VIII / (viii)
How to know a Godman
But how to distinguish such sublime personalities who come down into the world of mortals, to help humanity in its onward march to the Supreme Fountain of the Spirit! Whenever they come, they are self-manifested and those endowed with Spiritual Vision know how to recognise them.
A man of realization alone can know a realized soul.
Guru Arjan, Gauri M5
Everybody, however is not spiritually advanced. There are, of course, some well defined and prominent features in the life and conduct of the Saints. With these in mind, a mortal eye may be able to distinguish the Saints from the common run of men.
A Real Master is a World Teacher and not a teacher of any particular sect or creed. He looks at humanity from the level of the soul and addresses all ensouled bodies alike.
A True Master is known by the catholicity of His teachings, for His appeal is universal to all. In His fold sit all as brethren-in-faith with no bars of colour or creed.
Again, a True Master is not found of outer pomp and show, but lives on His own resources and never depends on others for His living:
Whosoever styling himself a teacher, lives on the charity of others, never bow before him. He who earns His livelihood by the sweat of his brow and shares it with others, oh Nanak! He only can know the Way.
Guru Nanak, Sarang War M1
How can we have the company of one in whose presence the mind gets stilled? The Saints are the true friends for They alone inspire God-intoxication.
Guru Amar Das, Suhi M3
Seeing a God-man with all-loving devotion, not only stills the mind but wards off all afflictions.
Guru Arjan, Suhi M5
Whenever one happens to be in the presence of a Real Master with an open mind, one finds waves of solace wafting towards him and feels an uplifting surge in himself. His personal aura has its marvellous effect. His words, charged as they are with high Spirituality, sink deep into the heart of the listeners and never are without effect.
Godmen always speak with an authority born of conviction for They have a first-hand knowledge of everything stemming from direct communion with the Original Source or Universal Cause. They speak from the standpoint of the soul to which learned philosophy has no access. All Saints have borne out this truth. The more you indulge in literary pursuits, the more you are lost in the wilderness of bookish knowledge. There is more truth in His talk than all the words of learned philosophy can show. We have, as far as possible, to make the best use of all these, but not to lose our way in them, for – Reasoning is the help and reasoning is the bar as well.
The True Master is one who Himself quaffs the water of life – Truth – and offers the same to others as well. He is competent to open the Inner Eye of the aspirants that they may see the Light of God and unseals their Inner Ears that they may hear the Voice of God – the Sound Principle, reverberating in all creation.
Verily, a true Master unveils the eye, and grants a glimpse of the true abode.
Again:
He who can show us God’s abode in the body, oh, take Him for a True Master indeed!
Guru Arjan, Gauri M5The Glory of a Sadh even the Vedas do not fully comprehend.
Guru Arjan, Gauri M5
It baffles all description. So naturally, Saints lay more stress on personal self-experience. They come to the basic or central standpoint of all religions from the sayings of the Saints of all denominations. Godmen do not look to outward appearances nor on the distinctive garbs of various orders, but accept the true values of life. They do not interfere with the ancestral faiths professed by their disciples, nor with the mode of their social life. On the contrary They exhort everyone to remain in their social-religious orders and learn the Spiritual Meaning of life and live by the same. They do not create any new creeds or new religions. Those who seek Inner Spiritual Elevation may derive benefit from God-man without forsaking the creeds they profess. But Saints do not advocate the idea of seeking Higher Life through objective pursuits. They look to the human body as the living temple of God and instruct their disciples to find Him therein by the practice of the science of the Holy Word.
Verily this body is the temple of God with the Word made manifest therein. For the ignorant, God lives apart from man and is inaccessible.
Guru Amar Das, Parbhati M3
God Himself made the holy temple of man and resides therein. Through the Grace of the Masters, one meets God, after burning away all outer attachments.
Guru Amar Das, Shalok M3
Again:
Never seek God in the outer world for His abode lies in thy house (of the body). The ignorant, knowing not the value of the temple of God, vainly lose their earthly lives.
Guru Amar Das, Ramkali War M3
Godmen do not attach any great sanctity to places of pilgrimage other than the congregation of Saints. They direct our attention to the Saints who blessed the places which are now called the places of pilgrimage.
To meet the Saints and to have their company is the greatest pilgrimage. To see a Saint is worth travelling to all the sixty-eight places of pilgrimage.1
Guru Nanak, Sorath M1
Saints prescribe no other form of worship or the performance of any ritual other than that of the communion with the Word – the Holy Naam. They enjoin the worship of the Divine in the living temple of the human heart. Such indeed is the true realization in this earthly life of that universal bliss-giving Spiritual-Current which permeates all creation.
The treasure of Naam is in the temple of God (body), but the ignorant do not find it there.
Guru Amar Das, Parbhati M3
Pure are those who are in communion with the Word. Without the Word, there can be no worship. The whole world is steeped in superstitious ignorance.
Guru Amar Das, Ramkali M3
The second essential in the soul’s progress on the Path is the Holy Congregation (Sat-Sangat) as that has an elevating effect. The whole atmosphere is surcharged with the life-impulse conveyed by the Master when he presides, and the devotees attending the congregation derive immense benefit there from. It is practically a school wherein probationers are helped both by word and thought. All the mystery concerning the Word is explained and brought home to the devotees as the be-all and end-all for them.
Sat Sangat (or the Holy Congregation) is that place where no subject other than the Holy Naam or the Word, is taught or explained.
Guru Nanak, Sri Rag M1
There, book knowledge of the philosophies of the different schools of thought is not advocated. Living a life in Divinity is the only thing of value in this direction. The soul that has risen in Him, and is conscious of Him all the time, is the prime moving figure in the congregation. The lyrical glances of such God-intoxicated men not only awaken the latent Spiritual Sensibilities of the probationers but gradually bring them into full play. Their eyes are exuberant with life, and they, being in tune with the Great Source of Life, convey life giving rays to those around them who come to seek their help. Their Grace-pouring glances enable the disciples to grasp the heavenly Song – the Word, reverberating in them. They easily get the riches and the wealth of Spirituality when in the Holy Congregation. By exhortations and practice, they are helped onwards on their Way to the Divine Goal. Thus the seekers are prepared for the higher life, by the influence they receive from the magnetic effect of the personal auras of the God-intoxicated votaries in the Holy Congregation. Everybody has a field of influence within which he affects all who come in that area. This field of personal magnetism is larger or smaller, according to the strength of the personality.
A great stress is laid upon the necessity of attending the Holy Congregation; this is so much so that Sat-Sangat is often valued a little more than the God-man Himself. This is evident from the fact that it includes the God-man in addition to other God-intoxicated Votaries. The Holy Congregation is a place where the outgoing tendencies and evil propensities of the people attending it are easily modified, moulded and subdued by the magnetic power of the Master overhead. The Master terms the Sat-Sangat as the only true place of pilgrimage wherein the probationers progress towards the Divine Goal – the Highest Spiritual Plane – Sach Khand.
In a true Sangat, the communion with the Holy Naam – (the Word) – is procured, oh Nanak! never mix with men stepped in selfish ends.
Guru Arjan, Gujri War M5
Where there is no such personality to preside, the benefits of Sat-Sang cannot be derived.
The Master says:
Without the Godman, there can be no Sangat, and without the Word, no one can ford over to the other shore.
Guru Amar Das, Maru M3
Kabir says:
Without the Godman there can be no Holy Congregation.
Kabir, Gond Kabir
In the absence of the Master, when devotees sit together in His sweet remembrance, they receive the blessings of the Master.
Christ says:
Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in their midst.
St Matthew 18:20
The third essential in the soul's progress is the True Naam – the Shabd or the Divine Word – which the True Master teaches. The Holy Naam has two aspects: one aspect can be expressed in words spoken or written with the help of lips and tongue or by means of pen and is defined as Varan Atamak; the other aspect cannot be expressed as such and is known as Dhun Atamak. The repetition of the Varan Atamak Naam is used for Simran purposes and in four different ways:
- with the tongue,
- in the throat,
- in the heart, and
- in the navel.
These methods are respectively called
- Baikhri,
- Madhima,
- Paschanti, and
- Pra.
With the repetition of Naam in any of these four ways, the Antish Karan, the Conscience, is purified and some supernatural powers including prevision and transvision are achieved (the use of which is however deprecated and prohibited). Bliss, meekness and Love of the Word also do follow a little in this way. Since these ways involve the lower centres or Chakras for meditation in the human body, the true seeker is advised to practice the concentrated Simran with the tongue of thought at the centre at the back of the focus of the eyes – which is the sixth and the highest centre of the six centres in the Pind or the body. Naam reverberating above this centre, attracts the soul like a powerful magnet and pulls it out of the lower physical into the higher subtle and Spiritual Planes. The ascent of the soul into the Spiritual Regions is only possible through communion with the Naam.
The Dhun Atamak is something in its true aspect. For instance in the ringing of the bell, the sound proceeding from the bell may be called tun-tun. This cannot appropriately be portrayed in so many words, yet the Word (or Sound) reverberates in the living temples of all physical bodies. This Sound Principle is competent to take man’s soul to the Highest Spiritual Region from which it emanates. This celestial melody proceeds from the Heavenly Light within.
In the words of the Master:
Within is the Heavenly Light and from It, a Sound (or Bani) doth proceed, a communion with It attunes the Soul with the Lord.
Guru Nanak, Sorath M1
This Sound should not be confounded with the sound of the circulation of the blood, etc., heard through the ears for it relates to the elements only.
This aspect of the Naam, though inexpressible and ineffable, is yet very real and Eternal. It is a transcendent Spiritual Current which emanates from God and permeates all creation. No words can portray Its true significance nor can describe It accurately.
The Master, however, describes it as:
The fifty-two letters of the alphabet and the three grand divisions – the Pure Spiritual Region, the Spirituo-Material Region and the Materio-Spiritual Region – are in this Word. All the letters may fall away, but this Word shall stand forever.
Kabir, Gauri Kabir
The Word or the Holy Naam is a gift from the Master alone. Without this the Lord cannot be known.
True is His Word and True His Eternal Song – the Bani, a rare Gurumukh may discern it. By saturation with the True Word is renunciation achieved, and the coming and going ends.
Guru Amar Das, Maru M3
Kabir says:
The Word like a magnetic stone attracts the soul to Spiritual Realms above. Without the aid of the Word, none can rise above the body, let one try any means one may like.
Again:
When the Word is touched, the Lord is met; all efforts are then crowned with success.
Guru Amar Das, Sri Rag M3
Without the Word, the whole world is estranged, and none has any say therein; whomsoever the Lord wishes to save is attuned with the Word.
Guru Amar Das, Shalok M3
Without the Word, one cannot meet the Beloved, and human birth continues in vain.
Guru Amar Das, Sri Rag M3
My Lord, the Ever-Existent, is seen by practice of the Word (the Holy Naam), He perisheth not, nor doth He come and go. Hold communion with Him who pervades through all, and do not meditate on one nailed to the perpetual wheel.
Guru Amar Das, Gujri War M3
Swami Shiv Dayal Ji, speaking of Shabd, tells us:
Wondrous indeed is the power of the Shabd. How can I describe the Glory of Shabd?
Those who have tasted the sweetness of Shabd, they alone know the greatness of Shabd.
Every moment I feel the protecting power of the Shabd, how may I describe the grandeur of the Shabd?
Without the Shabd, one wanders in ignorance, and knows not the value of the Shabd.
They who solved the mystery of the Shabd, who have intense love for the Shabd, and who practice Shabd in right earnest, such indeed are the truly blessed.
None can control the mind without the Shabd, attune ye therefore to the Shabd.
In vain goes the human birth, if one gets not the treasure of Shabd.
In the depths of the soul resounds the Shabd; why does thou not listen to the strains of Shabd? Sit in solitude and silence thy mind, then alone shalt thou have the Shabd revealed.
Cast aside torpor, languor and lassitude, and ever remain in touch with the Shabd.
The five-sounded Shabd is resounding within; learn ye to listen to the Shabd.
The Master gives the knowledge of the Shabd; meditate ye on the Shabd.
I have discoursed much on the Shabd, yet alas, none cares to follow the Shabd. In vain do they forfeit the human life, who catch not the life-line of Shabd.
I, for one, now end this discourse on the Shabd. None but the destined get to the Shabd.
Communion with the Word or Shabd is the only true worship. Without this practice, nothing can eradicate the ingrained evil propensities of the mind. Whosoever complains of the fast developing ramifications of the mind, does not hear the Music of the Word. As time wears on, ignorance creeps in; the sublime truths given by the Masters, are not understood, and their true import is lost sight of.
The term Gur-Bani – the Word occurs very often in the Guru Granth Sahib. Wherever the expression Shabd appears therein, it has been taken to mean the hymns written in Guru Granth Sahib. This is because of ignorance of the Conscious-Sound-Current or the Word ringing in and through all creation. Let us turn to the Guru Granth Sahib itself, to ascertain what it has to say on the subject. The following hymn throws sufficient light on the fact that Word is something conscious – much more than that which the words can depict.
By merging in the Shabd we rise into a new life. The Way to salvation lies through the Shabd. The body and the mind are purified by the Shabd, and God too gets ensconced on the tablet of the mind. Without communion with the Shabd, we are blind and deaf, and the human birth continues in vain. Without tasting the nectar of the Hari Naam, the human life is but a shadow and a mirage, and one remains endlessly in the cycle of births and deaths. Like filthy worms do we revel in the filth, wrapped in the veil of utter ignorance.
Guru Amar Das, Sorath M3
Those who know not the Word, are blind as well as deaf (for they do not see Its Light and do not hear Its melodious song). Of what use is their coming into the world? They enjoy not the sweet elixir of the Hari Naam and lose their earthly lives in vain. They go round in the endless cycle of births and deaths. Like filthy worms, they drown themselves in the filth of sensualism. They are truly devoid of intellect and revel in the darkness of ignorance.
Guru Amar Das, Sorath M3
Again:
The Bani (Word) resounding through the four Yugas, proclaimed the Truth to all.
Guru Amar Das, Sri Rag M3
There is deep concentration in the Sound Principle (Dhun). I now know what concentration virtually means; the Word manifested by the Master is ineffable (Akath).
Guru Nanak, Ramkali M1
The perfect Master reveals the True Word (Sachi Bani); leading through the Sukhmana, it takes one to Sahaj (State of equipoise).
Guru Arjan, Maru M5
The Bani of the Master (Word) resounds in the entire creation.
Guru Arjan, Maru M5
The expression Akath Katha, indescribable song, Dhun, harmony, Anhad Bani, limitless song, as used by Guru Nanak in the Granth Sahib, are all synonyms of nothing but one and the same principle, that is Naam, Shabd or Word. The Word is above the ken of buddhi, the thinking faculty, and is heard only when one rises above the eyebrows. The understanding of the Word comes only by direct revelation to the soul.
All knowledge and meditation emanate from the sound-principle (Dhun), but the sound-principle itself cannot be defined.
Guru Nanak, Sri Rag M1
True Bani is given by the True Master, and is reverberating in the Sukhmana.
Guru Arjan, Maru M5
The Bani of the Guru is all-pervading; It proceeds from Him and He Himself manifests It.
Guru Arjan, Maru M5
The unstruck music is heard through the Grace of a Godman, but few there be that commune with It.
Guru Nanak, Ramkali M1
Perfect is the limitless song (Anhad Bani), and the key thereto is with the Saints.
Guru Arjan, Ramkali M5
A Saint gives full instructions about the True Naam – the Word –, to His disciple at the time of initiation. It is He who inspires the Holy Naam and makes it manifest in the initiates. He just shows them that the treasure of Divinity lies hidden within, and He tells how to get in touch with It (as we find in Jap Ji, stanza 6).
This body is the holy temple of God, the Light of the All-Truthful shining therein. Peerless are the games hidden in the temple of the body; few there be that find them through the instruction of the Master.
Guru Ram Das, Gauri War M4
Discipline thy body and thy mind, and meditate on the Word of the Master. Oh Nanak, search in the body for the treasure of Naam, this thou canst get through boundless Love of the Master.
Guru Amar Das, Asa M3
The Bani of the God-man resides within all of us. The same proceeds from God, and He Himself makes it audible. Whosoever communes with It is saved and attains the Eternal Region of Truth. *The Bani – Word – of the Guru is heard right in the Sukhmana, attuning into the Sehaj state – the state of equipoise.
* (This section is adjusted to the Second Edition of 1964;
Editor’s Note 2011.)
According to the Master, four things are of lasting value, while all else are subject to decay and dissolution in course of time.
They are
- Naam or the Bani;
- Sadhu or the disciplined soul, who sees Himself in the Father and sees the Father in the Master;
- the Word Personified – Guru;
- and the Lord – Gobind.
Whosoever forms an alliance with them, is saved and reaches above the ken of destruction.
Eternal wealth is of the Naam alone. All other riches come and go. Fire cannot burn this wealth nor can thieves steal it. This wealth of the Lord pervades the very souls of all and always goes with the soul. It is found through the perfect Master and never falls to the lot of one immersed in the life of the senses. Great indeed is the merchant, oh Nanak, who gains the riches of Naam!
Guru Amar Das, Gujri War M3
Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the tenth Guru of the Sikhs, left the Sikh sanctuary on a permanent footing. He gave us the mystic form of Guru Granth Sahib as the standard guide to go by. Thus, we can avoid human errors creeping in through ignorance. The compositions of the saints of almost all the denominations – Hindus, Mohammedans, Brahmans and others – equally find a place in the Holy Granth. This shows that Spiritual Heads, in spite of different castes, were equally welcome to partake of this Heavenly Banquet Hall of Spirituality. As a practical example, Guru Nanak had Bhai Bala and Mardana, one a Hindu and the other a Mohammedan, on His right and left as His boon companions all through His travels in Asia. All humanity without distinction of creed or colour, are welcome to the Way of Spirituality as taught by Him.
Guru Gobind Singh clearly indicated in the Guru Granth Sahib, a Way to the Lord through Shabd – Word. Apropos of this, He enjoined the Sat Sangat or the Holy Congregation constituted by five Piaras, or the beloved of God, and called it the Khalsa – the pure. He defined the term Khalsa as those in whom the full Heavenly Light was effulgent, and promised His own presence in them for all time.
In His own words:
Khalsa is my own form and I reside in the Khalsa.
The Master enjoins the Sikhs to look only to such Khalsas or the pure ones for initiation, known as Pahul or Amrit.
He said:
Whosoever keeps long hair without Pahul from the five Khalsas (the pure or the Piaras), wears the outer garb only and is the most ignorant of the followers.
The Khalsas are the sadhus, whose praise Guru Granth Sahib speaks of in volumes.
Guru Nanak was Shabd personified. He changed His form and came as Guru Angad, who transformed Himself into Guru Amar Das, who in turn, rose into Guru Ram Das and passed into Guru Arjan Dev. The Shabd personified continued to descend until It took the form of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru of the Sikhs, Who clearly stated that He will live in the Khalsa – or the pure ones – for all times.
Of course, all Saints promised their continued existence for all times in the shape of Shabd. The Khalsas then are the Word Personified, the Word in them and they in the Word. Thus, Guru Gobind Singh placed the trinity of religion in the Sikh sanctuary on a permanent footing:
_______________
Explanation: 1) There are 68 places of pilgrimage in India.