Illustration to
'The Indications of a Lover'

Jiva: The Soul enclosed in coverings – koshas – and therefore bound and forgetful. The liberated fully-conscious Soul is called Atman.
These koshas or coverings may briefly be described as, –
1. Vigyan-mai Kosh: Covering of the mental apparatus or intellect with its two phases: one concerned with knowledge – gyan – on the physical plane and the other enlightenment – vigyan – on the Spiritual Plane. This is the first covering in which the spirit gets wrapped as it comes into contact with the subtle matter called Prakriti. The light of the soul as it gets reflected in the intellectual centre brings into light what is commonly known as intellect consisting of Inner Spiritual Perception and outer cognition. The soul along with this reflected intellectual ability becomes both cognitive and perceptive.

2. Man-o-mai Kosh: This is the second covering or sheath which the intellectualised or the cognitive soul wraps around itself by further intensive contact with Prakriti which now begins to reflect the mind-stuff as well; and with the added faculty it becomes mindful and gradually gets mind-ridden.

3. Pran-mai Kosh: The covering of the pranas – the vital airs – constitutes the third sheath around the soul. As the thinking – cognitive – and mindful soul presses still further upon Prakriti – matter –, it begins to vibrate with pranas – which are of ten types according to their different functions. This makes the cognitive and mindful soul as pran-mai or impulsive with a quickening effect.

4. Ana-mai Kosh: When the cognitive, mindful and impulsive soul works upon the Prakriti, it forges therein yet another type of covering that of ana-mai. It is the last of the five sheaths and for its maintenance it begins to feel a continuing need for ana or food-stuff.
This covering is just an underneath lining of the physical body – gross matter – which in fact is its outer manifestation and continues to wrap the soul even when its outer form, i.e. body, suffers, decays and disintegrates.
The existence of this coarse physical body depends upon the healthy condition of the Ana-mai Kosh on the inside of it.
Some of the souls even when they cast off their outer physical body, still hanker after food-stuffs because of the Ana-mai Kosh, and hunt about the pleasures of the world and continue to haunt human habitations in their wanderings for satisfaction of their innate cravings. It is to satisfy these cravings of the physically disembodied souls that the Hindus perform Pind Dan, Saradhs and make propitiatory offerings to the manes or the departed souls so that they may find rest and peace.
5. However, it is Anand-mai Kosh – bliss – that is the first and the foremost of these koshas or coverings. This is almost an integral part of the soul itself. It is the most subtle sheath like that of a thin covering over the lighted candelabra. One experiences it a little when in deep and dreamless slumber – sushupti – for on waking up, he retains a hazy idea of the Anand or bliss that he experienced in that completely undisturbed state of rest.
The Crown of Life (First Edition, 1961) –
Part I, Chapter I: III. Prakriti or Matter,
by Kirpal Singh, 1894–1974

Sati: is the traditional Hindu practice of a widow, who is immolating herself on her husband’s funeral pyre. Kabir here and everywhere in His poetry uses sati as an image of absolute faithfulness and Love. He portrays a wife, who is identified with her husband so much so that she is not able to live on a plane where he is not, and consequently follows him into death, voluntarily, joyfully, and despite the conventional wisdom of friends and kinsfolk – exactly as a True Devotee feels about God.

After Guru Har Gobind had left His body, the following happened: as Guru Har Gobind’s body was put on the funeral pyre, a devoted Sikh approached the fire, grasped His feet and held them imperturbably until he died. Another man jumped into the fire and met his death; even more would also have done this, but Guru Hari Rai – Har Gobind’s Spiritual Successor – stepped forward and forbade it.

In Indian daily life this custom was something else, just as it became a Hindu law: often a widow was forced by public opinion to burn herself and to go along with it because, literally, she had no future – when her husband had died, she had lost her identity and became a non-person. If somehow she evaded her 'fate' to die, she became an untouchable. Like all Masters, Kabir resolutely opposed this custom in practice; but like the other Masters, He also continued to use the ideal as a poetic image of the Love of the True Devotee for God. God is the husband and the Soul is the wife.

Referring to Guru Gobind Singh it is reported, that He had survived the attempt on His life in the today’s Afghanistan and that later He had ridden with His horse in a fire to end His physical life. In reality, however, He died of His injuries shortly after the assassination attempt.

The Masters and the True Disciples always leave the world by free will. And this is also the true meaning of 'Sati.' (See the subchapter 'Death while being alive' and the corresponding illustrations.)

For whom one lays down his life: With the marriage ceremony and the performance of matrimony the man gives his life (how many lives can one give?). See also the subsection 'Male genital organ' in the illustration to 'The Control over the Senses' and the quotation from the Satsang 'He came to make us Satsangis' in the subsection 'Mine of hell' in the illustration to 'The Renunciates'.

Sat Naam: The expression of existence; the True Name given to the primal Sound Current as It comes into being at the stage of Sach Khand as Sat Purush or the Positive Power. In this book, this term is sometimes used as a synonym for Naam or Shabd, the Sound Current as a whole.

Kal: Literally, 'Time' or 'Darkness'; the name of the Negative Power, or that aspect of the Sat Purush that flows downward and outward and that is responsible for the creation and the maintenance of the causal, astral and physical planes. A very large part of the Anurag Sagar is addressed to Kal, who is one of the sixteen 'sons' of Sat Purush or the Positive Power, as it is explained below. He was ordered to carry the Glory of Sat Purush into the lower creation, so that the Jivas vibrating therein, could recognise the beauty of Sat Purush even into the last atom. But unfortunately, just as a man undertaking something creative for example, thereby forgetting to have got the required abilities from the Almighty and, finally, letting himself be admired for it, in the same way Kal developed the lower creation and placed an aspect of himself into it.

Inter alia that may be seen by the fact that he administers the lower worlds very accurately  and scrupulous indeed by order of Sat Purush; but thereby he veils the existence of Sat Purush and the higher planes. Instead of that, he pretends to be the Absolute God. In the terms of the Jewish-Christian tradition he corresponds to the priestly conception of God, Yahweh, in the Old Testament – not, however, in the prophetic use of that name which refers to a God of Grace and Love. But he also corresponds to the biblical Satan or the Islamic Shaitan respectively – because as the outward and flowing downward aspect of the Almighty he wants to embed the Souls into the game of the three worlds. He wants to tempt the people to break the law.*

* In the Old Testament there is, for example, the well-known sentence of God:

[…] Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

1 Genesis 1:28

This statement caresses the ego and it is misused by people as a justification for an exploitive way of living till the present day. Souls that are me embodied in lower forms of life than the human one are treated inconsiderately by them, just as they want. And they kill for example animals in order to eat them. But the fact that people think to be right because of the abovementioned statement does not change the fact that they break the laws of creation by this procedure and will have to be brought to justice for this. Since already in 1 Genesis 1:29-30 God stipulates the vegetarian way of living. However this is even ignored  by Christian churches. (See also the subsection 'All people eat meat' in the illustration to 'In the Kali Yuga: The Embodiment as Kabir.')

On the other hand Jesus pointed out to the people that a veritable way of living is something else and demands humility. He also referred to the way of nourishment that is provided and adequate for man.

So eat from the table of God: the fruits of the trees, the corns and herbs of the fields, the milk of the animals and the honey of the bees. Since everything that is beyond it is of Satan and it leads over sin and illness to death. […]

Translation from:
Heliand – Evangelium des vollkommenen Lebens,
Das Evangelium des Friedens

Humata Verlag, Bern, Frankfurt/Main, Salzburg, 1954

The Gnostics called Kal the Demiurge, and understood him in his ambiguity relatively well, but most religions wrongly believe him to be Sat Purush.

Kirpal Singh said analogously that people did not know what God is and He added:

God is the result of the Sound Current.

That is also the reason why the Master is more admired than God. Namely the Master is the Master-Soul, the One Soul of the universe:

[…] God drove me into the wilderness of the world, but the Master has snapped for me the ceaseless cycle of transmigration. God set on my heels the five deadly sins – desire, anger, greed, infatuation, and egoism –, but the Master taking pity on my helplessness saves me from them. God entangled me in the meshes of the family ties, but the Master cut asunder these bonds. God delivered me to disease, decay and death, but the Master with His yogic powers delivered me from them. God bound me hand and foot in the web of karmic reactions, but the Master revealed to me my True Nature – and I have now found out that I am soul, the spirit of the universe. […]

Sehjo Bai

Godman (First Edition, 1967) –
XVII. Guru is Godman,
by Kirpal Singh, 1894–1974

All rituals and other practices performed by men to please God, do not appeal to Kal, because he accepts nothing from man. Hence, as a result  of their actions people receive only what they have really done.
 
Kal is the creator, 'father,' of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva – the three gods known from Indian mythology, representing the developing, preservative and disruptive aspect of this power; in Islamic-Christian tradition, as well as in Jewish tradition, they are known as the archangels Mika‘il / Mikaal, Dschibril and Israfil – and sends his incarnations into the world from time to time; both to reconstitute the balance and also to mislead seeking Souls and to prevent them from leaving behind the borders of the three worlds.
 
Although the Name 'Kal' means time, this power has two aspects: time and space. He may use time delays for enlarging space, and in fact he does so: he utilises every default or delay caused by a human being – animals are not able to create new karma – for even this purpose. Even every action, may it be the smallest action such as a wink, causes an enlargement of space. That is why scientists detect the universe enlarging in space.*
* On 16th March 2011, the German newspaper 'Welt Online' published an article with the title: 'Der Weltraum dehnt sich aus wie ein Hefekuchen' ('Space expands just as a yeast cake'; URL: http://www.welt.de/wissenschaft/weltraum/article12833570/Der-Weltraum-dehnt-sich-aus-wie-ein-Hefekuchen.html). Therein it is said:

Like a yeast dough with raisins – this is the way anstronomers describe the extension of the universe which they detected with a camera more precise than ever.

An US-American team of anstronomers [A.G. Riess, B.P. Schmidt and S. Perlmutter, amongst others; Editor’s Note] measured with the Hubble space telescope more precise than ever before how fast the universe is expanding. […]

The new datas give important insights of the nature of universe to the astronomers. Thus it can be excluded that the Milky Way lies in the centre of a vast empty space – a possibility that was not to be proven so far.

This in turn strengthens the hypothesis that a mysterious Dark Energy which causes a kind of anti-gravitation-effect provokes the extension of space. […]

This 'Dark Energy' is Kal.

In October 2011 the research team – Adam G. Riess, Brian P. Schmidt and Saul Perlmutter – was honoured with the Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery.

To refer to Kal as unjust in the Anurag Sagar is from the perspective of Sat Purush and Kabir: within the context of the worlds created by him, he is absolutely fair and just, demanding 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth', and getting it.
The powers that be of the earth are hard taskmasters, believing still in the ancient Mosaic Law of 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' * […]

The Mystery of Death (First Edition, 1968) –
III. Life in Fullness,
by Kirpal Singh, 1894–1974

* Nations, for example, living according to this principle automatically serve this power.

This principle is also known as 'principium talionis.' It was already solidified in the society of the Babylonians as 'lex talionis.' Even the twelve tribes of Israel lived according to this principle and the remaining rest of these tribes still lives according to it.

As it is described in the chapter 'How Vishnu turned black,' Vishnu was bitten by the serpent – Shesh Nag. As a reaction thereof he stuck it 'on a string' in the Kalindi river in his incarnation as Krishna. These are the origins of this law. (See the illustration 'Shesh Nag on a string' in the subchapter 'How Vishnu turned black.')

Sin cannot be avoided within the framework of the principles of law and the conditions of the lower worlds, so that we get exactly what we deserve according to the law of karma. He also has, as it was mentioned, his role within creation: without him the lower worlds would not exist. As our Soul is related to Sat Purush so is our mind to Kal.

Kal cannot be defeated; he is invincible. But he may be overcome with the help of Shabd Dhun – the Sound Current.

For further information see the 'Gurumat Sidhant – Part II, Chapter II: The Negative Power or Kal,' by Kirpal Singh, 1894–1974.

Motionless Plane: Avichal – definite; all Spiritual Creation from Sach Khand upwards.

Sat Purush: True Being; the first full and Highest Expression of Absolute God or the Almighty. Also called the Supreme Father or the Positive Power, He is the Lord of Sach Khand and the Highest Form of God that can be called personal.

Also called Sat Naam.