Kirpal Singh

The Master’s Talk: Who is high, who is low?

Part I

You all probably know that this land has at last been acquired, after eight years of trying to get replacement of the land that was requisitioned by the Government. Today, Satsang is being held here for the first time – by God’s Grace and Baba Sawan Singh’s Mercy, this teaching is increasing daily and more space is needed to accommodate everyone; so from today onwards the Satsangs will be held here. There is soft sand and a natural canopy of trees to form shadows, under which to sit in protection from the heat and direct sunshine. I have noticed that even on the hottest days this place is not as hot as others. Trees and water are two of nature’s invaluable blessings.

The Satsang held here is not the monopoly of any special religion or sect. It is the basic teachings of all religions. Coming into the human birth, man is a social being and must have some social body to live in. There are more than seven hundred different faiths and sects, and if anyone feels that all outer religious symbols and customs should be the same, it is not possible, mainly due to climatic differences and social rites.

Someone once sought to trap Christ by questioning Him about paying taxes, but He requested that a coin of the local currency be brought forth. Showing them the coin, He asked them whose image and name was inscribed upon it, and they said,

Caesar’s.

So Christ replied,

Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.

So, whatever labels are stuck on your physical form, allow them to remain and keep your own faith, language, symbols, and customs. The soul, however, is of the same essence as God; and we are all His children. The soul, therefore, belongs to God – give it to Him.

Principally, two things are taught here: one is that the soul must realise God, and the other is that before realising the Truth, man must come to know himself in Truth. The words of the Sacred Scriptures were uttered by Those Who had realised the Truth, in Whose Names the religions were formed. All have said that the human’s Highest Aim is to realise the Lord, the accomplishment of which is only possible while in the human form. So, to have the human form is a great blessing, and everyone should take up this noble aim with strong purpose of heart.

All the different faiths were formed after the advent of some Great Soul, and whoever met those Souls and received Their Grace, realised the Truth and tasted the Nectar of the Lord. At the time of these Great Souls leaving the world, the schools and colleges or religions were made to keep Their teachings fresh and active. These are the badges which we now wear. While the God-realised Souls were here the people were benefited; but after They left, due to want of practical people and the start of paid preaching, the schools of thought which were founded with noble purpose began to stagnate – and then deterioration set in. But, Master-Souls continue to come to revive the Truth. We are all worshippers of the same Lord, and all are His children.

Kabir says,

Soul is of the same essence as that of God.

God may have thousands of Names by which He is remembered; but we, as mankind, are alone. The caste of man should be accepted as one. Were we not all born in the same way? Outwardly and inwardly all men have been made similarly although, of course, we were not the physical form. We have got a physical form. So, from all the eight million four hundred thousand species of beings, the human being is the emperor; and the greatness of that human form lies in the fact that within it God can be realised.

Receiving this human form, it is thy turn to meet God.

What an unspeakable blessing! The time has come to realise Him at last. It is thy turn to meet God. It is also said, 

All these actions will not really help you; 

so having been born in the human form, is there anything else to do? Remember this: that your life’s pattern is due to the give and take from past lives’ actions. These things should be finished up, and you should return to your True Home. So, how should we use this human life?

Keep the Sadhu’s company and repeat only the Naam.

Who is the Sadhu? Though God is in every being, and the Sadhu is born like us, yet there is a special greatness in Him.

My Lord is in each being – no place is without him, but I sacrifice myself for that form in which He is manifested.

God manifests Himself in this world – in the form of the Sadhu. He is in all, but He is not apparent in all. So, the manifested God in man is very necessary – One Who can withdraw our attention from external and mundane things and raise it above the senses, and then rejoin us back to God Who already resides within us.

Rejoin me back to God – anyone!

Is anything else required to become reunited with the Lord? Sadachar, righteous living, is most essential. The mind that is running amuck in bad outer influences must be brought to heel; only then can any Real Progress be achieved. Our greatest obstacle is that the soul is under the mind’s control, and mind, in turn, is under the senses’ control. So, release from this bondage is hastened by living righteously.

When they asked Zoroaster what the qualifications were for returning to God, He replied,

Righteousness.

They then asked Him what righteousness consisted of, and He said,

Good thoughts, good words, and good deeds.

Like the Masters, we should think of the good in all people, and have concern for the upliftment of all.

Oh Nanak, the Naam perpetuates; through Thy Grace, the whole world benefits

Guru Nanak prayed,

Peace be unto all the world, under Thy will, oh Lord.

So, Masters in every age have taught the same teachings including that one should lead one’s life in a pure and chaste manner.

Bloodstained clothes are impure; where then is the peace in squeezing human blood? 

No one feels like keeping bloodstained clothes and considers them impure; but what about the people who squeeze the very blood of others for their own selfish gain? How can there possibly be peace in their hearts? The world is stuck fast in untrue things.

Oh Nanak, to take God’s Name, purify your heart.

We have also,

When the mind is dirty, everything is dirty; washing the body does not cleanse the mind. 

Also,

This world forgets all in the depths of illusion – very few unravel the mystery.

People are going along in a great forgetfulness. Live in your own religion, but lead a pure and chaste life, for this is necessary to realise the Lord.

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

The physical form is also part of the illusion, and another name for illusion is forgetfulness. Where did it all start? It started when we came into the body, for though we were the indweller, we became the very image of the body itself and forgot our True Nature. The machinery of the body works only because we are in it; but unfortunately we are slaves to the senses, and so in such condition have become tainted with all the world’s worst influences. This illusion started from the body which we got coloured with vice. 

Such a dirty gown is not liked by God; how can I go to His lap wearing such as this?

A woman who has only dirty clothes would not like to enter her lord’s house.

All Masters, even the Muslim fakirs, have given the same teaching, and here is no exception; the stress is on righteous living and the realisation of the Lord – that is all. It is the very basic teaching which has been in existence from the very beginning of time. Man has forgotten it and its method, and so the Masters keep coming to revive the same Truth. Remember, all human beings are One; there are no high and no low people. High and low status in material life is merely karmic reaction from past lives. All men are One, and all souls are One.

Mankind is One, but we stick labels on ourselves which say Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, and so on. The real purpose of these labels was basic – to become a Man – a True Human Being. But, we became a Hindu, a Muslim, a Christian, a Buddhist, etc. in name only. Who are you really? Just simply a man. No, you are not a man even; you are the indweller of this human form which is the true image of a man, the highest in all eight million four hundred thousand species of creation. Even the gods worship this human form and long to inherit it. Why? Because it is the most precious time and opportunity when we can return to our True Home. Even the angels bow before it. And, we have got it!

Whoever made this body gave the key to the Guru.

The Maker of the house put a lock on it and gave the key to the Guru for safekeeping. God made the house, and He Himself resides therein. Unfortunately, we have forgotten this knowledge and we go on building places of worship in the image of the God-made temple – the human form. Within these models, we place the symbols of the Lord, Light and Sound, in the outer forms of bells, candles, etc. Man has become so enchanted with these models through the ages that it never occurs to him that he is himself living in the True Temple. God does not reside in temples made with stone.

When I mentioned this during a talk in England, a certain bishop stood up and said,

You have thrown an atom bomb on all our churchianity.

What a natural temple is this form, with the earth under foot and the sky overhead. And yet people are so attached to outer temples, forms, and formularies. Is any outer temple purer than others? If so, then where do the others stand? If the same symbols of light and sound are kept in them all, then which is the best? In truth, the best place is that in which He Himself is sitting – and that is within this physical body.

This body is the temple of God, in which the Light of Truth is effulgent.

When the same Light is lit in all holy places, where does the question of difference and disagreement arise? The trouble is that we have forgotten the human being’s True Aim and have thrown God out of His own home which He built Himself, and have made Him sit outside. Further than this, if one corner of any of these models is defaced, then hundreds of the True Temples are unhesitatingly sacrificed for the sake of that inanimate image. Can you see how significant this is?

There is no particular religion here, but we have respect for all religions, for the True Aim of all religions is the realisation of God. If God is to be realised, then make your life righteous. Guru Arjan Sahib collected the words of many Masters and combined them in a single volume which is known as the Guru Granth Sahib. So, God sends the Master when He is needed.

In the Koran Sharif, it is written,

He has sent Them to each country.

They come and remove the illusion from life. Five hundred years ago when Hinduism and Islam, the two most prominent religions in India, were at variance and fighting each other in a great forgetfulness, Kabir Sahib and Guru Nanak Sahib came as contemporaries to remove the ignorance in men. Great antagonism existed between religions at that time.

Due to the work of the World Fellowship of Religions, this narrow-mindedness has been considerably reduced. Now, at least they are happy to sit together. However, they are still adamant – the Hindus desire all Hindus in the world to become one, and the Muslims desire all Muslims in the world to become one – and so on. They want to build huge pillars within their own frameworks; so how long will the tolerance last? And, how can there be True Integration?

The Real Integration at the common level of man happens when Masters spread the Truth. Why then should not all men in the world become One? The meaning behind Manav Kendra – Man Centre – is to revive the original Unity which already exists but is hidden by superficial differences. We are first man, and then may be referred to by various other titles. You can see by a parallel study of religions that when the Masters, the True Men, came, They were born into various religions and are not, therefore, a monopoly of any one religion. Basically, They are all One and the same, for when God wished to become from One to many, there was a vibration, and out of this vibration came the two aspects of Light and Sound. So, God is Light and God is Sound – Music of the Spheres – no matter which Name He is given. When Masters come, They are the Human Positive Pole in Which the Lord resides in full manifestation – They are manifested God in man. It is unfortunate that mankind, with the exception of the very few True Seekers of God, has stuck fast in the fascination of the copies and has completely forgotten the original.

Guru Nanak Sahib and Kabir Sahib were contemporaries, and Kabir Sahib said,

We are not Hindus, nor are we Muslims; but think of us as One.

Guru Nanak said,

We are not Hindus, nor are we Muslims; Allah and Ram are the very breath of our bodies.

Every being has God within him, but it is a question of getting the True Eye opened to be able to see Him.

By the Grace of the Guru, see that God’s temple is within you.

When the Inner Eye is open, this can be clearly seen. Like two brothers, the soul and God live in close proximity; but the soul is always absorbed in outer things – if it would only withdraw from outside, it would meet the Lord. The Masters, then, come to take the souls out of forgetfulness.

Consider Him the highest, in Whom the Lord has manifested.

Ravi Das was a Great Enlightened Saint, Who came just after Kabir Sahib; but people told Him,

Oh, You are just a cobbler.

Well, did God make the castes or did man? The caste system was based on men’s material trades and occupations; so what has this to do with realising God through Spirituality? Did anyone’s father ever buy Him? Was He ever inherited? He belongs to that soul which truly yearns for Him. Why are these facts being stressed? Because the world is going more and more into a deeper forgetfulness. Real Integration can only be enjoyed at the level of man. What is the difference between one man and another? Why the thirst for another’s blood? Why are men constantly at each other’s throats? It is all because men wear different labels. You can confirm this from the history books.

So, this ground is common for all; it is called Ruhani Satsang, which means simply a Spiritual Gathering – no more, no less. It was Hazur’s wish that a foundation be formed, which is common for all religions, for all are blessed. So, keep your own label, your own language, your own customs; but become pure and chaste and realise the Lord.

It is in the body, but one cannot even think of it – cursed be such a life; oh Tulsi, the whole world suffers from cataracts.

When one is taken up in an airplane, everything below looks like one big whole and nothing is separate. It is something like this to rise above the body. The Masters see everyone as embodied souls or as pure soul – conscious entities. They do not say, ‘Oh Christian, oh Muslim, etc., listen to us,’ but say, Oh man, ensouled body, listen. A True Master’s teachings are for all, regardless of religion, custom, caste, or nationality. Social bodies, customs, and rites are only the first steps; but due to the variance in these, there appears to be some difference in the subject and it is forgotten that the purpose and the outcome remains one and the same.

Kabir Sahib says that all are human beings and this is the time to understand these noble things and awaken out of the slothfulness.

Awake beloved, why sleep? The night has passed; why lose the day also?

This is the time to wake up – to become more conscious. Give unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and remember that your soul belongs to God.

“First Allah’s Light was created, then life came into being.”

Kabir Sahib explains how the world was made. In all Holy Scriptures you will find recorded that there was first the Light.

In the Upanishads it is written,

First there was the Sun of Maha Brahmand, and in It the Sound was vibrating.

The secret teaching of this was given to Devki’s son – Lord Krishna – by Ingris Rishi. So first, when the Lord expressed Himself, there was Light and then came the Sound. This God-in-expression-Power is also called Naam and Shabd.

Through the Naam, Khand and Brahmand came into being.

God is Light therefore – Light and Sound are phases of His very own expression. So, at the level of the human being, a glimpse of God can be got only through His expression.

“With one Light the world came into being – who is high and who is low?”

When men mine the earth, it yields gold ore mixed with mud; but when it is cleared, only the valuable metal remains. God plus desire is man, and man minus desire is God. The soul is an entity of the Great Godhead; therefore, all the powers of God are in the soul – but on a smaller scale.

When God said,

From one I wish to be many. … With one thought, millions of rivers were created.

So, God created the world with but a single thought; and if we gain the knowledge in truth of who we are, and withdraw from outer attractions, and awaken within ourselves, could we not create one small town at least? Great is man – and when Masters gain realisation and become the Mouthpiece of God, They shake the whole world.