SAWAN SINGH: The Great Master of Beas
(Part 7 OF 8)
As I mentioned earlier, Sawan Singh was also a master teller of parables. One story Sawan used to tell was about a Sufi master who had two men before him applying for initiation. One was a great scholar of religion and philosophy, the other an illiterate peasant. He told these two men that he would accept only one for initiation, and would therefore ask them to perform one or more tests to see who was more worthy. The first test he assigned was in giving each man a live bird. He told them to find a place where nobody could see them, kill the bird, and bring it back to him. The scholar, being a clever sort, spent some time looking around until he found a wall by a deserted field. He quickly broke the bird’s neck and brought it back to the master. The second applicant was gone much longer. When he finally returned, the bird was still alive. When asked why he had not done as he had been instructed, he replied to the effect, “There was nowhere to do this. Everywhere I went, God could see me do it and, moreover, I could see me do it. At this point, the master dismissed the scholar and immediately took the peasant inside for initiation.
Sawan didn’t just tell these stories as allegories, either. In one book, I believe it is “Call of the Great Master” Daryai Lal Kapur recalls a drunkard who was nearly run over by Sawan’s car while returning to Dera Baba Jaimal Singh. Sawan personally got out of the car and helped the man to the side of the road, made sure he was all right, then got in the car and went home to the Dera. The drunkard (a dacoit, or common ruffian or criminal) was overwhelmed by His kindness and asked who the tall man in the spotless turban was. When informed that he was a great saint who lived at the Beas colony nearby, the man hurried there to meet him in person.
When he got to the Dera, Sawan was in the process of giving Satsang. The topic happened to be about turning one’s life around, particularly the perils of constant inebriation and living a life outside the law. In spite of the large crowd, Sawan’s gaze turned straight to this man and penetrated right to his soul. The effect was so profound that, when Satsang was over the man – still quite drunk – crawled to Sawan’s feet, wrapped his arms around them and begged for initiation. Sawan, smiling, looked down at him and stated that the price of initiation was quite high. The man said he would pay any price. Sawan told him that the price was not monetary, but, rather, one of changing his life. The supplicant replied that he would do anything to receive just a morsel of God’s grace pouring through the Master’s eyes. Great Master said, “Okay. In addition to doing your meditation, you must also give up meat and alcohol, and earn your living by honest means from now on.”
At this, the man became quite distraught. “I’ve been drunk all my life,” he cried, “There’s no way I can stop now. And since I’ve been an adult, the only way I’ve made money is outside the law. How can you expect me to get an honest job?” Sawan, beaming brightly, quietly told him, “I understand. It’s not easy to change your habits. Promise me at least this much that at least you will neither drink nor break the law in my presence.” The man quickly agreed to this and was granted initiation.
For a short time, he kept his word, devoted regular time to his meditation and avoided intoxication and lawless behavior. Within a few weeks, however, he started hanging out with his old circle of friends. One night, they were all going to a wedding (weddings had always been an occasion for some serious partying and carousing. But as he was raising the first glass of wine to his lips, a vision of Great Master appeared before him. “I thought I told you not to drink or engage in illicit behavior in my presence,” Sawan said, looking very stern indeed. “If you continue to do this, you will lose all of the spiritual wealth you have accumulated through initiation and the Divine Grace will be withdrawn. In fact, you will accumulate further negative karma on an exponential basis and soon be in prison.”
Mortified by the realization that whatever he did, it was always in the Master’s presence, the dacoit threw down the wine glass and said, in effect, “I’m outta here!” His friends laughed, thinking he was just freaking out, and tried to hold him down and pour wine from the jug into his mouth. Somehow, he managed to get free from their pinning, smashing the wine jug in the process. “Listen,” he said, “whatever you guys want to do is up to you. But God has given me a chance to turn my life around, and I’m not about to blow it! Here’s the key to my strong box. Take the money I’ve stashed in there and divide it amongst yourselves. If you want to continue on as you’ve been doing, fine. But leave me out of it.”
Now, I would be remiss to not mention that this fellow did end up getting arrested for a multitude of misdeeds. It turns out, he was quite a notorious criminal in the area, and in fact was renowned for having escaped jail several times. But when he was imprisoned this time, he made no attempt to escape, nor did he offer any complaint. For he knew the Master was always with him. It wasn’t a matter or speculation or theory, but rather a living reality. He knew because he could see the Master’s radiant form, and hear His voice. And through this Divine Grace, he happily paid his karmic debt.
This is an important point to understand. For while the Master will at times intercede with Kal and the Lords of Karma to lessen our karmic load, that is not his primary purpose. Rather, through blessing us with Holy Nam initiation, he lifts us up and teaches us to have equipoise, inner peace and balance when our payments come due. Once, when Sawan was a young man, he badly broke his leg while on horseback. The break, and subsequent shock were so severe, that his life was actually in peril. But rather than panic, He simply placed His attention within, did his Simran and was blessed by the radiant form of His Master, Baba Jaimal Singh (Babaji). Babaji told Sawan that his karma – which had originally mandated death from the accident – had been lessened to a simple broken leg and that, furthermore, the sincerity of devotion would eliminate any pain associated with the accident and he would be fully mobile within a month.
Sure enough, coming out of meditation, Sawan found that the pain had vanished. And the break, though certainly inconvenient, was not horrific. Moreover, true to Babaji’s inner darshan, Sawan’s leg healed in exactly one month and, in fact was stronger than ever. This story has been retold many times by satsangis who knew him. The said that, when walking the countryside or climbing steep mountain trails, Sawan was always ahead of the pack, often leaving the rest of the people in His dust - even when he was well into his 80's!
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