by Peter Holleran copyright 2023
NOTE: This series of articles is in the process of being made into a book. It is still in the process of revision, and much new material is being added, so please check back in a few months to see the final version. However, already a great deal of new material has been added and I wanted to get this available right now for viewing. A number of articles from this website have been spliced into it, so please be patient with the footnoting which has not been reorganized into one set of end notes.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part One - A “Technical” Overview
The Map - Part One
Sant Mat and Gyan
The Map - Part Two
The Great Causal Body - Vedanta versus Sant Mat
Bhanwar Gupha, or the ‘Rotating Cave’ - Sri Siddharameshwar
and Faqir Chand
Belief and Investigation
Differing Initiation Promises among Lineages
The Master’s Form and the Nature of Visions
The Astral Duplicate or “Clone” Teaching
Just ‘Who’ is the Master?
Faqir Chand - more on his radical views
Perspective from Orthodox Christianity, Taoism, Vedanta, and
philosophic teachings
A ‘gyanic interpretation of Sant Mat?
Sant Darshan Singh praises great Vedantic sage, Samartha Ram Das,
as a Sant
Ishwar Puri to the Rescue
The Interior Word and "Talking to the Master Inside"
A summary of internet posts on Faqir Chand
This Is New And Interesting: Everything happens within Sach Khand!
More on mysticism from Aurobindo, Faqir, Brunton,
anadi, and others
Sant Mat and Kriya Yoga compared
“KUNDALINI: UP, DOWN, OR ?” - an extensive discussion of Kundalini,
Shakti, Prana, and Shabd from Advaitic, Yogic, Sant Mat, Sufi,
Christian, and Philosophic perspectives; Unrecognized Kundalini
manifestations
The Waking State: Its Importance for Realization, Clearing Karmas,
and Sahaja
“I heard the Big Bell, but it wasn’t where I wanted to go”
The death of Ramana’s mother and more on inner sounds;
the time of death; salvation after death
More on the Waking State: Jivan Mukti versus Videha Mukti
Why Sooner or Later Masters Say Everything
Pralaya and Maha Pralaya
Maha Sunn and the Void:
Charan Singh versus Ramana;
Views of other Sages
A Missing Key to Sant Mat?
Faith, Reason, and Stories
“SCARE TACTICS”
Part Two - A Non-Dual Exploration
The Spiritual Need for Precise Articulation and Deep Thinking
The Nature of Planes and Bodies
Atman, Brahman, Sach Khand, Anami
More Depths on Planes, Bodies, and Non-Dualism
Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, Nirmanakaya: the Grandeur of a Master
The Advantage of the Non-Dual View
Shabda as the Creator: A Non-Dual Perspective;
Shabda not Creator but a “Liberating Presence within Relativity”
A Buddhist Creation Story
Some Teachings of Buddha and Christ Compared
Creationism Unmasked
Non-Dual Relief from Within Sant Mat!
What is the Sat Purush? - Eternal, Universal Guru
A few points on Simran, Spiritual Intuition, and Hierarchies
of Inner Masters
“It’s All Too Much for Me to Take” - Mind-Bending Thoughts on Holarchy,
Hierarchy, Time, Space, Relativity; the story of Lila
“IF THERE’S A HELL BELOW, WE’RE ALL GONNA GO”
Multiple Emanations/Simultaneous Incarnations and their meaning
for notions of “Creation”
Sant Mat and Buddhism
Shabd Yoga as a Jnana Path
Thoughts on Dissolution and Grand Dissolution in Sant Mat
Beyond and Beyond the Beyond
After Death: What Happens? - Integral Realization and a Non-Dual View
Part Three - Self-Knowledge, Progress, and the Ordeal of Purification
A Fresh Look at Self-Introspection
When It May Not Look Like Progress But It Is;
Paradoxical and Unrecognized Progress;
Different Forms and Stages of Progress
A Note on "Perfect Masters" and "Perfecting" Oneself
The Self You Didn’t Want to Realize
An Astrological Model of Transformation
The Promised Land and the Desert to be Crossed on the way to It
are both Within Us
Non-Dual Awakening does not bypass purification but makes it possible
”SCRUBBING” - a Deeper Walk With the Lord
“Zen Illness”
The Nuts and Bolts of the Non-Dual View From The Heart's Gaze
On ‘Stories’ and Suffering
The “Besetting Sin” or “Chief Feature” - a potential roadblock to
successful Self-Inquiry and a key finding in self-introspection
Some related considerations about the ‘I’-thought, the ego, advaita
and the Soul
Self-Introspection 2.0
The Value of Contemplation and Study as a Complement to Meditation
Journalling and Self-Introspection: Cultivating Two Sides of Our Nature
On the Subject of Judgementalness
A Comparative Look at Judgement and the Body in Different Paths
“TWO SPRITES - HURRY AND WORRY”
Cultic Speech, Behavior, and Mind-Set: An Essential Consideration
A Few Juicy Stories and Comments on the Nature of Visions
Things of True Importance from Ryokan the Great Fool
and Father Maximos
Moving Towards An Emergent Global Spirituality
Optional Considerations Regarding Diet and Ethics
Part Four - Philosophical Issues
Samadhi versus Satori
The Concept of Perfect Masters, or perfection Itself for that matter
Is the Saint or Master Omniscient?
One final note on Omniscience
The Power of a Lineage
Are Masters “above the stars”?
What does Self-realization and God-realization mean in Sant Mat?
Degrees of Mastership; brief remarks on karmas
Where are the Inner realms?
“Seeing” in Sach Khand
A Debate on “Merging” - Adyashanti versus Darshan Singh;
also commentary on Anami, Amrita Nadi, Soul, and Self
Kal - psychological, allegorical, philosophical perspectives.
Is Kal the Demiurge or not?
What is he and what does he represent?
Kal and Fear
Kal and the Sant Mat conception of Avatars
Lineage ego
Kal, Karmas, and Non-Dualism
Kal: a few additional theological considerations
“RESIST YE NOT EVIL”
Two Metaphors for the Path to Truth
A Note on Short and Long Path Practices
Passing from Objectivity to Subjectivity
Do Buddhists only go to the third plane?
Sleep
The Sacrifice of the Sage or Master
“MASTERS DIE MANY TIMES”
More on the importance of human birth and the waking state
for realization of truth.
Eradication of Karmas in Sant Mat: an introduction
“KARMA AND GRACE' - a lengthy exploration
Jnana Chaksu and Divya Chaksu: Two Different “Third-Eyes”
Some differences between Yoga and Vedanta
Siddhis
A proposed model for comparing/classifying different teachings
and schools
A Summary of Non-Dualism as the Heart of any Authentic
Spiritual Teaching
Re-Cap: Sant Mat as a Non-Dual Path
Marked Souls and the “Fall”
The Map of Consciousness (0-1000); Self-Inquiry, Radical Faith,
Self-Surrender, The Absolute
Metaphors
Concluding Thoughts
APPENDIX 1 - “The Death of a Dream and a Gift of Truth” - the author’s experience with Sant Kirpal Singh
The Beginning
A Prophetic Dream
The Play Begins
A Sad Tale
An Unknowing Prayer
A Test in the Form of a Core Question
The ‘Fish Oil’ Incident
The End Game
Farewell to India
The Years Pass
Carrying out the Master’s Words
Continuing saga and conclusions
Ongoing Prayer
What I Have learned
Final Thoughts
Introductory
“Once the heart has been gained by God, everything else will eventually take care of itself. This is why He requires the heart above all else.” - Madame Guyon, Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ)
“God turns the heart into blood and desperate tears, then He writes the spiritual mysteries on it.” - Rumi, Mathnawi III, 1826-27
“There is a Light that shines beyond all things on earth, beyond us all, beyond the heaven, beyond the highest, the very highest heavens. This is the Light that shines in our Heart.” - Chandogya Upanishad, 3 i3 7
"Not only does loving devotion raise the soul to God, but God, too, is drawn down from the transcendental regions and reaches for the devotee and takes His abode in his heart.”
“To know God you have to bring about a change in your heart, learn to look inward, and realize that He is your Overself. As soon as you have this realization, you are with Him." - Sant Kirpal Singh, (Sat Sandesh)
"If he is a true disciple, he will not agree that the Master ever dies...The death of the body doesn't matter for the disciple because he knows that the Master is something else. The Master is always seated in the Heart of a disciple. The disciple who knows this doesn't need anything else. He knows perfectly well, 'I don't miss my Master. My Master is here and now, always within me. This is the relationship between the Master and the disciple." (Papaji, p. 250)
“A subjective transformation alone is needed for ‘realization’. When one who has realized the Truth looks at the world, conceding the existence of the world, he finds that every object asserts one’s own self or consciousness, without which the object could never appear.” - Shree Atmananda (Notes on Spiritual Discourses, #17)
“A devotee of the Lord may talk about the world beyond but he is above both, this world and the next.” (The Philosophy of the Masters, Series Two, p. 197)
“In this inmost place of the believer, Jesus Christ has His own paradise. It is to Him you ascend while yet remaining on earth and even carrying out the daily affairs of life.” - Michael Molinos (The Spiritual Guide)
“It is not necessary to ascend into the heavens to find Thee; Thou art nearer to us than we are to ourselves.” - Fenelon (Christian Counsels on the Inner Life)
Our approach and why this book was written
“Providence has hidden a charm in difficult undertakings which is appreciated only by those who dare to grapple with them.” - Anne-Sophie Swetchine
“The illumined men wrote either out of their own intellect or their intuition, sometimes for scrupulous academic scholars and sometimes for simple persons. A sage like Lao Tzu wrote for neither the one class or the other, for us put forward the deep paradoxes of life; but another man not less illumined may have provided footnotes on nearly every page.” - Paul Brunton (Notebooks, Vol. 16, Part 1, 3.115)
In this study the latter approach has been chosen, if only because it has not yet been done with Sant Mat teachings. The writer (sometimes given as ‘writers’ because I have had a helpful friend, Mark Sullivan, who has assisted me on several sections) make no claim to be illumined or perfected, but is solely acting as a researcher making comparative analysis of teachings disseminated on this path, with any or all mistakes being his alone. It is however in no small measure because of the freedom granted me by my initiating Master, Sant Kirpal Singh, that I write this series, asking and searching for open dialogue on what remains for some a glorious yet mysterious path. I would not for the world take it upon myself, nor is it my intention, to cause one soul to entertain unnecessary doubts, but I figure that if you, dear reader, have gotten this far, you have your share of inquiries and may find some benefit in what is discussed herein, and that the day and age has arrived to speak more plainly on such matters. What follows is largely not for the beginner, or beginning student, perhaps, or for simple villagers living in a remote area of India, but rather for the seasoned questor who still has real questions regardless of his efforts, devotion, and experiences on this or other paths. As there are now hundreds of thousands of followers in the many branches of Sant Mat, or Radhasoami tradition, with different gurus within each, offering similar but not always identical teachings [perhaps the two most predominant branches today descending from Sawan Singh (Beas) to either Maharaj Charan Singh (Beas) or Sant Kirpal Singh (Delhi), but also branches in Peepalmandi (Dadaji), Soamibagh, and Dayalbagh)], there are undoubtedly many seekers who harbor unasked and unanswered heartfelt questions. This is not due only to apparent internal discrepancies and controversies among or between the various lineages of Sant Mat, but also because of the challenge of a more radical, direct approach disseminated by a host of emerging Buddhist as well as non-dual teachers, many of the latter largely descending from Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Nisargadatta, and others.
Hopefully this study will bring the different schools of thought a little closer together, and thus, in some small way, justify the ecumenical efforts of my Master in founding The World Fellowship of Religions and Unity of Man Conferences several decades ago. This is an exploratory essay and not in any respect an attempt to "prove" or "disprove" Sant Mat or any other path. God forbid! In fact, its underlying assumption is that Sant Mat is in essence true and authentic, with yet numerous questions often arising for a discriminative seeker about these teachings, which, some feel, are frequently in need of improved expression - and perhaps not a strong point among some of these teachers. For it must be remembered that a Master comes chiefly to embody the Teaching and bless others with his Grace; he doesn’t have encyclopedic knowledge or necessarily even the ability to convey such teachings completely, or universally.
The points raised here, then, do not arise from any special knowledge claimed on the part of the writer, but from his own investigation of questions that presented themselves during his own quest. Where appropriate reference is given to other writers who have directly contributed material to this series of articles. This series is addressed to followers of any and all branches or lineages within the broader scope of Sant Mat, not to any one in particular, whether they are mentioned or not, as well as to seekers of any path who have an interest in these teachings. Its primary purpose is to foster deeper understanding and tolerance.
We have tried to take a diplomatic approach, but are well-aware that there are those who feel Sant Mat is, aside from its claims of being all about love, still a “cult”, especially with its 'perfect master' ideology and relative exclusivity as regards other paths, and is therefore failing to keep up with the times and an ongoing transmission of intelligence and grace that is said by many to be infusing our planet at this time without prejudice for any person or dharma. Some accuse it of being divisive, negative and closed-minded in this respect. For instance, they argue, why don't the respective masters of the different lineages within Sant Mat get together in a forum and debate and discuss their differences, and, equally importantly, why do they not do the same with leaders of other paths, rather than merely congregate occasionally on the stage with those leader and/or 'promote' their particular brand of spirituality without cross-pollination and sharing of input as done in the time of the ancient rishis and as sponsored throughout Indian history by its great and noble maharajas, and universities such as Nalanda? Since Sant Mat is one of the largest esoteric spiritual movements in the world today, it is felt necessary to enter into a comparative dialogue and analysis of its claims to bring all aspects into the light of awareness. We hope that this discussion will help move it forward so as to remain a viable way in its own right, where possible, and to change as required by the evolving needs and understanding of the human race.
It is also recognized that mystical experience enters a realm where the discursive intellect does not go, yet, it is still subject to some extent to reason or buddhi - the highest faculty of the mind, regarded as closest to Atman itself. Spiritual realization may reach beyond, but it certainly should not contradict reason. Therefore, If you are content where you are, wonderful. Otherwise, read on, with full attention and an open mind intent on truth. This book is at times dense, as well as somewhat exhaustive in its analysis; this was felt necessary to eliminate any and all doubts that have arisen. The reader can determine if it is of value. One of our goals is to condense a lot of material and save the inquisitive reader a great deal of time, settling various concerns he may have so as to get on with his path in full earnest, one way or another. We hope to the best of our ability we are successful in this endeavor.
Herein we make frequent reference to many spiritual sources other than Sant Mat to elucidate various points about the path or quest; in particular I favor and make regular use of the posthumously published writings of Paul Brunton (“The Notebooks”), inasmuch as I personally feel that he articulates in an excellent way many subtle points about many aspects of spirituality in general, perhaps where the Sant Mat gurus sometimes do not do so in a sufficiently adequate fashion for the need of many modern seekers. I do not expect his words to be taken as speaking authoritatively one way or the other in regards to Sant Mat, but for me he fills in a lot of gaps. Take what helps you and ignore the rest.
We are well-aware of critical articles and websites by various authors and researchers regarding succession issues, purported scandals, and the like in the multiple branches of the Sant Mat or Radhasoami tradition. We have purposely omitted reference to those, except, with some hesitation, for two links at the end of Part Four, in order to keep this discussion on the relative merits of the philosophies alone - and thereby not lose too many friends! Each seeker is free to explore the other material, come to his own conclusions, and decide for him or her self what is useful or not. The internecine gossip is not altogether unimportant, but simply tangential and at a lower level than that which we want to discuss here.
All four parts have been re-written and considerably expanded since this series was first released on my website.
Final caveat
“He must first be a sympathetic enquirer and then only exercise the philosophic right of severely critical examination.”. - Paul Brunton (Vol. 2, 3.136)
and
“Unless a spiritual teaching has enough inspiration behind it to help him successfully tackle his gravest personal problems, it is not the right one - however much it may be so to others. For he needs grace, and does not call in vain.” (Ibid)
and
"There are three methods of approach used by the teachers, depending on the level of the people they have to deal with. They are: first, terrorizing the lowest type by fears; second, coaxing the better evolved ones by baits and lures; third, giving a fair, balanced statement of the truth for those people who are mentally and morally on the highest level." (Ibid, Vol. 2, 6.530)
Preliminary Comments
The question then arises from the quotes given at the outset, what exactly is ascension, what is realization, and what is the relationship between the two? That is one query lying at the crux of this mystic path, for some seekers, and relating to other paths that may not stress ascension per se in the same way or even at all. Kirpal Singh spoke of a “beyond the Beyond state,” and arguably, beyond that. Similarly the Buddha spoke of “gate, gate, param gate, bodhi svaha.” We hope in some way to try to bring some of the different paths closer together where that is possible, and find clarity where they may not.
Another issue is the understanding of experience. Not only do different paths use similar words, such as mind, soul, or consciousness, yet with quite different meanings - but, in addition, the mere having of a particular experience, it has been argued, does not necessarily or automatically come with the proper understanding of it:
"It is one thing to have an authentic mystical experience, another thing to have an authentic explanation of it...What so few understand is that a mystical experience may be quite overwhelming and quite genuine in character and yet leave a large number of the mystic's inherited beliefs quite untouched." - Paul Brunton
And for instance:
“So also in nirvikalpa samadhi, there is no duality and there is perfect bliss. But on coming out of it, you express it in dual terms, in terms of subject-object relationship. This is wrong. It is not the experience by itself that really enlightens you, but it is the correct understanding of its significance. It is not possible to obtain the correct understanding of its significance except through the Guru; and until you obtain it directly from him, nirvikalpa samadhi will but be a source of transient happiness to you. It is true you were in an egoless state, both during the experience of worldly happiness and nirvikalpa samadhi. But your subsequent interpretation posits the ego there retrospectively. That is because you rely more upon the mind’s function and its satisfaction. Therefore, coming out of samadhi, you must humbly and reverently wait upon the Guru, and place before him at his sweet convenience all your experiences. Then the Guru will explain the meaning of it, and you will understand that you were visualizing your own real nature and that you have never been bound. This is how one who is addicted to samadhi has to become liberated.” (Shri Atmananda Krishnamenon, Notes, #1209)
Obviously, for a comparative understanding to come about, this type of issue must be discussed.
Still, one takes a big breathe, remembering that he is not alone:
“It is said in the old texts that the perfect Master feels not only for his disciples but for all those who are devotedly on the Quest, an affection similar to that of a cow for her calf.” - Paul Brunton (Notebooks, Vol. 16, Part 1, 5.28)
“One love-pouring glance from the Master will go to the very depths of your heart and you will remember it all through your life; you can never forget it.” - Kirpal Singh (Morning Talks)
One will never be abandoned by the divinely chosen Master of his heart, and one will find himself returning again and again, in spirit, however far he wanders......
Dedication: For the Hungry
On the positive side it is lauditory that by and large many of the masters of Sant Mat, at least, the ones I have known and loved, are examples of clean living, selfless service, loving others, personal discipline, profound depths of inner meditation and illumination, not accepting money for their spiritual work, and, compared to many paths, relatively free of gross scandals, i.e., drugs, money, and sex. On these points I think most unbiased observers would agree. The goal proposed and promised is lofty and celestial. The loved poured out by the greatest of these masters is real. The questions I have relate largely, as stated, to the philosophy itself and how it relates to practical and ultimate realization as described in other traditions and schools.
PART ONE - THE "TECHNICAL" OVERVIEW
The Map - Part One
Sant Mat teaches an emanationist philosophy/theology of creation that believes the fallen soul must retrace its journey back from realms of varying densities (http://www.santji.allegre.ca/planes-640.jpg) of matter to those of pure spirit. As we shall see clearly in Part Two, this is only one way of interpreting the truths of Sant Mat. There is a more inclusive, non-dual way of looking at it, although that is not the way it is generally disseminated to the millions of its followers, many of whom are simple villagers not so inclined, nor needing to, to question at that level. This is a burden, in our opinion, some of the the Masters aware of these truths lovingly carry until such time as or with those whom they can speak more plainly.
The technique, believed superior to other paths and unique to itself alone, is to concentrate at the ajna chakra (third eye) and withdraw the attention from the body, catch the inner light and sound current, and ride that upwards to the fifth and, by their system, first divine and indestructible, spiritual plane, Sach Khand. Some Sants, such as Darshan Singh and Rajinder Singh, have actually described the supercausal realm, Bhanwar Gupta, as a true spiritual realm (inasmuch as it is said to be beyond mind and matter), where the soul first experienced its individuality on the downward path [which in some other yogic and vedantic lineages, such as that of Sri Nisargadatta, might be termed the ‘I Am’], and on the upward path (with but a thin veil of anandamaya kosha remaining, almost an integral part of the soul itself, said Kirpal Singh) first cries out "aham brahm asmi", i.e., "oh Lord, I am of the same essence as thou, or "Thou Art That", etc.), with Sach Khand being referred to as the True Region, or the realm of Truth or Spirit, the first primal expression in full effulgence of the nameless One. This plane also sometimes is referred to as the region of oneness or kaivalya. Param Sants are said to go further, being progressively 'absorbed by the Sat Purush' into three more planes, Alakh, Agam, and Anami, the nameless and formless. This is sometimes called mahakaivalya. On some paths this has been described as three degrees of deepening or penetration into the Absolute, and not three planes per se. Paul Brunton, Plotinus, some Buddhists and Taoists have spoken of this. It is in fact somewhat rare in the spiritual literature to find reference to these three degrees. As Sat Lok as a whole is considered transcendental, concepts of higher and lower do not apply here, and one can only speak in terms of a deepening. [Which, I wonder, may be why Kirpal Singh in one book said, “there is no difference between a Sant and a ParamSant except in nomenclature.” But, unless someone editing the book made an error, if there is no difference except in nomenclature then why have a difference in nomenclature? Our minds can only function dualistically and see Anami ‘higher’ than Sach Khand, but if this is not so, then what is the essence of the differences? This is but the first of many questions to be raised in this series of articles].
Some schools of Sant Mat such as the Agra branch sometimes appear to teach that Radhasoami Dham is not Anami itself but a stage or station beyond Anami. The suggestion, through use of the terms "wonder region," or, perhaps, that it is not a region, but the "source and reality of All", and "I ascended to a region that is not a region, and heard the Shabd thereof," etc., is that this may refer to some kind of fundamental non-dual realization, but it seems that it has not been made clear, and is difficult in any case to compare to the teachings of other paths. To thicken the plot, then, Agam Prasad Mathur (a direct spiritual descendant of Rai Salig Ram, disciple of Soamiji (who according to most sources is the modern day originator of the path of Sant Mat or Radhasoami Mat), stated that beyond Anami is Radhasoami Dham and Dayal Desh, and that these teachings were edited out of the Sar Bachan of Soamiji in the translation of that book by the Beas group under Sawan Singh. Was Mathur therefore saying that the Beas lineage descending from Jaimal Singh (also a disciple of Soamiji) on down through Sawan Singh did not have the full truth? I don't know. It appears so. In any case it seems that this rather significant alleged difference is little known among radhasoami satsang circles]. To complicate things further, Babuji Maharaj in Notes on Discourses on the Radhasoami Faith (https://www.scribd.com/document/126663034/Phelps-Notes), given in 1913-1914, denotes Anami as a plane lower than Alakh and Agam, again with Radhasoami Pad and Anami Purush above all as the Supreme Source. [The book in pdf file in this link will be referred to later on; it is recommended that the serious Sant Mat student print themselves a hardcopy as no one can tell how long it will stay available from scribd.com, and it is long out of print. Despite the discrepancies, however, it is a unique explanation of this path with details, particularly on Sat Desh not found elsewhere to this writer's knowledge.
Sant Mat is adamant and unique among the traditions in maintaining that the Vedantins are wrong in their assertion of Brahman as the ultimate reality, with all else illusion. Unique for Sant Mat is the assertion that Sach Khand is created, but permanent, a plane of all-consciousness, where before there was only the primal unconsciousness (from our point of view anyway) of Anami Purush, the One. Sawan Singh says:
"Pind and Brahmand have beginning as well as end. Region of Dayal Desh has beginning but no end. Radhasoami Dahm which is the highest of all, has neither beginning nor end. On attaining this final stage I became free from beginning and end." (Discourses on Radhasoami Faith, Vol. One).
And also, from Sar Bachan:
"According to the teachings of the Saints, the Jiva (Soul) is conceived as a particle of the Supreme Being, while the Vedantists believe in the sole existence of Brahman and assign no importance to the Soul."
From Sach Khand on down, there were then created planes of impermanence (even though they may last billions of years). This little word "then" drives the advaitin crazy. Since all above Sach Khand is 'before' space and time existed, how can one say, 'then' this or that was created, as 'then' implies time? For the advaitin this is therefore meaningless. It is thus difficult to compare the two systems. Nevertheless we will be trying. Advaita holds that beyond the mind is only consciousness, the sole reality. And further, the mind is ultimately consciousness as well, or a function of consciousness. Sant Mat is usually more nuanced, and seems to maintain that there are a number of possibilities beyond the mind, and that pure consciousness, while unchangeable permanence, and "in direct contact with the Supreme Source or Absolute," is not the Absolute. In other words, there are divine mysteries, - which advaita in general does not like.
We may or may not pursue this in more depth later, but the researcher will find that in some systems of Sufism, and even Taoism, there are also, as in Sant Mat, more nuanced positions regarding the so-called One and so-called Creation(s). Sufism, for instance, speaks of a first determination and a second determination of the Absolute. The latter, the second determination, in my opinion, corresponds to Sat Desh or Sach Khand in Sant Mat. [I refer the reader to the book Sufism and Taoism by Toshihiko Izutsu. It is a dense scholarly treatise but very illuminating]. The so-called first determination would correspond to what Babuji cryptically explains as "the original unconsciousness," or "mass of depleted spirituality," - the first change in the Absolute - and from which the region of pure consciousness (Sat) is/was created. This will all drive the advaitin to scoff and cry "semantic nonsense" and "logical inconsistency!", but we simply refer the reader to sections 1-18 of Babuji's book to get a feel for what he tries to explain. We are not saying he is right but it is certainly worth looking into if these questions grab the reader.
In any case,
"In the Radhasoami faith, the ultimate reality is Radhasoami. In Hinduism and its branches the ultimate reality is Brahman and Isvara. Brahman is considered to be the highest reality in Vedanta. The founders of Radhasoami faith, however, came forward with a new concept. According to them, The Brahman of Vedanta is limited to the second grand division of the creation whom they call "spiritual-material region". They hold that the Brahman is not the true Supreme Being or the highest reality because he is not perfectly free from mind and matter. They assert that though spiritual components predominate in Brahman, there is Maya latent in the seed form and a Supreme Reality having the least admixture of Maya cannot be styled as the highest truth. They envisaged the highest and the first grand division of creation as the region of the true Supreme Being who is absolutely spiritual and totally free from mind and matter. Such a Supreme Being they have named as Radhasoami." (website of Dadaji Maharaj)
The view of Sawan Singh described above about Dayal Desh (Sat Lok) being created but eternal is similar to the view of Plotinus, where the Soul in an image of the Nous or Intellectual Principle (i.e., man as soul created in the first maye of God or the Nous), which in turn is an overflow of the One. All three are eternal verities, and the expression of reality [see the Enneads].. Vedanta, on the other hand, does not deny emanationism, per se, but does not like me the words “creation or “creator.” Brahman is defined as pure consciousness. Mind and matter do not exist in seed-form in Brahman, according to the Yoga Vasistha, although they may appear to do so. Whether they do or not, however, it seems illegitimate for Sant Mat to make this claim, as the same can said to be true of Anami or Radhasoami: that creation exists in seed-form in that. Otherwise where does it come from? Actually, even this question arises in ignorance, assuming as it does the conventions of everyday living. Questions about creation are putting the cart before the horse, as creation has not yet been proven:
“This infinite consciousness apparently sees within itself a pure void: and the conscious energy (cit-sakti) thereupon brings space into existence. In that conscious energy there arises an intention to diversify; this intention itself is then regarded as the creator Brahma, with his retinue for other living creatures. Thus have all the fourteen worlds appeared in the space of infinite consciousness, with their endless variety of beings…But all this talk about who created this world and how it was created is intended only for the purpose of composing scriptures and expounding them: it is not based on truth. Modifications arising in the infinite consciousness of organization of the cosmic being do not really take place in the Lord, although they appear to do so. There is naught but the infinite consciousness, even in imagination! To think of that being the creator and the universe as created, is absurd…Creation is just a word, it has no corresponding substantial reality…Consciousness is Brahman, the mind is Brahmans, the intellect is Brahman, Brahmand alone is the substance. Sound or word is Brahman and Brahman alone is the component of all substances. All indeed is Brahman; there is no world in reality.” (The Supreme Yoga: Yoga Vasistha, trans. Swami Venkatesananda (Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidas, 2003), p. 126)
We will return to these types of comparisons in due course. for now we will continue our introduction on Sant Mat. In this schools, the “soul” is said to “die” or be absorbed at each succeeding inner region, this isolating or exfoliating itself from its vehicles or bodies. There is no talk of insight, prajna, or satori such as discussed in Buddhism and other schools. The goal is merger of the soul in the Oversoul, which absorption they say begins in Sach Khand and ends by stages in Anami. On this path, the Godman is all in all. The Sants speak endlessly of the need to first achieve fana-fil-sheikh (annihilation in the Master) as a prelude to fana-fil-Allah (annihilation in God). Ths consists in developing rapt concentration through loving remembrance of the human master and the Master-Power within, to the point of reaching the Master's inner Radiant Form. That, once attained, will, by magnetic attraction, escort the emanated soul to the Sat Purush, which in turn further absorbs the soul into the Absolute. On this path of love and devotion, at each stage there is allegedly both deeper penetration into the Essence within as well as greater interpenetration between the inner and the outer, to the ultimate point of no-difference... In The Crown of Life (1970), Sant Kirpal Singh speaks movingly of this process:
"This relationship of love between the Satguru and his shishya, the Godman and his disciple, covers many phases and developments...With his greater effort and the greater grace from the Master, the disciple makes increased headway in his inner sadhanas, leading finally to complete transcendence of bodily consciousness. When this transcendence has been achieved, he beholds his Guru waiting in his Radiant Form to receive and guide his spirit on the inner planes. Now, for the first time, he beholds him in his true glory, and realizes the unfathomable dimensions of his greatness. Henceforth he knows him to be more than human and his heart overflows with songs of praise and humble devotion. The higher he ascends in his spiritual journey, the more insistent is he in his praise, for the more intensely does he realize that he whom he once took to be a friend, is not merely a friend but God Himself come down to raise him up to Himself. This bond of love, with its development by degrees, becomes the mirror of his inward progress, moving as it does, from the finite to the infinite.....once it has reached the point where the disciple discovers his teacher in his luminous glory within himself, all analogies are shattered and all comparisons forever left behind; all that remains is a gesture, and then silence...." (p. 185-186)
The following few paragraphs were part of an earlier article; they may be difficult to understand for those without a philosophic background or familiarity with the thought of Plotinus and Paul Brunton (PB). Nevertheless, they are retained here for those who may find it clarifying. Others may simply skip the next paragraph and go on to somewhat easier material.
Paul Brunton and Plotinus teach that an emanant of the individual or unit Soul has penetrated or assumed a body, and it may be traced back to the Individual Soul from which it emanated and evolved through a long process of evolution. The Absolute Soul, which continually births Individual Souls, is inherent in the Intellectual Principle, the Nous, which is forever looking towards its prior, the One. The Absolute Soul is then the first of three degrees of penetration of the silent Void-Mind (Absolute Soul, Intellectual Principle, and the One) for one who has already realized his Soul. In PB’s terms that would be Overself, World-Mind (God), and Mind (Godhead). All of these higher principles are in the silent Void beyond perception, name and form, light and sound. Anami” of Sant Mat as it is described - "without attributes" - may or may not represent the first degree of of deepening of the realization of Soul, in the Absolute Soul, but not the One per se, in Plotinus' classification. For the One of Plotinus, Brahman of Vedanta, and the Absolute in some other schools, is not subject to spatial or temporal concepts, is not a plane, per se, nor does one get united with it. The true mystical union is with ones divine soul. The One is already the case no matter what state appears. It is not found exclusively by inversion. This need not lessen the greatness of such a state as Anami, only to outline its potential difference as described, and the ultimate goal as stated, in other schools. I will be the first to admit this may be entirely wrong. And also not the immediate concern of most people!
Similarly, however, Meister Eckhart said:
“God is infinite in his simplicity and simple in his infinity. Therefore he is everywhere and is everywhere complete. He is everywhere on account of his infinity, and is everywhere complete on account of his simplicity. Only God flows into all things, their very essences. Nothing else flows into something else. God is in the innermost part of each and every thing, only in its innermost part."
"When the soul enters the light that is pure, she falls so far from her own created somethingness into her nothingness that in this nothingness she can no longer return to that created somethingness by her own power."
"Blessedness consists primarily in the fact that the soul sees God in herself . Only in God’s knowledge does she become wholly still. There she knows nothing but essence and God. Between that person and God there is no distinction, and they are one. . . Their knowing is one with God’s knowing, their activity with God’s activity and their understanding with God’s understanding."
"I have occasionally spoken of a light in the soul which is uncreated and uncreatable...This light is not satisfied with the simple, still and divine being which neither gives nor takes, but rather it desires to know from where this being comes. It wants to penetrate to the simple ground, to the still desert, into which distinction never peeped, neither Father, Son nor Holy Spirit. There, in that most inward place, where everyone is a stranger, the light is satisfied, and there it is more inward than it is in itself, for this ground is a simple stillness which is immovable in itself. But all things are moved by this immovability and all the forms of life are conceived by it which, possessing the light of reason, live of themselves.”
This seems to be speaking of the Soul’s merger into or glimpse of Intellectual Principle, its prior, where the Soul is no longer herself. Could this be Anami of the saints, or is there a further realization that most of them have missed? Be it noted that Dadaji (Agam Prasad Mathur) claimed that Sant Kirpal Singh visited him several times to ask him about this very matter. This is for most of us a rather abstruse point and I promise that the bulk of this book will not be quite so technically demanding.
If there is a further stage beyond Anami, called “Radhasoami”, "Dayal Desh" or whatever name be given to the non-dual Reality, then there may be some line of communication between these teachings, but, as mentioned, it is often left a mystery in the teaching of Sant Mat where, like in other mystical schools, reasoning on such things is also unfortunately many times discouraged, simply because during the practice of concentration/meditation/dhyana the mental process is temporarily set aside. But that does not justify the denigration of the intellect and reasoning about these matters altogether, especially when so many sages appear to disagree with the interpretation of their inner experiences. Francis Wickes issues a warning:
” ‘Thinking hard’ hurts. It turns the sharp point of truth back upon the thinker. It pricks the bubble of ego complacency blown up by thinking easy. Its sharp wound forbids the forgetfulness which is the goal of evasive thinking. If one can forget the inner experience and its challenge can be evaded, the ego can remain comfortably unborn in the womb of the already known.” (1)
The most difficult and basic question must be asked at the outset, “where is the proof the path of inversion leads to the non-dual Brahman?” Vedanta says that, being non-dual, the One, no effort can lead there, that something more than mere yogic concentration must take place to realize it. V.S. Iyer states:
“When I am told to go and practice Yoga and then only I shall know its truth, I reply, “How do you know that Yoga leads to truth? This at once involves epistemology of which every yogi is ignorant and which he has never taken into consideration. Yet it is the very foundation of knowledge; without knowing epistemology a man who mentions truth or knowledge simply does not know what he is talking about...Vedanta’s attitude to mystics is, “granting that, if we place ourselves in your position, if we follow up the yoga-practices you prescribe we shall have the same mystic experiences you have had, how are we to know even then that those experiences are the truth? We shall still be faced with that question even after the experience. Hence the need for inquiry, whether before or after into “What is truth?”
What he is saying is that how do we know that duplicating the death process, in and of itself, through shabd yoga, for instance, leads to the truth, and not just inner higher states? This is not a call for every seeker to become a great scholar, or even be literate, but if even great sages have disagreed on the nature of their enlightenment, however, where would ordinary souls like us be without “The Courage to Question?” (http://www.adyashanti.org/index.php?file=writings_inner&writingid=16). Adyashanti advises us to question right down to the marrow: study, listen, test, evaluate, challenge all of our beliefs, opinions, judgements and assumptions. In the Secret Sayings of Jesus it is said:
"Let him who seeks not cease in his seeking until he finds;
and when he finds he will be troubled,
and if he is troubled, he will marvel,
and will be a king over the All."
To be able to formulate a real question is already quite a feat of knowledge, and the real reason we often don't get the answers or explication of doctrine we want or need is because there is a lack of capability, as well as daring, to ask the proper questions of ourselves as well as our teachers. But as it is said, “If you don’t squeeze the lemon, you won’t get any juice.” It’s not as if the great teachers do not invite us to do this. Kirpal Singh used to say, “Bring me your worst questions, your hardest questions.”
There is also a problem with much traditional teaching, especially from ancient times, when a lot was handed down orally for a time, and when non-verbal cues and intonations, facial expressions and body gestures and so on were a large part of the process of teaching. One must also take into consideration the times and climes of the teachers, as well as their intuitive guage of the level of comprehension of their audience. In addition to the many commentators and at times even councils that subsequently voted on what was the correct doctrine! So inevitably we in the modern times must ask many questions. And in this age of the media and internet we can fortunately do so and have several lifetimes worth of experiences rapidly as compared to olden times when an entire lifetime might be limited to a small local space with a small role such as a blacksmith, and so on. So nowadays reason as well as faith must be the foundation of our search.
Plotinus said that “we must teach our souls,” which implies that if we have the wrong doctrine we may well misunderstand the experiences we have. So right understanding is not just an academic point, but critical to the success of our spiritual endeavors.
Paul Brunton (PB) gives a powerful definition of the term shraddha, traditionally meant as faith in the revealed truth of the scriptures:
"that faith in the existence of truth, that determination to get at truth, come what may, which would make one a hero even in the face of God's wrath."
And finally, we have these words from scientist Carl Sagan:
"Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence."
The"Map" to be continued in greater detail after the next section.
Sant Mat and Gyan
It is quite a challenge to compare or reconcile the teaching of Sant Mat with any other system than gnostic or mystical schools; their doctrine says that Buddhism, Advaita, and all other yogas are on a lower level, either: (1) because, as they claim, their inner experience progressively reveals this, or (2) because the modern founder of the school, Swami Shiv Dayal Singh (Soamiji), once said so, perhaps in reference to the quality of so-called jnanis and vedantists he came in contact with who were available for comparison at the time - which he mentioned to be largely pundits and not practitioners - but not necessarily, it is humbly suggested, from an actual in-depth study of high Buddhist, Hindu, and other writings or association with sages of the caliber of Ramana Maharshi. Descriptions of the meanings of "Brahman", and "Gyan", are also different than those given in other schools. Soamiji wrote (compiled by Rai Saligram), in Sar Bachan (Prose) (1978 edition):
"Yogis are tired out and exhausted by practicing Samadhi, and Gyanis, by thinking that they are Atma."
“There will be no salvation for Vachak Gyanis (those who only talk Gyan), for they only talk. In the case of true Gyanis, the Sthool Karmas (gross karmas) only are destroyed, but not the Sukshm Karmas (subtle karmas), as they can be destroyed only after reaching the region of the Saints. It must be born in mind that only Saints can lead to salvation in this age, because there can be no salvation unless all Karmas, both gross and subtle, are destroyed, and the Gyanis do not know the technique of destroying karmas.” (p. 138)
The latter may be so. Some great Gyanis do not even claim to do such a thing. Shree Atmananda Krishnamenon said: “I never told you that you will never be reborn. I have only said you will be rid of the illusion that you were born or will die.” One famous Zen master, on the other hand, said, “first enlightenment, then the bad karma is dealt with.” There may be few who actually achieve this. Yet many will argue that gyanis or sages such as Ramana Maharshi or Shree Atmananda were examples of those who both taught and achieved the transcendence or eradication of not only gross and subtle, but causal or root karmas as well, albeit mostly through Knowledge rather than yogic mysticism. And Soamiji does clearly distinguish between Vak gyanis or those who just talk, i.e., 'academic theologians and sophists,'and real gyanis such as Ved Vyas. However, the latter type he still says only go as far as the region or realization of Brahmand, not Sat Lok. His justification for saying this is not so clear.
In The Philosophy of the Masters, Vol. 2, it says: “Saints are not against Gyan, but they insist on purity first.” Here they part with many modern non-dual practitioners, but not most of the traditional advaitins.
Kirpal Singh, in his book, The Crown of Life: A Study in Yoga mentioned that Gyan or Jnana was a true path, but a steep one and not suited for the average person; he did not deny its efficacy, however, and even said it was a short-cut for those who had the qualifications for it (In fairness, he also pointed out the pitfalls for those who did not).
[Nevertheless I refer the reader to section 17 of the Babuji book for a further Sant Mat argument on the difference between Sat masters and gyan yogis or adepts].
Of the following quote from Sar Bachan, however, few in any school will likely argue with:
"Saints do not condemn Gyan, but insist upon internal purity first. Only then will one be entitled to Gyan.”
This is fine and good, but it seems rather silly to then state things like “the revelation of the Vedas came from Trikuti,” and then jump to the conclusion that the thousands of years old teachings of Vedanta (df: ’the end of the Vedas’) and Gyan falls under the domain of Kal, and is a much lower teaching than Sant Mat. Frankly, this is almost embarrassing. First, let it be understood that the ancient sages always tried to adapt their teachings to the level of understanding of their different classes of listeners. The general idea is to bring people up one notch from where they stand. For instance:
"The Vedas tried to explain to the jivas, the human beings, how their world was created, according to the capacity of their understanding." - Sri Siddharameshwar (Amrut Laya, p. 53-54)
Thus, Sant Mat might be right in their characterization of the level of realization of certain parts of the Vedas that extoll Shiva, Vishnu, Indra, Prajapati, and other gods inhabiting the heavens, but the jump to dismissing the lofty philosophy of Vedanta - where Bhava Roga, or ‘the disease that created the idea that the world was created,’ is even taught - is unwarranted.
Further:
“The gnani of the highest order will always adapt himself to the needs of others who are suffering; he will limit himself outwardly and come down to their level. Thus if only yoga is their highest understanding, he will teach them yoga and nothing more. He will not refuse to help them because they cannot understand Vedanta, and thus leave them in their sufferings.”
“When a man says that he has seen his internal self, he is still a yogi, but when he says that he has seen the Universe in himself, he has become a knower of truth - a sage - a gnani…The removal of the ‘I’ is not enough to realize Brahman. It happens in sleep, for instance. There must also be the knowledge that everything is yourself. The mystic may make some claim. So a test is to be applied. The test is, is he doing anything for others?”” - V. S. Iyer (Commentaries)
Ramana said, speaking of the Vedas:
“The Heart is said in the Vedas and the scriptures to denote the place where the notion of “I” springs…It springs within us somewhere right in the middle of our being. The “I” has no location. Everything is the Self. There is nothing but that. So the Heart must be said to be the entire body of ourselves and of the entire universe conceived as “I”. But to help the practitioners (abhyasi) we have to indicate a definite part of the universe, or of the body. So, this Heart is pointed out as the seat of the Self. But in truth we are everywhere, we are all that is, and there is nothing else.” (Talks, p. 27)
The Heart is said to be the post on which the wandering jiva is eternally linked. It has nothing to do with the internal chakra system(s) or hierarchy of planes. Sufis also talk of this Heart. Coming to terms with this understanding is one of the central themes of this book. We will come back to it one way or another many times before we are finished.
The cream of the Upanishads is the Mandukya, where the Vedantic concept of non-duality is fully elaborated. Another high text is the Ashtavakra Gita. Ramakrishna kept a copy of this under wraps in a tuffet he sat on and only taught it to Vivekananda, and not to his devotees. Incidentally, Sant Kirpal Singh referred to the sage Ashtavakra frequently, although not to expound his non-dual teachings but more to tell one version of the famous story of the sage as a Godman granting an instant samadhi to King Janaka in the time it took him to put one foot in the stirrup of the saddle on his horse. This appears on the surface at least to reflect a bias towards yoga over jnana or gyan. However,
““Do you think the scriptures contain all the secrets of spiritual practice? These are handed down secretly through a succession of Gurus and disciples.” - Swami Vivekananda
The latter remark could well apply to both Vedanta and Sant Mat, and still holds true to a point, although we must realize that none of these historical teachers or their students had access to the Internet, which has changed a great deal of the conversation as far as spiritual dharmas or teachings are concerned. Nothing except what remains ineffable can any longer remain unnecessarily hidden, secret, or limited to one geographical location or school of thought.
Life is relatively short, and it is said that there may be only so much one can do. On the other hand, as one teacher of mine once said, it is amazing how much can be accomplished if one gives up four hours of TV a night! Bhakti or devotion with faith can be a complete path. That is basically Sant Mat for the masses. However, we are now modern men and women and find it hard to ignore the mind completely. The pull of self-knowledge and inquiry is often as strong as the devotional and meditative pull, and is what leads many to explore paths where the former is acknowledged. One thing I have always liked about early Buddhism, for instance, was the teaching of the Tripitaka or “Three Baskets.” This, in modern terms, is an emphasis on (1) moral/psychological discipline and purification; (2) concentrational or mindful meditation; and (3) metaphysical study. Sant Mat is usually almost entirely lacking in the latter, which has not only a balancing effect on meditation but when combined can carry one into even deeper intuitive levels of consciousness. This is often denied in yoga paths, but since those schools rarely employ a philosophic use of the mind where thought examined or looks into its own origin they are not really in a position to judge those paths that do. The case has strongly been made that without some modicum of self-inquiry one may evolve at a slower rate, although love, faith and devotion may amply compensate in many cases. So, while the title of this book emphasizes the heart, we will also frequently juxtapose that perspective with a healthy dose of self-understanding in order to come to a more balanced view of things. We have even thought of an alternate title for this book as “Sant Mat Through the Heart’s Intelligence” as perhaps more accurately depicting the task at hand. For the Heart we speak of is not mere emotion, but the clarity of the mind’s intelligence expressed as whole-body feeling and more. The reader may be surprised to soon find close historical links between the two approaches.
One more point of importance, however. Some may think we agree with some teachers, perhaps certain vedantins, that there is no need for practice of virtue, or meditation, or even of enquiry, based on a superficial acquaintance with various pinnacle non-dual texts. One that comes to mind is Ashtavakra’s famous Gita with its assertion, “This is your bondage, that you practice meditation.” While this is a stage-specific understanding, a premature adoption of such is usually dispatched by the wise as shown in the following dialogue from Yoga Vasistha:
“RAMA asked: Holy sir, if ignorance is non-existent in truth then why should we even bother about liberation or about inquiry?
VASISTHA replied: Rama, that thought should arise in its own time, not now! Flowers bloom and fruits ripe in their due time.”
(The Supreme Yoga: Yoga Vasistha, trans. Swami Venkatesananda (Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidas, 2003)
The author had his own youthful tete-a-tete with Sant Kirpal Singh along those lines many years ago! Yet the time comes when to consider those sort of questions again at greater depth, and we intend to do so in this work, hopefully clearing out some cobwebs in the mind of the reader (and hopefully without creating any more!).
We will also suggest at the outset, then, that the reader consider the possibility that many traditional gurus often have given out only such a message they feel their audience will be able to understand, either by radically simplifying or re-interpreting the teaching, or holding back its more advanced portions dealing directly with truth. If this is understood up front, then the purposes of this essay may be more easily grasped. But then, if so, ultimately as one progresses the student may have to admit to himself that almost every basic tenet of the hagiographical and theological portions of Sant Mat dogma are false; or, not so much false, but as in many religious teachings, a convenient 'story', an unnecessary accretion, or a provisional teaching for beginners to be naturally dropped at a certain stage of their growth. But why not do so, at this stage of human development and rapid cross-cultural spiritual dissemination, even at the beginning? Are the following claims not obsolete ways of portraying the spiritual path, even now? These may even include, "this path is the only way to God"; "there is only one true Master in the world at any one time - and he is the ‘successor’ or ‘inheritor of the mantle’ of a living Sant Mat master (and usually “ours”) only”; "the Master is perfect, omniscient, and omnipotent"; "the world is a snare of Satan or Kal"; "liberation lies exclusively in leaving the body and ascending to higher realms"; and even, "the Shabd or Naam is the Creator-God." Many traditions and teachers would in fact argue contrary to all of these propositions, and without giving up his innate reasoning faculty the mature student cannot always afford to accept the limiting and provincial viewpoint of these tenets without deep inspection. And, in fact, it is our feeling and suggestion that none of these points need to retained in their more theological forms for Sant Mat to remain a legitimate spiritual path. It is certainly fine and good to hold deep in one's heart a faith in and reverence for one's Master as being a conduit or vessel for the perfection that the Divine love and wisdom represents; this is more than enough, is it not, but preaching to others, or even to oneself, that he is a perfect man, or even perfect vessel, is another matter. Perhaps it is better to remain silent in this regard, rather than repeat what one has been told to believe but one does not really yet know. These things being said - stating what is obvious for more than a few, and heresy for others - let us proceed.
There is certainly some silliness in Sar Bachan and many other old spiritual texts. One such example is the following:
"The soul is given the body of a cow after passing through the while gamut of eighty-four lakh of species, and then is born as a human being. If one lives a good life, he will continue to be born as a human being till the goal is reached." (p. 105)
One may well ask, is this reasonable? Is there any reason to believe this is true, that one is born a cow and then directly as a human being? Not only is it contrary to modern evolutionary theory, but as it is ubiquitous within Hindu religious thought may we not look for a more historical or cultural reason for its continued presence? In fact there is such an answer. It has to do with astrological timing of the ages, or the precession of the equinoxes. According to this concept, every larger cycle (the so-called Great Year of Plato), of approximately 25000 years, there are twelve 2100 year cycles or ages. The Piscean Age was from approximately 0-2000 A.D., the previous Arian age from 2000 BC to 0, the age of Taurus from 4000-2000 BC, and the Age of Gemini from 6000-4000 BC, and so forth. During the Piscean Age the symbols of the fish and sacrificial saviors were present, in the Arian Age the symbol of the ram was present, and in the Taurian Age the symbol of the bull or cow was prominent - in many cultures, most certainly in the Hindu one. It is very likely, then, that such a belief as reincarnation from a cow to a man came from this period, but it remains just a story, and nothing more.
But of course there are many more important issues relating to Sant Mat to discuss than things like this. So let us begin.
The Map - Part Two
Soamiji wrote: “Whoever seeks the Sat Guru will surely find Him, for the Sat Guru is an incarnation eternally present on this earth.” (Sar Bachan,p. 139)
However, he then seems to contradicts himself by claiming:
“Saints are the Incarnations of Sat Purush, and to serve Them is to serve Sat Purush. They did not manifest themselves in the first three Yugas - but They have now incarnated themselves in this Kali Yuga for the redemption of the Jivas.”
It then gets more complicated when claims are made by other gurus in these lineages that Kabir, a key figure in Sant Mat history, “incarnated in all four ages.” And also is said to have only given out the full teachings of Sant Mat in the present Kali Yuga. This sort of unverifiable quasi-theological claim gives a person thinking in terms of infinite truths and universal principles pause, when one considers that even a yuga, vast as it is, is only one period of time in one cosmic cycle in one day of Brahma in one corner of one universe!
Example is often also given that Jesus Christ was a perfect master and taught Surat Shabd Yoga, as well as Buddha (as suggested in the Surangama Sutra where it mentions attaining the “diamond samadhi” through the faculty of “intrinsic hearing”), but at other times these past masters are spoken of as incomplete. During the time of Sawan Singh, for instance, Jesus was considered by the Beas group to be only a second-plane adept, but under Charan Singh he was raised to the status of a full Sant. The former claim may have come from initiate and author Dr. Julian Johnson, who in his correspondences said there were a number of disciples at Beas who were higher than Jesus. In addition, the path of Sant Mat has sometimes been held to have originated with the medieval saints Nanak or Kabir, and not with Jesus or more ancient masters. Moreover, Sant Mat teaches that all masters must have a master, but whether Shiv Dayal Singh, the modern founder of the line, for instance, had a master in Tulsi Das is yet a matter of controversy. Agam Prasad Mathur claimed that Soamiji was an Avatar and had no guru, whereas the Beas lineage claims that he did. Guru Nanak did not have a master, as far as we know, although some think it was Kabir.
Shiv Dayal Singh didn’t give proof for his claim of the inherent superiority of Sant Mat, he merely stated it was so. Of course, one could say, what proof could he give? - one must realize it for oneself. Yet for the beginner at least, in deciding if one will take up this path, it comes down to whether you believe Soamiji’s cosmology and ontology. I am not saying whether it is absolute truth or not, only that it is an article of faith on this path. Sant Mat would say there are inherent and inevitable paradoxes and mysteries on the path that make description of the inner truths ineffable. True enough, but then that makes comparison with paths of jnana, for instance, impossible, and, in fact, comparative references are mostly only given to that of various saints and mystics within the Sant or Sikh tradition itself, and not Tamil saints, or saints from Maharashtra, for instance, or Buddhist saints and sages. It seems it is time to do that.
Some of the differences in the traditional uses of various terms, i.e., Brahman, purusha, prakriti, gunas, etc, can be gleaned by the perceptive student from the following description of the four grand divisions of the cosmos according to The Path of the Masters, by Julian Johnson:
Sat Desh, the Highest Region
Beginning now from Above, and going downwards, we come first to Sat
Desh (Sat, True, and Desh, country: True Country or Far Country).
Many other names have been applied to it, such as Nij-Dham, Sat Lok,
Mukam-e Haq and Sach Khand. These names are usually applied to the
lowest section of Sat Desh, but occasionally to the entire grand
division. This is the region or plane of pure spirit. All enjoying
the greatest conceivable happiness, its inhabitants are pure spirits
in such countless numbers as no man can estimate. It is the supreme
heaven of all heavens... It is known to Saints only, who alone can
enter it. It cannot be described. In substance and arrangement it is
wholly unlike anything known in this world. Neither can the human
mind imagine it. This section is so vast in extent that no sort of
understanding of it can be conveyed to human intelligence. No mind
can grasp it. All that the Saints can say of it is that it is
limitless. It is the only region which the great Saints insist is
practically limitless. We may say, although no mind can grasp the
thought, that it embraces all else, and is both the beginning and the
end of all else. It is the great center about which all other worlds
revolve. Anything which we might say about it would be incomplete and
only partially true, so declare the Saints. If the entire physical
universe with its countless millions of suns and their planets were
all gathered together in a single cluster, each sun being a million
light-years distant from any other sun, yet this entire ensemble
would appear no more than a few dark specks floating in the clear and
luminous sky of Sat Desh. In that happy country, a sun such as ours,
but a thousand times larger, would appear as a tiny dark spot, so
very great is the light of that world.
This region is the grand capital of all creation, the center of all
universes, and the residence of the Supreme Creator-Lord of all. From
this center of all light, life and power, the Great Creative Current
flows outwards and downwards to create, govern and sustain all
regions. It passes out from this region somewhat like the radio
emanations going forth from a great broadcasting station. It is the
Audible Life Stream, the most important factor in the system of the
Masters. This Stream permeates the entire system of universes. A
thing of great importance to us is that the music of this ever-
flowing current, the stream of life, can be heard by a real Master
and also by his students who have advanced even a little on the Path.
And let us reiterate that unless a Master teaches his students how
this current is to be heard, he is not a Master of the highest order.
This grand headquarters of all creation is the region of immortality.
It is unchangeable, perfect, deathless. It is for ever untouched by
dissolution or grand dissolution. So are its inhabitants. This region
will be referred to many times in this book. It is subdivided into
four distinct planes, each having its own characteristics and its own
Lord or Governor. But the difference between these subdivisions is
very slight. From above downward they are named: Radha Swami Dham
(meaning home of the Spiritual Lord). It is also called Anami Lok
(meaning nameless region). The next plane below the highest is Agam
Lok (Agam, inaccessible, and Lok, place). The third plane is Alakh
Lok. (Alakh, invisible and Lok, place). The last of these higher
planes is Sach Khand (Sach, truth and Khand home). The last one is
also called Sat Lok, the true place. By the Mohammedan Saints it has
been called Mukam-e-Haq, meaning of the same as above, the Home of
Truth.
The light of all four of these regions is so very intense that it is
impossible for any mortal to get an understanding of it. It cannot be
described. The great Swami Ji sums up his statements regarding is
region by saying simply that "It is all Love.
Brahmanda, the Second Grand Division
The second grand division from above downward is Brahmanda, (meaning,
the egg of Brahm, as said before). This refers to its shape and also
to the Governor or Lord who is its ruler. This Brahm is supposed by
most of the old rishis to be the supreme being of all creation,
because they knew of no one higher. But the Saints know that there is
not only one Brahm, but countless numbers of Brahms, who are
governors over so many Brahmandas. For it must be understood that
there are countless Andas and Brahmandas, each circling about the
supreme region in its own orbit. And each of them has its own
governor or ruler. Brahm was the highest God known to the ancient
rishi or yogi, and so the name of Brahm is retained by the Saints to
designate the ruler of the "Three Worlds," including the physical
universe, the Anda and lower portion of Brahmanda, named Trikuti. The
upper portion of Brahmanda is called Par Brahm.
As said before, this grand division is mostly spirit in substance,
but is mixed with a certain amount of pure, spiritualized matter. It
is the finest order of matter, and that includes mind. This is called
the "spiritual-material region," because spirit dominates the region.
The substance of that division gradually becomes less and less
concentrated as we descend toward the negative pole of creation. The
lower portions become coarser in particle, and more and more mixed
with matter. In the lower end of Brahmanda mind is supreme. It is
practically all mind, for mind itself is material of the finest
order. Of course, even mind is mixed with spirit substance to some
slight extent, otherwise it could not exist. All worlds become a
shade darker as we descend, because there is less and less of spirit
substance in the composition. Trikuti, the lowest section of
Brahmanda, is the home of Universal Mind. It is from that region that
all individual minds are derived, and to that region all minds must
return when they are discarded during the upward flight of the
spirit.
Brahmanda is extremely vast in area when compared with the physical
universe, but small when compared with the first grand division. It
is itself subdivided into many distinct regions or planes. Some
mention six subdivisions; but as a matter of fact, there are scores
of subdivisions in that one grand division, almost numberless
subdivisions, each constituting a separate and distinct world.
Divisions and subdivisions shade into one another so imperceptibly
that it is not easy to say just where one ends and another begins.
This accounts in part for the many different descriptions of those
regions, and the great variety of names assigned to them.
Anda, The Lowest of the Heavens
It lies nearest to the physical universe. Its capital is called
Sahasra dal Kanwal, meaning a Thousand-petalled Lotus [right here Dr. Johnson substitutes the common yogic terminology of sahasrar for sahans (dal kanwal) to give justification for the far superior nature of the Path of the Masters; but as we shall see, Sahans Dal Kanwal, is described by Soamiji himself as being an eight-petalled lotus, not a thousand]. Its name is
taken from the great cluster of lights which constitute the most
attractive sight when one is approaching that world. This great group
of lights is the actual "power house" of the physical universe. Out
of that power house flows the power that has created and now sustains
all worlds in our group. Each of those lights has a different shade
of tint and they constitute the most gorgeous spectacle as one enters
that magnificent city of light. In that city of splendors may be seen
also many other interesting and beautiful things. Also, here may be
seen millions of earth's most renowned people of all ages of our
history. Many of them are today residents of this great city and
country. Naturally they are quite happy. It is far superior to
anything ever seen on this earth. Yet this is but the first station
on the upward Path of the Masters.
This region constitutes the negative part of all the superphysical
zones. That is, it lies most distant from the positive pole of
creation. This region is sometimes classified as a part of Brahmanda,
but the Saints prefer to consider it as a separate grand division of
creation. It has many distinctive features of its own. Lying nearest
to the physical universe, it forms the port of entry for all the
higher regions. All souls who are passing to still higher regions
must pass through it. The great majority of human souls at the time
of death pass to some sub-plane of this region. But very few,
comparatively, go direct to this central portion of the Sahans dal
Kanwal region. It is through all of these regions that the Masters
and their disciples must travel on their way to higher worlds.
This section of creation is not immortal or imperishable. Neither are
its inhabitants. Many of its inhabitants believe that they have
attained immortality because their lives there go on for extremely
long periods. All below that is subject to death and
dissolution.
There are two kinds of dissolutions. The one, simple dissolution"
which reaches up to the lowest section in Brahmanda, the region
called Trikuti; this occurs after many millions of years, and the
other, the grand dissolution" which occurs after immeasurably long
periods of time and extends up to the top of Brahmanda. Of course,
both of these dissolutions include the entire physical universe,
every sun, moon and planet in it. At that time every star and its
satellites are wiped out, and then follows a period of darkness equal
in duration to the life of the universe. When the period of darkness
has expired, a new creation is projected, and the heavens are once
more alive with sparkling stars. With each new creation begins a
new "Golden Age" for each planet and its inhabitants. But between
minor dissolutions there are also periods of renewal for the life of
each planet when Golden Ages succeed dark ages.
There is a general idea, finding its way into most religions, that
this world is to come to an end. And so the Masters teach. But the
end is a very different proposition to what it is generally supposed
to be. It will come at a time when all worlds of the physical
universe will be dissolved, and after periods of darkness and
silence, new worlds will take their places. The inhabitants of all of
those worlds to be dissolved are drawn up to higher regions in a sort
of comatose state to be replaced upon these worlds when they are
ready for human habitation. They will then begin a new life here
under more favorable conditions. These periodic dissolutions come to
the physical universe after many, many hundreds of millions of years.
No man need worry now, lest that time is near at hand. It is many
aeons away yet.
The Grand Division of Pinda -- The Physical Plane/Multiverse of Dark
Matter and Light
The fourth grand division, beginning from above, is called Pinda. It
is the gross material or physical universe. Here coarse matter
predominates, there being but a small percentage of mind and a still
smaller amount of spirit. Our earth is a small and insignificant
member of Pinda. It embraces all the suns and their planets known or
unknown, to astronomy. It extends out into space far beyond the reach
of any telescope. Astronomers have never been able to count these
worlds; although as their instruments become more perfect, the range
of their observations is extended. Who shall set limits or indicate
bound to those starry depths? Who can number the numberless? Who can
circumscribe the boundless? To the farthest extent of space wherever
there is a material sun or a speck of dust they are all included in
this fourth grand division which the Masters call Pinda.
In this division, coarse material predominates. Permeating this
coarse material are many finer substances, including mind, and last
of all there is a modicum of spirit to give life to all the rest. In
this lowest of all divisions of creation there is but little light
and a very low grade of life when compared with Brahmanda. But if
compared with Sat Desh, this world is pitch darkness and the life
here, in comparison to that, is scarcely cognizable at all. Its
substance is coarse, clumsy, inert, and full of all manner of
imperfections. These imperfections, as said before, are due to the
paucity of spirit at this pole. This condition of negativity is the
soil out of which all evil grows. However real it may seem to us,
negativity is the absence of reality, and the absence of reality is
the absence of spirit. Food is a reality to us, but hunger is also a
real condition to our consciousness. But hunger is due to the absence
of food. In its last analysis, all pain, longing, all desire is only
a cry of the mind and soul for more light, more spirit. In like
manner, evil is due to, the absence of spirit. And the reason we
have so small a percentage of spirit substance at this end of
creation is because this is the negative pole of all creation. Pinda
is the extreme negative pole. It is consequently so far depleted of
spirit that it lies in a state of semi-death, a condition of heavy
inertia over which broods deep shadow.
Out of this condition rise all the manifold difficulties experienced
by mortals on this plane of life. As one leaves this lowest plane and
begins to ascend toward the positive pole of creation, the light
increases, and hence more life, more beauty and more happiness. This
is all entirely due to the increase in the percentage of spirit on
the several planes. Love, power, wisdom, rhythm, perfection of every
sort take the place of negative conditions which prevail in the lower
sections of the universe.
It should be said here, with all possible emphasis, that just in
proportion to the degree of spirit substance prevailing in any
region, world, person or thing, will its perfections be manifest. And
vice versa, in proportion to the lack of spirit, imperfections will
show themselves. In proportion as matter predominates, those states
which we call evil will manifest. A depletion of spirit, is
therefore, the one fatal disease of the physical universe. Out of
that state all other diseases spring up. In the last analysis, we
believe there is but one disease in the world -- spiritual anemia.”
[Notice, as mentioned, that Julian Johnson uses the term "sahsra dal kanwal and "thousand-petalled lotus" to describe the first inner region. As will be shown, however, Soamiji used the term "Sahans dal Kanwal" and said this region had only an eight-petalled lotus. This has significance in comparing other schools of yoga with Sant Mat].
Continuing, we have a more lyrical description of creation by Huzur Maharaj:
“A current issued forth from the feet of SOAMI [Lord]. It
is the Prime Current and the Creator
of the entire creation.
The Name of that ADI DHARA. (Prime Current) is RADHA [Soul].
THAT alone is the doer and dispenser of every activity.
The Source or Origin or Fountain-head from
whom the Prime Current emanated, is ADI
SOAMl (Absolute Lord) of all.
Where that current halted in its descent, the creation
of Agam Lok [Inaccessible Plane] was brought into being.
Agam Lok is a vast sphere. It encompasses all
the creation.
The entire creation below is being cradled just in
a small nook of Agam Lok.
On completion of the creation of Agam Lok, a
current issued forth from there.
It descended and halted, and evolved the creation
of Alakh Lok [Invisible Region or Plane].
When the sphere of Alakh Lok was formed in the
above manner, the current descended, and
created Sat Lok.
Sat Lok [Plane or Realm of Truth] is the Dham (Abode) of Sat Purush,
and is inhabited by Hansas.
Each of the Hansas [souls] has a dweep (island) to himself.
They are absorbed in the Darshan [Vision] of Sat Purush.
Up to here is the creation of Sat (Truth) or pure spirit.
Neither Maya nor cruel Kal exists here.
There is neither any desire nor any work.
All are absorbed in the Darshan of Sat Purush and
feed on Amrit (ambrosia).
All live in perfect harmony and enjoy rapturous bliss.
There is no trace of pain and anguish due to Kal [god of time-death-
illusion] and there is no burden of Karma.
For a considerable period of time the creation
remained like this - a region of Truth
and pure bliss.
Time, The "Fall" of Kal, the Gnostic "Demiurge" or Universal Mind
Then, from the lower portion of Sat Pur (Sat Lok)
emanated a Shyam (blue) current. It came
down and underwent considerable expansion
and ramification.
It remained constantly engaged in the Sewa
(service) of Purush but, inwardly, it was
cherishing some other desire.
It disclosed its mind thus, "0 Sat Purush [God]!
0 Merciful One and Giver of all things! Grant
me the sovereignty of a separate region, and
furnish me with the seed of Surat. Life here is
not suited to me. Your region is not agreeable to me."
Hearing this, Purush replied, "Get out from this place. You are a nuisance here. Go and
evolve a creation for yourself in the lower part of the pre-creational neutral zone. Take your
seat there and rule over that dominion."
The name of that current is Niranjan. It has all
the characteristics of Kal.
Purush evolved another current with a yellow hue.
Its name is Adya.
By the order of Purush, this other current was
sent down. It associated with Niranjan.
In Sunn, they came to be known as Purush and
Prakriti, and in Trikuti, as Maya and Brahm.
They halted in Sahas-dal-kanwal, from where
the three Gunas (qualities) came into being.
Here, Adya assumed the form of Jyoti, and Niranjan assumed a dark blue complexion.
They first brought into being Brahm-srishti.
Then, the creation of Triloki (three worlds)
was evolved.
Niranjan then engaged himself in Dhyan (contemplation) of Purush (Sat Purush).
Jyoti took upon herself the burden of looking after the creation.
The three Gunas or gods became her assistants. They evolved the rest
of the creation.”
-- Huzur Maharaj, from "Prem Bani Radhasoami", Volume Four, Agra,
India
This appears to be a derivation from the Sar Bachan of Soamiji, and, in turn, possibly the Anurag Sagar of Kabir, of which we will hear more about later. In the first description of the inner regions given above, to repeat, it is noteworthy that Julian Johnson uses the term "Sahasra dal Kanwal" and equates it with the Sahasrara or thousand-petalled lotus as traditionally mentioned in yoga, particularly kundalini yoga. Sar Bachan Poetry, Part II, p. 277, by Soamiji, however, clearly states that Sahans dal Kanwal is a region of an eight-petalled lotus - followed by a lotus of twelve petals in Trikuti, thirteen in Sunn, and ten at Maha-Sunn. It is also of interest that further on in Sar Bachan, on page 394-395, it is stated that there are twelve "kanwals" or ganglia or lotuses in the human microcosm. Six are the traditional chakras in the spine from the coccyx or muladara up to the eyes or ajna chakra. The next three would be unique although not unheard of in the literature outside of Sant Mat, and appear to be centers deeper within the brain, although the impression given is that one is to believe that they are out of the body altogether. But is this so?
Soamiji says that the seventh kanwal is Sahans dal Kanwal, the eighth is in Trikuti, and the ninth is at Daswan Dwar (considered the tenth door or tenth orifice. This will suggest to some, and has in fact been stated, that the tenth orifice is the brahmarendra at the top of the head, and if so that the other preceding kanwals are experienced as the attention moves through the structures of the brain (including the "sky of mind" in the brain core, and the corpus collosum or ‘swanlike' structures - hence passing these one becomes a ‘paramahansa’), before passing out or beyond through the corona radiata into what may be the true sahasrara. Are kanwals or chakras seven through nine actually between the midbrain to the top of the brain, and experienced as attention curves through the ventricles and corpus collosum before passing out through the corona ? It seems so. R. K. Gupta writing for the Lalaji (Ram Chandra) Sant Mat-Sufi group perhaps describes it best. We will visit his thought shortly.
Sant Rajinder Singh has said that one will have proof that there is life after death when one reaches the third inner plane. This seems like it would only would make sense if the first two inner regions are really experienced before death in the domain of the brain core itself, otherwise why wouldn’t one have proof that there is life after death when he reaches the first inner plane, if that is truly out of the body? There is a possible resolution, which will be given shortly. Radhasoami gurus Huzur Maharaj and Maharaj Saheb in their writings both added the interesting comment that the “doorway” to the lower subtle regions was in the gray matter while the doorway to the "purely spiritual" regions was in the white matter. Rumi, too, said, "in the folds of thy brain lie wondrous regions." In the folds of the brain, or beyond them?
Soamiji stated: "I give out details of the ganglia, I have seen within my body. Twelve Kanwals (lotuses, ganglia) are found in the human microcosm."
What are we to make of this, then, in light of the statement of the sage Ramana Maharshi, that "the light in the brain is but the reflected light of the Heart" ? By the end of this book we hope to make this at least a little more accessible to our understanding.
Yogis like Swami Sivananda, whom Kirpal Singh respected, taught, at least at one time, that spiritual illumination comes when the kundalini or shakti passes through the lower chakras, purifying one of gross attachment, and then finally rising into the sahasrara. In fact, he said when that is achieved one becomes a “full-blown jnani.” This would not satisfy the advaitin, but it does mean that for Sivananda (and maybe even Ramakrishna) this is an attainment greater than the average Sant Mat initiate who reaches Sahans-dal-kanwal), which is only `one inch’ within the eye center, according to some saints. The Kriya yoga of Paramhansa Yogananda held to a similar idea of purification and also considered the Sahasrar not as an actual chakra per se but the doorway to the infinite. Some argue that Nirvikalpa Samadhi is the end result of this process, while there have been traditional tantric gurus who have argued that through the union of Shiva and Shakti a non-dual awakening may even ensue from such an experience. I ask a question, therefore, at this, yet the outset, of this article: Is the Sahasrara or thousand-petalled lotus the same as the eight-petalled lotus of Sahans Dal Kanwal in Sant Mat, or does it really represent something more comprehensive than that? There is no doubt in my mind that the true Sahasrar is higher, and a host of Sant Mat teachers have said as much: Faqir Chand, Maharaj Saheb, Lalaji, even Sawan Singh, and others.
Soamiji goes on to list the tenth kanwal as in Maha-sunn, the eleventh at Bhanwargupha, and the twelfth at Sat Lok. These are all still considered in the "human microcosm", which, however, does not mean within the physical body itself, but the entire many-storied microcosmic structure. This can be confusing when looked at objectively and not subjectively, that is, from the inside. When we look outwardly we think there is a body, and imagine being out of it. But that is not quite the way it is. There is an interpenetration of bodies and planes. For instance, the astral body is not ‘up there’, but right here at this moment. Thus, one can introvert and experience structures apparently ‘in’ the body, but when the physical body is no more, the higher bodies and planes are still apparently there. One may invert and go deep into the head space, and have the Sound ‘take one up’, but that does not mean one is ‘out of the body’, per se. Because there is experientially such a difference between the body ‘below the eyes’ and the rest of the body (essentially the head and /or brain) ‘above the eyes’, subjectively there is the sensation of going ‘up.’ But it may still be in the brain-core, the microcosm. Some initiates have described their ‘return’ to body-consciousness as if an aperture opened in their chest and then they were ‘back.’ They usually do not describe an experience of descending from the Crown through the brain to the eye-center and so on. Not until one pierces the Crown at the Brahmarendra, the’ tenth door’, and reaches the true Sahasrar, ‘Sat Lok,’ can one be said to have truly transcended or perhaps ‘outshined’ the body. Each of the preceding stages could be said to be ‘beyond’ body consciousness, but not the body per se. The body is a microcosm of the macrocosm; it is not that one must leave the microcosm to know the macrocosm. They are essentially one. In Sat Lok one can say, in Meister Eckhart language, that the ‘Ground of the soul’ meets ‘the Ground of God.’ Or as Kirpal said, “Self-Knowledge becomes God-Knowledge.” Is this ‘in’ the body or ‘out’ of it? St. Paul said, “I met a man caught up into the third heaven, whether in the body or out of the body, I don’t know…God knows.”
Kabir said there were twenty-one chakras or lokas, Sawan said there were twenty-two ‘voids’, from Mooladhara up to Sat Lok. This latter was confusing to me until I saw that it makes sense if one sees each stage as in essence “voiding” the stages before it. All these “voids” are not formless, dark, silent vacuums such as Sunn or especially Maha Sunn, but the language of ‘voids’ was chosen, and perhaps leads to confusion. The numbering of chakras will be discussed after the following quote from the book, Rainbow Body: A History of the Western Chakra System from Blavatsky to Brennan, in which the author says that there was an interesting convergence of early Theosophy and Radhasoami in the late nineteenth century, may help address this issue:
"The founder of the Radhasoami faith was Seth Shiv Dayal Singh (1818-78), known as Soami Ji. Soami Ji’s successor was Salig Ram (1829-1898), also known as Huzur Maharaj, a high-ranking official in the Indian Postal Service and therefore fluent in English. [Note: the author seems not to be aware of the Beas and Delhi lineages, which trace their roots from Soamiji-Jaimal Singh-Sawan Singh].He became a disciple of Soami Ji in 1858 and helped to found the Radhasoami Satsang in Agra in 1861. Salig Ram touched the Theosophical Society at several points during the 1880s and 1890s. Not only was he a subscriber to the Theosophist as early as 1882, but also he garnered a reference in one of the Mahatma Letters, communications from the two masters behind the founding of the Theosophical Society. In this letter (probably from Kut Hoomi), received in 1881, Salig Ram is identified as “Suby Ram”. The letter's recipient was Alfred Sinnett, a friend of Blavatsky’s and editor of an influential newspaper, the Pioneer. The Mahatma informed him that “no harm” would come from joining Salig Ram’s group. Sinnett himself referred to Salig Ram as “a cultivated and highly respected native government official”, who had informed Sinnett about his guru, Soami Ji.
In the 1890s, Olcott and Besant visited the group and met Huzur Maharaj. A brief account of this meeting occurs in a talk given by Babuji Maharaj (Madhav Prasad Singha, 1861-1949)), the 5th Agra Guru, some forty years later in 1931. Babuji had been living at the Agra ashram since 1873, so this was probably a first-hand account. Though Olcott and Besant stopped in Agra for a few days during Besant's first lecture tour of India in February 1894, Olcott’s published reminiscences do not mention a side trip to hear Huzur Maharaj speak.
A two-part article on Radhaswami beliefs appears in the June and August 1895 issues of the Theosophist, with an editorial note saying that they were written by someone who had been a devotee, they were based on Salig Ram’s own words, and they had been sent to Salig Ram for revision. The second part of this article posited not 12 but 14 chakras: the seven of the body including the Thousand petal Lotus; and 7 beyond that accessible through meditation on the thousand petal lotus.
It is difficult to determine the extent to which the Radhasoami sect and the TS influenced each other's teachings on subtle bodies, planes, and chakras during the early phase of contact between the organizations. Yet Radhasoami teachings intersect the history of the western chakra system several times - including an indirect reference by Leadbeater in The Chakras to a ‘school’ in India that makes free use of the chakras and has 16,000 members spread over a large area. As we shall see, Radhasoami teachings may be the source of later writings on the western chakra system that link the pineal gland to the sixth chakra rather than the 7th."
The passage in bold may hold some answers to the question of how or whether the Sant Mat realization surpasses the crown jewel realization in classic yoga systems. Are there “14” chakras, with numbers 8-14 the expanded dimensions of the Sahsarara? And are these ‘outside’ of the body?
Is it possible, then, that the highest reach or depth of the true Sahasrara is really Sat Lok, with further absorption into the wordless and formless state of Anami actually traditional ascended Nirvikalpa Samadhi? If it isn't, why isn't it? Personally I don’t think it is, at least in most cases, but I don’t have the answer, and assume it must be complicated, if even Masters seem to disagree. This is not to diminish the realization of Anami, but rather to suggest categorizing Nirvikalpa in its traditional yogic profundity.
Can it be then that there are semantic differences between the traditions that cloud our understanding? The answer to this appears to be, "sure," and will be addressed later. We do have a difficult time assuming that the Nirvikalpa samadhi spoken of by one such as Ramakrishna was merely the equivalent of the Sant Mat experience of Sahans dal Kanwal. They appear to be two completely different states.
Nirvikalpa samadhi, moreover, is a concept that has several different connotations in the spiritual literature. It basically means “without thought.” In short, however, its depth appears to vary considerably. Faqir Chand equated it with a realization on one of the lower planes, perhaps Maha Sunn, while for Sri Nisargadatta it was equivalent to the Absolute or “Stateless State”, and essentially Sahaja. Sages differ, as mentioned, on whether it is even necessary. However, they are ones who are usually talking about a yogically ascended nirvikalpa. Just to make things clear - as mud!
[By the way, while we are mentioning theosophy, inasmuch as they talk of a “Trans-Himalayan” lineage, and inner hierarchies, this quote from Sant Darshan Singh is interesting. Speaking about the spiritual master, he writes:
“He has been appointed by the Higher Government to be the focal point where the lifeline of the Eternal Music is flowing…” (Spiritual Awakening, p. 45)]
A yet further complication in our study is found in this quote from Discourses on Radhasoami Faith by Sawan Singh, the like of which I have not found anywhere else:
"Where does the Word emanate from? Dadu Sahib says it comes from Sukhman (the central inner passageway or spiritual current through which the soul rises to the higher regions). This is the first sunnya, sunn, or void. There are twenty-two sunnyas inside, the last being Sach Khand." (p.227).
Twenty-two sunnyas (‘vacuums’ or voids) ? What could that mean? We have already given a preliminary explanation: it has something to do with corresponding to the twenty-one lokas or chakras spoken of by Kabir in his book Granth Abibhed. The progression of the inner passages will be discussed at various points in this section, but here is possibly some clarification up front - from a Sufi ‘cousin’ of Sant Mat. The Ram Chandra/Lalaji group [R. K. Gupta in The Science and Philosophy of Spirituality [available at scribd.com] says the first void is at the ‘Sahstradal,’ [notice how each of these teachers takes liberties with the spelling of Sahans dal Kanwal, sometimes making it seem like the Sahasrar], a little above the eyebrows and towards the backside of the head. The way there is via a “very fine nerve called “Mukti Dwar,” literally the ‘door to liberation.’ Actually, ‘one inch’ inwards, says Gupta, based on the teachings of Ram Chandra. Kirpal Singh also once said that “if you go in an inch, it is better than trip around the world.” After seeing light at the ajna center, as attention deepens inward one reaches this sunnya or first void. It is deep inside the head. On the way to the next “void” - again, not really a void - of the next ‘region’ or stage, of Trikuti, one passes along the course of the optic nerve which is said to be in the shape of a new moon. This nerve resembles a crooked tunnel, hence the name bunknaal. [ “I find the “sweet spot” of the Light in the head. It is in, down, back and up inside the core (just below the top of the head.” (Ramaji,1000 (2014), p. 416). Then as one begins to ascend one reaches the stage of Trikuti where the vision of a single or triple-mountain may appear. And here, Gupta says, is the Second Void.
American teacher Ramaji writes of experiencing all this in his own quite different sadhana:
“A bright light in the third eye (Ajna Chakra) appeared. Then it dimmed and began demanding enormous amounts of energy. The word shoonya appeared and kept repeating itself. The mind would swoon as it entered this void that was inside the head. The ability of the mind to attach from thoughts became disabled, in part because the world was of no interest. The experience of a dark vertical tunnel inside the center of the head was followed by the vision of a spiritual mountain sacred to Lord Shiva, Mt. Kailash, on the top of the head. When the snow on this sacred mountain would melt, drops of blissful soothing nectar flowed into my brain and down onto my tongue. The dark tunnel or vortex at one point went as far down as my throat chakra. Eventually, a new brightness arose and blotted out all of this phenomenon. It had the appearance of a spiritual sun. This sun was the revelation of the “I Am.” (Ibid, p. 414)
He goes on describing further events in his more or less self-enquiry type of path, in which he was spontaneously led to look at the origin of attention itself, and experienced the dissolving of the attention in the Absolute, otherwise known as the 'natural' or 'stateless state. Faqir Chand also said that Absolute was “beyond attention,” “beyond Anami,” the “stateless State,” and “only Gyan.” Faqir Chand and his views will be discussed at length shortly. Our main point here is simply to show independent confirmation and re-contextualizing of the ordering of some of the steps inward. As we shall see later, Kirpal SIngh also talks of “nectar dripping down from the moon of Trikuti.” So in summary the first void is at the back of the head, and Trikuti seems to be further up, but not yet penetrating to the Sahasrar. Viewing things objectively, we seem to still be within the confines of the human body.
So far, the ‘chakras’ , according to the Ram Chandra classification, are: the first six, mooladhara to ajna; then the seventh at Sahans dal Kanwal, the eighth Trikuti [which has six chakras; see Aim Divine by Shri V.B.Lal], then the fourteenth-fifteenth, Sunn/Maha Sunn, the fifteenth Bhanwar Gupha, the sixteenth, Sat Lok. Then Agam, Alak or Anami, and finally, “Dhruv Pada” (the Absolute, beyond Anami). Thus there are twenty-one chakras, give or take. Sometimes Sunn and Maha Sunn are combined. Sunn is included within Daswan Dwar of the Sants. Sunn is termed the “Vacuum” by Sri Yukteswar.
Gupta simplifies the “void” count by excluding the six lower bodily centers, as well as the six chakras in Trikuti, and comes up with seven voids corresponding to the major stages up to Anami. He mentions that “some saints consider Anami is at the Brahmarendra.” This is in line with the standard Yogic-Vedantic-Hindu classification.
It may be possible to dispatch the problem of the semantic confusion around the concept of the “tenth door” by simply recognizing that there are two usages of the term: one, the Brahmarendra at the top of the skull (or the passage from the sixth chakra at the eye-focus to the Crown), and another tenth door at the inner region of Daswan Dwar, considered the dividing line between the upper and lower regions, or alternatively, the higher and lower parts of the body-mind and /or brain [Daswan Dwar and Sunn being inside the skull according to the classification of Ram Chandra]. In the Kriya yoga or Sri Yukteswar this is simply labeled “the Door.”
Sawan Singh in 1943 stated:
“The soul came from the Satlok and entered the tenth door, then went down the Parbrahm. From there it stayed at the third eye behind the two eyes.”
So, did Sawan change the teachings of Soamiji? Is Sat Lok at the Crown, or far above that? Or, paradoxically, both?
Gupta says that according to the Sufi schools there are three divisions: Dayal Desh (‘lokas’ ‘above’ or ‘beyond’ Anami); Kal Desh (Sahans dal Kanwal up to Anami); and Maya Desh (mooladhara to Sahans dal Kanwal. Thus, he accentuates that there is in fact an Absolute, call it the ‘Stateless State” or perhaps “Wonder Region” , and that Anami is not the ultimate, but still a plane within relativity. He gives a correspondence of Sat Lok - Sat Purush; Agam Lok - Agam Purush; Alak or Anami - Videha Purush; and Dhruv Pada - Absolute Truth. This is a different use of terms than this quote from Sawan Singh, cited earlier:
"Pind and Brahman have beginning as well as end. Region of Dayal Desh has beginning but no end. Radhasoami Dham which is the highest of all, has neither beginning nor end. On attaining this final stage I became free from beginning and end." (Discourses on Radhasoami Faith, Vol. One)
Here Sawan Singh seems to he pointing with Radhasoami Dham to what elsewhere is considered the Absolute State, whereas Dayal Desh would be Sat Lok - virtually the reverse of Ram Chandra and his disciple Gupta.
Perhaps all of this is not immediately relevant to the average devotee, and perhaps any sense of a problem might be dismissed in considering that the regions and stages are all the same, while only the words have been switched! With the path being non-linear, moreover, even some variation in the ordering of the stages may be permissible. It might also be considered that every saint or sage may not be a great writer or have a perfect intellectual understanding of these teachings. That would not in itself be evidence that they are not great. Still, clarification and precision of articulation would go a long way in keeping things straight.
We are, however, getting closer and closer to high Hinduism traditional classifications. The only different item to consider is the Shabd. And Gupta says Ram Chandra explained that it is not a direct emanation of the Creator or Sat Purush, but a later product of “the transformation of the dissolution energy into matter and the action of time” wherein these two forces [whatever they are] turned into sound. It is difficult to understand, but then so is the creation story. We get more into creation and shabd in Part Two, but will just say here that there seem to be three versions of creation. Gupta says that the Sat Purush didn’t create the world(s), but that the Sat Purush “with the help of Maya and “Kaal” created them. All the emanatory descriptions from here down make some sort of sense, but up here at the beginning stages, like most creation stories, it breaks down so far as any kind of logic requires. In other words, it remains a story. For Vedanta, it is Maya that creates the world (if one admits there is such a thing as creation; even Sankara had to resort to maya when giving out his lesser teachings). For Ram Chandra, Sat Purush-Adi Purush-Saguna Brahman (all synonyms for him) creates the world with Maya and Kaal. But where did Maya and Kaal come from? There is a gap in the logic where the One Absolute becomes two and so on. Maya came from the first ‘desire’ of the One God (which desire was the first illusion), who then needed the help of these two other secondary illusions to create an illusory universe. Third explanation, the standard Sants Mat one, is simply that the Sat Purush and/or his Word is the Creator. This is extensively discussed in Part Two.
Also interesting is the notion of Saarshabda. The creative action of shabd only applies to the lower spheres; in Sat Lok, although there are sweet sounds even up to Anami Lok, attention is “dormant,” and the essence experienced is known as Sarshabda - which ‘essential or true sound’ Ishwar Puri says is realized as ones own Self - and Gupta says is “the reflection of the Primal Determination [a notion also found in Taoism], the first ‘desire’ of God, and which exists in all creation as “the essential remembrance of the Highest Truth.” This has echoes of non-dualism: truth can be realized here and now, and not just in Sach Khand - which is also here and now.
No doubt this is all difficult to follow, but there is more. The higher lokas are not to be understood in the physical sense of the term, as places in space. Rather, they denote the state of the soul, which all scriptures describe as imperishable, immutable, infinite, formless, and indescribable. Sant Rajinder Singh said, “the soul doesn’t go anywhere.” The soul, further, was an “irradiation of the Sat Purush” into the constituent elements of man, which could not of themselves organize into a living being. This is the Biblical “man made in the image of God” - i.e., of the Sat Purush - or what Plotinus would say “in the image of the Intellectual Principle or Nous.”
As souls descended from Sat Lok, says Gupta, their consciousness became dormant, and Kaal Purush “came into being” [somehow] as a kindness of God to provide them with suitable bodies in order for them have the opportunity to make spiritual progress. This is interesting. Once leaving Sach Khand the souls could not go back without assuming a body. Thus the earth experience is valuable. And even though Kaal himself “fell” into acquiring a sense of himself as a separate power, and also gave rise to the principle of ahamkara (ego) in man, this was in reality a gift of the Supreme and not a punishment for evil. This is a very positive statement about the ego, and also suggests the truth of non-dualism.
For Gupta and Ram Chandra, Anami lok was the first creation, a production of Kaal Purush [before its ‘fall’] and Adi Maya. Thus it is the first plane in relativity and one could say a 'veil' on the Absolute, and not the highest as some Sants assert.
But just to get some more difficult and confusing assertions out of the way (not solved, however), Gupta, following his reading of Kabir, states that there is a replication of higher lokas in Dayal Desh (which he labels Sat Lok) above this Anami, reflected as follows: Videhi Purush - Agam Loka; Agam Purush - Alakh Loka; Sat Lok/Sat Purush - Sach Khand. Shabd, Surat, and Nirat are dormant ‘up above.’ How one knows such things is not explained very well. Furthermore, below this Sat Lok, but above the created Anami, there are additional stages not usually mentioned in the literature: first is Surat Loka (“eternal bliss”), then Akshar Loka (“imperishable”). Going down, Bhanwar Gupha is a replication of Surat Loka, etc..This is incredibly confusing! And not very useful, in my humble opinion. The standard eight-planed scheme is difficult enough, but the one we willies here.
And, as Gupta states, some saints say this is at the ‘place’ - or should one say, ‘experienced at the place’ - of the Brahmarandhra, at the top of the Sushumna nadi, the sushumna which he also says originates in the Heart (and not at the Mooladhara at the base of the spine, as schools of traditional kundalini yoga maintain). This is interesting and is in fact what Ramana Maharshi said, in a slightly different manner. For Ramana there was an apparent ‘terminal bend’ backwards of the Sushumna from the top of the chakra system down into the Heart - which he made clear was not the heart chakra itself but when in the body one could feel it throbbing there on the right side as “aham sphurana” or the “I-current.”
For Gupta and the Sufis, the Heart center or chakra is more complex. In brief, there are five sub-centers of the heart, two on the left (Sirr and Qulb), two on the right (Khafi and Rooh, and one at the top in between these four named Akhafa. The last two are associated with intuition and the deepest intuition. Sufi schools place emphasis on activating these centers and letting the heart in turn activate all the other chakras, and by the creation of love lead beyond them all without any further yoga. Bhai Saheb, guru of Irena Tweedie, spoke of this in her book Daughter of Fire, and when Sufi Pir Vilayat Khan met Kirpal Singh in 1972 and requested initiation, Kirpal replied, “there is no need, as you were initiated by your father (Hazrat Inayat Khan).” So it seems like in both schools, initiation is directly from heart to heart.
Gupta writes that prior to the time of Shah Baha ‘uddin Naqshband, the Masters of that order followed the practice of purifying all the chakras, starting from the lowest, the Mooladhara. Shah Baha ‘uddin Naqshband introduced the practice of starting from the Hridaya (anahat) chakra. The method of practice was further modified and improved by the Masters after him, and Shaikh Ahmad Faruqi Sirhindi considered that purification of Latifa-e-Qulb (one of the five centers of the Hridaya chakra, most related to the emotions) alone was sufficient. Once the Hridaya chakra is perfected the seeker can be immediately taken to the Nafs-e-Natiqa (Prana Bindu or Agya chakra), the subtle abode of the nafs, in one step, and he may thence be elevated to the Brahmand chakra (Sahstradal Kanwal) as the second step. The process was further simplified by later Shaikhs into placing all emphasis on the Master awakening the Heart chakra by transmitting shabd from heart to heart, which then awakens all others. Much emphasis is on prayer and feeling their Master in the heart. The Hridaya chakra is considered to be related to the attribute of creation, which is the basis for the existence of all possible being. Mythologically this chakra is associated with the Prophet Adam and is considered to be the root of all other centers. Activation and integration of this center results in transmuting any attachment to individual action of the seeker into action in harmony with the Divine Will. Perfection of this state results in the annihilation of the heart, known as the state of fana-e-Qulb. The Sant Mat Masters say their way is the most streamlined, scientific and quickest, starting not at the Mooladhara or the Heart, but from the Agya center. Yet how many disciples bypass their emotional purification this way? The better among these Masters do not allow this to happen for too long. “Concentration may be a passport to inner attainment, but it needs the visa of humility to make it an impeccable document,” said Brunton. The ajna center may be “the seat of the soul” in the body, as the Sants say, but the heart is in fact the center of the human being. Can the two be separated?
The Sufis consider purification of the nafs to be an essential point. Ramana seemed to agree:
"The seeker's aim must be to drain away the vasanas from the heart and let no reflecting consciousness obstruct the light of the Eternal Consciousness. This is achieved by the search for the origin of the ego and by diving into the heart. This is the direct path to Self-Realization. One who adopts it need not worry about nadis, brain, sushumna, kundalini, breath control and the six yogic centers. The Self does not come from anywhere or enter the body through the crown of the head. It is as it is, ever-shining, ever steady, unmoving and unchanging. The changes are not inherent in the Self for the Self abides in the heart and is self-luminous like the sun. The changes are seen in its light." Talks
Ah, yes: just "drain away the vasanas from around the heart." This must be the understatement of the century - does anyone have an idea how profound an ordeal that is? The ego could and would never do such a thing - the 'I'-thought will defend itself until the bitter end. Properly speaking, only a master could do it, of course with the disciple's cooperation. Ramana further says:
“Were the vasanas in the brain instead of the Heart, they would be extinguished if the head is cut off so that reincarnations would come to the end. But it is not so. The Self obviously safeguards the vasanas in its closest proximity, i.e., within itself in the Heart, just as a miser keeps his most prized possessions (treasure) with himself and never out of reach. Hence the place where the vasanas are is the Self, i.e., the Heart, and not the brain (which is only the theater for the play of the vasanas from the greenroom of the Heart.” (Talks, p. 308)
It definitely gets confusing. Ramana says the Self doesn’t come from anywhere and does not enter the body through the crown of the head. Then, after ascribing all the lokas to centers in the human body, Gupta adds “when the soul descended to the human body, it first settled at Brahmarendra before descending to other centers and spreading into every cell in the body.” So based on these contrasting quotes it appears that the soul as usually portrayed in Sant Mat is certainly not the Self of Ramana. The question then arises: what is this soul, and where did it first descend from? Is there any better answer than simply saying, “from infinity?” Just saying that it was an irradiation from the Sat Purush into an insentient grouping of elements doesn’t help us much here. And how would we know this in any case? We would have to have been there before the Sat Purush to witness it. That is what many gyanis would say. Ramana would no doubt say the Sat Purush is in the Self. So we go round and round.
The Great Causal Body - Vedanta versus Sant Mat
To complete this preliminary discussion of planes and bodies and their relation to Realization, two systems of spiritual teaching must be compared. The Vedanta teachings of the 17th century Samartha Ram Das, whom Sant Darshan recognized as a great saint (more on this later), are found in his classic book Dasbodh. This is the source of much of the teaching of Sri Siddharameshwar, guru of Sri Nisargadatta, the latter whose talks form the classic I AM THAT. The teachings of this line more or less parallel those of the Sants in terms of the essence of the stages up to the causal body, although their practice is Vedantic and not mystical. This is a major point. For instance, for them the subtle body includes all inner functions of pranas, mind, intellect and ego (ahamkara). This is transcended in place, that is to say, through discrimination and not the mystical ‘exfoliation’ of the soul. Nevertheless, at the point of transcending the causal body which they describe as of the nature of the ignorance of deep sleep, there is a 'forgetting.' A forgetting of what? All the knowledge and cosmic consciousness that went before. One emerges in the Greater Causal Body - their term for what the Sants refer to as the Supercausal or sometimes Supracausal body - into a luminous clarity of the "I Am', which they say is the first act of the Absolute in limiting itself to the form of Pure Knowledge. The Great Causal body is inclusive of all five sheaths said to be covering the soul in yoga teachings. It is “Turiya” or the “fourth state. In this stage one may assert "I Am the Truth." This is alright, they say, because it is true, but just as a man would not continue to say "I am a man, I am a man," so one in the Greater Causal Body would not need to repeat "I Am the Truth," because to do so would eventually create a doubt of its being so. The Absolute would never assert that, it is what it is. So the final step would be to transcend the Greater Causal Body, which amounts to a "forgetting of the forgetting." In the Greater Causal Body, one feels liberated. In fact he is - liberated from the bondage to duality in body and mind. The Absolute, however, has no knowledge or even memory of ever being in bondage or being liberated. There is no mind there, no subject, no object, no world (which is also in the Form of Knowledge, i.e., a concept).
Okay. Now in the path of the Sants, upon passing through the experiential void of Maha Sunn, one is in the upper part of the supercausal body, and may utter the Maha Vakya of "aham brahm asmi," (or "Oh God, I am of the same essence as Thou art."). One has 'forgotten' the lower worlds and lower self, and abides in a pure state of Self-Knowledge. But now, unlike the other school, the step to the Absolute appears much more complex. The necessary "forgetting of the forgetting" leading to the Absolute could mean the ascent or transition to Sach Khand, or the passage through all the stages of Sach Khand, Alak, Agam,and Anami. This would be the case on the classification of Ram Chandra and perhaps even Soamiji where Anami is the first plane of relativity and not the Absolute. One may well ask then, "should we consider these four planes or stages as making up what the other school refers to as the Great Causal Body - and only the next step being the Absolute? If not, why not? Ram Chandra, using a lesser-known Dharamdasi text of Kabir, says that all planes up to Anami have light and sound. Thus based on this alone Anami could not be the Absolute. A quote from Christian mystic Pseudo Dionysius the Aeropagite may also illustrate what we are getting at here:
"The simple and absolute and changeless mysteries of theology lie hidden within the super-luminous gloom of the silence, revealing hidden things, which in its deepest darkness shines above the most super-brilliant, and in the altogether impalpable and invisible, fills to overflowing the eyeless minds with glories of surpassing beauty...It is super essentially exalted above all, and manifested without veil and in truth, to those alone who pass through both all things consecrated and pure, and ascend above every ascent of all holy summits, and leave behind all divine lights and sounds, and heavenly words, and enter the gloom, where really is, as the Oracles say, He Who is beyond all." (John Parker, trans, Dionysius the Aeropagite, Works (1897) (Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library), p. 84-86)
This could be interpreted as portraying a passage into the 'dazzIing darkness' and ‘divine unknowing’ and the realization of the Pure I Am - awesome indeed, but still one step from the Absolute as thus far considered.
Perhaps a quote from another discipline may simplify things for us here. Paul Brunton writes:
“It is possible for the fully illumined mystic to experience two different stages of identification with his Higher Self. In one, he becomes conscious of the latter on IT’s own plane; in the other, which he experiences in deep trance only, even this is transcended and there is only the One/Being. Yet this is not annihilation. What it is (infinite) is beyond human comprehension, and therefore beyond human description.” (Notebooks, Vol. 14, 3.387)
Might the first of these ‘inbound’ stages be equivalent to Sach Khand (the soul’s own plane) and the second Anami (infinite Being)? That would leave us the unqualified Absolute, beyond inner and outer, as the so-called “Stateless State.”
Sri Nisargadatta said, ”In the Absolute every I AM is preserved and glorified.” Brunton said, ”At the base of each man’s being stretches the one infinite life alone, but within it his centre of existence rests.”
The ego, which knows only separate existence, does not exist in Sach Khand, but man’s higher individuality does. Rajinder Singh said that individuality is never lost; however, as contrasted with the ego, this unique individuality knows itself not separatively but as a consciousness within the universal existence. As such it can be said to be individual, but not personal.
And of course, it is to be recognized, sooner or later, that it is that way even now, from the heart’s perspective.
Well, are these sages not talking the same language here? Hopefully, we will see them even closer together before we are through.
Bhanwar Gupha, or the ‘Rotating Cave’ - Siddharameshwar and Faqir Chand
This discussion is related to the one above. In either system, whether that of Sri Siddahrameshwar in Amrut Laya: The Stateless State and Sri Samartha Ramdas in Dasbodh, or that of Sant Mat, the passage to the Great Causal Body or Supercausal Body is not accomplished in one step. At first the Self-Knowledge attained is not pure or stable. Sri Siddharameshwar says that this is not enough to banish the causal ignorance, or veiling of the causal body. The Great Causal Body needs “polishing” or “scrubbing.” Thus, one goes back and forth between Knowledge and ignorance for a period of time. He states:
“The God of Knowledge…witnesses the dissolution of all the modifications of Knowledge and is the one who presides over the Great Causal Body. However, it should be clearly understood that this “Witnessing Knowledge” is also a parasite (an unwanted presence) on the “Pure Nature of the Self.” This “Witnessing Knowledge” is only needed to be used to annihilate the “Ignorance” of the Causal Body which means having “no knowledge.” Where the “Witnessing Knowledge” of the Fourth Body is left behind, the state of Forgetfulness is forgotten, and “Knowledge” sees only at itself. Observation of one’s Self cannot be called “witnessing.” The seer is called a witness when he forgets the Self and sees something objective or different from the Self. When seeing only Himself, he abides in this “Supreme Knowledge,” Vijnana, which is of the nature of the “Absolute.” (Amrut Laya, p. 50-51)
When reading Sant Mat guru Faqir Chand’s book, Illuminations, at first I was sceptical of his more ‘gyanic’ description of Bhanwar Gupha, but after reading Siddharameshwar I found Faqir’s depiction almost identical. Sant Mat usually teaches that the soul in its mystic ascent goes through a dark void of Maha Sunn and then later goes through a ‘whirling or rotating cave’ in the super and/or supra-causal plane. These are depicted as actual structures one ‘sees’. But is it really so, or are we better off understanding it as a transformation in consciousness? Faqir says:
“I have realized that all these stages of Sahasraradala Kamal, Trikuti, Sunn, Maha-Sunn,, are the play of the mind. Visions are based on the thoughts one keeps. This play of whatever one sees within (i.e., visions) is based on samskaras (impressions and suggestions). They are not the same for everyone. Visions or images vary from person to person…I told you the meaning Soham-kar in yesterday’s satsang. We call it Bhanwar-gupha. We attain knowledge. We try to stay there, but the mind brings us back down. Again, we leave the mind and go beyond. This cyclical process is called Bhanwar-gupha. When one ripens, one goes beyond this Bhanwar-gupha. Then what happens? One comes to know one’s true nature…” (Baba Faqir Chand’s Illuminations (MSAC Philosophy group, 2018), p. 55)
Faqir seems to be in agreement with Siddharameshwar that this stage is not steady until one ripens in Self-Knowledge. Otherwise, one falls back in ignorance.
Does anyone ‘see’ a ‘whirling cave’? I don’t know. I imagine it is possible, why not? Can there not be both a (dualistic) psychic vision beforehand and also a transformation in one’s consciousness, such that one does not merely go through a cave but becomes it, before attaining Self-Knowledge? But I doubt if we can imagine what it would be like going through such a ‘cave’. Is it like a washing machine, or a swooning in and out of awareness, uncertain which end of the cave we will pop out of ? Is such a cave part of the brain structures like the course of baanknal along the optic nerve, or the passage through the corpus collosum on the way to the crown? This general discussion is revisited in the concluding section in Part Four.
Belief and Investigation
Despite the promises of Soamiji, "Unless I see with my own eyes, I will not believe the sayings of the Master,” and “Know yourself by yourself, and do not rely on the sayings of anyone else,” therefore, much still seems to be expected to be believed without argument from the beginning. It is common in Sant Mat to say that “all Masters speak of the same path” and that its teaching is the same as many teachings throughout the ages. This makes the path sound like the highest and also helps legitimize it. It is said that Jesus, Buddha, and other classic figures all taught the same thing. But one can easily reach the conclusion they did NOT teach the same thing, at least not as historically recorded. In none of the schools of high Buddhism is shabd yoga taught, nor is there undisputed evidence that Jesus did so, other than a few oblique references in the gospels that are interpreted to suggest that he did. I am not saying they did one way or the other. There is obviously subtle light and sound experienceable within. That is not at issue. The point, however, is that one must assume that Jesus and Buddha taught this specific method of yoga in private only to a select few in order to justify such a claim.There is actually some evidence of this, in the apocryphal gospels of Judas and Mary. There is also the problem that any number of mystical schools, such as Kriya Yoga, also attempt to gain legitimacy by claiming Jesus as one of their own.
If someone adheres to a particular ideology, he tends to defend it in the terms of that ideology itself instead of from a position of intellectually neutral comparative analysis. If one is a follower of another path, or if an initiate is decided to be seen as not a ‘good’ satsangi, for instance, it it sometimes argued that their practice or thoughts are the work of Kal or the negative power instead of tackling the criticisms themselves. This is no longer a justifiable position as mankind gets less and less provincial in its communication with each other. The teachings must be able to withstand debate from without and not just within. Otherwise, I ask, what is the purpose of having conferences like the World Fellowship of Religions and Unity of Man, such as were held by my guru, Sant Kirpal Singh? I say this with all due respect; it is time for the light of truth to be shed on the Path of the Masters - as well as all other paths (and “non-paths”). It is now time for philosophy (the “love of truth”), and no longer the time for religion and theology. In order to proceed further on the path, one must get to square one, or what the Buddha called “Right View”, or otherwise no matter how far one appears to advance he may not reach the highest truth.
Shabd gurus do make a point of encouraging people to examine the path critically, but then once that is done and the seeker has "made up his mind", he or she is advised he should follow the master's instructions, etc., and not worry about thinking anymore. But for many this is not enough. How many initiates, moreover, truly make an in-depth investigation of the path as it compares with others before making their decision? Even if one has, a true path must be able to withstand any new arguments that arise, for how can one be certain that he has examined all the issues in his initial study? Must one ignore new questions or criticisms that arise just because he has committed himself to a path? If, on the other hand, one relies only on his immediate feelings in making such a decision, such feelings are unfortunately subject to error as well as change when later held up against the light of reason and experience. So understanding, even just intellectual understanding, can not be bypassed, at least if one is to have a conversation with aspirants on different paths.
Seeking is supposedly about discovering truth. Therefore, it appears someone must ask the questions raised below, and I risk the wrath of the faithful and even God if need be to do so. It was never my intention to be in such a position. I would rather just revel in inner bliss and a simple guru-devotee relationship. Yet my master confounded my assumptions, called me his friend, and in the end said I was a new man and that I should tell everyone so. Therefore, as Ramanuja once shouted from the rooftop while saying what he was told not to say, “I don’t care if I go to hell if it will help one soul find the truth.” I do hope that more than a few as well as my heart-friend will find me unworthy of damnation for this investigation.
There has, before we finish with this section, also been an ongoing controversy among Sant Mat teachers (beginning with Faqir Chand) whether it is actually the Master who "gives" anyone a contact with the inner light and sound, or whether he merely points out the technique for the disciple to find out what is already there. I believe both of these may be the case, depending on the lineage one is a part of and the guru’s competency therein. In the line of Kirpal Singh, it is claimed that it is the Master Power, transmitted through the eyes from one master to His successor, which, directly or indirectly, can and will (at initiation) actually drag the attention of the initiate within to grant him experiences, and many can attest to that first hand. Personally, I believe they can and do. In other lineages within Sant Mat, this is not promised, and there are apparently some masters who are only competent to give meditation instructions, but no “transmission”. Some these days of non-dual teachings and teachers may very well ask, "so what?" This will all be discussed further below.
Differing Initiation Promises Among Lineages
This promise of an experience at initiation (as a boost on the way, and as proof of the guru’s competency) was started by Kirpal Singh, and most initiates of that lineage (Darshan Singh, Rajinder Singh) do experience something, even before their initiation, sometimes shortly after, which explicit promise is not, to my knowledge, the case with initiates in the Beas or Agra line, where one is taught to keep repeating the simran or mantric charged words until they achieve concentration, only after which inner light will appear. Initiation in the Delhi/Naperville lineage is said to be the moment of thought-transference from the Master, not necessarily the actual time of the official initiation, i.e., “the initiation is actually done the moment that it is authorized. That comes from the Word within you or from the human pole where the Word is fully manifested.” - Kirpal Singh, Heart-to-Heart Talks, p.168). Kirpal was emphatic that this was required for any success by the disciple. He said:
“You see, concentration can be done only when you have something to concentrate on. When you close your eyes, if you have nothing to see - nothing to stand on - you’ve got darkness before you. So there you will stay, like a child shut in a dark room with the door closed; he’ll break the door, he’ll cry. But if he sees something that’s attractive, enchanting, then he will not cry. So there must be something to stand on.” (Heart To HeartTalks, p. 41)
A few things may be said about this. While many do have this experience, it is apparent that more than a few do not. Telling a beginner who does not see light and has bot achieved pratyahara - sensory withdrawal - to concentrate in the middle of the darkness in front of them may do several things: one, it may actually increase body-awareness, as one tries to focus ‘in front’ of themselves, i.e., in front of their body. Where is the ‘middle’ of the darkness? Two, one is then left with japa of the names as their only means for concentration - just as it is on many paths; three, assuming this is the only way to learn to concentrate may lead some initiates to disappointment or despair, when there are in fact other means they could use. ‘Discursive meditation’, such as used in beginning stages of Christian mysticism, is one way. Most Eastern meditation paths do not consider this meditation, however, as it uses the mind, while directing their students or devotees directly into contemplation, which they may simply not be ready for. With the Master’s grace they certainly could do it, but that does not appear to always be forthcoming in the way it is promised or expected. I sat in on an initiation a few years ago and a man next to me doing the same afterwards said to me with some concern, “I have been initiated for two years and haven’t seen any light yet, what should I do?” What answer could be given? An apologetic implying he was ‘doing it wrong’ is easy to make but not very useful; and three, this is precisely the point where Ramana Maharshi would tell the seeker to “ask ‘who’ sees the darkness or blank.” This is where self-enquiry paths are very different from yoga paths like Sant Mat. Rather than try to concentrate on ‘objectively’ seeing something, one is advised to ‘hold the seer’, and find the ‘subjective’ reality. In the former, unconsciously attention is, as it were, ‘extended outside the heart’ and projected towards an independent ‘object’ (‘in front’ of oneself), while in the latter there is enquiry into the origin of attention or the thought ‘I’ in the spiritual heart. One is, as it were, the ‘forward step,’ and the other the ‘backward step.’ The latter is difficult for many, yet so is the former. And they are both very different and distinct practices. These kinds of contrasts will be discussed throughout this book, the point for now being to highlight a different approach to the darkness one perceives in meditation, and if one only had the insight to understand it, could be a way out of the distress accompanying ones ‘non-experiences’ in meditation.
I believe there is a divine siddhi involved, at least in the Kirpal lineage - which is the only one I know of to any degree - whereby the Masters, whether consciously, or unconsciously through their own inner attunement, can temporarily invert the attention of their disciples and raise them to the eye-focus and grant them an inner experience. Further questions arise, however, such as does that guarantee the ability to produce eventual enlightenment, or prove that the guru himself is completely enlightened? It would certainly elevate him beyond the ordinary teacher or guru, that is not in question. And for that matter, Kirpal Singh as far as I know himself never made the claim that the ability to give such inner experience is proof of complete enlightenment; it is only proffered as evidence that a Master is competent to give an initiating boost to people, and a promise to lead them further, and it is true that not many can do that. Other criteria would have to be added to support a claim of full enlightenment, or the ability to guide others towards that. A radical shift in identity - Self-Realization - is not the same as having temporary or even prolonged or frequent mystic experiences. This is not meant to disparage or criticize any teacher or this path, only to seek understanding. Many gurus on other paths, like Ramakrishna, Paramhansa Yogananda, Baba Muktananda, Neem Karoli Baba, to name but a few, have been able to give temporary experiences of mystic light and sound to others. One personage of particular importance to Yogananda was a householder devotee of Ramakrishna, Master Mahasaya (Mahendra Nath Gupta, otherwise known as "M”, author of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna), who himself blessed Yogananda with several breath-stopping mystical experiences, including a first experience of samadhi, similar in nature to the touch that Ramakrishna had given to a young Vivekananda:
"I experienced that the Center of the Supreme Heavenly Abode was actually a place deep within myself and that the place of experience within was spawned by the Same. It was as if the entire creation was emanating from my Being and the radiance of an incredibly beautiful Light was spreading through the Sahasrar. 'It is His river of nectar flowing through the world'. A flow of liquid nectar was rushing through body and mind - waves upon waves. I heard the Onkar Sound, the Sound of Brahman - the thunderous Pranava resonance - the First Pulse of the creation of the Universe. Suddenly, my breath came back into the lungs. Oh, if I could only express how my heart was filled with disappointment. I cannot tell you. That Great Being of mine was completely gone. Again I came back and was imprisoned by this insignificant and miniscule physical cage - this thing that cannot contain that Colossal Person of the Atman. Like the prodigal son described in the Bible, I left my Immense Abode of the Cosmos, and again entered this tiny 'pot' of the body." (Swami Satyananda Giri, A Collection of Biographies of 4 Kriya Yoga Gurus, Yoga Niketan, 2004, p. 255)
It should be noted that, even so, Ramakrishna hid his copy of the non-dual Ashtavakra Gita when "M" was around, knowing that he was writing a book. Only Vivekananda among all of his devotees was personally instructed in the teachings of advaita vedanta, all the rest being given bhakti and yoga. Just imagine.
Sant Mat traditionally claims that other gurus will only be able to take their disciples so far, and not to the highest, which requires a Divine commission, and which only they have. Is this true? Maybe, but the question must be asked, "How does one know it is true?" This is a largely matter of faith on this path, for most initiates. The ordinary beginning disciple has no way of knowing any of this for certain. So he should not assume or assert that he knows, only that he believes. There is no blame in that, but to assume knowledge when one only believes is to contribute to turning even a genuine path into a cult. And as they say, “extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence.” We are not trying to sow seeds of doubt, but only to present different viewpoints and try to lead the reader a few steps towards a broader comprehension.
Another point here - a very important one - which will be reiterated in one form or another throughout this book, is that Masters often give out provisional and partial teachings, depending on the audience and understanding that they are addressing, only to be superceded by truer and more complete teachings later on. This is in fact quite common in spirituality. In Vedanta it is a primary method of teaching called superimposition and recession. But it happens in Sant Mat, too. For instance, Kirpal Singh used to say that it was psychologically impossible to give up something lower if something higher was not first given. This is a half-truth. It is psychologically difficult, but not impossible, to do so. In fact, the difficulty is known as tapas, or "heat," in the traditions of India. But in a form of "the teaching as fly-paper", and, if I may be irreverent for the moment, as a sort of 'sales-pitch' for initiation, but also a concession to our unevolved and ignorant natures, Kirpal kindly promised a spiritual boost to the initiate to place him at the third eye, "powerfully reversing the outwardly-rushing sensory currents" so the disciple could then successfully meditate. And for some this form of help continues for a long time, for others not so long. Sooner or later, however, the nature has to be transformed. Because, as Guillore writes:
"It is all very well to believe in your steadfastness while untried and untempted; the real test is when the passions and desires which you thought done with break anew. Then is the time to meet your assaults calmly and bravely, and this is the real test of your resolutions." (Guillore, Spiritual Guidance (The Substance of Two or Three of Guillore's Books, compiled by T.T. Carter, (London: Rivingtons, 1873), p. 226)
Perhaps the Sants kindly withhold this understanding at the outset until their initiates are strong enough to assimilate it.
Masters also frequently say contrasting things. "God helps those who help themselves," and "God helps those who don't help themselves." Sant Darshan Singh also, as an example, would say again and again how the Master is closer than close, "closer than your jugular vein" (a verse from the Koran), and in fact, that the Master is in every cell of your body; while on the other hand he would say that God is very far away and it is a long journey to reach Him. Sant Mat isn't unique in doing this. Ramana Maharshi would often say how easy self-enquiry was, and then say how it was a struggle, meant only for the fit. The point here is that these perhaps unavoidable contrasts within the teachings make it difficult to comprehend and compare them in a simple manner. Therefore please pardon the long-winded and at times repetitive discussions on these pages!
The Master’s Form and the Nature of Visions
There is a controversy within Sant Mat that asks for more explanation. This pertains to the role and nature of the Master’s subtle radiant form. There may certainly be paradox and divine mystery involved, but there is no reason for obscurity. For example, Sawan Singh said since the physical master could not possibly be in contact with thousands of disciples at one time, therefore he creates an "astral duplicate" that resides in the third eye of the initiate and which looks over him and only “reports”, as it were, to the master when something really important needs personal attention. The Master Power, not the physical master, is otherwise constantly looking after the disciple once he is initiated.
“Every time He [the Perfect Master] gives initiation to anyone, He creates [or transfers] an astral image of himself in the disciple. And from then on, the Master never leaves the disciple. The double, or the other self, or image of the Master is sometimes what we call the inner Master. The Master sometimes calls these Doubles of Himself his agents. They do his work, taking care of all his disciples. They have power to act without limit. They can do what the Master wishes them to do, and they obey his orders. The human side of the Master…may not know what is going on here in the life of that person. It may be on the other side of the globe. He will not be aware of the details, but he can know them if he wishes. If the Master had a million disciples, he would have an astral double of himself in every one of them, and that agent of the Master would look after the disciple at all times, reporting to the Master here only in cases of extreme emergency.” (from a letter to a disciple by Baba Sawan Singh, as quoted in The Moth and the Flame by Arran Stephens)
One is sometimes advised to seek the company of one’s guru’s successor, but continue contemplating only on one’s own guru’s form, when it appears. Sant Mat in general claims that the form is “real”, and that all true masters are one and may also appear. There have been some spiritual schools which denigrate or lessen the value of such a form by arguing that it is only a mental projection from the disciple's own mind or soul, saying that Christians see Jesus, Hindus see Krishna, etc. But this only accounts for general, cultural instances. It doesn’t mean such an “ishta” as mentioned on the Path of the Masters is not real, or is a product of the gross imagination of a disciple, but the question does arise whether it is a product of the deeper mind and ultimately the soul or Overself of the disciple, and not necessarily “God” or the guru directly. Of course being paradoxical it could be, and likely is, both. It would certainly have to be a lofty definition of Soul to account for the radiant form of a living Master who appears of Himself. Yet PB describes the philosophic view:
"It is the mystic's ego which constructs the image of his teacher or saviour, and his Overself [divine Soul] which animates that image with divine power. This explains why earnest pupils of false teachers have made good progress and why saviors dead for thousands of years still seem to help their followers."
"Only when well-advanced does he learn that the help he thinks he got from a guru came often from the Universal Being. It was his own personal thoughts which supplied the guru image, but the power which worked was from that Being." (Notebooks. Vol. 16, Part 1, 5.183,189)
The key words here are, “only when well-advanced.” Of course, this is a paradox. Supposedly at the highest level Mind, God, Soul, and Master are all One. There can certainly, moreover, also be telepathic and transcendental help from the Master even without the presence of the form, and even whether or not one is receptive or aware of it. Even the human Master may not necessarily be aware of it, as mentioned, and yet still be a conduit for such help. Again, PB explains:
"The conscious personal mind of the teacher may know nothing of the help that is radiating from him to one who silently calls on him from a long distance, yet the reality of that help remains." (Ibid, Vol. 2, 6.744).
This, in my understanding, was precisely Baba Faqir Chand's position. Furthermore, PB affirms that the blessing of the attention of a sage, given even once, is so profound that its effects may manifest over the course of some years:
"The guide may send his blessing telepathically only once but if it is powerful enough it may work itself out through a hundred different experiences extending over several years. Because he identifies himself with the timeless spaceless soul, his blessing may express itself anywhere in space and anywhere in time. Moreover he may formulate it in a general way but it may take precise shapes unconsciously fashioned by and suited to a recipient's own mentality and degree of development....Just as the sun does not need to be aware of every individual plant upon which it sheds its beneficent life-giving growth-stimulating rays, so the master does not need to be aware of every individual disciple who uses him as a focus for his meditations or as a symbol for his worship. Yet each disciple will soon realize that he is receiving from such activities a vital inward stimulus, a real guidance and definite assistance. This result will develop the power unconsciously drawn from the disciple's own higher self, which in turn will utilize the mental image of the master as a channel through which to shed its grace." (Notebooks, Vol. 2, 6.752, 784)
Kirpal Singh said:
“God is One who can manifest Himself in the subconscious reservoir of the mind.” (Morning Talks, p. 239)
He made reference to the Persian word “khuda” which means “one who comes of himself.” On this basis he cautioned the initiates from trying to visualize the form of the Master in meditation rather than wait for Him to appear of Himself. Whether this explanation contradicts that given by Paul Brunton above is difficult to say. For what is one’s higher self? How is it different from the Master? Perhaps only the disciple can know by his own faith what is true.
Not only Faqir Chand, however, but Sant Rajinder Singh has in so many words appeared to affirm that this is more or less how it works. Only in rare instances does the incarnate master personally involve himself in the disciple's inner life, but His own higher self is likened to a grand switchboard into which the many, many disciples are plugged into. The help or grace goes "over the head" of the adept as it were, but it is no less real. It flows largely through the Master's and disciple's subconscious mind, and only occasionally consciously. The maturing disciple will notice this flow, but more often the transmitted grace manifests over time as it percolates up into his consciousness even without his noticing it. It is important to note, again, that the Master need not even be aware that this has happened, for the Divine uses him as an instrument to send its grace. How could he be personally, consciously aware of five hundred thousand disciples at once and have any resemblance of an ordinary life? No, it doesn't really happen that way. But that doesn’t mean its effect is any less meaningful, or that it would have happened anyway if the Master didn’t exist. It is certainly mysterious. PB writes:
"His beneficent spiritual influence may profoundly affect others to the point of revolutionizing their attitude to life, yet he may be unaware of both the influence and its effect! The part of his mind which knows what is happening is not the true source of the grace; this flows through him and is not created by him."
"...the illuminate may be used by higher forces to affect, influence and even change others without any active personal move on his part to bring about this result. He may not even feel, see, or know what is happening, yet he has started it!"
"With a teacher, it is the inward relationship that matters. What, then, is going to happen when there is only one Teacher and many thousands of students? How can all the wishes, dreams, and thoughts reach him, yet leave him time for his work? Obviously, it cannot be done. So Nature steps in and helps out. She has arranged a system very much like a telephone switchboard. The incoming "calls" are plugged into the subconscious mind of the Teacher. The "line" itself is composed out of the student's own faith and devotion; he alone can make this connection. Then, his wishes, dreams, and thoughts travel along it to the subconscious of the teacher, where they are registered and dealt with accordingly to their needs. In this way, they do reach the Teacher, who can, at the same time, attend to his work. Sometimes Nature deems it advisable to transfer a particular message to the conscious level. In such a case, it may be answered on either the conscious or subconscious level. Occasionally, too, the teacher deliberately sends one out when he is guided to do so."
“The part of his mind which knows what is happening is not the true source of his grace; this flows throughout him and is not created by him…It is not really any power of his own that does it. But quite often he does not even have to invoke the power - and yet these things will happen all the same. Nevertheless, his followers are not attributing powers to him which he does not possess. For these happenings, after all, occur only as a result of the contact with him. He knows in some mysterious way he is the link between the power and the event.” (Notebooks, Vol. 16, Part 1, 4.239,242, 5.273, 4.239, 250)
This accounts a lot, including visions of a Master's form that appear to people who have never even heard of the Master before, but were destined to meet Him. In this case the Master could be said to consciously be seeking his own. However one might also say that this could also happen by virtue of the Universal Mind working with the imaginative faculty of the seeker's ego to provide a particular Master's picture, his karmas to provide the sense of affinity, and his own divine Soul (that part of the Soul that is eternally rooted in God and could be said to be ones direct intermediary with God, and which ‘overlooks’ its progeny, the human ego, unbeknownst to the latter) to provide the feeling of aspiration, reverence, and power. And of course in his divine realization a true Master is one with that Soul. The results in either case may be more or less the same, with the understanding somewhat different. Mysterious? Of course.
To be sure, once again, there does seem to be a difference between a form which comes of itself in meditation, and stands before the Master's charged words, than simply a subconscious manifestation of a disciple's (culturally or religiously) conditioned mind (again, such as when, as mentioned, Christians tend to see visions of Christ, and Hindus of Krishna, etc.). In the Kirpal lineage of Sant Mat Masters' forms have appeared to many who had never even heard of them before. This would contradict the theory that it is just a manifestation of one's subconscious mind in every instance. If a true Master is indeed a mouthpiece of the Absolute or Universal Soul, Sat Purush, 'God' - however one chooses to articulate it - due to the purity and depth of his realization then his Gurudev or radiant subtle form is also certainly a glorious thing which could be imprinted or arise within and attract the soul and mind of his chela or disciple towards his own source , and which thus is inherently divine and perhaps even able to be considered in a non-dual way.
So Baba Faqir Chand, a disciple of Shiv Brat Lal, and who was recognized by Sawan Singh, discovered that many miracles and appearances of his form to his disciples occurred without any awareness on his part. He purportedly concluded that the form was a product of the disciple's imagination or faith, and not the Master's influence at all, and he taught likewise, changing the teachings of Sant Mat at the behest of his guru and with the blessing of Sawan Singh. He is said to have shouted at Kirpal Singh one time to tell his disciples “the truth!” And Kirpal was said to reply, “it would not be expedient.” Now this could have a number of explanations. Why would it not be expedient? People wouldn’t understand? Or it wouldn’t help them? Or just maybe no one asked?! Or finally, maybe none of the gurus had the philosophical background to explain in a more complete and satisfactory way the mysterious and paradoxical nature of visions themselves? I don’t have the answer, but am merely posing the question. I personally think it was likely because the people in general at that time would not understand rightly or benefit from a more sophisticated teaching, and so a provisional or partial teaching, as mentioned earlier, was given. As the Bible says it:
"First comes the milk and the bread for babes and small children; afterwards comes the meat." (1 Cor. 3:2)
"I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now." (John 16:12)
The late Ishwar Puri said this whole controversy was a bit misleading. He said Faqir only downplayed the vision of the Master so that his disciples would not deify his human form. In addition, Dr. Sharma, successor to Faqir, disclosed that when his wife died Faqir appeared to him within and without and guided and consoled him - the implication being that Faqir indeed was indeed aware of what was happening.
It may be telling that Sawan Singh apparently did not himself feel the teaching modification of Faqir was important enough for him (Sawan) to disclose to the entire sangat. So why blame Kirpal for not doIng so?
A general theory that covers most visions has been put forth by various teachers, Paul Brunton being one of the most lucid among them. In brief, he taught that there are two components to a vision. One, supplying the form, is the mental background and/or spiritual aspiration of an individual, and second, supplying the inspiration, spiritual guidance and numinosity, is the individual’s divine soul or Overself. A vision being a stage of inwardization of consciousness, it partakes of both of these factors. One could say that the vision of a master, even if one has never heard of him, is still a divine manifestation, coming from the dimension where “God, Guru, and Self are One.” Many mystics have reported seeing their ishta-deva or chosen ideal manifest and even talk to them. This mystical “Interior Word” ([not to be confused with the Word or Logos as defined in Sant Mat] refers to this phenomenon or stage of development. It does not go on forever, but can be exquisite. But progressing to a deeper intuition and serenity are further stages. Still, the guidance and bliss are real, and one may be considered to be on the right track. They might be considered divine manifestations and not just self-hypnotism. In this sense I feel Faqir may have been too extreme in his expression.
A specific Master, alive or dead, may not - need not - know when this happens. But without the existence of such a realized being, it may not have happened. And the grace and help is there. You could say that somehow God makes it happen. This does not make the Master a mere irrelevancy. Only the understanding of what is actually happening will change. A couple of examples may better explain something, although perhaps not all, about the metaphysics of visions for us. Brunton writes, regarding the renown Swama Rama Teertha:
“He meditated constantly and quickly attained a superlatively joyous realization of the presence of divinity, as was evidenced later during his brief return to ordinary society in the plains and in lectures which he then delivered to amazed audiences…The yogi had been a devotee of the Hindu Saviour, Krishna, and during the nights he would often see in vision the blue-bodied figure of Krishna dancing on a cobra’s head and playing a flute. This is the figure which has been made familiar to all India by pictures to be found in millions of homes. Rama Teertha said the Krishna-figure appeared to him quite outside his own body, when his own eyes were wide open and when all his five senses were fully awake. It was completely external and completely objective. [Years later] he said, “this marked a particular stage of the mind concentration and it was really the materialization of my own imagination, the precipitation of my own mind.” (The Wisdom of the Overself, p. 421)
This is akin to the realization of Papaji when he met Ramana Maharshi after being a devotee of Krishna for many years.
A similar account is given of St. Teresa of Avila in Talks with Ramana Maharshi, p. 296:
D. “She was devoted to a figure of the Madonna which became animated to her sight and she was in bliss.”
M. “The animated figure indicates depth of meditation (dhyana bala). Shaktipata [descent of divine power on a person] prepares the mind for introversion. There is a process of concentration of mind on one’s own shadow, which in due course becomes animated, and answers questions put to it. That is due to strength of mind or depth of meditation. Whatever is external is also transitory. Such phenomena may produce joy for the time being, but abiding peace, i.e., shanti, does not result. This is obtained only by the removal of avidya (ignorance).”
On page 445 also we read:
D. “It is said that Sri Ramakrishna saw life in the image of Kali, which he worshipped. Can it be true?”
M. “The life was perceptible to Sri Ramakrishna and not to all. The vital force was due to himself. It was his own vital force that manifested as if it were outside and drew him in. Were the image full of life, it must have been found by all. But everything is full of life. That is the fact. Many devotees have had experiences similar to those of Sri Ramakrishna.”
For those who feel some of this sort of explanation as a loss, may be reminded of the words of Sant Kirpal Singh: “either you remain or He remain - not two.” Or again, Ramana who said “God, Guru, and Self are One.” No doubt there are mysteries here that we will not explain away or easily grasp. Maybe we shall leave it at that.
The Astral-Duplicate or “Clone” Teaching
The mental switchboard theory of Brunton is in part explained, but greatly expanded upon in Sant Mat with the “astral duplicate” explanation of Sawan Singh. This has been elaborated upon by Ishwar Puri, in his own rambling style, as follows:
“One Master whose name was Baba Faqir Chand from Hoshiarpur he made a statement in a Satsang that Master know nothing. They are ordinary human beings like us but they have this gift that they can create their image inside us and the True Master is inside us. That is why don’t think that the Master outside and inside is the same. The Master inside which is part of your own self is created by your own consciousness is the True Master. The outside is a replica, an outside image of that Master. So, the outside Master acts according to what is happening to the inside Master. Faqir Chand gave that example that Masters as physical beings are not all knowing. I was very interested in that statement of Baba Faqir Chand because he was our neighbor when my father was teaching as a Professor in Hoshiarpur. We used to meet him frequently. He was a very enlightened person. So, at one time I had to ask him the same question which I had asked Great Master once about whether the Master in the physical body knows everything and Baba Faqir Chand said of course they are not different but the outside has to behave like an ordinary person – unknowing. Because if he says he knows outside what will happen – nobody will go inside. Everybody will run after the outside person. Therefore it is appropriate for a Master to tell that he knows nothing, go inside and find out from your True Master inside. So, it is very appropriate behavior of a Perfect Living Master to do that. Now, this is what he explained and I understood it that the Masters want us to meditate and find the truth inside. Otherwise, we are running after illusions – Master’s outer form is part of the illusion.
When you die, everything dissolves including the form of the Master but what does not dissolve is the inner form of the Master. Therefore, it is a very appropriate thing for a Master to say I don’t know what is happening, even if he knows. Now the question is if he really knows then how does he operate? One physical person, if he knows, has got so many initiates, so many disciples. He has initiated each one of them and told them I am with you. I have manifested myself in you. Any problem you have you can talk to me. And there are 1000 people sitting there and the Master is in all 1000. How can one physical person know what is happening to 1000 people? I had to find some appropriate language to explain how Masters work. In America, in one of my talks, I explained that and the explanation that I gave was – taken from the Manual for the Masters – so I just picked up from there and said, the Master use what is called the clone. A clone is a replica of the Master. And they make a clone and put that clone of themself in each person they initiate but they are in constant touch with the clone. They never disconnect with the clone. Clone continuously, all the time, sends messages what is happening inside the disciple and therefore the physical form of the Master at all time knows but they don’t have to use it for interactions with the disciple. The interaction should be ordinary human beings as friends. Supposing, we came to know that another human being a friend of ours knows all our thoughts and sometimes our thoughts are very ugly you know. In spite of the trier, even if you try to think very nice things once in a while some naught thoughts creep in. And if we know he is reading my thoughts , you hardly have any friendship with that person. So if you have a creepy thought and say Master did you receive what I thought. He will say what was that? We feel very comfortable. Thank God. So he has to balance all these things.
The Truth is that Master in his awareness knows everything. He Knows. And he in his physical form acts just as an ordinary person like us who knows nothing more than what we know. Therefore we can be very free with such a Master as external physical friendship. When we go to his form inside, he can be very different. He can show his full knowledge. HE can show everything. He can give all the answers. Inside, he won’t say, I don’t know what it is. Outside, he will. This is part of the single plan. Once you know this cloning system, a Master can produce 1000, million clones and take care of them and be in touch with all of them. If we don’t understand, how a Master through clones can be in touch with all of them, take the digital world. One little chip, you can have a connection continuously working with not millions but billions of points. So, it is not very difficult for the consciousness of a Master to be in touch with all of them. Though in a physical body, in a physical relationship, he will pretend he knows as little or as more as you do or your friend does. And that sustains the friendship at the physical level. This system works beautifully. And sometimes we think that maybe the Master is using a clone but does not know what is happening. Somebody complains Master I had this problem. Oh, let me check with the clone. It is not like that. Then it is not a clone. Then we are separating the clone from the Master. Clone means identical copy. It is an identical copy of the Master. And the awareness of the clone because the clone is inside physical part of the Master is very far away. Physical form of the Master is so far away and has no time for anybody and we hardly get to see him for a little while but the clone is always there. Therefore the clone acts more aggressively in being our friend. And the Master in his physical form with his remoteness acts like an ordinary human being. It is a great combination. And sometimes we really suspect that Baba Faqir Chand was more right in explaining. He really did not know anything. And Masters really don’t know anything. And our doubting mind that can doubt anything begins to doubt. Master really doesn’t know, just a theory they made of Clones and all that. And suddenly one day he will spring a surprise by telling you something which you only know. How did Master know that? IT is just one little example he will give and put you back on track. No no, he knows. But he won’t say so because he is a friend of mine. So, from time to time these experiences will also take place. I think it is a good game. Don’t put your Master on a pedestal. Don’t put him high away from yourself. The Master is your friend. Friend here in the physical form and friend inside and he will share your life. He will share your joys your sorrows your sufferings. He will suffer with you. He will feel sorry when he needs to be sorry. And he will fly with you. He will dance with you. He will eat with you. It is a very different relationship once you establish the form of the Master inside. And that is the beauty of this Naam Daan by a Perfect Living Master. That is the relationship that is created.” Ishwar Puri – The Real Form of the Master is Shabd – Sound Current (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzXaZfkXlE8)
Need it be said that the successor to Faqir Chand at Manav Mandir in Hoshiarpur, Kamal Dayal, does not agree with Ishwar or Sawan Singh? ”Ishwar Puri has not understood what Baba Faqir Ji has said at all. No guru places his clone in the body of his disciple to know his feelings. I am sorry to say that Radhasoami Mat is misrepresented without understanding it and without practical experience within.” (personal correspondence)
Just ‘Who’ is the Master?
Echoing what Puri says above, Sant Darshan Singh writes:
“He is not a single physical entity. In Shabd form, he is everywhere. He multiplies himself into the number of people he has to look after and can be with each one of his disciples at the same time. To the naked eye it appears that he is talking to one person, but if he wants he can know at the same time everything that is happening to each individual within his circle of grace. He may be talking to any one of us, and at the same time he might be taking another man out of the body, and helping all his other children according to their needs. All initiates can enjoy the love glimpses of the Master wherever they are because the Master is always sitting within them and watching them.” (Spiritual Awakening, p. 217)
”He is the Word made flesh. He is everywhere,” said Kirpal Singh (Morning Talks, p. 24)
Obviously, this must not be thought of the human master, the son of Man, but of the God within him, lest we run into insolvable problems - ? But it also brings up another question for pondering and contemplation: not just ‘who’, but where’ is the Master? We will not discuss this at length here - hopefully suggestive hints (for all of us, the writers included) will be given throughout this book - but for now will simply present three short quotes, in addition to the one just given:
“The Master is always within at the eye-focus…” - Kirpal Singh (Morning Talks, p. 53)
“The follower should be, what you say, in the tomb of his Guru, he should enter into it and be absorbed. This (the Master gestures to His chest] is the tomb. The Living Master lives here and you are there so you should leave your body and enter into His tomb.” (Ibid, p. 258)
“We misunderstand about the Master. The Master is in every cell of your body.” - Darshan Singh (from memory, reference misplaced)
One is reminded of a quote from Brunton:
“It is an amazing paradox that the Overself completely transcends the body yet completely permeates it. Both these descriptions are simultaneously true.” (Notebooks, Vol. 14, 3.336)
Hhhmm. The Third Eye? The Heart? Everywhere? Our entire body? A vast mystery without question. Closing in on non-duality no doubt.
More on Faqir’s radical views; Master's form; important comments by PB and Atmananda
One of Faqir Chand’s boldest claim was that all visions - and inner planes - were "phantasmagoria" up to Bhanwar Gupha, sounding somewhat akin to the after-death appearances that the Tibetan Book of the Dead warns are products of one's own mind. He said in fact everyone may not experience them in the same way. Which would essentially contradict teachings like “there are 84 steps to the pool of Manasarovar in Daswan Dwar,” as Darshan Singh maintained. Faqir went from considering the things he saw inside as objectively real to seeing them as subjective mental creations, and he increasingly asked the question proposed by Ramana, “who" sees the visions, and "who" hears the sounds?", (although it is not clear from his writings that he attained the same Self-realization as the latter), which is certainly a legitimate inquiry practice, but in itself does not negate some form of ‘objectivity’ or universal conformity to the inner regions independent of the individual. He said:
“On the basis of my experiences I say that solution to all our worldly afflictions is beyond the mental realms. Go even beyond the state of thoughtlessness. Spirituality begins from thoughtlessness or the state of Mahasunna. I am indebted to those who consider me as Guru. They helped me to go beyond the mental realms. Now my Sadhana is of the Surat and not of the mind. But you cannot reach this stage so easily because you have the desires for name, fame, and wealth. Therefore, the teachings of the saints are not for the public in general. Do you think that the present method for initiation adopted by the Gurus is for the well-being of mankind? Decidedly not. These Gurus are doing this all for their own name, fame, and centers. This method of initiation would ruin those who get it because they are not aware of the thoughts of their subconscious mind. They do not know the power and the secret of their thoughts.”
“O man, your own mind is your Guru and the follower. Understand this secret from the Sat Sang of the realized man. Entertain noble and constructive thoughts and make your life. None can help you. Even a saint who dwells in light and sound cannot do anything for you. I dwell in light and sound, but I cannot do anything for you. After a long struggle, I have reached the stage of complete surrender to Him. It is all your faith.”
“This life is a bubble of consciousness. This bubble is the creation of His will and it will vanish at His will. I am nothing, but still, I am everything. I have been a son, brother, husband, and father, but I do not ensnare myself in this world of attachments. This is the essence of all the religions, but none tries to understand it. What is to happen must happen, so why make hue and cry? Saints live in the state of forgetfulness.”
“For me, the spontaneous form is that I am a bubble of consciousness. I do not claim that I am a God. He who claims himself as Brahma is not a practical man. He may be intelligent and well-read. If someone is really Brahma, let him do some good to the suffering humanity, or at least save himself from sorrows and pain. None can do it. All harvest the fruit of deeds.” (from Truth Always Wins by Baba Faqir Chand)
Many have argued, based on Faqir's book, that the master's form is therefore a projection of the disciple's own mind, yet I feel this conclusion may be unwarranted in many cases. It kind of depends on one's point of view. Yet many people who never heard of a certain master before have had their inner darshan, and this does not seem to be simply a projection of their inner desire or pre-conditioned mental tendency. The true guru's radiant subtle form can appear where and when he wishes, and, it is claimed, God or the Sat Purush can project it in the same manner. Sant Darshan Singh, without refuting Faqir Chand's principle critiques, felt that he was misguided about Sant Mat. But others no doubt feel the same way towards him, so what's a poor boy to do?
There is also the vast issue to explore of the teaching that there are reflections of higher regions in lower ones, which each have seven sub-levels, that can deceive those without the highest insight or help of one who has accessed such regions. Neither Faqir Chand nor the Kriya lineage, as far as I can see, speaks of the help of the inner guide to the extent that most teachers of Sant Mat do. It is, however, beyond the scope of this article to get into this fascinating issue in depth.
Dr. I.C. Sharma, successor to the radical and iconoclastic Faqir, didn’t follow the latter's thinking that the form is 'merely a subjective vision', i.e., a personal creation, but that it was important to visualize and concentrate on it in the lower planes as long as one realized it wasn’t the be all and end all. In other words, the stages are necessary. Sant Kirpal Singh said (in Godman, p. 108) of the gurudev or radiant form of the master, that "even the Saints adore this form and derive ecstatic delight from it." And it is part of the humility and perhaps one could say divine physics of the lineage that all masters defer to their own master, even after their realization. This helps keep the transmission of the lineage pure. So even though a Master is merged in the light beyond any form of his master, and in the great Beyond beyond that, he still gets charm from his master's subtle form. And why not? He gets charm from all forms as well. While a Master now in his own right, for conventions sake and an outward show of humility these masters usually defer to their own Master as the doer and source of grace.
Still, PB wrote on the terminal stages of the path of devotion:
“This last stage, where the presence and picture of the Master are
displaced by the pictureless presence of the disciple's own spirit, is accurately described in the words of Jesus to his disciples: "It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you ... when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth." Any other interpretation of them leaves them without reasonable
meaning...When a man has at last found himself, when he has no longer any need for an outside human Symbol but passes directly to his own inner reality, he may stand shoulder to shoulder with the teacher in the oldest, the longest, and the greatest of struggles.”
"The teacher is a support needed by the disciple to help him progress through successive stages of the quest, as they are stages of thinning illusion. When he stands on the threshold of reality, then the last and thinnest illusion of all must be left behind, the support of any being outside himself, apart from himself, for within him is the infinite life-power." (Notebooks, Vol. 2, 6.590; Vol. 16, Part 1, 5.285-286; Vol. 2, 6.859))
Therefore at some point the disciple must stand on his own two feet. As PB wrote:
"In the end he must inwardly walk alone - as must everyone else however beloved - since God allows no one to escape this price." (Notebooks, Vol. 2, 3.325)
However, for one so graced to be taken under the wings of a saint, that is a long way off, although in some sense a form of self-reliance is a necessity even from the beginning.
Before leaving the topic of the Master's Radiant Form, however, we have this enigmatic quote from even a master of the path of knowledge, Sri Atmananda Krishna Menon, who said:
"Guru alone has the revered place of honor and veneration in all planes. It is an experience that sometimes when you go deep into pure Consciousness and get lost in it (i.e., nirvikalpa samadhi of the jyanin), you see the person of your Guru there, and this vision throws you into an ecstatic joy taking you even beyond Sat-Chit-Ananda. Blessed indeed are you then." [from Notes on Spiritual Discourses, ed. by Nitya Tripta].
This Jyani also states:
"It is an invariable truth that Atma suffers recognition when the ego enjoys, and the ego suffers when Atma shines (is recognized). But this has a happy and lonely exception. The Guru's form is the only form in the universe which, if contemplated upon, takes you directly to the real subject - the Reality...When the ego thinks of the Guru and enjoys, even in the mental plane, Atma (Guru) also shines and simultaneously delivers a pleasant death to the ego." (Ibid, #1009)
Remember, Kirpal said in his book Godman
“The Master’s astral form takes over the charge of the spirit with full responsibility for leading it to the final goal. Even the Saints also adore this form and derive ecstatic delight from it.” (p. 107-108)
He further makes the bold claim that:
The astral form of the Master Soul is unchangeable and permanent. It is the form that guides aspirants to their goal...Guru Dev is the greatest and highest manifestation of Sat Purush. He is the controlling power of God and can grant salvation. Nothing but Sat is Guru Dev.” (p. 110)
Elsewhere he does say that the form changes from plane to plane, so perhaps he meant to say that, for the disciple, within relativity the essential nature of the form is permanent, and a manifestation of Sat Purush, and that it is qualitatively different from all other forms within the manifest worlds. For how could the astral form be the highest manifestation of what is supposed to exist three planes higher? And how could it be permanent, as all the lower worlds are forever in flux? So the essential meaning is what we are after.
Needless to say, the mystery and meaning of the Radiant Form is profound. And when even a jnani of the stature of Atmananda Krishnamenon (https://www.mountainrunnerdoc.citymaker.com/articles/article/2291157/73715.htm) praises the Form of the Master we should stand up and take note. It does not seem to be just a bunch of business as Faqir’s or even Brunton’s positions may seem to imply.
Perspectives from Orthodox Christianity, Taoism, Vedanta, and philosophic teachings
How the Master may appear simultaneously in two or more places, or how his form appears to so many disciples, even without his conscious knowledge, is in fact reconciled in the teaching of the Holy Fathers of Greek spirituality. In light of this it does not appear to be a curiosity found only within Sant Mat that is unable to be explained to ones satisfaction. As explained by Kiriacos Markides, in Mountain of Silence (p. 92):
"Stories circulated of how, on many occasions, elder Paissos was seen in two places at the same time, a phenomenon known as "bilocation." He was also reputed to have been able to speak to a group of French pilgrims in their own tongue when he had no knowledge of French, to have healed people from incurable illnesses, and to have miraculously appeared in places of accidents to rescue people. When asked to confirm these rumors, elder Paissos denied everything and claimed that all those miraculous happenings that people attributed to him were in fact performed by the Holy Spirit. He vehemently rejected any credit for himself. Elder Paissos explained that the Holy Spirit would often appropriate his image and perform the miracles that people attributed to him. In fact, all he did was pray ceaselessly and therefore could not have been present where people claimed to have seen him. In his own subjective experience, he said, the episodes that people attributed to him were nothing more than lucid images that appeared within his mind while these events unfolded. But it was the Holy Spirit that performed the miracles by borrowing, as it were, elder Paissos' physiognomy."
Of course, it is a given that the issue of whether it is the Master, or the Holy Spirit, that does all these things is indeed a Mystery for us, but a transcendental Mystery that is very real. And what form of individuality are we really talking about at this level, such that one could distinguish between an individual Master and the Holy Spirit? For instance, Sant Rajinder Singh said, “I don’t do anything, the soul doesn’t do anything, the God-Power does everything.” Scripture tells us, "The Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will." These are Mysteries: again, whether one says it is the Master, or the Holy Spirit or God-Power, what kind of individuality are we really talking about at this level? It is certainly a paradoxical state and affair and the words do not tell us exactly how it works. On the other hand, the Holy Spirit does not seem to pick just any form to manifest itself in in this manner, it picks the Masters, not Mickey Mouse! So there has to be a connection, which seemed what reductionists like David Lane, quoting Faqir Chand, may not fully understand…Further, the Form when manifested is reality, certainly, inasmuch as it is a manifestation and representation of such, and also leads beyond ego to the Real, in similar fashion that a Holy Name does. Let us not fall into a mental advaita trap of disparaging this as all just a bunch of business!
In the following excerpt from “Gong-fu” Transformations Within the Physical Body," William Bodri
gives additional perspective on the relationship of advanced siddhis like bilocation and actual realization of the Tao or Enlightenment itself; he points out that:
"The physical body always undergoes transformations in a step-by-step fashion that matches the progress made in achieving higher mental states, but all these various forms of physical gong-fu require years to attain, even if you become enlightened. In other words, even if you become enlightened, it will require years for your physical nature to become fully transformed because there is very little you can do to rush the process. For someone with great prajna wisdom, however, the mind attainments can be achieved quite quickly."
This seems to imply that a Master need not be perfected for him to be used by the Holy Spirit for the initiating and guiding task of Mastership. He also says:
"We could fill an entire book with stories of various monks, masters, sadhus and gods—chosen from a wide variety of the world’s different religious traditions—who accomplished the yang shen emanation and who could project one or more body doubles (including bodies having other physical shapes), but accomplishing the yang shen doesn’t mean that someone has reached the highest stages of samadhi, and certainly not enlightenment. It only means that someone has reached a certain stage of chi-shen cultivation." ( p. 71)
And this is certainly consistent with the Sant Mat teaching that although many siddhis may seem to be the same, they are of a different order once one has attained the highest level of freedom. The bilocation of as Master is not of the same nature as the bilocation of a yogi.
Proceeding on, Sant Mat teaches that in Sach Khand one is not, strictly speaking, seeing a mere vision, but "God as a Person" as the Sat Purush. We feel this needs to be understood in an intuitive and spiritual way. As Sat Lok is said to be a formless region, any 'meeting' between the Soul and its Beloved, felt as personal (as Ramana said, "the 'I' is the 'first person' in the heart" - the most personal experience), will not be of the nature of an ordinary dualistic human vision, but one seen with the 'eyes of the heart'. The soul, while impersonal from the point of view of the ego, is nevertheless the most intimate identity of the individual, and its being touched or known or seen by the Divine is most personal to it. So one can say it is personal, while it is also the first impersonal or absolute (Sat) level. This will make little sense to the Vedantist or Buddhist for whom any individuality is considered to be an illusion or only contraction of ego or separate self. But they usually offer little satisfactory answer to the question, who or what is it that experiences 'formless consciousness', 'emptiness', or a state of 'no-self'? 'No-self'? 'Consciousness'? Such philosophy has been said to be deficient inasmuch as one is already conditioned to negate individuality and to believe the truth to be only an impersonal, witnessing awareness, and simply is not subtle enough to realize or awaken to the presence of the soul within it. This has been the position of anadi, for instance.
It makes perfect sense for Sant Kirpal Singh to say “seeing is above all” regarding Sach Khand, for this is the Pleroma, not a mere void, and the Soul is the principle of all knowing, all seeing. One might say that the so-called “divine vision” is a vision in name only, being far beyond subject-object “seeing”, but more a “knowing” where to know is to be. We might also consider what Plotinus said about the Intellectual World (which might be equated with Sach Khand):
“In the Intellectual World everything is transparent, and all the essences see one another and interpenetrate one another in the most intimate depths of their natures.”
When one gets absorbed in the Sat Purush, then, there appear to be several degrees. Some advaitists, of course, will disagree, but solely on philosophical grounds, as usually they have not had this experience, nor do they have a conception other than a unidimensional one of a 'no-mind' experience beyond the conceptual mind. They believe that the impersonal subject of experience is the Absolute; they don’t recognize that there can be more than one type of experience ‘beyond the mind’, and, according to some teachings, 'two' impersonal subjects: Soul and the universal subjectivity, God, the 'UniversaI I AM'. Their merger or union or meeting lies beyond the tacit intuition of presence or consciousness, which might be seen as more or less as the base for the soul's awakening. Moreover, the bare essence of the mind, consciousness, and the active center of intuitive intelligence that works in manifestation, are one unified whole. Therefore, any view that sees one or the other as the exclusive truth is incomplete. And this is the nature of many traditional teachings that envision enlightenment to be dissociation or abstraction from the plane of action or manifestation. [Much more on the topic of the nature of the Sat Purush in Part Two].
This may still not fully answer the question of whether one can see a form in Sach Khand. Sri Nisargadatta said, “ As long as you think yourself to be a person, He too is a person. When you are all, you see Him as all.” (I AM THAT, p. 88). The discerning reader will spot a flaw a problem with this more or less traditional statement. For 'who' is the one who 'sees Him as all?' It can't be the 'all’ that does so, can it? There is a resort to dualistic language here because Sri Nisargadatta may only have recognized the impersonal absolute, and not the personal (but subjective) soul principle. This seems to have been a common approach among the ancient scriptures. In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad it says:
"When to the knower of Brahman everything has become the Self, then what should one see and through what?" (II.iv.14)
There are numerous possible problems with this type of languaging. First, everything cannot become the Self, and even if it did, then 'who' knows that? This is a relative world of polarities, of which absolute/relative is the first and fundamental one. By siding only with the absolute, or the impersonal, as many teachings do, a true non-dual picture of reality is not found, in which nothing is to be negated but rather all is included in a greater understanding or perspective. Rather than finding truth, a traditionally expected conclusion is reached. Many mysteries, however, cannot be explained under this type of view. Are we just the consciousness, 'no-self', or the state of Presence; are we the impersonal 'I Am' (advaita); are we the 'Unborn' or Absolute state beyond consciousness (Nisargadatta); ? Or might we be the Soul, which experiences and knows herself through all of these, and also knows herself most truly in oneness with her Divine Source? If the latter is true - although universally denied by traditional philosophies which negate all but an impersonal absolute as being real, including the soul as an eternal verity - then there may in fact be some truth in those who speak of a union of the soul with a personal God. For the realization of the (atemporal) oneness of the Soul and her Beloved is a most personal one, although of course, being beyond ego, it also has impersonal characteristics. For instance, it is beyond time and place.
But the reality is that Sach Khand while essentially formless (in relation to the realms below) it is not unmanifest. It has been described as “gushing fountains of light,” where all souls rejoice, communicating with soul vibrations, all felt and seen as one. So of course there is seeing - just not by the triple function (seer, seeing, seen) as exists in the realms of duality.
Vedantist V.S. Iyer, a well-respected pundit, teacher of Paul Brunton, and Ramakrishna Order monks Nikhilinanda and Siddeswarananda, wrote, however, that "even if you see Sat Purush, it is just a thought" and "He who says he sees the Sat Purush inside in meditation is no sage." Iyer's view, however, also seems to be a rather limited way of viewing the entirety of relative reality, which is more multi-dimensional than he may have realized. He was a philosopher presuming to speak for sages. But who says a sage can't see or experience or be absorbed into the Sat Purush? The promise of seeing the Master in Sach Khand is an interesting conception, however, as in Sant Mat the mind in the sense as manas is supposedly left off at the level of the mental or causal plane, two realms below Sach Khand, and all koshas left behind upon entry into Sach Khand, the 'full effulgence' of the Nameless One, with both the freed soul and and Sat Purush supposedly inherent eternal realities, even though one can go further. Yet there is really no problem here, as the Sant Mat teachings only say that man has no 'bodies' after the causal plane'; the absence of manas does not imply there can be no visible forms, or thoughts. Soamiji clearly states that Sach Khand has form (demarcation), color, and sound, while being a realm of all-consciousness. If this were not the case, it seems, the Buddhist notion of the Sambhogakaya as a spontaneous manifestation of the ultimate reality of the Dharmakaya would not be possible. Sach Khand or Sat Lok may be an eternal, non-dual realm, but sometimes describes as full of gushing, fountains of light. Is this then where even the vision of a 'million suns' is transcended? Apparently not. Just prior to Sach Khand some have said there is a dualism of a seer and this 'light of a million suns', but after rebirth in Sach Khand the game is changed radically in some way. Non-separation of the souls is directly known. Souls are unique, but known within the totao Ty and not separately. Brunton described the Soul as individual, but not personal. It is described no doubt metaphorically, as it is really indescribable in earthly language. The soul is then said to progressively merge into the nameless, Wordless state. So what must be understood is that any advaitin who thinks that this supreme vision of infinite effulgence, or the Word itself, is somehow a last veil of maya or illusion, may be mistaken, according to how Sant Mat sees it. It is a highly beatific state that transforms ones earthly experience as well. This was a main point of Sri Aurobindo.
Perhaps it is possible, that just as it is said that there are reflections of higher regions in the lower, that there may also be reflections of the lower in the higher? This may be another way of accounting for some people claiming to see a vision of their master sitting upon a throne in Sach Khand - in what is supposedly a formless region.
Sant Mat differs with advaita in that it generally assigns the designation of maya to only the first three planes, or physical, astral, and causal, and their respective bodies. Sri Aurobindo basically said the same thing, arguing that Shankara was forced to make maya the divine creative but also illusion-making force, whereas if anything it was a lower power and “not the Para-Shakti or Divine Mother, source of both purushas and prakriti and one with Puroshottama or the Supreme Divine.” The term Puroshottama comes up in the Bhagavad-Gita and yoga literature with some frequency, but what more can be said of it? Here is what Ramana said with his characteristic simplicity:
“Purusha and Prakriti are only the bifurcation of the one Supreme. They are surmised because the student has the sense of duality deeply rooted. The same Gita also says that Puroshottama lies beyond Purusha and Prakriti.” (Talks, p. 320)
In Sant Mat they draw many more distinctions, and the bifurcation into purusha/prakriti per se occurs several stages down from the Supreme. Just as they refer maya to the lower regions, but Adi-Maya higher up, so, too, do they have differing grades of 'Purusha' and Prakriti. These are all words of course, but to illustrate this Kirpal Singh wrote, in Spirituality:What It Is:
“Primal Oneness expresses as a duality at all levels; the “Shabd”or Word permeates all levels.” He lists a descending hierarchy of densities: Sat and Sato (spiritual), Purusha and Prakriti (~spiritual), Brahm and Shakti (spirituo-material), Kal and Maya (materio-spiritual), Jyoti and Niranjan (material).
Note that Gupta quoted earlier listed Maya as the co-creator of Anami, whereas here Kirpal places Maya further down. This is accounted for - but not necessarily explained - by the distinctions between Adi Maya and Maya, as well as Moola (or Adi)-Prakriti and Prakriti. Of particular interest is the bifurcation of Sat Lok into Sat and Sato. How can this be explained? Perhaps in the same way as thought resides, comes forth, and gets resorbed into mind, and as even unmanifest Nirvikalpa has been said to nevertheless have a ‘content,’ i.e., the unmanifest ‘World-Idea’), so, too, in Sat Lok there is ‘Sato,’ the creative power expressed or unexpressed.
Above the three lower worlds for Sant Mat is Par Brahmand or the supercausal region/realm/realization, which, while not yet non-dual, is still free from birth and death. Entry into Sach Khand implies freedom from, not only the three bodies/worlds, but also mind/matter/and illusion. They sometimes speak of a supracausal body that is also transcended [as does SIddharameshwar, guru of Sri Nisargadatta, but as explained in a more vedantic manner], but this is a body unlike what we usually imagine a body to be. What kind of 'body' is vijnanamaya or anandamaya koshas? What does a sheath of bliss look like? In vedanta koshas are expedients for our progressive understanding, and are to be know as consciousness, not ‘things.’. At any rate, Sach Khand is considered by some a non-dual realization (more on this Part Two), the first of what Sant Mat might be called the 'God-Realizing stages.
Sant Mat and similar schools also have a different way of conceiving the ultimate state. They speak of the drop merging into the ocean, whereas advaita sees this as the ocean 'recognizing' there is no drop. And they carry this into the immediate sadhana of daily life, and therefore see no need for progressive merger of an illusion. But this is hair-splitting, the husk without the kernel, and confusing the ego with the soul. Further, when the soul merges with the ocean, it is said to know itself in a new, transcendental way, via its own 'absence' in the 'presence' of the Supreme. Some traditions say that one may better say that the ocean merges into the drop. Neither is perfect language, which doesn't exist. The great vedantin Sankara put it this way in one of his devotional hymns, in language most often preferred by the Saints:
"O God, I know there is no difference between You and me, but I am Thine, Thou art not mine, because a wave can be of the ocean, but the ocean cannot be of the wave."
Sant Mat appears to view the advaitic three states (waking, dream, and sleep) as only the experiences of a soul bound to Pinda, or the physical realm. Thus it does not hold to the standard yogic/vedantic explanation of realizing the waking state as one with turiya, the 'fourth state', as being ultimate realization. Rather, one must ascend above this lower world into superconsciousness, which is a greater reality and not just an imaginary state, albeit greater than our normal imagination or dream. It does not see sleep as the equivalent of the causal or prajnic state, but rather as a subconscious state when attention, the expression of the soul, sinks down into the throat and navel centers of the gross body. It would prefer to have the sleeping hours remain conscious by ascending to higher planes. Thus it has an entirely different view of avastatreya, or the vedantic analysis of the three states, as well as the nature of mind and the ultimate creative power.
While advaita admits of no creation or causation (ajata), it does allow, says even Swami Nikhilinanda, for the Effulgent Nature of Reality to appear as if there were creation, and from the position of Reality there is no separation between the Real and its manifestation. Kirpal said that Sach Khand and Sat Purush was the fullest expression of the Absolute God. A further quote from him will come later, as well as a non-dual portrayal of the Sant Mat path and cosmology in Part Two.
Ramana, as mentioned, spoke of God as a person, the "first person" or "I" in the Heart, but nevertheless beyond the vision of light. Rather, it is the 'uncreated light' that makes a vision of light possible (which would include the light visualized in the lower planes). Iyer continues his line of thinking:
"Ideas never reach Atman. The mind never knows it. He who says he has a vision of the highest or describes it as supra-mental, etc., does not understand Atman, because it is free from imaginations." (Commentaries, Vol. 1; see note 29).
According to Iyer, it may not be a personal vision at the level of a dream or a product of one’s personal mind, but it is still in the realm of the imagination, albeit at the highest level. Even if it is the great vision of light, there is still a perceiver; when the perceiver is gone, then who sees what, and who has merged with what? This is an important question. And it is where, however, it is necessary to bow to the fact that there is Atman and there is Paramatma. The universal projection is not a product of the soul, but of Paramatma. So it is not just imagination. Epistemological considerations just do not apply so rigidly here. The Sants would say that beyond the three-bodied ego the soul sees and cognizes by virtue of her own light. This means the Uncreated light that makes visions of inner light possible. In this vein the light seen in the three lower planes is considered to be the light of the human nature by the mystics of the Orthodox Church, but which is still beautiful inasmuch as 'man is made in the image of God'. One may view it all as a continuum of Naam, but it needs to be recognized that the essence of Sach Khand or Sat Lok is closer to pure Subjectivity and non-dual realization, beyond human experience and conception.
The Sat Purush, so-called chief principality of Sach Khand, is said to absorb the soul (not the ego, but the soul, freed from all coverings or koshas) further on into the Nameless One. And despite Soamiji's lyrical descriptions of Sach Khand, any sense of separation or bifurcation of the mind into perceiver and perceived, as in the lower orders of creation, is supposedly non-existent here. Thus much of the descriptions of Sat Lok are likely metaphorical ones for what are essentially intuited, formless essences, or energy 'signatures' or vibrations at best, and not humanly conceivable visionary sights.The Sants insist this is a purely spiritual realm, with mind and matter left far behind.
Sawan Singh describes how the saint progressively sees the material creation differently as he ascends. He says:
"All the Saints, when they look from the top, describe the creation as His manifestation. They see Him working everywhere. Now, looking at the thing from below, or the individual viewpoint, we come across variety as opposed to oneness."
"Everybody appears working with a will, and is influenced by and is influencing others with whom he comes in contact. The individual is the doer, and is therefore responsible for his actions and their consequences. All the actions are recorded in his mind and memory, and cause likes and dislikes which keep him pinned down to the material, astral or mental spheres, according to his actions in an earlier move in the cycle of transmigration."
"The individual in these regions cannot help doing actions and having done them cannot escape their influences. Individual is the doer, and therefore bears the consequences of his actions."
"As stated above, the observations differ on account of the difference in the angle of vision. Both are right. The individual clothed in coarse material form sees only the external material forms. His sight does not go deeper than that. If he were to rise up, the same individual from Sahansdal Kanwal will see the mind actuating all forms. The form will be secondary only; mind will be the mover in all. The same individual from Daswan Dwar will see the Spirit Current working everywhere and will see how the mind gets power from the spirit."
"From Sach Khand the whole creation looks like bubbles forming and disappearing in a spiritual ocean." (Sat Sandesh, ref. misplaced)
We would have to add one more perspective to this, that of the Param Sant who has merged with the indescribable and unimaginable attributeless Nirguna state or Anami. One might feel him as 'seeing' everything from a different, 'pointless' point of view. This would correspond to the transcendentally 'ordinary state' spoken of in many traditions. He may be able to see at any of the other levels, such as viewing all as 'bubbles' appearing in an ocean', but he also sees the reality of each thing, as it is, and from within its own point of view. From this perspective he no longer need be seen as viewing everything, including himself, as a manifestation of or immanently filled with the same omnipresent light, for while a lofty, penultimate realization, a universal, harmonic perspective of oneness - it is yet a oneness known from one particular point of view! The Param Sant or fully liberated being would be radically transformed and see, not only the one Infinite Absolute manifesting as all things, but also the Infinite Potentiality of each individual being trying to realize or express its own Absolute nature. Thus the Absolute is, if we may speak of it at all, of a dynamic and not static nature. Hence the natural humility of the Param Sants, who meet everyone at their own level.
Sant Darshan has written that after traversing the physical, astral, and causal planes," the soul no longer has mind, but perceives and understands with its own light." Yet, one might ask, can the soul by its own light perceive and understand anything other than Itself, without a vehicle (i.e., kosha) to do so? Apparently so, yes. Anthony Damiani, however, student of Paul Brunton, gives the traditional philosophical argument:
“Any mystical state, any dream state, any wakeful state is a content and an object of consciousness. Different ones are going to demonstrate different characteristics, and there’s going to be an infinite array of possibilities, but the point to be grasped is that every one of them is an idea to consciousness and that the mind puts forth its own ideas and then experiences them....If you go to a higher level than this one, it will still be a content of consciousness; and if you go to an even higher level, or even to the level of being itself, there will always be a content of consciousness....That’s why it is so important to grasp this principle firmly. Hold on to it, because with it you will be able to analyze all experience and tear apart any misconceptions you have....This is true of all the seven levels of existence, even if you live in the angelic world. So if someone came from another level of existence and said, “Yes, but your analysis doesn’t hold for my plane of existence,” I would say, “Is it a content? Is it an experience for you? Is it a world that you are perceiving? Is there a perception taking place? You know it? Yes? Then it’s subject to the same analysis.” That’s how it cuts through everything and that’s why this teaching is direct and the most comprehensive one you will find. This teaching has been around for thousands of years and it won’t disappear.”(1)
“Mystical experiences are still on a penultimate stage of the imagination. You become aware of that. And no amount of superlatives will take you away from that stage....it’s still not [ultimate] reality." (2)
“PB wrote The Hidden Teaching Beyond Yoga prior to reaching the jivanmukta [liberation in life] stage. And the statement he makes there is that through personal feeling and intuition he had already grasped the fact that the mystical level is not dominated by reality, and is not that reality. But it would only be a person who has disciplined and developed an extreme rational consciousness who would be able to see through the superlative effulgence of the mystic state, and see its shortcomings.”(3)
Keep in mind, Damiani said “the penultimate” level of the imagination [i.e., the image-making faculty of consciousness]. What the Sants call the “Full expression of Sat Naam” in Sach Khand, the Vedantins such as Sri Siddharameshwar in Amrut Laya call “the Primal Illusion” or “MoolaMaya” ! It is a state of “ Pure Knowledge,” a relative Liberation and high spiritual attainment, but not yet Ultimate Reality or the Absolute. Yet for most of us it is the fulfillment of our heart’s desire.
Sankara said in his commentary to the Brahma Sutras:
"The highest beatitude is not to be attained through Yoga." [although yoga is a useful preliminary to concentrate the mind and prepare it for inquiry into Truth]
The argument goes, why do some high paths, such as the Tibetan school of Dzogchen (http://www.mountainrunnerdoc.citymaker.com/dzogchen.html), teach that the goal of meditation is not to (only) go inside? Surely they know of the existence of the tenth door and the inner realms. Why did a venerated master such as HH Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche say not to strive for advanced states and inner bliss?
"We should realize that the purpose of meditation is not to go "deeply into ourselves" or withdraw from the world. Practice should be free and non-conceptual, unconstrained by introspection and concentration...The everyday practice of Dzogchen is just everyday life itself. Since the undeveloped state does not exist, there is no need to behave in any special way or attempt to attain anything above and beyond what you actually are. There should be no feeling of striving to reach some "amazing goal" or "advanced state."
There is a reason for this, too, which we shall reveal shortly when we attempt to tie all of this together. But first, contemplate the words of Kirpal Singh, presented at the outset:
"To know God you have to bring about a change in your heart, learn to look inward, and realize that He is your Overself. As soon as you have this realization, you are with Him."
(Sounds rather simple put this way, doesn't it? One then asks, might it be said that the astral form of the Master is in the 'head', but the Master himself is in the 'heart' - and finally, is the Heart itself? Sant Mat seems to gets less mystifying when the casual words of the Master are allowed to penetrate the filter of the mind)
On the positive side, even Ramana Maharshi once said (to someone) that "visions are better than no visions," in so far as they indicate an increasing depth of concentration, but that they must be gone beyond before true Self-Realization. All school say that. In Sant Mat the only "visions" or perceptible phenomena to be paid attention to in meditation are the Light, the Sound, and the Master's Form, which itself must stand before repetition of the five charged words given at initiation. These five charged words are an ancient tradition or dispensation in many traditions that are said to be the 'open-sesame' to the succeeding inner regions. Except that in the last two regions up to Sach Khand the mental vehicle which would repeat these names is left behind, thus only the Naam itself and the Master's Light would assist the soul, with which it is ultimately realized to be one.Thus, the Form is an extremely important aid at deepening concentrative absorption towards the final goal. This, too, extends only through the lower three planes, after which the realms are, first, archtypal, or formless-form, and then formless. Thus, once again the Master's grace itself is the saving element. The allegory given by Soamiji in the beginning of this paper is just that, some say, an allegory, for upon reaching Sach Khand, or the station of Atman, there can, according to philosophy, be no form, and no one to answer a Sat Purush who asks one how he has gotten there, saying," by the grace of a saint." Any other explanation makes no sense according to standard yoga psychology. But such psychology - and philosophy - can be wrong. Kirpal Singh states:
"In the lower planes [the Form] continues, but absorption comes at every plane. When you devote your whole attention into the Form of the master, you sometimes become absorbed; but that continues in further stages. Absorption is better. It does become that Light. You are Light; you become one; you forget; but you are conscious all the same. It does come at every step. Ultimately, it becomes One, and there is no form when you are absorbed into Sat Naam. Then, Sat Naam takes you to the stages where there is final absorption. Otherwise, the Form continues to work in the radiant Form on the different planes." (Sat Sandesh, Feb. 1975, "A Thief in the Form of a Friend")
Somewhere I read that the form of the Master changes from plane to plane but resumes human form upon reaching Sach Khand, where one meets the so-called "God as a Person", but in the above quote, when examined closely, he does say that there is no form when you are absorbed into Sat Naam, leaving the possibility open that until you are actually absorbed into Sat Naam, or the Sat Purush, one still might see the Master's Form in Sach Khand, but the philosophical criticism still asks for an answer. Can there be form when all the kohsas are shed and one is supposedly beyond mind and maya? That question has already been answered. So to say, as Damiani did, that the penultimate mystical stage has a 'shortcoming', gives the unwarranted impression that it is faulty, or a veil of maya - rather than a living, vivifying presence made of consciousness, the divine intermediary or Son that absorbs the soul in the ultimate from which they are both an emanation. Kirpal often told the story of Kabir's disciple Indra Mati seeing him on the throne in Sach Khand, and then asking the saint why he didn't tell her before that this would be, and Kabir said, "because you wouldn't have believed me." Yet Baba Faqir Chand said that Sach Khand has no form, only the Light of awareness, and that any form seen there would only be the case for someone who has had a prior suggestion that he should see such a form. We have already answered this objection when speaking of the Buddhist concept of Sambhogakaya manifestations; we think Faqir Chand was a bit one-sided in thinking that mental creation was the only way it could happen, in much the same way as he may have been mistaken if claiming that one's having a personal vision of a master was always either his own mental fabrication, or that of the universal self providing that form for him, without relationship to a specific master. We do not know, but it seems reasonable that both views could be true. Kirpal, like Faqir, once described Sach Khand as nothing but "light - scintillating light." So the issue of a form is complex.
One might also ask the question, in such a case, was this the real Sach Khand, or one of its reflections in a lower plane? For that is said to be a possible experience (although it is hard to see how 'infinite light' can be duplicated). If the higher planes dohave their reflections in the lower, then visions of them can be seen from there. But we will have to side with those who answer, "yes, visions may be possible in Sach Khand,” as the 'throne of God', 'Guru Rinpoche', or 'the Master', etc., is spoken of in many traditions, from Christianity to Tibetan Buddhism to Sant Mat. Apparently it is an archtypal reality and as such to be respected. Advaita, in our opinion, while holding to speak from sheer intellectual truth, wants to 'level the playing field', making of reality something rather flat, and with no room for acceptance of a divine controlling power. The higher planes are realms of more and more beauty, truth, direct experience of consciousness and love - and not mere mystic illusion. That might be so of mystic vision confined to the sky of mind in the brain core, but not conscious realization of these as higher dimensions. Kirpal writes:
"Saint Tulsidas says that when he rose above body consciousness and reached the causal plane and had an experience of bliss and joy, he thought, "That is the most and highest of all." But after that he had transcended the causal plane into the supercausal and beyond, he said, "The causal plane is perhaps only a washroom compared to this." (Sat Sandesh, March 1975, p. 10)
Ishwar Puri speaks of this, among other illuminating topics, such as Chakras/Sleep/Marked Souls/Perfect Masters/Faith (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2THLcBdzt8&feature=plcp&context=C3a6e209UDOEgsToPDskJcqWBoV9v3Sh44oGytysJd).
One can certainly say that in a truly non-dual universe, beyond the polarities of form and formless, a vision in Sach Khand can be possible; why not? This is an unfathomable, transcendental region.
Further, we may ask, what is a master? He is not just a man or an inner form one sees, but, in truth, at the center of one's being, and the center of the universe, a vast unfathomable presence. As the opening quote says, his residence is said to be in the heart of the disciple, and ultimately is not separate from the disciple's own higher or deepest self. This is why Ramana said that God, Guru, and Self are one. The master of this path is also an embodiment (to whatever degree of perfection he has realized) of the Shabd-Brahman, and in a sense simultaneously in Sach Khand and on earth at the same time. Once faith in him is firm, there is said to be little else to be done to secure salvation/liberation. The question of further lifetimes becomes a mute point. We, too, are in Sach Khand, a non-dual 'realm'/state of consciousness, although we may not know it. As all of the planes are interpenetrating and concurrent, spiritual progress cannot be easily gauged according to the inner experience alone. There was a series of exchanges by letter between Baba Jaimal Singh and his master Soamiji. Jaimal Singh was a high saint, but after initiation did not have any visions or ascended experiences in his meditation. He wrote Soamiji explaining his situation. Soamiji sent a reply saying, "I am happy your soul is soaring in the higher planes." Jaimal was perplexed, and wrote back, saying, "You must have sent that letter to the wrong person, I have had no inner experiences at all!" Again, Soamiji sent a reply, "I am happy to hear your soul is roaming the higher regions." Finally, Jaimal went to see Soamiji, who lived three hundred miles away. Jaimal was a solider at the time and had to get leave. When he saw Soamiji the saint revealed what he had meant in his letters. "At the time of my writing the letters you were in a state of intense longing to see me, were you not?" "Yes," said Jaimal. "Well then, that is the same as if your soul went to the highest regions." The moral of the story is that, for karmic reasons, sometimes the saints shut down the door to inner access so certain things can be paid off in this life, and that the master is always with us, 'closer than the vein in our neck', as an old Persian saying goes. Spiritual progress (which is a kind of illusion) goes along on 'parallel tracks' at the same time, and we are no judge of how it is working out. The old saying of the Sants that after the time of initiation the soul will take a maximum of four lives to reach Sach Khand is only for those who are backsliders or leave the path, otherwise the rule is one life, not four! You go where you are attached, and if you love the master you will go where he is. Since he is everywhere transcendentally present, that is your destiny also.
An enigma and presents itself when comparing systems. For instance, Ramana Maharishi seemed to deny importance to anything but the ultimate reality. Further, he did not report and for all accounts did not seem to have the inclination of perhaps even the facility to travel to other planes like the Sants do. And near the time of his death he made the radical statement, “Where could I go? I am here.” Many take this as confirmation that the path of the Sants via the third eye is at best an unnecessary detour from direct realization of the heart. But is it really so? We will here merely quote in reply the words of Kirpal Singh from the book Godman:
“He is beyond everything...The Master of Truth is eternally the same. He neither comes nor goes. He is the imperishable Life Principle that pervades everything.” (p. 142)
So different? Sounds almost exactly how the ultimate substratum of infinite consciousness is described in the Yoga Vasistha. Is that what the “Sat” in Satguru means? One cannot help but wonder...
According to Arran Stephens, author of the book Journey to the Luminous, Darshan Singh, Kirpal’s successor, claimed that when Faqir Chand was asked to describe the various inner planes he did not name their proper order and specifically could not or did not give the proper answer to the question of how many steps led to the pool of samskaric purification named Manasarovar in the third plane. Of course, Faqir seems to have claimed this very thing, that there was no fixed ordering to all of the planes. This may be wrong, but it is also a complex issue. Darshan also said Faqir Chand was in error when implying that the luminous form of the Master was not 'real' in the sense of its being a direct manifestation of Reality as the Master.
The subtle Gurudev is said to lead directly to the Satguru or Satpurush, the true or divine form in Sach Khand. In Buddhism similarly there are the Sambhogakaya and Dharmakaya forms of the Buddha, active in the realms of form and the formless. Yet in general, Buddhism and Advaita argue that anything visible is not the reality, so, for instance, Sach Khand would not be considered “spiritual” in their sense of the term, as there must be a perceiver to see the sights and sounds there. Again, the Sants are adamant that the light and sound there is spiritual, beyond the mind or manas, and the soul paradoxically and transcendentally sees by her own light; there is no duality there, but an enigmatic comingling unity. These type of words are poison to the ears of the advaitist. Some other yoga schools, however, use this terminology of ‘spiritual’, as well as spirituo-material, materio-spiritual, and material planes reflecting various density of vibration. And what is vibration? - the direct expression of the Godhead. One should understand that in such yoga schools the word spiritual is sometimes used to mean realms of the higher mind or vignanamaya kosha (the supracausal) in contrast to realms of the lower mind or manas where there still must be some means of dualistic perception. Yet in the higher traditions there is always mention of the logos; even Buddhism speaks of the heavenly Avalokitesvara whose sweet sounds will take one back to the soul’s true home. Sach Khand to the advaitist most likely sounds like a high celestial subtle plane, due to the language used to describe it. The Sants counter that they are hindered in their description by the limits of words, and must picture these realms in the language of metaphor. For the sages the word spiritual implies both a formless, subjective realization, and the non-dual nature of reality within and without.
Brunton, however, writes:
"Those who find that beyond the Light they must pass through the Void, the unbounded emptiness, often draw back affrighted and refuse to venture further. For here they have naught to gain or get, no glorious spiritual rapture to add to their memories, no great power to increase their sense of being a co-worker with God. Here their very life blood is to be squeezed out as the price of entry, here they must become the feeblest of creatures." (4)
Ramana enigmatically referred to scripture that said that the gyani is "invisible even to the Gods," and "trackless like a fish swimming through water." This appears in contrast to the saint or Sant Satguru, whose luminous radiant form is described as "blazing a path of light for miles and miles through the subtle realms," although it need not be so, if we understand the non-dual nature of the reality such a Sant has realized. Ramana poked gentle fun at the teaching of the yogis who speak of 'nectar' or 'amrit' trickling down from the crown center - the very thing the saints sing praises of - maintaining that the sahasrar or centers above the crown are but the reflected light of the true Heart (not to be confused with the heart chakra). He tended to minimize the reality of soul in deference to the advaitic realization of the one Self. This is also reflected in those who consider themselves his followers or lineage descendants. More on this important issue later.
Ramana, upon dying, famously said: “where can I go; I am here?” leading some to dismiss notions of higher realities and the soul. But that is short-sighted, in our opinion. Interestingly, nearing the end Kirpal Singh said he would soon be going, and one disciple asked, "where are you going?", to which he replied, "Oh, where we all go." Paramhansa Yogananda likewise remarked, "All paths are paths to God, because, ultimately, there is no other place for the soul to go." (Journey to Self-Realization, p. 51)
A ‘gyanic ' interpretation of Sant Mat
We have already spoken of Faqir Chand's challenging perspective on the nature of the production Master's inner form and have given our opinion; we will not repeat that here. What we have now before us is a very refreshing and provocative - and possibly interfaith-uniting - explanation of the inner planes as experientially described earlier. The following information is from the book, Surat Shabd Yoga: The Yoga of Light and Sound by Faqir Chand, translated by Dr. Ishwar C. Sharma, and being largely a commentary on the equally hard to find Hidayatnama of Soamiji Maharaj. This book is currently out-of-print, but is an eye-opening exposition of the planes from what might be considered a more or less classical yogic/vedantic as contrasted with a religio-mystical (or usual Sant Mat) way of perceiving them. Our initial impression is that this book deserves wide exposure, as it appears to hold a piece of the puzzle to reconciling many teaching that are currently at odds with one another. And that would surely be a good thing and is, in fact, a pressing need of the times. However, it is surely very controversial, and probably not without its weak points.
By way of introduction, in Buddhism there are said to be the 'four noble states', or 'formless absorptions: 'infinite space', 'boundless consciousness', 'nothingness', 'beyond perception or non-perception.' These are intermediate samadhis, realms, or states between lower gross and subtle states, and the truth or Sat. One may well ask, how many people can distinguish 'infinite space', 'boundless consciousness' or 'nothingness' - from the Absolute, the Tao , or whatever term one refers to Reality by? How many 'realizers' today who think they have realized such an absolute are really accessing some kind of impersonal 'buddhi', an intuitive not-ordinary-self kind of realization that feels like the ultimate? Probably few. But Buddha clearly states that even these rarified states are not the truth. And while possibly considered evolutionary advances, it has been said that one can sort of get stuck in them for a while, even a kalpa or two! It has been sometimes said that if a monk dies while in one of these formless absorptions, he might not be better off than a virtuous person who goes to a ‘Pure Land’, whether considered in the Tibetan tradition as a special region 'created' by a Buddha (such as Padmasambhava's Copper Mountain"), or simply as one of the higher mental realms or heavens, where he can progress after death with help from his adept or master. Of course this may be a controversial point, with infinite variations depending on the individual.
Keeping this in mind, we will now examine Faqir's book. The reader may recall that Faqir broke down into tears when Sawan Singh said that Sant Mat was higher than vedanta, indeed, higher than all other religions, which Faqir could not accept, feeling that truth was universal and could be found everywhere. He later felt, therefore, that the discourses of the great saint were “not sufficient to satisfy the curiosity of one such as himself”, and, after getting Sawan’s blessing and support, along with his advice to study Soamiji’s Sar Bachan, he spent his lifetime chiefly in the association of Maharaj Shivbrat Lal.
Characteristically, because of his background, Faqir seems to give a vedantic-yogic interpretation to the more mystical/theological and lyrical descriptions of the inner states by Soamiji. Faqir argues that Soamiji had to say some things in a literal way because the people of his time could not understand the truth told straight out. So, while he agrees with the other Sants on the importance and need for a Master, and also for the meditation on the Sound Current, he has what some feel is a radical yet straightforward way of explaining how it all works. For instance, regarding Trikuti, he says that there is no visible ‘triangle’, but that it refers to a state of mind-concentration where one realizes the unity of the perceiver, perceiving, and perception, or the 'triple function of knowing. He also ascribes the "redness" in the red rising sun found in Trikuti to an inner concentration of the mind similar to when one's face flushes from intense agitated thought. Interestingly, he advanced satsangis not to spend much time meditating on this red light here as it could lead to mental imbalance and insanity with damage to the physical brain. He also said he knew more than a few cases at the Dera where this occurred. I find this interesting for two reasons. One, because there are cautions in other schools about the dangers associated with meditation on the so-called third eye center, and, two, that saying it could damage the brain cells suggests that this Trikuti is not yet out of the body, although it may be visualized as interpenetrating it. We will return to this latter point shortly.
The inner states as functions of the concentration of the mind is a central point in Faqir’s teachings. So he does not mention the triple mountain (Mt. Meru, etc.) that the other sants do as a characteristic vista in Trikuti, although it is clear that many practitioners have reported that phenomena. For Faqir, ‘all is phantasmagoria up to Bhanwar Gupta', and as the subtle elemental construction of each aspirant is different, he will also experience different scenes there. For him even the form of the Master is a result of the integration of the subtle elements of one's own mind, i.e., a creation of one’s own mind. No talk of reaching the real astral form of the Master and one's self-effort being over, with the Master henceforth guiding the soul with his own power. Further, Faqir boldly states that it is the motion of the subtle elements of one's mind that produces the Sounds as well (although later he talks of the way as merging into ‘Ultimate Sound’). But no talk of the Word or Logos here. Not even a host of Archangels producing Sound or music as it is sometimes stated in esoteric Christian mysticism. Faqir is being more of a Buddhist/Vedantist than a gnostic or mystic. There is no talk of a macrocosmic or universal mind and its image upon which the individual mind and its perceptions are overlayed, as spoken of by some other sages. Moreover, even if one does not accept Isvara, there are no ‘Sambhogakaya emanations’, realms, or Pure Lands of a Buddha or host of saints or liberated cosmic beings that serve as an actual locus or realm for the ascending soul. Also, for Faqir, it is not necessary to explore completely all the planes before Sach Khand, but just to get the gist of their meaning. This is not really totally contradictory to what the other Sants say, and certainly what sages say, but is potentially, in our view, a rather reductionistic interpretation of the realms of creations, but typical of a vedantist.
Regarding Sahasdal Kanwal (which Faqir refers to as the thousand-petalled lotus - which may or may not be referring to the same thing as the Sahasarar, and it doesn’t seem to be, as we have pointed out earlier), and which Soamiji refers to as Turiya Pad (which is not at all the same as what a vedantist means by Turiya), Faqir says:
"When the Surat of an individual in search of something or with some desire in mind thinks over it calmly, then for the fulfillment of that desire many thoughts, many solutions and many plans would ooze out from within, from one particular thought of desire. One experiences an imaginary wave of thoughts within at this stage. So this state of the oozing of different thoughts is compared with Sahasdal Kamal or thousand petaled lotus and its one petal gives birth to thousands of other petals. It does not mean that lotus flower is in your forehead. It means that one thought is followed by thousands of other thoughts and their continuous flow starts to have their own creation."
This is clearly a gyan or subjective approach as contrasted to the more cosmological or objective view of yogis and most sants. And recall, Sahansdal Kanwal is supposed to have only eight petals, a cording to prior sants. Perhaps Faqir was not describing the true sahasrar. In any case, his explanation is contrary to the experience of countless yogis and mystics who report seeing a lotus there. Ramaji spoke of experience an activated “sizzling sahasrar”, penultimate to his own heart-realization. Adi Da claimed to have the unusual experience of “the severing of the sahasrar,” and seeing it fall off like a blossom, prior to heart-realization taking center stage, free of the limitations of the chakra system. Faqir’s description seems to be his own experience and understanding, somewhat independent of the more common ones. The chakras may ultimately be imaginary as Ramana would say, but that there is a relative reality seems difficult to argue with. Note the classic experience of a Dr. Lewis, disciple Yogananda:
“The Master then placed his forehead against my forehead. He told me to lift my eyes and look at the point between the eyebrows, which I did. And there I beheld the great light of the spiritual eye. The Master did not suggest that I see anything. He did not in any way influence me through suggestion. What I saw came in a natural way. I was fully conscious, fully awake, fully alert, and I saw the spiritual eye because the Master stilled the waves of my mind and allowed my own intuition of the soul to show this to me. As I looked further in the great golden light, the whole spiritual eye formed, with its inner dark-blue center representing or manifesting the Christ Consciousness within me, and finally the little silver star in the center, the epitome of Cosmic Consciousness. Of course, I was overwhelmed at having found someone who could show me the inner reality that is within each and every one of us. I realized that he was not an ordinary person, but one far different from the ordinary run of men who profess to know about such spiritual things. We talked for a few minutes, and then he once more pressed his forehead against my forehead; and it was then that I saw the great light of the thousand-rayed lotus [the highest spiritual center, located in the top of the brain] — the most exquisite thing that can be seen, with its many, many rays of silver leaves. At the bottom of the thousand-rayed lotus I could see, outlined in denser light, the walls of the large arteries at the base of the brain. And lo and behold, as I watched, little sparks of light inside the arteries were bobbing along, striking the walls as they passed before my vision. These were the blood corpuscles, each with its little spark of astral light manifesting as it carried out its duty in God’s play of light." (source misplaced)
The question is, are these two radically different (philosophic, and yogic) descriptions incompatible, or not? This is a serious consideration bearing on the roots of our epistemology (i.e., the philosophy of knowledge, or how we know what we know)
After so depicting the subjective realization, apparently as opposed to the objective experience, of Sahansdal Kanwal and Trikuti, Faqir moves on to Daswan Dwar, which he labels the ‘vacuity, or Sunn. Supposedly it is ‘Sunn’ or empty as compared with the form realms of the physical, astral, and mental/causal planes; he says it is marked by bliss, ecstasy and self-forgetfulness. Sunn is then followed by Maha Sunn, or the greater vacuity, then Bhanwar Ghupta, and the planes of Sat Lok. Interestingly, he refers to 'Maha Sunn', or the experiential void between Daswan Dwar and Bhanwar Gupta, as 'endless space' , and also 'nirvikalpa samadhi'. The latter is unique as we have never seen a Sant Mat guru or yogi refer to nirvikalpa samadhi in this way. For Faqir, the reason for the appellation of 'darkness' is because at this stage the mind has ceased to waver and is still. Soamiji writes that when the soul is about to enter this void of Maha Sunn, it is informed that there are ‘four secret regions within it’. How one will see those regions is unclear as Maha Sunn is said to be so ‘dark’ that even the soul now shining with its own light as great as eight suns cannot penetrate the darkness, and is said needs the superior light of the Master to ferry it across. For Faqir, however, this is not really what is going on at all, and Soamiji spoke allegorically. For him, the ‘four secret regions’ only refer to the four functions of mind, intellect, chit, and ego, all of which are quiescent in Maha Sunn‘, hence nirvikalpa ensues, but, being impermanent, one cannot stay there. [Andrew Vidich, in Love Is a Secret), equates Maha Sunn with the Buddhist nirodha, which does not seem to be correct and is certainly arguable].
Endless space' seems very similar to Buddha's jhana of 'infinite space', doesn't it? As such it seems like it corresponds to one of the formless absorptions, and as such is not liberation, which is just what Sant Mat says. For Faqir, all up to and including Maha Sunn is in the realm of duality. This makes some sense, as, in our tentative view, Maha Sunn is a point of tension where the subtle ego dies its final death (at least on the 'inner' plane, but not necessarily back on the outer - that would be sahaj samadhi), but duality might be said to be 'seriously nicked' once the soul transcends the three lower worlds and reaches Daswan Dwar and above.
For Faqir, after passing through or transcending Maha Sunn, Bhanwar Gupta is as the rest of the Sants say, a stage of relative freedom but with a fine trace of 'matter' mixed in - but nevertheless part of the 'upper hemisphere', and a realm of intuitive knowledge and ananda - perhaps equivalent to the Buddhist 'Arhat' stage (beyond even the ‘non-returner’, beyond karma and reincarnation, but not yet non-dually liberated); however, Faqir says that one can, and many yogis have, fallen from even Bhanwar Gupta, and that it is not a stable or dependable state as it relies on direct perception and mental effort to comprehend it. For him the “rotating or whirling cave” is not an objective structure seen in mystic vision, but a process of the unripe soul cycling back and forth between causal ignorance and the knowledge in the super causal body. This was already discussed. However, once the knowledge is firm, in many yogic systems and under different names, this super causal level is spoken of as the first of the ‘spiritual planes’, with only anandamayakosha remaining covering the soul, and where the soul knows it is of the same essence as the Spirit, and proclaims, “I Am That”, or “O Lord, I am of the same essence as Thou art,” but is not one with it yet. That is reserved for Sach Khand, which might be called the first 'non-dual' plane, on this path of inversion. There, from what one is led to surmise, all terms such as finite/infinite, spirit/matter, Master-disciple, etc., begin to lose their relative value. And then we gradually see the outer in a different light as well, with a vast progression of unification taking place on all levels.
Another point at which Faqir is at variance with some fo the sants is in saying that there is no possibility of any scenes in Sach Khand (such as one’s Master seated on a throne); for him there is nothing but formless Light and Sound, or it isn't the real Sach Khand. Indeed, one might ask, if this is above or beyond the vijnanamaya kosha, how could there be such visions? Even meeting the Satpurusha as “God as a person” is for Faqir a mental suggestion that one expects and hence experiences as materializing out of the light of Sat Lok. Any other vision such as a throne, etc., would also be due to a prior projection of expectation of such. Or is a suggestive explanation not to be taken too literally. I don’t know whether this is absolutely true or not as I haven’t had the experience, Sach Khand or a throne. But the Zen Master Dogen said an interesting thing which goes something like this: “People think that in the realm of essence there should be no bloom of flowers.” So who knows?
Faqir was clear in his assertion that Sawan Singh’s statement, “cross the tenth door, and you will find me standing there,” did not mean his literal form.
“However people thought he meant that after crossing ten doors inside, they will find Baba Sawan Singh with a beautiful beard. That is totally wrong. Beyond lies your own SELF or being.” (Baba Faqir Chand’s Illuminations, p. 6)
This may be true, and also may depend on which interpretation of “tenth door” one uses. After leaving the super causal level, one attains Self-Knowledge. It has nothing to do with seeing the astral form of one’s Guru. Ishwar Puri also spoke this way, yet consoled at least one devotee I knew that when he died, “Sawan will be waiting for you.” Different folks, different needs.
Inasmuch as in Sant Mat it is taught that there are reflections of all higher planes in the lower, this frequently reported vision may then in any individual case be actually at a lesser stage than Sach Khand. We don’t know because we haven’t gone there. But we feel that this may be the experience of some, yet not all. The real throne room of God is said to be the human heart. The Buddha spoke of liberated realms beyond the formless states, and spontaneous Sambhogaya manifestations/realms, which may be equivalent to some type of transcendental form in Sach Khand. But, no doubt, it may be somewhat paradoxical at this level.
Reflections of higher planes in the lower is one thing, but the teaching sometimes given that there are counterfeit duplications by Kal of higher planes in the lower is quite another. That the poor ego-soul is faced with sorting it all out borders on craziness. What is an entire plane, after all? And how could one tell one from the other? Hence the great appeal of the self-enquiry of Vedanta, where the central question is 'who' is the experiencer,' who' is perceiving this 'plane', 'who' is the perceiver - the 'unperceived perceiver'? With this one can dissect all the seven planes of experience, and not worry about whether he is on the right plane! Zen Master Zufeng said long ago, " Even Shakyamuni Buddha and Maitreya Buddha were His servants. Ultimately, who is He?" Sooner or later this question must be faced.
Another difference, between Faqir Chand and the gnostic interpretation of Sant Mat such as portrayed in Kabir’s Anurag Sagar, is that for Faqir, the ‘sixteen sons (or ‘aeons) of the Sat Purush - of which ‘Kal’ or the personification of time or illusion and the negative power is one - are not beings, but the functions of the individual. Thus he doesn’t appear to give an inch with his more or less psychological/yogic interpretation of the inner dimensions:
“The “sixteen sons” are sixteen elements, comprised of five sense organs, five organs of action, plus body, mind, intellect, wisdom, ego, and soul, which are present in the Surat, or spirit, as causal body [this is similar to the theosophical view wherein soul is defined as the greater causal body, part of an ‘upper triad’ of atma-buddhi-manas, and, moreover, only a portion or emanation of which incarnates in any one lifetime, becoming enriched from life to life until it can unite with Spirit]. Surat is the aggregate of all those feelings and sensations that are created by these “sixteen sons”, or powers, of an individual. Though Surat gives birth to all these sixteen sons, yet it also falls victim to them. It wants to be free from the prison of these powers. This it does by uniting itself and merging into the soul. It also arrives at fixity or one-pointedness. This is the state of Satloka, the state of desirelessness or detachment.”
Whether the last two sentences are characteristic of Satloka, needless to say [discussed more on Part Four] this rendering is at odds with the gnostic cosmology and creationism of most traditional and ancient Sant Mat teachings such as proposed in Kabir’s Anurag Sagar. There may be truth in it, but there also may be much more to it all. We let the reader ponder these things.
In addition, Faqir also has a unique, gyan-like or perhaps idiosyncratic way of interpreting the scriptural references to the 'wheel of eighty-four', or the Hindu belief in eight million, four hundred thousand species through which the soul may transmigrate:
“I do not wish to comment on the prevailing theory of reincarnation. However, my own view, based on my personal experience, is that the cycle of births and deaths means the physical and mental experiences of an individual, which are based on six Chakras or centers, or levels, of the body, and the six Chakras of mind. There are seven kinds of activities at each center. These are lust, anger, greed, ego, attachment, mind and intellect. Thus, six centers of body and six centers of mind, when multiplied by seven types of activities, or feelings, total eighty-four. The Surat moves in these eighty-four universes, constituted by pleasure, pain, sorrow, worry, fear and vicissitudes of life. The word “Laksh” is a Sanskrit word which means direction. But usually people interpret it to be “Lakh”, or one hundred thousand. So when Surat moves around eighty-four directions, in its ignorance, it is called eight million, forty thousand [note: actually eight million, four hundred thousand] births and deaths.There is no doubt that I was initiated by the perfect Master of our times and given my Mantra on which to meditate, but it did not prove very useful until I understood the true meaning of the eight million and forty thousand births and deaths.”
The reasoning behind this is not at all clear: what does understanding this have to do with the efficacy of the mantra? And surely this appears to be a rather idiosyncratic interpretation of the concept of the 'wheel of eighty-four'. But, on the other hand, not unlike some Buddhist type of explanations, which, as mentioned, are more psychological than mystical in nature. In this respect one also finds it curious that Sant Darshan Singh maintained that there were 'eighty-four' steps to the pool of Manasarovar in Daswan Dwar. Is that also an allegorical interpretation? I dare not say Sant Darshan was wrong, but a question arises, “does everyone experience exactly the same phenomena on their progression through the inner planes of relativity? Is there no subjective variation? As mentioned, Faqir definitely felt the answer is no. Paul Brunton - I have misplaced the quote - also felt, yes, there must be variation, inasmuch as penultimate inner visionary phenomena are the “final experiences before the self’s dissolution.” But in Sant Mat the teachings are often presented as if the inner realms are objectively real and fixed. Are they? This is not, on the other hand, to suggest that it is all purely random either.
There is certainly little doubt of the ubiquitous presence of the number 84 in Hindu philosophy. There are 84 lakhs [84 x 100,000, or 8,400,000] species of life. Then it is mentioned in Korean Zen that there are said to be 84,000 volumes of the Buddhist canon, as well as 84,000 pores in the human body. Further, a Buddhist verse reads: "The thousand world systems are originally the Dharma body. The eighty-four thousand lesser actions form the wheel of Dharma. Since birth and death are fundamentally empty, they permeate a single path. All distinctions are actually Nirvana." (quoted in The Way of Korean Zen, p. 91). This is fundamentally a non-dual statement: in reality, no birth and death, no coming or going, no ordinary or accomplished persons, "no high, no low" (a saying of Kirpal Singh). Further, 1000 in certain numerologies is a number of perfection. The original Dharma body means the Primordial Truth, or the clear and pure original body of the Buddha, while the eighty-four lesser actions means the phenomenal display, whether it be the process of birth and death, or the Buddha's demonstration of the realization of Buddhahood. Simply multiply 1000 by 84 and the result is 84,000. This number has also been said to be “a traditional expression meaning “very many.” Thus it is not literal. Now we are told 84 steps to the lake in Daswan Dwar. Is that universally true? We are simply after the truth, the essential meanings.
There are other symbolisms. Dakshinamurti’s '24 gurus', said Ramana Maharshi, were in reality the '24 elements' of Samkhaya philosophy, corresponding with recognizable metaphysical/ontological aspects or functions. Kirpal also once wrote in code of '52' features on the way to Sach Khand. Was he, too, being strictly literal? We have no doubt of his competency, but also can't help wondering in the light of other things that he said whether or not absolute truth was revealed in such remarks. One can also not help asking why only in Sant Mat do they speak of specific 'objective' subtle structures ( triple mountain, crooked tunnel (banknaal), pool of nectar, hansi tunnel, fountains, throne, etc.), that all must pass through, whereas some other schools that teach light and sound do not. Faqir's answer, as previously mentioned, is that Soamiji had to do so because of the level of understanding of the common folk of his time, and, further, that everyone does not experience the same things and in the same order or manner with their inner enfoldment.
As long as we are discussing sacred numbers, an especially interesting feature ubiquitous in spiritual teachings worldwide is the number 'seven'. For instance, there are said to be basically seven planes (with seven sub-planes within each), seven chakras (or seven 'candles' in the Bible), seven rays, seven colors, seven elements (earth, water, air, fire, ether, akasha or space, chit or consciousness - similar to the Buddhist seven paramattha dharmas or essential realities that all samsara is made up of, consisting of four form elements and three formless or 'mind' elements - with Nirvana (Radhaswami?) as an eighth 'unconditioned' element), seven spirits before the Throne (i.e., seven Elohim by whose aid the Supreme Deity established his creation), seven rivers, seven sisters, seven delights; St. John of the Cross’ seven stages or “wine cellars” of love (which he symbolically envisions engaged in spiritual warfare with seven heads of the Beast in Revelation); seven thoughts, seven flames, seven tongues, seven mothers, seven creative Words (sapta vanih); we are told in scripture that the 'sins of the fathers will be visited on the sons to the seventh generation', and, in Sant Mat, there is (sometimes) given an explicit pledge that the Master will provide protection to ones descendants for seven generations backwards and forwards. As for the latter, one might ask, why 'seven'? There is no doubt protection to near and dear ones, with many, many reports verifying such, but how connected are 'seven' generations to one's particular destiny, and what does protection really mean? That they are all going to get initiated in the next lifetime? What? Finally, there does seems to be definite esoteric significance to the number seven, but what if the number seven is of significance, say, only in our universe? For one can't help considering that possibility within the totality of infinity.
Faqir would likely agree with the Sant Mat teaching that there are can be reflections of the higher planes in the lower planes. Even Sri Aurobindo wrote about that. This can be interpreted in at least two ways. One, there are multiple correspondences between the chakras and lower regions and the higher regions - and this is Sri Aurobindo's view. It also seems to be that of schools of Puranic Hinduism (explained in the next section, # 7), which correlate the seven planes or worlds with the seven chakras, and also as taught by older sages and modern yogis such as Sivananda, who said that Sat Lok was Nirvikalpa Samadhi in the crown above or at the top of the head. This is, as we have seen, different from some versions of Sant Mat, but it may make sense from a more integral understanding than one where the goal is conceived as exclusively going 'up and out'. The chakras are themselves a mystery, said to contain many depths, both 'inner or horizontal' as well as 'vertical'.
Aurobindo said that while there was an aspect of Sat Lok in the crown, one needed to ascend in consciousness to the higher, universal dimension of Sat Lok above. This is vague language. Even so, for him this was the highest region within 'our manifested universe', but the absolute, which he referred to as SatChitAnanda, was beyond even this and not a plane at all. This sounds much like the stateless states everyone else is talking about. Anyone who has tried to penetrate the teachings of Sri Aurobindo will understand the difficulties involved. I personally asked many questions of one of the most prominent writers on Aurobindo and after our conversation he confessed he didn’t know anything about him and neither did anybody else!
A hint at discerning the difference between Sat Lok being in the crown or far above it may lie in this obscure and enigmatic passage about a form of yogic experience from The Philosophy of the Masters, Series 3, p. 22 (penned by Sant Kirpal Singh under direct inspiration from Baba Sawan Singh):
"The tongue is lengthened until it can touch the eyebrows. It is then taken inside and is used to close or plug the palate. The nectar which drops from the moon which is seen on the left side of Trikuti is then enjoyed."
Kirpal did point out that this was a yogic practice that had little use for God-realization. However, we might also keep in mind that Sri Ramana poked mild fun at the yogi's enjoyment of such nectar trickling down. Be that as it may, since the inner realms are frequently described as being immensely vaster than this physical realm, can one not reasonably ask how Trikuti can be spoken of as having a 'left side'? Can one even stand outside and say where the left side of our physical universe or pinda is located? Of course not, so the conclusion here, it seems reasonable to say, must be that a 'left side' can only be in reference to something as visualized within a body. That is to say, might Kirpal Singh be saying that one may visualize a portion of Trikuti as the process of interiorization of the attention proceeds, but he is not yet in Trikuti per se, disembodied, but still within the confines of the physical structures? There thus seems to be a correspondence between the planes and the chakras, but not an identity. And yogis or sages that assert that when the kundalini and/or attention reaches the crown one is in Sat Lok and a 'full blown jnani' (as Swami Sivananda in fact wrote), would be, at least some of the time, mistaken, although this may depend on their level of discriminative understanding. On the other hand, if the planes do co-mingle or interpenetrate, as many teachers have said, then the experiences of such may differ in the degree of realization within different aspirants. As Puri has said, the astral body is not presently ‘up there’, it is right here. It will be there then, but it is here right now.
Aurobindo continues:
"You must remember that there are reflections of the Higher worlds in the lower planes which can easily be experienced as supreme for that stage of the evolution. But the supreme Satchidananda is not a world, it is supracosmic. The Sat (Satyaloka) world is the highest of the scale connected with this universe." (Letters on Yoga, Vol. 1, p. 252)
The latter seems to have been Faqir's basic view, as we shall see below.
A second way of looking at reflections of higher planes in the lower is found in Sant Mat teachings, such as L. Puri's book, Mysticism: The Spiritual Path, Part II, where he claimed that there are many "copies" of the "real" Spiritual Regions in Sant Mat, and in certain cases the actual names were not even changed. Hence, there are many Sach Khands, or Bhanwar Guphas in the planes connected with Kal, the negative power. The aim of such "replicas", or indeed,"near-replicas" of these Regions were meant to deceive the disciples of a "Perfect" Living Master during the inner journey to the "Highest" Region. This may be true, but it is almost enough to make a grown man cry. Is Truth really this complicated? In addition, again one may ask, how could a counterfeit Sach Khand even be recognized? All these inner regions are said to be progressively and near infinitely larger than the physical world, so how could one 'see a region' in order to be fooled - especially such a lofty realm as Sat Lok? The light of millions of suns with the direct feeling of pure love seems pretty hard to replicate or be misled by. It is said to be the penultimate mystical experience. And further, one is understood to have increased in both consciousness and intuitive wisdom as he ascends; that is, he is not just visiting such a 'place' as his usual self, so as to be fooled, but he has changed in the gradual process also. He should, one would think, and if the hierarchy of planes mean anything, increasingly know what is what at these higher levels by the increasing immediacy of his sense of presence and self-knowledge. One would think. Otherwise, what do we have to count on but the luck of our poor little ego in choosing a master competent enough to help us navigate through this maze? That would seem to make the success of our whole spiritual path a capricious thing. But then, perhaps we are not so helpless. We can pray to God within with all our being, with all our heart, mind, strength and soul, try our best to do what is right, and confide in the goodness of what Scripture calls “so faithful a friend, so tender a Father, so powerful a protector, and so passionate a lover and spouse.” To the God who is “nearer to us than we are to ourselves.” Can He then fail to help and guide us?
I hesitate to mention this, but our history of Sant Mat may get even more complicated! Maharishi Mehi, a disciple of Tulsi Das and contemporary of Soamiji and Rai Salig Ram, in his book Philosophy of Liberation, states the following:
“All saints do not equate the same Sounds to corresponding realms. For example, in the literature of some saints the music of the flute is described as belonging to the lower realms while other saints place
flute-like music in the higher realms. Kabir assigns the flute to Bhanwar Gupha, while Tulsi Saheb puts it in the subtle realm [a double confusion, perhaps, in that “subtle” could refer to either the astral or mental realms]. The assumption could be that one saint is correct and the other incorrect. However, the words of a true saint cannot be wrong and as such we cannot say that a saint is incorrect…From the literature it appears that specifics sounds can be heard in any realm. All the Gross Realm exists in the Subtle Realm and the Subtle Realm exists in the Causal Realm. In the same manner, the Sounds of the Gross Realm can exist in the Subtle Realm, and the Sounds of the Subtle Realm can exist in the Causal Realm; therefore, the Sound of a flute could be heard in any realm…Thus, the various Sounds experienced in meditation (such as a flute or a drum) cannot be correlated to any specific realm. With the exception of a few saints such as Sant Radhaswami and Kabir Sahib, most other saints as well as the writing of the Upanishads describe the various Sounds but do not mention the corresponding realms. However, all essentially agree on the existence of the Nameless State.”
Here it appears he makes a jump:
“[However] it is not possible to have experience of the Essential Divine Sound without first having experience of the Sounds of the lower realms.”
One may ask, “why not, if there is no fixed ordering of the sounds themselves? How do they then lead to the One Divine Soundless Sound said to exist beyond Sach Khand, be that “Radhasoami” or whatever?” Was Maharshi Mehi incorrect? Was Soamiji’s mother (or grandmother) right then in her claim that the only purpose of Tulsi Das’ life was to announce the incarnation of Soamiji, who came down to correct and refresh the teachings of Sant Mat? Just asking…
To finish this section, to some it might seem that Faqir does not account for the Master's form appearing to a disciple, whether on the inner or outer planes, when the latter is not concentrating on or even thinking of or has never even heard of a Master. Our impression is that Faqir's explanations might have a certain paucity of explanatory power in them, despite being reflective of certain aspects of Vedantic truth. As for the greatness of the Master, which Faqir applauds as necessary for guidance of the disciple, the reader is directed to the book, Ocean of Divine Grace (available at http://www.mountainrunnerdoc.citymaker.com/page/page/3236652.htm and other places on the internet), a collection of stories about Sant Kirpal Singh, for comparison.
Yes, Faqir appears to be in line with standard Sant Mat in maintaining that it was necessary to have a perfect, liberated Master, but for him the importance seems more for one to meet one who could give the tailored instruction and guidance suited for your particular personality, and not for him being the embodiment of the 'Greater Attention' which is God, with the Power to connect one's surat or attention to it. One can get the impression that Faqir leaves one much more on one's own in this area. Of course, we might be mistaken. After all, Faqir was authorized by Sawan Singh to teach and initiate! So maybe it is a matter of style.
Sant Darshan praises a great jnanic sage
One more little point of interest that has come to my attention. As we have described it is pretty clear that the teachings of Sri Nisargadatta as well as his guru Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj are not like those of Sant Mat. The latter, in his book Master of Self-Realization, leans heavily on the Dasbodh of Samartha Ram Das, considered a saint or siddha, but, as mentioned, he was a saint/sage who taught Advaita Vedanta, not mysticism and certainly not Shabd Yoga. He praised devotion to the Master, but there is not one mention in Dasbodh about leaving the body via meditation on the third eye. None. Why Darshan Singh considered him to be in the Sant tradition, therefore, is mysterious.
Soamiji and the Sants after him, moreover, taught that the Vedas themselves came or were inspired from a lower region than that to which the Sants attain. That in itself strains our credulity, and it is unreasonable to accept it just because Soamiji or Rai Saligram said so. Five thousand years ago the legendary sage Vedic Yajnavalkya said that the esoteric teachings came down from an even more remote antiquity. In Amrut Laya, Siddharameshwar wrote: ”The Vedas tried to explain to the jivas, the human beings, how the world was created, according to the capacity of their understanding…” (p. 53-54). He also mentions ”Bhava Roga”, which means “the disease that created the idea that the world was created.” We will discuss this more in Part Two, where the notion of the Shabd as Creator is examined. In brief, this ancient high Vedantic teaching of Samartha Ram Das is important to understand how Sant Mat and Advaita may yet find common ground, instead of what seems like a provincial and facile dismissal of the Vedanta as found in Sar Bachan and elsewhere. Here is a remarkable excerpt from the writings of Sant Darshan Singh where he implies that Samartha Ram Das was in alignment with the camp of the Sants:
“Maharashtra has produced a succession of illustrious exponents of the Sant tradition, and Namdev is among the five who are best known - the other four being his contemporary Sant Gyaneshwar, Samarth Ram Das, Eknath, and Tukaram." reference misplaced)
This is, for me, an eye-opening quote. The question is, are these two apparently disparate teachings, one vedantic and one mystical, somehow, in now the twenty-first century - and from the point of view of the primacy of “consciousness” - not so far apart as at first glance they may seem? If so we might rejoice, and set aside Soamiji’s denigration of most gyanis, or accept it at face value that he was not against real gyan. Or, perhaps, was Darshan unaware of what Samartha Ram Das actually taught in his Dasbodh, and using the word “Sant” loosely and possibly inaccurately in this passage? This is a real question. Either he did not know what he was talking about, and did what is all too frequent in the publications of the “Radhaswami” school: interpreting all historical teachings as if they were really the same as Sant Mat; or maybe he did know, but was keeping some things secret. I personally prefer to believe it was the latter, especially when combining this with his words mentioned earlier about an ‘Inner Government’ appointing the Masters. “All Masters are One, All Master are One, All Masters are One,” begins to resound in the mind…
The connection seems even clearer, however, when it is noticed that Darshan Singh wrote of "nine types of devotion," in his book Spiritual Awakening, while half a century earlier, Sri Siddharameshwar did the same:
"The nine types of Devotion, or the ninefold Devotion (Navanidha Bhakti), is that devotion by which many have become purified. Among these nine kinds of devotion, the ninth is "self-surrender," which is called Atma-Nivedana. We should meditate on this ninth type of devotion through our own inner experience. This is described as the "State of Power," the state of being"The Witness," and the state of "Chaitanya"....Among devotees there are very few who meditate on the nature of the Self and think about what their actual "Being" is. There are very few who inquire, "What am I?" The nature of this way of devotion is that we should observe who we are. When it is known that we are nobody, then who is? Someone is! That someone is Paramatman. Flawless and qualityless is that Supreme Self. He is [also] all objects, all qualities, the ego, everything. Only "you" are not there...The devotee who was thinking that he was only the body started to worship God, and as soon as he recognized his true Self, he vanished as a separate entity...The "men of wisdom" (Jnanis) experience the final end, the dissolution of the world, in the immediate moment, and even though they are living in the body, they become formless and of the nature of Brahman...The "Eternal Home" (Sayujya Sadan) means "All-Oneness," or Aloneness...The devotee surrendered himself to the Saints and he gained Self-Knowledge...The signs of Knowledge are that one loves all of the Saints and Sages. Such a one has a feeling of Oneness, and is affectionate to everyone...and has no pride about anything. One looks upon co-disciples as equal to the Guru. One thinks that the entire world is only God." (Master of Self-Realization, p. 339-341)
The passage in bold is certainly an acid test of genuine spirituality, and could well be asked of ourselves and our teachers. But the entire set of quotes seems to suggest an equality or at least fraternal relationship between the two paths mentioned: Sant Mat, and the Navnath Sampradaya (lineage from the ancient sage Dattatreya down to Samartha Ram Das to Siddharameshwar to Sri Nisargadatta). Both seem to teach the ultimate goal, one through "inversion," and the other through "Knowledge." And both through devotion to the Master. An interesting harmonic no doubt on the heartstrings of our tolerance?
“If there is no Devotion (bhakti) there is no Knowledge. Without the Master’s grace there is no Knowledge. When will the Master’s grace flow? Only through steadfast devotion…The Sadguru resides in the heart of one who worships him, and becomes his guardian. He knows how strong your faith is...The disciple can grow and flower into a Jnani under the loving gaze of the Master. Pray to the Sadguru that He may grant the boon of devotion to Him.” Amrut Laya, p. 176-177, 214)
In addition - and this is just my own feeling, for which I may be wrong and for which there will no doubt be much disagreement - but Sant Mat by definition is “the Path of the Saints,” not exclusively “the path of Surat Shabd Yoga.” All past Sants, including many referred to by the Masters in their writings, were realized souls, but not all taught the path of light and sound.. All emphasized devotion to the Master, but some taught Vedanta and others mysticism, raja yoga, etc.. Sri Ramana and Paramhansa Yogananda, likewise, were each known for one particular path (self-inquiry for the former and kriya yoga for the latter), but in practice both taught or acknowledged all methods. I say “acknowledged” because Ramana was somewhat reluctant to teach, but Yogananda was not, and according to his disciple Roy Eugene Davis he taught Jnana to some of his devotees. Anandamayi Ma did the same. This is but natural for great Teachers, given the unique differences in background, type, development, and understanding in their many, many followers.
The path of devotion is basically empty without the Master, but it seems reasonable to conclude, based on perennial teachings as well as some of the more private words of the Masters, that the intermediate mystical stages of light and sound can be bypassed directly for the “Wordless” or “Stateless State” through such devotion, faith, understanding, and most of all grace.
“I love them and they love me, no technology required,” as my Master Kirpal used to say. Something to ponder.
In light of this it is mentioned that one well-known follower of Kirpal and Darshan Singh in her later years switched practices and went to the successor of Sri Nisargadatta, feeling she was led by Kirpal to a higher teaching. Perhaps, then, it was not really a ‘higher’ teaching or path, but a more direct expression of it that better served her needs at her particular stage in life? And with the grace of the Masters she was in good hands. The Master promises never to leave the disciple and always remains by his side as friend and protector. Shall we not trust their blessed assurance?
Note: Samartha Ram Das was a saint with very peculiar ways. Besides having one thousand disciples, three hundred of whom were women, he used to keep with him a large amount of stones with which he pelted away anything or anyone he liked. In this he was similar to one Baba Kahan, whom Kirpal Singh early in his search used to go see and who threw stones at many people to keep away the insincere. Yet Kirpal told his brother, "Go to him - even if he kills you!"
Ishwar Puri to the Rescue
Perhaps Puri can shed some more light on the radical teachings of Faqir Chand in regards to the Master's form. In a talk, Illusion and Reality, he states:
"Baba Faqir Chand is one of the saints who claimed that he will do nothing. In fact, his biography published is called The Unknowing Saint, and he claimed that the masters know nothing. Everything you get is from within yourself, that the masters do not even project their radiant form in you. You project the radiant form yourself. And he gave an example…Baba Fakir Chand gave an example of his own life when he was in the military, and so were some of his disciples. And there, one day, three of his disciples were suddenly surrounded by the enemy on all four sides, and they knew they were going to be killed, so they sat together and prayed: “Baba Ji, this is the time when we are going to be killed by the enemy. As a last resort, we want to pray to you. Please take care of us and take us to Sach Khand as soon as we die. Please help us.”
At that time Baba Ji appeared almost in a physical form standing right in front of them, and he said, “Don’t worry. You are not going to die today. Don’t worry. There is behind this small tree a little bush. Under the bush there is a tunnel. If you go in the tunnel, you will go behind the enemy lines and just escape. Go and take the tunnel and come out, and I will see you,” and then he disappeared. They marveled at the power of the master that he could do this. They looked behind, and under the bush there was a tunnel. They went through the tunnel and escaped, were not killed. They were so grateful to the master for sparing their lives. They ran to him and said, “Master, thank you very much for saving our lives.” He said, “What happened?” They said, “You came and you told us about the tunnel, and we came.” He said, “I know nothing about it. I was not there. I was myself very frightened of being killed myself. What are you talking about?” They said, “Master, you yourself came to us. We saw you. All three of us saw you! Not only we saw you, you directed us to a tunnel nobody could have known, and you saved our lives. Don’t be so humble and pretend you don’t know.” He said, “The truth is I don’t know. That masters know nothing.”
"Then he made general statements that masters really come as projections of the self, and the whole secret is in the self. Whatever you will find you will find within yourself. Even the radiant form of the master that you find is within yourself. And therefore, why masters appear outside is to generate the kind of faith that you can discover who you are and go within. Therefore, he said, “I know nothing. Masters know nothing, and if a master says he is doing everything, he is no master.” He made such dramatic statements which led to a lot of controversy. Do masters really have any power or are they mere shadows of the self and they just are projecting themselves to take you inside—and the whole secret is inside?"
"This question about Baba Faqir Chand, who people say was the only honest master because he confessed that he knew nothing. All others claimed that they have all the powers of a master. They say he is the honest master, but then they question, “What about all the other perfect living masters who initiated people, and the people saw their radiant forms? And didn’t they really see the radiant form of the master? Didn’t the master have any hand in it?” As it happens, I have met Baba Fakir Chand personally several times. He was our neighbor in Hoshiarpur. My father was teaching there. He was a good friend of my father, and we met him several times. And we even discussed this incident with Baba Fakir Chand personally, so I have some personal knowledge. And he explained why he said all those things. He said, “The reason I say this is because, when people begin to follow masters, they don’t do any meditation. They think just following that person is good enough.”
"Therefore, he overemphasized the fact that the truth lies within yourself. Even the master lies within yourself. After all, all this creation that we see outside is a projection from inside. If the whole creation is a projection from inside, surely a physical master is also a projection from inside, which means the truth is that the perfect living master we talk about is inside us, not outside, but we cannot see him. If we close our eyes, we see darkness. Therefore, the projected master who appears outside functions exactly like the master inside. And yet at the same time he is just a shadow of the master inside. He is not only a shadow; he is a very active shadow because by listening to him, by following what he says, by getting initiated by him, we find the true master within ourselves."
"Therefore, at all times the true master is within us. He emphasized this point that he knew nothing just to make a point that, “Don’t follow human beings just blindly. Listen to what they say. Follow what they are saying,” and you will find the truth inside, including the true master, because the radiant form of the master is the master who takes you back home, and that radiant form of the master is inside us, not outside. But he resembles the one outside so much that we can have a link. Why does he resemble so much? Because he is outside. He is the projected form outside. Therefore, it’s very difficult to say, “Which one should we follow—the outside or the inside?” The fact is we should follow the inside."
"Can we follow the inside without the outside? No way! Then it comes back to the same thing, that we have to follow a physical living master outside who can talk to us, who can teach us, who can answer our questions, who can guide us, who can tell us when we are wrong and when we are right on the path, who can tell us all the details of the journey we are going to have, who can encourage us to go within, who can time and again help us with the means to go within, but after he has done all that, we find that the master who will be with us for all time and is permanent is inside us. And that’s the radiant form of the master we find within ourselves."
"So there is a role for the master outside, and there is a role for the master inside. And because it’s a projection, actually it is the same. In fact, one perfect living master has said, “[quote in Punjabi],” which translated means, “The inside and the outside are the same.” That’s what I learned from my master. Do not think that the outside is separate and you run away from it, and there is a created world outside sitting objectively and we have to run away from it and go somewhere else inside. The outside projected world is also being projected from inside and is an inside world that we see outside. But it looks so real outside. It has all the elements of external reality. It becomes physically real. Therefore, in the physical reality which our mind accepts, that the world outside is real, we have to search for something very abstract, something very unknown inside."
"Since we think like that, therefore the outside world becomes a reality for us, and we search for other realities inside without ever leaving the notion that the world outside and the physical body here is the only reality we know. And that is why, because we take the outside world as real, we have to take the outside master also as real, although the outside master is projected from inside and is working exactly as the inside master is doing. There is no difference between the two."
So this is a very strange kind of enigma for people, that while we take this physical world to be real—and we can’t help it—we have no other reality to compare it with. This is the only reality we know." Illusion or Reality (ishanews.org/media/transcripts/eng/Illusion_or_Reality.pdf)
Ishwar Ji basically seems to be saying that Baba Faqir Chand said he came to realize that a Master is able to appear in our lives (and within) because we are drawing the experience from the same single Source in all of us; and that that is the definition of a Perfect Living Master.
All right; so far, then, Faqir teaches that to restore the soul’s native freedom requires a radical detachment from the plane of manifest life, through progressive levels of samadhi. This in itself is not different from standard Sant Mat doctrine. But he seems to possibly go one step further.
He held that Sat Lok or Sach Khand is the ‘self-awareness of the Spirit’ in which the soul or Surat is absorbed. Further in the Anami stage, that of the transcendental, nameless being, there is not even that self-Awareness. Still, no one can stay there while he yet has a body, and so he tells us that the final goal is to be united with one’s manifestation while alive, which suggests a non-dual state of realization, and which Faqir calls Radhiswamidham stage:
“The self-awareness of the Surat is called Satloka and the loss of this self-awareness is the state of namelessness, or Anami Dham. Since Saligram Ji Maharaj had risen to this level while living in the physical body, and, since no human being can stay in any state permanently, he did not designate the final designation even as nameless state.”
“Then, after all, where can we find peace?” “In the final Radhiswami Abode, which is in your Surat, your Pure Self. Always remain united with your own manifestation. In other words, let your Surat be united with the Pure Self Radhaswami...The answer lies in unification, the spontaneous inclination in the union of the Light with Sound - Radha with Swami. Peace lies in merging into one’s own Self. This spontaneous state is spontaneous meditation. This alone is the Radhaswami Abode. It is clear that this state is always present within each individual, but most people do not go deep into their depths to discover it...I have seen the Radhaswami present in every atom. I have seen Radhaswami clearly in everything manifested. The entire cosmos is manifesting the Pure being and the qualified Being. I have seen Radhaswami as the moving spirit of the whole world.”
He concludes:
“In reality, you are neither body, nor mind, nor soul, but a pure being. You are invisible, unfathomable, nameless and formless...When I say our real nature is Pure Being, what does it mean? It means that It is invisible, unfathomable, unnamed and beyond all qualities. God, and Supreme God, are the names of the concentration of gross matter. Similarly, the concentration of subtle matter in a particular form is designated Brahman [certainly an unusual definition of Brahman], the Absolute, and Parabrahman, the Supremely Absolute. The concentration of the most subtle form of matter is called the Satloka, the region of Truth. All these are emanations from our Pure Being and remain under its control. They come into existence from It, but It is Itself above all these existent entities or qualitative states.” (p. 59-97)
So one can see Faqir’s uncompromising semi-vedantic point of view. All is in the Self seems to be what he is saying. The reader may keep all of this in mind as we go one with this discussion. However, at this point the final goal as he portrays it does not seem radically different from what many sages say about sahaj samadhi. “It is beyond Sunn and trance,” in fact said the great Kabir. Yet also, in some teachings sahaj samadhi is not the end either. There are said to be infinite depths to the awakening and evolution within the Mystery. Yes, there's that word again: 'Mystery' - the obvious, crystal clear, always new, never-ending Mystery!
Impressions of Faqir Chand
Before leaving the topic we submit these comments (with names withheld) in summary of some of the ongoing questions raised about Faqir Chand and his teachings:
“People keep repeating the Faqir Chand thesis but it doesn't quite hold together.
Faqir Chand had a lot to say about sant mat, and even more to say about himself and how he was more honest than his fellow gurus. Reading Faqir, he comes across as a somewhat neurotic character who was forever ambivalent about whether orthodox sant mat was legitimate, or whether all the gurus beside himself were cheats and liars. Faqir never managed to arrive at a conclusion on whether sant mat was good or bad, except that he had no conclusion. That's not exactly wisdom, it's just an admission of uncertainty.
Faqir told many stories about what other gurus supposedly told him in private that they told no one else. I find these stories hard to believe. I especially find it hard to believe Faqir's claim that Kirpal Singh and the gurus of RSSB all confessed to him that they didn't have inner knowingness. I also question why this claim is still being circulated without mentioning that Charan Singh and Darshan Singh both flatly said that Faqir was wrong.
No RSSB guru has ever admitted to be unknowing. All of them lived in luxury and took in massive amounts of money seva because of their position as Godmen. That was a machination that Faqir says he abhorred. Yet Faqir revered Sawan and Charan and even gave satsang for RSSB? Faqir's respect for RSSB makes no sense, given his rantings about corrupt sant mat gurus who pretend to occult knowledge of their disciples' experiences. Even if Faqir's stories were true about these gurus telling him in secret that they didn't know anything, wouldn't "the honest guru" refuse to have anything to do with them, given that they were still perpetuating a lie? What about Faqir's satsangs at RSSB -- did he spend that satsang telling the people that their guru was lying to them? Doubtful. Then there's Faqir's lifelong reverence to his own guru, and his repeated statements of respect and gratitude for the spiritual help his guru gave him. Yet we don't have Shiv Brat confessing that he was unknowing. Why would Faqir reverence his own guru if he was a liar? Somehow, none of these gurus are ever called out by Faqir as fakes, and yet Faqir's "honest" declaration is that they are indeed all fakes, all liars.
Taken all together, Faqir's line on sant mat is a muddled mess. No doubt, it counts for something that Faqir confesses that he himself had no personal knowledge of the miracles his disciples reported to him. But what Faqir has to say on other gurus and spiritual topics in general isn't all that impressive. To this reader, much of Faqir's stuff comes across as....well, have you ever read a Faqir book, and not just a few selected quotes that bolster the thesis that Faqir was of all gurus the most honest, wise and intelligent? Try reading a few chapters from Faqir's Truth Always Wins and see what you think:
http://manavtamandir.com/books/english/Truth-Always-Wins.pdf “
“Faqir's writing is a stream of consciousness ping pong of one wild story after another, followed by neurotic ponderings, gossip about what other gurus told him in secret, triumphal declarations he's uncovered the Real Truth about sant mat, and then abject words of devotion to his own guru for making it all possible. In short, it's the work of a confused man, perhaps the most rhetorically discombolulated guru of the last century. The Faqir was great thesis reworks all this into a picture of Faqir as the most honest guru. But that thesis just doesn't work, because it depends on ignoring so much about Faqir's guru ministry. If Faqir truly believed his supposed conclusions about what's false in sant mat, he would have "done a Krishanamurti." completely dropping sant mat and denouncing all gurus. But he didn't do that, as to the end of his long life he still preached a version of sant mat that, despite all its ruminations about what other gurus did wrong. And despite all his insights about the pitfalls of following a guru, Faqir still held fast to the necessity of a guru.”
“Faqir sought out what other gurus had experienced and it was from their own confessions to him in private and elsewhere that Faqir formed a more general view. In addition, even to the very end of his life Faqir pointed out that he could be wrong and welcomed others to correct him.”
“That's very reminiscent of Ishwar Puri's words echoing Great Master's
advice to him at initiation:
"All that I am sharing with you is something for personal experience.
My teacher, the Great Master, Hazur Maharaj Baba Sawan Singh
who taught me this stuff told me, 'Do not believe even my word
unless you can experience it.'
And also told me something else. He said, 'If somebody in the world
can give you something better, take it! Don't say, `I am tied up with
one person.' Don't make it a cult. Don't make it a closed society. It's
an open knowledge for the universe, for humanity.' Everything is in
every human being. There is no special group of people who say they
have God inside them, others don't."
“Having met lots of shabd yoga gurus during the past forty years, I found Faqir Chand unique. You could ask him any question and he would never shy away from it. Moreover, Faqir (to his great credit) consistently said that he could be wrong and that his point of view was not final. That was entirely refreshing to me.
I say this because one can see a progressive quality in Faqir's writings from the earlier days to near his death. So here are some answers to questions posed:
1. First, Faqir came to believe that all the inner regions were ultimately illusory and that even the inner sounds were illusory. As Faqir said in London in 1980:
"Like I said yesterday, I have realized that all these stages
of Sahasraradala Kamal, Trikuti, Sunn, Maha-sunn are the
play of this mind. Visions are based on the thoughts one
keeps. This play of whatever one sees within (i.e. visions)
is based on samskaras (impressions and suggestions). They
are not the same for everyone. Visions or images vary
from person to person. "
2. Faqir was appointed a guru by Shiv Brat Lal some 21 years before his guru's death. As he himself confessed, " Hazur Data Dayal Ji called me in his
room. I was already waiting for the moment. I
went inside. Lo! His Holiness with a strange
blend of affection placed in my hands one
coconut, five [coins], made a frontal mark on my
forehead and bowed himself to my feet saying,
"Faqir, you are yourself the Supreme Master of
your time. Start delivering spiritual discourses to
the seekers and initiate them into the path of
Sant Mat. In due course of time, your own
satsangis will prove to be your True Guru,' and it
is through your experiences with them that the
desired secret of Sant Mat will be revealed to
you." Touched by these words, I experienced
both joy and sorrow within me. Hazur noted both
expressions on my face and asked for
clarification. I humbly said, "Your Holiness, I am
myself ignorant of the Truth, how can I lead
others on this sublime path? And when the
thought that I have become a degree holder and
would deliver discourses and initiate people
flashed within my mind, I felt that I had become
something and thus a spark of joy." Hazur then
said, "Faqir, you may be suffering from ninety-nine shortcomings, but one sure virtue of Truth
which is within you will lead you to your goal in
life. You will not only redeem yourself but will
help many others to attain release."
In 1981, Faqir said,
"Further R. S. Dayal writes that he heard the
conch-shell sound and the omkar vibration
inside. I have explained in a book why a
meditator hears inside him sounds of bell,
conch, omkar, flute and sitar. All these are
manifestations of the mental plane. Since this
knowledge came to me, I ceased to be caught
up in the whirlpool of the mind and
transcended it. Now, I took upon all these manifestations
as mere maya. Therefore, now, even if I try to
catch these sounds, I do not get them, because
their value, as something real, has vanished
for me who has transcended the mind.
3. Faqir stopped initiating anyone formally after 1942, but he continued to give satsang and tried to argue
that we should go beyond the mind, even beyond light and sound, and find the source from which all this appears.
Faqir explained his own way of speaking:
“I believe that the intensified faith of these
devout persons becomes creative and
produces these results. Many so-called gurus
misappropriate the credit for similar
happenings, which take place in their
disciples, whose own true faith should be
held responsible for those results. By the lack
of moral, courage and honesty on the part of
pseudo- gurus, credulous disciples are kept in
the dark and fleeced under fake pretenses. I
alert the faithful but simple minded satsangis,
to beware of such sneaks and their false
claims. I had been commanded by my
Gurudev [Shiv Brat Lal] to introduce plains peaking into religion, so I am duty bound to
proclaim the truth behind these miracles, and
to save the simpletons from exploitation. If I
do not reveal the truth, I can, by keeping
satsangis in the dark, extract from them large
sums of money by claiming fake credit, for
the miracles that no doubt do happen."
It is correct to ascertain that Faqir argued for something beyond light and sound.... and in this way
dovetailed with the Tibetan Book of the Dead.....He called it hanging on the gallows. Here is a quote:
What conclusion did I reach? When I
found out that I do not manifest or appear within
anybody, then I also leave the mind (and all its
appearances). Then remains light and sound. Every two or
three months or sometimes every three days, when I
go and search for that entity that listens to the sound,
then my being disappears. What remains? Nothing.
Now I think to myself – if I have become something by
reaching that place, if I can do something, then I should
be able to remove all the problems that the world is facing
right now. If they could, the ancestors from the past
would have removed their problems or difficulties. Baba
Sawan Singh would have removed his troubles. Swamiji
would have alleviated his disease. Kabir had kidney
problems for ten years in the old age.
So what did I understand? What is my realization of this
supreme element (Tatva)?
I am a bubble of the supermost consciousness. In the process of
evolution, I appeared or manifested. Similarly, you also appeared. I
did not exist before, and I won’t exist again. Only one element will
remain from which this bubble came into existence. That element is
Sound. It’s name is Naam. That Naam is not the sound of bells or
conch. It’s not the sound of Veena. It is the principle sound (Saar
Shabad). This is what the bani of saints mentions – Saar Shabad.
So after reaching this, what happened to me? What did I gain? I found peace. What did I gain at this age of ninety-four? Peace.”
Definitely still an enigma in Sant Mat.
He would likely be in agreement with another Master; in reply to the question, 'where are these realms?', Sant Rajinder Singh has replied,
“When we withdraw our attention to the single eye, we become absorbed in the inner Light and Sound. Then, after we meet the radiant form of the Master and rise above body-consciousness, we find inner realms. These inner dimensions or realms exist concurrently with our physical universe. For lack of better terminology we speak of inner and outer, or higher and lower regions. These realms are not exactly descriptive because we are talking about states of consciousness. [which seems to answer objections about the allegorical descriptions in texts such and Sar Bachan]. They do not exist in time and space, but we have the illusion that our physical world is in time and space. The physical region with the earth, sun, planets, and galaxies exists simultaneously with spiritual regions. We measure time and space in this physical universe because that is the only frame of reference that we know. But all these regions, from the physical to the spiritual, exist as states of consciousness. When we talk about traveling to inner or higher regions, we are not actually traveling anywhere or going up or in. We are actually refocusing our attention to a different state of consciousness or awareness.”
Of course, this leads to the question many will ask: “why then go into another state or plane of consciousness? Is not truth realizable here and now?”
THIS IS NEW AND INTERESTING: Everything Happens within Sach Khand!:
Recently I listened to one of Puri's talks in which he said an interesting thing about Sach Khand, which sounded much like the confession of many jnanis and buddhist sages, albeit from a Sant Mat point of view. He said (paraphrased from memory) that when ‘you’ ‘get to’ Sach Khand, it is like awakening from a dream and you realize not only that you never left it, but that the entire drama of creation, planes, reincarnations, eons of time, and all the rest, TOOK PLACE ONLY IN SACH KHAND - and which of course you are in right now, if only you realized it. Sort of expands the notion of what Sach Khand is or means. No good, imo, to simply say cryptically there is no such thing as Sach Khand and leave it at that, as ‘Sant Mat 2.0’ did when first proposed by Beas guru Gurinder Dhillon a decade ago. He threw his sangat for a loop proposing there was no soul, only the One; no master or master’s form coming for you after death, because there is no you, or duality, only the One; Sat Purush is an illusion, God does not live in Sach Khand, he lives here; the regions are metaphorical, not literal; Sach Khand only means realization; since there is no time and space there is also no one to take any one any where; there is no benefit of seva because there is no one to do seva (even while calling for thousands to do seva); no soul to meditate and leave the body, because there is no separate soul and only the One; the only purpose of meditation is to get you to give up and tire the mind; and so on. Although the instruction was apparently given out in small groups, once it hit the internet it caused waves. The sangat seems to be rolling on as if this did not really happen, but a number of things could be said of this.
First, long ago the sage Vasistha wrote:
“It is said that he declares ‘All this is Brahman’ to one who is ignorant or half-awakened goes to hell. A wise teacher should first be established in self-control and tranquility, then the student should be thoroughly examined before the knowledge of the truth is imparted to him.” (Yoga Vasistha)
Times may have changed, and we have no idea if this was the case in Babaji’s delivery of this new message. But the risk of confusing levels and teaching what is not accessible for one’s students is a real one. That is why sages have offered a graded teaching in the past. Actually, with some of the listed ‘changes’ we are in some agreement. But with others we are not. Many hailed him as a smart ‘Zen master’ for saying these things. But is there any evidence for this? Anyone, myself included, can give a good rap. But is it true that the sole purpose of meditation is to tire out the mind? Certainly not in Zen meditation on a hwadu, koan, or intense self-questioning, and certainly not with vedantic self-enquiry. In both these disciplines there is a practice to use the mind or mind’s intelligence to go beyond the mind, or isolate the root of the mind. Even in classic yoga and vedanta meditation it is recognized there is only the One (or, more precisely, ‘not-two, because One is a concept and then implies two!), but there are recognized stages of practice that are transcended or superceded by others. Perhaps Gurinder meant only Sant Mat meditation was useless to get you anywhere, and some will argue that point both pro and con. A lot depends on the sincerity of an aspirant, but the idea is not entirely baseless. The whole notion of getting anywhere sooner or later must be undone, because it is not quite true. Even Rajinder Singh has said as much, that the soul doesn’t really go anywhere. Actually, much depends on what the meaning of the word ‘go’ is. According to sages like Plotinus, the soul has powers, including that of projecting an emanant of itself into or out of incarnation, and thus can freely roam throughout God’s infinitude” - even while it doesn’t really go anywhere! For Plotinus, the Soul, the Nous, and the One all exist and are eternal verities, the expression of Reality. You see, there is not just Vedanta. That aside, however, to suggest that because Reality is already the case or there is only the One that there is nothing you can do because you as a soul don’t really exist, is to presume a process of realization has already happened when in fact it hasn’t, and you can’t kid the soul - even if in one’s philosophy it doesn’t exist!
At the very least a teacher should encourage one to endure the trials, tribulations, difficulties, responsibilities and heartaches of life with as much awareness, courage, and poise as one can muster, because, as the Buddha said, “Patient endurance is the way to enlightenment.” To ignore this and imply that the only thing one can do for their realization is to hang out with the enlightened Master, falls short, in our opinion. For then where did he get his enlightenment, one may well ask? If there is not a solid faith in that then where are the means for realization? Even if there is only the One there is still a great ordeal from here to there. Just as it is true that it doesn’t matter if you can’t find the ego, it is still strangling you every minute! Let’s not be fooled by facile teachings that the ego can hide itself in, one needs a real expert to force it out of hiding. And that is among a true Master’s primary roles, not only to magically get you to some inner plane, where, without self-understanding, one can hide some more.
Is it true there no Sach Khand simply because there is only the One? Well, let us consider: is there no Earth because there is only the One?
Yes, the regions and many stories may not be meant to be taken strictly literally; other teachers like Puri, Ramana, even Sawan at times, have said as much. And yes, God does not ‘live’ in Sach Khand as we imagine; however, He/She/It is likely as much alive there as he is here - why not? If even parallel universes exist, why not a divine domain? And God by whatever name is also present in and as us as Higher Self, Divine guide, faithful helper, and friend. And one needs to be able to actually feel and ‘see’ this in oneself, and then also, through life circumstances and encounters, at the same time ‘see’ the self you perhaps didn’t want to know being ‘packaged’ for ones inspection, ‘see’ it being dismantled, and ‘see’ it dying. Not by going to the astral plane, but in as prosaic and direct a way as possible. The “I” needs powerful help to transform, eliminate and then resurrect itself. It sounds dualistic and is certainly paradoxical, but a fact of relativity all the same. “The ‘I’ transcends ‘I’ and yet remains ‘I’; the wise see no contradiction in it,” said Ramana.
Just telling a large group of people that there is only the One changes very little in terms of undoing illusion and transforming the being. Fallback questions I always ask myself about a teacher are, “What struggles and sufferings have you had?” “How often have you cried?” “What sadhana have you done?” “What is your understanding of XYZ ?” Then I can have some confidence that he may be able to be of help. Those are not the only criteria I look for, but very important ones. Others will have their own.
Having seen many followers of many teachers, I find a good case can be made for what some teachers have in fact said: that the quality of the student is more important than that of the teacher. I believe that Sri Nisargadatta was correct, that earnestness and sincerity are the determining factors, and not the imprimatur, shaktipat, secret password, or get-out-of-jail-free-card of ones Guru. But the more humanity and genuineness in and less cultic baggage attached to the latter are also of great importance.
My Vision of "2.0"
On a recent bike ride I had an insight about this. Good ideas often come that way. I believe it was Nietzche who said “never trust an idea you come upon sitting down.” Here it is:
Sant Mat 1.0 - Dorothy before going to Oz:
“Somewhere where I can’t get into any trouble. It’s not a place you can get to with a boat or a plane, it’s far far away. ‘Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, there’s a land that I’ve heard of, once in a lullaby.….…..’”
Sant Mat 2.0 - Dorothy after returning from Oz and waking up in her bed:
“What did you learn, Dorothy?”
“Well, iI think if I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t go looking farther than my own backyard. Because if it isn’t there, I never really lost it to begin with…is that it?”
But look what she had to go through to be able to say that: leaving home to go on a strange and perilous journey, loving and losing, accomplishing seemingly impossible tasks, being blessed by deity, and getting bloodied and hit on the head! Not just sitting home or in satsang and saying or hearing all is one. A great and blessed ordeal before she could say from her heart, ”But anyway I’m home, and I love you all, and I’m never going to leave here ever ever again!”
Maybe I am simplifying a little. Hopefully not complicating. The concept of a 2.0, with a few tweaks - including Part Three of this book - can be a useful modification.
This idea that Sach Khand is also to be recognized here and now, with only a thin veil, or as one master put it, "a single sheet of paper" separating one from its realization, has further implications for the subjects of purification and intelligence, in respect to the various bodies said to cover the soul. First, anadi writes:
"Intuition is a combination of sensitivity and intelligence. To awaken intelligence is many times more difficult than to awaken to enlightenment. To reach enlightenment you often need one lifetime. To become truly intelligent, one Kalpa is needed! Intelligence is something very subtle and very profound. It is not just to have a clever mind...Intelligence comes more from the heart. It is the deep intuitive wisdom of the soul which enables her to understand. It is the unity of the heart, intellect and imagination. Yes, to truly understand you must have imagination.” (reference misplaced)
An initiate responded to this quote when I sent it to him via email:
"A lovely confirmation of my personal experiences. Whoever I ever met in this life who radiated spirituality, without the need for words or propaganda, had deep intelligence that penetrated his or her entire being. This has been described by Kirpal Singh as "having clean astral and causal bodies," free of conditioned reactions and stored misunderstanding of natural laws. No words can describe this situation, but the radiation itself is the most authentic and trustworthy demonstration of its existence."
As all the bodies are said to be concurrently present here and now, for many initiates the bulk of this so-called cleansing of the astral and causal bodies happens in life, with the results, in mystical terms anyway, largely realized perhaps at life's end when the physical shell is dropped. My friend Mark simplified further and said that "for most people, the astral body is the main event." Here he did not mean disembodied psychic journeying, but the purification of the deep-seated emotional tendencies and reactivity where the most purgation or "heavy lifting" takes place. This is what Kirpal referred to as the need for the "subconscious reservoir of impressions to be thoroughly drained out" before true love for the Master would manifest. Ramana likewise spoke of the need to eradicate the vasanas from the heart. This very often-maligned flesh is the cauldron, the alchemical alembic, the furnace where the spiritual gold is refined, and where, for some anyway, the Kingdom is to be found first.
The causal body, then, defined in Vedanta as the 'body' of ignorance, in Theosophy often as synonymous with a 'mental body’, and elsewhere as a ‘repository of latent impressions’ (i.e., the 'cause' of the other two bodies), for our purposes would simply be the mental habits that need to be broken: beliefs, concepts, false ideas, expectations, assumptions, ego-centric perspectives, judgements, and points of view that prevent clear seeing. Many of these mental habits may seem nearly impossible to break - such as the more subtle ones like "the world is out there and I am in it," "I was born," "I have parents," "I am in the body," that may seem to strike at the very heart of ones spiritual path. But what one is really doing is to knock down the conventions of ordinary living as ones starting point and to begin from a base of non-conceptual truth, call it beginner's mind, no-mind, divine ignorance or "unknowing". It doesn't matter what you call it, as long as one recognizes "I do not know." "Give up the claim to knowledge and you move very quickly, a teacher of mine once said. The latter radical sort of enquiry is not usually done in Sant Mat, and that's okay. But the point is to recruit the mind to enquire into itself and thereby shorten the process of realization, instead of just waiting for a mystic dip in the pool of Amritsar in Daswan Dwar to do the job! To "love the Lord thy God with all your strength, heart, soul, and mind." And, as Sri Nisargadatta and countless sages before him have said, at least at some time to question everything one has assumed to be true, even the seemingly most obvious things, such as those depicted above. This enquiry and/or mental inspection cannot be done when out of the body, because there, it has been said, "mind makes you," while here, "you make mind" ! Likewise, it is easier to deal with emotional vasanas when present in the anchor of the body than in the subtle sphere where things change so fast. The bottom line is, loving-wisdom is chiefly gained here, and then (in full consciousness) enjoyed there, and forever.
Moving on, Papaji’s “nothing ever happened,” and Ishwar Puri’s “everything only happened in Sach Khand and it’s just like waking up from a dream” - one may ask, “is there any real difference?”
This in fact sounds a lot like how the sage Atmananda Krishnamenon defined liberation:
"From one standpoint liberation may be defined as going beyond birth and death. But that is not the whole Truth. Strictly speaking, it must be defined as going beyond the delusion of birth and death."
Atmananda also said the ‘he did not promise one would have no more births, per se, but only that he would be free of the notion that he was ever born.’
So whether every individual who reaches Sach Khand in his inner sadhanas comes to this further realization outright, or if it is rather an extended development, that is, a matter of application in ordinary life until such a realization is stabilized, is a valid question. For me it appears obvious that an enlightened understanding is not automatic after any experience, when one examines the claims and confessions and lives of those who one way or another have reached that level in their inner practice. Some teachers have even said that further purification can still be needed even if one goes to Sach Khand. Of course, this would seem to contradict the Sant Mat claim that all impurities are washed away after passing through Daswan Dwar and the succeeding stages on the way to Sach Khand. But it is perfectly aligned with the teachings of Ramana Maharshi and ancient sages like Vidyarana and Vasishta who say realization even of pure consciousness will not be stable until all vasanas are eradicated from the heart.
I heard Kirpal once similarly say, “you are already there, you just don't know it.” And, "To know God you have to bring about a change in your heart, learn to look inward, and realize that He is your Overself. As soon as you have this realization, you are with Him.”
The path then becomes more one of recognition than that of a separated seeker trying to get somewhere. The paradigm in Sant Mat teachings appear to be changing, albeit slowly. And, of course, there is still a lot of paradox and mystery involved - there's no getting around that. But let’s explore this a bit. Can we possibly find common ground between Puri’s “everything happened in Sach Khand”, and Papaji’s “nothing ever happened” ? It does seem we are coming closer - with one difference. If we take the view of seers like Plotinus, Brunton, Eckhart and some others, that a truer conception of Soul is one in which Soul has two aspects, an eternal part that never incarnates and never leaves the “Nous” (or God), but by its power of projection sends an eminent of itself into apparent embodiment - Plotinus thus calling Soul a “double-knower” - then when this eminent un-projects or introjects into itself, as in meditation, it can ‘return’ to its origin and knows itself [as Soul, or Overself] in its Homeland alone (i.e., Sach Khand). However, this eminent of consciousness at any point when enlightened to its true nature, that is, when the person that is enlivened by this eminent awakens, it is the entirety of the Soul that is in fact realized at that moment, and not just a part. At no point is there any differentiation or separation. And this would be the advaitic realization, without the extreme depth of yogic interiorization of attention.
Both realizations are valid, it appears reasonable to assume. But perhaps also, having both would be superior in its fullness. Yet, how many have both? Neither faction seems to have the realization of that of the other. Puri, for instance, denigrated the “Heart”, or “heart on the right” of Ramana as a “minor bodily center,” rather than a locus or armature for Self-realization while in the body, the place where the ‘I’-thought is born and dies ushering in liberation. So I have to say, he seemed confused or not fully informed on what the advaita of Ramana actually taught.
One difficulty as I see it is this: if one realizes that everything including all reincarnations actually have occurred in Sach Khand, and that we never left there, then that applies to the current life also, and our problem then is really one of knowledge or recognition as direct path proponents maintain, and not our lack of an altered, exalted form of mystic experience. We do not ‘recognize’ or see that we are in Sach Khand already. So then the door is open for the pursuit of gyan through a method such as self-enquiry to achieve the desired goal, and the exclusivity [although not necessarily the legitimacy] of Sant Mat dissolves. Again, as Kirpal once said, “You are already there, you just don’t know it.” Understand? No? Don’t worry, there are three more Parts to go, and hopefully this general topic will be explored from many different angles before we are through. But alas, by then you may be realized and may come and shoot me - for lying!
More on planes and inner experiences from Aurobindo, Faqir, Brunton, anadi, and more
For Aurobindo, Sat Lok is the dimension of 'sat' (being), and the Unmanifest (probably Anami of the Sants) is 'asat' (non-being, the Transcendent Void), while the 'Puroshottama' of the Gita (Radhaswamidham of Faqir?) is the Absolute Truth or Divine Person that includes all of the other aspects within it, including 'Para Prakriti' or the Divine Mother, inseparable from Puroshottama and itself source of all purusha and prakriti ('consciousness' and 'matter') and manifested dualities 'below'. This seems to agree with Faqir's explanation that all dimensions are condensed forms of matter, and even the 'spiritual' regions (generally considered 'pure consciousness' in Sant Mat) are actually the most subtle form of 'matter', and all of these dimensions are products of Pure Being, Mind, or Atman. This conception loosely correlates with a number of ancient teachings where even 'pure consciousness' as such is not ultimate reality, as in the schools using less dualistic language showing a continuity or connection by using phrases for even the non-dual levels of awareness like 'Original Mind' or 'Essence of Mind' and so on. This would tend to exclude most versions of Advaita Vedanta for whom consciousness is all. But the reader may note that in all ancient systems of Hinduism both Sam'khya and Vedanta were always presented together. The Vedanta in later times from Shankara was a rather novel teaching in which the introduction of the concept of maya not only made the Divine Mother a creator only of illusion (instead of upper divine realms of reality with ignorance or illusion pertaining only to created realms lower down), but also allowing consciousness to be divorced from matter and then by itself represent ultimate reality. So it would follow from this that the Sant Mat conception of the soul as a drop of pure consciousness merging into the ocean of 'greater' consciousness may be an experientially valid but provisional teaching to be supplanted by a wordless mystery at a higher stage.
It is expected that there may be some individual variation in the inner experience, but the commonality of various inner visionary phenomena almost begs for a more complete explanation than given by Faqir. We can not get fully into what that explanation might be here; it is too complicated. However, it may simply be suggested that neither subjective nor objective conceptions do full justice to the non-dual mystery. While there is some necessary contribution to each individual's experience, both inner and outer, due to cultural, religious, and intellectual background, and the realms themselves are indissolubly linked with the very structures of human consciousness, Faqir's insistence that they are solely 'projections of the mind' appears too reductionistic. It also begs the question, "what mind?" The individual mind (manas) ? Or Isvara, a universal mind that gives to each of us the shared experience of a relative world in common? That is to say, there does seem to be a kind of 'objectivity', not only to the outer world, but also to the inner planes, with some degree of individual variation. And the clearer the instrument of the mind becomes, the clearer the perception of the relative objectivity of the inner realms, including the manifestations of enlightened beings there, will become also. Even Faqir argues that above Bhanwar Gupta one is free of all 'phantasmagoria', being direct manifestations of consciousness. We only ask, is the earth plane entirely 'phantasmagoria' also? If not, his view needs some adjustment.
Contemporary teacher anadi makes some good points that both support and, in our view, may surpass Faqir's understanding. He states:
"The traditional teachings do not acknowledge the correlation between the experience of the inner and that which is recognizing it. It is not only that our intelligence recognizes the inner states, but that this very intelligence is an inseparable part of those states...It is not enough to be awakened to the inner. One must also be awakened to the fact of being awakened to the inner...How the presence of the inner state is understood and appreciated depends exclusively on the level of evolution of the recognizing intelligence...It is not the inner state alone that creates our perception of reality. The inner state adds to the psyche the background of silence and stillness, but the perception itself is formed within the mind and channeled through our sensitivity...There can never be a universal language of Enlightenment, only a unique individual expression of the Universal Truth...The ultimate perception is born when the complete realization of the Inner reality, that is, Enlightenment, meets fully the unique sensitivity of an individual Soul. This is called maturity." (Aziz Kristof (anadi) and Houman Emani, Enlightenment Beyond Traditions (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1999), p. 159-160, 41, 43)
"Firstly, there is the experience itself and secondly, there is how you interpret it...It is always a combination of the state itself, how deep the state is, and the intelligence plus the sensitivity of the Soul...So it is not only how deep the Inner State is, but also how deep and mature the intelligence is of the one who is in that state. For example, how you translate the fact of sitting in this room depends on how deeply you see reality. You can, for example, think that you are simply sitting on the floor and there is nothing special about it; or you are able to truly see that where you are sitting upon is the Universal I AM, God...The Soul is forced to evolve by the suffering she experiences. Through this suffering the intelligence of the Soul grows, and gradually she is able to formulate the right questions...It is your Soul which appreciates all states using her intuitive intelligence...Through this intuitive and sensitive understanding, you are able to recognize what it is that you experience, for the experience is extraordinarily subtle...When there is not enough intelligence and sensitivity, one is unable to give real appreciation to the inner experience. One knows neither who is sitting nor in what one is sitting...Now you can understand how important the model of awakening one uses is. The model reflects reality of the spiritual evolution and on some level creates this reality. Most seekers prefer to follow traditional models, for it gives them security and sense of authority behind their search. Unquestionably, they try to fit themselves into the traditional models, not being able to think critically." (Aziz Kristof (anadi), Transmission of Awakening (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1999), p. 292-295)
The gist here is that it is not enough to have experiences, but one must understand them also. And that certain levels of realization and all forms of enlightenment are both an experience and an understanding.
One conclusion implied, then, is similar to that which the jnanis such as Ramana, Atmananda, as well as Sri Yukteswar, Yogananda, the Buddha, and others affirm, that realization is here and now as well as transcendental, but not exclusively elsewhere, nor dependent upon experience, no matter how rarified. The True You is not in the body, the world, or in time. The Soul (or in some traditions, as mentioned, an emanent of the Soul) incarnates, but it is not born; the body and mind are born. Finally, an expanded inclusion of the multi-dimensions of experience will to varying degrees be integrated and lived, all being part of a wholistic Totality. The above considerations of Faqir's are in part perhaps one of the most important issues to consider Sant Mat and its place in world spirituality today. We will return to these topics of Sant Mat and non-duality, the planes and bodies, the nature of realization, and so on, in Part Two of this series.
One more point from Faqir. He differs from traditional Sant Mat when interpreting the common saying, "the Master changes his clothes when he comes again," to mean, not that a Master transfers his powers to another Master before he dies, but rather, that a new Master simply changes the teachings and language when he incarnates as appropriate for the times. He refers to the former as "an exotic way of expressing things to impress the listener." Here he is certainly standing apart from Kirpal Singh who affirmed that the power of initiating souls, i.e., connecting them to the Sound Current or Naam is transferred directly from one Master to another through the eyes before a Master passes on. And of course a Master can change the language of the teaching if he feels it is necessary - he would be a robot if he didn't have this freedom and capacity.
Another interesting issue is whether everyone experiences the same things/structures/forms when they pass through the various inner stages. Faqir seems to say no:
“The stages from Sahasdal Kanwal to Bhanwar-Gupha open (manifest or are activated) differently for each person according to their nature.”(p. 93)
“I have realized that all these stages of Sahasraradala Kamal, Trikuti, Sunn, Maha-sunn are the play of this kind. Visions are based on the thoughts one keeps. This play of whatever one see within (i.e., visions) is based on samskaras (impressions and suggestions). They are not the same for everyone. Visions or images vary from person to person.” (p. 55)
Brunton apparently would agree:
“These are the ultimate phenomena - that is, appearances and experiences - before realization: They differ at different times, or with different persons, but that is because they come into being as human reactions, as the self’s final point of view before its own dissolution.” (Notebooks, Vol. 14, 8.54)
This is not to say, on the other hand, that all happens randomly; rather, that the meaning and intuitive understanding of an experience is more important than the particular form it takes.
Further, Faqir plainly states:
“There are different ways in which different people are awakened. There is no single path for all people. Each person has his or her unique doubts and confusions. A single message is not for everyone…There is no single instruction that applies universally. A guru or doctor knows how to best treat a particular disease. When he sees that a medicine is not working, he changes the medication. This is why the Guru is the most important in the world.” (p. 43-44)
For Faqir, the ultimate goal is gyan, wherein the concept of God and guru will disappear: “No Sat lok, No Naam, No Anami!“ (p. 85)
This is really a major point, about a final stage little talked about in most spiritual traditions outside of Vedanta and perhaps Buddhism: what, for lack of better words, might be called the ‘beyond God’ stage. In most teachings the final stage is really a penultimate stage. This is a realization that you, the world, everything comes from God. But still there is a subtle veil, a duality, a rarified and hidden ‘I’-thought or sense of self. Soul and God appear united or merged, yes, but “who” knows that?Thus, sages say, there is a final stroke, a transition to seeing that everything, self, world, and God comes from you, or rather, to avoid the absurdity and solipsistic hubris of saying the latter, from the ‘True I’ or ‘Universal I Am’. Sri Nisargadatta and his masters used the term the ‘Absolute’ for this. I believe that Kirpal Singh referred to this when he spoke of God and ‘Absolute God’. Meister Eckhart likewise spoke of God and Godhead. In the light of this, Puri’s “all has occurred in Sach Khand” realization has still to sacrifice or let go of all of that divinity. Who wants to do that? It is a hard sell and few saints have realized it. It must certainly require a high degree of purity and discrimination to go there. But sages do talk about it, yet they are generally dismissed by yogis and even saints, certainly satsangis, as deluded or having a lesser realization. But, “see, and then say,” said Kirpal Singh.
“The divine love-spring surges over the soul, sweeping her out of herself into the unnamed being of her original source. In this exalted state she has lost her proper self and is flowing full-blood into the unity of the divine nature. Henceforth I shall not speak about the soul, for she has lost her name in the oneness of the divine essence. There she is no longer called soul, but infinite being.” - Meister Eckhart (From the Western Mystical tradition, Meister Eckhart, http://www.gnosis.org/library/coll.htm)
“Others think he stands own the great light, but he himself has no particular self-importance,” wrote Brunton. This leads to “ordinary mind,” the “return to the market place” stage of the Zen.
Puri may have been pointing towards this when he said that “no individual soul goes to Anami.” Kirpal said that “the Sat Purush absorbs you into the Wordless State.” (Heart To Heart Talks, p. ) But then, Faqir went further in saying that in gyan there is not even Anami anymore. Anami must certainly be the formless ‘Wordless State’, but by definition it is not the ‘Stateless State”, as it is something one may come into and out of and the latter when matured is not.
[Note: the Ram Chandra group seems confused in their writings about Anami. In The Science and Philosophy of Spirituality by R. K. Gupta, it reads: ”The ‘Anami Lok’ is full of light and various sounds, which attract millions of souls, who rest here immersed in this light and sound. Shabd is the base of this loka.”]
Anyway, it is difficult enough talking of these things, when books and sects do not articulate clearly in unison. Much to ponder here, but, one cannot help but wonder, is this really different from what many Masters will say, when pressed for the pristine Truth?
Sant Mat and Kriya Yoga compared
Sant Rajinder Singh, as mentioned, has said that one will be assured that there is life after death when one reaches the third plane. (I am assuming that he wasn’t counting the physical plane). This is interesting, but does that in itself imply that the first two inner planes are then not after-death planes but reside in the brain and are thus still within the body? We don’t think so, only that as they interpenetrate the same 'space' they may be contacted while in the body, but interestingly, the Sar Bachan Radhasoami (Poetry) : Part Two appears to say so. After Sahans Dal Kanwal and Trikuti, one enters the Banknal and then goes through Daswan Dwar (the “tenth door”) to reach the third inner region of Sunn:
“Surat moves onward and opens the door. It enters Banknal (crooked tunnel) and gets across. It passes through high and low valleys. It turns up the pupil of the eye.” (p. 118).
“Turning up the pupil of the eye” and entering the “tenth door” (Daswan Dwar - ‘the door’) or aperture (the other nine being the bodily openings: eyes, ears, nostrils, mouth, and two below) implies attention finally leaving the body. Babuji Maharaj of the Agra branch said that “within the folds of thy brain there are many beautiful regions,” etc. He may have been quoting Maulana Rumi, who likewise said, “Within the folds of thy brain there are wonderful gardens and beauty spots. Should you like to enjoy them, hie to a Murshid (Master) for instruction.” (5)
In The Philosophical of the Masters, Series Three, p. 55, we read:
“Beyond Trikuti one meets the Master; the door of salvation is in the fourth stage.”
What does this mean? Either the first two inner planes are in some sense ‘in’ the body, or that the Master’s form does not appear there; or that rather, reaching Daswan Dwar is in some sense the ‘point of no return’ to illusion? Penetration of the true Sahasrara at the crown or top of the head? Confusing isn’t it? It would be great if the Masters of the different lineages would convene in a forum and settle these differences once and for all, wouldn’t it? Why don’t they? After all, this is the twenty-first century, not Victorian or even medieval times.
Maharaj Saheb, a Sant Mat guru after Rai Salig Ram, even more explicitly said,
”In the fissure between the two lobes of the brain there are twelve apertures, which provide the means for communion with the six subdivisions of Brahmand and with the six subdivisions of the purely spiritual region. The apertures appertaining to Brahmand are to be found in the gray matter, and those appertaining to the purely spiritual region, in the white matter.” (6)
First off, this passage is also somewhat confusing, as it suggests that someone who has an accidental death would have no access to the spiritual regions because he had no chance to pass through the apertures in the white matter of the brain. Some Buddhist schools teach this also and advocate phowa initiations to make sure the consciousness exits the body through the top of the skull. But is it really the truth that this is necessary? In general, Sant Mat teaches (as did Sri Aurobindo, but not the Tibetans!) that everyone eventually leaves the body via the crown of the head. Other Sant Mat masters have said that a true disciple in such a case is immediately with the Master within, so not leaving via the crown cannot truly be an impediment for an initiate]. The suggestion definitely, however, is, from these quotes, that the path of Sant Mat initially takes place in a passage through the brain, the most direct route being via the central channels in the white matter (i.e., via the corona radiata), culminating in the “God-light” or “purely spiritual region(s)” that manifest when one truly pierces the crown center in ascended samadhi. This implication or interpretation is somewhat uncommon in the Sant Mat or Radhasoami literature, which generally assumes a gnostic position considering all of the subtle realms to be outside, or above and beyond, the body, while Saheb seemed to be suggesting that, as experienced in meditation, they are actually in the braincore, with only the alleged truly spiritual realms beyond the limits of the body. Sometimes Sant Mat writers, as mentioned, claim that the third eye is between and behind the eyebrows (i.e, near the pineal gland, with the pituitary more towards the center of the head), while the so-called "tenth door" leading to Daswan Dwar, the third region, is at the crown of the head - where the fontanelle is in an infant. So, this would suggest that only the highest inner planes, such as Bhanwar Gupta and Sach Khand are truly out of the body, as the spatial descriptions of a lower region where the ”crooked tunnel” (Banknal) is found seems to suggest the passageway in the braincore itself. This would also mean that Sahansdal Kanwal, the first inner station in Sant Mat, may not be the exact equivalent of the thousand-petalled lotus of the true Sahasrar as described in traditional yoga sutras, but yet a region in the sky of mind in the braincore, which would, however, truly be felt to be outside of or interior to the body for the normally extroverted individual. Faqir Chand went so far as to say there is no lotus at the sahasrar at all, that the thousand petals simply reflected the belief that a thousand nerve endings were in that area. But many yogis have reported seeing a glorious lotus there. This experience is certainly highly enjoyable, but its actual nature should be clarified, so adequate comparisons can be made with other schools.
For instance, in the Kriya Yoga as taught by Paramhansa Yogananda, the "spiritual eye" is visualized at the ajna or agya chakra, but passage between the agya chakra and the sahasrara at the top of the head is said to culminate in nirvikalpa samadhi and “transcendence of the astral and causal bodies”. The actual passageway is said to be a subtler form of the sushumna called, in their school, firstly the vajra and chitra nadis (luminous astral nadis, the "spine of the astral body"), and then the "brahmanadi" (or the "spine of the causal body"). Thus, in the kriya school, the implication is also that the astral and causal worlds, at least before death, are somehow within or coterminous with the physical body or brain itself. Based on this idea the argument could be made that the Kriya path might be more integral than that of some Sant Mat schools. Rajinder Singh and general esotericism tentatively solves this dilemma for us, however, by asserting that the planes do interpenetrate one another, but certainly exist on their own after the severance of consciousness from the physical body.
Soamiji also interestingly but confusingly describes Trikuti as being within the sushumna, the central yogic channel that culminates in the sahasrar, an additional implication that this region may not be outside of the body. That is, however, contradicted even by many, many near-death experiences (NDE’s). Sant Kirpal Singh, in his book Godman, similarly quotes Guru Nanak as saying:
"The Master exhorts the jivas to listen to this music in the Sukhman, the artery between the two eyebrows; Then be established in Sunnya (the Region of Silence - here he seems to be agreeing with the yogis, as well as Yukteswar who called this region towards the back of the head, Sunnya, the void or 'vacuity', not to be confused with Maha Sunn, or the 'Greater Vacuity"), with the result that all oscillations of the mind would cease. When the chalice of the mind thus turns into the correct position, it will get filled with the Elixer of Life, making the mind steady and self-poised. The ceaseless music of eternity becomes a constant companion." (7)
The upturning of the chalice of the heart is standard mystic terminology, but the standard reference to the region of Sunn is to the third inner plane, while here it is experienced in the brain, prior to ascension to the crown via the upturned chalice or inverted well. The importance of these questions lies in establishing the true uniqueness of shabd yoga as contrasted with other traditional yogic explanations.
The exposition of this in the Kriya Yoga in the lineage of Paramhansa Yogananda is sometimes even more confusing. [for more on this, see "Paramhansa Yogananda and Kriya Yoga: A Comparative Analysis” at www.mountainrunnerdoc]. In that path, as in Sant Mat, the aspirant is to focus at the spiritual eye, located between and behind the eyebrows, which is said to actually extend from that subtle center backwards to the medulla. However, they do not start their sadhana at that center, but do kriyas and concentrations at the lower centers of the sushumna - in which there are said to be contained three spines (physical, astral, and causal). They also concentrate at sounds heard at these lower centres. Some yogic traditions speak of the bell at the solar plexus, then the flute at the heart, and increasingly more subtle sounds ultimately fading out as you approach the sahasrara and Nirvikalpa. This is quite different and may reflect even a difference in the way realization is conceived than in Sant Mat, where the loud pealing of the big bell begins at this topmost chakra - with sounds below considered mere reflections or at best faint echoes of the higher ones. However, as stated above it could also possibly be argued that the Kriya system, with the acknowledgement of three overlapping spinal nadis (the vajra, the chitra, and the brahmanadi), corresponding to the three interpenetrating created bodies, and given an intimate multidimensional relationship between the seven chakras and the seven planes, may be a more 'integrative' path than Sant Mat. Of course, this is refuted by Sant Mat which argues that it is in reality a lower system of practice. According to Yogananda,
"The spiritual eye is perceived as a golden aura surrounding a sphere of blue, in the middle of which is a five-pointed start of white light...The point of origin of the single eye is in a subtle spiritual center in the medulla oblongata (at the base of the brain where it joins the spine). The energy from this single eye divides at the medulla and pours through the brain into the two physical eyes, through which the world of duality is perceived. The spiritual eye with its three lights, or three different rays - one within the other like an extending telescopic lens - has all-seeing spherical vision. Through the gold ray, the deeply meditating yogi beholds all matter and the mass of radiation (the vibratory cosmic energy) permeating the universe. Penetrating the blue light [the reader may recall references to the "blue pearl" by Swami Muktananda], the yogi will realize the Christ or Krishna Consciousness - the Kutastha or infinite intelligence of God - which is present in all creation. Piercing the tiny five-pointed white star, the yogi experiences Cosmic Consciousness - the transcendent consciousness of God that underlies all creation and that is also beyond the realms of manifestation in Infinitude. The yogi in Cosmic Consciousness perceives that all creation, including the microcosm of his body, is a projection of the fivefold rays of God's Cosmic Consciousness."
Here one sees that for Yogananda piercing the white star is not just a threshold to the astral plane, but to beyond the three planes and into what is considered the spiritual dimensions on these paths.
"The tricolored rays of the spiritual eye, through a complex transformation known to yogis, form the physical body of man the microcosm. The golden rays of cosmic energy, for example, are strongly inherent in the vital red blood, and are manifested in the electric current that flows through the nerves. The blue rays are a predominant factor in the gray matter of the brain, which provides a medium for the expression of thoughts through sensory-motor activity - just as on the universal scale Christ Consciousness provides the medium that upholds all of nature's activities. And the white rays are the predominant factor in the white matter of the brain, in which God's transcendent Cosmic Consciousness is insulated." (Journey to Self-Realization, p. 92-94)
The last sentence in this quotation is most interesting, and similar to the comments above of Maharaj Saheb that relate the "spiritual Regions" to the white matter of the brain. In his first book, A Search in Secret India, Paul Brunton wrote of similar comments given him by Radhasoami guru Sahabji Maharaj of Dayalbagh:
"The innermost parts of our brain centres are associated with subtle worlds of being; that, after proper training, these centres can be energized until we become aware of these subtler worlds; and that the most important centre of all enables us to obtain divine consciousness of the highest order...The most important of these centres is the pineal gland, which, as you know, is situated in the region between the eyebrows. It is the seat of the spirit-entity in man...It is the focus of the individual spirit-entity which gives life and vitality to man's mind and body...Since the human body is an epitome of the entire universe, inasmuch as all the elements employed in the evolution of creation are represented in it on a miniature scale, and since it contains links with all the subtler spheres, it is quite possible for the spirit-entity in us to reach the highest spiritual world. When it leaves the pineal gland and passes upwards, its passage through the grey matter of the brain brings it into contact with the region of universal mind, and its passage through the white matter exalts its consciousness to lofty spiritual realities." (p. 244-245)
Now this talk of a tri-colored spiritual eye is interesting and may resonate with an obscure passage from Sawan Singh where he speaks of differences between the 'Brahmand Avatars' and the Saints:
"The teachers from Brahmand (the causal region), the Avataras, ascend along the three light currents (three gunas) which starting from behind the eyes, and passing through Sahansdal Kanwal (thousand-petalled-lotus [here he agrees with Dr. Johnson]) reach the top of the Sumer mountain [part of the three mountains of Trikuti], and they cannot go higher. On the other hand, the surat practitioners, viz., the Saints, go up by means of the Sound Current to the first stage, thence go down through a sort of tunnel to the second stage, thence proceeding to the third and from there respectively to the eighth stage or the Radhasoami region...The Saints go by Sound; while the Avataras travel by light or with Sound of the second degree. As the second degree lies within the scope of Kal or Maya, and the coverings of all the three bodies (physical, astral, or mental) cannot be removed until the third stage is reached, therefore, the souls of the Avataras are not so pure and powerful against imperfections and hence they come into the world again and again at intervals." (from an early letter to Dr. and Mrs. Brock, his first initiates in America)
Now one can see several things here that are not commonly taught in this school and are no doubt confusing. One, the talk of three light currents between the eye-chakra and Sahansdal Kanwal, and the 'second degree sound', upon which Avataras travel, while Saints travel on the pure shabd or Sound current. Also, the concept that the 'three gunas' only start in Sahansdal Kanwal, and not from the level of Isvara as is assumed in traditional Hinduism/yoga/vedanta. [A hint at this apparently idiosyncratic use of terminology may lie in the Sants calling the 'matter' of the astral plane 'prakriti', and the 'matter' of the causal plane 'pradhan'. Third, it is assumed that Avataras (that is, 'Brahmand Avataras' - this seems to imply that there could be other kinds) find themselves at the top of Brahmand or the causal region via light and Sound, but somehow cannot go further. Now, one may ask, why can't they go further if they had followed the light and sound current thus far? Is it because, once arrived at Trikuti, they can no longer locate or contact the sound current? Good question, and the answer might be given that, in such cases (which, however, might not cover all Avataras), 'they have not gotten all five of the Names, and the mark of the Master - and thus lack the 'passport' to the higher realms'. However, later in Part Four we will see quotes that show that in some cases a Saint has also been an Avatara, and of course both come from the same God-Source, and in fact are sometimes spoken of as both being realized beings, only playing different roles. This appears to be the most logical answer. [A sort of linguistic flip-flop is unfortunately found from time to time in these teachings; for instance, the Saints love to refer to Ramakrishna where he said, "jump in, it is an ocean of immortality!" (and then proceed to describe it in such complex terms), while also relegating him to the lower status of a Yogeshwar (causal plane adept) solely on the basis of his early life sadhana of worshipping the goddess Kali - even though he far surpassed that in later years].
I must confess that hearing teaching statements like the above about three currents of light, second degree sound, etc., almost makes one pull out his hair, for they seem not only overly technical and obscure, but, in this day and age, divisive and cultic: it is hard enough to contact the sound current, but now one must be concerned about finding the 'right form of the current', in order to follow a convoluted pathway through the subtle realms, with inverted tunnels and whirling caves, etc.? The Tibetan Buddhists seem not at all concerned with this level of detail. Is it really necessary, therefore, or only possible? How to explain this abstruse doctrine? The difficulty is compounded when one considers that after the super-causal level one is supposedly (according to some Sants) dealing with the 'essence' of sound and no longer its sensibly audible form. This needs to be explained satisfactorily for an emerging world spirituality. If indeed it is the geography of prominent points within the human microcosm as well as macrocosm, as Sant Mat asserts.
Paramahansa Yogananda's guru, Sri Yukteswar, in The Holy Science, uses much the same terminology of the Sants, even speaking of practicing shabd yoga once the preliminary kriyas in the lower chakras are successful, but also seems to alter the order of the inner planes. He has Mahasunn coming before Daswan Dwar, whereas the Sants have it afterwards. This may or may not give possible credence to Faqir's radical claim that the planes are not necessarily experienced in a fixed order. We think that Yukteswar may be found to be consistent with Sant Mat if some explanation is added. He then lists the regions of Sat Lok: Alak, Agam, and Anami, much like the Sants. But he also speaks of a more integral realization beyond this, where non-duality (the Father) is established all of the time. This is not explicitly described in the Sant Mat literature, other than the aforementioned reference from Baba Faqir Chand. Here is a chart we formed comparing Yukteswar's scheme of planes with Sant Mat. This and the following discussion is rather technical, and, as far as we know, not been done so far. I must emphasize that the following discussion is not a product of my genius alone, but largely of my co-researcher:
Yukteswar goes from Bhu, Bhuvar, Swar (which he calls Maha Sunn), to Mahaloka (Daswan Dwar, the atom, the magnet, beginning of maya, the idea of separate self), then appears to 'jump' to janaloka (which he calls alakh or 'incomprehensible’ to anyone in the darkness below; he also says this is where the idea of separate self 'starts' [his use of the terms alakh and agam and anami here may be more a matter of semantics and being descriptive, however, and not an actual difference with the Sant Mat system wherein they are the names of inner planes within Sat Lok): then he advances to tapaloka, or 'the region of the Holy Spirit', which he calls agam, or 'inaccessible to even one of the Sons of God (Purushas)'; and finally Satloka which he calls Anami. So Sant Mat and he appear to be in synch up to Swar (except that he calls it Maha Sunn or the greater vacuity), then they both have Daswan Dwar or ‘the door,’ but from here Sant Mat lists Maha Sunn, Bhanwar Gupta, and Sach Khand - whereas Yukteswar jumps right to alakh; remember, however, this may be only a linguistic difference, for Sant Kirpal Singh himself, in his book Godman, p. 77, writes, ”...all that can be said is that he has come directly from the Kingdom of God or Sat Lok, and having crossed the various intermediary planes (Tap Lok, Jan Lok, Swar Lok, Bhanwar [Bhuvar ?] Lok, etc.) has reached the physical world or Bhu Lok just to manifest the Godhead that is his to the world-weary.” So perhaps the two systems are in perfect accord, except that Sri Yukteswar uses the terms alakh, agam, and anami to describe the transpersonal phases prior to and including Sat Lok, whereas Sant Mat from Soamiji uses them as phases or planes ‘beyond’ Sach Khand but within Sat Lok. He even describes them, in his Sar Bachan, as having ‘palaces’ with ‘turrets,’ etc., which must surely be metaphor. But If we understand these more as stages of deepening within Sat Lok rather than as ontologically separate regions, per se, there is no conflict between systems. And a number of high esoteric traditions do describe Sat, the Soul, Consciousness, or Emptiness, as having three degrees of penetration. Kirpal in fact, in the same book, while describing a Sant as one who has attained the level of Sach Khand and a Param Sant as one who has reached Anami, said that “between the two there is no material difference except in nomenclature.”
Yukteswar (~Aurobindo) Sant Mat
Bhu Bhu (Pind)
[Trikuti (sensorium; Sushumnadwara or door [Brahmarendra/crown as 'Daswan Dwar]
to interior word where he sees "Radha" or the
God-sent luminous body]
Bhuvar (electric) Bhuvar (astral; Anda)
Swar (magnetic - Maha Sunn) Swar (mental/causal/Trikuti/Brahmand)
Maharloka (atom; Daswan Dwar; the 'beginning
Daswan Dwar (super-causal, Par Brahmand)
of maya', or where the Spirit is reflected) Maha Sunn (super-causal)
Bhanwar Gupta (supercausal)
(apparent gap in schemas) Sach Khand (spiritual, Sat Lok)
Janaloka (alakh) Alakh (incomprehensible)
Tapaloka (agam) Agam (inaccessible)
Satloka (anami) Anami (nameless)
One sees the apparent omission of Sach Khand in Yukteswar's schema. Is this really a gap indicating a flaw if the system? We suspect it can be correctly correlated like this: Yukteswar's planes are, more or less, the same as the Hindu Lokas, which are the same as the seven planes of Neo-Theosophy as discussed by Leadbeater and Bailey, which is also the same system Daskalos adopted, ignoring some of the confusing terminology. Then there is Sant Mat. They basically have a ten level system going from physical to Anami if you include Mahasunn as a plane. Here is how Yukteswar's system may integrate with the traditional seven plane system - first, we drop Anami, as that is Nirguna, 'beyond' the seven. That is another issue! The first three lower planes are the same - with the mental - higher and lower together - being same as causal in Sant Mat. Then Sach Khand and Atman or the fifth plane are the same. So that leaves two above, Alakh and Agam, which are the same. So then the three other planes in Sant Mat that get lumped into the category of the super-causal dimension, or Par Brahmand - between the causal and Sach Khand - (Daswan Dwar, Maha Sun, Bhanwar Gupta) would all be aspects of the 4th plane, the buddhic, in theosophy, or Maharloka in Yukteswar. Daswan Dwar is lower Buddhic, Bhanwar Gupta is higher Buddhic, and the Mahasunn is the 'soul knot' in the center of the Buddhic or Intuitive body.
Each body has a lower and higher aspect. In the physical it is the dense (made up of the four form elements - earth, water, fire and air), and the etheric or pranic, made up of the three energy elements. This pattern is repeated on each plane, and parallels the idea that the lower four planes as a whole - physical, astral, mental, intuitive are all 'bodies', whereas, starting with Atman/Sach Khand, we are in realms of 'pure spirit', which means deeply formless, universal levels beyond time and space and form and karma.
Looking at in terms of 'initiations' on an integral yogic path, as our consciousness grows, this reflects on the level of our identification with each body as a gradual 'piercing' of the relationship of the 'soul' with that body, so that a knot or granthi is pierced, which from the angle of the chakras, is the kundalini piercing one of the granthis along the spine - first the one at the base for the 1st initiation, then the one between the solar plexus and heart for the second, then the one between the throat and ajna for the third. These are the four more material of the bodies, and so the kundalini reaching the crown means we are liberated from form and now identified with our permanent personality or 'intuitive soul body'. Each of these levels can also be seen spread out over the bodies as a shift of focus in each body from lower to higher aspect of that body at the corresponding initiation or stage of enlightenment. So at the fourth initiation, we are no longer breaking identification with the form bodies and separate ego/personality, as in the first three stages. It is piercing the formless, soul body, the buddhic or anandamayakosha. This is the heart of our 'witness', our transpersonal self that is not yet the non-dual atman, but close. And as a center of soul identity throughout all our lives as a human, it is a level of deep identification and continuity between all our lives. So breaking through this 'formless granthi' (hence its lack of focus in the chakra level along the spine), is a great 'dark night', and it would be between the higher and lower buddhic, which is, if this is correct, just where Sant Mat has it, between Daswan and Bhanwar Gupta. So the reason it is called 'the Great Void' is that it is the same as 'the Great Death' in Zen and Dzogchen, and why folks like Bailey and Leadbeater relate it symbolically to the Crucifixion, not of the personality but of the higher self. By coming to the higher buddhic, the individual is now bathed in the light of the higher realization of non-dualism, though not yet fully 'absorbed' into it until the fifth stage. But it is so close, one is now a Sadh, or for the Sufis has attained 'nearness to Allah', or for Yukteswar is a 'pure heart' and reflects the Light of the Purely Spiritual Realms. This is 'close enough' to be an jivanmukti as the Vedantic model has it. Then one more step (whether in pure direct realization, or by journey through planes) and one has 'union with Allah', which is the fifth stage for the Sufis, or Mastery for the Theosophists (rather than the Buddhist Arhat, which is the fourth), or a Sant for Sant Mat, which is the first stage of God-Realization.
So that is our 'guess' - the Mahasunn is the final Dark Night that corresponds to the final body before attaining the Atman. At the fourth initiation one breaks through the heart of the final body, penetrating the mid-point of all seven planes, now in the upper levels of the buddhic (Bhanwar Gupta), poised now for final 'assimilation' into Atman at the fifth. That is why we think Sant Mat distinguishes these three 'planes', as they map out (in a inversion path), three important stages of development beyond the lower three bodies. If what we have suggested here is true, then this is an important contribution that Sant Mat makes to clarifying all this, though it does benefit from translation into, and comparison with other models.
On a side note, Paul Brunton referred to the words of the evangelist John, "I baptise you with water, but he who comes after me will baptise you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” In the latter “soul is no longer herself, but infinite being.” explaining that here the Holy Ghost referred to the kundalini, while 'fire' meant the higher illumination of the intelligence, or buddhi. This could mean the fourth initiation described above. Thus the kundalini would be limited to purification of the three bodies or vehicles and not satori or the revelation of consciousness.
The basic ordering of the planes, traditionally, follows a seven-fold patterning. To complicate matters, as mentioned it is sometimes said that there also are seven sub-planes in each. Sometimes the are are said to be 49 cosmic planes beyond the microcosmic seven planes. As there are 'human' souls. so there are cosmic and galactic souls - beyond the human evolution. The word "seven" is a common theme in ancient Vedic theology: seven rivers, seven sisters, seven delights, seven thoughts, seven flames, seven rays, seven tongues, seven mothers, seven chakras, seven elements (yes seven: earth, water, fire, air, ether, space and consciousness), etc.. In Hindu mythology Vishnu was said to 'reside in the seven oceans', which is said by Siddharameshwar Maharaj to mean that Vishnu reside as the form of the Self with seven dhatus or coverings. In the Puranas, from which the sage Ramanuja bases his cosmology, there are also listed seven netherworlds below the earth (atala, vitala, nitala, tatataya, mahatala, sutala and patala). Interestingly one of the seven holy Rishis, Narada, is said to have journeyed to these nether regions and returned very favorably impressed! Mystic Daskalos also felt that there was a hell somehow 'below' the physical plane, which is somewhat different from the Hindu idea that hell is a type of lower astral realm. "Stranger things in Heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy", said the great Bard. Following these seven nether worlds are listed seven higher worlds, beginning with our Earth-realm or Bhur, followed by Bhuvar-loka, Svarga-loka, Mahar-loka, Jana-loka, Tapo-loka, and finally Satya-loka. This seems, with slight variation, the schema used by all of these different paths. Sometimes in Hinduism, as mentioned earlier, these seven planes are correlated with the seven chakras, suggesting a greater inner dimension or significance to the chakras themselves than is given in Sant Mat, where the emphasis is on getting radically 'up and out' entirely. However, the Hindu explanation makes some sense from a more integral point of view. Thankfully, such exploration, as well as samadhi, is said to be not a requirement for the attainment of Nirvana or subjective freedom and peace in itself, but may be for a total transformation that includes the higher worlds and forces. That was Aurobindo's view, whose mystic researches as well as investigation of the Rig Veda also revealed a similar schema of planes, with three lower worlds (Earth, Antariksha or the middle region, and Heaven (Dyaus), corresponding to body, life, and mind, divided from the higher divinity by an intermediate region known variously as Truth Consciousness, Greater Heaven (Brihad Dyau), the "Wide World," the "Vast" (Brihat), or the "Great Water," or "Maho Arnas"; this is the fourth Vyahriti mentioned in the Upanishads as "Mahas", most likely corresponding to Vijnanamayakosa / Buddhi. This could with some certainty be considered to correspond with Daswan Dwar, where the "lake of mind" or manas-sarovar is located. This may possibly be the origin of the Biblical passage where the 'waters divide the firmament from the Earth'. Sri Yukteswar called this region "the Atom". The higher supreme worlds embodying Sat, Chit, Ananda are not as such named in the Vedas. Aurobindo says, however, that in the Puranic and Upanishadic systems the seven worlds correspond to seven psychological principles or forms of existence: Sat, Cit, Ananda, Vijnana, Manas, Prana and Anna (Being, Consciousness, Bliss, Intellect, Mind, Life, and Body). He says that "both systems depend on the same idea of seven principles of subjective consciousness formulating themselves in seven objective worlds." (The Secret of the Veda, p. 45)
As mentioned, Sri Yukteswar has a slightly different ordering of the planes. He lists them alternately as: (1) the Puranic schema already mentioned, or (2) Gross, Sunya (Ordinary Vacuum), Mahasunya (the Vacuum), Dasamadwara (the Door), Alakshya (Incomprehensible), Agama (Inaccessible), and Anama (Nameless). In yet (3), a third classification, he lists the various levels as Annamayakosa, Pranamayakosa, Manamayakosa, Jnanamayakosa, Heart/Citta/Buddhi, Anandamayakosa, Son of God/Atman, Chit-Ananda, and Sat.
In Sant Mat there are sometimes listed five planes [i.e., Guru Nanak in his Jap Ji lists Dharm Khand (Realm of Action), Gyan Khand (Realm of Knowledge), Sarm Khand (Realm of Ecstasy), Karm Khand (Realm of Grace), and Sach Khand (Realm of Truth)], and sometimes eight or nine: Physical, Astral, Causal, Mahasunn, Bhanwar Gupta (Supercausal), with Sat Lok divided into four planes, Sach Khand, Alakh, Agam, and Anami. The latter division is reflected in many systems, where the experience of the Great Void or Void-Mind [in this case, Sat Lok] encompasses three levels of deepening realization or penetration beyond Atman.
Theosophy generally uses a nine-fold schema: Physical, Etheric, Astral, Lower and Higher Mental, Buddhic, Atmic, Monadic, and Logoic.
Clearly, it is reasonable to suggest that these modern systems basically follow the seven-fold pattern, with an eighth true 'Nirguna' or 'Nirvanic' dimension added. What is of most interest, however, as pointed out by Sri Aurobindo, is that the planes all interpenetrate, occupying, as it were, the same space. That is why a non-dual realization is the final goal. In Sant Mat it is not mentioned publicly so much, but Yukteswar and the Yogananda school frequently spoke of the realization of jnana along with the higher states. Yogananda, for instance, spoke of the Christ Consciousness being 'within' the Aum vibration. [This issue is discussed in detail later in Part Two, where it will be suggested in what ways Sant Mat can be considered to be a jnana path, and also in the article on Yogananda already cited].
Sri Aurobindo wrote:
"The triple principle was doubly recognized, first in the threefold divine principle answering to the later [post-Vedic, or Upanishadic era] Satchidananda, the divine existence, consciousness and bliss, and secondly in the threefold mundane principle, mind, life, and body, upon which is built the triple world of the Veda and Puranas. But the full number ordinarily recognized is seven. This figure was arrived at by adding the three divine principles to the three mundane and interpolating a seventh or link-principle which is precisely that of the truth-consciousness, Ritam Brihat, afterwards known as Vijnana or Mahas. The latter term means Large [this could mean Universal Mind in the Sant Mat classification] and is therefore an equivalent of Brihat. There are other classifications of five, eight, nine and ten and even, as it would seem, twelve; but these do not immediately concern us."
"All these principles, be it noted, are supposed to be really inseparable and omnipresent and therefore apply themselves to each separate formation of Nature. The seven Thoughts, for instance, are Mind applying itself to each of the seven planes as we would now call them and formulating matter-mind, if we may so call it, nervous mind, pure mind, truth-mind and so on to the highest summit, parama paravat...So also the seven rivers are conscious currents corresponding to the sevenfold substance of the ocean of being which appear to us formulated in the seven worlds enumerated by the Puranas. It is their full flow in the human consciousness which constitutes the entire activity of the being, his full treasure of substance, his full play of energy." (Ibid, p. 98)
"The sevenfold waters thus rise upward and become the pure mental activity, the Mighty Ones of Heaven. They there reveal themselves as the first eternal ever-young energies, separate streams but of one origin - for they have all flowed from the one womb of the super-conscient Truth - the seven Words of fundamental expressions of the divine Mind, sapta vanih...The Force rises into the womb or birthplace of this mental clarity (ghrtasya) where the waters flow as streams of the divine sweetness (sravathe madhunam); there the forms it assumes are universal forms, masses of the vast and infinite consciousness...This is also his own new and last birth. He who was born as the Son of Force from the growths of earth, he who was born as the child of the Waters, is now born in many forms to the goddess of bliss, she who has the entire felicity, that is to say to the divine conscious beatitude, in the shoreless infinite." (Ibid, p. 120-121)
These last two paragraphs are examples of the philosophical poetry of Sri Aurobindo; they use Vedic imagery and are not meant to stand alone in total clarity without further study of his work on the Veda. What they are meant to show is the ancient nature of the seven-fold schema of worlds, and also the big picture of a non-dual realization, uniting all of the planes in a conscious experience.
What remains clear is that a full understanding of the planes and chakras still eludes us; no tradition has done it completely as yet. Further, we have yet to fully understand this matter of "inside" and "outside". Advaita says a man who has realized turiya, and turiyatita ('beyond the fourth', or the fourth state while in the waking state) is outside of time and space and mind, with no up or down. Ramana Maharshi said:
"Leave out the body-consciousness (the idea that I am the body) and then where is 'in' and where is 'out'? All life-consciousness is One throughout." (Face to Face with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Laxmi Narain, ed, 2007, p. 276)
What, then, does it truly mean to be “outside the body?” If one takes the view of the jnanis or sages who state that it is closer to the ultimate truth to say that all bodies and worlds arise within the Soul or Mind, and it is a fact that while alive in the gross plane all bodies, sheaths, or koshas interpenetrate, then that would certainly not preclude one having experience of the subtle regions once the gross body disintegrates at physical death. Some sages maintain, that while that is true, that as the physical, subtle and causal bodies interpenetrate in consciousness while one is alive, one can do sufficient sadhana while in the gross body, bypassing the need for ascent. Sant Rajinder Singh, in fact, has started to speak in this manner about the various inner planes:
"Most religions believe that there are higher regions of existence to which the soul goes after it dies...The question is, where are these realms? They are not zones in outer space delineated by borders. All these realms exist concurrently with this one. The reason we are not aware of them is because they operate on a different frequency or vibration." (Sat Sandesh – April 2003).
The notion of 'up' and 'down is interesting. A necessary question to raise is how do we compare yogic paths such as Sant Mat with teachings such as the following which state:
"If in meditation he goes down sufficiently far through the levels of consciousness, he will come to a depth where the phenomenal world[s] disappear from consciousness, where time, thoughts, and place cease to exist, where the personal self dissolves and seems no more....But in the end Nature reclaims the meditator and brings him back to this world. It is only an experience, with the transiency of all experiences. But it will make its contribution to the final State, which is permanent establishment in the innermost being, whether in the depth of silent meditation or in the midst of worldly turmoil and activity." (Paul Brunton, Perspectives, p. 37).
"Down" through the levels of consciousness? Is this a reference to Ramana's "I-thought sinking from the head or sahasrar into the Heart" ? Perhaps, yet Brunton also spoke of the descent of divine grace from above.
So, while it may be plausible to assume that there can be a relative 'up' or 'down' in reference to the subtle bodies just as there is in relationship with the physical body, at some point one would think that the words become meaningless, certainly past the causal realms of the cosmic archtypes, 'between' the three lower worlds and 'higher' divine realms.
If all of this is truly so then some of the aforementioned contradictions and discrepancies are overcome. If all of the planes exist concurrently, they must all exist in consciousness, or the soul, and then the 'direct path' of the sages is somewhat exonerated.
At some point, one must confront the argument of the sages, who question, "what is the body?", "Is the soul in a body? How do you know?, and the general teaching that the Soul has no location, is omnipresent and infinite, but that an emanant of the Soul is projected into manifestation, producing the apparent personality that evolves through time. The Soul, the higher part, never leaves its own plane, and is not a separate discrete drop that falls into a body without still being connected to its parent, but a part of it - for partability is a power of the soul - is projected into 'creation', for a divine purpose which is somewhat mysterious but generally spoken of as a journey through time and space in order to gather experience and know itself in a way that it has never known before. Thus, man's prodigality is not a true 'fall', but a process of evolution. Man is on the rise. But even this is likely a metaphor.
In this vein, Jagat SIngh, interrum Beas guru between Sawan Singh and Charan Singh [guruship disputed, however, by the Delhi lineage], is accredited with having said, "90% of spirituality is correct thinking." And Sant Kirpal Singh, my guru, once asked me, "do you want anything, my friend? - do you want to leave the body?", to which I answered, "no, nothing." He became animated and exclaimed, "You're an emperor, I'll kiss your feet - "nothing" is God!" To another who asked him, "Master, what AM I?", he answered, "What you see is you." Further, when someone asked him, "Master, do you still meditate?", he replied, "If you get your PhD do you still have to learn the ABC's? You have the knowledge but don't need to use it all the time." Very mysterious language coming from these gurus (back in those days), and obviously something to be revealed to only a few to avoid confusion for the unripe mind. Other saints have acted likewise. Lord Krishna, after giving Arjuna the Cosmic Vision, as recounted in the Bhagavad-Gita, then said, "Now I will teach you." Ramakrishna gave visions and samadhis and devotional exercises to his devotees, but instructed or taught only one disciple, Vivekananda. This he did through the help of his copy of the non-dual Ashtavakra-Gita which he kept hidden from the others, including his chief biographer, "M", or Master Mahasaya.
More recently, when asked why he did not teach non-duality, Gurinder Dhillon, successor guru to Charan Singh, said that the disciples would not understand it. Perhaps that was one of the reasons that Kirpal, when demanded by Faqir Chand in front of the sangat to "expose the true teaching about the Master's form!", said that "it would not be expedient." Meaning that the simple villagers would not be able to understand the complex nature of things, and their faith might be undermined. But that was sixty years ago. The internet is here. Many competing spiritual teachings are easily available, and tough questions arise that deserve answers.
Kirpal Singh and many others thought highly of Ramakrishna, often capitalizing on his oft-repeated phrase to Vivekananda, "Yes, I see God as clearly as I see you - even more so!" But the implication most often in Sant Mat is that Ramakrishna had not transcended the causal plane, the uppermost limit of the lower three worlds. As previously mentioned, many in Sant Mat would argue, simply by virtue of his early worship of Kali, that he was but a 'Yogeshwar', or one whose realization was limited to the causal region of Brahm, but not to the higher regions above that. This is not warranted, in our opinion, however, and is pure speculation.
Is traditional ascended Nirvikalpa Samadhi higher than the Sahans dal Kanwal realization of the shabd yogi? It certainly sounds like it. One thousand petals of perfection is greater than an eight-petalled lotus, and neither is Sahansdal-kanwal a formless state of consciousness. The key may lie in semantics, as well as there being different depths to the experience of the chakras and the realization attained thereof, also depending on the evolutionary maturity of the aspirant.
In addition, we have to contend with Faqir Chand's novel delineation of the state of Maha Sunn as 'Nirvikalpa', where thought processes fade out. There are some who would make Anami into Nirvikalpa, however, inasmuch as it is formless, selfless consciousness. What to make of this quandry? Well, it is said that one can have Nirvikalpa samadhi from any plane. In which case its inner equivalent as Anami would, it appears, be a superior version of this, inasmuch as one also has traversed and assimilated the wisdom of all the planes of consciousness (in the microcosm at least; some say there are further 'macrocosmic' planes, a subject too advanced for this one's poor brain). Perhaps the following may help us. In the Katha Upanishad we read:
“Beyond the senses are the objects, beyond the objects is the mind, beyond the mind is the intellect, beyond the intellect is the great Atman...Beyond the great Atman is the Unmanifested; beyond the Unmanifested is the Purusha (the Cosmic Soul); beyond the Purusha there is nothing. That is the end, that is the final goal.”
One may read this quote as equating the Atman with Sach Khand, the 'Unmanifest' with Anami, and the 'Purusha' as the Radhisoamidham state spoken of by Faqir Chand and before him Soamiji. Maybe.
The entire concept of the chakras and the need to go to the crown of the head is nonsense to the Vedantists and Gyanis, such as Ramana Maharshi, who see all this as a mental creation only. Indeed, Ramana called the chakras 'imaginary mental pictures for beginners' [this is considered by some an extreme view, with the chakras not a product of the personal imagination alone but the universal, with significant energetic correlations to higher planes (as well as internal connections to the levels of the brain: neo-cortex, mid-brain, and brain stem corresponding to the head, heart, and navel or solar plexus centers), but in Ramana's system they could be bypassed by directly letting attention falling into the heart through direct inquiry or surrender]. Iyer says that the vedantin 'feels the same way about the Logos doctrine of the Theosophists as he does of the Shabda-Brahman of the Sants: that it is just a thought'. This will be gone into in more detail in Part Two, but suffice it to say that in sticking to such a strict position of non-causality (ajata) and absolutism is, in our opinion, a rather linear and short-sighted way of viewing the entire relative nature of reality, which itself is a mystery as inexplicable as the so-called 'absolute'. If I say 'a door is just a thought,' I will still walk around it. The Shabda-Brahman is a Universal Liberating Presence within relativity with immense capacity of grace, whether or not one conceives it to be the 'Creator'. It is in some fashion built into the universe, and is a bridge for unenlightened souls from the relative to the absolute. There may be different ways of approaching it, with more or less non-dual understanding, but to deny its power outright in order to fit into a tight-knit philosophy appears absurd.
The aforesaid yogic views, as stated, would also be highly refuted by the Sants; they generally use the term Daswan Dwar in a different meaning than the yogis, in that it is refered to as not only the crown doorway, but the third inner plane, which is not a brain structure. This is important to keep in mind. But as we have seen, Babuji Maharaj, Maharaj Saheb, and Sahabji Maharaj spoke differently about it.
Despite these discrepencies and apparent contradictions, it is suggest that the issue can be resolved if it is accepted that there are simply two uses of the word, 'Daswan Dwar', or the 'tenth door'. In the common yogic and (sometimes) Sant Mat usage, it at one time means the crown center, and at other times it refers to a passage on the third inner plane, essentially the 'gravitational' dividing line between the more material-mental and more mental-spiritual regions. Those teachers that don't recognize the higher meaning of the term would in most instances likely be of lesser realization, although, not necessarily.
Like Sivananda, Ramakrishna at times spoke in the traditional yogic manner of reaching the higher centers for liberation [when he was not teaching Vivekananda non-duality]. He said:
"The mind ordinarily moves in the three lower chakras. But if it rises above them and reaches the heart, one gets the vision of Light....Even though it has reached the throat, the Mind may come down again (from utterly unworldly consciousness - PB). One ought to be always alert. Only if his mind reaches the spot between the eyebrows need he have no more fear of a fall, the Supreme Self is so close."
He goes on to say that reaching the thousand-petalled lotus of the sahasrara at the crown of the head is liberation or God-consciousness. This is what Swami Sivananda said also. The great Tibetan adepts Marpa and Naropa also spoke of meditating to reach the thousand-petalled lotus, which in their tradition in tantric sadhana is visualized as a foot or so above the head. Now, to our way of thinking, the thousand-petalled lotus of the sahasrara (which is the definition of sahasrara), is hard to consider the same as the Sahans Dal Kanwal of the Sants, which only has eight petals. Just the way these great yogis or saints describe their attainment does not sound remotely like only the beginning stage of the inner journey as portrayed by the Sants, more or less attained by many, but something far more significant and integral. This is not to say that it is realization, sahaja samadhi, the natural condition, but a profound state nevertheless. So here we hold that much work needs to be done to reconcile all of the extant teachings in their profundity, and not childishly hold out one or the other interpretation as the 'highest'. Interesting also how Ramakrishna talks of the 'mind' reaching the heart center and giving the vision of light, whereas in Shabd Yoga the 'attention' reaches the eye-center with the light sprouting forth from there. How is this to be explained? Ramakrishna saw the wrong kind of spiritual light? And how to explain the difference from the 'mind' reaching a center, as the phrase is used here, and the concentrated attention or 'surat' reaching a center? It feels like there must be a difference, but experientially exactly what that is is the question that has not been answered, as far as we know.
Once again, however, we repeat: it seems the Sants are not the only ones who assert that the Sat Lok as realized by kundalini yogis in the Sahasrara is not the real Sat Lok, but, while indeed a correspondence, is yet only a reflection of that, and so, in fact, one needs to penetrate further, into the higher planes associated with that chakra or center, to realize the true Sat Lok. Sri Aurobindo said that while there is an aspect of Sat Lok in the crown, one needed to ascend in consciousness to the higher, universal dimension of Sat Lok above. For him this was the highest region within 'our manifested universe', but beyond even that, what he considered the absolute, and termed the SatChitAnanda, was not a plane at all ` which brings the whole yogic tour back to what some of the jnanis, such as Ramana Maharshi, speak about:
"You must remember that there are reflections of the Higher worlds in the lower planes which can easily be experienced as supreme for that stage of the evolution. The Sat (Satyaloka) world is the highest of the scale connected with this universe. But the supreme Sachidananda is not a world, it is supracosmic." (Letters on Yoga, Vol. 1, p. 252)
In reference to Kriya Yoga, Kirpal wrote the following on what is called ghora anhad shabd :
"This (Ghora Anhand Shabd) is the intense vibratory sound that yogins hear by concentration in the navel center, which is one of the six reflex centers in Pind on the model of the higher centers in the astral region, and is accordingly not much consequence to those who are put on the spiritual path Godward." (from The Life and Teachings of Baba Jaimal Singh)
We have mentioned that in the kriya yoga as taught by Yogananda, Yukteswar, and Babaji, et al, they speak of deeper layers of the spine and chakras, and also of moving up and down the chakra system, attaining inner purification of the three bodies in that fashion, with the ultimate goal of sahaj samadhi apparently the same, or nearly the same, as in other paths. But how can we explain the wide disparity in the way the two paths are presented? Here is one possible way. Take it for what it is worth.
When one put out a simple path that requires less involvement (physical guidance, instruction, etc.) from the master, then you have to design a practice that goes to the essence, yet is somehow accessible from the beginning. Vipassana/zazen does that. Mantra yoga does that. In Sant Mat, if you can't hear the nada or shabd, then you gaze and say the mantra, which is very powerful and gradually purifies the bodies until you do hear the nada, and then you just listen at the ajna, and the energies (elementals/vasanas/karmas) are gradually purified in the lower chakras, until the sensory currents are freed up enough to withdraw to the ajna and then the shabd yogi 'exits' the body there and enters the subtler planes, and so on. It really is a very simple, elegant, profound path.
But it is not necessarily the fastest. The tantric idea is that you go into the focal point in your experience/body where the focus of the transformation/purification is taking place, and maximize feeding the transformation there, and in a way particularly suited to the stage of the process that you are at. This approach may seem more complicated, but it is actually more efficient, because doing a practice is like energizing a realization. And it is most efficient to teach people according to their stage. We are imbedded in many veils. The nada emanates from beyond all the veils below the atman. So it is like we are listening to one teaching to lead us through all the stages of learning, which will work, but not as efficiently if the insights/energies/qualities of our practice were better matched to our stage. The nada is pretty abstract. As a realization/presence/quality, most people will not feel the 'satchitananda' of it until a fairly advanced stage. So many part of the personality will find the practice uninspiring and 'irrelevant', can't get it teeth into it. So other paths, like various forms of tantra, give practices for various stages, various chakras, where one 'goes down' to the level of the focus of current stage, and works with it to 'bring it up'. Doesn't sound very ‘non-dual', but that is because we are working with the personality where it is at, rather than projecting philosophical ideas at our personalities which we think they ought to be able to understand, integrate, and be maximally liberated by. But advanced non-dual teachings, or advanced bhakti paths like shabd yoga, do not offer the most accessible, relevant approach for all. Hence kriya yoga is offered as kind of a step of tantric/kundalini bridging practices to lead to full ripeness for samadhi. In fact, in Autobiography of a Yogi, an advanced yogi who had been doing an advanced practice was told by Lahiri Mahasay that he would benefit greatly by kriya, because, although he was advanced at using an 'essence' practice, he still had 'blocks' that were being worked through less efficiently that way, and that kriya would liberated him more quickly if combined with what he was doing. This is also why most Dzogchen teachings, for instance, are packaged with Ngondro and then eight previous stages of tantric practices - and then final Dzogchen. Some teachers are bypassing all that today, but that does not mean it is better. It is just easier to share it with a wider audience in that form, and also, inevitably, there are those who believe that, 'why not just go for the 'highest teachings'?' Namkhai Norbu, in fact, who was the first well-known Tibetan teacher to offer Dzogchen teaching to the public, was finally given the go-ahead by his peers on the reasoning that, "people will only want to come to hear you speak if you give them the ultimate Dzogchen practice"! Which doesn't mean it is the most efficient practice for them at their stage, but then, westerners are impatient.
Kriya yoga as Babaji taught it is kind of a middle path here, as it is a more complex teaching, but it is still packaged for wider use. Most tantric adepts would teach according to the individual, which is why it is harder to create a large movement or broad teaching work with a complex path that require individual participation of the master with each student. For this reason, for instance, Swami Rama only worked with several hundred personal students. He said that each day he would have them meditate at the same time and he would personally leave his body and go and check their individual meditations. Obviously, not all paths can be like that.
So when someone in Sant Mat dismisses a 'lower' manifestation of the nada it is simply for this reason. The nada is both one and many. It is one in essence, like a thread running through the heart of all subtle sounds, but they do take different forms according to which plane and chakra they are being reflected in, for instance. Lower nadas can have a more direct effect on lower chakras and less evolved aspects of our nature, which, as mentioned above, can be more efficient. But it is recommended not to do a practice like that without a teacher who understood that path. So any nada can be used to focus awareness and transform our energy/realization, but in Sant Mat, they direct one to the 'higher sounds' and the ajna chakra. It is simpler that way and often works just fine. Either way works and has it's strengths and limitations.
Words, moreover, are no doubt poor substitutes for reality. Ramana considered even this world to be nothing but spiritual. This, again, can only be true, however, if the concepts of matter as well as the ego-soul or ego-self are rejected in favor of the view and insight that "all is a perception or appearance to Mind". But must it be one or the other, as the vedantins might have it?May we start with both, at least as a working hypothesis? In Sant Mat, as well as theosophy and certain yoga paths, the various planes are described as containing differing amounts of matter and spirit, from gross material, material-spiritual, spiritual-material, to purely spiritual. This is an experiential way of describing things. For Ramana, Buddhism and Zen, anything perceivable ("things") or conceivable ("thoughts") could be considered “mental”, all arising in and as Mind. To them, the concept of matter is really no more than a guess, with no proof. This doesn't mean one may not experience or feel a difference while passing through different planes, etc., but only that the same epistemological discipline must be applied when discussing each of them and their relationship to truth. Mystics in general have no interest in doing this, assuming what they see and feel is real. To sages and philosophers, however, such an endeavor is important if not crucial if one's interest is in truth, and not just bliss or peace. It is, they say, essential for a full understanding of concepts such as "soul," "spiritual", and "consciousness." To the more emanationist schools, like Sant Mat and Kriya Yoga, 'matter' is condensed 'astral matter', which in turn is condensed 'mental matter' or mind', which in turn is condensed 'spirit' or consciousness'. So there is a different way of looking at things. And it has a bearing on how one conceives of realization or liberation. No one school to date has combined all of these views into an integral view. Now that the world's teachings are openly available, with the explosion, first the printing press, then global travel, and now the internet, such a synthesis will eventually and inevitably come
"Kundalini: Up, Down, or ?" - An extensive discussion of kundalini and its relation to shakti, prana, and shabd from advaitic, yogic, Sant Mat, Sufi, Christian and philosophic perspectives
[This section is taken from an article on my website, and may contain a some repetition of material from the past two sections, which my final editing has overlooked. We ask the reader’s patience and apology. But most of it is new information - and perhaps useful repetition! “My method is repetition, and brevity,” said Kirpal Singh. I plead guilty of the former, but not the latter. ]
1
The kundalini is a widespread yet 'mystifying' topic. Many speak of it, but few can say with precision exactly what it is, what must happen with it, or what a would-be spiritual aspirant must do with it. Are we to be as "Clark Kent Ji, mild mannered sadhu for a great metropolitan ashram, able to leap tall chakras at a single bound...", or may we be unconcerned with the whole thing?
Some sages and traditions say that for spiritual realization the kundalini or 'serpent power' must 'awaken', ascend up the spine and reach the sahasrar chakra at the top of the head and merge therein. Others teach, no, the sahasrar center is only the beginning of a much higher ascending path where kundalini is left behind. Still others argue that the kundalini and the mind must then also descend from the sahasrar back down into the formless heart on the right. Finally, there are those who say that the kundalini or shakti or life energy, potentially or actually, ascends and descends within the body-mind in a circle, and one needs to cultivate it, or alternatively, nothing need be done with it or to it within the confines of the body-mind in order to realize prior consciousness itself, the source of a greater or Maha-Shakti, of which kundalini is a stepped-down emanation. Finally, others interpret kundalini in a variety of additional ways, and view it as an inevitable, if secondary, part of a greater spiritual process. In this article we will examine these different views and try to make sense out of many seeming contradictions. Links are provided herein to other articles that add much to the discussion. This essay covers a lot of ground and tends to ramble - we acknowledge that it still needs a lot of work - so please read with both kindness and discrimination. More theoretical aspects of kundalini are given in the first half of this article, with practical recommendations and common manifestations being described more towards the end.
We will start out by way of what may be considered to be an atypical version of traditional kundalini, that of Lakshmana Swamy, who was believed by some to be a Self-Realized devotee of Sri Ramana Maharshi. His point of view on the kundalini or serpent power is, not surprisingly, similar to that of the sage, but radically different from that taught in most yoga paths. His view that the mind must die in the heart is quite opposed to those schools that teach the kundalini must merge in the sahasrar for realization to occur. Lakshmana has taught that the life force or attention must descend via a terminal pathway from the sahasrar into the causal heart center for realization of the Self, which Ramana originally said was felt intuitively from the bodily point of view to be on the right side of the chest, 'two digits from the midline.' As will be shown, however, this view is not exactly the same as that of Ramana in his full maturity, nor that of most contemporary non-dualist teachers, who do not teach that full inner trance absorption in the heart on the right or anywhere else is required for awakening or enlightenment. Also, it must be distinguished that the retraction of the soul or its emanant, the attention, up to the crown and then down into the heart, is not the same as saying the kundalini energy itself must do the same. The two are different processes. It is entirely possible for attention to be absorbed with the life energy remaining as it is, keeping the life in the body going naturally. Further, while there does seem to be an inherent logic to a polarization of energy and attention - and purification or subtlization towards the crown, in any one case the opening of chakras and their purification may or may not happen, and in any order, depending on various factors.
After we have discussed the life and realization of Lakshmana Swamy we will offer a brief life sketch of Swami Sivananda, as an example of one who disseminated the traditional yogic view that the kundalini must reach the sahasrar for realization. With small modifications, this general view is similar to that taught by Swami Muktananda, Paramahansa Yogananda, at times Ramakrishna, and also Swami Shiv Dayal Singh of the Radhasoami school.
As a child Lakshmana never had any interest in either school studies or religion, although he did have an aptitude for line drawings. He was active in sports at school, yet liked to spend much time sitting quietly by himself. His schoolmates were very fond of him because of his keen sense of humor and ability to make everyone laugh.
At the age of seventeen Swamy had an experience which dispelled his scepticism of spirituality. He felt an "evil force" descend upon him, like a weight crushing his chest. He spontaneously began to repeat the Rama mantra ("Rama, Rama"), which had the effect of dispelling the force. After this he made it a habit to rise at 3 A.M., go for a swim, and engage pranayama (breathing exercises) and japa (mantra repetition) until 5 A.M. He grew increasingly dispassionate, and resisted all efforts by his family to get him married and settled into a normal life. He entered college, but after his first year he had a spiritual experience in which he saw a "sudden flash of light within. The divine light shone in its full magnificence.” (1) Swamy tried to repeat the experience but was not successful, and he felt more and more the need of a human guru for further guidance and grace.
Swamy heard of Ramana Maharshi from one of his college professors, who was a disciple of the sage, and after twice failing his second year exams he began to intensify his meditations. In 1948 he met Ramana at his abode in Tiruvannamalai, and shortly afterwards experienced the permanent death of his 'I"-thought in Ramana's company.
"There was 'a lightning flash and a flood of divine light shining within and without.' Sri Ramana' s face was smiling 'with more radiance than that of innumerable lightning flashes fused into one. In that ineffable bliss tears of joy welled down in unending succession, and they could not be resisted.' Finally, the 'I'-thought went back to its source, the picture of Ramana Maharshi disappeared and the Self absorbed his whole being." (2)
Lakshmana spent the next year in trance samadhi most of the time and let his body waste away for want of attention. Finally he moved near his family in order that his physical needs be taken care of. For two or three years he spent most of his time in the hut provided for him, eating little and speaking less. People heard that he was a great ascetic and began gathering around him, and he eventually consented to give his darshan, first only once a year, then, from 1951-1972, twice a year. In 1974, Swamy met Mathru Sri Sarada (1959 - ), a young girl whom he had seen in a vision twenty years before. Within four years, she, too, according to their report, realized the Self, and during the period of her sadhana Swamy was much more available for darshan. The story of Sarada's realization contains an account of an interesting phenomenon, one which may be unique in the literature of the spiritual traditions.
"Just before Sarada realized the Self her 'I '-thought tried to escape by breaking her skull. If I (Swamy) had not been present the experience would have killed her. The 'I '-thought would have broken her skull and escaped to the higher regions where it would have been born again." (3)
Sarada said that this was like an axe trying to split her head open from the inside. She put her head on Swamy's feet in surrender and her 'I'-thought "subsided forever." It was a year after this before she was able to function normally in the world again, as she had lost all interest in it and was continually on the verge of dropping the body. It was only her love for Swamy that brought her back to the world.
Whatever one is to make of Sarada's realization experience, it is certain that the peculiar dramatic nature of it is rare. Neither Ramana Maharshi nor Lakshmana Swamy felt the 'I'-thought threaten to break their skull in its flight from the Heart. Others, however, have reported experiences of pain and pressure in the head due to the force of the kundalini energy, and these accounts are worth examining.
Two points must be made regarding the nature of the kundalini phenomenon before proceeding further. One, as mentioned in numerous places in this book, the testimony of the ancient sages who authored the Vedas and Upanishads is that the primary locus of spiritual realization is associated with the heart, and not with the sahasrar as claimed by contemporary exponents of kundalini yoga and other similar yogic traditions. Secondly, many yogis mistake the trance states associated with the ascension of attention to the ajna chakra (the center behind the eyes in the brain core) for the passage of attention, to the sahasrar (which is above the brain core). They explore the “sky of mind” in the brain-core, the blue pearl of Muktananda, or the cosmic blue of Yogananda, etc., and do not pass to egoic dissolution at the heart or at the sahasrar.
If Sarada had been directed towards yogic ascent she would have followed the (apparently) awakened kundalini (in her case) to the crown of the head and, according to some interpretations of Ramana’s teaching, experienced her 'I'-thought being reborn into further destiny on the subtle planes. With the help of her guru, however, her 'I'-thought became "cauterized" in the heart, thus providing her with the right foundation for true and radical ascent at some future time. Her tendencies for ascent were strong, as evidenced by the fact that even after her heart-realization she had difficulty staying in the body. This may be the remnants of a karmic liability, or it may illustrate a common disposition in those newly but not yet stably self-realized. Many individuals spend significant time after initial self-realization in states of internal absorption. This was the case with Sarada, Swami, Ramana Maharshi, Meher Baba and others. This is because when at first awakened Self may still tend to associate the manifest realms with bondage, but until the Self is realized under all conditions true lasting and full realization is not achieved. The sage Sri Atmananda Krishnamenon in no uncertain terms calls this tendency to define ones freedom by the need to go into samadhi as a “vicious yogic samsara.”
In other words, the very revulsion or turning away from experience that accompanies the intuitive awakening of Self-Realization is a tendency that could delay entry into the ultimate stage. It is not clear if Swamy or Saradi have made this transition, despite their concession to continue living in the world.
It appears, in the case of Sarada, that, perhaps, due to her young age, brevity of sadhana, and other reasons karmically unique to her, that a dramatic and painful transition occured, during which she was fortunate to have had the immediate help of her guru. Yet this does not necessarily have to happen. Heart-communion with the master can enable one to avoid many of the dangers and obstacles, as well as 'shoals and sandbanks' in the sea of spirituality. However, sometimes it is the inherent character liabilities of an individual that prevent that transmission of the Heart or hridaya-shakti of a sage or master from being effective and sufficient. An example of this is found in the practice of Ganapati Muni, a famous disciple of Ramana Maharshi, who experienced rare and remarkable yogic phenomena, yet was not successful in attaining Self-Realization. Ganapati Muni met Maharshi after twenty years of fruitless spiritual efforts, and immediately recognized that he was no ordinary man but rather a great sage of the highest type. It was Ganapati who gave him the name Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi and became his most ardent supporter. He chose to do much of his spiritual practice away from Ramana's direct company, but after two years he returned to Ramanasramam to be with the sage. Along the way he experienced a spontaneous, forceful awakening of the kundalini-shakti (which he confessed was not caused by any intention on his part, but, rather, was the "result of the grace of his Guru and God"), and which began a strenuous, two-week ordeal in which he endured the yogic phenomenon known in the Taittirya Upanishad as vyapohya sirsha kapale, or "the breaking of the skull". Ganapati began to experience a flood of energy through his body at all times, with a stream of bliss piercing his head making him completely intoxicated He felt totally out of control of his body and went to Maharshi for guidance. The sage blessed him with a pat of the hand on his head and said not to worry.
"That night Ganapati suffered terribly. There was an unbearable burning sensation throughout his body...It looked as though his head would break into pieces at any time. He suffered unbearable pain. Suddenly a sound was heard, something like smoke was seen. The Kundalini had caused an aperture at the top of his skull... After that experience for ten days something like smoke or vapour was found emanating from the orifice at the top of the skull. By that time the burning sensation subsided. The play of force became bearable. The long story of suffering, pain and agony ended. The body was filled with the flow of cool nectar of bliss. The face of the Muni reflected an ethereal splendour. His eyes bore the effulgence of the supernatural. After this extraordinary experience of kapalabheda, the Muni lived for fourteen years.... " (4)
This event awed the disciples of Ganapati Muni, who were knowledgable about the practices of kundalini yoga but were unprepared for such a rare and unusual phenomenon. There are few references to the "breaking of the skull" in the traditional literature, and it is essentially unknown in the teachings of contemporary yogis. What references there are, particularly in the Tibetan tradition, usually mention that such an experience can happen to a yogi only at the time of death.
In spite of the unusual nature of Ganapati's transformation, Maharshi affirmed that he had not attained enlightenment. When asked whether the Muni was realized after his death, Ramana replied, "How could he? His sankalpas'(inherent tendencies towards mystical ascent and feeling that the world was real) were too strong." In other words, in Ganapati Muni's case the overwhelming awakening of the kundalini was yet not sufficient to unlock the "knot of self" that was still alive at the heart. He had not yet realized the causal heart or the all-pervading, formless Self.
Another disciple of the Maharshi reported the awakening of the kundalini with radically different results, including the awakening of his heart center. See: "Nothing Existed Except the Eyes of the Maharshi” by By N. R. Krishnamurti Aiyer (http://www.realization.org/page/doc1/doc109a.htm) .
2
J. Krishnamurti wrote of a process of several decades in length during which he suffered intense pain in his head and spine, yet he, apparently failed to complete the full course of yoga. In his case, he repudiated his early yogic experiences, arguing principally for what he termed "choice less awareness", and in so doing confused (at least for his listeners) the profundities of advanced practice of identification with the Witness consciousness requiring the death of the ‘I’-thought with a basically cognitive exercise in releasing the conceptual mind.
Many teachers have warned about the dangers of the premature awakening of the kundalini energy. Great heat can be created in the body, with possible damage to the brain and nervous system. In order to be prepared for the circulation of spiritual energies in the body-mind, the aspirant must be purified of ego, and equipped with the ennobling virtues of humility and self-surrender. This is accomplished through self-understanding or clear seeing and the accompanying opening of the feeling being. Then the energy can move freely without obstruction generated by false identification with the ego.
The teaching of Lakshmana Swamy is very similar to that of Sri Ramana Maharshi.
Three points in particular, however, are arguable. One, Lakshmana Swamy holds that a living guru is essential for liberation. He maintains that without such a teacher
the most one can hope to attain is mental concentration, or an "effortless, thought-free state" (perhaps similar to that proposed by J. Krishnamurti), but in order for the mind to be "pulled into the Heart and die there", a living guru is necessary. Some current non-dualists would disagree on the point of the mind needing to be pulled into the heart, in a yogic sense, in order to die. They say there is no need for the mind to die, but only for ‘clear seeing’ to arise; nothing needs to be changed, and no experience is required for awakening. Nor is a guru necessary in all cases. If the experience of the "death of the mind in the Heart" is not had while your guru is alive, however, according to Swamy, then one will need another guru to accomplish it. Swamy gives the example that, in his own case, he had experience of the Self briefly through his own efforts but needed a guru to make it permanent. He does allow that there may be a few rare exceptions to this, such as his guru, Ramana Maharshi, who apparently became realized without the help of a human guru, but he maintains that in most cases it is not possible. There are others, however, who do not agree with Lakshamana Swamy on this point. Paul Brunton asserted that a human guru is required until the disciple transcends identification with the gross personality, but that at a certain point ones individual Overself takes over and bestows its grace, leading attention across the threshold into the Heart. Kirpal Singh, on the other hand, taught that once a disciple is initiated by a true Master that even if that Master should die he would still help the individual and be his subtle gurudev once the disciple was capable of transcending body-consciousness, and that he would still help the disciple in many ways even if the latter did not know it. He held that the company of another Master would be useful for spiritual development but was not necessary for initiatory purposes. Sant Darshan Singh has said, however, that in such a case where a guru has passed on his successor may have to take on some of the disciple's karmas, if that is necessary, for to do so requires a body. (5)
A second distinguishing feature of the teaching of Lakshmana Swamy is the notion that a jnani (self-realized sage) could not continue to exist after death on the subtle planes because his 'I'-thought is dead, and since it is the 'I'-thought which takes on a new form, it would not be possible for the jnani to do so. This was also Ramana Maharshi's view, at least on one occasion, but not always. Clearly, however, the testimony of other sages is that just as a Realizer can assume physical form in order to do spiritual work, so can he take on (or retain) subtle 'bodies' for the same purpose. Furthermore, it is not quite correct to say that the mind has to die for realization to be the case, but only that identification of the conscious Self with the mind must cease. It is a potential limitation of the practice of the jnana paths to assume that complete cessation of the mind is necessary for (or the equivalent of) realization. The Tripura Rahasya ( a favorite text of Ramana Maharshi) argues that cessation of the mind is only the case in the middle class of jnanis, but not in the highest. (6) The highest stage the “hidden teaching beyond yoga” position, allows for more creativity than that which dwells on the Witness position, even "allowing" creation (or manifestation) itself to be as it is. Annihilation is not required, only realization. Nothing need be annihilated except ignorance.
Thirdly, Lakshmana’s viewpoint on kundalini differs markedly from that of the common yoga tradition. This is discussed fully in the section below on Swami Sivananda. In brief, Lakshmana says that “kundalini is the mind” and as such arises from the Heart and not from the muladhara chakra at the base of the spine as is most commonly supposed. This view is perhaps understandable if “kundalini” is here equated with the more general term, “shakti”, which is the manifest power of prior consciousness, or “shiva”, which is not limited to the energies within the gross body-mind. Ramana also said something similar to Lakshmana when he remarked, “it is wrong to say the Self is down here (the muladhara) or up there (the sahasrar); in other words, to think is not your nature” (Talks). He often stated that the chakras and worlds are ultimately 'in the imagination' and therefore not the way to realization itself. This is true, but also perhaps somewhat overstated and incomplete as an explanation of this vast subject.
The Russian and Eastern Orthodox contemplatives (see St. Seraphim of Sarov and Theophane the Recluse in "Those Amazing Christians” (http://www.mountainrunnerdoc.citymaker.com/InterestingChristians.html) spoke more often on a descent of the spirit or grace, as opposed to the kundalini traditions of India which emphasize the ascent. Father Paissos wrote:
"One night, as I was standing there praying, I felt something come down from above and totally encompass me. I felt such joy and exultation as my eyes shed tears like water gushing from two faucets. I physically saw grace and felt it...The experience was so intense and powerful that it supported me and kept me going for ten years, until, in Sinai, I experienced even greater states in a different way." (6a)
This can be understood if one allows for a full circle of conducted energy in the body-mind. The Taoist sages taught this full circuitry. Baha u'llah also spoke of a descent of grace:
"During my days I lay in the prison of Tihran...I felt as if something flowed from the crown of my head over my breast, even as a mighty torrent that precipitated itself upon the earth from the summit of a lofty mountain. Every limb of my body would, as a result, be set afire. At such moments my tongue recited what no man could bear to hear." (7)
The force or blessing, as reported by these mystics, is felt and described as coming more from "without", as a form of baptism, than from "within", as in common yogic experience. How to reconcile this? Well, for one thing, as PB stated, "the Overself's without is our within." Thus, the Divine Shakti both comes from outside the separate self and also manifests within the individual body-mind. Similarly, in the school of Sant Mat (to be discussed shortly), while it is said that the practitioner is to ascend via the Light and Sound current via initial concentration at the ajna chakra, it is also said that the Divine Grace descends into the very pores of the body and envelops one in a feeling of warmth. Thus there appears to be a natural non-dual result on this path - although such wholistic experiences vary depending on the prior disposition, understanding, and maturity of the individual practitioner. And in fact, the permutations of the divine energy are myriad: a descent of grace can actually be felt as a cooling and a relief, as contrasted to the more burning of the kundalini energy manifestation. And it appears that I am not alone in wondering about this dual process:
the ascent of shakti and descent of grace. (See this interesting talk by emerging teacher Igor Kufayev at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPYZ64RgjRo).
Further, as Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche writes:
"In the last analysis, the division of existence into internal and external is based on a false view formed by the conceptual mind regarding the dualistic condition. In the true condition there is no distinction between internal and external since the same empty space gives rise to internal and external existence alike, just as the air inside and outside a jar is the same." (7a)
One awakened and standing in the transcendent witness position, moreover, having already undergone a "second birth," will find such energetic experiences safer and less deluding as they may then be experienced from a more impersonal, non-separate point of view, beyond or apart from the sense of encasement in the body-mind or that of a covered soul. There is also then less chance of "getting fried" due to egoic interference with the intense energy release, as many unprepared practitioners sometimes have reported. PB writes:
"Those who have previously made satisfying spiritual advance often find themselves pulled up and unable to go further, sometimes for years. This is because the undeveloped and imperfect parts of their natures offer obstruction to further progress. If the higher forces were to descend on them while they are purified only in parts and developed only in some faculties, these forces would prove harmful instead of helpful. Consequently, these parts are brought up by events to the surface of his life in order that they may be dealt with." (Notebooks, Vol. 3, Part One, 3.120)
None of these transformations must happen, in this or any one life; it is just that they do happen, and these are some of the possibilities thereof. Again the reader is referred to a talk by Kufayev on the energetic internal re-wiring that may occur. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Rrq78kxZko). It may also be that often the transformation for many is more mundane and prosaic, beneath the surface, as a general maturation of the being, without high yogic drama.
3
John the Baptist, a prophet and according to others also Jesus' initiatory guru, said:
"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire." (Matthew 3:11).
In this instance, it can be assumed that "water", a universal symbol for the emotional nature of man, represents the purification of baser feelings and animal passions. This is the necessary conversion of heart to prepare the individual for the baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire, which generally have been said to represent the initiation by the higher process of kundalini-shakti, or spirit-power, as is common in the yogic traditions of the East, and which was presumably the province of Jesus the Christ (or such a one as he). PB hinted at the different stages of this baptismal process when he stated:
"There is, further, a difference between the baptism by the Holy Ghost and the baptism by fire. The baptism by the Holy Ghost arouses and awakens the potentialities of the dynamic Life-Force, raising its voltage far above the ordinary. This process is usually accompanied by thrills, ecstasies, or mystical raptures. it represents the first awakening on the spiritual level as it filters through the partially cleansed emotional nature. Baptism by fire represents the next and highest stage after this event, when, the thrill of the new birth has subsided and when, in a calmer and steadier condition, the intelligence itself becomes illuminated in addition to the feelings, thus balancing them." (8)
Thus, archtypal stages of purification are emotional (i.e., kenosis and metanoia), followed by energetic (kundalini), and intellectual-intuitional-insight (jnana). However, depending on one's past-life background the ordering may be different. That is, a glimpse may come first, and physical-emotional-energetic purification later. But then it is assumed one had done the groundwork previously. 'Fire', then, for PB means the higher illumination of the intelligence at the buddhic level and beyond. Kundalini as such would be limited to purification of the three lower bodies (physical, emotional, mental, or physical, astral, and causal, depending on schema) and not satori or the revelation of consciousness per se. This may be confusing because traditionally the term 'fire' has been used for the preparatory kundalini manifestation. The Rig Veda declares:
"He tastes not that delight (of the twice-born) who is unripe and whose body has not suffered in the heat of this fire; they alone are able to bear that and enjoy it who have been prepared by the flame."
Regardless, the kundalini as it arises from the Muladhara center is really, from the awakened point of view, only an apparent movement, perceived to ascend (or descend), only after body-identification has already been assumed. According to some sages, such as Ramana, the truly significant 'arisal', if you can dualistically call it that, of kundalini, life-energy, and mind is at the heart-root, prior to body-consciousness, and it is to that locus, if any, that one's attention needs to be directed, not to its apparent extensions in the circuitry of the body-mind. And in the highest stage, even this locus, conceived objectively, as an exclusive site of realization, is transcended: kundalini, or all energies and manifestations arise out of the heart of infinity, not a particular place.
For one who is involved in a kundalini practice or experience, Paul Brunton has written these words of instruction and warning, pointing out the need for preparation and purification:
"Why did so many primeval cultures in Asia, Africa, and America worship the serpent? A full answer would contain some of the most important principles of metaphysics and one of the least known practices of mysticism - raising the force symbolized under the name of the "serpent fire." The advanced occultists of Tibet compare the aspirant making this attempt to a snake which is made to go up a hollow bamboo. Once aroused, it must either ascend and reach liberty at the top or it must fall straight down to the bottom. So he who seeks to play with this fiery but dangerous power will either reach Nirvana or lose himself in the dark depths of hell. If a man seeks to arouse kundalini before he has rid himself of hate, he will only become the victim of his own hatreds when he does raise it from its sleeping state. He would do better to begin by self-purification in every way if he is to end in safety and with success...The intense fire of love for the higher self must be kindled in the "mystic" heart, kindled until it also shows a physical parallel in the body, until the latter's temperature rises markedly and the skin perspires profusely. Deep breathing is an important element in this exercise. It provides in part the dynamism to make its dominating ideas effective. The other part is provided by a deliberate sublimation of sex energy, through its imaginative raising from the organs in the lower part of the body to a purified state in the head."
"The strange phenomena of a mysterious agitation in the heart and an internal trembling in the solar plexus, of sex force raised through the spine to the head in intense aspiration toward the higher self accompanied by deep breathing, of a temporary consciousness of liberation from the lower nature, are usually the forerunners of a very important step forward in the disciple's inner life. A twofold trembling may seize him. Physically, his diaphragm may throb violently, the movement spreading like a ripple upward to the throat. Emotionally, his whole being may be convulsed with intense sobbing...The agitation of his feeling will come to an end with the calm perception of his Soul. The kundalini's activity being primarily mental and emotional, the diaphragmatic tremors and quivers are merely its physical reactions. The necessity for keeping the back erect exists only in this exercise, not in the devotional or intellectual yogas, for such a straight posture permits the spinal column to remain free for the upward passage of the "serpent fire." The latter moves in spiral fashion, just like the swaying of a cobra, generating heat in the body at the same time. If the trembling continues long enough and violently enough, a sensation of heat is engendered throughout the body and this in turn engenders profuse perspiration. But all these symptoms are preliminary and the real mystical phenomena involving withdrawal from the body-thought begin only when they have subsided. This exercise first isolates the force residing in breath and sex, then sublimates and reorients it. The results, after the initial excitement has subsided, are (a) a liberating change in his consciousness of the body, (b) a strengthening development of the higher will's control over the animal appetites, and (c) a concentration of attention and feeling as perfect as a snake's concentration on its prey. It is a threefold process yielding a threefold result. In those moments when the force is brought into the head, he feels himself to be liberated from the rule of animality; then he is at the topmost peak of the higher will. Power and joy envelop him. The attainment of this state of deep contemplation and its establishment by unremitting daily repetition bring him finally to an exalted satisfied sense of being full and complete and therefore passion-free and peace-rooted." (9)
This aspect of kundalini as purificatory is found in all traditions. An episode in the life of Dodrupchen Jigme Thrinle Ozer, an advanced Tibetan Tulku, illustrates this phenomenon from another angle. On a three-year meditation retreat he experienced a terrible ordeal:
"After a month or so, a great shaking up (Lhong Ch'a) arose in him. It became hard for him to stop the turbulent waves of thoughts, emotions, and illusions. He now started having disturbances of the life-force energy (Srog rLung), symptoms that brought him to the brink of insanity. All appearances arose as enemies. He even saw fearful animals in his teapot. He felt he was involved in fighting with weapons. One night in a dream he heard a frightening shout, and he felt that it almost split his heart. Even after he awoke, he kept hearing the same cry and then saw a pillar-like dark light linking the ground and the sky. His body was trembling violently. He felt an unbearable terror and feared that the sky and earth were being turned upside down. But then in an instant, all the disturbing appearances dissolved into himself, the "I," which was merely projecting and experiencing all those appearances. Then the concept of "I" was also gone beyond any elaboration. The fearful mind and the objects of fear all had merged into one taste, the taste of ultimate nature, the total openness."
The author of the book from which this biographical account was taken explains:
"Just before reaching a high realization, it is normal for many meditators to experience the final mental, emotional, and habitual struggles in various forms or degrees of temptations, fearful illusions, threatening sounds, or painful feelings. Many great masters have had the same kinds of experiences just before they entered high states of realization. If you do not succumb to these kinds of last-minute disturbances created by hidden subtle habits and get beyond all those final encounters by remaining in the realized nature, like shaking the dust from a rug for good, you will attain total freedom from mental and emotional obscurations with their traces. A person having a so-called smooth meditative experience might think, "I am doing so well that I have no shaking-up experiences," but the truth could be that he has not yet destroyed his mental and emotional defilements and their habits from the root." (9a)
4
For a traditional yogic view on the kundalini we may look at the life and teachings of Swami Sivananda (1897-1963). He was born, by his own confession, into a family "of saints
and philosophers". He was a very mischievous boy whose pranks often brought angry hearts of embittered villagers to reconciliation. He was an excellent gymnast and would frequently arise at three or three-thirty in the morning and sneak out of the house to pursue his training. He admitted that he could fool his parents, who did not look too favorably on his gymnastics, by putting a pillow on his bed and covering it with a blanket to make it appear as if he was still asleep.
Sivananda studied at Tanjore Medical Institute, and, in his own words, "was a tremendously industrious boy" at the school. He spent all of his free time learning from the doctors and professors, and at the end of his first year he had admittance to the operating theater and was able to answer questions that even senior students could not. After graduation he traveled to Malaya and was the manager of a hospital on a rubber estate for seven years, and subsequent to this he worked three more years at the Jayore Medical Clinic. Sivananda was well-liked by his patients, but his mind wasn't on business and he often forgot to charge for treatment or medications [that’s my kind of guy]. He started a popular medical journal called The Ambrosia which he ran for four years. In order to maintain it at a high quality he let his own financial reserves dwindle, but Sivananda didn't care: his overruling passion was to disperse knowledge that would aid the sick and needy.
Medical work drove home to him the fact of pain and suffering in this world, and, remembering the verse, "the day on which one gets vairagya (dispassion), that very day one should renounce the world," in 1923 he left Malaya for India and began a rigorous life as a wandering mendicant. Through hot sun, cold rain, bare-headed and
bare-footed, sometimes with food, sometimes without, Sivananda went from place to
place in search of a spiritual guide or true Guru. He met many yogis. and sadhus on
his journeys, including the sage, Narayan Maharaj at whose ashram he spent a
few days (Narayan Maharaj was said to have enlightened Upasani Baba with a piece of food, and was one of five allegedly perfect masters that worked with and prepared the way for the 'avatar' Meher Baba). Sivananda arrived at Rishikesh in 1924 and took initiation from Viswarananda Saraswati of the Sringeri Math of Sri Sankaracharya. He stayed in Rishikesh and practiced intense austerities and meditation, even though his Guru moved elsewhere. Sivananda considered moments spent in idle pursuit and without purpose as time highly wasted. Throughout his life a favorite motto of his was "Do it now!"
Along with a life of strict austerity (tapas), Swami Sivananda was very active in service to the sick, the poor, and other sadhus in his vicinity. On the advise of another mahatma in the area, he opened a medical dispensary for just that purpose. He tended the deathly ill without fear of contagion, taking no special precautions and not even bothering to wash his hands after treating a diseased person. He was a fearless servant of mankind.
For his personal sadhana he maintained a rigorous, exacting daily schedule. To ward off the spiritual aspirants who came to him in ever-increasing numbers he had a barbed-wire fence erected around his hut, and he locked the gait. He also had the ever-increasing number of personal disciplines that he assumed recorded in a notebook which he called "The Whip". He was a strong man and kept up a daily routine of physical exercise as well as up to sixteen hours of meditation. In 1936 he started the Divine Life Society to spread yoga teachings throughout the world. He went on a tour of India and Ceylon in 1950, and in 1953 convened a World Parliament of Religions. He was a friend of Sant Kirpal Singh who continued such endeavors. Overall he wrote more than three hundred books, often published at phenomenal speed: up to three two-hundred page books a month! Sivananda was a highly respected guru, perhaps because he gave out a pure, undiluted yoga teaching, with little accompanying dogma, and also because he demanded much of his students.
Sivananda was an outstanding example of a karma yogin as well as a supreme realist:
"Service gives me joy, I cannot live without service even for a second."
"I never said or did anything to tempt people with promises of grand results like Mukti (liberation) from a drop of Kamandala water, or Samadhi by mere touch. I emphasized the importance of silent meditation for a systematic progress in the spiritual path. Invariably, I asked all aspirants to purify their hearts through selfless service to mankind." (10)
The specifics of his sadhana in his own case are not clear; apart from mentioning that he spent alot of time in meditation, and served the general community of renunciates where he lived, his autobiography gives few details of what actually occured spiritually during the years 1924 to 1929, when he achieved his realization. His writings provide, however, a complete elaboration of yoga philosophy and practices. The book, Kundalini Yoga, in particular, presents his view on realization:
“If he reaches the spiritual center in the brain, the sahasrar chakra, the yogi attains Nirvikalpa samadhi or (the) superconscious state. He becomes one with the non-dual Brahman. All sense of separation dissolves. This is the highest plane of consciousness or supreme Asamprajnata samadhi. Kundalini unites " with Siva. The yogi may come down to the center in the throat to give instructions to the students and do good to others (Lokasamgraha)." (11)
“Brahmarandhra” means the hole of Brahman. It is the dwelling house of the human soul.
This is also known as “Dasamadvara,” the tenth opening or the tenth door. The hollow place in the crown of the head known as anterior fontanelle in the new-born child is the Brahmarandhra. This is between the two parietal and occipital bones. This portion is very soft in a babe. When the child grows, it gets obliterated by the growth of the bones of the head. Brahma created the physical body and entered (Pravishat) the body to give illumination inside through this Brahmarandhra. In some of the Upanishads, it is stated like that. This is the most important part. It is very suitable for
Nirguna Dhyana (abstract meditation). When the Yogi separates himself from the physical body at
the time of death, this Brahmarandhra bursts open and Prana comes out through this opening
(Kapala Moksha). “A hundred and one are the nerves of the heart. Of them one (Sushumna) has
gone out piercing the head; going up through it, one attains immortality” (Kathopanishad).
"Sahasrara Chakra is the abode of Lord Siva. This corresponds to Satya Loka. This is situated
at the crown of the head. When Kundalini is united with Lord Siva at the Sahasrara Chakra, the
Yogi enjoys the Supreme Bliss, Parama Ananda. When Kundalini is taken to this centre, the Yogi
attains the superconscious state and the Highest Knowledge. He becomes a Brahmavidvarishtha or a full-blown Jnani." (12)
This is the traditional yogic view where the highest realization takes place in an ascended form of samadhi (Nirvikalpa); however, it is generally the case that when an individual returns to bodily consciousness from this samadhi he feels a sense of limitation, depending on his background. Some yogis, therefore, as Sivananda mentions, only allow their consciousness to descend as far as the throat center, where they are able to communicate with others while still feeling relatively free of the body. If they were not already feeling identified with the body, however, they would have less need to ascend to regain or maintain their realization, so say the sages. Thus the urge towards ascent is motivated by identification with the body-consciousness, in most cases. And in all cases, a period of application is required for stabilization in sahaja.
For what it is worth, one close disciple of Swami Sivananda, after his death, was guided on the inner planes to take initiation from Kirpal Singh.
Elsewhere Sivananda let the cat out of the bag - as did Faqir, as well as Ramana Maharshi, and Ramakrishna near the end of his life - when he asserted that even this, in fact, is not a necessary experience:
"Yogic students feel that a Yogi can fly through the air or walk on water, and do other miracles. They think then only you know Yoga. To be peaceful, to be calm, to radiate joy, to have an intense aspiration and devotion, to have a spirit of service - this is Yoga. This is not so easy. Flying in the air is not Yoga. Why become bird after so many years of sadhana (spiritual practice) and pranayama (life-force, breath)? Even Nirvikalpa Samadhi is not necessary for us. You must have a willing heart to serve everybody, the spirit of service and a desire to possess all divine virtues. This is Yoga. To be good, to do good - this should be your ideal [similar to Kirpal's saying, "Be good, do good, be One]. Why do you want to get yourself merged in the Absolute? Possess Divine qualities and move as a Divine Being...Merging in the Absolute is not necessary. Let us have a small veil of individuality [[the same attitude of Swami 'Papa' Ramdas] and serve as Nityasiddhas (eternal perfect ones)." (Radha: Diary of a Woman's Search, p. 197)
5
Compare this position of Swami Sivananda with that of Ramana Maharshi; Lakshmana Swamy, and even Shiv Dayal Singh: none of them would agree that the kundalini unites with Siva (Divine Consciousness) in the sahasrar, but for different reasons.
Shiv Dayal Singh (and the path of Sant Mat, or surat shabd yoga) holds that the sahasrar is but the first of many ascending inner stages on the path to Self and God-Realization. It is, according to them, definitely not Satya Loka, which is far above it, although it might be said to have a correspondence with it, as all chakras seem to have their correspondence with the various planes of manifestation. Sant Mat maintains, however, that even the realization of advaita only takes one to the second plane of Brahm or universal mind, beyond which are Par-Brahmand and Sat Lok, and that there are various lower regions that are faint reflections of higher and truer ones, such as Sat Lok. This obviously contentious in yoga circles, which does not mean it is not true. An interesting point is that many so-called kundalini yogis, as well as Kriya yogis (and even H.P. Blavatsky in her book, The Voice of the Silence), speak of the internal sounds that often accompany kundalini as getting more and more subtle as it rises through the chakras, until finally it fades out when it reaches the crown. Thus, in Kriya yoga, for instance, they meditate on the big bell sound in a lower chakra, where to the Sants the bell sound is a higher sound that pulls one up from the ajna center to the sahasrar, with a fade-out into the 'true wordless state' not occuring until one traverses the intermediate planes and reaches the higher dimension of Sat Lok referred to as Anami Lok. The Sant Mat answer to this contrasting phenomenon is that the yogis only hear lesser sounds, or reflections of the true sounds, and the shabd is a higher manifestation of the divine shakti than the kundalini.
According to Darshan Singh kundalini as such does not extend above the navel, only the sensory currents or Surat reach further. And also that paths manipulating the kundalini harken to an earlier era in the history of man, which the Sants no longer employ. Opinions vary, and can get apparently far-fetched. Esoteric Christian mystic Daskalos felt that the origin of kundalini coiled in the lower centers of the human form had its beginnings in a great cosmic event of pre-history he named the “Marduk disaster.” This supposedly happened to a previous earth or globe in another cosmic cycle that was in the same space as our present earth. (see Markides, Fire in the Heart).
Sant Darshan Singh summarized his view as follows:
"If we compare the different yogic systems we find that some begins their concentration, their meditation, at the lower chakras in the body. There are six chakras, the lowest being at the juncture between the legs and the trunk, which is the center of the kundalini. Those who practice kundalini yoga begin their concentration at that point. Their sensory currents begin to withdraw from the toes and legs, and those portions become numb as at the time of death. But during meditation and at the time of death, the process of withdrawal does not stop with the kundalini center. When the sensory currents come above the kundalini center, the kundalini stops functioning and itself becomes numb, but the man is still alive. During the further withdrawal from the body, the currents next come to the navel center. Other yogas begin their concentration here; they generate a deep sound from the navel [i.e., kriya yoga]. Yet when someone withdraws above the navel, that center also becomes numb and stops functioning even though the man is still alive. By this time the death of the kundalini is past history. Then the sensory currents withdraw to the heart center, the gullet and the tongue; each one in turn becomes numb and ceases to function, yet the man is still alive. Many practices begin their point of concentration at the tongue, where the repetition of holy mantras goes on. But when the withdrawal of the currents continues, this center also stops functioning. Next, the currents withdraw above the nose and come to the eyes. Finally, the sensory currents reach the last point before transcending the physical body. This center or chakra is between and behind the two eyebrows, and is called the center of the soul. It is also referred to as the still point, the third eye or single eye, the tisra til, shiv tetra, divya chaksu or the tenth door. When the currents reach this point the pupils first turn upwards, and then downwards, and we say at that time the soul has finally left the body."
"Now, we can see for ourselves that the kundalini center, and the other lower centers, stop functioning long before the man has left the body. It is not the lower center, but the point between the two eyes which is the last center our soul passes through before leaving the body."
"If we start meditating at the kundalini chakra and then slowly go from one chakra to the other, before rising up to the point where we finally transcend the body, it is a long process. It requires a great amount of time and effort to rise from the lower centers to the center of the soul. In this short span of life of about fifty to seventy years, we can hardly expect to reach our goal. So the saints off modern times, instead of starting at the very base, and then working their way up, start with the highest point - the third eye or single eye. The basic requirements remain the same, but by changing the center from the kundalini to the eye-focus, the saints have clearly given us the shortest possible way. They tell us we should make the jump to the center of the soul...to the highest center, the point between and behind the two eyebrows. It is at this center that the real heart of the mystics exists. If we read Hafiz, Attar, Shamas-e-Tabrez or Maulana Rumi, we will find that according to them the real heart of the mystic is the center of the soul. It is not the lump of flesh the size of one's fist. It is a much vaster expanse because this is the fountainhead of love in the physical body. The saints always teach a method of meditation which involves concentration the attention at this center." (12a)
What this path teaches does seem to be different than most others. Sant Mat differentiates between the sensory currents, attention or surat, and the motor currents, or pranas (and presumably kundalini). The former is the attention or outer expression of the soul, and is said to have its source much higher than the latter, as well as the that of the mind. Thus, they claim to differ markedly from the teaching of traditional yogas. So then what do the yogis such as Ramakrshna or Padmasambhava and others mean when they say kundalini does in fact rise to the sahasrar? Are we to suppose they mistake the further rise of the kundalini beyond the navel for the continued rise of the sensory currents alone? Or that they unknowingly 'switch' from the kundalini to the sensory currents once they reach the heart-center? That seems highly unlikely, but I m sure I am not the only one who is confused on this point!
According to the saints, then, one does not have to have kundalini rise in the traditional fashion, certainly starting at the Muladhara, in order for the soul to have experience of higher dimensions; nor, say some of the sages, does the kundalini have to rise or descend into or rise out of the heart for the consciousness to do so either, that is, for Self-realization.
The heart-center as mentioned by sages is only a provisional one. This heart is all-pervading, and not in just one place. Yoga Vasistha states what is essentially the position of Ramana Maharshi:
“The heart which is acceptable is of the nature of pure consciousness. It is both inside and outside, and it is neither inside nor outside. That is the principal heart. In it is reflected everything which is in the universe and it is the treasure-house of all wealth. Consciousness alone is the heart of all beings, not the piece of flesh which people call the heart.”
While often first realized within in samadhi, in reality it is the natural state and perpetual samadhi, or sahaja. There is no going into or out of it.
“Please tell me why only that state of mind which is free from thoughts or notions is called samadhi? If one is a knower of truth whether he be engaged in constant action or in contemplation does his mind ever lose the state of samadhi? No, the enlightened ones are forever in samadhi, even though they engage themselves in the affairs of the world.”(Ibid)
Thus, it seems that a Faqir Chand speaking of ‘going into’ the stateless state, or Darshan Singh having attained the ability the go to anami by an ‘act of will,’ are not referring to this condition, but to something else, however grand.
So what then is the purpose of the kundalini movement? It may be largely one of psycho-physical purification, and it takes many forms other than the classic one.
Lakshmana Swamy interprets the kundalini-shakti in a rather unique manner, as mentioned above. He says that it is actually equivalent to the mind, which arises from the Heart and ascends to the brain through the channel called the amrita nadi ("current of nectar", or "current of immortality"). By this interpretation, Siva and Shakti, or Siva and the kundalini-shakti, do not unite in the sahasrar when said kundalini rises; rather, the kundalini-shakti (or mind) must return to its source (or its original locus relative to the bodily self) , which is the heart centre, and die there. Kundalini-as-the-mind, according to Lakshmana Swamy, arises from the heart, therefore, and not from the Muladhara chakra at the base of the spine as yoga maintains. The arising of kundalini through yoga practice is only apparently such; it is actually a mental or imaginary phenomenon, only appearing as substantial to the non-Heart-realized individual. Swamy's use of the word "imaginary" is interesting and it was similarly used by Ramana Maharshi. It simply means, "in consciousness", or "Mind". Paul Brunton used the philosophic term "mentalism" to the same effect. It is not meant to obliterate the distinction between gross and subtle phenomena, although that may in fact be the intention of some teachers, but its basic meaning is that all phenomena arise in consciousness (or to and as consciousness), and the true vision of things is generally not had without the transcendence of the ego in the heart. This can be, as stated above, attained with the provisional descent of the mind into the heart, or simply through clear seeing that all is mind in ordinary life (i.e., outside trance).This grants the true understanding of the kundalini energies as well.
Swamy states:
"The kundalini tradition is not speaking from the highest standpoint because it does not teach that the mind must go back to the heart for the final realization to occur. When you speak of the kundalini rising to the sahasrar you are speaking of a yogic state which is not the highest state. At the moment of realization the 'I' -thought goes down the channel (amrita nadi) and is destroyed in the heart. After realization neither the amrita nadi nor the heart-center are of any importance. The jnani then knows that he is all-pervading Self.” (13)
[Here he does acknowledge a higher point of view, although he insists that the Witness position attained by samadhi in the heart must be achieved first. Simply said, all sages are not in complete agreement on the necessity of this experience either].
The activation of the kundalini-shakti can be a profoundly transformative - and potentially disorienting - process if it occurs in the unprepared. It is a function universal intelligence that serves not just to yogically re-polarize the energy and attention to the crown or sahasrar, but, more basically, to purify physical and emotional obstructions and, in its higher aspects to clear vision and understanding. And its free movement might, more desirably, to be a byproduct of a foundational moral purification of the individual, rather than a strategic, motivated technique. Such preliminary purification or tapas is not without drama [see "Scrubbing" in Part Three], but neither must it be be 'yogic fireworks' as imagined in the traditions.
While we prefer to see it all as one seamless interwoven process, according to some sages this energetic activation is chiefly preparation for the forms of inquiry and grace that lead attention to its root in the heart space (the 'witness self'), or its eventual 'dissolution' or 'abidance' in the un-localizable Heart or Self that is prior to all dualistic conceptions or perceptions of the mind. These mental conceptions include time and space, in which case the notion of a 'Heart on the right' may be seen to be a relatively arbitrary or at least a provisional structure in consciousness. And in fact Ramana did not repeatedly place much emphasis on this, often saying things like, 'why wander in all this maze, just be who you are', although some of his lineage successors (notably those from his ashram, such as Lakshmana Swamy, but not teachers such as Papaji, Mooji or Gangaji) made a big deal of it. Ramana in fact seems to be the first one in modern history to mention this specific locus. Traditional Hindu sources make reference to the initial place of realization of the inner Purusha being the heart, but not specifically a heart on the right. In Sufism, as mentioned earlier, they speak of multiple sub-chakras of the heart, left, right, center, top and bottom, to be activated, while Paul Brunton, an influential disseminator of Maharshi's presence and teachings to the Western world, also vdid not mention the 'heart on the right' in his own writings. Nor did Sri Nisargadatta:
"He had enormous respect for both his [Ramana's] attainment and his teachings. He once told me that one of the few regrets of his life was that he never met him in person...With regard to the teachings he once told me, ‘I agree with everything that Ramana Maharshi said, with the exception of this business of the heart-centre being on the right side of the chest. I have never had that experience myself.’ (“Remembering Nisargadatta Maharaj”, by David Godman).
So one may reasonably conclude it is not altogether a necessary experience. Nevertheless, this is how one questor described it:
"First came an experience where I thought I had been shot by a gun in the chest and could feel what I thought was blood pouring out of my chest, to which my response was to sit bolt upright in bed (as I had been deep asleep) and race to turn on the light, only to discover that I could not 'see' anything although an excruciating pain continued for perhaps 10 minutes with the feeling of something wet pouring out. After this, I began to detect a 'second' heart beat on the right side of the chest (one that beat entirely different from the physical heart) and it was noticed that there would be a throbbing of compassion at even things so dumb as a Folgers coffee commercial followed by a sensation of molten candle wax dripped from the crown of my head until it reached the feet, wherein I would burst into flames and be fairly nonfunctional for a couple hours in what felt like a narcotic stupor.” (internet source misplaced)
Despite the controversy surrounding him and his work, the late Adi Da made interesting observations about this process. In an article, “The Severing of the Sahasrar,” David Todd writes on the traditional view of kundalini uniting with Siva in the Sahasrar being the ultimate realization:
“This description of God-Realization however, is a degeneration of the original spiritual teaching of India as expressed in its ancient scriptures, the Upanishads and Vedas. First of all, these sources, as well as the testimony of God-Realized Adepts in more recent times, reveal that the ultimate spiritual realization is associated not principally with the sahasrar as the kundalini tradition and many other yogic and saintly traditions have come to assert, but with the heart. Secondly, those who recommend a method of internal concentration and ascent and claim that their ultimate experience represents the awakening of the sahasrar are misinterpreting the phenomena they witness. They mistake the trance states that arise as attention moves to the brain core or “ajna chakra (the sixth energy center located below the true sahasrar) for the actual awakening of enlightenment. In fact, they may experience a formless samadhi or trance absorption as a natural expression of the concentration of attention in the brain core, or ajna chakra, but such a formless samadhi is generated in the upper extremity of the brain core, not in the sahasrar, which is above the brain core.”
This 'formless samadhi’ might correspond to “Sunn” or the first “shoonya” or void as experienced in Sant Mat at the level slightly above the ajna center towards the back of the head. The statement appears true then as far as it goes, but it does not follow that the Sants or their disciples do not ascend from there via the Sound Current to the Sahasrar and/or higher planes, or that renown yogis such as Ramakrishna also have not ascended to the Sahasrar above the brain-core itself. Ramakrishna did not speak of dissolution of attention in the Heart, or the ‘death of the ‘I’-thought therein, but Ramana emphatically said to Jung, castigating him for assigning Ramakrishna a lesser status than himself, “what did Ramakrishna not know?!” Adi Da’s contention was that one cannot truly pass to the Sahasrar until attention is dissolved in the Heart, and at which point one of the possible spiritual signs is the manifestation of the “Amrita Nadi” or “Atma Nadi” mentioned by Maharshi and some ancient sages. It is not clear, however, if it is absolutely true that one cannot pass to the Sahasrar without dissolution of attention in the spiritual heart, although, it might be preferable. The implications of this may not be that far from Faqir Chand’s depiction, mentioned earlier, of the Absolute State as being “beyond Anami and “beyond attention.”
"Although the tradition of kundalini yoga in its present form does not represent a complete system of spiritual practice and realization, it was originally based on a more inclusive teaching that did provide for true practice. Such true practice is founded on the primal or prior disposition of the heart and includes the full awakening of all bodily centers and functions.”
He then quotes Adi Da:
…the Bodily Life-Current is Released from its structural association with the body-mind. This only occurs when the root of the body-mind, which is the gesture of attention, is re-cognized or Dissolved in the Heart. It is not that attention, or the mind, passes up with the Life-Current, through the crown or fontanelle, beyond the gross body, into an astral body and astral realms of experience. Rather, the mind is itself Dissolved in the Heart, the Divine Self. Therefore, the Life-Current of the body-mind is Released from the structural destiny of the covered soul. In this manner, the “sahasrar” is not merely Illuminated in itself, but the Bodily Life-Current is Identified with the universal All-Pervading Radiance of the Heart, the true Self. Therefore, the Life-Current does not itself pass up and out through the crown, but it is Diffused Universally in the Heart, via the body-mind as a whole.” (The Enlightenment of the Whole Body, p. 424-425).
Here again we see the difference between the path of Sri Ramana and that of the mystics. Note that Adi Da doesn’t explicitly say here that it is not possible to ascend to higher planes, only that it can be bypassed to reach the purported final goal by realizing the Heart. Yet he did make this assertion:
“In fact, the brahmarandhra, which is the same as the sahasrar, cannot be penetrated by the acts of attention. The “Sky of Mind” is simply the subtle mind in the realms of experience contacted via the brain core, or ajna chakra. Only the dissolution of attention in the heart permits the Life-Current to pass beyond the limits of the body-mind via the brahmarandhra and the body-mind as a whole.” (Ibid, p. 477-478)
This is a strong criticism. In fact, the ancient Yoga Vasistha states:
“Only one who has arrived at wisdom can ascend to the ethereal realms.” (The Supreme Yoga: Yoga Vasistha, trans. Swami Venkatesananda (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas, 2003)
In Sant Mat, however, it is the Sound Current - an expression of Consciousness - that is said to pull the surat of the disciple up through the brahmarandhra or crown. It is not the act of attention alone per se that does it. Nor do the life-currents per se (pranas) leave the body, or need to. [Although I don't think here Adi Da equated the Life-Current in his terms with the pranas]. Without a Master, however, there would no doubt be great difficulty as well as delusion, and potential danger, in doing so. The general consensus among sages is that it would be better if one realized the Heart first before exploring inner realms - and I think some saints realize this, and quietly move some of their disciples in that direction - but then, again, it doesn’t seem to usually happen that way in Sant Mat, but more often comes at the end of the inner sadhana - if then.
The question remains, also, if all named planes in Sant Mat are experienced in life in the brain core. It seems that at least Sat Lok is not, but one critique outlined the planes as follows:
1.Sahas Dal Kanwel, Jot Naranjan Flame of candle, bell, conch shell, 3/4 inches behind Tirsa Til. 2. Trikuti, Om Kar, Rising sun,, Thunder, drum, between two eyebrows. 3.Sunn (Dswan Dar), Ranrankar, Satan, Kal, Lucifer, full moon, fiddle, center of forehead. Maha Sunn vast region, Ankar is also the mantra of Aleister Crowley Satanic groups. 4. Bhawar Gupta Sohang Ji, mid day sun, flute, 5. Sat Lok, Sat Nam, where hair starts on forehead,, harp, bin, 100 million suns 5a. Below are extra inner planes of Agra groups who go to Radhasoami Pad using Radhasoami mantra. 6. Alakh Lok, Alakh Parush, 2 fingers after hair starts, undescribable 7. Agam Lok, Agam Parush, 2 fingers after Alakh line, undescribable 8. Radhasoami Dayal, top of head, undescribable. (see: R. S. Beas Secret History).
For this writer, only Radhasoam Dayal or perhaps Anami would qualify as being realized at the Sahasrar. This contradicts what even Swami Sivananda and Sri Aurobindo have maintained, although not what Gupta said earlier . What is certainly reasonably clear so far, at a minimum, is that Sahansdal Kanwal is not the traditional yogic Sahasrar, and this has important comparative implications.
To conclude this section, it can be noted that kundalini or not, even on the path of Sant Mat an energetic bodily transformation is also spoken of:
"Once you discover this Light and learn to live by it, your whole existence will be changed. Love will permeate your very being and it will burst forth from the very pores of your body.” (The Teachings of Kirpal Singh, v2, 83, 84)
6
Ramana Maharshi and Lakshmana Swamy speak of the amrita nadi as arising out of the Heart and projecting to the sahasrar above, and then simultaneously to the body-mind as a whole. In realization, Lakshmana, as mentioned, speaks of attention or mind as going down the channel of amrita nadi into the heart, after which he says that the Self is reached, and the heart and amrita nadi are then more or less superfluous. In Ramana's case, one gets the feeling that in the realization of sahaj, the amrita nadi, after realization of the transcendental Self in the Heart, reappears as a regenerated pathway of the Heart and its Light, forever known as inseparable. However, this phenomenal appearance is only on occasion and not the norm in daily life.
This causal pathway is generally not, however, acknowledged in the yoga schools. A modern exception to this is Swami Yogeshwaranand Saraswati. He argues:
"A stream of rays pertaining to the life-force arises from the bliss sheath (The causal body in the heart) and goes to the astral body (manomaya and vijnanamaya koshas in the brain) and from there to the physical body." (14)
Even among the Greeks one finds this view:
"Aristotle regarded the heart and not the brain as the thinking or control centre of the body. He also spoke of certain very fine thread-like tendons that went from the heart to all the larger tendons of the body as in a marionette. Hence the notion of one's "heart-strings' being tugged." (15)
Ramana once said "You doctors say that the heart is at the left side of the chest. But the whole body is the heart for yogis. Jnanis have their hearts both within and without." A devotee of his, Janaky Matha, claims to have had her liberation under Bhagavan's grace when her kundalini rose to the sahasrara, after which she realized the One, Universal, Transcendental Self as Heart-Light and Amrita Nadi as a "pillar of light", rising up to the sahasrara and above, as sometimes described by Ramana. (http://bhagavan-ramana.org/janakimata.html) She once almost had the experience of Ganapati Muni of the kundalini trying to break out of the top of the skull but it subsided when she cried out to Ramana. Maharshi said of her that she was born realized, and that he was only the causal or karana guru for her (i.e., the “closing pitcher”).
For advanced Tibetan Buddhists, kundalini practice can be both preparatory for non-dual realization, or part of the progressive, fully integrating stages of such realization leading to attainment of the Light Body or Rainbow Body whereby the practitioner reduces the physical body into the subtle essence of its elements, leaving nothing behind but the hair and nails, considered to be impurities. In this tradition, such is considered to be a sign of Total realization. Such phenomena are not due to conventional yogic siddhi, but rather transmutation due to radical non-dual realization wherein even the physical body is so resolved. [For more on this and additional comments on the kundalini see "Step By Step To The Temple of Total Ruin: Lessons from Milarepa” (http://www.mountainrunnerdoc.com/articles/article/2291157/159374.htm)].
On the other hand, most non-dual philosophies, such as Advaita, teach that there is nothing to attain but the ever-present Self or consciousness. Kundalini-Shakti may appear to rise, or the devotee may appear to ascend through the chakras, but really this is only an appearance, or even a play of attention. However, this appears to overly minimize the reality and significance of the movement of the life-force within relativity. The average aspirant is in no way equipped to deal with the full and sudden activation of kundalini, and is usually, in his best interests, advised against such motivated pursuit. Fortunately or not, the average hide-bound and mind-ridden aspirant is also not in a position to experience this, so it is largely an unnecessary worry!
The ascending motion, for Taoists, Kriya Yogins, and perhaps especially Tibetan Buddhists, is part of a greater process, including descent, ascent, and non-dual identification with consciousness itself. For the general devotee it is enough to understand and that whatever it is that ascends, or what the process of ascent is altogether, can only be observed or known properly from the point of view of consciousness. The ego-soul may appear to ascend and descend, but such is only an illusion based on identification with the bodily self. This insight is an advanced one, known to the realizer. Such identification is undermined through spiritual insight into the all-pervading, formless Soul - or Self - which is realized as empty-fullness of Reality. If the ego-soul is an illusion, therefore, based on mistaken identity, how can it really be said to ascend? Yet strangely, it can (or it appears to), as ascension is one of the functions of the emanated soul), and right and proper in its time and place in a total spiritual process. Moreover, as PB writes:
" 'Give yourself to the Overself' is simple to say, but one must descend and ascend through a number of levels before its full majestic meaning is realized." (16)
And what this all implies in the final analysis is that kundalini awakening is God's business, not that of the humble aspirant, whose basic task is not the willful attempt to manipulate or pursue the experience of subtle energies for their own sake, but, rather, through profound self-transformation, self-understanding, and self-surrender, to permit consciousness itself and its divine spirit-current or shakti, itself inseparable from consciousness, to dissolve all exclusive, fixed, limited identification with the body-mind. A brief illustration may suffice for our purposes. A learned monk came to the Athonite holy man, Elder Paissos, having read book after book on noetic prayer, or the various mystical states and stages. After expounding on how 'in this spiritual state, this takes place, and in that state, that takes place', he asked Father Paissos what state he was in. Paissos recounts:
" 'In what state?' I repeated, ' In no state.'
" 'So what are you doing out here?' he asked.
"What am I doing? I ask God for self-knowledge. If I know myself, I'll have repentance. And if repentance comes, so will humility, and then afterwards, grace. That's why I'm seeking repentance, repentance, and repentance. God will send His grace afterward." (17)
The summary point in this discussion is that the apparent ascent or descent of consciousness and/or kundalini in the chakra system is part of a larger spiritual process, and is not the immediate concern, or necessity, of the separately identified, unawakened individual.
Adyashanti seems to concur on this basic point (although he also recognizes that it is almost inevitable at some point for energy to be liberated in the body-mind as one's conscious awareness deepens):
"Awakening is just here. You don't need to bring it backwards or up or down or behind something to be essentially free of what's arising. It already is free. It doesn't need to back up. Only the little me thinks it needs to back up or get away." (p. 217 Emptiness Dancing)
It needs also be said that it is possible that the purifying activity of the kundalini or spirit-energy on the chakras may cause them to open in any order, from below-upwards, or above-down, depending on the stage of the individual and his/her karmic history/requirements. For example, one may have opened at the level of the heart or throat, but need to 'go back' and integrate the energies/emotions of the second (sexual/desire) or third (solar plexus/will) chakras. So one need not then be fixated on the notion of a mysterious force shooting straight up the spine in every case. What we are essentially talking about - with difficulty - is the Spirit, Soul, or Overself moving more freely in its association with its own bodily vehicle, and causing 'friction' when it meets with obstructions.
Ramana considered the following to be the essential point:
"The seeker's aim must be to drain away the vasanas from the heart and let no reflecting consciousness obstruct the light of the Eternal Consciousness. This is achieved by the search for the origin of the ego and by diving into the heart. This is the direct path to Self-Realization. One who adopts it need not worry about nadis, brain, sushumna, kundalini, breath control and the six yogic centers. The Self does not come from anywhere or enter the body through the crown of the head. (17a) It is as it is, ever-shining, ever steady, unmoving and unchanging. The changes are not inherent in the Self for the Self abides in the heart and is self-luminous like the sun. The changes are seen in its light."
Ah, yes: just "drain away the vasanas from around the heart." This must be the understatement of the century - does anyone have an idea how profound an ordeal that is? Perhaps only those undergoing multiple Pluto transits will understand! The ego could and would never do such a thing - the 'I'-thought will defend itself until the bitter end. Properly speaking, only a master could do it, of course with the disciple's cooperation.
7
Bhai Sahib, guru of Irena Tweedie, in Daughter of Fire, spoke of in his Sufi tradition the master activating the heart chakra of the disciple, letting the heart then open all the other centers through its own inherent wisdom-process:
"By our system it [kundalini] is awakened gently...we awaken the 'King', the heart chakra, and leave it to the 'King' to awaken all the other chakras."
The advaitic sage Shree Atmananda Krishnamenon breaks the heart down as follows:
“The spiritual heart is of no gross material stuff and so cannot be located in space. Still, to satisfy the lower adhikaris in the gross plane, it is conveniently located in the right hand side of the chest. But in the subtle plane the heart is the integral ‘I’ - thought forming the center of all thought. And beyond it, the heart is the right Absolute [Atmananda’s term for the Ultimate Reality or Principle]. (Notes on Spiritual Discourses (#207)
Sri Nisargadatta, as mentioned, once said he was in complete accord with the teachings of Ramana ‘except for the heart on the right business.’ So he would probably have been in agreement with Atmananda that it was merely a convenient physical locus without absolute value.
Madame Guyon writes in as Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ:
“Once the heart has been gained by God, everything else will eventually take care of itself. This is why He requires the heart above all else.”
Victoria LePage elaborates:
"By this method man's natural state of purity is regained not by meditation or ascetic disciplines [per se], or by any abstraction of the senses, but in full consciousness; ideally by a spontaneous union with the pure consciousness of the guru." (17b)
In other words, realization, as well as activation of energy, is a result of a process of infused contemplation by grace, and not the strategic efforts of an individual. The individual has removed himself from all concern for the process, and is in a state of surrender. This is the safest way, and in some sense the easiest and also the most difficult.
[Bhai Sahib also made an interesting statement worth pondering, that "new chakras are discovered all the time..there is not enough time in a lifetime to awaken them all."]
It has been said that there are really not 'two things': Spirit and matter are one, kundalini and the soul are one, and thus one can appreciate that ultimately kundalini is not separate from our own self. It is quite a paradoxical affair, but it may be said one that has its own logic within relativity. In advanced Dzogchen ultimately the energies are non-dually resolved into their essences. The lights and sounds perceived within or moving in the body are finally known as manifesting from our own primal essence. But of course, from within relativity there seems to be a process.
And, again, which has its own logic, which must be respected. "Getting fried" is a real possibility. The annals of spirituality are filled with cautions about premature awakening of the centers, which can lead to bodily and psychic ruin, madness, etc.. The Cypriote mystic Daskalos, as reported by Kyriacos Markides in his book Homage to the Sun, taught that the chakras, or what he called the 'sacred discs', at birth begin to rotate in a clockwise manner, and are largely under the control of the Holy Spirit as the infant develops. Stress, agitation and arisal of evil propensities can temporarily reverse this flow. In maturity, the discs at the head (primarily the ajna and sahasrar), which govern our self-consciousness, may be developed through our efforts at right thinking and discrimination, while the discs at the heart and solar plexus remain under the aegis of the Holy Spirit. An aspiring mystic can open any of these discs through raja yoga type of practices, but the safer way is the aforementioned process of right living and thinking, without flooding by opening the gates of the subconscious. The reason, in part, is that there is a close connection to mental illness or madness and an unstable relationship between the solar plexus and the brain. When these are unable to handle the intense vibrations of our subtle body a breakdown can occur. It takes time to prepare the channels properly. Which is why most masters advise a gradual devotional and intellectual development a supposed to a concerted yogic effort to propel us towards exotic inner experiences. Daskalos states:
"Violent vibrations in themselves do not lead to madness. Madness is the inability of the material brain and the solar plexus to express the inner conditions of the psychonoetic body [i.e., subtle bodies]. Sometimes you will notice, for example, that before an individual gets into these fits of madness he may begin to feel pain in his stomach, bend down and start vomiting. The vibration that gets him off balance may start from the solar plexus." (p. 25)
And
"The disc at the heart begins to revolve simultaneously with the movement of the disc at the solar plexus. It begins revolving while the infant is still in the womb. The two discs, that of the solar plexus and of the heart, are responsible for offering us the phenomenon of life. After birth the disc at the heart is also responsible for energizing the movement of the lungs."
"The sacred discs of the heart and the solar plexus are completely independent of the present self-conscious personality. They are under the direct and omniscient supervision of the Holy Spirit which sets these two discs into motion, making possible the functioning of the physical body."
"The two discs at the head are responsible for the development of the personality and offer us the potential of self-consciousness...The [disc over the head] begins to move very slowly right at birth and it gradually develops as the child learns how to concentrate and reason...Now, it is possible that a person may so end a lifetime with the disc over his head never moving in a normal and harmonious manner. This may happen when the person is over focused on and overdetermined by earthly material existence. I have noticed that for a lot of people that disc hardly moves. I said "hardly" because in reality that disc always moves at least a little for all persons regardless of their mental and spiritual development. However, for threes earthly people the disc remains atrophied. It maintains the size it had when the person came into the world."
The development of this sacred disc will depend on the person's self-consciousness, the way the person thinks, the way he handles noetic [i.e., mental] substance. It starts to grow and move harmoniously when the person makes proper use of the power of thought."
He makes the following point:
"The disc over the head can develop through appropriate meditation exercises of concentration. But it can also develop without the individual consciously trying to develop it. Sometimes this may be a more preferable way. There have been people who through virtue, reason, powers of observation and through self-discipline managed to develop the disc over their heads without ever learning of its existence, and never consciously trying to open it and develop it. On the other hand, there are Researchers of Truth [i.e., a term given to aspirants in his mystical circles] who learn about these centers on the etheric-double by reading books from the Orient. Through practice they may begin to move that sacred disc rapidly and open it up. But unless they also develop their characters, they will not accomplish much. In fact they may prematurely open their sacred discs, which could be damaging to their present personalities. The safest method of developing this disc is through self-analysis, reason, and the right way of living." (p. 76-78)
[Note: there is much more to Daskalos teachings; as this is so different than advaita and other oriental philosophies, for further study the reader is directed to the trilogy by Markides (The Magus of Strovolos, Homage to the Sun, Fire in the Heart), as well as "The Idea of Man" on this website and its imbedded links ]
8
Perhaps the following may offer another clarifying perspective. Swami "M", in Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master (2010), writes of a time as a young teen (!) when he was conflicted by contrasting accounts by these various masters over the location of the heart center, i.e., was it at the crown center, the ajna, or the right side of the chest. While spending the night at the samadhi site of Sri Ramadasa Swami, a strange man spontaneously appeared to him and said, "Don't fear...So you have a problem, yeah? Don't know where the heart lotus is, yeah? It is everywhere, here, there, everywhere. Ha ha, manifested in different centers for different people. No controversy." He then tapped him in the middle of the chest and said, "Yours, right here, anahata, you stick to it, Babaji's order." A violet light he never saw before then filled his heart center which he saw even with open eyes. He was later given another practice by one named Dadaji:
"I was given the sixteen letter (Shodasakshari), the Sri Vidya mantra belonging to the Lopamudra category with the starting sound Ka. "While kriya yoga clears up the central spinal pathway for the kundalini energy," said Dadaji, "the sound vibrations of the Sri Vidya help activate the cerebrospinal centers, and prepare them to receive the serpent power as it begin to ascend. I have come to teach you Shiva Raja Yoga, Thirumoolar's teaching, seven more centers in the brain."
The point of interest here is regarding numerous centers in the brain. Perhaps in this we there may be found at least a partial reconciliation between the above-mentioned teachings of yoga and Sant Mat regarding Sat Lok and the Sahasrar.
Several years later with his own guru he had a more definitive shakti opening which coincided with the falling away of his sense of separate self. This in itself is somewhat unusual on most shakti-type paths. The illumination of the intelligence is more often occurs on jnana paths.:
"A searing pain shot up my backbone, and such heat was generated that I felt that my whole body, especially my heart, was on fire. I almost thought that this was the end, and that I might not come out of it. Suddenly, a roaring sound, that quickly transformed itself into a soothing hum entered into my consciousness. It was as if someone with a Jim Reeves voice was chanting a long drawn "Om." The convulsions ceased, the heat subsided and a warm glow, like the comforting warmth of a fireplace on a winter night, suffused my body and soul. From the crown of my head, a secret elixir began to flow down my spine, and from head to toe, I experienced a wondrous, blissful ecstasy. I opened my eyes and looked around. Everything was fresh, new, and pulsating with life energy. I was a new person; resurrected from the old that seemed to have vanished and died. I was no longer an isolated self. The center of consciousness was everywhere from the humble dust to the Milky Way. All boundaries were broken. When I saw Babaji, it was as if I was him, looking at me. Babaji said, "Yes. Now, you are reborn. This is the real meaning of Dwija, born again. Rise slowly, for it will take some time to come to terms with your new self. Like a newborn babe, you'll have to crawl, then sit up, and finally walk with faltering step, until practice gives you the steady, confident stride of a full-grown being."
From the book it is not clear if this was a permanent shift in consciousness or not. One can have such a glimpse, or radical insight, for a day, a week, six months, and then go back to a normal dualistic state, if the "I"-thought or ego has not been either: seen through with philosophic understanding, slain or 'cauterized' in the heart. Compare this rare form of energetic breakthrough, however, with the following account by non-dual advaita teacher Francis Lucille, which will serve as an example of the approach taken in this book contrasting paths of knowledge or self-enquiry with those of yoga, such as Sant Mat. Few practitioners of the latter have experiences like this, for their sadhana precludes it mostly because it does not look for it. Which is not to say these breakthroughs are automatically permanent either, but they are certainly unique. Sant Darshan Singh spoke of those who attain the "gyan 'samadhis" - somewhat telling in that generally gyan is not about samadhi - saying that "we revere them and they reach the highest human realizations, but do not go to the highest." This is certainly subject to rigorous debate and clarification. But, "First see, and then say," said Kirpal Singh. Few who criticize jnana or the jnanis have actually had that experience or realization in order to make an honest comparison, and vice versa. [note: some use the terms 'gyan' and 'gyani'; I am never sure of the preferred spelling!]
Important questions (touched on later in the section "I heard the big Bell, but it wasn't where I wanted to go"), is whether one is better prepared having this form of ego-death prior to experience of the inner regions; and also whether it gives an enlightenment, while still tethered by the Heart to the body, thus saving one the rigours involved with sainthood by not requiring such states; and further, whether or not it may even give a superior or more authentic form of Self-Realization. We merely raise these questions, but do not intend to answer them. And, as far as we know, no one yet has done so. Lucille writes:
"In an almost simultaneous apperception, the personal entity with which I was identifying revealed itself in its totality. I saw its superstructure, the thoughts originating from the I-concept and its infrastructure, the traces of my fears and desires at the physical level. Now the entire tree was contemplated by an impersonal eye, and both the superstructure of thoughts and the infrastructure of bodily sensations rapidly vanished, leaving the I-thought alone in the field of consciousness."
"For a few moments the pure I-thought seemed to vacillate, just as the flame of an oil lamp running out of fuel, then vanished. At that precise moment, the immortal background of Presence revealed itself in all its splendor." (Francis Lucille, Eternity Now, www.francislucille.com)
A definite contrast to inner mystical experience, especially that herein the ego is still retained. Something to ponder.
There is, of course, much more that can be said on this topic, we have but scratched the surface.
For instance, a number of other questions remain. "When and why and how did the kundalini get 'coiled' at the base of the spine?" [the so-called ‘serpent-like’ action being mainly rmanifested in the lower centers]. And, "what exactly is the kundalini? Is it the pranas, what the Sant Mat teachers refer to as the 'motor' or life currents, or a variant or emanation thereof?" or "is it also related to the 'sensory' currents, part and parcel of the soul or consciousness itself?" "Does the kundalini only have to rise to the sahasrar once to achieve what its proponents claim, or are multiple such ascensions necessary?" And, finally, "must it be felt to arise at all?" As we have seen, opinions on this vary, as do definitions of what kundalini actually is. Ultimately, it has been said that there is only One stuff (18); that this Divine Mind, in which the Soul is said to be rooted or from which it is derived, is also Its own Substance and Energies. So what, then, is kundalini really? Is it apart from us? In what way? What is going on here? This is something to contemplate on deeply, instead of just giving a name to what for us remains the unknown.
9
Some summary reflections on the above discussion are now offered. First, there is a need to distinguish between concentration or interiorization of the mind or attention (surat), and its apparent movement in the sushumna and/or to a bodily center, whether in the spinal line or to the heart, and the movement of the soul's energy in such a manner. Kundalini is generally mentioned in reference to the latter.
Second, Lakshmana Swamy and other Ramana descendants often seem to confuse the two, when saying "the mind is the kundalini, and must descend into the heart and die," etc.. One can have a mystic transport or feeling of leaving the body, or ascending up the chakra line,or descending into, or abiding as, the heart without the kundalini as such awakening. And vice versa. Or both. Further, the consensus is that it is not necessary for all aspirants to have any of these 'movements' to become self-realized, although some variation on these themes is probably relatively inevitable and natural in the context of existence as a human being. This is because, it is said, there are multiple simultaneous, non-separate streams emanating from the Divine/Soul/Overself, i.e., Consciousness, Life, Energy, which are all One yet also experientially distinct.
Third, it may be possible to bypass the lower kundalini energy by meditating on the shabd, or light and sound current, as the Sants say, but it may or may not be possible to achieve full integration within the lower vehicles without some variety of "lower" kundalini activation. Many of the Sant masters have in fact had transformation of both kundalini opening and shabd absorption. In addition, both kundalini and shabd may be considered forms of shakti. As my co-writer expressed:
"The sound current, in my experience, only has an upward 'pulling' effect when listening to it in the ajna chakra or head area, as this energizes it's ascending nature. One practice Paramhansa Yogananda suggested, on the other hand, was listening to the nada as vibrating throughout the whole body, which suggests it is not limited to higher planes, but can be experienced as the underlying vibration of all the planes, bodies and chakras. Actually, this is not entirely foreign to some Sant Mat schools. Another practice he suggested was learning to hear it spread throughout the whole universe, beyond one's own body, and certainly not limited to higher planes. So there is definitely different ways to experience the nada, and 'pulling' is only one way, in my experience."
"The reason that I asked [whether I was hearing the sound without closing the ears during a time of intense energetic purification - i.e., a very painful period] is that the ascending sound current as the Word or Logos, Shabda Brahman, the Music of the Spheres, and so on is understood in different ways in various traditions; one aspect that most Sant Mat teachers have not emphasized so much is that in tantric/kundalini traditions like Tibetan Buddhism and certain Hindu schools, the sound current is considered to be a manifestation of kundalini (Shabda Brahman being the 'Shakti' or dynamic/creative energy of God or the Transcendent). Swami Rama, for instance, says that 'kundalini manifests as subtle light and sound (nada)'. And nada yoga is a key component of Laya Yoga, which is what kundalini yoga used to be called before the 20th century. I mention all this by way of explaining why I asked the questions. It is, to me, a sign of the kundalini being active if a person hears the sound current, even if only periodically. Most people I have asked do not hear it at all, though many do. My intuitive studies have lead me to feel that it is one of many clear signs that the kundalini is 'moving'. This means that one is, without a doubt, 'on their way home'. So, just another confirmation of things we have been talking about for years."
And fourth, while the Overself may be said to be rooted in the heart while incarnated (some try to pinpoint this to the sino-atrial node, and hence 'on the right', but 'deep in the heart' is good enough for most traditions), at some point one also transcends the idea of the Overself or Soul being related to any bodily center, be it the head (pineal gland or sahasrar) or the heart. Brunton writes:
"From this ultimate standpoint, space is regarded as being merely an idea for the mind whilst the mind itself is regarded as being outside both position and distance. Hence the philosophic meditation seeks to know the Overself by direct insight into its timeless, spaceless nature and not indirectly by bringing it into relation with a particular point in the physical body." (19)
And also:
"Whether the divine power is looked upon as being inside or outside oneself - and both views will be true and complementary - in the end it must be thought of without any reference to body and ego at all." (20)
And at this point one knows the shakti, shabd and/or kundalini, as the form and energy of one's own self, and not leading to that self. There is then nowhere to go, and nothing to do.
Seven hundred years earlier the author of the mystical treatise, The Cloud of Unknowing, said as much in the following passages:
"...the intention in the depths of our spirit. Which is the same as the 'height' of our spirit, for in these matters height, depth, length, and breadth all mean the same." [and] Since it had to be that Christ should ascend physically, and then send the Holy Spirit in tangible form, it was more suitable that it should be 'upwards', and 'from above', than it should be 'downwards and from beneath', 'from behind, from the front, or from the sides'. Apart from this matter of suitability, there was no more need for him to have gone upwards than downwards, the way is so near. For, spiritually, heaven is as near down as up, up as down, behind as before, before as behind, on this side or that! So that whoever really wanted to be in heaven, he is there and then in heaven spiritually. For we run the high way (and the quickest) to heaven on our desire, and not on our two feet. St. Paul speaks for himself and many others when he says that although our bodies are actually here on earth, we are living in heaven. He is meaning their love and their desire, which is, spiritually, their life. Surely the soul is as truly there where the object of its love is, as it is in its body which depends on it, and to which it gives life. If then we will go spiritually to heaven, we do not have to strain our spirit up or down or sideways!" (21)
And further, lest one on any path be concerned that he has not had the 'required' experiences, the following story of Ramana Maharshi should allay his worry once and for all:
"In 1942, a Tamil scholar had a lengthy and detailed discussion with Bhagavan on the amrita nadi, believed to be the nerve associated with Self realization. Bhagavan showed interest in the discussion and answered all the pundit?s questions, giving a detailed description of the functions of the amrita nadi. Nagamma felt out of place as she did not know anything of the subject matter. After the pundit left, she approached Bhagavan and began to ask him about what was discussed. Before she could complete her sentence, Bhagavan asked, “Why do you worry about all this?” Nagamma replied, “Bhagavan, you have been discussing this for four days; so I thought I should also learn something about it from you.” Bhagavan answered, “The pundit was asking me what is written in the scriptures and I was giving him suitable replies. Why do you bother about all that? It is enough if you look into yourself as to who you are.” Saying this, Bhagavan smiled compassionately at her. After another two days or so, there was once again another dialogue on the same subject. This time Bhagavan said that it was only a notion, a mere concept. Nagamma intervened to ask whether all matters relating to the amrita nadi were also only concepts. Bhagavan replied emphatically, “Yes, what else is it? Is it not a mere notion? If the body itself is a notion, will that not be a notion as well?” Bhagavan then looked at Nagamma with great kindness. That very moment, all her doubts were laid to rest. In narrating this incident, Nagamma wanted to make known how important it is to go back to the source when spiritual doubts arise." (from Ramana Periya Puranam)
So here Ramana appears to be agreeing with Sri Nisargadatta that all but the Absolute are concepts. In which case it does not matter which way one proceeds, the 'I'-thought or ego can be tamed, transcended, or made irrelevant on any path or via any center.
Also in Ramana Periyam Puranam is found this quote from Ramana:
"The Self alone is to be realized. Kundalini shakti, visions of God, occult powers and their spell-binding displays are all in the Self. Those who speak of these and indulge in these have not realized the Self. Self is in the Heart and is the Heart itself. All other forms of manifestations are in the brain. The brain itself gets its power from the Heart. Remaining in the Heart is realizing the Self. Instead of doing that, to be attracted by brain-oriented forms of disciplines and methods is a sheer waste of time. Is it not foolish to hold on to so many efforts and so many disciplines that are said to be necessary for eradicating the non-existent ignorance?”
Clearly, for Ramana the kundalini force was not of much importance as compared to the primary realization of the heart or consciousness itself.
10
An interesting description of kundalini is given in the Spandakarika, a translation with commentary by Daniel Odier of the ancient tantric text by Vasagupta, which speaks of a "spherical kundalini that unfurls from the heart, permeating the totality of space, and which is absolute love" - by contrast which the chakras and spinal kundalini movement are more or less imaginary, as said Ramana. This book is highly recommended.
There is an interesting section in PB's Notebooks on kundalini that may help tie up some loose ends on this topic. Among the most intriguing entries are the following:
"What the Hindus call kundalini, meaning the "coiled force," is really a manifestation of [the] power of the Overself. It does not have to appear in the case of every progressing disciple."
"It is really nothing other than the soul's Energy, the dynamic aspect of the still centre hidden deep in man."
"It is the original life-force behind all human activity - mental and physical, spiritual as well as sexual - because it was behind the very birth of the human entity itself."
"This force is originally derived from the sun. It is universal, living, conscious, and like electricity in its dynamic potential."
"He who brings to the attempt a sufficient degree of informed spiritual development and mental-emotional self-control need have no fear. But he who does not - and such a type is in the majority - may find the solar plexus pouring out the force unrestrainedly through his nervous system, inducing permanent insomnia by reason of its pressure upon his brain, until his mind becomes unhinged."
The latter is a warning regarding the premature and incomplete awakening of this force in unprepared individuals, whose many internal blocks - largely of a moral nature - prevent its full, unhindered circulation. Best, then, to leave to God the working out of this dimension of the spiritual process, while one humbly increases his devotion and understanding. deCaussade gives one example of this from a Christian mystical perspective:
"That which you experienced in Retreat was a slight increase of your ordinary state , resembling the paroxysms of a fever [kundalini?]. This increase of trouble cannot have been very salutary for you from the moment you accepted it ...God leads you, His grace works in you, although in a severe and crucifying manner , as is experienced in all violent remedies. Your spiritual maladies had need of remedies such as these; let your good Physician act as He best knows how; He will proportion the strength of the remedy to the power of the malady. Oh! how ill you were formerly without being aware of it! It is then that you ought to have taken the alarm, and it now when your convalescence is secured.”
Finally, Mark puts this entire process in a broader context:
"Beyond simply its 'serpent power' aspect, one might say that kundalini can be considered as a way of talking about an expression of transmission/grace/stimulation that can come from any number of sources: spiritual practice, directly from the Holy Spirit, Sat Purush, the lineage/guru, or one's own Soul. Kundalini, or more broadly, Shakti, is often used when wanting to emphasize the energy/bodily aspect of the spiritual process, which, of course, can, when activated, lead to a clearing of karmas and energy blocks referred to in different ways in different contexts, such as : 'kriyas' (Muktananda), 'spontaneous body movements' (Yan Xin), or burning/purifying (U Ba Khin). All of these sources and many others each have their own list of the potential symptoms that can arise when the 'kundalini is active'. These include:
- spontaneous mudras, asanas, pranayama
- psychic openings
- sensations in the spine
- OBEs
- experiencing inner lights and sounds
- distorted body image
- strange emergence of various physical sensations with no apparent pathology or outer cause
- cathartic eruption of emotions
- patterns of stress and tension moving through the body
- chakras opening
- sensation of body vibrating
- sense of misalignment of 'inner nature' and the body
- dissociation from the body
- numbing, deadening, dulling of senses
- heightening of senses
- shutting down of emotional sensitivity
- hyper-emotional sensitivity
- deeper intuitive insights
- feelings of suffocation, pressure, crushing, or bands of tensions in the body
- rapture, bliss, love, contentment, peace
- intensive negative emotions - fear, anxiety, sorrow, anger, existential despair, alienation
- laughing, crying, coughing, sneezing
- strange sensations of dismemberment, head disconnected from body, paralysis
- dizziness, loss of appetite, confusion
- vision problems, hearing problems, chronic headaches
- sudden emergence of diseases that then quickly pass without treatments such as pneumonia, fever, bad headaches, allergies
- lethargy, tiredness, loss of motivation, low vitality
Intensified episodes, then, could be called 'clearing karma', 'the scrubbing process' (Sant Darshan Singh), 'perinatal/transpersonal process' (Stanislov Grof), 'the path of purification' (Theravada Buddhism), 'diseases of the mystic', 'shakti fever', 'pranic disorder' (Wilber), 'dark nights of the soul', etc.. All this may loosely be put under the umbrella of a 'kundalini' (or more preferably, 'shakti' or energy) aspect of the spiritual process."
In some of the more ‘masculine’ paths of strenuous effort, such as Korean Zen, the aspirant is warned of the arisal of saggi in meditation. Symptoms such as intense heat, headache, feeling as if the teeth are falling out, the eyes are sinking into their sockets, or perhaps the simplest form of saggi - pain in the buttocks from prolonged sitting - are some examples of this. The aspirant is usually told to ignore these signs and persevere, that they are hopeful signs of their meditation progressing! Supposedly the Buddha’s disciple Ananda [incidentally the closest of his disciples and the one who spent the most time with him, but the last to get enlightened] at one point felt his head would burst, and a god appeared in the sky and told him that the pain in his head was an indication of his transformation from a common to an accomplished being. (see The Way of Korean Zen, p. 77). The main point is that these signs are not necessarily an indication of disease, such that one should stop practicing, but possibly signs of purification and cure. Of course it is a delicate matter and the development of wisdom is needed. Sometimes one needs to take a step backwards and achieve balance, and sometimes one needs the courage to press onwards. In the Buddhist/Taoist tradition for ‘meditation sickness’ one is often technically advised to ground the energy by focussing one’s attention or enquiry on the elixir field or tantien, approximately three fingers below the navel, thereby uniting heaven and earth.
Yes, things can be very harrowing. St. John of the Cross in his Dark Night of the Soul describes graphically an extreme of this overall process:
“The soul must needs be in all its parts reduced to a state of emptiness, poverty and abandonment and must be left dry and empty and in darkness.
All this God brings to pass by means of this dark contemplation; wherein the soul not only suffers this emptiness and the suspension of these natural supports and perceptions, which is a most afflictive suffering (as if a man were suspended or held in the air so that he could not breathe), but likewise He is purging the soul, annihilating it, emptying it or consuming in it (as fire consumed the moldiness and rust of metal) all the affections and imperfect habits which it had contracted in its whole life. Since these are deeply rooted in the substance of the soul, it is wont to suffer great undoing and inward torment, besides the said poverty and emptiness, natural and spiritual...For the Prophet says here that, in order for the rust of the affections which are within the soul to be purified and destroyed, it is needful that, in a certain manner, the soul itself should be annihilated and destroyed, since these passions and imperfections have become natural to it."
"Wherefore, because the soul is purified in this furnace like gold in a crucible, it is conscious of that complete undoing of itself in its very substances, together with the direst poverty...If He ordained not that, when these feelings arise within the soul, they should speedily be stilled, it would die in a very short time....”
This is simply not a cookie-cutter or entirely predictable process, as it is the Divine, after all, which is in charge. In Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ, Madame Guyon writes:
“Of, how many times the gold is plunged back into the fire - far, far more times than seem necessary. Yet you can be sure the Forger sees impurities no one else can see. The gold must return to the fire again and again until positive proof has been established that it can be no further purified.”
11
Unrecognized Kundalini manifestations
Mark continues:
”In general, then, most people with active kundalini do not experience the majority of these symptoms, but only a handful, at any given time or even over a pretty long period, and, further, most do not experience much in the way of the more exotic symptoms, such as OBEs, fire up the spine, chakras opening, and so on. Instead, the process is usually more subtle, gradual, and less dramatic. Subsequently, many more people have active kundalini than realize it, and more often than not, they experience mostly what may be called the 'negative' or less dramatic symptoms, as these are the result of clearing negative physical and emotional karma, and mostly take the form of strange physical sensations, disturbance of vitality and motivation, and passing through a lot of difficult emotional spaces."
"At times one may have an 'over-active kundalini', which means that sometimes this process is proceeding somewhat forcefully, and so the symptoms are fairly difficult to live with. In some historical cases this has been terrifying, or even life-threatening. [The strange episode of Ganapati Muni mentioned earlier comes to mind]. More often, however, this rapid clearing may simply be inevitable, as the natural course of our spiritual growth combined with our karmic situation leads to some accelerated working out of much 'shadow material'. But it can also be the result, at least in part, of extra stimulation so that the intensity is more than is necessary or even desirable or integratable. This extra stimulation can result from doing energetic exercises (chi gong, pranayama, etc.), or having done them in past lives, or even just from a lot of any spiritual practice, or drugs, exercise, giving birth, etc.. So if the kundalini is already active it becomes important to try not to let it, or cause it, to get over-stimulated. As Jack Kornfield wrote in A Path with Heart, it is sometimes necessary to 'find the brake' and slow down the process of purification so it may be assimilated. One student having a very difficult, painful time was told by her forest master not to do vipassanna as that only stimulated her pain, but rather, to simply concentrate on the good for a while. The reader also shall note the incident of Ramdas with Neem Karoli Baba when his and others' kundalini spontaneously started to rise, and the saint stopped it by putting his hand on their heads."
Ramakrishna Paramahansa said this of the kundalini process that began after his initial dramatic spiritual awakening:
"No sooner had I passed through one spiritual crisis than another took its place. It was like being in the midst of a whirlwind...Sometimes I would open my mouth, and it would be as if my jaw reached from heaven to the underworld...An ordinary man couldn't have borne a quarter of that tremendous fervor; it would have burnt him up. I had no sleep at all for six long years....I got frightened and said to the Mother, "Mother, is this what happened to those who call on you? I surrendered myself to you, and you gave me this terrible disease." I used to shed tears - but then, suddenly, I'd be filled with ecstasy. I saw that my body didn't matter - it was of no importance, a mere trifle. Mother appeared to me and comforted me and freed me from fear." (22)
Llewelyn Vaughan-Lee, who served under Sufi teacher Irena Tweedie, author of Daughter of Fire, writes of his own experience of this phenomenon in his early years of spiritual practice:
".. but my physical body and psychological states were still giving me problems. I was highly stressed and could not eat very much. I had a very limited diet at the time and still found it very difficult to digest anything. I tried homeopathy and acupuncture to no effect. I knew the importance of natural methods of healing. I knew that this was the right spiritual approach, but what could I do? One day in despair I asked Mrs. Tweedie. I expected some spiritual advice, but she responded, "Try valium. I often use it and found it very effective." I did what I was told, went to my family doctor, and was given a prescription. The valium calmed down my body, relaxed my tensed nerves...However [after some time], while the valium had calmed my nerves, I was encountering another problem: lack of sleep. For months, however tired I was, I could not sleep more than a few hours. I had left my mother's house and was living alone in a small room that seemed always damp and cold. I would go to bed exhausted at ten or eleven, only to sleep two or three hours. There is nothing more depressing than waking at two in the morning to a cold, damp room, knowing that you cannot go back to sleep, and also knowing that you will be exhausted for the whole next day. Night after night, week after week, this torture continued. I tried taking sleeping pills but they did not work. I would still awake, exhausted, at two in the morning. Lying awake while half-sedated with the effect of a sleeping pill is particularly unpleasant. I limped through each day, always tired, not knowing what to do."
"I prayed, I cried, I asked. What was this about? I had always slept so well before. Sleeping had never been a problem. Now the focal point of each day was how I would sleep that night. I was always allowed to sleep just enough to keep me from breaking apart, but no more. Life was truly miserable - it was like being dragged through the mud. Suddenly, one morning in the underground train going to work, I knew what was happening. I was being ground down, being told quite definitely that my life was no longer my own. My Sheikh was in control. I needed to know soon after I met the path that I was in the hands of another. Like a horse in the hands of a horse trainer, I was being broken in."
"The lack of sleep continued for about two years. Often it would be the kundalini energy that awoke me and I found that I could only go back to sleep after going for a run. At two or three in the morning, whatever the season or weather, I would jog through the streets. I was once stopped by the police who thought I was running away from nearby burglary. I became almost used to living a life of tiredness combined with intense energy. Then one day I noticed that it was over, that I had slept through the night, that I could live a 'normal' life. But by then I also knew that I belonged to someone else, that my life was not my own." (23)
Another example of a version of this process, which began after many years of practice, is told in the autobiography, Mystical Awakening, by William Johnston, a Jesuit monk who studied Buddhism in Japan for years. It is especially noted that he did not experience the classical ascent of energy in his spine, but nevertheless did have many experiences commonly associated with kundalini or energetic opening, including prolonged sleeplessness:
"One night, when I was in a deep sleep, something within, like a spring of water, came sizzling up inside of me. It seemed to come from my belly (I prefer the Japanese words hara or tanden) to the surface of my consciousness and I woke in fear and trembling. What had happened to me? This swish! And I could not go back to sleep. I lay awake for the rest of the night...On reflection I saw that I had felt something of this inner energy for quite a while, but I was able to repress it in my waking hours. When I was fast asleep it could uninhibitedly come to the surface. But what was it? And why was I filled with anxiety?...[A] Jesuit who I met in Ireland saw it as something very valuable. "Throw away your sleeping pills and even your rosary," he said, "and attend to this inner fire."
"I spent a terrible sleepless night plagued by anxiety. In the morning I was desperate...My problem was sleep. I could not sleep! The sizzling energy that had awakened me in Baguio, spiraling to the surface of my consciousness during deep sleep, grew and continued to irritate me. It was like a buzzing in my head. Eventually it irritated my whole body. Call it kundalini, the serpent power. Call it the fire of love. Call it the life force. Call it what you will. Whatever it was, it kept me frightened and awake and I kept swallowing sleeping pills....One night I was laying awake in bed. I was looking up at the ceiling, when suddenly a column of smoke came down from the ceiling and struck my breast very violently with the tremendous clang of a bell. It was not just a symbolic experience; I felt deep physical pain and I shouted out,"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Then I lay awake. What was happening?
"After some years I came to see this incident as an awakening of my true self which, hard and brittle, had to be broken open violently with the crash and the clang of the bell. The smoke, I now see, came from a fire that came to burn within me. The smoke seemed to come down from above but perhaps it was like the serpent power rising up from below. The fire came to burn gradually. Only after some time could I call it a fire. Eventually, however, it became very strong and moved from my breast to my head and back again to my whole body. It kept me awake. It was not at all pleasant."
"St. Philip Neri experienced heat all over his body and laughed at the young men who were afraid of the cold [note: see "Those Amazing Christians" on this website for an account of Philip Neri, Seraphim of Sarov, and many other such mystics]. And St. John of the Cross..writes poetically of "the living flame of love that tenderly wounds my soul in its deepest center." When he writes this poem, the living flame of love is a tender and beautiful fire, but he hearkens back to an earlier time when the flame was oppressive."
"My prayer went on, and I continued to give retreats, but a new area of my psyche seemed to have opened up...I lay awake all night, night after night...I could not sleep and I could not take sleeping pills. It was as though my being rejected sleeping pills and told me that I must remain awake."
"A new dimension of energy or a new level of consciousness seemed to awaken, yet I did not toss around in bed. I lay in utter and deep silence. It was an experience of nothingness, a dark nothingness at the depths of my being. I was terrified at the thought of getting no sleep...My inner being continued to say, "You must be awake! Do not sleep! Do not take those sleeping pills!"...This was the advice I had received from [a] Chinese sister in Hong Kong at the beginning of my crisis. "Let the process take place," she had said. "Let God act! Don't fight against God! And this was wonderful advice. Gradually, over a period of years (altogether it was five years), I began to sleep, at first with sleeping pills and then quite naturally."(24)
The writer goes on to say how he later met many other people, both priests and laymen, who experienced this inner fire, with sleepless nights, terrible fears including fear of not sleeping, thinking one was going insane, convinced one was going to hell, being labelled as 'sick', experiencing apparent breakdowns, and going to doctors to no avail. All of which illustrates the respect and sensitivity one ought to bring to such experiences, if and when they do happen.
Finally, in much of Taoism/Zen they speak of curing ‘meditation sickness,’ as well as providing a solid base for deeper practice, by bringing the energy of the heart into the lower body, the tanden or ‘elixir field’ just below the navel. The great Hakuin writes:
“The genuine elixir does not exist apart from the Great Way; the Great Way does not exist apart from the genuine elixir...You should draw what Mencius called the ‘vast, expansive energy’ (25) down and store it in the elixir field - the reservoir of vital energy located below the navel. Hold it there over the months and years, preserving it single-mindedly, sustaining it without wavering. One morning, you will suddenly overturn the elixir furnace, and then everywhere, within and without the elixir universe, will become a single immense piece of pure elixir. When that happens, you will realize for the first time that you yourself are a genuine sage, as unborn as heaven and earth, as undying as empty space. At that moment, your efforts to refine the elixir will attain fruition.” (26)
This is clearly not third-eye meditation, which this school is not keen on. (27) Rather, in some cases, it might be seen as a cure for such meditation - when taken to an unprepared and ungrounded extreme. The Great Way is the path to satori and enlightenment, which is not concerned with longevity for the body-mind itself, or ascent to the overhead planes, but directly experiencing Reality here and now. Yet, the two, the practice of the elixir field and the Great Way, are not entirely separate either. Indeed, Hakuin suggests that assiduous tending of the elixir field will in itself remove all the obstructions to enlightenment and leave the aspirant experiencing “a joy so intense they will find themselves clapping their hands ecstatically and whooping in fits of laughter.” “Why?” is the mysterious ending to his short book, Idle Talk on a Night Boat. (28)
In conclusion, it is hoped that this article has been of some use to the reader in presenting the kundalini phenomenon from a number of different perspectives. And it is certainly hoped he does not find himself more confused than ever!
1. David Godman, No Mind, I Am The Self (Nellore District, A.P., India: Sri Lakshmana Ashram, 1986), p. 10
2. Ibid, p. 18
3. Ibid, p. 4.
4. "The Muni and the Maharishi," Part III, The Mountain Path 14, No.3 (July 1978), pp. 147-148
5. Darshan Singh, Spiritual Awakening (Bowling Green, Virginia: Sawan Kirpal Publications, 1982), p. 261-262
6. Sri Mungala S. Venkataramaiah, Tripura Rahasya, or the Mystery Beyond the Trinity (Tiruvannamalai, S. India: Sri Rarnanasramam, 1962), p. 167-16, 172
6a. Hieromonk Isaac, Elder Paissos of Mount Athos (Chalkidiki, Greece: The Holy Monastery "Saint Arsenios the Cappadocian"), p. 71-72
7. Baha u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf (Wilmette, Illinois: Bahai Publishing Trust, 1953), p. 22
7a. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Wonders of the Natural Mind (Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications, 2000), p. 146
8. The Notebooks of Paul Brunton (Burdett, New York: Larson Publications, 1988), Vol. 12, Part 1, 5.39-40
9. Ibid, Vol. 4, Part 2, 2, KUNDALINI
9a. Tulku Thondup, Masters of Meditation and Miracles: Lives of the Great Buddhist Masters of India and Tibet (Boston: Shambhala, 1999), p. 140-141
10. Swami Sivananda, Sadhana (Shivanandanagar, India: The Divine Life Society, 1978), p.
11. Swami Sivananda, Kundalini Yoga (Shivanandanagar, India: The Divine Life Society, 1980), ref. misplaced
12. Swami Sivananda, Kundalini Yoga, p. 32-33 (http://www.dlshq.org/download/kundalini.pdf)
12a. Darshan Singh, op. cit., p. 24-27
13. David Godman, op. cit. p. 98-100
14. Yogesh Satyeswaranand Saraswati, Science of Soul (New Delhi, India: Yoga Niketan Trust, 1987), p. 238
15. Benjamin Walker, Encyclopedia of Esoteric Man (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1977), p. 120
16. Brunton, op. cit., Vol. 16, Part 1, 6.5
17. Hieromonk Isaac, op. cit., p. 378
17a. Although some argue that something, i.e., an eminent of the soul or Self, appears to do so.
17b. LePage, Victoria, Shambhala (Varanasi: Pilgrims Publishing, 1996), note 1, p. 279
18. Then again some have maintained, strictly speaking, that it is not permissable to say there is just One stuff!
"If I say it's one, it isn't so;
If I say it's two, it's slander.
Kabir has thought about it:
As it is
So it is."
19. Brunton, op. cit., Vol. 4, Part 1, 1.218
20. Ibid, Vol. 16, Part 3, 2.38
21. Clifton Wolters, trans., The Cloud of Unknowing and Other Works (Penguin Books, 1978), chapter 37, 60
22. Swami Chetanananda, ed., Ramakrishna As We Saw Him (St. Louis, Vedanta Society of St. Louis, 1991), p. 15
23. Llewelyn Vaughan-Lee, The Face Before I Was Born (Inverness, California: The Golden Sufi Center, 1997/2009), p. 38-40
24. William Johnston, Mystical Journey: An Autobiography (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2006), pp. 177-178. 184-185, 190-191
25. D. C. Lau, Mencius (New York: Penguin, 1970), Book II, part 2.2
“The vast expansive energy...immense and flood-like, unyielding in the highest degree. If man nourishes it with integrity and places no obstacle in its path, it will fill all Heaven and Earth and he will be in the same stream as Heaven itself.”
26. Norman Waddell, trans., Wild Ivy, The Spiritual Autobiography of Zen Master Hakuin (Boston: Shambhala, 2010), p. 85
27. In the Taoist book, The Secret of the Golden Flower, they do speak of “accumulating snow-drops behind the eyes,” but the overall practice is one of cultivating energy in a circuit, not mystical ascent through the top of the head.
28. Waddell, op. cit., p. 107
The Waking State: Its Importance for Realization, Clearing Karmas, and Sahaja
Plotinus, Paul Brunton, Ramana Maharshi, and Buddhism teach that the Reality itself is neither within or without, that the highest inner trance state (ie., nirvikalpa) is still a subjective realization, a partial realization only, which must also be integrated or realized in the normal waking state as well as 'sahaj samadhi', if truth be ones goal. This, they say, grants non-duality. That is, the "drop appears to merge into the ocean" in nirvikalpa, but the "ocean merges into the drop" in sahaj. That would appear to make Radhasoami or Anami Lok of the Sant Mat tradition appear to be only a halfway house on the philosophic path (in as much as it is, as described, similar to nirvikalpa - nameless and formless, without attributes), whereas Sant Mat considers Sach Khand as the halfway house of Self-Realization, with Anami as God-Realization. I, for one, have difficulty reconciling the two positions. Sant Darshan Singh, a blessed soul, peace be upon him, answered a similar question regarding gyan or jnana by simply stating that gyan masters reach the highest human states of realization or samadhi, but that only Sant Mat takes one to the highest. Once again, this begs for more elucidation. Exactly how and why is this so? Hang in there, for a possible answer will be given in a little while. [Interestingly, on a side note, one of Sant Darshan's favorite books was Somerset Maughan's, The Razor's Edge (http://the-wanderling.com/mentor.html), which is supposed by some to be the story of a seeker's visit with the sage Ramana Maharshi].
Scriptures and teachers seem to be in agreement that the waking state or earth life is the most important gift for realization, that enlightenment must be achieved or realized here and now, not after death. Few outline exactly why that is so. For instance, Kirpal Singh said one can make more progress HERE than after death. He casually mentioned sometimes that that is the case because the inner planes are so deceiving, bewitching, and also consoling, that the spiritual progress that can be made here in a few months would take hundreds of years up there. Others have pointed out that here ones experiences are so vivid, etched in stone, as it were, while up there they are, without the anchor of the body, too vivid and subject to distraction. There is the quote from the Buddhist sutra, The Transmission of the Lamp, which says that one can be lost for many, many kalpas in the bliss, not just in the inner realms, but the inner void itself. This suggests there is something special about the waking state, and that it is not only to be dismissed as illusion, to be dualistically left behind in search of some permanent spiritual place. The "Radhasoami state" seems to imply a realization that would encompass this perspective. Brunton, a philosopher-sage, clearly states that all yoga is only preparatory for inquiry, and that realization is achieved in the full waking state. Brunton's teacher, V.S. Iyer, argued that the waking state is essential for Self-Realization because only here (not in nirvikalpa or sleep) is the faculty of Buddhi (Reason) active - which is not merely intellect as yogis frequently misinterpret it, but the highest faculty of the mind which distinguishes the real from the unreal. "Through Buddhi will you come to Me," said Krishna in the Gita. For the vedantist, realization requires, among other things, as stated, the faculty of buddhi in the waking state, not in trance. This is because, according to the vedantic argument, our beginningless ignorance began in the waking state and there it must end. This is definitely not the teachings of the Sants, as reflected in Sar Bachan of Soamiji or Anurag Sagar of Kabir. For them our ignorance or fall began in the supracausal realm. This and the very concept of creation itself are major and important differences between the two schools. For more on this topic, the reader is directed to see "The Enigmatic Kabir” (http://www.mountainrunnerdoc.citymaker.com/articles/article/2291157/103764.htm) and come to his own conclusions.
Ramana said that ones samskaras or inherited egoic tendencies must be scorched one by one as they arise and traced to the Heart while alive. This is the general Vedantic position. It appears much different from Sant Mat which teaches that the samskaras are only removed, one, by the master’s grace at the time of initiation, and, two, after the soul passes through an "inner" pool of Mansarovar or Amritsar on the causal plane [more on this later]. If the latter view is true then most paths besides Sant Mat are wrong. But is it true? If one adds the all-important element of purification, then gross karma is eradicated by this method also, and, perhaps, most importantly. This is discussed in much more detail in Part Three. Vedanta would not be in disagreement here. Sant Mat is a little weak in its communication of this area. It speaks much about man-making and ethical life, but not deep purgation and conscious suffering. If it did maybe it would not have hundreds of thousands of initiates! But this is how many karmas are cleared in full waking consciousness.
The suggestion of the sages is that realization consists in seeing Truth without excluding the waking state, such as in inner trance. Nanak said, "Truth is above all but higher still is true living." If that is not just a metaphor, what is its true meaning? What Truth was he talking about - the truth of the inner reality found at the innermost mystical level - like Anami Lok or Nirvikalpa samadhi - or the truth of Sahaja? Certainly nothing can really be above Truth. So Truth must include life. Which brings one back to the argument that realization must be had while alive - not in meditation alone. In other words, non-duality. Vedanta has always insisted that only in the waking state are all the states present, either in the microcosm of dream or sleep, or the corresponding macrocosm of astral, causal, and other inner states.
This has not generally been discussed in so many words by Sant Mat masters, to my knowledge, although they do certainly mention this world as a place to pay off karmic debts. To their credit, however, it might be argued that the non-dualists who often criticize them lack a cosmogony, or theory of creation, in fact they deny it, holding strictly to the ajata theory, and many of these teachers may only be privy to having had a glimpse of reality, however long it lasts, and not full realization. That is apparently clear among Papaji disciples, many of whom were declared enlightened by him, when it became clear that that was just not the case. They may have had true glimpses. A glimpse, even if it lasts five years, however, s not the same as fully grown union with ones Soul, which, according to Paul Brunton, may entail a number of successive lives of spiritual APPLICATION , even AFTER nirvikalpa or its equivalent has been attained, or re-attained, in any particular life. That would also suggest, on the other hand, and to be fair, that simply traveling to Sach Khand or even Anami, once, would not grant ultimate and permanent enlightenment by itself, although Sant Mat teachers, where they allude to it, which is infrequent, appear to differ on this point. Some sages say that the longer one dwells in the Void the deeper ones realization becomes and the more one understands it, especially if one has some metaphysical background to accompany the mystical fulfillment. So it would seem the same argument for repeated immersion would apply to mystical merger in Anami Lok. Sant Darshan Singh, in his biography, mentioned that by a certain date he had been able to achieve the ability to go there at will, implying that before he had gone there, but not at will. Obviously, the former is a higher accomplishment than the latter. The idea of will is a tricky one, however, as there are sages like Ramana Maharshi who speak of losing the will or vikalpa to do anything, that the Self does all, which would include the inherent wisdom of knowing when retracting the emanant of the soul into itself was of use for its divine purpose. Kirpal Singh would say that he did not do anything, and that if his Master did not send his grace, he was nothing. Taking him at his word, one might assume that would apply to when he might be absorbed into Anami, hold initiation, or even going to the grocery store. When one loses the personal will, what does it mean to speak of having the ability to do something at will? There is still the reintegration with the world to deal with, sometimes referred to as the “downward” practice. This may not be as commonly expressed in Sant Mat as it is in Zen, for instance, but it is there .
In Sant Mat there is also Maha Sunn, between the created and uncreated realms, where the soul, divested of all the koshas except the (apparently dormant) vijnanamaya and soon to be only anandamaya kosha or bliss sheath (which some yoga schools equate with undifferentiated maya), can go no further under her own power, and depends on the superior light and power of the Master of the Beyond to ferry one across to Sat Lok, the home of the soul and where she regains her primordial freedom. This is a unique feature or rather explanation seemingly exclusive to Sant Mat. However, Ramana Maharshi reportedly did teach this:
“With the mind turned inward, drown the world in the great void, dispel illusion. Beholding then the void as void, destroy the void by drowning it in the deep ocean of Self-Awareness.” (K. Swaminathan, trans., The Garland of Guru’s Sayings by Sri Muruganar)
In other words, when the void-stage appears, without losing hold of the “I”, inquire, perhaps wordlessly, “who sees the void?” and thus pass into the realization of pure consciousness. We are not yet saying the two experiences are identical, but an essential archetypal similarity is noted. The same progression, from a more vedantic perspective, is found in the writings of the Maharashtran saint Samartha Ram Das in his book Dasbodh, and his descendants, such as Sri Siddharameshwar (Guru of Sri Nisargadatta) in Master of Self-Realization. More on this subject - Maha Sunn/the void - to follow herein and in Sant Mat Four.
“I heard the Big Bell, but it wasn’t where I wanted to go.”
Here are some anecdotes that brought questions to my mind. I am giving all of the questions first, after which there will be the resolution and explanation to help resolve hopefully at least some of the questions. I realize so far this may seem very pedantic to many; to others perhaps not so. Anyway, in Ramana's case there was a disciple, Palanaswami. When Palanaswami died, Ramana said that his eyes opened, which to him signified that his "I-thought", as he put it, or ego or soul, escaped into and was "reborn in the higher planes". To Ramana that signified that Palanaswami must take another birth before realizing the Heart (Self or Soul, source of the feeling of "I", not to be confused with the heart chakra), that if Ramana had been there he could have "pinned his ego down in the heart," thus scorching his sanskaras there, never to be reborn again. One other case in particular worth examining occurred to the famous disciple of Ramana, Ganapati Muni. It was Ganapati who gave the young Venkataram the name Ramana Maharshi. He was a teacher in his own right, and had spent twenty years in yogic sadhana. A few years after meeting Marharshi he experienced a spontaneous, forceful awakening of kundalini-shakti (which he confessed was not caused by any intention on his part, but was the “result of the grace of his Guru and God”), and which began a two-week ordeal in which he endured the yogic phenomenon known in the Taittirya Upanishad as vyapohya sirsha kapale, or the “breaking of the skull” [See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npCtvPrcEEk for an explanation and warning about this type of event by a modern day teacher, Igor Kufayev]. It is not necessary according to the teachings of Ramana Maharshi, nor is it the inevitable experience on the path of kundalini yoga, and certainly not required nor desirable on the path of the Sants. The only other account we have come across in the literature of anything like what happened to Ganapati Muni is the ordeal that U.G. Krishnamurti went through - and which also is not something to emulate - nor may it even be duplicatable. It certainly is not necessary for spiritual realization. But as it has happened we account for it here. Ganapati began to feel a flood of energy through his body at all times, with a stream of bliss piercing his head making him completely intoxicated. He felt totally out of control of his body and went to Maharshi for guidance. The sage blessed him with a pat of the hand on his head and said not to worry.
”That night Ganapati suffered terribly. There was an unbearable burning sensation throughout his body...It looked as though his head would break into pieces any time. he suffered unbearable pain... Suddenly a sound was heard, something like smoke was seen. The Kundalini had caused an aperture at the top of his skull...After the experience for ten days something like smoke or vapor was found emanating from the orifice at the top of the skull. By that time the burning sensation subsided. The play of force became bearable. The long story of suffering, pain, and agony ended. The body was filled with the flow of cool nectar of bliss. The face of the Muni reflected an ethereal splendor. His eyes bore the effulgence of the supernatural. After this extraordinary experience of kapalabheda, the Muni lived for fourteen years...” (8)
In spite of the unusual nature of Ganapati’s transformation, Maharshi affirmed that he had not attained enlightenment. When asked after his death whether the Muni was realized, Ramana replied, “How could he? His ‘sankalpas’ (inherent tendencies) were too strong.” In other words, in Ganapati Muni’s case the overwhelming awakening of the kundalini was not sufficient to unlock the “knot of self” that was still alive at the heart. "Ganapati Muni used to say that he could even go to Indra loka and say what Indra was doing, but he could not go within and find the "I." Sri Bhagavan added that Ganapati Muni used to say that it was easy to move forward, but impossible to move backward. Then Sri Bhagavan remarked: “However far one goes, there he is. Where is moving backward?" (9)
Of course, this "escape into the higher planes" warned about by Ramana and Lakshmana Swamy is exactly what is considered advisable by Sant Mat. So there is a major difference here. [Or is there? In one quote even Ramana stated that, at death: “ Some are immediately reborn, others after some lapse of time, a few are not reborn on this earth but eventually get salvation in some higher region, and a very few get absorbed here and now.” (Talks, p. 192)].
My teacher in Ithaca, NY, Anthony Damiani, once told us that both he and his wife Ella May heard the big bell overhead in meditation, and he confirmed to us that we could go with it, because it would "take you up and get you to the mental world." The big bell is the prominent sound of the Naam one hears that takes you from Sunn to the higher planes. He also said that experience of the subtle planes (specifically, the Archtypal or Intellectual Realm, which is higher than the subtle), would completely devalue our experience here, that it wouldn't mean anything to us anymore. However, he said he didn't pursue following the bell sound higher because "it wasn't where he wanted to go." I didn't understand at all what he meant at the time. He also said that he "didn't want holiness," which I didn't quite understand either. He held out for the completion of his inner concentration and mind's tracing itself to the Heart, which gave him stable realization of the witness self, (after a period of application), which he described as "peace, peace, peace." He acknowledged the possibility of spiritual ascent, and eventually different possibilities of spiritual evolution, but wanted to realize the heart-root first, which, he said off-handedly, would "take your head off." He said to those of us who were into shabd practise to "get this (the witness) first." The idea is that, without such prior realization of true consciousness, or the heart, entering the inner realms would be deluding. In Sant Mat this possibility of delusion is also asserted, however the major point they emphasize is that what is required on such a path is the "sheet anchor" of the true Master and his Radiant Form to guide one without danger through the maze of possible inner experiences as quickly as possible to reach Sach Khand and the formless realms beyond. To achieve this, the agency and help of a qualified adept is necessary, and the soul, merged with the form of the master can also go, undercover, as it were, directly to Sach Khand, the first plane of Sat Lok, without danger of getting lost on the way. To try to do it oneself is not recommended by the masters of many paths.
Here is what Ramana commented about sounds like the bell. It reflects his view that the soul is not exclusively within the body, but the body and mind are within the soul, or better, the Self, but it is unusual and does not stand, imo, as a refutation of the claims and path of Sant Mat:
A disciple Mastan wrote: "For some time I was meditating at night for about an hour, I used to hear the sound of a big bell ringing. Sometimes a limitless effulgence would appear. In 1922 when I visited Bhagavan at his new ashram at the foot of the hill, I asked about this. He advised me, "There is no need to concern ourselves about sounds such as these. If you see from where it rises, it will be known that it arises on account of a desire (sankalpa) of the mind. Everything appears in oneself and subsides within oneself. The light, too, only appears from the same place. If you see to whom it appears, mind will subside at the source and only reality will remain." (The Power of the Presence, Part Three, David Godman, ed., 2002, p. 32)
The sound of the bell is a sankalpa within the mind? Ramana by this quote and others seemed to have had an uncompromising view of the nature of all visionary or auditory phenomena, including the big 'vision' that constitutes the world itself, namely, that they all arose in the Atman, the Self or what the Buddhists would call Mind. Actually, this view is found in the Yoga-Vasistha as well, and like all ‘ultimate’ teaching that reduce everything to infinite consciousness, deserves to be pondered deeply before simply being dismissed outright:
“When sound is thought of, there is a fanciful projection of what sounds like sound.”
Ramana’s teaching on the nature of visions is illustrated by the following excerpt from the rare and out-of-print book, Conscious Immortality: Conversations with Ramana Maharshi, by Paul Brunton:
"The sights and sounds which may appear during meditation should be regarded as distractions and temptations. None of them should be allowed to beguile the aspirant.
Q: Do the appearance of visions or the hearing of mystic sounds come after the concentrated mind is still and blank or before?
A: They can come both before and after. The thing is to ignore them and to still pay attention only to the Self. Forms which interfere with the main course or current of meditation should not be allowed to distract the mind. Bring yourself back into the Self, the Witness, unconcerned with such distractions. That is the only way to deal with such. interruptions. Never forget yourself. Intellect is the astral body. It is only an aggregate of certain factors. What else is the astral body? In fact, without intellect no Kosa is cognized. Who says that there are five Kosas? Is it not the intellect itself?
Q: There are beautiful colours in meditation. It is a pleasure to watch them. We can see God in them.
A: They are all mental conceptions. The objects or feelings or thoughts, i.e. all experiences, in meditation, are all only mental conceptions."
"When Sundaresa lyer, a local teacher, described yogic experiences, including visions of light, ringing of bells etc. which he was having, Maharshi replied, " they come, and they would pass away. Be only the witness. I myself had thousands of such experiences, but I had no one to go to and consult about them."
Q: Can we not see God in concrete visions?
A: Yes, God is seen in the mind. The concrete form may be seen. Still, it is in the devotee's own mind. The form and appearance of the God-manifestation are determined by the mentality of the devotee. But the finality is not that for it has the sense of duality. It is like a dream vision. After God is perceived, Vichara commences. That ends in the realization of the Self. Vichara is the final method.
Q: Did not Paul Brunton see you in London? Was it only a dream?
A: Yes, he had the vision. Nevertheless he saw me in his own mind.
Q: But did he not see this concrete form?
A: Yes, but still it was in his mind. Keeping God in your mind as everything around you becomes Dhyana. This is the stage before realization which is only in the Self. Dhyana must precede it. Whether you make Dhyana of God or Self, it is immaterial, the goal is the same.
Q: St. Theresa and others saw the image of Madonna animated. It was external. Others see the images of their devotion floating in their mental sight. This is internal. Is there any difference in degree in these two cases?
A: Both indicate that the person has strongly developed meditation. Both are good and progressive. There is not difference in degree. The one had conception of divinity and draws mental images and feels them. The other has the conception of divinity in the image and feels it in the image. The feeling is within, in both instances.
Q: In the spiritual experience of St. Theresa, she was devoted to a figure of Madonna which became animated to her sight, and she was in bliss.
A: The animated figure prepared the mind for introversion. There is a process of concentration of mind on one's own shadow which in due course becomes animated and answers questions put to it. That is due to Manobala (power of mind) or Dhyanabala (power of meditation). Whatever is external, is also transitory: Such phenomena may produce joy for the time being. But abiding peace, i.e. Shanti, does not result. This is gotten only by the removal of Avidya (ignorance)."
Ramana, however, also said that listening to the sound was good, but better if done in junction with vichara or self-enquiry. This would be like combining samadhi with vipassana or insight practices. And it certainly seems reasonable. After all, there is a Wordless state proposed in Sant Mat - ultimately which is what? Ones own true self, isn't it? Therefore all sounds arise within or from that. And in this final stage there is no sense of prodigality anymore. Ramana would propose that such an attitude could and should be cultivated at all stages; this would be a form of gyan yoga, combining meditation and contemplation or inquiry (which is not merely repeating 'who am I?' but an entire 'philosophic' way of life. But to call the sound of the bell just a sankalpa or tendency in the mind seems an unwarranted conclusion and diminished view of the complexity of reality, or at least something easily misunderstood. Not only that, but as he did so many times, Ramana said contradictory things to different people, including remarks regarding the nature of and meditation on the sound. In Talks, he spoke favorably about it as 'the current' that takes you home':
"M. Meditation on nada is one of several approved methods. The adherents claim
a very special virtue for it. ..Just as a child is lulled to sleep by lullabies, so nada soothes
one to the state of samadhi. Similarly, just as a king sends his state musicians to welcome
his son on his return from a long journey, so also nada takes the devotee into the Lord’s
Abode in a pleasing manner. Nada helps concentration...Nadaupasana (meditation on
sound) is good, but even better if associated with investigation (vichara). In that case, the
nada is made up of chinmaya and also tanmaya (Knowledge and Self).” (2001 edition, p. 102)
V.K. Iyer sought more light on nada (sound).
M.: He who meditates on it feels it. there are ten kinds of nadas. After the final thundering
nada the man gets laya. That is his natural and eternal state. Nada, jyoti (light), or enquiry
thus take one to the same point. (The former are indirect and the last is direct).
D.: The mind becomes peaceful for a short while and again emerges forth. What is to be done?
M.: The peace often gained must be remembered at other times. That peace is your
natural and permanent state. By continuous practice it will become natural. That is called the
'current'. That is your true home.” (p. 218)
it must be remembered that Ramana rarely if ever told anyone what to do, in terms of practices. He permitted them all within his ashram, and said that you either inquire, or surrender to God. Shabd meditation would generally fall under the latter category.
Another unwarranted conclusion, in our view, is the following explanation from Dzogchen Buddhism, where uniting the inherent nature of one’s mind or "child luminosity" with the "Ground Luminosity" or "Clear Light" while alive, as well as when it dawns at the time of death, is considered the most important means for liberation, but that for those not so advanced it is advised to practice phowa transference, or directing consciousness so that the soul leaves the body through the crown of the head as the only means for passing directly to the pure buddha realms [see, The Tibetan Book on Living and Dying, by Sogypal Rinpoche]. But if this exit is considered necessary for an auspicious death (which the Bhagavad-Gita also taught), it also suggests that everyone will not necessarily leave the body by the crown center as Darshan Singh maintained was a universal process. And other traditions, as well as some Sant Mat teachers, say this is in fact the case. One Sant Mat teacher - I forget which one - wrote that if you left via the ajna chakra and not the crown, ones consequent inner progress would be limited and another birth would be required to advance further. The consensus then is that everyone does not leave via the top of the head. In the case of a sage, of course, this is immaterial. As Sri Nisargadatta said, "I am already dead, do you expect me to die again?" For Ramana Maharshi, there was a final breath, and that was it. The eyes did not roll up, and in fact in several disciples of his where this had happened he considered it inauspicious and an indication that the ego had not died.
The explicit need for Powa is different from the perspective of Sant Mat, where it is assumed that, barring traumatic accidents, even if you do pass out of the body via the crown, your direct access to the purely spiritual (or buddha) realms is not automatically assured, but depends on the grace of the spiritual master and/or one's prior progress on the path. However, one is generally assured that one's master will be there to guide one at the time of and after death itself. The painful twisting and turning stage by stage dissolution mentioned before by Darshan Singh, it seems, is bypassed by initiates into Sant Mat, where the Master's radiant form comes for the disciple at the time of death, assuring a smooth passage, leaving the body behind like a fallen leaf. Personally, I suspect there is a chance that Darshan Singh's depiction of a prolonged and painful death process was a form of 'scare story', or in other words, a form of 'practice motivator', and not the complete truth. Similarly, Kirpal Singh would sometimes describe the nine months in the womb as a torture chamber of 'intense heat and pressure' - kind of like certain descriptions of hell - and at other times would say that the baby cries when it is born because it was sustained by the light and sound while in the womb! The problem, however, is that almost nobody remembers the former, and not everyone experiences the latter; most subconsciously desire a return to the womb, and not all cry at birth, especially with advanced birthing methods. My writing partner says he was told that he laughed when he was born!
In any case, the grace of the Master at death would also obviate any three-day or forty-nine day vigil or waiting period after physical death as is also advised in Tibetan Buddhism. Indeed, the promise given by the Sant Mat lineage at least since the time of Sawan Singh has been that the Master takes complete charge of the sanchit or storehouse karmas of the disciple and at death takes him to a suitable inner plane to progress further, even escort him to Sach Khand and beyond, a glorious promise much like the one proclaimed in the New Testament:
"Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. For I have come down from heaven. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day." (John 6: 35, 38, 40)
And as Sant Darshan Singh affirmed:
"In spite of our blemishes, our shortcomings, our enslavement to the world and worldly desires, the Master has taken us to himself. The Master belongs to the realm of immortality, and in taking us to himself he takes us within the ambit of eternity." (Spiritual Awakening, Chapter 8)
The death of Ramana’s mother and more on inner sounds; the time of death; salvation after death
Also somewhat curious was a comment by Ramana’s that when the soul or "I-thought" merged in the heart there was a sound like the tinkle of a bell that the jnani could hear that indicated liberation. He indicated that that was the case with his mother, whose soul he guided at death until it merged in the Heart, but that it was not the case with Palanaswami whose "eyes opened at death meaning his soul had escaped to be reborn in a higher plane" instead of merging once and for all in the Heart. So what for Sant Mat was an escape and a boon was for Ramana a failure to attain self-realization. I don’t know in what way if any the tinkle of a bell sound relates to the naam or shabd in Sant Mat or not. Many in Sant Mat hear the tinkling of bells all the time. The words of Ramana do not suggest it is the same, because Ramana did acknowledge the existence of inner sounds or nada as a concentration method favored by its adherents to lull the mind into samadhi. Here is the full quote from Talks:
“Meditation on nada is one of the accepted methods. The adherents claim a very special virtue for it…Nada helps concentration. After it is felt, the practice should not be made an end in itself. Nada is not the objective, the subject should be firmly held, otherwise a blank will result. Although the subject is there even in the blank state, he would not be aware of the cessation of nada of different kinds. In order to be aware even in that blank state, one must remember his own self. Nada upasana (meditation sound) is good, but even better if associated with investigation (vichara). In that case, the nada is made up of chinmaya and also tanmaya (Knowledge and Self).”
This might be one reason that on the path of Sant Mat the disciple would need the help of the Master to get him across the blank or void or MahaSunn. Ishwar Puri implied that as one progressed inwardly his sense of ‘subjectivity' increased automatically, while various sages (more mentioned later here and in Part Four) seem to feel it doesn’t necessarily do so, but depends on ones deeper understanding. That would seem to be Ramana’s view also. Puri still held that one needed a perfect Master to pass MahaSunn.
Ramana didn’t speak of sound practice as a way into higher planes, however, which he looked on as a kind of unnecessary detour - although devotees remarked that, in his own case, his eyes looked like two stars, and that he appeared to return from a far-off place when he came out of inner absorption. He, however, like Anandamayi Ma, Swami Sivananda, Teresa of Avila, and others, seemed to go inside into full trance less and less as he got older. Shree Atmananda said that once you realize that your own nature is happiness, you will never again be attracted by the goal of happiness in samadhi. You might enjoy it for refreshment, but not for realization.
Now, returning again to what Sant Rajinder said, that one would have certainty of life after death once he reached the third plane, my question remains, why wouldn't one get assurance of life after death after reaching the FIRST inner plane? The suggestion was that the first two planes were not outside the body. In addition, it may also be asked, how can there truly be any "up" or "down" or spatial sense except in relationship to the body? V.S. Iyer said that inside and outside apply only to the body, and since the body is a perception in the Mind, such concepts become meaningless. So how can one truly go up AFTER leaving the chakra system by passing into and through the brain? Where is ‘up’ once the body is dead and you are in a mental realm(s)? Sant Mat might argue that there is still a sense of up and down in relationship with the other bodies or coverings of the soul, such as the astral and causal, as they are in the realm of space and time or Kal, and this is entirely possible and a reasonable explanation within the domain of relativity.
Coming back to my question about how, and in exactly what way, is this life the most important for realization, and in precisely what way can one make more progress here, one asks, "Why is the waking state considered so important?" Kirpal quoted Jesus about how after death "no man can work", so one had better work now. PB said that this world is more valuable than after death states because only here are lessons etched so strongly on the ego, whereas after-death realms are more dream-like. Sant Rajinder Singh has said that souls are supposed to be literally 'lined up' waiting a chance at getting a human body, as there are currently not enough suitable bodies available in which to make appreciable spiritual progress.
The Sant Mat masters do say that one can work from the subtle planes after death, but, again as mentioned, that it can take a much longer time than here. Buddhist scriptures generally say that the personality disintegrates back to the elements, after the death of the body, and that the ego-soul does not survive, certainly not after the so-called "second death", where the subtle elements disperse. Kirpal once joked said, "we have to make the most use of the man-body, and that is - to get out of it!" I think he was speaking somewhat tongue in cheek, because I saw more in Him than that would imply. But for the spiritual beginner that can make intuitive sense. Certainly advaita would disagree. And I think Kirpal would have disagreed also, at least in the sense that there was purificatory work to do here. A disciple, Rameshwar Dass, relates in Ocean of Divine Grace, p. 97-98:
I told Maharaj Ji, "My friend told me that You would give me a glimpse of my Divine Home. But that has not been my experience." "As for taking you up there," He said, "it could be done, but in your present condition you will not be able to stay there; nor when you come back would you be able to carry on with your normal life on earth."
What he seems to be saying is that after such exaltation one’s personal life might seem insipid if he had not integrated their realization with a parallel development in character, surrender, selflessness, and perhaps most of all, acceptance, at the physical level. Brunton writes of this kind of practitioner's lament:
"Those who have previously made satisfying spiritual advances often find themselves pulled up and unable to go farther, sometimes for years. This is because the undeveloped and imperfect parts of their natures offer obstruction to further progress. If the higher forces were to descend on them when they are purified only in parts and developed only in some faculties. these forces would prove harmful instead of helpful. Consequently, these parts are brought up by events to the surface of his life in order that they may be dealt with. (Notebooks, Vol. 3, Part One, 3.78)
There could also be a few more reasons why it might not be warranted to grant such a request. Without a sufficient degree of ego-transcendence or ego-transformation the higher planes cannot be experienced fully as they are, that is, without a sense of illusion, which would be counterproductive until such time as one was ready to experience them without causing a great reaction in the body-mind instrument. Moreover - if it were in fact possible - in taking an unprepared person to the highest plane it has been said that they might not recognize it, or even be very uncomfortable in such a rarified atmosphere. And, according to various occult sources, there might be the possibility of some kind of damage to the etheric webbing said to unite the various bodies. And finally, it might not be necessary for both progress and realization for such a thing to happen! For some it is possible that only the final stages - bypassing all the intermediate ones - may become known after a lifetime of striving in apparent darkness, with all so-called progress happening under their radar. This need not be cause for despair, if one practices with the right view, to wit, with the understanding that he and the Master reside in the Heart even now. Then he will potentially enjoy all the fruits intuitively at any and every moment.
The vedantic answer as to why the waking state is important is expressed by Iyer in the following quote:
"Gyan is to see that all things are the mind's own creations, that none are different from yourself, that none are other than the mind itself, and that therefore there is no second thing. But this you can get only by analyzing world during the waking state itself and finding it to be like a dream. This is why truth must be understood when awake, not in blank trance, when facing and seeing the world, not in negation of it." (Commentaries, Vol. 1 ; see note 29)
A quote of Soamiji that seems out of place within even Sant Mat teachings was made by him on the day of his death:
“Life-long Bhajan and Simran is only for this reason: That one should not forget at this time (at the time of death).” (Sar Bachan p. 21)
This also causes questions to arise. What was his true meaning here? Forget what? - Bhajan and Simran? - The image of his Master? It is said in many traditions that one’s last thought is very important, but surely “life-long bhajan and simran," according to Sant Mat, is also for the purpose of achieving liberation in life, isn’t it? Maybe or maybe not. That does not seem to be emphasized so much in Sant Mat, where it is sometimes held that 95% of the Master's grace is withheld until ones time of death. Thus videha mukti, or liberation after death seems the more common expectation. But, in any case, surely the general trend of ones mind over a lifetime is more important than any stray thought that crosses it at the time of death. What if, when one’s time comes, as has happened even to great sages, one lapses into a coma, or has an accidental death? Does then the inability to remember anything cancel out one's progress, relationship with his guru, or, most importantly, one's enlightenment? The answer is, “No.” And Kirpal has said as much. In addition, a dear friend of mine was killed instantly in a head-on collision with a truck on a snowy night, and later Sant Rajinder Singh in answer to a point-blank question by an initiate as to where our friend was today, replied, “in Sach Khand, because of his great attachment to Sant Kirpal.”There is said to be an unbreakable grace-laden connection with one’s initiating Master in the path of Sant Mat. This remark by Soamiji was likely directed to one person at a particular time for its impact value, but, nevertheless, when placed in a source text like Sar Bachan can create confusion.
Once more, the waking state is valued in most traditions because they say realization must take place while here to be true liberation. Why? Perhaps one answer is because it is very important both how we interpret or understand our experiences across all of the states, and also that we do not live here or go ‘within’, in ignorance. Also, the faculty of buddhi or higher reason is not active in sleep or trance, and in advaita it is said that it is, in fact, buddhi which gets enlightened. “The Self is always shining in the intellectual sheath,” Ramana Maharshi often quoted from scripture, as the intellectual sheath or buddhi is closest to Atman and reflects its light. When it gets enlightened it stands aside and Atman is realized. Technically, the bliss-sheath is closest, but as it is said to be made of undifferentiated maya there is also said to be no knowing or enlightenment possible when it is active, such as in sleep. It is present when the soul is in Maha Sunn, as well, and as we have seen, the soul is helpless there. Brunton states:
"If the body does not become non-existent because, ultimately, it is a thought-form, neither does it become unimportant. For it is only in this body that we can attain and realize the ultimate consciousness...the physical wakeful state is the only one in which the task of true self-realization can be fully accomplished.." (The Notebooks, Vol. 7, Part I, 1.5)
As in Sant Mat, however, Brunton elsewhere admits that this may not need to be achieved on earth but could occur on "other spheres." There is also permitted this exception in the Buddhist tradition (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sagga/loka.html) for certain advanced aspirants of a degree of sainthood who had purified a sufficient number of the "fetters" or “defilements" (http://sped2work.tripod.com/fetters.html). But the attainment would still not be achieved in a purely subjective state in their case, and the higher realms themselves, however blissful and however long one might stay there, which could be kalpas, may be considered "pure" but not necessarily eternal, as they are in Sant Mat. For example, one of the higher fetters in Buddhism is "attachment to the formless realms". But the confusion does not go away completely because there are formless realms in the higher mental planes, according to Kirpal Singh in Life and Death,
Tibetan Buddhism somewhat differently argues that only awakening to the "Ground Luminosity" of Mind while alive assures merger with the Clear Light when it initially dawns at the time of death. This is the great opportunity for liberation according to their teachings. If one cannot hold onto this realization at the time of death one then passes into the dawning of the "dharmata realm", which is the all-pervading creative radiance of Mind, similar to how the Sants describe Sach Khand. Failing to sustain awareness of that, one falls into identification with mind and ego once more and passes into the various intermediate realms of the bardos, and eventually rebirth. Only through experience in the waking state with its sharply defined limits can one be prepared, through spiritual practice, for the dawning of Mind or the Clear Light at death. In Sant Mat the waking state is also valued to prepare one to be aware while in the bardos or inner planes, as well as for the working off of karmas, but the defining difference after death is the boon of the Master coming for the soul, sparing him the bewildering and disintegrating experience of the withdrawal of the attention and pranas, a less than auspicious exit into an undesirable lower realm, and even further rebirths prior to liberation. There is no teaching about immediate recognition of the Dharmakaya prior to passage through all the inner planes to Sach Khand and beyond. Nevertheless, there are hints here and there in Sant Mat about the non-necessity of experiencing all of the planes in a linear fashion. Kirpal said some initiates may go directly to Sach Khand and not experience the other planes along the way, although, generally, they would, at least to some degree, as in a brief "meet and greet" of the various deities presiding therein. He also said, "you are already there, you just don't know it." But he was very clear that a disciple of some degree of attainment, and even those without much in the way of that but who nevertheless had full faith, may not have to be reborn but could continue their sadhana on inner planes, at the discretion of the Master:
"The initiates have a great concession: at the time of death, your Master will come to receive you, and not the angel of death. He usually appears several days or weeks before death to advise you of your coming departure from this world. I'm talking about those who keep the precepts! For those who do nothing with the gift of Naam, he may or may not appear before they leave the body...In your final moments, and much beforehand if you have gained proficiency in meditation, Master's radiant form will take you to a higher stage where you can make further progress. At the time of death the initiate will be as happy as a bride on her day of marriage! He may then place you in the first, second or third stage, or he may take you direct to Sach Khand. In some cases, where worldly desires and attachments are predominant, he will allow rebirth, but in circumstances more congenial for spiritual growth." (Arran Stephens, Journey to the Luminous (Seattle, Washington: Elton-Wolf Publications, 1999), p. 41)
Similarly, Sawan Singh had this to say on this matter:
“If, due to some adverse conditions, much time has not been given to the Current – but there has been a strong love for the Master and a wish to go within – even then rebirth is not given. The soul is taken to Trikuti or Daswan Dwar and made to make up the deficiency there and, in time, taken further up, to the end of the journey…[But even] if you are not able to put in much labor, try to develop love for a mahatma or for a realized soul. If you really love a saint or mahatma, then - asleep or awake - you always think of him. Where would you go after death? You go to the place of the person on whom your thoughts have been dwelling all along.” (Spiritual Gems, letter 13)
One enigmatic incident relating to the "distance" or relationship of Sach Khand to the earth plane (Pinda) is illustrated by the following. Sawan Singh, when asked how long it took him to go to Sach Khand, closed his eyes for a second and then reopened them, saying that that was how long. In the yoga sutras, however, it is sometimes said that for concentration to mature into absorptive samadhi takes approximately two and a half minutes! So perhaps Sawan was speaking from a higher, non-dual point of view? In the Gurbani, or Sikh scriptures, Sach Khand is in fact described as both an after death realm and a state of consciousness one can enjoy during earth life. That would explain things. Master Charan Singh clarified this point, mentioned before:
"Maharaj ji, do the saints have a short-cut inside?"
Charan Singh:
"They have a short cut in the sense that they have immediate access to the Father. After reaching sainthood, they do not have to pass through all those stages on their way to the Father. Christ also indicated that he could leave the body when he wanted to and he could take it up again when he wanted to, as he was always with the Father and he and the Father were one." (Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. 1 (Beas, India: Radha Soami Satsang Beas, 2010, p. 446-467)
This suggests that the Master is in a non-dual state and with access to all the states of consciousness instantly, with or without the body, if the quote of Jesus truly applies; on the other hand, it can also be interpreted to mean he can access the state of highest samadhi whenever he wished, but is not necessarily in a non-dual condition otherwise. In other words, there are different degrees of adeptship. Kirpal Singh remarked in another context that the Master can take some of the disciples directly to Sach Khand without passing through the preceding planes, seeming to imply a similar thing. He also said, in Life and Death:
“The atmospheric range of a Master-Saint is a vast immensity which man can hardly imagine...The Saint is present everywhere and His sway extends to realms undreamed of. He never leaves nor forsakes His disciples to the ends of the world.”
As the song goes, then, “how far is heaven?”
Sant Rajinder Singh said:
"People often focus on what they want to “do,” but a bigger question is what they want to “be.” The world is caught up in doing this activity or that activity, but when we look at spirituality, the goal is in “being.” Doing involves activities of the body and mind, but being involves connecting with our soul. Our soul is a part of God, a state of permanent love, bliss, and consciousness. It does not need to do anything. When we stop our physical and mental activity and sit in silent meditation, we become our true self, or soul. When we identify with the soul, we will merge back into God and enter a state of eternal love and bliss."
Again, this, in itself, could imply non-duality or not. It could suggest the ancient concept of the Atman as a disinterested witness of all activity, or it could express a greater vision. anadi also said that the true identity of the soul is one of eternal union with the Beloved or God; the question for Sant Mat is if one is in this state of eternal love and bliss on all the planes, or only in Sat Lok. Kirpal Singh suggested it is always, when he answered the question, "Master, do you meditate?" by replying, "Look here. If a man gets his PhD, does he have to go back and learn the ABC's?"
One more thing to consider. The Master as one with the Logos, the Word or Shabda-Brahman, need not be constrained with lesser yogic limits of laboring to concentrate for the two and a half minutes it has been said is necessary to enter samadhi, what to speak of Sach Khand. He is already there in essence, and could retract his attention instantly as he exists beyond time and space at all times. So Sant Darshan would be right when he wrote:
“Hazur Baba Sawan Singh used to tell us that there is a stage when our soul’s condition is such that it can fly at will from the human body to the Creator, and then come back to the body in the twinkling of an eye.” (Spiritual Awakening, p. 282).
Further, a great Master may be able to “go” to Sach Khand without even appearing to leave his usual state. This phenomenon is mentioned in different spiritual traditions. Of course, this boggles the mind.
Kirpal Singh and Darshan Singh have also said (paraphrased): ”when graced with the wealth of devotion, the Master enters every cell of your body.” Can’t get much closer than that. And what is the Master? The Word (the Logos) made flesh. He is literally everywhere.
Kirpal referred to a ‘Beyond the Beyond state.’ The ‘Beyond’ generally refers to the transcendental planes of Sat Lok (although sometimes, at a lesser level, merely leaving the body is spoken of as being ‘reborn into the beyond’). Beyond the Beyond, in the higher sense then, means what? Muruganar, a poet-devotee of Ramana Maharshi, wrote a verse which Ramana quoted, “That which is said to be beyond the beyond, and which is at the same time inside of the inside and shines within the Heart itself.” Paul Brunton wrote that “the Overself’s without is our within.” Do these statements give us some kind of clue to ‘Beyond the Beyond? Surely it is ‘beyond’ both objectivity and subjectivity, within and without, here or there - in short, an Absolute non-duality, a Supreme Wholeness?
More on the Waking State: Its Importance
Buddha, Vedantists, the Ch’an masters and others agree on the importance of waking earth life. Damiani says, further, that without the knowledge the World or “World-Idea” can teach the soul, one would be utterly incapable of understanding what one was experiencing in the mysterious Void (beyond all the manifest planes). One could come out of his trance and still be confused about the relationship between world, self, and God, ie., not enlightened. This is as close as I have found for a metaphysical reason for the importance of the waking state for realization, or, since it is not basically a ‘personal ‘ attainment, per se, but more likened to the Void-Mind awakening to itself or coming to self-recognition. The Lankavatara Sutra said that one day all beings will get purified and ascend the stages, but "if they only realized it, all things are in Nirvana from the beginning." How can one realize that "all things are in Nirvana" by leaving some things out (ie., like the world) and only going within? Obviously, one can't. This is the mistake of the yogis and ordinary mystics. The highest teachings always posit stages after the mystical ones. The progression of stages in Buddhism, as stated, beyond those of the beginner, are from ecstasy to peace to insight to Nirvana. Does Sant Mat recognize a stage after going within as far as you can go (as profound as that is), as the sages do? Personally, I think they do. Kabir, for instance, spoke of a stage "beyond Sunn and trance." Brunton writes:
"After all, even the Void, grand and awesome as it is, is nothing but a temporary experience, a period of meditation. The realization of what is Real must be found not only in deep meditation, in its trance, but when fully awake." (Notebooks, Vol 15, Part 1, 8.187-188)
And further, he speaks about ultimate attainment and why it may not be the goal of the average devotee - and why they may not be drawn to a book like this!
"The mystic may get his union with the higher self as the reward for his reverent devotion to it. But its light will shine down only into those parts of his being which were themselves active in the search for union. Although his union may be a permanent one, its consummation may still be only a partial one. If his intellect, for example, was inactive before the event, it will be un-illumined after the event [this would say something about the idea of "perfect masters"]. This is why many mystics have attained their goal without a search for truth before it or a full knowledge of truth after it. The simple love for spiritual being brought them to it through their sheer intensity of ardour earning the divine grace. He only gets the complete light, however, who is completely fitted for it with the whole of his being. If he is only partially fit, because only a part of his psyche has worked for the goal, then the utmost result will be a partial but permanent union with the soul, or else it will be marred by the inability to keep the union for longer than temporary periods."
"The Mystic may be illiterate, uneducated, simple-minded, but yet may attain the Overself. Thus he finds his Inner Peace. It is easier for him because he is less intellectual, hence has fewer thoughts to give up and to still. But Nature does not absolve him from finishing his further development. He has still to complete his horizontal growth as well as balance it. He has obtained depth of illumination but not breadth of experience where the undeveloped state of faculties which prevents his light from being perfect may be fully developed. This can happen either by returning to earth again or continuing in other spheres of existence; he does this all inside his peace instead of, as with ordinary man, outside it. When his growth is complete, he becomes a philosopher."
"It is not that the mystic does not enter into contact with the Overself. He does. But his experience of the Overself is limited to glimpses which are partial, because he finds the Overself only within himself, not in the world outside. It is temporary because he has to take it when it comes at its own sweet will or when he can find it in meditation. It is a glimpse because it tells him about his own "I" but not about the "Not-I." On the other hand, the sage finds reality in the world without as his own self, at all times and not at special occasions, and wholly rather than in glimpses. The mystic's light comes in glimpses, but the sage's is perennial. Whereas the first is like a flickering unsteady and uneven flame, the second is like a lamp that never goes out. Whereas the mystic comes into awareness of the Overself through feeling alone, the sage comes into it through knowledge plus feeling. Hence, the superiority of his realization."
"The need of predetermining at the beginning of the path whether to be a philosopher or a mystic, arises only for the particular reincarnation where attainment is made. Thereafter, whether on this earth or another, the need of fulfilling the philosophic evolution will be impressed upon him by Nature." [The "philosophic discipline" is not meant as a mere academic one, but philosophy - the love of wisdom - restored to its ancient grandeur, which Brunton describes, in brief, as the development and balancing of the faculties of feeling, knowing, willing, and intuition, as well as the full inner mystical realization as well as metaphysical realization of non-dual Oneness]. (, Notebooks, Vol. 13, Part 2, 4.9,11-13)
“The understanding that everything is illusive is not the final one. It is an essential stage but only a stage. Ultimately you will understand that the form and separateness of a thing are illusory, but the thing-in-itself is not. That out of which these forms appear is not different from them, hence Reality is one and the same in all things. This is the paradox of life and a sharp mind is needed to perceive it. However, to bring beginners out of their earthly attachments, we have to teach first the illusoriness of the world, and then raise them to a higher level of understanding and show that the world is not apart from the Real. That Thou Art unifies everything in essence. But this final realization cannot be got by stilling the mind, only by awakening it into full vigour again after yogic peace has been attained and then letting its activity cease of its own accord when thought merges voluntarily into insight. When that is done, you know the limitations of both yoga and enquiry as successive stages. Whoever realizes this truth does not divorce from matter - as most yogis do - but realizes non-difference from it. Hence we call this highest path the "yoga of non-duality." But to reach it one has to pass through the "yoga of philosophical knowledge." [i.,e., jnana] (Notebooks, Vol. 16, Part 1, 2.116)
These ideas are deep ones and explored further in other parts of this series and other articles on this website. The gist is that merely having an experience (of any kind) does not necessarily give the understanding of that experience.
Brunton makes this point:
"If the human entity has no other purpose to fulfill on this earth than to return to the sphere of its origin, then it had no business to leave that sphere. There must be something to be gained by its earthly journey, if the universe has any sense in it at all." (Notebooks)
Rumi poetically appears to be in agreement with this when he penned these verses:
“If a spiritual explanation were enough, the creation of this whole world would have been an idle undertaking…His beauty was a hidden treasure, which burst forth and made this earth more resplendent than the heavens.” (Mathnawi)
I am sure many of the Sants understand this, but often express this perennial query otherwise and in potentially misleading ways. I mention an occasional quip by Kirpal Singh, wherein he said (albeit humorously and with a twinkle in his eye), "We are here to make the best use of the man-body, and that is...to be out of it." But we are effectively ‘out of it’ in deep meditation, so why is it beneficial to come back into it? Why is it said that we make more progress meditating while in the body on earth than after death? I am merely posing the question again here, not attempting to answer it defnitively. And there are many good answers given by the saints and sages. One of them apparently is that it is important to have the anchor of the body to assimilate the knowledge, the awareness of reality gained on the inside. Another is that karmic lessons and debts are processed much faster here than inside.” (Kirpal used to say, days or weeks versus many years on the inner). Another is that samadhi, being a product of causation, can never by itself take one to the Ultimate, which is uncaused. This is quite often ignored by yogis and mystics, whose goal is usually the halfway house of realization of the inner self, or what might be termed the subjective logos within, and not the full universal realization that comes by returning from his samadhi and the. By further practice absorbing the world into ones consciousness yielding knowledge of the full Overself or All-Self, that is to say, to see the world and others as ones Self. This is not an automatic fruit of mere samadhi. For the average mystic the world confronts him as a sword when returning from his trance. He does not yet know what the world ‘is’. Thus his development is not yet complete. And PB said that this second task is the harder of the two. Most mystics, satisfied with their labors resulting in inner peace, shy away from this calling.
Another answer is that “inner” and “outer” are concepts only relating to the body both of which must be transcended, yet another is that the self-knowledge gained by assimilation of earth experience in the waking state, actually helps the soul understand itself in the great inner void. The latter is a profound subject with articles discussing it mentioned earlier.
Still, many of the Sants, Paramhansa Yogananda, Bhai Sahib, guru of Irena Tweedie, some Buddhists, and even Ramana Maharshi have said it is possible for some souls to attain liberation from the inner planes after death. Ramana summarized the possibilities:
“Some are born immediately after, others after some lapse of time, a few are not reborn on the earth but eventually get salvation in some higher region, and a very few get absolved here and now.” (Talks With Ramana Maharshi (Carlsbad, California: Inner Dimensions Foundation, 2001), p. 192)
Maybe, however, some of the jnanis and non-dualists are wrong, or missing something, and the emanationists, such as the Sants and sages like Plotinus, are right, that down here we only see as in a glass dimly, a poor reflection of the real - but up there "face to face." Maybe any non-dual realization must be made abiding on all planes after passing through multiple "zero-points" or apparent "deaths". Even though the Real is not separated from nature, or the hierarchy of planes, perhaps it is true that only the purified soul has a chance at realizing God, and that such must be attained through passing through and understanding successive levels of the cosmos. If the Soul is a permanent emanation of the Divine or the Nous, as Plotinus says, perhaps then, having a satori or deep awakening while on the earth plane does not in itself simply dissolve all that lies between 'Nature and the Nous', as many non-dual teachers imply while casually and with self-assurance bordering on its own form of fundamentalism dismiss all discussion of cosmology and the Soul. Perhaps. In Sant Mat as well as some of the gnostic traditions such as that of Plato and Plotinus, the true form of the Soul is known only in its own domain, and what we see and know down here is but a glimmer of the reality, even though it is paradoxically a manifestation of the reality and can be realized as such. Perhaps it can be said then that even if one intuits the Nous in the waking state, i.e., has the non-dual realization, the soul still naturally desires to seek its origin. Perhaps...
Maharaj Saheb, in his discourse, "Ode to the Unknown God," said:
"Radhasoami Dayal [the Merciful Lord of the Soul] has graciously assumed human form to grant redemption to the entire humanity, nay, He has made the reflection of His Form available even at the lower chakras.
"Still lower down, He assumed the dark bluish form of Niranjan. Such is my beloved Radhasoami. Descending to the heart centre, He became subject to desires. Such is my beloved Radhasoami. He, however, reduces the evil tendencies of Indri-centres (lower centres pertaining to senses). Such is my beloved Radhasoami." (quoting Swami Ji Maharaj, Sar Bachan Poetry, Book One)"
In philosophical terms what he seems to be saying, in this instance, is that the Idea of Man, and the form of the Master-Soul, gets reflected from plane to plane from Sach Khand on down. The higher up, the more it approximates, in Plotinus' terms, the eternal emanation from the Nous (or Intellectual Principle), even though the One, prior to that, is always existent and "there is nowhere that it is not."
In any case, in Sant Mat it is sometimes said that after the soul reaches the radiant form of the Master on the threshold of the astral plane, most of its personal toil is over and the rest is in the hands of the Master, who as Word or Naam attracts the soul like iron filings towards a magnet. Likewise, upon reaching Sach Khand, the emanated soul is then in the hands of the Sat Purush, who absorbs the soul likewise by stages in to the Anami, the nameless and formless absolute realm. So what we are talking about is far beyond the aegis of the personal will. Timothy Smith similarly writes from the point of view of the Sam'khya tradition of this need for grace:
"Finally, when the cosmos itself reaches a moment of perfect self-knowing,
Buddhi, through the Grace of Ishvara and with the support of Prakriti, stands
aside, and a new Bodhisattva is born. With neither will nor ego-identity
remaining, this is the moment of viveka turning upon itself – and being turned
upon itself. This is the assimilation of mentalism and the fruition of
epistemological discipline. The remaining ascent from Purusa to Âtman shall
unfold in the mysterious remoteness of pure, empty Being.... The higher tattvas [Buddhi, Aham'kara, Tanmatra], starting with Aham’kâra, are not the product of the individual Purusa alone, but are the work of Îshvara, Shakti, and Shiva. As such they can not be truly dissolved by any individual act, including viveka.” (paper at Wisdom’s Goldenrod for Philosophic Studies)
In The Crown of Life: A Study in Yoga, it is implied that Surat Shabd Yoga fulfills if not transcends the goal as elaborated in the Sam'khya school. This makes a precise categorization of the terms Sat Purush and Anami even more compelling.
In Sant Mat it is said that even a state of counterfeit oneness in which the mind is said to merge in ITS own source in the causal plane, is itself a stepped-down manifestation of higher spiritual realization of Oneness, with which it is often confused. Maharaj Charan Singh said:
"Unless the mind returns to and merges in its origin, the soul cannot be released from the negative power and cannot begin its real spiritual evolvement to God-Realization." (Katherine Wason, The Living Master (Radha Soami Satsang Beas, 1984) p. 136)
The reader will refer to the schema of planes (http://www.santji.allegre.ca/planes-640.jpg”) given before for a suggestive visual example of this. The mind is said to merge with the universal mind at the second main stage of the inner journey with soul traveling beyond on its own. Sometimes there is a silliness expressed in saying that the mind is left off in "its own home," for this suggests the mind is a conscious entity with a life of its own, which it is not. The mind is actually a manifestation or function of consciousness, but as a matter of expression it is said to have a home. This concept is much different than advaita vedanta where the mind even as a kosha is merely an expedient, being no more than thoughts arising in and as consciousness. Katherine Wason continues:
"The stage of Brahm is the apex of reality , the very height of spiritual attainment, to one who has not a perfect Master who has gone beyond the reach of Brahm. With the blending of self into Universal Mind and the expanded consciousness which embraces the furthest reach of the cosmos of the Universal Mind, it seems that no stage can be further attained. For how is it possible even to conceive of a stage above and beyond Universal Mind, often called Unity itself? To merge into that which interpenetrates the entire universe would seem to constitute the furthest limit of spiritual ascent.”
“Yet for one initiated by a perfect Master, the now purer and far more powerful force of the Shabd lifts the disciple out of this appearance of Unity and transports him to the stage of Parbrahm - "beyond" Brahm. And here a greater, more glorious dimension of consciousness is met. For each stage reflects the higher, and a reflection - no matter how real and pure and beautiful it may seem - cannot but distort and vaguely hint at that which it reflects. Thus the appearances vanish and the Oneness of Brahm is known to be but a part of the Whole. In fact, the sojourner directly comprehends that there is not only one Brahm, but others as well - that within each of these Brahmandi regions revolves the same vast, seemingly limitless cosmic scheme, each with its own cycle of birth and death and liberation, each with its own Universal Mind and astral and material creation.”
“At the third stage of the spiritual journey, the soul is pure, completely unfettered and free. The once slumbering spirit realizes its true identity as a drop of the Supreme Ocean and for the first time wakens to the full wonder and glory of God...Now the soul is in the majestic realm of pure spirit-consciousness, and awe and joy and wonder become increased beyond imagination. At each threshold of the stages of consciousness..the soul is flooded with the awareness that glory of a greater dimension lies beyond...By the great Love and Light of the true Lord Himself, the soul, united with God-consciousness, expands and advances to the three remaining regions". (Ibid, p. 306-308)
Still, one of the appeals on non-dual teachings is that they can make one keep his sanity when bewildered with all the mystical complexities that seem like one will never attain in this life. Ramana said:
“People want to see the Self as something new. But it is eternal and remains the same all along. They desire to see it as a blazing light, etc.. How can it be so? it is not light, nor darkness. It is only as it is and cannot be defined. The best definition is “I Am that I Am.” That state is beyond light and darkness, but still it is called light since no other proper word could be found for it. “Not real, not unreal; not darkness, nor light, it is. (Skanda Anubhuti)….The ultimate Truth is so simple. It is nothing more than being in the pristine state. That is all that need be said.”(Talks with Ramana Maharshi (Carlsbad, California: Inner dimensions Foundation, 2001), p. 86-87)
“People would not understand the simple and bare truth - the truth of their everyday, ever-present and eternal experience. That Truth is the Self. Is there anyone not aware of the Self? They wouldn’t even like to hear it (the Self) whereas they are eager to know what is beyond - heaven, hell, reincarnation. Because they love mystery and not the bare truth, religions pamper them only to bring them around to the Self. Wandering hither and thither you must return to the Self only. Then why not abide in the Self right here and now? The religions are according to the viewpoints of the seeker.” (Ibid, p. 99)
It seems that sooner or later most Masters say everything. They may appear to assert, to deny, to contradict, depending on whom they are talking to at any point in time. They may say the path is easy, or that it is very hard; that “only those who seek shall find” or that “only those who stop seeking shall find”; “row in one boat” while also “accepting Truth wherever one finds it.” This appears inevitable in a world of opposites and many levels of understanding among aspirants. Here is one such example from Ramana:
Major Chadwick: I try to shake off the body.
M: A man shakes off his clothes and remains alone and free. The Self is unlimited and is not confined to the body. How can the body be shaken off? Where would he leave it? Wherever it is, it is still his.
But later Chadwick expressed a certain involuntary fear while meditating. He felt the spirit separated from the body, and the sensation created fear.
M. To whom is the fright? It is all due to the habit of identifying the body with the Self. Repeated experience of separation will make one familiar and the fright will cease. (Ibid)
Later Ramana commented on the notion of the spirit leaving the body and becoming ‘disembodied’, and he said the spirit does not, in truth, become disembodied, only the bodies differ, that is all. Sri Nisargadatta said something similar, that after such a happening “you do not become disembodied, you just are.” These are insights to ponder for a long time. What the sages are doing is re-contextualizing our un-inspected manner of understanding things, they are not denying any and all types of inner experience
It does seem reasonable to believe that one can only learn that he is not the body by "leaving" it. That is the mystical contention. But questions arise, as well as contrary testimony from sages. Yes, the nature of the soul is that it has the power of inverting upon itself, but does one then know what his ultimate identity is? Sant Mat seems to say, yes, if one penetrates within far enough. But philosophic sages say that also depends upon ones understanding. Yes, one will come to the farthest reach of inwardness and realize what some call the subjective logos, or soul in its native homeland within. But then one comes out and must deal with the world, which to the average, even accomplished mystic, usually confronts him like a sword. He does not know what the world is. He treats it as well as the various adventitious vehicles over his soul as something 'other.' And he gets addicted to samadhi. Thus, his further task is to absorb the world in his understanding and realize Oneness with the All. That Universal Self Is his true identity, not the individual soul - as grand, cosmic, and universal as that in fact is. So one comes back from his contemplation and then inquires with full consciousness "What am I?" and "what is the world?" He then literally absorbs the world into himself with a purified intelligence (or utmost humility). Paul Brunton says that this second part of the task is the harder of the two, purchased, as it were, with the blood of the heart. One does not only merge with inner consciousness, but he then merges with the world. This brings one to non-dualism.
It is strange when a sage like Atmananda Krishnamenon says, "How to transcend the body? By being aware of it." We think we are already aware of it, but in reality, that is not so. We think we are aware of it. We really do not know what it is. One must not only realize one is not the body by leaving it in a trance state, but one must go on to realize he is not the body even while living in it. And of course, this results in sahaj samadhi or the natural state..
It may be said again that sooner or later, Masters say almost everything.
Since the absolute truth, or even the way to it, is not entirely explainable in words - this has been said thousands of times over the centuries - they often appear to take both sides on an issue. They assert and they deny, they may deny what they have asserted and assert what they have denied! And just when you may get comfortable with their unpredictability, they may seem to become very predictable with a consistent, reasonable and easily comprehensible message. All this is not because they are fools or ignorant (!), in most cases, but because it is the nature of the beast; that is to say, their fluidity is not only because the dharma is complex and the disciples are of different types and widely varying stages of development with a multiplicity of diverse needs, but because of the paradoxical role a Teacher or Master must also play in breaking a hypnotic spell in the devotee, who thinks he is who he thinks he is and is or is not making spiritual progress towards an imagined goal somehow or somewhere separate from himself, and which the simple dispensing standard spiritual talks and remaining as an example to follow will not accomplish.
Thus, Sant Darshan Singh, for instance, would say that God is nearer than our breath, nearer than our jugular vein (a citation from the Koran), and also that God is very far away and a long journey is needed to reach Him. He would say “there are no tests, but only regular difficulties on the path,” while Kirpal Singh would say “Masters do test their followers as they progress on the path, and usually they do not know what is happening.” He would also say, “God helps those who help themselves,” and then, “God helps those who do not help themselves.” Countless examples could be offered. “Meditation is effortless effort,” but then, “stilling the mind is very difficult.” Once, at Sawn Ashram, we were challenged with the gift of a flower if we would try and meditate all night. At one point my back hurt and I lay down intending to do so only for a few minutes, and I fell asleep until the next morning. Kirpal told me (with a twinkle in his eye I now realize, amidst an apparently gruff exterior), that I was making a mockery of the path! A few minutes later he was telling me how much love he had for me. Why all this strange behavior and seemingly contradictory teachings? Two things, as I see it. One, to by and by coax the disciple to the point of surrender, and, two, to get one to think. Because the mind can not really let go in a genuine way unless it is exercised to its fullest extent, all major questions and doubts are satisfied, and one can actually watch the very mechanism of the mind die a natural death, instead of merely suppressing it in mental quiet only to see it arise again when ones meditation is over. [Note: If this sounds more like gyan than that of a celestial yoga, that is correct. But a little of that won't hurt to complement ones practice, and in the long run can only help ones self-understanding. If the brain grows weary, or one does not grasp the concept (in essence, of thought thinking on itself, or enquiring into its own origin), don't worry, we are not finished yet and will visit this theme again. At the very least compliment yourself on having the concentration to follow such a long and complex sentence, for that is a form of yoga in itself!]
Paul Brunton, one of our more sober and articulate philosophic sages, also taught by contrasts at times. For instance, he wrote:
“There is a way suited to the particular individuality of each separate person, which will bring out all his spiritual possibilities as no other way can...It is misleading to pick out any one way to the Overself and label it the best, or worse still, the only way. It is unfair to compare the merits of different ways. For the truth is that firstly each has a contribution to make, and finally each individual aspirant has his own special way...It is a common error, among the pious and even among the mystics, to believe that one path alone - theirs - is the best. This may be quite correct in the case of each person, but it may not necessarily be correct for others, and even then it is only correct for a period or at most a number of lifetimes...We hypnotize the mind with ideas that may suit other persons but are unsuitable for us, we practice techniques that warp our development, we follow teachers which know only the way they have themselves walked and who insist on crowding all seekers on it regardless of suitabilities and we join groups which obstruct our special line of spiritual growth...Again and again one observes that the technique, exercise, method or rule which bring good results for one person fails to do so for another. It is absurd to make a single uniform prescription and expect all persons to get a single uniform result from it.”
“However different personal reactions will necessarily be with every individual seeker, there will still remain certain experiences, requirements and conditions - and these are the most important ones - along his path which must be the same for every other seeker too...Each man’s approach must inevitably be individualistic yet each will also share in common all the essentials which constitute the Quest...Whether he seek the Christian Salvation or the Japanese Satori, the fundamental approach is more or less the same.” (The Notebooks of Paul Brunton, V.2, chapter 5)
Try and wrap ones mind around that one! The fundamental approach for the Christian Salvation and the Japanese Satori is more or less the same? In fact, it is, but a great deal of understanding is required to get at that essential meaning. That is a factor needed for an interfaith understanding, and even an in-depth understanding of ones chosen path, in our view.
Even a great Vedantic sage such as Vasistha was not immune to this ‘speaking with forked-tongue’ tactic. On the one hand, speaking from his liberated condition, he proclaimed:
"That God is not distant from anyone, O Holy One, nor is he difficult to attain; he is forever seated in the body and he is everywhere like space."
But then:
"Nearest to all, yet far on account of its inaccessibility to the mind and senses."
On the one hand he said:
"Very many such liberated beings exist in the universe, O Rama. Some of them are sages, some are Kings, others shine as stars and planets, others are divinities and others are demons. O Rama, there are liberated beings even among worms and insects, and there are stupid fools among the gods. The self is in all; it exists as the all everywhere at all times and in all ways."
But then asserts what most saints and sages maintain:
"Among the many species of living beings only the human beings are fit to be instructed into the nature of truth." (op. cit., p. 251, 204, 126)
I suppose one could argue that he didn't exactly say that only humans could be liberated, thus leaving it open for exceptions such as the cow Laxmi getting emancipation in Ramana's company, but only that humans alone could be instructed about truth. But that feels unlikely. He also said that even though a rock is nothing but consciousness, it is not in a liberated condition. He also speaks of enlightenment as an "attainment" but then also as "not an attainment." They all speak like that: it is not because it is what is already the case, but it is because few realize it. Either way, the suggestion we arrive at is two-fold: both the human form and the waking state of consciousness (not trance alone) are advantages if not requirements needed for enlightenment.
And there is also the matter of the vasanas needing to be purified or eradicated for realization to become stablised. Vasistha told a story about the sage Uddalaka that illustrates this:
"Uddalaka's mind had attained absolute tranquility and no distraction could afflict it. Directly he beheld in his heart the darkness of ignorance that veiled the light of self-knowledge. With the light of knowledge that arose in him, he dispelled even that darkness. He then beheld the light within. However, when that light dimmed, he experienced sleep. But, he dispelled the dullness of sleep, too. [causal?] Once the drowsiness of sleep had been dispelled, his mind threw up diverse brilliant forms. He cleared his consciousness of these visions. Then he was overcome by a great inertia, like one intoxicated. [maha sunn?] He got over that inertia, too. After this, his mind rested in another state which was different from all these so far described. [super causal?] After resting for a while in this state, however, his mind awoke to the experience of the totality of existence. [Sat Lok?] Immediately after this he experienced pure awareness. [Anami?] ...Even as the wave merges in the ocean and becomes one and non-different from it, the consciousness abandoned its objectivity and regained its absolute purity. Uddalaka was enlightened....He beheld the gods and the sage, and he even beheld the members of the trinity. He went beyond even that state. He was completely transmuted into bliss itself and hence he had gone beyond the realm of bliss. He experienced neither bliss nor non-bliss. He became pure consciousness. He who experiences this even for a moment is disinterested even in the delights of heaven. This is the supreme state, this is the goal, this is the eternal abode. He who rests in this is fully awakened and never again entertains the notion of objectivity or conceptualisation. Of course this is not an 'attainment'."
Sounds pretty good, right?
"Uddalaka remained for six months in this state." (Ibid, p. 191)
Insight, ‘enlightenment’, and stages of grace can remain for varying lengths of time. Six months is not forever! The issue of the purification of the vasanas is dealt with in Part Three.
Pralaya and Maha Pralaya
This line of reasoning or explanation leads naturally into a discussion of the concepts of cosmic dissolution and Grand-Dissolution as mentioned in Sant Mat. Only initiates of a Perfect Living Master are said to be free of these two events. This is a huge topic, in my opinion, but we will offer here what Ishwar Puri has to say on the issue. He states:
"Pralaya means dissolution of the whole universe. When the whole universe dissolves, the souls in the causal plane also get dissolved, no reincarnation even as mind or astral body or as physical body. Where are the souls held? They are held in a certain section of the lower part of Par Brahm, where they stay until a new series of worlds is created and they are reincarnated again from there as minds, and then from minds as astral bodies, astral bodies to physical bodies. Same cycle is repeated.
What happens if the entire system is dissolved? When the entire system is dissolved, which we call the Grand Dissolution or Maha Pralaya. In Maha Pralaya, everything is destroyed. Everything ceases to exist, including the physical universes, including the astral universes, and including the causal-mental universes, including universal mind. All that is completely wiped out, and the souls have to then go from the lower part of Par Brahm, where they stay as dissolution, to the upper part of Par Brahm, which survives even a Grand Dissolution.
So when the Grand Dissolution has taken place, the upper part of Par Brahm is known as part of Sach Khand. It always is a part of Sach Khand, even now. It is where individuation takes place from totality. So the upper part of Par Brahm is different from the lower part of Par Brahm. It looks the
same, is combined, so it's very strange that there can be people stuck there, and they have no minds. They have gone beyond mind. They have gone beyond senses, beyond physical bodies. They are souls, but they are stuck there thinking that's Sach Khand. But that is still controlled by a timeless time." (page 8, Master is the Sound Current, (http://ishanews.org/media/transcripts/eng/Master_is_the_Sound_Current.pdf)
The astute reader may note discrepancies in this argument, namely, if souls in the upper part of Par Brahm are "beyond the mind," how can they be stuck there "thinking" it is Sach Khand? What does it mean to have thinking if one is beyond the mind? Beyond manas but 'stuck' in the vijnanamayakosha, buddhi, or the witness? What exactly? Furthermore, what does it mean to say one is controlled by a 'timeless' time"? How can you call that time? This is a logical contradiction and meaningless from a semantical perspective. Yet, Puri seems to be trying to express something, the question is, “what is it?” [Hint: an answer is suggested in Part Four where Sri Siddharameshwar says here one has realized the ‘I Am’ - or ‘Pure Knowledge’ - signified by a complete forgetting or transcendence of all before (or below) - but has not yet passed to the higher stage of the ‘forgetting of the forgetting,’ and therefore this ‘I Am’ (‘ahambrahmasmi’ in the Sants’ terminology) remains as the Primal Illusion and ‘parasite’ on the Absolute].
Strange indeed. Here is a quote from the advaitic sage Atmananda regarding the so-called deluge or pralaya or cosmic dissolutions.
“The ‘deluge is the last refuge after the misguided search, through the cosmological path, for the cause of the objective world. [The ‘deluge’ here is ‘pralaya’, the dissolution of the world into an unmanifested seed form of undifferentiated causal potency, at the end of each cosmic cycle. It is from this unmanifest potency that the next cycle of cosmic manifestation is supposed to be caused].
The root of this question, as well as of the search, is the acceptance of the principle of interdependence of objects as true. This position is not correct.
Take for example your seeing a cow and a calf in your dream. It is admitted that the see-er, the seeing and the seen are all creations of the mind. So you see the cow, and you see the calf separately. But immediately, you create a new perception that the calf is the offspring of the cow. Thus in fact, the cow, the calf and the relationship between them are three entirely different perceptions related only to the common perceiver, ‘you.’
Similarly, the whole objective world and all things gross as well as subtle - including even the ‘deluge’ and its accredited cause ‘mula-prakriti’ [‘root nature’] - are all objects, and you are the only real subject.
Therefore, if you correctly understand the real significance of the statement that objects have only one relationship and that with you alone, your perspective which enabled you to visualize a ‘deluge’ disappears altogether.” (Notes on Spiritual Discourses, # 378)
Sri Siddharameshwar offers a similar analysis of pralaya:
"Some of the people advise that the flow of attention should be like a thin stream of oil being poured. But will it ever be possible for any such an attitude to realize Brahman? Only one whose self-centered thinking has disappeared can realize this. When self-surrender has taken place, the state is called "Total Liberation" (Sayujya Mukti). That annihilation or dissolution of illusion through the utilization of discrimination is called "Videha Pralaya"...There was never a time when the one who is the individual is not existing, nor is there any time when the individual is existing. Blessed is the one who understands this." (Master of Self-Realization, p. 345)
Thus pralaya is here given an immediate Vedantic explanation without leaving us with the need to prove something at the end of an immensely long cosmic cycle.
The advaitic approach, as contrasted with that of yoga, is one of one visualizing, recognizing, or asserting identity with the Subjective Reality, without conceding even a tentative objective reality apart from that. This is a difficult subject. As a bridge to the next section, one might say on this understanding that a key to passage in Sant Mat from Maha Sunn to Sach Khand is the recognition, with the Guru’s help, of the apparent ‘objectivity’ of Maha Sunn as really an expression of the Subjectivity that is always the case, but usually only known on the mystic path first in Sach Khand. Hopefully this may get a little clearer as we proceed.
Maha Sunn and the Void
The philosophical concept of the "void" is necessary to be investigated here, because of the way that in Sant Mat it is explained that there is a great void or region called Maha Sunn separating the 'materio-spiritua'l regions from the purely 'spiritual' ones, in which even great souls get suspended until a living master brings his great Light through it to guide them out of it and "usher them into" the spiritual planes. This may be confused with the concept of the void(s) as given in Buddhism. For it is unlikely the two are the same. Maha Sunn is an experiential void that divides the supracausal region, crossing signifies final ego-death and freedom from births and deaths, but it is not yet the 'void' of Sat Lok, which is reality.
The use of such terminology can be even more confusing when it is recognized that in the consideration of the void or ‘emptiness’ in Mahayana Buddhism, ‘emptiness’ itself is also ‘empty’. It is not considered to be a state as such but more often as a dialectical methodology of understanding the non-entitification of things. (For more on this please see ”Emptyness Is Empty” at http://www.mountainrunnerdoc.com/emptiness_is_empty.html).
Nevertheless, once again, in Sant Mat the plane of Maha-Sunn (http://www.santji.allegre.ca/planes-640.jpg) is referred to as a dark experiential void, like a form of dark space, that the soul passes through on the way to the 'void' of Sach Khand and the deeper Void of Anami Lok (Void of what in Sat Lok? - void of any duality). Once again, in Buddhism where reference is made to the void it is generally not to a phenomenal void but, rather, either a realm of the absence of ego or self-consciousness, or, alternatively, ‘suchness,’ the only reality there is. In Maha Sunn, however, there is the experience of darkness, but in the true void there is no darkness and no separate "I", so this void-nature, it appears reasonable, would have to be at least what is called Sach Khand or perhaps even Anami in Sant Mat. When I publicly asked Sant Rajinder Singh to comment on Kirpal Singh's enigmatic comment to me, "God is nothing," he replied, "because there is a void in Maha Sunn the soul has to cross." In my question I had not intended to ask about an experiential void as such, but the void-nature of reality, of the soul and God. His answer was unsatisfactory, or rather incomplete, for me, but that could be a reflection of my own short-coming. Crossing 'Maha Sunn' may be, it seems, the inversion equivalent of the 'Great Death' in Zen, and a profound stage. But it is not “Emptiness” or the “Void,” capitalized. That refers to a Positive Reality, a Fullness - the ‘negation’ of the negation represented by Maha Sunn. Nagarjuna, the essential originator of the Mahayana emptiness teachings said, “It cannot be called void, or not void, or both or neither, but in order to point to it, it is called ‘the void’.”
The Void, or Sunyata, Suchness, whatever name one chooses to point to the non-conceptual Truth, is not dark (another concept or experience), but the clear light of Reality, the goal-less goal of all the paths. How could Sant Kirpal Singh, for instance, in his time explain such a thing to his disciples other than on a one-to-one basis and not necessarily through words but through a potent spiritual silence? Looking back now, I see the reason for Kirpal's exclamation to me, "God is nothing!" In Buddhism, God IS nothing, or the Void-Mind, which is really not nothing but the fullness (purna) of Reality. It is described as empty like space, but it is not really empty, because it is full of Consciousness. And inseparable from the Absolute; this wholeness might be what Guru Nanak meant by his term in his Jap Ji, "the Unmanifest-Manifest."
The void, unfortunately, is probably the most misunderstood concept in Buddhism. It does not mean nothing as conceptually understood - such a 'nothing' is only an idea - but rather, once again, the true non-conceptual reality. It is the REAL. But as asked at the outset, is that realized in Sat Lok - be it Sach Khand or Anami - or is it beyond even Anami? The views of the Sants differ on this, some considering Anami to be within relativity, and others viewing it as the Absolute. Sant Darshan Singh described Anami as “an infinite ocean that has no shores.” That is still conceivable, however, and the Absolute has no description or attributes whatsoever. Darshan also said he could go into and out of it at will. That, too, is not a characteristic way of speaking of the Absolute. It is not a state one goes into or out of. One is never out of it. An infinite ocean with no shores is no doubt a lofty realization, but then so is "God." That does not make it the Absolute, or Stateless State as described by sages. But Darshan Singh, being a poet, may perhaps be granted a little slack.
One teacher, Ramaji, described the Pure “I Am” (perhaps the Samartha Ramdas-Siddharameshwar-Nisargadatta equivalent of the Sat Lok level) as “the non-dual quintessence of duality.” That is also similar to how Mark describes it in Part Two. It is the wonderful first step - sometimes considered an eternal expression (like Sat Desh) - out of the Absolute.
The idea of a barrier of nothingness to be crossed is found in many traditions. Sri Siddharameshwar writes:
"There is a void that is emptiness, or ignorance, and beyond that is the fourth body, which is of the nature of God." (op.cit., p. 97)
[It gets confusing. Sometimes Siddharameshwar says this fourth body of Sat-Chit-Ananda is perishable, while at other times as mentioned he says it is an "eternal expression" of the inexpressible Absolute. His disciple, Nisargadatta, said in I AM THAT that "in the Absolute every I Am is preserved and glorified." That actually sounds much like Sant Mat positing Sat Desh as an eternal yet created realm.]
At any rate, there is a void-passage. Shri Atmananda states: “Even great yogins have often been stranded for years in nothingness...because the experience of nothingness also gives you a reflected and limited peace and happiness.” (Notes on Spiritual Discourses, #1089). Nagarjuna warned that “believers in emptiness would end up in a self-condemned void”; ‘Nothingness’ is but the third of the four higher jhanas in buddhism, followed by the plane of ‘neither perception nor non-perception’, and only then Nirvana. Atmananda, speaking from the point of view of a jyanic and not a mystical perspective, nevertheless further explains:
"In the traditional method...the process is adopted by scientists, slowly ascending from the world, always attributing reality to the objective. Proceeding this way, they knock against a blank wall of ignorance, because they find no way to transcend duality." (#936)
“In your attempt to reach the Absolute, you transcend the realm of objects and senses, and sometimes get stranded in a state of void or nothingness. This void or nothingness, though highly subtle, is still objective in character; and you remain as that positive principle which perceives that nothingness also...So whenever the concept of nothingness confronts you, take the thought that nothingness is also your object, and that you are its perceiver, the ultimate subject, whose nature is Consciousness; and it becomes one with the ‘I’- principle. The void is the last link in the chain which binds you to the objective world. Its appearance in the course of your spiritual sadhana is encouraging, since it forebodes the death-knell of the world of objects, of course in the light of knowledge.”
“Shri Buddha first analyzed the eternal objective world in the right yogic fashion, utilizing mind and intellect as instruments, and at the end reached what may from the phenomenal level be called void or nothingness. A negative can never subsist by itself. Much less can it be the source of positive things. That which was called void or nothingness has to be understood as Atma itself. Buddha must have gone beyond and reached the atmic principle himself. But Shri Buddha’s followers seem to have stopped short and interpreted the Ultimate to be that void or nothingness.” (Ibid, #187)
[The past paragraph suggests to me a possible reason why Sant Darshan Singh made the broad claim that “Buddhists only go to the third plane.” This is discussed at greater length in Part Four].
Ramana said:
"The state of emptiness is the bone of contention in all philosophies." (Talks, p. 396)
And it is also probably the most misunderstood concept in Buddhism, so much so that the great Nagarjuna himself - who codified these teachings - said "Believers in emptiness are incurable."
Here is how Sri Siddharameshwar summarized this problem:
"When going beyond all visible appearances, the invisible void remains. Thinking this to be Brahman, one returns back from there...On one side is what is visible, and on the other side, there is attributeless God. In between the two there is nothingness, or the void. It is because of dull intellect that some say that this is Brahman... First, visible appearances are given up. Then, going beyond the void one sees the "Primal Illusion" (Moolamaya). Only from there, can the Absolute Reality, Parabrahman, be realized."
This was discussed earlier. "The Primal Illusion" is actually the "I Am" as the primal form Self-Knowledge.The "visible appearances" are the first three planes in Sant Mat. A void separates the two.
"When one tries to see from a perspective of being a separate observer, one finds the state of the void, and doubts increase in the mind about this state of nothingness. Experiencing a sense of separation from it, one labels it as the void. However, if ones goal is the realization of Reality, one must first recognize undivided oneness. Be Reality itself to see Reality. When looking in a state of separation, one only gets the experience of the void." (Amrut Laya, p. 216-217)
The void of Maha Sunn, these sages seem to be saying, is only seen as thick darkness when understood or viewed objectively. Which is apparently how it is generally viewed in a cosmological path such as Sant Mat. But with the grace of the Master Power and the Holy Spirit or Naam - on this path - it becomes the transition from the objective to the subjective point of view, i.e., the “Beyond.” In Advaita, where successful, this point is tackled from the beginning through inquiry, and optimally the grace of an adept master as well. As Atmananda further says:
“From inactivity (even of Nirvikalpa Samadhi) you cannot get to the beyond without something active coming to your help.”
This sounds similar - in concept at least - to the Sant Mat idea of needing a Master to get the bewildered soul across the void of Maha Sunn. His next statement is provocative:
“But from the active sphere (the waking state), you can rise straight to the Ultimate, merely by understanding it aright.” (Ibid, # 329)
The latter statement, of course, is pure Advaita and quite a contrast to the approach of Sant Mat - at least as generally portrayed. But some may have had a different experience with the Masters of that path, especially with the greatest of such Masters who may be competent in guiding their disciples to realization through different methods.
In any case, when David in Psalms says “Near to God and round about Him are darkness and clouds,” and “Through the splendor of his presence passed clouds,” this is not so in reality, but due to our lack of understanding and viewpoint. This is a loose interpretation of scripture, but I believe it can be applied as well to our “dark nights” while on earth as well as during mystical ascent through inner planes.
Christian mystic Madame Guyon, interestingly, seems to describe a state ‘equivalent’ to that of Maha Sunn and perhaps the super causal plane subsequent to it (that is, a condition beyond the mind, so-called, where the ego-self is essentially dead, but the soul has yet been taken into God) in the following passage:
“From the time that the soul expires mystically, it is separated generally from everything that would be an obstacle to its perfect union with God; but it is not, for all that, received into God. This causes it the most extreme suffering. You will object here, that, if it be wholly dead, it can no longer suffer. Let me explain. The soul is dead as soon as it is separated from self; but this death or mystic decrease is not complete until it has passed into God. Until then, it suffers very greatly, but its suffering is general and indistinct, and proceeds solely from the fact that it is not yet established in its proper place...After death, I repeat, the soul is entirely rid of self, but not at first received into God. There still exists a something, I know not exactly what, a form, a human remnant; but that also vanishes. It is a tarnish which is destroyed by a general indistinct suffering, having no relation to the means of death, since they are passed away and completed; but it is an uneasiness arising from the fact of being turned out of self, without being received into its great Original. The soul loses all possession of self, without which it could never be united to God; but it is only gradually that it becomes fully possessed of Him by means of a new life, which is wholly divine. As soon as the soul has died in the embraces of the Lord, it is united to Him in truth and without any intermediates; for in losing everything, even its best possessions, it has lost the means and intermediates which dwelt in them; and even these greatest treasures themselves were but intermediates. It is, then, from that moment, united to God immediately, but it does not recognize it, nor does it enjoy the fruit of its union, until He animates it and becomes its vivifying principle...The dead soul is in union, but it does not enjoy the fruits of it until the moment of its resurrection, when God, causing it to pass into Him, gives it such pledges and assurances of the consummation of its divine marriage, that it can no longer doubt: for this immediate union is so spiritual, so refined, so divine, so intimate; that it is equally impossible for the soul to conceive or to doubt it.” (The Way to God, in Spiritual Progress (Dallas, Tx: Gideon House Books, 2016), p. 194-195)-
Charan Singh versus Ramana
A German guy once asked Charan Singh why all these divisions of planes in Sant Mat? He argued that Ramana didn’t distinguish planes, and that when you were one with the Self that was it. Charan replied that Ramana only went to the fourth plane: “Let me tell you, that is the 4th plane. You are above the mind but there are certain subtle marks on the soul there. And more importantly that you can be reborn after a grand dissolution, while at Sach Khand you are never reborn." (Unless you want to be - as Ishwar and various sages have pointed out with respect to post-enlightenment "options"). Charan stated:
"Between the mind and Sach Khand there are still the impressions of those karmas which, of course, cannot pull the soul back to this creation; but those impressions are still with the soul. There is a darkness we have to pierce before we can reach Sat Lok, Sach Khand...It is only in the company of the master that the soul is able to go through that darkness of Maha Sunn, as we call it, and merge into the infinite...After all the coverings are removed, the soul still doesn't go straightaway and merge back into the Lord. That is why, when the mystics explain the teaching, they always say that without his grace the soul can never go back to the Father...The soul has its own light, but still it is not sufficient to enable it to cross that veil of darkness. Then the master's light, which is much brighter, has to envelop the soul, so to say, and merge back into the infinite light. This is just a way of explaining things which really have to be experienced, to be realized." (Spiritual Perspectives, (Beas, India: Radhasoami Satsang, 2010), Vol. 1, p. 183-184)
“Just a way of explaining things” may be key for our understanding here - on other paths it might be explained that an “act of divine Intellection,” or an extreme form of discrimination, or recognition, or grace, must take place, to move the stranded soul beyond a blank albeit still objective state to the pure subjectivity of “the Beyond,” for the jiva has reached a dead end. The darkness faced here is not like an objective darkness that the ego might face on a dark night and need a flashlight to get through. If it is then this darkness is different than what the vedantins are talking about, which is akin to the causal darkness or ignorance of the deep sleep state. Atmananda goes further, explaining the concept of 'merger', or apparent merger, from an advaita perspective:
"From the standpoint of Truth, the personal God - as well as the state of sayujya (i.e., merger) - are only concepts of the devotee's mind. In sayujya, that mind merges in its own concept. It is impossible for the individual mind to come out of that state at will, because the mind, being merged, is deprived of all initiative. Therefore the state is more or less a well-earned and indefinite rest, without any specific experience of misery. Even this state, in the relative realm, has its natural termination; and the devotee is eventually born again as a man." (Notes, #1137)
He further implies that those souls - such as are halted in Sant Mat at Maha Sunn - while transcending body and senses and manas, have not transcended intellect, and therefore get stranded in nothingness or "shunya," (#1140) until the organon of higher reason, which he calls "vidya vritti," or the power of consciousness [or in Sant Mat, the Master or Master-Power], comes to their aid.
Ramana Maharshi, as quoted by David Godman in The Power of the Presence, Vol. III, said:
“Grammatically, this word [maha sunya - “the great non-being”] can also be resolved into maha asunya, which means “the great being.”
The gist, in my humble and tentative opinion, is that in advaitic paths the power of understanding converts an objective and/or yogic viewpoint into a subjective one, whereas, it appears, in mystical paths such as Sant Mat one begins from an objective viewpoint or presumption and then needs esoteric help in going beyond that once Maha Sunn is reached.
One way of looking at the change called for at Maha Sunn is perhaps suggested in the writings of St. John of the Cross:
"God is the supernatural light of the soul's eyes, and without this light she is enveloped in darkness...The soul longing to focus the eyes of her will on the light of something outside of God is justly deprived of the divine light - insofar as the spiritual power she has for receiving God's light is occupied with this other light." (Spiritual Canticle, Stanza 10.7,9 (Collected Works, trans., Kavanough/Rodriguez, ICS Publications, 1991)
Another perspective is that in Sant Mat the mind has ‘merged’ in Maha Sunn, and great yogis have mistaken this for realization, but the soul has not yet ‘passed into God’, in Mde. Guyon's terminology. In Zen, there is a similar passage described:
"The aim of Zen training is to die while alive, that is, to actually become the self of no-mind, and no-form, and then to revive as the True Self of no-mind and no-form. In Zen training, therefore, what is most important is for one to revive from the abyss of unconsciousness.” (Abbot Zenkei Shibayama, A Flower Does Not Talk (Tokyo, Japan: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1970), p. 46-47)
The examples given suggest a universality to this experience on the way to realization. The following may also illustrate the difficulty here. Ramana said:
"Abhyasa consists of withdrawal within the Self every time you are disturbed by thought. It is not concentration or destruction of the mind, but withdrawal into the Self." (Talks, p. 382)
This is more a sense of retreating mentally into subjectivity away from objects as opposed to actual yogic absorption into an inner void to escape objects. The objects as objects are not real, therefore there is no escaping them objectively. Going within thus described is not to be understood in a spatial manner, but as an orientation towards ones sense of awareness, which is ultimately realized as both within and without and beyond both. The void, when conceptualized, as something to be absorbed into within, is not the subjectivity Ramana is pointing to, but is still more or less an object as is the Maha Sunn stage.
Ed Muzika, disciple of the American sage Robert Adams, faced similar difficulties with his practice of self-enquiry:
"It took me a long time to realize that going within, for me, meant space/void/mind exploration, while what I really needed to do was to flee into subjectivity away from objects as opposed to fleeing into the void to escape objects [important point]. Until you have done this practice for some time, it is hard to notice the difference. Going within is not a spatial thing, but a heading towards the sense of the source of sentience. The void is not subjectivity, it is still an object." (Ed Muzika, Dancing With God)
What is required is known as antardrishti, or ‘inward looking’. It is not meant in a mystical sense, but is sometimes difficult to understand for those who have not moved beyond the yogic or mystical stages of orientation. The injunction to look within, such as in searching for the heart on the path of Sri Ramana, is only a provisional teaching to break the habit of looking outwards. One is actually called to look within oneself, not within the body.
I believe this antardrishti is what Kirpal Singh meant when he said ”To know God you have to bring about a change in your heart, learn to look inward, and realize that He is your Overself. As soon as you have this realization, you are with Him."
Note that in these words there is no mention of physical, astral, causal, or super-causal planes, only a direct inward seeing similar to what Maharshi spoke of. This perspective of jnana may take some time to discern for one practiced in a yoga path, although in essence it is far simpler. Nor is this a mere academic point but one filled with much importance. For example, as the Buddhist text, The Transmission of the Lamp, states:
"The ordinary man is going astray, but in a way is enlightened; the Sravaka, however, who is enjoying the bliss of absorption for ever so many kalpas, is, from the point of view of the Bodhisatva, suffering the fires of hell, having buried himself in emptiness with no possibility of insight into the Buddha-Nature itself."
The analysis of Charan Singh about the difference between the fourth and fifth plane appears valid. Though it is a little awkward to speak of being “beyond the mind”, yet still having stains or blemishes or traces, it makes sense if looked at as being beyond the mind as such, but not beyond the root of the mind, the subtle I-thought, or the I Am of Nisargadatta, after which transcendence the realization of Sat Lok or its 'non-inversion equivalent' would ensue.
But I feel it is unwarranted and maybe even ludicrous to pidgeon-hole Ramana into a fourth plane limitation merely because he didn’t care to bother with making or exploring distinctions in levels of inversion, when he was more disposed to abide as the essence of all planes, and which can be realized on any plane, including this one. After all, the jnani has been described as "trackless, like a fish in water, and invisible even to the gods." How could one see him? Sri Nisargadatta was that way, too, pointing out that the various mystical attainments required “special training,” which from his point of view would be more or less optional.
I have no personal experience with Charan Singh, but have no reason to assume that he was speaking from experience (i.e., of actually "seeing" on what plane Ramana was "located"), but rather that he made this claim based on theoretical grounds and his own personal understanding of vedanta.
There was a “debate” of sorts via a series of correspondences between Ramana and Sri Aurobindo, mentioned in Talks and also David Godman’s The Power of the Presence where a similar issue came up, with Aurobindo arguing for higher planes and bodies as necessary, and Ramana saying they were not. It is very interesting:
“A visitor asked Bhagavan about the “over-mind,” the “super-mind,” the “psychic,” and the “Divine” in Sri Aurobindo’s terminology. “Realize the Self or the Divine,” said Maharshi, “then all these differences will disappear.” (Talks, p. 402-403). I give Ramana the odds in the debate. His final answer was along the lines of, “all agree that the ego must go, realize that and then see if more is required.”
Ramana, Atmananda Krishnamenon, and Kirpal all stated that the only thing standing between man and God was the ego. Nothing else. So the fourth plane seems not like a place to get stranded (like Maha Sunn) but more like a jumping off point. And to me it further seems like a silly complication to scare people with the threat of not making it through a grand dissolution by remaining at the fourth plane, as the billions of years that must pass for such an event would seem more than enough time to rectify such a small error!
As we try to do throughout this book we are trying to be fairly exhaustive in examining many sides to this topic to shed light on the various questions that may arise. The issue of being beyond the mind but not yet situated in realization of the Absolute is mentioned by Sri Siddharameshwar in Amrut Laya. He states:
"When there is nothing, that is called the causal body. It is also called ignorance...Who was the One that experienced or saw during sleep, that there is nothing? The answer is "I." So "you" had the experience that there was nothing during sleep. Existence-Knowledge-Bliss [Sat-Chit-Ananda] is the fourth body. He is God. That there is "nothing" during sleep, is known without the help of the mind. Leave off even that "I Am," then the modification of the mind which says "I Am" also remains at rest." (p. 103)
Here he seems to be referring to the subtlest dimension of the "I"-thought, which he says is the "origin of the assertion of objectivity." Kabir may have referred to this when he wrote, "but who can part with the seed mind within?" Shankaracharya called this Inner Mind or Fourth Body the "Primal Illusion," but it has also beencalled the "God of Gods," and sometimes "the Self." (In other sources the Self sometimes refers to Parabrahman, however, another reason not to jump to categorize a realization such as Ramana's).
Isolation of the "I" in Maha Sunn: Dread and the Void
There is another aspect, besides ending up in a bewildering dead-end state of laya, as mentioned by sages noted above, that may come up in terms of difficulty in passing beyond the Void. That is related to the fact that at this stage the ego is isolated and alone. Body, thoughts, feelings, and even cosmic experiences are gone, and offer it no support. All it sees is a nothingness and an abyss. It may have been taught that it must surrender to a Higher Power, but here it does not know there is a Higher Power! Further, the more it enters the void and the more isolated it becomes, the more a sense of fear or dread may arise as it senses its impending annihilation. And it will recoil and fall back into the welcoming arms of its prior experience of life in the ego, both worldly and spiritual. Only its prior discipline and understanding will help it stay the course at this critical juncture, but even still, with few exceptions, it won't surrender willingly. A higher form of help must come to its aid and 'force the issue.' If one is prepared, through prior struggles with his ego, he will recognize intuitively the help when it begins to manifest itself, and not be as inclined to be at war with it..
Here we are talking of penetrating the roots of fear. The "dread" is more or less depending on how much one has been able in their practice - in all its forms - to 'die' a little each day. Still, it is not the ego that can surrender itself completely. Help must come to it, but unless its prior experience and discipline and understanding have prepared it to struggle with the ego, day by day and in all circumstances of life, it may not be able to recognize the Help when it does come, but in fact may run from it. Only when an ego has matured and reached a profound level of understanding, or satiation with experience, or the deepest humility, will it be really capable of surrendering itself, or even recognizing both in or out of meditation that this is what it is called for.
The problem is something like this. The basic nature of the "I" or ego is the assertive will-to-be, or the self-will itself. How will it give that up, when it knows nothing else? The problem is also that in a deep contemplative stage the ego-I becomes not so much a thing but a state, and it is difficult to let go. This, in my opinion, can apply to a path of jnana as well as a mystical one like Sant Mat. Damiani explains:
"As we're tracing back this I-thought, it becomes ever more and more ethereal and refined and difficult to pinpoint because it's no longer a thing; it becomes really a state. Within the psychological state, that I-ness is relatively undefined, not very articulate. But as we advance into more mystical states, that becomes more and more defined and more and more felt, so we become identified with an infinite existence."
"The next step is to give that up. And you won't. No one will give that up. A situation has to be brought about where you're forced to choose between identifying with that I-ness or dropping it. The analyses from the psychological level just are inadequate." (Standing in Your Own Way (Burdett, New York: Larson Publications, 1993), p. 205)
For the ripe and prepared soul, he will begin to intuitively sense the "King within" becoming active and helping the ego do what unaided it can not do by itself.
"There is something in us which takes charge and knows and can distinguish between the profoundest subtleties of the ego and the non-ego. One has to deliver oneself to that guidance." (Ibid, p. 206)
Yes, in Sant Mat it is promised that the Master will come and, as it were, overshadow the soul with His greater light and safely take it to Sach Khand. But I wonder how easy this is without the soul's cooperation? So far, up to Maha Sunn, the mystic may not have surrendered anything. He should have, but it is actually possible to reach this stage in meditation without altogether letting go of the ego. Kirpal admitted as much when, responding to the erratic behavior of one satsangi who went very far within but still acted stupidly outside, said, "why did he act like that? Because the ego [or egoism] goes all the way up." This certainly happens a lot on this path, and one might question why a master would permit this to happen. On the path of Sri Ramana this is less frequent, because the question of the ego is directly tackled from the beginning, and trance states are eschewed. The Masters have their ways, however, and as Kirpal would say, "give the disciple a long rope." One way or another, hopefully the job gets done.
So there are a few problems faced with the void. One, the person as ego will always run from the loneliness, the emptiness of their higher self. This is fundamental. The ego being, as Ramana said, a "spurious entity," or in Brunton's terms, no real "I" but rather a series of concepts actualizing themselves as an "I"-process; or in other words, a collection of thoughts or 'matrix of possibilities' constantly externalizing, corporealizing and believing in themselves, energized by self-will, that will recoil from their impending doom in the void and paradoxically, seemingly impossibly, pull ones consciousness back into illusion. Further, in any so-called 'spiritual' experiences, up to and including even that of the Soul itself, the ego will try to infiltrate itself into that glimpse. Thus, one says "my" experience, or "I" had a vision, and so on, including, in great ones, the proverbial "I am the new Messiah" complex. And this is why having mystical experiences without metaphysical or philosophical training, and paths which may encourage that, can be so dangerous, and why so few unite with the Overself.
One fundamental point to grasp, as emphasized by anadi as quoted earlier, is that having of an experience and the understanding of it are two different things, and the one does not necessarily follow upon the other. Safeguards, besides holding fast to the feet of a true Master, are humility, the use of ones reason, and the recognition that the ego is far more clever than the conscious mind, having essentially millions of years experience in seeing after its own survival.
Isn't this an interesting perspective? That when one looks into his own loneliness, he turns away from it, being more interested in the incessant combustion of a series of habitual thoughts actualizing themselves as an "I" than he is in the seemingly empty center that is his Real Being? Ones impending death is entirely illusory, but, unchallenged, enough to drive one up a wall for an indefinite number of incarnations!
Here, in the void, however, there is nowhere to go, nothing to call ones own, and the challenge presents itself, if one is ready. If one has not tried, however, to 'whittle' down the ego - as prosaic and hopeless a task as it is by itself for displacing it - day by monotonous day - choosing the higher over the lower, the positive over the negative, the ethical over the unethical - dropping irrelevant thoughts, not expressing reactive emotions, letting go of all that the lower self wants you to do, say, feel, or think - all of which are tied to self-will, and the rejection of which essentially shows our faith in the higher power - all of that, as well as developing that ego (for it has a role to play in life) - how readily then, one may ask, will one be able to surrender when the Grace arises and calls for one to do so completely? Many of us will likely flee from the encounter, not recognizing what is actually happening. And this is why a Master or God does not simply take us there without us doing our part. Because there is something for us to learn in all the trials and tribulations of this earth experience. We must come to know ourselves. "Know Thyself," said Plutarch, "was thought so highly that it is considered to be a Divine precept."
I think many of us imagine the progression from the astral and mental planes to Sach Khand something like "more of the same only better and better." But I sense that the truth is more that Sach Khand is an qualitatively entirely different dimension. Not only is it unimaginable, but we do first pass through an equivalent of what is called the "Great Death" in Zen. This is why the depth of humility is so different in those who have made this passage, and why comparatively few make it there in life, according to the Masters. Even though it is our destiny and in fact what we are in truth.
An important point is that the essence of the process described here applies in paths of knowledge or jnana as well as mysticism like Sant Mat. And it also need not be seen as limited to those who are able to achieve a profound depth of inner meditation. From the Heart's Gaze we need not be Olympic athletes of the spirit to claim our inheritance. It can - and should - apply in the everyday life as well. A crisis of one sort or another - not only a dreaded void passage - may be that moment when Grace will arise in the Heart and beckon us Home. In our understanding, then, passing through Maha Sunn is not limited to meditation. It can be seen as here and now as well.
There is a further consideration to make for us to see things in a practical way. We can call it non-dualism, but practical brings it more down to earth. This has been a theme and intention throughout this book. As Kirpal was quoted earlier, "To know God you have to bring about a change in your heart, learn to look inward, and realize that He is your Overself. As soon as you have this realization, you are with Him."" This is a simplification of the spiritual path in a nutshell: to see the Spirit here and now, even in the apparently most mundane, through the Heart's gaze. Unfortunately, even though he said this, most of us will not believe his plain words. Anthony Damiani expresses the insight in another way:
"See how subtle it is? Very, very subtle. Just a shift in attention and emphasis - if the attention shifts into the thought, identifies with the thought, you're in the ego consciousness. Shift the attention out of the ego-consciousness, don't identify with the ego, the thoughts, and you'll be with the Overself...You don't have to have a world-devastating illumination and the light of a million suns shining to be in the Overself. It's so close, but we fail to recognize it all the time. That's our problem...Don't think that the Overself consciousness must be some extra rapture and ecstasy, where you swoon because you're so ecstatic. It doesn't have to be that way. The Overself consciousness could be very peaceful and quiet. You could experience the nobility of its peace and the certitude of it as understanding. It could be that way, too. And it could be experienced in a discussion taking place about some very subtle point...You say, "But can it be such a trivial thing?" It's not trivial. Rather, it's because we're so gross that we see it as so ethereal and trivial. If we were capable of purifying ourselves to some extent, then that trivial point that we're talking about could become quite important." (Ibid, p. 95, 97, 99)
We don't want to discourage anyone, only to present a sober, yet accessible and reasoned impression of things. Surely the love towards and from a Master can carry anyone through all these complexities. We really wish to inspire all at whatever apparent level or place they may be in. So please do not despair. Many saints, East and West, have in fact wept bitterly over their inability to understand complex teachings - and even their inability to read! - only to find immediate consolation from the God in their Heart. Yet,
"To whom does that power to understand belong? To the ego? For instance, when we understand the illusory nature of the ego, do you think it's the ego that understands that? So the power by which you understand is the divine in you." (Ibid, p. 96)
Brunton also attempts to ease us into an understanding of the intimidating concept of the void:
“The Void must not be misunderstood. Although it is the deepest state of meditation and one where he is deprived of all possessions, including his own personal self, it has a parallel state in the ordinary active non-meditative condition, which can best be called detachment...After all, even the Void, grand and awesome as it is, is nothing but a temporary experience, a period of meditation...The awareness of what is Real must be found not only in deep meditation, in its trance, but when fully awake.” (Ibid, 8.186-188)
When speaking of the void here he is not talking specifically about Maha Sunn or such experiential void or blankness [although his point applies to that as well] but the pristine 'voidness' of the Soul when realized internally at its source but not yet in ordinary life in sahaj samadhi, which he characterized as a “further and extended operation.” As Abbot Shibayama continues from his preceding quote:
“Zen training is not the emotional process of just being in the state of oneness, nor is it just to have the "feeling" of no-mind. Prajna wisdom (true wisdom) has to shine out after breaking through the extremity of the Great Doubt, and then still further training is needed so that one can freely live the Zen life and work in the world as a new man."
To our rescue our no doubt over-heated brains, Sri Siddharameshwar thankfully simplifies it all for us with a stunning statement::
"Firm faith in the statements of the saints is itself the pure experience of the Self." (Ibid)
Kirpal Singh likewise wrote:
"Words of the Master are the Master."
Speaking the same thing? We will let you decide.
A Missing Key to Sant Mat? - Ishwar Puri on bodies and planes
Ishwar Puri, once again, seems to be the current teacher of Sant Mat who appears to address what many of the advaitins and non-dualists speak about in terms of the path being one of awakening, not experience per se: that upon awakening we see clearly that we have never dreamed, have never been separated from the reality. This has been somewhat discussed earlier. I see his manner of expression as a missing piece in the debate between mystical paths of seeking and paths of direct awakening. Perhaps this may open a new understanding of the path of Sant Mat. He says:
"The mind loves classification. The mind loves putting things in a certain order, and it makes more sense to the mind....This ability of the mind to create classification, place one above the other, put up a real diagram. The mind tries to make the diagram all the time. The truth is not diagrammatic. The consciousness is not placed like that in diagrams. Consciousness is one whole. We experience various phases of consciousness. If we say that the soul comes from Sach Khand, it doesn’t mean that it is still sitting there. It is right here. If we say the mind originates from the causal plane, it is not sitting there; it is sitting here. If we say that the sense perceptions or the astral body sits in the astral plane, it is not sitting there; it is here. Everything is here. It is all integrated into the physical body, and all the systems are at work. We are unaware of some part of it. Now you can’t say there is a classification like that if we are unaware of some part of ourselves as functioning right now.It is not that our mind is not functioning; it functions here. Love functions here. Intuition functions here. Spiritual functions are all being performed here. Mental functions are all being performed here. Sensory perceptions are all taking place here. Physical body is moving around here. Where is something else anywhere? It is all here. Somebody sent me a poem sung by a Pakistani singer, a Sufi singer who believed in Marfat and the wording of that was, “Ithi nahin tey kithe nahin,” which meant if it is not here it is nowhere. If you can’t find it here, it will be nowhere. Condensing everything into here, everything is here, it’s operating here. We don’t know where “here” is. We don’t define. We think here is Montreal. We think here is this hall. We don’t realize here is where we really are right now in a physical body in Montreal, in this hall, right up in the head. That’s where we are, and that here never changes.
Let me explain why that never changes. It never moves. When we say the body moves, I just walked in. Now if I tell you what really happened, you will put me in a nuthouse, I think. What really happened, I stayed here, and the whole hall and everybody moved along to make me feel I am here. I am driving a car, and I feel the car is moving, going to places. It can’t look like that the whole thing is moving and you are stationary. The truth is the entire experience of every level, including the physical, moves around you, is created around you. You never move; you are always here, and that’s the place, here, where we have to go. Here is our true home, here. And if it is not here, it is nowhere. I love that poem, that song, and, therefore, what we have to find is ... It’s a continuous expansion of awareness. It is not going anywhere. The spiritual journey does not mean going anywhere. It means stop going anywhere. Our mind runs so much. We don’t reach our home by running around somewhere. We reach our home by staying at home. Supposing we are at home, and we say we are trying to go home. We don’t run out for that; we just become aware. This is my home. I didn’t realize it. It is realization. It is self realization. It is not a journey to the self. It is self realization. It is an enlightenment of your own self where you are. All these functions of all the levels are being performed right here. Our awareness is lacking...When ‘you’ ‘get to’ Sach Khand, you realize not only that you never left it, but that the entire drama of creation, planes, reincarnations, eons of time, and all the rest, TOOK PLACE ONLY IN SACH KHAND - and which of course you are in right now, if only you realized it." (Montreal – May 18, 2013)
This resonates with what various renown advaitins have spoken of for centuries. Shri Atmananda Krishnamenon said this:
“Certain shastras hold that everything from intellect down to the gross body is dead, inert matter, as it is. They ask you to get away from all that matter and get to Atma in its pure form, in a state called the nirvikalpa state (samadhi). In that state, there is no sense of bondage, it is true. But, coming out of that state, you find the same world. To find a solution to this, you have to examine the world again, in the light of the experience you had in samadhi. Then you find that the same Reality that was discovered in samadhi is found expressed in the objects also as name and form. And that name and form, which the shastras also call maya, are nothing but the Reality itself. Thus you find yourself to be one with the world, and all doubts cease.” (Ibid, #35)
Brunton similarly writes:
“In contacting the Overself, he does not really sense a bigger “I.” He senses SOMETHING which is. This is first achieved by forgetting the ego, the personality, the “I.” But, at a later stage, there is nothing to forget for then he finds that the ego, the personality, and the “I” are all of the same stuff as this SOMETHING.” (Notebooks, Vol. 14, 5:47)
For these sages that SOMETHING, the revelation that is found at both ends of this two-stage process, is Consciousness.
Puri also states:
"It is true that when consciousness “sees” the Master it is only the subtle mind. Above the mind the Soul “sees” by becoming that which it sees! All souls merge into Total consciousness in Sach Khand including the souls of Masters. Anami is higher state of consciousness for Totality to visit. No individual soul reaches Anami.”
This sort of language may be pointing to a reality, but it certainly raises questions. If the “Totality’ is Consciousness, how can one say that Consciousness ‘moves’?! And how can one say the experience of one soul merging in the Totality and penetrating to Anami takes the whole of any kind of Totality with it? Other people are not experiencing the same thing at the same time, so what does it mean that the Totality visits Anami? Yet, as discussed several times in this book, there is mentioned three degrees of deepening into the Absolute in various traditions, so there may be something behind Puri’s attempt at describing the ineffable.
Perhaps the poet Hafiz had this in mind about Sach Khand and Anami when he wrote:
“In the end our abode will be in the valley of the silent ones. For now let us raise a riot in the dome of the highest heaven.” (The Illuminated Hafiz, p. 117)
The prodigal soul rejoices when it rejoins its father in Sach Khand, but this is not its final identity. There is then Anami, and the “Wonder Region”, which is not likely a region at all.
This appears to solve some of the questions that have arisen above over the notion of 'seeing' in Sach Khand. Being beyond the mind, it is beyond time and space, beyond the perceiver-perception split, and no forms are possible there, in pure subjectivity. One 'sees' only in the sense of 'being.' Even 'boundless light’, while formless, is still not the unmanifest reality, i.e., the total consciousness, as we imagine. Nor, for that matter, is 'darkness.' Allegorical stories, then, have been created by the saints to describe this realization. But in the interests of serving better our understanding it is now possible to speak more plainly. It will still be a mystery, we needn't worry about that! But better to be mindless than to picture with expectation castles with turrets, and islands of souls dwelling on their islands or dweeps imbibing nectar like it is written in Sar Bachan. Suffice to say that the realization here is that soul, as Plotinus said, is a one-and-many: a Principle of Absolute Soul birthing many individual souls, which, when reabsorbed, albeit temporarily, allows a process of deepening to occur. The ocean and the drop are distinct but not separate. The soul is gone beyond, but we can hardly speak of a totality of consciousness moving as Puri suggests. How can consciousness “move”? The most we can speak of is a process of deepening, and no doubt even this language falls short.
From the level of true soul-realization, in Sach Khand, then, there are said to be three further degrees (in Sant Mat, 'Alakh,' 'Agam,' and 'Anami' - or for Plotinus, 'Absolute Soul,' 'Intellectual Principle/Nous,' and the ‘One') that, again, can only be experientially conceptualized as a 'deepening' - not as an actual 'going anywhere of a separate something.' For here the soul is left behind, just like the ego was left behind further “below”. And this idea of three degrees of transcendental deepening after self-realization of what is inherently already void in nature is found in a number of esoteric schools in addition to Sant Mat. [Please see “PB and Plotinus: The Fallacy of Divine Identity” at http://www.mountainrunnerdoc.com/PBandPlotinus.html for further explanation]. Understanding this makes Sant Mat less enigmatic and more reconcilable with other streams of enlightenment, even though what we are talking about here is beyond human understanding!
Faith, Reason, and Stories
In conclusion, we prefer not to argue with the great masters, but it seems to some extent necessary and inevitable, especially as we no longer live in the Middle Ages or in a provincial setting. To call something a "Science" - whether the 'Science of the Soul', or 'The Science of Spirituality' - as the two largest branches of Sant Mat call themselves - means to submit it to the test of 'peer-review' and dialogue, at the highest levels. And as this is a 'subjective' science the rules it follows need not be exactly the same, nor as linearly predictable, as in the so-called objective sciences. So a certain semantic analysis of the term 'science' is also required. [More on this in Sant Mat: Part Three]. This needs to be understood to avoid confusion or disappointment. The results are guaranteed, but the timing and mechanisms involved are complex.
Of course the truth is beyond our feeble intellects and presumptuous questions, and we must bow our heads in the dust at the feet of such sages when confronting the practical task of realization. That is well understood! We tremble at our own boldness.
Yet this is also one description that has been given for what faith or shraddha is: "the courage to persevere in the pursuit of truth even in the face of God's wrath." We are after truth first of all, not even God (which at our beginning stages of understanding is but a concept). If truth happens to be found to be God, then we will accept God, is it not so? And herein we must mention a related caution of Sankara, that if a scripture agrees with pure reasoning, then it has value, otherwise not. If one does not want to reject scripture, therefore, he must give of it an interpretation that agrees with reason. This is where some have a problem with certain of the public teachings of Sant Mat. For instance, it has been said by one guru that the reason for the so-called 'Fall' was that 'in the beginning 9/10's of the souls chose to leave Sach Khand to explore the lower worlds created by Kal, although not expecting to be trapped there. That it was basically their own choices and allowed by God. Another has said that souls were expelled from Sach Khand by God because of their sins. But how can there be sins before leaving Sach Khand? Or that they were simply sent down by God for his own purpose even though they had not sinned. Yet another has said that, regardless, 'never more will souls be sent down here by the Creator.' Sant Kirpal Singh wrote in The Mystery of Death, whether tongue in cheek only he knows, that the fall from the biblical Garden of Eden actually took place much further down, from a ‘sanctuary’ on the mental plane named Dev Lok where man - “as the story goes,” he says - was expelled by God for his first disobedience of His commandments. From here he was ‘cloaked in animal skins,’ i.e., physical bodies, to work out his salvation with toil and tribulation. This view of descent was also that of the Cypriote mystic Daskalos, as well, notably, as esoteric Judaism as found in the Qabballa. For Daskalos it was not a matter of disobedience to God, but was part of the divine plan for producing self-conscious souls, and there was therefore no fall per se. The consensus of the mystery schools is that any ‘disobedience’ was to the Demiurge (Jehovah, Kal), tasked with keeping souls bound to the lower worlds, and not to a Supreme Creator. This disobedience, prompted by a serpent in the Garden (a prototype of a Universal Savior, such as Prometheus who stole fire from the gods and gave it to man) would lead, on various interpretations, to self-knowledge, the knowledge of good and evil, and the eventual redemption of creation. This was long after the first individuation of spirit entities in the Spiritual realm, however, where one wonders how any such choice could be made. (For Plotinus, it was ‘audacious self-will’ that made the souls leave the Nous, but again this leads us around and around on this point).
One can, of course, see multiple problems with each of these stories. For that must be what they are: stories. Which means not literal, but allegorical and descriptive - if not imaginative. For example, if God is all powerful, how could one be sure if the individual soul, might not be made to leave Sach Khand again? How does one know he will remain there eternally? Maybe God will change his mind. In fact, in Sant Mat, beginning with Soamiji himself as stated in Sar Bachan, the 'Mauj' or so-called Will of the Supreme Being has been said to change! Leaving aside for now issues such as 'how could a changeless being change'?, or that eternity, which does not mean 'endless time', and that before and after, therefore, have no meaning for it, how could one ever talk of leaving it?, etc, etc. In the book, Heart to Heart Talks, Kirpal said that answers to all these questions about how or why the soul came down are not even answered in Sach Khand. It remains a mystery to ponder - or dissolve into.
Conundrums like this could perhaps be summarized by saying that either the written doctrines of Sant Mat, as generally taught, are totally true and all other teachings are false, or simply that their fundamental meanings can be better articulated or expressed so as to accord with reason - which men such as Plato and Buddha said is our sure guide in the wilderness. That is to say, it is one thing to point out that the highest perspective or realization is beyond words, such as mystics frequently do, but another that it contradicts reason altogether. Things are different today, the collective mind has advanced in understanding, so the provincial and limited teachings of yesterday can be, and need to be, stated more plainly. If Sant Mat doctrines have multiple levels of expression, designed for varying levels of comprehension or mental maturity in its students - which it, like many spiritual teachings, does in fact have, why deny it? - then that, too, should be laid bare. Why not? How long must we remain children? Yet having said so, much may forever remain a mystery. And a paradox. It seems we can never get around that. Still, this remains an area needing further exploration, to be discussed in the next section.
”SCARE TACTICS”
“There are three methods of approach used by the teachers, depending on the level of the people they have to deal with. They are: first, terrorizing the lowest type by fears; second, coaxing the better evolved ones by baits and lures; third, giving a fair, balanced statement of the truth for those people who are mentally and morally on the highest level."
“The pictures of hell as a sulphurous realm of shades were not therefore without their use for keeping unenlightened multitudes within decent bounds. Their lurid details of torture and torment indicate that the priestly minds which painted them originally understood well the inhibitive power of suggestions got en to the impressionable minds of the populace, especially the suggestion that evil-doing brings painful retribution.” - Paul Brunton (1)
"If the mind will not be led by true reasoning, we restrain it by false." - Timaeus Locrius, teacher of Plato
“The verbal teachings of the buddhas and ancestral teachers are just a snare and a trap…The Zen teachers imparted various expedient teachings and provisional techniques for the purpose of helping people enter into the experience of the Way…This is called recognizing the intent on the hook that the teacher uses to “fish” for the student’s true potential and not accepting the marks on the scale of a provisional definition as an absolute standard.” - Yuanwu (1063-1135) (1a)
“In almost every person, every religion, every group, every teaching, and every teacher, there are ideas, beliefs, and assumptions, which are overtly or covertly not open to question. Often these unquestioned beliefs hide superstitions, which are protecting something that is untrue, contradictory, or being used as justification for teachings and behaviors that are less than enlightened. The challenge of enlightenment is not simply to glimpse the awakened condition, nor even to continually experience it. It is to be and express it as your self in the way you move in the world. In order to do this, you must come out of hiding behind any superstitious beliefs and find the courage to question everything. Otherwise, you will continue to hold onto superstitions that distort your perception and expression of that which is only ever AWAKE.” - Adyashanti (1b)
“It has been said that awakening from ignorance resembles awakening from a fearful dream of a beast. It is just like that.” (Ramana Maharshi, Talks, p. 483).
The sacred writings of all of the worlds religions place a great emphasis on the value of the human birth for spiritual growth and realization. From the more common exoteric teachings to the most esoteric, however, they all seem to have their version of stories designed to place fear and terror in the heart of the devotee in order to stimulate either his dogmatic obedience or true religious practice. The main lesson from all of these should be the inner dawning of an acute appreciation of the true horror of every minute spent in unawareness of ones real identity, and in apparent separation from truth, happiness, love, and oneness, and not from fear by the ego of facing the fires of hell - although such things are real and do happen. In this article will be examined a few of the more outrageous “scare tactics” still in use by religious and spiritual teachers to goad or provoke motivating reactions in their students. It should be distinguished at the outset that for mainstream religion some of these can be considered just crowd control, while in spiritual circles we cut the gurus some slack, for they must be free to play every 'card' in their deck, according to the intelligence of their disciples, in order to break a hypnotic spell of unconsciousness. The strongest card they play is one of love, apparently giving and withholding it at crucial times, in order to break open the hearts of the disciple. They will probably continue to play this card until the end of time. In the past, however, many strange teachings or verbal instructions were employed at different times and with different people for the purpose of cracking the mind, or simply keeping the disciples in their company (in which case at some times “the teaching could be seen as “fly paper” as one teacher put it), and no doubt will continue to be used until such time as they are no longer needed and things can be said more plainly, without losing the positive effect. Assuming that such a time has arrived, we will proceed with our mission.
The more eggregious or unphilosophic the examples used, the more likely for the ego of the disciple to actually be reinforced, and the more skillfull the master will have to be in order to know who will or will not be adversely affected by his or her methods, and for whom they might be a catalyst for a breakthrough of some kind. I have seen both of these, with fruitful as well as disastrous results. Fortunately, there have always been a few, such as Ramana Maharshi, for whom the teaching has been an "open book", with no secrets and unnecessary remnants of pedegogic technique of days gone by maintaining unnecessary mystery among their disciples in order to keep them from backsliding or abandoning basic discipline. Times have changed, however, and it is time to speak plainly about such things. The basic discipline is self-understanding. The Way is difficult enough without years wasted in fear and trepidation over false views that are a distraction from what is already a terrible enough truth: the painful fact of ego and its separative life. Moreover, if the ultimate truth is one of no-self, no birth, no death, no bondage, and no liberation, how much good can it do to be repeatedly meditating on a fear of death and the ego-centered preoccupation with escaping some of its more imaginative forms?
One of the lines repeated ad nauseum by oriental teachers up to the present day is the rarity and preciousness of obtaining a human birth. The analogy is given in Indian scriptures, I believe in a story by the Buddha, that it was as rare an event as it was for a turtle that pokes his head above the water once every hundred years to stick it through a small hoop cast at random into the middle of the ocean. Other teachers warn, particularly in some of the mystic traditions, such as the Sikhs, that if you fail to awaken in this human birth you may be reborn as an animal for who knows how many lives. There are many stories among Hindu and Buddhist teachers about high yogis falling from great heights to be reincarnated as animals after spending a long time in the hell realms. While it may be true that in many respects man still shows evidence of his animal nature, and some men in particular act beastly in character, does that make these stories actually true? Here is one example from the writing of a reknown Zen Master:
“The study the Path you should step back and study with your whole being. Make birth and death your only thought. The worldly truth is impermanent, this body is not everlasting. Once you stop breathing then it’s already another lifetime. [so far, so good] In another birth you may sink into nonhuman species, and then you might go on for thousands of lifetimes through countless ages without emerging.” - Yuanwu (1c)
Occult teachings, such as Theosophy and Anthroposophy, however, unequivocably say no, it is not like this. Paul Brunton also says no. Modern scientific, and evolutionary, theory, while a stranger to the mystic realms, and not strict proof, also argues against this possibilty. H.P. Blavatsky, in The Secret Doctrine, maintained that the doorway of passage from the animal kingdom to man in this (fifth) cosmic "Round" on this globe was closed, in both directions, some 8-9,000,000 years ago (she says it will be re-opened in the seventh Round, millenia from now). And that once self-consciousness arose in man he can not revert to the animal stage. Whether she was right, the gist is that there is an evolutionary guiding wisdom behind the Human Idea. Buddhist teachings argue to the contrary, however, saying that such an evolutionary teaching is a denial of the law of karma. Thus in Buddhism beings are continually cycling through the six realms of creation, until they become liberated and get off the wheel of birth and death. Buddhism has little room for a divine intelligence overseeing creation and all beings. Yet in so doing it has difficulty explaining a common world experience when it states that creation is solely the result of the karma of all beings, and a common experience the result of many beings incarnating simultaneously when the appropriate conditions/karma arise. Far more reasonable, it is suggested, is to assume there is a master guiding world-image of a divine mind projected through all individual minds at the same time to account for such commonality.
Hindu teachings such as taught by Paramhansa Yogananda also say that a man can revert to an animal form, but for one incarnation only, as a form of punishment. That, however, is rare. The aforementioned Philosophy teaches that in general no matter how uncivilized, nasty, and inhumane a man may be, he is still a man and a man he will remain for the forseeable future and for indefinite forseeable incarnations. He may face a less than favorable destiny, however, and even be 'put in cold storage' somewhere, so to speak, for an indefinite period of time until his evil karma runs out, at which time he may, so to speak, start at a lower rung of the human ladder once again. This type of teaching is still prevalent in India and Tibet, with the Tibetans saying that it is only through accumulating infinite merit through eons of time that one is blessed to get a man body, and that in the lower realms (such as the animal realm) the thought of practicing Dharma or gaining merit would never even arise. But one can easily see the contradiction here: if this were true then there would be no way to ever get the human form at all! So maybe that is not exactly how it all works?
Further, regardless of the spiritual significance of a man's last thought at the time of death, which some eastern teachings assert as being of primary importance, such as in this often told Hindu story (http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=93c692460dce9dc0553b91fa3&id=19cd41d059&e=3835502e16), if that thought happens to be of a man's pet cat it is not very likely the case that he will be reborn as a cat! The overriding determining factor is a man's character; that will follow him and make him what is is. After a brief swoon at the beginning of his separation from the gross body, he will awaken as his ego and subtle personality and undergo many experiences in the intermediate realms where he will have a lot more things to consider and see and think about than the pet cat. His eventual “second death” and rebirth in a new body will be once more as a man, for better or worse, and his ultimate destiny is for the better.
Stories like the following from Guru Nanak should most likely be read both for amusement and for their deeper underlying meaning rather than the literal one:
“On one of his journeys, Guru Nanak, accompanied by his companions Bala and Mardana, met with a strange sight on their path. A large worm was writhing on the ground as hundreds of ferocious ants were biting it to death. Being tender hearted, Bala asked the great Guru what terrible deeds this poor worm had committed to warrant such suffering. Nanak replied that in a former life that worm had been a false master and the ants were his disciples. They had to be reborn in this form - cruel though it may seem - to balance the scales of karmic justice.” (2)
Of course, being a false teacher is a serious matter, and we must leave open the possibility for exceptions, which are always possible when dealing with such-like Saints! Here is a more recent suchlike anecdote which Sant Chander Prabhaji Maharaj, of the Adhyatmic Satsang Society (http://www.sa-ss.com/), includes in her official biography the following story:
“Sushma [one of her students] would do tuitions apart from her household work and Bhajan. One of her student’s family had kept a pet dog. But to her surprise and disgust they would give it water to drink only once in a day. The rest of the day he would lick his own urine to quench his thirst. The lady of the house remarked that since she could not wipe his
urine all the time, at least this way some of her work was saved. One day after giving
an assignment to this student, she sat in Dhyan. She was then told by Hazur in
meditation that this particular dog was a Satsangi in its previous life but would drink
alcohol against the orders of his Guru. It was now paying for his past deeds and thus
had to drink its own urine.”
This can also work both ways. An exception to the rule of the "closed evolutionary doorway" is sometimes mentioned in the case of pets who through extreme devotion to their masters may possibly gain a human birth in their next life, or even realization in this life such as Lakshmi the cow, whom Ramana Maharshi said had experienced nirvikalpa samadhi and even liberation. A jnana guru known as Dadasri also taught, contrarily, that it is possible to be reborn as an animal (and that 85% of humanity is in this condition!) but only for 100-200 years, or a maximum of seven lives - and even for as little as five minutes - but just no longer necessary to go through the entire wheel of 8.4 million species again - to which I say, "thank God." He also taught, rather bizarrely, that if one dies in a coma he will be reborn as an animal - unless one has attained self-realization beforehand. That would doom a number of spiritual masters and advanced practitioners who, in fact, have died in that manner. His successor (http://www.dadabhagwan.org/gnani-purush-spiritual-masters/pujya-dadashri/about-gnani-purush/) offers a no-charge self-realization in just two hours, which will assure one of liberation in only one or two more lives. Strange teachings indeed].
A favorite saying of some teachers, from the Koran, warns that at the time of death it is as painful as if a “thorny bush being pushed into the rectum and extracted through the mouth", is now somewhat humorous to me. In my shabd meditations decades ago I had experienced a couple of times being partially withdrawn from the body, up to about the solar plexus, when upon my concentration being interrupted there was an apparent battle between the ego-consciousness and the withdrawal process. The awareness of what was going on interrupted the smooth and effortless inner concentration and withdrawal of attention or the sensory currents, and I felt a heat and pain in the body, until the process wound itself down and I was brought down, as it were, into the world and my normal condition. Having nothing better to do I asked Kirpal Singh if there was any danger in this, or if any damage could be done by such an experience. With a sweeping gesture and laugh he loudly said, “Not the least!” So then and there I knew that the fear of having such an experience at the time of death was kind of a joke and not, in a true understanding, much of an incentive or motivation to sustain a lifetime of practice, and particularly fearful practice at that. (3) Yet many high masters still repeat similar stories, such as one found in the Puranas, that at the time of death it is "like a thousand scorpions stinging you all at once," or that "there is a long drawn-out process in which it feels as if all of ones joints are twisting and breaking." Patrul Rinpoche repeats teachings that strike fear into the heart, saying,
"At that time, unless you have already mastered the path, the fierce wind of your past actions will be chasing after you, while in front a terrifying black darkness rushes towards you as you are driven helplessly down the long and perilous path of the intermediate state. The Lord of Death's countless henchmen will be pursuing you, crying, "Kill! Kill! Strike! Strike!" (4)
Padmasambhava said, "Your consciousness, already wandering in the intermediate state like a dazed dog, will find it very hard to even think of higher realms." There is some truth in this, but it may not be exactly as it is often so traditionally portrayed. (5)
Similarly, the process of life in the womb has been described as a painful one in which "one's bones are formed in intense heat." Guru Rinpoche says, "Both mother and child go halfway to the land of Death, and all the mother's joints, except her jaws, are wrenched apart." After contemplating such stories one may well question how anyone could be motivated by such worries, for surely a lifetime of suffering in the many ways possible is a much greater concern and torment than a few minutes of pain at the time of birth or death. And by that we mean not the suffering from bodily disease prior to death, but the actual death process itself. The evidence that has now come out through the findings of Near-Death Experience (NDE) researchers is that many ordinary persons have quite peaceful deaths. There even seem to be chemical and biological processes that are activated in the brain and body that make the transition more easeful, especially so in those who have even a little faith in a divine reality. Sri Nisargadatta said that, regardless of appearances, death itself is rarely an unpleasant experience. (6) So unless one has the 'luxury' of holding on for dear life (and not falling directly into a coma or swoon), the suffering due to withdrawal from the body itself is likely to be not great. Kirpal, in a private conversation, admitted as much when asked about non-initiates who appear to die in peace (for which we now have thousands of case histories):
"The end comes only as a result of the whole life's essence. Every man has not the same story behind him. One may be devoted and of good character. There are various cases." (6a)
The rebirth story gets even more outlandish when we consider some idiosyncratic Hindu versions. Here is one such tale:
"If during his lifetime the individual had performed some special acts of merit (punya) or demerit (papa), then the jiva-atman would proceed to heaven or hell. After spending his special karma-phala there, he comes back to the earth. However, if the jiva-atman has not performed any exceptional karma, then he will come back straight to the earth and not at all go to the intervening heaven or hell [In the Tibetan tradition only those who commit one of the four unpardonable sins, such as killing a saint, or spreading false doctrine, must immediately come back to earth]. Anyhow, while coming to the earth, he enters into rain and through it into food grains. Here comes the role of God. Circumstances have to be set into place for the jiva to be able to enter into the appropriate father. The conditions however may not yet be suitable for the father to have him right away. In the meantime, it may so happen that an animal consumes the particular food grain containing the jiva. But after digestion, the jiva will again come out of the animal’s body through waste discharge and then re-enter the food grain. This shunting will go on till the appropriate father is ready to receive the jiva. When that particular food grain is consumed by the father and digested, the jiva is not thrown out again. Rather, it gets into the father’s seed and from there enters into the mother’s womb, soon to be reborn again." (7)
Such teachings appear crazy, but then, who knows?! In the general teachings of esotericism, however, none of these views are entirely reasonable. Many factor are said to go into the time period between births, and which is usually fairly long, with less evolved people spending a shorter period in the subtle realms, in more or less awakened condition (but still at least months, if not year), while more evolved types not only possibly having some say in the matter, but it may be anywhere from 0-3000 earth-years, as and when a suitable vehicle becomes available, and the post-death entity has accomplished what it needed to do. Further, many beings cooperate in a complex process of building a new body and guiding the reincarnating monad into association with it. And humans stay human, for thousands of lifetimes, and do not go down all the way through the 'wheel of eighty-four'. This would be contrary to all logic of evolution. So scare story number two can be set to rest.
Theosophical teachings have suggested that anyone who commits suicide will commit suicide for four more lifetimes. Why they stop at four I do not understand. It would seem like an infinitely regressing proposition, since each time one did such an act he would incur another four lifetimes in the future where he felt impelled to repeat his sin. It is obvious here that the major emphasis of this statement is on driving home the serious nature of such an action, its unfavorable spiritual consequences, and also its basic failure in achieving its true aim, i.e., the relief of suffering, which belongs, says one such as PB, more to the ego than to the body itself. Ramana Maharshi said, on the one hand, that a person who commits suicide is only trying to remove the source of his suffering, but also made sure to add that it was the false identification of the infinite Self with the bodily-based ego that was the true suicide. Yet who will cast the first stone in morally judging someone who feels so miserable as to take his or her own life? There also remain ethical questions about terminal illnesses, extreme pain, etc., that even high Buddhist lamas argue over. (8)
Another tale sometimes told in the Sant tradition is that the soon-to-be-born-soul hangs upside down in the womb, suffering great agony, heat and misery, and then and there prays to the Almighty that if he ever gets out he will devote his lifetime to doing good to others and trying to find God. This description of intrauterine life, however, is contradicted by a great amount of research involving pre-natal and peri-natal experiences in deep feeling therapies, such as primal and Stanislof Grof’s holotropic breathwork, among others. The experience of being in the womb, except in some cases of trauma or in the later stages after labor has begun, is most often remembered or re-experienced as having been heavenly or paradisiacal, and not hellish. And in fact Sant Kirpal Singh, after giving the above depiction no doubt as a practice motivator, would also say that the child cries when it is born because it is sustained by the divine light and sound while in the womb! So there is something in the teachings for everybody.
The Bhagavata Purana says that all men in this world were women in their previous births, and vice versa, and that each died thinking about the opposite sex. In his book, Good Life, Good Death, an otherwise compassionate and balanced work designed to console, clarify, and offer gentle, helpful wisdom, the respected Gehlek Rinpoche similar claims that the bardowa (subtle personality in the after death realms), sees his future parents making love, and becomes envious and resentful to the parent of the opposite sex, “dies in rage,” and re-enters the womb:
“The transition from the bardo to the next life is provoked by the force of a powerful emotion that draws a person to the sexual engagement of parents. The bardowa finds perfect, fertile, genetic conditions that can generate life...As a bardowa, you have an attachment to either the male or female - their lovemaking will draw you. Since you don’t have a physical identity, you will fall into their lovemaking and get caught in it because of jealousy or aversion. The mind of the bardowa flows in and is caught. Unable to escape, the bardowa dies of rage and takes on a new life. If you are drawn toward the female, you are jealous of the male, and you are born as a male; if you are drawn to the male, you are jealous of the female, and you are born as a female. (9)
When I first read this I was at that moment in a vulnerable state and it hit me hard. I was scared because I felt the strength of such emotions in myself. But is that strong feeling I had proof that these are the sole determinants of the nature and timing of ones rebirth? I don’t think so. PB wrote in The Wisdom of the Overself and also the Notebooks that the afterlife time-frame varies, from months and years in some cases to much longer than earth life in others. The distillation of most esoteric traditions is that one generally first experiences a life-review, a period of consolidation of the past life, and maybe some new learning in the dreamlike environment of the bardos, followed by a long and refreshing sleep. It is not universally taught that one “plunges’ headlong consciously into a womb based on a Freudian sexual theme - something I also find a little odd coming from a Tibetan perspective. A close friend of mine who has spent much time in Tibet as well as with Tibetan teachers told me that, in his opinion, sex in that country is generally not that big of a deal. Moreover, in the village of Drugpa Kunley (the famous and revered “crazy wise” sex-guru, who is famous for uttering epithets such as “you like samadhi, I like pussy”), there are icons of his penis over nearly every house, emitting semen as well. I asked my friend, incredulous, “you've got to be kidding, how could they do that, what about the kids there?” He laughed and said, "it's like it's nothing, nobody really cares.” (Apparently, infertlle women come from miles around to spend a night next to Drugpa Kunley's shrine, ask for his blessings, and more often than not soon become able to conceive). So these stories in the tradition about re-entry into the womb don’t jive in my mind with the cultural milieu from which they oftenarise. Perhaps sensing this, Gehlek Rinpoche somewhat hedges his position when he continues:
“From the Buddhist point of view, those conditions appeal to you because of your karma. Karma or no karma, you happen to be passing through, the love making happens to be happening, you happen to be drawn to it, out of attachment or jealousy. You go to it because you want to participate. It can be attachment. It can be profound love. It can be anger or it can be self-esteem or self-determination. The emotions can be right or wrong, good or bad, but they are strong. These powerful emotions cause the transition from bardo to life.” (10)
So the issue of incarnation is very complex. Many karmic factors and agencies are involved in creating and providing a suitable body for a being's evolvement. While the "last thought" at the time of death, if it be for enlightenment and a higher purpose, may be very important and auspicious for the next incarnation, it is unlikely if one is semi-conscious and has a brief thought of a loved one or a favorite pet he will come back in such a form strictly to fulfill that fleeting thought. There are too many other intervening experiences, and ones reincarnation, or more properly termed, incarnation (in that the gross and subtle personalities die while the light, the consciousness that is the true person or being, continues), is not generally immediate in any case - unless perhaps, one is a sage or boddhisattva needing only a brief rest before his perpetual return to serve all sentient beings.
The threat or fear of hell has its purpose. First, such experiences, while not permanent, are relatively real. I know numerous initiates of Kirpal Singh, for instance, who attest to having had the experience of being mystically transported in a protective bubble, as it were, by the Master, on a preview of a hell realm, where they saw various people, and I myself had several night time experiences when I felt myself being drawn “down,” wherever that was, and heard ghoulish ball and chain sounds and groans, etc. During these experiences I recalled my readings of the Tibetan Book of the Dead wherein it says that one should realize such things are only visions or manifestations of ones own mind, but such memories of the teaching failed to make the visions or the fear go away, because, the way I understand it, at that time in the dream-like world I was basically identified with the dream character and my thoughts were on the same level and therefore failed to break the spell of the experience! Bottom line, it is not so easy to disidentify with "the dream" when you are in it. The hell (and heaven) realms are not ordinary psychological states, then, although they can have their counterparts as such during earth-life. But the traditions do seem to get carried away sometimes, with talk of hot hells and cold hells, seven levels of nether regions below the earth, and/or seven levels of hell also below the earth or sometimes said to be above the earth in lower astral regions. And sometimes the seventh or lowest hell is one from which no one ever returns. It doesn't take a genius to ask the question, "How can anyone ever know that, without going there, when if they go there, they can never come back?!" (For more see "If There's a Hell Below, We're All Gonna Go" (https://www.mountainrunnerdoc.com/if-theres-a-hell-below.html)
The Perennial Wisdom teachings on hell are counter to the orthodox Middle Eastern religions in that in them one is not “eternally damned” to such a place, but only remain there for a time (perhaps a good long time in some cases!), before the elements that make up his personality disperse and one experiences a deep sleep before being born once more. The dualistic war between God and Satan, Kal, or the Devil, Heaven and Hell, the forces of Good and Evil, Light and Darkness, the Spirit and the Flesh, and signs and tribulations of the End-Times, may have first appeared in ancient Persia with the teachings of Zoroaster, and from there made their way to Sumer and Rome. The Apocalypse of John, of disputed authorship, considered spurious by Eusebius, unauthentic and definitely not written by John the apostle by many church fathers, is an amalgam and epitome of such teachings:
“He shall drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and he shall be tormented with fire and sulpher in the presence of holy angels and the presence of the Lamb...And the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever; and they have no rest, no day or night, these worshippers of the beast and its image, and whosoever receives the mark of its name.” 11)
This prophetic spirit as supposedly (but not likely) channeled by John is doubly confusing and fear-inducing, for the presence of sulpher has long been associated with that of the Devil or Satan, not the Lord. Moreover, in this Book of Revelation,
“[John] denounces Greco-Roman civilization in all its richness and splendor as the work of the devil, but he appears to know and borrow freely from pagan iconography. Seven is a sacred number in Jewish tradition, to be sure, but it is also significant in the astrological beliefs and practices of classical paganism, which knew only seven heavenly bodies. Twelve is the number of the tribes of Israel, but it is also the number of signs in the zodiac. Astrology, in fact, is condemned in the Bible as one of the great besetting sins of paganism - “offerings to the sun and moon and constellations, all the host of heaven” - and yet John may have invoked precisely these images and associations in the text of Revelation.
Among the most sublime and exalted scenes in Revelation, for example, is the “great portent” that will appear in heaven to mark the beginning of the end-times: “[a] woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” The woman, pregnant and already in labor, is stalked by “a great red dragon,” which waits to devour the newborn child as soon as she gives birth...”St. John’s mind sets to work on the lines of a very old mythic pattern,” writes Austin Farrer, who suggests that John borrowed the figure of the woman from pagan astrology - “the Lady of the Zodiac” who is “crowned with the twelve constellations.” (12)
The Revelation of St. John also distinguishes the elect 144,000 from the rest of humanity by their being ‘sealed upon their foreheads” with the name of God and the name of the Lamb.” (13) This number is replete with symbolic meaning, but is basically an astrological derivative of the 360 degrees of the zodiac times the 4 minutes it takes the sun to advance one degree, times ten to the 2nd power = 144,000 (14); furthermore, while not accepted by Christians (some of whom fear they may not be among the chosen 144,000), this book has also been claimed as borrowing from an ancient text relating the Mithraic legend of one of the Zoroasters (there were at least seven) in the form of an astrological mythos of the precession of the equinoxes, or the "Great Year" (25,000 years), in this case ushering in the age of Aries approximately 4400 years ago. Acharya S quotes Churchwood:
"The drama appears as tremendous in the Book of Revelation, because the period ending is on the scale of one Great Year. It is not the ending of the world, but of a great year of the world...The book is and always has been inexplicable, because it was based upon the symbolism of the Egyptian Astronomical Mythology without the gnosis, or "meaning which hath wisdom" that is absolutely necessary for an explanation of its subject matter; and because the debris of ancient wisdom has been turned to account as data for pre-Christian prophecy that was supposed to have its fulfillment in Christian history." (15)
Anthroposophist Rudolph Steiner argued that this dualistic philosophy of ancient Persia, perhaps the world’s first true religious dualism, was actually a necessary evolutionary stage in the long history of mankind, to be succeeded by a further stage embodied in the descent of the Christ, and additional evolutionary stages beyond that, in our present time and beyond. Incarnation, or bodily life, is not to be feared, but lived, transformed, and understood.
In addition, the above reference in Revelation to the dragon waiting to devour the new-born child is similar to the myth of Zeus swallowing Metis and her unborn child, resulting in Athena - or wisdom - spouting from his forehead, signifying the birth of reason, the soul of Greece and that of modern man, something the eastern gurus at times seem to forget. Fear of thinking is a big one in mystic and religious circles.
The Roman Church took care of that for a long time by making reading of the Bible taboo for the rare soul who could actually find a copy. Don't assume, however, that the problem was solved by the Protestant Reformation and the invention of the printing press. These in turn spawned a fear of damnation for not reading and interpreting the Good Book correctly. (http://www.livescience.com/history/071211-fundamental-birth.html). The Prologue of Tyndale's Bible warned:
"If you fail to read it properly, then you begin your just damnation. If you are unresponsive ... God will scourge you, and everything will fail you until you are at utter defiance with your flesh."
So far we have: fear of being born as an animal, fear of the process of death, fear of emotions and desires (leading to rebirth), fear of going to hell, fear of thinking, fear of reading, fear of not reading, and even a hypocritical fear of astrology. (Oh, and curiously, those 144,000 elect in Revelation are virgins, undefiled by contact with the opposite sex. Therefore, add fear of the body to the list).
Pardoning this long diversion, then, threats of hell are only of a relative value. More important is coming to the realization of how ordinary life is like a hell, and even an excruciating torment, when experienced apart from the realizing and knowing of who and what one truly IS. That in essence is the chief merit, if in this day and age there remains any, of such guru scare tactics.
Still, if one is so inclined, he can take note of the following quote attributed to C.S. Lewis:
"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.” (!)
Perhaps, then, it also wouldn't hurt us too much to consider the words of Abbot Zenkei Shibayama of the Nanzenji Monastery in Kyoto, Japan, who puts a healthy fear of our apparent predicament into a particularly elegant form. He said:
"The first step in pursuing the way to religion is to “empty oneself.” But this “emptying oneself” does not mean, as ordinarily understood, merely to be humble in one’s thinking or to clean out all from the self-deceived mind so that it can accept anything. It has a much deeper and stronger meaning. One has to face the “ugliness and helplessness” of oneself, or of human life itself, and must confront deep contradictions and sufferings, which are called the “inevitable karma.” He has to look deep into his inner self, go beyond the last extremity of himself, and despair of himself as a “self which can by no means be saved.” “Emptying oneself” comes from this bitterest experience, from the abyss of desperation and agony, of throwing oneself down, body and soul, before the Absolute."
"It is the keenness with which one realizes one’s helplessness and despairs of oneself, in other words, how deeply one plunges into one’s inner self and throws oneself away, which is the key to religion. “To be saved,” “to be enlightened,” or “to get the mind pacified” is not of primary importance. Shinran Shonin, who is respected as one of the greatest religious geniuses in Japan, once deplored, “I am unworthy of any consideration and am surely destined for hell!”....When one goes through this experience, for the first time the words of the great religious teachers are directly accepted with one’s whole heart and soul...” (16)
"But wait," some might say, "isn't this just the fear of not attaining enlightenment?" Good question. It could be just that, or then again, it might be that as well as an honest sign of true repentance and metanoia, qualities in a high degree of scarcity today. This fear, or more appropriately, remorse, at a certain stage you are entitled to have. It is a sign of spiritual health.
Brunton summarizes:
"Such was the primitive intellectual condition of the masses in former times that spiritual truth was best conveyed and easiest understood through parables, myths, allegories, and personifications. In our own day, improvement of the intellectual condition permits of straightforward statement and scientific precision in conveying the same truth...The teaching will always be adapted to the intellectual and moral capacity of its hearers. Hence the teachers will speak differently to different men or groups of men. Only at the highest level of intake will there be absolute identity and quality of teaching." (17)
According to an internet writer, the reference which I have misplaced, one respected early Church Father even spoke to this effect:
"Clement of Alexandria, in the early third century, distinguished four senses in which Scripture can be interpreted: the literal sense and three "spiritual" senses. In addition to the literal sense, the "meaning of the law" is known by its spiritual senses as displaying a sign, establishing a command for right conduct, or making known a prophecy." This four-fold interpretative schema, which informed the Catholic consciousness throughout the Patriarchic and Medieval eras, was known as the Quadriga. In other words, it became accepted the there are four senses of scriptural interpretation: (1) the literal; (2) the allegorical; (3) the tropological, or the moral; and (4) the anagogical or spiritual.
"The allegorical sense of reading scripture occurs when characters or events are presented for the sake of drawing the reader's attention to a larger theme or issue. Essential to the tropological sense of reading Scripture is the use of moral metaphor. It consists of reading, not literally, but figuratively. To read Scripture analogically is to read it in the spiritual sense. "Anagogue" is a Greek word implying an ascension on the part of a person, a "climb" upward."
[The author of this piece goes on to say - addressing Christianity, in this instance - that even the "literal" interpretation is often more nuanced, being distinguished in fact into "literal," "literal-historic," and "literal-prophetic" categories. Such a depth goes beyond the scope of this article.]
Part Two
(1) Paul Brunton, The Notebooks of Paul Brunton (Burdett, New York: Larson Publications, 1986), Vol. 2, 6.530; The Wisdom of the Overself (York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, Inc., Second revised edition, 1984), p. 164
(1a) J.C. and Thomas Cleary, trans., Zen Letters: Teachings of Yuanwu (Shambhala, 1994), p. 57, 69
(1b) Adyashanti, The Impact of Awakening, reference misplaced
(1c) Cleary, op. cit., p. 77
(2) Arran Stephens, Journey to the Luminous (Seattle, Washington: Elton-Wolf Publishing, 1999), p. 288
(3) There may be some danger in the premature awakening of the kundalini energy, however. This could damage the 'etheric web' connecting the conscious entity to the physical body. And cases have been reported in Sant Mat where an unrelenting disciple was granted his wish to be taken up to higher planes, and suffering greatly as if being 'torn apart by lightning bolts', and even dying soon afterwards. This is an unusual incidence. Masters will generally not so endanger their disciples, and rather allow such development to occur gradually and naturally, when necessary.
(4) Patrul Rinpoche, Words of My Perfect Teacher, p. 17
(5) see “In the Bosom of the Lord: Death for the Unliberated”(http://www.mountainrunnerdoc.com/consciousness_after_death.html) for some perspective on this issue.
(6) Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, I AM THAT (Durham, North Carolina: The Acorn Press, 2008), p. 284
(6a) Kirpal Singh, Heart to Heart Talks, Part One, p. 51
(7) Nitin Kumar, Moments Before Death: Transfer of Karma from One Birth to Another, Article of the Month, www.exoticindia.com, June 2013 (http://www.exoticindia.com/article/transfer-of-karma/)
(8) See “On Suicide and the Spiritual Quest” (http://www.mountainrunnerdoc.com/on_suicide_and_the_spirit.html) for additional perspective on this sensitive matter.
(9) Gehlek Rimpoche, Good Life, Good Death (New York, N.Y.: Riverhead Books, 2001), p. 39
(10) Ibid, P. 39-40)
(11) Jonathan Kirsch, A History of the End of the World (San Francisco: HarperCollins Publishers, 2006), p. 69
(12) Ibid, p. 93-94
(13) Ibid, p. 79
(14) Karl Anderson, Astrology of the Old Testament (Mokelumne Hills: Health Research, 1970), p. 85
(15) Albert Churchwood, The Origin and Evolution of Religion, p. 313, 366
(16) Abbot Zenkei Shibayama, A Flower Does Not Talk (Rutland, Vermont: The Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc., 1970) p 172-173
(17) Brunton, op.cit., Vol.13, Part Two, 2.280, 2.271
Ending Note
Aside from the support of reason, the quantum nature and vision of science, and the democratic nature of social politics, in addition, might also be brought into the picture, being part of humanity's evolution. A strictly 'top-down' approach, it has also been suggested, may no longer be valid and sufficient. The Heart is universal and no ones exclusive possession. This may require major re-working of the many spiritual dharmas as the years go by. In our humble, limited understanding, this seems to make sense. Of course, it is not a matter of utterly devaluing the gurus, only seeking a
re-articulated perspective and understanding of their importance in the enlightenment process.
Having said all that, I am in agreement with Fenelon, with whose words we will now close Part One:
“We may be sure, then, that it is the love of God only that can make us come out of self. If his powerful hand did not sustain us, we should not know how to take the first step in that direction.” (Spiritual Progress, p. 45).
(1) Francis G. Wickes, The Inner World of Choice (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1986), p. 81
(1) Anthony Damiani, Looking Into Mind (Burdett, New York: Larson Publications, 1990), p. 105
(2) Anthony Damiani, Living Wisdom (Burdett, New York:Larson Publications, 1996), p. 167
(3) Ibid, p. 168
(4) Paul Brunton, The Notebooks of Paul Brunton (Burdett, New York: Larson Publications, 1988), Vol. 15, 8.59
(5) Kirpal Singh, Godman (Delhi, India: Ruhani Satsang, 1971), p. 128
(6) Maharaj Saheb, Discourses on Radhasoami Faith (Soamibag, Agra, India: Radhasoami Satsang, 1983), p. 52
(7) Kirpal Singh, Godman, p. 131
(8) “The Muni and the Maharshi,” Part III, The Mountain Path 14, No. 3 (July 1978), p. 147-148
(9) Talks with Ramana Maharshi (Carlsbad, California: Inner Directions Publishing, 2001), p. 272
