Starve the Ego. Feed the Soul. Explore Inner Space. Change Your World -- Light and Sound on the Path -- Sant Mat Satsang Discourse
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* May 2012 Sant Mat Satsang Podcast: About the Sant Mat Family Tree from the time of Kabir up to the present, based on the New Web Page Featuring Many Guru Lineage Charts of Sant Mat;
* Pravesh K. Singh, speaking about Inner Light and Sound Meditation, Maharshi Mehi, and Other Spiritual Masters in the Sant Mat Tradition;
* The Heart of Mysticism -- Yoga of Love -- on the Bhakti Aspect of Sant Mat;
* Going Beyond the Universe: Eclectic Readings: Sant Namdev, The Upanishads, Rumi, Kabir, Dadu, Maharshi Mehi, Gnostic Gospel of Judas, Kirpal Singh, Gospel of Thomas, Mandaean Gnostic Prayer, Anurag Sagar;
Access the Complete Library of Podcasts Here:
Jiva-Soul: "Similar to energy, the soul is invisible. An infinite number of souls exist in the universe. In its pure form (a soul without attached karma particles), each soul possesses infinite knowledge, infinite perception, infinite energy and power, and unobstructed bliss." (from a Jain Sutra)
"Spirituality is very simple indeed. You only take away your attention from the world and instead direct it to God. Spirituality is just as simple as that." (Lars Jensen)
"Only from the heart can you touch the sky." (Rumi)
"Tulsi Sahib says that everything will be seen inside the body. When we concentrate and come behind the eyes [to the Third Eye], the soul will retrace and rise to the higher realms." (Baba Kehar Singh, commentary on the Ghat Ramayan)
The Human Form is Made of Star-stuff
"All embodied spirit-entities living here having left their original home from time immemorial, and having passed through various material spheres in their descent to the corporeal body in the third grand division, have become so firmly attached to their present dwelling, viz., the body and its surroundings in this world, that it is difficult, nay, impossible, for anyone to effect a change in the present condition and abode without the aid and instruction from one (Sant Satguru) who is a resident of that sphere and holds communion with the Supreme Father, because He alone can be expected to know all the secrets of the descent of the spirit current to the lower regions and the means of liberating it from the bondage of matter to enable it to rise and return to its Original Source." (Huzur Maharaj, Radhasoami Mat Prakash)
From Light to Sound, From Sound to Soundlessness: Inner Sound Meditation Transports the Soul to the Soundless, Nameless State (Anadi, Anami Purush)
67. Although the practice of the Yoga of Vision is more difficult than the Yoga of Sound, nevertheless it is necessary to practice initially the Yoga of Light (Vision) to attain one-pointedness. It is unnecessary to continue practicing the Drshti Yoga (Yoga of inner Light, Vision) once one is steadfast in one-pointedness. In fact it is undesirable as it will require more time and offers a more difficult path than the Surat-Shabda Yoga (Yoga of Sound).
68. Having attained one-pointedness, the consciousness should be focused on the internal Sounds. The consciousness will be drawn toward internal Sounds, and at this time bindu (the point) will be left behind. Owing to the extreme delight experienced when hearing the internal Sounds, the consciousness naturally will be engaged in the internal Sounds. This leaving of the point and grasping of the internal Sound is the meditation process and is highly desirable.
69. It is not possible to attain the Essential Divine Sound exclusively through the Yoga of Light or Vision. Through the Yoga of Vision, one can reach some realm of the Non-Conscious Nature; however, without the meditation of other internal Sounds, the Original Sound is unattainable. By employing the Yoga of Sound, it is possible to reach the Essential Sound. The realms of Non-Conscious Nature to varying degrees obstruct direct knowledge of Divine Sound; nevertheless, the internal Sounds lead the consciousness through the various realms to the Essential Divine Sound. The Original or Primordial Sound was manifested before the creation of the original Non-Conscious Nature. Therefore, the Current of Essential Sound is the Pure Conscious flow.
70. Through constant practice of the Meditation of Sound, the practitioner also experiences the Divine Light. Just as upon attending a concert, one cannot help but notice the beautiful setting, so also the scenes of the Non-Conscious Realms are observed inevitably when engaged in the practice of the Yoga of Sound. Therefore, it is said "Dhvanerantargatam Jyoti" ("the Light is within the Sound"). Not surprisingly, the meditation of Sound can transport the practitioner into the Divine Realm of Light. The Sound, however, is the essence of the practice, and the greatest loss would be in not achieving the Sound.
71. The Essential Divine Sound, the Supra Cosmic Sound, takes its origin from the Supreme Sovereign. It came into existence before the creation of the microcosm and the macrocosm.....
(part of 60.)...... In summary, one grasps the central Sounds of the lower realms and progressively is drawn upward to the Sounds of the higher realms. Ultimately, one reaches the center of the Original Sound, the Essential Divine Sound, and thereafter attains the Ultimate State, Sabdatita [Sabtatit] Pad (the State beyond the Sound). The Yoga of Sound must be practiced in order to attain the Nameless State. This is fully elaborated and described in the Upanishads and literature of the saints. The Yoga of Sound is the only medium to reach this State, no other. The greatest good is in the attainment of the Ultimate State, the Nameless State......
(part of 62.) The practice of being in one-pointedness or attaining the subtlest form is devotion to the Subtle Qualified Manifest Form. The practice of focusing on all other internal sounds except the Essential Divine Sound is devotion to the Subtle Qualified Unmanifest Form of Causal and Supra-Causal form. The meditation on the Essential Divine Sound is devotion to the Unqualified Unmanifest Form. All devotional practices end here. When all devotional practices are completed, then and only then does one reach the Nameless State or the Supreme Sovereign and thus attains Moksha (liberation) or final Peace.
63. As the Sound originates from the Soundless or Nameless State, by grasping the Sound, one is drawn naturally to the Soundless State (the Supreme Sovereign, God). (Maharshi Mehi, Philosophy Of Liberation)
I once gave a tape to a friend containing some of my readings from the poetry of Rumi, Kabir, Dadu, Tukarama, Hafiz, and several other great souls. After listening to this recording they said, "it was as if it is the same voice or person speaking through all these Masters of history" even though they are often separated by many centuries, great distances, and spoke many different languages. I pondered this for awhile and it struck me that she was indeed correct; there really is one voice speaking through all these devotees of Bhakti. Lovers of the Beloved all speak with the same "accent" of love. When we encounter outpourings of the heart of such magnitude, we really are hearing the Voice of the soul in it's blissful communion with the Beloved, the Oversoul.
I know a thousand "Rumis" the world needs to hear, to be soothed by the Voice of the Soul that speaks through them all. Hafiz, Shams of Tabriz, Sarmad, Kabir, Rabia, Mira Bai, Daya Bai, Sahjo Bai, Tukaram, Hazrat Sultan Bahu, Baba Farid, Guru Nanak, Dariya Sahib, Tulsi Sahib, Surdas, Namdev, Ravidas, Paltu, Sant Radhaswami Sahib, Maharshi Mehi, and many more besides, up to the living present -- countless are lovers of the Beloved.
"It does not matter if your bhakti is imperfect. Perform bhakti [love, devotion to spiritual practice]! Radhasoami [the Lord of the Soul] graciously declares that you should perform bhakti in whichever way you can. Fear not. He will grant you the Treasure of Love. You will be a recipient of the Gift of Love." (Swami Ji Maharaj, Sar Bachan Poetry, Vol. II)
"Do not feel lonely; the entire universe is inside of you." (Rumi)
We can see less than 1% of the electromagnetic spectrum.
"The Supreme Being has created everything from one drop, out of which have emerged millions of fathomless oceans." (Swami Ji Maharaj)
An Urdu poet has said, "Wherever I look, I find you there. In each and every thing, I see Your Presence." Tulsi Sahib explains: "Guru Nanak Dev Ji says that God permeates everything. He is Omnipresent, but we can not see Him with our physical eyes." Christ also says to open the third eye: "If thine eye be single, thy whole body will be full of Light." (Gospel of John) The center of the two eyes is called shiv netra, tenth gate, third eye, nukta-e-svaida, eye of gaib, divya chakshu, divya drishti, single eye, etc.... (Baba Kehar Singh's commentary and satsangs based upon Tulsi Sahib's Ghat Ramayan, from a section featuring a dialogue between a Nanak Panthi by the name of Palak Ram and Sant Tulsi)
"My eyes got fixed at the central point between the two eyebrows [third eye center]. The Light of God appears within and darkness of the night vanishes. The Sun, with its extraordinary rays, ascends with so many sparkles. Consciousness finally gets immersed in the Quintessential Sound. Baba Sahib tells Mehi to remain absorbed day and night in such applications." (Maharshi Mehi)
Chakras, Subtle Bodies, Inner Regions -- The World of 'Within'
Different Chakras and/or Levels in Our Body and Universe/Creation according to Santmat based on the teacings of Maharshi Mehi Paramhans and Maharshi Santsevi Paramhans:
-Pravesh K Singh
1. Pind or Micro-Cosmos:
i) Mooladhar or Root Chakra
ii) Swadhishthan or Sacral Chakra
iii) Manipura Chakra (Solar Plexus)
iv) Anahat or Heart Chakra
v) Vishuddha or Throat Chakra
2. Junction/Confluence of Pind (Micro-Cosmos) and Brahmand (Macro-Cosmos):
Ajna Chakra/ Third Eye/ Tenth Door/ Sushumna/Lamp of Body/Sixth Chakra/Yoga Hriday (Yogic Heart)/Shahrag of Sufis
3. Brahmand (Macro-Cosmos):
i) Sahasrar Chakra or Jyoti Niranjan or Region of Thousand Petalled Lotus (Here Moon is sighted within by the one who meditates) - Malkoot of Sufis
ii) Trikuti (Here Sun is seen) or Maya Brahma - Zabroot of Sufis
iii) Shunya or Void - Lahoot of the Sufis
iii) Mahashunya or Greater Void, Raram Brahma - Hahoot of the Sufis
iv) Bhanwar Gufa or Spiralling/ Whirling Cave, Mahakaran or Supra-Causal Region or Soham Brahma (This is the realm of equilibrial Nature having all the three attributes namely, Sat, Raj and Tam in perfect mutual balance or equilibrium and as such no creation takes place here) - Hootal Hoot of the Sufis
v) Chetan/Kaivalya/Nirgun Mandal or the Realm of Pure Consciousness, Primordial or Quintessential Word/Sound/Vibration, Sat Shabda, Hiranyagarbha, Samashti Praan, Akshar Purush or Para Prakriti (Conscious Nature - all the above-mentioned four spheres or regions are called Apara Prakriti or Non-Conscious Nature) - Hoot of Sufis
vi) Kaivalyateet (Beyond Kaivalya) or Shabdateet (Beyond Sound or Soundless) or Turiyateet (Beyond Turiya - Regions spanning from Ajna Chakra or Third Eye to the Kaivalya Mandal or Region of Pure Consciousness are collectively called Turiya State) Region or Param Nirvaan Pad (State of Absolute Salvation) - this is the state or Realm of God in His purest state. It is here that the complete merger or unification of the atma (Soul or Spirit) and the parmatma (the Supreme Soul or the God) takes place and the absolute freedom is verily effected.
This region has also been sub-divided into Alakh (Invisible), Agam (Unintelligible) and Anami (Nameless) realms by some.
Seeing Without Eyes -- Hearing Without Ears -- Walking Without Feet
Kabir says, "It is the mercy of my Satguru that has made me to know the unknown. I have learned from Him how to walk without feet, to see without eyes, to hear without ears, to drink without mouth, to fly without wings. I have brought my love and my meditation into the land where there is no sun and moon, nor day and night. Without eating, I have tasted of the sweetness of nectar; and without water, I have quenched my thirst. Where there is the response of delight, there is the fullness of joy. Before whom can that joy be uttered? Kabir says: 'The Guru is great beyond words, and great is the good fortune of the disciple.'" (Songs of Kabir, satgur soi daya kar dinha)
"Seeing without eyes
Hearing without ears
Walking without feet
Working without hands
Uttering His Name without tongue
And dying while living
Is accepting His Will."
-- Guru Angad
The Master said,
"I will give you
what no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
what no hand has touched,
and what has never occurred
to the human mind."
(Coptic Gospel of Thomas, 17)
Quran: "I have prepared for My righteous servants that which no eye has ever seen, of which no ear has ever heard, and of which has never occurred to the heart of man."
"O devotee! There is a wonderful display within this body. In the darkness of this body is the sky studded with the stars, the Moon and the Sun. There is the subtle body within the physical one and in that subtle body is the causal one. And yet there is the fourth one, that is, the supra-causal body. The fifth body, that is, Kaivalya (Oneness) is without attributes and full of knowledge. Mehi says, the Quintessential Word along with the Absolute, is present within one's body." (Padavali of Maharshi Mehi)
From a prayer found in the Mandaean scriptures of Iraq: "Thou hast showed us that which the eye has not seen, and caused us to hear that which the human ear has not heard. Thou has freed us from death and united us with Life, released us from darkness, and united us with Light……. Thou hast shown us that which the eye has not seen, and caused us to hear that which the human ear has not heard." (Canonical Prayer Book of the Mandaeans, E.S. Drower)
The Divine Eye According to the Buddha
"With the Divine Eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, a bhikkhu surveys a thousand worlds. Just as a man with good sight when he has ascended to the upper palace chamber, might survey a thousand wheel-rims, so too, with the Divine Eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, a bhikkhu surveys a thousand worlds."
The Divine Ear According to the Buddha
"I have proclaimed to my disciples the way whereby with the Divine Ear element, which is purified and surpasses the human, they hear both kinds of sounds, the divine and the human, those that are far as well as near. Just as a vigorous trumpeter might make himself heard without difficulty in the four quarters; so too, I have proclaimed to my disciples the way whereby with the Divine Ear element….far as well as near. And thereby many disciples of mine abide having reached the consummation and Perfection of Direct Knowledge." (The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha -- A Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya, Teachings of the Buddha, translated by Bhakkhu Nanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi, Wisdom Publications)
Kabir:
"May I see You with my eyes,
hear Your Sound
with my own ears.
Speak Your Name
in my own words, O Lord;
rest Your flower-like feet
on my heart."
(Songs of Kabir From the Adi Granth,
translated by Nirmal Dass, SUNY Press, NY)
The Practice of Meditation in Sant Mat is taught by a living Master at the time of Initiation
Sant Tulsi Sahab: Unravel the Fourteen Inner Levels Within You
English rendering of Hindi translation, by Maharshi Santsewi ji Paramhans, of a verse composed by Sant Tulsi Sahab of Hathras, founder of Modern Lineage of Santmat, excerpted from the October 2004 edition of the Hindi Monthly "Shanti Sandesh" (Message of Peace) published by Maharshi Mehi Ashram, Kuppa Ghat, Bhagalpur, Bihar, India - 812003.
- English Translation by Pravesh K. Singh:
Once a Muslim gentleman, named Taki, called on Sant Tulsi Sahab. He submitted to his (Tulsi Sahab's) kind attention, "You are the Guru to Hindus and Pir to Muslims. I have come to you to learn some divine secrets from you. It would be a great favor, if you could enlighten me." Sant Tulsi Sahab said, "Ask! What's it you wish to know?" Taki asked, "Where does Khuda [God] live? What is the way to find Him?" What Sant Tulsi Sahab said in reply in verse form is presented below:
Original Verse:
"Sun ay Taki na jaaio jinahaar dekhanaa | Apane mein aap jalawaye diladaar dekhanaa || Putalee mein til hai til mein bharaa raaj kul kaa kul | Is paradaye siyah ke jaraa paar dekhanaa || Chaudah tabak kaa haal ayaan ho tujhe zaroor | Gaafil na ho khayaal se hushiyaar dekhana || Sun laamakaan pay panhuch ke teree pukaar hai | Hai aa rahee sadaa se sadaa yaar dekhanaa || Milanaa to yaar kaa naheen mushkil magar Taki | Dushawaar to ye hai ki dushawaar dekhanaa || Tulsi binaa karam kisee murshad raseedaa ke | Raahe nizaat door hai us paar dekhanaa" ||
Translation:
O Taki! Listen! Never look or search outside to find God | He is within you; behold His Light which is illuminating your inside (the Inner Sky) ||
All the secrets of God–Realization are hidden inside the black 'til' (Point) that is located within your pupils |However, those secrets will be revealed to you only if you learnt to see beyond the dark curtain (that is, beyond the empire of darkness that is seen on closing our eyes) ||
Rigorous practice of inner meditation would unravel the fourteen levels (including the seven levels of 'pind' or body and the seven levels of 'brahmaand' or the macro-cosmos (namely, ajnaa chakra, sahasradal kamal, shoonya, maha-shoonya, bhanwar gufaa, and sat lok) | But for that to happen, you will have to alert focus your attention at the place prescribed by the Guru ||
On reaching into the 'shoonya' or void, you would listen to the Sound or Word… | ...The sound (primeval or Quintessential Sound) through which God has been calling you right since you separated from Him ||
It is not difficult to find the dearest (God), but O Taki...|
...it is difficult to look beyond that difficult curtain of darkness ||
Tulsi Sahab says, but for the merciful grace of an accomplished Guru... |
It is almost impossible to find the way out beyond the three coverings or veils of darkness, Light and Sound, and to meet the Supreme Lord! ||
"The escape is through the Sound Current." (Huzur Baba Sawan Singh)
A Hopi Prayer (Native American)
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there
I do not sleep.
I am the soft stars that shine at night
I am the thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on the ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in a circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry:
I am not there.
I did not die.
