Excerpt from a talk given by Dr. Harbhajan Singh at St. Gilgen on 24 June, 1990
(published in “Sayings of Sant Kirpal Singh”, edition 97-1)
Dear brothers and sisters,
the greatest help we can give is the help to the soul. What is soul? Soul is a ray of God’s thought, a ray of His wish, and you cannot separate the thought from the ray.
When the soul was separated from the ocean of all consciousness, it felt its identity. It has to assume different forms: the physical, astral, and the causal body — and is living in the material world.
Who knows, “I am the soul?” This awakening and right understanding comes out of its own self, from the soul — it can know, that it has to go somewhere (our Origin). Now it is tied to mind and matter and cannot get out of it. But the link with the Origin is there, no one can separate it from the Origin.
As the clouds burst in the sky and it rains on the earth — so it happens with the soul: When the thought of that Power, who is within, vibrates, it awakens the soul in the body. When our soul experiences this or thinks about that ocean of life, it is not satisfied any longer in this human body.
Therefore service to the soul, to our own self, is the greatest selfless service, it transcends all other services; without this service, no service is as pious as it should be. All other kinds of service in the world are food for the mind and for the intellect and bind us back to the world so that we have to come back into the world again and again (because we are the ‘doers’ and have to reap the reactions).
Master Power reminds us, that we are spirit, we are the soul. Man is the first creation of His thought, everything else came afterwards and was created for man — for the child in order to live peacefully in this world and make the best use of his stay here.
In the beginning there was neither hell nor heaven. People talk much about the heaven, but that is the astral heaven in which the soul can never be happy. When the mind is ruling over the soul, it gets the power (from the soul) to take the attention wherever it likes. Then it helps to show anything inside (a negative experience in the astral region) and thus creates a barrier. When our soul loses its beauty, its charm after some time, it wants to get rid of that place, but then it cannot do so. The soul is again tied in the astral beauty of the body.
When man came into the world, there was no hell — it is the creation of man. When there was no sin, there was no prison, and when we had no wish, there was no (astral) heaven. For those who did bad deeds, who murdered and did the worst things to humanity, hell was created. Those who had good thoughts, good deeds, and good actions but never felt the necessity of their Father (who did not see that the Father is the only Doer), were also bound through their deeds.
When their wishes were fulfilled, they became dependent on those powers, and they started to meditate on them. For the fulfillment of every wish they had to give something (of their inner power) to those forces, thus losing one virtue after the other for the sake of fulfilling those wishes. Who became strong? Man became weaker and weaker, but those powers, which should be serving the holy body, got more strength for themselves.
First there were no barriers (on the way back to the Father) — there were no cities of Brahma, Vishnu or Shiva, the three highest deities (of the three worlds). They were all engaged in the service to humanity. They would never fight with each other but our wishes separated them. They started to fight on the astral and the causal planes, which was only possible with the power of the virtues, that they took from man, from the soul. Now they have created strong barriers and hindrances for man.
It is all due to our ignorance. We think, that the fish lives in the ocean. But that God Power is innate in the soul, and due to His grace we know, that we are of the same essence as that of God.
So the ocean (God) lives in the fish (soul) —
not the fish in the ocean.
If we know that, we are nearer to the goal.
It is the mind which creates a wish in us and then influences the soul to strive for it. Then the soul yearns to have that wish fulfilled. Like fire, mind is a good servant but a bad master. It will make some suggestion to you and then it will “put the gun on your shoulder” so that you must become responsible and not the mind.
A man, however, whose soul has risen above these inner barriers, takes the phenomena of this material world from a different point of view. He sees, that nature is merely a negative factor, for he who yearns to go back to God, sees that the gifts of nature are not free for him. He has to pay for each and every gift.
If we understand this phenomenon which happens not outside, but always within us, we understand what selfless service to our soul means. If with this understanding, that is innate in the soul, we make the best use of this awakening or right understanding, we can rise into higher consciousness.
People rush to buy the heaven, but what is there in the (astral) heaven? Only the tentacles of the mind. It is like this animal that lives in the water (octopus). It rests at one place and spreads its tentacles far and wide in the water. Anyone who touches these tentacles is drawn back to the place where it is resting and then he is eaten up. Like this the tentacles of the mind spread everywhere in the astral, causal, and in the physical world.
In the astral world, where many people yearn to go, many yogis, Rishis, and Munis were caught. They became the skeleton of bones, but they could not get rid of their fault. It was the biggest mistake in their life (to make a meditation which leads into the astral world) because whatever they got there, that was lost in a moment. So they stressed very much to come there again, as they wanted to know more and more, but nothing was there except those tentacles (of the negative power).
Now, what is happening with us? The same thing is happening with everyone. Maya — this matter or the mind has befooled the whole world. And who is the foolish one? Who knows nothing but is proud of everything — he is a fool, and he is befooled (by the illusion). He who knows all about his short-comings and is still proud, is also foolish. So mind has befooled the whole humanity.
We know, that we have short-comings, we know, that there are lots of hindrances in our life. Where can we see the reality? We must see the reality or the truth in our own self. We are imprisoned in this body and this world is due to us. If we only go into the world, which is due to us — what will we get from there? Nothing!
What is due to us is only the expression of the God Power, and all Masters tell us: “God comes into expression in the holy body.” The contact with God in the body is very beautiful.
The child is life of the life of the Father, and the Father is the life of the child’s life. They are two but one all together — you cannot separate them. It is the eternal truth, that child and Father are one. But since the child has always kept distance from his Father, he is no more the true child of the Father — he has been led astray
What makes you conscious is of help to you:
Good thoughts, good deeds, and good actions
without the influence of mind and matter —
that is the food for the soul
and serves the development of the soul.
I told you: To find the reality you simply identify with the expression — but where is the reality, if you are true to others but you are not true to yourself? It is the way of the world to be like this. But if you shut your eyes, you can see your own condition, you can find all your mistakes, all your problems, or all those things that will come in succession — one after another. All that you have committed, or you want to commit, is already overflowing in the reservoir of the mind.
What matters is, if you are able to throw them out. If you make a determination in your life to get rid of those things, it is the greatest selfless service in the mission of the Master.
And what is the mission of the Master? It is not to create any faith, or any religion, or a so-called philosophy in the world. Master’s main purpose is the same as that of God (to bring the souls back to God). He bothers not for anything else, He is commissioned from God and He does only what God prefers and not what the world prefers.
Such Masters come into the world to guide and help the humanity, and for guidance and help they even sacrifice their life. What more can we expect from them? They come from time to time and standing on the top of the roof, they cry for righteousness in the world.
Their purpose is unique in the world. What is unique in the world, we do not know, and so everyone is misled. Nobody is free from it. The misleading factors of the mind spread everywhere in the world. There is no place where the mind does not work.
The question arises: Can we be free from the mind and work in this world without the mind? Is this possible? After all, we have come down (into the physical world) only with the mind and the matter. But to work without mind means to take the mind with you and ask it to do everything in accordance with your (soul’s) wish.
You can use your mind as your good servant. Master tells us, that these ten servants in the body (the five outer senses and the corresponding inner senses) have lots of desires and the soul has to fulfill the wish of everybody. There are the five who demand the fulfillment of their wishes in the outside and those five who demand it inside.
There is a story of five yogis (senses) who are sitting together with a noseless queen (Maya, illusion or matter) sitting among them — this noseless queen is the darling of the three worlds, but the enemy of the Saints. Awakened and discerning persons have cut off her nose (a saying in India), she does not have any respect. She also does not respect her husband (the soul). Everyone has accepted her as his wife, and man is after her throughout his life just to fulfill her wishes — but she is nobody’s friend. It is said, that when her husband leaves the body, she does not even look back but barefooted she runs to find another one. This describes a hidden aspect of the negative power, that works in everybody — may it be a child or an old one, a man or a woman.
This power is called Maya, illusion, mind, or matter. Wherever we are influenced in the negative way, there are the tentacles of this power, and we cannot get rid of those tentacles.
If we know how to get rid of them, it is the greatest selfless service we can give to the soul. Only then (when we have learned that) all other services which you do afterwards are of real merit and are accepted by the God Power.
But whatever you do in ignorance will be put against you, no matter if it was good or bad (because you were the doer). It will be counted as a debt against you.
You have already learnt a lot in the world, and you know if something is in your favour or if it is against you — you know the purpose of human life. You have read many books and digested lots of things, but only if all those things have come near to your self, it will be fruitful
The soul is a tree of life within — lots of birds can sit on it and every bird has its own wishes. It bears beautiful flowers and delicate fruits with seeds, but they are eaten all by those birds who then fly away
Since God has no beginning and no end and we are of the same essence as that of God — why are we stuck in limitations? What is there to stay in the world within limitations — and for how long?
We should never have a wish for another life, never wish to be born again in this world — this is a big sin. But we should make the best use of this holy body — who knows, if it may or may not be given to you again, or if the mind will overrule you again. The sun will not change, the moon will not change, and earth will remain the same but according to your wishes you will be born here or there or anywhere. But you will be caught in your wishes.
Wherever our attention is bound, there we must go! So to get rid of the tentacles of the mind and the matter, we must know how severe the reactions of the mind are. We must know what is good for us and what is bad for us. If we know at least that much, we can come round and act accordingly.
You are the son of the living God, you dwell in this holy body. You are awakened souls. Now you are not little children any longer — now you have to get rid of this very long slumber you have been kept in. We have to get rid of it.
If there is a turning point in your life and you make a permanent determination, it is the greatest selfless service to your soul.
Physically or mentally you can do a lot, but when you start doing something for your inner self, then all those (lower) forces will become a hindrance on your way. They have the habit to steal everything from us.
The nature of the soul, however, is independent, it only believes in the direct contact with God. But when it becomes the slave (of these powers), it loses all its fairness, its beauty and charm are destroyed.
Every word that is spoken, read, or heard has its own vibration, which reaches the soul. For how long will we believe the testimony of other people? Everyone believes the testimony of the great Saints and the Masters, but it should not be only their testimony which is spoken or read — it should become your own testimony.
Believe him only who is able to give you an experience of that, and this can be given only by the highest Power in the world, the radiant form of the Master inside, or those who themselves are able to transcend all barriers and are able to take you to that place, where there is no death, where there is eternal life, where there is no time and no space, where there is light without sun and rain without clouds, there is all the time happiness and the soul shivers with love. This is the extreme form of love, if the soul shivers with love.
The first criteria that we have to know — and that is unique in the world — is that our Father is one! The Father for the whole creation is one and the same — that is the Christ Power, Master Power, God Power.
Who then is there to interfere in it, who can say, he is the doer, he can do this or that? All true Masters advised us never to follow such persons.
Only believe that one who raises in you the very sweet remembrance of the Father. The one, who is linked with Him will tell you, that you should be also linked with Him. He will bring you above those barriers. If you compare His words with the words of all those hundred thousand so-called ‘masters’, you can very easily know right from within which words appeal to you or which words do not appeal to you at all.
Masters never tell us to be happy with what we have already done, but we should weep over our misfortune, that we are still separate from God and think about who kept us separate and what was the reason for it. That is the beginning of a happy life. The place of the soul is a place of deep silence. It is very silent. This silence can help you to get rid of all, whatever is appearing or not appearing in the world. Once you are there, you will never wish to see anything else, that is the silence of the heart (in the terminology of the Saints).
But all those miraculous things will make you emotional and will make you dependent, they will create fear in you. People are surprised to see those miraculous things and they trust the miraculous things more than the right subject. Right subject is to go into the silence of the heart where nobody hears you and you don’t hear anybody.
Master does a wonderful job in the world. He shows you what is food for you and where the water of life and the bread of life is to be gained — that is only in the silence of your heart. You have to reach that place. Let there be hue and cry in the world — who bothers for it? You do not bother for it! One simply transcends and then is kept away. So to live in the world is not difficult, if you learn to follow this hidden way of life.
I told you lots of times, that whatever is going on in the world is based on dependency — and dependency is slavery. Only to have his wishes fulfilled, man is dependent upon inferior powers which will attract him to create the same miraculous things, and this is how all this negativity is going on. How many magic things or supernatural things are going on in the world, how many miraculous things are shown now!
What does it benefit you if you hear of some miracles or you see some miracles? It only steals your attention and brings nothing else. If you experience a miraculous thing or hear of it, do you feel that you go back to the silence of your heart?
With spiritual healing, for example, you become dependent upon others. It will throw you down very deep to the bottom of the ocean where you will be drowned because you took that “gift”, and with your virtues you have to pay back for that gift. It means, that you very much delay the recovery of your soul. Maybe our body will get healthy for some time, but your soul will get more and more weak and sick.
Masters never tell us to do such things (spiritual healing, miracles…). There are so many books of competent Masters who remind us of the purpose of human life. But what is going on in the world?
I had made a clear determination in my life — so by His grace, Master blessed me with the discrimination power, and when I had to meet a very dreadful test in my life, He happened to come to me. Beforehand I had never thought, that He could be in the physical body in the world. But with this discrimination which He blessed me with, I could know, that a lion also needs a den (the physical body) to live in.
Then I started to search for Him. I could know all at first sight — it was His blessing. I went to lots of people just to search for the one (who was the Word personified) but I could not find Him. I only wanted Him and not anybody else. But a time came in my life, when (out of despair) I said, “There is no God.” The same night He came to me and said, “You say, there is no God? Here I am!” Then He told me His name, His address, and immediately I had the wish to be with Him just the very next day. But it was a wish which He would not allow me. He told me,
No, you must not come — God comes of Himself.
So I had to wait for six months, and these six months seemed to me more than hundred years. These days were for my yearning and learning.
Through yearning I could learn more day by day, and in these six months I could know the competency of my Master. When I think back — it was a wonderful life. I knew Him, I knew where He lived but I never dared to go there because He had told me He would come of Himself!
But when He ordered me to come and I went there, it was more beautiful than anything I had ever experienced in the world — just to be with Him again in this life. I thought, it is the very first and the last life with Him. When He saw me; He told me, “I have seen you somewhere!” I bowed down and said, “You manifest everywhere.” Then I asked for initiation, and He told me, “I have already initiated you. He who comes of Himself, He also initiates you.”
He gave me more than anybody could learn from Him. He taught me the selfless service — to turn, to change, and then return. This was the biggest lesson He gave to me.
So selfless service means: to turn, to change (oneself), and to return (home). We have come only for that purpose. There is no second lesson, this is the lesson that is to be learned.
Master says,
Forget what you have learned, what has been told to you —
your feet are already in the ocean, start swimming!
Where is the hindrance?
You want to overcome the sin and the evil?
Why do you remember them?
Forget them and turn your face (toward God) —
it is the beginning of your going back.
It is the beginning of your love for your Father that will bring you back to Him.
Why do you move outside? You must go within, step inside, there you must knock!
The meaning of true life is service and sacrifice.
So long as you want, first and foremost,
to be blessed yourselves
and you expect others to administer to you,
you will remain strangers to the way of spirituality.When you will wish others to be blessed,
you will begin to speed on your way back to God.— Kirpal Singh