XV / (iii)

Sat Naam

This is the original name of God-in-Action, the great and grand motor power behind the entire creation. 

Saint John speaks of it:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of man. And the light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not.

The Muslims call it Kalma, and declare that the 14 Tabaks or divisions (into which they consider the universe as divided) were created by it. The Hindus term it Nad, and ascribe to it the manifestation of 14 Bhavans, or regions. The Sikh scriptures call it Shabd or Bani, the Upanishads speak of it as Udgit, and the Vedas give it the name of Sruti or Akash Bani. The Saints refer to it as Naam or Shabd, and there is no place where the vibrations thereof are not felt.

This Naam or Sat Naam is, then, the controlling power of the universe. It is the great cementing force whereby various elements, so very divergent in nature, are held together in the wonderful mosaic of the many-coloured dome of the universe. It is the string of life running through the entire creation, and thus, the connecting link between the Creator and His creation. 

Kabir Sahib says:

Ram Naam is the only Reality, and anything besides is subject to decay and dissolution. Always meditate and concentrate on this Reality, for death knows no calendar and may at home or abroad pounce any moment upon thee with its murderous claws.

He who alone knows of Naam as I would like him to do, I take hold of him and support him through. *The natural Inner Music is continuously flowing of itself, but only a rare soul knows of this communion, the all-pervading spirit surges through every pore of the body.

The True Simran consists in perpetual attuning of the soul, with the Inner Music, without any outer aid – of lips, tongue, throat or the heart. He who contacts the hidden crest-jewel, is our True Friend.

Kabir

* (This section is adjusted to the First Edition of 1959;
Editor’s Note 2012.)

The all-pervading spirit of God saves one from births and deaths. A communion with the Word ferries one across the sea of life.

Guru Arjan, Gond M5

This is the Voice of the Silence, as the Theosophists describe It, for It can be heard only in the silence of the soul. The élan vital, or the vital currents of life, can be felt in the inner depths of the mind. 

It is something subjective and can be experienced and felt only within, through the kindness of some Master-Soul.