Meditation lesson from Sawam Singh

Sawan Singh's Meditation Lesson

1)-As you are not accustomed to sit in this posture, you may, at present, take support of a wall or better place a cushion of suitable thickness under the hips to take the weight of the body off the feet. When you have adapted yourself to this posture, you will find it ideal for hearing the Sound Current.

2)-As the vital current is withdrawn from the body, the arms and legs should go to sleep, and finally the whole body. In the beginning one feels pain, and this is natural when the vital current leaves any portion of the body. This pain and benumbness of the limbs and the body are signs of the withdrawal of the vital current. But one should not mind this pain and should bear it. Attempt should be to pay no attention to it. If the attention is held in the eye focus, the pain is not felt. With the increase in practice the pain will disappear and you will enjoy this sensation of benumbness. One should not be afraid of the pain or the withdrawal of the vital current. No person has died so far when sitting in Bhajan. In time, light will appear in the eye center and the soul will find its way in and you will feel that this body is not yours; you are separate from it and the body is the dead body of some one else.

3)- When your concentration is almost complete then, in place of darkness in the eye center, sparks and fleeting flashes of light will begin to appear, and then light will be steady and the soul automatically will leave the body and enter the Tisra Til. You should continue looking at the light and repeating the Names so that the mind does not wander. As said above, you should simply look at the light and continue Repetition, and should not put any pressure or strain on the eyes of the body. Please make no attempt to take the soul up by force. The soul will find its own way.

4)-You may not think of the optic nerves and the pineal gland, and there is no need to rest in an imaginary position. When the soul is coming in concentration, it will find its own way. If the mind s engaged in imaginary tracing of nerves and locating the pineal gland, or in other ways, the Repetition will be interfered with. The mind's movements are to be restricted and it should not be allowed to go loose. The mind wishes to run away, and if you give it the latitude to do this or that, then it has won. The point is to keep it engaged in Repetition with a view to eliminate other thoughts.

5) -The Real Form of the Master will be met when the attention has entered the eye center and penetrated the starry sky, the sun and the moon in succession. This form will always remain with the disciple and answer all his enquiries. Before this point is reached, the form of the Master contemplated from a photograph, or His physical form, is the reflection of one's own mind; just as when one fixes his gaze at any electric bulb for half a minute or so, and then closes his eyes, he sees the bulb inside. But it disppears when the mind wavers. The same applies to the imagined form of the Master.

6)-Keeping your attention in between the two eyebrows - the center of thinking - continue repeating the Names, and when the vital current from the part of the body below the eyes has reached this point, the soul will find its way inwards of its own accord. You simply hold your attention there and continue repetition or hearing the sound - one at a time - and the soul will be lifted up automatically. And the sound will leave both the sides - the right and the left of the head - and will come from the middle of the head.

7)-The body is alive on account of the presence of the soul current in it. The soul is a drop and the Shabd is the Ocean. The soul is sustained in the body by Shabd, and the body in its turn by the soul. But, so long as the soul is not lifted up to the higher stages, it remains associated with the mind in the lower stages. In the process of concentration both, the mind and the soul-they are closely associated-are lifted. At the second stage of the spiritual journey, the individual mind will have become purified to such an extent that it will no longer be individual, but will have acquired the characteristics of the Universal Mind. It has no place in the third stage. From there the soul alone goes up. The soul is the Positive Power and the mind the Negative.The 'a' at the end of 'Shabda' is silent. It is pronounced as 'Shabd'.

8) - In man, in his ordinary state, the soul is hopelessly and helplessly entangled in a most complicated snare. There are chains of lust, anger, greed, attachment and pride; there are the three states of tranquility, activity and sloth of the mind; there are the twenty-five conditions like weeping, smiling and so forth to which he is subject; there are the three bodies : the physical, the astral and the causal, which serve as cages; and there are the three minds, or the three aspects of one mind, working one in each body or cage.The object of Bhajan is to free the soul from this snare.

The current of the Holy Shabd alone, which not part of this snare but which has an independent instance - though penetrating the snare-and is yet separate from it - and keeps the soul fertile and green-the one and only one power which cuts the chains and frees the soul from this snare. When one is connected with this Shabd Current by a Master, and he hears this Shabd in the manner explained to him, and brings his attention nearer and nearer to the Shabd Current, he is cutting the bonds, the soul is -coming free, and finally merges in the Shabd Ocean which it is a drop. There are two currents of the soul a-Surat, which knows and hears and, b-Nirat, which sees.

The Nirat goes ahead of the Surat in the spiritual jurney, just as a person on a journey first looks at the path ahead and then follows it. Pandit Ji has complicated this subject in his attempt to clarify it. You may ignore it. When you will go within, the whole thing will be clear to you. This spiritual uplift consists of three stepsi-By Repetition, bringing into concentration in the Third Eye the scattered attention and the vital current from the part of the body below the eyes; and ii-Holding the attention in the Third Eye by making contact with the Astral Form of the Master and, iii-Lifting the soul up by attaching it to the Bell Sound. This work is just the opposite of what we have been doing before. The soul was disconnected from the Shabd.

It had forgotten it altogether and had associated itself with the mind, and was running wild in the downward and outward direction. Now this course is to be reversed. We are to do the 'about turn'. Old habits are given up slowly, and new habits are not formed quickly either.

Consequently the spiritual uplift is a slow affair, and "slow and steady wins the race" applies here most appropriately. So, with firm faith and steady work, approach it with a calm and cool mind and avoid hurry.Please take good care of your health.

9) - It is good to repeat the five Names ( Mantra given by Sant Mat Masters at Initiation)together in preference to one at a time. Please understand the object of the Repetition. Everybody is engaged in doing repetition - contemplation of his work. A lecturer thinks of his lecture course; a farmer, of his fields and cattle; and a business man, of his business and so on; and on whatever one is contemplating, its picture is before the mind's eye. At the time of death the same scenes appear before us which we have been fixing in our mind during our lifetime. These very scenes or thoughts, as they are connected with this world, bring us back to this world after death and are the cause of our rebirth. Saints say people have been doing this sort of repetition, as stated above, from birth after birth and have remained confined to this world. If they take to repeating Names of the Lords of the stages on the spiritual journey which lies within them, then their attention will be withdrawn from this world; the power of the mind and the senses will decrease, the soul will become powerful, light will appear and there will be a new kind of sweetness which the mind has never tasted before. Finally the soul will discard this world in sensation, catch the Shabd, and will be lifted up.

Therefore, there is no simpler way for concentrating the scattered attention than the Repetition of the Names. Of course the Yogis tried Pranayam and other methods, but without success.

They do not take us very far on the spiritual journey and cannot be practised by family people. Repetition of Names is for concentration only. At the time of Repetition, the Shabd is not to be heard. One thing at a time. The course of Repetition 's a long one. The starry sky, the sun and the moon regions are to be crossed by Repetition only, and contact with the Astral Form of the Master is to be made by this very process. And this is the end of it. repetition would not take us any further. During this course give three-fourths of the time, but not less than two hours, to Repetition, and only one quarter to hearing the Shabd.During this Repetition course, Shabd is heard just to keep contact with It.

The Shabd at this stage does not pull up or lift the soul because the Shabd Current is feeble and the soul is firmly held by the senses and the objects thereof. The feeble current has not much pull in it. When the soul will have contacted the Astral Form of the Master, it has loosened the bonds and has come nearer to the Shabd, where the current is now powerful and has the power to lift up the soul. The spiritual journey will start from there. Shabd is the Road, Satguru is the Guide, and soul is the traveler. There is no danger of any kind. The soul will travel stage by stage and, from the description of the lights and the sounds of the spiritual stages, will know the progress made. Important hints have been given here. More when some progress has been made. So, in the preliminary stage, Repetition should receive full attention.

People are apt to ignore it and pay more attention to hearing the Shabd. In the preliminary stage, Repetition comes first and Shabd next. When repeating Names, no imagination is to be used in associating sounds and lights with each Name. If the mind goes after making lights and sounds, it has gone loose. Keep the mind engaged in repeating the Names in the eye center. No option is to be given to the mind.

10) - When we come out into this world from the mother's womb, we bring our fate with us. This fate, whether we are to be rich or poor, tall or short, healthy or diseased, black, yellow or white, high or low and so on, is the result or fruit of our past-life actions. We reap as we had sown. We get what we have earned. Therefore, we should work and play our full part with diligence and effort in the struggle of life and, without worrying, be contented with our lot and bear it cheerfully. And if there is any power that cuts the bad karma, it is the Shabd. When, therefore, one gets a taste of Shabd and enjoys Shabd, innumerable bad karmas are destroyed. The object of devotion to and love for the Master and Shabd is to cut the very root of karma, so that the soul disengages itself from the bonds of karma and becomes free to merge in Shabd.

11, 12, 13)-These questions will be solved automatically when you have gone within and made contact with the Astral Form of the Master and have thereby cast off the physical frame and acquired the astral form. Or, these questions may be asked again when contact with the Astral Form of the Master has been made.There is no fixed time as to how long it takes the average departing soul to leave the body completely.

14)-There are five elements : earth, water, fire, air, akash, of which the material world is made up and, according to elements, there are five classes of creation. In man all the five elements are active; in animals four are active and one is dormant; in birds three are active and two are dormant; in insects two are active and three are dormant; and in vegetables one is active and four are dormant. It is difficult to understand it intellectually, but it will be comprehended after going within. The rise from which animal to man, or fall from man to which animal depends on karma. Good karma lifts up and bad is the cause of fall.

15) -So long as the soul is entangled in forms physical, astral or causal -it has sex. But in higher spheres, when it is free from bonds of mind and maya, there is no distinction of sex. The sex changes according to karma. Sex is not a fixed thing-that male shall always be male, and female always female. The outlook on marriage, on male and female, on unions, love, likes and dislikes, and 'mine and thine', changes rapidly with the entry into the Third Eye, by contacting the Astral Form of the Master, and hearing the Bell Sound. What man had called his own, and had longed to be with, here and hereafter, now look like strangers. As many births, so many fathers and mothers did we have, and so many wives, and many more children. We had such relations when we were insects, birds and other animals, and it is no achievement to be proud of, if we have them when we are in human form. If the human form is the top of creation, it is for the single reason that man has the capacity to catch the Shabd and rise on it to reach his Origin. If this has not been done, man has missed the golden opportunity and has remained a two-legged animal, a slave of the senses and the objects of senses, like other forms of creation. He will be Man when he has risen above the senses; when he is no longer a slave of lust, anger, greed, attachment and pride; when he has made his mind motionless; when he has entered the Third Eye and heard the Bell. With every step taken on the spiritual journey, he is coming into his own by casting off the heavy load of matter-physical, astral or causal-which really is not a part of him but which the soul takes up as tools to function in the causal, astral and physical worlds. When contact with the Astral Form of the Master has been made, the outlook, which is now based on the experience gained in the world and the worldly relations, is that the Master and the Shabd are the two Real Friends and Companions who are here with us, and go with us after death. All others have their limitations. It does not mean that he has an aversion for others. He does his duty by them but knows their true worth. He is in the world but not worldly; outwardly attached but inwardly detached; like a duck in water and yet not wet.In the experience of Saints, one Shabd is the Creator of all that has been created. All creation, to Them, is Shabd. They see Shabd in action every where. All forms of creation in the highest and the lowest stages are different aspects of Shabd.

16)-Just as on the physical plane there are continents and countries with their different types of population, the same is the case on the astral plane. One such place is the Heaven inhabited by houris. Mohammedans call it 'Bahisht' and Hindus call it 'Swarg'-difference in name but place is the same. The place is subject to Karmic Law and transmigration. It is not a permanent abode and not worth living in, but a place to be shunned, a design of the Negative Power to prevent the soul from going up. The whole astral plane is subject to the five passions the same as the physical plane.

17)- Sant Mat does not advocate asceticism, nor is it helpful. A settled means of income with settled home life give comforts which are conducive to Bhajan. They are denied to ascetics. As said elsewhere in this letter, old habits go slowly and new habits are not formed quickly either. The training of the mind, like the training of a horse or like the training of a child in making them useful is a slow affair. It is a lifelong work. Slow and steady wins the race. When Shabd practice becomes tasteful, all other tastes become flat.

18)-There is antagonism between Nam and kam. Nam is another name for Shabd, and kam means sex lust. Nam or Shabd lifts the soul inward and upward, and kam pulls it downward from the eye center. The sexual relation of husband and wife has been very much misunderstood and abused. In this respect a biologist even treats man as an animal, and calls this relation a mere biological function and no better. He is yet ignorant of the higher potentialities of man.

Those who are familiar with this great aspect of man Have treated this sexual relation as something sacred, and laid down rules for preserving its sanctity. Man dissipates himself and his energies in sexual intercourse. He would be healthier if he were to conserve this energy and would be God-like if he were to use it in spiritual uplift. With the longing to go within and the hearing of the Sound Current becoming tasteful, the indulgence or play in sex decreases and ultimately becomes hateful, and is automatically given up, like other bad habits, such as anger, greed and so forth.

I want you to do Bhajan and make progress in it. This will please me most. This is the present which the Master will always accept. Jesus Christ initiated people by connecting them with the Holy Ghost - the Word - the Shabd. Therein lies His greatness. And naturally, only those who have some experience of this Shabd can appreciate what service He did for people. His Sermon on the Mount is good. It is a moral teaching which can be lived in practice on the strength of Shabd only. If Shabd is missing, no one can live up to this moral teaching.

I wish you could make the eye center your home, make contact with the Shabd and become a true Christian.The Simran or the Repetition of the Names will cleanse your abode in the eye, center, eliminating other thoughts. The stars, the sun, the moon and the Master will decorate it.

There are ten different sounds going on ceaselessly in the eye center. You have experienced some of them. Out of the ten, only two - the Bell and the Conch - are to be sought out; the other eight are to be rejected. The Bell and the Conch will take us to the regions above; others are local. But so long as the Bell has not been grasped, any other sound that is audible is good enough and one should stick to it. When the concentration will increase, this audible sound will give place to some other finer than this, and that in its turn to something finer and sweeter still. Ultimately, the real Bell will be audible. The success depends upon the concentration.

The nearer your attention to the eye center, the louder and clearer will the sounds become, and that which is hidden and indistinct from a distance will be clear when you are near it. Light will also increase with the increase in concentration. All the instruments used in an orchestra are audible when we are close to it, but only the drum when we are far off. The same is the case here.

When our attention is held in the body, we are far off from the eye center, the place of the inner music, and when the attention has vacated the body and is concentrated in the eye center, we are close to it. Every time we are in the eye center we can sort out and catch the Bell Sound, but when away from this center, we miss it and others as well. The sounds are there all the time, only we are out. Regarding perspiring profusely (during meditation), particularly around the head, when the room is not hot, you attempt to go within by forcing your attention inward. Any strain or pressure or force, physical or mental, should be avoided in attempting to concentrate. Sit in the eye center with an easy mind and repeat the Names. Concentration will follow as a matter of course. Cycling is easy but look at the man who is learning to ride a cycle. He is perspiring because he applies his force wrongly.