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Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Sant Mat Satsang Newsletter/Blog: Light and Sound on the Path: More Light


Light and Sound on the Path: More Light! ("Mehr Licht") -(Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe)




These Solstice-related holidays have the theme of the return of Light or miracles associated with the Renewal or Incarnation of the Light in the physical plane. Happy Holidays of Light and May the New Year Bring Much Wisdom.

Jai Guru, Radhasoami,
Jai Sat Naam, In the Light and Sound of the Beloved,

James
Sant Mat Fellowship
Spiritual Awakening Radio
Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts





The universe within is infinitely larger than the universe without. And if the universe without is over 40 billion light-years and expanding, and yet is merely a tiny drop in a Divine Ocean, this implies much about the Heavens or Dimensions that are waiting for us within.





Rumi: "Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray."

"On this path effort never goes to waste, and there is no failure. Even a little effort toward spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear." (Bhagavad Gita)




"The knowledge of the soul and Supreme Soul is the highest level of knowledge for human beings. It uplifts us from earthly suffering, births and deaths to the State of Salvation (i.e. Moksha, Nirvana)." (Swami Ashutosh Baba)




The December 2011 Sant Mat Satsang Podcast at Blog Talk Radio: The Dharamdasi-Tulsi Sahib Connection: The Five Names and Anurag Sagar

To stream, click this link: http://bit.ly/tAWWmi or to download: http://bit.ly/va43hB

Sant Mat History is the focus of this edition of the Sant Mat Podcast. What is the family tree of Sant Mat? Where does this spiritual path come from? Who used the Five Names (Panch Naam) before the time of Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras? Who was Tulsi Sahib's Guru (one of the successors of Sant Dariya Sahib in Bihar)? Who are the People of the Anurag Sagar? Who used the Anurag Sagar (Kabir's "Ocean of Love"), a sacred text of Sant Mat, before the time of Tulsi Sahib and Radhasoami? I make the case that the lineage of Masters begins with Guru Kabir, goes to Sant Dharam Das (the Dharamdasis), then perhaps to one of Dharam Das's successors, such as Churamani Naam, to Dariya Sahib's Guru, to Dariya Sahib of Bihar, then to one of the successors of Dariya (Guna Das or Teka Das), to Tulsi Sahib of Hathras, and branched out from there.




Other Recent Podcasts Available Online: The Mystic Poetry and Teachings of Darshan Singh -- Love's Last Madness, Parts One and Two; Buddhism and Inner Sound Meditation; A History of Mystics, East and West: Charts of the Heavens -- Maps of Inner Space; The Mystic Poetry and Teachings of Param Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras, India: Poetry Musically Accompanied With Sitar, Flute, Tambura and Tablas -- GO TO the Podcast Page of Spiritual Awakening Radio:




Let them try to imprison Him in temple, mosque and church!
The Seeing Eye finds the Beloved's signs in every mote.

Very near your heart are seekers of your Vision;
Those who look at the surface are exiled from the Beloved's Light.

What can I say of the grace He showers on me within?
Darshan, the moment I close my eyes, the Beloved's Light begins.
(Love's Last Madness, Darshan Singh, Hohm Press)




I Hear Your Wordless Song

Light that shines from inner skies,
we watch together.
I hear your wordless song,
of bliss and peace.
Skies illumine with you,
hearts burst with joy,
at your wordless song
of Truth.
No longer tied with earthly ropes
of illusion,
Now free .....freed by your song
of silence! (Jennifer Latham)




The more we meditate,
the more we communicate with our inner selves,
the more we contemplate the Light and the Sound,
the more lighthearted and energetic we will be to help others.




If your Eye becomes Single, your whole body shall be full of Light: "The meditator sees a dark void ahead when he closes his eyes. Light is seen when attention is focused in the center of that darkness. Sant Tulsi Sahib articulates this thus: 'Attention is stilled in the inner sky and remains seated day and night at the portal of the til (Point).' That is, the spiritual practitioner who focuses his [or her] attention in the inner void enters into the Gate of Bindu or the Tenth Door." (Swami Achyutanand, Yoga of Inner Light and Sound)




Seeing the Inner Light of God, by Maharshi Mehi Paramhans, translated into English by Pravesh K. Singh

Although the "Drishti Yoga" (Yoga of Inner Light or Vision) is more difficult to accomplish than the "Shabda Yoga" (Inner Sound Meditation), it is important to practice first the Yoga of Light to attain Single-pointedness....

Having attained Single-pointedness, the attention should be focused on the inner Sounds. The consciousness will, naturally, be drawn towards the inner Sounds, leaving the bindu (the Radiant Infinitesimal Point) behind. The extreme bliss experienced when hearing the inner Sounds completely absorbs the consciousness....

While meditating on the inner Sound it is possible for the practitioner to also see the Divine Light. Just as while attending a concert, one cannot help but see (the stage, artists etc.), so also the spectacular scenes of the various Non-Conscious Realms also are seen inevitably when engaged in the practice of the Yoga of Sound. Hence, it has been remarked that 'the Light is within the Sound'. Not surprisingly, the practice of the meditation upon the inner Sound may transport its practitioner into the Domain of Divine Light. The Sound, nonetheless, is of utmost importance, is the essence of the practice, and not grasping the Sound, therefore, would be the greatest loss."




"If one is whole, one will be filled with Light, but if one is divided, one will be filled with darkness." (Yeshua, Gospel of Thomas) "If your Eye be Single, your whole body shall be full of Light." (Gospel of Matthew) "There is Light within a Person of Light, and it illuminates the entire cosmos." (Yeshua, Gospel of Saint Thomas) "The Light of one soul is equal to that of sixteen suns."(Anurag Sagar) "Thus as a result of recollecting all these things the impulses of the mind are extended from the sphere of material things towards those impulses which are without limit, that is to say, wonder at the New World, and the faculty of vision which belongs to contemplation [of God]. For when the vision of the mind is mingled with the Light...., all its impulses become infinite. For none of the Visionaries or 'Gnostics' is able to distinguish the identity of the mind as a result of the vision of that glorious Light that is seen ..... for all the innermost chambers of the heart are filled by that blessed Light....". (Joseph the Visionary, Syriac Mystic quoted in, The Syriac Fathers on Prayer and the Spiritual Life, translated from the Aramaic by Sebastian Brock) "Blessed are those who have approached the divine Light, who have entered it and been absorbed by it, mingled in its brightness." (Saint Symeon)

The Nameless God (Anami): "Come, that I may teach you about secrets no person has ever seen. For there exists a Great and Boundless Realm, whose extent no generation of angels has seen, in which there is a Great Invisible Spirit, which no eye of an angel has ever seen, no thought of the heart has ever comprehended, and it was never called by any name."(Yeshua, Gospel of Judas)




"It is impossible to confine love to the temporal and transient levels of life, and it is impossible to confine the grandeur and majesty of God to the dimensions of the mind. When I had come to a partial realization of this fact, wise adepts of the inner realms provided me with guidance through the fragrant mystic universe, the spirito-mental region. They showed me their many magnificent planets of light and wonder. It was they who ultimately persuaded me to roam and explore untold realms of gold within myself. I had no fixed starting place in time and space, for I dwelt in a multi-verse that was co-extensive with all the ages. But my inner world was still limited by the boundaries of creation; I needed the guidance of a spiritual adept, within the physical world itself, to give me new birth into the freedom of eternity." (George Arnsby Jones)

He has awaited me for countless ages. Yet I did not know the bliss that was so near to me, for my love was not yet awake. But now, my Lover has made known to me the meaning of the note that struck my ear: Now, my good fortune is come. Kabir says: "Behold! how great is my good fortune! I have received the unending caress of my Beloved!" -- Guru Kabir

The moral code appertaining to Radhaswami Faith is comprised in two sentences:

All acts including spiritual practice which tend to free the spirit from matter and raise it towards its source are good work.

All acts which tend to degrade the spirit be weighing it downwards deeper and deeper into matter are bad work. Again any action done with a view to help the needy from unselfish motives is good work; and the contrary, bad work in this world.

Radhasoami Dayal says that the highest aim and object of every spirit should be to gradually throw off the coating of matter with a view to return to the Supreme Source. This is what He defines as "Good". To seek worldly objects, to set the heart entirely on worldly affairs, is a retrograde movement; and this is "bad". The next aim of every human being should be to do good to his fellow creatures by thought, word and deed as far as practicable, and to avoid injuring them except in the interests of society or for the good of many. (Huzur Maharaj, Radhasoami Mat Prakash)

"This world is perishable and so also is all that pertains to it. A wise person is he, who, having closely examined the nature of existence here, has realized that it is all transitory and illusory, and consecrated his human form by devoting himself to Bhajan and Sumiran (listening to inner Sounds and repetition of the Holy Name of the Supreme Being) and who, taking the fullest advantage of the various faculties which the Supreme Father has graciously endowed him with, has translated the invaluable jewel within him, which is Surat (spirit, the soul) or the essence of his being, to its Original Abode." (Opening Paragraph of Sar Bachan Radhasoami Prose)

"Who am I; what is the reality of my existence; what is the Truth are some of the questions that agitate a spiritual seeker's mind. None of these questions can be answered fully, since these questions as well as their answers arise at the level of mind, whereas the truth thereof can only be realized, not by the mind but at a level beyond the mind, at the level of the Self. All the scriptures attempt to provide answers to these questions in their own way, but no explanation or description can be fully satisfactory, as the Truth cannot be comprehended completely in words....."

"To realize the Truth, one has to first realise the Self, because the essence of the Truth is the same as the essence of the Self....." (R.K.Gupta, The Science and Philosophy of Spirituality)

"The great philosopher Socrates was asked by Crito 'in what manner should he be buried?' It is said that Socrates had replied: 'In any manner you like, but first you must catch me, the real me. You can bury only my body and not the real me.' Being the irradiation of the all-shining luminous Sat Purush, the soul is also luminous." (R.K. Gupta, The Science and Philosophy of Spirituality)

Always, always meditate day and night: When you rise, when you lie down, when you breathe in, when you breathe out. Waking or sleeping, relish the taste of meditation -- meditation will bring union. Meditation will remove all your burdens; meditation upon Ram's name [God's name] will become your support. Kabir, says, "He is limitless." (Songs of Kabir from the Adi Granth, Nirmal Das, SUNY Press, NY)







Saturday, November 26, 2011

Truth Always Wins: Light and Sound on the Path


Truth Always Wins: Light and Sound on the Path  -- Sant Mat Satsang




{[Contents Below: 1) Links to Three New Podcasts; 2) Buddhism and the Sound Current -- Inner Sound Meditation; 3) Brief Summary of the Teachings of Sant Mat, the Path of the Masters; 4) Video: 8000 Chinese Sky Lanterns Launched In Poznan, Poland -- a Reflection about Outer Light and Sound Rituals in the World Religions; 5) Baba Faqir Chand and the Radiant Form of the Inner Master; 6) A Letter from Soami Ji Maharaj; 7) Reducing or Eliminating Karma Through the Divine Current of Shabd; and, 8) Link to an Online Sant Mat Book by a Living Master: Yoga Of Inner Light and Sound.]}


New Sant Mat Radio Podcasts Available For Streaming and Downloading (Use Firefox, Opera, or Internet Explorer)

The Mystic Poetry and Teachings of Darshan Singh -- Love's Last Madness, Part ONE: My Guests are Barry Lerner and Harbans Singh Bedi -- Poetry Readings in Urdu with English Translation -- Program Length: 60 Minutes. Click to Stream or Download: 

The Mystic Poetry and Teachings of Dariya Sahib of Bihar. I also make the case that the guru of Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras was either Dariya Sahib or one of the gurus that Dariya appointed to succeed him in Bihar: http://bit.ly/unIBCy

The Mystic Poetry and Teachings of Param Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras, India: Poetry Musically Accompanied With Sitar, Flute, Tambura and Tablas: http://bit.ly/vTy4qD

Subscribe to Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts & Access More Podcasts Here:


"The human body is like a radio receiver for listening to the Sound Current [the inner Sound]. When we tune in the radio, we begin to hear the sound. Similarly, when the Master (Sant Satguru) guides us within, we are able to hear the Divine Music. By adjusting the 'dial', we hear various kinds of Sound." (Huzur Baba Sawan Singh)




Buddhism and the Sound Current -- Inner Sound Meditation

"Ananda and all you who listen here
Should inward turn your faculty
Of hearing to hear your own nature
Which alone achieves Supreme Bodhi.
That is how enlightenment is won.
Buddhas as many as the Ganges' sand
Entered this one gateway to Nirvana.
All past Tathagathatas
Have achieved this method."
(The Surangama Sutra: Selections from the
Upasaka Lu K'uan Yu Translation,
Published by Rider and Company, London)

"It is easiest to hear this Sound when it is quiet, particularly at nighttime. Once you have identified this Sound, then you place your awareness on it without wavering. Resting your mind in the Sound, you continue to listen, going further and further into the Sound itself." (Mind Beyond Death, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Snow Lion Publications)

"Listening to the inner Sound brings the heart into a position of acute inner awareness. It is not that the inner Sound has some magical property. Rather, it is that bringing of the alert mind, bringing openness and receptivity to Sound, is symbolic of the presence of Ultimate Truth. The Sound is always there. We don't have to create it. It is featureless. It is ever present. So it is a good symbol for Ultimate Reality itself." (Ajahn Amaro)




Brief Summary of the Teachings of Sant Mat, the Path of the Masters

* All souls (jivas) are in essence drops of love from the Sea of God.

* The attachment and association with mind and body makes the soul lose sight of the real Self.

* God assumes the form of a Saint to lead the soul back to its Original Home.

* One must surrender one's entire being to the Ocean of Love of which we are a part, instead of limiting ourselves to sensual pleasures which leave us unhappy and discontented. 

* This can be done by the practice of Surat Shabd Yoga [Inner Light and Sound Meditation].

* By attuning oneself to the Life Current which proceeds from the Heart of Anami Purush [God, The Nameless One/Radhasoami] in the form of Light and Sound, one can finally achieve union with the True Self, finding the joy one is seeking. (R.S. White Paper on Religion of Sants and Radhasoami Faith, Dayalbagh, Agra, 2011)


* Consider the following as the requirements to attain liberation: 
1) Trust and belief in God; 2) commitment to seek the Divine within; 3) devotion to a spiritual master; 4) listening to the teaching of the spiritual discourse including study of the teachings of the saints and the scriptures; and, 5) diligent meditation practice. (Swami Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj)





A Reflection about Outer Light and Sound Rituals: 8000 Chinese "Sky Lanterns" Launched in Poznan, Poland



What a beautiful ceremony this is. 
Souls yearn for heavenly experiences 
and sometimes create rituals 
around the lighting of lamps, fireworks, 
the ringing of bells in temples, gongs, drumming, etc…. 
A preview of mystical experience, 
a taste of things to come. 
As without, so within. 
As above, so below. 
Types and shadows 
till the day the wisdom eye opens,  
the lamps light themselves,
the third ear hears,
and unstruck bells ever reverberate 
on their own 
in other realms beyond.


Truth Always Wins: "Truth should be the guideline in the performance of all activities, spiritual or temporal, for a satsangi. Nothing that falls short of truth should be acceptable to him [or her]." (Agam Prasad Mathur, Petals of Love)




Baba Faqir Chand and the Radiant Form of the Inner Master

"Maharaj Faqir Chand ji Sahab established his Ashram after his retirement from Railway service [station master] in 1962. The Ashram is located on the outskirts of Hoshiarpur in the foothills of Himalayas. It is called 'Manavata Mandir' -- 'Be Man Ashram'.

"Although the lineage is the same, this Satsang sees every religious tradition from Radhasoami to Advait Vedanta as being parts of the total reality. Baba Faqir Chand was a devotee of Shiv Brat Lai ji Sahab and had a large and devoted following.

"Faqir Chand ji Sahab was the first guru in the Sant Mat tradition to speak about the 'unknowing' aspects of visionary manifestations, which were called the 'Chandian Effect' after him. However, other Sant Mat gurus like Baba Jaimal Singh Ji went beyond this hypothesis and spoke of manifestation and knowledge of manifestations. Maharaj Sawan Singh Ji, for whom both Faqir Chand ji and his master Shiv Brat Lai ji had high regard, wrote and explained that the outward guru can and does know about the inner condition of his disciples. This knowledge is conveyed to the physical master via the inner Shabd, though only in extreme cases where the outer master's attention is needed. The Perfect Master is one with the Supreme Lord and when He initiates a devotee He creates an Astral Image of Himself in the disciple and, then on, never leaves the disciple, remaining therein as the Inner Master. When the life of the disciple needs the personal attention of the
 Master, this Inner Master reports to the Conscious Master." (R.S. White Paper on Religion of Sants and Radhasoami Faith, Dayalbagh, Agra, 2011)


Param Purusha Puran Dhani Huzur Soami Ji Maharaj


A Letter from Swami Ji Maharaj

My Dear Saligram, 

"Always remember the Lord, and, knowing that He is always with you, imbue yourself with His love. I have come to know the state of your restlessness and uneasiness all these days owing to separation and overflow of love. But the Lord is with you all the time. Why are you so restless? This, too, is a sort of joy, which is particularly bestowed on lovers only, and its relish is experienced only during the state of separation. Its bitterness, in fact, is also very sweet indeed. Of course outward darshan you get only occasionally, but the Lord is watchful in Shabd Form and is always with you. 

"Lord in Shabd form is always with you and is never far. Have patience, and you will get a glimpse of True Light. 

"Sat Naam, the Name of Sat Purush, is resounding in Sat Lok. Raise your Surat with Shabd, and you will have darshan of the refulgent form of the Lord. 

"Be saturated with His love and yearning. Keep away from evil tendencies and leanings. Combating with mind and its forces, remain absorbed in Shabd. 

"Further, your letter of yearning was read out in the assembly of all the Satsangis. All were pleased to hear it, and, in a way, it served as an example to them all, to emulate and learn what true love means. The Lord will, out of His own Grace and Mercy, bestow upon you the blessings of true love in its entirety. Further the Lord is all powerful. 

"Radhaji sends Her blessings for your welfare and is pleased with you and says that She will intercede on your behalf for your early return."


Reducing or Eliminating Karma Through the Divine Current of Shabd, by Huzur Maharaj, Prem Patra Radhasoami ("Love Discourses of the Lord of the Soul")

Worldly Thoughts and Impulses Should Be Converted into Zeal For Securing Internal Bliss and Happiness -- Spiritual Experience

Man's actions are the manifestations of his thoughts. The mind, by projecting thoughts to sense-organs, enjoys pleasures. It, more or less, identifies itself with these thoughts and pleasures. At that time, it does not think of any thing else.

The Effect of Karmas can be Effaced by Performing the Meditation Practice of Surat Shabd Yoga: Union of the Soul With the Divine Light and Sound.

The meditation practice consists in reverting and raising internally the Current of the Surat (spirit, soul) along the Shabd (Divine Sound Stream) and the Light within. The seat of that Current is behind the eyes [at the Third Eye Center].

When such a condition begins to supervene to some extent, as a result of performing the meditation practices, the working of Karmas, both internally and externally, is automatically enfeebled. On getting some bliss and joy internally, and on witnessing the Refulgence, grace and mercy of the Supreme Being, the satsangi's mind is, of itself, detached from the world and its pleasures. The pleasures of the world become insipid. The longing for progress in meditation, and higher and higher bliss, goes on increasing. Worldly desires are curtailed. The practitioner of Shabd Yoga always gives priority to the will, grace and mercy of the Supreme Being in whatever he does. He subordinates his desires to the will of the Supreme Being. Thus the devotee is entangled in Kriyaman Karmas very little or not at all. This cuts short the chain of his Karmas.

Prarabdh Karmas are those, which unfold in this very life. The effect of such Karmas will be very much mitigated by the grace and mercy of the Supreme Father Radhasoami Dayal [The Merciful Lord of the Soul]. To the extent to which a practitioner of Shabd Yoga is able to withdraw from the eyes, he goes on getting detached from the body and the world. In the wakeful state, the seat of the spirit is behind the eyes. It is here that desires, pains and pleasures are felt and the seeds of Karmas or actions are created. Therefore, as the Current of Spirit is withdrawn from here with the help of spiritual exercises, pains and pleasures cease to be felt. In this way, the effect of Prarabdh Karmas is lightened.

As to Sanchit Karmas, they are stored in Manakash (mind-sky) in the form of seed-impressions. They will fructify in a future life. As the practitioner's Surat penetrates Manakash in its ascent to higher regions, the Sanchit Karmas appear in the form of thoughts and impulses. They come into play for a short while only and are obliterated. That is to say, if the spiritual exercises are performed correctly and methodically, the Surat Shabd Meditation practitioner's soul crosses over the region of Manakash in a short time, and the store of his Sanchit Karams is cleared off.

In this way, all the Karams of a practitioner can be exhausted and eradicated in one or two lives. If he is slack in meditation and desires for the pleasures of the world remain embedded in his mind to some extent, purification will take three lives. When the Surat [the attention-faculty of the soul] experiences bliss and joy of Shabd and inner visions in higher regions, pure love and longing for Surat Shabd Yoga goes on increasing day by day. (Huzur Maharaj)


Huzur Maharaj (Rai Saligram)


Online Sant Mat Book: Yoga Of Inner Light and Sound, by Swami Achyutanand Baba – Audio/Talking Book and Several E Book Options: http://bit.ly/tYLcq0


"Obeisance to the Worthy souls. Obeisance to the Liberated souls. Obeisance to the Preceptors (Spiritual Guides). Obeisance to the Spiritual Teachers. Obeisance to all the Saints in the world." (Lord Mahavira, Saman Suttam, Scripture of Jainism)