Chapter III
Simran
Let us now see what Simran is and what the relation is between the Name and named.
For Simran there are two kinds of Names,
- original and
- derivative.
Generally people engage in Simran of one or another of the derivative or attributive Names of God, as may have an appeal to the individual concerned. This may be good and useful to a certain extent but it cannot work as an Open Sesame to the higher and Spiritual Planes within.
Master-Souls always do and recommend Simran of the highest type, to wit, of the Original or Basic Names of God for these open up charmed casements and bring to view vistas leading to Spiritual Realms within the body. Such Names are charged with and electrified by the thought transference that usually accompanies them when communicated to an aspirant by a Master-Soul. As these are magnetised, they have the power to attract and pull the spirit up to the planes to which they relate. The engrafted words charged with the Divine Spirit of the Master very soon bear fruit.
Christ in this connection says,
I am the vine, ye are the branches, and as branches cannot do without the vine, ye cannot do without me … Let you abide in me and my words abide in you.
Again, these charmed words of the Master – Basic Names of God – have the power to dispel the forces of darkness that may meet and assail a Spirit on its onward journey. Simran of these Names helps the soul both in the physical plane and supra-physical planes, one after the other. Hence it is imperative that Simran be done of such Names as the Master-Soul enjoins, for they are charged with a tremendous Spiritual Power which negative powers can hardly put up with and from which they flee as from an enchanter driven. Immortal and everlasting as these Words of the Master are, they bestow life everlasting to the soul in which they sink and take root. Death cannot come near such a soul.
This is why it is said,
Take not God’s name in vain.
Every name has its own significance, influence, energy and power. If one thinks of ice, he is reminded of the bleak cold and the shivers it brings; the thought of fire puts into mind its attributes of heat and warmth. The word 'lawyer' is suggestive of courts and cases, and 'doctor' at once conjures up pictures of hospitals, patients and medicinal chests, etc.
It is a common saying,
As you think, so you become.
Thought is said to be the keynote to success. There is always a strong link between a name and the named, and much greater and stronger is this link between God and His Names. It may be said that God Himself resides and dwells in His own Names – basic and original and not derivative or attributive.
Simran of the Basic Names of God has an inevitable influence on the mind. It leads to Dhyan, making the spirit forgetful of the world and worldly objects. In meditation nothing but concentrated Simran remains and from the great and deep silence of the heart – Hriday Kamal of the Saints, i.e., the Divine Ground behind the eyebrows – there issues forth a ceaseless Sound Current, Which helps in pulling the spirit up, leading to the withdrawal from the body – without of course breaking the silver cord – and guides the spirit in its onward journey into various spirit realms.
The Luminous Form of the Master always remains with the spirit helping and guiding it at every step.
This Sound Principle is the link between God and man and in this way an indissoluble bond and relationship is established between the Creator and His creation. This Sound Current is variously described by various sages. The Vedas speak of It as Sruti – that which is heard; the Upanishads describe It as Nad or Udgit – song of the other world. The Muslims call It as Bang-i-Asmani or Kalma. In Gurbani we have references to Shabd and in the Gospel It is mentioned as the Word. The Zoroastrians call It Sraosha and the French have given It the name of Elan vital or Life-Current.
Once the consciousness takes root in this Sound Principle or Voice of the Silence, Life Everlasting is assured to the spirit. There is no other Way to God than this and it can only be reached by means of Simran of God’s Names. Knock and it shall be opened unto thee, is what the Gospel preached. Emerson calls it tapping inside. This knocking and tapping is possible only when through Simran the mind is stilled and the spirit is withdrawn and concentrated before the very door of God.
This then is the Way as ordained by God Himself, but no one can find it without the Grace of the Master-Soul, an Adept in the Science of Spirituality, not only in theory like Yagyavalkya but in practice as well like Ashtavakra, One Who has transcended all the planes – physical, subtle, causal and beyond – and holds a commission from God to lead other souls to Him.