Birth Anniversary: Public function
6 February 1974, Noon

Sant Kirpal Singh Ji has revived the old old teachings of the Vedas.

 Swami Gangeshwaranand

The huge Pnadal at Ramlila Grounds, venue of crowded sessions of World Conference in Unity of Man, wore a festival look when the Living Master, Satguru Kirpal Singh, was honoured and felicitated in His 81^st Birth Anniversary by the denizens of Delhi – the citizenry and the elite – at a public function presided by the mayor, the Deputy mayor, the Ministers and other prominent persons who in turn were garlanded on behalf of the Master and His Manav Kendra, by the eight general secretaries of the World Conference on Unity of Man – A.R. Manocha, G.M. Ahuja, M. Mchopra, B.M. Shamsukha, Darshan Singh Duggal, A.S. Oberoi, D.P. Pandey, Prem Chand Gupta – and others. The foreign delegates, all disciples, looked happy and relaxed after the non-stop exhausting work of the conference.

On stage with Master were seated, beside Mayor Sahini and Deputy Mayor Khandelwal, Union Minister of state for Communication, Prof Sher Singh, Deputy Railway Minister Mohammed Safi Qureshi, Deputy chief minister of Gujran Sri Kantilal Ghia and other prominent persons and among sadhus the most respected figure was Maha Mandleshwar Swami Gangeshwaranand, the greatest living scholar of the Vedas, who recently presented to the nation the fruit of thirty years of unremitting toil – all the four Vedas in one volume, complete with commentary. He rarely addresses public meeting – the sole exception being Satguru Kirpal Singh Ji’s birth anniversary celebrations many of which he has attended. Beside him there were, Swami Chetnanand Chidakashi, M.M. Swami Ved Vyasnanad, Muni Sushil kumar, Pt. Sunderlal, Raja Mahendra Pratap, Sri Gulzarilal Nanda, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, Yogi Bhajan and others. General Secretary Prem Chand Gupta conducted the proceedings with great aplomb and not a little ready-witted humour.

Sri Kidar Nath Sahni, Mayor of Delhi said that,

When man elsewhere in the world lived like a jungle beast, in that pre-civilisation era India had given the call of Basudhaiv Kutumbukum that all mankind was One Family. That man could think so high necessary the so-called dark ages in an object of wonder for historians and researchers. Our history shows that when people forget this message of Universal Love and Unity of Man, Masters come and by Their living example and precept infuse new life in the people and raise them to new heights of consciousness. Sant Kirpal Singh Ji belongs to the same hallowed line of Light Givers Who come to awaken humanity from the slumber of sloth and delusion. On the auspicious day of His 81^st birth anniversary we pray to God to spare Him for long long years so that His message may grow and spread all over the world and He may continue to glorify mother India and add lustre to His Name.

On the conclusion of the Mayor’s speech Sri Prem Chand Gupta thanked the Mayor and his administration for their all-out help in the various arrangements like sanitation, water and electricity, cleanliness, security, health, etc., and asked him to convey the grateful thanks of the organisers of the conference to the various concerned departments of his administrations.

Communication Minister Prof Sher Singh said that it was a happy coincidence that six hundred years ago on this very day, 6^th February, Sant Ravi Das was born in this Sacred Land and today we are celebrating the 81^st birth anniversary of Sant Kirpal Singh Ji Maharaj Who belongs to the same line of Godmen. As the Mayor said just now, our land is not rich in material resources but the message of Love, equality of man, truth and fraternity given out by our Rishis from times immemorial is a message that unites all mankind in one common fold of humanity. It is a message which is as relevant today as it was in the times when it was given. And the same message is being revived and propagated by Sant Kirpal Singh Ji Maharaj in our times for which we are beholden to Him. I pray God for His long life that He may continue to give Light to India and all humanity.

Sri Mohammed Safi Qureshi, Deputy Railway Minister, speaking in chaste Urdu, first of all congratulated Satguru Kirpal Singh Ji on His 81^st birth anniversary and quoted a couplet from Ghalib:

May you enjoy a life-span of a thousand years. And every year thereof should have fifty thousand days.

He continued,

The message of Unity is not new. Sant Ji has picked up the link of the chain started many thousand years ago, with new links being added to it by Prophets and Avatars Who came from time to time. Guru Nanak, Who came five hundred years ago, provided another link to the chain, and it is the same link that has been picked up by Sant Ji. By taking up the Great Mission of Unity in these dark times He has put a balm on the festering sores of humanity. God has not only given Suroor – ineffable joy and bliss – to His message but has also given Noor – Divine Radiance – to His face. I feel that the soul of Guru Nanak, Whose message Sant Ji is spreading far and wide, must be present at the moment to bless Him.

Sri Kantialal Ghia, Deputy chief Minister, Gujrat, praying for long life to Sant Kirpal Singh Ji said that the world had not yet forgotten the terrible holocaust of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Hydrogen and Neutron Bombs today were a hundred times more destructive. In a world racked by fear of impending atom war Sant Ji has brought a new hope. May He live long to continue His work of amelioration of man.

Maha Mandleshwar Swami Gangeshwaranand, the great scholar-savant and teacher who was born blind and yet has served as a beacon to light the halls of learning for the last half century paid a glowing tribute to Satguru Kirpal Singh. In a speech studded with gems of scholarship he said:

I am happy to see that the Great Mission of Unity of Man, a work dear to my heart and to which I have devoted myself for a fairly long time, has been taken up by Sant Kirpal Singh Ji on a global scale, it is the old old message of the Vedas given thousands of years ago. Quoting extensively from the Vedic texts, Swami Gangeshwaranand gave quotations form Rig Veda, the most ancient scriptures, which addresses all mankind as sons of God, which rendered in modern terms may be expressed as brotherhood of man under the Fatherhood of God. Quoting Rig Veda again, Swami Ji said that there was reference therein of Panch Janan the people living in the five regions of earth. The five main divisions of earth today are Australia, Asia, Europe, America and Africa.

These are the Panch Janan mentioned in Rig Veda, for whom the injunction is given that,

We should have brotherly relations with the people of these regions; we should give them something and they should give us something and we should love them as they should love us.

And I find in this assembly a fulfilment of the Vedic injunction – for we have here representatives of Australia, Africa, America, Europe and Asia (since we Indians are all Asiatics). So this message of Unity and Equality and Love and Brotherhood given out by Sant Kirpal Singh Ji is the old old message of the Vedas that is given to the world and I thank Him for that and pray for His long life and health to enable Him to fulfil His great mission.

The Master, Sant Kirpal Singh, said: 

The object of the Conference on Unity of Man is to propagate the idea of Unity of Man that all mankind is One, all are born the same way, their outer and inner construction is the same and all are endowed with the same privileges from God. No high, no low – all are equal. We are drops of the Ocean of All-Consciousness which is God. So we are all brothers and sisters in God. Our Ultimate Goal is to attain atonement with the Supreme Power which controls all creation and also controls us in the body.

The whole world is His abode, and on a small scale, body is the Temple of God in which His Eternal Light is shining.

Take heed that the Light which is in thee be not darkness.

That Light is in all of us. Our Surat or attention has identified itself with the body and the outside world, so much so that it has forgotten itself. If it withdraws from all outside and rises into awareness of its True Identity as a conscious entity, it can know the Supreme Power – God. For that we have to learn to die while living by rising above the body consciousness. What is death?

It is like the sun setting on one side and rising on the other. That is all. We have to realise the Controlling Power, the source and sustenance of all that is. Why do we not see Him now? Because our attention is identified with the physical body and the world outside, so much so that it has forgotten that it is a conscious entity, the Controlling Power behind the body.

Let me give an example to explain the point. Suppose I am looking in front of me. I cannot at the same time see what is behind me unless I withdraw my gaze from the front and look behind. Likewise, outside and recede within, to know itself. And which is the eye that can see the Reality within? That eye is different – it is the self-luminous Inner Eye mentioned in the scriptures as the Third Eye, Single Eye or Shiv Netra, of which it is said,

If thine eye be single your whole body shall be full of Light.

We have to withdraw our attention from all outside and rise into awareness of our True Identity and then realise the Supreme Power. And when one sees Him immanent in all and working in all, one would love all creation.

Man is he who is perfect all round – physical, mental and spiritually.

Be ye perfect as your Father, Which is in Heaven.

We give food to the body, we also feed the intellect, but what food do we give to the soul, which is a conscious entity? What is the food for soul? Man cannot live on bread alone. The food for soul, a conscious entity, is to contact God – the Ocean of All-Consciousness, the Supreme Power that enlivens all creation. It has to know that Power, to contact It. Such a man – who has developed all round – may be called a perfect man. The object of all formations or social bodies is to turn out such perfect men.

God made man and gave all men equal privileges. There is no high, no low – all are equal in the sight of God. And God does not reside in temples made by human hands but He does reside in the temples He has Himself made in the womb of the mother. And that temple is the man-body that we are carrying. In this temple we live and He also lives in it. It is a wonderful house we live in, that with so many apertures or outlets of eyes, ears, nose etc., we cannot escape from it. Some Power is controlling us in this body and that Power is God.

All Masters Who came in the East or in the West say that God is Love. Soul, which is of the same essence as that of God is also Love. Love needs an object for attachment. The natural object for our attachment was God, but we got attached to the world, because we see it.

All Masters say,

Love thy God and since God is immanent in all forms, love all creation.

We say, how can we love Him Whom we do not see? The answer to that is, seek the company of a Master Who has realised Him. He will give you a practical demonstration of how to rise above body-consciousness and see the Reality within. The Masters come to make people see who do not see. When the attention recedes within to concentrate at the seat of soul between and at the back of the two eyes, it realises its True Identity that it is the indweller, controlling the body and there is a Supreme Power that controls it – the soul – in the body.

Guru Nanak says in this context:

The Lord of Nanak is visible everywhere.

And Kabir says:

I saw Him, the Uncreated Light Principle immanent in all and my doubts were dispelled.

Love comes with seeing. One cannot love him whom he does not see. How can we see God?

The Upanishads say in this context:

Unless the outgoing sense-faculties are controlled, and the mind and the intellect stilled, one cannot realise God.

When one sees Him in all the would naturally he will love all creation and seek the good of everyone. Guru Nanak was moved by the same experience to say.

Peace be unto all, under Thy will oh Lord.

Love knows service and sacrifice. Man is he who lives for others. An animal lives for itself and for its progeny. There is no dearth of preaching to day. One may read all the books but unless he acts up to what they say it is no use reading. We have developed the head and neglected the heart. That is the reason for all the conflicts we see today. There is nothing new in all that I have said just now. I have given out the gist of the understanding I got by sitting at the feet of my Master and from a parallel study of religions and that is,

Oh man know thyself, who you are, what you are.

A Persian Faqir says:

Oh man you know the worth of everything. If you know not your own worth you are a fool.

The Masters make a man a True Man in the first instance and then raise him to the level of an angel and finally to that of God. The three pre-requisites to God-Realisation are: right diet, right conduct and right dealings.

Guru Nanak says in this context:

Oh Nanak, utter the name of God with a pure heart; the worldly defile themselves by their evil ways.

And Kabir says:

If the fish lived in the sacred water of Ganges, even then it wouldn’t wash clean and the foul smell wouldn’t go.

Guru Amar Das says in the same context:

When the mind is unclean all is defiled. Washing the body does not make the mind clean. The whole world is in the rut of delusion; few there be who know the Reality.

What is that pollution and uncleanliness? The life of the senses. God + Desire = Man, and Man – Desire = God.

There is a great awakening now which I observed during my third world tour recently. The regeneration of society depends on the regeneration of man. Bricks may be manufactured in may kiln. If they are strong and of good quality the house will be strong. If the bricks are not properly burnt and the material is substandard, you cannot have a strong house. So whichever the formation, man should be man in the true sense of the word. There is a general awakening today in every direction. People are so unhappy, may God grant them peace and happiness. The way to that is to seek company of awakened men.

Sri Prem Chand Gupta thanked all concerned for participating in the public function to felicitate the Living Master, Sant Kirpal Singh, in honouring Whom we were in fact honouring ourselves and this Sacred Land which had produced universal Light-givers throughout the ages. Commenting on the great success of the World Conference on the Unity of Man he said that the conference fully reflected the idea of Unity in its organisation and working, it had eight general secretaries drawn from different organisations who had never worked together. It was the harmonising influence and impact of the personality of Sant Kirpal Singh Ji that brought them together and made it possible for them to handle the many-sided complex problems of organisation and administrations of this – perhaps the greatest in the history of Delhi international meeting – so successfully.