Illustration to
'Death while being alive'

Death while being alive: Death while being alive means to rise above the iron curtain of the body by the aid of Naam, voluntarily, while being alive. Eventually one reaches a state of complete disengagement from the world and of the awareness of God. (See also the subsection 'Death while being alive serves the Satguru' in this illustration below.)

This state is in no way to be understood as outer passiveness.

Kirpal Singh writes about the way of living of the Saints:

Unlike most of us, the Master-Saints do not devote much time to Their bodily needs and cares. They consider the physical raiment as a mere rag to be cast off one day. They take to hard physical and mental labour as need be, seeking no rest and repose, not sleeping for nights on end. Such prodigious acts present a riddle to modern science, though it is common practice with Saints for They are conversant with, and make use of, the higher laws of nature of which we are quite ignorant.

The Wheel of Life (First Edition, 1965) –
III. / (iii) Kriyaman Karmas,
by Kirpal Singh, 1894–1974

The fire which is burning in my mind:

There are three kinds of heat which burn within man.

1) One adhibhutak, connected with the physical body.

2) Another is adhidevik, through the outer, untoward happenings.

3) The third is adhiatmik, and that is when one gets a higher contact within and one is then no longer dragged around by the mind and senses.

The Teachings of Kirpal Singh / Vol III –
It is a noble Search

Explanation: So there is the original fire within. Reaching the seat of the Soul and raising one realises a heat in the forehead behind and between the eyebrows. Then there is the fire of the world that burns everything and the fire in the body or agni.

Bhirangi: Kirpal Singh described this phenomenon as follows:

Bhirangi, an insect, after almost killing a keet, another insect, revivifies the latter to life by bestowing its powerful attention to it. The keet when charmed back to life is no longer a keet but becomes a bhirangi-being saturated with the life-impulse of the latter.

In just the same way Kabir says that one who does Simran and gets firmly engrafted therein will have new birth and new life quite distinct from the old sensual life he has been living hitherto.

For more, see the booklet 'Simran – Chapter V: Kabir on Simran' (Second Edition, 1967) by Kirpal Singh, 1894–1974.

Hansa: A mythological swan which lives on pearls and is used by Masters as a symbol for the liberated human Soul.

Bhai Nand Lal wrote in one of His hymns:

What ever you have, sacrifice it for the Beloved. Even if you have, like Goya, the talent that creates pearls.

Zindgi Nama,
by Bhai Nand Lal

Edition The Pilgrims Way,

Department of Sri Guru Grant Sahib Studies,

Punjabi University, Patiala

And in the Gurumat Sidhant it is written:

Hafiz says:

You should shed tears of pearls from your moist eyes. Perhaps He, in the form of a swan, may be caught by you when this swan is tempted to come to you to eat these pearls.

Maulana Rumi says:

I wish that I had wept so much in my longing to meet the Lord that the tears from my eyes had swelled into a river, and every tear drop had turned into a Spiritual Pearl. Then I would have placed all those pearls before the altar of my Beloved.

Gurumat Sidhant (Fifth Edition, 1987) –
Part I, Chapter XII: Bireh – Intense Longing,
von Kirpal Singh, 1894 – 1974

The tears that roll down a man’s cheeks because he develops yearning for the Almighty, are the pearls, that the Hansa eats.

[…] It is by copious tears that we can wash down impressions of ages lying in the folds of the mind. Maulana Rumi tells us that a pilgrimage to Kaaba is possible only through the sea route and not by land. So God can only be reached through the pearly tears flowing down one’s checks. […]

Satsang –
Search for Truth,
by Kirpal Singh, 1894–1974

Death while being alive serves the Satguru:

St Paul said:

It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

Galatians 2:20

and

I die daily.

1 Corinthians 15:31

Sadhu: Commonly a renunciate. In India wandering monks or ascetics are often called like that. This is, however, only the exteriorized aspect of an actually Inner Condition that is called 'Sadh' in Sant Mat; it is this status of a 'Sadh' that Kabir and other Saints refer to. A Sadh is somebody who has reached Daswan Dwar or the third plane.

From the day a person comes in close touch with a Sadhu, he takes a turn for the better, ever in bliss, he engages in Kirtan and comes close to the Creator and Designer of destinies.

Guru Arjan, Dhanasri M5

Naam or Word (Fourth Edition, 1981) –
Book IV: I. Kirtan,
by Kirpal Singh, 1894–1974

[…] Now it has gone beyond its causal, astral and physical coverings and no features of the three lower regions of mind and matter stick to it any longer.

Now, the immaculate Soul brightly and radiantly appears in the light of twelve suns. It does not need to be reborn in the lower levels unless it is ordered by the Supreme Lord Himself. It has tasted the Nectar of the incomparable music – Amrit –  and has a complete insight into the Real Nature of the creation.

In the realm of Daswan Dwar the liberated Soul completely realises that it is Love in its essence just like the Supreme Lord of Love Himself.

He, who comes here, is called a Sadh.

A Sadh is one who has gone beyond the region of Trikuti – Onkar – which is the same as Lahut in Sufi terminology, and Hu in Islamic theology. He has witnessed the spirit in its pristine Glory, after having rid it of all coverings, and is now Trigunatit – beyond the three gunas: satva, rajas, and tamas, in which all human beings work according to their natural and native instincts; beyond the five elements – earth, water, fire, air and ether, of which the physical world is composed; beyond the twenty-five prakritis  – the subtle forms in varying degrees of the elements [see the subsection 'Prakritis' in the illustration to 'The Narration of Queen Indra Mati'; Editor’s Note]; and beyond also mind and matter.

In short, He is an adept in self-knowledge, or the art and science of spirit, and can, at will, disengage the spirit from various koshas – sheaths or caskets – in which it is enclosed like a priceless gem.

The greatness of a Sadh lies beyond the three Gunas – as he is Trigunatit.

By a process of self-analysis, he – a Sadh – has known the self or spirit in its Real Form – to wit, that it is of the same essence as God, and now he strives for God-Knowledge.

Now, the soul really knows where the Supreme Lord resides and its most sublime desire is to consubstantiate with Him.

The Soul’s Journey – Part II,
The Way through the super causal Regions,
contains excerpts from: Godman (First Edition, 1967) –
III. Gradations in Mastership,
by Kirpal Singh, 1894–1974

(See also the buttons 'Soul’s Journey' and 'Sant Mat / Kirpal Singh / Godman.')

When the astral body of a man is completely clean and pure as it may be the case of one within millions, all other fellow-beings in his surrounding feel well and relieved from the burdens of this world because of the community of this man.

This is but natural.

But having the rare privilege of meeting such a man whose causal body is clean and pure as it is the case of one within many millions, we will automatically hear the Holy Sound Current in his presence.

This is an immutable and unlimitedly working law since the beginning.

A real Sadh helps seekers after Truth by preparing them for the way and finally gives them over to the Master.

When He was asked, who would become His successor, Kirpal Singh said:

I wish you all to become ambassadors of Truth.

In this sense also His following statement is to be understood:

So springtime is upon us now; there will be more fragrant Saints, I would say now, Who will come up and give us through the Grace of God, a contact with the God-into-Expression-Power.

So He wishes, that all His disciples reach at least the status of Sadhs during their lives.

The aforementioned so-called sadhus being ascetics or wandering monks, well-known especially in India, normally are no Sadhs, because they do not have authentic Inner Knowledge. Therefore all activities of such persons – a lot of them have founded structures – are of no value for seekers after Truth. In fact, they live from the charity of others. They have turned their 'renunciation' into a career, and so they have become professional beggars. But he who turns begging to his profession will be reborn as a true beggar. Furthermore these 'sadhus' are often members of major clans – each with hundreds of members – that often fight one another.
 
Whoever has understood this, recognises that a dream has died in the face of reality.