Translation of a Talk delivered on the Birth Anniversary of Hazur Maharaj

II

Once when in Ferozepur, I met a Satsangi. Though Sat – Truth – pervades everywhere and is constantly at work just behind the iron curtain of the mind, yet one who has by a process of withdrawal freed his spirit – of ignorance that separates the physical and subtle planes – he alone can claim to be Satsangi in the true sense of the word. On the other hand one who has not even joined the school of Spirituality has hardly any claim to style himself a Satsangi. But in sheer delusion of the self, we fall a victim of narrow-minded and petty jealousies and prejudices.

A person got an offering from a Gurdawara in one hand. He held this hand behind his back and extended the other to avail on another turn of the offering, but found to his dismay that the offering already received was snatched away by a dog from behind. Naturally the distributor in front refused to offer the Parshad offering once again. We are exactly in a similar plight. We have no moorings at all and are continuously adrift. In the common man abstract principles come first, and hence most of us are rogues and cheats. The fault lies neither with the Satsang – or the Spiritual Discourse – nor with the Spiritual Personalities but with the lack of discrimination in us. The Great Soul in Whose memory we have congregated together this day, had the ideal of uniting the people of different religious beliefs and creeds in bonds of fellowship.

Hazur, during His last illness once called me and said

Kirpal Singh, set up such a common platform on which persons of different religious denominations might find a meeting place for the Love of the Lord. Never follow or use any one set of speech or else the people will once again degenerate into narrow circles or groups. I have always told the Satsangis – followers – that I was well pleased with all forms of salutation, such as, Ram Ram, Salaam and Namaskar, but they never understood me correctly.

He ordered me to name the very spot where you are sitting just now as Ruhani Satsang – a College of Spirituality. And intoxication is alike for one and all, no matter whether one be a Hindu or a Muhammadan or a Christian. If in a tavern, tipplers of all types sit together in a common drinking bout, regardless of casts and creeds, why then should there be any thought of such differences amongst the tipplers of God’s wine. The Truth of the matter is that we have not yet tasted a drop of the Divine Liquor or else there could be no such talk, or even thought, of such differences. All these denominational distinctions vanish into thin air, the moment one sits in the company of Saints and sips this wine.

Jab se sadh sangat mohe bhai – Na koi bairi nahin begana – Sagal sang ham ko ban aai.

With the blessings of the Saints I have now no enemy or even one who may be said to be an alien. All are now friends to me.

The association of the Saints works out all distinctions and differences. Most of us have had an opportunity to attend the Spiritual Discourses of Hazur and at these none even know or felt as to who sat next to him, whether it was a cobbler or a wealthy person. A kind of kindling atmosphere prevailed and time seemed to stand still. It was all due to His blessing and that blessing of His still continues even to this day.

Dar-i-janan ki khak lainge – Apna kaaba juda banainge.

We shall bring dust from the portals of the Beloved, and with it shall set up a separate Kaaba (a place of worship) of our own.

That which helps in building a Kaaba – or a place of devotion – is just within you, and is to be drawn out. One Who has been able to realise this, can help you to do likewise; and the hidden treasure will become manifest.

Iqbal and Swami Ram Givtha were great friends. While one learnt Persian, the other did Sanskrit. After the death of Swami Ram Givtha, his son went to England to learn Mining Engineering. On his return to India, Iqbal greeted him with the words,

Your father died in excavating the mysteries of heaven and you would now excavate the mysteries of earth – as a Mining Engineer.

We, too, are in the same condition. We are tied to the dust and dirt of the earth and unless we are able to leave the plane of senses by withdrawing the spirit – we cannot look heavenwards.

Tera dham adhar men piari, – Tu dhar sang raht bandhani.

Thy abode, oh Beloved, is in heaven, but thou art bound to the earth.

You belong to a region which is non-material, but you are tied down to the material earth. It is said,

Dila ta ke darin khake majazi – Kuni hamchn tiflan khak bazi.

How long, oh man, wilt thou play with the dust just like a child.

Before you leave the body, you must learn to unravel the mysteries of heaven. The mysteries of heaven can be solved by penetrating into Gaggan – the astral plane –, i.e., by withdrawing the spirit from the physical body and going into the astral, and from there on to Brahmand or the causal plane, and further on to Sach Khand the abode of Bliss. This you can only learn from the Person Who has already traversed all these realms, and the journey can only be undertaken with the help and guidance of such a Being. It is impossible otherwise to withdraw the soul from the plane of senses. This physical raiment is just like a magic box and we cannot possibly get out of it. One Who has succeeded in breaking through this house of wonder, can teach you how to do likewise. Blessed are those who have already achieved this, whether they be Hindus or Muslims. If this thing has not been accomplished the very purport of life is defeated. Do not deceive yourself in the belief that you will get salvation simply because you are a Hindu or a Sikh or a Christian. The outer religion is of no avail in this matter. It is only a stepping stone which everyone has to step on in order to proceed further, and enables one to lead a life of piety and good conduct. The moment this is achieved religion has fulfilled its purpose. You have now just to take the next step: Seek instructions from some Master of the Path, and under His guidance tap within and go up into the astral or subtle world.

Aan toi ke be badan dari badan, – Pas mastras auz jisam-o-jan beroon shudan.

Thou art one who possessed a body quite distinct and apart from this physical form (meaning thereby astral and causal bodies). Fear not then to leave this body and escape from this prison house.

Once an initiate in his daily devotions, came to the verge of taking a great leap into the world beyond, but he cried out,

Oh, I am about to die.

When death is the end of life, is it not a good fortune to know the way to the other side of the grave, while one lives. This physical body has ten portals or orifices – viz. two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, mouth, urinary organ and the rectum – nine of which are physical, while the tenth is an invisible outlet or exit and is known as Nukta-i-Sweda by the Muhammadans, Shiv Netra by the Hindus or the Third Eye as distinct from the two physical eyes.

Andhe dar ki khabar na pai.

Oh thou art really blind as thou knowest not the exit.

This grand exit, the tenth portal, connects the physical body with the astral or subtle body and thus enables the soul or the spirit to extend its consciousness or vision to that region and on to the causal world, and even beyond to the abode or seat of the Great God; but alas, we know not of this great and grand portal leading to the realms within. We can know of it only from some High Soul or Saint and it is through His blessings that we can have admission to it and traverse, or switch over, from this physical world to the Spiritual World. Such Beings are met with rarely – like a lion in the forest or the rare jewel in the depths of granite rock beds. A person of this calibre stands like a firm rock unshaken by the winds that blow, for the mighty power of the Great God is at his back and call. Whomsoever He contacts with that Great Power, sings eulogies and paeans in praise of Him; but alas, by far the greater number in utter ignorance, get inimical towards Him – for those who stand to lose their living talk ill of Him and concoct false stories about Him and His deeds.

Just as children get wild with excitement when they see an elephant coming, but when it reaches them, make way for it – in the same way, the people first scoff and laugh at the High Souled Saint; but when they find their jeers and pin-pricks are in vain and have no effect on Him, and that inspite of these He grows in influence and power, they begin to hurl abuses on Him, and lastly greedy for a fight. But in the end they have to acknowledge His greatness and bow down in shame. This indeed is the way of the world.

Guru Nanak for instance was dubbed a Kurahia or one with a perverted intellect who went about leading people astray. What after all was at the bottom of it? He had forsaken His wife and children, His family and household and undertook four long and arduous journeys, each covering a period of twelve years. In His wanderings of about half a century He preached Truth to stumbling humanity steeped in utter ignorance. Accursed was the tongue that dared call such a self-less and High Souled Saint a Kurahia. But the people, too, are not to be blamed, for their discriminative eye, the Third Eye that alone sees the Truth, is closed and They see not and distinguish not the chaff from the grain. These were the folk who crucified Christ – the Living Son of the Living God. But knowing all this, these exalted Beings utter no words of complaint, keep Their lips sealed in the service of God; suffer untold miseries, and smilingly meet tortuous deaths at His bidding just to fulfil His purpose.

Once Jesus, while lunching with His disciples, said,

From amongst thee who are sitting around me, one shall betray me and get me crucified.

In the fullness of time one of His very disciples reported against Him and got Him crucified. When His end came near, He prayed –

Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Once Hazrat Ibrahim was sitting in a boat and amongst the voyagers was a rich merchant with a few of His companions. To amuse the rich man, His friends began to play pranks. As Ibrahim, the Man of God, sat absorbed in His own thoughts, they began to jest and jeer at Him. Ibrahim, however, kept His peace. He heard within Him the Voice of God saying,

Oh, Ibrahim! These people are trying to belittle thee and degrade thee and I cannot stand this nonsense. If thou so wishest, I would like to overturn this boat and drown them all.

Hazrat replied,

Oh God, why doest Thou not topple down their perverted understanding, that their eyes (Inner Vision) my open and they should know Thee.

The blessings and munificence of God are coming down continuously, do not feel disappointed but adjust yourself towards Him to feel all His gifts.

The greatness of a Mahatma does not consist in this that He should possess a palace to live in, or have a large following. On the contrary it lies in His Grace. He forgives even the heinousness of sinners. He has compassion for those who come even to murder Him.

The mother will never thrust away a child even though he may have soiled himself with dirt. She will rather clean him all over and embrace him to her breast. In the same way the High Souled Saints cleanse the downtrodden jivas, or the embodied souls, stuck up in the quagmire of the worldly dirt and make them turn over a new leaf.

All these things that I am telling you, I found reflected in the nature of Hazur. The greatest thing that I found in Him was that He would try to liberate people from the rigours of religious forms and rituals, and to understand the True Profit of life. He never asked a person to leave off his code of religious morals nor to die in them bound hand and foot. He simply opened his eyes to the Truth within. Man by nature is gregarious and lives in society, and has of necessity to make social rules and regulations so that he may live at peace with his brethren.

All codes of morals serve like a nurse to the Dame Reality and help in the birth of a child – the regeneration of man.

No religion permits the immolation of women or the killing of persons; but alas! what man has done with man is to scandalous to be put on record. After the partition of this country the people in the name of religion polluted the chastity of women and killed hundreds of thousands of innocent persons. If all this gruesome and ghastly dance of death cannot serve to open our eyes; we cannot possibly mend ourselves. If we had a grain of feeling in us we ought to hang our heads in shame. There are, however, a few awakened souls among us but these are very rare, and such rendered a valuable yeoman’s service in those most trying and troubled times.

I would like to relate a couple of instances of Hazur in those days. Hazur was physically ailing – for body alone is subject to diseases and the Great Souls very often vicariously take upon themselves the people’s burden of karmic action.

During partition days, when passions were running high, some Muslims came to Hazur for protection. He lovingly kept them in the Dera. In September 1947 Hazur planned to got to Amritsar. When I went to see Him with the hope of accompanying Him to Amritsar, Hazur bade me remain at Dera and look after the comforts of the Dera people and the Muslims, according to the exigencies at the moment. A Muslim caravan was to leave that day for Pakistan. Hazur therefore enjoined me to escort the Muslims of the Dera to that caravan. It so happened that torrential down pour of rain came on that day.

Hazur felt a deep agony and said,

Our Muslim brethren are in a very poor plight, but we have no sympathy for them in our heart.

As Hazur started for Amritsar, He saw a huge crowd of Muslims near Beas Railway Station. A Jamadar with a loaded gun was in the car with Him and in spite of his remonstrances, Hazur ordered the car to be taken right towards the Muslim Horde and pulled it up just in their midst. He called for the leader of the Muslim caravan and with tears in His eyes said,

I have in the Dera a few Muslim brethren, and would very much like to see them safely escorted across the border.

Such indeed are the acts of High Souled Saints. His heart was full of compassion and pity for the suffering humanity.

In the evening a truck load of Muslims prepared to join the evacuees on the march, when all of a sudden I heard the news that a band of armed Akalis had gathered near Dera and intended to raid it and massacre the Muslims. All alone I went to them full of confidence in Hazur’s munificence and Greatness. A few of the Akalis with spears and spades blocked my way.

I said to them,

These helpless brethren have come to Hazur for protection. It behoves the Khalsas to extend the protection that they seek. The spirit of the Khalsa requires no demands, that those who seek Mercy must be given Mercy. You had better hug them to your bosom.

Hearing these words a couple of aged Akalis came forward and said,

You have this day saved the Khalsas from what would otherwise have been a great sacrilege and a heinous crime of taking away the life of so many of these poor souls. We shall not now touch a hair of these people.

All this transformation from a blood-thirsty mood to that of sympathy and fellow-feeling came through the Grace of Hazur.

As the truck was about to pass by the Akalis I stopped it and said,

These brethren of ours are today quitting their hearths and homes not because of any hatred towards us but are being driven to it by sheer necessity. We have all these years been living together in peace and concord. Will it not be good if we bid good-bye to them with loving embraces.

This touched them to the core. In an instant I found the two – i.e. Akalis and Muslims – hugging each other with tears streaming down their cheeks – the two who a short while before were anxious to cut each other’s throats. No religion permits man-slaughter or genocide. We indulge in these things because we are taught the wrong way and religion is used as a smoke screen for the perpetration of dastardly deeds to serve selfish ends. There are instances on record wherein the Muslims also saved the lives of Hindus and vice versa.

A friend of mine narrated to me an instance which he witnessed at Lahore after the partition. One day he was standing near Nila Gumbad when a Muslim came to him and asked him to go to the top storey of a nearby building. At first he felt hesitant, but when he did go there, he found a Sikh preparing his meal. The latter told him how, since the communal disturbances, he was being looked after by the Muslims, who supplied him with ration and had assured him that after the passions cooled down, he would be escorted to safety to wheresoever he wanted to go. Then that Muslim took him to another room where the Holy Granth was lying in state. The fact remains that whosoever has learnt the true import of his religion, has an all embracing Love for the entire humanity, and is not torn by sectional and communal love.

It is said,

Tu barai wasal kardan amdi – Nai barai fasal kardan amdi.

Oh man of wisdom (Moses) thou wert sent to knit people unto me (God) – And not to lead my people away from me.

Once a shepherd boy leaving his goats to pastre in a meadow sat under a tree and lovingly began to commune with God in this wise,

Oh God! I wish that both of us should live side by side. I shall not make Thee discomfortable. Should Thou fall ill, I shall attend Thee day and night. Should Thou get tired I shall massage Thy hands and feet. I shall bring Thee a barley bread and spinach to eat and give Thee goats’ fresh milk to drink. I shall pick up lice from Thy hair and give Thee a hair-wash with milk and curd …

The shepherd boy was deeply absorbed in these thoughts when the Prophet Moses passed that way. He shouted at the boy and said,

Oh, fool why art thou blaspheming. God is altogether unlike thee and shall not eat thy barely bread and spinach nor shall He ever fall ill or get lice in His head.

The boy was stunned to hear this, and began to tingle in every nerve and inquired,

Perhaps I am wrong … I ought not to have talked like this … Will the Great God be annoyed with me?

With these thoughts within him, he began to cry. As he sobbed he felt comforted and in harmony with the Higher Power. In that blissful state he had a vision of God. The celestial Visitant consoled him with the words,

I shall accept all thy offerings, for I am well pleased with thee.

In the meanwhile Moses having reached the heights of Mt. Sinai, sat in meditation and felt within him the Voice of God, saying,

Oh Moses! I am thoroughly annoyed with tee. Thou are guilty of breaking the heart of that shepherd boy, who was communing with Me, with all Love and affection.

The Prophet was surprised and said,

Oh God, his words were not of Love but were blasphemous.

The Great God replied,

Thou knowest that the world of that boy contained nothing else but barley bread, spinach, goats’ milk and lice. I gave thee wisdom and had thou utilised it, thou mayest knit Me to those who are separated from Me and not that thou shouldst rent asunder loving hearts that are One with Me.

Hazur possessed this attribute in great abundance. He would unite thousands of people in one common brotherhood. All of us that are assembled here, belong to that great fraternity into which Hazur bound us together. We must not only live in peace and harmony, but have Love and affection for all humanity. This would only be possible when one understands the true import of Hazur’s teachings. Generally when such High Souls pass away, the following degenerates; petty-mindedness creeps in and we begin worshipping mammon and sin.

Hazur used to tell us that when a High Soul comes into the world, the worshippers of wealth and women also gather round Him. Hence He said,

Whatever a person asked of me, I granted. He who wanted riches got riches. He who wished for lands, was given lands. Those who wanted me alone, got me in abundance.

If today as we sit to commemorate the anniversary of Hazur, we could learn one lesson – viz. to love all and to entertain no evil thoughts for others – this memorial service would not be in vain. In case you have already learnt this lesson, it is well and good, but if not, we must learn it now. We must purify our minds, for God loves the man who is pure in heart and makes such a heart alone His resting place.

Christ said,

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

God does not live in high heavens. He is just within us. But our minds, impure as they are, fail to reflect His Holy Presence.

Always carry the sweet memory of Hazur with you. As you think so shall you become.

Hari ke gun hari bhanvde so guru te apie.

God is enamoured of His own attributes and these one can know from a Godman – the Master.

What then are these virtues? He blesses everyone with sustenance, and it does not matter if the person be a robber or a dacoit. He loves all. You, too, should therefore, love His creation. You have not yet seen God, but have seen the Godman alone. If you were to contact the Godman and merge your identity with Him, you will automatically acquire his merits and attributes because of the well-known aphorism – as you think so you shall become. The result will be that you will become a Guruman, and the Guru – the Master – being Godman will Himself dye you in the colour of God. In this way you will realise the presence of God within you and that indeed is the Summum Bonum of life. In the association of a Godman, we can get a Real Life-Impulse and this Life-Impulse can be developed by constant dwelling on Him and by literal obedience to His behests. That alone is the way to salvation.