Spirituality Talks

8/13/2019 Spirituality Talks

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Spiritualitywhat it isSpirituality what it is

Talk given by Sant Kirpal Singh, London, 17 September, 1972

Manbody is the highest in all creation. It is an golden opportunity we have got,

because in this manbody alone we can know God. And to know God we have to

know ourselves first. Because God cannot be known by the outgoing faculties, by

the mind or intellect. With the intellect we only try to grasp certain things. It is thesoul alone that can know the oversoul, because soul is of the same essence as that

of God. God is All-Consciousness and our soul is a drop of the ocean of All-

Consciousness.

So to know God we will have to know ourselves first. Like knows the like.

But unfortunately our soul is environed by mind and outgoing faculties. Our soul is

under the control of mind, mind is under control of the outgoing faculties and

outgoing faculties are dragged like anything by the outer enjoyments. So all

Masters said that we should know ourselves first. "Know thyself! " East and Westmakes no matter, you see. Those who have known God, they say the same thing.

To know ourselves, we will have to know it not at the level of feelings or drawing

inferences, but by self-analysis, by rising above body-consciousness.

How to? The outgoing faculties will have to be controlled, mind to be stilled and

intellect also to be ceased for a while after understanding what is what. Only then

we can know ourselves.

It is a matter of pure self-analysis, rising above the body-consciousness. To knowGod at the level of feelings or drawing inferences are subject to error. Seeing is

above all. And this practical experience of rising above body-consciousness is to be

had at the feet of someone who rises above body-consciousness daily.

Saint Paul said: "I die daily." Dying daily means what? We have to undergo the

same process as at the time of death, when the soul leaves the body. Plutarch tells


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us: "Those who are initiated into the mysteries of the Beyond, their soul has the

same experience of leaving the body as it has at the time of death."You know, the

outer expression of the soul is attention. At the time of death the attention is

withdrawn from all outside. When anybody goes to a man who is just dying, this

man does not recognize anyone, because his attention is withdrawn from all

outside. Then the lower body is benumbed, lower chakras are broken, we come up

to the seat of the soul in the body which is at the back of the eyes. Then the eyes

are upturned.

Learn to die, so that you may begin to live!

So knowing oneselfas I told you, this experience or demonstration can be had at

the feet of somebody who rises (above the body) daily. He is also competent to

give you a demonstration of the fact that you are the very life in the body and not

the body, you see?

So this manbody is a wonderful house we live in; in which there are so many

apertures: that of the eyes, of the ears, of the nostrils, mouth and two underneath.

But we cannot run away out of it. We are controlled. So our body works so long as

we are in the body. And we are in the body so long as we are controlled in the body

by some higher Power, which is according to the scriptures the God-into-

expression-Power, called Naam or Word. When that Power is withdrawn, we have

to leave the body.

So, rising above body-consciousness by self-analysis gives you practically what is

knowing oneself. When you know yourself, you see that some Power is controlling

you.

One is leaving the body when the karmic link is broken, when the silver-cord

(which is based on the reactions of the past) is broken; such a soul never returns.

But if you know how to rise above body-consciousness while alive, this process is

the same, but then you watch some Power is controlling you.

As I told you the other day, one atheist was at the deathbed. He had in his room abig motto: "God is nowhere!" A child came up and began to read: "G-o-d i-s n-o -

w h-e-r-e: God is now here!" And that dying man said, "Yes, child, some Power is

there."

So it is knowing oneself by self-analysis, it is just rising above body-consciousness.

When you know that Power, which is controlling us now in the body, that Power


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becomes apparent.

In the manbody alone we can know God. All the world is full of practices (rituals

and rites), you see, we do one way or the other, so many things. Those are only

preparation for the ground. So, those are good actions, of course. But, to have some

models before us, it is just to understand something, but to see that thing for which

that model stands, that is something else.

The other day I also explained that God is Wordless, Nameless, Ashabd. When He

came into being, into expression, that Absolute God wanted: "I wish to be many",

there was vibration that resulted in two things: Light and Sound.

God is Light. God is Music of the SpheresNada.

These are the two outward expressions of God-into-expression-Power which iscontrolling the whole universe and also controlling us in the body. That can be

contacted when we rise above body-consciousness to the seat of the soul in the

body, which is at the back of the eyes. So, it is a practical question which can be

demonstrated. When you see for your own self what is what, then only you can be

convinced, not before.

Man is afraid of dying for two reasons: The first thing, we do not know how to

leave the body. We are not accustomed to it. We are so much attached outside that

we cannot dare to withdraw from outside. Sometimes we wish to withdraw from

outside, but we are so much identified with the outside things, even if you want to

leave, you cannot leave, you see? So, for that reason we have to withdraw from

outside. If you know how to leave the body day to day, if you die daily as Saint

Paul said, if you take the cross daily (the upright standing man with his arms

stretched out shows the cross), then death becomes a matter of joy. Because all

glory and beauty lies within you. The astral plane is more beautiful than the outer

physical plane; causal is still more, and higher plane is still higher beauty and

higher bliss. So, once a man has an experience of that, he would like to go, any

time even, he would possibly go. Now as you are not in contact with that, mind is

just given up to the outward enjoyments and used to that little bliss.

Now what are we doing? We make models of the manbody. Manbody is the true

temple in which we live, and also that Power, that controls us in the body. Whom

we want to contact and the one who wants to contactboth are in the same body.

But we cannot see Him, because our soul is under the control of mind, mind is


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under the control of the outgoing faculties, and outgoing faculties arc dragged like

anything by the outer enjoyments. We have ourselves identified with it so much,

that we have forgotten our (real) selves.

If you know how to rise daily, there is no sting of death in there.

Hindu scriptures tell us, when the soul leaves this physical body, man experiences

terrible pain, like a scorpion's bite. In the beginning it is just like pinching, then

that gives terrible pain. Death can be compared to one thousand scorpions stinging

together.

Mohammedan scriptures tell us, "When the soul leaves the body, it feels pain like

that, as a thorny bush is taken through the rectum and torn through the mouth."

You see, how terrible man feels, if he has not learned how to die. Masters tell us,

Learn to die so that you may begin to live!" All Masters said the same in theirown language.

And the second thing is, we do not know, what will be our fate after leaving the

body. For two things we are afraid of death. If we sit at the feet of somebody who

can give us a demonstration of how to rise above body-consciousness and gives us

a link of the God-into-expression-Power which is Light and Sound that's the

way back to the Absolute God, direct way, no by-pass is being made. That is

natural yoga, you see?

When mind gets that bliss, then naturally you would like to avoid outer enjoyments

like anything.

Now what are we doing? We have made the models of the manbody outside: all

temples are dome-shaped (like the human head); churches are nose shaped and

mosques are forehead-shaped. We have put in two symbols of God-into-

expression-Power: There is Light and Sound. We go there. There is a model to

show that suchlike Light and suchlike Sound is within you.

So long as there were practical people (with practical experience), they gave othersa demonstration as how to rise above body-consciousness, how to have a contact

with that Light and Sound which is the outward aspect of the God-into-expression-

Power. They were convinced. But for want of practical people, these things have

become the be all and end all. They were only models to show that suchlike Light

of God and Sound Principle is within you. For want of practical people, there was

nobody to demonstrate the Light within us. So we simply go to the churches and


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the mosques and light the candle there, ring the bell there. Both things are outer

worship. So you see, we follow the models which only show that suchlike Light is

within you, and show that we are to rise above the physical body and have a

contact with the true Light, with the true Sound which is reverberating within the

man-body and all creation.

So those who have seen that, they say, "Body is the temple of God!" Masters say,

"Manbody is the true temple of God in which the Light of God shines." So we are

so much given up to these outward models for want of practical people. We engage

from day to day in these outward models which were made for the preparation of

the ground, to let people understand, what is what.

When the Master meets us, He opens the Single Eye, Third Eye or Shiv Netra so

that Light is seen for oneself. When you experience this, it is very easy to leave the

body; it is a matter of joy.

Kabir said, "People are afraid of hearing the name of death. I am very much

overjoyed when I hear the name of death. Because it is only then, that 1 can unite

with the God overhead!"

I am now talking about Guru Amar Das, the third Guru of the Sikhs. He was

engaged in outward practices, models, all schools of thought for seventy long

years. But naturally one is only then satisfied, when one sees. When you see for

yourself, then you can say, "God is Light." If you don't see and only think, "God is

Light", you are not in the Light of God. When you then say that God is Light, is it

true for you? No.

After the search of Guru Amar Das for seventy long years ("Knock and it shall be

opened unto you"), God made some arrangement to bring him in contact with the

second Guru of the Sikhs. He got that experience of rising above body-

consciousness and his Third Eye or Single Eye was opened within, so that he saw

the Light of God and said, "God is Light!" Then he said, "I have spent seventy long

years only engaged in the outward, in the methods which concern the esoteric side

only."

These are good actions, of course, because they are meant for God, but the doership

is there, ego. "Whatever you will sow, so shall you reap/' You have good thoughts,

they result in good actions. You have bad thoughts, bad results. This coming and

going (into this world) goes on like anything. You will go where you are attached.


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But when you see that Power is overhead, you will say like the atheist I

mentioned"Yes, my child, this Power is overhead." That you only come to know

if you now rise above body-consciousness, if you see for yourself: that Power is

controlling.

Which aspect of God can you experience? Not the Absolute God; nobody has seen

Him. Before coming into expression, He was Wordless, He was Nameless; when

He came into expression, He was called Word, Naam or Shabd. So, there are two

aspects of the Word. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet."

By coming in contact with Naam, you see the Light, which can be compared to

hundreds and thousands of suns rising together. In whomsoever that Light is

effulgent, truly speaking, he is a real disciple (Sikh).

Carrying one outer label or the other, belonging to different schools of thought orsocial bodies, does not necessarily mean, you have achieved that very object for

which you joined that school of thought. One can be a true disciple only when one

sees the Light of God. A true Hindu is one who sees the Light within. A true

Christian is one who sees the Light of God. A true Mohammedan is one who sees

the Light of God. The same thing for all, you see? When one, who does not see,

says, "God is Light!", it is just like a blind man's work, you see? Only when you

see that He is Light and He is the controlling Power keeping us, and we are mere

puppets in His hand, naturally then all ego is lost, because you see that some higher

Power is working (not you).

When Guru Amar Das himself saw that, he said, "Saying prayers and praising Him

without seeing Him is just like a blind man's work." See and then say. All Masters

say that. Unless you see, your praising God is good, for the good thoughts are at

least towards God. But your ego and doership is not gone, so naturally, "As you

sow so shall you reap!"

When we see that this Power is working and not you, naturally you lose your ego.

So coming in contact with God-into-expression-Power, when you see, that it is this

controlling Power that is keeping us in the body, and we are mere puppets in Hishands, naturally ego goes. That can be had only when you sit at the feet of some

really adept, called by any name you like, who opens your inner eye, so that you

can see the Light of God within you.

At that time Guru Amar Das gave all his gist or the digest of the teaching in one

hymn. That I'm going to present before you. He said: "Look here, where is God?"


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And he says: "God is in this very cave of the body!" A cave is always long and

dark, you see? In this cave of the body He does live, you see, God, who is never

ending and who is above all outgoing faculties. He lives in it.

Body is the temple of God.

Maulana Rumi tells us that prophet Mohammed told, that God says: "I am so great,

that all this earth, sky and planes, higher and lower, all this creation is not

sufficient to contain me in them. lam so great!" But He says: "Strange enough that

I abide in the heart of a devotee. I am in everybody, I reside in every heart!"

Kabir says, "I went to have a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina. On the way? God

met me. He began to fight with me, saying, "Who told you I'm there? I am in you!"

You see? Kabir was after finding Him by going round from places to places. All

Masters' digest I'm giving you, I need not to quote, there are hundreds of quotationsthere. They say: 'The One whom you want to, He is within you. He is your

controlling Power. He also resides in the body. Body is the true temple of God!'

Outward models are made to give you some idea: suchlike Power is within you?

Unless we see that Power, we cannot lose ego; and so long the ego is not gone, we

come round and round (to this world). So all Masters tell us like that. Guru Amar

Das says, "God resides within you, just like take the case of madder. The more

you grind it in water, the more red colour it gives. As the fire is in the wood, by

rubbing it, you get the fire. As butter is in the milk, that is changed into the curd,

and curd should be shaken, and then butter will come out, you see? So suchlike

God resides within you!"

All Masters tell us, "God resides in us! He resides in the heart of everybody!" But

we do not see Him. Guru Amar Das says, "It is a sort of cataract. When this cover

comes to the pupil, man cannot see. Only if that is removed carefully, sight is

restored." Similarly (our inner sight is restored), when our attention is withdrawn

from all outside and just taken to the seat of the soul in the body - which is at the

back of the eyes - to the tenth door in the body which opens into the beyond; there

you knock and it shall be opened unto you.

So, Guru Amar Das gives the descriptions in all ways, how he got this and why

people are going amiss. So first he said, "To whom you want to continue, to have

it, He resides in your manbody. He is latent within you." You see? And all this

outward expression (of the world) is only of God-into-expression-Power. All this

came out of Him, then where is that place, where He is not?


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If you see in the air, there is nothing to be seen. Is there nothing in this air? There is

of course. When you see through a microscope that magnifies all things about 700

times more, you will see that it is full of insects. They are there even now; either

those things are magnified to come up to our level, or our inner eye is so much

etherealized, that we come to their level. Then we can see.

There is God in us. Masters say that they have seen Him in this very man-body.

Those who are trying to find Him in outward practices or observances, they will

never get Him. These are good actions, of course. They (the Masters) don't deny,

but ego is there, doership is there. You have to sow; and as you sow, so shall you

reap! Good actions will bring you good, your coming and going will go round and

round, you see?

When you see that He is the worker, your ego is lost, naturally your coming andgoing is ended. So this is what Guru Amar Das said. When you come to the feet of

a Master, He gives you a contact with that God-into-expression-Power, which is

called Word, Shabd, Naam. Then you see for yourself: God is there! But God

Absolute not, I tell you, God-into-expression-Power, the two aspects of which are

Light and Sound. You see the Light of God, you hear the Music of the Spheres.

Now he thanks God: "O God, I thank you very much, I sacrifice myself to you. I

have been in a long, seventy years long search, then I thank to my Guru at whose

feet I got this experience. I sacrifice myself not one time hundreds of times to the

Master, who had made God manifest in me!"

So you see, we need a teacher at every step. Even the children need parents,

brothers and sisters to teach them. In schools we want teachers. In all outer aspects,

all subjects which are related to the outgoing faculties, mind or intellect, we want

guidance over there.

And for this subject which is: How to rise above body-consciousness, to rise

above outgoing faculties?don't you need anybody? You do need somebody! But

we are afraid of it. Because the world is full of teachers, excuse me, now I say.

Christ also said, "They come as lambs, but they are ravening wolves."

There is so much acting and posing going on, the people cannot decide, what is

what. And Masters lay out one criterion for that: Unless you see for yourself what

the Master says, and unless you testified it, don't believe the words of the Master. It

is really a great criterion! This can differentiate right from the wrong.


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Guru Amar Das says, "O God, I am thankful to my Guru who had made that God-

into-expression-Powerafter which I was seventy long years - manifested. Thank

God!" One who gets that experience, there is gratefulness in such a heart.

Now he says, "First thing is that Naam, God-into-expression-Power, which has got

two aspects. When you come in contact with it, that gives you everlasting life."

Amrit means Water of Life which gives you everlasting life; you'll never die. Once

you learn to die, you'll live forever. "Learn to die, so that you may begin to live!"

That Water of Life is had only when you learn how to rise above body-

consciousness physically. That gives you a taste, a sort of intoxication and bliss,

with which mind forgets all outward enjoyments. In manbody only we can have it.

And this thing we can have at the feet of the Master. He rises above physical body

daily, hundred times a day at will if He wishes, and makes others to rise above

body-consciousness. A practical demonstration of it is given by Him, and then theysee for themselves really and rise above body-consciousness. Some get more, some

others less (experience). But some capital is given to each one to start with.

A man who is coming to give you a talk on business principles, a wonderful and

information talk, but the men, to whom this talk is given, have got no money. What

will your talk help them?

When people come to us and give us very sweet stories of the Beyond, are they

also able to give us something to start with? They are only giving beautiful talks.

Where all the world's philosophies end, there the religion starts. You must have

something to be able to start with, maybe little or more, you see? So man can have

this experience. And it is very sweetthere is sweetness, bliss in it.

Now he says, to rise above physical body is very difficult. Yogis have spent

hundreds of years to rise above the physical body. They performed kumbhak,

control of the breath at the different centres (chakras) in the body. Ultimately the

came up to the sixth chakra at the back of the eyes which is the seat of the soul in

the body. Then they saw and came in contact with the Sound Principle. How long it

takes!

And when the Masters come, they give you little attention, and whatever number

of people there may be all (their) outer attention is withdrawn, goes up, and the

inner eye is opened. They get some experience of the Light and Sound Principle to

start with. What a great concession that is in these days!


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So how does He give? It is very difficult to rise above body-consciousness. And

you are given some experience more or less of how to rise above body-

consciousness. You get some capital of Light and Sound to start with. Then you

have to develop further!

Where the world's philosophies end, as I told you, there the religion starts. Religion

means: "re"means back, "ligio"to bind; to withdraw your attention (which is

the outer expression of the soul) from all outside and contact it with God within

you.

Now the question arises, how Master gives this. Guru Amar Das gives the one

example of collyrium which is put on the eyes, you see? God gives the collyrium

of that inner knowledge, which is to be experienced at the seat of the soul (at the

back of the eyes). It is given in a very practical way. When the collyrium is put inthe eyes, you see. And similarly some Godman or some Saint or somename Him

by any name you like withdraws your attention from outside, withdraws it and

brings it to the back of the eyes. Then you see Light.

How does the Godman or Saint give you this inner knowledge, this collyrium of

Light and Sound? By withdrawing your attention from all outside and taking it to

the seat of the soul at the back of the eyes, which Yogis were taken hundreds of

years to have it. First there is all darkness, when you close your eyes. When He

gives you a (meditation) sitting, your attention is withdrawn from outside, goes up

and darkness fades away. You see Light! And you testify yourself that it is Light.

He does not say you'll have it in hundreds of years, after this life, at the end of life

or in ten years. He at once gives you something to start with. First it is all darkness,

you see. Then, when you see for yourself, you are convinced. This is how Guru

Amar Das tells his story.

All Saints say that those who do not see God and praise Him are like blind men. In

the terminology of the Saints a blind man is not one who has got no eyes on the

forehead, but one whose inner eye is not opened and who is unable to see the Light

of God.

Kabir says, "I see all blind men sitting around me. Had there been one or two, I

would have explained to them. What to speak, everywhere I look, all are blind!"

Very sweeping remarks of course, but true. Teacher of the man is a man. God

resides in every heart. But only the one, in whom He is manifest, can give you a

demonstration of it, that's all.


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The grace of God is working in a manbody, you see. "Word-made-flesh" you might

say. God is manifesting in the manbody. And that Power withdraws your attention

from all outside, takes it up, and then you see Light. Your inner eye or the single

eye is opened. That happens when all your attention is withdrawn from outside and

you rise above the chakras. You reach the seat of the soul in the body which is at

the back of the eyes and you see for yourself!

So, for this reason He says, "Those who are going to find God in all worldly things

outside, practices, their whole labour is just like a man's (labour), who has to work

day and night and still gets no pay." So all labour is lost in doing all outward

expenses valued according to that.

The real thing is: to know God.

People practice all models. With all that we do not see God. Of course those are

good actions, which will give us good results. But ego is not lost, and the coming

and going will go on. So, those who are under the control of mind and outgoing

faculties, identified with it, they say "How can there be light inside? Who says?

When you close your eyes, it is all darkness?" They don't believe. When they see

for themselves, then they have to say, "Yes, there is something!" So Master tells

not to believe in anything what the Master says, unless you bear testimony to it

(may be little or more). That's the work of a Master or a Saint, from where you can

discriminate right from the wrong, ravening wolves from the lambs. Guru Amar

Das says, "With the Grace of the Guru I have found God." How? By self-analysis.

Macrocosm is in the microcosm. When he rose above physical body there are

three different stages of mind: one is physical mind, the other is astral mind, the

third is causal-mind he said, "When I rose from the physical body and the

physical mind, then I saw some light. When I rose from the astral mind and astral

body, I saw still more light. When I rose still above them, there was still more

light."

It is just like a lamp with three or four covers over it. When you light it, you see nolight. If you take off one cover, you see some light. If you take off two covers,

there is still more light. If you take off three covers, still more light can be seen.

So God is all Light. When we have some experience of the Light and Sound

Principle, it grows more and more and gets sweeter, as the densities of the different

planes are changed. Guru Amar Das is telling all that, how he got God by analysing


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himself, rising above the physical body and physical mind, astral body and astral

mind, and causal body and causal mind.

Now he says, "Godman or man-in-God, or call any name you like, Sadhu or Saint

or elder brother or father, He gives you an experience of the Light by bringing your

attention into the eye-centre. Then you see Light. When you sit there, truly you see,

and you start to praise God. Those who praise God without seeing Him, they are

like blind men! These are good actions of course, the Master does not deny, these

are good actions, you see, but the doership is there. Natural: "As you sow, so shall

you reap!"

Now again Guru Amar Das further goes, "This manbody is a wonderful house; it

has got ten doors. Nine are apparent, one is latent." Two eyes, two ears, two

nostrils, mouth and two underneath they are open, apparent. There are the nine

doors open to the sense world and there is the tenth door behind at the back of theeyes, where the soul passes into the beyond by coming to that place where the

single eye opens. He says, "As long as you do not withdraw your attention from

outside, from the nine doors and come to the tenth door, you will neither see Light

nor will you hear the Sound Principle." He gives very clearly all his life

experience. People say that Saints keep this thing secret. No, no; they tell out from

the platforms like that, you see? It is for all people. If you can go up yourself, well

and good. If not, take the help of somebody!

So what he says? "I withdrew my attention from outside, from the nine doors and

came to the tenth door at the back of the eyes. There I heard the sweet melody of

the Music of the Spheres, Nada. That is giving highest bliss."

As long as we have no contact with that God Power which is called Shabd, Word

or Naam, you will see darkness, when you close your eyes! When you withdraw

your attention from outside and come to the back of the eyes, the single eye is

opened and then you can see the Light.

Christ said that it is better to enter the Kingdom of God with one eye, rather than

two, which will cast you into hell. You see?

"If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light!" "Straight is the

gate!" ("Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto

life, and few there be that find it." Matthew 7,14) Read the scriptures! These are

references to the beyondhow the soul leaves the manbody.


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Now Guru Amar Das says, "Unless the darkness is removed and you see the Light

of God face to face, your coming and going (into this world) will not end!"

When you see God, see that He is the power controlling you, your ego is lost and

you are not to come back (into this world).

But unless you see the Light of God within you, you are only devoted to the models

given in the churches, temples and the mosques for daily worship. Amongst

Hindus there is a custom, you see. When a man is on the deathbed, they light a

lamp, give it to him and ask him, "Look into the flame of the lamp!" And they read

a mantra that means, "This light will lead you to God!" You see, hand and light,

both remain here. What Light will be there (in the beyond)? That light, which is

within you already.

You can see it when you reach the tenth door in the body and your inner eye, thirdeye or the single eye is opened. So he says, "Who has the key?" Suppose there is a

man who has got a house. You want to enter that house, but the owner has locked

up the door of the house and given the key to the agent or the servant or somebody.

So first you'll have to seek the sanction of the owner of the house. If he gives

sanction, then he asks the servant, "Go and open the door!"

God resides where? God resides in the temple which is made in the womb of the

mother. He resides in this manbody.

He has locked it and given the key to whom? To the "God-in-man" or "man-in-

God" or Saint, or any name you like. He gives you a sitting, withdraws your

attention from all outside to the seat of the soul in the body and you see Light. Of

course some get more (experience), some get less according to each man's

background, but everybody gets something to start with.

The key of success is with the Saint. The one who made that body God He

locked it off and gave the key to the Saint to open it whenever He gives sanction.

Not all are given initiation, it is God-chosen, we are chosen by Him. It is not with

us to choose. It is Him who chooses.

Whom He chooses? Now for an example, there is an office, where there are some

appointments vacant. The officer-in-charge over there whose handwriting is carried

off very wonderful, he asks all hand-written applications to come to him. He passes

on all of them. Hundreds of applications he passes on. Whatever handwriting is

very beautiful, he takes out. You see? Because he appreciates that qualification


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which is in him.

God sees those who are hankering more after God as compared for the world. God

resides inside, He makes some arrangement to bring you in contact with someone

who can put you on the path, that's all. He chooses you. Those who are very

yearning for Him, He brings them in contact with someone so that they can be put

on the way.

Now Guru Amar Das repeats: "That manbody is the cave which is dark inside, and

God resides in it." "He is so great", as prophet Mohammed said, "but He can just

reside in the devotee's heart." He is latent, all this outer expression is also God, all

you see is the expression of God. First you only see darkness but when your

inner eye is opened then you see:

"It is all Light, God is everywhere. There is no place where God is not."

But how can that be done? ... It is already there. It is only a question of

withdrawing from outside and coming up to the seat of soul. If you can reach there

yourself- do your best! If you canwhat more is wanted? If you are not successful,

then let you be helped by someone, as you also need the help of a teacher in outer

things. Just sit by somebody who gives that free; all gifts of God are free: air, sun,

water, earth. This earth is a gift of God. To sit at the feet of someone who gives

you all this freely is necessary.

The word "Gurmukh" means, when your eyes come in contact with the eyes of the

Godman, and live is in tune. One third of the teaching is given by the word of

mouth and two third by radiation. So devotion is necessary. In devotion you

develop receptivity. And there you learn more.

So Guru Amar Das says, "When you want to derive full benefit of the man-body,

which is the golden opportunity you have got to know God, then sit at the feet of a

Saint!" If real yearning is there, God within you sees that you are really crying for

Him, He makes some arrangement to bring you in contact with someone where you

can be put on the way. Then you will testify yourself that it is like that. You mayget something, little or more (according to each man's background); you get

something to start with.

So this is what Guru Amar Das gave out, when he came to the feet of his Master.

He gave the digest of all his teachings in one hymn.


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So every Saint has His past, and every sinner a future. There is hope for everybody.

When Guru Amar Das came up to that state, he said, "I was like you some day. I've

now come up with the grace of God." What did the grace of God do? "I was like a

stone under waterunder control of the outgoing faculties, He dragged me up and

manifested Himself to me."

So there is hope for everybody, those who have got the manbody. That is why

manbody is spoken of very highly. Even the angels are asked to bow down to the

manbody. All souls of the rishis of the old, when they returned after enjoying the

higher bliss of the planes, they chose the manbody to enter. You are very fortunate,

you have got the manbody.

So this is the highest time to know God. All other things are reactions of the past,

give and take. The flowing pen of God has united us as a reaction of our past, someas brothers, sisters, wives, husbands or parents. So, a Godman or man-in-God

brings you in closer relation which is already existing. When Christ was told, while

many people were sitting near him, "Your mother had come!", he answered: "Who

is my mother? Those who do the will of my Father, they are to me mother, brother

and sister, they are mine!" This is a true relation in which a Godman unites us, you

see? As man you are all one. As soul we are of the same essence as that of God, we

are all brothers and sisters in God.

We worship the same God called by different names. So it is high time to see Him.

We have got the golden opportunity for it. All who are sitting here have got the

manbody for such a long time twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty years. But have

you reached God? If yes, well and good. If not hurry up! So this is the high time

now.

This is what I found by the parallel study of the scriptures and by sitting at the feet

of the Master just as Guru Amar Das has placed before you. He has passed seventy

years in search of God, and when he got the experience of Him, he showed to

others, "This is the way!"

So I placed this before you. I may thank you for your patient hearing. What I found

I have placed before you. So thank you for your affording this opportunity of

snatching away your time from your busy hours to just have a patient listening to

what I have come to know. So I thank you all for all that.

One thing I have to say, specially for those who have already been initiated. For


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them two things are necessary. First: meditation it is the bread of life and water

of life. No day should pass without taking that food. You are asked to put in as

much time as you can, at least two hours daily. When I went to my Master, I asked

Him how much time I should put in. I was a family man, I had two children, I was

serving also, earning my livelihood. He said: "Put in five to six hours at least, the

more, the better!" You see?

After all, it is us who have to work on it. So at least put in two hours, if more

that's all right. It is helping yourself. Two hours of the twenty four hours are not

much. One tithe is to be given. One tithe of the twenty four hours become two

hours and twenty minutes. You are further given a concession of twenty minutes.

The second thing is to maintain the diary. Hitherto these things were given only

when the people were ready, when the vessel was clean. Now the times have

changed. Who can sit at the feet of the Master for years? So you are givensomething to start with first and you are asked to maintain it by self-introspection,

weeding out all failures in life and also putting in regular time daily.

If you weed out all imperfections from within, and also put in regular time and get

something to start with already, then that experience will develop from day to day.

So for that, self-introspection diary is necessary, so that you may know yourself

who you are, what the failures in your life are, you see? It is just like when we go

to the church, to the priest, when we make confession and pray: "O God, I have

done that, I won't do more!" You see, do it a hundred times a day.

So when you get something to start with, that is always to develop, it is helping

your own self, is it not? "Learn to die so that you may begin to live!" There is no

fear of death, no sting of death to be left. So put in regular time to your bread of

life and water of life. Give water of life to your soul first, then give the bread of life

to the body. And God will help you.


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The inner and outer man

By Sant Kirpal Singh, Sant Bani Ashram, USA, 11 October, 1963

Religions were made by man for his moral and spiritual uplift. These were made for man, and man was

not made for them. The purpose of joining the religion is to know God, which is the highest ideal before

us. Manbody is the golden opportunity that we have got, in which we can know Him, and in no other

body. So all of us who are sitting here are fortunate that we have got the manbody and we have also

joined various religions to achieve that object of life which we have got before us. We have to see now,

how far we have succeeded in achieving the object of life which is before us.

Time does come that we have to leave the body. Body is not permanent, it is made of matter. Matter ismade of elements and atoms, this is a composition of so many things which will decompose some time.

So matter is changing, you see. We are the indweller of the body, the manbody. We are not the body,

but we are the indweller of the body. What are we? We are conscious entities, conscious beings. This

conscious being or our own self, as you might say, is made of one substance only and that is

consciousness. What is made of one substance, naturally that has not to decompose or disintegrate.

This is everlasting, unchangeable. But the body that we are carrying that is changing every moment of

life. It has been said that the very particles of our bones are replaced, are renewed in seven years. So

the whole universe is also made of matter, and matter is changing at the same speed as our body, which

is made of matter, is changing. But God is all consciousness that is made of one substance, and as such

cannot be decomposed or disintegrated

that is everlasting. So God is everlasting, unchangeablepermanence, and similarly, our soul being of the same essence as that of God is also eternal. But the

body that we are carrying is changing.

You will find, all Masters have said the same thing in their own language. Soamiji tells us, "Well, o soul,

thou are the essence of something which is eternal." Similarly in Guru Granth Sahib it is said: "We are

spirit in man. And the spirit is everlasting, why do we fear that we have to die?" So we are also eternal.

Our soul being a conscious entity, its true home is naturally the one which is all consciousness, the true

home of our Father. But it has been environed with mind and matter and outgoing faculties, and

identified with them so much so that we cannot differentiate our self from the body.

The body is changing. We have identified ourselves with the body so that we now think we are

everlasting, but that is a reflection of God within us. We never think of dying. Soul can never die, but it


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has to leave the body some day, you see. Our daily experiences show that our body is working so long as

we are in the body, and we are in the body so long as some controlling power is keeping us in the body.

Manbody is a wonderful house we live in. It has got nine apertures: Two eyes, two ears, two nostrils,

mouth, and the genital organs, but we cannot run away out of it. It is a wonderful house we live in.

Breathing goes out and it is again pushed back into the body, it cannot remain outside. There is some

power controlling it back into the body. That very controlling power is called by different names: God,

and so many names.

So in the manbody we can know God, but first we have to know our own self because it is the soul only

who can know God. Like knows the like. But as I told you we are so much identified with mind, matter

and outgoing faculties that we cannot differentiate our self from the body. We say so many things: "I am

not the body, I am not the intellect, I am not the vital airs (pranas)", but can we analyse ourselves? Wesay, "It is my coat, it is my watch, it is my hat." You can put it off, at will. We also say, "That is my body."

Can we shake it off? But we do see that time does come, when we have to leave the body, and this body

is carried by people to the cremation place or to the grave, according to the customs prevailing in all

religions.

So what is that which is enlivening this body, and that we are? All Masters say that this world is

temporary, not lasting. We are all under a grand delusion, the learned and the unlearned, the old and

the young, the rich and the poor. Why are we under that grand delusion? Because we have not known

ourselves. We are the indweller of the body. Body is made of matter and is changing at the same speed

as the whole world (around us) is changing. As we are identified with the body which is changing, and

the whole world is also changing being made of matter, we think (it is stationary). When two things are

moving at the same speed, those who are identified with them, they say, it is stationary. You may take

two trains that are running, we are sitting in the trains and the trains are going the same way both, at

the same speed,sometimes it does happen. The men sitting in both the trains think: "O, we are sitting

still here," although both trains are running fast. This is the delusion from which we have to come out.

Guru Nanak says: "So long as we do not know ourselves, we are all under grand delusion." How can wecome out of this delusion? Simply, you know, how to leave the trains? The one sitting in one train goes

out, he will be sure, "O, the train is very fast!" This is the delusion in which we all are. That has been the

slogan with all Masters who came in the past. Christ said, "Know thyself!" Guru Nanak also said the

same thing, the Upanishads say, "Know thyself!" Old Greeks also laid down the same thing: "Gnothi

seauton."


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So the purpose why Masters come is to awaken us: "Well, o man, you are identified with the body, and

the outgoing faculties, and the enjoyments so much so that you have forgotten yourself." Manbody is

the highest in all creation in which you can know yourself. How? By coming out of this delusionby self-

analysis, by rising above body-consciousness.

So, how to do? That's the point! We do leave the body some day, all, no exception to the rule, but if we

now know how to leave the body, then this mystery of life is solved. If we know how to leave the body,

we will come to know what is that power which is controlling us in the body. We become conscious co-

worker of the divine plan. All Masters have been saying like that. Maulana Rumi said, "Well, soul, you

are the resident of the true home of your Father which is everlasting, unchangeable permanence. You

are stuck fast in dust and matter. Why don't you awake?" He says further, "It is a shame for you,"he is

using the word 'shame'"being the son of God, being the daughter of God, you see, away from your

home, you are led away by mind and outgoing faculties, long away from Him.

Where you are, just in a foreign country, you forget your home altogether. So think of your home, and

who you are!" And how can we do that? In the scriptures we find, "Be still, and know that you are God!"

We are spirit in man, we are conscious entities but identified with mind, body, and outgoing faculties so

much that we have forgotten ourselves. One saint said that you have committed a heinous crime against

your own self. What is that heinous crime? You are the indweller of the body and you have forgotten

the indweller, your own self!

Now whatever we are doing we are doing at the level of the manbody. If you would ask a small child of

three or four years old, "Who are you?" he opens his eyes, opens his mouth. He is experiencing

something here (behind the forehead). As he grows in years you ask him again, "Who are you?" he says,

"I am Mister Smith, I am Mister Josef, I am an American, I am a French, I am a German, I am an Indian."

He has forgotten who he is. This is the delusion, you see. Forgetfulness or ignorance you might say, from

which we have to come out. You can come out only when you analyse your self from the body.

All Masters who have come, they have been telling us the same thing, of course in their own language

which was prevalent at that. In the scriptures we find: "Lay by thy treasures in heaven!" You see? "Thetreasures laying here will be eaten by moths and rust, and that is a place where no moths and rust can

affect. There is something to store." Again they say, "Unless you lose your own self, you see, you cannot

have everlasting life." We are living a superficial life at the level of manbody and we never dipped inside

to see what we are, who we are. We are pinning ourselves to the outer casings of the walnut not caring

for the kernel within.


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Man has got three aspects: It has the manbody which is made of matter, it has the intellect, and man is

soulembodied soul. So we are fortunate, we have got the manbody. We have made a great progress

physically in having outer possessions. Intellectually we are also making wonderful inventions, but with

all that, whenever we ask anybody, "Well, how are you getting on spiritually?" he even asks"What do

you speak of?" We are living our lives of "eat and drink and be merry", an Epicurean way of life, never

caring for our own self.

There are values of life, some are most important, some are less important, and some are the least

important. So manbody is a gift from God, the highest rung in creation, the golden opportunity that we

have got because in manbody only we can know God. Kabir says, "Maintain it as long as you can. Once it

has passed out of your hands it is very difficult to get a manbody." Old Rishis have tried hard, they lived

up to at least hundred years. Another Master said, "Well, maintain this horse which you are riding on!"

"A strong mind in a strong body." So body must be cared for, it is not to be left alone. But at the same

time we must see that we are not the body, we are the indweller of the body. You will find, "Is not the

body more than the rayment, and the life more than the meat?" Are not the possessions that we have

got less important than our own body? And are we not still more important than our body? If the house

is on fire and you have escaped, you say, "Thank God, I am saved!" So body is more valuable than the

possessions. If any accident happensyou might pray for, God forbid! we say, "Thank God, I am

saved!" Our own life is more valuable than the body. But how are we behaving? Whole the time,

twenty-four hours of the day and night we are caring for having possessions outside or maintaining our

body only. Never we care a fig for our own self. Who will tell us we are wise, you see?

So you are the most valuable treasure in this manbody. God has kept it, shut up in different boxes, youmight say. Any valuable diamond, I think, you keep it in one casket, then in a second, then in a third one.

Similarly, God has kept the form of Christ within usour own self, and that controlling power which is

controlling us in the body. First is the iron casket, this physical body. Within that there is the astral body,

still further we have got the causal body. So these are the three caskets, and being most valuable we are

just kept inside. We have to shake off these to know our own self.

Prophet Mohammed says, "God says, I am the treasure hidden within you." You are God in man, you

are spirit in man. When we are able to shake off these caskets, you know: "Father is in me and I am in

the FatherI and my Father are one.""Son is dyed in the colour of the Father, Father speaks through

the son." This you will have experienced, but when? When you shake off this body. So macrocosm is in

the microcosm of the manbody. We have to solve this mystery of life: what we are, who we are.


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We have got certain values of life, we are advanced wonderfully physically, intellectually. But we have

done little or nothing about our own self. With all these advancements physically, we have just found

out so many systems, how to maintain the body, how it works, how it goes out of order, how it can be

set right again. We have got so many systems, the oldest is the Ayurveda system, then comes the Unani

system, then comes Allopathy, then Homeopathy, Naturalpathy, and many others, these are only to

maintain your body.

Intellectually we are advanced wonderfully. We can hear the voices from thousands of miles through

radios. We can now also hear and see who is speaking through television. The world has become small

on account of the planes. In hours we can traverse from one end to the other end of the world. We can

also go round the world in some hours. Wonderful! Now (1963) we are trying to reach the moon! But

with all these advancements, are we happy? No! Every man is unhappy. Guru Nanak says, "Whole the

world is unhappy." Kabir says, "I have not seen one man who is happy after coming into the manbody."

And Tulsi says, "All are unhappy, either physically, financially or mentally." So is there any hope for a

man becoming happy? We are all after happiness, is it not? We are earning money, we are having

possessions, we are having buildings, we marry, we have children, only for what? For the sake of

happiness! But we do not find happiness, still it is there. Real happiness is within you. So with all these

advancements we have not been able to be happy. The reason is, the third side, our own self, the

spiritual side is uncared for. If we say certain prayers, read certain scriptures or perform one way or the

other rites and rituals, these are good actions. Reading scriptures, advancing intellectually is only a diet

or a food to your brain, to the intellect. And from the physical food you give to the body, you become

physically and intellectually strong. What have you given to your own soul? There is a bread of life and

water of life. If we can have that, we can also become spiritually strong.

From where can we have that bread of life? Tulsi says, "Well, you should sit at the feet of a Master, so

you can become happy. You will have the bread of life and the water of life. I hope you remember Jesus

Christ when he went to a well, there was one Samaritan lady who had a pitcher full of water on her

head. He asked her to give him some water to drink. But she said, "Well, strange enough, we are

Samaritans. You people (the Jews) have nothing to do with Samaritans, why you ask me for water?" He

said, had she known who he was who asked her for water, she would have given it to him. Then he told

her, "Well, this water that you are carrying that only stills your thirst for a while. Again you thirst, again

and again. But had you come to me, I would have given you the living water of life which would have

finished your thirst forever." Then again he said, "I am the bread of life. I am the bread of life and this

bread of life has come from heaven. Whoever eats me and drinks me has everlasting life." (Joh. 6,48 -

58) So a Masteryou may say, at the human pole God is speaking, who is the mouthpiece of Godhe

can give you the bread of life and the water of life. And what is that bread of life or water of life? You

will find (in the Gospel of Saint John), "Word was made flesh and dwelled amongst us." And what is the

Word? God is wordless. Absolute God that has not come into being as yet. When it came into being, into

expression, into action, that God-in-action-Power is called Word, Naam or Shabd. That is the cause of all


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creation. "In the beginning was the Word, Word was with God, and Word was God. The whole creation

came up after the Word." And where is that Word? "Thy Word is settled in heaven." This Word is the

bread of life which has come from heaven, you see. Where it has manifested, materialized in some

human pole (Master), he can contact your soul and withdraw it from the mind and matter and give that

bread of life to you. So you can be happy only if you have the bread of life and the water of life. I am

quoting to you these things from the Bible because you people are more conversant with the Bible (than

with other scriptures). Exactly the same words we find in the sayings of other scriptures, tooin their

own language, of course.

So unless or until we have got spiritual progress, and have got the food of life, the bread of life, we are

not happy. We have made so many inventions, and we are now in danger of atomic war. Thank God,

that by His pity it has been shunned by now, you see. But still our own intellect has gone against us. Had

we known our self first, well, all these things would have gone to help the humanity. Because we have

known little or nothing about our own self, these very things are now hovering around us. Any moment

it (such a war) starts, the world will end.

In a manbody only we can have this bread of life. Who can give you this bread of life? Who is Word-

made-flesh. It is the God-in-man, God-in-action, manifested in man which can give you a contact with

God, the Word, you see. For this purpose we have joined various religions. These are the basic teachings

given by all Masters whenever they came. Those who met them, they had the bread of life and the

water of life. How could they have it? By rising above body-consciousness, by analysing oneself from

mind, body, and outgoing faculties. It is a matter of pure self-analysis.

Religion truly means: "re" means back (in Latin), "ligio" comes from the root "ligare"to bind. "To bind

back our souls to God again"; this is what is meant by "religion". One is the social side of religions. They

have got their own customs, their own rituals, rites, and their own modes of prayer. These are all good

actions. They lay down that we should read scriptures of our own. Well, what are scriptures? They are

fine records of the findings, of the experiences of the Masters who came in the past, that they had with

God and in knowing themselves, what things stood in the way, what were the helping factors. So this is a

fine record of all that. You might say, past Masters (are) speaking through books. That creates in us an

interest to have the same experiences that they had in their lives. And unless we have got the same

experience, we cannot be fully satisfied. That creates an awakening in us, a desire or a craving in us to

know God. They can create an interest, but cannot take us to have these ... experiences that they had.

Saying prayers and performing certain rites and rituals, they are good actions, they develop in us love

and devotion for God. They are good actions, they are for the preparation of the ground.


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Kabir says, "Well, it is a pity, that manbody we have got, the highest in all creation, the golden

opportunity we have got (but we do not use it)." He said, "O soul awake! If you do not awake now in the

manbody, when will you awake?" Old Vedas say the same thing: "Awake, arise and stop not until the

goal is reached!" The very words they are using! Rishis used the same words thousands of years back

and Kabir only five hundred years back, you see. The same words were expressed by Guru Arjan Dev. He

says, "Awake, stand up; awake, stand up, you are on the way back to God. Why you delay?" So what is

this awakening? We are asleep. Where? At the level of the manbody and the outgoing faculties by

identifying ourselves with that so much so that we are awake outside and asleep within. And that

controlling power which is keeping us in the body we don't know. He is also within us. Guru Arjan says,

"Two brothers are living in the same house, but alas! The brother does not talk with the other brother."

And who are they? Our soul and Oversoul above. He is the controlling power keeping us in the body.

Another Saint says, "Soul and OversoulGodare asleep in the same bed. But the soul is just identified

with the outgoing faculties, enjoyments so much so that she is awake outside but asleep within. And

God is waiting for her when she opens her eyes." God is anxious to have us. But we are quite ignorant

about it. Child is playing outside in dust with the children like anything and mother is waiting for the

child to come back and to have the food. It is something like that, you see. That is why Masters say, "Be

like little children, for the Kingdom of God is for the children." Children have love for all. If the child of a

king and the child of a man going by in the street, if they both are let alone, they will embrace each

other, they will love each other and enjoy themselves. There is no duality, no question of high or low, no

distinction. And we people? We are rich, we are more learned, we are higher, the others are lower. So

this is what is meant by "we should be (like) a child", you see.

I mean to say that the ultimate goal before us is to know God. For that purpose we have joined various

schools or colleges of religions. We have to see whether we have attained that object or not. In allreligions Masters have come, you see. By a parallel study of religions you will find that all said the same

thing, of course in their own language which was prevalent at the time. So to say that one religion has

only the reserved right to know God, actually history does not prove it. Well, they say the same thing,

that you should have respect for all men! And what are the Masters? They are speakingit is God

speaking through them. "I and my Father are one." So they have known the truth, that Godpower is

working through a manbody. Well, he who knows the truth, can let others know the truth. "Son knows

the Father and others whom the son reveals." Tulsi said, "If you want to be happy, then sit at the feet of

a Master."

What is He (the Master)? He is a man like you, having the same two eyes, two ears, two hands, two

feet, born the same way, inner construction of the body is the same. But there is a vast difference

between Him and an average man: (Unlike Him) our souls are under the control of mind, mind is under

the control of the outgoing faculties, and the outgoing faculties are drawn by enjoyments outside. We

are not at our will and pleasure, we are not free, we are dragged like anything. Guru Arjan refers to an

instance: Suppose there is a house, and there is a houselady there. And she has got some maid servants,


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four or five. And no maid servant obeys her orders. What will be the state of the house, if nobody is

caring for the houselady, what she says? So the first thing is that those servants given to us, they must

obey our orders. We should not be dragged down by them, but they should be under our control. We

are the indweller of the housethe houselady, you see. There are five servants given to us: these

outgoing faculties. There are five conscious outgoing faculties working through the gross outgoing

faculties: Sight through the eyes, audition through the ears, smell through the nose, taste through the

tongue and touch through the skin. These five servants have been dragging us outside, every moment of

life. Sometimes you feelwe don't like to do something but we are drawn like anything to these

outgoing faculties. So we must control these servants first. You must see, but at the same time with your

eyes remaining open you should not see (if you do not want to see). Have control over your sight! You

have got open ears, but you must have control over your ears! Even while sitting in multitudes you

should not hear....

You know what is that will? Attention is the outward expression of our soul, you see. So from attention

these outgoing faculties work. You must have got this experience from from day to day life: Sometimes

you are sitting in some very absorbed state of attention, fully riveted in some thought. Somebody calls

you, but you do not hear, although your ears are open. Sometimes your eyes are open, but you don't

see. (It is said that) Newton was sitting by a roadside solving certain mathematical problems. He was

absorbed in that so much that when a playing band went by him (he did not hear anything). Later on

somebody came up and inquired, "Well, Newton, has there a band passed by?""No, I don't know." In

daily life you find something that when you are very much absorbed, and somebody calls you, you don't

hear, although your ears are open. Similarly, somebody comes and sits by youcomes and goes away,

you are so much riveted that you do not know who came and who went away. What is that? That is our

attention, the expression of our soul which is riveted, controlled, that other outgoing faculties even donot work.

So first thing is to have control over our outgoing faculties. That you control with one thing: your

attention. If you can control your attention on some certain subject in a certain disciplined way, what

will happen in that case? Your outgoing faculties, these servants won't drag you away. Now we are

letting our eyes pass, see a beautiful scenery, and something will drag you like anything. You have

become aware of the habit of going somewhere for seeing some sceneries, some cinema or anything.

Actually you don't want to go, but your legs go that way. Habit becomes nature. So this is the natural

way. We must have control over these senses, then only we will be able to withdraw from outside

within, to find God.

Where is God? We seek Him in the scriptures. In scriptures there are given the experiences of the past

Masters who found God. Where? They say, "Tap inside. He is the very soul of your soul. You are residing

in the body and that very controlling power is also residing within you." Wherever a thing isif you


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would like to find it, you will have to go there where it is. So the nearest approach of God is within us.

He is the Power direct controlling us in the body. When can we invert to see Him? We must withdraw

from outside! And to withdraw from outside we must be able to concentrate our attention in a certain

way to have it under control. You see? This is one thing. If you come from the burning sun and enter a

vestibule of a building, you feel refreshed. Of course you feel refreshed, but that is not sufficient. You

have to rise above the senses. There you find God. First you have to withdraw from outside. For that the

best way, and the easiest and the natural way, the God-made way is the controlling of your attention,

withdrawing from outside. But you cannot withdraw from outside. It is a difficult thing. I will give you an

example. A child is shut up in a dark room. What will he do? He will break the doors and cry. But if the

child finds something very interesting, very attractive, very fascinating within, he will keep quiet.

With our mind it is similar. Why does it not stay inside, but goes away outside? Because in the outside

things he seeks some pleasures. The outside pleasures can be divided into two things: one, good

scenery, beauty; the other, very enchanting or fascinating sounds, singing, voice. Outward these are the

main things that attract our attention always outside and we are having these from day to day. That day

to day practice has formed a habit in us, and habit has beenjust formed into nature in our daily life.

This habit we have to unravel. We can only unravel it, if we find something more fascinating, more

enchanting, more tasty within us. And God does provide it, that thing is also within you. And what is

that? God is Word, which is the controlling Power of your soul within the body. That Word, God-in-

action-Power, has two aspects: God is light and God is the sweet symphony of sound.

So when you withdraw from outside and see the light of God which is already within you, and hear the

voice of God which is very enchanting, you see, when you have that taste or bliss inside, naturally youwill leave all outside. It is something like that: there are two glasses of water and in one glass you put an

ounce or half an ounce of sugar. In the other glass you may put in four or five ounces of sugar. If you

taste the first glass, that will appear sweet to you, you won't like to leave it. But if you once had a drop

from the other glass, and then you taste the first one, you won't relish it. It is not the mind to blame, I

would say, we have given him such-like things, beyond that mind does not know any other higher

sweetness.

When you meet a Master, he is competent to help you to withdraw from outside; He is competent to

raise your soul above the senses. He can drag you up out of this iron curtain of the manbody, open the

inner eye, so that you see the light of God which is most enchanting, most beautiful. He also opens the

inner ear to hear that voice of God, the symphony of the spheres, the music of the spheres. They are

most enchanting and beautifulall glory and beauty lies within you. Astral plane is more beautiful than

the physical plane. Causal plane is still more beautiful than the astral one. When you transcend all these,

there is the most beautiful and enchanting. Tulsi, a great Saint of the East, tells us that when he reached

the third plane, Brahmand, he said, "Very beautiful plane it is." Further he said, "When I transcended the


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Brahmand or the third plane, I thought, 'Oh well, Brahmand or the third plane was a filthy washing

room."'

So these things you are tasting inside. When Masters speak of the most enchanting things inside, we

don't believe it. Christ said, "Well look here, you don't believe what I say on outside things, how would

you believe if I speak of the heavens?" You see? This is something lying within you. The light of God and

the Word of God, the voice of God. You have got references in the scriptures. "If you shut the doors of

the temple of the body you will see the light of heaven.""If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall

be full of light." Others also say, "When your outgoing faculties are inverted, the light is there." You have

not to create it, visualize it or premeditate it, it is a matter of pure inversion, tapping inside, as Emerson

puts it, to peep inside, and then rise above sensesyou will find the same.

You find in the outer holy places of worship that we have got with us, that they are made after themodel of man. Hindu temples are all dome-shaped like head. There you find the symbols of light and

sound: a bell is ringing and the light is there. Go to the churches: they are cross-shaped or nose-shaped

(in the ground-plan).Therein you find a candle burning, light of a candle and bells ringing. When they say

prayers in the Hindu temple, they light a candle and ring the bell. So these are models (of the manbody)

placed before us to let us know that such like light and such like sound principle is reverberating within

you. You will find it when you tap inside, invert, go within. He, whom we have to find, He is already

within you, the very controlling Power of your soul in the body. "O ignorant man, why have you been

seeking amiss? Why not seek Him there where He is? The nearest approach to you." When your inner

eye opens, you see where you are.

If you meet a Master, He gives you this experience how to tap inside, how to withdraw from outside,

enter within the laboratory of the manbody. He gives you an illustrative experience, and you testify that

it is so. When do you find it? When you are given that first sitting (at initiation). Before that, we are

blind. Who is a blind man? Masters define it, "Those who have no eyes on the forehead, they are not

considered blind. Blind are they, who have eyes on the outside body, but the inner eye is closed." When

Masters comeyou will find in the history of all Masters they used to give "eyes". Well, these are the

"eyes" they used to give.

Before going to them, you were blind, not seeing that light of God. Your eyes were sealed. He breaks

the seals and you begin to see light. When you return, you are an "eyed" man, you see. When you close

your eyes now, you see darkness within. And after that initiation, whenever you sit, you find light within,

it is a vast difference, or not?


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When you come to Him, you are deaf. He breaks the seals upon your ears, and you begin to hear the

sweet symphonies of the spheres. How blessed it is to have a living Master who is competent to give you

this experience to start with! Mind that, Masters don't give you false promises of seeing after death!

Who knows you will see it or not, have it or not? They want to give us something practicalcash, not

credit! They say, "Well, while alive you are a learned man, even after leaving the body, you will be

learned." If while alive you are quite ignorant, an unlearned man, by leaving the body you cannot

become a learned man.

You are here in this room. If you go out of the room, you are the same as you are inside. So to have the

experience in life (is a must). "A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush!" So Masters give you a

cash, you see, something to have an experience in life. They even say, "Don't believe in the sayings of

the Masters! Don't believe in the scriptures, too." You may take it up as an experimental measure but

you cannot be convinced until you have the same experience yourself. This is what the Masters do. As a

doctor is also a man but has developed that way by anatomy knowing how this system of the body

works, similarly the man who has risen above body-consciousness sees the light of God and hears the

voice of God. He appears to be a man like you, but He has the competency. When He wants He rises

above body-consciousness, and traverses into the beyond. If anybody comes to Him, the God in Him

He is God in man and man in God the God in Him helps others also to have the same experience. To

solve the mystery of life, you are required to sit at the feet of somebody who has solved the mystery of

life. To know God, naturally, you require the company of somebody who knows God. To speak of God is

something else, to know God is something else. To speak of richness is something else and to be rich is

something else. To speak of the laws of health is something else, and to be healthy is something else.

Whenever the Masters have come from time to time, they have given these very things, very practical

things. "Son knows the Father and others whom the son reveals." The teacher of a man has to be a man,

you see. When a child is born, mother is his teacher, his brothers are teachers. When he goes to school

to learn something, some teachers are there. They are also man. When you have to develop in any way,

any subject you want to take up, you naturally want somebody who is expert in that line. In all outward

knowledges we are dependent on the outgoing faculties. Those who want to know God, who is beyond

all senses, who is unfathomable, undefinable, whom you cannot bring in the scope of your intellect, for

that don't you need anybody who can help you there? Decide in your heart of hearts! We do need

somebody to have that experience, who has the competency to raise you up for a while, open your

inner eye. You begin to see the light and you bear testimony to it, then and there

may it be little or

more according to each man's past experience.

Man is in the make. So that is why Christ said to his disciples, "Blessed are you because you see things

that the old prophets and righteous men could not see with all their efforts. You hear things that the old

prophets and the righteous men could not hear." Then he told them, "What you are told in secret, you


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will go and speak on the house tops!" And you have found the truth. Solve the mystery of life to attract

(to it also) the attention of those who are seeking after God.

We are fortunate to have the manbody. We have joined various schools of thought for that very

purpose (to know God). Now we have to know whether we have reached these things what I have given

you in a direct form of what all the Masters said and gave to who ever came to them for that purpose. If

you got it, you are fortunate. If not, pleaseyou have taken the first steps. You need not change your

religion, you see, remain where you are, these teachings are there already existing. Truth is one. All

Masters who came gave the same truth. Now you need somebody who can be a step further. You are

reading the scripturesgood. But even to understand the right import of the scriptures you need

somebody who has been on the way, because Masters gave out what they saw. If we are now going to

interpret those scriptures at the level of intellect, we cannot prove justice to the work. When you have

found somebody who has seen the way, the same experience he has had in life, he will give you the

right import of this thing, you see.

Suppose you say, "This is a watch", by saying the word 'watch' I mean this watch only, not a dog or a

house or an elephant or a building. Intellectuals give different versions of the same thing. If you like to

have the right import of the scriptures, you must have somebody who has been on the way. Performing

certain rites and ritualsthat is for developing love and devotion in you. That is the first step. They are

good actions. You have taken the first step, now take the other step, just to rise above body-

consciousness. "Learn to die so that you may begin to live!" You will say, "How can we die?" Saint Paul

said, "I die daily." Guru Nanak said, "Learn to die a hundred times daily", you see. Mohammedan saints

say the same things, and also all others. It is a practical subject to be reborn into the beyond, you see.They say, "Open the inner eye which sees the light which is already there."

So I am here not to advocate any new religion to you. Remain where you are. Be true Christians! What

has Christ said? "Open the inner eye and see the light of God within you." Who sees the light of God, he

is a true Christian. But if he had not seen the light of God, then? We joined that school, of course, but

we have not yet become true Christians. Similarly, a Sikh is one who sees the light of God. You may have

the outer forms (of your religion), that is the first step. To belong, to live in some religion is a blessing,

but we must rise above. If we do not live in any religion, there will be corruption or either we have to

raise a new religion. Why don't you stay in the religions which have stood the test of times? If there is

any thing corrupt, you see, just leave it aside and follow the true teachings what the Masters gave from

time to time. As I told you, I have not come to advocate a new religion. Remain where you are! This is

the truth that has been given by all Masters. Just try to meet somebody who knows the way. You want a

teacher in each line, you see, whatever subject we have to take. Let us sit at His feet (at the feet of a

Master). He is your true friend, your true brother, and He is competent to give you some experience. All


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credit goes to Him (God), no son of man can do it. But the God, who is manifest in Him, He is competent

to raise you up and give you an experience of your own self.

They wanted me to speak something, what little I know, to the best, I have given you the digest of the

same in few words. These words are for your calm consideration. If you have got true hankering,

hunger, thirst for God, it is God alone who has to make the arrangements. He will bring you in contact

somewhere where you can be put on the way. Whenever Masters come, they see from the level of the

manbody or level of the embodied soul, not from the level of the outer badges or different religions that

we are carrying. That is why His first work is to unite all children of God togethernot to blend their

religions into one, but to let them remain where they are. Simply rise above body-consciousness to

come to the truth. The Master has the competency to raise you up and have the experience within to

start with.

What is true living?

Talk given by Sant Kirpal Singh, December 11, 1963 in Bace's Hall, Hollywood, California

I have been addressing you as friends, but now I see that we have realized that we are all brothers and

sisters in God: we are all children of Light. Most of us here have been able to have a glimpse of the Light

of God which is controlling all the universe. Truth is one. Whoever realized the Truth, or became the

mouthpiece of the Truth, always gave out the same thing: in the human body that we havewhich is

considered to be the highest in all creationthe highest aim is to know the Truth. You can have the

experience of Truth when you rise above body consciousness and come in contact with it. That Truth is

clothed in Light. There is Music of all harmonies emanating from the Truth. Those are fortunate who

have had the good fortune to have a contact with It. That seed has been sown: it will bear forth fruit.

The only thing that remains is that we live up to that Truth.

Our Master (Baba Sawan Singh Ji) used to say, "If you take some laxative pills, whether you take them by

error or knowingly, they will give you motions." Similarly, whatever experience of Truth has been given

you, if you live by it, knowingly or unknowingly, or by compulsion even, you will have the effect. The


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only thing is that we should take it up and live up to it; and from day to day we will progress; and one

day we will find the True Home of our Father.

God-into-expression has two aspects: Light and SoundMusic of the Spheres and Light. To come up to

them, we require love. Also, Truth is above all, but true living is still above Truth. Our true living will

safeguard us from losing the Truth that we have got. And what is true living? Masters have been giving

this out in their own way from time to time.

The first thing is, we should observe truthfulness. What we mean we should say; whatever we say, we

must mean. Our hearts and tongues and brains should all agree with what we give vent to. This is what

is called truth or truthfulness.

You will simply find that we have no control over the words of our mouth that go to express what lies in

the heart of our hearts. The two things should agree: what is in your heart and what you are giving out

with your tongue. If these two agree then there is one thing to test the usefulness of the truth you are

telling; that is, if your truth goes to harm anyone. Say only that much that is required so as not to harm

anybody else. Don't do the work of the unpaid apprentices of the C.I.D. of God. Don't carry tales. If

somebody tells you some thing, mind your own business. What are you after, really? You are really after

knowing God and adopting certain ways which go to help you on the way. If you see something wrong

somewhere, just point it out to the person privatelyheart to heart; don't broadcast it like anything. A

true friend is one who sees others to be on the right path. But there are ways and ways to say

something. In the case of Father Abraham

I read his life story, and it was given there

he never spoke

lies, but told half-truths. By a half-truth is meant only that part of the truth which does not go to harm

anyone. This is one very important thing. If your heart and tongue and brain agree, your brain will test

what you are going to say. Your intellect is to test whether what you express goes to the benefit of

others or to harm others. If it is going to harm others, then don't speak. Then wait. Better set it right

then and there.

As I told you before, don't work like the unpaid apprentices of the C.I.D. of God. It creates much trouble,

first within your own hearts; because you have those things, which you don't need, in your own way.Those things go to stand in your own way, in the way of your own progress. The first thing is, we must

be true to our own selves: what we think at heart we must give out. But before giving it out, think twice:

What are you going to say? What will be the result of it? There you will use your intellect. And the only

criterion is, not to give out anything that goes to harm others. This is the first thing.


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Next comes humility. Water stays in a place which is low. it may be raining cats and dogs, in torrents;

but the water will not stay on a steep place. It means that all good resides in a heart which is lowly, in

those who are meek. St. Augustine was asked, "What is the way back to God?" And he said, "First,

humility; second, humility; and third, humility."

When you are humble you learn something. When you know you know everything, you are naturally

stuck fast in your own self-assumed ignorance, which may be taken as truth; but it may be wrong. You

have taken up something, and that is good. If you hear that there is someone else who knows better, go

to him, and hear him. Whatever you know, you know already. If you only hear from him what you

already have in your mind, it will be confirmed. But if he has anything more to say, you can grasp it. You

will find that many people do not have more of the truth, because in their own egotism, they consider

that they are right; and that may be wrong. Only when he is humble can a man go to somebody. And if

you go to somebody, then listen to what he says. What he knows he knows. Sometimes you simply say,

"Oh, we know this already; this is no new thing." Just listen; he might have something new to say. If a

glass is put under a tumbler of water, it will be filled. If the glass is kept above the tumbler of water, it

won't

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