See also “Library > Surinder Kaur — Talks > Be in the company of the competent Master“
Excerpt from a lecture by H.H. Surinder Kaur, 1 July 2001
(Published in “Sayings of Sant Kirpal Singh” edition 2003-1)
Only that one can give who has attained it himself.
Only that one can give us the light
in whom this light is already burning.
It is the sign of a competent Master
that He can tie the five enemies
(lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego)
and can put us on His path.
— Biji Surinder Kaur
All of us brothers and sisters came here to attain something from the highest Power, who is giving the shower of His spiritual blessing in Khand and Brahmand.
Some were also yearning for the voice of the Master. Once Sant Kirpal Singh said, “If I could have the voice of my Master (on tape), I would never hold Satsang myself.”
Whenever Master met a disciple, who had been initiated by Hazur Baba Sawan Singh, Master would say, “With what words can I thank You, (my Master), who can unite the separated souls!” So this is our condition, that we, who have been separated since long ago, are now being united by Him.
We have just been listening to (the tape of) Bhaji (when he described) how he passed his time in this world. When Master went to America, He wished that Bhaji should go along with Him and then in Amritsar He asked him (Bhaji) about all the conditions and then Master said, “No, as soon as you are settled in all your activities I can use you in the Mission.” Bhaji took this hint very deep and within two months he completed all of his activities and was fully prepared for the mission of the Master. Master likes such type of a disciple who fulfills the wishes of the Master.
Then, when Bhaji had completed all his work, he was prepared to work in His mission and he wrote a letter to Master saying, “Now I am ready and will receive You at the airport.” This scene never passes away from the eyes of the one who has seen it (one always remembers).
When on His last (Punjab) tour Master went to Amritsar, He went to that house (in Nag Kalan) and He took back from Bhaji all his property, his children and everything.
Only to whom he wanted to have, to him He spoke such words. There was much rush and in this rush Master gave the stream of His Shabd to His disciple, for He had already selected him while he was still in the family life.
Pardesi Ji, initiated by Hazur Baba Sawan Singh, told very loudly to the villagers, “Today the Masterpower is going through each of your streets and you can take His grace which is fully being given.”
After that Bhaji always used to say, “I am free for the Mission.” He finished all the attachment of the world and his attachment was then only with the mission.
By the company of such a great Saint, one gets the intoxication of spirituality and by the company of such a Sadhu (Bhaji), Sant Kirpal Singh could also reach into the hearts of all people, of all the Sangat.
So we should only have the company of such a competent one, who can take us to the door of the highest one. Even in short time the company of the competent one gives much more fruit than our own bhakti (devotion). Bhaji was sitting in such a boat, which was full of problems, but (with His grace) he was able to easily bear these things. As we have often listened to the story of Kabir Sahib, how He was tied and put into the Ganges River, and how one boat was there to save Him, in such a way we also saw Bhaji, how he was in a boat of problems and how Master saved him from all these things. One cannot attain the highest one with yoga and with outer love…
Only in the Satsang of the competent one can one attain the Masterpower – His colour. With this (when we get His initiation) the pralabdh karma can be destroyed. So Sant Kirpal Singh has given such a power by giving Naam to His souls. If we want to find such a competent Master (in the physical body), it is very difficult; even after a hundred thousand years it may be possible to get Him back physically. If we wish that He should stand before us physically so that we were able to talk to Him, then it is also very difficult to meet Him.
Today we are so much covered in the wings of the attachment that we have much dirt on us, on our body, which was blessed by Nirankar, and given to us by Him. He who has blessed us with this beautiful body, He Himself is the owner of this body. So we should surrender to Him, who created it (this body).
When we came into this world, five thieves also journeyed with us. Master used to say that Guru Gobind Singh had also come into this world and had learned to fight with these five enemies but not on this earth. To destroy these five thieves we need the company of the competent Gurmukh, who has learned to live with the Guru and who has taken the intoxicant from Him. In his veins the blood of the Master is flowing. This stream we get from within but we have lost it in the world. The stream of Naam, that He has given to us, comes directly from the internal house (Dhur Dhan) and we can see the form of Master in it.
So we should only learn to travel with Him and with the bhakti of Naam so that our attachments (to the world) can be destroyed. Don’t fall into the false picture (of illusion).
He is my pritam (beloved) who is the devotee of the Truth. So we should have the company of such a Master who has even made the Sahaj Marg Himself and who also dwells in it. He takes His souls in the same Sahaj Marg where He resides.
So, to kill these five enemies, we need the company of the competent Master. Only that one who is the owner, can give us the Anahad Shabd. Only that one can give who has attained it himself. Only that one can give us the light in whom this light is already burning. It is the sign of a competent Master: that He can tie the five enemies and can put us on His path.
In one whose earth, whose land is prepared, the seed of Naam will surely grow. He is the king of kings and He came to take us back, but we, the manmukhs, couldn’t see Him and He could go only empty, (means without us).
If you could surrender yourself to Him, you would be able to see the light in His palace. With this the darkness can go away and only then are we the disciple of such a Power. He, the king of kings, awakens us and unites us to such a soul in whom the light is shining day and night. We should have the company of such a Saint so that our light can also burn within. It can only burn with the light of that one who has received it; only from that house can we get the charging to make it burn. Such a Sadhu (Bhaji) has attained this light and sound, as we have just listened to Him when He was speaking about the journey in this physical world.
We should thank such a competent Master who finished the darkness within and opened the door. It is very difficult to go in the astral planes without a Guru (and come out again unharmed); many attractions are there in the astral plane…
One who attains the competent Master gets the shower of His blessing. Today we enter the month of July, when He gives the shower of His Naam. Only with the will of God can the soul cross (the ocean of life) and this is only our subject when we obey the will of the Master. By living according to the divine will of the Master, His disciple’s, His Gurmukh’s, (Bhaji’s) inner eye could get more of His light. With us he was just living like a common man, but he worked for the competent Master as a real Gurmukh. By getting the company of such a Power he was able to see the form of the Gurudev (the radiant form of the Master within) and with his hardship of Naam (in meditation) he could reach that place.
So only He, the competent One, brings our attention towards Him and then we are able to listen to His Nad (His sound)…
As our devotion increases Master comes closer to us. Only by love can we recognise our Father. Only the Guru increases our love towards Him and makes us listen to the very sweet melody resounding within us. If the disciple knows how to pray to the Master, then it is not difficult for Master to appear. He then gives His shower (of grace) and opens His fountain in the heart of His disciple. With this we easily get the salvation to reach our goal (our true home) and to be free from this world. When the condition of the soul reaches this state your heart is clear and your soul is very close to Master, then there is no question – you will certainly get His shower. Then Master takes His soul above from the Gaggan (third eye) and unites the soul with the Anahad Shabd. As Soami Ji said, “You should have such a Satsang that you can attain the goal which you have not obtained yet.” If your soul does not go within to attain the inner water during the Satsang, then it is of little use to sit in the Satsang.
Our Master Sant Kirpal Singh has sown the seed of Naam while we are living in this body, and then He can give us the fruit of it. Then we are on the stairway to Master’s house, where He is sitting. Where is the house of the Master? There where He gives the salvation to His souls. He is the foundation of all the dharmas (religions, beliefs). So we should know the basic teaching of the Master for He Himself is the book of our life and is all the time seeing our condition. He makes a very beautiful bouquet, so that any soul that goes inside, should see the inner beauty.
Master tells to the human beings, “Oh soul, you yourself should awake and give this awakening to others.”
He is the competent one who has created this way of truth, and who enables us to see this truth. The competent Masters want to join humanity in spiritual unity, under the flag of humanity, so that all can sit together and work for His mission. This is the sign of the competent Master. He always gives the way of life to His disciples so that they can start to go up the ladder of His spirituality.
In any pole in whom He works, He turns the mouth of that vessel towards Him, so that he should not be entangled in the attachments of this world. When we enter the astral plane, there are many other ways. The competent one, the Master, takes us above our sorrow and above our doubtful thoughts and makes us be in peace and gives us some time to be with Him…
It is the way of the Saints, but to get the salvation Saints also have to do bhakti (and meditation). The Sadhus and Saints also got the salvation only by doing bhakti in this world. We can only get His colour from Master’s real Sangat, but if we are only entangled in the attachments of this world, we cannot reach this tunnel (of Bhanwar Gupha). The bhakti marg, the way of devotion, is very difficult and only when we reach there, do we get the pure, holy water of the Master. Then our mind and our body inside and outside feel very peaceful. If we say that just by getting Naam (initiation) we got this pure water of Master, it is not the truth. We can only speak (say that we got it) and can enter the ocean of Master with the hardship of Naam (in meditation), which He has given to us.
One who has got Naam, the initiation, from Sant Kirpal Singh, he has got the inner ticket, that is, He has opened the inner door, and by doing the hardship of Naam (in mediation) His disciples can reach this place where no worldly person can be.
So He cures our disease with the “five doses” of Naam. We only know which Power He is, when we live according to the Divine Will of the Master. When one has learned to live according to the Will of the Master, then Master can write with His own pen the life of such a disciple.
Whatever Master has given to us, the Akal Purush has prepared within. We are used to say, “We have got the initiation.” But Master would say, “Before we get the initiation, before we get Naam, we should sweep ourselves from within.” If your inside is full with dirt, the Pritam, the Beloved, cannot come and sit within. As long as He does not wash you, He will not be close to you. It is the treasure and the knowledge of Sat Lokh, where He takes His Bhagat and His Saint and makes the class there (means has the sitting within).
The competent Master is the only one who makes us (meditate and) do His bhakti, and in this way enables and prepares us to read His book. (It means that we are developed so much that we can go inside and know His secret.) When we are doing bhakti, He unites us with Him.
Hansa (the mystical swan), the soul, came into this world to get the colour of Naam in this ocean. The Malik, the Lord, the owner who has sent us, He Himself prepares the food for the soul by digging the ocean (of Naam) very deep in which He has put the precious diamond (means the food of the soul). Only one to whom He gives the blessing can attain Him; it is not possible without good karma, without our good destiny. Then Master says, “Oh Hansa, oh soul, you cannot reach the kingdom of Master until you attain Shabd.” Only with His power are the souls prepared to meditate. He Himself comes and awakens the soul. Who is He, who awakens the soul?
He is our Kirpal – the one who makes us listen to the inner voice in our ear. He has the countless fruits of His bhakti, which He gives through Naam and by attaining them from Him, the soul then knows that everything is already within us. He gives the shower (of His grace) upon His souls with the voice of the eternal home. We need such a Master who knows our heart and who is able to unite us with the Soami, the Lord. There should only be one way, inside and outside, to reach to Your realm. Only with the will of Master did we come into this world. He blessed us with this body. The soul says, “I came with the will of the Master into this world, but maya, the female snake, always tries to bite me. When I am able to destroy the attachment to this world, then this female snake cannot do anything to me.”
We have the company of such a husband, the Malik, who is the owner of His treasure. He has taken the bath in very deep streams, (this means that He went very deep in the inner knowledge). He used to say, “Come into the nagri (city) of the Guru, (develop yourself) and first think before you speak! You should do such a hardship, you should do such a sewa (selfless service) that you get rid of your disease!”