Space is not the final frontier
The Path of the Masters: KEY TEACHINGS of Sant Mat Mysticism
By James Bean
Copyright September 2006
1. A strong feeling of love for God, the Ocean of Love and Compassion: Sant Mat is a God-based path in the bhakti tradition (love and devotion).
2. The need for living Saints and Mystics: Only living mystics teach mysticism. Guidance about meditation practice and mystical states are the first thing to disappear in a religion when the Satgurus-Apostles -Mystics die off. Each surviving branch of Sant Mat is a living spiritual community headed by a Satguru, a living teacher. If there could be Essene teachers, Mahavera, Jesus and the Apostles, Rumi, Hafiz, Nanak, Kabir, Meister Eckhart in the past, then we can have living teachers now as well.
3.Our True Identity: We do not have a soul, we ARE a soul that has a body. The soul is a being above time. Truth be told, we are free from time, and the "cruel hand of fate." The soul is already in heaven (Sat Lok) but does not know it, is not aware of itself. It thinks the five-sense virtual reality movie it is watching is the only reality. The soul is above the stars and need not be oppressed by negative forces of the physical universe, astral or mental regions that always seek to keep us tethered and tell us we don't have enough "time" for spiritual pursuits.
Human beings can directly access the spiritual realm (i.e. "Kingdom of God within") right now in the present moment. We need not wait for "prophecies" to be fulfilled years into the future, dates on calendars to come round, second comings, or the end of the world to happen first. Rumi says, "Many have waited for years around that door, but tomorrow never comes. The Sufi is the Child of the Present Moment."
If illusion (time, kal, demiurge, false beliefs or lower mental creations of universal mind) can no longer talk us out of our spiritual quest, saying "we are not worthy," it is not possible", "only in another lifetime" or "after this prophecy gets fulfilled", "only after I get old", etc... -- if all the self-limiting beliefs fall away, then we are ready to begin.
Space is not the final frontier
The soul has eyes (nirat) and ears (surat). We can see and hear spiritually, access the inner regions. It's only a matter of proper guidance by a teacher who is already experiencing these states and can communicate this to others. It's also a matter of concentration in meditation practice, reaching the third eye center, which is the beginning of the Inward Journey. The term soul travel is a bit of a misnomer. It is really our attention or awareness that travels, temporarily during meditation practice, as it learns to explore Inner Space, the other "rooms of the Interior Castle", inner regions connected to the various levels or heavens/planes of creation.
God, though described as "Unseen", set in motion this great multiverse of dimensions of consciousness by projecting "the Word", also called: AUM, TAO, Shabda, Nada, Song of the Creator, Christ, Logos, Saunt-e Sarmad, Harmony of All Harmonies, Music of the Spheres, Anhad Shabd, Naam, etc.... Each world religion has a name for this Positive Power that vibrated all things into existence "In the Beginning."
This Life-stream/Light-stream/Sound-stream of creation is a river or current of energy that can be seen as inner Light, and heard as inner Sound. It can carry us back to the Source, the Ocean of Love. The axiom is, "We become what we see" (quote from the Gita) What we focus our attention (surat) upon, we become one with that. If we focus the attention (surat) of our soul upon the inner Light and Sound (Shabd) of God, we can experience union (yoga) with God (Surat Shabd Yoga) The Greek mystics have called this "Theosis" and "Divinization", being united to God by contemplating It's divine Light. Initiates of Sant Mat meditation practice union with God by becoming one with the inner Light, as well as the mystic Sound. Masters and yogis have always reported that Sound is much more effective than Light at taming the serpent-mind, making it possible for advanced levels of meditation to become attainable.
Sant Mat Meditation has several steps:
1. Manas japa: simran, mantra, zikhr -- repeating names of God to still the mind and begin the process of going within -- meditation.
2. Dhyan: visualizing the form of one's Ideal (isht), a form of God or one's SatGuru.
Those first two techniques are steps that prepare one, make one receptive to, inner Light and Sound...
3. The Yoga of Light: When we reach the third eye center we will begin to see Light in the darkness, lights of various colors, inner stars, suns, moons, or other visions of Light. "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of Light." This is the beginning of Gnosis, inner Knowing.
4. The Yoga of Sound: A inner astral bell sound, a reverberation that keeps on reverberating or tone, humming, ocean waves, flute-like sound, sitar-like sound, veena-like sound, or other mystic sounds, can be heard. This is the Heavenly Voice of the Creator speaking softly in the center of our being calling us Home.
Up the tunnel beyond the portal of the third eye and the crown chakra of the thousand petaled lotus are several stages one passes through, crooked tunnel, dark voids, Whirlpool Cave or vortex, other realms as well, eventually reaching bright light like a million noonday suns, a realm or stage where the soul knows itself. Beyond that is a realm where the soul can try out the experience of merging back into God and then reverting back to individuality again. The drop tries out merging into the Ocean at the level known as Agam Lok, the Seventh Heaven. There is free will and choice even at that level, what some mystics have called "Nearness", meaning nearness to God. And finally......
5. There is a State beyond Light and Sound in the Eighth Plane known as Anadi (Soundless) Anami (Nameless), Radhaswami (Lord of the Soul), and the Ocean of Love and All-consciousness (Anurag Sagar). This is God, Nonduality, Ultimate Reality, without any coverings of illusion.
All of these holy spiritual practices are to be done with an attitude of love and devotion for the Supreme Being, the Ocean of Love and Compassion -- the Lord of All Souls.
Sant Radhaswami Sahib, the great Saint of Agra once said: "The Supreme Being Sat Purush Radhaswami is Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent. His attributes are Grace, Mercy, Love, Light, Bliss and Peace."
"From one step to another the soul beholds strange things which cannot be described in human language. Every region and everything is utterly beyond words. What beauty and glory! How can I describe them? There is nothing here to convey the idea. I am helpless...."
"Love plays the supreme part. It is all love."
"So says Radhaswami."
Sant Mat Fellowship:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SantMatFellowship
{"This mysterious path is described in the holy books,
but it cannot be found simply by the study of sacred texts. It is found by the grace and guidance of an accomplished teacher."}
