher? Likewise, in spirituality, everything depends on the Guru. Naam is Guru, and Guru is Naam. But we people understand the Guru to be something separate from God.   As long as we understand them as two different things, we will remain mired in duality. We will not be able to merge into that Oneness. After all, who has given you the knowledge of Naam? It is the Satguru who has given you the Naam initiation. Who do you understand Him to be? He himself is the very form of Naam. If you practice your meditation, understanding this secret, then the Guru will shower grace on you, and through His grace, the Naam will manifest.

But what do we do?  We say we have no need of the banker, even though we want to borrow money. Friend, you borrow money from the banker.  Are you planning to obtain it by some disreputable means? If you steal the money, you will definitely be punished. In the same way, it is only through the Guru’s grace that we can achieve our cherished goal. How can we win His grace? Only by going into His shelter with single-minded devotion.

He has revealed the inner secret to you. Take hold of the Shabd and cross over the ocean of existence.

You can know the Perfect Guru through His teachings. He doesn’t tell you to adopt outer modes of worship: “Read the Gita, read the Ramayana, read the Bhagavat, read Bhakti Vijay Granth.”40Details the life and teachings of Shri Gajanan Maharaj, a holy man active in Maharashtra from 1878 to 1910 He will not tell you to read some scripture or other. He won’t tell you to practice mantras (repetitions) or tantras (incantations): “Repeat such and such five-syllabled mantra, or six-syllabled mantra, or twelve-syllabled mantra or sixteen-syllabled mantra.” He will recommend recitation of these empty formulas. What does He say? “Within you is the True Shabd, the Shabd that supports the whole of Brahmand. That Shabd is also supporting your body. Connect your attention to that Shabd.”  These are the true teachings of the Guru, and this is how you can recognize him.  If someone abandons these true teachings and presents some other teaching, then he is not worthy of being called a Guru. The Shabd has no connection with outer things. When you become absorbed in it, the Shabd will ferry you back to the source from which it has sprung. The Shabd itself will take you across the ocean of existence.

Become absorbed in Shabd and forget the world. You soul will ascend to the Imperishable Realm.

Once your soul has merged into the Shabd and has become the form of Shabd, then the two remain united. But when we people do the meditation practice, we don’t bring our soul into contact with the Shabd. What to speak of coming into contact with the Shabd, we don’t even perfect our Simran. When we do the practice of the five holy Names, if by chance the first name comes into our mind, by the time we get to the second name, our mind has already rushed outside and is lost in the attraction of some worldly objects. But when we perfect the Simran of all five names, we will find that the fifth name is the True Name — that is the Shabd, the inner Sound. When you unite with that Sound, when you become the form of that Sound, then your meditation flow like an unbroken stream.

Until you bring your soul into contact with the Shabd, sometimes your mind will take to the meditation, and sometimes it won’t. You may feel bliss, you may feel harassed by the world, or you may just fall asleep. After a while, you say: “Let’s give it up for now. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”  What is the cause of all this wavering? You have never experienced the enjoyment within, and so this disturbance never ceases. If you don’t go to Satsang for a few days, then you decide to give that up too. The mind is creating all this turmoil with the express purpose of making you leave the meditation and the Satsang. The mind is always playing tricks, bringing thought after thought to convince you to abandon the meditation. The mind wants you to lay back down and go to sleep. So you have to keep practicing the meditation — with strong determination, regularity, and love, whether the mind takes to it or not. One day the inner door will have to open. One day your soul will reach the Immortal Realm, the origin of that self-contained and self-existing Shabd.  When you achieve this state, do you think this perishable world will remain with you? You yourself will not remain, so how can the world remain?

Whoever keeps the company of the Guru, escapes from the cycle of births and deaths.

Those disciples who follow the Guru’s teaching go within and realize the Shabd — the true form of the Guru.  Those disciples who sacrifice everything to Him and unite with Him within, their account of births and deaths is finished. We people want to understand the teachings through talking, but nothing is accomplished through talk. We discourse on spirituality and wax eloquent on the subject of love, but it is all empty words; our within is bereft of true love. When we are speaking with someone about love, we praise it to the skies.  Friend, you are talking about love. Do you have even a speck of that love or are you empty within?  Think about this honestly.  You get very carried away talking about love; you become intoxicated in your own words. But have you cultivated any love within you? 

There was a wealthy landowner, who had laborers working in his fields. He mounted his horse and rode out to see how the work was coming along. It was quite hot, one or two o’clock in the afternoon. He thought, “I should ride over there where water is flowing in the canal and give my horse a drink.”  When he reached there, he dismounted and ordered one of the laborers, “Show my horse where the water is.” The laborer said, “Very good, Maharaj,” and led the horse up on a small hillock with a view of the canal flowing below. He tethered the horse and said: “O horse, look down there. You can see the water flowing along in the canal. That should quench your thirst.”

What could the poor, thirsty horse do? It just stood quietly. Then the laborer took the horse back to its master. That wealthy landowner asked, “Did the horse get something to drink?” The laborer replied: “Maharaj, when did you say anything about giving the horse a drink? You said, ‘Show my horse where the water is.’ So I led it up on the hill where it could see the water flowing down below.”  We people are just like this. We want to perfect our spirituality just by talking. But our inner thirst cannot be quenched through words. We will get no satisfaction from talking, and true love will not manifest within us. Therefore, He says, “You must do the inner practices. This is not a matter of mere words.”

Once you have taken refuge at the feet of the Perfect Satguru, what need is there for you to go into the cycle of births and deaths? If you again have to take birth and die, it is your own fault. In this birth, you did not practice the spirituality; you only talked about it.

Give up this perishable world and understand the Truth. Your cycle of births and deaths will be finished off.

He says that this world is a trap. It is destructible. It is tasteless and without attraction. If you understand the world in this light, you will become detached from it, and you will unite with the Power of Truth, the life-giving Naam. Otherwise, the world will not release its hold on you. The trap of illusion is standing ready.  How will you become free of it?

Attend Satsang; have love for the Guru within; rise up and behold your true self in the mirror.

What is the meaning of Satsang? Just listening to stories every day cannot be called Satsang. Manifesting the true love within is Satsang. And what will you gain from that true love?  The refuse and dirt of egotism that has obscured the mirror of your heart will be removed, and you will behold your true self.  If the mirror is covered with dirt or dung, or if you turn the mirror around backward, will you be able to see your face in it?  If you look at the back of the mirror, you see only a wooden board. That board cannot reflect your face.

Therefore, going into the within, you should clean the mirror of your heart. When you see your face in that inner mirror, you will realize that you have so many sins within you. You will clearly see the faults and virtues in your within.  All of this will manifest by itself. Now we don’t look within ourselves. We want to throw everything on others and find fault with them. This person is like this; that person is like that. Friend, never mind about others. If you want to find fault, examine your own within.

Listen to the voice of the Dhun coming from the inner sky and amass the earnings of devotion.

What earnings does the devotee collect? The devotee is not paid in rupees or gold.  The earnings of the devotee are the meditation and the Simran, going on day and night.  What do the rich people and the greedy people do? They do not squander their wealth; they hoard up it little by little and lock it in a safe. In the same way, go on earning the spiritual wealth — the Naam Simran. Fill your heart with that treasure.

Naam is your wealth. That Naam imparts benefit both here and hereafter.  No matter how much of it you spend, your treasury will never be exhausted. It will double, triple, quadruple. It will always become more. That wealth does not come to an end.  Earn that wealth, and you will never be a pauper. What is the meaning of poverty? “I want something. I need something.”  Begging makes you a pauper. Even at the time of death, the soul departs begging. Looking around at children, family, wealth and possessions, the dying person is troubled. “What will become of all this? What will they do without me?”  With all this mental disturbance and unrest, the soul departs from this world clinging to the outer things, and so the soul will have to take rebirth in that place again.

When you are rich with the wealth of Naam, then the power of detachment will manifest. “I and mine” will be eradicated, and you will be at peace. Then birth and death will have no meaning for you. You will not need to return again to this mortal world. Always keep your attention fixed on the higher realms, and merge that attention into the Ethereal Sound streaming down from above.  Let the world say what it likes; don’t pay any attention. “He just sits with his eyes closed. He doesn’t know anything.” People may go on criticizing you like this, but what difference does it make? You should remain intoxicated in your own work, no matter what anyone else says.

कोई कुछ कहे अपने धुन में तू धुन वे, कोई कुछ कहे किसी की मत सुन वे

You should dance to your own tune, no matter what others say;
If the critics cavil, pay them no heed.

O dear one, soar into the inner sky; untie the knot between body and mind.

Merging into the Ethereal Shabd, become the form of Shabd. At present, unconsciousness and consciousness are knotted together in our within.  Granthi is a word for “knot.”  The holy scripture of the Sikhs is called the Granth Sahib. Whoever has untied the granthi, the knot between unconsciousness matter and the consciousness within, has read the Granth Sahib. Until that inner knot is loosened, how can anyone fathom the true meaning of the Granth Sahib?

Our body and mind are unconscious. Our soul is conscious. But when the soul entered into the unconscious realm, it was tied to the body and mind and became their form.  So, when the knot is untied, the soul can go free. The body and mind remain below, and the soul soars upward.

I have not seen anyone happy in this world. Take a firm hold of the Guru’s words.

After explaining so much, Swami Ji further tells us that you have no real well-wisher in this world.  Everyone loves you for their own self-interest.  But when they have no more need of you, no one cares about you at all. Take, for instance, your children. When you are earning money and bringing it home, how much love everyone has for you. Even before you arrive home, they prepare to serve you water, tea, milk, lassi.  But when you grow old, where is the question of you bringing them any wealth? Then they think, “Let’s see. If we serve this old man food once a day at lunchtime, it should be enough. And if he doesn’t eat then, that’s fine too.  Old people don’t need much food.”  The basis of all these relations is selfishness.  Only the Guru loves you selflessly. He doesn’t want anything from you.

Everyone in the world is unhappy. You won’t find even one person who is happy within. From the outside, we look alright. We apply some creams or cosmetics, and the surface may sparkle, but inside, you’ll find only a sack of coals.  Within, everyone is suffering.

The fools are enmeshed in the web of suffering. Why are you joining them in the snare?

Those who deal in coal will have their hands and face blackened. You can see that all the world is trapped in the web of unhappiness. So, why do you allow yourself to become entangled also? You understand why everyone is suffering. You are a beloved of the Guru; you have taken the Naam initiation. So why do you go and fall into the same trap as everyone else? The worldly people who are already caught there naturally think, “Alright. We are trapped ourselves. Let’s lure these other people into the snare with us.”

Forsake all illusion of “I and you, mine and yours.” Enter into the refuge of Radhaswami.

Four forces are at work: I and you, mine and yours. These forces have no color or form, but they are active within everyone.  The lowly and the exalted alike, all are under the sway of these forces. If we throw out these four forces, then nothing of the world remains. But how can we get rid of them? Their roots have penetrated deep into the nether realms; they do not grow on the surface.

Why do mighty nations quarrel and fight with each other? Why do they feed and house huge standing armies? It all comes back to these four forces — I, you, mine, and yours. And in these struggles whole civilizations are destroyed; all the world’s resources are exhausted. These powers are foremost in everyone, even the gods and goddesses. Be rid of these four and with one-pointed attention, go into the refuge of the Satguru. You will achieve happiness here and hereafter.

H232 0:00
SBSJkS, Book 2, Satsang 19, p. 40

Swami Ji Maharaj

O dear one, go into the shelter of the Satguru,

Satguru saran gaho mere pyāre

सतगुरु सरन गहो मेरे प्यारे । कर्म जगात चुकाय ।।1।।
भूल भरम में सब जग पचता । अचरज बात न काहु सुहाय ।।2।।
भागहीन सब जग माया बस । यह निरमल गति कोइ न पाय ।।3।।
जिन पर दया आदि करता की । सो यह अमृत पीवन चाहि ।।4।।
कहाँ लग महिमा कहुँ इस गति की । बिरले  गुरुमुख चीन्हत ताहि।।5।।
बिन गुरु चरन और नहिं भावे । इस आनँद में रहे समाय ।।6।।
दर्शन करत पिंड सुध भूली । फिर घर बाहर सुधि क्या आय।।7।।
ऐसी सुरत प्रेम रंग भीनी । तिनकी गति क्या कहूँ सुनाय ।।8।।
जोग बैराग ज्ञान सब रूखे । यह रस उन में दीखे न ताय ।।9।।
बड़ भागी कोइ बिरला प्रेमी । तिन यह न्यामत मिली अधिकाय ।।10।।
राधास्वामी कहत सनुाई । यह आरत कोई गुरुमखु गाय ।।11।

Sar Bachan, Bachan 8, Shabd 13

O dear one, go into the shelter of the Satguru, and pay your karmic toll.

This is the bani of Hazur Radhaswami Ji. He says, “Detaching your soul from this world, reach your True Home, Sat Lok.” If your soul wishes to return to that immortal realm from where it came, you must first go into the shelter of the Satguru. The word “Guru” does not refer to some human being. The word “Guru” is not applied to some swami or renunciate. The Guru is a Power — the Power that awakens us from that state of forgetfulness and unites us with the All Conscious Lord. If you go into the sharan (shelter) of such a Guru with whole-hearted devotion, then that Guru Power will manifest within you. Some people think, “By receiving initiation from the Guru, I have already gone into His shelter.” But taking the Guru’s shelter means more than merely receiving initiation.

आप छोड़ गुरु माहि समाये

Giving up your “I-hood,” become absorbed in the Guru.

When not one trace of self remains in your within, when only the Guru remains — this is called going into His shelter.

If you wish to transport goods from one country to another, at the port of entry, you must pay a toll. Otherwise, you cannot bring your goods across the border. Similarly, when you wish to return with your spiritual treasure to your True Home, Sat Lok, then also you have to pay a toll — you must give up your body, mind, and wealth. Without paying this toll, you cannot move forward. Therefore He explains, “You must pay your karmic toll.” When you surrender the worldly karmas in the refuge of the Guru, that is, when you sacrifice everything to Him, you are paying your karmic toll. Then you can take your spiritual wealth and proceed on your homeward journey.

All the world remains entangled in error and delusion. No one is attracted to His unique message.

No one grasps the inner secret. Everyone takes initiation and performs the practices, but the inner veil of illusion is not lifted. Even though we have taken the Naam and go on doing the meditation, still the delusion remains.  How can this be? Because all of our devotion is flimsy and half-hearted, all of our meditation is superficial.  We have not given ourselves over to the practices with one-pointed devotion.

There is a Punjabi proverb:

आओ जाओ घर तुम्हारा, आटा हंड़ी व बर्तन तुम्हारा ।
बना के खाओ, तो यश गाओ हमारा ।।

Think of this as your home; come and go as you please. Use the flour, the pots, the vessels like your own — prepare your meal and eat to your heart’s content. But everything is really mine, so all the credit goes to me!

In this way, in front of the Guru, we say, “Maharaj Ji, this body is yours, this mind is yours, this wealth is also yours.” But when the time comes to make a sacrifice for the Guru, then we say, “Who is the Guru to me, after all? Is he my father that I should give all this to him?  My children would die of hunger. All of this belongs to me.” So such a person has not surrendered everything to the Guru within. Outwardly he is devoted to the Guru, but for him, it is just a matter of routine, like reciting Satya Narayan puja (ritual worship of Lord Vishnu). The mouth is uttering the words, but the mind is running riot in the world. In this way, outwardly, we dedicate everything to the Guru. But within we don’t change; we remain just as we were before. Therefore He says, “This is the secret. But no one understands it, and the whole world is going on in delusion.” What a surprising thing it is that we have never fathomed the deeper significance. On the surface we do understand, we say we surrender, but when the opportunity for surrender to the Guru arises, we are nowhere to be found.

All the hapless world remains under Maya’s sway; no one attains the state of pristine purity.

Why do we remain stuck fast? Because everyone in the world is unfortunate. All the souls are under the control of Maya. With the intellect under Maya’s domination, we cannot fathom the secret of Truth; we cannot become absorbed in the Guru’s devotion. Our intellect is under Maya’s control, so how can we go within?  This is our misfortune.

How do we become the fortunate ones? We cannot accomplish this task through our own endeavors. But if we persevere and continue to make efforts, then the mercy of the Guru will be awakened, and through His Grace, we will surely succeed. 

When the Primal Creator showers His Grace, then the longing to taste the nectar arises within.
What more can I say in praise of such a state? Only a few rare Gurumukhs understand and appreciate it.

Now Swami says, “What more can I tell you? Going in search of the Lord, I have lost myself. When I do not remain, how can I describe my condition? When I have become His very form, what words can I utter on my own?” Further, Swami Ji says, “What can I say about such a state that lies beyond the power of words? Only the rare gurumukhs understand it.” The poor souls who are dominated by mind and intellect, what can they know of it? Such people think, “We can’t see the heavens until we die. When we die, then we will find out what lies beyond.”  But this is a misconception. Only when our intellect gets absorbed in Truth can we understand the Truth; then no doubt remains because we behold Truth with our own eyes. As long as the intellect is entangled in rumination and speculation, it remains blind.

He loves nothing but the Guru’s feet. He remains absorbed in the inner bliss.

Now Swami Ji tells us clearly who can be called a Gurumukh. He has already revealed that this subject is beyond the understanding of all but the Gurumukhs themselves. Still, the question arises, “Who is worthy of being called Gurumukh?” So He says, ”When only the Guru’s holy feet dwell in the devotee’s heart, and no other thought or mental oscillation arises there, that devotee is a Gurumukh.”

If we consider this carefully, we will realize that there is a vast difference between the Gurumukh, the mouthpiece of the Guru, and the manmukh, the mouthpiece of the mind. We have never become absorbed within; our devotion to the Guru has all been at a superficial level. We have never communed with His blessed feet. Tulsi Das Ji tells us:

श्री गुरु चरण नख मणि गण ज्योति,
सुमिरत दिव्य दृष्टि हिय होती ।।

Dazzling light flashes from the nails of the Guru’s feet.
When I remember Him, His divine vision fills my heart.

The Guru’s inner feet emit a dazzling light like precious gems. When you become lost in His remembrance and your within is illumined by that light, then the curtain obscuring your inner vision is thrown open, and that divine light floods your soul. By the radiance of that light, you behold the Lord within. This vision doesn’t come through the outer eyes. We close our eyes and see only darkness, so we think that nothing lies within.  But what does Samarth Ramdas Swami tell us?

चर्म दृष्टी न लखे, ज्ञान चक्षू निर्खें ।

These eyes of flesh cannot see Him; you can behold the Lord only with the eye of Knowledge.

The Guru of Shiva Ji Maharaj, Ramdas Swami, says, “You cannot see Him through these eyes of flesh, through the outer vision. You must look with the divine vision, the vision of the inner eye. Then you can behold His glory.”  No matter how much you may look with these outer eyes, still you cannot have His darshan. Even if you put on eyeglasses, you may see the outer things more clearly, but the inner things will remain hidden from you. The Gurumukhs see with the divine vision.

Having the Guru’s darshan, all awareness of the body is lost; we do not know if we are inside the house or outside.

Now He describes the state of contemplation. Becoming absorbed in the darshan of the Gurudev, you lose consciousness of everything else. The body is forgotten. The world is forgotten. You yourself are forgotten; you do don’t know if you are inside the house or outside. You do not know whether the world exists or not. Such absorption is called contemplation on the Guru. This is true discipleship.

What can I say about the soul that is drenched in the color of love?

When the soul or surat mixes with the color of love, it becomes the form of love. Swami Ji says, “How can I describe such a state through feeble words?” The ones who have drowned in the ocean of love, how can they return to tell us of their condition? When the intellect becomes powerless, what words can emerge?

You will not discover the nectar of bliss in yoga, renunciation, or scholarship – these are all dry and tasteless things.

Finally, He clarifies that yoga cannot be compared to that state of Bliss. Yoga is a forced practice, in which you have to assert. You have to drag the prana upward.  You must perform the purifying practices of neti (nasal passages), dhoti (stomach) and basti (intestines). You have to do this. You have to do that.

Renunciation, or vairagya, is also a forced practice. 

घर में हुयी खट-पट चलो बाबा के मठ ।
बाबा ने बताया काम, चेला भया रमटा-राम। ।

There is conflict in the home, so he says, “Let me go to the guru’s monastery.”
But when the guru puts him to work, that disciple moves on like a rolling stone.  

Brother, this is the condition of the renunciates.

Now, let’s consider scholarly learning. The question arises – “Who am I?”  Then to answer the question, we gather knowledge from this book and that, and we memorize a few sayings.  In one place, we find someone saying, “Aham Brahmasmi. I am Brahm.” In another place, we see, “Ayam Atma Brahm. My Soul is Brahm.” In a third place, we read, “I am Prajnanam Brahm, the Brahm Who is Intelligence.” And in a fourth place, someone has written, “Tatvamasi. Thou art That.”  All these sayings express the same truth in different ways, but we have no experience of that truth – for us it is all dry words.

So He tells us that there is no taste in scholarly knowledge, yoga, or renunciation. The nectar of bliss is enjoyed only in true discipleship and love for the Guru. 

Only the rare lover with great good fortune receives His abundant bounty.

Swami Ji tells us that the devotee in whom this precious treasure, this gift of love, manifests, such a devotee is truly blessed.

Radhaswami says, only a Gurumukh can sing the arti of the Lord.

In the end, He clarifies that this devotion, this arti, belongs to the Gurumukhs. The manmukhs can gain no knowledge of it.

Audio: H253
SBSJkS, Book 3,  Satsang 23, p. 26

Swami Ji Maharaj

Except for the Guru, who can bring about your deliverance?

Guru bina kaun ubāregā, Nām bin kaun sudhāregā

गुरु बिन कौन उबारेगा  ।  नाम बिन कौन सुधारेगा ।।१।।
भजन बिन कौन निस्तारेगा  ।  सरन बिन कौन संवारेगा ।।२।।
बिरह बिन कौन पुकारेगा  ।  दर्द बिन कौन चितारेगा ।।३।।
शब्द बिन कौन सिंगारेगा  ।  संग बिन कौन निहारेगा ।।४।।
काल को कौन गारेगा  ।  कर्म किस भाँति हारेगा ।।५।।
संत कोइ आन मारेगा  ।  भक्त कोइ दोऊ जारेगा ।।६।।
काम संतसंग सारेगा  ।  जोई तन मन को वारेगा ।।७।।
सोई निजनाम धारेगा  ।  जगत को आन तारेगा ।।८।।
जीव इक इक उबारेगा  ।  मान मद मोह  टारेगा ।।९।।
सरन सतगुरु सम्हारेगा ।  नाम पद को निहारेगा ।।१०।।
राधास्वामी जो सरावेगा  ।  सोई वह धाम पावेगा ।।११।।

Sār Bachan Radhāsvāmī, Chand Band, Bachan 19, Shabd 3

Except for the Guru, who can bring about your deliverance? Except for the Naam, what can improve your life?

This is the bani of Satguru Hazur Radhaswami Ji. He says, “Who except the Guru has the power to awaken the jivas who have been sleeping in ignorance for millions of yugas, through countless lifetimes?” Not only the human beings, but also the gods and goddesses, the yakshas (demigods) and gandharvas (celestial musicians) and all the other forms of created life — everyone is fast asleep in ignorance.  What is the principle of true knowledge? “I am the form of Brahm.” The individual soul is of the same essence as the Oversoul. But in ignorance we go on repeating mantras like Tat Tvam Asi – “Thou are That” — and Aham Brahmāsmi – “I am Brahm.”   We cannot achieve spiritual knowledge just by repeating and contemplating on outer mantras. These are mere words; they cannot lead us to enlightenment. Therefore, Swami Ji tells us that this repetition of formulaic mantras is also a state of deep sleep.  The gods and goddesses are asleep and we people are in the same condition.

What power can rouse us from such a sleep? The one who is awake can awaken others. If you are asleep yourself, can you awaken someone else? How will you be able to rouse them? Therefore, Swami Ji tells us that the one who can awaken our soul within, the one who can give us the experience and recognition of our true self, is called the Guru. He says: “What power can awaken us except the Guru?” Who else is competent to remove this worldly veil of Maya that envelops us? Attachment is a state of unconscious sleep. Becoming attracted to the worldly things, we are all lulled into a deep slumber. Who can free us from the pull of that attachment? Only the Guru. And how does the Guru accomplish this task? How does He awaken the jivas? The Guru has with Him the one Sat Naam. That Power— you can call it Shabd or Naam or the Inner Voice — remains forever; that Power dwells within us as well. And through that Inner Power, the Satguru pulls us out from this sleep of attachment. It is only because He can achieve this awakening that we call Him a Guru.   

Without meditation who will save you from rebirth? Without going in the Guru’s shelter how will you be reformed?

Now you have gotten the Naam and the Guru. But even after achieving so much, still your work is not complete. For this reason, Swami Ji Maharaj tells us frankly: “If you have gotten the Naam initiation, but you have not practiced the meditation, what was the benefit of receiving that Naam?”  Many people do try to practice the meditation, but without going into the refuge of the Guru that meditation cannot become successful.

Until we remove the three coverings, how can we practice the meditation with wholehearted devotion? What are these coverings? Body, mind and wealth.  We cannot become free of the pride of the body, until we do the physical seva. We think, “I wear fashionable clothes. I have earned so many degrees. So why should I go there and do seva? It is such a menial thing. If I can get the Naam initiation just sitting here, then I will take it and will practice the devotion. But all this seva business, that’s not for me.” 

Many others assert, “We should be assigned seva according to the qualifications we possess.”  You are speaking of seva and qualifications in the same breath? To think you are qualified to do seva is egotism. Can seva and egotism ever exist together? Impossible!

Sometimes people say, “We will contribute in the financial seva, but we can’t manage this physical seva.” The truth is, such people don’t do either seva. They don’t participate in the physical seva, and they don’t contribute in the financial seva either. They are all talk. When the time comes to help with the financial seva, either they slip away inconspicuously or they don’t attend Satsang at all on that day. “Well, you see, today I have to sort out some problem or other.” And they quietly take their leave.  When the opportunity for seva arises, such people make themselves scarce, but all the rest of the time they remain front and center, capering about and pretending to be the leading sevadars.  Where are they when it is time for financial seva? They make a sour face like Hanuman, the Monkey God, and head back home. Such great donors!

Now let’s consider mental seva.  When we selflessly do the Simran of Lord’s Name, when we contemplate on the Guru day and night, this is the mental seva.  Obedience to the words of the Guru is another form of mental seva. When we refuse the dictates of our mind and bow before the commandments of our Guru — this is mental seva.  

Till we sacrifice these three things — body, mind and wealth — to the Guru, we can’t become fit to perform the seva.  And until we do the true seva, how can the Naam accept us and pull us within?  Naam does not attract unconsciousness; Naam attracts that which is conscious.  If we perform these sevas like an unconscious stone, then how can the Naam draw us? We haven’t yet understood how to do the seva. For us it is all superficial. In the worldly way, if you want to become a big wholesale merchant, do you think you can accomplish that without making some effort? Friend, it doesn’t happen in that way. Similarly, without practicing the meditation, you cannot attain liberation, and without going into the refuge of the Guru you cannot perfect your meditation.  

Without separation, how will you cry out for the Lord? Without pain, how will you remember Him?

At present, we do the meditation practice, and we go through the motions of taking the Guru’s refuge. But we truly go in the Guru’s shelter when, day and night, the heart cries out in the pain of separation, when no thought other than the Guru strikes the heart, when the heart and the Guru merge and become one.

एक तिल्ल प्यारा बिसरै, जानों बरस पचास
If I forget the Beloved even for a moment, it is as though fifty years have passed.

These are the words of the great Guru Amar Das Ji Maharaj.  But hearing his exalted words, we grasp them superficially with our limited intellect, and then toss them aside. But what is the deeper meaning of his words? “If my Guru, my Beloved, vanishes from my heart, even for an instant, then for me that instant is not less than fifty years.” He is describing the pain of separation, and until that pain manifests in your heart, how can the garbage of the world be removed? That pain of separation should feel like someone has plunged a dagger into your heart. The suffering is so great that you feel your soul has become one with that pain. When you are enduring that pain, eating has no appeal to you, drinking has no appeal to you, sleeping have no appeal to you. You get no comfort sitting in the midst of thousands of people, and you get no comfort sitting all alone in the wilderness. Your thoughts are always riveted on that pain. If you don’t feel this type of pain within your heart, then what kind of spirituality are you practicing?

Without the Shabd, what adornment will you wear? Without the company of the Saints, who will take care of you?

When once the ground has been prepared in this way, then the Shabd manifests, and your within becomes illuminated. Within and without there is nothing but Shabd; you yourself become the form of Shabd. Then you will unite with that true Shabd and your connection with the world will be severed. What a deep subject this is, but Swami Ji has explained it to us in clear and simple words. We can easily understand His words, but we discover their deeper meaning only when we rise above and experience the reality for ourselves. Now we expound on the subject — Guru Nanak Sahib has said this, Tulsi Sahib has said that, such and such Sahib has said something else. Friend, you are quoting all these Sahibs, but until your own Sahib, your own Guru, reveals all this to you within, what can you gain from quoting others?

Who is there who can crush Kal?  How will the karmas be exhausted?

When the Shabd manifests in your within, when you become detached from this world and immune to its power of attraction, then Kal will not even look in your direction. As long as you cling to anything of this world, thinking “This belongs to me,” then Kal will be standing ready. Kal is not some being with long fangs. Kal dwells within you; Kal is a power. As long as you keep company with Kal, you will have to bear the weight of your own karmas. You have amassed a great load of karmas. You need to understand these things and act accordingly. You listen to Satsang, but when you return home, you don’t take what you have heard with you.  So what benefit will you receive? Can you gain anything in this way?

One man used to go every day and listen to a pandit reciting the Ramayana, which describes the story of Rama and Sita. For three months, he continued in this way. Then one day the pandit completed the recitation and prepared to move on to another place, after collecting some money and supplies for his journey. The man had a lingering doubt in his heart. He thought, “There is still one thing I do not understand. How is Sita related to Rama? It will be very good if I ask Pandit Ji about this before he sets out. ” So when the pandit was about to depart, this man folded his hands and requested: “Maharaj, I have one doubt.” The pandit replied, “What doubt might that be?” The man then asked: “What is the relationship between Rama and Sita? In many places you keep mentioning Rama and Sita, Rama and Sita. But I still do not understand who Rama and Sita are.” 41The Ramayana is the story of Rama and Sita. If you do not understand who they are, then you have not gained anything from listening to the recitation of the Ramayana.

In the same way, we listen to Satsang daily. We hear about the surat, we hear about the Shabd, about what meditation we should do and what practices we should follow. We hear about how to gauge the soul’s progress within and about leaving aside the desires and attachment for the world. But until we put these things into practice and experience them in our within, our attendance at Satsang is no different than that of the man listening daily to the Ramayana without ever understanding anything about Rama and Sita. 

Some rare Saint comes and rescues you; that True Devotee burns away Kal and Karma alike.

Some rare ones — the Saints — can destroy all the power of Kal and karma.  It is said:  

ब्रह्म का लेख पर संत मारे मेंट
The Saints erase the fate line drawn by Brahma.

The Saints are so powerful that they can free you from Kal’s karmic bondage and attach you to the practice of Naam. They can free you from the grasp of Kal, the Lord of Justice, and unite you with Dayal, the Lord of Grace. The Saints possess the power to achieve all this. Therefore, Swami Ji says that some rare Saint can destroy all these forces arrayed against you and can cut the fetters of Kal and karma that bind you. Eradicating Kal and karma, that True Devotee takes you to your True Home.

The task will be accomplished in the company of the Truth, but only for those who sacrifice body and mind.

This entire undertaking can be accomplished through the benefit of just one Satsang. To this many people will reply, “We already attend the Satsang daily. We never miss even one day.” They say, “We hear Satsang every day. We listen to the banis of Swami Ji Maharaj, Kabir Sahib Ji, Paltu Sahib Ji, Jagjivan Das Ji, and five or ten other Saints. Today we went and we heard one or the other of them. That should be enough.” Other people say, “We attend once a week. Why should we go every day?” Some others say that they come once a month or come four times a year. A number of people say, “We come once a year for the bhandara celebration. On that day we listen to the Satsang, and then we enjoy the delicious sweet parshad. This is beneficial. But there isn’t such a large congregation at the daily Satsangs and we don’t get to meet with the other satsangis. So what is the point in attending then?”

What can such colossal fools receive from the Path of spirituality? When people remain day and night in the Satsang and still don’t grasp its significance, what benefit can they hope to gain by only attending the yearly bhandara? Tulsi Das Ji says:

एक घड़ी आधी घड़ी, आधी में पुनि आध।
तुलसी संगत साधु की, कटे कोटि अपराध।।

Whether you get one moment, a half a moment, or half of that again,
O Tulsi, the company of the Saint destroys millions of sins.

If, after hearing so much praise of the Saint and the Satsang, someone still declares, “I’ll just come once a year,” then what can such a stone-hearted disciple hope to achieve? The work will definitely be accomplished through attending Satsang. But who attains this success? Only those who sacrifice body and mind to the Guru. It’s not just a question of being physically present in the Satsang.

Such a one is established in the True Naam. Such a one liberates the world.

When a devotee merges in the True Naam and reaches the True Realm, Sat Lok, then they acquire the power to liberate the entire world. Such a one is called a Gurumukh. For this reason Guru Nanak Dev Ji says:

गुरमुखि कोटि उधारदा दे नावैं एक कणी
The Gurumukh liberates millions of jivas, giving just one speck of Naam.

The Gurumukhs are capable of liberating millions of jivas. It makes no difference if you refer to them as Bhakta (devotee), or Gurumukh or the Almighty Lord Himself — all those names refer to one and the same Inner Power.

He will liberate the jivas. He will remove their pride, ego and attachment.

This great being frees the jivas who are trapped in this world. How does He do this? He removes the pride, arrogance and egotism that envelop them, and then He unites them with the Lord. Those who themselves are caught in pride and ego, how can they release others?

When you go into the refuge of the Satguru, you will glimpse the Region of Naam.

Whoever goes into the Guru’s refuge with full concentration and a true heart, they have completed the first part of the course. In fact, the final part of the course consists of the very same thing — going into the Guru’s refuge with single-pointed concentration. When you go into the Guru’s refuge, you get the Naam, you get the Satsang, and you meet the Lord. Until you go into the sharan, the refuge of the Guru, you cannot take even one step forward. It is not a small thing to go into the shelter. Not everyone can do this; it is so difficult. The Naam will come of itself when you make your attention one-pointed and go into the Guru’s shelter. The Naam is standing ready.

Whoever sings the praise of Radhaswami will enter into the True Realm.

Whoever goes into the refuge of Radhaswami, with this kind of devotion, will reach the Radhaswami Dham.

Audio:  H363 0:00 (also H328)
SBSJkS, Book 2, Satsang 17, p 30

Swami Ji Maharaj

Without the Guru, you will never cross to the other shore

Guru bin kabhī na utare pār

गुरु बिन कभी न उतरे पार |  नाम बिन कभी न होय उधार || १ ||
संग बिन कभी न पावे सार | प्रेम बिन कभी न पावे यार  || २ ||
जुक्ति बिव चढ़े न गगन मँझार | दया बिन खुले न बज्र किवाड़  || ३ ||
सुरत बिन होय न सब्द सम्हार |  निरत बिन होय न धुन आधार || ४ ||
गुरु से करना पहिले प्यार | नाम रस पीना मन को मार || ५ ||
काल घर जान तजा संसार | दयाल घर आई जन्म सुधार  || ६ ||
संत गति पाई गुरु की लार | शब्द संग मिली मिला पद चार  || ७ ||
कहा राधास्वामी अगम विचार | सुने और माने करे निरवार  || ८ ||

Sār Bachan Radhāsvāmī, Chand Band, Bachan 19, Shabd 4

Without the Guru, you will never cross to the other shore; without the Naam, you will never attain salvation.

Other than the Guru, we are all blind. Where can a blind man go when he cannot see the way? He does not know which direction to take, so how can he reach his destination? If you are going to cross a river in a boat, you need a ferryman. If you are traveling to a town on a train, you need a train engineer. If you want to go to Sach Khand, the Realm of Truth, how can you travel there without someone’s help? Therefore, He tells us, “Without the Guru, no one can reach the other shore.” Naam is the boat, and the Guru is the ferryman; if you have them both, you will be able to cross the ocean of this world. Sometimes you may locate a boat, but there is no boatman available. At other times, you can secure a boatman, but there is no boat to be found. Many itinerant gurus travel from place to place. They say, “I am a guru. You are also a guru.” One man took initiation with the express purpose of becoming a guru himself. As soon as his guru had whispered the mantra in his ear, he instantly considered himself fit.

The next year when the guru was making his rounds, he returned to that place and enquired how his disciple had been doing. The disciple was standing there with 100 or so people he had initiated during that year. His guru asked, “Who are all these people?” His disciple answered, “Maharaj, these are your grandchildren.” His guru was pleased.  He thought, “This is well done. Our numbers are increasing. Each one will donate a rupee, and I can easily collect 50 or 100 rupees.” And then the following year, when he came back again he found that all his “grandchildren” had themselves become gurus.  There was a shortage of disciples. The whole place was full of gurus. This not the correct meaning of guru and disciple. Therefore, Swami Ji tells us that we need a Guru who has the True Naam with Him.  A bogus guru can only give you a bogus naam.  “Making spirituality like a business, the guru opens up his shop; and a disciple comes wandering down the road.  The disciple takes initiation in the evening and serves his guru; but that disciple doesn’t stay. The next morning, guru and disciple go their separate ways.”

Without the Satsang, you cannot grasp the True Essence. Without love, you will never gain His friendship.

You have found the Guru, and you have received the Naam, but until you attend the Satsang, you won’t gain knowledge of the Truth.  We think “guru” and “naam” are just words, and we take names like Gurucharandas, Satguru Singh, Harnaam Singh or Satnaam Singh. We say, “Well, now we have both the Guru and the Naam. We don’t require anything else.”  But Swami Ji tells us that one more thing is needed for right understanding – Satsang, the company of Truth. From Satsang, we come to know what power resides in the Guru and in the Naam. We come to know what benefit can be derived from their company, and how to put the teachings into practice. We can understand all of this through Satsang. Some people say, “We have gotten the Naam initiation. Our work is done.” Really? Will our Guru pick us up and transport us into the inner realms, without any effort on our part?  Think about this carefully.

Once all the college students went to their college, and they assumed they had done their duty. They thought, “Now we have come here, and in return, our professor will learn all the subjects for us.  Then he will pass us and give us our diplomas! The professor will do all the studying!  And after he has passed our exams for us, we will all go home!”  In just the same way, we think that our gracious Guru will lift us up and carry us within. We think we don’t have to do anything ourselves. Brother, if this is so, then why are you not progressing during your meditation? People say, “What can we tell you? The Guru’s grace is just like that. We get sleepy when we meditate.” If getting sleepy is the Guru’s grace, then what kind of Sat Lok are you headed for?

Since we don’t have the proper understanding, we throw our whole burden on the Guru. The disciple says, “I’ve taken the Naam initiation, but now my wife has died.” We blame our Guru for what has happened.  Until we go into the Satsang, we will not understand the essence and power of the Truth.

Until you understand the Truth, love will not enter your heart. And until the love manifests within you, that Almighty Lord, who is love personified, will not meet you.  A friendship is formed when the love of the Lord and the love of the soul become one, both without and within. When your within overflows with love, then that Loving Power will be attracted to you.  He will become your Friend.

Without the proper technique, you cannot rise into the ethereal realms. Without His grace, the mighty door will not open.

Until you regularly practice the meditation taught to you by the Guru, that heavy door within will not swing open for you.  Many people exert. They squeeze their eyelids closed; they hold their breath; they force their eyes upward. Some people clutch to have one thing or another: “We should see the moon. We should see the sun. There will be stars within. There will be clouds.” You imagine all these things and exert force to have one thing or another. This is not correct. “Giving up your I-hood, become absorbed in the Guru.”  Setting aside your ego — your sense of self — become one with the Guru. Until the Guru’s grace descends on you that inner door will not open.

Without the surat, you cannot contact the Shabd. Without the nirat, you cannot take the support of the Naam within.

For the meditator, this single couplet suffices. Swami Ji tells us that the surat is the faculty that hears within, and the nirat is the faculty that sees within.  Until these two faculties merge and become one, we don’t get the support of the Shabd coming from the higher realms. Many people say, “We hear the Shabd within off and on. Sometimes it stops, sometimes it becomes loud. Sometimes it comes from this direction, sometimes from that direction.”

Friend, something more is wanted here. Until we get the support of the Shabd flowing from the higher regions, this fluctuation will continue. Because we are still connected to the gross, material body, this Shabd we are hearing is resounding at a lower level, where our consciousness still partakes of the inert, material plane.  At the material level, the Shabd cannot attract us and pull us up. The Shabd has the power to attract the soul, but only when we ascend within and come into its magnetic field. Shabd is a mighty force. Once you have the support of that Shabd coming from the highest regions, know it for certain that your meditation practice is complete.

First of all, have love for the Guru, then conquer the mind, and drink the nectar of Naam.

After describing the higher stages of meditation, Swami Ji now explains to us how to get started on the journey. He details the steps you have to take to reach those higher levels. First, you must remove the love for all the worldly things from your within. Then replace it with love for the Guru. Fix that love in your heart, and it will stir up his grace and mercy; your within will become flooded with light as you ascend into the higher realms. When that true love manifests, the inner Guru appears. The Naam will shower down, and you will be drenched in a rain of nectar. When you reach the other shore, your sense of “I and mine” will be finished off, and all the worldly desires will be eradicated.

Give up the world, understanding it as the home of Kal; journey to the home of Dayal, the merciful Lord, and improve your life.

Now we have two homes. One is the home of Kal, mind and Maya. This body and the created world are the home of Kal. When we forsake this home, we will discover the way leading to the home of Dayal. Now, we are roaming about in Kal’s domain. We are only talking about finding another home, where the Merciful Lord is dwelling. How can we reach there? First, we must leave this dwelling place of Kal, and then we must turn our steps towards Sat Lok, our True Home, where Dayal, the merciful Lord resides.

In the Guru’s company you can achieve the status of the Saints. In the company of the Shabd, you can reach the fourth stage.

How do we achieve the status of the Saints? How do we walk on the Path of the Saints? How do we receive the Saints’ bounty? All this comes only through our Satguru. In one place, Swami Ji Maharaj tells us: “When I compare my Guru to the Anami realm, that place has no appeal to me. Why should I leave my Guru’s feet to go there? What is there for me in Sat Lok?“  The Guru has told you: “Friend, that Power lies within you. When you progress within, you will see for yourself that your Guru is the Sat Purush, the Almighty Lord Himself.” So why would you give up your faith and turn away from such a Guru? Why strive for Sach Khand, Sat Naam or Anami?  When you hold fast to your Guru, with a true and loving heart, all these things and more will come to you of themselves. In the company of Truth, you will soar upward through the physical, astral, and causal stages and finally reach the fourth stage — Sach Khand. Supported by the Power of Shabd, the Gurumukh passes through each of these stages and arrives at the highest stage.”  

Radhaswami says, contemplate on the Inaccessible One — listen to His words, follow His commands, and achieve salvation.

Finally, what does Swami Ji tell us? The Lord lies beyond the intellect, beyond mere words, beyond the senses, beyond the body. He dwells in the Inaccessible Realm. Contemplate on Him alone.  Meditate on the Lord in that region where the intellect finds no access. As long as you are stuck fast in the limited understanding of the intellect, you cannot fathom this higher knowledge. Spirituality is not a small thing. You want to find a way to grasp it intellectually, but the intellect cannot comprehend it.  You turn to the scriptures for support, but you interpret them according your own speculation and invention. Whatever interpretation the intellect places before you, you enshrine that in your heart and view the scriptures in that light.  What can be gained in this way? People praise you saying, “What a great scholar!” Friend, this is not even your own knowledge; you have gleaned it from the books of others. Reading those books, you may store some knowledge in your brain, but you do not earn any true spirituality. And the bookish knowledge you have acquired is further limited by your own narrow interpretation.

Therefore Swami Ji Maharaj tells us that this Bani is inaccessible and incomprehensible — it lies far beyond the scope of the intellect. Only those who have ascended to that Inaccessible Realm can understand this state.  Everyone else is only repeating hearsay: “Such and such a person said this and experienced that.” This is the extent of their understanding. Whatever words you hear from the Saint, you have to accept those words in your heart and act upon them. Only then can you achieve liberation.

Audio: H363   21:13
SBSJkS, Book 2, Satsang 18, p. 36

Swami Ji Maharaj
Guru Kahe Jagat Sab Andha

The Guru says all the world is blind. No one grasps the secret of the inner way.

गुरु कहें जगत सब अंधा  ।  कोई गहै न घट की संधा ।।1।।
बाहर-मुख भरमें सारे  ।  अतंर-मुख शब्द न धारे ।।2।।
मन जगत भोग रस बंधा  ।  नित करे कर्म बस धंधा ।।3।।
फँस मरे काल के फंदा  ।  अब हुआ जीव अति गंदा।।4।।
गुरु कहैं नित्त समझाइ  ।  कर खोज शब्द घट जाई ।।5।।
यह सुने न गुरु के बैना  ।  कस खुलैं हिये के नैना ।।6।।
बिरला कोइ जीव अधिकारी  ।  गुरु  बचन करे आधारी ।।7।।
जो बचन सम्हारे गुरु के  ।  मन फंद लगावे छल के ।।8।।
ज्यों त्यों कर जीव भुलावे   ।  काल अपने खेल खिलावे  ।।9।।
गुरु भक्ति न करने पावे ।  बहु भाँति उपाधि लगावे  ।।10।।
कभी मित्र होय भरमावे  ।  कभी बैरी बन धमकावे  ।।11।।
कभी रोगन माहि झुमावे  ।  नाना विधि जाल बिछावे  ।।12।।
शब्दा रस लेन न पावे  ।  यों जीव सदा दुख पावे।।13।।
गुरु मेहर करें जिस जन पर  ।  सो बचे शब्द धुन सुन कर ।।14।।
तब गहे शब्द रस जाँची  ।  फिर जले न जग की आँची ।।15।।
सब बात लगी अब काँची  ।  गुरु भक्ति मिली अब साँची ।।16।।
राधास्वामी की लीन्ही सरनी  ।  सो जीव लगे भौ तरनी ।।17।।

                                    Sar Bachan, Bachan 19, Shabd 13

The Guru says all the world is blind. No one grasps the secret of the inner way.

This is the bani of Param Sant Satguru Hazur Swami Ji. He says that all the world is blind. Why? In the beginning, the Almighty Lord put the Path to meet Him within us and then He sent us into this world. And if that inner eye opens, then we will reunite with the Lord. But through millions of yugas and incarnations, we have been running outward. Lord Kal has placed the curtain of mind and Maya over the soul and has cast it into the outer world. And becoming extroverted, the soul is always hurrying forward, never looking back to realize the True Home that it left so long ago.  

Everyone is wandering outside aimlessly.  No one catches hold of the Shabd within.

It is just like the water and the waves. Our entire lifespan is consumed counting the waves. Millions of yugas have passed in this way. But what is the nature of a wave? It is composed of water. But if we are under the illusion that the wave is something substantial in itself, if we forget the wave is only water, if we think of the wave as something separate from the water, then we do not understand its real nature.

In the same way, all the jivas, becoming infatuated with the pleasures created by mind and Maya, rush about in the external world and waste their allotted span of life. Under this illusion, the jiva says, “Who is equal to me? What shortcoming is there in me?” We may think this, we may think that, but when the breaths finish what remains? Only a heap of earth, nothing more. We have become so identified with this heap of earth that we think it is our true self. And in our ignorance, we assert: “Who can compare with me?”

The mind is enthralled by the taste of the worldly pleasures; controlled by karma, it remains stuck in worldly pursuits.

The mind is stuck fast in the worldly pleasures, so much so that it cannot free itself from them, even for a second. As soon as we wake up in the morning, the worldly affairs rush in upon us, and we carry them with us all day long.  After eating, drinking and wandering about  here and there, in the evening, we return home, have our food and fall asleep. In the morning, we wake up and begin all over again.  And because of this attachment to the world, we constantly remain involved in the bad deeds. The veil of ignorance has been cast over us, and we don’t even attempt to lift that veil.

Sanchit, pralabdh, kriyaman, and agamya – these four types or karma are covering our soul. If we remove all thought of past and future karmas from our heart and focus on maintaining purity in the kriyaman karmas – the karmas we are creating in the present moment —  then the cause of past and future karmas will be removed.  But if instead, we become trapped by our previous bad kriyaman karmas and continue on in the same way as before, then the past and future karmas cannot be removed.  Our load of sins goes on increasing, and we are making our way back into the wheel of eighty-four lakhs births and deaths.

Held fast in Kal’s snare, the jiva has given up in despair and has become utterly defiled.

What is the snare of Kal? It is this very karma. The soul is trapped in the snare of karma.

The Guru proclaims ceaselessly: “Search for the Shabd within.”

The Satguru constantly tries to make us understand. What does He tell us? “Brother, take your mind away from the disturbance of this world, from “I and mine,” from enjoying the sense pleasures, and fix it within at the point between the two eyes. When the mind becomes concentrated, that Inner Power will call you of itself. That Power is the Sound Current, the Word, the Akashbani (Etheric Song). Concentrate your attention on that Sound Current — do not look this way and that.

But the jivas do not heed the Guru’s teachings, so how can the eye of the heart be opened?

Why don’t we obey the Guru’s words? Why don’t we give up the path of the mind? Until we obey Guru’s instructions, the eye of the heart will not open.  The words of the Guru are the only key to open the inner way. Therefore, it is said:

मन्त्र मूलं गुरु: वाक्यं
The Guru’s words are the primal mantra.

The Guru’s words unlock the inner door. If we do not obey Him, the inner way will remain closed.

Only some rare worthy one stands firm on the support of Guru’s words.

As soon as the rare, worthy disciples hear the Guru’s words, they take them to their hearts.  The instant they hear those words they act upon them. But the unworthy disciples take the Guru’s words as ordinary and carelessly discard them.  There are three grades of worthy disciples — high, middle, and low.

Who are the worthy disciples of the highest order? “They meet with the True Guru if emancipation is written in their destiny.”  Whoever has once attained the inner darshan of the perfect Satguru, whoever has learned the inner secret, their work is accomplished. This is the highest grade of worthy disciple. Such a disciple is like the pearl oyster who swims to the surface of the water and opens its mouth to receive the raindrops that fall during the swati nakshatra. As soon as it catches that swati raindrop, it closes its mouth, and from that drop, it creates the priceless divine pearl in its within.

Then comes the worthy disciple of the middle grade.  This grade of disciple is like the drop of water on a lotus leaf. The water falls on the leaf of the lotus and sparkles like a pearl. But that water drop is not a true pearl. It gradually evaporates and disappears, leaving nothing behind.

The lowest grade of worthy disciple is like the water thrown on heated iron. That water bubbles up like pearls but turns instantly to hot steam that burns the face of the one who has thrown that water. 

So, Swami Ji Maharaj says that as soon as those rare worthy disciples hear the Guru’s words, they mold their lives according to His instructions. They act on His words and do not allow their minds to wander here and there. They never listen to the advice of the mind.

Whoever stands firm on the Guru’s words, the mind plays tricks and sets traps to ensnare them.

What does Swami Maharaj Ji tell us?  When the disciples become determined to follow the Guru’s instructions, at that time, the mind readies all his forces.  The mind will increase or decrease whatever thing the disciple considers dear and precious.

For instance, someone may love their child. If suddenly that child dies, then the disciple will lose faith in the Guru and say: “Just look at my Satguru. Now He cannot even save my child from death, so in the future how will He save me from Kal? I am through with Him; let Him go His own way.”

Someone else may desire to hoard up millions of rupees. But if instead of gaining, they suddenly lose all their fortune, then they will say, “So many times I have beseeched my Guru for riches, but what has He given me? Nothing!  If He cannot fulfill this small request, how is He going to grant me emancipation when the time comes? I should give up the Guru.” In this way, the mind troubles the disciples with its devious counsel and doesn’t allow them to do the Guru’s devotion.

If after all this, we still don’t obey the mind, then he afflicts us with incurable diseases.  If someone seeks the aid of a doctor but gets no relief, then the mind says, “Your Guru is not able to remove even this ordinary illness. How will He deliver you from Lord Kal, the Power who devours all? Give up such a Guru.” And bringing some doubt or other before us, the mind lures us away from the Path of Grace that leads to deliverance from his domain.

Kal devises his plans and sets the game in motion; he employs every ruse to lead the jiva astray.

If all his other efforts fail to divert us, then the mind comes and stands before us as an enemy. Challenging us to battle, he strives to defeat us. And in the end, if he emerges victorious, then we cry, “So this is what it has come to! The Guru could not manage even this much for me. Now I am done with Him!”  So in this way, the mind puts some worldly thought before us — some egotism, some profit or loss, some sorrow or happiness — and tries to throw us down from the spiritual Path.

If the jiva falls short in the Guru’s devotion, Kal stirs up trouble in so many ways.

The mind never lets us wake up in the morning and sit for meditation — this is the greatest obstacle. And if by some means we overcome this obstacle even a little bit, then the mind will come up with some other way to interfere. But this obstacle is the greatest of all, and every disciple is troubled by it right from the very beginning. 

There is a saying, “If the goat is spared at Eid, then it will become a fakir at Muharram.” First of all, there is no chance of that goat being saved. Eid is a Muslim festival to commemorate Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his beloved son to God, and all the goats are sacrificed during that festival.  Muharram, the first month of the Islamic New Year, is celebrated after Eid.  So now the goat makes a vow to Imam Hussain, a martyr who is commemorated during Muharram observances, “Oh, Imam Hussain! If you spare me during the Eid festival, then at Muharram, in your name I will become a fakir, a devotee.” But how will that goat be spared? All the goats will be slaughtered at the Eid festival, and so it has no chance of it becoming a fakir at Muharram.

It is the same with the mind and the disciple. The mind will never allow the disciple to meditate. But if by chance the mind allows us to do a little meditation, if it leaves the outer tastes a little bit, if it gives up its egotism for a short while, even then it will not allow us to perfect the meditation. It will bring fresh obstacles in our way.

He may come as a friend to mislead us; he may come as an enemy to threaten us.

Sometimes the mind will reason with the devotee: “Why are you involved in this struggle? Give it up. What are you getting from it? Has the world gone away? What are you trying to accomplish? What is this Radhaswami? What is this meditation? Will you gain anything at all by sitting with your eyes closed?”

Sometimes, in the spirit of friendship, the mind will offer you advice. If you do not listen to him, then he will set himself up as your enemy. By some means or other, he has to lead you away from the practice of devotion. Sometimes the mind works as your mother, sometimes as your sister, sometimes as your auntie or as some other relation.

There was one satsangi here who was ready to go to Punjab to take initiation from Hazur Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj. When he gave up eating meat and fish, his mother would quarrel with him about it every day. Then she sent him to his native village and told his brothers and other relatives in the village to serve him meat and fish. But he wouldn’t eat that. Finally, when the time came for him to set out for Punjab, his mother told him, “If you go to Punjab, tomorrow, I will take a rope and hang myself.” He thought, “If I leave now, my mother may kill herself.” And so he did not go at that time. But later, when his mother went on a visit to some other place, he was able to travel to Punjab to receive Naam initiation from the Master.

Who is the one that keeps bringing obstacles before us? It is the mind. Assuming the form of mother or wife or father or grandson or wealth, the mind tries to take us away from the Path of spirituality. Sometimes this very mind takes the form of our enemy; sometimes it takes the form of our friend. The whole world is the form of mind.

Sometimes he afflicts us with sickness. He has spread traps of every description.

If the disciple resists all the minds persuasions and still remains firm in their devotion then what does the mind do? He afflicts the disciple with some incurable disease.

The jiva never tastes the Shabd and always remains in suffering and sorrow.

So what happens? The soul of the disciple does not turn within. It does not establish a connection with the Guru and does not attain the inner nectar.  Remaining extroverted, that soul wanders lost in the outer world.

But if the Guru showers His grace, the jiva gains salvation, riding on the current of Shabd.

There was a dear one here who came from Pandharpur.  Once he said to me, “Baba Ji, this devotion you are doing is very good.  I also used to perform these practices regularly. But now I have given them up. When my daughter died five years ago, on that very day I left this all aside.  I gave it up.” So I told him, “Friend! What connection is there between the death of your daughter and the emancipation of your soul?  Even if you die yourself, never give up the Path of spirituality.” For a few days, we people maintain the spiritual practices. Then we think, “We’ve had enough. Our purpose is fulfilled. Let’s give this up now.” Can this type of devotion be called spirituality?

When the jivas drink the nectar of Shabd, the fire of this world can no longer burn them.

When the Satguru is gracious on you, when the Guru manifests in your within, when you withdraw your thoughts from the world and view it with indifference, then your thoughts will merge into the Shabd. Now when you close your eyes and sit in meditation, the mind is not sitting there with you.  It is wandering about somewhere outside.  Until the mind establishes that inner connection, how will you hear that Shabd? If the mind is wandering outside, then who is present there to listen to that Inner Sound.

For this reason, He says, “When the perfect Satguru is gracious, He manifests before the devotee. Then all the attractions of the world fall away, and the mind remains fixed within.” When the moon rises in the night sky, the moonbird is irresistibly drawn to it; in the same way, when the Guru manifests in our within, the mind becomes absorbed in His form. Then the Shabd comes of itself because the primal form of the Guru is the Shabd. This is all the grace of the Guru. Many people say, “I have two children. This is the Guru’s grace. My horse has won the race. This is the Guru’s Grace.” Friend, what is the meaning of all this?  These worldly things are not the grace of the Guru; they are all the grace of Lord Kal.

When once we become absorbed in the Shabd and become the form of that Shabd, then the fire of the world cannot burn us. All the worldly cravings and desires are extinguished. While our within remains filled with the desires of “I and mine,” we remain burning in that fire of the world. But once the mind becomes absorbed in the Shabd, then that worldly fire has no more power to harm us.

चाह चूहड़ी चाह चमारी चाह नीचन की नीच
तूं तो पूर्ण ब्रह्म था, चाह न होती बीच  

Desires are like the sweepers’ and tanners’ wives; desires are the lowliest of the low.
You would have become the Lord Himself if desires had not come in between.

Desire for the world possesses us and drives us on from place to place. We carry that desire with us day and night and create karmas to fulfill it. But when that desire becomes absorbed in the Naam, then what is left to drag us about in the world and keep us burning?

Everything of the world appears flawed and false.  Only the devotion to the Guru is True.

Those souls who remain absorbed in the Naam day and night regard the world as a debased place. They understand the bonds that keep us shackled, and they see clearly the nets that Kal has spread. Now our love and affection for this outer world is so strong that we cannot leave it, so how can our love become attached to the Lord? Love is only one. Either you can attach it to the Naam, or you can attach it to the world.

Going into the shelter of Radhaswami, the jiva swims across the ocean of existence.

Whoever does the practice of surat and Shabd will cross over the ocean of existence.

No Audio File
SBSJkS, Book 2, Satsang 13, p 10

Swami Ji Maharaj

Fear of public shame spoils all our work

Lāj jag kāj bigāṛā rī

लाज जग काज बिगाड़ा री । मोह जग फन्दा डारा री ।।१।।
कुटुम्ब की यारी ख्वारी  री । काल संग व्याही क्वारी री ।।२।।
कर्म  ने फाँसी डारी री । करे जम हाँसी भारी री ।।३।।
मरन की  सुद्ध बिसारी री । देह अब लागी प्यारी री ।।४।।
मान  में खप गइ सारी री । पोट सिर भारी धारी री ।।५।।
जीत कर बाज़ी हारी  री । चाह जग की नहिं मारी री ।।६।।
राधास्वामी कहत पकुारी री । करो कोई जतन विचारी री ।।७।।
गुरु संग करो सुधारी री  ।  नाम रस पियो अपारी री ।।८।।

Sār Bachan Radhāsvāmī, Chand Band,
Bachan 15, Shabd 2

Fear of public shame spoils all our work; we are caught in the noose of worldly attachment.

This is the bani of Param Sant Satguru Hazur Radhaswami Ji. We cannot see the fear of public shame with our eyes, but it lies hidden in everyone. To a greater or lesser degree, egotism and the desire for honor are always present, throwing obstacles in our path. Because of the fear of public shame, we shy away from countless good actions. We are embarrassed to practice the Simran and meditation of Naam. We worry about what our family and relations, our friends and acquaintances, will say. We waver in irresolution; we stray far away from the Truth. If we go to a place where we receive respect, honor, and position, we gladly accept all that; we think such a spiritual path or gathering is good. But if we go somewhere where we have to give up our ego and desire for honor, then we will not be not pleased — we will avoid that place.  

Everyone’s heart is filled with attachment; this world is the form of attachment.  When we become attached to something, we are willing to sacrifice our whole life to keep possession of it. The power of attachment chains and imprisons the whole world. All the jivas are locked in the prison house of attachment. Wherever we may go, attachment is there, ready to receive us. It lures our attention into all the things of this world. And to acquire those things, we disregard our own welfare and pursue that attachment single-mindedly. The power of attachment is a potent force in everyone’s heart, but we do not comprehend its nature. Attachment is ignorance and darkness; it is the cause of birth and death.

Attachment to the family has debased you; the high-born maiden has been given in marriage to Kal.

Because of attachment, you carry the load of the entire family.  You are not even concerned with what becomes of your body. You think, “No matter if I am disgraced; my family’s honor will be preserved.” In this pursuit, you sacrifice your whole life to the last breath. But when you consider the situation carefully, you will understand these relations are not permanent.  You don’t have any idea where these family members came from in the first place, or where they will go at their end time. And after they leave this world, what assurance do you have that you will ever have any connection with them in the future? But still, you are anxious not to displease them. Your heart is filled with attachment to family, desire for respect and honor, and fear of public shame. But after passing your whole life in this way, you will depart empty-handed at your end time.

Old and young people alike take out life insurance policies for the sake of their children. Those people are anxious to die quickly, so that their children may receive that money. They were given this precious human body to accomplish their own work, but instead, they became entangled in their children. Such attachment is all ignorance and foolishness. This false love and friendship with the family is the power that destroys our life. Kal has imprisoned us in attachment. Day and night, we are wrapped up in worry about our families. Many people cannot even sleep at night because of worry. Why? Because this world created by Kal Purush attracts all the jivas and ensnares them in its web.

Karma has placed a noose around your neck, and Kal laughs with delight.

Controlled by attachment, we create new karma, and the noose of karma is in the hands of Kal.   Once he puts that noose around your neck, no one can remove it. The hunter captures an animal and puts it in a cage. He intends to kill that animal and eat it — maybe today, maybe tomorrow. But the poor animal doesn’t know what fate is awaiting it and is content to remain in that cage. In the same way, putting the noose around the neck of the jivas, Kal laughs with delight.  Those jivas don’t realize they are captives, and, remaining ensnared in the attachment to the family and relatives, they become the prey of Kal.

Now your love has become stuck fast in the body; all thought of death is forgotten.

For this reason, you do not grasp the reality, and you do not remember that you have to die one day. Your heart is full of family pride, and you cling fast to the worldly relatives. Day and night, you strive to please them; you are content in your bondage. In the midst of all this commotion, you throw away your human birth. The worldly relations are for a few days only, but you have never given this a thought. Many of your relatives have already departed from this world. Your mother and father — who spent their lives enjoying the things of this world and worrying about family honor and status — have passed on. And ever since your childhood, you too have been tied up in the family affairs. 

Your life is being consumed in all these attachments, but you never think of your end time. You go to some astrologer and tell him, “Pandit Ji, look at my astrological chart and tell me the time of my death. Tell me what is going to happen in my life.” Hearing your words, that pandit realizes he has found a fool who is fair game. So, he will look at your chart and speak of mīn (Pisces) and makar (Capricorn) and kumbh (Aquarius), and finally, he will say, “You shall live to be a hundred, but I see very serious obstacles blocking your way. These obstacles can only be removed by burning the sacrificial fire and performing the rites and recitations. But you should not worry. I can see to all this for you. Bring me 1000 rupees, and I will arrange everything.”  That pandit does not know when you are destined to die; he does not even know when he will die himself. But he makes his living by arranging for rites and rituals to ward off death.

And we foolish people think that in this way we can change the span of our lives. Friend, your breaths are numbered, but that pandit does not know the count. Because we remain mired in worldly affairs, we do not see the relentless approach of death, and we do not fear it. Day and night, we cling fast to the deep darkness of this world. Our whole life is lived only in relation to this world. We understand ourselves as this body and poetically style ourselves a “puppet of love.”42That is, we follow the dictum of “eat, drink, and be merry,” thinking there is no reality beyond this physical existence. We say: This world is sweet. Who has seen the next? (है ये जग मीठा, अगला किसने दिठा?)  If we were to look more deeply, we would find that puppet is a storehouse filled with filth and urine. But we only look at the outer covering of skin, the “plaster” spread on top. Some people have black skin; some have white skin. We vary in shape. Some are large; some are small. We regard ourselves as beautiful, or strong, or wise or wealthy, and so on. We mistake the surface appearance for the Reality that lies within.  

You have exhausted yourself in pride and egotism; you carry a heavy burden upon your head.

You have wasted your life in pride and vanity, and you have collected a big load of sins. If someone tries to enlighten you, at that time you agree with their words and nod your head: “Yes, yes!” But when you enter into the labyrinth of your heart, you are again misled.  And clinging constantly to the outer world, you remain stuck there. You never give a thought to your real self.

You got this human form but lost the game of life. You didn’t destroy your love for the world.

He says that you have acquired the human body with great difficulty, and now is the time to triumph over Kal and Maya. This human body and Maya are sitting together, and they are playing a game of chance. 

Out of fear of Maya, a few rare people go into the shelter of the Satguru, take initiation from Him, do meditation day and night, and make this body successful. But all the other ignorant jivas are trapped in the honor and prestige of this world. Being powerless before the pleasures of the world, they gamble with Maya, and they lose. And when Maya emerges victorious, she seizes all the wealth of our breaths, and we depart defeated.  We crave the material wealth — spouse, children, grandchildren, and all the things of this world. And when we acquire more of these things, we say, “I have won. I am very fortunate. The Lord has given me all this.”  Friend, your benefactor is Lord Kal. And why has he given you all these things?

Just think of the festival of Bakrā Īd. 43Bakrā Īd or Īd al-Adhā is the “Festival of Sacrifice” that commemorates Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son in obedience to God’s command. The Muslims people care for their goats and feed them nourishing food every day. They measure those goats around the middle to see how fat they have grown and how much meat they have on their bones. Then when the holy day of Bakrā Īd arrives, all those goats are slaughtered. So in this same way, we are the “goats” of Kal. He feeds his “goats” on wealth, possessions, spouse, children, grandchildren, houses, and cars.  Stuffed with this “food,” the jivas become intoxicated, and one day they will be slaughtered like goats.  We came into the human body to win the game of life, but when we depart in defeat — Kal and Maya devour us. Why does this happen? Because our love is attached to the world. We came to destroy our desires, but instead, we have increased them.

Radhaswami says, “Think this over now, and make some effort to change.”

In order to awaken us, Swami Ji Maharaj Ji tells us, “Now devote some attention to your own condition. What has happened has happened. But for the future remain vigilant.” In your heart, keep repeating the Simran day and night. Don’t forget it even for a second. Such remembrance brings success.

Improve yourself in the Guru’s company, drink the limitless nectar of Naam.

What does it mean to improve yourself? Giving up the love of all the world, manifest the Love of the one Guru in your heart.  Guru is Naam, and Naam is Guru.  When the Love of the Guru manifests in your heart, that inner Power will connect you with the Naam.  Naam is a Sea of Love. It is True and Eternal. That Power of Naam does not take birth or die. When you merge with that unwavering Power, you will become free from the wheel of Kal.  The method is so simple. But what can you achieve without effort?  Tulsidas has said:

सकल पदारथ है जग माहीं ।
कर्म हीन नर पावत नाहीं ।

All things are available in this world,
But you cannot achieve them without effort.

No matter how much knowledge you receive, still the mind remains dull.  When you listen to the Satsang, the mind seems to absorb that spiritual instruction. But when the Satsang is over, and you leave that place, you find your mind is unchanged. When you throw a stone into the water, it appears to split the water in two as it skims across the surface.   But once that stone sinks below the surface, the water becomes as smooth as it was before.  In the same way, when the Guru throws the stone of true instruction into the water of our hearts, for that brief moment, it appears that we have gained a glimmer of understanding. But it is difficult to maintain that understanding because we are attached to the world, to the pleasures, to the family and relations, and we do not want to give them up. 

No Audio File
SBSJkS, Book 3, Satsang 28, p 53

Swami Ji Maharaj

Connect your surat with the Naam

Joṛo rī koī surat nām se

जोड़ो री कोई सुरत नाम से  ।। टेक ।।
यह तन धन कुछ काम न आवे ।  पड़े लड़ाई जाम से।।१।।
अब तो समय मिला अति सुन्दर  ।  सीतल हो बच घाम से।।२।।
सुमिरन कर सेवा कर सतगुरु  ।  मनहि हटाओ काम से।।३।।
मन इन्द्री कुछ बस कर राखो  । पियो घूँट गुरु जाम से।।४।।
लगे ठिकाना मिले मुक़ामा  ।  छूटो मन के दाम से।।५।।
भजन करो छोड़ो सब आलस  ।  निकर चलो कलि ग्राम  से।।६।।
दम दम करो बेनती गुरु से  ।  वही निकारें तन चाम से।।७।।
और उपाय न ऐसा कोई  ।  रटन करो सुबह शाम से।।८।।
प्रीत लाय नित करो साध सगं  ।  हट  रहो जग  के खासो आम से।।९।।
राधास्वामी कहें सुनाई  ।  लगो जाय सतनाम से ।।१०।।

Sār Bachan Radhāsvāmī, Chand Band, Bachan 15, Shabd 16

Connect your surat with the Naam.
The body, mind, and wealth are of no use when you have to fight with the angel of death.

We cherish the pleasures of this world in our hearts. We are expecting those pleasures to give us peace and happiness, but instead, they fan the flames.  Once we indulge the pleasures, the desire for them flares up stronger. First, we fulfill one desire, but then more desires follow. We want children; then we want grandchildren.  So the fire goes on increasing, and peace is nowhere to be found. All of the things in this created world are like the heat of the midday sun in summer.  And so every person complains: “Oh! Life is very hard.” One person is suffering from one malady, and another person is suffering from something else.

राजा रंक चिंतयेन, शास्त्र चिन्तयेन् पंडिताः
योनम् काम चिंतयेन, सर्व चिन्तयेन् दरिद्रहाः

The king worries about his subjects; the pandit worries about the Shastras.
The youth is worried by desire, and the pauper is the form of worry.

From the king down to the pauper, we see that deep inside, everyone is unhappy. 

नानक दुखिया सब संसार, सो सुखिया नाम आधार
O Nanak, all the world is unhappy.
Only those who take the support of Naam find happiness.

All this world is the form of suffering. If you ask the king, he is weeping within, and the poor person is weeping as well.  The merchant is sad, trapped between profit and loss. And the laborer is sunk in sorrow. The family is a festival of weeping — the children, the household, and all the relatives are shedding tears.

Now you have been granted this very beautiful opportunity. Come into the coolness and be saved from the heat.

He tells about the inner coolness. The Power of Naam pervades your within. When you attach your attention to that Naam, you will achieve peace. Otherwise, the fire will go on raging.  If you get a million rupees, the desire will come for ten million. And once you have that ten million rupees, the desire will flare up to become king.  And when you have been crowned king, you will long to rule Indra’s heavens. But in the end, death stands waiting for you.

Do the Simran and seva of the Satguru; take your mind away from the desires.

Now, what does He say?  Do the Simran of the Satguru day and night, and apply your mind in Satguru’s seva. When we perfect our Simran, then our seva will also become meaningful. And when we do the true seva, then we will also engage in the Simran of Naam.  But if our seva is superficial, done for show alone, then it only serves to increase our egotism. When someone is watching us, we rush about, dashing here and there doing the seva but when no one is about, then we go take a nap. And if we do a lot of seva, then we think “If it weren’t for me, how would this seva get done?  Whatever is being accomplished, it is all because of me.” Day and night, the mind is filled with egotism. 

When we perform the seva with self-interest, then our egotism goes on increasing; it doesn’t become less. We were supposed to become free of sense indulgence and evil deeds by doing the seva. But if instead, we go on increasing our pride and attachment to the world, that cannot be called seva. Therefore, Swami Ji says, “Do the Simran of the True Naam. Do the seva with your body, mind, and wealth. Serve the Guru in thought, word, and deed.”  When you offer everything to the Guru, when you understand it as His, not your own, then the Lord will have to manifest within you.

Once there was a man who abandoned his hearth and home and went to one monastery to serve the Guru residing there.   When night fell, both Guru and disciple ate their meal and then spread out their bedding to sleep.  Outside it had started to rain, and the Guru Ji inquired, “Is it raining outside? Take a look and see.” The disciple immediately replied, “Yes, Maharaj Ji, it is raining.” The Guru said, “How can you tell if it is raining? You didn’t even look outside.” The disciple answered, “One cat is sitting beside my bed, and it is soaked with rain. When I stroked my hand over its back, I could tell it is dripping wet. So that’s how I know that it is raining.” Then the Guru told him, “Please extinguish the lamp.” The disciple replied, “When all the oil is used up, that lamp will go out by itself.” Then again, the Guru said, “Please close the door.” And the disciple replied, “I have already taken care of two jobs. Why don’t you do this one yourself?” Such seva isn’t worthy of the name. That disciple’s seva was superficial and half-hearted. True seva is something different.  Swami Ji says that we must first remove desire from our within. Desire means lusting after the things of this world and enjoying the worldly pleasures. Your seva will bear fruit only when you remove all this desire from your within and become absorbed wholeheartedly in the Naam.

Keep the mind and senses under your control; drink a draft from the Guru’s cup.

Swami Ji words are so simple, but only when we still the mind and rise within will we understand what He is saying. Otherwise, we read through His banis, but don’t grasp their deeper meaning. He tells us plainly that we have to bring the mind and senses under control by withdrawing from the body, restraining our wandering attention, and fixing our mind and senses at the still point within. To achieve this purpose, bring the image of the Guru before your inner eye and contemplate on it in such a way that you do not remain — only the Guru remains. Then your heart will be flooded with Light, and the rain of Nectar will shower down. When you drink that Nectar, your thirst will be quenched, desire will be eradicated, and the fire of the world will be extinguished.  Swami Ji speaks to us very simply and clearly but — because of our inner turmoil caused by ignorance, attachment, desire for worldly honor, and fear of censure — we cannot fully fathom His meaning.

Making your home in the Naam, ascend within and leave behind the realm of mind.

Now, the Path lies straight before you. Your thoughts have merged with the Naam, and you have become the form of Naam. And the Naam will take you back to the place from where it emanates.  All the questions of this world are left behind.

Do the meditation, give up laziness, and escape from this village of Kal.

This is a matter of meditation and bhajan. There is no question of morning or evening — every moment, you should remain absorbed in the Name of the Lord. Remain absorbed in the Naam, or in the contemplation of the Guru or in listening to the True Sound Current. One or the other of these three things should go on ceaselessly in your within.

When Rāmchandra was exiled to Panchavaṭī, he and Lakṣhman and Sitā all worked together to build a hut there in the forest. At that time, Rāvana’s sister, Shūrpaṇakhā, happened to wander by. She reported to her brother, Rāvana, that a beautiful lady had come to dwell in the forest, and she suggested he come to see her for himself. When Rāvana came to Panchavaṭī and saw the beautiful Sitā, he resolved to abduct her. Rāvana’s maternal uncle was a demon named Marīchi; he had mastered the art of changing his body into countless different forms.  So, Rāvana commanded Marīchi to change himself into a golden deer and go to Panchavaṭī forest: “Rāmchandra Ji will chase after you to kill you, and Sitā will be left alone in the hut. Then I will capture her and bring her back to Lanka.” So Rāvana, disguised as a wandering sadhu, hid himself in the forest, while the demon Marīchi, in the form of a golden deer, strolled back and forth in front of the hut.  Sitā spied the golden deer and was enchanted.

The incarnations have great attainment, but even they are subject to the mind and are drawn to enjoy the attractions of this world. So, seeing the deer, Sitā said to Rāma, “Lord, this deer is very beautiful. Kill it for me and bring it here. Its hide is like gold. When we return to Ayodhyā, I can show it to my father-in-law and all the family.” Then, taking his bow and arrows, Rāma followed after the golden deer, and the deer ran ahead of him, leading him deeper and deeper into the forest. Finally, when Rāma shot that deer with an arrow, the demon Marīchi cried out imitating Rāma’s voice saying, “Lakṣhmaṇ, Lakṣhmaṇ, I am surrounded by demons.  Come quickly to my aid.”

Ramchandra had left Lakṣhmaṇ at home guarding Sitā. When that voice fell on Sitā’s ears, she said, “Lakṣhmaṇ, the Lord is in great difficulty. Go to him quickly.” But Lakṣhmaṇ replied, “He is Triloki Nāth, the Lord of the Three Worlds. This is all some demonic deception. Remain where you are; you are safe here. No harm will come to the Lord Ramchandra.”  But when Sitā returned a sharp rejoinder, Lakṣhmaṇ became angry and exclaimed, “You will remain the demon’s captive for six months.” Then he took up his bow and arrows and prepared to set out.  As he was leaving, he traced three lines in the earth with his bow right in front of the door of the hut, and he told Sitā, “If anyone comes here, do not cross these three lines.” 

Now the fake sadhu Ravana was hiding nearby in the forest, and when he saw Lakṣhmaṇ depart, he approached the hut. Standing outside, he called out, “Bhikhṣham dehī. Give me alms.” When Sitā appeared at the door to offer a donation of food to the wandering sadhu, then Rāvana said, “I will not accept a donation offered from afar, as though I were a common beggar. Come outside of these lines and serve the food to me properly.” Then he began to writhe on the ground as though he were suffering a paroxysm of hunger. Seeing his condition, Sitā crossed over the protecting lines to offer the food to him. As soon as her foot strayed outside the protecting circle, he seized her and carried her away. This is the story of Rāma and Rāvana.

Sitā stands for the soul within us. Rāvana is egotism and pride.  “Lakṣh” means line or mark, and “man” means mind. So our mind should always remain with three lines drawn on the earth by Lakṣhmaṇ. Those three lines — constant repetition of the Simran, contemplation on the Guru, and, absorption in the Sound Current — restrict the mind and form a protecting hedge around the soul.  If that soul, Sitā, remains within the protection of those three lines, then Rāvana, cannot harm her. But if the soul steps outside of the protection of Lakṣhmaṇ’s three lines, then Rāvana, will throw her over his shoulder and carry her away.

Moment after moment pray before the Guru; He will take you out of this body of flesh.

Remain absorbed in the contemplation of the Guru with every breath.  Pray before Him and implore Him to rescue you from this place of Kal.  Everything in this world is the property of Kal; this world is the city of Kal.  Withdraw your soul from Kal’s realm, and implore the Guru for His mercy.

There is no other method than this; repeat the Naam from morning to night.

There is no other method; there is no other practice. The way is only one, and it is called the Path of the Saints.  Guru Nanak says:

आदि सच्च युगादि सच्च ।
है भी सच्च नानक होसी भी सच्च ।।

He was when there was nothing; He was before all ages began;
He existeth now, O Nanak, and shall exist forevermore.

Before the yugas began that Truth existed, and it exists today also. And in the future, it will remain ever the same. No one can change it.  No “guru” fashioned it.  It has been true from time immemorial.  This Path was made by God Himself.  Day and night, every moment, whether the mind takes to it or not, go on repeating His Name.

Lovingly keep the company of the Sadhu. Stay away from the worldly people: both the high-born and the commoner.

Now, what does He tell us?  With love in your heart, keep the company of the Sadhus.  Don’t go there with thoughts of the world filling your mind: “What is going on back in my home? I just walked out the door and headed for the Satsang, but now I wonder if everything there is alright.” And don’t go to Satsang to split hairs and stir up trouble: “Why are you doing it like this? Why are you doing it like that? Such and such a person shouldn’t be coming here.” When we go to the Sadhus, we should bring with us only our love and devotion.  Kabir Sahib Ji tells us:

संत मिलन को जाइये
तज माया मोह अभिमान ।
ज्यों-त्यों पग आगे धरे,
कोटि यज्ञ समान ।।

When you go to meet the Saint,
Leave behind Maya, attachment, and pride.
Then with each step you advance towards Him,
You receive the fruit of millions of yagyas (ritual sacrifices)

No other righteous deed in this world will count. Therefore, with love and devotion go into the company of the Saints. Give up all thought of the world and its desires, and with focused attention, sit before Him. Throw out your desires, one by one. Otherwise, you will be left holding big, heavy bundle.

Radhaswami says, ”Attach yourself to the True Naam.”

In this way, purify your life. Keep your thoughts connected with the Naam day and night. Then that True Naam will manifest in your within, and you will become the form of that Naam.  Becoming detached from this world, you will be freed from the cycle of 84 lakhs births and deaths.

No Audio File
SBSJkB, Book 3, Satsang 29,  p 59