The coming Spiritual Revolution

I

Dear brothers and sisters

The people are crying for peace. How can we have it? Peace should start from our hearts. We should give out peace as prayed by Guru Nanak:

Peace be unto all the world over, under Thy will, oh God.

And for this, naturally, there must be a Spiritual Revolution.

The world is already in revolution; but this revolution should be different. This revolution should not be of the body, but against the evil propensities of the mind which keep us away from God. This will be achieved if we give right understanding to the people at large, which will result in right thoughts. First comes understanding; then come right thoughts, which result in right speech, and right speech will result in right actions. The whole thing starts from right understanding.

You will find right understanding first lies in recognising that there is a Maker of the universe Who is the Controlling Power and permeates all creation. This world did not come out of itself; there is a Maker, and scientists lately have come to this conclusion, that the whole creation is controlled by some Power which is conscious.

So this is the first thing: the whole world is the manifestation of God, no East and no West, the earth below and the sky overhead is His manifestation.

Guru Nanak went to Mecca. At night He was lying down with His feet towards the Kaaba, the house of God.

The clergy-men over there rebuked Him,

Why are you lying with your feet towards the house of God?

He politely told them,

Dear friend, I see God all around, there is no place where He is not. If you think there is any side where God is not, you may turn my feet that way.

You see? So Masters say,

All is holy where devotion kneels.

This is the first right understanding.

A Great Muslim Saint says,

The whole earth is blessed because God permeates all. If my followers find the time for prayers they can sit on any ground anywhere and say prayers to God. No matter what way their face is – because God is everywhere.

The Koran, the Muslim scripture, also says that:

God is everywhere.

It matters little whether we face towards West or East; say your prayers where you are.

So this is the first right understanding: We are living in Him, have our being in Him, He is in us, outside us, above us, below us. Like fish we have our existence in Him. That is right understanding. And further: God made man with equal privileges, all born the same way, no high, no low; all have got the same outer concessions – eyes, ears, etc., – and all have the same inner concession: we are kept in the body by some higher Power which is the same for all. So this is right understanding: that we have this thing – God resides in every heart – and that all is holy where devotion kneels, all are born with the same privileges from God – no high, no low, no East, no West. And this will result in right thoughts.

On my last visit a meeting was called for the East and the West. Others who were visiting America attended this meeting, and I was also one of them. Each man told us where he was from.

When my turn came up, I told them:

It is said, of course, that ‘East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet.’ But there is no East and no West: the whole creation is the House of our Father. All countries are so many rooms in that House. It is we who made these things, on account of our want of right understanding.

So this is one thing; if you have this understanding, what will be the result? Your whole angle of vision will be changed; you will see that we are all children of God, the same Father. The True Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man will be cemented. So this is what I mean by Spiritual Revolution – from Godlessness.

Kabir says,

Behold but One in all things.

Guru Arjan says,

The visible and the invisible, all are His manifestation.

Lord Krishna says,

He who sees me in all things and all things in me, he is my peer.

So when Masters come, the first message They bring is,

There is God.

They say,

We have seen God.

With what eyes? – The eye which sees God exists in everybody, and is different from the eyes of flesh and blood; it is called Third Eye, Single Eye, Latent Eye.

So the whole world,

They say,

is His manifestation, and He resides in every heart; and as such, these physical bodies we are having are the True Temples of God.

So by right understanding, I mean that; if this is brought to the notice of people at large, then from this right understanding will arise right thoughts, and from them will come right speech and right actions.

Although we are wearing different labels of religions, all the same we are all One. These labels show only that we have joined some particular school to realise this Unity. The Ultimate Goal of all religions is to know God; and to know God we must know ourselves first, because God cannot be known by the outgoing faculties, mind or intellect. Soul alone can know the Oversoul. Like can know like. So God is One, though there may be many outer ways of worship, you see; but the ultimate, the Inner Way, is the same for all.

Rajab, a Muslim Saint, tells us,

The archers may be many, but the target is the same.

And the Kingdom of God can come on earth; peace will reign supreme in the world, if some Spiritual Master is there Who can give us a demonstration of the Inner Way – which will give us True Peace and right understanding. No politician has ever been able to bring peace to the world, and harmony, and cooperation. But if their work were in harmony and cooperation with the Spiritual Masters, peace would be achieved quickly.

When the Masters come They are conscious of God from the very beginning; even in childhood They are conscious of Him.

Guru Nanak was sent to school to just have some education, and the teacher began to teach Him,

One, two …

The teacher proceeded further, but Guru Nanak said,

Wait, stop, wait – what do you mean by ‘one’?

A child of four or five years old! And Nanak said,

This ‘one’ means: there is One God.

You see, He was conscious. Then He said,

What is He, that all this creation has come out of Him? He is eternal; the Maker of all creation; the ruling Power; He has got no equal – no enmity with anybody, no fear of anybody; He has come about of His own Self – no one is His maker.

Then the teacher asked Him,

What is this? How can it be had?

He said,

With the Grace of a Master; It is the gift of a Master.

Further, He said,

I do not mean, when I say God is One, that He is One; I mean, this ‘one’ stands for something else which is expressed as ‘one.’ But He is neither one nor two. He is something, which can be experienced. We can go into Him, absorb into Him; that experience can be given by a Master, and He can give us a realisation of that for which the figure ‘one’ stands.

And how? He said,

Burn away all your outer attachments; burn them away, and from their ashes make ink, and with your conscious Self go on writing the praises of God.

As long as we are attached outside, we cannot know ourselves; when we know ourselves with our conscious Self we can see what He is.

Kabir says,

If I say ‘one,’ then the question of ‘two’ arises; that amounts to calling Him names.

God is neither one nor two; He is something, expressed by this word, ‘one.’

So, He is, within Himself something, which can be realised, not expressed in words.

Guru Arjan gives a reason for that – why we call Him ‘one.’

He says,

We are finite, oh God, You are infinite; because we are finite, we can only measure with our finite scales.

Is it not true? So the Absolute God cannot be seen by anybody, and nobody has seen Him so far – the Absolute God, Nameless God, Wordless God, which has not come into expression. That Power which came into expression, that is called Word, that is called Naam; the outer expression of that Power is Light and Sound, and that Light can be seen, that Voice can be heard.

That is why the Bible says,

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a Light on my Path.

Every man has a secret chamber within himself which is called the closet of the body. That is higher than the mind and heart both, and provides mind with understanding to a certain extent, and the heart with feelings of Love. This chamber is the Kingdom of God within us. This is the crest jewel, the pearl of great price. The Saints, when we come in contact with Them, open this chamber by withdrawing all our attention from outside. The test of a True Master is the fact that in His company, the smallest realm opens up within us, and the Light, Divine Light, the expression of the God-into-Expression-Power, is seen.

Christ said,

If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of Light.

Prophet Mohammed said,

The Light of Allah is found where? In the human temples.

Why am I quoting these things? Because right understanding was given by Saints and Masters coming from time to time.

Lord Krishna said,

I will give you Divine Light and you will see my Glory within.

Buddha said the same thing:

Every man possesses the bright mirror of illumination.

This, all the Buddhas realised.

Buddha further proclaimed that:

The way of the illumined ones is the growth of snow drops behind the eyes.

And then Christ came, and it was as if a few crocuses opened their hearts to the winter sky.

But now the time has come when we can have a rebirth; this is what Christ spoke of when He said that

The poor in spirit shall inherit the Kingdom of God.

So Springtime is upon us now; there will be more fragrant Saints, I would say now, Who will come up and give us through the Grace of God, a contact with the God-into-Expression-Power. And this is the revolution, the Spiritual Revolution, which is coming up – an awakening all around.

Why are all these people coming, you see? In the past, these things were told in the ears of the disciples after a long time of testing. Now it is given out from open platforms; people are having it without distinction, whether they are ready or not ready, they are getting something. This is what is needed – the times have changed now.

And Masters come from time to time to bring these things into the experience of others who are born as man, because in the man-body only we can know God, and in no other.

So Absolute God, you know, is called Wordless or Nameless; when He wanted to be many, He manifested, and from the manifestation there were vibrations which result in two things: Light and Sound. This primal manifestation of God is called Word or Name, Naam, and is the cause of all creation. He is the Maker of all creation, Controller of all creation, and permeates all creation.

This is why it is said in the Bible,

In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God; all things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made.

The Vedas say the same thing:

In the beginning was Prajapati, with Him was the Word, and the Word was verily the Supreme Brahma.

They use the word Prajapati for God, otherwise it is exactly the same words. Similarly, Guru Nanak and all Saints tell us that Naam is the Creator of all this universe. So this Power has been given millions of names by Masters and others; some call Him Swami, which means Lord; others call Him Agam – incomprehensible or indescribable; Sat Purush means eternal. There are many other qualitative names which go to express the Name of this Power. To differentiate between the two, these are some words given to denote that Power which is the cause of all creation, the outer expression of which is Light and Sound.

So Masters differentiate and clarify the whole position. Guru Teg Bahadur, the ninth Guru of the Sikhs, asked,

What is that Naam, the remembrance of which leads to Nirvana?

Again He said,

What is that Naam, the repetition whereof enables a person to cross over the world of thoughts?

So that Naam is the God-into-Expression-Power, the outer expression of which is Light and Sound.

To describe that Power there are myriads of names given by the Saints. So this is the God-into-Expression-Power, to contact which is possible only while in the man-body.

Guru Arjan says,

A contact with Naam makes one self-luminous – luminosity comparing with millions of suns.

I am quoting only to show what the Masters really meant. We say Ram – Ram means ‘permeating all.’ The word Ram describes what is permeating; but that which is permeating is different from the word used to describe it. So these words are used to express that Power which is the cause of all creation, which can be seen; not with the eyes of flesh and blood, but through the Third Eye or Single Eye which is opened by the Master.

So, by the Grace of God, a True Initiate prays,

Oh God, manifest the Divine Light of Naam within me.

It is already there;

Take heed that the Light which is within you is not darkness.

So all Masters have been telling like that.

Kabir says,

There are myriads of names in the world, myriads; but none of them can grant salvation.

And which is that particular Name – Naam – which gives salvation? The Primal Name is a hidden one, and a rare soul can know and realise It. That is the Power permeating all creation, the outer expression of which is Light and Sound, which can be seen by the Inner Eye, and can be heard by the Inner Ear which exists in every man. So you will find, through the Grace of some Master Who can open this new world within us, we see.

Take an example, you see, to understand the thing. Water is a liquid something, called by different names in different languages. In English, we say water; in Latin aqua, in Hindi jal or nir, in Persian aab; in Urdu it is called pani. These are the words which go to denote that liquid something, by drinking which you can satisfy your thirst – not by repeating any of those names which denote that liquid. So the God-into-Expression-Power is called Word, Naam, Kalma; He is the Creator of all, and has two aspects: Light and Sound. And when Masters come, They contact us with that Power within us, you see? They open our Inner Eye by raising us to some extent above the physical body and outgoing faculties; we begin to see.

That is why it is said, you see, that

Devotion to Naam is the only True Worship.

God is spirit; we can worship in spirit alone.

Guru Amar Das says,

Everyone does worship but on the sensual plane only; so they get no results which end in salvation.

But absorption in the Naam purifies the mind and bears fruit in abundance.

You follow? Words are words; but what those words denote is a different thing; that is the Controlling Power of all creation, permeating all creation, and controlling us in the body too.

So, the body is the True Temple of God, in which we dwell, and also that Power which keeps us in the body.

By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them … He spake and it was done; He commanded and they stood fast.

That is what our scriptures say. Now do you follow what is meant by Naam or Word; or God?

Christ said,

Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

So Masters say that there is God – very definite – Who is the Maker of all creation, permeating all creation; and further, They say that this world did not come out of itself, but is made by some Power which is conscious. So Masters tell us like that. Then it follows that all this manifestation is God’s, because He is the Creator; there was nothing before Him. All this was made after Him and thus is the manifestation of Him.

Now, the question arises:

Why can’t we see Him?

When the Masters say that They do see Him, why can’t we see Him?

They say,

Because He is the subtlest of the subtlest: Alakh, Agam.

Try to understand by an example. The air appears to be all vacant – nothing there; but if you look at it through a microscope, what happens? What you see is magnified seven hundred times, and then you find that the atmosphere is full of microbes. So if our eye becomes as subtle as He is, or if He becomes as gross as we are, we will be able to see Him.

So Saints tell us,

Well, strange enough: While God is with us in the body, we see Him not.

Oh Tulsi, every man is stark blind – fie on a lifeless life like this.

They see that the Light is within everybody.

Take heed that the Light which is within you is not darkness.

So Masters come to make people see who do not see. But It cannot be seen if It is not already there.

Kabir says,

The entire world is groping in darkness. If it were a question of one or two they could be set right.

But He says,

Wherever I look, I see all are blind –

in the terminology of Spirituality.

Guru Nanak said,

To the enlightened ones, all are blind.

If a man who sees Him is there, and other people do not see Him – naturally they are spiritually blind. When you come to a Master, He makes you see. So in the terminology of the Saints, the word blind does not mean those who have got no eyes on the forehead, but those whose Inner Eye is not opened. The eyes of flesh see Him not, but the Master illumines the eye, you see, within. A worthy disciple begins to witness the Power and Glory of God within himself. When the Master comes, He opens the Inner Eye.

Why can’t we see? Again, I would say, enveloped in darkness we strive for God by deeds not less dark;

for without a Perfect Man, none has found the way,

nor can one do so.

As I submitted yesterday, you know, we do need somebody to guide us in the outer ways – at the level of the outgoing faculties, mind, or intellect. And this is the Way which is where all philosophies end and True Religion starts. So Somebody is needed to usher you into the beyond – to raise you above body consciousness and withdraw your attention from outside, and open your Single Eye to see the Light of God. Here such a person is required; there also you will need Him, to guide you further.

So, before one comes across a Perfect Master, he cannot see; when he comes to the feet of a Master, he begins to see. We are dead before coming to Him, in the terminology of the Saints; when He gives a sitting, we become alive. When we come to Him, we are deaf, spiritually deaf; when He gives a sitting, we begin to hear the Sound, the Voice of God.

Jesus said, 

You see what the prophets and righteous men desired to see, but could not; you hear what they desired to hear, and could not.

Are you people not most fortunate to have a Living Master?

So,

Body is veritably the True Temple of God and the Holy Ghost dwells within it.

Emerson says,

Tap inside.

President Truman used to say, when he was tired with his outer performances and duties, he entered into the foxhole of the brain. The Vedas call it Brahmrendra.¹

Perception, intuition and reasoning just help to understand Reality to a certain extent – not beyond. You are understanding all this, you see, at the level of the intellect; but seeing is believing. Seeing with one’s own eye – the Inner Eye – that is an ingress we know little or nothing about. This is what the Masters give.

Nanak says,

The blind know not the door,

and Christ refers to it,

Knock and it shall be opened unto you.

And,

Whoever hears my voice, I will sup with him and he with me.

So we will have to revert to the Third Eye, the Latent Eye or the Shiv Netra within us.

God said,

Let there be Light.

The result was what?

There was Light.

Genesis says so!

And,

This is the Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world; that Light is the life of man.

Such Light is within you.

Take heed that the Light within you is not darkness.

All scriptures describe

Rays of Light vibrating with the Music of Life;

they go hand in hand.

The Ringing Radiance, you might say; the Ringing Radiance emanating from the formless Absolute Existence when It came to manifest the world in its variegated colours and countless shapes and forms.

Thank God! He has made all creation, and He is still not away from that. He permeates in the world. He permeates in all creation; He is still quite above all creation.

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Explanation: 1) Way through which one can achieve a contact with Brahma.