The Master’s Words

Who of us is qualified to unveil divine truth? The fact is that truth in its highest sense is beyond words, beyond the intellect. No matter how sincere we may be, ordinary human beings lack the words or the wisdom to explain it. Even the Masters are sometimes unable to reduce their sublime experiences into words. But because they have travelled to the highest regions and have experienced this truth for themselves, at least they are better able to tell us something about it.

Let’s remind ourselves about the simplicity of the divine truth as taught by a Master in his own words. Let us look at some of the words of Baba Jaimal Singh who explained this truth to his disciple and eventual successor, Babu Sawan Singh, in a series of letters, translated and published in the book Spiritual Letters. The letters of Baba Ji Maharaj, which have recently been translated into English, reflect the simplicity of the truth as taught directly by a Master.

The opening words of the introduction to Spiritual Letters are from a letter by Maharaj Sawan Singh (also in English translation), who succeeded Baba Ji as Master:

Radha Soami is not the name of a religion. It is the name of the Creator of the universe.

In the same introduction the Great Master refers to contact with the creative power or Shabd, and quotes Guru Nanak’s words in the Adi Granth: “It is seeing without eyes, hearing without ears, walking without feet, working without hands and dying a living death after recognizing the sound current.” He further explains:

This means that this reality cannot be seen with these material eyes. It cannot be heard with these material ears. It cannot be explained with this physical tongue. It cannot be described.

If we sincerely believe these words of a Master, we understand that everything said, written or explained about this path cannot be fully grasped with our human faculties. It has to be experienced.

Truth, by definition, is something that is unchanging. What is true today will be true tomorrow and always. Something that changes cannot be described as absolute truth. Therefore, because all things we perceive on this material plane are constantly changing, they cannot be truth. Truth is more than what we perceive; and it is not dependent on whether we believe it or not.

In Letter 24 in Spiritual Letters, Baba Jaimal Singh has this to say about Shabd, the divine creative power, and about the Satguru:

Try to listen to the Shabd-dhun every day, because whatever is happening is being done by the current of the Shabd. Satguru is the creator of all: he will give that which he thinks to be good. If our benefit lies in pleasure, he will send us pleasure; if it lies in pain, he will send us pain. So look upon pain and pleasure as the same.

The Master says that one should not be perturbed by the happenings of each day; we should not be affected by life. One should never become disheartened, because everything is God’s work. Whether one has money or lives in poverty, experiences health or sickness, happiness or sadness, it is not of oneself – it is of God.

So how can we live here on earth and not be affected by everything that happens to us or around us? We can do this only if we leave it all to God. That means to contemplate on him and listen for his Sound and keep our attention on him.

In Letter 108 Baba Jaimal Singh writes:

Do your bhajan and simran every day. Day and night, the surat and nirat [the hearing and seeing faculties of the soul] and the higher mind should keep yearning to hear the Shabd-dhun within. By all means, carry on with your worldly work, my son, but your inner longing should always be for the Shabd-dhun.

Repeatedly, almost in every letter, Master Baba Jaimal Singh urges his disciple to search for the Sound of God inside continuously. He says we have to do our worldly duties, but they should not take priority over this one essence, to keep the Shabd-dhun in our minds at all times.

We as human beings have a tendency to form groups with other individuals who think as we do. We form religions and movements, we build mosques, churches and synagogues, sometimes creating duality by thinking in terms of ‘us’ and ‘them’. The Master tells us that essentially we are all the same, that God is the Truth within us, and that we must look for him there, not in outward practices. Masters give us a method which they say guarantees success in our endeavours to go back to God. We have to still the mind, in order to make us purer in our efforts to merge into the Creator. And the Masters say we should not just believe it; if we follow their teachings, we can prove it for ourselves as the real truth. We have to meditate by using the method of repetition and contemplation, simran and bhajan.

In other letters Baba Jaimal Singh writes to his disciple and reassures him on worldly matters. He writes about building plans and wells, his employment, his travels, his state of mind, his health and many other matters that occur in life. He sends regards from family and dear acquaintances. But in almost every letter he addresses the central thread that runs through the whole book – do your meditation every day.

To conclude, in Letter 144 Baba Ji writes these reassuring words:

So have no fear. Remain dauntless in your heart – nothing can happen without his command. Whatever has to happen has already happened. We are going to do only that which has already been done – the true Lord, Radha Soami Ji, is doing it. Continue to work fearlessly; the compassionate Guru is always your protector. Since we have been granted the true wealth, why should we care about the false one? Rather, the mind is not to be attached to the unreal. Whenever you are free, listen to the Shabd-dhun by fixing the mind and soul in it.

Is there really very much more that needs to be said?

The greatest miracle of the mystics is that they change the very attitude of our life, the way of our life. They turn everything upside down in our life. That is the greatest miracle the saints come to perform in our lives.
_{Legacy of Love}