XIV / (i)

Need of Godman

As prayer is to be addressed to someone, it is but necessary that we must first have a firm belief in the existence of the Being whom we address. We have as yet no experience of God, and have therefore no conception of Him nor of His powers. Our knowledge of Him, however little it may be, is a secondary one, derived from the study of books or heard from persons as ignorant of Him as we are. In such a state we can contemplate nothing.

But there may be a person who may have a direct knowledge of God and be inwardly in tune with the Infinite. There is a peculiar charm in his company. His weighty words of wisdom at once sink deep into the mind. His utterances, charged with His power, have a magnetic influence. One feels a kind of serenity and an inward calm in His holy presence. He does not reason of God. He simply talks of Him with authority, because he has a firsthand knowledge of Him and consciously lives in Him every moment of his life.

Such a person may be termed a Prophet, a Messiah, or a Godman. The Gospel tells us that God speaks through His Prophets or the chosen ones. It is but a natural thing. Man alone can be a teacher of man and for God's science we must have some Godman to teach us that. Sant Satguru is the pole from where God's Light is reflected. From him alone we can know of the Path leading to God; and he can be a sure guide who can be depended upon, in weal or woe, both here and hereafter.

[…] He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father. […] Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me […] .

St John 14:9,11

From what has been said above, it naturally follows that Godman or Sant Satguru is the right person to be approached in the first instance and to whom all our prayers should be addressed. Faith is the keynote of success in all our endeavours. We must, then, have firm and full faith in the competency of the Master. With love and humility we must make an approach to him if we want to make a beginning in Spiritual Science. We must pray to him sincerely from the depth of our heart. We should think it fortunate indeed if in His Grace He accepts us for imparting knowledge of Para Vidya – the Science of knowledge of Self and knowledge of God – which in fact is the seed-knowledge from which all knowledge springs.