Sant Bani Magazine - Mediaseva · Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says that the thing which we have to ask from the Master is the opportunity to sing the glory of God Almighty. We should

Sant Bani Magazine April 1994 The Voice of the Saints VO~. 18 - 10

How Can We Praise Him?

Sant Bani Magazine The Voice of the Saints April 1994 - Volume 18, Number 10

How Can We Praise Him? Sant Ajaib Singh Ji

The Wealth of Devotion t o God Sant Ajaib Singh Ji a meditation talk Janua y 12, 1987

The Great Treasure of Grace

Sant Ajaib Singh Ji questions and answers

March 11, 1994

A V e y Meaningful Principle Sant Ajaib Singh Ji ques t iom and alzswers February 3, 1988

Photo credits: Front cover, Carlo Massarini; pp. 1 (top), back cover, Gurmel Singh; pp. 1 (middle), 21, John Pianowski; p. 1 (bottom), Pat Brown; p. 2, Mimi Amrit; pp. 6, 16, Charlie Boynton.

SANT BANIlThe Voice of the Saints la published periodically by Sant Bani Ashram, Inc., Sanbornton, N.H., U.S.A., for the purpose of disseminating the teachings of the living Master, Sant Ajaib Singh Ji, of His Master, Param Sant Kirpal Singh Ji, and of the Masters who preceded them. Editor Emeritus: Russell Perkins. Editor: Richard Shannon, with kind assistance from: Debbie Asbeck, Randy Budington, Catharine Farkas, Edythe Grant, Phyllis Roy, and Susan Shan- non.

Annual subscription rate in the U S . is $30.00. Individual issues $2.50. Back issues $2.50. Foreign and special mailing rates available on request. All checks and money orders should be made payable to Sant Bani Ashram, and all payments from outside the U.S. should be on an International Money Order or a check drawn on a New York bank (with a micro-encoded number). Correspondence should be addressed to Sant Bani Ashram, Franklin, N.H. 03235, U.S.A. Articles, including stories and poems, on the theory and practice of Sant Mat, are most welcome. Views expressed in individual articles are not necessarily the views of the journal.

How Can We Praise Him? Sant Ajaib Singh Ji

I bow down at the Feet of Beloved Lords Sawan and Kirpal Who, after showering limitless grace upon us, have given us the opportunity to sing Their glories, sing Their praises. Although, how could we praise Them, how could we sing Their glory with our tongue? Be- cause He is the All-Conscious One; He is All-Pervading; He is the owner of our soul. In His hands lie our birth and death. He controls everything. So how could we possibly thank Him enough? How could we possibly sing His praises enough?

Similarly, if a slave were to praise the king, what could he say? He could only say that he is a good king or he is the best person or he is the best of all. He could not say anything more than that because he does not know and he cannot estimate the blessings and the gifts which he can receive from the king. But if the king who owns everything, who controls everything, becomes pleased with that slave, he can even make that slave a king like himself. But the slave cannot have the idea, he cannot estimate what kind of gifts, or

This Satsang was given January 7, 1994, in Bombay, India.

what kind of blessings he can get from the king. That is why, when it comes to praising the king, the slave can only say that he is a good person, or he is a good king, or he is the owner of all that, but nothing more than that. In the same way, how could we praise the Master, how could we praise our Beloved Lord? Because we do not have any idea, we cannot estimate, how much grace He can shower upon us. But when the Master becomes pleased with us, and when He showers so much grace upon us, we do not know what we can receive from Him unless He re- veals Himself to us, unless He Him- self shows us what He really is. So, until that happens, when it comes to singing the praises of the Master, when it comes to praising the Mas- ter, we can only say that He is good, He is the saver of my life, He is the peace-giver to my soul and things like that. But we do not know exact- ly what He really is, why He has come here, and what He can give to US.

A very brief hymn of Guru Arjan Dev, which is full of love for the Master, is presented to you. All the hymns which Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj wrote are drenched in His

April 1994

love for the Master. And when we read the words of Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj, we also get to know how much He loved His Master.

Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says, "My Master is my Gopal, my Lord. He is my Gobind, my Creator. He is always merciful and He always showers grace upon me. My Master is all the Vedas, Shastras, He is everything for me. He comes into this world only to shower His grace upon us."

Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says, "May we go on repeating 'Gobind, Gobind' (Lord, Lord) day and night, because only through His grace can we hear the Inner Sound." Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says, "Just by saying or repeating the word, "Go- bind, Gobind," we cannot do anything, because the great glory lies in going within and hearing that Sound which God Almighty, that Gobind, is creating within us."

Guru Sahib says, "You are the Emperor, You are the Most Exalted One, You are the Lord. But still, even if we use such great words as 'You are the Emperor, You are the King, You are the Most Exalted One,' still we will not be praising You enough. The true praise can be done - we can praise the Master truly - only by going within."

Dear ones, for twenty-five years of His life, that Beloved Lord shouted from the rooftops. He gave the message that the Lord, the Giver, comes into this world to give His

grace. But the question is: What do we ask from the Master for us? Some people ask for name and fame; others ask for their family. Some people ask for help with their worldly problems. Only someone who has got a really big heart and who has got the understanding asks for the real thing. Otherwise, all of us ask for the worldly things and more than that.

What is the true thing? What is the real thing which we should ask from the Master, the thing which gives us contentment - the thing which brings us peace? That is the thing which we should ask from the Master, and that is the Naam.

In the whole world, I have talked about my Beloved Lord Kirpal, Who He was and why He came into the world; and even now I am telling you about the first meeting which I had with Him. When I first saw Him, I told Him, "I do not know what to ask from You, what to say to You; because my mind, my brain, my heart, everything is empty. I do not have any questions." So Beloved Lord said, "I have come here to you only because I saw that your within is empty, your mind is empty; because there are so many people who are mental wrestlers around me. But 1 have come all this way only because I saw that there is an empty place. There is a heart which is for me and that is why I have come to you."

Often I have said that I have nev-

er asked any questions from my Mas- ter. I told Him, "Master, somebody asks for the milk or the worldly riches from you. Somebody asks for the sons and children from you. But I only ask for Your darshan; I only ask for Your grace." lt does not mean that I did not ask for anything from Him. I did ask from Him; I only asked for His grace, only for His darshan. And if there is a disciple who asked for only these things from the Master, the Master sits within that disciple carrying all the riches, taking all the prosperities. And if that disciple happens to be in any kind of problem, or any difficulty comes in his life, sitting within that disciple, the Master helps him and He takes care of all his problems.

Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says that the thing which we have to ask from the Master is the opportunity to sing the glory of God Almighty. We should ask for the remembrance of God Almighty. This is the thing which we should ask from Him, if He would bless us with that.

So a brief hymn of Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj is presented to you. It is worth listening to with much attention.

In this hymn, Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says that when God Al- mighty becomes merciful on us, when He wants to shower His Grace upon us, He gives us the human birth. Because human birth is the most blessed gift which God Al- mighty can give to us. This is the

greatest gift which we get from God Almighty. And because only in the human birth can we do the devotion of God - this is something which we can not do if we were given the bodies of the animals and the beasts because only the human beings have the privilege to do the devotion of God Almighty.

So that is why Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says that when God Al- mighty showers Grace upon us He gives us the human birth. So later he says that when you have got the human body, when you have got the human birth, then you should look for some Mahatma Who has the key to open that door which will take you to your own home. Because, God Almighty, after giving us the birth and after letting us out of His home, has closed the door. He has locked that door and He Himself has as- sumed the Form of the Mahatma - that Mahatma who comes into this world carrying the key.

So that is why Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says you should look for some Mahatma Who has the key, and Who can open that door for you, so that you may go back to your Real Home.

The Masters with the key to open that door have always come into this world. This world has never been without Their presence. Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj also says that this world is never empty, has never been without the Mahatmas, the Masters Who come with the keys. Those who

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say that now there doesn't exist a Master or a Mahatma with the key; those people, those communities or those religions - within them, within their hearts, the desire to do the devotion of God has not been created. They do not have the yearning for God and that is why they say that now there is no Mahatma present in this world. Because, the reality is that the Masters with the key have always come into this world and They will keep coming in this world. Because even in the holy books, the holy scriptures of all the religions, it is written very clearly that God Al- mighty has created this body and the Path which takes us back to God Al- mighty is also within this body. God Almighty, Who created this body, has created that Path also and it is within our body; this is made by God Almighty Himself and no one can make any alteration on that. No one can delete that Path; no one can re- duce that Path; no one can lengthen that Path. It is made by God Al- mighty Himself and He Himself comes in the Form of the Masters with the keys and They Themselves teach us how to open that door and go back to our Real Home.

So that is why Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says that He to Whom this house belongs, He Himself has locked the door and He Himself has given this key to the Master. No matter what you do, no matter what other means you may try, you will not be able to open this door. Unless you

go to the Master Who has the key, and do things according to His in- structions, you cannot open this door.

So Dear Ones, in our search for God, we leave our homes and we go and live in other people's homes. We even leave our families, our children, and we go outside in the wilderness. Many people even get holes in their ears and wear earrings. Many people change from wearing the white clothes to saffron colored clothes. Many people even grow their hair long. The meaning of saying this is that we do so many different things in our search for God; we go outside and we do all these things. But when we finally come to the Master Who has the key, and when He lovingly asks us if we have found any peace, then we say, "No, we do not have any peace. We did not find any peace." How could we find peace when we have left our responsibilities and have been eating from other people's wealth? How could we find any peace of mind?

Also, when people join different societies and religious communities, what happens? One society criticizes another; they fight with other people. The different organizations are formed. Then they criticize and fight with each other. Those people teach others how they can meet God; but they themselves have not met with God. They themselves are hungry and they do not know how to satisfy themselves. They themselves are thirsty and they do not know how to

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quench their own thirst. Whereas they are teaching other people how to satisfy their spiritual hunger and thirst. So unless we go to a Master Who has the key to open that door, we cannot learn how we can find the peace.

Some time ago, in our area in Gunganagar, some people performed a yajna, or religious rite, in which they collected, not thousands, but millions of rupees. They even came to invite me to attend that yajna.

When they came to invite me, I asked them, "What will we get from performing that ritual, from performing that yajna?" They said, "We will get the heavens." I asked them, "When will we get the heavens? They said, "We don't know yet, but we will definitely get the heavens after this birth." I said, "I don't want to wait until then; I don't [even] want the heavens."

I asked them why they were performing that yajna and they said, "You know that nowadays in India the religious communities are fighting with each other. So we are doing this yajna so that people may become united. We are doing this for the sake of the unity of all the religions, of all the people in India." I told them, "Why talk about uniting all the religions and all the different communities in India? If you could maintain the unity of your- selves, I would be very grateful to you. But please come and inform me if you will be able to perform the

yajna without fighting among your- selves."

There were some dear ones who had strayed from the Path. They also went there and they also spent hun- dreds of thousands of rupees in performing that yajna; but they also fought among themselves. So one day when I was working in the farm and I was making people work, they came there and told me, "We have come here just to inform you that in that yajna we did fight a great deal and there was a lot of fighting among ourselves like you had predicted." So I told them, very lovingly, "You people talk about the unity of man- kind. You people talk about the unity of all the religious communities; but you should know that God Almighty did not create any Hindu; He did not make anyone as Muslim, or Christian, etc. God only made man and He is within everyone. And the real unity lies in uniting ourselves with God Almighty Who is within us; because He has created only the human being and all the human beings are alike.

And that is why God Almighty, Who has given us this birth, teaches us that He did not create anyone different. Everyone is alike, and He is within everyone. So the real unity lies in sitting, in going within and connecting ourselves with God Al- mighty. So Guru Sahib says that all the dear ones should get together and they should sing the glory of God. Giving up all the dualities and the

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enmities, we should all sing the praises of God, Who has given us the human birth.

Guru, Guru, Guru, 0 my mind, say "Guru, "

Because without the Guru I am nothing.

Day and night remain at the Feet of the Guru

Whose gift no one can erase.

Now Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says that it doesn't work like this, that you meditate for two times a day and then you forget the Master. He says all the Masters Who have reached Sach Khand have said that we should go on remembering the Master, we should go on saying, "Master, Master." We should always remember the Master, day and night. We should always go on remembering Him with our every single breath, because if we will remember Him during the day, then in the night also, when we go to sleep we will only utter, "Master, Master." So, if we are remembering Him during the day, in the night also, we will maintain that remembrance.

If we will remember the Master during the daytime when we are eating, or talking, or doing anything of a worldly nature - if during that time we are doing the Simran, if we are remembering the Master - then when we sit for meditation, we will not have to struggle hard in bring- ing our attention to the Eye Center.

Because we would have already developed the remembrance of the Master, we would have already developed the habit of doing the Simran, the repetition of the words, before we sat in the meditation. So when we are remembering the Mas- ter during the daytime, and in that condition, whenever we sit in meditation, our attention will go right to the Eye Center.

Usually the dreams which we have are nothing but the changed forms of the thoughts which we have had during the daytime, and we do not get any peace or any rest in having the worldly dreams. Usually you would have seen that, when people sleep and they have the dreams, even in their sleep they say, "Kill him," or "Catch him," or do this or do that. So even when they are sleeping, because of their worldly thoughts during the day, they have difficulties. They do not have any peace because of the worldly dreams.

Kabir Sahib said, "I'll make the shoes of my skin for him who utters the name of Lord even in sleep." He says, "If anyone remembers God Al- mighty, and if he utters the name of Lord even in the state of sleep, 1'11 be very happy to make the shoes for his feet using my skin. I will be very happy to serve him in that way.''

Only one who has eaten the rock candy can tell us about its taste. Only Kabir Sahib had the appreciation and understanding of the Master. That is why, day and night, by saying, "Mas-

April 1994 9

ter, Master," by remembering the Master, He Himself became the Form of the Master. So He says, "Re- main in the refuge of the Master, day and night." The gift, the riches which the Master has given you, cannot be stolen by anyone. No fire can burn it; no wind can take it away; and nobody can steal it. The riches, the gift which the Master has given to you will never decrease. It will go on increasing by leaps and bounds if we continue doing the work which He has asked us to do.

Master Sawan Singh Ji used to say, "If the Master showers grace upon any disciple, he should not mis- use that grace by using the super- natural powers. He should not lose the grace of the Master in exchange for shells." The shells are the super- natural powers.

Master Kirpal Singh Ji used to say that a meditator should not let even a little bit of smoke out of him. He should not let even a trace out of him so that people might know that he is something. What happens is that we people are misled by the Negative Power - because this is also one of the tricks of the Nega- tive Power - if people do some meditation, then the Negative Pow- er inspires some of the people around him to praise him and to bow down to him, and then that person starts thinking that he is something higher than the other person. And in that way, he gets deluded by the Nega- tive Power. So this is also one way,

one trick of the Negative Power, by which He makes the meditators fall.

Understand the Guru and the Almighty Lord as One,

The Lord accepts whatever Guru may wish for.

Now Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj states His own experience. He says, "Understand the Master and God Al- mighty as One." Unless we understand that God Almighty and our Master are one and the same thing, our soul does not go within. The Master is sitting within us and He will not open the door unless we understand and we have the faith that the Master and God Almighty are one and the same.

When we get to this point, we make a grave mistake, because from ages and ages, from birth after birth, the deceiver mind has always been in our company. We have always been accompanied by him, and he always creates the illusions. He always creates the thoughts. He brings this thought within us: "What is the difference between you and the Mas- ter. He is just like you. He is just a human being. He also eats like you; he also drinks like you; He also sleeps like you. So what is the difference?" Some people even think and they say that He does not know how to speak well. I am a better speaker than He is and I have more good qualities that He has. So when we come to this point then, misled

10 SANT BANI

by the mind, we make this grave mistake and then we lose the faith. Then we think - our mind makes us think, "How can He be superior to us; how can He be God? He is just like the other human beings."

Once a pundit, after finishing his studies at Kashi University, was coming back home. And on the way he met an illiterate farmer who asked him, "Where are you coming from?" He said, " I am coming back from Kashi University after finishing my studies there. So the illiterate farmer asked him, "Tell me, do you know the tale of Sussi and Poono? It's a folk tale." The pundit said, "No, I don't know that." So then the farmer asked him, "Do you know some other folk tale?" He said, "No, I don't know any." The farmer said, "Then what do you know? You have just wasted your time at the university. If you do not know these very common folk tales, then what do you know?"

So our condition is the same. Master Sawan Singh Ji used to say, "When we come to the Path of the Masters, we have to behave like a child of forty days old. We have to give up all our knowledge of the world and we have to become as innocent as a child of forty days old."

Often I have said that the manmukhs and the gurumukhs cannot become alike. Just as the water and the oil cannot become alike, in the same way, the manmukhs and the gurumukhs cannot become alike. It

is like two sons of the same father: one becomes successful in the school examinations; the other son is not successful. So there are men who become God; but, at the same time, there are men who do not even become the real men.

There is One Who Himself is the Liberated One, and whoever comes in His company, He liberates him also. Whereas the other son of the same father, who is involved in the passions and all the dirty things of this world, whosoever goes in his company, he drowns that person also.

So our mind deceives us that He is also, this Master is also like us. He is also a man like us. So what is the difference? But, no, dear ones, there is a vast difference between a Man and a man.

Even an illiterate is a human being and a learned, a qualified, an educated person is also a human being. But there is a big difference between them. They both are human beings, but there is as great a difference between them as the difference between the earth and the sky. Be- cause their difference is in their qual- ification. In the same way, the criminal is also a human being, and the judge who is going to give the ver- dict is also a human being. One is standing in front of the other one folding his hands, asking for mercy; and he does not know what the judge is going to give him, what punishment he is going to give. And the judge, who is also a human being,

April 1994

he has the power even to forgive him. So, even though both the judge and the criminal are the human beings, still there is a big difference between them.

He whose mind is attached to the Feet of the Guru,

His pains, afflictions, and illusions are put to flight.

Now He says that the pains and afflictions of those who always keep their mind attached to the Feet of the Masters do not come near them. What are the pains and the afflictions we have? The greatest pain is the pain of death and the pain of birth. When death comes, you know how painful it is. Even when we are born, that process is also very painful.

All the Masters have sung the praises of the Feet of the Master. The outer feet of the Master are also very blessed ones, because, if we had not gotten the outer feet of the Mas- ter, if we had not fallen and had faith in the outer feet of the Master, we would not have been able to go within and fall at the Inner Feet of the Master. Tulsi Sahib says, "Moment after moment, with all your attention, remain attentive to the Master within. And with every single moment and with your every single breath, go on remembering the Mas- ter. 0 Tulsi, if you have caught hold of the Inner Feet of the Master, then you get the liberation."

Guru Sahib says that by doing the Simran, when the disciple goes to the Eye Center and furthermore, when he crosses the stars, moon, and sun, when he goes beyond the sun there the Radiant Form of the Mas- ter gets manifested and the Master sings the praises of that Radiant Form's Feet. So that is why Guru Sahib says, "Reach to the Radiant Form of the Master and fall at His Feet." Regarding those very feet of the Master, Swami Ji Maharaj had said, "0 My Mother, those Feet of the Master are very sweet. The Feet of the Master have come to my home and they have awakened my sleeping fate."

Often I have told you about this small story, this incident which happened in the lifetime of my Beloved Master Kirpal. Once when He was visiting my place and we both were going on a walk, we happened to be walking on a sandy road. It was not a very solid place; it was sandy. So I tried to get some sand from the place where He had just put His feet. I tried to do it in such a way that He would not notice it - He would not see it - because sometimes our mind tells us that the Master is not seeing this, that He does not know about this. But He is All-Knowing, He is All-Conscious, and He can see everything. Even if we are very care- ful, still He can see everything. So when I did that, He told me that He was not pleased with that and He did not like that. And He said, "Now

12 SANT BANI

you will go on bowing your head to this thing; you will go on preserving it in the boxes etc., and I don't like this."

Often I have said that right from the beginning I had the habit of doing some poetry. So at that time, in all my love, I said, "0 My Beloved, I have got this sand from Your very fresh footprint, and I am embracing this; I am putting this very close to my heart. 0 My Beloved, Your Five Words have liberated me."

And this is true that I still have, I have still preserved, that sand. I still have that with me and also the sheet which Master Sawan Singh had blessed when He, with His blessed body, had sat on that sheet. I still have that with me.

By doing the seva of the Guru, one gets the honor,

I always sacrifice myselfto the Guru.

Now He lovingly said, "Who gets honor in the Court of the Lord? Only one who does the seva of the Mas- ter. And who can do the seva of the Master? Only one upon whom the Master showers His grace, only one whom the Master wants to forgive can do the seva of the Master."

Guru Sahib says that the seva of the Satguru is successful only if one does it with all his attention. He says that in this world, only the seva which we do for the Satguru is successful.

Regarding the seva, Swami Ji Maharaj has written and Master Kir- pal Singh Ji also used to explain about different kinds of seva which we can do for the Master. There are four kinds of seva which we can of- fer to the Master. One is the seva which we do with our body; another is the seva which we can do with our mind. The third is the seva which we can do with our wealth or the riches we have. And finally, the seva of the Surat Shabd.

Masters do not need our body, they do not need our mind, they do not need our wealth, because They Themselves have everything. But, unless we work hard, and unless we do the seva of our mind, body and our wealth and the seva of the Surat Shabd, we cannot become successful. We cannot purify our mind; we cannot purify our body. What is the seva we can do with the body? When we make the arrangements for the dear ones, when we do something for the Master or we do something for His children that is called seva which we can do with the body. The seva which we can do with the mind is the repetition of the Holy Simran - that is the seva of our mind. And if God Almighty has been gracious on us, and if He has given us the wealth - any amount out of what God Almighty has given to us - if we spend that for the cause of the Master or for the cause of the San- gat, that is the seva which we can do with our wealth. And the seva of the

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Surat Shabd is the meditation which we do.

Masters do not need all these things from us because They Them- selves have a lot of Their own. But it is very important for us to use all that belongs to us - all that we have - in the cause of the Master. Swami Ji Maharaj says that the Master is not hungry for your wealth and He does not need anything for His own self, because He has the wealth or the riches of the Naam. But He does a favor to you; by allowing you to spend in the cause of the Master He is making your wealth successful. He is making your body and your mind successful, and He is purifying that. And He is help- ing you and others get the pleasure of the Master without doing anything.

I become blessed by having the darshan of the Guru.

The efforts of the disciple of the Guru become successful.

The disciple of the Guru has no pain.

The disciple of the Guru is re- membered in all ten direc- tions.

The glory of the Guru cannot be described,

Par Brahm resides in the Guru.

Nanak says, "He who has good fortune-

Only his mind remains devoted to the Feet of the Guru."

In this brief hymn, Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj very lovingly, and in a very detailed manner, told us about the glory of the Master and the love for the Master. Finally, in the end, He says, "Who can devote themselves to the Feet of the Master? Only those who are very fortunate and whose fate has been awakened."

Guru Nanak Sahib also said, "Blessed are those awakened souls. Fortunate are those who have devoted themselves to the Feet of the Master."

SANT BANI

The Wealth of Devotion to God Sant Ajaib Singh Ji

A 11 the Saints have realized and have written in Their writings that, from outside, there is no way we can thank the Master. There is no way we can sing the praise of the Master and the Almighty Lord. The only way we can thank Him and praise Him is by going in the within. When we go within, only then can we realize from what country and from what plane He has come and what is the significance - what is the glory - of that place where He has come from. And then we can realize how much grace He has car- ried into this world for us, the suffering ones. Then we realize that He has taken up this human body, and He has come and lived among us, the dirty people, only for showering grace on us. We can thank Him and we can sing His praises in the real sense, only when we go within.

Always, when the Mahatmas have come into this world, They have laid emphasis on doing the meditation. Master Sawan Singh Ji used to say, "Outside, you can call me with any name you want. You can call me your friend, you can call me your

This meditation talk was given Janu- ary 12, 1987, in Bombay, India.

brother, you can call me Baba Ji [your respected elder]. But do the meditation, go in the within, so that you can see the reality of the Master - so that you can realize Who He really is." So the Masters always say that, outside in this world, we always try to make the Master work according to our own views, according to our own understandings. But how can we make Him do the things according to our own understanding? Because He Who is honored, and He Who has such grace of God in the court of the Lord, that God also accepts His word - how can He be made to do things according to our own viewpoint, according to our own understanding? Guru Nanak Sahib said that God has given Him such a grace, such a blessing, that He does not have to accept anyone's word. But we worldly people always try to make Him do these things according to our own understanding.

Paltu Sahib said that, "In the home of the Lord, all the works are done by the Saints. Even the thirty- three bores gods and goddesses are under the control of the Saints."

The elderly people who have seen the British rule know how, in those days, the viceroys were appointed

April 1994

in Britain, and how they were sent to rule over India and to administer and to oversee all the things here.

In the same way, God Almighty also appoints the viceroys - the Saints and Mahatmas are like the viceroys of God Almighty. And They are sent into this world not to look after the arrangements, not to look after the administration of the things of this world, but They have been sent into this world to connect those souls with God Almighty who have been chosen by Him for doing His devotion. They know who has the yearning for God Almighty, who should be given the initiation, and who should be made to meditate. For such a Mahatma, distance does not make any difference. It does not matter whether He is far away from the

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disciple or close to the disciple, for He will call the disciple to Him.

So that is why, whenever Saints and Mahatmas come into this world, They connect those souls with Them, who have the yearning to do the devotion of God. They connect those souls with God Almighty. And, if we have the real yearning, if we want to see the glory of our Master, if we want to see the greatness of the Mas- ter, we have to do it after going in the within, because our Master is sitting in our within. We cannot see Him outside, we cannot see His Glo- ry outside. If we really have love for the Master, if we want to see the image of the Master in our within, we have to withdraw our attention from the outside and take it inside.

Lovingly They explain to us that

SANT BANI

the wealth of the devotion to God is precious. We cannot get it by pay- ing any price, we cannot obtain it by any other means. Only because of the wealth of the devotion to God can we get rid of lust, anger, greed, attachment and egoism - all these passions can go away only if we have the wealth of devotion to God. And this wealth is such a priceless thing - we cannot get it by any other means. We can get it only if we go to the Master.

So that is why the Mahatmas always explain to us that this wealth of the devotion of God is the thing which gives us the real peace and happiness. We cannot get this wealth of the devotion of God by ourselves. We have to go to the Master; and only with the grace of the Master can we obtain it. If we go to the Master, and if we have obtained this wealth at the Eye Center, only then can we remove all the difficulties and all the passions which are bothering us. If we have not done the meditation, if we are trying to obtain this wealth of devotion by ourselves then our condition will become like those people who do not do the meditation themselves and who are trying to teach others how to meditate. Because in our within the Negative Power has also created so many different cells, there are so many different things in our within, and the Negative Power also imi- tates the Positive Power. As there are lights of the Positive Power in-

side, in the same way, the Negative Power has also created the lights which are emerging from the lower centers of the body. But when we go in the within, as Guru Nanak Sahib says, "When within us the Sound of the Shabd is awakened, then the Master Himself solves this difficulty, solves this problem." Because in our within there are so many different kinds of lights, and so many different kinds of things, that is why we cannot discriminate, we cannot know what is right and what is wrong, what is correct and what is not correct. But when we go within with the grace of the Master and with His help, then the Master tells us, "Look here, dear one, this is the way you have to go on, do not pay attention to these things." In this work, we do not have to criticize anyone, there is no need to fight with anyone. This can be done only with the grace of the Master. So that is why Masters always lay a lot of emphasis on doing the meditation and going within, because if we are not doing the meditation, and we are trying to teach others meditation, it will be like our own courtyard is on fire but we are trying to save other people's houses which are on fire.

So make the mind quiet, as only a quiet mind can meditate. Do not understand meditation as a burden, do it lovingly. While meditating don't pay any attention to the outer disturbances or sounds. Concentrate at the Eye Center.

April 1994

The Great Treasure of Grace Sant Ajaib Singh Ji

S alutations unto the Feet of Lords Sawan and Kirpal Who have given us this opportunity to sit in Their remembrance.

As you know today it is the turn to have the question and answer ses- sion.

Master, since many people asked me if it is possible for someone to die by accident before their time, could you talk to us about this so we may better understand what is written in the Anurag Sagar, "When death occurs before it 's time. "

It is not difficult for the satsangis to understand this, but the thing is we people do not do the meditation, we do not go within and that is why we do not understand all these things. If we were to meditate, rise above the body consciousness, vacate the nine openings, rise to the Eye Center, and go beyond the stars, sun and moon and go within, then we can easily get the All-Consciousness and then we can easily understand such questions. The satsangis who do the meditation and rise above the body con-

This question and answer talk was given March 11, 1994, in Jaipur, India.

sciousness to the Eye Center and go beyond all these things that I men- tioned earlier, they become the all- conscious ones. But the Satguru does not let them sway in the waves of the emotions and that is why even though they know the reality, still they are not allowed to speak about it.

Such dear ones who do the meditation, they know what is going to happen; they know that the "acci- dents" or whatever happens, are all according to the pralabdha karmas and that everything is pre-determined. The dear ones who are higher and who go to Par Brahm, they also know about this, and even if some accident or something like that is going to happen in the next moment, still they don't do anything to avoid it because they know that everything is happening in the Will of God.

Saints do not make any prophecies. The people who claim to be making the prophecies, even if they are able to tell us what is going to happen next, they are not able to avoid it. It is not difficult for a Saint to avoid a calamity, but They don't do it because it not in accordance with the Will of the Lord.

S A M BANI

Regarding this we have heard from Master Sawan Singh about the incident which happened in His own life, when His thirty-two year old son, who was an overseer by pro- fession, left the body. Even though Baba Sawan Singh was capable of doing everything - if He had wanted, He could have prevented the death of His son, but He did not do that. Bibi Rukho, who used to cook for Baba Jaimal Singh, was of a very strong nature and whatever she wanted, she could always easily get done by Baba Jaimal Singh. So Baba Sawan Singh knew that if He went to the Dera with His sick son, it was possible that Bibi Rukho might ask Baba Jaimal Sing to prevent the de- parture of his son.

Baba Sawan Singh used to say, "I knew about the nature of Bibi Rukho, that is why I waited at the Beas train station for my son have his last breath."

Baba Sawan Singh Ji used to say, "At that time when my son left the body, I looked within myself; I neither found any sadness, nor was 1 regretting what had happened."

Baba Sawan Singh used to say, "It is not difficult for a perfect Mas- ter to do such things, but They don't do it because it makes the difference in their Gurumukhship."

In His bani, Bhagat Namdev Ji has written that God Almighty says, "If I have made a decision, my devotee can make me change the decision, but I cannot even change the

decision which my devotee has made."

Because the devotee of God Al- mighty has pleased God Almighty with all his devotion, that is why God Almighty does whatever the devotee wants him to do.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj says, "Whatever they want, they get it done."

So that is why Saints and Mahat- mas say that whatever comes to us from God Almighty, the satsangis should accept it lovingly.

Sufi Saint Farid Sahib says, "They always live a life of patience and continence. Even though God Almighty manifests within the body of the Saints and lives close to them, but still They do not reveal that to anyone."

Master Kirpal Singh Ji used to quote from Maulana Rumi, He used to say, "When the Will of the Lord is unchangeable, then what is the use of doing anything in front of Him, why not just surrender to Him?"

The reality is what the Masters say, They say that before we are born our pralabdha, our destiny, is formed and it is determined for us whether we will have good health or bad health, whether we will be poor or rich, whether we will have pains or happiness. All the things which are going to happen in our life are all predetermined. They all are written in our destiny before our birth and everything occurs at the right time. But instead of understanding that as

April 1994

the Will of God and as something which is written in our destiny, the jiva cries; he even has doubts and gets upset with God.

Tulsi Sahib says, "First the Pral- abdha was created and then the body was created. 0 Servant Tulsi, this is a very unique kind of play, but the mind doesn't understand and believe in it."

I can only advise you regarding this question that the satsangis do not get anything from splitting the hairs. One should not bother with: "Why did this happen?" - "Why didn't this happen?" - "Could this have been avoided or not?" - "Did it happen on time or not?" Instead of all this you should do more Bhajan and Simran so that your mind will get some peace.

Sometimes during meditation a sound comes which is neither from the right nor the left. What should we do to identi& it?

This happens to many dear ones. When we listen to the Sound Cur- rent, and when we hear the Sound Current, every day we should try to catch the same Sound which we have been listening to. When it happens that you cannot identify the Sound, just listen to it. Because when the satsangi rises above the body consciousness and comes to the Eye Center and meets the Master there, then all such questions are answered. When within us the Sound gets man-

ifested and the Master gets manifested, the Master Himself solves all the problems and He himself identi- fies the Shabd for us.

If you will try to identify the Sound you will go farther away from It and you will have to start your meditation again.

Beloved Master, in Streams in the Desert You say that no Master has given permission to any disciple to get divorced. Nonetheless there are some satsangis who say that You have given them permission to do so. Could You comment on that?

It is a very interesting question. It is not only me who has said that. No Saint has ever given permission to any disciple to get the divorce; all the Saints Who came into this world have said so. You may read the teachings of Jesus Christ and you will find that even He said that divorce is a very bad thing. Even the word "divorce" is bad. Also the Saints and Mahatmas Who were born in the East have said that divorce will not solve any problems. In fact after getting the divorce we become more upset and we lose even more peace.

Well, I will tell you one thing which happened with me in 77 RB. One initiate of beloved Master Kir- pal used to come to see me very often. He was very devoted and he used to stay at the Ashram for many days, but he was addicted to some

2 0 SANT BANI

sort of drug. You know that a person who is addicted, if he does not have enough money to fulfill his desire, he will look for the money from some other way - either he will steal, or beg or borrow - something like that.

So once when he came to the Ashram he was in need of money. At the same time a woman came to me with a piece of cloth and she offered it to me. I told her, "I don't need that."

She said, "Well there are many people in the sangat who come to You and You know better how to make the best use of it, so maybe You can give to someone who needs

it." So I accepted that and sometime later another woman came and I thought that she could use that piece of cloth in a better way so I gave that away to her.

That dear one, that initiate of Master Kirpal, that addict, had seen the first woman giving me that piece of cloth but he had not seen me giving that piece of cloth to the other woman. So he came to me and he told me, "I was sitting in meditation and beloved Lord Kirpal has told me that Sant Ji has a piece of cloth and you should go to Him and asked for that."

I told him, "Dear one, if you had sat for a few more minutes He would

April 1994

have even told you that I have given that cloth away to somebody else."

So we people interpret the say- ings of the Masters for our own use, in our own ways.

There was another person who used to beat his wife everyday, and when she would complain he would always "quote" Tulsi Das, saying, "He has said, 'There are four things in this world who deserve the beating and woman is one of them . . .' " and that was why it was all right that he was beating his wife.

So I told her, "If he is quoting from Tulsi Das you should beat him back. You should make your own couplet, you should say, 'There are four things who deserve the beating and man is one of them. . .' " [ E D I - TOR'S NOTE: According to some of the people who were there, this was a very powerful moment in the talk, and Sant Ji laughed when telling this story. It shows how ridiculously we twist the Master's words to our own purposes.]

Regarding the married life, even Guru Nanak Sahib has written a lot. He says, "They are not the married couple, they are not the husband and wife, who live together just for the sake of the pleasures for a few days, and then leave each other. Those who live like one soul in two different bodies are the true husband and wife." Don't call them husband and wife who just sit together. Call them the husband and wife who live like one light in two bodies. So we should

abstain and save ourselves from doing this evil, because it is nothing but going astray.

How brave or courageous can a disciple be without the mercy, grace, and infinite goodness of the Mas- ter?

How can one become the disciple of the Master if he does not have His grace? Because when we go to the Master for His grace, we will do those things which our Master tells us and by doing which our Master has received the grace from His Mas- ter. It is very easy to say, "I am the disciple of the Master." But it is very difficult to become the disciple.

Guru Nanak Sahib says, "My beloved is dear to all. He resides within everyone, He showers equal grace upon everyone, He doesn't break anyone's heart."

So for the Master, all the disciples, all the initiates are equal and He showers equal grace upon them. He chooses only a few people just to make the arrangements and do the outer work. But as far as the grace is concerned, He showers that equally among everyone.

He has chosen these few people to do the work of the Master because through them He wants to dis- tribute from the great treasure of grace to the other people.

A satsangi can never become successful in this world without the grace of the Master and also he can-

2 2 S A N T BANI

not take even one step in the Inner World without the grace of the Mas- ter. Because you know that this world is the jungle of pleasures of the senses and we can easily go astray, we can easily be misled .if we do not have the grace and mercy of the Master. And the Inner World is even more complicated. If we do not have the grace and mercy of the Master we cannot take even one step there.

Master used to give the example of Maulana Rumi who used to say that no matter how wise the people are, but within, without the grace of the Master, the forces of the Nega- tive Power mislead them.

A few days ago a relative of Sar- dar Rattan Singh left the body. He didn't come to the Satsang very often and I saw him just a few times. But he had a very difficult time when he was about to leave the body. He had adopted a son, and towards the end he hit that adopted son and his wife, and told them to go out of the room; he called for his two brothers who were initiated. He asked them to tell him about the Naam. They said, "We cannot tell you anything about the Naam because it will not bring you any benefit and also we will lose what we have."

So his brothers told him that whatever he had been doing earlier, whether he was repeating, "Wahe Guru," or whatever, he should continue doing that and whenever he felt better, they assured him they

would take him to see me and then he could get the Naam.

One of the brothers who sat by him doing the Simran when he left the body, told me later on, "Baba Ji, when I was sitting near him doing the Simran he passed out peacefully; he realized in the end what the grace of the Master is, and he wanted to have that." But what can be done in the end if one has not gone to the Master earlier to receive His grace.

So for such forgetful souls who have not yet received the grace of the Master Kabir Sahib says, "Those who have not received the grace of the Master, they should at least make this prayer, "0 Lord, pay attention to me because I am stuck in the ocean of life. If You will not shower grace on me I will drown."

Guru Nanak Sahib says, "Even if I am Your bad son, still it is Your reputation to take care of me." Saints and Mahatmas come into this world with a lot of grace and They always maintain Their reputation of being the Gracious Ones.

Swami Ji Maharaj says, "When- ever we get the sufferings and the pain, then we start doing the Bhajan and Simran. Look at the grace of the Master that He accepts even that meditation which we do when we encounter the pains and sufferings."

Thanks to Lord Kirpal who allowed me to speak all this. Okay now, lovingly close your eyes and do the meditation.

April 1994

A Very Meaningful Principle Sant Ajaib Singh Ji

This is not a question; it 's a kind of public confession of a dear one. When here, my mind feels ashamed or pretends to be. But when involved with the worldly activities more than with Bhajan and Simran, the shame goes away. From outside, I might appear to be a good person; but inside, my mind is Jull of every kind of dirt: dishonesty, lust, violence, anger, greed, and disdain for others.

The day after tomorrow in the Sat- sang, I will try to explain to you what kind of life a Satsangi should live, and what kind of people get honor in the court of the Lord. Only those people who are the same from outside and inside get honor and glory in the court of the Lord.

Mind is our greatest enemy; and he is sitting within us; he has made us his toy. We are dancing to his tune in his hand like a toy. But the Satsangis have been given the Pow- er of the Shabd; and only to fight with the tricks of the mind, the Sat- sangis have been armed with the weapon of Shabd Naam by the Mas-

This question and answer talk was given February 3, 1988, in Rajasthan, India.

ter. So they should always remain attached to the Shabd; they should always remain powerful with that weapon of the Shabd Naam, of the Shabd Dhun. They should always rise above the tricks of the mind, and come to the Eye Center. They should fix their attention between and behind the two eyebrows. They should come to the Eye Center, where the grace of the Master is coming in abundance.

If the Satsangis know how to withdraw from the other things and come to the Eye Center - if they remain at the Eye Center all the time - they can easily save themselves from these petty tricks of the mind.

Satsangis should not become wor- ried about anything. As they are re- alizing and praying to the Master for His grace, at the same time, they should also make the efforts to make themself better.

What is grace? Both the Divine gift and its reflection as it moves through time.

On the worldly level, it can be un- derstood like this: Suppose there is a person who has done some very serious kind of crime. Suppose some-

SANT BANI

one has murdered someone, and he is presented in front of the judge. Now the judge knows that this person has done the crime - he has murdered someone. And there is no way that he can be spared from the punishment; there is no way that he can be released. The judge knows about the police report, and that all the evidence and everything is going against that person. But there is always some room for grace or mercy or having pity on that person. It is not usually found in these cases; but sometimes it does happen that the judge - because he also has some power - may write, "All the evidence which is presented to me does not go against this person. And it was impossible for me to make the decision. That is why I'm giving him the benefit of doubt; and because of that, I am releasing him."

This thing happens sometimes, not always, because the Negative Power, in whose country we are living, does not want any kind of in- justice. And that is why the people who are responsible for justice are expected to do the justice. But sometimes, the judges also do like that. This is unusual, but sometimes it does happen in a case that the judge declares the criminal - even though everyone knows that he has done that crime - but still the judge declares him as innocent.

This is on the worldly level. Even on the worldly level, the worldly judges have room to be merciful; and

they also have the right to declare someone innocent, even though they know that he has done this wrong thing.

In the domain of the Positive Power, since we have joined the Pos- itive Power and we are trying to go to the Positive Power's home, in the domain of the Positive Power, there is grace and mercy all over. What is the mercy or the grace? Master showers His grace; He does not look at our bad qualities, He does not look at our faults. He always showers grace upon us; He blesses us [with the inner] life - not the life we are living in. He knows that when our body does any mistake, our soul who is living in that body also suf- fers. That is why He liberates our soul from that body. He gives us another life. He blesses us with that immortal life which does not bring us back into this world again and again. And in that way He showers a lot of grace on us.

So this is called the grace. Grace means that He blesses you with the new life; He releases you from the cycle of coming into this world again and again. I will say that, in reality, the grace means to give your own throne to someone. You know that Master gives us the Initiation - when He takes us up - He gives us His own throne to sit upon, and He makes us His own Form. So this is called grace.

Dear ones, whether one is a Sat- sangi or a non-Satsangi, one should

April 1994 2 5

never think an account is not being kept of whatever they are doing. In the writings of the Saints and Ma- hatmas, the people who keep the ac- counts of all our deeds are called by the name chittera gupta. And they keep the account of our every single breath, of every single deed we are doing. And when we are presented in front of the Lord of Judgment, they present our file - our record - and every person has to pay for every single deed he has done.

The Lord of Judgment, Who is called the God of man, does not have any emnity towards anyone; He is not a friend of anyone. Whatever file or whatever record of a person is presented to Him, according to that record, or according to that file of the person, He decides where that soul should be given a birth, where that soul can pay off her karmas easily. According to her deeds, that soul is sent back into this world; she is given birth again.

But the way of the Satsangis is different than the way of the non- initiates, non-Satsangis; because it is written in the Bani that those who are the initiates of a perfect Master - those who do the devotion under the guidance of the Perfect Master - neither the chittera and gupta give any account of the Satsangis' souls. It is written that chittera and gupta, whatever account of the souls they write, their law does not apply to the Satsangis, because it is the Master Who keeps the account of

the deeds of the Satsangis. Right from the beginning, since I

was inclined to doing the seva of people who needed help; I would always go and serve the dear ones who would need my help. In the Army also I got many opportunities. What- ever time I would have, I would go and devote that much time taking care of them.

So I got many opportunities to witness the deaths of many people. And I have seen that not everybody's experience at the time of death is equal. Some people are very quiet - they do not say anything, and they leave peacefully. Some people have the habit of telling what they are seeing or what they are going through. I have also heard that some people say, "Yes, they are standing on that wall; they look very terrible, and they are going to come and they are going to take me." And they are very much afraid; because they see the angels of death coming and bothering them. I have also heard some people saying, "Yes, our Master (or whoever they were devoted to) has come, and now we are very happy to go with our Master" or with our teacher; and they would leave peacefully.

But our minds are such that we do not believe in all these kind of things. And also because the doctors say, "This person has become crazy; that is why he is saying all these words." But it is not that they have become crazy. Whatever they

2 6 SM BANI

are seeing, they are reporting only that; they are seeing only that. But the doctors say that the person has become crazy or has a fever in his brain, and that is why he is saying those things.

Usually I have seen, even in the villages when the people die; and when they are reporting, when they are saying what they are going through or what they are seeing, usually the people say that they have gone crazy. Nobody wants to listen to any good or bad things they may say.

Now, even in India, we do not have any disease which kills many people. But about 25 years ago, there were so many kinds of diseases, which, when it would spread in the country, would kill families, would sometimes kill the whole village.

The incident which I am going to tell you is not what I have heard from other people; this is something which I have witnessed myself. One of my relatives was a boy of 14 years old, whose name was Hukam Singh. He became sick with one of the diseases which was spread at that time. Whenever his parents would go and sit near him, he would always say, "The ants are eating my body; the dog is killing me - the dog is eating my flesh." And he would also say, "There are many poisonous snakes who are coming and biting me." And in that way he would always complain that he was getting a lot of pain. And whenever I would

go near him, he would say, "It is good that you have come here; because when you come, then all those things do not bother me." And he would feel peace, and he would always request me to remain by his side.

But whenever his parents would come and sit near him, he would always say that those things had come back, and that they were killing him - they were eating him.

At that time I had not met Master Kirpal; I was doing the meditation of the first Two Words. And you can very well imagine what the Power was which was bothering him. It was definitely the Power of the Angels of Death which were bothering him. And because he was sitting with some dear souls, only then he was getting any peace.

We people do not believe. We say, "No, he was crazy," or "He was having fever in his brain," or "His brain became crazy; that is why he was saying all those things." But no, that is not true. Every soul brings his own karmas to suffer; and the soul has to suffer the karmas which he has done. But when a dear soul goes and sits near him in the time of pain, he does get some relief; he does get some peace. It is like when you go and sit near the water, you feel cool; but when you go and sit near the fire, you feel the warmth.

In the same way, if you are sitting with some dear soul - some pure soul - then you definitely get

April 1994 27

the relief even though you have to pay those karmas. But when you are sitting with the worldly people, you get all kinds of pains and difficulties.

We have a sevadar here whose name is Bachan Singh. He is not here in this group because he is sick. His wife left the body about four or five months ago - I don't remember the exact date - but it was something like four or five months ago that she left the body. And last year, in the month of March, she started saying that there was a very monstrous dog in her within who was eating her body up. When she said that, the doctor who was attending her said, "She has gone crazy. The balance of her mind has been disturbed; and that is why she is saying things like that."

She used to call me "Brother." It does not make any difference to the Master whether somebody calls Him "Brother" or "Friend" or "Baba" - whatever name. So she used to call me "Brother." And she told her husband that she wanted to come and see me. She said, "Why don't you take me to my Brother, and He will fix this problem for me."

So when she came here, she took at least one hour to tell me the whole story; she told me everything. And I told her, "Look here, Sister, whatever karmas you have done, you have to pay for that. One day we all have to leave the body. But I can guarantee - I can tell you for sure - that whatever you had to suffer,

you have done that. But from now onwards, my Guru, Master Kirpal will take care of you. You will not have any problem; you will leave peacefully."

She lived for four or five months after that; and she never complained about that problem. And just four or five months ago, she left the body peacefully.

I got the opportunity of meeting the doctor who was attending her; and then I asked him, "Now what do you say about the balance of her mind? Is her mind okay now, because she was not reporting anything like that?"

So I mean to say this: I am not saying anything for my own. What- ever the dear ones have told me about their experience, 1 am just re- lating that to you.

Dear ones, if we remember the Master Who has given us the initiation, with all our love and faith and devotion for Him, He helps us at the time when neither our mother nor our father - not even kingdoms and their power, nor any worldly wealth we have collected - helps us. He comes and helps us at that time, at that terrible time, when nobody else from this world can help us. He comes and helps us when we remember Him with love and faith. This is called grace.

But we should not become lazy and think, "When the Master is going to come at the endtime - if we will remember Him, He will take

28 SANT BANI

care of us, then what is the use of doing the remembrance and the meditation?" No, dear ones, it is not good to become a burden on your parents. You know that one who stands on his own feet, one who earns his own livelihood, is the good child of the parent. In the same way, that disciple who does his meditation, who stands on his own feet, and who car- ries his own burden, is called the good disciple. The disciple who wants his Master to carry the burden cannot be called the good one.

If, at the time of death, we go on looking at the door, waiting for the Master to come, and if we go on praying for the Master to come and take care of us, what is our bravery? If we had solved this matter in our lifetime, if we had manifested the Master in our within, while we were healthy, while we were in the body; then we do not need to wait for Him, because He is within us. And from our within, He will help us.

Have the people sitting here already met in previous lives? And is it useful to know one'spast lives to understand one's spiritual development? What is the difference between devotion to the Satguru and fanaticism? How can we increase our faith in the Satguru?

Saints do not make prophesies, such as: "You have done these good karmas in the past," or "You have done this bad karma in the past," or "You

were an elephant in your past life," or "You were a horse," or "You were a dog," etc. But Master Sawan Singh Ji used to say that we meet only those people in this lifetime with whom we had some connection in the past lifetime. Guru Nanak Sahib also says that those who used to fly in the past life meet those souls who are flying in this lifetime; and those who were on the land meet those who live on the land.

Master Sawan Singh Ji used to say that this creation was created and the souls were given to the Negative Power to form His own creation, because Kal had done the devotion of Almighty Lord for seventy ages, standing on one foot. And as a re- sult of that He got the gift of the souls from God Almighty to create His creation. He cannot create any new soul, He cannot destroy any soul. But He has the right to keep the souls involved in the trap of the karmas in His creation as long as He can. At that time, God Almighty told Him, "One of my Powers will also come into Your creation, and You have to give the human body to that Power. Also, You have to give the human body to all the souls at least once after completing the cycle of 84 lakhs, births and deaths."

At that time, the Negative Power said, "Yes, I will give the human body to Your Power; and also I will give one chance of the human birth to all the souls after completing the cycle of 84 lakhs, births and deaths.

April 1994 29

But I have some conditions and that is that Your Power Who will get the human body, the Saints, should not perform any miracles.

"And the other condition is that wherever I give birth to the souls, whether I put that soul in a hunch- back body, or whether I put that soul in any deformed body or anyplace, even if I put the soul in a body of an animal or any creature, he should be pleased with that body - he should be content in that body - and he should not be willing to leave that body. No matter how difficult or how miserable that body may be that soul should always be content with that body. The other condition is that no soul should know about what he has done in his past lifetime."

Because if we would know that we are getting the comforts and the happiness because of this past good karma and we are getting the pain because of this bad past karma, I think that nobody would want to do any bad karma; everybody will do the good karmas; and in that way, nobody will do any bad karmas. But since we are not supposed to know about our past lifetime, that is why, out of ignorance, we do good as well as bad karmas.

Since Negative Power put this condition and got God Almighty to promise that the Saints will not perform any miracles, that is why Saints never perform any miracles; otherwise, it is not a very big thing for the Saints to give a leg to a crip-

pled person and an eye to a blind person. If They were allowed to do that, They could easily attract all the souls in this world to the Path of Naam, and They can easily give Naam initiation to all the souls. And in that way, They could empty the domain of Negative Power.

But They cannot do that. That is why They never perform miracles; and that is why They always tell the disciples, "You also should not perform any miracles - you also should not use your powers. You should remain in the Will of God and do the things according to what We have taught YOU."

It is because of the boon which the Negative Power has taken that the pig lives in the dirt; he eats the dirt; he always remains in the dirt. We know that the body of the pig is a very miserable body, but still, when somebody tries to kill the pig, he runs for his life and he cries for help. And even though he is suffering a lot in that body, still he doesn't want to leave it.

In fanaticism, we become j eal- ous, we criticize others. We try to prove that we are better than others, and we always try to prove that the other people are worse than us. But when we do the devotion to the Sat- guru, we develop love within us; we love everyone. We do not throw dirt at others; we do not criticize other people. And we never judge others; we never criticize others. We always pray to God Almighty that we should

30 SANT BANI

not criticize others and we should not judge others; and we always pray to Almighty Lord to shower grace upon us and all the beings.

All the fights, the battles, and all the disputes - all the fighting and killing - are because of the fanaticism. What we are seeing today in the war of Iraq and Iran is nothing but fanaticism. Even though both the groups are following Prophet Mo- hammed - they believe in the same Holy Book - but one is called Shi- ah, the other is called Suni; and the Shiah people want to dominate the Sunis and the Sunis want to dominate the Shiahs.

If we want to write the story of devotion to the Master, we can write many books if we want, but we cannot write it completely. Because when we do the devotion to the Mas- ter, we have love for the whole world, for the whole universe. We understand all the societies, all the religions as our own religion, as our own society. And we have love and affection for all the beings of this world.

When I was at Sant Bani Ashram during the first World Tour, a person who was a Catholic came to see me. And he said, "I can never forgive those who are not Catholic; and I can never forgive you."

When he was saying this, Pappu hesitated in translating; so I said, "Well, tell me what he is saying." Pappu told me what he was saying and I told him lovingly, "Only one

who has forgiveness in his within can forgive. It doesn't matter if you forgive me or not, but I love you and I forgive you."

It had such an effect on him that after that he became a dear one; he started writing letters to me, and he became a very good dear one.

Dear ones, no religion is bad; all the religions are good. Master Kir- pal used to say that all the religions were made for the development of our soul, for our progress. Because in the depth of all the existing religions, there is a very meaningful principle, and that is the devotion of the Master and love for all. But we people forget the principle, we forget the foundation stone on which the building of that religion has been erected. And we start fighting for the useless things; we always forget the real principle on which that religion exists.

Saints and Mahatmas do not present any new formula to us. They always tell us about the past Mahat- mas - They always talk about the past Masters in Whose Name we have formed the existing religions. Because, if you read the writings of all the past Masters, you will come to know that all the Masters have written about having love for all - doing the devotion of the Master. And They all have written about the presence of God Almighty within us; and They all talk about going to the perfect Living Master; because They tell us that God Almighty cannot be

April 1994 3 1

found in any holy book. It is the attention of the Living Master through which we can be lifted up and go back to our Real Home and realize God Almighty.

The present Masters tell us only those things which the past Masters have written in Their books. If you read the books of the past Masters, you will come to know how They laid a lot of emphasis on love for all and hatred for none, and how They talked about the importance of going to the Living Master.

If we knew about our past lives, it is possible that we might not progress in this lifetime, we might not do any meditation. Who knows what karmas we have done in our past lives? Suppose our past life has been very bad. It might discourage us; we might lose interest in becoming better in this lifetime; and it is possible that we might not do any meditation. So that is why it is not necessarily true that if you knew about your past life it would be useful for spiritual development.

You can read the Sant Bani Mag- azine and you will see how, when Baba Bishan Das had told me about my past lifetime, that I was performing the rites and rituals - I was doing the fire practice, the austeri- ties. And He made me dig some land; and He showed me the bones of my past lifetime. And at that time he said, "Your past parents are still alive." I touched my ears; because I was convinced. And I told Him, "No,

Master, don't make me see them; because I am already bothered by the present parents. I am not able to become detached from them. And if you will make me meet my past parents, it will become difficult for me." So it is not necessary for you to know about your past life to progress in the meditations.

You should not go into details like this; because if you would go in your within, this matter can be solved there by itself. Not only of one lifetime but, if you go in the within, you can know about all your past lives, where you have been, and what sufferings you have suffered.

Fati was a Muslim Fakir who used to do meditation; he used to go in the within. And he was a contempo- rary of Baba Bishan Das. When I took Baba Bishan Das to see Master Sawan Singh, Fati also came with us. And there he told Baba Sawan Singh, "I know about your past lives. I know that once you were born the king of Faridkot. Faridkot was a state in Punjab, but now it is all dissolved in the state of Punjab. But at that time it was an independent state in Punjab. Baba Sawan Singh heard that and, in a very serious mood, He said, "Yes, I know. I even remember the poverty I have suffered in many of my past lifetimes. If I go and claim to be the owner of those palaces which I used to own in my past lifetime, do you think that they will let me go in?"

32 SANT BANI

Sant Bani Ashram Publications

by Sant Ajaib S i g h Ji In the Palace of Love: the Asa di Vars of Guru Nanak The Two Ways: the Gaun Vars of Guru Ramdas The Jewel of Happiness: the Sukhmani of Guru A jan The Ocean of Love: the Anurag Sugar of Kabir Streams in the Desert: Discourses & Conversations 1976- 1980 Sing the Praises of the Satguru (booklet)

by Sant Kirpal Singh Ji Naam or Word (a study of the Sound Current) The Crown of Life: A Study in Yoga The Light of Kirpal 15.00 The Way of the Saints: Sant Mat Prayer 5.00 Godman The Night is a Jungle 1 1 .OO Morning Talks Spirituality: What It Is 4.50 Spiritual Elixir Baba Jaimal Singh: the story of a great Saint The Jap Ji: The Message of Guru Nanak Life and Death: (The Wheel of Life & The Mystery of Death) The Teachings of Kirpal Singh (selected writings by subject matter) Seven Paths to Perfection (booklet) How to Develop Receptivity (booklet) God Power, Christ Power, Guru Power (booklet)

by Ajaib, Kirpal and other Masters Songs of the Masters (newly revised, spiral bound edition) '92 Bhajan Supplement (for use with old bhajan books) The Message of Love: An Introduction to Sant Mat Diary ~ o o k The Self-Introspection Diary (featuring selections from

the writings of Ajaib Singh, Kirpal Singh, & Sawan Singh) Diary Pages: original form prescribed by Kirpal Singh no charge

by other Authors Stories for the Children of Light, edited by Claudia Giacinto Children of Light Coloring Book I Never Say Goodbye, by Kim S. Redeen The Impact of a Saint, by Russell Perkins Support for the Shaken Sangat, by A. S. Oberoi Sant Ajaib Singh: A Brief Life Sketch Servants of God: Lives of the Sikh Gurus, by Jon Engle Third World Tour of K q a l Singh (5 issues of Sat Sandesh) Cooking with Light: Favorite Vegetarian Recipes A Nutrition Compendium (pamphlet) Sometimes Heaven Chuckles, by Jack Dokus The Book of Jonah: Bible text illustrated by Sant Bani School students Allison's Shadow, by Tracy Leddy October on Nantucket, by Tracy Leddy A New Beginning by Gretchen Foy Tape Catalog - Sant Bani Tape Service

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The Mahat,was always explain to MS that this wealth of the devotion of Ciod is the thing which gives MS the real peace and happiness. We cannot get this wealth of the devotion of Ciod by ourselves. We have to go to the Master; and only with the grace of the master can we obtain it. J f we go to the waster, and if we have obtained this wealth at the Eye Center, only then can we vemove all the difficdties and all the passions which are b~ the r i n~ MS.

Documents

Sant Bani Magazine - Mediaseva · Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says that the thing which we have to ask from the Master is the opportunity to sing the glory of God Almighty. We should