Spiritual Satsang Discourse Featuring the Teachings of Param Sant Tulsi Sahib, Baba Devi Sahab, Maharshi Mehi Paramahans, Swami Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj, and Shri Bhagirath Baba
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{"Repeat the Name of your Beloved, day and night, again
and again. With care in thought, word and deed, you will
cross to the other shore." -- Sant Dadu Dayal}
Four Shabds (Hymn, Mystic Poems) of Param Saint Tulsi Sahib of Hathras, from the book, Param Sant Tulsi Saheb, S.D. Maheshwari, Agra, India
Shabd 88
Peeping through the latticed screen, I had a glimpse of the Beloved. O friend ! I sacrifice myself before my Sat Guru. (1) He gave me the eyes and took care of my Surat and through His grace I could know of the Abode of the Infinite Being. (2) I proceeded to the unique cave in Gagan where neither the sun nor the moon has any access. (3) Says Tulsi, Surat prepared the Beloved's bed and, lying there, enjoyed great bliss. (4)
Shabd 89
Listen, O friend ! Great is the status of Sants. It is beyond the reach of Yoga and such other methods or practices. (1) In that region of Sants [in the Soundless, Formless Plane Above] there is neither sound nor any form. It is beyond Sunn and Maha-sunn. (2) The Gunas and Nirguna have no access there. Sat Nam is the Beloved's region, which the Jiva should attain. (3) Says Tulsi, he knows the True Name of the Abode of the August, Nameless and Infinite Being. (4)
Shabd 90
O Friend ! My Guru showed me the way through which I could see the Invisible One. When I could recognize the current of spirituality coming from above, I constantly applied my Surat to it. (1) Unique is the spectacle seen on the peak in the sky and I made my Surat participate in the activities going on there, all the time. (2) By lifting the barrier beyond the door on the West, that is, beyond Sunn, I gained access to Sat Lok. (3) Says Tulsi, the Essence resides within the human body, and therein can Atma be found. (4)
Shabd 91
Friend ! I searched further ahead and, after ascending, merged my Surat in Gagan (Trikuti). Proceeding still further I found a path as subtle as a spider's thread, along which, I quickly elevated my Surat. (1) I then beheld Man-sarovar and, taking my seat at the Ghat (bathing place) of Triveni, I bathed in its waters. (2) Withdrawing myself from there and proceeding further within, I saw a unique spectacle of the refulgence of a crore of suns pervading all round. (3) At its middle or centre, I found a door through which I could see a Being who has been described as the Source. (4) Says Tulsi, by applying my Surat to Shabd within, I merged it in the region of Guru. (5) (Param Saint Tulsi Sahib of Hathras)
Sayings of Baba Devi Sahab (Pravesh K. Singh translation)
"Do not live even a single day without inner meditation."
"Such persons who are all the time busy in mundane worldly affairs and are not able to spare even one or two hours a day (for meditation), are not fit to be initiated into inner meditation, for even if these persons get to know about the way to the inner secrets, of what use it would be to them!"
"What is important is not to live a single day in life without practicing meditation, all the experiences of pains & pleasures of the world, one has to go through, notwithstanding."
"The loftiest or the highest outcome of adopting and following the ways of these (Sants) is that it takes one beyond 'aawaagaman' (the repetitive cycles of birth & death)."
"So, we should go to that place where the way to remove these veils is taught. In the terminology of Sants and noble people, such a place is called `satsang' where methods are taught to inculcate bhakti [love and devotion] and remove the veils that keep it under-cover".
"God and bhakti are otherwise one and the same thing".
"In short, bhakti is such a thing without which no worldly or heavenly acts can be accomplished. He alone is a human being (in the true sense) who knows the key to or secret of bhakti. He whose heart is devoid of the spirit of love is not even as good as an animal; he is rather much more inferior to that".
"Bhakti is that essential substance without which any work, either of this world or of the other world, can not be fulfilled; for all such tasks which a man performs with genuine zeal get accomplished well, and all other works in which we do not feel sincerely involved remain incomplete or are only half done".
"What is most significant about bhakti is that is opens up inside man the easy pathway to God, treading on which man reaches his centre or destination from where he never (needs to) return".
"The other Music or Sound is internal and the way to listen to that is by focusing our attention on the internal `Shabd' or Sound which is Ringing within each one of us. Shabd is a highly precious wealth in the life of every human being. So long as this Shabd is present in a man he is alive; as soon as the Shabd exits, it is the end of him.".
"It is the highest duty of every individual to acquire experiential Knowledge of this Shabd, and to investigate or explore the Origin or Source from where this Shabd flows out".
"Our Lord resides in all (of us). He, our Lord, is so wonderful that though He pervades everything, (yet) He is separate from and transcends everything. It is not possible to see Him (in His true form) without meeting, and learning the secrets from, (the accomplished) Guru. He is blessed and adorable within whose body He reveals Himself."
When Sadguru Baba Devi Sahib was nearing the time of his departure from this ephemeral world for his true destination, satsangis humbly requested him to bless with his parting words. To their request, Baba Devi Sahab had obliged by saying, "Duniyaa waham hai, abhyaas karo", meaning, "This world is an illusion -- practice meditation." (Baba Devi Sahab)
Below is from the Padavali of Maharshi Mehi Paramhans
56
Inside one’s body, one witnesses unique and most delightful performances,
In the centre of the eyebrows, you fix firmly your Surat [attention-faculty of the soul],
Watch the wonderful light inside your body,
As you see that light try to experience it;
It is difficult to know its reality by describing or hearing it;
It is to be sought inside one’s own body only.
Within the body itself is Sagun [form], Nirgun [formless] and the abode of the Lord;
If you do not believe, you serve Sadguru, abandoning your pride,
Even now is alive in the world Baba Devi Sahib, the light of knowledge,
Who specifically teaches the means of inner worship;
Mehi says, one going to his shelter, gets inexplicable joy inside one’s body.
57
O devotee! There is a wonderful display within this body,
In the darkness of this body is the sky studded with the stars, the Moon and the Sun,
There is the subtle body within the gross one and in that subtle body is the causal one,
And yet there is the fourth one, that is, the supra-causal body,
The fifth body, that is, Kaivalya (Oneness) is without attributes and full of knowledge,
Mehi says, the Quintessential Word along with the Absolute, is present in one’s body. (Maharshi Mehi)
Couplets of Swami Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj
Begin meditation with internally chanting or repeating the Guru-mantra-incantation (the charged words given by the Guru). And then visualize the radiant form or image of the Satguru in the still darkness of the inner sky (with eyes closed). Follow that with focusing your attention at the seat of the soul within, i.e. at the Third Eye or the Inner Eye or the Til Dwaar, by making the two streams of consciousness in your two eyes converge in a Point.
When the two currents of consciousness meet in a Point, Divine Light appears within. Then, practice Surat Shabd Yoga (Yoga of Divine Sound) i.e., try to shift your attention to listening to the Divine Sounds or myriads of melodies (Anahad Naad) ringing inside. Listening to the Divine Sound destroys all the perversions, agitations and fickleness of the mind.
Ascending beyond or transcending myriads of sounds, try to identify and tune in to the Quintessential Unstruck Melody, called "Saar Shabd" or "Anaahat Naad" which alone is capable of taking you and merging you into oneness with the Supreme Lord; this is the ultimate deliverance, emancipation, welfare, or liberation. (Sant Sevi Ji)
Shri Bhagirath Baba on Manas Jappa - Simran - Name Repetition Done With Devotion and Love (Prem-Bhakti)
There are three layers (coverings) over the Jeevaatmaa (Individual Soul). Those are: darkness, light and sound. Darkness is the shadow of the light. This darkness is the first layer on the Jeeva (individual soul) whom all beings see. One who crosses this layer of darkness through a special kind of meditation sees the inner Light within oneself. This inner Light is called Aatma-Aalok (Light of the self) or Brahma-Prakash (Divine Light), on achieving it, Divya-Drishti (Divine Eye, Third Eye) opens completely. One should repeat (reiterate) the Guru-instructed mantra within the mind, gazing into the darkness that appears while closing the eyes. This process is called Maanas Jap. In doing this process neither lips are oscillated nor the tongue. Instead, the mantra (word or name given by Guru) is repeated within, through the mind. This Jap is actually a kind of meditation. Repeating mantra through the mind is to call the Ishta (the tutelary deity, most beloved, Sadguru) near oneself. So, Jaapak (a practitioner who does Jap) should perform Jap with great love. He (Ishta, Guru) becomes happy/merciful if one does Jap with immense love and devotion, and he appears at will.
The practitioner who does Jap sitting in a secluded place with the right method and immense love, becomes the excellent devotee. Sant Charan Das says:
"Sakal shiromani naam hai, sab dharman ke maahi |
Ananya bhakta wah jaaniye, sumiran bhoolai naahi ||"
[Name (Jap) is the crown of all and has been described in all creeds.
Know that person as the superior devotee who never forgets Jap.]
By doing Jap, the mind and heart become devotionally pure, morale is uplifted, one gets strength in inner meditation. Japaat Siddhi (divine power after getting perfection in Jap) is obtained. By doing Jap, so much sanctity begins to flow within the body and mind of the practitioner (Jaapak) that the vibration or wave of Jap (mantra the practitioner repeats) penetrates (flows into) whatever the practitioner touches. (Gurusevi Shri Bhagirath Baba)
