Key Teachings of Sant Mat Mysticism -- The Path of the Masters

Key Teachings of Sant Mat Mysticism -- The Path of the Masters

By James Bean

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

Copyright September 2006

1. A strong feeling of love for God, the Ocean of Love and Compassion. Sant Mat is a Monotheistic path in the bhakti tradition;

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 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. 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 TV 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. The red pill or the blue?

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. Well....Inner Space is perhaps. :)

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".

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.

Sant Mat Meditation has several steps:

1. manas japa, simran, mantra, zikhr, repeating names of God to still the mind and begin 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. 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 the Kabbalists call "Nearness", meaning nearness to God. And finally......

5. There is a State beyond Light and Sound in the Eighth Plane known as Anami (Nameless), Anadi (Soundless), Radhaswami (Lord of the Soul), and the Ocean of Love and All-consciousness (Anurag Sagar). This is God, Nonduality, Ultimate Reality.

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.

Radhaswami Dayal ki Daya Radhaswami Sahai:
Grant Merciful Radhasoami Thy Grace and Protection.

Swami Ji Maharaj, 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."

Book List: Recommended Kabir Reading, Also Websites, Ahimsa Prayer, Online Books

Book List: Recommended Kabir Reading, Also Websites, Ahimsa Prayer, Online Books

Sant Mat Fellowship:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SantMatFellowship
{"Come out of the
circle of time,
and into the circle of love." -- RUMI}


Free book online, Songs of Kabir,
Translated by Rabindranath Tagore
100 Mystic-Poems of Guru Kabir:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sok/index.htm

Anurag Sagar (Ocean of Love) online, Sant Dharam Das's
Gospel of
Kabir and Story of Creation, available online as PDF
files:
http://spiritualawakeningradio.com/anurag.html

Kabir at Yahoo Groups

Since there are many books of SatGuru Kabir and souls
interested in Kabir poetry (Sant Mat, Radhaswami,
Kabir Panth, Sikh, etc...) at yahoo groups there is a
Kabir group specializing in Kabir and related
writings:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KABIR

KABIR

Under "KABIR" I have lots of links to Kabir websites
on my links page:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SantMatFellowship/links

Recommend Books on Kabir:

. "The Bijak of Guru Kabir,"
Volume One (Ramainis),
Volume Two (Shabdas),
Bijak translation and commentary by Dr. Jagessar Das,
The Kabir Association of Canada, Surry, BC:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SantMatFellowship/message/1979

Kabir Satsang's Canada Website:
http://www.kabir.ca

. "Lord Kabir," Sharan Mahotra, SK Publications, 4S
175 Naperville Rd, Naperville, IL 60563;

. "A Weaver Named Kabir," Charlotte Vaudeville, Oxford
University Press;

. "Kabir Sakhi - Spiritual Gems of Kabir," Jagdish Das
Shastri, Kabir Association;

. "The Kabir Book," Robert Bly, Beacon Press;

. "Songs of Kabir from the Adi Granth," Nirmal Das,
SUNY Press, NY;

. "Songs of Kabir", Rabindranath Tagore, Samuel Weiser
Books; NOTE: Songs of Kabir by Tagore is now online:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sok/index.htm

. "Praises to a Formless God," David Lorenzen, SUNY
Press, NY

. "Kabir - The Weaver of God's Name," Radha Soami
Books,
. Also, "Kabir the Great Mystic", both from RS Books.
In
addition to these two Kabir books, RS Books publishes
many great books in the Mystics of the East Series
(Tukaram, Dadu, Nanak, Kabir, Namdev, Mirabai, Hazrat
Sultan Bahu, Bullah Shah, Ravidas, Dariya Sahib, Tulsi
Sahib). These books come from India and are only 2-5
each! They also publish two books of Julian P.
Johnson: The Path of the Masters, and, With A Great
Master in India. Best bargen on earth for hardcover,
great books. For a RS book list, write:

Science of the Soul Study Center
Attn: RS BOOKS
4115 Gillespie Street,
Fayetteville, NC 28306

If you're near the West Coast, OR outside the US,
write:

Science of the Soul Study Center
Attn: RS BOOKS
BAV Department Petaluma
2415 East Washington Street
Petaluma, CA
94954-3945

. "Says Kabir, A collection of One Hundred and Ten
Poems of Kabir"
Sushila Mahajan, Deep & Deep Publications, New Delhi;

. "Encyclopaedia of Saints of India: Kabir"
(Volume II in the Series),
Criterion Publications, New Delhi;


Nataraj Books is a great source for Kabir books from
India:
Nataraj Books -- Many rare books from India!
http://users.erols.com/nataraj/HOME.html


Chart of the Inner Regions/Subtle Bodies Connected
with each of the Heavens:
http://www.spiritualawakeningradio.com/chart.pdf


Ahimsa Prayer

The prayer below is called the "Prarthana-panchak se"
by Ramesvarananda Saheb, a Guru in the lineage of
Kabir. It was translated in David Lorenzen's, Praises
to a Formless God, SUNY Press, NY, a great book
featuring various works attributed to Sant Kabir and
others in Kabir Panth.

O Gurudev, give me peace, Give
worthy feelings, worthy intelligence.
Give mutual cooperation.
Give purity to my heart.
Let there be pure feelings in my mind.
Let there be pure conduct by my body.
May my speech be free of falsity and slander.
May the sentiment of devotion increase.

May my thoughts not be agitated
by the ripening of innate karma.
May my body and mind be healthy,
may my worship be free of obstacles.
May I remain in the presence of Saints
and be filled with the sentiment of devotion.
May I swim across the ocean of samsara, the ocean
filled with passion, hate, change and fear.

Let there be neglect for wicked persons
and compassion for the destitute,
Happiness among those of good conduct
and friendship with good people.
May buffoonery cease and may we delight
in the words that lead across samsara.
May we be merry in the study of wisdom;
may we keep our minds under control.

May we have hope of refuge with the Satguru,
may we have no fear of lust and other vices.
May we ever yearn for self-awakening
and have faith the the words of revelation.
May the darkness of ignorance be destroyed;
may the lamp of knowledge be lit.
May the law of death be forgotten,
and immortality be expanded.

May there be no harm done to living beings
through my words or my actions.
May I never feel the least attachment
to the objects of my senses.
May there always be happiness
and the absence of desire.
May there be an end to the power of samsara,
and a beginning to the knowledge of God.


Hearing the Radio Program Spiritual Awakening Online

The program is heard online several times each week.
The Current Broadcast Schedule section of my website
has times and links to stations online:
http://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com


Recommended Websites

KABIR PANTH: KABIR ASSOCIATION OF CANADA: kabir.ca:
http://www.kabir.ca

Kabir at Yahoo Groups:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KABIR

KABIR WEBSITE: A Great Site: Songs of Kabir,
Translated by Rabindranath Tagore
100 Mystic-Poems of Guru Kabir:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sok/index.htm

KABIR WEBSITE: ANURAG SAGAR:
http://spiritualawakeningradio.com/anurag.html

KABIR WEBSITE: Kabir Ashram.org:
http://www.kabirashram.org

KABIR WEBSITE: Kabir Chawra Math on Varanasi
Kabir Bhavan.com:
http://www.kabirbhavan.com

KABIR WEBSITE: Kabir Web:
http://www.members.shaw.ca/kabirweb

KABIR WEBSITE: Puan Brahm Satapurush Sahib Kabir Ji:
Knowlege about Satapush Kabir Saheb Ji:
http://www.jagatgururampalji.org

KABIR WEBSITE: Sahebkabir:
http://www.geocities.com/sahebkabir

KABIR WEBSITE: Shri Kabir Counsel:
http://www.geocities.com/sahebkabir/?200612

KABIR WEBSITE: Songs of Kabir, Translated by
Rabindranath Tagore
http://www.upanishad.org/kabir/kabir.htm

KABIR WEBSITE: boloji.com:
http://www.boloji.com/kabir/index.htm

KABIR WEBSITE: colostate.edu:
http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/kabir.html

KABIR WEBSITE: indranet.com:
http://www.indranet.com/potpourri/poetry/kabir/kabir.html

KABIR WEBSITE: kabirweb.com:
http://www.kabirweb.com/intro.htm

KABIR WEBSITE: world_civ_reader:
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_2/k
abir.html

KABIR: Ajeetpraimsingh.com:
http://www.ajeetpraimsingh.com/kabir.htm

KABIR: Dabase.net:
http://www.dabase.net/kabir.htm

KABIR: REAL AUDIO, MP3's:
http://keertan.waheguroo.com/?Query=kabir&swhat=0

KABIR: Songs of Kabir:
http://www.hinduwebsite.com/sacredscripts/other/kabir.htm