Spiritual Satsang Discourse Featuring the Teachings of Param Sant Tulsi Sahib, Baba Devi Sahab, Maharshi Mehi Paramahans, Swami Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj, and Shri Bhagirath Baba

 

Spiritual Satsang Discourse Featuring the Teachings of Param Sant Tulsi Sahib, Baba Devi Sahab, Maharshi Mehi Paramahans, Swami Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj, and Shri Bhagirath Baba


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{"Repeat the Name of your Beloved, day and night, again
and again. With care in thought, word and deed, you will
cross to the other shore." -- Sant Dadu Dayal}

Four Shabds (Hymn, Mystic Poems) of Param Saint Tulsi Sahib of Hathras, from the book, Param Sant Tulsi Saheb, S.D. Maheshwari, Agra, India

Shabd 88
Peeping through the latticed screen, I had a glimpse of the Beloved. O friend ! I sacrifice myself before my Sat Guru. (1) He gave me the eyes and took care of my Surat and through His grace I could know of the Abode of the Infinite Being. (2) I proceeded to the unique cave in Gagan where neither the sun nor the moon has any access. (3) Says Tulsi, Surat prepared the Beloved's bed and, lying there, enjoyed great bliss. (4)

Shabd 89
Listen, O friend ! Great is the status of Sants. It is beyond the reach of Yoga and such other methods or practices. (1) In that region of Sants [in the Soundless, Formless Plane Above] there is neither sound nor any form. It is beyond Sunn and Maha-sunn. (2) The Gunas and Nirguna have no access there. Sat Nam is the Beloved's region, which the Jiva should attain. (3) Says Tulsi, he knows the True Name of the Abode of the August, Nameless and Infinite Being. (4)

Shabd 90
O Friend ! My Guru showed me the way through which I could see the Invisible One. When I could recognize the current of spirituality coming from above, I constantly applied my Surat to it. (1) Unique is the spectacle seen on the peak in the sky and I made my Surat participate in the activities going on there, all the time. (2) By lifting the barrier beyond the door on the West, that is, beyond Sunn, I gained access to Sat Lok. (3) Says Tulsi, the Essence resides within the human body, and therein can Atma be found. (4)

Shabd 91
Friend ! I searched further ahead and, after ascending, merged my Surat in Gagan (Trikuti). Proceeding still further I found a path as subtle as a spider's thread, along which, I quickly elevated my Surat. (1) I then beheld Man-sarovar and, taking my seat at the Ghat (bathing place) of Triveni, I bathed in its waters. (2) Withdrawing myself from there and proceeding further within, I saw a unique spectacle of the refulgence of a crore of suns pervading all round. (3) At its middle or centre, I found a door through which I could see a Being who has been described as the Source. (4) Says Tulsi, by applying my Surat to Shabd within, I merged it in the region of Guru. (5) (Param Saint Tulsi Sahib of Hathras)


Sayings of Baba Devi Sahab (Pravesh K. Singh translation)

"Do not live even a single day without inner meditation."


"Such persons who are all the time busy in mundane worldly affairs and are not able to spare even one or two hours a day (for meditation), are not fit to be initiated into inner meditation, for even if these persons get to know about the way to the inner secrets, of what use it would be to them!"


"What is important is not to live a single day in life without practicing meditation, all the experiences of pains & pleasures of the world, one has to go through, notwithstanding."


"The loftiest or the highest outcome of adopting and following the ways of these (Sants) is that it takes one beyond 'aawaagaman' (the repetitive cycles of birth & death)."


"So, we should go to that place where the way to remove these veils is taught. In the terminology of Sants and noble people, such a place is called `satsang' where methods are taught to inculcate bhakti [love and devotion] and remove the veils that keep it under-cover".


"God and bhakti are otherwise one and the same thing".


"In short, bhakti is such a thing without which no worldly or heavenly acts can be accomplished. He alone is a human being (in the true sense) who knows the key to or secret of bhakti. He whose heart is devoid of the spirit of love is not even as good as an animal; he is rather much more inferior to that".


"Bhakti is that essential substance without which any work, either of this world or of the other world, can not be fulfilled; for all such tasks which a man performs with genuine zeal get accomplished well, and all other works in which we do not feel sincerely involved remain incomplete or are only half done".


"What is most significant about bhakti is that is opens up inside man the easy pathway to God, treading on which man reaches his centre or destination from where he never (needs to) return".


"The other Music or Sound is internal and the way to listen to that is by focusing our attention on the internal `Shabd' or Sound which is Ringing within each one of us. Shabd is a highly precious wealth in the life of every human being. So long as this Shabd is present in a man he is alive; as soon as the Shabd exits, it is the end of him.".


"It is the highest duty of every individual to acquire experiential Knowledge of this Shabd, and to investigate or explore the Origin or Source from where this Shabd flows out".


"Our Lord resides in all (of us). He, our Lord, is so wonderful that though He pervades everything, (yet) He is separate from and transcends everything. It is not possible to see Him (in His true form) without meeting, and learning the secrets from, (the accomplished) Guru. He is blessed and adorable within whose body He reveals Himself."


When Sadguru Baba Devi Sahib was nearing the time of his departure from this ephemeral world for his true destination, satsangis humbly requested him to bless with his parting words. To their request, Baba Devi Sahab had obliged by saying, "Duniyaa waham hai, abhyaas karo", meaning, "This world is an illusion -- practice meditation." (Baba Devi Sahab)


Below is from the Padavali of Maharshi Mehi Paramhans

56
Inside one’s body, one witnesses unique and most delightful performances,
In the centre of the eyebrows, you fix firmly your Surat [attention-faculty of the soul],
Watch the wonderful light inside your body,
As you see that light try to experience it;
It is difficult to know its reality by describing or hearing it;
It is to be sought inside one’s own body only.
Within the body itself is Sagun [form], Nirgun [formless] and the abode of the Lord;
If you do not believe, you serve Sadguru, abandoning your pride,
Even now is alive in the world Baba Devi Sahib, the light of knowledge,
Who specifically teaches the means of inner worship;
Mehi says, one going to his shelter, gets inexplicable joy inside one’s body.

57
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 gross 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 in one’s body. (Maharshi Mehi)


Couplets of Swami Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj

Begin meditation with internally chanting or repeating the Guru-mantra-incantation (the charged words given by the Guru). And then visualize the radiant form or image of the Satguru in the still darkness of the inner sky (with eyes closed). Follow that with focusing your attention at the seat of the soul within, i.e. at the Third Eye or the Inner Eye or the Til Dwaar, by making the two streams of consciousness in your two eyes converge in a Point.

When the two currents of consciousness meet in a Point, Divine Light appears within. Then, practice Surat Shabd Yoga (Yoga of Divine Sound) i.e., try to shift your attention to listening to the Divine Sounds or myriads of melodies (Anahad Naad) ringing inside. Listening to the Divine Sound destroys all the perversions, agitations and fickleness of the mind.

Ascending beyond or transcending myriads of sounds, try to identify and tune in to the Quintessential Unstruck Melody, called "Saar Shabd" or "Anaahat Naad" which alone is capable of taking you and merging you into oneness with the Supreme Lord; this is the ultimate deliverance, emancipation, welfare, or liberation. (Sant Sevi Ji)


Shri Bhagirath Baba on Manas Jappa - Simran - Name Repetition Done With Devotion and Love (Prem-Bhakti)

There are three layers (coverings) over the Jeevaatmaa (Individual Soul). Those are: darkness, light and sound. Darkness is the shadow of the light. This darkness is the first layer on the Jeeva (individual soul) whom all beings see. One who crosses this layer of darkness through a special kind of meditation sees the inner Light within oneself. This inner Light is called Aatma-Aalok (Light of the self) or Brahma-Prakash (Divine Light), on achieving it, Divya-Drishti (Divine Eye, Third Eye) opens completely. One should repeat (reiterate) the Guru-instructed mantra within the mind, gazing into the darkness that appears while closing the eyes. This process is called Maanas Jap. In doing this process neither lips are oscillated nor the tongue. Instead, the mantra (word or name given by Guru) is repeated within, through the mind. This Jap is actually a kind of meditation. Repeating mantra through the mind is to call the Ishta (the tutelary deity, most beloved, Sadguru) near oneself. So, Jaapak (a practitioner who does Jap) should perform Jap with great love. He (Ishta, Guru) becomes happy/merciful if one does Jap with immense love and devotion, and he appears at will.

The practitioner who does Jap sitting in a secluded place with the right method and immense love, becomes the excellent devotee. Sant Charan Das says:

"Sakal shiromani naam hai, sab dharman ke maahi |
Ananya bhakta wah jaaniye, sumiran bhoolai naahi ||"
[Name (Jap) is the crown of all and has been described in all creeds.
Know that person as the superior devotee who never forgets Jap.]

By doing Jap, the mind and heart become devotionally pure, morale is uplifted, one gets strength in inner meditation. Japaat Siddhi (divine power after getting perfection in Jap) is obtained. By doing Jap, so much sanctity begins to flow within the body and mind of the practitioner (Jaapak) that the vibration or wave of Jap (mantra the practitioner repeats) penetrates (flows into) whatever the practitioner touches. (Gurusevi Shri Bhagirath Baba)

 

 

Transcend All the Veils of Ignorance & Consciousness

Transcend All the Veils of Ignorance & Consciousness


English rendering of the discourse of Param Poojya Maharshi Santsevijee Maharaj published in the December 2003 issue of the Hindi monthly `Shanti Sandesh' published by Shanti Sandesh Press, Maharshi Mehi Ashram, Kuppaghat, Bhagalpur -812003 India

( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sant_ santati
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/praveshksingh )
-Translated by Pravesh K. Singh


Right now you were listening to the story of jail. We, too, are imprisoned in a jail. How is this jail? A jail has a large campus. On that campus there are a number of cells, each of which houses a prisoner. In the same fashion, this world, also, is a jail and bodies of each one of us are cells. In each of the cells a jeev (individual ego or soul) is living a captive's life. So long as you are living a captive's life, how can you experience bliss or true happiness? Sorrows are very naturally associated with slavery. In the story you listened a little ago, that prisoner had completed his term of sentence, but, we do not know when our sentence would end or be completed! It will not come to an end unless we do meditation. Our Gurudevji, Maharshi Mehi, has written;

"Ao vIro mard bano ab, jail tumhe tajanA hogA.

Man nigraha ke samar kshetra me, sanmukh thir datanA hogA."

That is, O Brave Men! Come on! Be manly. You have to come out of this prison. How would you do that? All of you spiritual practitioners have gathered here in this battlefield to conquer your minds by way of meditation. And, there is no room for retreat now. Rather, you would have to face it head on.

We want to succeed in meditation. A farmer wants success in agriculture, a trader in trade and, a student in his/her studies just as a soldier wants victory on the battlefield. Every one of us yearns for success in whatever each one of us is doing. But how shall we taste success? Lord Shri Krishna has told in Geeta that success calls for, depends on five factors: - 1. The Doer or the Subject 2. Ground or Environment, 3. Implements/ Tools/ Means/ Equipment, 4. Practice/ Implementation and, 5. The Unknown (Divine Will).

It is all right if the doer is capable or competent and the field is favourable. Success would not be achieved if the doer is capable but the circumstances or conditions are not conducive, or also if the conditions are favourable, but the doer is incompetent. Further, if the door is able, conditions are conducive but if he is not armed well with the proper tools/equipments, success would not be achieved. Still further, even if he is having all the means at his disposal, but if he is not using or harnessing them properly, he would not meet with success. Now suppose that the doer is competent, has got an amicable ambience, is fully armed with all the needed resources and is also using them (means) deftly; when these four factors have been brought together, the fifth one – unknown or the Almighty's grace becomes or is made available. Goswamiji said,

"Je tehi panth chalai man lAI. To hari kAhe na hohi sahAee."

(If one sets his feet on the proper path (that leads unto Him) with all his sincerity and dedications, putting his heart into his strivings, why would God not come to his assistance – He certainly will).

For example, while we are boiling milk, however hard we might boil it, though we might convert it into khoyaa (dried whole milk), but still we cannot make curd out of it. We can get curd only when we add a small amount of jAman (a form of curd only added to milk for its fermentation or conversion into curd). Similarly, however hard we might try, unless and until jAman is added to it, we would not get curd or yoghurt; that is, we would not succeed in meditation.

You practitioners have come here leaving your homes, family, business everything. So let yourselves be fully devoted to meditation and constant remembrance of God only. Please take care that your mind does not drift anywhere else. If it does, bring it back as Maharshi Mehi says,

"janh janh man bhagi jaay, tAhi tanh-tanh se tatkshan.

Feri-feri le Ai, lagAiya dhyeya me Apan."

(As and when the mind flies away or strays, then and their only, bring it back and apply or focus it onto its desired object.)

To succeed in meditation, diligence and patience are also essentially needed. Just consider, we have to break a boulder or stone into pieces. We have been hammering it, but it is not breaking. Suppose hundred blows are required to break it. We have given 2, 4, 10… 20 impacts. It does not break. We continue. 80 – Even 90 blows have been given. It is still not breaking. Now we start thinking negatively or pessimistically, "It appears this stone would not break…" 99 blows have been delivered. It still refuses to break. Now we become dejected; despondency sets in ...that perhaps I don't posses the potential or power to break it. However, what is the reality? It is calling for just one more blow. The moment we deal one more hammer, it immediately breaks into pieces. Now this does not mean or should not be interpreted that all the 99 blows that were delivered previously went in vain. Just think, had you not given those 99 hits, would the hundredth one have been given? Therefore, those 99 blows also are very much in place. So, keep on practising meditation without losing hope – the til dwAr or the tenth door will certainly break open and we will surely go into the domain of light. Our Gurudev says,

"Til darwAjA tutai, nazar ke jor se.

Are hAn re `Mehi', lage taktakI khUb jor barjor se."

(The til dwAr breaks open with the continued force of concentrated and intent gazing. Oh yes! says Mehi, this will happen for sure. Only keep concentrating or focusing at the prescribed point with all your might/concentration .)

Unless and until you try, try and try with your fullest power of concentration, the til dwAr would not break open. Lord Christ said, "Knock at the door, it shall open; Ask for, you shall get."

There are two obstructions or impediments on the path of meditation – lethargy and self-gossiping or stream of thoughts or chatter of the mind. The first and foremost thing is that let us first learn to sit properly. So long as we do not learn how to sit, we will not progress. In Ramcharit Manas, we find a reference in similar context: -

"Giri Sumeru uttar dishi dUrI. NIl sail ek sundar bhUrI.

Tanh basi harihi bhajahi jimi kAgA. So sunu Umaa sahit anurAgA."

(O Uma (wife of Lord Shiv)! Listen with faith and affection! There is a mountain named NIlgiri which is situated to the north of Sumeru Mountain. KAgbhushundi (a crow bird who was a great devotee of God) lived and meditated on that mountain).

Where is this Sumeru (Sumeru literally means beautiful spine)? Your spinal chord itself is the Sumeru. To the north of it or above it try to see, with your eyes closed. What do you find there? There is complete darkness. On this NIlgiri, KAgbhushundi, which is crow in the form of our own mind, lives! Describing the nature of a crow, Goswami Tulsidasji has written,

"WAyas paliahi ati anurAgA. Hohi nirAmish kabahu ki kAgA."

(Will a crow, however affectionately and lovingly tended or nurtured, ever turn into a vegetarian?)

Just as we keep a parrot as a domestic bird, try and keep a crow inside a cage. Nurture it nicely. Feed it with the best and most delicious of dishes. Having done all this for a considerable time, release it from the cage and see, where does it go? He will go again and pick up the same dirty articles only! So with our mind. Though encaged it is inside the body, whenever it flies off, it always sits onto undesirable things, avoidable thoughts.

Shri Ramkrishna Paramhans (Guru of Swami Vivekanand) said, "Unless we do meditation, our mind would not be purified." Deliver though we may quite long and impressive lectures, where does our mind go and sit over if left free? Shri Ramkrishna Paramhans would cite examples: "Look at the vulture and the kite. They fly at great heights, highest amongst birds. But in spite of flying so high, their sight is focussed on corpses. The moment they see any dead body lying, they swoop down and sit over it." Similarly we may be talking on very big abstract, exotic themes, but if we have not purified our mind by practicing meditation, it (the mind) will sit over the corpses only in the form of the objects of desire. We have to remove our mind from these objects; only then will we find success in bhagwad bhajan or devotion to God. In words of Sant Kabir Sahab,

"Pahale ye man kAg thaa, karatA jeevan ghAt.

Ab to hansA huA, moti chugi chugi khAt."

(Earlier this mind was a crow doing despicable things. But now, it has transformed into a swan and eats pearls only.)

Which bhakti or meditation did KAgbhushundi performed that he gwas transformed from a crow into a swan? How did he become such a great saint? He used to practice the same meditation, which our most venerable Gurudev has taught you. Practising the meditation with his utmost dedication, KAgbhushundijee became so great that none other than Lord Shiv used to go to attend his Satsang.

"Peepar taru tar dhyAn so dharaI. JAp yajna pAkari tar karaI.

Aam chhAnh kar mAnas poojaa. Taji hari bhajan kaaj nahi dUjA.

Bat tar kah hari kathA prasangaa. Avanhi sunanhi anek vihangA."

(KAgbhushundiji practiced `mAnas jap' (internal or mental recitation of holy words) under the PAkad tree, while he did `mAnas dhyAn' (focusing on a holy form e.g., image of Guru or some god) under the mango tree. He practiced "Drishti yog" (looking intently at a point in the inner sky as instructed by Guru) under the peepal tree. His mind thought of nothing else than the worship of God. He used to give discourses, singing glories of God in the shed of banyan tree, which was attended by a large number of devotees in form of or disguise of birds.)

KAgbhushundiji mentally or internally chanted Guru-mantra, a process known as `mAnas jap', under the paakad tree. You people, too, practice `mAnas jap'. Sacred scriptures say, "JapAt siddhih". That means you come to acquire `siddhi' or special divine powers or supernatural attainments, even if you are able to perform mAnas jap properly. KAgbhushundijee used to do `mAnas pooja' or `mAnas dhyAn' (internally trying to visualise the form of Guru or some other revered deity). You also practice `mAnas dhyaan' after `mAnas jap'. Try to do it with utmost concentration. Unless the `jap' is done properly, there can be no success in `mAnas dhyAn'. `Jap' or internal repetition of mantra should be with such an intensity and intentness that nothing, not even any other thought, should remain in between you and the jap. We have been practicing the `maanas jap', `mAnas dhyaan' and `drishti yog'/ `vindu-dhyAn'(yog of light or gazing focussedly at a point within as instructed by Guru) for so long. Just think or assess honestly, how far have we reached? If we have not progressed enough, why it is so? It is because our foundation is not strong. First strengthen the base or foundation. First of all, practice jap. Practice for so long as to make the foundation firm. Let us not form a stereotyped rule that we have to do maanas jap for such and such duration, maanas dhyaan for such and such duration and then, drishti yog for such and such period. Our Guru Maharaj, Maharshi Mehi, has exhorted,

"Guru jaap mAnas, dhyAn maanas, kIjiye dridh sAdh kar.

InkA pratham abhyAs kar, srut shuddha karanA chAhiye."

(First of all, we should purify our individual soul by practicing mental chanting of mantra and internal visualization of the image of Guru.)

As you might have noted, these days water of the Ganga has become muddy due to rains. In muddy waters you would not be able to see your image properly. But when water becomes clean or, pure, we can visualize our image in that. Likewise, so long as our mind is muddy or impure, the image of Guru won't appear clearly, perfect success in mAnas dhyAn would not be achieved. God's image is clearly reflected in pure or perfectly clean mind only. Therefore, after doing mAnas jap properly, when you practice dhyAn, your `surat' (individual ego or soul or awareness) would become pure and then you would be able to visualize the dazzling point or the divine light within you. You must have read in Maharshi Mehi Padaavali (a book consisting of verses composed by Maharshi Mehi Paramhans): -

"Prathamahi dhAro Guru ko dhyaan. Ho sruti nirmal, ho vindu jnAn."

(Initially focus yourself and try to make the form of Guru appear within you. This would sanctify the surat, and you will be able to realize the `bindu' or point or the divine light.)

If we could not do mAnas jap properly, could not do mAnas dhyAn properly, how would we be able to attain success in drishti yog? Unless we learn to write alphabets coarsely or in large sizes & irregular shapes, how could we write very small and fine letters/alphabets? After practicing and learning to write big letters with ease, we will be able to write small or fine alphabets, too. In the same manner it is possible to accomplish drishTi yog, only after rigorous and proper practice of mAnas jap and mAnas dhyAn. Now, how would we get to realize the absolutely or perfectly infinitesimal point? It has been said,
"Dou nainA bich sanmukh dekh. Ik bindu milai drishti dou rekh."
(Look intently in front between both the eyes. The point will come into view at the intersection of the two lines of sight.)

Where the two currents of consciousness or the two lines of sight intersect each other, the real point would come into sight. As this point appears, your mind would become totally focused, immersed or completely concentrated.

You see, there is a strong correlation between our body and the world. In the outer universe there are exactly as many planes or spheres, as there are within this body. We live on the same corresponding planes of the cosmos and our body at any one given point of time. Therefore, when we leave or transcend a particular plane of our body, we leave or transcend the same plane or sphere of the cosmos, too. A person who is able to collect or concentrate one's current of consciousness completely at the infinitesimal point which is the junction or the meeting point of the gross world and the astral world, is able to lift or raise himself above or beyond his gross or physical body; his gross body is left behind. In India "pind-dAn" (making an offering of the body) is considered to be an act of great virtue. People go to places of pilgrimage to offer the pind-dAn, but the `drishti-dhyAn' or `drishti-yog' or `drishti-sAdhan' is the true pind-dAn. This body of ours is called the "pind". And when by practising drishti-sAdhan (Yog of divine or inner light), we connect ourselves with that bindu or the infinitesimal point, we lose all consciousness or awareness of our body. This is pind-dAn, in the truest sense of the word.

Concentration/ shrinking is always associated with, or leads to, ascension or vertical rise. We rise from the pind (body) into the brahmAnd (cosmos or universe). When the awareness of the body is gone, the consciousness of the gross universe, also, is lost. We have raised ourselves above or beyond our body. And thus, we have lifted ourselves beyond this physical or gross world, too. On moving from the gross into the subtle or astral world, myriads of sounds are heard. These words are termed `anahad shabd' or `anahad nAd' meaning sounds or words or notes of infinite variety, or different types of sound the number of which is beyond counting. Once we have progress so as to hear the anahad nAd, what next?
"anahad me satshabd lau lAy. Bhav jal taribo yahi upAy."
(Amidst the infinite variety of sounds, direct your attention to the essential or the fundamental sound. This alone is the way to swim across the ocean of illusory-yet- painful existence.)

Anahad shabd consists of innumerable kinds of sounds. We have to grasp, out of these, the main or the quintessential sound. In words of our Gurudev,
"Satshabd dhar kar chal Milan Awaran sAre pAr me."
(Come let us go and meet (the Lord) by transcending all the veils by catching hold of the `satshabd' or `saarshabd', "anAhat nAd", or "anAhat dhwani" i.e. the quintessential sound.)

That sat-shabd is reached the last of all among the various stages of meditation. When we move ahead getting hold of the anahad dhwani (myriads of sounds), we leave or shed the `kAran sharIr' or the causal body and the `kAran manDal' (causal world or sphere). Then we rise above the `mahAkAran sharIr' (supra-causal body) and the `mahAkAran manDal' (the supra-causal universe or sphere). When we catch hold of the sAr-dhwani or the anAhat shabd or the quintessential sound, all the four `jaD' (ignorant or non-conscious) planes or spheres namely, `sthUl' (gross), `sUkshma' (astal), `kAran' (causal) and `mahAkAran' (supra-causal) spheres are transcended. Now we enter into the sphere or the plane or the cloak of `chetan' or pure consciousness; we move from the spheres of ignorance (`jaD-manDal' ) into the sphere of pure consciousness (`chetan manDal'). What is the source from which the "sAr shabd" or the quintessential sound has originated? It has directly sprung from the Absolute Lord Himself. Any sound or word has a natural characteristic of drawing the listener towards its source. When we get to grasp the quintessential melody, it will take us to the Supreme Lord, the Almighty God. Thus, we cross all the five spheres – four spheres of ignorance namely, `sthUl' (gross), `sUkshma' (astral), `kAran' (causal), and `mahAkAran' (supra-causal) manDals or spheres or bodies, and one sphere/ body of pure consciousness namely, the `chetan' or the `kaivalya' manDal- and will unite with the God losing our individual identity. Then what? "PAr gaman hI sAr bhakti hai, lo yahi hiya me dhAr." (Transcending all the veils is the true worship or the essence of all worships. Hold this cardinal principle within your heart.) This alone is the genuine bhakti, devotion or worship. To achieve this end or goal only, Gurudev has counselled:
"Man nigrah ke samara kshetra me sanmukh thir datanA hogA.
Waqt nahI hai ay vIro ab, gAfil hokar sone kA
Vindu rAh se nikal bahAdur, tam mandal tapanA hogA"

(You have to take head on the battle of conquering the mind. This is not the time to sleep unawares. You have to cross the province of darkness marching through the tiny passage of Bindu or the infinitesimal point.)

The path to salvation passes through the opening or aperture of `Bindu' (infinitesimal point). But how to be there? Only Guru can tell the trick of trade. With his grace only, we can learn the secret and by implementing the same honestly, sincerely & diligently, can move beyond the gross bodies and worlds to the other side. When we cross the gross sphere, what do we get to see then? Says Gurudev,
"DAminee damakai, chandA camakai, sUrya tapai jotI manDal
Is mandal se Age vIro, aur tumhe badhanA hogA.

Shabd mandal me sAr shabd dhwani, gurugam hokar dhar lenA.

Jagat jel ko isI yukti se, sun `Mehi' tajanA hogA."

(Lightning, moon and sun are seen progressively in the course of meditation in the domain of light. You have to surpass even this sphere and move into the realm of sound. There amongst the infinite varieties of sound you would get to listen, you will have to, following the specific instructions of the Master or the Guru, get hold of the unstruck quintessential sound. This quintessential sound would take you beyond the prison-house that is this universe.)

We can be released from, or come out of this prison, only after we have seized the quintessential sound.

It is towards this noble end only that you all spiritual seekers have got together here (in this meditation camp) coming from so many diverse places, temporarily leaving your homes and family members. If even after coming here, you talk of the same mundane, worldly topics, let your mind wander or be detracted into the same objects of senses, then you have not quit the world, have you? So prevent your mind from getting agitated, restless. Calm it down. Dedicate yourself whole-heartedly to meditation with all the diligence, single-mindedness & sincerity at your disposal. If at all you have to engage into mutual conversation, let discussions be restricted to the topics of jnAn (true knowledge) and dhyAn (meditation) only. If you are able to create and maintain such an amicable ambience, you would get the support and help of the Master in your meditation. This much for today!