Questions answered

The Master receives from devotees queries on various aspects of Spirituality. These may be personal or academic, but the Master’s answers have universal appeal for Spiritual Aspirants. We reproduce here some of the questions and answers from the Master’s latest book ‘Spiritual Elixir’ for the benefit of our readers.

Question: How is Christ-Power transferred from one Master to another?

Answer: It is transferred through the eyes. As a matter of fact the chosen Human Pole on Whom the Master-Power is to work for the liberation and guidance of humanity is determined much earlier. There are living testimonies in this behalf that the dear ones who have never heard about Sant Mat and living in far flung countries had visions of the Master much ahead. He took the role of the Living Master. It is the Divine Form which works for the guidance of the humanity. They are chosen by God-Power or Christ-Power and not voted by the public, or transferred through written documents.

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Question: Are all the Masters great?

Answer: Kabir Sahib says that He adores all Masters, but the One Who is Word personified is to be held in the highest esteem.

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Question: How does one determine a Great Master?

Answer: Swami Ji Maharaj in ‘Sar Bachan’ has answered this question very beautifully. He exhorts that as and when you hear about a Saint or Master, just go to Him and in deep humility and reverence sit near Him. Just look into His eyes and forehead like a child with deep receptivity. You will feel an upward pull of the soul and Divine Radiation from His eyes and forehead. Besides, if you have any questions in your heart, these will be answered automatically by His discourse without your effort. Over and above all, the testing criterion for the Perfect Master is to have the conscious contact of Holy Naam within, the lowest links of which in the form of Divine Light and Holy Sound Current must be had on initiation. Again, He should be competent to afford guidance for His initiates in the astral plane and must protect the soul at the time of their physical death.

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Question: What is a Sant or Master?

Answer: A Sant or Master in the Saints’ terminology is One Who goes to Sach Khand or the Fifth Plane and comes back at will, and Who can give you experience of contact with the Word or Naam. A Mahatma is a word in the vernacular to convey a highly evolved soul. These words are, however, not properly used these days and an ordinary person of small degree of piousness may be termed a Sant or Master. But you need not worry about words.

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Question: What is the history of the Master?

Answer: Masters have been coming at all times. The Surat Shabd Science was, however, enunciated in times of Sant Kabir and Guru Nanak and thereafter by other Masters.

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Question: Is it possible to succeed on this Path alone?

Answer: No. To succeed on this Inner Path, we must find One Who has explored it to its utmost limits. A Living Master is an indispensable need, and an indispensable means to the attaining of self-realisation. On the purely physical level, He serves as a living example of a perfect life. He tells us of our True Home and the way that leads to it. On the Spiritual Side, He gives us details of the Inner Path, its intricacies and difficulties, provides His attention, with an actual experience of withdrawal from the body and of the Inner Light and Sound, and guides us through the more difficult parts of our Inner Journey until we reach our Goal.

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Question: There are many self-styled masters. How may one know a True Master?

Answer: A True Master is dedicated to bring souls back to the True Home of their Father. A True Master gives more than mere theory. He gives experience to His disciple. He shows the Way to God, which is within. God and Master are within. This question usually besets every True Seeker after God. In my boyhood, I had the same doubts and questioning before me. I did not dare to go to any Master for fear of encountering an imperfect master and then my whole life would be one of frustration. So I earnestly prayed to God for guidance. My prayer was heard. A True Master began to appear to me in my meditations, about seven years before I came to Him physically, Whom I recognised to be the same Great Master Sawan Singh. Your question remains – how to recognise a True Master? Outwardly we should see that He has no selfish motives. He should be living on His own hard-earned money. He should not be fond of outward pomp and show. He will live a simple life. His thoughts will be pure. His True Qualifications will lie in His ability to give the initiate some first-hand experience by opening the Inner Eye to see the Light of God and Inner Ear to hear the Voice of God, the Sound Principle. The extent of this experience will be according to the background of the initiate and his receptivity. After initiation the only rules for judging for one’s self is one’s own Inner Ascent to the Spiritual Planes whereby one can see for himself, and meet all Masters, past or present, wherever They are, in the upper or lower planes. Those who contact the Master inside and talk to him know.

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Question: How does a Master differ from an ordinary Spiritual Teacher?

Answer: The Master-Saint is outwardly a human being like any one of us, but through blessings and intense Spiritual Discipline, He has risen into cosmic awareness and super-cosmic awareness. He has become One with God and is a Conscious Co-Worker of His Divine Plan. He is a Living Embodiment of God’s Love and does nothing of Himself. He is not tormented by any self-interest, but works for the pure benefit of suffering humanity.

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Question: Do Masters welcome Sinners?

Answer: Yes, soul is of the same essence as that of God and the Master looks on all as embodied souls. So all are dear to Him. He wishes them to reach to the True Home of their Father. A repentant sinner coming with a sincere heart is acceptable to Him. We are all sinners and we come to Him to be cleansed.