Portrait of Perfection A Pictorial Biography of Kirpal Singh (Published in 1981 by Sawan Kirpal Publications)

Transcription

1 Portrait of Perfection A Pictorial Biography of Kirpal Singh (Published in 1981 by Sawan Kirpal Publications) Text Compiled from Kirpal Singh s Written and Recorded Words With an Introduction by Darshan Singh

2 i Portrait of Perfection A Pictorial Biography of Kirpal Singh From the inside jacket: This beautifully produced volume is a remarkable record of the life and impact of a twentieth century saint Kirpal Singh ( ) Emerging from the text and photographs is a portrait of perfection a portrait of one whose life exemplified the highest and noblest ideals of mankind: love and service of all creation and the attainment of self-knowledge and Godrealization. People were attracted to him, and their lives were transformed by his humility, love, compassion and ability to give spiritual experience. Here the reader witnesses the story of a man who, while fulfilling the obligations of the world as an ideal son, husband, father and civil servant, transcended human limitations and soared into the highest spiritual realms. The images in Portrait of Perfection have been gathered from personal and studio collections throughout the world. The story of his life is told by Kirpal Singh himself; the text has been compiled from his discourses, letters and impromptu talks. The result is a portrait which testifies more vocally to a life of intense and many-faceted perfection than any conventional narrative can. Gazing at this testament, the reader may marvel at what can be accomplished in one lifetime. Among the many achievements Kirpal Singh compressed into his spiritual ministry of twentysix years were the founding of Ruhani Satsang and Manav Kendra, his three world tours, a score of books, the many international honors which were given to him, the four Conferences of World Religions over which he presided, and the Unity of Man Conference which he sponsored in the last year of his life. For those who enjoyed personal contact with Kirpal Singh, Portrait of Perfection will reawaken cherished memories. For others, it will provide a unique historical and inspirational account of a saint who came to renew the message of universal love, peace and hope. TO HIM WHOSE PERFECTION IS MIRRORED IN THE LIGHT REFLECTING FROM THESE PAGES, TO HAZUR BABA SAWAN SINGH WHOSE GRACE QUICKENED THE SPARK, AND TO SAINT DARSHAN SINGH WHOSE GENTLE TOUCH ENKINDLED THIS TESTAMENT TO A PERFECT LIFE MAY IT BE A LAMP ILLUMINATING THE WAY FOR ALL.

3 ii Table of Contents Jacket, i Table of Contents, ii Introduction, iii Chapter One: The Seeker, 1 Chapter Two: The Perfect Disciple, 10 Chapter Three: Rishikesh, 36 Chapter Four: The Mission Blossoms, 43 Chapter Five: Light of the World - First World Tour, 51 Chapter Six: Life in India, 66 Chapter Seven: Prophet of Peace - Second World Tour, 79 Chapter Eight: World Fellowship of Religions, 96 Chapter Nine: Manav Kendra - Man Center, 106 Chapter Ten: Lord of Compassion, 117 Chapter Eleven: Third World Tour, 126 Chapter Twelve: Unity of Man, 149 Chapter Thirteen: From the Evening Comes a Morn, 161 Chronology, 181 Publications of Sant Kirpal Singh, 183 Acknowledgments,186

4 iii Introduction The life of a saint is centered in a dimension so unfamiliar that it is easier for most of us to believe in God than to believe in sainthood. It is not so difficult after all to entertain the idea of some form of Supreme Intelligence investing and controlling the myriad universes around us. But it is hard to believe it possible for mortals like ourselves to be united with that Intelligence, and, escaping human limitations, to function in this finite world as a vehicle for the Infinite. This is why we are so apt to dismiss the lives of past saints as mere fairy tales and make-believe, or as the product of aberrations of the kind studied by abnormal psychology. It was perhaps because of this sense of the extraordinary nature of sainthood that for thousands of men and women around the world, their meeting with Sant Kirpal Singh was the most significant experience of their lives. To associate with him was to become aware of an all embracing and boundless love which took to itself all our burdens. It was to confront an understanding which knew no limits and which could accept everything. It was to know, however impossible as a rational proposition, that a human being could be one with God and that God could assume a human form. In other words, it was to realize what was meant by the word saint and to recognize sainthood itself, not as a myth created by man s imagination, but as life s highest possibility actualized from age to age by an infinitesimally small minority of individuals. Sant Kirpal Singh laid great stress on the importance of firsthand knowledge as the basis of true faith. Seeing is above all and Seeing is believing were among his favorite phrases. The faith that was based on mere hearsay was poor and vulnerable, incapable of standing up to the challenges of life. Particularly in this age of science, men could not be expected to believe in something which could not be proven, something they could not test for themselves. Rescuing spirituality from dogma and theological wrangling, Sant Kirpal Singh presented it as a perfect science, the Master-Science by knowing which, one could know everything else. Well versed in the scriptures and traditions of the world s great religions, he brought out their essential unity as no one else could. The rituals may vary, the languages may differ as one moves from one tradition to another, but the fundamental spiritual truths behind the great religions remain the same. What is more, according to Sant Kirpal Singh, given the guidance of a Perfect Adept one could test these truths for oneself. Throughout the world the prophets and saints have spoken of God in His creative form as the Word, the Kalma or Naam, and have referred to Light and Sound as its primary manifestations. Sant Kirpal Singh offered to link seekers to this Divine Principle and thousands of initiates and non-initiates have testified to the manner in which he opened their inner eye and inner ear enabling them to experience as a concrete reality what they had taken for figures of speech. Given this firsthand inner contact, one could, Sant Kirpal Singh insisted, work one s way step-by-step to the final goal of at-one-ment with God as surely as a trained scientist carrying out a well-known experiment. And at every point in this journey a seeker working under the guidance of a Perfect Master could rely on his help and protective care both within and without. Countless are the testimonies of the all-encompassing care which those who came to this Perfect Saint received during his lifetime and after. To know of such

5 iv testimony is to realize with a new vividness what Christ meant when he told his disciples: Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. In inviting seekers to tread the path leading to reunion with God, Sant Kirpal Singh did not expect them to turn their backs upon the world. He encouraged them to lead a full life as members of their respective families and communities. But it was not enough to progress physically, intellectually and materially. He would explain that we needed to develop spiritually, too. And for this, what mattered was not an outer renunciation, but an inner detachment. We cannot learn to swim on dry land, and it was only while living in the world and facing its joys and sorrows that we could develop true detachment. When Sant Kirpal Singh went on his second and third world tours, he inspired hundreds of young dropouts to return to school and to their families and be productive members of their society. His whole approach to mysticism was a positive, not a negative one. When people spoke of science and technology as undermining spirituality, he dismissed such pessimism. For him there was no necessary contradiction, for he saw spirituality itself as a science. In 1974, he went even further and announced that the Golden Age of Spirituality had already dawned. All over the world in the West as in the East people, and especially the young, were turning in increasing numbers to spirituality for true fulfillment. On meeting him, men shed their burdens and found themselves filled with a new joyous energy. When they left, he sent them on their way with the words, Go jolly! and his message was always one of hope. What would we not give to be able to bear witness to the lives of the great spiritual founders such as the Buddha, Jesus Christ or the Prophet Mohammed! What a special blessing it is to witness the life of a Perfected Being, for to do so is to know of a truth that transcends human reasoning. Those who were privileged to come to the feet of Sant Kirpal Singh have shared in this unique blessing. What is more, modern audiovisual technology has made it possible to record for posterity his life and his work with a vividness and authenticity not possible in the past. The photographs gathered in this volume speak for themselves and carry their own conviction as written records alone cannot. They give us fleeting glimpses of the omnifaceted perfection of one who was all things to those around him: friend, brother, beloved, boon-companion, father and mother. Even though the early phases are not as well documented pictorially as the later ones, the life story which unfolds in the pages which follow is one of unique balance. There have been saints who hardly seemed to need to undertake an arduous quest. There have been others whose period of discipleship was brief or who lived far away physically from their mentors. There have been still others whose ministry was short or characterized by the development of some one aspect of Mastership. With Sant Kirpal Singh however, all three phases (seeker, disciple and Master) were well marked and well rounded. Though blessed with special gifts from his childhood, it was only at the age of thirty, after years of anguished searching, that he found his spiritual haven in Baba Sawan Singh of Beas. Having come to a Perfect Master, for almost a quarter of a century he served him body, mind and soul with a devotion and completeness of self-surrender that have few parallels in the annuals of spirituality. With the passing of Baba Sawan Singh from among us in 1948, he took up the spiritual mission entrusted to him with an energy and unflagging determination which left those around him astounded and amazed. He wrote numerous books, discoursed many times a week and on occasion several times a day, answered letters from India and

6 v abroad by the thousands, and yet found time to meet privately any seeker or disciple who sought him out. The story of the founding of Sawan Ashram at the outset of his ministry and of Manav Kendra at its close, of the World Fellowship of Religions, of the World Religions Conferences, of the Unity of Man Conference, of the annual tours within India and of the three world tours all these are now history. A hundred years, even a generation hence, men may ask how a single individual, starting from almost nothing, could accomplish so much in so few years. They may well wonder how much was truth, how much mere myth and legend. The portrait sketched through the mosaic of Sant Kirpal Singh s words and pictures assembled here should allay such doubts better than anything else. They speak for themselves and testify more vocally to a life of intense and many-faceted perfection than any conventional narrative can; for as the poet would say: A thousand lifetimes may be too brief an instant to sing of the Beauty of the Beloved. Let that Beauty therefore speak for itself and let the reader glean something of the magic of the Beloved s glance even from the printed page! Let him realize, as Sant Kirpal Singh said, that even though Truth is higher than everything, higher still is true living. For the terms God and Truth acquire force and meaning for us only through the example of lives like his, where precept and practice are one, where we see the God Power in action in day-to-day living. Darshan Singh Delhi, India February 6, 1981 Param Sant Kirpal Singh

7 -1- Chapter One: The Seeker Autographed photo of Kirpal Singh Dear friends, let me introduce myself to you. So much has been said about me. With all that, I take myself to be a man like you. Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Ji Of Course, I had the good fortune to sit at the feet of my Master, Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Ji, in India, and solve the mystery of life.

8 -2- What is the mystery of life and how did it take possession of my mind? I will relate to you an incident from my life when I was about sixteen. I came across someone who was dying. She was a young lady who had children. Her husband and her parents were also there. While sitting beside her it occurred to me, This person is dying; there is something in her which is also in me, but it is leaving her body what is that something? I could not at that time perceive the answer, for I did not have the knowledge. What is it that is working in everyone and yet leaves a dying person? I sat there and witnessed this individual call all those near and dear and ask for their forgiveness for any wrong or any act that may have displeased them. She called her children, kissed them and told them, I am going. She called for her husband and begged leave from him. Then she quietly closed her eyes and was gone. I was wonderstruck to witness this amazing sight. Before my eyes the body was lying there and yet that which had motivated it was gone. It was still in me but it had left that body; where it had gone to I did not know. This I could not differentiate in spite of my search after knowledge. According to Sikh custom, we took the body of the dead person on our shoulders and carried it to the cremation place. On the way I was still considering, Well, what was it that had left the body? I wanted to differentiate, to analyze myself, but I could not. When we reached the cremation grounds, it so happened there was a pillar with an inscription which read: Those words pinched my heart. Beware ye that move! We too were once like you Enjoying life to the full. But alas! Now we are a handful of dust beneath this stone. As we walked farther into the cremation place I saw that an elderly man had died and was also to be cremated. Within a few yards of each other lay a young person and an old man with a white beard. The two extremes of life, youth and old age, were consumed in the flames. My heart was deeply affected with the realization that there is no escape from death for any one of us. Learned or unlearned, rich or poor, healthy or diseased, everyone has to die. There is no exception to the rule; even kings, philosophers and saints have to leave the body. And we must also leave the body. I could not bear the scene. I thought, What is it which is in me, but is not in these two bodies? These questions: Who we are, whence did we come, whither shall we go? took possession of my mind. I had some awakening, an inkling from my childhood about God. I also had transvision and could see the past and the future. I only had to think of Delhi or Calcutta and I could see what was going on there. I prayed, O God, I pray this disease may be taken away so that I should become like all other people. Keep it in reserve so I should behave like an average man. I was born in a Sikh family as man is a social being he must have some social body to live in, so he is born in one family or the other. My father was Sardar Hukam Singh; my mother, Gulab Devi. The members of my family were meat eaters. As a child, I did not partake of it. My father said, Pal, (this was my nickname), why don t you take meat? It will do you good. I replied, Will you have me make a graveyard out of my body?

9 -3- Pages from school notebooks of Kirpal Singh written in approximately 1908, when he was fourteen years old. On the left is the schedule Kirpal Singh set for himself to study his school subjects. As a young boy I used to read the Sikh scriptures, the Guru Granth Sahib, which is a voluminous book. The beauty of it is that the teachings of so many Godmen have been gathered together. It is a banquet-hall of spirituality containing hundreds of hymns. I would carefully read only one hymn, and then I would write it down, considering that was the lesson given for the day. All day I would think of that hymn and try to discover its meaning. Once the desire to solve the mystery of life entered my heart, it did not leave. This question led me to an intense search through books. I read the scriptures of various religions. The ancient Hindu scriptures said, When the soul leaves the body at the time of death it experiences as much pain as though one was stung by a thousand scorpions very terrible pain was described! Since I was in a missionary school, I was also familiar with the Christian teachings. There I found: Except ye be born anew, ye cannot enter the Kingdom of God, and Learn to die so that you may begin to live. These teachings are given in all scriptures, but the question remained, How to do it? I would start reading the scriptures each night and my heart desired those things mentioned therein. I would study the whole night through, only to rise in the morning without having discovered the way out.

10 -4- All scriptures say there is God, God is ever-existent, there is no place without Him. I had that conviction in my inner self. I was never in doubt about God. But how to see Him? That was the burning question. The scriptures gave no practical solution, they simply referred to the need of the company of someone who knows God call him a Guru, or a Master, or a Teacher, or anything. If you want to see God, meet someone who sees God. They all said the same thing: Go to somebody who has solved the mystery of life and can give others that same experience. I was still not able to solve this mystery, and it became the greatest torment of my heart. After my educational career was over I had to decide what to do with my life. I was a voracious reader of books and wanted big libraries. But I had to decide whether to pursue my worldly ambition or seek God. In 1912, I spent five to six hours daily for seven to eight days in the lonely wilderness deciding my aim in life. I came to the decision: God first and the world next. I knew that I could never meet the Lord without a living Master or a Guru. So I decided to search for a Master who would give me the Truth. The question then arose as to where a perfect Master was to be found. When I looked around there were so many Masters. To whom should I go? By reading the scriptures of all religions I realized Masters could be born in the East or West, anywhere in the world, in a higher class family or a lower class family. It matters little. But one thing was certain if he himself was a man who had realized God, only then could one expect inner experiences of God from him. Prem Singh, eldest brother of Kirpal Singh As the eldest of the three brothers, Prem Singh was respected as the head of the family when their father Sardar Hukam Singh died. Prem Singh was employed with the Civil Courts at Peshawar and maintained his household in Sayyad Kasran. Prem Singh s house adjoined Kirpal Singh s, and they shared a common courtyard. Unlike his two brothers, Prem Singh s interest in spirituality did not fully dawn until late in life. He was accustomed to eating nonvegetarian food. In middle age while paying a visit to Kirpal Singh in Lahore his life

11 -5- underwent a dramatic change. Suddenly, he was unable to eat the meat preparations he had brought with him. Then he requested Kirpal Singh to take him to meet Hazur Baba Sawan Singh at Beas. On reaching the Dera he saw Hazur coming from the satsang, and like thousands who had come before him he was awestruck by the grandeur and radiance of the great Master. Shortly after this meeting he received initiation and his way of life was completely transformed. When Prem Singh s end was nearing he correctly revealed from inner vision that the train on which Kirpal Singh was coming would reach the station three hours late. Before passing away he told Kirpal Singh that Hazur had come within and he was at peace. Then before a large group of his friends and relatives he died so peacefully that no one present, barring Kirpal Singh, know that he had left. Jodh Singh, elder brother of Kirpal Singh Jodh Singh s life held many similarities with that of his younger brother Kirpal Singh. He was also searching for a perfect Master, and also served in the Military Accounts Department with the British government. He practiced homeopathic medicine in his spare time as a free service to humanity, and the combination of his good theoretical understanding and his unshakeable faith in God enabled him to cure many ailing patients through the remedies he prescribed. On nearing retirement he had a house built in Dera Beas Colony. Jodh Singh declared that if Hazur paid even one visit its purpose would be served. This house was used for the service of the sangat, and when he visited Beas he used only a small room for his own accommodation. He visited Beas almost every weekend, leaving from work on the Saturday night train. He reached the Dera by Sunday morning, spent the day in the satsang of the great Master and then boarded the Sunday night train bringing him back in time to go straight to his office on Monday morning. Jodh Singh was very devoted to Hazur, and he kept Hazur s commandments with great discipline and love. He had developed the habit of sitting regularly for several hours in meditation each morning. When Jodh Singh died, Hazur remarked that one of his true disciples had left.

12 -6- I had two brothers: Jodh Singh and Prem Singh. Jodh Singh and I helped each other: If you find any Godman, tell me; if I find one, I will tell you. We were searching. Once my brother Jodh Singh wrote me, A very great Master is here. Will you come? I went and told the man, I have intoxication that continues day and night; but sometimes, after three, four or five months, it stops for a day or two. I am very puzzled. Can you help me? He said, You will have to lay down everything your body, mind and soul to me. Only then will I help you. I thought, The man is after my body and possessions; he wants my intellect to be blindfolded. Surrender comes only when you see some competence. I paid homage and returned home. I thought to myself, I know there is a definite need for a Master; all scriptures say so. I m quite convinced that without one who knows God, nobody can reach Him. But where am I to go? I feared that I might meet one who would turn out to be nothing but a worldly man; I was afraid lest I go to somebody who had not solved the mystery of life, but was simply acting and posing. What would be my fate? I prayed, O God, I m, yearning for You. I want to meet You. The world is full of Gurus and Masters. To whom should I go? Unless I find someone who has reached You, my life s aim will be spoiled. It is said that in the olden days You appeared to those who loved You, then why can t You manifest now? If God could give revelations to His lovers in the past, why could He not give direct revelation to me? I was so anxious to meet God I used to weep from morning till night. Even while working in my office, tears would involuntarily flow from my eyes and my office papers were spoiled by the tears. I could not sleep at night. I would ask, O God, what is happening? At home, my family could not understand what was happening I had recently been transferred from the place of my parents and everyone thought the tears were due to this. What can other people know of the condition of one s heart? Once the enigma of the mystery of life enters the heart, a person knows no peace until it has been solved. The questions continue to arise: What is life? Who am I? It is only the Beloved who can understand the excruciating pain in the heart of the lover. God is the knower of all hearts, and He knows best who is pining for Him. Even in the early days of my life I used to serve the sick. When my father fell ill and lost his memory he was like a child again, not knowing how to walk or talk. I had to reteach him everything. I would say, This is a spoon. This is a plate. And he slowly regained his memory. When my father recovered he said, I am extremely pleased with you. Ask for anything you want wealth, children, fame and the like and if a father s blessings have any effect, you will certainly have what you desire. I replied, I do not want earthly things, I wish only to meet God in this lifetime. My father said, I have not seen God, but if there is God, you shall certainly meet Him! In May 1917 God appeared in my meditation in the form of a holy man whom I took to be Guru Nanak. He would speak to me and lead me into the higher planes. As I was a poet, I wrote many poems in Urdu and Punjabi in his praise. I composed a poem in which I described the lovely features of the divine being who guided me on different planes from day to day for about seven years.

13 -7- Kirpal Singh I have always been a lover of rivers, and in whatever town I happened to be, I would find the nearest river and spend many hours there, mostly at night. While living in Lahore, I once had a desire to visit the River Beas. So one Sunday morning I left my house and arrived in due course at Beas railway station. When I stepped from the train I approached the station master and asked him to direct me to the river. He asked, Have you come to see the saint of Beas? I replied, Does a saint live here, too? He said, Yes, on the bank of the river. I told him that I would be happy to see the saint and the river also, and I made my way to the Dera, where the saint lived. In those days there were no restrictions for those who wished to see the Master, so I walked straight in. Hazur was taking his meal. After a while he came out. I was astonished to find the same form I had been seeing in visions for so many years. I was wonderstruck and asked him, Maharaj, why this delay in meeting thee? He said, This is the most opportune time. Hazur Baba Sawan Singh

14 -8- The Guru appears when the chela is ready even to the most skeptical mind. Perhaps none of you have been so skeptical as I was. I was afraid lest I go to somebody who had not met God, and my life would be spoiled. So this is how I physically met my Master Hazur Baba Sawan Singh in the month of February, on the day of Basant Panchmi, a religious festival which occurs when the fields reach their full bloom. I wrote to my elder brother Jodh Singh, I have seen a personality walking in all the humility of Guru Nanak. But wait till you hear from me next. A few days thereafter I wrote again: I have found the Master, you too should come. The next time there was initiation, later that month, Hazur said, You sit inside. He went outside and gave initiation. I was sitting inside in his room waiting for him and thinking, Perhaps he will call me. I couldn t dare move, because he did not call me. When he returned I asked him, Will you kindly initiate me? And he said, Oh yes, surely. Hazur Baba Sawan Singh He granted me initiation a direct firsthand experience of the Light and Sound of God, the two outer expressions of Absolute God. He gave me an experience of transcending the body, Here it is, you are not the body. With a little thought of his, with his attention, I rose above body-consciousness and knew this body was only a dead body enlivened by spirit. I saw I was the indweller of the body.

15 -9- Only one who is already united with God can help us unite with Him. That divine Power, God, is within each one of us. The question is, why can we not unite with Him by our own unaided efforts? It is because the soul is under the powerful sway of the mind, which in turn is being controlled by the senses, and these senses are running riot with the outer pleasures. We are thus totally identified with mind and matter so much so we have forgotten our true self. It is the God-in-man who can link us with God. Absolute God, when He came into expression, was called Shabd, Naam or Word. This Word or Naam in the garb of man is called Guru. He is not the physical body but the divine Power which works at a human pole called the living Master, Guru, Murshid, or any other name you like. He is in fact Word made flesh, who comes to dwell amongst us. Man alone can be the teacher of man. It is with the help of some human instrument that God works for mankind. The qualification of the Master lies in the fact that he is competent to give firsthand experience of the Light of God and the Music of the Spheres, to the learned and unlearned, on the day of initiation. These are the gifts of God. So why am I relating this to you? If you are really after God, God makes some arrangements to bring you in contact with someone who can put you on the way back to God. And the mystery of life and death is then solved. Kirpal Singh

16 -10- Chapter Two: The Perfect Disciple Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Somebody once asked me, What made you acceptable in the eyes of your Master, and how did you get from him all the instructions you are following? The only words I can say are, It was love love that he gave me for himself. And that taught me everything. It is the Beloved who teaches the lover the art of love and who enables him to progress steadily on the path of love. One who loves is the lover of the Beloved. One who obeys becomes the beloved of the Beloved. And that love should be respectful. Once I wrote my Master a letter in which I said, I pray, grant me your love, but that love should be within respectful limits. Hazur received the letter, put it on his breast, and with tears in his eyes said, I want such a one who loves with respect. I really appreciate suchlike love. The relationship of love between the Master and his disciple covers many phases and many developments. It begins with respect for one knowing more than oneself. In the beginning when I went to my Master people asked me, How great is Baba Sawan Singh? I told them, I do not know how great he is, but I know he is surely far, far above me far above that which I wanted. That is all you can say in the beginning. Only those who are equal to him can know him. A Master alone can know what a Master is. We see only that much which he reveals to us.

17 -11- Gods, men and angels greater than these was he; My Emperor was unparalleled in this world and the next For when the veil lifted, I beheld God Himself in human form And O Lord, he was so different from what I thought him to be. In all splendor did the Creator manifest to him, And in all finality was he merged in the Creator. God Himself was not found separate from him, Nor was he discovered as separate from God. So enchanted were they with one another That God was lost in him, and he was lost in God. In this world of finitude He was the secret of Eternity. God dwelt in his frame And he proved to be none other than God Himself. Come, let us behold him at the satsang this day and drink in the oneness of his eyes, For who knows what the morrow brings, Or when our end will come? Translation of a poem by Kirpal Singh to his Master, Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Autographed photo of Hazur Baba Sawan Singh

18 -12- I used to go to Hazur at Dera Baba Jaimal Singh in Beas every Sunday. He looked after me as a father looks after his son. He would say to those serving at the Dera, All right, arrange this room, bring his bedding. I requested, Master, please don t you worry. I m here at your feet. He would say, All right, you ll have to look after this Dera. Those who come, you ll look after them. The room of Baba Jaimal Singh, Hazur s Guru and founder of the colony Hazur Baba Sawan Singh s house at Dera Baba Jaimal Singh, Beas Kirpal Singh frequently stayed in this tree-shaded house while visiting the Dera

19 -13- The entrance at Hazur s house The lettering above the door reads, Dera Baba Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj. To Hazur s right is Kirpal Singh s elder brother Jodh Singh. The Satsang Hall in Beas built by Hazur Here, satsangs (spiritual gatherings) were held.

20 -14- If one could just get a glimpse from afar of the glorious turban of Hazur while he was standing in the midst of thousands of persons, a thrill of joy would run through one from head to toe. Maulana Rumi says, Even if I were to behold the face of my Beloved hundreds of times with hundreds of eyes, I would still get a novel experience from such a blessed sight. He goes on to say, Just as a drunkard feels restlessly agitated by looking at vintage splashing in a goblet of wine, similarly by looking into the cups of the deeply set eyes of the Master, the souls of the devotees soar high in ecstasy divine. Hazur Baba Sawan Singh giving satsang on tour at Kalu ki Barh in July 1945

21 -15- When I came to my Master I only asked him two or three questions. I simply sat by him, listened to what he said and got everything by radiation. One third of a Master s teachings are by word of mouth, two thirds by receptivity, by radiation. Soul speaks through the eyes; they are the windows of the soul. Through the eyes you learn so many things. They speak a language which even words cannot express. In the beginning, I asked my Master how much time I should devote to the spiritual practices. Hazur knew fully well that I was a government servant. I had to put in eight hours to my service, and I was also a householder with a wife, Krishna Wanti, and my son, Darshan. Knowing all that, he said, Devote a minimum of five to six hours of meditation a day and the more you can do the better. So what did I do? In the morning I used to sit from three or four o clock until nine. I had to. There was no question of whether I could do it. Then I took my food at twenty minutes after nine because I had to leave for the office and be there at ten o clock. Even the busiest man can find time. Where there is a will there is a way. A devotee dedicates his life to the service of his Master and dissolves his will in that of his Master. It is a life of complete surrender. Hazur Baba Sawan Singh giving a discourse Kirpal Singh can be seen at the right. I was assigned the duty by the Master to give talks at satsang in Lahore, the capital of Punjab. It was a big center. When Hazur would stay there for three or four days, usually ten thousand to twenty thousand people gathered. Once I asked Hazur, What are your orders regarding satsang? What if a man is sick and cannot attend the satsang? He replied, If you are sick in your bed, but you can move, then attend satsang. Just note, he did not say that if you have strength to walk, then attend satsang.

22 -16- One Sunday at satsang time I was really sick, but I could move in the bed. I remembered Master s words and I thought, Well, I can move. The satsang place was hardly a furlong away. On the way I sat down four times to take rest. When I arrived I was very tired and weak. I sat down and started the satsang. That day the satsang extended for three hours. And when I returned I came running. Twice a week I used to see Hazur. I would reach Beas about nine or ten at night and had the privilege to be with him for any length of time. One Saturday evening, as I sat by him, I was thinking in my heart of hearts to remain with Hazur and arrange for someone else to give a talk at satsang on Sunday. But at midnight, Master said, Kirpal Singh, tomorrow aren t you to give a satsang at Lahore? I said, Yes, Sir. Hazur said, Then you should go. So of course, I caught the train for Lahore and gave the satsang. Duty is duty. Left to right, sitting: Prithvi Raj, Har Narain, Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj (in chair), Jagat Singh, Lal Chand; first row standing: Harbans Singh and Bachint Singh (Hazur s sons), Jodh Singh (Kirpal Singh s brother), Bhagat Singh, Kirpal Singh, Kulwant Rai; second row standing : Ram Nath Mehta, Mr. Hiranand, Radha Krishna Khanna. One way of pleasing the Master is to live up to what the Master says without any regard to what your mind says or what your heart likes. Once I had started a talk when I got an intuition that my Master had come to Lahore. I was thinking what to do, Should I run to see the Master, or do this duty? Naturally, my heart wanted to fly to see him, but at the same time I was bound by the words of his order, You have to give a talk. So I attended to my duty. When the talk was over, after two hours, I ran to the place, but Master had left and gone back to Beas. I went to Beas on the evening train. When I reached there I told Hazur what had happened. Master, I don t know whether I have done right or wrong. I was duty bound to give a talk at the very moment I got that intuition that you had come to Lahore. I could not decide but I stuck to the duty. Hazur said, I am pleased you have done your duty that you have acted up to what I said.

23 -17- Krishna Wanti was married to Kirpal Singh at an early age, according to the custom of the times. A very affectionate and self-sacrificing woman, she was a devoted wife and loving mother. She assisted her husband in social service, particularly during a deadly influenza epidemic. She was of a pious disposition and wrote poetry in Punjabi. In the summer, Kirpal Singh was fond of meditating on the bank of the Ravi River and would return home in the early hours of the morning. No matter how late her husband returned, Krishna Wanti would be waiting to let him into the house after hearing his gentle tapping on the door. Krishna Wanti, Kirpal Singh s wife

24 -18- Parents should look after their children properly and help them to become noble by setting a worthy example for them. The Masters lay great emphasis on the need to transform our lives, but they say it is not necessary to leave the world in order to pursue the inner path. They say to remain in the world and yet be not of it. So I have led a householder s life. In this regard, marriage is no bar to spirituality if lived according to the scriptures. One duty may be of begetting children. The saints say that if a child is to be given birth, let him become a saint, a donor to the poor, a server of the needy, or a valiant one who can protect the forlorn and weak. When your son or anybody else lives honestly and ethically, naturally you are happy. My son Darshan, at the beginning of his career in government service, was detailed to go to Bombay with two other men to allot important contracts; I think they had one month to settle everything. They were all offered huge bribes. My son wrote me a letter: I have come here, one of three. The others have made much money, but I have not succumbed to this temptation and have not made any. I then wrote him, By doing so you have pleased not only the God in you, but your father, whom you once said was very difficult to please. As a child I probably had the best possible fortune of being brought up in an atmosphere charged with spirituality, charged with bliss, charged with tranquility. Every day large numbers of people were coming to my father, Kirpal Singh, for peace and solace. I would often see my father either sitting in meditation or attending to his literary work late at night when I went to bed, and then again when I got up in the morning I found him in meditation. I could not expect to have breakfast until I had done my meditation. He was the most loving father that anyone could have and at the same time the most strict disciplinarian. Darshan Singh I remember how Darshan, at the age of four or five, once accompanied me to Hazur and made a request for initiation. Hazur gave him some sweets and at first he was satisfied. But the next time he went he prayed for the same gift which had been granted to his father. Hazur took him inside, made him sit in front of him, and asked him to concentrate within. In an instant the lad witnessed a star-spangled sky. Hazur then asked him to open his eyes, saying that it was enough at that stage. Darshan came running outside saying that he had received Naam as far as the stars and inquired up to what stage I had been taken! Herein lies the greatness of a saint.

25 -19- A poet himself, Kirpal Singh recognized and encouraged his elder son s literary gifts, and throughout his life read and corrected each of Darshan Singh s poems. Here Darshan is reciting one of his poems in the presence of Hazur. (Kirpal Singh is seated near the pole on the far left.) Poetry recitations during special functions were a regular feature. Hazur told Darshan when the boy was about to enter college, Kaka (my dear son), Persian is a very sweet language. It is the language of mystic poetry and should be studied. This made Darshan give up his plans for studying science and in due course he developed into a leading mystic poet writing in Urdu. Seven boys joined together with the blessings of Hazur to form the Sawan Service League in the late 1930 s. Kirpal Singh guided them so that all their duties were carried out in a spirit of humility. One of the members of the League, Darshan Singh (center, in a dark jacket), was in charge of checking-in the shoes of the disciples attending satsang.

26 -20- Hazur Baba Sawan Singh, Kirpal Singh, and Darshan Singh When a devotee is enamored of God, it is for God Himself to take care of everything; He intervenes, for He sees such a devotee has given up everything for Him. A devoted lover of God does not look to anybody else. Such a devotee is loved by God and the Master, so naturally the Master has to take care of all his needs. My eldest son Darshan once fell ill and the doctor announced that his condition was so dangerous that within three days he would probably die. He told me I should take leave from my work and sit beside his bed day and night he might pass away at any moment. Of course I took the leave, but it happened that one of the three days was a Sunday; and I was detailed by my Master to hold the satsang at Amritsar every Sunday. The doctor had said not to leave my son s bedside. Faced with this dilemma I thought, To whom does this child belong? We are all in the Master s lap. We cannot control life and death; it is all in his hands. I should do the work he has given me. I left home and went to Amritsar and held satsang there. After the satsang it was about noontime, and as the Master lived in Beas, just about twenty miles away, my heart said, Well, why not have Master s darshan before returning home? The natural desire of a devotee would be to have a look at the Master. It was during the hot summer season, and the day was bright with sunshine. I caught a train and reached the Dera at Beas at about 2:00 p.m. When I entered the Master s house he was upstairs, and though I gave no intimation of my arrival, he sent a man down to call me. The Master was lying on his bed, but when I entered the room he sat up and asked me, What is the condition of your son? The Masters know everything. I had not told him anything previously about my son s illness. I replied, Hazur, he is seriously ill. I told him what the doctor had said, and that I had followed the doctor s

27 -21- advice and taken leave from my office to sit beside his bed. When Hazur asked me for further information I told him, I understood your orders were to go to satsang, and so I had done my duty, for life and death are in the Master s hands. After the satsang was over in Amritsar I came directly to Beas for your darshan instead of returning to Lahore. The Master became very quiet and sat with his head in his hands looking quite sorrowful. I asked him, Hazur, why are you in such a mood? Whoever has even a single thought of you for a moment is released of all his worries, and yet you are sitting like this, how can that be? He replied, Well, Kirpal Singh, you have thrown all your burden on me. You have taken the load off your head, and now I must bear the burden myself. On returning home I found my son was all right, and his condition had not deteriorated as the doctors had thought and thereafter he recovered from his illness. These are the ways of a perfect Master; this is his greatness. If you leave everything to him, placing yourself completely in his hands, he will do all your work. During the marriage of Hazur s grandson, Charan Singh Some of the prominent satsangis are, from Hazur to the left: Gurbaksh Singh Randhir, Parshotam Singh, Bachint Singh (Hazur s son), Darshan Singh, Kirpal Singh, and Harbans Singh (Hazur s son). From Hazur to the right are: Charan Singh, Pundit Lal Chand, Bhai Shadi, and on the far right is Seva Singh. Love is a very great power. Love begets love. If you love the Master, the Master loves you the most; you become the beloved of the Beloved. Sometimes if I could not go for one week to see him, Hazur would ask those whom he met, Have you seen Kirpal Singh? Has he met you? If a mother does not see her baby for three hours in a day, how does she feel? Sometimes he would come see me in my office. He traveled by car to Lahore, about sixty miles. He stood under my office and sent a man to call me down.

28 -22- Once, when my Master came to see me in Lahore, I was unable to receive him because I was bedridden I could not even move from the bed. When he arrived, he asked someone about me and was told of my illness. So he rushed up to my room although it was on the third story. When he came in, I was so weak I could not even move. He sat by my side, and I was able to sit up; he stayed with me for only a while, but when he started to leave I went running down after him. This is what love does. Love means you cannot differentiate between yourself and him. Sometimes if he thinks of you, you feel the Master within, in your very body. From thousands of miles you can enjoy the company of the Master by radiation. My Master used to go to Dalhousie. During the daytime some moments came when I felt very sweet feelings and cooling waves of thought from head to foot. You can feel a sort of purity and bliss. I wrote down the time. I later inquired from someone, What was the Master doing at that time? The answer was, He was remembering you. When he remembers, we remember too our love is only reciprocal. When we are charged with love, love of God in man, we cross from the stage of duality to oneness. That will only develop when no one and nothing stands between you and the Master, not even your body or intellect. When you are one with the Master, naturally he works through you. As St. Paul said, It is I, not now I, but Christ that liveth in me. The outer criterion is that if you put a question to the Master and the same question to the initiate, even though they are living apart, the words uttered by the disciple will be the same as those uttered by the Master. It is because they are receptive to one another they are one. This is the ultimate goal of love. Hazur and Kirpal Singh conversing during a walk at Beas Jodh Singh, Kirpal Singh s brother, is seen walking between them. I found many times during the life of my Master, people used to ask me questions. I would give them some reply on certain points. They would also go to my Master and ask the same question. And fortunately it so happened, the very same words were uttered by the Master. When you are one with the Master, naturally he works through you. If such a love exists between an initiate and the Master, the Master will transfer everything to him. Hazur ordered me to do satsang work, to visit the sick, the needy and the poor. He gave explicit directions on writing the Gurmat Sidhant, which he graciously consented to publish under his own name. When the great Satsang Hall at Beas was being built, people said to me, Why do you attend to the physical labor? You should attend only to the written work. I replied, Since I am blessed with a physical body, I must serve physically. I have an intellect and should serve intellectually. And since I am an embodied soul, I should also serve spiritually.

29 -23- My Master used to make me sit by him and give talks. He was training me as a father trains a child. I would repeat my experiences to him. I used to turn to him and talk and the people enjoyed it. Once after Hazur had initiated some people at Lahore he told me, I have planted the seed of the Holy Word in the hearts of these persons. You will have to nurture them with the Water of Life. I told him, Master, I am a mere pipe. Whatever life-giving water you send, that will be given. If no water comes, the pipe itself would become dry and nobody would get any benefit. Peshawar (now in Pakistan), 1938 Hazur Baba Sawan Singh is sitting in the center. To Hazur s right is Kirpal Singh, Gurmukh Singh, and Sundar Singh Kochar. On Hazur s left is Prem Singh (Kirpal Singh s eldest brother) with folded hands, Sajjan Singh and Beant Singh on his extreme left; Nanak Singh, at whose house Hazur was staying, is sitting looking up at Hazur. My Master used to send people to me, including heads of different sects who came to see him. They would stay with me for a week or so at Lahore. If any learned man went to see him, he said, All right, go to Kirpal Singh he will open all the parts of the rifle and then reassemble it, and tell you what is what. Dr. Schmidt, a Swiss homeopathic physician and President of the World Federation of Homeopathic Doctors, came to India with his wife. He was initiated by our Master. On their second visit to India, people tried to influence his wife to also become initiated. But she wouldn t agree. She was a follower of a guru in Europe. Dr. Schmidt requested me to kindly do something so that his wife might also be initiated. My Master told me to take leave for four or five days and give time to attend to her. The first question she asked was, What brought you here to the Master? I explained to her for about ten minutes why I had come. Oh, that is exactly what I want, she said. She then asked, Why is it that your Master does not appeal to me? This was a very direct question. My European guru used to influence me and I was affected by him, she said. I told her to look at me for two or three minutes and then I asked if she could say anything other than what I wanted her to say. No, she said. I told her, That is why your guru has influenced you. You could not say anything other than what he wanted you to say. My Master does not influence anybody. He leaves it to your own will and pleasure to find what is what.

30 -24- I told her, If you don t follow the talk given by my Master tonight, just simply look at him, sweetly, attentively, nothing more. And then let me know what you find. She sat in on the talk, and after it I asked her, Well, how did you find my Master? Oh, she replied, he was very attractive, very beautiful. Standing with Kirpal Singh are Mme Schmidt and Bhai Bishan Das Puri at Beas Once, Dr. Julian Johnson and I were both sitting at the feet of Hazur. If we leave the Master to his own self, he reveals many things to us. Sometimes he will speak of his own self who he is, what he is, what he is here for. So, he mentioned that night, Well, we are sent by God for a certain mission, and when we come we bring our own working staff with us. When our work is over at one place, we are sent to another place. How beautifully he put his coming to the world, though in very sweet terms full of humility, giving an inkling that he came with authority from God. Dr. Julian Johnson, an American disciple, is seen sitting to Hazur s left wearing a turban. Dr. Johnson spent the later part of his life at Beas and wrote several books in English on Sant Mat, including The Path of the Masters.

31 -25- Once, Hazur visited our home town, Sayyad Kasran in Rawalpindi. He was usually accompanied by hundred of followers, and there was always a free kitchen arrangement for them. On this visit there was a large group of people camped nearby. There were some people who were against Baba Sawan Singh s teachings, so they planned to bring disgrace upon him by going to his free kitchen after the meal had finished and the kitchen had closed. Nearly three hundred of them sat down outside the kitchen door and demanded that food be served to them immediately. Someone told me what had happened and I hurried to the kitchen to find that there was just half a basket of bread. I called the cook and told him to light the fires and make more bread, but the three hundred people outside started shouting for food. Just then, Hazur entered the kitchen and said, Kirpal Singh, why are you not giving them food? I replied, Hazur, there is only half a basketful of bread how can I feed three hundred people with that? We have to make more. Baba Sawan Singh smiled and said, Fear not, but cover the basket with a cloth and go on serving the bread. I did as Hazur instructed, and the three hundred men ate and ate until they could eat no more, and when the meal was finished there was still the same amount of bread left as there had been at the start. Hazur Baba Sawan Singh serving chapattis (Indian flat bread) to disciples Once, Master asked me to initiate two hundred fifty people in the monthly satsang. Competition naturally arises. Those who were after the Mastership became worried, The Mastership has gone from our hands. The Master had ordered me to give initiation, and to also give talks at satsang places, attend the poor, the needy, the sick, everyone. Even when I left the office, I used to attend to the sick in hospitals and homes until eight, nine, ten o clock and sometimes even later than that. They would say, When he comes the pain is relieved and the trouble subsides. Even the highest fever, degrees, goes down to 100 degrees. I never applied anything, but automatically by radiation they were relieved. People complained to my Master, Look here, he is showing miracles he wants to vie with you. Master told them, No, no, he does not do that; it s his radiation that does it.

32 -26- Kirpal Singh, sitting on the dais with Hazur Baba Sawan Singh, is giving satsang There was a great conspiracy. Letters began pouring in, in different languages and from different towns, accusing me: He is such and such man; he is such and such man. Master knew all about the letters; there were heaps of them. At least he knew at heart of hearts what I was. But he sent me a message, Don t go to anybody s house, but on Sunday you may go to hold satsang at Ravi Road, Lahore. I said, All right, I will abide by whatever are his orders. I had more spare time because I only had to go on Sunday to the satsang place. It is something like a servant who normally cleans twenty rooms being told to clean only one and leave the rest. So during this time, under explicit directions from the Master, I wrote the book Gurmat Sidhant, which is in two volumes of over two thousand pages. It was written through my hands I would say, not by me, but by the Master within me. I used to begin writing at about eight or nine at night. One day a writer was there watching me. At about midnight he said, You are writing so fast, but you are not copying anything. How do you write? I said, Somebody is dictating to me; I cannot write as fast as it is dictated. If you become receptive to the Master, you will become what he is. Receptivity means that nothing remains between you and your Master, the God-in-him. So I curbed all visiting. In fact, a relative s son died and I did not visit them at their house, but went only to the cremation. There was another case of a satsangi who was dying. He sent a message for me to go to him, for the Guru s sake, before he died. I had a strong desire to go, and the pain of sympathy was so great that I cried, but I had to send the message that I sincerely wished that he have full protection, and all my good wishes were with him, but that I was helpless, for I could not disobey the Master s orders. That satsangi died. When Hazur came to Lahore the man s widow complained that her husband had died in torment because of his desire to see me, and told the Master of my refusal to visit him. Hazur turned to me and said, Kirpal Singh, in this type of condition, you should go. From then on, I would only attend when people who were dying summoned me to their sickbed. It became very difficult, but his orders were to go only whenever the person was dying.

33 -27- A handwritten letter, in Urdu, from Hazur Baba Sawan Singh to Kirpal Singh An English translation appears below. Once my Master wrote me a letter that has been my guiding principle all through life: Dear Kirpal Singh Ji, May the compassion of the Lord of thy soul be with thee, May the Lord of thy soul help thee ever and anon. Radhaswami. I have received your loving letter and am happy to read its contents. My dear, saints inherit discomfort in life. When the crown of love was placed on my head, Sighs were given as cash grant and desert as property. We are puppets in the Lord s hands, We are dragged by our destiny; We go wherever we are ordained to, Nanak, how true it is! We people have come [into the world] to serve the Lord. You keep yourself engaged in meditation and complete the course of spirituality. But the service of His creation is equally essential. Look at me. I remain engaged in the service of humanity from morn till night. Sometimes I do not get sufficient time to do meditation, but Hazur Maharaj [Baba Jaimal Singh Ji] used to say that service [to humanity] is no less important than meditation. And, if you feel that people do not pay as much attention to our love as they should, we do not expect any compensation for our services to the satsang. All sorts of people come to satsang. There are some whose hearts are overflowing with love and are ready to sacrifice their all body, mind and money. There are also some who indulge in tall talk and calumny; they are ever ready to slander. But our duty is to love all. If they do not give up their wicked ways, why should we leave our noble ways? My advice to you is that you should do satsang while fulfilling your official duties honestly and also complete your course of bhajan and simran. I am greatly pleased with you. You are serving the Lord with all your resources body, mind and money. Convey my Radhaswami to Bibi Krishna and love to children. Yours, 11 June 1939 Sawan Singh

34 -28- The Master enjoined that we should earn our livelihood by honest means and share with others. One of Kirpal Singh s ideals in life was to earn his livelihood by the sweat of the brow. He began his career in the Military Engineering Service. On his first day of work in that department a contractor approached him for acceleration of the payment of his bill, and offered him a bribe. Kirpal Singh said, You need not offer this bribe to me because it is my duty to help you, and I am paid for this work. So rest assured that you will get the payment against your bill shortly. The contractor, however, thought that perhaps the amount of the bribe was not enough, so he added more rupees, which at that time were silver. When, even on insistence, Kirpal Singh did not agree to accept them, the contractor put the money on the table and left. Kirpal Singh then picked up the entire amount and threw the money after him. When those rupees crashed to the ground they produced a great jingling sound and everybody jumped in their chairs. Then a complete silence fell over the office. The older government servants tried to explain to him that such payments were common practice and that he should not turn away the goddess of wealth. He, however, decided to resign from that job. Government identity card of Kirpal Singh issued in 1943 I worked as a government servant until 1947 when I retired. I was in charge of a Military Accounts and Pension section. Others were supervising different sections. My section was calm and quiet; the people worked with no worry and did double the work of the other sections. One day another superintendent came to me, How is it that in your section we find everything going on quite calmly, very sweetly with no quarrels? The men are always working. Even when newcomers were added there was no growling. I told him, Well, control yourself and concentrate on your work. I have self-discipline, you see. Once it so happened I was away on leave for a month or so. In my absence two or three clerks were recommended for dismissal and immediate action was taken. When I returned from leave those who were dismissed came to me. The officers who recommended them for dismissal said, They are no good; they have made mistakes. I asked, Who is there who does not make mistakes? Some make more, others less. I recommended that they should first be warned to be careful and then given some proper guidance. I recommended to the Comptroller that they be reconsidered. I told him, Dismissing a person means stabbing his

35 -29- family. What sins have they committed? If someone has made one mistake, two mistakes anybody is liable to make a mistake they should be guided properly, not dismissed. They were reinstated. A man can come around if you teach him like that. Kind words don t cost anything. When I was about to retire after thirty-six years of government service I was asked by my chief if I would like to have an extension but I politely declined the offer saying, I have served the world enough. Now I have decided to dedicate the rest of my life to the service of God and His creation. I will be able to arrange my affairs within the limited amount of my pension. When in office those under and those above me both loved me. I took them all as equal. When I retired, one Muslim peon who had only been working there for a day came to me crying like anything. I said, Why are you crying? Others may have seen something good in me, but you have hardly known me, what have you seen? He said, You consider me as a man not as a dog. Lahore, March 1947 The farewell party held on Kirpal Singh s retirement from government service When I used to go to my Master I would sit amongst hundreds and thousands. I always sat at the back and looked into the face of the Master continuously. His face was always changing in many ways. At every moment there was a new glory. One man who used to sit in front once came and sat by me. He said, Look at the Master. He looks very beautiful from here. Some people began to leave the front rows and sit in the back with me. In 1927 I had a vision, I saw the exact month and day Master would be leaving us twentyone years before he really left the physical body. Afterward, I never had a moment of complete joy in his lifetime because I always had that sting from the thorn of separation which was awaiting me. I was constantly dreading his leaving. So I always prayed, Master, let me go before you. He always said, No, it cannot be done. You are to continue. You have to work. I thought, Why, why, why do I have to? But orders cannot be questioned.

36 -30- Once I wrote about what happens to an initiate who is left behind after the Master has left the physical plane. It was a practical description. There was a Sufi Master, Nizamuddin Aulia, whose disciple, Amir Khusrau, was not present when he left the body for the final time. When Khusrau came, he lay down on his Master s tomb and recited this couplet: Since my Beloved has hidden her face, night has fallen. It is time to return to my Eternal Home. And he passed away. When I read out that part of Gurmat Sidhant on physical separation to him, Hazur said, That s all right, Kirpal Singh; read it again! I had just quoted two or three sentences. Then again I read it to him. He said, Will you read it once more? Again I read it. Perhaps he was telling me, You, poor fellow, will have the same fate awaiting you. One of the poems I had written transcended certain bounds, but I gave out the truth of what was to happen in the future. I was addressing Hazur, You have given me the promise that you will be with me forever. But I saw in 1927 how he would leave the body, how he would leave us behind. I saw that doom. In the poem I gave the exact time. When Hazur heard the poem he said, He has come to know this so early! To be with the physical Master is a great blessing; it is a special blessing. In the presence of the living Master, what you get is direct after that it becomes a little difficult. For those who develop receptivity, who go within, there is always the inner Master. But that enchanting, intoxicating physical presence is not there. From 1927 three years after my physical initiation I wrote so many poems, but not a single one was without pathos, without sadness. I was always seeing that moment when he would be leaving: I wish to become a sacrifice to your glimpses. Your eyes are full of intoxication yet they are full of simplicity. They have that heavenly Light in them. And your radiant face, your whole countenance, is so bewitching that it captivates the heart. Even though I stand at a distance, whenever I get the slightest gesture from you, the slightest sign, that gives solace to my heart. The only comfort offered to my aching heart is when it is soothed by your gesture. Otherwise I am in continuous anguish because of your physical illness. I am sitting at your threshold, and all I desire is that you grace me with the blessed glimpse of thy darshan. Your words were very sweet, sweeter than honey, yet the promise that you gave me, that you will be with me for all times, that promise will not come true, for I know there will be a physical separation. Give me the alms of thy sight, of thy darshan. I pray that the house, through the windows of which you give us your love glances, should remain intact for all time to come. A poet said, To live in paradise without the Master is a hell for me. And to live in hell with my Master is a paradise.

37 -31- During physical illness Hazur gave his darshan to the sangat through a window of his house at Dera Beas. Kirpal Singh would be standing in the crowd below, and Hazur would always give him a special gesture: a gesture with the hand, a gesture with the eyes, a gesture with the head to tell him that things were all right. Hazur Baba Sawan Singh laying the foundation stone of the Satsang Hall at Dera Baba Jaimal Singh

38 -32- Throughout his lifetime, Hazur spared no effort for reforming and improving the angle of vision of the masses. In spite of his attaining the age of ninety, he set aside all his bodily comforts and devoted eighteen out of twenty-four hours of the day in the service of humanity and thus afforded spiritual satisfaction to every aspirant, publicly and in seclusion. Physical structure composed of flesh, blood and bones, like machinery, can only work up to a limited extent. The result of this carelessness towards his bodily rest, and consistent hard labor, was that his physical framework could not endure the burden of weariness anymore, and on continued requests and entreaties from almost every individual, Hazur yielded to their prayers and was inclined to take rest and seek medical advice. Accordingly, in September 1947 he came to Amritsar for medical treatment. His health improved a little at Amritsar but it became worse on October 4. On October 5, Hazur sent for me from Beas. In a weeks time his condition was again better. On the morning of October 12 at seven o clock he called me. When I was in his august presence he said: Kirpal Singh! I have allotted all other work but have not entrusted my task of Naam-initiation and spiritual work to anyone. That I entrust to you today so that this holy and sacred science may flourish. My eyes were filled with tears, and afflicted as I was, I beseeched: Hazur! The peace and security that I have in sitting at your feet cannot be had in higher planes My heart was filled with anguish, I could not speak anymore and sat staring Hazur encouraging and caressing me all the time. After this, whenever I had the privilege to be in seclusion with Hazur, he talked about the interior affairs of Dera and instructed me how to act when he departed forever. During his illness, in the last days of February 1948, Hazur inquired, How many souls have been initiated by me? Registers were consulted and after counting was finished Hazur was informed, Up till now about one hundred fifty thousand souls have been awakened by Hazur. The same day Hazur said, Kirpal Singh! I have done half your work and have given Naam to over one and a half lakh persons and the rest you have to accomplish. I, with folded hands and faltering words, said, Hazur it will be as Hazur orders but I have a request I wish that the remaining half of the work may also be finished by Hazur We will dance as Hazur will make us dance I wish Hazur may remain with us and sit only watching, and all orders will be complied within Hazur s presence. Hazur lay silently gazing at me. One night Hazur, mentioning his inner esoteric experiences, remarked, The sun has risen high. Can the people of Jullundur also see this sun? The relatives and those sitting nearby were ignorant of this esoteric expression. The opinion of the doctor in charge was, like the others beside him, that Hazur s brain did not work properly on account of his illness. A little later at night when I went to him, Hazur repeated the same question, addressing me, Kirpal Singh! The sun has risen high. Can the people of Jullundur also see the sun? I replied, Yes, Hazur, the sun has risen high and not only the people of Jullundur but also those living in England or America who will traverse to inner planes can see this sun. Thereupon Hazur said, You have correctly answered my question.

39 -33- The subject of illness of saints is a perplexing one. The fact of it is that this illness of Hazur was the result of the weight of our karmic debts, of the deeply heaved sighs and tears of those afflicted amongst us. Saints voluntarily take upon themselves the burden of their own initiated souls without a murmur or a word of complaint, and this becomes their usual task. Kirpal Singh with Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Every day Hazur grew weaker and weaker in body. From the night of March 29, 1948, to the morning of April 1, unusual restlessness and visible fluttering was seen visiting his physical frame. This symptom was also created for putting to test those surrounding him. Throughout the period of his illness Hazur said many a time, If a person proficient in bhajan and simran sits by me, I feel comforted and relieved. Therefore those who come to me or sit near me should do simran. Accordingly, at the time of appearance of this symptom of fluttering of the body Hazur again spoke several times in these words, If the person who has to do the work of spirituality after I depart, comes and sits by me, my trouble will be gone. To comply with this evidently the last wish of the Master the near and dear relatives of Hazur came and sat in bhajan and simran one by one by the side of his bed, but there was no relief whatever in the fluttering symptoms of Hazur s body. On the morning of April 1, 1948, it was extremely benevolent of Hazur to afford a chance to this humble servant to be by the side of Master, in seclusion, for about ten or fifteen minutes. At that time with a heavy heart I sat neat his bed and prayed to Hazur, Master! You are above body and bodily influences, unconcerned to comforts and discomforts, but we humble and helpless beings are afflicted hard and cannot endure the sight of your suffering bodily. You have all powers. We would be extremely grateful if you very graciously remove these signs of disease from your body. It is true that prayer succeeds where all other human efforts fail. Hazur, with his utmost benevolence, accepted this prayer.

40 -34- When I opened my eyes, Hazur body was in a state of perfect repose. Hazur s forehead was shining resplendently. He opened his mercy-showering lovely eyes intoxicated by God s divine love and cast a glance at my humble self both eyes gleaming with a radiance like a lion s eyes. I bowed my head in solemn and silent adoration and said, It is all Hazur s own benignity. Hazur steadily kept gazing for three or four minutes into my eyes, and I, in silent wonderment, experienced an indescribable delight which infused a beverage-like intoxication down to the remotest corners of my entire body such as was never before experienced in my whole life. Then those mercy-showering eyes closed not to open again. In his last moments Hazur was all peace. When he breathed his last, I put my hand upon his feet and said, The sun of divinity which had risen has set, and I have no words to express my grief. Thus in his ninetieth year, on the morning of April 2, 1948, at 8:30 this brilliant sun of spirituality, after diffusing his light in the hearts of millions, disappeared to rest below the horizon at Dera Baba Jaimal Singh. To live without the Master is very difficult, unbearable. We know when the Master leaves he is never away from the initiate, but the initiate as a son of man has great suffering. Even now when I remember my Master I shed tears. But he left his orders for me. Why? There can be no question why. My life without You has now become a heavy burden. My life and soul have lost their very purpose without You. The moment You turned Your eyes from me, the entire creation turned against me. Even those who were kind and compassionate have become callous and cruel. I beseech You, O my Beloved, not to leave me alone at this juncture. For without You my whole life would be a wasteland. The orchard of my heart is desolate and bereft of any charm. In Your absence, where is the once blooming and ecstatic state of my heart? I m afraid lest the secret of our love may be disclosed now. Otherwise, who knew this hidden tale besides You. Translation of a poem by Kirpal Singh on the loss of his Beloved Master, Hazur Baba Sawan Singh

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