Without the Beloved
I Am Nothing
"No matter how sweetly one talks, how elaborately one explains, how expertly one gives interpretation of the Vedas [scriptures], if that truth is unknown, salvation is not possible. The Vedas speak of the inner world which can not be perceived by mind, intellect and sense organs." (Adi Shankaracharya)
No amount of telling beads of a rosary, recitation of hymns in ambrosial hours, acts of charity, rites and rituals, etc.... can help us see God. Only the shelter of a perfect spiritual master can make it possible for us to see God.
God is not a matter of assumption but a subject of actual perception and realization. He can be seen with the Divine Eye.
"If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is: Infinite." (William Blake)
"This world is an illusion -- practice meditation." (Baba Devi Sahab)
"The love of Maya is sweet to the world, but in the end, this delusion is dispelled." (Guru Nanak)
"Where there is blind belief,
There the Truth is not verified.
Only he will know the Truth, O Ravidas,
Who has the inner experience."
-- Sant Ravidas
Not just any mystical light and sound. Sant Mat is a God-based path with a foundation of Prem Bhakti: love and devotion for the Supreme Being. Without God-Bhakti being central, a spiritual practice would be limited to lower regions of Kal. Genuine Sant Mat is about reuniting with God.
"You faltered through a million lives before you found this human form. Do not waste it this time - devote every moment to remembering God." (Swami Ji Maharaj)
"So perform devotional worship, link your consciousness to the Lord, and dispel anxiety from your mind." (Guru Nanak)
All sadness and woe turns to happiness and deep eloquence in the company of the Beloved.
"The miseries of the world
Flee away from the one
Who carries on repetition
of the True Name,
Fixing attention within, O Ravidas."
"My (inner) tongue is constantly preoccupied with repeating God's Name, and my hands are constantly engaged in doing my work. Thus have I become carefree. God will take care of me, says Ravidas."
"He who remembers God's Name,
Having sought the company of a Saint;
His miseries are averted,
Thus does Ravidas proclaim." (Sant Ravidas)
"Meditation will remove all your burdens; meditation upon Ram's [God's] name will become your support." (Kabir)
"So long as love is not obtained, fondness for the Beloved cannot arise. When nectar-like true love takes abode within oneself, only then can one contact the loving Sound." (Sant Dariya Sahib of Bihar)
Param Sant Tulsi Sahab of Hathras, India is the Adi Guru, the grandfather or founding-father of modern-day Sant Mat, the Inner Light and Sound movement.
Param Sant Tulsi Sahib is the connecting link between the classic Sants of India, including in the Kabir lineage, and contemporary Sant Mat.
Any serious study of Sant Mat teachings must include the hymns and spiritual discourses of Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras.
The term "Sant Mat" was coined by Sant Tulsi Sahib during the 19th Century.
Mystic Verses of Tulsi Sahib: Reaching the Beloved Lord of Love
"Very exalted is the status of the Sat Guru and very sublime is his religion. He has revealed the Inaccessible Region. Surat [the attention of the soul] ascends to the gateway of Sat Lok [True Eternal Realm], and witnesses a spectacle which is beyond the reach and comprehension of ascetics. Every day she [the soul] visits the region of Shyam Set, i.e. the Third Til [Third Eye]. She sees the path in the company of her friends (the senses of perception) and, ascending above, gets a close view of the region. She is dazed on seeing the refulgence of the Beloved. Her attention remains riveted on Him, and she is oblivious of her body and mind. All the barriers on the way to the Beloved are removed. She quickly ascends one mansion after another. She rids herself of all her troubles by being baptized at the Ghat [bathing place] of Triveni [confluence of the three sacred rivers]. Says Tulsi, from the time she became acquainted with the Beloved she, enjoying the bliss of mansions after mansions, reaches the Beloved Lord."
-- "Param Sant Tulsi Saheb of Hathras, His Short Biographical Sketch, The Inner Meaning of His Hymns, and, Portions of His Ghat Ramayana found at the End of Prem Patra Radhasoami, Volume Six", S.D. Maheshwari, Agra, India: Online Book -- PDF File: https://archive.org/details/param_sant_tulsi_saheb
