Well, here’s the thing. You can say, “Is this real, or is that real?” It depends on how you define “real.” Any path, the minute it comes into form, it becomes fallible. It’s just the way the universe works. And so, all systems reflect their cultures, their teachers, their imprints, all these things. I think there are some really valuable things in traditional Sant Mat. I think there are some cultural programs that are not divinely ordained. There are attitudes and stuff, like there’s such an emphasis on the living master that some teachers have tended to denigrate past masters, and religions based around past masters. Like, it became very fashionable among some sects to put down Christianity, or Islam or Sufism or a number of things.
The truth of the Living Master is one. At the same time, it is absolutely essential – as Kirpal Singh said over, and over, and over again – that we must honor all Masters who have come in the past. I cannot over emphasize the importance of that. Precisely because, when you discuss the meaning of the need of the Living Master, it’s really easy for spiritual vanity to creep in, for the mind power to start taking over in very subtle ways, and the Kal power of the mind is phenomenally subtle. It is so delicate, it is so fine‑tuned that it has the mass of a snowflake.
Which means that it can be equally deceptive, because imagine a snowflake – it has almost no weight. It will take the finest instruments to gauge the weight of a snowflake, right? So, to most perceptions, there would be no mass. But to the discerning power of, say, an atomic scale, there would be. Likewise, the discerning power of soul can detect the mass of mind, even though it is almost mass-less.
So this thing of vanity will creep in and it will tend to lead to what might be called “spiritual xenophobia,” or “ethnocentricity” – the game of, (sings) “My master’s better than your master. My master’s better than yours.” And this is part of human nature. You find something you like – whether it’s a spiritual teacher, or a car, a university, the Harvard-Princeton-Yale thing, a rock & roll band, a place where you work. The resort I work at, we think we’re better than anybody else. It goes with the territory.
But these kinds of piety which creep in...
(somebody enters the room)
We were just discussing spiritual xenophobia, ethnocentrism. The risk of this is something that is always ongoing, of somebody wanting to play the game of spiritual one-upmanship. And so there is a tendency to, in this path to say, “Well, the Living Master is great, and everybody else is okay, but not as good as the current master.” And that is one reason why I’ve brought up the Bible last week for our Christmas Eve session, because it is important not just to pay lip service of honoring masters who have come in the past – especially masters who are not traditionally aligned with Sant Mat, or Surat Shabd Yoga, but to give them real credit, and to see how every teacher reflects their times. And every teaching is both divinely inspired, and fallible.
That’s also one of the reasons I’m trying to provide what I consider to be what you might say is a streamlined down version of Sant Mat, a bare bones rendition that tries to take it to is most basic core principles of the Light and Sound, and self and God. We started out talking about a friend of one of my students who studied this path for a long time, and now he’s even questioning its validity.
I would simply respond that the core truth of this path – whether you call it “Eckankar” or “Radhasoami,” or “ATOM” or “MasterPath” or “Science of Spirituality” – is very simple. The self places its attention on the homeward flow of the Divine Current. It lifts you up and in, and takes you back to Its Source. End of story.
That is phenomenally simple, so simple that people feel compelled over and over again to attach a lot more to it to give it a sense of substance, because people in this universe want something that they can sink their teeth into. But I would simply tell your friend that, yes, Sant Mat is the way. Harmonizing the self with the return flow of the Shabd is the way, period. And the fact is that, because the Flow’s essence is Divine Love, that if you immerse yourself in the Pure Love Current, it is way of love as well, a way of compassion.
Yes?
Q. That question was put to me this week also, about if I believe we have to have a living master. And I asked this person, how did he feel, since he doesn’t need one, that he believed we can get there on our own. And I said, “If that’s what you believe at this time, there’s nothing wrong with it,” but that I was set, this is how I feel. And he asked me. After he stopped talking about it, he was checking his validity ‑ because he wouldn’t have asked. So it’s like, he was thinking on it really hard.
MT. I’ve spent a lot of years, even when I was a member of Eckankar, questioning the need for the master. I was sort of falling into the mode of us being in the “post-hierarchical, post-master” phase of human evolution. Like we’ve proceeded beyond this paradigm, and have transcended it. And it was not until I topped out and went back to my Master that I realized I was full of it. And there is absolutely no way to describe this experience until you’ve reached the point of supplication. It’s like this deep, deep, deep inner letting go. And every individual arrives at that point in their own way. It’s just like Peck’s “The Road Less Traveled,” or Robert Frost “On a Snowy Winter’s Evening” (“miles to go before I sleep”). We each follow our own path, our own sadhana. Which sounds extremely stupid to say, because it’s kind of obvious. But it’s important to understand that, especially in terms of our spiritual growth. We can look at other individuals as sign posts to see the path they trod, and to get some indicators of what to look for. But we cannot make their experience our own.
And again, it seems rather obvious. And yet it’s really easy to try to do. At least it was for me, and I can only speak for myself. But I remember reading all these books – whether it was Ram Dass, or Paul Twitchell, or Darwin Gross or Alan Watts – and trying to replicate their experience. When I was early on I was reading Timothy Leary and Ram Dass, and thinking, “Well, if I did this much LSD, then I would have this experience and I would get ‘It,’ and – bingo! – I would be enlightened.” And then I wouldn’t even have the experience, much less “get it.” And then I would try to do this, and I would try to do something else to replicate another thing that happened in the past.
So, in a sense, the whole message of honoring all masters who have come in the past is also honoring all experiences which have come in the past, but not trying to say, “Okay. We’re going to bring that back and make it happen all over again.” in a sort of historical re-creation. And I found that, in the path I followed – because Ram Dass and Tim Leary and Twitchell were some of my major influences in life growing up (in fact, I think it’s ironic that Paul and Tim had the same birthday – October 22) – there were some similarities in the paths we followed.
But, unlike Paul Twitchell, I could not pop out of my body in a dramatic fashion at the drop of a hat. And I thought for a long time I was doing something bad, because I couldn’t do it. I tried everything. I tried singing “HU.” I tried every mantra I could think of. I would rock back and forth, and “nothing” would happen. It took me years to figure out that, in that specific case in point, exteriorization was simply a skill that Paul Twitchell had. He, for whatever reason, was one of those rare individuals who had a natural ability, and a comfort zone that was extended to the point of being able to pop out of his body and exteriorize.
For me, it was always more of a general, gentle expansion. Everything just widened, my whole perception just widened to encompass my being, the earth, the solar system – it would just keep expanding until the entire universe was like a marble in my awareness. I always thought, “Well, this is kind of nice.” And then one day it struck me – “This is cosmic consciousness!” And I was like, “Oh!” And I know it sounds like such a big deal, but it was really very matter-of-fact.
So we come to the point where each of us progresses along. Like one of those little wind-up cars, you bump into the wall and then you go in another direction. We keep bumping both sides of the walls of our maze we go through. Each of us arrives at a point which is entirely based on our whole karmic pattern.
Our karmic blueprint is like our DNA. It is so completely intricate and detailed, and the result of so many lives that have come in the past, and actions in the present, and relationships we have, that it all works itself out. The knot unties itself in its own weird way until each of us will hit a point – whether in this life or another one – when it becomes absolutely obvious – not just mentally, although that comes too, a point of lucidity – but inwardly obvious that we are, on some level, holding on – that we’ve got a white-knuckled grip on our attachments and our minds and our lower self. And the only way to completely transcend is to relax the grip and let go, which means letting go to the Master.
But, you aren’t going to know until you know. And once you know, it’s like you’ve always known. But until that point comes, you’re not going to know. When you do surrender, however, on a very deep level – not just paying homage or giving physical gifts (these are all steps), but when you find – like on this inner Indiana Jones trek – the alter of the covenant within yourself, at the deepest, most intimate and secret place inside yourself – and you supplicate yourself there – that is when the transformation occurs. That is when the Divine Love starts pouring through in an avalanche. The Inner Master becomes absolutely real, as real as we’re sitting here – and your life is changed.
It doesn’t mean it will be easy five minutes after that, because you’ve got to come back. Until you’re done with this incarnation and anything going on in the lower worlds, from the mind on down, you’ve got to still deal with these battles.
It’s like Ram Dass’ story about the time he ate psilocybin back in 1962 or ‘63, and he had this completely transcendental experience – he saw his body disappear. He looked down and his feet were gone, and then up to his knees, and up to his hips, and then his waist was gong. So you might say he was getting a little nervous. It was just a slightly unsettling experience. He was watching himself disappear – not seeing bones, but seeing nothing. But just as he was about to really freak out, this little voice came in and said, “Ah – but who’s minding the store?” And he realized, “But wait a second! I still am.”
It was wonderful. He went out shoveling the snow at three o’clock in the morning. His dad was looking out the window saying, “What are you doing out there?” Yet he came down. And this kept happening as long as he was into the psychedelic phase. He finally went to India and found his guru, Neem Karoli Baba, and worked himself into a more or less constant state of beingness.
The same thing applies – even without using drugs – to any kind of meditation. The greatest, most transcendental experiences you have will, on some level, be temporary. You have to be continually dealing with the passions and the mind and everything else. This is a constant. The winds of the Kal are always buffeting us.
That is why Kirpal Singh advised his students to use the self-introspection diary. That’s why we do spiritual exercises every day. That’s why, as we go into a new year – even though it’s really arbitrarily assigned as December 31st – it is important to know that this is a path of constant reminding ourselves of the path, of reminding ourselves of God, developing receptivity to Spirit and the Master. It’s a skill that you have to keep practicing and dedicate yourself to.
This being New Year’s Eve, it is a day of resolutions. Each of us has things that we are progressing well with; and there are things that we’re struggling with. I highly recommend keeping some sort of a notebook on some level, just to record what’s going on – observing tendencies of mind and emotion and things like that – taking time out every day to read a little bit, even just a page, even a quote. Have something that you’re imprinting your nervous system with through the eyes. I highly recommend getting tapes of one of the masters. I’ve got a bunch myself – they’re available. I’ve got a few that I’ve actually made marketable master copies of, and I have a bunch of stuff that I can dub for anybody for the cost of a tape.
But getting something through the ears is important. Coming to Satsang. I cannot express the importance of Satsang. The skeptic in the mind will tell you that, “Oh well, it’s not that important. I’ve got the inner connection. I’m busy today. Oh, he just wants to have a good crowd so he can impress himself, etc.” The skeptic will come up with all kinds of reasons not to attend Satsang.
Kirpal was very emphatic about it. He once said that, if you can sit up – even if you’re sick – if you can sit up, come to satsang. If you can move your finger, come to Satsang – have somebody drive you. If you have a horrible case of the flu, sit off in a corner so you won’t infect anybody, but still come to satsang. The benefit of being in the presence of the physically embodied matrix is amazing.
That, in itself, is one of those little things that always fascinates me about this, the spiritual physics of this path. Before, when I was on the outside looking in, I always kind of wondered what it was like to be the Master. But I knew, intellectually, I thought to myself years ago that it stands to reason that this individual has a lot of Current going through them. As you grow into your personal mastership, you learn to assimilate more and more Current. You take steps. You hang out. You process IT. You adjust yourself to the new frequencies. Then you take another step so that it is perfectly natural.
If I had gone from what I was doing 15 years ago to where I am now in a day-and-a-half, I would have had to be institutionalized – no doubt. It happens to the best of teachers at times because it’s just a lot of voltage. People always remarked about going to seminars and how it felt good, and I knew that it was because there was/is this generator, this physically-embodied generator, that is serving as a grounding pole for this Sound and Light Energy. And you’ve got this main rod that’s doing it, and then you’ve got a lot of copper wires known as “human beings” that are wrapped around It when they come into communion together.
And each of us – as a human copper wire, as a transducer for the Current – can only handle so much. But when we come together, we become a cable – which grounds the Energy, and also allows a lot more Current than the sum of its parts to pass through. And so, by being in the presence of this, there is a lot – it’s like when people complain about high tension wires going around the neighborhood, and they feel funny because there’s a lot of magnetic radiation coming off of it – working around the Master (regardless of the master you are working with), just being there is bound to have an influence.
I find this with some of my friends. I tend to very much soft‑peddle what I do here when I’m in casual, socializing situations because I have people who knew me before I became a teacher. And they’ll kind of joke about it, “Here comes ‘Sri’.” or something like that. But I know that just by hanging out I’m speeding things up. And so I really try to adjust the Flow somewhat, and not be too much of a karmic accelerator.
Because it is the impact of the Shabd that flows everywhere, and that is what each of us becomes when we become co-workers with It. We become greater and greater capacitors for the Divine Energy. One of the points of the balance is that we have a great responsibility when we become co-workers, because as the level of the Current going through us increases, It affects things, and it requires greater and greater emotional poise, and mental poise – more compassion, more love, more centeredness.
The great case-in-point as to the implications of not being centered was a movie that came out several years ago. Of course it was sensationalized, but there was a point to it. The movie was Carrie, about a girl who was telekinetic. Unfortunately, her telekinetic energies were frequently released during points of emotional stress, shall we say. She caused things to fly around the room, and general havoc ensued after a certain point when her schoolmates humiliated her at a high school prom. In the same token, if you don’t relax and maintain your balance, you can start shooting off energy in all kinds of directions. When the energy takes physical form it can be destabilizing to things around you.
So in taking on this path, it is important to realize what the goal is, which is co-workership with God, self-realization, God-realization – and that it is a goal of service. It is a process of service, where we become less and less until, in a sense, we no longer exist. We are simply an instrument to be played by the hand of God.
And that is a very unglamorous thing, which is why this path – in its truest sense – it’s not for many people. That’s why people who try to glamorize, who try to make it into more than it is, you will find that – in any of the organizations that are trying to popularize Surat Shabda Meditation – the people who truly get it are still just a handful. I would say that, out of the fifty or eighty thousand (whatever the membership is) of Eckankar, for instance – and this is not to demean all the sincere seekers who participate in that – the individuals who are really dedicated to serving God and being Its instrument, are only a handful.
As with any spiritual, metaphysical or psychic path, most of us are initially attracted because it offers something that provides a remedy to their life’s pain. It offers the implied lure of greater prosperity, happiness – and these are all attractions that most people have to spiritual paths. They want to make their lives better. And what is implied to be better, generally speaking, is material on some level – whether it’s a better job, better house, either finding a spouse or improving your relationship with your spouse, overall success on some level – a lot of things like that. But these are all the byproducts of true spiritual awakening.
But getting beyond that to the real work of working off our karma, dredging up old karma or old patterns, doing serious excavation work is not for the faint of heart. As Darwin once sang, “The timid never find true love and happiness; but the bold do.” It is very simple, and it’s very joyous; but it’s also very serious. Because we have to be willing to confront ourselves, and all of our patterns, all of our opinions, all of our failings – because they will come to the surface.
To be settled in the Pure Positive God Worlds means that our attention, our beingness, must be united with Spirit. And that which is pure and singular will not allow that which is dual and negative into ITSelf. Again, it’s a matter of physics, it’s a filter. And only when our attention is clear and pure will we truly reside in the Higher Worlds. That is a given. You can’t force it. You can’t speed it up. You can’t jerry-rig it. You can’t bribe it. You can’t cajole it. As Jim Morrison said, “You cannot petition the Lord with prayer.” You simply have to do the work.
It’s like in the movie “Ghost” where somebody is a ghost and they are hanging onto something material and walking through a door. And because they were non-physical, they could pass through the door just fine (of course they never explained how they were able to lift a case, right? But, you know, hey, this is what they call, “suspension of disbelief” in cinema). But the briefcase could not pass through the door because they both had mass. Just like the door, the briefcase was material.
Likewise, we have to do the work. And Spirit will go through us, saturating and purifying every atom in our bodies, and every atom of our emotions ‑ which have mass, have molecular structure. So do memories. So do thoughts. There is a very subtle molecular structure to thoughts. Spirit doesn’t have mass, though. Neither does soul. And that is the real price.
That’s why you get to a point somewhere along the line of questioning or turning away from the path. Every one of us, I guarantee, will experience a variation of Saint Peter denying Christ. Every one of us will have good times, when it’s going great and beautiful, and you’re just like, “My God, this is the path for me! I can’t believe it. Thank you, Lord. I’m just so completely grateful. I’m so happy!” You’ll be going along, and Spirit’s flowing through you.
All of a sudden you’ll hit this point, as the Current mining your bodies, where IT will dig up something really unpleasant, like the Balrog in Middle Earth (like the one the dwarves dug up in Lord of the Rings, that was encased in this tomb that was buried for thousands of years, and they blasted through and released the Balrog, and it was this horrible demonic creature that decimated the Moria mines until Gandalf took it on and took it out.)
Every one of us has our own inner Balrog, so to speak. It’s hidden someplace – at least one. And there will be a point when Spirit will just keep wearing away at your resistances and issues – just like the water in the Grand Canyon, thousands of years just working it away – and IT will release this thing (this unpleasant memory or habit, etc.), and we will question ourselves, we will question the path, we will question the Master, we will deny IT – because, suddenly, it’s not fun.
And the denying may only last 10 seconds, or 10 minutes, or an hour, or a week, or a year. But, because there is pain released, there is going to be a part of us saying, “This was not part of the bargain! This is supposed to be about happiness, and bliss and divine love – and I’m hurting. Why am I hurting? Whose fault is this? Who can I blame?”
And this not trying to lay a guilt trip on anybody! It’s just a part of human nature. We all do that. And the analogy of Saint Peter is, Jesus tells him, “Before the cock crows in the morning, you are going to deny me three times.” And Peter is like, “What are you talking about?! I love you. You’re my best friend. How could I ever deny you?” And Jesus essentially says, “Oh Peter. Don’t try to con me, man. I know you. And you will.” And Peter’s like, “Say it ain’t so, Lord!”, and Jesus says, “Don’t worry about it. It will happen. But don’t worry about it right now, because you can’t do anything about it.”
And, sure enough, suddenly there it is. Jesus is under arrest, and the heat is on. The disciples are going underground really fast because there’s a warrant out for all of them, and people try to snag Peter. They say, “Yeah, you were with him. I saw you!” And Peter says, “No I wasn’t! I was nowhere near the place. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I never met the guy. I’m, I’m from someplace else.” And somebody else says it, and then a third guy. And Peter says, “I don’t know him! Come on, leave me alone!” He’s trying to save his butt. He’s trying to avoid meeting his shadow, and he’s trying to avoid the pain. And he splits, and then he realizes what has happened, and the cock crows after the third time, and it’s just this horrible experience, you know. Which leads to a whole bunch of guilt, which is probably the motivation – if the legends are right – for him wanting to be crucified upside down when he finally got the hit from Rome.
So true spiritual unfoldment is something that is really an in-depth process. And we have to have the courage, the resolve, the determination to forge ahead, to endure unpleasant experiences which arise from time to time – to be willing to dig deep within ourselves, to face unpleasant aspects of ourselves, to bring our shadows into the pure Light and Sound of God, so they can be dissipated like fog in the fresh morning breeze. The key to this, of course, is keeping our attention riveted upon Naam and Satguru – keep your eye on the prize, as Dr. King used to say – and everything we go through to reach our goal – our goal of self-realization, God-realization and spiritual freedom – will be worth it!
In the LightSong of Eternal Love,
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Michael
http://spiritualfreedomsatsang.org - Blog