Q and A With Master Kirpal Singh

Q&A
with
Master Kirpal Singh Ji
There was one student, graduated some years, back who went to hear so many Saints in India. He bombarded them with questions. And they were unable to give him answers. They said, "You are not yet fit." His father came to me. He said, "There are so many like that". "All right, no matter, send him to me." When he came I told him, "Well, look here, write down all your doubts, all your questions, then sit in the room with me and lock the door. Keep the key and don't open unless you're satisfied. He went on questioning me for two hours, three hours, four hours. Then he asked for and got initiation.
(http://www.ruhanisatsangusa.org/lok/wait.htm)
Contents
Page 1 = Science of the Soul Page 2 = Initiation Page 6 = Spiritual Growth Page 9 = Receptivity Page 10 = Love Page 12 = Faith Page 13 = The Master Page 15 = A Ruling Passion for God Page 16 = Surrender Page 18 = Mind Page 22 = Meditation Page 29 = The Music of the Spheres Page 32 = The Charged Words Page 33 = Ethical Living Page 34 = Drug Use Page 35 = Family Life Page 37 = Karma Page 39 = Prayer Page 40 = Protection of Loved Ones Page 41 = Grace Page 43 = Suicide Page 44 = Death Page 47 = The Meaning of the Name Kirpal Singh
-1-
Science of the Soul

Question: What is Science of the Soul? Master: There is one God, and only one Way to Him, and for this we employ a complete and definite Science, oldest of the oldest, most ancient and natural, which is the practical side of all religions of the world as borne out by all the scriptures. This subtlest of all sciences is called Para Vidya which has a practical aspect and is the Way back to God during lifetime. Nowadays this science is called Sant Mat. It is true nobody can know God. Past Masters cannot help, as man needs a Living God-Man to understand things which one cannot follow by mere theory. Therefore, a Living Master is necessary to gain the practical side of the Science. Unless the experience of past Masters becomes our own experience, we get nowhere. The fact of the matter is that God-Power works on a chosen human Pole. A Living Master is therefore God plus man, God-Man i.e. the Mouthpiece of God. Guru, a little often used, is a corresponding word in Sanskrit language. A Guru is one who can remove the dark veil within and show us the real Light of God.
(ruhanisatsangusa.org/gemsqa.htm)
Question: Do Masters welcome sinners? Master: Yes, soul is of the same essence as that of God and Master looks on all as embodied souls. So all are dear to Him. He wishes them to reach to the True Home of their Father. A repentant sinner coming with a sincere heart is acceptable to Him. We are all sinners and we come to Him to be cleansed.
O Master, I have heard that You save sinners and rescue them from the miseries of worldly existence. You remove the afflictions of Your devotees and remove the sufferings of the afflicted. My Lord, You know my request. Why delay any further? (Mirabai)
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Initiation
Question: Please explain the importance of initiation. Master: Initiation by a perfect Living Master assures an escort in unknown realms by One who is Himself a frequent traveler to those regions. He knows the presiding deities or powers of the planes, conducts the spirit step by step, counsels at every turn and twist of the Path, cautions against lurking dangers at each place, explaining in detail all that one desires to know. He is a teacher on all levels of existence; a Guru on the earth-plane, a Guru Dev (Astral Radiant Form) in the Astral Worlds and a Satguru in the purely Spiritual Regions. When everyone fails in this very life, at one stage or another, His long and strong arm is always there to help us, both when we are here and we quit the earth plane. He pilots the spirit into the Beyond and stands by it, even before the judgment seat of God. (http://www.ruhanisatsangusa.org/gemsqa.htm)
Question: Why are we chosen? Why are we among those who have been given the gift of Naam to return Home? Why us? Master: Only those who are ready, who are fed up with the world and want to go back. Only those are given a visa to go back. That is something to appreciate an entry visa. You are only allowed if you have a visa. When you are given Naam, you are given a visa to go back. But, when you stand in the way? God is love and the way back to God is also through love. A visa entry you are allowed entry if you have this visa. So to be given Naam means you are given a visa to go back to allow all children to come back to Him. Dont delay now. Every mother, every father, wishes all children to come back home.
(Kirpal Singh: His Grace Lives On, pages 41, 42)
Question: Is Initiation predestined or preordained? Master: Yes, it is predestined and preordained in the frame-work of the Divine Plan that certain souls are to be accepted and initiated by each Master during His ministry, and many a time it so happens that those who are ostensibly unworthy are accepted. (Spiritual Elixir, 51)
-3Question: If one has great love for relatives and wishes them the highest good in the world, can one pray to the Master that that person will get Initiation, or is it a destiny fixed before death which nothing can change? Master: It is always beneficial spiritually for the initiates to radiate compassionate feelings for guiding the footsteps of their beloved ones to the Master for holy Initiation. The destiny of every person changes every moment by virtuous or wicked deeds. The holy Path of the Masters is open to one and all. It may, however, be understood that it is due to the evolution of some rare noble karma of past lives that the inner yearning of the soul gets strong for spiritual enlightenment and those dear ones who benefit from such chances by putting in extra effort are put on the holy Path whereas others simply drift and have to wait for some better future chance. There are instances though rare, when the sincere aspirants have seen and received Initiation from the Masters even without meeting Him physically. (Spiritual Elixir, 54) (emphasis added)
Question: Are all initiates related spiritually? Master: Yes, more than blood relatives, as they are destined to reach their True Home to meet there in due course, where all will become one with the primordial Source. This is true relationship which never breaks.
(Spiritual Elixir, 55)
-4Question: Is it not necessary for the initiates of the Master to receive further Initiation from the next Living Master from whom they have to seek Satsang benefits? Master: No, it is not at all necessary to have re-initiation after the passing away of the Master who originally initiated an individual. It is His sole responsibility to lead the soul once initiated by Him back to the Home of His Father. For any further guidance or for Satsang purposes he will enjoy the company of the Master following Him on the earth plane.
Question: Is everybody entitled for Initiation? Master: No, everybody is not entitled to holy Initiation into the Mysteries of the Beyond. (Spiritual Elixir, 52)
Question: Can an ascended Master help His initiates who are still on the physical plane? Master: Yes, a competent Master is a Master to His initiates for all time, and does not rest till He takes the souls to the highest pinnacle of blissful glory in Sach Khand. He is not a physical being only but Word personified, and on the higher planes acts as a Gurudev and Satguru, which terms would become meaningless if His activities were to be confined to the physical plane. If it were so, how could He take charge of the souls of initiates on death after His passing away? A Master in essence never dies for the initiates. It is His troth to take them up to the True Home of His Father, and inwardly His Light and Sound forms are permanently implanted though He may have left the earth plane.
(Sat Sandesh, December 1974, page 24)
I feel repentant and sad as I know not how to contact my Beloved. He lives in the high heavens while I am a creature of the earth and miserable without Him. (Kabir)
-5Question: In Spiritual Gems, page 313 it says: When spirit is attached to Naam, It draws one toward Itself and the door is opened. Until this happens, no one need think he can get in. Please explain if one does not get through the door but desires never to reincarnate but does ones best, even if it is only a widows mite, need one reincarnate? Master: The account of those who have received Initiation is in the hands of the Master from the time of Initiation. If a disciple after Initiation keeps faith with an intense love and strong longing for the Master, does not fall into bad habits and does not commit foul deeds but has not, due to adverse circumstances or for some other reasons, been able to give full time to the spiritual practices, he is after death made to stay at some intermediate stage to complete Bhajan and Simran before he is eventually taken upwards. Rebirth is only for those who lost their faith, go in actual opposition to the instructions of the Master or who do foul deeds and have very low desires and gross worldly tendencies. That the pan of the scales goes down which is overloaded, and not the other, is the Law. (Spiritual Elixir, 58, 59)
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Spiritual Growth
Question: Is the nature and extent of our spiritual growth or advancement beyond the tenth door determined by our past lives? Master: Yes - in a way it is determined. A man is in the making. One who has passed primary class will get admission to the next higher grade. One who has just been put on the way will take his or her own time. However, there is no hard and fast rule about it. The one who has been put on the way progresses more by regular devotion of time to meditations with full faith than one with a different background who is not regular in his meditations.
(http://www.ruhanisatsangusa.org/gemsqa.htm)
Question: Master, if I or if we followed your teachings exactly, how long would it take us to reach the inside? Master: There's no hard and fast rule for that. The more accurately you live it-you'll have quicker results. Some men come with background--they start--if they go on like that--regularly--then they will go on progressing. Another man who has started here afresh, who has no background but is really on the Way, if both of them go on regularly - that's all right. But if the one who has got background goes by fits and starts, first runs like a hare sometimes, then sleeps sometimes; the other man who has started afresh and who's regular, will go ahead of him. You follow what I mean? Regularity pays. Even those who have got background will have more if they put in more time. If they have background and they don't put in more regular time then, naturally, the other man will go ahead. So there's no hard and fast rule for that. You can finish it all in this one birth! The proper guidance and help is there and you are to live up to that. (The Light of Kirpal, page 125)
-7Question: In his book, Dr. Julian Johnson said that one year of meditation on this plane is worth a hundred on the higher planes. Is that true? Master: Yes. Here you can advance higher. There it takes years; here it takes months. You can have quicker results in the earthly life.
(Sat Sandesh, November 1975, page 14)
Question: What type of life is most conducive to spiritual progress? Master: Keeping commandments one hundred percent and developing receptivity. Then youll have one hundred percent of the fruit.
(Kirpal Singh: His Grace Lives On, page 191)
Question: Can a sinner like myself attain to Godhood in this very lifetime? Master: Yes, you can attain Godhood during this lifetime provided you work for it strictly according to the behests of the Master. Let His words abide in you and you abide in Him. You have been granted the sacred boon of the holy Initiation which is a valid visa on to the Sach Khand and it is your earnest efforts and steadfastness which would bless you with fruition of your wish in due course. (Spiritual Elixir, 45)
-8Question: I wonder if you'd talk about our home in Sach Khand. Master: Suppose you've seen a beautiful building or the palace of a king somewhere and then you go to some small village made up of only earth bricks (not even fully ripened). I want to give you an example. You may spend some time in the astral, very little in the causal, nothing more. These are matters to be experienced. The stage at which God comes into full expression is in Sach Khand or Sat Naam. That can only be experienced in the spiritual planes. There are physical, astral, causal and beyond them the spiritual planes. You can be given some poor description to some extent of the astral and causal planes, but beyond that really cannot be understood in this language. Question: Is it possible to talk about what it's like living there? Master: It is just like a bubble of water in the sea, sometimes found up to Sat Lok. It is all Light, scintillating Light, very strong. It cannot be compared with the astral or the causal Lights. If you enter that place, it is just like fountains of Light gushing out. Still beyond is the entrance hall to Sat Lok. The fountains of Light come gushing out. It is something like that. (The Light of Kirpal, page 42)
If the eight Paradises were opened in my hut, and the rule of both worlds were given in my hands, I would not give for them that single sigh which rises at morning time from the depth of my soul in remembering my longing for Him. (Bayezid Bistami)
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Receptivity
Question: Master, how can true receptivity be developed? Master: I issued one circular on that. Have you read it? Disciple: I don't remember at this moment. Master: That's the pity, that's the pity. Anyhow, receptivity is developed only when there's no other thought intervening between you and the Master. From thousands of miles you see through television, you hear through radio when you are tuned into those machines. But you cannot hear sounds in an atmosphere during monsoons or very rainy seasons. Similarly, in the calm and quiet, with no ripples in the reservoir of mind except the Master having pity on you, then receptivity will develop. A help to receptivity is sweet remembrance, constant. That will develop receptivity. (The Light of Kirpal, pages 346)
O Friend, I want Your Sustenance, O Beloved, I want to serve and obey. Its my duty to obey and follow You. My life, my soul, I bestow on You. I heard the whisper of Your love once, I yearn to hear that invocation once again! (Sanai Ghaznavi)
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Love
Question: Maharaj Ji, what can we do or what must we do in order to increase in us the feeling of love? Master: Love is already ingrained in you. Simply withdraw from outside and it will develop; or get in the company of those who have love, and it comes by radiation. The more you come in contact with the Light and Sound Principle, which is Love personified, the more you come in touch with that, the love in you will flare up. And the outward company of those who are lovers of God will give you a very great impetus. (Sat Sandesh, March 1976, page 3)
Question: How can I develop love for you, Master? Master: Love for me, or the God in me? For whom would you like? Disciple: For the God in you. Master: That's all right. That's good. That is within you too. The more you come in contact with Him, love will overflow. You see, love will overflow. Constant remembrance or sweet remembrance also helps. The God in me is also the God in you. Only here it is a little more, what do you say, exorbitant. Simply turn your face there; you will find. The more you come in contact within, you will overflow with love; and outwardly, have sweet remembrance. When you remain in contact with the God-into-Expression Power within you-(that very Power which is Word-made-Flesh); naturally love will flow. Outwardly have sweet remembrance, you see. The Diary is for that purpose. Every time confession is there: Every time you do "Oh," you remember. So He is there, your true friend who will never leave you until the end of the world. There should be some excuse to remember, that's all: Maybe in anyway.
(The Light of Kirpal, pages 396)
Question: "Till the end of the world," how should that be translated? Master: That means until that soul reaches the Fathers Home.
(ruhanisatsangusa.org/lok/who_ru.htm)
-11Question: How can a Satsangi who has never met the physical Master develop deep love for the Master? Master: Do you know the definition of a Master? Do you know what He is? Do you understand what a Master is? Disciple: God in the flesh. Master: That's all right, or Word made flesh. He has got another aspect, as son of man. So if He's Word made flesh and you are given a contact with the Word within you, the outer expression of which is Light and Sound, the more you come in contact with that, Master will appear of itself, because He is Word made flesh. Do you follow? So the only difficulty is that we are not fully devoted to meditation. The Light and Sound principle are the two outward aspects of Word. "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet," is it not? The longer you come in contact with That, naturally love will overflow, and even manifest, even if you have not seen Him. Do you follow? And moreover you people are in contact through correspondence. Here in India we find, sometimes in the West also, initiates have the form of the Master the very first day. Some have the form of the Master after regular practice for some time, even those who have not seen me. And further, sweet remembrance develops receptivity. When nothing remains between the Master and the disciple, he becomes the mouthpiece. Like wireless telegraphy, they tick here and the very ticking goes across the ocean.
(The Light of Kirpal, page 374)
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Faith
Question: How does faith in the Master-Power develop? Master: By regular practice. Faith is, I would say, the root cause of religion. For faith you must have something to stand on. Some people are in the make already, they have that grown already. Others have to form faith in due course, not all at once. So it's better when you see you are helped by Master in all your affairs; when you see some improvement in your inner way. First, when you see quite impossible things are made very softened down, naturally faith arises. Faith is the root cause of all religion. If there is no ground, where will the building stand? First, you have to take it as a hypothesis, then you must benefit regularly by seeing or by experiencing your faith. The Masters say: Don't believe unless you see for your own self what is what. The more you come in contact with Master, and the more you become receptive, the more faith you will have in Him.
Love has come and it flows like blood beneath my skin, through my veins. It has emptied me of my self and filled me with the Beloved. The Beloved has penetrated every cell of my body. Of myself there remains only a name, everything else is Him. (Rumi)
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The Master
Question: Are the God and God-Man (Master) considered one and the same? Master: Yes, it is so, but there very few who can develop this much receptivity and understand this rare phenomenon. The physical plane is a realm of duality where illusion prevails most and only spiritually illumined may testify to such a statement for their own personal conviction as given by some of them; i.e. I and my Father are One and Father and Son have taken the same colors etc.
(Spiritual Elixir, 29, 30)
Question: There are many self-styled masters. How may one know a True Master? Master: A True Master is dedicated to bring souls back to the True Home of their Father. A True Master gives more than mere theory. He gives experience to His disciple. He shows the way to God, which is within. God and Master are within. This question usually besets every true seeker after God. In my boyhood I had the same doubts and questioning before me. I did not dare to go to any Master for fear of encountering an imperfect master and then my whole life would be one of frustration. So I earnestly prayed to God for guidance. My prayer was heard. A True Master began to appear to me in my meditations seven years before I came to Him physically, whom I recognized to be the same Great Master Sawan Singh. Your question remains -- how to recognize a True Master? Outwardly we should see that He has no selfish motives. He should be living on His own hardearned money. He should not be fond of outward pomp and show. He will live a simple life. His thoughts will be pure. His true qualifications will lie in His ability to give the initiate some first-hand experience by opening the inner eye to see the Light of God and inner ear to hear the Voice of God, the Sound Principle. The extent of this experience will be according to the background of the initiate and his receptivity. After Initiation the only rules for judging for one's self is one's own inner ascent to the Spiritual Planes whereby one can see for himself, and meet all Masters past or present, where ever they are, in the upper or lower planes. Those who contact the Master inside and talk to Him know.
(http://www.ruhanisatsangusa.org/gemsqa.htm)
-14Question: Suppose a man came to me and I became aware that he was Godintoxicated. If I could pick it up very clearly and if I was uplifted although he never said a word - would I have the right to ask him, Brother, would you give me a little guidance so I can become more like you? Master: This means that you have no faith in your own Master and you will have nothing! Disciple: Oh! Then you shouldn't ask him that? Master: Why not ask your Master? What is He for? Does it mean your Master is not able to give you anything? He who has given you so much on the Way so far, is He not competent to give you something further?
(http://www.ruhanisatsangusa.org/mindyour.htm)
He who starts seeing another as equal to his Master, HIS SOUL BECOMES AN ADULTERESS.
(Emphasis is Masters) (Sant Kirpal Singh, ruhanisatsangusa.org/tghp.htm)
The world is full of beautiful things until an old man with a beard came into my life and set my heart aflame with longing and made it pregnant with love. How can I look at the loveliness around me, how can I see it, if it hides the face of my Beloved? (Persian song)
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A Ruling Passion for God

Question: Master, whats the greatest obstacle to ones being totally devoted to you? Master: No ruling passion. Want of ruling passion.
(Sat Sandesh, September 1975, page 4)
Question: How do I develop a ruling passion for God? Master: How do you develop a ruling passion to meet someone? Disciple: By thinking of them? Master: Naturally. If you meet somebody you love, you talk about him. You would like to hear somebody talking about him. You would like to read something about him. If you love somebody and somebody tells you something about the one you love, then naturally he is more dear to you than whom you love. He who tells me about God, is my true friend. That (remembrance) will develop more attraction in you, which will grow, become passionate. So the first thing is to have sweet remembrance, growing stronger day to day until you cannot live a moment without Him. Then He comes! The child cries and (the mother) comes to give him something to eat and again goes away. Again he cries until nothing satisfies him but the mother taking him in her arms. When you want nothing else other than Him, He comes.
(Kirpal Singh: His Grace Lives On, 43)
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Surrender
Question: Master, in the book Godman, you mention there are two paths back to God: One the path of surrender, which you say is the hardest, and the other the path of spiritual discipline. Master: Yes. Disciple: Could you comment on the difference between the two paths, please? Master: When you come to the Master, the first thing is to obey His commandments, keep them. That is duty bound. No less, no more. Do at least that much. Live according to what He wants. In this way, youll have 1/3 of the teachings of the Master. Until now you are business like, I put in two hours today. To earn His pleasure, do what he says and then go on. Surrender does not involve your intellectual discrimination. Just simply do whatever He wants. Father Abram bought a slave and brought him home. In those days the slaves were bought like animals. Father Abram asked him, Where will you sit? The slave said, I am bought, where is the question of my chair for sitting? What will you eat? He asked (the slave) that very question. I have no choice, I am bought. What will your clothes be? Whatever you give, I am bought. Surrender is also of two categories. You do not scale. You do not discriminate intellectually. Youll never care what comes more or little. You simply obey what He says. So surrender means you get the two-thirds more of the teachings given, to make you full. We are not to care for anything at all. Do you follow what I say? I told you the other day about one science professor I know in 1912, whom I used to see saying prayers for hours. One day I questioned him, Namez is only required to be done five times, six times in obeisance. Why all this? The five, six times is binding on us, but I do more times to earn His pleasure, you see. And for this you have also got discrimination to earn His pleasure. And some days you have not even given that much. That is the difference.
(Kirpal Singh: His Grace Lives On, pages 175, 176)
Question: Master, why dont you heal yourself? You are all-powerful. Master: (Master ponders the question) Why dont you heal yourself ? If anybody whom you love gives you something, would you refuse it? Tell me. What does he hope to do. He would gladly accept it. (His Grace Lives On, page 188)
-17Question: If I need guidance from the Master and am not able to go up within and contact Him and get a definite answer but yet I pray to Him, how will I know whether what I have decided to do is true guidance or merely my own mind acting? Master: The initiate who contacts the Master within of which the genuineness is tested by the repetition of the charged Names given to him, can have direct reply which will stand true. Until then an initiate in all his affairs mundane or spiritual should attend to them carefully and do the best he can with serene detachment and self-abnegation, attaching no importance to the rewards whatsoever and leave the rest to the Master-Power working overhead.
When youve surrendered both the mind and body, theres nothing more that you can then surrender. How very sad it makes me feel to think theres nothing more I now can give my Master. (Kabir)
I go to the house of my one true Lover. When I see His beauty, I only crave Him more. At dusk I go to Him, at dawn I return. Whatever His pleasure, day and night I am His. The clothes He gives me, I wear. The food He offers, I eat. Where He wants me to be, I stay. If He wants to sell me, I want to be sold. My love for the Beloved has lasted through many rebirths, without Him I scarcely breathe. She offers herself to Him in all of her lives. (Mirabai)
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Mind
Question: Why is mind considered a formidable barrier to spiritual progress? Master: Mind in its present state is burdened with huge karmic load of past lives. It is enthralled by the outgoing faculties of senses and is thus driven helplessly into the mire of sense-gratification. The alphabet of spiritual progress commences with the control of mind. It is said that unless mind is controlled, senses are disciplined, and intellect is stilled, we cannot have experience of Selfrealization. Human body is just like a chariot wherein soul is the rider, mind is the driver, intellect is the reins and senses are the powerful steeds running amuck in the mire of sensuous gratification. It is for this reason that for having a retrace of the facts, the senses are to be disciplined, intellect stilled and mind controlled so that the inner experience of soul can be had. Mind is accustomed to roam about externally through ages. Unless it is offered something more joyous within, it cannot be controlled To subdue the mind by force is impracticable. It has to be won over steadily by persuasion and by giving it some foretaste of the real happiness which a MasterSaint alone can do. (Edited from the original) (Spiritual Elixir, 69-71)
I wish that I had wept so much in my longing to meet the Lord that the tears from my eyes had swelled into a river, and every tear drop had turned into a spiritual pearl. Then I would have placed all those pearls before the altar of my Beloved. (Rumi)
-19Question: Why does mind not relish its spiritual discipline? Master: Human mind is so fashioned by Providence that it does not like to be captivated. It is ever restless unless it reaches its true abode. It is an agent of the Negative Power tied to each soul and will not allow the latter to proceed to the True Home of the Father. The Masters instruct us for taming it for the higher purpose of spiritual progress. As a matter of fact, mind is helpless against the onslaught of senses which are in their turn driven into the jungle of gratification The spiritual disciplines are irksome and galling to it for they impose serious restraints on its free movement. This is why the mind does not relish any discipline, and plays all kinds of tricks to evade them, posing at times as an honest broker pleading on behalf of our friends and relations and whispering sermons on our duties and obligations towards the world in varied aspects of life. Unless one is very vigilant and is equipped with a quick discernment, one fails to see through its pranks and falls an easy prey to them. It is the outstretched gracious Hand of the Master which helps us to wade through jungles of sensuous wilderness. Ethical discipline if cultivated under the protective guidance of the Master is helpful for spiritual progress. Ethics and spirituality go hand in hand. The former is the soil and latter the seed which thrives and blooms in favorable circumstances. (Edited from the original)
(Spiritual Elixir, 71-73)
Each who has seen Your beauty fine utters honestly, I have seen the Divine. Everywhere Your lovers wait for grace, remove Your veil, reveal Your face! (Ahmad Jam)
-20Question: Is there any good or helpful characteristic of mind? Master: Yes, mind like Janus, has another face as well. If it is trained properly by gentle persuasion and kindly words of advice, with a little patting now and then, it can be converted from a formidable foe into a valuable friend and a helping hand to the soul in its search for Truth. It is just a question of time and patience to bring about this conversion, and when it is done, one can have no better helpmate than the mind. It has the capacity, chameleon-like, to take on the color of the ground where it squats and that indeed is a redeeming feature. When living on the circumference of life, it expands outwards, downward; but rooted as it is in the Gaggan (the second plane on the Path), it is not impervious to the higher and holier influences of a Master-soul to whom it responds and He channelizes it the other way about. Like fire it is a very good servant but a bad master. Mind has helpful quality of running into the grooves of habit, and to relish acts of repetitive nature. We can benefit from this by inducing it towards good acts leading to spiritual discipline and progress. A Saint has beautifully said, My feet proceed farther and farther; the mind follows quite meekly and cheerfully. If by careful and steady striving we could induce our mind to sit silently for meditations at the fixed time for a certain number of days, a good habit will be formed. It is a proven fact that when that hour of meditation will arrive our attention will be drawn towards it, and by degrees we shall begin to relish to meditate...(Edited from the original) (Spiritual Elixir, 73, 74)
Question: How can the dross of mind be washed away? Master: The dross of mind can be washed clean. The sovereign and the most potent remedy to wash the mind clean, say all the Masters, is by communion with the holy Word - the God-in-action Power creating and sustaining all that is visible and invisible. To be in tune with the Music of the Soul is to cut asunder and to sunder forever the knots which at present bind the material body with the conscious soul, imprisoned in the body with countless fetters. Guru Nanak says in Jap Ji: When the hands, feet and the body are besmeared, they are washed with water; when the clothes get dirty and polluted, they are cleansed by soap; when ones mind gets defiled by sin, it can be purified only by communion with the Word. (Spiritual Elixir, 75, 76)
-21Master: Ever since you have come - are you improving? That's the point. If it is getting better, then it's all right. The word better means more than before. You see? What do you see now? Disciple: Well, I see Light at each sitting, but it's dimmer now than it was before. I have difficulty with my mind, controlling my mind. I try to keep remembrance ... Master: No, no, no. It is not you who are to control the mind. It is that Power within you, the contact of which has been given to you. The more you come in contact with That, mind will be controlled. It is only God Power that can control it, and you have been given a contact with that God Power in the form of Light and Sound. The more you come in contact with That, the more the mind will be stilled. When that Sound begins to be heard, without closing your ears, all the time, then your mind will be controlled. Do you hear the Sound at any time without closing your ears? Yes? It means that will develop, and you will hear all the time, you will have a sort of intoxication, that will just keep your mind controlled ...
I am bewildered by the magnificence of Your beauty and wish to see You with a hundred eyes! My heart has burned with passion and has searched forever for this wondrous beauty that I now behold! My arrow of love has arrived at the target. My soul is screaming in ecstasy. Every fiber of my being is in love with You! (Rumi)
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Meditation
Question: How do you prevent clutching in meditation? Master: What should a beggar do who sits at the door of a donor? He should wait. It is all a gift, no compensation for anything you have done--nothing. What you get is a sheer gift. He may or may not give; it is all His Grace. Sit at the door and wait. Wait and see--clutching will be over. Clutching is businesslike, "Oh, this has not come. You have not given this thing. You have not given that thing." You have no claim to that. Whatever is given is sheer Grace, a gift in return for no effort on our part. It is a gift. Is it not? With that understanding, clutching will be over. Very simple. Do you follow how the clutching should be overcome? You sit at the Door and wait--that is all. Yours is only to sit at the Door, quite cut off from all outside, nothing else.
(http://www.ruhanisatsangusa.org/lok/clutching.htm)
Question: What can I do to get away from all that bad thinking when I meditate. I cant seem to concentrate. Master: Theres a way when you come to a Master; He gives you a way to overcome that. Two ways: one, by self-introspection by your keeping a diary; the other, by giving you a contact within. Both things together help to make a man even robbers to become saints. Theres hope, as I told you: Every saint has his past and every sinner a future. (Sat Sandesh, December 1976, page 41)
Question: Master, I would like to have much more concentration. And I dont know how to get it more concentration. Master: There is no high road to concentration. Practice will make it. Concentrate, concentrate, concentrate. Thats all. That will form a habit and habit will turn into nature. Then, (concentration) will go on automatically. In the beginning, I had to make a little effort. But later on that goes on automatically. (Kirpal Singh: His Grace Lives On, pages 176, 177)
-23Question: How do I keep my mind from wandering off in other directions? My mind goes off, and then I drag myself back again. It keeps on Master: I know, I know, I know, very high show, you see. The point is like that: any child, one child, who is in a room - you shut him up there. What will he do? He will simply break the doors and cry. Is it not? And if the child finds something very interesting inside to engage his attention, he will keep quiet. Is it not? Similarly, if we get something inside to stay on, more interesting than the outer things, your mind will not wander away. Question: Master, how to find that something that keeps us inside? Master: At the time of initiation, you are given some experience, however little it may be; that has to be developed by putting in regular time, you see? In an accurate way. Question: I had a little bit in the Initiation, but I cannot get now the same thing back in my meditation. What is wrong? Master: You see, if you had observed the restrictions given at the time of initiation, I think you would not have lost it. Again, that can be had again, I would say, by devoting time regularly. First of all: any experience you have inside, you are not to tell others. And you might have told somebody, and that has stopped. This is one restriction laid down very strictly. If you do that, you will lose it; because the mind of other people does affect. You lost that way: now, again, that can be had. Start afresh. Tomorrow, sit down, and you will, I hope, improve in a day or two. (Sat Sandesh, September 1976, page 12)
Question: The ability to focus attention with more firmness; is that a matter of strength or energy or... Master: That is a matter of love--the very easy way. Intellectuals will say otherwise, but it is love. No compulsion, nothing of the sort, natural.
-24Question: How can we become passive and attain absolute stillness and silence inside to enable us to obtain the bliss of the Light of Lights? Master: There are no short cuts on the spiritual path. One has to work for the spiritual bliss. Mind, like fire, is a good servant but a bad master. While sitting for meditation we have to free the mind of all thoughts and the intellect of all reasoning. This can be achieved by a mental revolution. What in the world is after all ours? Nothing, not even the body, the mental apparatus and the wealth that one may possess. These are given to us for a legitimate use only. They belong to the Giver. Why not surrender them at the holy Feet of the GodMan when attending to the task assigned by Him to wit, to sit at the eye-focus and lovingly gaze within with devoted undivided attention, mentally repeating the Charged Words very very slowly, maybe at intervals, so as not to disturb the gaze. Gradually it will, by practice, become a habit and a second nature with you, and the Master Power above will take care of you, and without any effort on your part, you will find your Self rising above body consciousness into consciousness of a Higher Order. Love, longing and devotion are the key-notes on the Path Godwards.
Question: What causes or how can one overcome the blankness after about thirty minutes of concentration? Master: Thought is the keynote to success. The inversion with the help of repetition of Charged Names makes for inner withdrawal of the sensory currents from the body below to the eye-focus; then starts the second phase of Dhyana the Contemplation. It can be attained by absorbing your attention into the inner Divine Light so much so that you forget yourself entirely. The blankness after about thirty minutes felt by you is due to your lack of sustained practice and absorption within. It is by hard effort and strict spiritual discipline that the human body is purified of the impurities of the mind and thus can remain attuned to the holy Naam at the eye-center. (Spiritual Elixir, 17)
-25Master asks everyone there how much time they have been putting in for meditation. Master: The point is, as you are putting in more time, are you improving as compared with before? The longer you can stay inside when you see the Light, continuously without break, the more improvement will come. If that Light fades away then continue looking without break, constantly. It will stay, if you continue to look. The longer time you can put in at that time will give you more, better results, you see; better results. Yes, beg your pardon? Disciple: Can it be harmful to force yourself to sit longer? Master: I'm not talking about sitting longer. You may be sitting for five hours, ten hours, but when you see Light you do not stay there longer. It is the time when you should continue longer without break. You may be sitting, but mind may be rambling outside, then? Your body is there sitting at the Door, but your mind is rambling outside. The time spent in sitting alone does not bear forth fruit, unless your mind is there continuously without a break. That will grow more. Whatever experience you have, will grow more and more from day to day. (The Light of Kirpal, page 184)
Disciple: Sometimes when I am sitting a lot of figures come. Master: Figures? Disciple: I can recognize them. Master: Yes. Disciple: But it is not in the Light. Master: Do Simran and they will go away, that's all. Don't pay any attention to the scenery or anything else. Disciple: They go away, they disappear. Why do they come? Master: It is negative. Why do they come? They come to retard your attention. So many things come up. When you go into meditation only be after Master, Light or Sound. Where the Sound is very strong anywhere - pay attention to it. If the Light is strong anywhere, just see it and Master's Form will come up. One of the three you should be after. (ruhanisatsangusa.org/lok/eyes.htm)
-26Question: You say in your meditation instructions, "Look into the middle of what you see," but I have trouble seeing the middle. Master: Middle means what? Just explain. What do you mean by middle? What do you understand at least? Disciple: I don't know what the middle is, because if I think of middle visually like with my eyes, then I think of my eyes and... Master: I always say don't think of the flesh or bones of the eyes or forehead. Disciple: When I don't think of the eyes then there's just a vast field. Master: Yes, in front you see some vast darkness. When you close your eyes you see darkness. And darkness is a wide expanse. The middle does not mean middle point. Disciple: Oh. Master: You see. So I have been telling you just that much area (Master cups His hands to indicate a space 6-8 inches in front of Him), that much, not one point. You cannot stay on one point. But you can stay within that area. You see. This is what is meant by the middle. The middle does not mean a point. You follow me now? (The Light of Kirpal, page 314)
Question: Is the formless or sun like Light also considered the Form of the Master? Master: Yes, it is the Astral Form of the Master Power and when one attains proficiency in this Principle the inner Radiant Form of the Master manifests of itself in due course. (Spiritual Elixir, 17)
-27Question: What happens to initiates who are given initiation and then fail to meditate? Master: That seed is not lost. No power can spoil it. That will grow, grow, and grow, sooner or later, when convenient circumstances arise. So such-like people when they suffer some sickness, some untoward circumstances, naturally they say, "Oh God, what have I done?" If a man turns, then he comes around. I have seen cases like that. My Master used to say, "I give a long rope. Let us see how far he goes." Then with a little tug, he comes and answers, you see. Even if he does not do anything in this birth, that seed is not lost. He will reincarnate at the level of man, not below, because the seed cannot grow anywhere else. Man is in the make as I told you. Some are ready, some are not so ready. So a man who has got this seed and has perhaps done something in the past, that counts to his credit. Suppose a man leaves a school in the primary class; in the next school he won't read from the first primary again, he'll start ahead. But there is one thing very definite, I tell you: Love is a great force. If you have love for the Master, even if you are a sinner, you will be dragged like anything. What is sin? To let your attention be attached to the outside things - maybe good or bad things, excuse me. Even if it is attached to right things, it is an impediment. You are attached! You must withdraw. Those who have love for the Master, where will they go? Where the Master goes. But that should be the ruling passion with love and full faith - only in that case. That is rare, of course. But for those who have done a little work, it is like a canker in the wood which sometimes eats the inner wood itself; outside it appears all right. Those who are given initiation, that works like a canker, I tell you. Outwardly they appear worldly, then slowly, slowly, slowly they are detached. Towards the end they say, "Oh God, lead me on." Help is also coming from within; the Master is there always. We must turn our face to Him, that's all. The more receptive we become, the quicker results we will have. (The Light of Kirpal, page 5)
O Master, give me that right discrimination that the lure of the world may cheat me no more. (Ansari of Herat)
-28Question: What makes one stray from this golden Grand Trunk Road of Spirituality after finding the True God-Man and sacred Initiation from Him? Master: It is the ego in humans which debars them from Spiritual Illumination. It can be annihilated only by stern spiritual discipline and a sacred schedule of holy meditations together with deep reverential humility. Sometimes uncongenial environments do affect the spiritual progress of the dear initiates, who should always pray for right understanding and Divine Grace.
Question: Does incorrect meditation count in our favor? Master: It is better as compared with not doing it. But it is up to you, if you want to progress here. Hafiz, who was a great Saint of Persia, said, "Sit down in meditation at His door. Don't think whether He has heard you or not. Your duty is to sit at His door, quite cut off from the world and that is all, nothing more to be done." Do we sit quite cut off from the world? If so, you will have it. Why don't we transcend? Because we are attached; we've got so many entanglements, you see. (The Light of Kirpal, pages 74, 75)
Just to see Thy face again, I once more took the physical form. Thy face draws my heart out with its beauty. Just to see that reflection of God I came again to this world. (Bhai Nandlal)
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The Music of the Spheres

Question: Why is it that it's so much more difficult to listen to the Sound than it is to look for the Light? Master: Because the mind is killed with that Sound. Mind would rather go into the opening of the cannons rather than hear the Sound because hearing the Sound kills the mind forever. He will engage in Seeing all right, but hearing the Sound is difficult. He [mind] says, "My death is come" on account of it.
Question: Why is it so difficult to hear Shabd? Master: Shabd is reverberating in all Universes seen or unseen. The human soul and holy Shabd are of the same Divine Essence. Those who develop their inner consciousness by regular, faithful and accurate meditations can listen to this Heavenly Melody anytime they choose to do so. The novices do feel some trouble in focusing their attention at the eye-center and controlling their vibrations and thoughts carefully. Besides, those who speak much and waste their precious energy in idle and loose talk cannot listen to this Heavenly Melody. It is the single-minded devotion and attention which grants this rapturous listening. Practice undertaken with perseverance and steadfastness invokes Divine Grace and the initiate can listen to the holy Shabd Dhun.
-30Question: If the disciple is on the way back to the Father and under the guidance of a Living Master, why is it so difficult for him to hear the Sound Current? Master: It is the scattered attention of the initiate which does not allow him to hear the holy Sound Current. Besides, the overwhelming attachment to worldly pleasures and sense gratification stand in the way. The Living Master is Love Personified, and as such loving devotion to Him is the factor which makes for better inner contact of the Audible Life Stream. It is rather the tendency of human mind which does not relish being chained and as such it requires some discipline to be observed for having an inner conscious contact of the Celestial Melody. At the outset it is indeed difficult, but by regular practice the soul feels an innate affinity with the Sound Current, when inner bliss is experienced with the grace of the Master. (Spiritual Elixir, 78)
Question: In the meditation I hear the sound of crickets and the noises one associates with outdoor. What is happening? Master: The sound of crickets is the lowest sound and outer noise heard by you shows that you fail to attune yourself completely to the Sound Current. You should not apprehend any untoward happening as these are the entanglements of your own mind which creates similar thoughts for diverting your attention from inside. (Spiritual Elixir, 12)
Question: If one practices the Sound Current but does not go far or hear the higher Sounds, does the weight of karma become lighter? Master: Yes, the load of karmic debt gets lighter by listening to the holy Sound Current even if it is in its lowest links for it holds the keel of ones barque steady on the stormy sea of life and saves it from running aground among shoals, sandbanks, and submerged rocks. But one must strive to catch higher Sounds for it is the latter that exert a powerful pull upon the soul by following which one is led to eventual liberation. These higher Sounds can, by loving devotion and practice, be easily differentiated and communed with by the grace of the Master Power which is ever ready to extend all feasible help to the aspirants on the Path.
-31Disciple: Do you still want us to have exactly the same amount of Sound listening as Sight viewing? Master: That depends on how far you would like to advance. Excuse me. If you want to advance, you would like to put in more time. Both are counterparts, Light and Sound, you see. I say if you give equal time, you'll advance quicker. But generally we do not. Simply hearing the Sound, Sound will drag you into the beyond; you'll see Light. Man must know where he's going; both Light and Sound are a necessity to know where you're going, and the Sound will be dragging you like anything. You do not know where you're going, so both things should be developed. Sound Principle is the guiding principle. Those who take up only Light, they may be enveloped by Light, but do not know where to go further. The Sound Principle guides there. Both things go hand in hand. (The Light of Kirpal, page 75) Question: Master, if the Sound is heard from the side without putting the thumbs into the ears, should we still put the thumbs into the ears? Master: The Sound which is heard without plugging the ears is a gift to simply keep your attention engaged, the hearing of which would not allow any foreign effects to enter therein. But unless you close your ears and sit for hearing, that Sound won't come from above and drag you into the beyond. That's the difference. Both have their own value. The first is to keep your attention, "Some power is over your head." If you turn your attention to that Sound you will do all your work and not be affected by outward influences. It will act as a sheet anchor against negative effects--you will be air-conditioned. Do you follow? That will be the effect of the Sound which is heard without closing the ears. This will come in due course. Even if you are working that will go on within. That is a sort of protection extended. That is God Power. But unless you withdraw here by sitting, that Sound won't be able to drag you into the beyond. That is the difference. (The Light of Kirpal, page 280)
Question: Is it alright if I experience visual inner glimpses while sitting in Bhajan? Master: One thing should be done at a time. You should try to absorb your attention completely either in the Divine Light by looking into its middle or listening to the holy Sound Current as coming from the right side with rapturous attention. If you do both the practices together, attention will be divided.
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The Charged Words

Question: Have all Sikh Gurus given out the same words, back to Guru Nanak? Master: Yes. There are thousands of names. These are the names chosen by Saints because they are related directly concerned with the planes, something representing those planes, quite near to them. All other names are qualitative. These are not qualitative, but (they) give some clue of those planes. These names are given in the books, also, but they are not charged. When charged, anything that will come will also be charged. (Kirpal Singh: His Grace Lives On, 45)
Question: What is the nature of the charge that you put into the words? Master: Thought transference. Thought transference. It works through the thought transference. The words are charged because the thought transference is there. Now I tell you, these names are given by so many; but the people don't get any experience. When anybody (initiated by another) comes to me and asks, I simply say, "Repeat these names: all right, now sit down." And by thought transference he gets experience. You follow me? And further, one thing more. If you leave fruit-bearing trees to nature, they will take six to seven years to bear fruit. If they are handled by scientific ways those very fruit trees will give you fruit in two or three years. So these words coming from a competent man, will increase your progress within. What you would do in a hundred years you can do in, say, three years. That's the difference. The words work against the Negative Power behind. Moreover, if the Negative Power appears or there are any delusions created within, and you repeat the Names (the words which carry the thought transference) they'll be off. The charging will help. (The Light of Kirpal, page 63)
Question: In some types of work I am not able to keep full remembrance of the Master. How can I remain permanently close to you and at the same time do my work? Master: In the beginning, you see, whatever involves your memory or brainthat you will have to do one thing at a time. Later on when this habit is formed, that goes on automatically. You will see, your job will be done and you will keep the commandments. But that will develop in due course, not in one day. Go Jolly! (Kirpal Singh: His Grace Lives On, page 192)
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Ethical Living
Question: Master, I find that my meditations are improving, but Master: But! Disciple: My ethical life is not improving, or its getting worse, and I would rather have it the other way around. Like I cant seem to follow your commandments, it seems to get harder and harder, even though I Master: What is there? I tell you, there are five headings: One is non-violence; the other is truthfulness; third is chastity; fourth is veneration for all because God resides in every heart; fifth is service. Take one, and learn it completely. Not to injure anybodys feelings even in your thought, word, or deed. Take time; take one week. Leave all others. The other, take another week. Third one, another week. In four or five weeks you can do it, if you are really after it. Then the time you will put in will be fruitful. (Sat Sandesh, May 1975, 9, 10)
Question: What should one do when one is not true to oneself, and in other words, knows better, knows what you should do, but doesn't do it? Master: That's all right. Diary is meant for that. Keep your diary, I mean sincerely--be true to your own self. Don't deceive your own self. Everything comes up. If a man having a lamp in hand falls down in the ditch, then? Knowing is not sufficient. You must live up to it. An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of theories. We must live up to what He says. Diaries are for that purpose. (The Light of Kirpal, page 108)
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Drug Use
Question: Master, most of us here, before we came on the Path, have taken drugs. Will the fact that we have taken drugs adversely affect our spiritual progress? Master: Surely. I tell you, we are conscious beings. We have to become more conscious. Anything which has gone to mar our consciousness - that will take you to the lower strata of life. That is killing yourself, I would say. Disciple: A lot of us became aware of the spiritual life through drugs... Master: Leave it, that's all. Don't take more poison, that's all. A little poison taken can be ... Disciple: But our progress now will be affected by what we did before... Master: Only if you put in more time (in spiritual practices) these things will be cleared. Put in more time. Don't leave off that effort. That's all right. Whatever poison you have taken in your stomach can be washed out. But stop taking more poison, that's all. What more is there? (The Light of Kirpal, page 179)
The world is happy with the intoxication of wine, but I have drunk deep from the fountain of love and devotion. Day and night I am intoxicated with its bliss. (Mirabai)
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Family Life
Question: Please tell us something of the help which marriage partners might give one another, when both are initiates, in the matter of helping balance and harmonizing the physical, mental and emotional fields of energy of individuals so as to increase their receptivity towards Shabd. This could be very inspiring for students yet to come as well as for those already begun. Master: Marriage is a sacrament and a companion for life in weal or woe, during this earthly sojourn. It is a rare boon of the Master when both the partners in life happen to be initiates. Both of them should exhibit and inculcate a deep sense of loving cooperation and tolerance for the rights of each other. The physical, mental and emotional fields of activity should be kept under check and control lest these degrade the soul in pursuit of carnal satisfaction. To fall in sin is manly but to remain therein is devilish. The vital sex energy should be rationally transmuted and sublimated by exercising self-restraint and chastity. The procreation of children is one of the legitimate functions of married life. The scriptures prescribe this sacred purpose as and when such a necessity arises. The couple having such disciplined lives will be an asset for spiritual progress. (Spiritual Elixir, 78, 79)
Masters Wife - Krishna Wanti
-36Question: Would the Master speak briefly on the raising and disciplining of children? Master: Are you parents or not? Disciple: Yes. Master: You see, look here: Whenever you bring up any child, what would you like? You would like the child to be an ideal one more active, more conscientious, more wise is it not? Then set an example for him; first thing. Second: You try to bring him round from the wrong thing that he is doing that he does not understand. Bring him round by polite words, kind words not by rebuke. Because man must know. Man learns and unlearns all through life. If the child has done something wrong, please make him understand what the wrong thing is that he has done, once or twice. If you are going to slap him one, two, three, four times, poor fellow does not know what is the wrong he has done! So we must politely bring the child round so that he may not do it in the future. Our duty is to bring up children and make them ideal men even better than you are. If you are to bring up a child, Masters say, bring him up a Saint or bring him up a brave man, or a man who will help others. Bringing forth children who are of no use is taking a burden for nothing. Either he should be a Saint, he should be a brave man, or he should be one who will be of service to all others. These are the three things. Question: How much should a parent forebear a childs rebellion? Master: There are two reasons for that. One thing is, truly speaking, we are responsible for the children. The child in the womb is affected by the mothers thoughts. If you are very saintly, the child must be saintly. Only a saintly soul will enter. And the child develops as it receives impressions in the womb. Even physical impressions are received in the womb, what to speak of thoughts. Further: As a reaction of the past, men are brought together to pay off their debts. Then we are to adjust ourselves. You must set an example to them. Children copy what the parents do. Parents do not know, but they copy them. So if the reactions have to be paid off, that is natural consent. Pay off lovingly and give them love in return rather than any, what you say, retaliation.
(Sat Sandesh, December 1972, pages 13, 31)
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Karma
Question: How much our lives are preordained, and what part does free will play after we become initiates? Master: Six things are preordained or covered by fate-karma; viz. health and sickness, poverty and opulence, honor and ignominy. Strenuous effort, selfcontrol and discipline do play an important role for our betterment with the grace of the Master. Many dear ones with unhappy and checkered careers claim to have become saintly persons after holy initiation and faithful meditations on holy Naam. (http://www.ruhanisatsangusa.org/gemsqa.htm)
Question: Can karma apply to nations as well as individuals? Master: Yes. The cumulative reaction of karmic debt of nations results in wars, epidemics, destruction by fire or floods, etc. For exhaustive explanation a reference is invited to the book Wheel of Life. (Spiritual Elixir, 40)
Question: How does karma work on lower animals? Master: Lower animals or forms of creation are bound by their past karmic debt and they do not contract any more karma during their life span. They simply are born to undergo their karmic liquidation. (Spiritual Elixir, 42)
-38Question: Why must our past lives be concealed from us? Master: It has a significance. The entire human life is a drama based on the inexorable Law of Karma which results in union and separation of the souls for the liquidation of their mutual give and take. If one is told about these karmic debts involved and the sons or daughters born to us are only our past debtors, the reason and sense of their breeding will be harmed. It is one of the chief functions of the Negative Power to conceal these truths from the humans for keeping the earth life going. You will be perhaps astonished to know that Kal has obtained three main boons from the Almighty, as contained in Sar Bachan. These are: nobody will know of his or her past life; nobody should know about his or her exact time and date of death, and the Living Master should not grant holy initiation to the humans by showing miracles but simply hold Satsangs and if the dear ones come up of themselves and seek initiation, only then should they be initiated.
Question: Do I have a lot of bad karma to work off? Master: Every initiate has a lot of good and bad karma to be worked off during physical existence. The terminology of good or bad karma cannot be adequately justified, as both entail some debts requiring fair liquidation. Suffice it to note that the Decrees of Heaven are subject to no error and the Divine Dispensation is invariably flavored with mercy. The inner rare bliss from regular and devoted meditations changes the entire outlook of the initiate when he or she finds the gracious hand of the Master protecting him or her at every step. You should know it for certain that everything whatsoever comes to your counting is definitely for your spiritual progress, and you should gladly withstand the trials and tribulations of this life, by reposing your hopes and aspirations at the feet of the gracious Master-Power overhead. (http://www.ruhanisatsangusa.org/gemsqa.htm)
Friends, let those whose Beloved is absent write letters - mine dwells in the heart, and neither enters nor leaves. Mira has given herself to her Lord. Day or night, she waits only for Him. (Mirabai)
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Prayer
Question: Does prayer have any effect on karma? Master: Surely! Prayers which come out of the heart, not set forms of prayers, I tell you. They are simply reverberations made by the lips and have no connection with the heart. The prayer which comes out of the heart, in which the heart becomes full of love and tears roll down from the eyes thats a sign suchlike prayer is heard, and it nullifies reactions and creates a counteraction. But how strong the prayer is is the point. Not everybodys prayer is heard, because it does not go out from the heart. A prayer which is simply repeated in a professional way, such as saying, O, God! in which the heart has nothing to do with it, does not help. Prayer helps very wonderfully: where all human efforts fail, there prayer succeeds. But that prayer should be before a competent person, in whose competency you have faith. It is from a weaker man praying before a strong man. Perhaps you have read in the Bible somewhere where Christ said: If you pray to God, He may give it to you or not give it to you. If you pray to God in my name, He may give it to you. But if you pray to me, youll surely have it. What is the difference in the meaning of these three statements? If we pray to God, we are not fully settled in our minds that there is a God. We simply say something for which there is no motive or no ideal before us. He says if you pray to God in my name, there is also not a very strong faith we are dependent on something else: But if you see the God in Him, that must be given to you. Thats the difference. (Sat Sandesh, December 1976, pages 40, 41)
-40Question: If one sends loving thoughts and prayers for the loved ones who have passed on, do they reach and benefit the one who has gone from this world and will they know that they are loved and remembered? Master: Before understanding the correct answer to this question it should be borne in mind carefully that unions and separations of this physical world are governed by the inexorable Law of Karma. They have severed all connections with this physical plane and have been granted protection in accordance with their earnings. The prayers and their loving thoughts sent out by advanced souls do help the departed souls and they are cognizant of the same. It may furthermore be understood that the near and dear relations of the sincere initiates are granted feasible protection in the Beyond, even if they had left much earlier before the initiates took Initiation. (Spiritual Elixir, 46)
Protection of Loved Ones

Disciple: She has heard that parents of an initiate can come under the protection of the Master, and she has also heard that those who have died also come under the protection of the Master, is this correct? Master: Those who are related to the initiates whether dead or alive, have concession. They are looked after, even those who are dead. When a man is initiated that effect also goes to them, to those who have left the body. The initiates, as well as anyone else who is related to the initiate or who loves the initiate, are looked after. Even those who have left the body are also helped So help is extended to those who love you--maybe friends, maybe relations, even those who are dead are also helped, especially blood relations. It's a wonderful concession you have got, you see. What more do you want?
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Grace
Question: I think I read in some books... Master: Written by whom? Disciple: Either by you or by your Master Sawan Singh that the grace of the Master is at the pure discretion of the Master. Master: Surely. Disciple: Does that imply then that on occasion, the Master might like someone more than someone else? Master: Why? Why? Is He a worldly man? Disciple: No, I mean among initiates. Master: Among initiates who have more obedience, He's got more love for them. Disciple: He gets more Grace? Master: Grace. The more you turn your face, the more Grace you have. If you shut your eyes in a room and say, "I do see darkness and don't see any light," then it is for you to come out, that's all. He has love, that is why He initiates. A man may give you clothes, may give you money, may give you buildings. Nobody gives his life. He [the Master] gives you His life. His life is Light and Sound. He gives you Life, you see, His very Life to start with so that you will develop. So who can give this? Here also you'll find very few who'll give their blood. That's a very great sacrifice He has made, but He gives His Life. His Life is what? Word made flesh. Disciple: You've placed a portion of your Life in us? Master: Well, yes. A man who sees Light within, He can give you Light. He who has no Light within, how can he give Light? From a burning lamp you can light another lamp. But from the lamp that is not already lit, how can you light another lamp? (The Light of Kirpal, page 73)
-42Disciple: I've been having some lusty dreams. Master: That's the reaction of the thoughts during the day. That's all. Disciple: Everything else is fine, progress is good. Master: That's all right, thank God. But keep a vigilant watch over your thoughts during the day. Don't look into the eyes of others. That's the main place that you get the infection. Eyes are the windows of the soul. So only look into the eyes of someone who is chaste. All right, if what you want is to look into the eyes, you will be affected. If you're a strong soul, you must affect others. If you are weak, others will affect you; it's but natural. Keep constant vigilant watch over your thoughts, every moment. If you watch the present moment, that will go on till eternity. Nothing can go wrong. It is what you digest--reading and amassing your brain with facts and figures, all scriptures of the world won't help you. Right understanding only comes with God's Grace. Even if Grace comes, unless you live up to it, something is still lacking. So that is why it is said: First is God's Grace. He has given you human birth. This means you can go up: go back to your home. Again His Grace--the second Grace--you met somebody who was Word made flesh. This is His Grace. Then that Word made flesh-(Grace was there) gave you something to start with. So all this--God's Grace and Master's Grace is done. So many thousands of dollars have been deposited in your name. Now comes the third Grace--your own grace--have grace on your own self, and go to the window where that money can be drawn. So even God's Grace and the Master's Grace does not help much unless you have Grace on your own self, you see. The whole thing depends on you. When you have the right understanding, that's all right, that's His Grace. When you have the right understanding that you have been given something, some capital to start with, and you don't go to draw the capital? Whose fault is it? Tell me whose fault it is. Ours? No--it's your fault unless you have Grace on your own self, pity on yourself, I would say, God's Grace and Master's Grace do not fruit fully. Do you follow me? (The Light of Kirpal, page 138)
Never again in this world have I beheld beauty like Yours. Mira says: My Lord, when shall we meet? Great will be the joy of that meeting. (Mirabai)
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Suicide
Question: Is there a particular karmic punishment because of the act of suicide or are the problems that caused the suicide doubled? Master: By suicide what do you mean? He meant something else (referring to a previous question). Disciple: No, taking your life. Master: Yes. You see, our life is more valuable than our body; our body is more valuable than outward things. If we enter into a state of mind that we even hate our life, that we are going to kill ourselves this is a very strong action and that reaction will come. The Theosophical Society says that a man who commits suicide will commit suicide for at least one hundred births afterward. Each time that reaction will come again. Some people commit suicide for no reason. Disciple: Because the urge of killing is there. Master: Yes, yes, it is a reaction. Thats a heinous crime, to kill oneself. How can you ever dream of killing your own life? Its a very strong reaction. If some Controlling Power, some higher Power or God Power or Christ Power, you might say, is there, that reaction might be softened down; thats another thing. Disciple: You say a hundred times thereafter? Master: This, Theosophical literature tells us. That reaction comes up. We generally never want to sacrifice our life; with how much difficulty we do! We wouldnt like to die; we would rather sacrifice everything, all our outer possessions and even have the body cut open, to save it. Nobody wants to die. But if a man wants to die it means it is a very strong action; that must react.
(Sat Sandesh, December 1976, page 7)
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Death
Question: What happens after death; do we enter another place to go through a period of birth and growth and groping until we find our Master again? Master: It is supposed that the question relates to the initiates of the Living Master only and as such, it should be understood in the light of what follows. The dear ones who have been blessed with the sacred boon of holy Initiation into the Mysteries of the Beyond, are all granted full protection by the gracious Master-Power in the Beyond. Most of their karmic debts are paid off as they had lived their normal fate karma. Smaller karmic debts are paid off even before leaving off the body and as such they are not reincarnated. If, however, there remain some overwhelming worldly desires, the initiated souls are granted human birth, but are placed in such congenial environments where they will have the chance of continuing their inner journey, by meeting the Living Master working at the time. Spiritual growth and progress thus continues under His guidance.
Question: You should have faith in Master even if you have shortcomings when you die. Master: If you have faith in the Master and you have no attachments to the world then many things are clarified, paid off in life. The Master sees that many Karmas of the initiate are paid off. If there is no attachment left for worldly affairs, and he has so much love for the Master, nothing is dragging him to worldly affairs, then he has not to return. If he has so much love and faith in Master--Love beautifies. Love, and all other things are perfumed. Master pays off all debts of the past of His disciples. Such like who have not paid off, whose Karmas cannot be washed out, come back but not below man body. If there is so much overwhelming love for the Master, all attachments are cut off... You have to work for that. Why not do your work here? What you can do here in months, there you have to do in years. Better you do here. Faith and love. Faith like a child's faith in his mother, like a child running from a lion into the arms of his mother. The child has full faith that the mother won't let him be harmed. So much love that all other attachments are forgotten. Do you follow what I say? (The Light of Kirpal, page 278)
-45Question: Master, if your devotees are not able to rise above the body consciousness adequately, are they saved when they pass on? Master: The point is, by putting in regular time in the spiritual practices, you become like wood that appears all right from the outside, but within is all eaten away by ants. Those who devote their time by coming in contact with the Light and Sound Principle are naturally inwardly cut off, unattached. Do you see? The real attachment begins to be with God and with the higher planes. Suchlike souls are not to return, because they are not attached to the world. They are kept in the higher planes and advance further. Those who do not do anything at all - they take the talents (reference is to the parable of the talents in the Bible, Matthew 25: 14-30) and bury them underground - have to come back but not below the man-body because in the man-body only this can develop. So, those who, for instance, have advanced to the third state will go directly to the third plane. Those who have advanced one, will go one. Youll find that those who are initiated are fed up with worldly things. Outwardly they are doing things, but still, in their hearts, they want to leave. This is but natural. When we sit by fire, naturally cold will leave us. We have to go where we are attached. If we are attached to higher things, then naturally we are not to return; we are to develop from there. And whatever stage we have developed now, we will go straight up to at death. Question: I heard through some source that even if you only love the Master with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind, and you cannot withdraw, that you are still saved when you pass on. Master: I tell you, I tell you. Hear me. You are attached to what? To the God in the Master. What is a Master? The Word was made flesh. If you have love for Him, where will you go? Where He will go. If He is truly a Master, youll go and not come back; youll go where He goes: to the higher planes. At least you wont come to the earth again. This is but natural. Why do we come back again and again to creation? Because we are attached. But how many are there who are really attached to the Master? Tell me. Very few. Only they who see the God in Him, who see that He is a God in man, are attached to Him; otherwise, generally not. I think, what more is left after that?
-46One who is really attached to the Master in this way has not to come back to the earth; but he has to develop further. As you think, so you become. It is I, not now I, but Christ lives in me. Something like that. If we love the Master, should we not obey His orders? Question: Yes. But why cant we always? Master: We can, if we really love the Master. Take a worldly example: If you have love for somebody, you simply respond to an inkling of what he wants; he need not speak to you. Is it not so? Christ said, If you love me, keep my commandments. And further, He said, Let my words abide in you, and you abide in me. What does it mean? How can you abide in Him? You react on the one of whom you really think. Do you see? You develop receptivity. As you think, so you become. And dont transcend any orders. This is true love.
(Sat Sandesh, November 1975, pages 13, 14)
How do I love Thee? Let me count the ways. I love Thee to the depth and breath and height my soul can reach. (Elizabeth Barrett Browning)
-47Question: In the West, many people die unconsciously, as it is very common that they are given morphine. What is the difference between dying consciously and not consciously, in the Beyond, I mean. Master: We were talking over this subject only yesterday. The consciousness will be morbid, even after leaving the body. If he is not conscious when leaving the body that does have an effect. To die consciously is all right. To be able to say, "I am going now..." is best. Question: I have heard it mentioned many times of the importance of our last thought at the time of our dying. Would you speak more on this subject? Master: You see, if you have been accustomed to one thought, a ruling passion in your life, then naturally that will be the last thought with you. Anything which has been ruling your mind will come up. Disciple: And you go to where your last thought was? Master: Yes, If - I am adding if now. If some conscious person is there to direct, that will help. That will help. These are exceptions of course.
When I go from here let this be my parting word, that what I have seen is unsurpassable. (Tagore)
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Meaning of the Name Kirpal Singh

Question: Could you explain to me what the meaning of Kirpal Singh is? Master: Names are names. Question: But does it not have a meaning? Singh means something and Kirpal means? Master: Kirpal means merciful. Question: And Singh? Master: Singh means lion. When the two are put together - Lion of Mercy. So His ways are full of mercy. Hes very strict, mind that. He has got an iron hand but His gloves are very smooth-like. (Sat Sandesh, December 1974, page 11)
Sawan Ashram After Last Satsang August 11, 1974
I will cry to Thee and cry to Thee and cry to Thee until the milk of Thy kindness boils up. (Rumi)
May your soul be happy; journey joyfully.

(Rumi) Kirpalct@yahoo.com
For more booklets go to: kirpalsingh.org

(Spiritual Quotations for Lovers of God)

Q and A With Master Kirpal Singh

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Q and A With Master Kirpal Singh

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Q&A

Master Kirpal Singh Ji

Science of the Soul

A Ruling Passion for God

The Music of the Spheres

The Charged Words

Masters Wife - Krishna Wanti

Protection of Loved Ones

Meaning of the Name Kirpal Singh

Sawan Ashram After Last Satsang August 11, 1974

May your soul be happy; journey joyfully.

For more booklets go to: kirpalsingh.org

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