THE REAL GLORY OF THE MASTER
by
Sant Ajaib Singh Ji
This Q & A talk was given on Dec.
16, 1977 at Sant Bani Ashram,
Village 77RB, Rajasthan and was
published in the September 1979
issue of Sant Bani Magazine.
---------------------------------
QUESTION: Master Kirpal wrote once that each one of the Five Holy Names
has its own power, influence, characteristics and energy. Could Sant Ji
comment on that? In other words, do the Names have more than just the
power to collect thoughts? Is there some influence on the inner planes
that they carry?
SANT JI: It is like this: We will take your example - your name is
"Chris." You know what you are. You know your inner power, whatever
inner influence you have on other people. "Chris" is your name but you
are something other than "Chris" also. These Five Holy Names are in fact
the names of the owners of the five inner planes. When we go within we
meet them face to face as we are seeing each other right now; only then
will we know their value and influence. It is a very interesting thing
that when we are doing our devotion, at the same time that we are doing
the devotion of Almighty God we are also doing the devotion of these
five owners of the five inner planes. But these are the lower planes
through which we have to go. It is because we have got the higher Shabd,
and that higher Shabd is pulling us up through these planes, that we need
to do the devotion of these lower gods, or the owners of these planes,
also.
Suppose that we go within to the first plane and we meet the god who
is ruling on that first plane; then we will know about his influence -
what role he plays in our spiritual life, and up to what extent we have
to devote ourselves to him, and what good or bad he is doing for us. In
the same way, when we go to the second plane and meet the owner of that
plane, then we will know about him, what he is doing for us, and to what
extent we have to pay homage to him. So we cannot know about their
influence or their characteristics until we go within and see them face
to face.
First we know each other only by our names; but when we meet, only
then we come to know the reality. Just as now you have come to India
and you know what the Delhi airport is like, or the streets of India -
in the same way, now you know the names of the planes and the owners of
the planes, but when you go within and see them then you will completely
know about the inner planes through which we have to pass in order to go
to our own higher plane.
Saints and Mahatmas have perfected these Holy Names and have met
the owners of these planes; therefore They go into the higher planes daily
without any resistance or difficulty; They just go and come back. So
when They go within and Their disciples also go within, the Master takes
the disciple from plane to plane and makes the disciple know the owner
of each plane. At the same time, the Master tells the owner of that plane,
"This is my disciple." In that way the disciple also becomes free to
travel in the inner planes. It is just as if someone is a friend of a
king. If he wants to go and meet the king, he can do so without any
problem; and if he wants to take somebody else with him, he can take
anybody he wants. The Masters have perfected these Five Holy Names and
are very well acquainted with the owners of these planes; in fact, They
are the kings, and one who is following the king has no problem traveling
in the inner planes.
If we read the Five Holy Names in any book or if anybody has given us
these Names who has not yet perfected them, then if we repeat them it
will do us no good because there will be no charging. Our Master used to
say that Naam is not only the giving of the knowledge of the words, it is
the attention; and behind the Simran which our Master gives us His
spiritual power is working.
If a general in the Army gives an order to a soldier to go and kill many
people he will do it; and the soldier will not be blamed, because the
power of that general is working behind the order which he has given.
But if that soldier even slaps somebody without the order of the general
he can be court-martialed: because in that case the general has given no
order and there is no power working behind it. He has done that action
on his own behalf. In the same way, those who get Naam initiation from
a perfect Master, the Master's charging is working behind them and
Master is responsible for every deed; therefore when they go within they
don't have to face the problems of those who don't have the protection
of a perfect Master. When the disciple goes within, the Master is always
with him and makes him meet the owners of those planes, and He tells
them, "This is my son; take care of him."
In this context Guru Ramdas has written very clearly that when the
Saints or Gurus come in this world they tell their disciples that the
messengers of the Negative Power come to us when we go into the inner
planes, and that they come to ask for their tax: because we are now in
the land of the Negative Power - this body is the land which he has given
to us, and when we use the organs of sense we are cultivating that land,
and when we get some enjoyment from that, definitely we have to pay
some tax for it. Just as when we own land we have to pay a tax on it, in
the same way, because we are in the kingdom of the Negative Power we
have to pay a tax. But because we have the protection of the Master, we
are freed from paying that tax.
So Guru Ramdas says that He is telling His disciples, "When the
Negative Power's messengers come to you asking for the tax, you should
not worry about them; you should follow me, repeating the Names which
I have given you. If anyone comes to you and asks for that tax you
should say, 'Our Master Who is leading us, He will pay it.' And when
they come to me, I will take care of it. You need not worry about them."
We can know the glory of the Master only in the inner planes, when we
see how the Master works there.
So He writes, when describing the inner condition, that when the
Master takes the disciples near to the place of the Lord of Judgment, he
asks the Master, "You have brought this many people here; have you
paid their tax? Did you settle that?" And the Master says, "All right;
you show me your account book and I will pay. I will pay whatever they
are supposed to pay. You bring your book." But when the Lord of Judgment
brings that book he doesn't find any account for the initiates of a
perfect Master - because at the time of initiation the Master takes the
accounts of the initiates from the Lord of Judgment and keeps them with
Him. So the Lord of Judgment is surprised when he doesn't find any
accounts, and says, "How is this?" and then he realizes that these are
the disciples of the Perfect Master Who has already paid off the accounts
by taking sufferings on His body or by any other means - because Master
uses many ways to pay off our karmas. That's why Guru Nanak Sahib says,
"When the Lord of Judgment comes, Nanak tells him that He had to list
all the karmas at the time of initiation and now He is responsible for
every single karma which the soul is doing."
At the time of initiation, it is true that the Master takes some time
to connect the soul to Sach Khand because the Negative Power still has
control of the soul, and it takes some time for the Master to take the
ropes of the soul from the Negative Power which he has hidden and tie the
ropes of the soul to Sach Khand. One who is tied to Sach Khand will
sooner or later definitely go there. That is why it is said that you can
appreciate the Master only when you go within and see Him working there,
because He works there as nobody else can. The Inner path is very
complicated, and only when we go within and see Him working there for us,
only then can we really appreciate the living Master. Now we see Him as
an ordinary man like us, and as such we do not appreciate Him fully.
That's why Master says to take Him as your brother, as your father, as
your friend. But when you go within and see how the Master is working for
you, only then can you appreciate and really respect Him.
Guru Arjan Dev says, "I have seen the Master and He is exactly like
what I have heard of Him." He says that when the soul goes within and
sees her Master working there, only at that time she realizes "whatever
I heard about my Master - that He protects my soul in such a way and He
works in such a way in the inner planes - truly I see Him doing that."
And then He says, "He unites the separated ones with God; He is the
lawyer or advocate in the court of God." Just as, if we want to fight
any lawsuit outside we need some competent lawyer, in the same way our
Master is a lawyer in the court of God: He helps us in the battle we are
fighting with the Negative Power. That's why he is called a lawyer in the
court of God.
The Negative Power gives no concessions. Whatever karma we have done
in this kingdom we have to pay for. He holds every soul accountable for
whatever karmas she has performed here, and he requires all karmas which
are done in this kingdom to be paid off.
Saints and Satgurus are free from all disease, as They do not have any
burden of karma to pay. Whatever suffering or disease comes to them is
only because They take over the karmas of their disciples in their love.
Once Master Sawan Singh was sitting in His Ashram with two Sikh leaders
who had heard a prophecy that Master Sawan Singh would live for a hundred
years. They asked Him, "Master, is it true that you are going to live for
a hundred years?" He replied, "Yes, it is true; I plan to live for a
hundred years: but only if my disciples let me meditate and do my work as
I am doing now. But if they cry in front of me and say, 'We are in pain,
we are suffering,' and if they will not meditate and not obey my
commandments, there are many possibilities that I will leave earlier -
because I will have to pay for all that." And it happened. Those who are
meditators and who are going within know that Master Sawan Singh left
ten years early at the age of ninety. In the same way Master Kirpal was
also asked the same kind of question, and He replied, "If you will allow
me to work steadily and if you will meditate - only then." And those who
are meditators know that Master Kirpal left the body fourteen years early.
One very interesting thing: Once I was suffering from a very high fever
and Master Kirpal was supposed to come on the next day: but before He
could come some dear ones from Delhi came to the Ashram, and when they
saw me suffering from that fever one of them cabled Master about my
sickness. He didn't ask me, and he didn't tell me that he was going to
cable Master, and without my approval he went down to Ganga Nagar and
cabled Master Kirpal. The next day Master Kirpal was supposed to come,
but He didn't come because as soon as He received that cable my fever
went away and I was better. Master Kirpal started having it; and it was
a very high fever. Next day that dear one came to me very happily
thinking that he had done a great thing by sending that message to Master.
He told me, "I cabled Master about your sickness and now you are free
from it." I became very angry with him, because I knew that Master Kirpal
had taken the karma which I was supposed to pay off and that He was
suffering from that fever. So I became very angry with him and asked
him, "Why did you do this? I didn't tell you to do it! " and I was very
upset with him. I told him "Now Master Kirpal will not come today because
He is paying off the karmas which I was supposed to pay." And it
happened. Master Kirpal didn't come on that day. The next day also he
didn't come, because the fever was very high, and the third day Master
did come but His face was very yellow because that fever was very high.
In fact it was a very big karma which He was paying off.
And when Master Kirpal came there, because I had told the dear ones
that He was not going to come on that day but He would come after a
few days, the dear ones thought that I was all-conscious, so they went
to Master Kirpal praising me: "We knew that You were not coming because
he told us." Master Kirpal was very tired and sick and said, "He was
telling you that I was not coming since it is only because of him that
this happened." I apologized to the Master; I told Him, "I didn't want
you to carry my karma, but this man went and cabled you." But Master
Kirpal said, "No, it's all right."
So Sant Satgurus are free from all sufferings and disease, but because
they are in the love of their disciples, whether the disciple wants the
Master to take the karmas or not, they reduce the karmas and take over
the karma of their disciple.
Masters are not bound to the body as we are; they are not prisoners in
the body. Whenever they want they can fly out of the body and leave it,
or they can live in the body as long as they want. They are not in the
control of death, but truly speaking, death is in their control. Those
who say, "Master has died," are in a very deep illusion. They should
think: "If Master is really subjected to death, then what is the use of
going and taking refuge in such a Master?"
We see that He only changes the body and goes and works at some other
human pole. In fact, "the Light which was working within Him is the same,
the practices which He was teaching are the same - only the body is
changed."
Guru Nanak said, "My Satguru is always residing, always existing, in
this world. He never comes, He never goes; He is the immortal person in
this world. He always remains here."
Guru Arjan Dev Maharaj Ji says, "They are not in the cycle of births
and deaths, but in fact They come here only for the sake of others: They
give the donation of Their own life and make the souls meet God."
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