Path of the Masters: Sant Mat - Santmat, Radhasoami - Radha Soami, Satsang, Inner Light and Sound Meditation: Surat Shabd Yoga, Audible Life Stream, Quan Yin Method, Spiritual Science, Spirituality, Kabir, Maharshi Mehi, Kirpal Singh, Gnosticism, Third Eye, Out Of Body Experiences, Near-Death Experiences, Inner Space, the Kingdom of the Heavens Within, Mystic Poetry, Vegetarian Vegan, Ahimsa, Love, and God. The term "Sant Mat" was coined by Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras during the 19th Century.
The 40 Sagars of the Kabir Sagar (“Ocean of Kabir”, Scripture of the Sant Dharam Das Lineage), by James Bean
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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.
Origins of the Sant Tradition and Saints of the South, by James Bean
Referring to Sant Tulsi Sahib's origins: "He came from the south, and was popularly known as Dakhani Baba, which means 'Sage from the South'". (Tulsi Sahib, Saint of Hathras, J. R. Puri and V. K. Sethi, page 3, second edition, 1981)
With the Sant tradition of India the most famous Sants by far are the northern ones like Kabir, Nanak, Goswami Tulsi Das, Mirabai, etc... Lesser-known is the Sant tradition of Maharashtra as represented by Eknath, Namdev, Tukarama, Jnanadeva, and Samartha Ramadasa. There is however an even more obscure history of Sants in south India. The book, Saints of South India, Part One: Karnataka, by Dr. N. Subrahmanyam, P. Aravinda Rao, and K. G. Ramaprakash, published by the Beas satsang, features three prominent Sants of the south: Purandaradasa, Kanakadasa, and Shishunala Sharif Sahib. These were part of the Haridasas, the Haridasa branch of the Bhakti movement. More about them here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haridasa
I've always been curious about when the Path of the Sants emerged in Indian history. Often people assume the Sants or Sant Mat began with poet-mystics such as Kabir or Nanak but clearly they were not the first Sants. Kabir is believed to have been born in 1440, Nanak 1469. Previous to the 15th century Sants and much earlier in the Sant tradition was Sant Jayadeva, born in east India during 1170, author of the Gita Govinda. Some of his compositions were also eventually included in the Sikh scriptures, the Adi Granth compiled in 1604. In Maharashtra were significant Bhakti Sants such as Jnaneshwar (1275-1296). A disciple and spiritual successor of Jnaneshwar was Visoba Khechar (unknown - 1309 CE), and Sant Namdev (1270-1350) was a famous disciple of Visoba Khechar.
Tracing the Sant tradition much further back in time I am rather intrigued by this statement in this book about the Saints of south India: "The Bhakti movement is thought to have originated in Tamil Nadu during the seventh century and eventually spread through Karnataka, Maharashtra, and then across India during the sixteenth-century." (Saints of South India, page 2) Tamil Nadu is the southernmost state of India.
This Wikipedia entry for the Bhakti movement pushes the date back to the 6th century: "The Bhakti movement was a significant religious movement in medieval Hinduism[1] that sought to bring religious reforms to all strata of society by adopting the method of devotion to achieve salvation.[2] Originating in Tamilakam during 6th century CE,[3][4] it gained prominence through the poems and teachings of the Vaishnava Alvars and Shaiva Nayanars in early medieval South India, before spreading northwards.[1] It swept over east and north India from the 15th century onwards, reaching its zenith between the 15th and 17th century CE." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhakti_movement
The above paragraph at Wikipedia cites some credible sources that one may consult for further exploration of the history of Nirguna Bhakti Sants (devotees of the Formless Supreme Being) including: A Storm of Songs: India and the Idea of the Bhakti Movement, John Hawley, Harvard University Press, 2015; Bhakti Religion in North India: Community Identity and Political Action, David Lorenzen, State University of New York Press, 1995; and, The Sants: Studies in a Devotional Tradition of India, Karine Schomer, W.H. McLeod, Motilal Banarsidass, 1987)
I will have to research possible poet-Saints of the Tamil Nadu Sant tradition and explore what might be published in English from this earlier period.
Can we date the Sant tradition even earlier in the history of India? It's certainly the case that some ancient Upanishads taught about a Formless Purusha (Supreme Being), and have references to inner Light and Sound (Nada Yoga) meditation practices. In the Wiki entry cited above on the Bhakti movement is this paragraph: "Klaus Witz, in contrast, traces the history and nature of the Bhakti movement to the Upanishadic and the Vedanta foundations of Hinduism. He writes that in virtually every Bhakti movement poet, 'the Upanishadic teachings form an all-pervasive substratum, if not a basis.'"
As I wrote in my paper, The Origins Of Sant Mat, there are a few rare tantalizing references to Sants of antiquity:
Seeing references in Krishna/Vaishnava Hindu scriptures, Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras was of the opinion that the Sant movement dates back to the time of Krishna thousands of years ago, that Krishna knew of Sants during his day.
An Example of Sants Mentioned in a Hindu Scripture Called the Bhagavad Purana
"Such individuals who have achieved the unity of atman (soul) and Param-atman (Supreme Soul, God) are known as Sants. According to the Bhagavad Purana there is no one greater than a Sant in the eyes of the Divine. Lord Krishna says to his disciple Uddhava Ji: 'All devotees like you are very dear to me. They are dearer to me than Lord Brahma, Lord Shankara, my brother Bal Ram, Goddess Lakshmi and even my own soul. Therefore, I walk behind these Sants hoping that the dust arising from their holy feet would touch my body and purify me.'" (Hindu scripture quoted by Swami Vyasanand of the Tulsi Sahib/Maharshi Mehi Sant Mat lineage in his book, The Inward Journey of the Soul, Amazon Kindle e-book)
Some poetry from a biography of Dadu Dayal: "There is no end to the number of Sants who appeared in the Yugas [Epochs] of Sat, Treta, Dvapar, and Kali [Yuga]. I sing of the celebrated one I have heard of, and bow my head to all the others." (Jan Gopal, disciple of Sant Dadu Dayal of Rajasthan in, The Life Story of Dadu Dayal -- The Book of Janma Lila, translated into English by the scholar Winand M. Callewaert, in, The Hindi Biography of Dadu Dayal, Motilal Banarsidass)
Back to the recently published book on Sants of south India: "Purandara Dasa and Kanaka Dasa, lived in the sixteenth century, and are quite well known all over South India... Shishunala Sharif [19th century Sant], is not as well-known as the other two, but his teachings are nevertheless very profound. His background and poetry reminds one of Kabir." (Saints of South India - Part 1- Karnataka, 2024: https://scienceofthesoul.org/books-EN-279-1.html )
And, as the title implies, there likely will be a Part 2 volume exploring more southern Sants.
Baba Somanath of South India
A recent Sant based in south India was Baba Somanath (1885-1976) of the Radhasoami Satsang. "Baba Sawan Singhji was very pleased with Somanathji’s seva and behaviour and initiated him into the path of Surat Shabd Yoga in January 1928. He stayed at Beas for three and a half years, practicing Surat Shabd Yoga and achieved his cherished goal. In 1932, He sought the gracious permission of his Satguru to return to Mumbai. Sawan Singhji blessed him and commanded him to propagate the principles of Santmat in South India, where it was almost unknown." (from the Gurus section of the Sawan Durbar Ashram website: http://sdakengeri.org/Gurus.htm )
