The August Sant Mat Spiritual Retreat! Also, Selections from the Bodh Sagar (of the Kabir Sagar Corpus, Where the Anurag Sagar Comes From)

The August Sant Mat Spiritual Retreat! Also, Selections from the Bodh Sagar (of the Kabir Sagar Corpus, Where the Anurag Sagar Comes From)

As Baba Ram Singh said during the previous spiritual retreat in January of 2026:

"We should listen to Satsang every day. We should do our Bhajan Simran [meditation] every day and develop that love and affection [bhakti]. It is important for us to create that vessel to receive the Grace of the Master. The Master is sitting within you, and when He sees you are making your efforts, He sees your love and affection, then His hand of Grace is showered upon you. And He helps you, not only in this world in worldly matters, but also, in spirituality and within.

"The life that has been given to us is very uncertain and short. And we don’t know that the breath we are taking, whether we are going to be able to leave that breath, or we will cease to exist. Therefore, we should always remember the purpose for which we have come into this world and that we have been given this human life. And we should work towards that." 

There's a new collection of Satsang videos available via Youtube. These have English translations provided. You can locate them here: 

https://www.youtube.com/@Babaramsinghjiguddelaashram/streams

The same videos, with slightly different editing, microphones and camera angles, are also to be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/@som-ajaib-kripaashramoffic4233/streams

Note. The very last satsang video of the recent retreat however is only found at one of the channels: August 10th 2026 Bhandara Satsang Hindi To English Translation, 9:30am:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8SyxlEzLo0&t=95s

How rare in this world to find such in-depth Sant Mat teachings preserved in a living Sant Mat community still faithful to traditional unedited Sant Mat as we find it in the pages of the Sar Bachan Poetry (Bhajans) of Swami Ji Maharaj, the Anurag Sagar, and in the letters of Hazur Baba Sawan Singh!

"The inner Light does not come or go. It is always there within. It appears only when we are attuned and concentrated and disappears as soon as there is the slightest dispersion. The Light will not vanish if you just keep your inner gaze constantly fixed." (Kirpal Singh)

"Another common misconception is that prophets, saints and mystics search for 'new' truth. Rather, what they do is to simply remove the layers of dirt -- of accumulated misinterpretations -- that have corrupted the truth. Then the Living Teacher will bring forth the very same truth in a new light. The original truth must repeatedly be presented to suit the current age." (Swami Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj)

Selections from the Bodh Sagar (of the Kabir Sagar Collection, the Same Manuscript Containing the Anurag Sagar That Santji Recommended)

Dharmadas (Sant Dharam Das), live in the world like a lotus flower in water—

rooted in the mud below, yet untouched, blooming purely above the surface.

Perform your worldly duties with honesty and detachment,

but keep the inner altar of your heart dedicated solely to the Shabd.

Let your speech be gentle, truthful, and free from malice.

Treat all living beings with compassion, for the same divine spark resides within all.

Do not harbor hatred, pride, or greed, for these are the strongholds of Kal.

Meditate daily upon the True Name imparted by the Satguru;

turn your attention inward whenever the body is at rest.

He who lives in this manner breaks all karmic ties while still alive—

and at the time of departure, the Satguru Himself comes to guide that soul home. (Bodh Sagar of Kabir)

KABIR SAHIB SPEAKS (DOHA)

He who searches outside wanders in a desert of illusions;

he who searches within finds the Lord seated upon the throne of the heart.

Section 4: The Inner Stages and Subtle Realms

Kabir Sahib Speaks (Chaupai):

Listen, O Dharmani [Sant Dharam Das], as I describe the inner journey of the soul:

Beyond the realm of gross matter lie the subtle inner spheres.

As the attention gathers at the inner center, the first lights appear,

and the soul begins to hear the distant music of the Unstruck Sound.

First, the soul enters the realm of Sahasdal Kamal (the Thousand-Petaled Lotus),

where the ruler of the physical and astral worlds holds sway.

Here, dazzling lights and miraculous powers tempt the seeker;

many yogis and ascetics stop at this station, mistaking it for the Ultimate.

Passing beyond, the soul ascends through Trikuti (the Causal Realm),

the source of the mind and the origin of the three gunas (sattva, rajas, tamas).

Here, the subtle seeds of past karma reside.

To cross this region, the soul must cast off its mental sheath,

becoming free from the dictates of the mind and ego.

Kabir Sahib Speaks (Chaupai):

Listen, Dharmani, as I reveal the glory of Sat Lok:

It is the self-luminous domain of Sat Purush, where suffering and change cannot enter.

There, millions of suns and moons pale before the brilliance of a single soul,

yet that light is cool, soothing, and infinite in peace.

In that abode, no physical elements exist—neither earth, water, fire, air, nor sky.

Time (Kal) has no dominion there, nor do death, disease, or aging exist.

The souls reside in eternal youth and joy, drinking the pure nectar of immortality,

forever immersed in the blissful presence of the Supreme Father.

Upon reaching Sat Lok, the soul merges into Sat Purush like a drop returning to the ocean.

Yet, in that merging, it experiences total awareness, total love, and ultimate liberation.

It realizes: "What I sought across countless ages was never separate from me."

The Beginning of Spiritual Practice: Simran, the Repetition of Sacred Divine Names, by Baba Ram Singh (Sant Mat)

The Beginning of Spiritual Practice: Simran, the Repetition of Sacred Divine Names, by Baba Ram Singh

Simran: Repetition of names or thoughts; in Sant Mat, the simran [remembrance] of worldly thoughts is controlled through the Simran of the Five Charged Names, repeated by an initiate throughout the day and when sitting for meditation as a means of collecting the thought currents at the Third Eye Center; also used as a password of sorts to higher planes and protection from Negative Power influences. (from the 2023 Sant Mat Glossary of terms)

Baba Ram Singh: We should make good use of our time... All the Saints have sung praises of Simran, and it is very important that we perfect our Simran. Because as long as we are not able to perfect our Simran, the rest of our Path doesn't open up.

We should try to perfect our Simran all the time. We should always be at it. When we are walking or doing other things, when we are sitting idle, we should try to focus on our Simran and perfect our Simran. Because we get a lot of time like that, which is otherwise wasted. So, we should try to perfect Simran at that time.

When you continuously do your Simran, initially, we do Simran with our tongue. But as we perfect our Simran, and it becomes a very regular activity — our mind starts doing that Simran. Then the mind continuously does the Simran.

When we attain that state — where the mind is doing the Simran — then our Path opens up, and we see that we are withdrawing within.

So, we should focus while doing our meditation. We should focus on our Simran. If we are not able to get the contemplation of our Master, it doesn't matter. You should focus on all the Words of the Simran and pay attention to the Simran and keep doing that.

We should not worry that we are not getting the contemplation of our Master. We must realize that the Master is always within us. In the form of the Holy Sound Current, He is always with us — from the time that our Master has initiated us. He is not far away. Only we need the purity of our mind and our contemplation. When we, with our Simran, develop that purity of contemplation, purity of our mind, He is not far away. He will immediately be visible to us. (Baba Ram Singh, January 2026 Satsang Discourses Booklet)

The Gnostics -- Where Are They Now? by James Bean

 

The Gnostics -- Where Are They Now? by James Bean

At the Gnostic Gospels Discord forum someone asked this question: "In this very day and age, are there new Gnostic gospels/scriptures/writing active produced? I think that gnosticism, like all religions, should evolve and there should be constantly new texts to express the gnostic experience."

My Replies: Yes, this is correct. An exciting and hopeful topic really. Gnosticism never went away, it traveled east, beyond the oppressive reach of the Roman Empire. New texts kept on being produced by living schools of spirituality, and this remains true right up to the living present.

Note. And by this I don't mean the gnostic hijackers out there abusing the term gnosticism, repurposing the term to mean new things unrelated to classic gnosticism but that are related to magic, other forms of spiritual materialism, incompatible systems of esoterica, manipulation, cults, conspirituality and so on. The Matrix metaphors are another example of an unfortunate reappropriation, where "taking the red pill" nowadays means being sold some new con-spiracy theory or new agey thing falsely rebranded as gnostic, so I've mostly given up on Matrix references in connection with gnosticism due to this hijacking.

The repurposing of the word gnostic is a modern-day plague of the blogosphere and Youtube world. But I agree with M. David Litwa that we should not give up on the word "gnostic" but reclaim it from the abusers, and reclaim it from church father propaganda as well.

But...back to your important question. The key is recognizing gnostic mystical systems that came later under other names such as Manichaeanism, Cathars, Kabbalah, certain Sufi Orders, and other living schools associated with Mystics of the East (Sant Mat, Radhasoami). There are indeed cousin schools of mysticism embodying the same basic "operating system", if you will, as those Gnostics of Alexandria. Some of these great grandchildren of Gnosticism even have published books quoting early Gnostic texts happy to acknowledge the universality of their teachings and spiritual practices... initiation into meditation and inner experience (gnosis).

Gnosticism, including a rich spiritual heritage of gnostic compatible literature did continue -- never ceased. As I've sometimes joked with people, the last gnostic text was published last Tuesday.

“Theologians may quarrel, but the mystics of the world speak the same language.” ― Meister Eckhart

"The lamps are different, but the Light is the same: it comes from Beyond. If thou keep looking at the lamp, thou art lost: for thence arises the appearance of numbers and plurality. Fix thy gaze upon the Light, and thou art delivered from the dualism inherent in the finite body." (Rumi, Masnavi, Book III)

"I am neither Christian, nor Jew, nor Muslim, nor Hindu, Buddhist, sufi, or zen. I belong to no religion or cultural system. I am not from the East or the West, not out of the ocean or up from the ground, not natural or ethereal, not composed of elements at all... I belong to The Beloved, have seen the two worlds as one and that one call to and know, first, last, outer, inner, only that breath breathing human being." (Rumi, Only Breath)

"He received the gnosis of the mysteries... that had been entrusted to the righteous before him." (on Mani, Cologne Mani Codex)

"Previously the religion was announced in many places and in many languages through Buddhas, through Jesus, and through other messengers." (Mani, Shabuhragan, a Middle Persian Manichaean scripture)

"Wisdom and the deeds of the Buddha, and the righteousness of Jesus the Splendour, and the mysteries and the images of the Light, and the true knowledge (gnosis) were revealed through the Apostle." (Kephalaia, Manichaean scripture)

"From age to age the apostles of God have brought the truth. At one time they came through the Buddha in India; at another through Zarathustra in Persia; at another through Jesus in the West. Finally this revelation came through me, Mani, the Apostle of the True God." (Kephalaia)

"That I may redeem you from death and annihilation, I will give you what you have not seen with the eye nor heard with the ears nor grasped with the hand." (Turfan fragments, translated in Gnosis on the Silk Road)

They raved in the passion of anger;

they lacked sense or coherent thought

and you assembled their thoughts,

and so they understood their origin

in the Realm of Light.

Those living beings in the five states of existence

you freed from ignorance

and gave them wisdom,

leading them to pari-nirvana....

Unendingly submerged in the dust

of forgetting rebirths

and in a state of poisonous savage animals,

they were always mad.

When the passion of greed poisoned them

and they were dying,

you prepared a medicine for them

from the herb of meditation.

-- The Great Song to Mani, Gnosis on the Silk Road

"By considering the Self one becomes a Gnostic; realising the self (to be) God (SOHAM), he comes to be satisfied in the Mystery through the Word... When a disciple realises the Self, what else is he to do or have done (for him)? He who has obtained the Treasure through love fixes (his) mind on God's feet. Night and day become pleasant (once) egoism is dispelled; I got rid of the heart's infatuation when I pleased Him; (now, Lord), graciously come into (my) house!

"Happiness is not for those who make many friends in the world; it is those who keep the mind on the One who ever enjoy happiness."  (Sikh scriptures, Gospel of the Guru-Granth Sahib: https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.1918/page/146/mode/2up?q=gnostic )

Without Satsang, Maya (Illusion) Does Not Release

Without Satsang, Maya (Illusion) Does Not Release

In the world of spiritual paths we have many examples of moral talks or people cobbling together some sort of spiritual presentation of religious information. In Sant Mat however, a genuine spiritual master cuts through the illusion and has the goal of presenting satsang discourses. These solely address the eternal divine truths and realities. The goal is always to motivate the initiates, the disciple satsangis to follow the meditation practice and make spiritual progress during this life. These discourses always have much depth, are mindful of the long tradition of Sants in India, and test positive for Sant Mat content.

"If we listen to Satsang, Satsang bears its colors. There is great power in Satsang. If we listen to Satsang with love and affection, then many of our sins are cut. Our load becomes light. Our sins fall away. Satsang is a very lofty thing. But after listening to Satsang, act on it, meditate on it first. Think about it. And keep it within. Then see how much change comes within you. Your conduct, thoughts, behavior, all will change. One will become a human-divine being. One will become a human Mahatma. They say, brother, that Satsang is no small thing that the Sants speak of. They are telling the matter of their own experience. They say, in our heart, when there is samskara, then in the hearts of such devotees Satsang strikes. And he will act on it. And his being is transformed." (Baba Ram Singh)

The satsang discourses of Baba Ram Singh are always wonderful and test positive for the depths of Sant Mat spirituality. Below is excerpted from a recently translated satsang from Scott Gaul's very fine seva project to make available in English more of Baba Ram Singh's satsang discourses via his Radhaswami Talks blog, which I highly recommend. See the link to the entire satsang below.

An excerpt from a recent satsang titled, Without Satsang, Maya Does Not Release

What can be read and spoken, that is called akshar (letters). But the Sants say, the Naam which the Sants and Mahatmas give is not contained in these letters. It is not within the fifty-two letters of the alphabet, not within the seven crore mantras. So a doubt can arise in us: when it is not letters at all, then how do the Sants give it? Because on the day of Naamdaan, they say, first the Simran of the five names is given, and that too is made of letters. That too can be written, read, spoken; that too is perishable. But when the Guru seats us in Dhyan, going within, between the two eyes, here is the seat of our soul and mind. And that very Shabd is also there, the Shabd which has come from Satlok Sachkhand and rests here. They say, the Guru, going within, joins our soul to the Shabd. And that is what Naamdaan is.

They say, on the day the Guru joins us to the Shabd, He comes to sit within us in the form of Shabd. And from that day the Guru is always with us. Between the two eyes, in the tenth door. That is why, they say, the Sants say: brother, by doing Simran and Bhajan, leave the nine doors and come to the tenth. When your third eye opens, that Naam will manifest, that is, the Shabd will manifest. The Shabd to which the Guru has joined you, which is called Anhad Shabd. There are many kinds of Shabd. There are also Shabds of the lower six chakras, which are called Das Vidh Naad (the ten kinds of sound). These are of twenty kinds. And above the eyes, that is called Anhad Naad.

They say, on attaining which, the mind becomes a little contented. The mind gets a respite to become still. That, they say, is the Anhad Shabd. And after that comes the Sar Shabd. They say, the Sar Shabd, in Parbrahm is the Sar Shabd. And in Satlok Sachkhand is the Sat Shabd. So the Shabd of every region is different. So on the day of Naamdaan, the Guru joins our soul to the Sar Shabd. But at first, when our soul goes within, it is the Anhad Shabd that manifests. That is why Kabir Sahib too has said:

"Jaap dies, ajapa dies, even Anhad dies away.

Without recognizing the Sar Shabd, one wanders again and again."

They say, until that Sar Shabd manifests by the Guru’s grace, the coming and going does not end.

That is why they say, brother, that Naam is a very lofty thing, about which Guru Nanak too has said:

"By Shabd the earth, by Shabd the heavens;

Through Shabd the Shabd blazed into light.

All creation follows in the wake of Shabd;

Nanak, the Shabd abides in every heart."

They say, that very Shabd which has created the whole world, that very Shabd is resounding in our tenth door. And the Guru joins us to that very Shabd. It has come from Satlok Sachkhand and rests here. They say, that very Shabd is what the Sants call Naam. So that Naam is something else, and these mantras and tantras are something else. That is why they say, without Satsang, our delusion does not go away. Because in Satsang the Mahatmas do not speak about the Vedas, Shastras, Puranas, and other scriptures. They explain to us about our own soul. The glory of the Guru, the glory of Naam, the glory of Satsang. They speak about the Lord; that is what is told in all Satsangs.

The purpose of this human body, how precious this human body is, why we have received it, what we were supposed to do with it, what we are doing: all this information is given in Satsang. When we come to know that this human body is very precious, that the Lord has given it for crossing the ocean of birth and death, when we have this knowledge, then we go to the Guru. If we have no knowledge, where would we go? That is why Satsang comes first. It is Satsang in which the knowledge of truth and untruth comes. In which all the information about Naam, about the Guru, about Satsang is received. And about the soul and the Lord too.

https://substack.com/inbox/post/195580478

How Not to Die Vegan Documentary

How Not to Die Vegan Documentary

How Not to Die Vegan Documentary: 

https://youtu.be/R2mevFTWsTM?si=oO6AZDyr0qYFXqpd

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-not-to-die-documentary

https://watch.unchainedtv.com/videos/how-not-to-die-2

Nice to see this wonderful vegan documentary film circulating online!

How Not to Die is a bold feature documentary that confronts the greatest threat to human health—our diet. Based on the international bestselling book of the same name, by Dr. Michael Greger, this movie plays like a fast-paced action thriller but is packed with hard-hitting data that just might save your life.

How Not to Die exposes the role of the standard Western diet in fueling today’s most widespread illnesses.

The film offers jaw-dropping, but evidence-based, insights into the prevention of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, kidney disease, liver dysfunction, and a spectrum of brain disorders, including dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. It also addresses how diet influences the development of colon, prostate, and other digestive cancers, delivering life-saving information with clarity and authority.

This is not just another health documentary—this is a call to action from leaders in the field of lifestyle medicine and nutrition science. The cast includes a powerhouse lineup of pioneering physicians and researchers:
Dr. Columbus Batiste, Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Dr. Garth Davis, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Dr. Michael Greger, Dr. Michael Klaper, Dr. Dean Ornish, Dr. Angie Sadeghi, Dr. Ayesha Sherzai, Dr. Dean Sherzai, and Dr. Kim Williams.

Together, these experts dismantle the myths that keep millions locked in cycles of disease, medication, and medical dependence. They illuminate how a whole food, plant-based diet—rich in fiber, antioxidants, and essential nutrients—can fuel the body’s natural healing mechanisms, restore metabolic health, and drastically reduce the risk of chronic illness.

With a blend of personal narrative, scientific rigor, and cinematic power, How Not to Die is more than a film—it’s a movement. It invites viewers to challenge everything they thought they knew about food, health, and medicine—and to reclaim the power to thrive.

From the visionary director of Earthlings, acclaimed filmmaker Shaun Monson returns to tackle the deadly connection between what we eat and how we live or die. In this groundbreaking film, Monson not only directs but also produces, photographs, and edits, bringing his signature cinematic intensity to a subject that affects every one of us. Monson shares his producing role with Jim Greenbaum and author Dr. Michael Greger.

With Greenbaum, Jay Karandikar, and Kyle Vogt as executive producers, the film brings together some of the world’s top medical experts to deliver a message that is as urgent as it is empowering: many of our most feared chronic diseases are not only preventable—they may also be reversible.

The Gift of the Human Form

 The Gift of the Human Form

Masters tell us that first, God Almighty gave us this human body in which we live. How ungrateful we are that we forget him who created it and is making it function. We think that we are our body, and we think that no one is superior to us. Thus, who can be our creator? No, dear ones, this is a misunderstanding on our part. There is someone who created us and who is sustaining us. We are not our body; we are our soul and only our soul gives power to our body. Because of our soul, our body walks and moves.

— Sant Ji, from the newly published book (2026), Make Your Life Successful, commentary on the Sarang Ki Var of the Adi Granth, Sant Bani Ashram

Two and a Half Hours of Daily Meditation the Invention of Sawan Singh? By James Bean

 

Two and a Half Hours of Daily Meditation the Invention of Sawan Singh? By James Bean 

Hazur Maharaj Rai Saligram of Agra

Have read some posts at a blog site proclaiming that the practice of long hours of meditation is solely the invention of Sawan Singh. This is not true. "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence". It's a bad idea to develop broad sweeping conclusions about a spiritual tradition based on one's limited reading if historic accuracy is the goal.

I can say as someone directly, personally acquainted with the meditation practices of the Tulsi Sahib group, that long periods of daily meditation practice are recommended and that this approach of a praxis of long hours of meditation predates the establishment of the Radhasoami Satsang by many decades. This is not written down in English somewhere, just something which is communicated at the time of one's initiation (deeksha).

Of course, anyone familiar with Surat Shabd Yoga already knows, it may take time to reach the meditative states described by various masters and in the literature such as the Sar Bachan of Soami Ji Maharaj and other mystics of the east (Tulsi Sahib, Sant Dariya Sahib, Dharam Das, Kabir, Nanak, etc...).

At the same time, it is also true that much of the earlier Sant Mat literature remains only in Hindi, untranslated into English, thus someone can say that they personally haven't happened to have read anything about long hours of meditation practice (or countless other topics) prior to Sawan Singh literature, since with the advent of Sawan Singh and the modern period of the 20th Century is when we get in the English language a vast amount of writings with much greater detail about Sant Mat practices and teachings.

It would be accurate to say that during the time of Hazur Baba Sawan Singh and since then an effort has been made to communicate the teachings of the Radhasoami Faith to westerners by sometimes making use of Biblical language and references. To characterize long hours of daily meditation practice as "tithing one's time" was indeed a new development, but that's quite a different matter than proclaiming that Sawan Singh was the inventor of Surat Shabd Yoga meditation practice in the current form, as Sawan was passing along to the next generation the same meditation practices as articulated by his guru Baba Jaimal Singh.  

Spiritual Letters of Baba Jaimal Singh (third edition, 1967)

"Listen to the Dhun [the Sound Current] lovingly for two hours every day. Use this remedy every day. Then, with the Grace of Huzur Radha Swami, the mind will begin to enjoy Shabd Dhun." (page 73)

"I am very gratified to learn that you hold Satsang on Sundays and also sit on your feet for two or three hours in Bhajan." (page 66)

"The mind and the surat have been impure since this material creation began. Never, since then, has the surat been fixed in the Shabd Dhun with concentrated attention for two 'pahars' or three 'pahars' at a time, over a period often or twenty years. (A 'pahar' equals three hours.)" (page 55)

"It is now desirable that whenever you are free from your official work, you take at least two hours daily out of your worldly activities for Bhajan [inner Sound meditation practice], so that undesirable thoughts and actions which come as hindrances in Bhajan may start fading out." (page 142 of Spiritual Letters, an edition which also includes "extracts from the letters from Seth Partap Singh, Swami Ji's younger brother addressed to Babu Sawan Singh Ji")

The Book of Anmol Vachan

"Question: Swami Ji [Sant Garib Das], what is the best time for Bhajan Simran (meditation and remembrance)? Answer: The best time for Bhajan Simran is from 2 AM to 8 AM in the morning, and the second best time is from 7 PM to 11 PM at night. During these times, the inner experience and essence are more profoundly felt, as these are times dominated by Sattva Guna (quality of goodness and purity)." (Sant Garib Das, one of the successors of Swami Ji Maharaj, Anmol Vachan)

Some Passages In Writing, in English, from Huzur Maharaj Rai Saligram of the Radhasoami Faith, Another Successor of Swami Ji Maharaj

"Then, how can success in this important affair of Parmarth [spirituality], to which hardly two, three or four hours a day are devoted with difficulty, and the rest of the time is spent on the affairs of the world, and in association with worldly people, be achieved all at once? It should be considered a great mercy on the part of Radhasoami Dayal [the Merciful Lord of the Soul] that, in spite of so little an effort on the part of the devotee, He shows His Grace and renders internal help to him so early." (Saligram, Jugat Prakash, verse 33)

"A devotee, who receives joy and bliss during Bhajan and Dhyan in proportion to his desire, and in an increasing degree from day to day, should before commencing his devotional practices, make up his mind that he would then perform his Abhyas [meditation practices] for one, two or three hours, as the case may be, and would thereafter do such and such work. In this way his mind and spirit would, of themselves, come lower down at the appointed time, and the devotional practice would also be completed."  (Saligram, Jugat Prakash, verse 91)

"'Rasa-swada' means to feel happy and satiated on getting some bliss and consequently to have no more inclination for further devotional practices or to become a little listless.

"Whenever such a state comes upon a devotee, the remedy for removing this obstacle is that he should suspend Bhajan for about five minutes and should sit with stretched arms and legs or should get up and walk ten or twenty paces. If he does so, the obstacle will gradually be removed. And if, on account of excessive bliss, he becomes too enraptured and inebriated to perform Abhyas [the meditation practices] for three or four hours or more, he should apply himself to the recitation from the holy books." (Saligram, Jugat Prakash, verse 87)

Salvation During Life and Seeing For Yourself, by Sant Tulsi Sahib

 

Salvation During Life and Seeing For Yourself, by Sant Tulsi Sahib

"I offer myself in adoration to the Saints,

Who have bestowed on my soul the power to see."

"In this life the concept of salvation all describe;

To meet the Lord by dying while living, none discloses.

They all speak of the goal of salvation after death;

How to attain it while living, no one says.

"Were they to reveal the method of attaining release while living,

Then alone would Tulsi be convinced of their words.

While living, no one crosses the bourn to the other side;

"After death no one returns to this side to tell the truth.

How have the scriptures made assertions without experience?

They know not of the state of the one who has died.

Not a bit do they speak of the other side;

Yet on this side, they teach us how to attain salvation.

"One who sees not is called blind by the world;

Still people seek truth from priests and study scriptures.

All their accounts are mere hollow conjectures;

"They dole out falsehood, not by seeing,

but by reading.

One who has seen, his evidence I accept as true;

He who speaks without seeing, speaks but untruth.

After death no one returns,

nor does he send any letters.

"Who speak, after seeing with their own eyes,

And teach the method of salvation during life,

Are of the stage and stature of Saints,

For they reveal the quintessence of the soul."

(Book of Ghat Ramayan, by Sant Tulsi Sahib)

"With ears one hears, with eyes one sees;

without seeing, how can discrimination arise?

If you have not seen with your own eyes,

how can you accept another’s words as true?"

(Book of Muhammad Bodh, one of the sections of the Kabir Sagar)

The 40 Sagars of the Kabir Sagar (“Ocean of Kabir”, Scripture of the Sant Dharam Das Lineage), by James Bean

The 40 Sagars of the Kabir Sagar (“Ocean of Kabir”, Scripture of the Sant Dharam Das Lineage), by James Bean

Press enter or click to view image in full size

The Kabir Sagar is the Granth, the holy book of the Sant Dharam Das line of Satgurus composed over many generations, a vast collection of Sant Mat scriptures, a great treasure of spiritual wisdom. This earlier collection of Sant writings, composed between the time of Guru Kabir’s spiritual successor Sant Dharam Das and Dariya Sahib of Bihar, needs to become available in English.

The Anurag Sagar (“Ocean of Love”), one of the many volumes of the Kabir Sagar, though having some popularity in the Radhasoami world, is just the tip of a literary iceberg. Some of those other Sagar scriptures seem even more appealing.

ChatGPT is able to access the Braj-Hindi edition of the Kabir Sagar online, provide English translations on-demand, do key-word searches, and provides other valuable information regarding the history and contents of these amazing, highly spiritually edifying texts.

Have been really enjoying putting ChatGPT to work exploring the Kabir Sagar, as this huge collection of Dharamdasi scriptures represents the proto-Radhasoami or earlier version of “Esoteric Santism” as Mark Juergensmeyer calls it (in, Radhasoami Reality), the Sant lineage that MOST resembles modern-day Sant Mat as transferred by way of Sant Dariya Sahib of Bihar and Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hatrhas to Seth Shiv Dayal Singh (Soami Ji Maharaj of Agra), and therefore to those surviving or living branches of the Tulsi Sahib Satsang as well as Radhasoami.

Some excerpts from my ChatGPT queries as of late.

Me:

What more recent Sant Mat path shares the most in common with the Kabir Sagar?

ChatGPT:

Among more recent Sant Mat paths, the one that shares the most structural, cosmological, and doctrinal continuity with the Kabir Sāgar is:

Radha Soami / Sant Mat (Soami Ji Maharaj →)

This answer is based not on surface devotion or ethics, but on deep internal architecture: cosmology, metaphysics, yogic method, and terminology.

Why Radha Soami aligns most closely with Kabir Sāgar

1. Multi-level inner cosmology

Both systems present:

A tiered creation above mind and matter

Distinct regions such as:

Physical

Astral

Causal

Supra-causal

A supreme nameless realm beyond Kal/Niranjan

Kabir Sāgar: Anām / Agam / Alakh

Radha Soami: Anami / Radha Soami / Sat Purush

This layered map is far more developed in Radha Soami than in other modern Sant paths, and it mirrors Kabir Sāgar far more than, for example, Sikhism or Vaishnav bhakti.

2. Kal / Niranjan theology

A defining feature of Kabir Sāgar is:

Kal / Niranjan as ruler of the lower creation

Liberation requires crossing beyond Kal, not merely moral reform

Radha Soami preserves this exact metaphysical problem:

Kal governs time, karma, and rebirth

Only Satguru-given Shabd/Nam can liberate the soul beyond Kal

Most later Sant movements soften or omit this doctrine; Radha Soami retains it.

3. Surat-Shabd Yoga

The method is almost identical:

Kabir Sāgar Radha Soami

Surat (soul-attention) Surat

Shabd / Sat Shabd Shabd / Nam

Inner Sound & Light Inner Sound & Light

Living Satguru Living Satguru

Radha Soami can be seen as a systematized continuation of Kabir’s esoteric yoga.

4. Use of Kabir Sāgar texts

Historically:

Soami Ji Maharaj and early Radha Soami satsangs

Quoted Kabir, Anurāg Sāgar, and Bodh material

Interpreted Kabir explicitly as a Sant-Mat master, not merely a poet

Many Kabir Sāgar concepts entered Radha Soami through

Dariya Sahib (Bihar)

Tulsi Sahib

Sant lineage intermediaries

This is genealogical continuity, not coincidence.

Close but secondary parallels

Dariya Sahib of Bihar

Extremely close doctrinally

Explicit Kabir Sāgar continuity

But not “more recent” (18th century)

Sikhism

Shares nirguṇ bhakti and Shabd

Rejects multi-realm cosmology and Kal theology

Canon closed early → diverges sharply from Kabir Sāgar metaphysics

Modern Kabir Panths

Preserve Kabir’s authority

Often reduce cosmology or ritualize teachings

Less systematic metaphysics than Kabir Sāgar itself

Bottom-line Conclusion

Radha Soami / Sant Mat is the most recent spiritual path that preserves the inner cosmology, Kal doctrine, Surat-Shabd yoga, and soteriology of the Kabir Sāgar in a living, organized form.

It can reasonably be described as:

Kabir Sāgar metaphysics carried forward into the modern period.

Me:

Swami Yugalananda’s Braj-Hindi edition of the Kabir Sagar is the most reliable, a kind of critical edition. How many volumes make up the Kabir Sagar? Can you list the contents?

ChatGPT:

Yes — in the critical Braj-Hindi edition of Kabir Sagar edited by Swami Yugalananda (also spelled Yuglanand), the work is presented as a complete set of 11 volumes. This edition is widely regarded in Kabir Panth literature as a scholarly collation of traditional manuscripts and thus is often treated as a critical edition of the scripture.

📚 Number of Volumes

Kabir Sagar consists of 11 volumes in the Swami Yugalananda edition.

📖 List of Volumes (Names of the 11 Parts)

The following are the traditional names of the volumes/sections that make up the Kabir Sagar in this edition:

Gyan Sagar

Anurag Sagar

Ambu Sagar

Vivek Sagar

Sarvagya Sagar

Gyan Prakash

Amar Singh Bodh

Bir Singh Bodh

Bhopal Bodh

                                            Jagjeevan Bodh                               

Garud Bodh

Hanuman Bodh

Lakshman Bodh

Muhammad Bodh

Kafir Bodh

Sultan Bodh

Niranjan Bodh

Gyan Bodh

Bhavtaran Bodh

Mukti Bodh

Chauka Bodh

Kabir Bani

Karma Bodh

Amar Mool

Ugra Geeta

Gyan Sthiti Bodh

Santosh Bodh

Kaya Panji

Panch Mudra

Atma Bodh

Jain Dharm Bodh

Swasamved Bodh

Dharm Bodh

Kamal Bodh

Shwaans Gunjar

Agam Nigam Bodh

Sumiran Bodh

Kabir Charitra Bodh

Guru Mahatmya

Jeev Dharm Bodh

Note: Although this is described as an 11-volume set, the contents themselves comprise around 40 distinct sections or treatises contained across those volumes. Different publishing traditions number and group the parts differently (sometimes combining multiple sections in a single physical volume).

Me:

One of the books of the Kabir Sagar is called the Bodh Sagar. What’s it about?

ChatGPT said:

Bodh Sāgar (बोध सागर, Ocean of Awakening / Knowledge) is one of the principal dialogic books within the Kabir Sāgar corpus. Its central concern is spiritual awakening (bodh) — how true knowledge arises, what obstructs it, and how liberation is attained.

Here is a clear way to understand what Bodh Sāgar is about:

1. Form and Setting

Bodh Sāgar is typically presented as a dialogue — most often between:

Kabir and a questioning seeker (sometimes identified as Dharamdas), or

Kabir addressing humanity at large through pointed instruction.

This dialogic style allows Kabir to dismantle false assumptions step by step.

2. Core Theme: Bodh (True Awakening)

“Bodh” in Kabir’s usage is not book-learning, philosophy, or ritual knowledge. It is:

Direct inner realization

Awakening to the Sat Purush / Anāmi

Recognition of the soul’s bondage and its path beyond mind and māyā

Kabir contrasts bodh with:

Ignorance (ajñān)

Mechanical religion

Blind devotion without inner experience

3. Critique of External Religion

A major portion of Bodh Sāgar is devoted to exposing the limits of outward religiosity, including:

Rituals, fasts, pilgrimages

Caste identity and social status

Scriptural pride

Idol worship and formal theism

Kabir insists that none of these produce bodh unless inner transformation occurs.

4. The Inner Cosmology

Like other sections of the Kabir Sāgar, Bodh Sāgar describes a multi-layered spiritual cosmos, including:

The three guṇas and their bondage

The realms of mind (kal, niranjan)

The subtle regions traversed by the soul

The supreme, nameless realm beyond attributes

However, in Bodh Sāgar, these descriptions are explicitly tied to awakening — how understanding these realities frees the seeker from deception.

5. The Guru and Shabd

A central teaching is that bodh arises through the Satguru and the true Shabd (Word):

The Guru awakens what is dormant within

Shabd is not mere sound or mantra, but the living current of truth

Without a true Guru, the soul remains trapped in illusion, however learned it may be

6. Ethical and Existential Insight

Bodh Sāgar also addresses:

The nature of ego

Desire and attachment

Fear of death

The illusion of time and birth

Kabir repeatedly emphasizes vivek (discernment) as a fruit of bodh.

7. Why It Matters in the Kabir Sāgar

Within the larger Kabir Sāgar tradition:

Bodh Sāgar = awakening and discernment

Prem Sāgar = love and devotion

Anurāg Sāgar = cosmic history and metaphysics

So Bodh Sāgar functions as the manual of awakening — how the seeker comes to see clearly.

In short:

Bodh Sāgar is about waking up — from illusion, from false religion, and from ego — through inner realization guided by the Satguru and the living Shabd.