Simran, the Practice of Remembering God in a World of Forgetfulness

 

Simran, the Practice of Remembering God in a World of Forgetfulness 

"Santmat is not some new doctrine or religion. It is very ancient. Even the Upanishads teach bindu-nada meditation. It is not only saints of this age who have spoken about it; sages of olden times also taught this. One should understand this and continue to practice it regularly." (Maharshi Mehi, Experiential Knowledge)

Simran: "Repetition of names or thoughts; in Sant Mat, the simran 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." (Sant Mat Glossary)

How to do Simran

"When simran of the Lord is carried out incessantly and with every breath of one’s life, it awakens one’s consciousness in the Lord. Simran of the name or names given by someone whose consciousness is awakened in God is highly beneficial because, through the medium of thought transference between master and disciple, fast success is assured. In this way the soul’s passage through the spiritual regions is expedited so it can cross those regions without hindrance.

"After assuming an easy posture, simran should be done by concentrating one’s attention between the eyebrows (which is the seat of the soul) and repeating the names with the tongue of the soul with an all-consuming absorption. Simran done in this manner overcomes the restlessness of the mind and results in a high degree of concentration." (Hazur Baba Sawan Singh, My Submission)

"Please concentrate your attention in the eyes [third eye center] when repeating the Holy Names. As your concentration becomes stronger many mysteries will become solved for you. As your soul having collected in the eyes turns inwards you will get more flashes of light and knowledge. Solitude brings peace and helps in spiritual progress." (Hazur Baba Sawan Singh)

"The repetition of the Five Names should be performed with love and affection, fixing the attention in the eyes without putting any pressure on them, and sitting in one posture as far as possible so that you become unconscious of the body below the eyes and thought does not run outside the focus of the eyes. When you sit to listen to the Sound, try to get pleasure out of it." (Hazur Baba Sawan Singh)

"The change of focus is done by constant practice and effort to rise up and fix and hold the attention at the higher centers. This is the underlying idea of the repetition of the Names. Each Name gives you an idea of something within you and above the eyes. Every time you repeat a Name attentively you are trying to rise up, and sooner or later the eye-focus will become the headquarters of your attention." (Hazur Baba Sawan Singh)

"When you begin to hear the bell sound clearly in the right direction, you may give up Simran (repetition of the Holy Names) and then connect your soul with the Sound again." (Hazur Baba Sawan Singh)

"When God Almighty showers His Grace, He sends the Saints to awaken such souls who have forgotten about God Almighty and who have lost their way in this world. The Saints come, and then They awaken the souls. They tell us about the Reality. And They try to enlighten us about what is the truth. And They try to get us out of this ocean of life and death.

"Then They show us the Path. They show us the practice of doing our Bhajan Simran. And by doing so, when we go within, They again manifest that Light and Sound within. And once that Holy Sound and Light is manifested within, the darkness of ignorance, or the darkness of this veil of Maya is cast aside. And again, the soul experiences and understands all its previous births and automatically develops that love and affection for the Master and goes within.

"Therefore, Saints come into this world only to take us from this home to our True Home. They don't come here to get us entangled again in this life and death.

"So, therefore, it is incumbent on us to listen to what They have to say and follow Their instructions and do our meditations every day. We should not get swayed by the color of this world, because the color of this world is not permanent. It is only there for a few days.

"We should, therefore, focus our energies to do our meditations, to listen to Satsang every day, and to keep our aim of going back to God Almighty in front of us." (Baba Ram Singh, excerpted from an August 2024 Satsang Discourse)

IMAGE courtesy of Christopher McMahon

The Message of the Masters is Sadhana, Spiritual Practice - Light and Sound on the Path

 

The Message of the Masters is Sadhana, Spiritual Practice - Light and Sound on the Path

"You have to keep on doing Simran and, gradually, with the continuous practice of Simran, Dhyan Bhajan only, the mind can focus and come up to the Third Eye, see the Radiant Form of the Guru and hear the Sound Current. So, Simran is very essential. And if one continuously does Simran, however unfocused the mind is, it gradually gets to the Third Eye. As one keeps on doing Simran repeatedly and regularly, the mind keeps becoming more and more pure. And, as the mind becomes purer, it is able to come up to the Third Eye and see the Radiant Form of the Master within. So, the Masters have always insisted upon the continuity of practice of Dhyan, Bhajan, and Simran. We often do Simran or Dhyan Bhajan for a few days and then leave it. This way we do not maintain continuity and do not do the practice as it should be done. Masters insist that the practice has to be continuous, every day, without a break." (Baba Ram Singh, excerpted from a 2015 satsang discourse on meditation practice, How Bangali Babu Got Control Of His Mind)

Light and Sound on the Path: 

https://SantMatRadhasoami.blogspot.com

Sant Mat Radhasoami E-Library: 

https://SantMatRadhasoami.blogspot.com/2019/01/sant-mat-radhasoami-books-main-page-e.html

Simran -- The Power of Repeating God’s Name

Simran -- The Power of Repeating God’s Name 

Repeating a Name (or Names) of God with love and devotion, called in the east "Simran", "Manas Jap", or "Zikhr," is one of the key spiritual exercises used to cultivate love for God and to invoke the Positive Power in our daily lives, making it possible to live a life of love. Simran is a mental repetition of a Name of God done during meditation, and this spiritual practice is also done during available moments throughout the day and night as a way to remember God all the time. Says Sant Tukarama:

"Such is God’s Name 

that it heals the disease of the world.

Whosoever repeats the Lord’s Name 

while engaged in earthly duties, 

remains ever in a blissful state of divine communion. 

One absorbed in the Lord’s Name, O Tuka, 

has truly attained liberation while living."

This spiritual exercise of repeating God's Name helps to uplift our day, to bring some of the heaven and bliss of meditation into our down-to-earth daily experience, and is a way to remember in a world of forgetfulness, to remain awake in a world of spiritual slumber, to abide in Truth, no longer dominated by the forces of illusion. Be who you really are wherever you go!

Carefree Simran: Remembrance of God's Name

Carefree Simran: Remembrance of God's Name

Sant Mat Fellowship:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SantMatFellowship

Giving up turmoil of the world,
Repeat God's Name day and night.
Those who keep the Saint's company
Move about carefree, 0 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. (Bani of Sant Ravidas)

Kabir said, Recognise me and manifest the Guru in the form of the Sound Current behind the eyes [at the third eye center]. Then you will have no doubts left. If you want to be free from anxiety, then catch the Sound Current. When ever you are in trouble, sit down for doing simran (repetition of the mantra/holy names). When you reach the state of concentration, then you are surrounded by a protective aura automatically. No power on earth can harm you then. Therefore, do simran and be anxiety-free. (Anurag Sagar, Volume Two, Tarn Taran Satsang)