Guru Lineage Charts of Radhasoami, Sant Mat, Surat Shabd Yoga -- Sant Mat Radhasoami Books, The E Library: Guru Lineage Charts Section

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Guru Lineage Charts of Sant Mat, Radhasoami, Surat Shabd Yoga (Inner Light and Sound Meditation), Guru Kabir, the Dharamdasis of Kabir Panth, Dadu Panth, Dariya Sahib, the Ten Sikh Gurus, Param Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras, Radhasoami Faith, the House of Kirpal, and Maharshi Mehi

Sant Mat Radhasoami Books, The E Library: Guru Lineage Charts Section

About the charts below -- after noticing a couple of highly inaccurate web pages claiming to present Sant Mat guru lineage information made by those apparently not very acquainted with this tradition (the Path of the Masters), it was clear there needed to be something more genuine, scholarly, well-researched and comprehensive available on the web for those interested in Sant Mat and Radhasoami history.

These charts  below do not illustrate ALL lineages that exist in Sant Mat, Surat Shabd Yoga, Radhasoami, and Kabir Panth, since in India there are at least several hundred gurus in these categories, perhaps even more.

The guru lineage charts below present information in a non-sectarian, inter-faith way, and are not intended to be an endorsement of every single name or group across the centuries that might be listed. Rather, it presents at-a-glance a "big picture" view of the most well-known paths, the relationships between one lineage and another in some cases, as well as the origins -- connections to past Sant Satgurus dating all the way back to the time of Guru Kabir.

The "Influence of Kabir" charts are courtesy of Dr. Jagessar Das of the Kabir Association, an eccumenical Kabir Panth organization. The two charts illustrating Agra and Beas "Branches of the Radhasoami Family Tree", including those relating to Huzur Baba Sawan Singh and Kirpal Singh, were compiled by Professor David C. Lane and published in Professor Mark Juergensmeyer's book, "Radhasoami Reality: The Logic of a Modern Faith," Princeton University Press, first edition, and are shared here with the permission of both authors. The Sikh Gurus are included as they are highly revered in Sant Mat as spiritual Masters and Saints of the highest order. The charts illustrating various branches of Sant Mat, especially Sant Tulsi Sahib and Maharshi Mehi guru lineages, are based upon my own research and direct communications with those groups.

Note: Kabir was not the first Sant. There were many Sants before him, including some of the contributors to the Upanishads, Gorakh Nath, Jayadeva, Visoba Khechar (Sant Namdev's Master), and Sant Namdev, to name a few of the ones known to history. 

The term "Sant Mat" means: "The Way of the Saints" or can be translated as "Path of the Masters".  It's common knowledge in India that the term "Sant Mat" was coined by Param Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras, but the Sant tradition, with it's many guru-lineages or branches, is a spiritual movement that dates back many centuries to ancient India. Tulsi Sahib was of the opinion that the Sant movement (Santmat) goes back to the time of Krishna thousands of years ago, that Krishna knew of Sants or Rishis during his day, the age of the Bhagavad Gita. 

-- James Bean

Sant Ramananda to Kabir

Satguru Kabir

The Influence of Kabir

The Influence of Satguru Kabir

Image Above: A Big-picture View of Succession from Sant Kabir to Contemporary Sant Mat With Some Key Figures In Between. The Charts Below Expand Upon This Connection Between Kabir, Sant Dharam Das, Sat Saheb, Sant Dariya Sahib of Bihar, Sant Tulsi Sahib, and Contemporary Movements Associated With The Tulsi Sabhis (Including Maharshi Mehi Paramhans), Radhasoami, and Satsangs Associated With Kirpal Singh Ji.

Kabir to Sant Dharam Das, Churamani Nami (the son of Sant Dharam Das) and the Dharamdasi Branch of Kabir Panth

Sant Dadu Dayal and the Dadu Panth Lineage of Gurus

The Ten Sikh Gurus

Sant Dariya Sahib of Bihar, along with smaller icon images of Sant Tulsi Sahib and Guru Kabir

Param Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras, India (Older)

My view is the Guru of Sant Tulsi Sahib was Sant Dariya Sahib of Bihar (or one of Dariya's spiritual successor gurus), as Sant Dariya is the one-and-only contemporary master named by Sant Tulsi Sahib in his writings and hymns (shabds). The chart above shows the various lineages associated with Tulsi Sahib including Radhasoami.

Soamiji Maharaj (Seth Shiv Dayal Singh of Agra, Sant Radhasoami Saheb)

Agra Radhasoami Lineages

Sant Gareeb Das was another major disciple of Soamiji Maharaj. Above is his lineage chart. In the column to the right, one can see the connection to the Jai Guru Dev group.

There are updated charts below about some of these above-displayed Radhasoami lineages. See the “House of Kirpal” chart, also more recent updates regarding Dayal Bagh, the Baba Faqir Chand group, Dinod, and Tarn Taran.

Expanded View of the Sant Bani/Ajaib Singh Lineage

Surswami, a Successor of Tulsi Sahib at the Ashram in Hathras

Succession After Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras

Baba Devi Sahab of Moradabad, Devotee of Sant Tulsi Sahib from the Hathras Sangat

Maharshi Mehi Paramhans, Successor of Baba Devi Sahab

Maharshi Mehi Paramhans, Kupphaghat, Bhagalpur, Bihar (Center). To the left, icon of Baba Devi Sahab. To the right, Swami Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj.

There may be over five hundred guru successors (babas) associated with Maharshi Mehi, connected with various ashrams in India and Nepal.

Swami Santsevi Ji Maharaj, Maharshi Mehi Branch

Shri Bhagirath Baba on the grounds of the Maharshi Mehi Ashram

Shri Bhagirath Baba

Shri Bhagirath Baba

Swami Achyutanand Baba, Maharshi Mehi Branch

Swami Vyasanand Ji Maharaj, Maharshi Mehi Branch of Santmat

Swami Harinandan Baba meeting with Swami Vyasanand Baba

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Verses of Sant Dadu Dayal, the Compassionate Mystic

Verses of Sant Dadu Dayal, the Compassionate Mystic

Saints are true redeemers;

They make one see the Creator face to face.

Having themselves crossed the ocean of the world [samsara],

they take others across;

They are the saviours of beings.

Dyed in the colour of the Supreme Lord,

They have the blameless Name as their support.

Always truthful, disciplined, blissful and contented,

Their wisdom and reach knows no bounds.

In eternal love, in eternal ecstasy,

In eternal company with the essential Truth;

In eternal union, in eternal life,

In eternal knowledge and contemplation

are they absorbed.

Crown jewel of all, bestower of bliss to all,

They are rare in this world.

They are the swans, the dwellers of the ocean of bliss,

Who come for the good of others, O Dadu.

SatyaRaam! [Sacred Name of God, the Lord of Spirits, The Timeless, Formless Ocean of Love)

IMAGE: A Young Sant Dadu Dayal, the great Saint of Rajasthan meeting Sant Buddhan (who looks a bit like Kabir): "According to the traditions of the Dadu Order, Dadu first met his Guru, known as Brdhanand (Buddhan), at the age of eleven when he was playing with his friends at the Kankariya pond." (Dadu, The Compassionate Mystic)

A History of Simran Practice in the Sant Tradition (Path of the Masters): The Many Names of the Nameless God (Anami)

A History of Simran Practice in the Sant Tradition (Path of the Masters): The Many Names of the Nameless God (Anami), By James Bean http://about.me/SantMat

The Nameless God has been given many names over the centuries. There are countless Divine names used as mantras or sacred words of Remembrance in various schools of spirituality. In Dadu Panth, that sacred name of God at the highest level is Satya-Raam. The name Raam was very frequently mentioned in the hymns of Guru Kabir, Sant Namdev, and other classic Sants of India. Some receive a single Name, others a longer Guru Mantra phrase. Some are given "The Five Names" (panch naam) consisting of five holy names of God. These are revealed at the time of Initiation into Sant Mat or Surat Shabd Yoga meditation practice. These same five names have been used for centuries in certain branches of Sant Mat connected with Kabir and Sant Dharam Das, Sant Dariya Sahib, Sant Tulsi Sahib, and Sant Radhasoami Sahib. Others have been given five Sufi names of God at the time of Initiation into Surat Shabd Yoga meditation. These five Sufi or Islamic names have the same essential meaning as the five Indian names used in some forms of Sant Mat, and, as with the Indian names, also correspond to five basic inner regions. (In one of the Jewish Gnostic paths of antiquity, a group known as the Sethians, there was also a five-named or panch naam mantra approach, only with five Hebrew names that have been found in Coptic texts of Egypt. Those were associated with certain heavenly regions: Harmoz-el, Oroia-el, Daveithai, El-eleth, and another word meaning, the "Self-Begotten One".) Others are given the name of the Most High God RADHASOAMI (Rad-Da-Swam-e, "Soul-Lord" or "Lord of the Soul"), associated with the Eighth Plane, to use in simran practice along one's journey though all of the various states and stages within during meditation. Other Sant Mat lineages use a two-syllabled sacred word revealed at the time of Initiation, and it represents a name for the Soundless One.

In the classic bhajans and banis of the Sants of India appear numerous names of God. One can read verses exhorting devotees to repeat many names of the Nameless, Soundless, Formless One: 

"Repeat the Name of Raam".

"Repeat the Name of Radhaswami".

"Repeat the Name of Hari".

"Repeat the Name of Govinda".

"Repeat the Name of Vitthala".

"Repeat the Name of Allah".

"Repeat the Name of HOO (HU)".

Many names have used by various Sants: Param-Atma, Hari, Alakh, Allah, Raam or Rama, Rahim, Agam, Purushotama, Khuda, Gobind, Panduranga, Pandhari, Vitthala, Narayana, Vitthoba, Sat Purusha, etc... Some of these names are used by Hindu paths too, and have different meanings. As Sant Dariya Sahib once said: 

"Consider the four meanings of Ram, 

The first Ram (1) is our inner self. 

Parashu-ram (2) is said to be the second one. 

The third one lived in Dasharath's (3) home.

The fourth Ram is the Primeval Sat Purush (4)

Call Him (Sat Purush) Ram or call Him Naam, 

Ram and Naam are one. 

Both are mutually indistinguishable; 

Satguru's Sound Current reveals this wisdom."

NOTES:

(1) The Life Principle that pervades everywhere, permeating, witin all.

(2) Parashu-ram, the son of Sage Jamadagni, is regarded as the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

(3) Ancient king of Ayodhya, the father of Ram. Rama: the seventh incarnation of Vishnu and the hero of the great epic Ramayana (Adventures of Rama).

(4) The Nirguna or Formless Raam, All-Spirit. ("Dariya Sahib, Saint of Bihar", K.N. Upadhyaya, Mystics of the East Series)

     

For the Sants of the East, all names of the One God represent the Nameless, Formless (Nirguna) God of Love and Compassion Who is Timeless (Akal), Spirit, and Eternal (Sat).

The True Spirit of Simran Practice is Bhakti 

"Simran" is a term which means "Remembrance", the spiritual practice of remembering or being mindful of God by repeating his Name. Devotees sing or chant various names for God. Higher spiritually, and more "within" is the practice of "manas jap", the mental repetition of God's name or names "with the tongue of thought" -- in other words, chanting names of God within one's mind. The Sants have always placed much greater emphasis upon mental Simran over vocal chant.

There is however, more to Simran than the repeating of sacred names. Simran must be approached with the right attitude, the right spirit, for one's intent determines how successful the practice will be, and what effect it will have upon one's consciousness. Simran has never been intended to be a dry or lifeless mantra practice. The path of the Sants is a Bhakti path, a path of love and devotion for the Supreme Being. Thus, the true Masters have always instructed their students to repeat God's Name with love and devotion, as a lover calling out to one's Beloved, the Lord of Love.

Guru Kabir 

"Keep your mind ever engrossed in the Name of the Lord 

As the lover's mind is ever engrossed in his Beloved. 

He never forgets her for a single moment --  

Through day and night he remembers her. 

"Happiness rests in ever-repeated simran, 

Sorrow and suffering is removed by simran. 

Kabir declares with utmost force and clarity: 

Practise this simran and be one with the Lord." 

(Kabir -- The Great Mystic, by Isaac A. Ezekiel)

What, then, is the practice of the Name? It is a form of interior prayer by which a person learns to keep his or her attention always in the Lord, in every circumstance and situation, at all moments, through day and night. It is a form of inner remembrance that leads to a heightened awareness beyond the limitations of the physical world and the portals of death.

Through meditation on the Name, or Naam Bhakti, one learns to draw one's attention away from the outer world.

Sant Namdev 

"Always be in rapport with the Lord

And enjoy true contentment -- 

This is the state of ineffable serenity.

There is no peace except in the Name of the Lord --

Meditate on it with one-pointed attention. 

"Experience the state of superconsciousness 

Where the Lord's love surges 

And you will see your own form 

In each particle of the creation. 

"0 Nama, the Lord will make 

The pupil of your eye his home,

And your eye will expand 

To contain the entire universe." 

(Saint Namdev, Mystics of the East Series)

The Simran of God's Name Will Lead One to the True Name: The Sound of God

The repetition of the holy Names is the truest spiritual technique. An uninterrupted inner repetition of the holy Names given by the living Master has to be practiced daily with love, devotion, and one-pointed attention. One thereby transcends one's body and is transported to the realms of Light.

The repetition develops into an ever-going spontaneous process, and one catches the unceasing inner Music which takes one to its Source, and reveals God face to face. One is, therefore, exhorted to search daily for the Source of this Unstruck Music. Whatever one does and wherever one happens to be, one is asked to be a sacrifice unto His Name and to have ardent longing to behold Him and hear His voice.

Sant Dadu Dayal 

"From within, the indwelling Lord Himself 

     tells me. 

'The repetition of My Name alone 

     is true; all else is delusion.' 

"The Name, the essential Truth of the 

     three worlds, alone is efficacious. 

     0 Dadu. 

With discrimination, repeat it exclusively 

     day and night, 0 mind. 

"At every breath be devoted to it, and 

     thy Beloved will meet thee one day. 

Repetition is the path leading to bliss; 

thus hath the Master explained. 

"Be dedicated to God moment by moment, 

     even if thou art to lose thy life. 

No other way is there to support 

     the self. 

"Who is that ill-fated one preaching some 

     other means? 

Without the Name, tell me, where can 

     one find a foothold? asketh Dadu. 

"Let not the Name be separated for 

     a moment from within thy heart, 

     0 Dadu. 

Millions have been purified by 

     repeating God's Name alone. 

"Be dedicated to God while the body 

     is in good condition, 

Else later on, when the body and mind 

     are worn out, thou shalt repent, 

     sayeth Dadu. 

"The whole world is full of poison; rarely 

     someone is free from it, 0 Dadu. 

He alone will be free from poison 

     who is steeped in the Name 

     of the Supreme Lord.

"Repeat the Name with the pang of 

     separation, and sing its glory with 

     love and devotion. 

Fix thy mind in repetition with joy and 

     dedication, 0 Dadu. 

"While speaking or listening, giving 

     or taking, eating or drinking, 

Repeat the Name of God at all times, 

     0 Dadu, thus shalt the self rest 

     in the inner lotus."

(Encyclopedia of Saints of India, Volume 25: Sant Dadu Dayal)

#RadhaSoami  #Nam  #Naam  #Simran  #Zikhr  #PrayerOfTheName  #NameOfGod #Mantra  #ManasJap