Mystic Poetry of Hazrat Sultan BaHU, a Sufi Master of Inner Light and Sound

Mystic Poetry of Hazrat Sultan BaHU, a Sufi Master of Inner Light and Sound

The path of the Masters is the highest of all;

It is beyond all comprehension!

On this path there is neither teaching 

Nor learning from books.

There are neither discussions nor expositions

Nor stories from the past.

Love of this world is sheer idolatry, a denial of God;

Let no one trust its loyalty.

Only the one who knows the mystic art 

Of dying while living*,

knows the real secret.

Love has inspired me to explore the heavens:

From earth it has raised me to the worlds of Spirit.

Begone, foul world, beguile me no more!

I am already in anguish about my stay here.

I am a wayfarer, my home is far away,

And you have enticed me with false promises.

Only if you forsake the world and die while living*

Can you find the Lord, O Bahu.

*NOTE: “die while living” or “death before dying”: a popular saying used by Sants and Sufi poets espousing the view that rising above body-consciousness or soul travel during meditation practice is a preparation or rehearsal for the afterlife. Hazrat Sultan Bahu: “Let us die before dying, O Bahu, only then is the Lord attained.”

Gospel of Philip, Nag Hammadi Library: "When the light comes, then he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain in darkness... The powers do not see those who are clothed in the perfect light, and consequently are not able to detain them. If anyone becomes a son of the bridal chamber, he will receive the light. If anyone does not receive it while he is here, he will not be able to receive it in the other place."

Within Me Are Five Great Mansions

Within me are five great mansions - 

All five brightly lit;

What need have I of another lamp?

I am no longer accountable 

To the five lords and tax collectors,

Who barricade the inner path.

Five prayer leaders call the faithful 

To the five mosques within.

What need have I of another mosque?

IF the Lord calls for your head,

O Bahu, do not hesitate; offer it at once.

-- Hazrat Sultan Bahu, Sufi Mystic

  

   

Baba Jaimal Singh Artist Rendition

It's a sketch made by a Radhasoami satsangi.

 

Baba Jaimal Singh Artist Rendition (original unedited copy as given to me)


There is a description of Baba Jaimal Singh in Kirpal Singh's biography of him: "A Great Saint: Baba Jaimal Singh, His Life and Teachings", pages 56 & 57:


"His dress and appearance were as simple yet elegant as the man himself. Of medium height, some five feet and six inches, he was sturdily built. He had a knotty protrusion on his forehead above the right eye and a lotus mark, symbolic of true spirituality, on the sole of his right foot. He had fine features, wheatish complexion and a glowing face whose ruddy color was set off by a rich freely flowing beard which retained its lustrous blackness to the very end, except for a few straggling streaks of white. When not in army uniform, he wore a white turban in Jat style, a white muslin kurta (loose shirt), and tight-fitting pyjamas of the same color. While in his quarter informally among his fellows, he would usually wrap a khadi sheet about himself tucking it on the left side, cover his hair (which when unloosed fell to his waist) with a towel, and move about in kharaon (wooden sandals) or jooti (Indian shoes)."

PODCAST: Meet a Vegan Rumi, the Sufi Poet Mystic -- Spiritual Awakening Radio With James Bean

PODCAST: Meet a Vegan Rumi, the Sufi Poet Mystic -- Spiritual Awakening Radio With James Bean @ Youtube: https://youtu.be/DwVYO2i2czQ

Listen and/or Download @ The Internet Archive: 

https://archive.org/details/VeganRumi

When I saw these veg verses of Rumi I thought, at last! this is going to make for a great new podcast! It's awesome being able to claim Rumi, the King of the Sufi poets, for the #vegan cause! (#Rumi: "To me, even milk is forbidden.") I also reflect a little about the vegetarianism of early Christianity, and about how a religious or spiritual movement like the disciples of Rumi in Sufism, Jesus, Guru Nanak, Buddha, etc... can start out following a vegan or veg diet and yet a few generations later knowledge of that gets lost and the religious sects operating in their names might be adhering to a completely different diet. 

Says Vegan Rumi:

"I have existence and I value it so much

So have all the beings on earth and they too, try to preserve it.

Then, how can I kill even the tiniest creature

Just to satiate my palate?"

"Even a seemingly lifeless stone has a degree of consciousness; respect it."

"To me, even milk is forbidden."

"Look at all animals as you look at humans."

"If we consume an animal, its blood and gore will make us act like a slaughterer."

"We began as mineral. We emerged into plant life, and into the animal state, and then into being human, and always we have forgotten our former states, except in early Spring when we slightly recall being green again."

Master Kirpal Singh speaking about Rumi and the other most advanced Murshids (spiritual masters) of Sufi mysticism once said: 

“Those who take up the practices concerning the lower centers in the body, do take meat — the Mohammedans and people of other religions also. But those who are anxious to rise above body-consciousness and go into the Beyond have of necessity to eschew all that. This is the Path I have put before you. Liberation or salvation is something which starts only when you rise above body-consciousness. For that reason, vegetarianism is the first essential.” (The Night is a Jungle, published by Ruhani Satsang)

Also See/Hear: 

A Vegetarian Jesus and Apostles at the Beginning of Christianity, and, The Gospels of the Ebionites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF3cOxbRFH8&ab_channel=SantMatRadhasoami

Article: Evidence That Jesus and The Original Aramaic Christians Were Vegetarians, By James Bean: https://medium.com/sant-mat-meditation-and-spirituality/evidence-that-jesus-and-the-original-aramaic-christians-were-vegetarians-b8784ac42506

The Vegetarianism of Guru Nanak and the Sikh Scriptures Today on Spiritual Awakening Radio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx7oM5j5n-U&ab_channel=SantMatRadhasoami

Vegetarianism Is Going Vegan; Sant Mat and Veganism; Also: The Oldest Veg and Vegan Quotes on Earth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6scZ32WPwk&ab_channel=SantMatRadhasoami

Various Spiritual Quotes Followed by Two of the World's Oldest Passages Referring to Being VEGAN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzwluCLITX4&ab_channel=SantMatRadhasoami

#Rumi #Sufism #Vegan #Veganism #Veg #Vegetarian #Vegetarianism #ColemanBarks #BawaMuhaiyaddeen #Ebionites #Jesus #HebrewChristians #SpiritualAwakeningRadio #SantMatSatSangPodcast #JamesBean #SpiritualPodcasts #Podcasts #ReligionPodcasts #Radio #Spirituality #SufiPoetry #Mevlevi #Mysticism  

Kabir: "Honour those who live and speak the truth."

Kabir: "The soul is like a philosopher’s stone, and the world is like iron. With the touch of the philosopher’s stone, the world became gold." (Sakhis of Kabir, # 57)

57. pāras rūpi jīw hai, loha rūp sansār,

pāras te pāras bhayā, parakh bhayā taksār.

Commentary by Dr. Das: "Guru Kabir is using this belief to explain that the indwelling soul is like the philosopher’s stone, and that the world is like iron. All the physical bodies have no life or consciousness until they are touched by the soul. Once the soul dwells (touches) in the bodies, then the latter become alive and manifest consciousness and intelligence. Our goal in life is to realize the soul and truly become golden i.e. liberated."

Kabir: "O Kabir, put on the clothes of love and dance! Give honor to those who, in mind and body, uphold the Truth." 

58. prem-pāt kā cholanā, pahir kabīrū nāch,

pānip dīnho tāsu ko, jo tan man bole sānch.

Commentary by Dr. Das: "One who I awakened to God’s love i.e. Self realized, will often sing and dance with joy. The next thing such a devotee needs to do is to honour those who live and speak the truth." (Sakhis of Kabir, # 58)

-- The Complete Bijak of Kabir, Guru Kabir's Mystical Teachings on God-Realization, Translation and Commentary by Jagessar Das

#kabir #gurukabir #therealkabir #bijak #sakhis #sakhisofkabir #sants #santmat #scriptures #india #spirituality #meditation #God #realization #thesoul #knowthyself #theself #atman #spiritualquotes

“Saawan* is the Month of Love, of Longing for the Beloved

Following is the complete translation of this Shabd of Virah (a song sung when the lover suffers from the agony of separation from his sweetest Beloved) by the Tulsi Saheb Hathraswale. Translation into English by Shweta Sharma.

“Saawan* is the month of love, of longing for the Beloved and as the drops of rain touch the earth, the soul thirsts more and more for union with the Beloved, the Guru.

“Tulsi weeps “Saawan without my piya (the Beloved, the husband) is nothing, the pangs of separation rise like waves in the ocean do, in the inmost core of my heart. Uttering and hearing words do not entertain me or suit my mood, my body and mind are convulsing with immeasurable pain.

“The sorrow caused by the absence of my Beloved husband is so intense that it makes me wander like a mad woman. My heart seethes with anguish, this separation torments me like a thorn that pricks the skin. In this severance from the Beloved Guru, all the money and wealth of this world has become to me like the dust of this earth.

“Dark clouds laden with moisture have now become my enemies as they roar and whirl. I feel the twinge of the aching cry of the peacock and with this, the rumbling and twirling of the clouds fills my inner being and I become one with the turbulence of the skies. My soul begins to whirl and swing between the chakras (the doorsteps of these stations within) and I lose all awareness of the world outside.

“If my Beloved comes along with me, I would undertake this journey within the realms of my inner being day and night. Surat (the soul that is a drop from the Ocean of the Supreme Being) is the current that moves up when it engrosses itself in the Divine Shabd and Nirat (the current that detaches the Surat from the Shabd so that the journey of soul does not get hampered by getting stuck at one region of higher bliss).

“Tulsi makes a string of Surat and Nirat and ties this string with a pole that he makes of his mann (mind) and intellect. He merges with the rhythmic waves of the Divine Word that he encounters higher up and the surat rises swinging with these waves.

“This rainy season, Tulsi says, get active in pursuit of true satsang (‘sat’ — truth and ‘sang’ — company: company of the true Guru, the Beloved, the husband). Only those who cross the third til climb up and down this thread of Surat and Nirat and realize the path of Truth.”

* Month of Saawan: Summer, Mid July to Mid August, Rainy Season;

For the Sake of the God-conscious Beings Heaven and Earth Came Into Being

For the Sake of the God-conscious Beings Heaven and Earth Came Into Being 

"Whenever feeling downcast, each person should vitally remember, 'For my sake, the entire world was created.'" (Baal Shem Tov)

The Baal Shem Tov is sort of the "Rumi" or "Kabir" of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), an example of a towering figure and great mystic of one of the great schools of spirituality. The ending part, "For my sake, the entire world was created", is a variation of an ancient axiom of wisdom. A version of it even turns up in saying twelve of the Gospel of THOMAS: 

"The students said to Yeshua, 'We know you will leave us. Who will be our leader?' Yeshua said to them, 'Wherever you are, seek out Yaakov the just [James the Just]. *For his sake heaven and earth came into being*.'"

Martin Buber elaborates and expands on this axiom in a way that includes us all:

“Every person should know and consider the fact that you, in the particular way that you are made, are unique in the world, and no one like you has ever been. For if someone like you had already been, there would be no reason for you to be in this world.” (Ten Rings: Hasidic Sayings, Martin Buber)

Here's a big picture view from the Sikh scriptures of India, the Adi Granth, Peace Lagoon translation: 

"It was for the sake of the God-conscious beings that our True Lord created this earth, and began this play of death and birth". 

Since I'm downloading some books on Kabbalah today, I should also take the opportunity to share this passage on the spiritual journey.

The Reality of the Upper Worlds Will Remain Invisible to Us Until Our Spiritual Path Opens Up to the Higher Reality

"As the eighteenth century Kabbalist Moses Luzzatto taught, the higher soul 'ties man to the highest roots'. Thus, the awakening of each higher soul results in an increase in the amount of nourishment the branches of the upper worlds receive, thereby effecting the outcome of events here on earth in a more positive way. Thus, each one of us can have great influence and none are powerless.

"However, like infants who cannot penetrate the mysteries of the adult world, despite the fact that these mysteries are lived out in front of it, the reality of the upper worlds will remain invisible to us until our spiritual path opens up to the higher reality. 

"This higher reality is multidimensional in nature, standing in sharp contrast to the narrowness of everyday life. Once awakened, the human experience becomes vast and boundless, as the awakened individual participates in a universal consciousness as broad, deep, and wide as the universe itself."

--  Shulamit Elson, in, Kabbalah of Prayer -- Sacred Sounds and the Soul's Journey