The True Mystic-Adept

by Dr George Arnsby Jones

Sant Kirpal Singh Ji Maharaj is the mystic Adept Who truly can convey that liberating force, which is the essence of God, to the sincere seeker for the living Truth of all creation. Most of us have been taught, at some time or another, that God is the Reality of life and the Essence of life. However, in the One Unity of life there is always the illusion of the many, and the totality of life also signifies the existence of a diversity throughout its many levels. The essence of all creation is its very life-breath; it is the Primal Principle that pervades the entire cosmos and is the One Reality behind all forms and expressions. God is the active Life-Principle that is the very source of creation: spiritual, causal, and physical. It is the Godman, the liberated soul, who can truly demonstrate God – the active Life-Principle – to other men:

The Son knows the Father; others whom the Son reveals.

The attributive nature of the Divine Life-Principle is its integrated force-field – to use the specialised language of contemporary thought –, for it inheres within that force-field. The Light of the sun cannot be conceived as apart from the sun itself, for one does not exist without the other. Neither can the Godman be conceived as apart from that Supreme Being which is the Controlling Power of all creation. Any attempt to consider the nature and the essence of the active Life-Principle as separate, even though the two may appear separated to the rational mind, is to introduce the idea of duality. It is only in terms of duality that the human mind can conceive entified creation as distinct from a creative principle – or of Godman as distinct from God.

The totality of life is a Unity, not a duality. Evolving life seeks self-consciousness through multitudinous manifestations of form and expression. Man himself is the highest development of the unfoldment of evolving life upon this planet. He must then recognise his True Spiritual Office within the universal scheme of things, and must become consciously identified with the higher Spiritual Aspects of his True Self. Everything in creation is alive and demonstrates a measure of consciousness proportionate to its capacity for orderly expression; this truism applies to mineral, vegetable, animal man and the cosmic universe. The Life-Principle is the essence and totality of all these manifestations.

In the physical universe the Life-Principle interacts constantly with matter. Creation is therefore the result of the external play of the dual forces of the Life-Principle – soul – and matter. All creation is the outcome of the one upon the other. The Life-Principle, then, is the soul of the universe, and it is the root cause of creation, for nothing can come into manifestation without it. Fundamentally, the soul of the universe is constant, self-sufficient being. Duality appears when that soul manifests through a given form, then it is observed as positive and negative, masculine and feminine, and so forth. But in its primal state the Life-Principle is an undivided Unity, beginless and endless. It is extremely subtle, a self-effulgent spark of a sublime Power that is beyond the grasp of mortal mind; it is a boundless and unchangeable permanence, ever complete within itself, and immanent within every visible and invisible form of creation. All creation is manifested because of it.

Man is a combination of the two basic elements: soul and matter. The soul of man, although intrinsically of the same essence as the Universal Life-Principle, is encased within sheaths of mind and matter. Thus the individual soul is conditioned by the external world of time, space, and causation, and has but an imperfect perception of reality. The soul should ideally radiate the Spiritual Essence of God into the life of man, and the mind should reflect the illumination it receives from the soul into the consciousness of the individual. Thus the first purpose of life for the aware human-being should be to ascend the spiral of spiritual endeavour. becoming conscious of his true nature as an embodied soul. Man, in his ignorance, reverses this Inner Process in space-time and reduces his higher capabilities to lower levels of expression, dissipating the energies of the soul in the external world. Mankind sleeps in ignorance of its True Spiritual Heritage its life is subject to the repetitive ritual of past racial conduct. Such a somnambulant condition perpetuates the manifold miseries of humanity, the curses of war, famine and suffering.

To discover and know the basic essence of that liberating force that is God, the individual seeker must free the soul from the fetters of mind and matter. The attainment of such a necessary goal can be divided into two operations:

1. Concentration. Man is literally a thinking being; his mind must become his servant, an instrument which concentrates the soul currents into a certain area of focus.

2. Active effort towards the goal of soul-consciousness and Spiritual Liberation. It is well to remember that the individual is what he is today as a result of past thinking and past actions. A new Spiritual Orientation involves the performance of devotional exercises and mental discipline.

How is the active Life-Principle manifested to the aware individual? Great mystics of the past have referred to the Life-Principle as an abstract Spiritual Sound. Moses heard this Spiritual Sound when He stood alone on Mount Sinai; Jesus heard It when the Godpower manifested to Him in the desert wilderness; the same Sound is portrayed as the flute of Lord Krishna in the Hindu scriptures; Lord Shiva, whilst in deep contemplation in the fastness of his Himalayan cave, heard the same Sound. Bells and gongs in temples and churches are meant to symbolise the Inner Spiritual Sound, thus providing an outer reminder to the devotee to dedicate himself anew to the Spiritual Life; needless to say, this fact has been forgotten or ignored by the professional practitioners of religion. It is not mere coincidence that in the revelatory scriptures of all the major religions there are frequent references to the Word, the Inner Sound Current of the Eternal Life-Principle.

The Upanishads refer to the Word as Udgit; the Vedas term It Sruti or Akash Bani; Hindus speak of It as Naad; Islamic writings refer to It as Kalma ; the Sikh scriptures denote It as Shabd or Bani. In the terminology of the Highest Mystic Adepts It is known as Naam or Shabd. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the remarkable lady who founded the Theosophical Society, referred to this sublime Word in her book ‘The Voice of the Silence.’ In the scriptures of Christianity the following statement is made:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

St John 1:1

Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith, spoke of Naam or the Word in the following manner:

There is One Reality, the Unmanifest-Manifested; Ever-Existent, He is Naam (Conscious Spirit), the Creator; pervading all; without fear; without enmity; the Timeless; the Unborn and the Self-existent; complete within Itself. […]

Jap Ji, Prologue

The active Life-Principle truly manifests as the Music of the Spheres. This ageless concept of the Spiritual Sound Current of creation reappears in the words of one of the most distinguished scholars of our time. Dr Donald Hatch Andrews, Professor Emeritus of the Johns Hopkins University and distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Florida Atlantic University, made the following statement some years ago:

We are making the startling discovery that, in a word, the basic reality of the universe is not matter but music, we are living in a universe which is built on musical terms rather than materialistic terms. The discovery of atomic music has forced us to a new view.

Dr Rudolf Steiner, the remarkable Austrian mystic and philosopher, made the following observation to a group of his students:

If one seeks a true knowledge of man one should study the human form not only as it presents itself to the eye, that is from a merely anatomical point of view, but one should try to add an inner musical understanding for the force which brought about this form. If one is able to achieve such an inner understanding of the creative musical forces, then one will discover that music can be seen everywhere in the world. It is there, if only one can find it.¹

This musica1 Life-Stream of the cosmic universe underlies facet of higher mystical exploration into the Spiritual Worlds. It is interesting to ponder on the fact that the word vocation namely, man’s calling in everyday life, and the word invocation, namely, man’s relationship to God, are both derived from the Sanskrit root vaktr, which means human language or speech. Schopenhauer affirmed that Music is the Inner Life of the cosmos, and is something fundamental or archetypal. Music, he stated. is a direct expression of Nature. The musician hears the direct pulse of Divine Will through the world and he perceives how this will expresses itself in sounds. The poet Novalis, in his ‘Fragments,’ affirmed that music seemed to be the basic proportions of nature. As Plato has stated in ‘The Republic,’ – Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul.

Outer music is but a faded reflection of the Inner supernal Sounds.

Shamas-i-Tabrez, the Great Sufi mystic of Persia, declared:

Creation came into being from Saut (Sound or Word) and from Saut spread all Light.

In subsequent ages, many intellectual scholars and theologians have interpreted scriptural references to Sound and Light as metaphorical statements concerning intuitive or intellectual enlightenment. Of course, the word Logos may be interpreted as connoting reason or order, and reference to lightmay be dismissed as merely mental illumination. But the many equivalents in the mystical literature of the world cannot be squeezed into the narrow compartments of mere intellectual knowledge, no matter how scholarly and erudite the latter may be. These scriptural references to Light and Soundare not figurative, but are literal references to the transcendent Lights and Sounds of the Inner Worlds. This transcendental stream of Light and Sound is the primal manifestation of God when He projects Himself into creation. In His highest state God is neither Light nor darkness, neither Sound nor silence; but when He assumes the mantle of creation, Light and Sound emerge as His primary attributes.

The following passage is a free translation of a very ancient Tibetan doctrine:

The Creative Word sounded through and among the vortices of unmanifest etheric matter; the Sun and the first planets became manifest in their primal states. The Sounding Light rayed through the planetary foci of energy, and the manifest forms of the Creator – the shades of the seven colours of His robe – appeared.’

This tonal God-into-expression Power is responsible for all created things. But the external physical universe of our outward cognition is not the only one that has thus been created. The entire cosmos is an unfathomable and illimitable pattern in which the highest level consists of a plane of pure, unalloyed spirit while the lowest level consists of gross physical matter. Between the positive pole of pure spirit and the negative pole of gross matter lie countless regions, which mystic Adepts often divide into three distinct planes of being in accordance with Their own peculiar balance of positive-spiritual and negative-material forces. The mystic Adepts teach that the single unified principle that links all these planes from pure spirit to gross matter is the Sounding Fire or the Fiery Sound.

It is the finding of this audible Life-Principle within oneself that is the primary aim of the seeker for Inner Reality, and the final aim is God-Realisation. The sounding Life-Stream must lead back to its primal source, which is God. The mighty Spiritual Currents of the Inner Worlds might at times enter dark ravines and encounter powerful rapids, but they nonetheless are the surest route on the upward journey; and since this Naam Current springs from the Supreme One, he who would hold courageously to It will inevitably reach the Source, transcending level after lever of creation until he reaches the final goal. The audible Life-Stream offers the surest way for the individual seeker to reach from material darkness to Spiritual Light, but the question arises as to how man can get access to this Sound Principle and thus accomplish his journey to the Spiritual Heights.

This question is answered by the following three conditions:

1. True Spiritual Teacher
2. Ethical living
3. Spiritual Disciplines

The first condition is that of finding a True Spiritual Teacher, a mystic Adept in the Spiritual Science of the audible Life-Stream. We are speaking here of a practical method of self-realisation, and so vague intuitive approaches or philosophic disquisitions serve no purpose whatsoever. If metaphysical theory could liberate the human spirit, then the many bibles and scriptures of mankind would be more than adequate to the task, and if it were merely a matter of trusting intuitive feelings, then at least 50 per cent of humanity – particularly women – would be experiencing the realities of the Inner Worlds. The aspirant to Inner Illumination must seek the competent aid of One Who has already mastered the Inner Spiritual Science. Without the assistance of such a teacher, the aspirant cannot even understand the True Import of the revelatory scriptures, let alone attain Spiritual Mastery.

The True Mystic Adept can speak with authority of experiences beyond the level of awareness of other human beings; and knowing the limitations of human language they can only speak in metaphors and parables, for it is impossible to describe the wonders of Spiritual Sight to those who are spiritually blind. To attempt even a limited interpretation of the Spiritual Verities behind the words and phrases of our diverse religious literature will often lead to a distortion of their true nature. Intellectual theorising upon the nature of God leads to unending theological contradictions, as witness the constant dogmatic and sterile debates which encumber the institutionalised social religions of our day. Only a person who has himself experienced the Spiritual Realities described at the core of all world scriptures can guide the seeker to the True Significance of their teachings. And the task of the True Spiritual Teacher does not finish at this point. The elucidation of the Inner Principles of religion is little more than the first faltering step on the pathway to eventual illumination. Once the seeker has understood the nature of his Inner Quest, he must labour long and diligently at his Spiritual Pursuit. To know with the rational mind is one thing,but to experience with the Inner Soul is quite another. The mystic Adept’s task truly begins after He has explained the Spiritual Goal to be attained: He then gives the aspirant a first-hand initiatory experience of the Inner audible Life-Stream, putting him in contact with the Spiritual Current, and gives him instructions as to the methods of consolidating and developing this Inner Experience to its fullest extent.

To find such a mystic Adept is the greatest discovery accorded in the human search for Truth. But to discover such a person and to be initiated into the Spiritual Science by Him is not sufficient to accord the aspirant the fullest Spiritual Experience. The germinal Inner Experience given by the mystic Adept must be constantly nurtured and developed to the point of full Spiritual Mastery. To be able to achieve this, the aspirant must accept whatever lessons are accorded to him after his initiation, and he must endeavour to put the precepts of his Spiritual Teacher into practical application in his everyday life. The True Mystic Adept works solely under the Spiritual Law of Love, and to accept the guidance of such a man is to love Him, and to love Him is to keep His commandments. The keynote of the Highest Spiritual Science is Love, and until one can learn to love and obey His Spiritual Mentor, the Highest Spiritual Gift remains as sterile as a seed that is cast upon barren soil. It is possible to find such a mystic Adept in this world.

Ethical living is the second condition of the seeker’s access to the Divine Sound Principle within. This means very simply that the aspirant should lead a good life. A good life does not necessarily imply the observation of a rigid ethical code or dogmatic moral precepts but suggests the establishing of Inner Purity and simplicity; such qualities would radiate from the seeker and permeate his every thought, word and action. The good life is as much concerned with the aspirant’s personal and hygienic habits, as with his individual and social code of ethics. The good life embraces not only the personal life of the aspirant and his dealings with his fellow humanity, but also with his relations to all living things. To achieve Inner Harmony the aspirant must realise the outer harmony established in creation, and that the lowliest creature partakes of the same Divine Essence as the most advanced human being. The True mystic Adept teaches the aspirant the initial lesson of the identity of substance, and the seeker who has grasped this basic truth will discipline his life accordingly.

The aspirant will have reached the point where he is not prey to inordinate desires; he will hold all his actions at that point of focus which is True Detachment; claiming no possessions whatsoever, he will possess all things. But such detachment is not a life of asceticism or indifference to the rest of creation. To realise the Unity of All-Life is to find a new bond between the individual self and all created things. He will automatically enrich mankind spiritually as he enriches his own Inner Experience, without the need of exploiting any individual or sectional interest. There is no monopoly in the field of Spirituality, every living being can claim his rightful share of the riches given by the Supreme One. But the True Riches are Spiritual Ones; the seeker must always know how to render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and how to render unto God what is God’s. The aspirant will not repress desire, but will meet the challenge of all desires squarely recognising them for what they are. In this way he will transcend desire. The way of Spiritual Pilgrimage is not one of outer evasion or escapism, but a way of Inner Freedom.

Guru Nanak has stated:

Let contentment be your ear-rings, and endeavour for the Divine and respect for the Higher Self be your wallet, and constant meditation on Him be your ashes. Let preparedness-for-death be your cloak, and let your body be like unto a chaste virgin. Let your Master’s teachings be your supporting staff. The Highest Religion is to rise to Universal Brotherhood, aye, to consider all creatures your equals. Conquer your mind, for victory over self is victory over the world. Hail, Hail, to Him alone, the Primal, Pure, Eternal, Immortal, and Immutable in all ages.

Jap Ji, Stanza 28

The third condition of the seeker’s aspiration to Spiritual Heights is that of the performance of Spiritual Disciplines. The mystic Adept endorses the living of the good life, but firmly states that this is not an end in itself. Desirable as ethical and moral living is, the goal of life goes beyond this. This goal is that of the complete transcension of the seeker – away from the plane of relativity and physical existence – into the region of absolute Spiritual Being. Thus the mystic Adept stresses the transcendental goal constantly. He insists that the beginning of the Inner Journey takes place at the seat of the soul, a point of consciousness between and behind the eyebrows. At the time of the aspirant’s initiation, the mystic Adept will give him a first-hand Inner Experience, which He will tell him to develop further by regular Spiritual Exercises. It is at this time that the aspirant is shown how to focus his Inner Attention at the Third Eye focus. To assist this Inner Concentration the mystic Adept gives the aspirant a charged verbal formula, which symbolises the Spiritual Journey ahead of him. This formula is not repeated aloud, but is spoken with the tongue of thought, that is, in the aspirant’s mind. This Inner Technique assists the aspirant in collecting his scattered thoughts and holding his attention at the point of Inner Focus.

This process of Inner Concentration automatically draws the soul current towards the Spiritual Center in man. These currents are normally dissipated all over the body through the average man’s preoccupation with the external world. This Inner Withdrawal is greatly helped by the repetition of the verbal formula, and the perception of the Inner Light of the soul accelerates the process still further. The seeing of the Inner Light leads in turn to Inner Hearing, and the aspirant finds himself surely linked to the resonant strains of the audible principle of the Spiritual Life-Stream. Closing his ears to external sounds the aspirant rapidly becomes absorbed in the Inner Sound Current. He is drawn upwards into another realm of experience – a world that has far more reality than the gross physical world. The Spiritual Transcension of physical consciousness is thus achieved whilst living in the everyday world, and with the minimum of effort and difficulty.

As the aspirant progresses on his Inner Journey he finds that each plane of ascent is more beautiful – and more real – than the last. He meets his Spiritual Teacher – the mystic Adept – within, and finds that the One Whom He considered as an exalted human teacher on the physical plane is truly a Divine Guide on the upward journey. Under the Inner Guidance of the mystic Adept the aspiring soul realises that the ultimate goal still lies further ahead. Drawn upwards by the audible Life-Stream and accompanied by the subtle form of the mystic Adept, the soul ascends from region to region, plane to plane, divesting its outer sheaths or subtle bodies until it stands triumphant revealed in its True Nature of complete Spirituality. It enters a realm of consciousness where it recognises that it is of the same essence as the Supreme Being, and that the aspiring soul, the Inner mystic Adept, and God are not separate entities but are One. In this realm of splendour there is naught but an ineffable Ocean of Consciousness and Love and Bliss. There is truly no duality.

The mind of man created the concept of duality, wherein man became separated from the consciousness of one the unified cosmos of bliss. The mind is the mirror of man’s concept of reality, but man uses mind as a distorting mirror. The mind of man is not the highest attribute of man, just as the Mind of God is not the highest attribute of the Creator. The Supreme Being creates through the medium of Universal Mind – a vast causal world – but the Supreme Being is not that Universal Mind, in spite of statements to the contrary by many modern metaphysicians. Universal Mind is the projection of the Creator. Man, built in the image of his Creator, also creates through the medium of his own mind, but he is not that mind. Man is truly a living soul, the essence of God, and on his upward journey the aspiring soul sees that the human mind is – in spite of its wonderful functions and creativeness – still far lower on the ladder of the Inner Universe than the higher aspects of the human being.

Beyond the realm of mind is that region of which Christ spoke:

There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed, and hid, that shall not be known.

St Matthew 9:26

As he progresses onwards and upwards the aspiring soul becomes increasingly aware of the all-pervading manifestation of God through the audible Life-Stream, the unstruck and unfathomable Word that underpins all creation from the realm of pure spirit to the plane of gross matter. As the river of life this God-into-Expression Power exists in a fluid state, altering its tonal nature from level to level, yet always remaining the same in its primal essence. The True mystic Adept, One Who has mastered this Spifitual science of God-Realisation, shows himself as the Living embodiment of that sublime Word, just as he shows the aspirant that he too is of the same essence. It was such an embodiment that led Kabir, the poet Saint of the fifteenth century India, to declare:

All Holy Ones are worthy of reverence, but I only adore One Who has mastered the Word.

Such a one, who has mastered the Word is Sant Kirpal Singh Ji Maharaj, the True Mystic Adept of our time.

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Footnotes: 1) Quoted from ‘Music: Its Occult Basis and Healing Value,’ compiled by Lionel Stebbing. New Knowledge Books, 18 Elizabeth Crescent, East Grinstead, Sussex, England.