Selections from an early Discourse

The talk from which these selections were taken was given by Kirpal Singh in memory of His Master, Hazur Maharaj Baba Sawan Singh Ji, not long after Hazur left the body. The talk was published with the date 1 January 1952.

Once Hazrat Ibrahim was sitting in a boat and among 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 dost Thou not topple down their perverted understanding that their eyes may open and they should know Thee.

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 most heinous 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 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.

No religion permits the immolation of women or the killing of persons; but alas! what man has done with man is too 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 go 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 a torrential downpour 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 was in the car with Him and in spite of his protests, Hazur ordered the car to be taken right to 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 great sacrilege and 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 bloodthirsty 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 goodbye to them with loving embraces?

This touched them to the core. In an instant I found the two – 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 terrible deeds to serve selfish ends. There are instances on record wherein Muslims also saved the lives of Hindus and vice versa. …

The fact remains that whosoever has learned 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:

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 leading his goats to pasture 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 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 barley 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 Mount Sinai, sat in meditation and felt within him the voice of God, saying,

Oh Moses! I am thoroughly annoyed with thee. Thou art 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 wouldst not have spoken like this. I sent thee into the world that thou mayest knit Me to those who are separated from Me and not that thou shouldst rend 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 will 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 – 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 has 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.