Powered By Blogger

Friday, December 15, 2006

Part Two of: Tulsi Sahib, the Great Grandfather of Modern-day Sant Mat

Part Two of: Tulsi Sahib, the Great Grandfather of Modern-day Sant Mat

Selected Mystic Verses from the Ghat Ramayana of Param Sant Tulsi Sahib

Tulsi's Descriptions of God and the Inward Journey

Utter the Name of the Lord. Oh! do utter His Name. Why has your Surat [soul's attention] become so oblivious? Give up all quarrels and wranglings. The terrible Kal [gnostic demiurge, false god, lord of time and illusion] beguiles you through karmas [actions]. Shake off your illusion and flee to your Original Abode.

Surat alone, by adopting the Sound Current, can proceed beyond the Fourth Lok [realm, plane or inner region]. Take a vow to hold fast to this very method which, really, is the unique religion of Sants.

Worship Sat [Eternal Truth, God] by means of Surat [attention faculty of the soul at the third eye center], and this will enable you to reach the regions beyond the Sky [Gagan]. Seek Sat within, which alone will enable you to reach the region that knows no death and decay, and thus attain great happiness and bliss.

In the blessed company of Sants [Masters, Sant Satgurus, Saints], I have been able to know of the secrets of the true and indescribable One who has neither form nor any line of demarcation and is also invisible. I have described in detail Sat Mat with which worldly ways are incompatible. I have tasted the bliss of the Original Abode which alone is true. The world, on the other hand, is only a fleeting show, and only if one ponders over this, one will be able to realize the essence of Sat Mat and then alone will one's boat of life be able to cross the ocean of worldly existence. Great reverberation of Shabd [Sound] is going on within. One should fix one's attention on It and dance with joy. Blessed with the merciful gaze of the Satguru, I have been able to get Darshan [Vision] of the Invisible Being. My goal is Sat Purush whose abode is Sat Lok. He is all-merciful and is beyond Triloki [three worlds, physical, astral, causal]. My attention is riveted on His holy feet and I have His Darshan all the time. I have reached the Original Abode, which is beyond Kal's net. This world is perverse. I have been blessed with Darshan of the Supreme Being. I have seen the entire Brahmand [regions of universal mind], not to speak of this And [astral realm], which is only a very small region. I have vanquished the mind as well as Kal and, discarding this world, have become rid of it. I have seen the entire expanse of the earth, the sun and the moon. I have won the battle with Kal thanks to Sant Mat [the teachings of the Sants], which alone is true. Traversing the path within, I have been able to get the Vision (Darshan) of the Supreme Being.

0 soul! Give up all blind adherence and beliefs, concentrate within and seek the Supreme Being there, adopting Him alone as your Isht or goal. Do ponder over what I say and see for yourself with eyes wide open that there is none in this world whom you can call your own. You should adopt the Supreme Being alone as your prop and support.

Mention has been made of the states of wakefulness, dream, deep slumber and Turiya. The Trans-Turiya state lies beyond them and it is realized only by one who practises true Yoga.

The Shastras have described the four kinds of Bani (spiritual sound), namely, Para, Pashyanti, Madhyama and Baikhri. All this is known to the Gyani and Yogi. This is what the Gyani says. The secret. of what lies beyond is something unique, which is known only to Sants.

I (Tulsi) pierced the Sky and went beyond and met the Essence. My Surat darted above like an arrow shot by bending the bow. It proceeded beyond the three worlds, and reached the fourth Lok whose deity is Sat Nam Sat Purush, who took me in His arms.

The Supreme Being whose abode lies further ahead, is unique and only Sants know about Him. He is Nameless (Anami, Soundless: Anadi) and free from Maya. How to explain what He is. He has no colour, no form and no line of demarcation. Shabd is unmanifest in His region. I am worthless and know nothing but I had the good fortune of reaching His Abode. By placing my head at the feet of all Sants, I could reach that Original Abode which knows no decay. The three worlds are created and they perish, but I have taken my Surat beyond the Fourth Lok.

Surat darts forth with all-attention, and catching hold of Shabd, soars high like a kite secured to a cord.

ESOTERIC INSTRUCTIONS

Steadfast Attention Fixed at the Infintismal Point, the Third Eye Center Which Becomes a Portal to Mystic Light and Sound

He who has been able to know the true nature of the mind, has recognized Surat [inner hearing] and, by awakening Nirat [inner seeing], has repaired to the highest region. Sants, after realizing the truth themselves, have given out the secrets and I also join them. I have known the ways of the mind and recognized Surat, and I can assure you that the true path cannot be traversed without the participation and cooperation of Surat. After recognizing Surat [reaching the third eye center], one should partake of the bliss of higher regions, and then only will one be able to find the path to the Original Abode. One should fix one's Surat on the Current of inner Light and Sound with your attention as steadfast as that of a turtle fixed on its eggs, never looking to any other thing. One's Surat should partake of the bliss of Shabd in the manner of a Chakor-bird looking at the moon with steadfast attention. One should apply one's Surat so steadfastly to Shabd that ambrosia drips forthwith and one is able to partake of the bliss of the Shabd.

During Surat Shabd Meditation Traversing Inner Regions
Back Up to the Eighth Heaven -- Kaivalaya or Oneness with the Soundless One

Surat will unite with Naam or Shabd when it reaches the Kanwals [Lotuses]. Sants have said that if one seeks the shelter and protection of Sants, one's Surat will be able to see the Kanwals and will thus develop true faith. Above the third eye center is Neel Shikhar (Blue Mountain Peak). From there one should fix one's gaze at the Portal to the Inaccessible. One will then be free from the clutches of Kal and be rid of worldly pursuits.

One should constantly keep one's Surat fixed at Gagan [Mystic Sky in the region of Brahm] and keep on looking through the perforated screen. On thus applying Surat to Shabd all the time, one will not think of any other goal. Thus frolicking at the Portal, Surat strolls in the region of Shyam Safed. In the region of Shyam (black), there is a white island, where, in between a conch and a wheel, there is an oyster, and beyond them lies the unique citadel of Bank Nal [Crooked Tunnel].

Proceeding through Sukhmana [central energy current which runs from the eye center into the higher spiritual regions], one gets across Mansarover [Lake of Amritsar or Nectar in the region of Daswan Dwar]. Beyond that is Triveni [confluence of three sacred rivers]. Going past it, Surat takes to the route leading to the Inaccessible Region. If, after taking one's bath in Triveni, one proceeds onward, towards the Inaccessible, then only will one be able to meet the true Satguru.

There is a Four-Petalled Kanwal or Lotus within, proceeding through which, one will reach the Twelve-Petalled Lotus, viz., Sat Lok. Beyond that, one will have Darshan of the Supreme Being (Anami Purush) who has neither form nor colour and who is Inaccessible as well as Indescribable. Sants have described His region as the Eighth Lok. Some have described that region as the Eighth Terrace while others have called it the Eighth Mansion.

-- Param Sant Tulsi Sahib, Saint of Hathras, from his Ghat Ramayana

For more information on the meditation practice, see the online book, The Philosophy of Liberation, by Maharishi Mehi:
http://www.thewayofsages.com/new_page_7.htm

There are two books in English featuring the writings of Sant Tulsi:

"Param Sant Tulsi Saheb", translated by S.D. Maheshwari: The Maheshwari family in Agra -- they now have a website: radhasoami-faith.info

and,

"Tulsi Sahib -- Saint of Hathras", by J.R. Puri & V.K. Sethi: scienceofthesoul.org