Book VIII / III

The Kingdom of God: Where it is

The Kingdom of God is at present a lost dominion for us. Ever since the fall of man, for his first disobedience to God's commandment, we stand ostracized from the Garden of Eden and have no access to it. Under the overbearing pressure of the world and worldly pursuits, we have become entirely extroverted and have no thought of God and His Kingdom within.

The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation; neither shall they say, Lo here! or, Lo there! for, behold, the Kingdom of God is within you. 

St Luke 17:20-21

The priceless Waters of Immortality lie buried and lost within the depths of the human soul. The call of the Master is:

He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. 

St Matthew 10:39

For the son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. 

St Luke 19:10

All this leads to the one inevitable conclusion of death in life, for without it one cannot rise into Universal Consciousness or Cosmic Awareness. This higher life of the spirit depends entirely on the Grace of a living Master, capable of imparting his Life-Impulse and granting the saving lifeline within.

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 

St Paul, Galatians 2:20

With initiation and spiritual sadhna or practice, one gradually becomes aware of his shortcomings and tries to weed them out, and the more he purifies himself, the more he grows into Divine Life. As the scales begin to drop off, the true values of life become more and more apparent. The spirit gradually gets freed from the shackles of the world and is enabled to transcend the physical body and make flights into the higher regions. Hereafter,

he walks not after the flesh but after the spirit.

Romans 8:4

Living in the world, he is no longer of the world. He now delights in the bliss of higher spiritual regions and not in the pleasures of the senses and sense-objects. The gift of Naam or Word comes only from a Master-Soul who, by injecting his own Life-Impulse, befits an initiate for the spiritual journey.

The measure and speed of advance, however, depends on the individual's own make-up, the ground on which he stands, and the preparation that he may have made in past incarnations. As each one has a different background, each one has his own starting point. The seed is sown, but its unfoldment, growth and development depends on the nature of the soil in which it is planted.

The Master injects His own consciousness, Light and Sound, into each initiate. Once the contact with the Divine Link is established and the spiritual experience gained, however little it may be to begin with, at the lowest level, it can, by regular day to day practice, be developed to any length one likes until it becomes quite natural and normal, a matter of voluntary withdrawal of spirit currents as and when one likes.

The devotee of the Master comes and goes at his will and pleasure, with no let or hindrance. 

Ramkali Dakhni Onkar

Each one however, as said before, takes his or her own time for efflorescence and fructification. The dormant spiritual faculties begin to quicken with life and the initiate feels within him a sort of fullness, a satiety, a blessedness. This is a gift imperishable and indestructible. It can neither be stolen nor washed away. The seed of spirituality once sown in the innermost depths of the soul must bear flowers and fruits, in the fullness of time. No power on earth can stand in the way of its growth or stifle it in any way whatever.

He who has once been initiated by a competent Master is assured, once and for all, his liberation from the bondage of mind and matter; it is but a question of time. The seed of spirituality sown in him is bound to sprout and fructify. The spirituality when awakened and the spiritual experience gained must develop, and the Master Power cannot rest contented until the child owned is reared and taken home to the house of the Father.

The true knowledge dawns only with initiation, for without initiation from a Master-Soul, one can have no knowledge.

There can be no jnana (true knowledge) without meeting a Master-Soul, nor meditation with a first-hand experience. 

Guru Arjan, Bhairon M5

But one who is fortunate may have the experience of both through the Grace of a Master-Saint. It means taking in a particle of Life's Living Principle through some Godman or polarized God; i.e., a pole from where the Power of God works in this world. In the light of this knowledge, the mind gradually loosens its tentacles, which are holding the soul in hoops of steel, so that the spirit is able to free itself from the mind, and know and perceive her own true nature.

Oh Nanak! Without knowing oneself by self-analysis, one wanders ever in the wilderness of delusion. 

Guru Teg Bahadur, Dhanasri M9

The whole world is in the throes of attachment and infatuation, a rare devotee of the Master escapes from the mighty maze of mind and matter, this infatuation keeps in perpetual motion the wheel of life, and it takes one time and again into the grip of Kal. 

Guru Nanak, Asa M1

*The process of liberating a human soul from the labyrinth of the sensual plane lies in the hands of a Competent Master of Para Vidya or the Science of the Beyond; competent both in theory and practice. One Who has Himself liberated His soul and can at will go to the higher Spiritual Regions, can take others as well. It is a work of great trust and responsibility which the so-called masters, with which the world always abounds, cannot do. Those who prescribe outer yogic practices or the performance of rites and rituals, sacrifices and austerities, pilgrimages and the like are yet ignorant of the Inner Path that begins from the headquarters of the soul above the sensory plane and for which transcendence above body consciousness is the primary condition. (* This section is adjusted to the Fourth Edition of 1981; Editor’s Note 2011.) It is there that one has to knock, as Christ put it, and he guaranteed that it shall be opened (St Matthew 7:7).   The philosopher Emerson calls it tapping inside.

In Ramkali War, Mohalla 5, of the Guru Granth Sahib, we have a pen picture of the Masters of Apara Vidya or empirical knowledge of the world:

He, while working for religious merit, takes upon himself a load of sins, and goes begging from door to door by offering initiation, he himself has no faith in the Vedas and other scriptures, and wants all worship and adoration unto himself. Being a Kazi, he sits in judgment over others; while telling the beads, he ventures to expound Godhead; with bribes, he tramples on the rights of others; to the questions, he offers quotations from the scriptures.

Guru Arjan

We live in the tumultuous sea of life without any moorings and are carried alone by the fearful currents of attachments and infatuations. A rare devotee of the Master may be able to successfully face the storm and stress and cross over to a haven of safety, but the rest float down helplessly. If even after initiation an initiate takes recourse to disciplines and practices other than those enjoined by the Master, he cannot rid himself of worldly ties and takes a longer time to reach his Native Home.

All are drowned in the love of the world, a rare devotee of the Master may ferry across. Because of attachments, one comes over time and again, trapped in infatuation, one cannot but abide in the realm of death. Even after initiation from the Master, people engage in rites and rituals, neither can they snap the bonds nor reach the goal, it is His glance of Grace that can pull down the mighty maze, and then, oh Nanak! one may get absorbed in Him. 

Guru Nanak, Asa M1

The true initiation is nothing but an introduction to Naam and a contact with the live creative Principle of Sound, which can be listened to, experienced and practiced from day to day.

Only the predestined get in touch with a Master-Soul, with the Water of Life (Hari Ka Naam) he grants the true initiation (deeksha). 

Guru Nanak, Suhi M1

Live ye in the haven of a Sadh, and leave all thy wisdom and knowledge, let the Master's Instructions (Guru Deeksha) abide in thy heart, this, oh Nanak! may happen through the Writ of the Lord.

Guru Arjan, Gauri M5