Truth Always Wins: Light and Sound on the Path -- Sant Mat Satsang
"The human body is like a radio receiver for listening to the Sound Current [the inner Sound]. When we tune in the radio, we begin to hear the sound. Similarly, when the Master (Sant Satguru) guides us within, we are able to hear the Divine Music. By adjusting the 'dial', we hear various kinds of Sound." (Huzur Baba Sawan Singh)
Buddhism and the Sound Current -- Inner Sound Meditation
"Ananda and all you who listen here
Should inward turn your faculty
Of hearing to hear your own nature
Which alone achieves Supreme Bodhi.
That is how enlightenment is won.
Buddhas as many as the Ganges' sand
Entered this one gateway to Nirvana.
All past Tathagathatas
Have achieved this method."
(The Surangama Sutra: Selections from the
Upasaka Lu K'uan Yu Translation,
Published by Rider and Company, London)
"It is easiest to hear this Sound when it is quiet, particularly at nighttime. Once you have identified this Sound, then you place your awareness on it without wavering. Resting your mind in the Sound, you continue to listen, going further and further into the Sound itself." (Mind Beyond Death, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Snow Lion Publications)
"Listening to the inner Sound brings the heart into a position of acute inner awareness. It is not that the inner Sound has some magical property. Rather, it is that bringing of the alert mind, bringing openness and receptivity to Sound, is symbolic of the presence of Ultimate Truth. The Sound is always there. We don't have to create it. It is featureless. It is ever present. So it is a good symbol for Ultimate Reality itself." (Ajahn Amaro)
Brief Summary of the Teachings of Sant Mat, the Path of the Masters
* All souls (jivas) are in essence drops of love from the Sea of God.
* The attachment and association with mind and body makes the soul lose sight of the real Self.
* God assumes the form of a Saint to lead the soul back to its Original Home.
* One must surrender one's entire being to the Ocean of Love of which we are a part, instead of limiting ourselves to sensual pleasures which leave us unhappy and discontented.
* This can be done by the practice of Surat Shabd Yoga [Inner Light and Sound Meditation].
* By attuning oneself to the Life Current which proceeds from the Heart of Anami Purush [God, The Nameless One/Radhasoami] in the form of Light and Sound, one can finally achieve union with the True Self, finding the joy one is seeking. (R.S. White Paper on Religion of Sants and Radhasoami Faith, Dayalbagh, Agra, 2011)
* Consider the following as the requirements to attain liberation:
1) Trust and belief in God; 2) commitment to seek the Divine within; 3) devotion to a spiritual master; 4) listening to the teaching of the spiritual discourse including study of the teachings of the saints and the scriptures; and, 5) diligent meditation practice. (Swami Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj)
A Reflection about Outer Light and Sound Rituals: 8000 Chinese "Sky Lanterns" Launched in Poznan, Poland
What a beautiful ceremony this is.
Souls yearn for heavenly experiences
and sometimes create rituals
around the lighting of lamps, fireworks,
the ringing of bells in temples, gongs, drumming, etc….
A preview of mystical experience,
a taste of things to come.
As without, so within.
As above, so below.
Types and shadows
till the day the wisdom eye opens,
the lamps light themselves,
the third ear hears,
and unstruck bells ever reverberate
on their own
in other realms beyond.
Truth Always Wins: "Truth should be the guideline in the performance of all activities, spiritual or temporal, for a satsangi. Nothing that falls short of truth should be acceptable to him [or her]." (Agam Prasad Mathur, Petals of Love)
Baba Faqir Chand and the Radiant Form of the Inner Master
"Maharaj Faqir Chand ji Sahab established his Ashram after his retirement from Railway service [station master] in 1962. The Ashram is located on the outskirts of Hoshiarpur in the foothills of Himalayas. It is called 'Manavata Mandir' -- 'Be Man Ashram'.
"Although the lineage is the same, this Satsang sees every religious tradition from Radhasoami to Advait Vedanta as being parts of the total reality. Baba Faqir Chand was a devotee of Shiv Brat Lai ji Sahab and had a large and devoted following.
"Faqir Chand ji Sahab was the first guru in the Sant Mat tradition to speak about the 'unknowing' aspects of visionary manifestations, which were called the 'Chandian Effect' after him. However, other Sant Mat gurus like Baba Jaimal Singh Ji went beyond this hypothesis and spoke of manifestation and knowledge of manifestations. Maharaj Sawan Singh Ji, for whom both Faqir Chand ji and his master Shiv Brat Lai ji had high regard, wrote and explained that the outward guru can and does know about the inner condition of his disciples. This knowledge is conveyed to the physical master via the inner Shabd, though only in extreme cases where the outer master's attention is needed. The Perfect Master is one with the Supreme Lord and when He initiates a devotee He creates an Astral Image of Himself in the disciple and, then on, never leaves the disciple, remaining therein as the Inner Master. When the life of the disciple needs the personal attention of the
Master, this Inner Master reports to the Conscious Master." (R.S. White Paper on Religion of Sants and Radhasoami Faith, Dayalbagh, Agra, 2011)
A Letter from Swami Ji Maharaj
My Dear Saligram,
"Always remember the Lord, and, knowing that He is always with you, imbue yourself with His love. I have come to know the state of your restlessness and uneasiness all these days owing to separation and overflow of love. But the Lord is with you all the time. Why are you so restless? This, too, is a sort of joy, which is particularly bestowed on lovers only, and its relish is experienced only during the state of separation. Its bitterness, in fact, is also very sweet indeed. Of course outward darshan you get only occasionally, but the Lord is watchful in Shabd Form and is always with you.
"Lord in Shabd form is always with you and is never far. Have patience, and you will get a glimpse of True Light.
"Sat Naam, the Name of Sat Purush, is resounding in Sat Lok. Raise your Surat with Shabd, and you will have darshan of the refulgent form of the Lord.
"Be saturated with His love and yearning. Keep away from evil tendencies and leanings. Combating with mind and its forces, remain absorbed in Shabd.
"Further, your letter of yearning was read out in the assembly of all the Satsangis. All were pleased to hear it, and, in a way, it served as an example to them all, to emulate and learn what true love means. The Lord will, out of His own Grace and Mercy, bestow upon you the blessings of true love in its entirety. Further the Lord is all powerful.
"Radhaji sends Her blessings for your welfare and is pleased with you and says that She will intercede on your behalf for your early return."
Reducing or Eliminating Karma Through the Divine Current of Shabd, by Huzur Maharaj, Prem Patra Radhasoami ("Love Discourses of the Lord of the Soul")
Worldly Thoughts and Impulses Should Be Converted into Zeal For Securing Internal Bliss and Happiness -- Spiritual Experience
Man's actions are the manifestations of his thoughts. The mind, by projecting thoughts to sense-organs, enjoys pleasures. It, more or less, identifies itself with these thoughts and pleasures. At that time, it does not think of any thing else.
The Effect of Karmas can be Effaced by Performing the Meditation Practice of Surat Shabd Yoga: Union of the Soul With the Divine Light and Sound.
The meditation practice consists in reverting and raising internally the Current of the Surat (spirit, soul) along the Shabd (Divine Sound Stream) and the Light within. The seat of that Current is behind the eyes [at the Third Eye Center].
When such a condition begins to supervene to some extent, as a result of performing the meditation practices, the working of Karmas, both internally and externally, is automatically enfeebled. On getting some bliss and joy internally, and on witnessing the Refulgence, grace and mercy of the Supreme Being, the satsangi's mind is, of itself, detached from the world and its pleasures. The pleasures of the world become insipid. The longing for progress in meditation, and higher and higher bliss, goes on increasing. Worldly desires are curtailed. The practitioner of Shabd Yoga always gives priority to the will, grace and mercy of the Supreme Being in whatever he does. He subordinates his desires to the will of the Supreme Being. Thus the devotee is entangled in Kriyaman Karmas very little or not at all. This cuts short the chain of his Karmas.
Prarabdh Karmas are those, which unfold in this very life. The effect of such Karmas will be very much mitigated by the grace and mercy of the Supreme Father Radhasoami Dayal [The Merciful Lord of the Soul]. To the extent to which a practitioner of Shabd Yoga is able to withdraw from the eyes, he goes on getting detached from the body and the world. In the wakeful state, the seat of the spirit is behind the eyes. It is here that desires, pains and pleasures are felt and the seeds of Karmas or actions are created. Therefore, as the Current of Spirit is withdrawn from here with the help of spiritual exercises, pains and pleasures cease to be felt. In this way, the effect of Prarabdh Karmas is lightened.
As to Sanchit Karmas, they are stored in Manakash (mind-sky) in the form of seed-impressions. They will fructify in a future life. As the practitioner's Surat penetrates Manakash in its ascent to higher regions, the Sanchit Karmas appear in the form of thoughts and impulses. They come into play for a short while only and are obliterated. That is to say, if the spiritual exercises are performed correctly and methodically, the Surat Shabd Meditation practitioner's soul crosses over the region of Manakash in a short time, and the store of his Sanchit Karams is cleared off.
In this way, all the Karams of a practitioner can be exhausted and eradicated in one or two lives. If he is slack in meditation and desires for the pleasures of the world remain embedded in his mind to some extent, purification will take three lives. When the Surat [the attention-faculty of the soul] experiences bliss and joy of Shabd and inner visions in higher regions, pure love and longing for Surat Shabd Yoga goes on increasing day by day. (Huzur Maharaj)
"Obeisance to the Worthy souls. Obeisance to the Liberated souls. Obeisance to the Preceptors (Spiritual Guides). Obeisance to the Spiritual Teachers. Obeisance to all the Saints in the world." (Lord Mahavira, Saman Suttam, Scripture of Jainism)
