Spiritual Awakening Radio

"Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth." (says Rumi) "You have ignored the Living One who is in your presence and you have spoken only of the dead." "Look to the Living One while you are alive, otherwise, you might die and seek to see him and will be unable to find him." "Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me. I myself shall become that person, and the Hidden Things will be revealed to that one." "I will give to you what eye has not seen, what ear has not heard, what hand has not touched, and what has not occurred to the mind of man." (selections from the Gospel of Thomas) "It is the mercy of my Satguru that has made me to know the Unknown. I have learned from Him how to walk without feet, to see without eyes, to hear without ears, to drink without mouth, to fly without wings." (Kabir)

Today I begin with some key verses from the Gospel of Thomas (making use of both Greek and Coptic translations) on the Need for a Living Master (a Living One), and not just solely relying upon old writings from the past focused on those who are no longer with us. With old writings of saints, mystics and scriptures, as wonderful as they might be, the danger and likelihood is we remain stuck, trapped in our cultural bias, blind spots and filters never seeing beyond the horizons of our limited understanding tethered to past learning only. If we have contact with a living teacher (a Living One) and spiritual community, we can have our beliefs challenged, our horizons expanded, spiritual breakthroughs, find out the vitally important things we've been missing out on as we interface with an ancient wisdom tradition communicating to us an Initiation into the Mysteries of the Kingdom of the Heavens, introducing to us the complete methods of spiritual practice we need to travel upon this Path of the Masters. We can experience for ourselves our own Living Gnosis Now, a 21st Century version of the spiritual path described in the Gospel of Thomas, Nag Hammadi Library, Adi Granth and countless other sacred texts of the ages. "Masters come here to give Their Satsang and awaken the soul and then They initiate the soul and help the soul go back to God Almighty. So, that is how They work towards the salvation of the soul. All other worldly people do things to tie themselves and entangle themselves into this world again. Therefore, we should have love and affection for the Master and we should follow His Teachings of doing our meditations on a daily basis. We should have compassion on ourselves and this is work that is given to us to do. It is not going to be done by anybody else." (Baba Ram Singh, from a recent spiritual discourse)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

Spiritual Awakening Radio Website:

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Sant Kirpal Singh: "There lived in India Swami Shiv Brat Lal, a disciple of Rai Saligram [successor of Swami Ji Maharaj], who was advanced in spirituality but he gave out all these things about which I am now referring, in story form. He would bring out these very teachings of the Master in some novel like form in the Urdu language, of course, not in English. He did a splendid work, having brought out two, three thousand books, I think. Somewhere he takes the soul as a prince so that he may bring out a story with all these teachings given here. He did a very wonderful work. He has now passed away. He loved me much. I loved him too. He loved Master too [Hazur Baba Sawan Singh]. In all love, you see, he wrote many stories like that. Novels -- very interesting -- in which all these teachings of the Saints were included -- given out. That will draw many people to the Truth." (The Light of Kirpal, Sant Bani Books)

Today, a Sant Mat Satsang Podcast featuring readings from a rare Radhasoami (Radhaswami) spiritual classic, Light on Ananda Yoga - The Yoga of Happiness, by Baba Faqir Chand's spiritual master Shiv Brat Lal (also known as Sant Daata Dayal Ji). Light On Ananda Yoga, was published in English in 1982 by Sant Bani Ashram with some editing guidance from my good friend Steve Morrow. "Ananda" means bliss and happiness and is Shiv Bral Lal's description of Surat Shabd Yoga: the bhakti (love) of inner Light and Sound Meditation, the spiritual practice (sadhana) of Sant Mat (also known as the Radhaswami Faith.)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

Spiritual Awakening Radio Website:

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

"Life is a progression. We progress from childhood to adulthood, from simplicity to complexity, from ignorance to knowledge, from innocence to wisdom and from birth to death. It is the law of life. But there is also a progression from the external life to the internal, from the hustle and bustle of material life to the serenity and silence of internal life. It is in the latter that we experience the beauty of the Self and its connection with Divinity." (Dr. Jagessar Das, Doctor by Chance - Mystic by Choice, also translator of, The Complete Bijak of Guru Kabir, and other translations of Kabir)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

Spiritual Awakening Radio Website:

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Kabir, the "Rumi" of India, one of the greatest Saints, Poets, and Spiritual Masters in the history of the world! Selections: Says Kabir: "Kal (time, ego, limited mental perception) has entangled people in illusions to such an extent that they have totally forgotten their Real Home." "Meditation will remove all your burdens; meditation upon Ram's [God's] name will become your support." "One after another, many births I took; many paths I followed to escape this relentless cycle. Only when I made my mind still did I obtain the state of lasting repose." "Just as the lotus blooms after getting the light of the sun, in the same way the sufferings of the souls from ages and ages are finished after having darshan [vision] of Sat Purush [True Eternal Being, God]." The Bijak is a key scripture of the Kabir tradition: "Just as a coded document shows the way to a Hidden Treasure, just so this bijak shows the way to realize the soul; it teaches such words to the soul but there is seldom anyone to understand them." "Death enshrouds the whole world, including all the superstitious wise-men. Only those will be freed who find the Path of Love." (Satguru Kabir)

References, Subjects, and Sources Today Include: Songs of Kabir culled by Rabindranath Tagore; Sakhis of Kabir (1008 Kabir Vani); The Bijak; Kabir in the Adi Granth; Kabir Parachai; The Story of Ants in a Burning Log -- The mysterious figure of Kabir made his entry into the life of Dharam Das; The Ethical Foundation of Sant Mat -- Ahimsa Values -- The Five Precepts -- Moral Requirements to Qualify For Initiation; Seven Key Practices of Sant Mat Mysticism; Selections from the mystic poetry of Kabir from several sources; Readings from the Anurag Sagar and Baba Kehar Singh's commentary on the Anurag Sagar (Ocean of Love), a spiritual classic of the Sant tradition of India: God is Just Behind Our Eyes at the Third Eye Center; Initiation Into Inner Light and Sound Meditation (Surat Shabd Yoga) and Protection from Above Following the Path of Sants; A Book of Sant Mat Ethics: "1008 Kabir Vani" -- One of the Most Important Books of Kabir, a review of the book followed by selections: the Guru Verification Process; the Kal Niranjan (Negative Power): "This mind is like an intoxicated elephant;" The Repetition of God's Name; Meditation, Prayers of Guru Kabir; and, closing thoughts. (Kabir's name in Arabic means "Great", "Powerful, "Magnificent".)  

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

Spiritual Awakening Radio Website:

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

On the web you'll find a lot of talk about spirituality, yet so few rise above body-consciousness and get to experience that Sacred Inner Space for themselves. Reliable information is quite rare. There's so much discussion about "gnostics", "mystics", "sages of philosophy", "masters of the east", or "ancient scriptures" but almost nothing is ever said about the spiritual practices of these gnostics and mystics of the ages. Only with a Living Mystic Path, a Living School of Spirituality is one close to the Inner Circle of Masters and Students where this sort of Divine Path can be made knowable to the genuine spiritual seeker by way of Initiation into the Mysteries. Today, an introduction to meditation for beginners that also provides a glimpse into the world of advanced practice, inner Light and Sound, the path of the masters, East and West, in the various schools of spirituality. "Darkness is no longer dark to me." "There is a Sound emanating from beyond the silence." (Spiritual masters allude to transcendental heavenly senses, eyes and ears of the soul able to see and hear spiritually.)

"Light is always within us. When the mind is settled, we see that Light." (Sant Kirpal Singh, unpublished book on Sant Mat meditation)

“It is impossible to confine love to the temporal and transient levels of life, and it is impossible to confine the grandeur and majesty of God to the dimensions of the mind... I had no fixed starting place in time and space, for I dwelt in a multi-verse that was co-extensive with all the ages. But my inner world was still limited by the boundaries of creation; I needed the guidance of a spiritual adept, within the physical world itself, to give me new birth into the freedom of eternity.” (George Arnsby Jones, disciple of Master Kirpal, author of, An Odyssey of Inner Space)

References, Subjects, and Sources Include: passages about solitude, silence, and meditation from: 1) Thomas Merton, 2) Caroline Stephen, The Lord of Silence (a Quaker publication), 3) Thomas Kelly; 4) Saint Thomas - the Apostle to India; 5) The Gnostic Nag Hammadi Library: Apocryphon of John, Book of Allogenes,  Trimorphic Protennoia, and Thunder: Perfect Mind; 6) The Book of Enoch, 7) Hebrew Bible: Psalm 46: 10 ("Be still and know that I Am God."); 8) The Acts of Peter; 9) The Jesus Sutras of China; 10) The Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu; 11) Swamiji Maharaj from the Sar Bachan Radhasoami Poetry - also shared here: "Meditate: Sit still and you will reach your destination. Walk fast and you will go nowhere." 12) Introductory Meditation Instructions, a Convenient Method from Huzur Baba Sawan Singh; 13) Introductory Meditation Instructions from Sant Kirpal Singh (finding Jyoti or Inner Light at the Third Eye); 14) Guidance about Meditation Practice from: A Spiritual Seekers Guide (on how Love/Bhakti is the Key); 15) Maharshi Mehi Paramhans and Shri Bhagirath Baba (Seven Stages of Meditation described in, The Philosophy of Liberation, on correct posture, Brahma-Muhurta/The Hour of Elixir, Thrice-Daily Meditation, Meditation and the Dreamstate); 16) Couplets of Swami Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj; 17) Swami Achyutanand Baba (Yoga of Inner Light & Sound); and, 18) Huzur Maharaj Rai Saligram: The Gospel of Sant Mat in a Nutshell: The River of Sound That Connects Souls to the Ocean of Love (God). (Prem Patra Radhaswami)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

Spiritual Awakening Radio Website:

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

In Sant Mat spirituality meditation is successfully practiced when we keep the proper meditation posture, leave behind all our burdens, thoughts, worries, and worldly distractions behind, and focus all of our undivided attention on going within by way of the third eye center so that we may reach that Sacred Secret Place of the Most High where Divine Grace is flowing. Rising to THE PLACE WHERE GRACE IS FLOWING is a great way of describing the benefit of Surat Shabd Yoga - Inner Light and Sound Meditation - as being a kind of inner baptism or letting the waters of Divine Grace flow over the soul. (There is Light and Sound Within You)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

Spiritual Awakening Radio Website:

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

The focus of the Sant Satgurus, the Saints of India (Santmat, RadhaSoami, The Path of the Masters) is not upon constructing earthly temples, building organizational structures, or temples of the mind. Rather, they guide their students into entering the Temple of the Spirit. The Portal or Doorway to this Temple is within, at the Third Eye Center. Masters say: "An intense longing to meet the Supreme Lord during one's lifetime is the first and foremost qualification for Initiation. 'Seek, and ye shall find', is the principle'" (Kirpal Singh). Being properly initiated into the secrets of meditation -- the Mysteries of the Kingdom of the Heavens (diksha/deeksha) -- by a living Master is the beginning of the Inward Journey. Then, go and do the meditation. (Radhaswami) 

"The tenth gate is the gathering point of consciousness. Therein lies the path for our return. The tenth gate is also known as the sixth chakra, the third eye, Bindu, the center located between the two eyebrows. This is the gateway through which we leave the sense organs' gates, enter the divine realms, and finally become established in the soul. We travel back from the Realm of Darkness to the Realm of Light, the Light to the Divine Sound, and the Realm of Sound to the Soundless State. This is called turning back to the Source." (Swami Santsevi Ji Maharaj)

"From time to time, great Saints come with the Grace of the Almighty, and They direct the lost souls and get them connected with the Almighty through the Sound, Surat Shabd, and guide them on the Path back. In India, there are several ways of worship. But the Saints have only three practices for getting back to the Almighty. They are Satsang *, Seva **, and Bhajan Simran ***." (Baba Ram Singh)

Notes:  Satsang: Association With Truth;  Seva: Selfless Service; Bhajan Simran: The Meditation Practices of Sant Mat

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

Spiritual Awakening Radio Website:

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

"Simran helps  in the withdrawal of spirit-currents from the body. In Simran lies the seed that helps in the development of the soul." "Simran is  a weapon against all dangers. It acts as a  password to all  spiritual planes. It gives strength and sustenance to the body and mind during trouble and affliction, and brings the soul near the  Master." "The five holy Words are to be repeated mentally during  meditation." (Sant Kirpal Singh)

"I give you this advice only because if you will do Simran while you are doing any other work, when you sit for meditation you won’t have to sit for a long time repeating the Names to bring your attention to the seat of the soul. As soon as you sit for meditation, within a few minutes you will go up." (Santji - Ajaib Singh Ji)

In Sant Mat, the Path of the Masters, simran is the art of repeating a name or names of God in one's mind (manas jap) for the purpose of Remembering the Divine -- Practicing the Presence of God. It is a way to remain spiritually awake in a world of slumber, a way to remain centered and focused instead of being thrown off-center by the influences of maya (illusion). In this Path of the Saints and Mystics this spiritual exercise of repeating or chanting spiritually charged Names of God is done not only in meditation practice, but as often as possible throughout the day as a way to spiritualize all aspects of life, inner and outer. In Sant Mat, the simran (remembrance) of worldly thoughts is controlled through the Simran (remembrance) of the Charged Names, repeated by a satsangi throughout the day and when sitting for meditation as a means of collecting the thought currents at the Third Eye Center; also used as a password to higher planes and protection from Negative Power influences. (Remembrance, Awakening to the Positive Power) 

References, Subjects, and Sources Include: Swami Santsevi Ji Maharaj, Baba Ram Singh Ji, Santji, Sant Kirpal Singh, The Sants of India, Mystics of the East, Path of the Masters, Radhasoami, satsang, Sant Namdev, Zikar in Sufism, Krishna, Bhagavad Gita, bhakti, Prayer of the Name, Jesus Prayer, Hesychasm, Mount Athos, Eastern Orthodoxy, Cloud of Unknowing, Tukaram, Tulsi Das, Dadu Dayal, Kabir (Guru Kabir), the Five Names (Panch Naam), Surat Shabd Yoga (Inner Light and Sound Meditation), third eye (seat of the soul), union with God, Lord of the Soul, Lord of Love, the Ocean of Love

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

Spiritual Awakening Radio Website:

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Today I explore some key Sufi teachings compatible with the contemporary mystic or gnostic path called Sant Mat. The Sants and Radhaswamis of the living present highly value the mystic poetry and wisdom of Rumi, Hafiz, Rabia, Sarmad, Hazrat Sultan BaHU, Sanai, Baba Farid and so many other Sufi Faqir lovers of the Beloved, viewing them as being Saints of the highest order. Hear verses of Hakim Sanai on meditating the Mysteries of Creation, connecting with the Subtle Realms of dimensions beyond in what can be called Inner Space, the Kingdom of God within. I focus upon the Inner Sound Mysticism of some of the great Sufi Saints of the ages: Rumi, Fakhruddin ‘Iraqi, Shah Niaz, Hazrat Sultan BaHU, Hazrat Inayat Khan, and Dara Shikoh. An exploration of the vegan verses of Rumi is presented. There is an essay on how mystical schools of spirituality are very fragile and short-lived in this world of illusion, this realm of Samsara, the World of Changes, how usually there are typically only a few generations of living masters and then, after the passing of the last master, a mystic path or branch of a school of spirituality fades from the scene, unless of course it gets hijacked and repurposed, turned into another world religion with a very different focus (zombification). When the latter happens, often the earlier teachings and sacred texts undergo serious edits. What had been a shared knowledge about Inner Sound and Light meditation practices, vegetarian ethics and other key principles might even be reclassified as "apocryphal" or "extra canonical". Although there is an oppressive history of lost teachings of the Sound Current (The Lost Chord), that there are no permanent universities of mysticism on planet Earth, no surviving Pythagorean, or Valentinian gnostic schools of wisdom still with us with roots in antiquity, or a church of the Ebionites with copies of Sayings Gospel Q or the Gospel of the Hebrews, a hopeful message is presented that Life Always Begets New Life. As old mystic paths and sangats fade into the oblivion of time (Kal) they are replaced with new living schools of spirituality -- that it's always been this way. Seneca the Stoic: "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." There are also readings from Dr. Jagessar Das,  the Sar Bachan Radhaswami Prose Book One (Huzur Maharaj Rai Saligram), Sar Bachan Radhaswami Poetry Volume One (Swami Ji Maharaj), Prem Bani Radhasoami Volume One (Hazur Maharaj Rai Saligram), Tukarama, Russell Perkins (The Stranger of Galilee), and Baba Ram Singh. We conclude with the mystic poetry of Baba Farid the Sufi. Many of his mystic poetry verses are to be found in the Sikh Scriptures, also known as the Adi Granth. (Gurbani) 

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

Spiritual Awakening Radio Website:

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

"Truth and Love are wings that cannot be separated, for Truth cannot fly without Love, nor can Love soar aloft without Truth." (Saint Ephrem the Syrian)

"Look at God within yourself, how 'God is Light.' For his Nature is a glorious, many-splendored Light. He manifests the Light of his Nature to those who love Him in all the worlds…" (John of Dalyatha, Syriac Mystic)

"To be glorified art Thou, the Father Supreme, born of Thy First-born in the silence and tranquility of meditation." (Syriac Acts of Saint Thomas in India)

"There is a silence of the tongue. There is a silence of the whole body. There is a silence of the soul. There is a silence of the mind, and there is a silence of the spirit." (Abraham of Nathpar)

"Open your ears, and I shall speak to you. Give Me yourself, so that I may also give you Myself." (Odes, 9: 1-2)

"What wonders has your love effected!

When someone is still alive

he has left this world:

though his bodily condition remains

with the world's bodily condition,

yet his spirit has been raised up towards You,

so that for a period of time

he is where he knows not,

being totally raptured and drawn towards You." (John of Apamea)

Several scholars have made a convincing case that the Syriac mystics were a major influence upon early Sufism. And Sufism, as many know, has been an influence on the Sants of India. There is a demonstrable connection between East & West via several sources (Syriac mystics of the Church of the East in the Saint Thomas tradition, Mazdakism, Manichaeism and other schools of Gnosticism) and the Sant tradition of India.

Sebastian Brock, Scholar of Eastern Christianity and Aramaic-Syriac Saints, has translated many wonderful texts of Eastern Saints such as Isaac of Nineveh, Abdusho (Joseph the Visionary), John of Dalyatha, Abraham of Nathpar, Martyrius, Babai, Philoxenus of Mabbug, Aphrahat, Ephrem, John of Apamea, Jacob of Sarug, and others, in great books such as, The Syriac Fathers on Prayer and the Spiritual Life, The Wisdom of St. Isaac of Nineveh, A Garland of Hymns from the Early Church (including Odes of Solomon), The Luminous Eye, and several others. "The text-book and pulpit notion that all Christendom is divided between Greek East and Latin West overlooks an ancient and still continuing third stream of tradition: Syriac Christianity. "Cut off from the rest of the Christian world by theological controversy in the fifth century, Arab conquest in the seventh and Mongol invasions in the thirteenth, Syrian Christians continues to celebrate the Christian mysteries, to meditate on Scripture and to apply its teachings to their lives. "Some of them, attempting to realise here on earth their baptismal potential to re-enter paradise, chose a life of asceticism and single-minded devotion to Christ. Their reflections created across the centuries a rich literature. Some passed into the byzantine tradition; some remained unknown to other Christians and have never until now been translated into a modern language. "These Syriac fathers offer the modern heirs of both Latin and Greek Christendom new, yet ancient and enduring insights on prayer and the spiritual life." (The Syriac Fathers on Prayer and the Spiritual Life, by Professor Sebastian Brock of Oxford University)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

Spiritual Awakening Radio Website:

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Experiencing union with God, the Ocean of Love, via Inner Light and Sound Meditation (Surat Shabd Yoga) is the goal of the Path of the Masters, also known as Sant Mat or Radhasoami. Today, spiritual satsang discourses by Huzur Baba Sawan Singh, Baba Somanath, Sant Kirpal Singh, and Baba Ram Singh Ji, also passages from Christian or Gnostic sources and other mystics of the East. Inner Light and Sound Meditation practice makes it possible to transcend the realm of the five senses and begin to explore the heavenly realms beyond, coming to know our self as a spark of the Divine. (Consciousness)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

Spiritual Awakening Radio Website:

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

"Listen, open a window to God and begin to delight yourself by gazing upon Him through the opening." (Rumi)

Teachings of Hazur Baba Sawan Singh, Sant Kirpal Singh, Baba Somanath, Baba Ram Singh, and Santji: The Third Eye is the Portal to the Heavens and Simran is the Key

"Recognize the Path to your Beloved, O travelers and take the route of the anguished lover in separation. Keep the Master’s grace in your thoughts, and reflect upon his pure teachings. Develop love and devotion with endearment, and keep the thought of the Creator always before you. Try to merge yourself into God like water and water. Fix your mind within by following the Path of the Sound Current. A yearning will arise; make then an intense and anguished call. Repeat the Name of your Beloved, day and night, again and again and again. With care in thought, word and deed, you will cross to the other shore." (Dadu Dayal, the Compassionate Mystic)

References, Subjects, and Sources Include: Philosophy of the Masters, Spirituality, God, Surat Shabd Yoga, Inner Light and Sound Meditation, Meditation, Soul Travel, Dhyan, Bhajan, Simran, Manas Jap, Zikhr, Prayer of the Name, Third Eye, Gnostic, Gnosticism, Mysticism, Mystics, Consciousness, Near Death Experiences, Out of Body Experiences, Inner Space, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of the Heavens, Religion, Spiritual Podcasts, Satsang, Jesus, Christ, Yeshua, Single Eye, Bread of Heaven, Living Waters, Food For the Soul, Surat, Attention, Seat of the Soul, Sound Current, Audible Life Stream, Shabd, Shabda, Path of the Masters, Sants of India, Way of the Saints, Practicing the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence, Interior Prayer, Mental Prayer, Prayer of the Name, Sacred Name, Sacred Names of God, Lord of Love, Theosis, Divinization, Hazur Baba Sawan Singh, Sant Kirpal Singh, Santji, Ajaib Singh, Baba Somanath, Sant Ram Singh, Sant Bani Ashram, Kabir, Naam, Nam, Bhakti, Love and Devotion, Initiation, Going Within, Contemplative, Union With God

Spiritual Awakening Radio (and Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts) with James Bean, heard on various community, public radio stations and the web, explores the world of spirituality, comparative religion, world scriptures and other books, East and West, God, meditation, out of body or near death experiences (inner space), the vegan diet and other ahimsa ethics. (Education For a More Peaceful Planet)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

Spiritual Awakening Radio Website:

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

In many branches of Sant Mat we have a five-name (panch naam) mantra (five simran words). These are sacred names of God associated with the first five planes, heavenly realms of creation. From the glossary of Sant Mat we read: "Simran means Remembrance: repetition of names or thoughts; in Sant Mat, the simran of worldly thoughts is controlled through the Simran of the Five Charged Names, repeated by an initiate throughout the day, and when sitting for meditation, as a means of collecting the thought-currents at the Third Eye Center. These Divine names are also used as passwords of sorts to higher planes, and provide protection from Negative Power influences." (Repeat the Name)

Today: all about the Five Names of Sant Mat, their proper use as an essential technique to concentrate at the Third Eye Center and go within according to Hazur Baba Sawan Singh, Sant Garib Das, from the Satsang Discourses of Sant Ram Singh, as well as there is discussion about the origins and history of the Five Names dating back to the Kabir-Sant Dharam Das line of Masters. Also explored: the Five Sufi Names, and about the importance of the Most High name Radhasoami used by Sant Garib Das (Anmol Vachan) and Swami Ji Maharaj (Sar Bachan Radhaswami Poetry). In Sant Mat mysticism there are not five or seven deities but one God, the one Lord of the Soul  manifesting at the various levels of creation. As Guru Nanak has said in his Morning Prayer (Jap Ji): "There is One God, Truth is His Name." (One Love)

Simran is described as a Bhakti practice to be done in a spirit of love and devotion, with passages on this from Sant Tulsi Sahib and Kabir. (God is Love)

Mention is made of a mystical Jewish Gnostic sect of antiquity referred to by scholars as the Sethians who also had a five-name mantra approach, only using five Hebrew names, which are to be found embedded in certain Nag Hammadi and other texts. Recommended are two books that compare contemporary Sant Mat with mystical Judaism including Kabbalah. The program concludes with selections from the mystical poetry of a mysterious figure called "the Master" and "the Teacher of Righteousness", mystic verses found in the Psalm Scroll of the Dead Sea Scrolls mainly about the experience of Divine Light, but one might also notice references to reincarnation, the liberation of the soul, the Third Eye, and spiritually hearing the Divine Word or Spiritual Sound. Note: practices associated with contemporary Sant Mat were also known in earlier times by followers of various cousin mystical movements and schools of spirituality that have existed over the centuries. Even ideas that became associated Christianity and Gnostic movements such as seeking out living masters or living ones (Odes of Solomon, Gospel of Thomas), vegetarian ethics, humane treatment of animals (scriptures attributed to Enoch and Isaiah), initiations, baptism in rivers of living water, a new covenant (Dead Sea Scroll texts), genesis interpretations that include a lesser demiurge figure and a sophia wisdom figure (Septuagint, Apocryphon of John), the view that the soul needs to ascend through a series of heavenly regions (Book of First Enoch, Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, Ascension of Isaiah, Ginza Rabba) are ideas developed during the Second Temple period of Judaism. Continuations and interpretations of Judaic ideas were adopted by many sects and spiritual movements during the first and later centuries AD. (Education For a More Peaceful Planet!)

At the Feet of the Masters,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

It's as-if those who composed the Gospel of John decided to create a hymnbook. This is about the little-known discovery of a collection of early Christian psalms called, The Book of the Odes, written in Syriac-Aramaic, described by scholars as "some of the most beautiful songs of peace and joy that the world possesses." The Odes got mislabeled, misfiled, misunderstood, misplaced somewhere along the way becoming one of those Lost Books of the Bible. Time to explore this would-be book of New Testament psalms and that is finally gaining long overdue recognition and popularity in the 21st Century. This is one of two podcasts I've devoted to this inspiring collection of mystic-poems  and music -- The Odes of Solomon -- once viewed as a sacred text by Jewish Christians, Syriac Eastern Christianity, various Gnostic movements -- it's quoted in Pistis Sophia -- and other early Christian writings.  (Lost Books of the Bible)

References, Subjects, and Sources Include 

Hymns, Psalms, Odes of Solomon, New Testament, Book of the Odes, New Testament Psalms, A New New Testament, Extra Canonical, Scriptures, Lost Books of the Bible, Bible, Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Gnostic Scriptures, Early Christianity, Jesus Movement, Early Church, Christianity, Restoration, Gospel of John, Logos, The Word, Syriac, Aramaic, Greek, Coptic, Antioch, Syria, John Community, Johannite, Lectio Divina, Contemplation, Meditation, Sant Mat Radhasoami, Santmat, Sant Mat, Radhasoami, Radhaswami, Satsang,  Essenes, Ebionites, Gnosticism, Mystics, Religion, Mystic Poetry, Spirituality, Spiritual Podcasts, Spiritual Radio, Spiritual Seekers, Search For God, Cloud of Unknowing, Metaphysical Meditations, Paramahansa Yogananda, Confessions of Jacob Boehme, Saint John of the Cross, Nag Hammadi Library, Pistis Sophia, Egypt;

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

Spiritual Awakening Radio Website:

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Today during this Sant Mat Satsang Podcast readings from Sant Kirpal Singh's, Spiritual Elixir, Baba Garib Das (Anmol Vachan), Swami Sant Sevi Ji, Don Howard, Jesus (Yeshua, Gospel of Thomas), Baba Ram Singh, and Mystic Poetry of Kabir. "Today's karmas become the fate of tomorrow. According to our last life actions, our mental tendencies are formed in this life. Because of our pure actions we will have the desire to seek the association of Sants (Living Masters) and to meditate." (Swami Vyasnanand, The Inward Journey of the Soul)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

Spiritual Awakening Radio Website:

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Today begins with a brief exploration of the history, providing background on a key book of the Sant Mat tradition of India: The Anurag Sagar (Kabir's Ocean of Love). Then there are spiritual satsang discourses based upon this book and related texts on the journey of the soul through the heavens back to God and the meditation practice of the Masters (Surat Shabd Yoga: Bhakti of the Inner Light and Sound). Find out, as best as we can research this rare history, who wrote the Anurag Sagar; what group originally published and circulated it for many generations; how it was also inherited, preserved, and valued as an essential scripture by Sat Saheb, Sant Dariya Sahib of Bihar, Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras, then more recently in Radhasoami: Swami Ji Maharaj of Agra, Baba Jaimal Singh, Hazur Baba Sawan Singh, and then spiritual Masters up to the living present. (Namaste'!)

As you listen to today's Sant Mat Satsang Podcast, take a look at these Sant Mat Guru Lineage Charts, the Family Tree of the People of the Anurag Sagar, providing at a simple glance some of the names of Masters I refer to during today's program: 

https://santmat.medium.com/guru-lineage-charts-the-family-tree-of-sant-mat-spiritual-masters-by-james-bean-a4d4841070db

Recommended Reading. There are free PDF file editions of the Anurag Sagar available for download online at the Sant Bani Ashram website, also via the Anurag Sagar tab of my Spiritual Awakening Radio website (see link below), as well as at the Internet Archive. (Enjoy!)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

Spiritual Awakening Radio Website: 

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

One of the great prolific writers and spiritual architects of Sant Mat, the Path of the Masters, also known as the Radhasoami tradition, is Huzur Maharaj Rai Saligram of Agra. Such was his stature that his initiating guru Swami Ji Maharaj (Seth Shiv Dayal Singh) of Agra once said, "I do not know whether I am Rai Salig Ram's guru or he is mine." Today's satsang is based on the writings of Huzur Maharaj including: Prem Patra (Love Discourses, volumes one and two) as well as, Radhasoami Mat Prakash (Light on the Teachings of the Lord of the Soul). Radhaswami Mat Prakash is a spiritual classic written in English by Huzur himself. Being the first Sant Mat book to be published in English it was read by many early spiritual seekers in the US and Canada interested in Sant Mat near the beginning of the Twentieth Century. An emissary and spiritual successor of Huzur by the name of Shiv Brat Lal once went on a long journey giving spiritual talks introducing many to the teachings of the Radhasoami Faith, visiting Lahore, Calcutta, Rangoon, traveling to Hong Kong, Singapore, Java, Japan and even San Francisco in the US, where he gave lectures at two locations in 1911!

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

The Nag Hammadi Library represents the prose of the Gnostics, but it is the Mandaean scriptures that give us their poetry! Today, meet the Mandaeans. The story of the Mandaeans somewhat resembles the experience of Native American tribes; may they survive; may their ancient wisdom be shared with humanity. John the Baptist is one of the greatest prophets of Mandaean Gnosticism. According to scholars of Mandaean studies like Werner Foerster, indeed the origins of the Mandaeans do go back to the Jewish tradition of the first century AD, the Nasoraean movement, and the region of the Jordan River. The term "Mandaeans" literally means, "possessors of secret spiritual Knowledge or Gnosis." (excerpted from one of my published articles on the Mandaeans)

The role of the Heavenly Messenger is to communicate the mystic experience of Light to souls and eventually guide them back up to the Place of Light, the Mandaean term for the highest heaven where the Great Life (God) resides: 

"From the Place of Light I came forth,

from you, Bright Habitation.

I come to touch hearts,

to measure and try all minds,

to see in whose heart I dwell.

Whoever thinks of me, of him I think;

whoever calls my Name, his name I will call.

Whosoever prays my prayer from the earth,

his prayer I will offer from the Place of Light."

(Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

"Although awake from without, you are asleep within, and by greedily envying the goods of others, your Inner Eye has gone deeper and deeper into this slumber... Every human being has a Secret Chamber within himself which is called the 'closet of the body.' [Within the human body is the True Temple of the Spirit.] That is higher than the mind and heart both, and provides mind with understanding to a certain extent, and the heart with feelings of love. This Chamber is the Kingdom of God Within Us. This is the Crest Jewel, The Pearl of Great Price. The Saints, when we come in contact with them, open this Chamber by withdrawing all our attention from outside. The test of a true Master is the fact that in his company, the smallest realm opens up within us, and the Light, Divine Light, the expression of the God-into-Expression Power, is seen... So the God-into-Expression Power is called Word, Naam, Kalma; He is the Creator of all, and has two aspects: Light and Sound. And when Masters come, they contact us with that Power within us, you see? They open our Inner Eye by raising us to some extent above the physical body and outgoing faculties; we begin to see... Guru Amar Das says, 'Everyone does worship but on the sensual plane only; so they get no results which end in salvation. But absorption in the Naam purifies the mind and bears fruit in abundance.' You follow? Words are words; but what those words denote is a different thing; that is the Controlling Power of all creation, permeating all creation, and controlling us in the body too. So, the body is the True Temple of God, in which we dwell, and also that Power which keeps us in the body... You see, unless a man rises above the life of senses, the Inner Way is not open. It is you who have to see. That is why it is said, 'Know Thyself O Man, Know Thyself -- Who You Are, What You Are'... The Master's message is for embodied souls caught in the web of mind and senses, unable to release themselves. Masters make no distinction between religions and sects. Their message is for the whole human race." (Sant Kirpal Singh, excerpted from, The Coming Spiritual Revolution, Sant Bani Books)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

At the beginning of today's satsang podcast, some reflections on how we can be spiritually transformed by associating with the eternal truths and realities, focusing our undivided attention upon these teachings. This association and merger with Truth is called "satsang" by the masters. Different levels of satsang are also defined. On the positive influence of satsang upon our meditation practice, Shahi Swami once said: "It requires air in the form of satsang to ignite the fire of meditation." (Have Satsang, Do Simran and Meditate)

Then we explore the theme of 'We Are Birds of Heaven Journeying Back to Our Beloved' about hansas, birds of heaven, the souls making their journey back to God, featuring readings from the mystic poetry of Sant Dariya Sahib of Bihar, the Sar Bachan Radhaswami Poetry of Swami Ji Maharaj of Agra, a hymn from Prem Bani Radhasoami by Huzur Maharaj Rai Saligram Bahadur, passages from Baba Somanath and Sant Kirpal Singh, then a satsang by Baba Ram Singh. During a recent satsang discourse that took place at a spiritual retreat in India for satsang gatherings, initiations and meditations, Baba Ram Singh described the journey of the soul, how the swan-soul was part of God -- in it's true essence remains part of God -- but as individualized drops from the Divine Ocean, souls have incarnated into various bodies in the diverse planes of creation, eventually reaching the astral realm, and finally incarnating into physical bodies, living various lives in the material plane. He speaks of the soul as having forgotten it's true home, it's true origin, but through the meditation practice it can remember again. One may place their attention within, and make the journey back to God. Swan-souls, hansas long parched for many lifetimes, may once again drink the divine milk, meaning the divine ambrosia, the heavenly nectar or amrit, spiritual sustenance, divine intoxication or bhakti (spiritual love), by going within and communing with God during meditation practice, transitioning away from the illusion of separateness from God, back to the state of Oneness in the Timeless Eternal Realm of Sach Khand, The Ocean of Love, Radhaswami Desh. Then we conclude with a mystic poem of Satguru Kabir: "O Swan-Soul, Where Are You Going?" (Bhakti)

We are all hansas or hansas-to-be as we journey back to the Beloved, the Supreme Being in the Ocean of Love and Oneness. (Prem: Spiritual Love)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Hear a truly delightful story about Jesus and his unwashed disciples crashing the temple as uninvited guests. It's found in an unknown gospel given by scholars the catchy name "Oxyrhynchus 840". Then more Brahman-Pharisee parallels: Sant Tulsi Sahib comes to the aid of a member of the Untouchable Caste known as the Sudras. Other compassionate, inclusive readings are from Baba Devi Sahab of Moradabad as well as Huzur Maharaj Rai Saligram of Agra. Ritual vs. real spiritual purity today during this Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcast. (Happy New Year)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

The out-of-this-world spiritual poetry from the Padavali of Maharshi Mehi Paramhans today during this Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcast. Padavali recitations, music and hymns are by Madhulata Arya. Recitations and commentary in English are by James Bean. Today we share: "Close Your Physical Eyes and See With the Third Eye", "The Definition Of Sant Mat", "Seven Principles of Sant Mat", "Hail to the Sants", and "O Traveller! Seek the Path That Lies Within You." (mystic poetry)

"O traveller! Seek the path that lies within you,

You and your Beloved are in the same body;

Your Beloved is pervading everywhere, but not being perceived,

Those initiated by the master are able to recognize Him within their bodies...

The glittering Point between the two eyebrows [Third Eye Center] is visible,

O brothers and sisters! Closing your eyelids, try to see,

Let the two currents of vision converge at the central Point between and behind the eyebrows,

Fix your gaze and cross the material sphere and enter the Egg of the Universe;

The Sky, studded with Stars, looks so wonderful,

Light, like an earthen lamp, is visible that illuminates

the darkness of the closed eyes..." (Padavali of Maharshi Mehi)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami, Satya Raam, Jai Guru

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

The heavens or higher planes are not located in some abstract 'elsewhere' countless light-years away, but rather they are within us, accessed within the temple of the human body, are within all human beings... thus meditation... thus the need to discover the complete meditation practice by which we may access these realms, the Kingdom of God within (Inner Space.)

References, Subjects, and Sources Include: Carl Sagan, String Theory, Michio Kaku, Julian P. Johnson, Path of the Masters, multiple dimensions, bubble universes, cosmic foam, creation, Hazur Baba Sawan Singh, George Arnsby Jones, The Pilgrimage of James - An Odyssey of Inner Space, Audible Life Stream, Sound Current, Divine Sound, Hinduism, Shamanism, Buddhism, Kabbalah, Gnosticism, Christian Mysticism, Sufism, Santmat, schools of spirituality, Tree of Life, Gnostic universe, charts of the heavens, Dead Sea Scrolls, Ethiopian Bible, Book of Enoch, Marsanes, Mar Sanes the Syrian, Nag Hammadi Library, Gospel of Thomas, The Unknown Silent One, Nameless One, Soundless One, Anami Purush, Plotinus, The Many and the One, Ocean of Love, Anurag Sagar, Surat Shabd Yoga, Inner Light and Sound Meditation, Ajna Chakra, Third Eye, Seat of the Soul, Rumi, Kabir, Kaivalya, Nirvana, Sat Lok, Sach Khand, Saint Teresa of Avila, The Interior Castle, Param Poojya Shahi Swami, Maharshi Mehi Paramhans, Sant Ram Singh Ji Maharaj, If We Do Our Devotion, Then We Need Not Get Disheartened - God Almighty Will Always Send The Saints To Awaken Us, Without Satsang, Sant Mat Is A Very Difficult Path To Tread On, Bhakti, Prem, Spiritual love and devotion, Simran, Dhyan, Bhajan, Enchanted Land: A Journey With the Saints of India, Yogani Mataji, Radhasoami Mat Prakash, Hazur Maharaj Rai Saligram, The Life of Baba Somanath - Saint and Sage of South India, Book of Mirdad; (Peace)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

"According to Mataji, what near-death patients experience is only the beginning of a vast sojourn into great universes of light, love and beauty... How can one sit so still, repeat only holy names and think of God constantly? 'By falling in love,' Mataji answered serenely. 'Because when one is truly in love nothing but the Beloved can enter one’s mind. So the secret of Surat Shabd Yoga and of mysticism,' she goaded, 'is not necessarily practice and more practice, but love. To be so devoted to one’s Lord that nothing can stand in the way -- this and nothing else is the truth of Sant Mat,' Mataji stressed..." (Enchanted Land: A Journey With the Saints of India) 

The Bhakti Teachings of Yogani Mata Ji (Tripta Devi) of the Radhaswami Satsang Hoshiarpur today during this Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcast! (Peace Be To You)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

A Summary of, Introduction to, Sant Mat Spirituality and Meditation about: Where God Is, How to Merge With the Divine Through Meditation Practice, The Philosophy of Liberation (Moksha Darshan) According to Maharshi Mehi Paramhans

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami, Jai Guru

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Becoming Free From Illusion - Leaving the Matrix, Merging With the Divine Beloved: This human condition is a story about the limited perception of relying solely upon the outer five senses and being deceived, existing with a severely limited ability to know the full picture, to find what is Real. However, according to the mystics of all generations, there's another means of spiritual knowing, another way of seeing and hearing available to us. There is hope of finding Light in the darkness, and the Music of the Spheres playing beyond, on the other side of silence. In my soul I am free. (Peace Be To You)

The true devotee has an internal focus. The human body is the true "temple of the Spirit". Thus, one closes their eyes and looks within, entering the 'door' to the temple via the Third Eye Center, also referred to as the Single Eye and, the Seat of the Soul. In other words, we have the ability to see and hear spiritually if we did but know it. Instead of allowing these abilities to remain dormant, unused, the devotee develops his or her ability to see and hear spiritually during meditation practice, as revealed in Sant Mat, the Path of the Masters. Sant Kirpal Singh: "The greatness of a Master lies in the fact that when one meets Him, He initiates him into the Mysteries of the Beyond and gives Him first-hand experience of being born anew, and then by regular practice the initiate may transcend into the Beyond at will and enjoy the ineffable sweet symphonies of the Word which no ears have heard and no eyes have seen on earth." (Spiritual Elixir) In the Gospel of Thomas, the Master said to his living students at the time, "I will give you what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no hand has touched, and what has never occurred to the human mind." (Coptic Gospel of Thomas, Saying 17)

"Do the repetition of God's Name and forget

Him not.

Fulfil the purpose of your birth

by practicing concentration.

Be steadfast in the remembrance of God.

He alone attains who is wakeful.

For the devoted disciple of the Master

Darkness and delusion are dispelled.

He reverts not, and is well-set on the

Path." (Sant Dadu Dayal)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Today, an Introduction to the Sant Mat Approach to Meditation, the Goals and Methods of Spiritual Practice. (Peace Be To You)

Seven Teachings of Sant Mat: 1) God is Real. 2) God is Love, the Ocean of Love and Compassion. 3) All of the world scriptures teach about the same manifestation of God as inner mystical Light and Sound. 4) Our true identity is the soul, the self, and the soul is part of God and, like God, pure love. 5) During this human existence, we have an opportunity to experience God. 6) The Third Eye is the Seat of the Soul, thus there is the need to look within in order to get in touch with our soul and God. As we experience communing with God's love during meditation -- Surat Shabd Yoga -- we can rise above body-consciousness and explore Inner Space, the "Kingdom of the Heavens" that are within us. "We travel back from the Realm of Darkness to the Realm of Light, from the Light to Divine Sound, and from the realm of Sound to the Soundless State [Anami, Radhaswami]." (Swami Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj) The drop merges back into the Ocean of Love. 7) As we get initiated into the Mysteries of the Spirit by a Living Teacher (Master, Sant Satguru), the purpose of our life is fulfilled. Reuniting with God is our reason to be here: "It was for the sake of the God-conscious beings that our True Lord created this earth, and began this play of death and birth." ("Adi Granth") Guru Kabir says: "For millions of years you have slept. This morning, will you not wake?" (Seven Teachings of Sant Mat, from the Sant Mat section of SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com) 

"By practicing devotion through these four techniques: Manas Japa (Simran, recitation of a divine name or names), Manas Dhyana (Dhyan, focus on the divine form), Dristi Sadhana (Yoga of Inner Light, Inner Seeing, Inner Light Meditation, focus on the Infinitesimal Point), and Nadanusandhana Yoga (Surat Shabd Yoga, concentration on the inner divine Sounds) - the practitioner consecutively transcends the realms of darkness, Light, and Sound which cloak the Supreme Truth - the Divine Reality." (Maharshi Mehi)

"Make the mind quiet as only a quiet mind can meditate. Don’t understand meditation as a burden, do it lovingly. Don’t pay any attention to the outer sounds during the meditation; concentrate at the Eye Center." (Santji, The Ambrosial Hour)

"If we set a fixed time for our meditation, and we also set a fixed place for sitting for that meditation, then the mind also gets used to it. If we keep changing the time of our meditation, or keep changing the place of our meditation, then that gives an opportunity for the mind to also create havoc with us. And then the mind also reminds us of so many other things that have to be done. And that way, it keeps disturbing us. So, if it is used to sitting at a fixed time, it realizes that, 'Yes, this is the time for meditation,' and then, it leaves us alone for that time." (Baba Ram Singh)

Note: In the Sant tradition, the complete methods and secrets of the full meditation practice are communicated at the time of INITIATION (Diksha) by a living Master (Sant Satguru, Competent, Qualified Teacher) or a representative of a Master. (Jai Guru)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com/sant-mat

Not A Caveman Fixated on Bugs and Bees After All: John the Baptist's Wilderness Vegetarian Diet - Locust Beans Not Bugs - An Exploration of Early Christian Writings and Scholarly Texts Today on This Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcast. Nevermind the old Sunday school notion of John the Baptist being some weird caveman dude dining on bugs! John may have a tarnished caveman reputation of eating locusts and honey out in the wild, but this is really a story about copyists mistranslating a Greek word as "locust" ('a-k-r-i-d-e-s') instead of "carob"       ('e-g-k-r-i-d-e-s'). (Henry Ford: "Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young." Albert Einstein: "Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.")

Since my original research on this topic, a couple more early Christian apocryphal writings have come to light, have been made available in English. These add to the surprisingly large collection of vegetarian references in early Christian writings regarding the diet of John the Baptist. New Testament Apocrypha, Vol. III, by Tony Burke was published and some John the Baptist books are included. In one of the earlier volumes there was a John the Baptist text made available for the first time in English that has a vegetarian passage regarding John's diet in the wilderness. Included in the third volume are, The Birth of Holy John the Forerunner, and, The Decapitation of John the Forerunner, both containing plant-based passages about John's diet consisting of "locusts from the tree" (in the Middle east called "the Saint John's Tree", and "Carob Tree") and "wild honey", also "an abundance of bread and wild honey dripping from a rock". Clearly there was an understanding in early Christianity that this was referring to locust beans (carob pods), not insects. Carob pods do look a bit like locusts hanging from tree branches, hence the name. Locust beans can be ground up and used to make a kind of Middle eastern carob flour flat bread. There's a "cakes dipped in honey" reference in the Gospel of the Ebionites. The wild "honey" was not from bees but sticky desert fruit of some kind. So, as you'll hear being documented during this pod...cast, there are all these plant-based references to John's diet coming from many different sources, and scholars have noticed and discussed these: "Probably the most interesting of the changes from the familiar New Testament accounts of Jesus comes in the Gospel of the Ebionites description of John the Baptist, who, evidently, like his successor Jesus, maintained a strictly vegetarian cuisine." (Professor Bart Ehrman, Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew) "His [John the Baptist's] food was wild honey that tasted like manna, like a cake cooked in olive oil." (The Other Gospels, Accounts of Jesus from Outside the New Testament, by Bart Ehrman)

John the Baptist was a prophet with large number of followers in Israel and Transjordan regions. After his passing, several of his successors headed what became various rival Nasoraean (Nazorean) sects, one of those being Jesus and the Jesus movement. "Again Jesus said to his disciples: Truly I say to you, among all those born of women none has arisen greater than John the Baptizer." (Matthew 11:11, George Howard's translation of Shem-Tob's Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, described as "the oldest extant Hebrew version of the Gospel of Matthew")  

May the Blessings Be

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

"The Father's kingdom is already spread out over the earth, and people do not see it." (Gospel of Thomas) This saying is a lament really, about souls in a condition of spiritual poverty unable to recognize the spiritual reality already here and available. This is the Invisible Spiritual Path We Follow, having a spiritual practice, a form of meditation that pertains to seeing the Unseen Realms with another kind of sight. The heavenly regions are not visible to those limited only to the outer material world of the five senses. In order to have mystic-vision, we're going to need another kind of Eye to be able to gaze into those subtle realms beyond. "The Lord will make the pupil of your eye his home, and your eye will expand to contain the entire universe." (Sant Namdev)  The third eye is the gateway which leads to realms above the purely physical world. It is situated behind and between the two eyes. "The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love." (Meister Eckhart, Rhineland Mystic)

It is the birthright and evolutionary destiny of each and every soul to participate in the subtle divine worlds within, to become a child of both the outer creation, the cosmos, the universe we see all around us, AND to be a traveler of inner space, the kingdom of the heavens -- the Divine Ocean of Love -- accessed within through a very special kind of meditation of inner seeing and inner hearing. The Sufi mystic Ibn Arabi once wrote in his Bezels of Wisdom: "The Supreme Being brought the Cosmos into being as constituting an Unseen Realm AND a Sensory Realm, so that we might perceive the Inner through our Unseen [facilities] and the Outer through our sensory aspect." We are, in other words, meant to be children of both worlds. (Best Of All Worlds)

"This new life of the Spirit begins from the day of Initiation into the Mysteries of the Spirit... The life of the spirit begins not with the theoretical exposition of the spiritual science but by a practical demonstration on the spiritual plane of the spirit-current made manifest. Here the invisible and inaudible life-stream is made both visible and audible to the Spirit within, converting the atheist into a theist in the true sense of the term. It is imparting the life-impulse and making It throb in every pore of the body. This coming back of the soul to the realization of her true nature and rising into Universal or Cosmic awareness beyond the walls of finitude is the true resurrection or coming to a new birth and a new life. To die in the body while living, is to live in the Spirit." (The Celestial Music, An Introduction to Kirpal Singh, by L. Gurney Parrott)

That last sentence, "To die in the body while living, is to live in the Spirit" is referring to the meditation practice that is followed by those initiated into Inner Light and Sound Meditation on this Path of the Masters. (Go Within)

"We should sit very lovingly in our meditation. We should focus at the Eye Center and do our Simran -- repeat the Simran in the mind. When we do this, the impurity of the mind, which has been cast on the mind by us for eons, for so many millions of lives... that gets washed off." (Baba Ram Singh)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Says Vegan Rumi: "I have existence and I value it so much, so have all the beings on earth and they too, try to preserve it. Then, how can I kill even the tiniest creature just to satiate my palate? Even a seemingly lifeless stone has a degree of consciousness; respect it. To me, even milk is forbidden. Look at all animals as you look at humans. If we consume an animal, its blood and gore will make us act like a slaughterer. We began as mineral. We began as mineral. We emerged into plant life, and into the animal state, and then into being human, and always we have forgotten our former states, except in early Spring when we slightly recall being green again." (Rumi, the King of the Sufi Poet-Mystics and often quoted by Sant Mat Masters)

It's quite significant finding these vegan verses of Jalalaldin Rumi, as many would assume or presume Rumi would have followed the more conventional mainstream halal (similar to kosher) diet. And Rumi is not the only example within Sufism of saints advocating vegan or vegetarian values. In the past I've shared podcasts regarding Rabia of Basra, Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, and other Sufi mystics. There's even vegan sayings of Jesus preserved in Sufi circles. But knowledge of these things soon gets forgotten and lost in various traditions of world religions. ("The god of time [illusion] has put a cover over the teachings of Saints and thus concealed them from humanity." - Sar Bachan Poetry of Swami Ji Maharaj)

And not many dairy cows are living blissful happy lives roaming free in the Slovenian countryside or in some idyllic sunny pasture as some might also assume (or would prefer to imagine in order to rationalize defending old customs), but rather end up at the very same slaughterhouses as other factory-farmed animals killed for their meat... when the milk runs dry, when all is said and done. Thus, we must not drink from the tap of illusion (maya) but do the research, become informed by the science pertaining to diet-related diseases, and evolve in our thinking, taking the high road, going in the direction of compassion for all life, both human and animal! (Peace Be To All)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

The earliest references to the story of Jesus Feeding the Five Thousand do not include any mentions of fish, only bread. The early church father Irenaeus, writing between 180 and 188 AD, does not say anything at all about the fish, only bread in connection with this Miraculous Feeding of the Multitude as if the gospels he was reading at the time didn't include anything about fishes with the loaves. The historian Eusebius, Arnobius, and several other early Christian writings also never include anything about "fishes" with the loaves, only the loaves, only the bread. It was originally an account about people being given bread. This has lead to some, including Keith Akers, author of the book, The Lost Religion of Jesus: Simple Living and Nonviolence in Early Christianity (also see his wonderful scholarly book, Disciples), to conclude that the making of this popular miracle story into a fish tale must have taken place sometime after Irenaeus and 188 AD. After that date must be when the final edit took place, when fish got added to the story about the Feeding of the Five Thousand, transforming it into the more familiar version people are acquainted with. Today, we examine the case of the missing fish, as well as textual variations between different manuscripts of the New Testament, including the spectacular example of a vegetarian saying of Jesus present in the Old Syriac-Aramaic Evangelion Da-Mepharreshe manuscripts of the Gospel of Luke but not present in the Greek manuscripts. This is another installment in a series of podcasts documenting the vegetarianism of the original Jesus Movement, also known as the Ebionites, Nasoraeans, grandchildren of the Essenes, Hebrew Christians, The Apostles, the Disciples, Christianity-Before-Paul: the folks in the early church Paul was arguing with about diet, including James the Just (of Jerusalem.)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Traditionally, Sant Mat and the yoga philosophy have advocated the lacto-vegetarian diet: abstinence from meat, fish, fowl, and eggs, but allowed dairy. Vegan means complete abstinence from all animal products and strictly adhering to a plant-based diet: no dairy, eggs, or meat of any kind, or products made from animals. Based on the current cruel practices of the dairy industry in India and around the world that violate the principle of ahimsa or non-violence, plus all the scores of medical studies showing that dairy consumption adversely affects our health and well-being, I believe if they were here today, the classic Saints such as Mahavira, Guru Kabir, Guru Nanak, Tukarama, Ravidas, Tulsi Das, Namdev, Dariya Sahib, etc...  would not only be advocating a vegetarian diet, but a vegan diet. These days, many are making this transition to vegan, including a growing percentage of those following Sant Mat. This is the compassionate direction that the vegetarian movement is headed in. (Vegetarianism is going vegan!)

In the East as well as in the West, the Gnostics and other advanced mystics: those serious practitioners of soul travel, inner Light and Sound meditation, have universally adhered to a plant-based diet. It’s hard to reach more subtle states of tranquility in meditation on an animal flesh diet based on the suffering of other beings. "A man of spiritual intensity does not eat corpses." (George Bernard Shaw) 

Today a satsang edition of Spiritual Awakening Radio about the spiritual and ethical reasons for going veg, or better still: vegan. There are readings from Pythagoras, Kabir, Swami Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj, Darshan Singh, Kirpal Singh, Sawan Singh, Diet and Spirituality, by Dona Kelley (from Lotus Leaves), and... a document called, "My Visit to a Dairy Farm -- The Reality of Dairy Cruelty -- the Final Destination of Dairy Cows is the Slaughterhouse", published by Pravin K. Shah of the Jaina Education Committee of Jainism (the Vegan Jain movement.)  

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

For many, the term "meditation" suggests merely a practice about attaining a more relaxed state and only represents a series of techniques about stress reduction. For the Initiate of the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven however, meditation represents a Portal to the Divine, a Door in the Heavens leading to Realms Beyond, is a Bright Star in a Mystic Sky that turns into a Tunnel of Light or River of Divine Light that flows into the Eternal Ocean of God! (Gnosis)

"A Light of utmost splendor glows on the eyes of my soul. Therein have I seen the inexpressible ordering of all things, and recognized God's unspeakable glory - that incomprehensible wonder - the tender caress between God and the soul... the unmingled joy of union, the Living Love of Eternity as it now is and evermore shall be." (The German Mystic Mechthild of Magdeburg, Flowing Light of the Godhead)

"Now has Divine Light delivered me from captivity, and joined me by gentility to the Divine will of Love" (The French Mystic, Marguerite Porete, The Mirror of Simple Souls)

"Those who transcend the realm of mind and the senses and enter the regions of Pure Spirit come to know, as a Living Reality, that dwelling within all forms of life, human and otherwise, is One Pure Light and Love... though encased in so many types of veils due to karmic impressions." (Baba Somanath)

"This 'Single' or 'Third Eye' provides an ingress into the spiritual worlds - the Kingdom of God - now a lost realm to most of us... Of this inlet or ingress little is known by the people at large." (Sant Kirpal Singh)

Swami Sant Sevi Ji: "What is the glorious destination that we are striving for? When we see darkness with our eyes closed we are in the realm of death and re-birth because we are not aware of our true nature. When we come out of the realm of darkness and enter into the Realm of Light, we will at the same time escape the web of death. If we remain in darkness it is not possible to be free from the cycle of birth and death. Only when we achieve the Inner Light - the Divine Light which represents the glory of the Divine - can we be liberated from the cycle of birth and death." (Peace)

"Seek the refuge of the Satguru, O Dear One, for He will free you from your karmic debt. The entire world is consumed by forgetfulness and confusion. No one appreciates the unique message of the Saints. The unfortunate ones of this world are dominated by Maya [illusion], and they do not attain the Immaculate State. Those upon whom the Grace of the Primal Creator is showered, alone have the desire to drink the Nectar of Immortality." (Baba Somanath)

"So, the point of telling you is that this Path, which has been sent by God Almighty Himself - the Surat Shabd Yoga [Inner Light and Sound Meditation Practice] - that can be attained only by initiation from a True Master... Therefore, all the Masters, at all times, have always talked and sung the praise of Surat Shabd. And that has been the message of the Masters in various yugas [epochs of time]... Therefore, when we are initiated by our Masters, it is necessary for us to get connected with the Shabd [the inner Light and Sound Current] every day - to do our meditation every day. And, by doing so, we are helping our Master to help us..." (Baba Ram Singh)

Asks Kabir: "For Millions of Years You Have Slept, This Morning Will You Not Wake?"

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Today... explaining the rule in Sant Mat about not sharing one's own personal inner experiences with others - why is that? It's all about keeping experiences private, authentic, free from ego and free from outside contamination or mental phantasmagoria, also free of pressures and expectations about what one "should" be experiencing. Everyone is at their own unique level or place in Inner Space. We need only to focus on our own inward journey, stay in touch with That, and keep it real, keep it 100! (Namaste')  

Seek To See God Now - Liberation During This Life - Mystic-Poem of Sant Tulsi Sahib

"In this life, the concept of salvation all describe; 

To meet the Lord by dying while living [meditation], none discloses. 

They all speak of the goal of salvation after death; 

How to attain it while living, no one says. 

Were they to reveal the method of achieving release while living, 

Then alone would Tulsi be convinced of their words. 

Who speaks, after seeing with their own eyes, 

and teach the method of salvation during life, 

They are of the stage and stature of Saints, 

for they reveal the quintessence of the soul."

The Expanse Above, from Saint Isaac the Syrian's Spiritual Works, Translated by Mary Hansbury   

"By stillness of the body and ceasing from this world, solitaries imagine the true stillness and the withdrawal from nature which will occur at the end of the corporeal world. By means of the mind, the solitaries are united with the world of the Spirit. By means of meditation, they are involved in the expanse above." (Peace)

Awaken to the Resplendent Light Within You - Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras, Mystic Verses from the Book of Shabdavali  

"Listen, O swan-soul, ascend to your true abode.

So says the Master again and again.

You do not pay attention to his words;

O finish your sorrows and joys and transmigrations.

If the deluded soul were to unite with her Source,

Never again would she be encumbered by body and mind.

From the Source of the Divine Ocean opens a Portal to the Light;

O awaken that resplendent Light within you." (!)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

One of the Greatest of Spiritual Masters and Poet-Mystics of Sant Mat in the History of India: Sant Dariya Sahib of Bihar, today on this edition of Spiritual Awakening Radio, a Sant Mat Satsang Podcast. (Namaste', Sat Naam Sahab, Jai Guru, Radhaswami)

From the "Love Chapter" of Saint Dariya 

"Blessed is the eye which is permeated with love.

Without love it is like a pebble or stone.

Like a gardener without a garden,

     the eye remains empty without love.

What is the state of a human being without love?

He is like one who is denied all delicacies,

     and whose mouth is filled only with dust.

Without love one does not find the flow

     of the Sound Current.

But when the flower of love blossoms,

     its fragrance is praised by all.

"Many are the paths prevalent in this world

Knowing the proper wisdom, work out your own salvation.

He who obtains a wise and discriminating Saint,

Recognizes the path of salvation.

"The technique of love is truly the root of spirituality.

Follow this technique as imparted by the Master.

When with his grace the inner lamp is lighted,

The true Naam, the support of all, comes to sight.

"Just as the lotus resides in water,

It does not come to bloom by water.

Only when the light of the sun appears,

Does the lotus open its petals,

As the contemplative (inner) eye opens to see.

"The spiritual lotus likewise resides in the human body

     which is like a pond.

Its sustaining water is close to the lotus.

But only when love for the Satguru arises,

Does the inner lotus bloom,

And one becomes a devotee of the Lord's holy feet.

"Without love, there is no spiritual path.

The path lives in love.

"With intensification of love, one comes in contact

     with the True Sound,

And like a lotus in water, abides in its peace and bliss.

"When love and endearment are firmly ingrained,

One attains the elixir of Naam, and enjoys its bliss.

Being firmly entrenched in love and endearment,

And being well-steeped in devotion,

     one obtains the true love.

"Without love one does not find the flow

     of the Sound Current.

But when the flower of love blossoms,

     its fragrance is praised by all."

-- Mystic Verses of Sant Dariya Saheb of Bihar

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Spiritual Awakening Radio (and Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts) with James Bean, heard on various community, public radio stations and the web, explores the world of spirituality, comparative religion, world scriptures and other books, East and West, God, meditation, out of body or near death experiences (inner space), the vegan diet and other ahimsa ethics -- education for a more peaceful planet. (Peace!)

By developing a spiritual practice, on demand we are able to find respite from the madness of the world, this turbulent ocean of samsara, gaining our freedom from serving as pawns of a demiurgical, kalistic culture of conflict and agitated minds. (Peace Be To You)

"What our modern world has suffered from most of all is runaway ideology, the agitated attachment to ideas that thereby become the playthings of infrahuman energies. This is the great danger of all ideologies, whether political, religious, or academic." (Jacob Needleman expressing some thoughts about the Gospel of Thomas)

"Solitude is not something you must hope for in the future. Rather, it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present you will never find it." (Thomas Merton)

The goal of this Sant Mat Satsang discourse is to shed more light on the meditation practices of the Sants which liberate the soul, provides a spiritual oasis for souls to be free from the agents of the negative power, ever-and-always agitating minds in this world, keeping them off-center so they never get around to going within, finding their true self and exploring the Divine Realms available inside during spiritual practice. (Meditate!)

We must rise above during our meditations in order to ultimately return to the Ocean of Love and All-Consciousness known as God... above this bodily existence, above this material plane, above time or KAL, above mind, above maya or illusion and all these outer planes of creation. As it says in the Greek Gospel of Thomas "we enter into Rest." And as Rumi has written in his mystic poetry, To Him We Shall Return. (Peace)

"If the soul is to see God, then it must see no temporal thing, for as long as the soul is conscious of time or space, or of an idea, it cannot know God." (Meister Eckhart, German Mystic) 

This discourse is also deliberately mindful of the lineage of Sant Mat Masters spanning many centuries, tracing this Path of the Masters back through time to Satguru Kabir. (Satnaam Saheb)

References, Subjects, Sources and Segments Include: Rumi, Gospel of Thomas, The Empty Tomb of Satguru Kabir (The Story of Kabir's Body Turning Into Lotus Flowers), Plucking Flowers of Spirituality Within Your Body Through the Meditation Practice of the Sants, The Anurag Sagar (Ocean of Love) and Sant Dharam Das), the Prakash Mani Gita on Inner Sound Meditation, Sat Saheb and Sant Dariya Sahib of Bihar, Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras, Maharaj Girdhari Sahib of Lucknow, Swami Ji Maharaj of Agra (Sar Bachan Radhasoami Poetry), Sant Garib Das of the Radhaswami Satsang, Rohilla, Delhi (book of Anmol Vachan), Baba Jaimal Singh of Beas, Hazur Baba Sawan Singh, Baba Somanath, Sant Kirpal Singh, Sant Ji (The Light of Ajaib), and Baba Ram Singh's Satsang Discourse on Kabir and Sant Dharam Das - Anurag Sagar commentary: The Saints are Instructed by The Almighty to Fetch the Troubled Souls. "The Almighty has promised the souls who have left Him and into the world of Kal, that if they are in trouble, or if they remember Him, He shall come to fetch them." (Baba Ram Singh on the liberation of souls during this Kali Yuga age)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

"A heart devoid of love or affection is as hard as stone, and does not form a suitable receptacle for the light of Heavenly Grace and Mercy... Where pure love dwells there sheds the light of Grace, as it forms a link with the Spirit or Love Current from It's Source, the Supreme Being...  Love or the power of attraction is the basis of the whole creation and the cause of its sustenance and preservation... Every wave of love rising in a lover’s heart brings tidings of goodness and joy from the Beloved, and every thought springing up in such a heart is a harbinger of good works and good services for the sake of the Beloved." (Huzur Maharaj Rai Saligram Bahadur)

"In a nut-shell, the Radhasoami Faith is a Gospel of Love. Love towards the holy feet of Radhasoami Dayal [Merciful Lord of the Soul], love towards the Guru of the time and love with all the human beings is its cardinal message." (Agam Prasad Mathur, Petals of Love)

"The practice of Surat Shabd Yoga is dependent on the love generated in the devotee's heart for the Supreme Being Radhasoami Dayal [Merciful Lord of the Soul, Anami Purush]. The Radhasoami Faith [Sant Mat] therefore advocates the blending of Yoga with Bhakti [devotion]." (Agam Prasad Mathur)

Sant Mat Devotional Practices

"It should be noted that all the following activities are included in devotional practices (Abhyas)  

(1) Sumiran [Simran: Repetition of the Holy Name]

(2) Sumiran and Dhyan [Repetition of the Holy Name along with Contemplation of the Holy Form]

(3) Bhajan [Listening to the Sound Current]

(4) Recitation of holy books or listening to their recital in Satsang intelligently

(5) Discussing the principles of the Radhasoami Faith or listening to such discussion

(6) Thinking about and reflecting on matters pertaining to the Radhasoami Faith and its practices and pondering them; and

(7) Examining the ways of one's mind and senses daily, keeping them under control as far as possible." (Huzur Maharaj, Prem Patra Radhasoami, Volume I)

Huzur Maharaj published the writings of Shiv Dayal Singh as well as his own writings. Huzur was one of the great prolific writers of the Sant Mat tradition of India. I was greatly influenced by his many volumes, especially Prem Patra Radhaswami, volumes one through six, an encyclopedia of Sant Mat teachings, Prem Bani Radhaswami (bhakti hymns and mystic poetry), volumes one through four, Prem Updesh Radhasoami, Jugat Prakash (instructions for initiates), Radhasoami Mat Darshan, Huzur's Letters to Satsangis, and Radhasoami Mat Prakash, which was the very first Sant Mat publication from India to appear in the English language, near the beginning of the 20th Century. (Radhaswami) 

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Essential Key Teachings According to the Satgurus in the Sikh Scriptures, the Guru Granth

ONE - Living Masters Having Living Disciples - The Need For The Living Satguru and For Initiation Into the Meditation Practice 

"There can be no jnana (true knowledge) without meeting a Master-soul, nor meditation without a first-hand experience." (Guru Arjan Dev, Bhairon M5)

“Meet a Satguru and take his initiation. Surrender thine all and peep within.” (Guru Nanak, Gauri M1)

"Prays Nanak, But for Society of the Saints, the whole world is false." (Gopal Singh translation)

"In the Guru-given Gnosis is contained the wealth of the Lord’s Name, and the Lord’s Name, the Guru imprints in the man’s mind." (Manmohan Singh translation)

“In utter darkness, the Master’s Word (Guru-Mantra) shines forth into Light. In the company of the Master, all are rescued and saved.” (Guru Arjan Dev, Gond M5)

“The Master has given me the perfect Word or Mantra.” (Guru Arjan Dev, Bhairon M5)

TWO - Surat Shabd Yoga, in Meditation Hearing the Unstruck Melody of the Sound Current (Anhad Shabd, Naam, Nada According to the Sikh Scriptures)

Living Masters have always initiated their disciples into meditation practice (Naam Dhan), and this includes the practice of hearing the Anhad Shabd (Unstruck Celestial Melody) within one’s self during meditation practice. "The Unstruck Melody that one seeks to hear, hear it thou in the instruction of the Guru's." (Sri Rag M. 1)

"Within me rings the Unstruck Melody of the Lord’s flute, yea, He in whose presence one's mind is attuned to the Sound of the Inner Music." (Sri Rag, Kabir)

"At the (tenth) door rings the Unstruck Melody. The Lord echoes thus in every heart." (Vadhans M. 5)

THREE - Non-Violence (Ahimsa) in Thought, Word, and Deeds Including Following a Non-violent Vegetarian Diet in the Adi Granth and Other Texts

Shri Guru Nanak Dev abstained from animal food and enjoined against cruelty to animals: "Having prohibited his disciples to drink wine and eat pork, he (Nanak) himself abstained from eating flesh and ordered not to hurt any living being." (Mohsin Fani, Persian Scholar of Comparative Religion, Author of the, DABISTAN-E-MAZAHIB)

"Kabeer says, the dinner of beans and rice is excellent when flavored with salt. Who would cut throats to have meat with his bread?" (Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 1374)

"One who does not steal, commit adultery, slander anyone, gamble, eat meat or drink wine will be liberated in this very life (i.e. Jeewan Mukt)". (Guru Gobind Singh, 10th Sikh Guru, Sudharam Marag Granth)

"Living by neglect and greed, the world eats dead carcasses. Like a goblin or a beast, they kill and eat the forbidden carcasses of meat. Control your urges, or else you will be thrown into the tortures of hell." (Guru Arjan Dev, Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 723).

Bhai Gurdaas Ji said: "They eat meat by cutting throats, what will their own condition be?" (Vaar 24, Pauree 17)

“To take what rightfully belongs to another, is like a Muslim eating pork, or a Hindu eating beef. Our Guru, our Spiritual Guide, stands by us if we do not eat those carcasses. By mere talk, people do not earn Liberation. Salvation only comes from the practice of truth." (Guru Nanak Dev Ji, Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 141)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

"The goal is to catch and rise up on the Sound Current to our Eternal Home. The Saints have only one message to give and that they give in the manner that suits the times. Their message is: "Soul! Thou has forgotten thy Source. That Source is Sach Khand. The Sound Current within you is the way to it, and we guide you to That." (Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Ji) 

Today, the wisdom of the Great Master Hazur Baba Sawan Singh covering several major subjects central to the spiritual journey of the soul back to God: prayer to, and faith in, the Supreme Being Radhaswami (The Lord of the Soul, also spelled Radhasoami); Each Soul is a Drop from the Ocean of God, a Soul-Drop from the Ocean of Love; A Discourse on the Spheres of Kal, the Demiurge, Ruler of the Lower Planes of Time, Samsara, Impermanence and Illusion, and the Means of Salvation, of the Liberation of the Soul Through the Word, also Known as the Logos, the Shabda, The Sound Current; Why Does Sant Mat Follow Vegetarian Ethics? The Fleshless Diet of Those Whose Goal is God-Consciousness, to... in Spirit... Rise above the Flesh, to Rise Above Body-Consciousness and Make Heavenly Ascents Upwards via the Third Eye Center; The Way of the Sound Current: Our Duty to Follow the Sound Current Back to Sach Khand During Meditation Practice (Surat Shabd Yoga); Hazur Baba Sawan Singh on Our Spiritual Mission During This Life to Find the Pearl of the Soul and the Soul's Natural Habitat: Sach Khand, the Sphere of the Soul, and Ascend Back to that Heavenly Spiritual Realm Again Through The Hymn of the Pearl, The Audible Life Stream, The Holy Stream of Sound, also called The Sound Current, the True Name or Naam of God. (राधास्वामी)

Other texts quoted during today's satsang podcast include: the Gnostic Parable known as the apocryphal Hymn of the Pearl, The Hymn of the Soul, embedded in The Acts of Saint Thomas in India, the 2023 edition of the Sant Mat Glossary, Rumi, Kirpal Singh, Baba Devi Sahab of Hathras and Moradabad, and a saying of Jesus from an unknown Coptic language gospel fragment discovered in Egypt: "Now therefore have faith in the love of My Father." (RadhaSwami) 

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

A rarely discussed amazing history of vegetarianism and even veganism in the great world religions and philosophies: 

Akhenaten the "Heretic" Egyptian Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty, who ruled for 17 years

Hebrew Bible, First Book of Moses: Genesis

Yoga Shastra, a sutra or scripture of Jainism

Bhagavad Gita of Krishna

Srimad Bhagavatam

The Laws of Manu, a kind of "Hindu Torah" or Book of Laws

Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans

Porphyry,  a 3rd century AD Neo-Platonist philosopher

The Vegetarian Prayer of Thanksgiving in the Epilogue of Asclepius of the Corpus Hermeticum, and the same prayer again, as it also turns up in the Nag Hammadi Library of Egypt, the Gnostic Gospels

Early Church “Heresy Hunters” that used to require meat-eating on Sundays as a way to discover who the veg Gnostics were in their midst

Philo of Alexandria's description of veg meals at a Jewish Therapeutae monastic community in Alexandria perhaps related to the Essenes

The Bahai Faith: Baha’u’llah, ‘Abdu’l-Baha, and Shoghi Effendi -- prophecies of a vegan future of humanity

Vegetarianism in Islam: The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Rabia of Basra, Bawa Muhaiyaddeen and the Sufis

John the Baptist, who ate locust bean (carob) flour, not locusts -- BEANS NOT BUGS

And blessed are the textual variants: the Mystery of the Missing Veg Saying of Jesus found in Luke 21: 34 of the Evangelion Da-Mepharreshe --  the Old Syriac-Aramaic manuscript of the New Testament Gospels but is no longer present in Greek manuscripts. (Peace Be Upon You)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Spiritual Awakening Radio (and Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts) with James Bean, heard on various community, public radio stations and the web, explores the world of spirituality, comparative religion, world scriptures and other books, East and West, God, meditation, out of body or near death experiences (inner space), the vegan diet and other ahimsa ethics -- education for a more peaceful planet. 

The great Masters teach that the Sound of God is within everyone -- this Holy Stream of Sound is within every living thing. This is why those given to exploring Inner Space through a contemplative meditation practice, be they from the East or the West, have discovered this Reality playing within themselves. (Go Within)

This Sant Mat Satsang Podcast is a spiritual gathering, a satsang without walls, dedicated to exploring this ancient school of spirituality, the Path of the Masters, Mystics, Gnostics, and Saints, today focused upon the spiritual practices of inner seeing and hearing, finding the inner Light and Sound of God present within the soul. The form of meditation making it possible to access the mystic Light and Sound is freely taught and communicated via the guidance of a competent Living One, a Living Master who is fluent in the spiritual experience of not only transcendental seeing and hearing, but also of traversing Inner Space, the Kingdom of the Heavens within, the inner regions, heavens, realms of consciousness beyond the physical-material confines that hold captive the attention of most people. The Sufi mystic and philosopher Ibn Arabi once wrote in his Bezels of Wisdom: "He [the Supreme Being] brought the Cosmos into being as constituting an Unseen Realm and a Sensory Realm, so that we might perceive the Inner though our Unseen [facility] and the Outer through our sensory aspect." We are children of both worlds. We human beings are a Tree of Life with roots in the earth and branches rising into a Mystic Sky! "The planes of heaven are about us everywhere. One has only to know this simple truth consciously, and then we will be free." (George Arnsby Jones, disciple of Kirpal Singh)

As with the Gnostic Universe, the cosmos and multiverse of the Surat Shabd Yoga Tradition of Inner Light and Sound Meditation has the lowest or outermost plane being the realm of matter and dark matter, followed by progressively more subtle and luminous astral and akashic or causal regions, also a Universal Mind or Demiurgical (pronounced "Demi-urge-ah-KAL") plane. Above these lower and middle regions of mind and matter are levels of pure spirit, eternal, above time and space, and these are considered to be the True Home or Paradise of the soul, where we prodigal souls came from before the beginning and, full-circle, where we will return to again, as we awaken from the soul-slumber of the ages. "We have come from the Light and will return there again." (Gospel of Thomas and Mandaean Ginza Rabba paraphrase) As Kabir once said, "For millions of years you have slept. This morning, will you not wake?" (Peace Be To You)

Today, readings from the mystic divine love poetry of Bhai Nand Lal Ji, disciple of Guru Gobind Singh, The Acts of John (New Testament apocryphal writing), the Sikh scriptures (Adi Granth, Gurbani), Naam Or Word authored by Kirpal Singh, Baba Ram Singh from a January, 2023 collection of satsang discourses on Naam: Sant Mat Meditation of the Inner Light and the Sound Current, the Sufi poets Rumi and Shah Niaz, Ajahn Sumedho on "The Sound of Silence" (from the Buddhist world), also from Anmol Vachan, a rare book of Q and A by Sant Garib Das of the Radhasoami Faith (another spiritual successor of Swamiji Maharaj), Shiv Brat Lal's Radhaswami spiritual classic Light on Ananda Yoga, Kirpal Singh's Spiritual Elixir, and... the mystic poetry of Edmond Bordeaux Szekely. (Namaste') 

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

"Blessed are the souls who in today's materialistic world have an inclination towards spirituality." (Swami SantSevi Ji Maharaj) 

Today, A Spiritual Talk (Satsang Discourse) by Swami SantSevi Ji Maharaj at Maharshi Mehi Ashram, Kuppaghat, Bhagalpur, Bihar, India

The Seven Stages of Ascension to Heaven According to Swami SantSevi Ji and a Living Spiritual Path Called Sant Mat

1. Praise or Bhakti (singing praises: banis, bhajans, kirtans, odes, psalms, hymns)

2. Prayer (Communion With God -- Conversations With God)

3. Manas Jap (Simran, "Praying Without Ceasing", Mentally Repeating/Chanting the Name or Names of God -- Mantra -- the First Stage of Meditation)

4. Manas Dhyana (Visualizing the Form of the Master * -- the Second Stage of Meditation)

5. Dristi Sadhana (Seeing Inner Light at the Third Eye Center -- the Third Stage of Meditation)

6. Nada Sadhana (Hearing the Inner Sounds -- Surat Shabd Yoga -- the Fourth Stage of Meditation)

7. Reaching Kaivalya: Oneness with Soundlessness, the Nameless One (ANAMI), the Formless Supreme Being, Supreme State, the Ocean of Love (beyond all forms, lights and sounds) -- the Fifth Stage of Meditation -- the Isht or Goal

*NOTE: Visualizing the Form of the Master: “In Kali Yuga no other spiritual activity will succeed. It is only the contemplation of the Satguru’s Form, repetition of the Name of the Supreme Being, and concentration on Shabda [Spiritual Sound] that will be successful and beneficial”. (Soamiji Maharaj)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

https://SpiritualAwakeningRadio.libsyn.com

After expressing some thoughts about war and peace, selected readings from many masters, mystics, and spiritual classics or scriptures of the East & West 

1) one of the most mystical passages from the Psalm-scroll of the Dead Sea Scrolls composed by the unknown master or right-teacher, who was the founder of the original Essene Community

2) back to eden, return to paradise: a plant-based passage from the Hebrew Book of Genesis on the vegetarian ideal at the beginning

3) readings about Kabbalah -- Jewish mysticism, and meditation in the Hebrew scriptures: "Be still and know that I am God", Psalm 46: 10

"The first century Rabbi Akiva ascended through the seven heavens and the seven palaces in the highest heaven by means of passwords uttered to the angelic gatekeepers. His meetings with God were characterized by luminosity."  (Joan Borysenko, "Seven Paths to God: The Ways of the Mystic")

4) The Five Sacred Mantra Names of the Sethians, a Jewish Gnostic sect of antiquity and their meaning

5) "I am merely a guest born in this world, to know the secrets that lie beyond it." (Rumi)

6) George Arnsby Jones, The Pilgrimage of James, An Odyssey of Inner Space

7) "No mission is of greater importance to a person than the awareness of his own consciousness, the profound significance and purpose of his existence on earth and to find out the path for ultimate bliss, eternal happiness and cheerfulness i.e. the quest for truth." (quote from the Shabd Pratap Ashram website)

8) "Be regular and lovingly devoted to your holy meditations, as that is the central pivot around which the whole sacred teaching revolves and therein an all around development of the soul is granted." (Kirpal Singh)

9) a reading from, Radhasoami Mat Updesh, by Huzur Maharaj Rai Saligram Bahadur

10) A Spiritual Seekers Guide, Dayal Sahab, Dayalpuri Radhasoami publication

11) The Saakhi Granth of Kabir, "1008 Kabir Vani" and another passage of Guru Kabir; also, "The Anurag Sagar"/Ocean of Love of the Sant Dharam Das/Kabir Panth

12) Huzur Baba Sawan Singh's parable of, A Man Trapped in a Well Arguing with the Person Above (the Master) Holding a Rope

13) readings from the Surangama Sutra, a Buddhist scripture: "I will appear as a Buddha to teach them the Dharma to liberate them..." and

14) about being rescued by the Light, a passage from, The Book of Faith-Wisdom -- Pistis Sophia, a Gnostic Gospel from Egypt

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Return to the Source, The Path of the Masters, Julian P. Johnson: "The message of the Masters fills the world with hope, and at the same time it offers a rational foundation for such hope. It not only tells people what they should do, but it offers them a definite method of doing it... (Johnson)

"In the march of the ages, cycle after cycle, in every planet where human beings reside, the great Masters are the Light-bearers of that world. Until the end of the ages, they will remain the friends and saviors of those who struggle toward the Light... (Johnson)

"The world has never been without a living Master. Beneath all other impelling forces in the creation, spirituality is the primary cause. That, and that alone, is the driving force that always leaps up to join its source. In every living being, from tiny plant up to man, the spiritual flame of life is struggling upward and onward toward its source of being, and this process and this struggle must go on until the last speck of dust returns to the central fires of Infinite Being... (Johnson)

"...The Divine Spark in each one, always struggling for freedom, striving hard against adverse currents, reaches out a feeble hand toward the Master. In great kindness the Master takes that hand, unclean though it may be. After that, it may require years of patient hard work to build up the character, to strengthen the will and throw off the evil passions." (Johnson)

"The Audible Life Stream is the cardinal, central fact in the science of the Masters. It is the keystone of the arch. It is the cornerstone of the structure. It is the structure itself. And it IS the Path of the Masters. One might say that the Master and the Life Stream constitute the Path of the Masters... (Johnson) 

Authored by Julian Johnson in the 1930's, Path of the Masters became a spiritual classic of Sant Mat and remains popular to this day. It's a kind of "theosophical" presentation of Sant Mat and Radhasoami, if you will, and has been a very influential book. Over the decades many have been introduced to this living mystic and gnostic path as a result of encountering Johnson's amazing book, The Path of the Masters. (RADHASOAMI)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Before the main segment, The Opposite of "Not One Of Us" is "We Are All One”, I begin the program by sharing spiritual readings covering various topics from several sources: The Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah; a Saying of Jesus from, The Book of the Gnosis of the Invisible God, An Unrecognized Dialogues Gospel Embedded in the Bruce Codex Placed at the Beginning of the First Book of IEOU; also, readings from: The Ghat Ramayan of Sant Tulsi Sahib; Sar Bachan Radhasoami Prose of Soami Ji Maharaj; 1008 Kabir Vani (Saakhis of Guru Kabir); Baba Ram Singh on meditation practice; Saint Isaac of Nineveh; and mystic poetry * of Sant Charandas. (* Bhajans, Hymns)

One of the most mysterious passages recorded in the New Testament is: "'Teacher', said John, 'we saw a man driving out demons in your Name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us *.' "'Do not stop him,' Jesus said. 'No one who does a miracle in my Name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us.'" (Mark 9: 38+39) One may wonder who this mystery person was and what unknown sect or faction of the Jesus Movement he belonged to, since the disciples had apparently never encountered him before. (* The Not-One-Of-Us Treatment.)

The main segment is titled: The Opposite of "Not One Of Us" is "We Are All One”, an essay documenting how Sant Mat historically has never been limited to only "one" living master (Sant Satguru) at a time but there have always been multiple lineages of masters alive in the world contemporary with one another. As Hazur Baba Sawan Singh once said: "It is not necessary that there should be only one * Master in the whole world or even in a single country. There have been different Masters in different countries at the same time, and even in the same country. Thus Guru Nanak and Kabir were contemporaries, and so also Dadu and Guru Arjan. But their teaching is the same at all times and in every country." (* The Path is One.) 

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

One thing that might be rather surprising to most people that can be learned by doing a study of the gospels, acts and other literature of the Hebrew Christians -- the Ebionites -- the Christianity that Existed Before Paul -- is that, rather than some imagined Sunday school notion of a fish market in the village of Galilee being operated by the disciples of Jesus, there is significant evidence that the Original Jesus Movement and well-known apostles became vegetarians. And furthermore, this vegetarianism of the disciples and Jesus Movement is fairly widely known and mentioned by the early church fathers. It's not that this information is coming from recently discovered writings dug up in the Middle East. Rather, these are old texts that have been with us since the early days of Christianity but didn't seem all that meaningful and significant to a pro-meat carnistic population. Vegetarians however would indeed be most interested finding this out! (Peace be to you) 

"Jacobus [James], the brother of Jesus, lived of seeds and vegetables and did not accept meat or wine." (Saint Augustine)

"The consumption of animal flesh was unknown up until the great flood. But since the great flood, we have had animal flesh stuffed into our mouths. Jesus, the Christ, who appeared when the time was fulfilled, again joined the end to the beginning, so that we are now no longer allowed to eat animal flesh." (pro-vegetarian early church father Hieronymus [St. Jerome] who apparently read the Gospel of the Hebrews and was influenced by Ebionite views)

"Sacrifices were invented by men to be a pretext for eating flesh." (Clement of Alexandria)

"The steam of meat meals darkens the spirit. One can hardly have virtue if one enjoys meat meals and feasts. In the earthly paradise [Eden], no one sacrificed animals, and no one ate meat." (Saint Basil the Great)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

What a delight it is this week to be sharing with everyone in our satsang community and gathering of spiritual seekers readings about Baba Ram Singh's spiritual search when he was young, his prayers to the Hidden Power, a wonderful name for the Supreme Being, and how he found the Radhasoami Satsang presided over by Baba Somanath, making use of, In the Lap of the Supreme Father, The Biography of Sant Baba Ram Singh. By the way, Hidden Power is a very Gnostic type term for the Supreme Being so I also share from the Nag Hammadi Library of Egypt, and from another ancient Gnostic library further to the East, the Ginza Rabba (Great Treasure) of the Mandaean Nasoraeans, with references to God as the Hidden Great Power, and about the role of the Living One, the Living Master, as being a co-worker of the Divine Plan in the lower planes and material realm to guide souls back to their True Spiritual Home Above, sharing the secrets of spiritual practice and Divine Names with those souls seeking true spiritual freedom. Also today, mystic bhajans and prayers of Baba Somanath, wisdom and guidance from the Radhasoami publications: A Spiritual Seekers Guide, Anmol Vachan of Sant Garib Das, Sar Bachan Radhasoami Prose on the Teachings of Soami Ji Maharaj, Prem Patra Radhasoami and Prem Bani Radhasoami of Hazur Maharaj Rai Saligram Bahadur, as well as excerpts from a January 6th, 2023 Meditation Talk by Baba Ram Singh Ji titled, When We Sit For Meditation In The Frame Of Mind Of Love And Affection, Then It Helps Us To Sit, on how love, devotion or bhakti helps develop high-quality concentration during meditation and is the proper approach to successful Inner Light and Sound Meditation Practice (Surat Shabd Yoga). Being a Lover of the Beloved as well as spending enough time in meditation, according to the Masters (Sant Satgurus), are absolutely essential for getting to have inner experiences and truly exploring the Inner Regions (Inner Space, the Kingdom of the Heavens Within You).  (Namaste', Jai Guru, HU, Satya Raam, Sat Naam Sahib, Radhaswami) 

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

"One thing which Chachaji did and which will be always remembered was that one day, heaven knows what brainwave he had, he tied up into a bundle many letters of Soamiji Maharaj in His own handwriting, His other papers, as well as many articles of His use, and dropped the bundle into the well at Soami Bagh sanctified by Soamiji Maharaj. He then went to Lala Tote Ram and told him what he had done. Hearing him, Lala Tota Ram gave out a shriek and said, 'O Chachaji Saheb, what have you done?' Chachaji Saheb replied, 'Brother, I know the value of these things. There is no knowing in whose hands these precious things will fall and whether they will be preserved with due care. That is why I thought that I should rather drop them in the well sanctified by Soamiji Maharaj Himself '." (Bhaktmal of the Radhasoami Faith, by S.D. Maheshwari, pages 25 and 26 -- NOTE: "Bhaktmal" means: biographical accounts of Bhaktas or devotees)

Today represents two programs in one. The first part pertains to some Radhasoami history. I explore the mystery of Soami Ji's well, the LOST letters and other documents... what some of them might have been, and the politics behind the destruction of those sacred writings. The second part is a satsang consisting of spiritual readings from the surviving letters of Soami Ji Maharaj, which are very wonderful, spiritually uplifting, containing much authentic wisdom for spiritual seekers and devotees on the Path. (Namaste')

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Today we explore: The Goal of Sant Mat Spirituality and Meditation: Our Path Back to the Source; The Six Stages of Inner Sound Meditation; The Traveler of the Inner Subtle Path; The Five Precepts or Moral Requirements for Initiation Cultivating Stillness and a Spiritual Way of Life; Also a Word About Vegetarianism, Veganism, and Sant Mat.

"Blessed are the souls who in today's materialistic world have an inclination towards spirituality." (Swami Santsevi Ji Maharaj)

"Sant Mat is not the Path of information; this is the Path of Transformation." (Swami Santsevi Ji Maharaj)

"We are children of both worlds. We human beings are a Tree of Life with roots in the earth and branches rising into a mystic sky. Meditation is the portal to the realm within and allows us to know ourselves, our original nature." (Agochar)

"Look at God within yourself, how 'God is Light.' For his Nature is a glorious, many-splendored Light. He manifests the Light of his Nature to those who love Him in all the worlds." (John of Dalyatha, Syriac Mystic)

"In meditation, the true condition of the soul is exposed, and God can reveal our failings in order to heal and bless us... If we spend more time in meditation, we can recognize the relationship between the visible and invisible world ever more distinctly and clearly." (Wisdom of the Sadhu, The Teachings of Sundar Singh)

"Saints come into this world and They enlighten us. They remind us of our True Home of God Almighty -- our True Father. They encourage us to go back. And They motivate us to go back. So, we are indeed fortunate to get this human body and get this life. And it is with the Grace of God Almighty that we have the company of the Masters. Now, we should make the most of that and follow the Teachings of the Masters and make the efforts to go back to our True Home... It is, therefore, incumbent on a disciple, once he has been initiated, to prioritize his meditation. He should always keep that to the forefront and do his meditation first, and then all of the other activities should follow that... Morning time is ideal for meditation. But anytime is good if we are sitting for meditation." (Baba Ram Singh) 

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

This Path of the Masters Has Been Created By God Almighty. It Has Not Been Created By Any Mahatma or Saint or Sect.

"When our soul came from God Almighty into this world, it came via the Sound Current and, at each plane, it came by the connecting Sound Current into this world. And when the soul has to go back to God Almighty, it will also ascend on this same Sound Current and, plane by plane, it will go back to God Almighty. This Path has been created by God Almighty. It has not been created by any Mahatma or Saint. And God has set this Path for the soul to come into this world and also to go back to God Almighty." (Baba Ram Singh)

"According to Sant Mat, having crossed these realms or levels, we achieve the final goal called Mukti (i.e. salvation). To attain liberation/salvation, Sant Mat does not follow numerous complicated practices, but two essential methods:

1) Drishti Marg (i.e. the Path of Inner Light/Vision) and,

2) Shabd Marg (i.e. the Way of Inner Sound/Transcendental Hearing).

"Unlike other worship methods popular in religions and sects with different names, these two methods are not man-made. God himself is the founder and operator of these methods. Since the beginning God has kept these two methods inside human beings with full qualifications. The way of redemption of jivas (i.e. bounded souls) is available within all human beings." (Baba Devi Sahab of Moradabad)

Today, readings from Sant Brahmananda of Rajasthan, Baba Devi Sahab of Moradabad, from the Satsang Discourses of Baba Ram Singh, Kabir, Swami Ji Maharaj, Baal Shem Tov (Jewish Mystic), The Gospel of Thomas, Martin Buber, Moses Luzzatto (Kabbalah), Adi Granth (Sikh Scriptures), Mystic Poetry of Sant Janardan Swami of Maharashtra and the Padavali of Maharshi Mehi Paramhans.

Baba Ram Singh: "God Almighty sends these Saints for the salvation of the souls who He had sent into this world and to whom He had said, 'Whenever you call out to Me, I will come to fetch you.'"

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Unaffected by the West, in rural India spiritual paths such as traditional Sant Mat continue to preserve and communicate the wisdom of the Masters about living a spiritual way of life. At the heart of their spirituality is the meditation practice known as Inner Light and Sound Meditation (Surat Shabd Yoga). There are references to this form of meditation dating back to the time of the Upanishads and other ancient scriptures, also more recently with the various Sant movements populated by bhakti poet-mystics and spiritual masters such as Sant Namdev, Guru Kabir, Guru Nanak, Sant Ravidas, Sant Dharam Das, Sant Tukaram, Sant Dadu Dayal, Sant Dariya Sahib of Bihar, Goswami Tulsi Das, Sant Tulsi Sahib, Sant Radhaswani Sahib up to the living present. Today we explore the teachings of Santji, Baba Devi Sahab, and Maharshi Mehi Paramhans about successful meditation practice and the journey of the soul back to God. 

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

The Importance of Spiritual Gems, Letters from Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Ji: Here we have letters from a successor of a successor of Sant Radhasoami (Radhaswami) Sahib, looking to the West and communicating with some of the very first initiates (satsangis) in the US and Canada. Spiritual Gems: "The Great Master wrote these letters in response to the questions and queries of his American and European disciples and seekers, so nearly all the questions and doubts that crop up in the minds of seekers after Truth and Reality have been amply dealt with in this volume, which makes it extremely valuable."

"I assure you that I do not mean to neglect any of our American Satsangis. I think I answered your last letter. It may have gone astray. But in any case, you should write to me every few months and give full account of your progress and ask any questions you may wish to ask. I shall be glad to hear of your inner progress on the Path. No doubt you are making some headway and I am anxious to see you go inside, truly, and find the Great Light and Joy which awaits you there." (Hazur Baba Sawan Singh)

"We are expecting much from America. The average person in America is much nearer to this Teaching than in any portion of Europe. The day will come when your people will turn to Sant Mat... Some day the Great Work there will assume much larger proportions. You may look confidently for it, in your own time. Be ready for it." (Hazur Baba Sawan Singh)

Other Key Points Made

Sant Mat in America is not a path only for the affluent that can afford to frequently travel long distances. Avenues for learning, satsang, and pathways for initiation for those who qualify must always be available. Nobody left behind.

The language barrier issue: There must always be new satsang material being translated and published in English. 

There are not two Sant Mat paths: a Sant Mat "lite" for new age Americans or westerners, and the traditional full Sant Mat for Indians, but the complete Sant Mat for all.

This includes adhering to the vegetarian diet: "I never gave permission to anyone to eat meat in my life. A mother does not administer poison to her own children. In R.S. Faith animal food cannot be allowed under any conditions. It hardens the heart, and makes the soul dull and heavy." (Spiritual Gems, Sawan Singh)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

A Satsang Without Walls

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Spiritual seekers are faced with many possible choices and detours along the way. If the genuine seeker finds spiritual sustenance in the luminous wisdom of the saints and mystics, they will reach the first level of satsang (association with eternal truth) and make serious spiritual progress during this life. With such a developing reverence for the higher wisdom of great souls of the ages, one may eventually encounter a living mystic path in the world of today, discover a living gnosis now, a school of spirituality lead by a living one, a living master (Sant Satguru). Today's satsang podcast features reflections about what is playing out in the vast world of spiritual paths and world religions based on the spiritual classic known as the Anurag Sagar (Ocean of Love), how the various planes of creation, states of consciousness and temperaments are all being represented by avatars and archons affiliated with a multitude of paths and practices in the marketplace of ideas, seeking to draw souls to material, astral, causal, or mental regions. Countless are the idols made of wood and stone. Countless are the ceremonies, holidays, and rituals. Countless, the doctrines, the prophecies, sectarian politics and struggles, tethering souls to realms of mind and matter, but what of you, the soul, and the God that is All-Spirit residing beyond these worlds of form and time?

Says Rumi, "Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth."

"Who speaks, after seeing with their own eyes, and teach the method of salvation during life, They are of the stage and stature of Saints, for they reveal the quintessence of the soul." (Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras)

"Seeing that Kal is deluding all the jivas and entangling them in this world and seeing the jivas suffer in this world of Kal, God Almighty sends the Saints into this world to enlighten and awaken the jivas and bring them Home." (Baba Ram Singh) 

"Seek to behold the Living One while you are alive, lest you die and seek to see him and be unable to do so." (Gospel of Thomas, saying 59)

"Whoever joins the Immortal becomes Immortal. Whoever delights in the Living One becomes Living." (Odes of Solomon, ode 3)

Today there are readings from: the Gospel of Thomas (both Greek and Coptic manuscripts), the Odes of Solomon, Kabir (1008 Vani, the Ethical Teachings of Kabir), Soamiji Maharaj (Sar Bachan Radhasoami Poetry), Maharshi Mehi Paramhans (the Padavali), Baba Somanath (a bhajan, mystic poem/hymn), and a satsang discourse by Baba Ram Singh (excerpted from. Seeing The Jivas And Entangled And Suffering In This World Of Kal, God Almighty Sends The Saints To Awaken The Jivas And Bring Them Home, shared during the afternoon of January 20th, 2023). 

Says Kabir: "Love is like a deep ocean. Only that lover of God who will dive into it fearlessly shall be able to get the pearl of ultimate happiness. And one who will not be able to muster up enough courage to dive into it, shall remain sitting at the beach. He will remain without love in this world or the next. How will he get the pearls of ultimate happiness then?"

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

A Satsang Without Walls

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

There is a message coming from beyond the stars, a communication emanating from the Timeless Realm to those lost somewhere in time, a gospel calling out to us from outside the multiverse and lower planes of creation. Kabir says, "Where else have you heard a Sound like this?"

The quest of the true spiritual seeker is to remain focused in a realm of endless distractions, to become spiritually awake in a culture of slumber or negligence, to always remember God and our spiritual practice in this temporal region of forgetfulness (maya, illusion, samsara, world of changes). We all have the potential to be successful at reaching our spiritual goals and not talked out of our hopes, dreams and ideals by negative external influences. We are free to find our genuine life purpose following the spiritual path, discovering the wonders of inner Light and Sound Meditation practice, experience the lifting of the heavy burden of karma, and reach the oasis of spiritual rest and repose in the God-worlds of Inner Space, which we all have access to... if we did but know it! 

"Baba Ji [Baba Somanath] was a Gurumukh Disciple of Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Ji who, after a long search for Truth, during which He performed many austerities, fasts and difficult Nathpanth yogic practices in the tradition of Gorakhnath, was drawn to the Path of Sant Mat -- the Path of the Celestial Sound Current and Radiant Light. Under the orders of Hazur, He spread the Sant Mat Teachings in the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh from 1933 until 1976 when He left the mortal coil." (BabaSomanathJi org English Language Website Making His Teachings Widely Available to the West)

Baba Somanath was one of the spiritual successors of Hazur Baba Sawan Singh, the Great Master of Beas. Today we explore his teachings including satsang commentary on verses of the Sar Bachan Radhasoami Poetry, a key Sant Mat spiritual classic. This particular discourse of Baba Somanath is quite informative about the role of the mind or ego acting as an extension of universal mind called "the Kal Niranjan" and also known as "the Demiurge", the negative power, lord of illusion, great deceiver.

Somanath Prays...

"You are the Lord and Friend of the lowly ones."

"Shower Your grace upon me.

I have taken refuge in Your shelter, and now to preserve Your honor,

Please take me out of the cycle of births and deaths." 

"I have fallen at your door -- O, Gatekeeper of the Inner Realms."

"Keep me steadfastly absorbed in contemplation on You.

Rivet my attention at the still point between the eyes,

And show me the Light of Spiritual knowledge."

"Giving me the support of the Dhun, the True Shabd,

Transport my soul into the Great Void.

Drawing me upwards on the stream of Sohang Shabd; reveal the vision of the True Realm, Sat Lok,

Where divine strains of the veena fill the air."

"Transport me to Alakh and Agam -- the invisible and inaccessible regions.

Whoever reaches there, has come to the end of the journey.

Regarding me as your helpless child,

Merge me into the primal Anami Lok [Nameless Plane, Radhasoami]."

-- Baba Somanath, excerpted from the bhajan, Dina bandhu dina naatha

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

A Satsang Without Walls

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://SantMatRadhasoami.blogspot.com

Today's Program Has Several Segments -- Table of Contents -- Program Outline:

Quotes from the Upanishads; 

Bhagavad Gita/Gospel of Thomas Jesus-Krishna Parallels; 

Fending For One's Self vs. Following and Getting to Know a Living Spiritual Path; 

In a Book I Once Read it Says Books Are Not the Answer -- "You can’t read your way to enlightenment."

In Sant Mat the Centers of Power, the Location or Real Estate Never Remains the Same Forever; 

What About Those Who Get Re-Initiated? Have Been Initiated by More Than One Guru?

Sants of Antiquity Long Before the Time of Kabir; 

Living Teachers Reveal the Methods of Meditation and Mysticism; 

The Definition Of Sant Mat by Maharshi Mehi Paramhans; 

In Hinduism and Other Eastern Religions the Main Operating System is The Eight Limbs of Yoga -- Stages of Spiritual Development... and The Five Ethical Precepts; 

Initiation Into Surat Shabd Yoga -- Inner Light and Sound Meditation by a Living Master (Sant Satguru); 

A Paraphrase or Summary of the Teachings of Maharshi Mehi on the Sant Mat Way of Life; 

Seven Key Practices of Sant Mat Mysticism; 

The 5 Jewels of Sant Mat; 

Sarguna or God-with Form vs. Nirguna, the Way of the Formless God in the Bhagavad Gita of Krishna  -- A Transition from Form to Formlessness; 

How A Formless God Communicates With Souls Living in Worlds of Form; 

The Radiant Form is the Key to Exploring Inner Space; 

The Inner Satguru: God Has Made the Reflection of His Form Available in All Worlds; 

The Formless One Assumes Forms In Order to Communicate With Souls in All Realms and Escorts Them Back to the Original Abode of the Beloved; 

The Outer Master Guides Souls to the Inner Master. The Inner Master (Satguru) Guides Souls Back to the Formless God; 

From Light to Sound, From Form to Formlessness -- Stages of Meditation on the Path of the Masters; 

Krishna -- Gita: The Power Between the Eyebrows -- the Third Eye -- The Seat of the Soul; 

Recommended Reading: The Hinduism (Vedic) Chapter of, The Harmony Of All Religions, by Swami Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj;

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

A Satsang Without Walls

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

"In a nutshell, the Radhasoami Faith is a gospel of love. Love towards the holy feet of Radhasoami Dayal [Merciful Lord of the Soul], love towards the Guru of the time and love with all the human beings is its cardinal message." (Prof. Agam Prasad Mathur, "Petals of Love")

"The practice of Surat Shabd Yoga is dependent on the love generated in the devotee's heart for the Supreme Being Radhasoami Dayal [Merciful Lord of the Soul]. The Radhasoami Faith [Sant Mat] therefore advocates the blending of Yoga with Bhakti [devotion]." (Prof. Agam Prasad Mathur, "Petals of Love")

The Four "SATS", Key Essential Eternal Truths or Realities of Sant Mat: 

(1) Sat-Guru [True Master]; 

(2) Sat-Shabd [True Name and True Sound];

(3) Sat-Anurag [True Love/Bhakti]; and, 

(4) Sat-Sang [True Inner and Outer Association With Eternal Truth];

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

A Satsang Without Walls

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

"You must be ready to accept the possibility that there is a limitless range of awareness for which we now have no words; that awareness can expand beyond range of your ego, your self, your familiar identity, beyond everything you have learned, beyond your notions of space and time, beyond the differences which usually separate people from each other and from the world around them." (Tibetan Book of The Dead)

The Way Out Is Within according to the Masters... a kind of ascension of the soul, not outwardly in the physical realm up in the sky, but an upper ascent that takes place spiritually within the temple of the human body with eyes closed, gazing into the field of darkness lying in front of us. As Master Kirpal Singh once said, "That which sees the darkness without the aid of the physical eyes IS the third eye." What may eventually open up for us within are tunnels of Light and Sound that pass through many inner regions of consciousness. This is the interior voyage of the soul back to the Kingdom of the Heaven.

"How can one sit so still, repeat only holy names and think of God constantly? 'By falling in love,' answered serenely. 'Because when one is truly in love nothing but the Beloved can enter one's mind. So the secret of Surat Shabd Yoga and of mysticism,' she goaded, 'is not necessarily practice and more practice, but love. To be so devoted to one's Lord that nothing can stand in the way -- this and nothing else is the truth of Sant Mat,' Mataji stressed.'"

"So we should consider ourselves indeed fortunate if we have the pangs of separation of God Almighty and of our Master within, and we follow that Path and we do our meditation with love and affection. That way, if we do our meditation daily with love and affection, our mind also becomes purer, the burden of karmas also is lessened, and the mind, which is scattered all over the place, also gets focused within, and the attention gets focused within." (Baba Ram Singh)

"The tenth gate is the gathering point of consciousness. Therein lies the path for our return. The tenth gate is also known as the sixth chakra, the third eye, Bindu, the center located between the two eyebrows... We travel back from the Realm of Darkness to the Realm of Light, the Light to the Divine Sound, and the Realm of Sound to the Soundless State. This is called turning back to the Source." (Swami Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj).

"From one step to another the soul beholds strange things which cannot be described in human language. Every region and everything is utterly beyond words. What beauty and glory! How can I describe them? There is nothing here to convey the idea. I am helpless... Love plays the supreme part. It is all love. So says RADHASOAMI." (Soami Ji Maharaj, Sar Bachan Radhasoami Poetry)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

A Satsang Without Walls

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Through silence meditation we can "step outside the box." Silence speaks volumes. The practice of receiving inner guidance or hearing the Voice or Life Impulse of God in the silence of contemplation is a universal teaching of all great saints and mystics. "Learn to sit still and be mentally still, and the silence thus generated with be more vocal than words spoken and written; and you will have an instantaneous solution not only to your own personal problems but to the problems of others as well." (Sant Kirpal Singh) "To be pure and still means to be open to purity and stillness -- as a result you can intuit the truth." (The Jesus Sutras) "If somehow this mind can become quiet by itself, attainment of true knowledge -- like diamond will become easily possible [everyone in this world is sad and restless because of lack of true knowledge. This true knowledge can be attained only when the mind becomes quiet]." (Kabir) 

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

A Satsang Without Walls

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Says Rumi: "Sometimes, though rarely, the disciple (of a false guru) because of the sincerity of his quest for God may derive spiritual benefit even from that false guru (literally, ‘the falsehood of the impostor may turn out to be profitable to the seeker.’). Due to his own honest intention he ascends to a higher spiritual region (not because of but despite the pretender whom he imagined to be the ‘soul’ but who turned out to be only ‘flesh’.) Such a sincere seeker may even have spiritual experiences which his worthless guru may not have had in ages." (Mathnawi of Rumi)

Today on this satsang edition of Spiritual Awakening Radio we explore the Radhaswami teachings of Baba Faqir Chand, his commentary on the Sar Bachan Radhasoami Poetry of Soamiji Maharaj and other writings on the journey of the soul from the realms of illusion to the Abode of the Beloved Most High in the Highest of Heavens, also readings from Huzur Maharaj Rai Saligram, a poem of Rumi, and from a White Paper on the Religion of Sants and Radhasoami Faith published in Agra, which has an entry about the life and spiritual teachings of Baba Faqir Chand.

Baba Faqir Chand: "Many Gurus are concerned with accumulating wealth and fame and their disciples are equally motivated by worldly desires. So instead of being enlightened and liberated, seekers are more and more involved in material things and thus subjected to the cycle of birth and death. When a Guru who is the true practitioner of the Yoga of Light and Sound is found by a disciple who is  truly desirous of being freed from the spatio-temporal world, then and only then the relationship of the disciple and the master has some significance."

Huzur Maharaj Rai Saligram: Nothing Without Love: "All Sants, and Radhasoami Dayal in particular, have, in their bani [hymns, mystic poetry], laid great emphasis upon engendering love. The idea is that the task can be accomplished quickly and easily with the help of love. Mere renunciation cannot afford so much advantage, nor can mere comprehension of the Faith confer such a benefit. All activities in the world are going  on because of love and desire. If one does not have any feeling of love or he has no interest in the matter, he can do nothing. For the real spiritual benefit of their Jiva [soul], it, therefore, behooves all Jivas [souls] to develop true love for the true Supreme Being."

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

A Satsang Without Walls

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Kirpal Singh: "Simran is the first step of the spiritual ladder." "By Simran of Holy Names, we get rid of the thoughts of the world. One feels the presence of God." "Simran bestows happiness, peace and bliss, and leads us to a state of super-consciousness." "Simran is a weapon against all dangers. It acts as a password to all spiritual planes. It gives strength and sustenance to the body and mind during trouble and affliction, and brings the soul near the Master." "Remembrance of God is the main thing before us to find the way to Him." "Simran gives pleasure and removes pain. By doing the Simran of the Lord, one merges in Him."  

Baba Ram Singh: "It is Simran only which helps us to focus our attention from this world outside and come to the Tenth Door and go within. So, we should do as much of Simran as possible. When we are eating, or when we are walking, or doing other mundane activities, we should continuously keep our mind focused on Simran. And that will help us to more expeditiously move on this Path."

"Simran" is a term which means "Remembrance", the spiritual practice of remembering or being mindful of God by repeating his Name or Names. Devotees sing or chant various names for God. Higher spiritually, and more "within" is the practice of "manas jap", the mental repetition of God’s name or names "with the tongue of thought" -- in other words, chanting names of God within one’s mind. The Sants have always placed much greater emphasis upon mental Simran over vocal chant, as it takes one further within via the Third Eye Center.

Definitions of Simran: "Repetition of names or thoughts; in Sant Mat, the simran [or remembrance] of worldly thoughts is controlled through the Simran [remembrance] of the Five Charged Names, repeated by an initiate throughout the day and when sitting for meditation as a means of collecting the thought currents at the Third Eye Center; Simran is also used as a password of sorts to higher planes and protection from Negative Power influences." (Glossary, Satsang Discourses of Baba Ram Singh)

These sacred names that are to be repeated are revealed to the spiritual seeker by a living master (Sant Satguru) at the time of their initiation into Surat Shabd Yoga, the Path of Meditating Upon the Inner Light and Sound of God.

What is the practice of the Name (Simran)? It is a form of interior prayer by which a person learns to keep his or her attention always in God, in every circumstance and situation, at all moments, through day and night. It is a form of inner remembrance that leads to a heightened awareness beyond the limitations of the physical world and the portals of death. Through meditation on the Name (Naam Bhakti) one learns to draw one’s attention away from the outer world.

There is however, more to Simran than the repeating of sacred names. Simran must be approached with the right attitude, the right spirit, for one’s intent determines how successful the practice will be, and what effect it will have upon one’s consciousness. Simran has never been intended to be a dry or lifeless mantra practice. The path of the Sants is a Bhakti path, a path of love and devotion for the Supreme Being. Thus, the true Masters have always instructed their students to repeat God’s Name with love and devotion, as a lover calling out to one’s Beloved, the Lord of Love.

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

A Satsang Without Walls

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Also, Being A Spiritual Warrior In A World Of Illusion, Studies in the Anurag Sagar (India's Most Gnostic Scripture)

In a sacred text from India known as Kabir's Ocean of Love (Anurag Sagar) Kal Niranjan, the Gnostic Demiurge, the Negative Power or God of Illusion once said to Guru Kabir: 

"I will do something there so that nobody will believe in Your Shabda [Word]. There I will create such karmas and illusions that nobody will find the way out. In every single home I will create the ghost of illusion, and deceiving the souls, I will make them forget. All humans will eat flesh and drink wine, and all kinds of flesh will be their favorites. 0 brother, Your Devotion is difficult -- Nobody will believe it, I'm telling You! That is why I say: 'Don't go into the world now!'"

Says Kabir: "At that time I told Kal, 'I know your deceptions and tricks. Making the souls firm in the true Shabda, I will enable them to remove your illusions. I will make them recognize all your tricks, and by the strength of Naam I will liberate the souls. Those who remember me in thought, word and deed, focusing their attention on the Elementless, such souls will go to the Immortal World, putting their feet on your head. Any brave and wise soul will finish your ego. And very happily that soul will be convinced of the true Shabda [True Word].'

"Hearing this Kal felt defeated and started to think of deceptions." (Anurag Sagar)

On today's Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcast, The Cosmic Conspiracy according to the Anurag Sagar, and the way to spiritual freedom and liberation according to The Path of the Masters, The Way of the Saints.

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

A Satsang Without Walls

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

THE THREE LEVELS OF SATSANG (Association with the Eternal Truth or God):

* The Third Level of Satsang (Association with the Writings of Sages and Saints);

* The Second Level of Satsang (Association with the Saints/Masters);

* The First Level of Satsang (Association with God);

"Without a Master all scriptures are like the whispering of ghosts." (Sant Tukarama)

Guru Nanak says the True Master (Satguru) unites us with God, gives us a Godward Focus: “That preceptor is worthy who unites the aspirant with God.”

"'Satsang' comprises two words, 'Sat' and 'Sang.' What is 'Sat'? 'Sat' is that which can never be destroyed, and it is the essential element that is indestructible and beyond the limitations of time. And it is the Truth. 'Sang' means association or contact, and this association or coming in contact with Sat or Truth is Satsang. In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says: 'Whatever is Truth always exists and is never non-existent. That which is non-Truth has no existence whatsoever.' By association with a pure soul the mind becomes pure and the darkness of attachment is dispelled. In attending to these quotes from different saints it becomes clear that satsang is vital and very necessary for any serious spiritual seeker." (Swami SantSevi Ji Maharaj)

Jai Guru,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

A Satsang Without Walls

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

On the Origins of Modern-day Sant Mat: In the beginning there was one Sant Mat Path founded by Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras with Satsang centers in Hathras, Agra, and Lucknow. Sant Tulsi Sahib sent Girdhari Sahib to the city of Lucknow a few years prior to his passing in 1843.  During the period of time between the passing of Sant Tulsi Sahib in 1843 and the passing of Maharaj Girdhari Sahib of Lucknow in August of 1860 -- that seventeen year period -- in addition to doing much meditation, Soamiji Maharaj also was affiliated with, attended and supported the Satsang of Sant Girdhari Sahib in the city of Lucknow. 

Girdhari earlier had spent some time in Agra and gave Satsang talks at Soamiji's home. According to Seth Pratap's Biography of Soamiji Maharaj, after the passing of Tulsi Sahib, Soamiji Maharaj had Girdhari move into his (Swamiji's) other house, located in the city of Lucknow. This became a new base of operations, a headquarters for the Lucknow Satsang, very much like the family home at Panni Gali, Agra had served as the place of Satsang for the Tulsi Sahib Sangat there since Soamiji was a small child and even earlier. Another reason for Swami Ji to have a house in Lucknow was that sometimes Swami Ji traveled to Lucknow to attend the Satsangs of Girdhari Sahib.

Soamiji Maharaj, Sar Bachan Radhasoami Poetry, Hidayat Namah section: "For a long time the spirit of this faqir (i.e. Soamiji Maharaj Himself) sauntered and stayed there [Maha-Sunn, Great Dark Void] and then under instructions from the Teachers and Guides, moved ahead."

Sant Garib Das commenting on the above verse: "Soamiji in his Discourses has said that his surat descended into the dark regions of Maha-Sunn but could neither locate the bottom or the end of it nor did it feel it worthwhile to go down any further. Thereafter, his surat adhering to the signs as revealed to him by his Gurus ascended upwards. Here Soamiji says that it was the inner Mercy of his Satguru Tulsi Saheb and that of Maharaj Girdhari Das Ji whose Satsang he attended for a very long period of time." (Anmol Vachan)

Soamiji viewed Girdhari Sahib as Tulsi Sahib's successor, supported him, and attended his Satsang. Soami Ji Maharaj treated Girdhari Das as his Guru, as well as donated and "gave substantial material support" to his spiritual mission for "a number of years" according to, The Biography of Soamiji Maharaj, and according to Daniel Gold in, The Lord As Guru: Hindi Sants in the North Indian Tradition.

Professor Mark Juergensmeyer in, Radhasoami Reality observed: "Girdhari Das is described as being the 'chief disciple' of Tulsi Sahib, a term that would usually imply he was understood as his designated successor (Pratap Singh Seth, Biography of Soami Ji Maharaj, p. 108). After Tulsi Sahib’s death, Swami Shiv Dayal brought Girdhari Das into his house, treated him with love, and accorded him respect due to a pious Mahatma.'" (Pratap Singh Seth, Biography of Soami Ji Maharaj, p. 37).

RUMI's Ode to the Unknown Mursheeds, Sages and Guides

"In every age, God’s mercy and pleasure graces their (Saints') pure spirit and breath. The names of lakhs of (cloistered, secluded, hidden) majestic spiritual personages (Saints) whose heads are adorned and distinguished by His grace have remained unknown and unsung because they were the cynosure of God who (must have) felt envious of their spiritual grandeur (and chose to keep them obscure and unhonoured as obscure heroes are unsung)." (Jalaluddin Rumi, The Mathnawi)

Radhasoami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

A Satsang Without Walls

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Like Galileo discovering new worlds through the lens of his telescope, mystics of the East and West (Jewish mystics, Christian Gnostics, Sufis, and in modern times, the Sants and Radhaswamis of India: Path of Sant Mat) have been trying to tell humanity for eons of something quite similar... about another kind of space... Inner Space. The reason why the contemplative state of being is still hidden from most of us is that, unlike Galileo’s telescope, in order to look through this particular lens, we mustn’t focus on the outward sensory impressions, but go in the opposite direction: into Inner Space. Look through the lens of the third eye to access the world of within. But one has to be willing to take the cap off the lens and have a look, to actually do the meditation. If we do follow the methods of meditation practice revealed by the Masters, with the third eye we will behold the Inner Light, Inner Visions, hear the Sound of Silence, the Holy Stream of Sound -- Music of the Spheres, traverse the heavens for ourselves, and return home to the Beloved Lord of Love, the Lord of the Soul.

Today during this Satsang Without Walls some rare passages from the world of esoteric Santism translated from Hindi, the writings of Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras, India and a few of his spiritual successors on this Path of the Masters, Inner Light and Sound Meditation, the Way of the Soul Merging into the Heart of the Beloved, the Ocean of Love in the Nameless Plane (the Anurag Sagar of Sat Purush Anami Radhasoami). 

"Only by breaking the bonds of mind, illusion and time is one free from the cycle of transmigration." (Sant Prakash Das)

"Complete Mahatmas, Genuine Saints came to the world in their respective times and kept on emancipating the living beings who were connected with them.  On completion of their time, they left the body as per the will of the Lord and went to the Lord and left their work [their spiritual mission] to the other saints when departing." (Sant Prakash Das)

"The true master practices the spiritual Sound and Light that comes from beyond. By these methods of meditation, the soul becomes introverted through regular practice and hears the melodious Sound within, and the soul reaches where the Sound is emanating from. This is the goal of the practice of Surat-Shabd-Yoga." (Sant Prakash Das)

Within This Body - Mystic Poem of Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras

"Within this body breathes the secret essence.

Within this body beats the heart of the Vedas.

Within this body shines the entire Universe, so the saints reveal.

Hermits, ascetics, celibates all are lost, seeking Him in endless guises.

Seers and sages perfectly parrot the scriptures and holy books, blinded by knowledge.

Their pilgrimage, and fasting, and striving but delude. 

Despite their perfect practice, they discover no Destination.

Only the Saints who know the body's heart have attained the Ultimate, O Tulsi.

Realize this, and you've found your freedom

(while teachers trapped in tradition know only the mirage in the mirror)." 

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

A Satsang Without Walls

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

For many years some scholars and others curious about Sant Mat history have been puzzled by references in Radhasoami literature to a living master that Soami Ji Maharaj associated with and apparently was very devoted to. His name was Girdhari Sahib. However, little was known about this particular Guru, or his actual status in either Tulsi Sahib or the earliest Radhasoami communities... UNTIL NOW. During Part One of this two-part series we'll explore the evidence about Maharaj Girdhari Sahib of the Sant Tulsi Sahib Satsang and his association with Soamiji Maharaj (Seth Shiv Dayal Singh, Sant Radhasoami Saheb).

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

A Satsang Without Walls

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Sant Tulsi Sahib's Mystic Poetry, Maharshi Mehi's Mystic Poetry and Hymns (Padavali), Plus Swami Vyasanand on the Five Levels of Love (Bhakti).

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

A Satsang Without Walls

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Kabir Says: "Just as a coded document shows the way to a hidden treasure, just so this Bijak shows the way to realize the soul. It teaches such instructive words to the soul, but there is seldom anyone to understand them." (Sakhi of Kabir)

Commentary by Dr. Jagessar Das: "Bijak means a coded document that leads to a hidden treasure. In this Bijak, Guru Kabir explains the path to that hidden treasure that is within, and not visible by the objective senses. He teaches everyone to give up cleverness and argumentation, and become humble and accept the Divine Lord dwelling within."

The term "Bijak" means treasure or treasure-map, in this case the treasure map of Guru Kabir. "Bij" means: the seed or essence. "Bijak" means treasure. The Bijak of Kabir is intended to be a treasure-map to the essence of reality: our soul and God.

In India the Bijak is the most popular sacred text containing the teachings of Guru Kabir, and as such is the main scripture for those who follow the Path of Kabir. Today we explore, "The Complete Bijak Of Kabir -- Guru Kabir's Mystical Teachings on God-Realization", by Dr. Jagessar Das, translating into English and commenting on the entire Bijak of Kabir. This is an impressive work, a true, grassroots "satsang template" of traditional Sant Mat, wonderful to have, featuring all eleven sections of the Bijak in one volume: the Ramainis, Shabdas, Sakhis, and other lesser-known sections.

"The Bijak tells of a treasure,

a treasure that doesn't show.

The word tells of a creature.

Only rare ones know." (Kabir)

From the Principals of Kabir Published in the Earlier Ahmad Shah Translation of, The Bijak: 

"To believe in One Avagat, Satya Purush [One God]. His bhakti [devotion, love] should be practiced.

Have faith in the Master and in his teaching.

True Sadhus should be served.

Show mercy and love towards all Jivas [souls].

To abstain from all kinds of meats.

No visible object in this world should be worshiped.

Do not tell lies.

Do not steal.

Do not gamble.

Do not curse any one.

Repeat Satya Nam.

Practice bhakti of Satya Purush [God] and teach about him.

Hindu, Muslim and any other sect can join Kabir’s religion.

Without the knowledge of Sar Shabd [the True Sound], no one can attain jiva mukti (liberation, salvation).

Abuse, deceit and jealousy are enemies of jiva mukti.

Humility is a great virtue.

Give thanks for the gift of the Sat Guru.

Without true love of God the practice of bhakti is fruitless.

To read the Sat Guru’s words is a great virtue.

One should know the Supreme Spirit."

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

A Satsang Without Walls

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

https://www.facebook.com/SantMatRadhasoami

Hazur Baba Sawan Singh on the Afterlife, A Matter of Life and Death: "Coming back here again or going up within after death depends on the tendency of the attention." 

Sant Dadu Dayal: "Where you keep your mind while living, to that abode shall you go after death. The soul finds lodging in a place wherein it has hitherto been immersed." (Mystic Poem of Dadu) 

According to the Path of the Masters, though the body and brain of the individual will die, the subtle bodies as well as the soul live on. Those subtle bodies include the causal body and the mental body. The thoughts, impressions and attachments of a lifetime that have accumulated are indeed part of one's destiny and also live on. Thus the need to do as much simran and meditation as possible during this life to live in Divine Grace and "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven."

Baba Ram Singh: "Do your Bhajan Simran [meditation] every day. Do it for two, two and a half hours every day so that you are able to reduce the burden of your karmas. And also, the Grace of the Master is there with you, and He also reduces that burden for you. That way, at the time of death, we do not have to suffer a lot of these karmas on our body." (satsang discourse, Masters Tell Us, Again And Again, That Life Is Not Permanent) 

Santji: "So why do the Saints always emphasize doing Simran [remembrance of God and the names of God]? Why do they make us do Simran? They make us do the practice of Simran so that at the time of our death either we should be doing Simran or we may have the Form of the Master within us. If we are doing Simran, or if we are remembering the Form of the Master, we will go direct to Him." (The Light of Ajaib) 

Baba Somanath: "Constantly repeat Naam and Naam alone... Then you will find rest; you will not take birth again." (Bhajan of Baba Somanath) 

Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Ji: "Therefore, a devotee of the Current should never fear death.... His efforts should be to finish his work here and now *." (Foreign Correspondence) * Note: Take this golden opportunity during life to make spiritual progress during meditation here and now.

"Fix your mind within by following the Path of the Sound Current. A yearning will arise; make then an intense and anguished call. Repeat the Name of your Beloved, day and night, again and again and again. With care in thought, word and deed, you will cross to the other shore." (Dadu Dayal, Sant of Rajasthan)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

A Satsang Without Walls 

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Today: 1) A Reflection about the Constellation Orion, the Cosmic Man in the Sky, a Shared Experience of Light For Countless Generations; 2) a Spiritual Discourse from, The Night is a Jungle, by Kirpal Singh: on the Five Thieves, the Five Passions of the Mind That Are Looting While Man Slumbers; and 3) Mystic Poetry & Spiritual Wisdom of Sant Dariya Sahib of Bihar on the Journey of the Soul.

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

The Sukhmani of Guru Arjan Dev explores Simran (the repetition of names of God and meditation that leads to merging with God), meditation on the Sound Current, the greatness of Saints and Satsang, bhakti: love and devotion, ethics, good deeds, the nature of the mind, knowledge of the Divine, oneness with the Formless Supreme Being, the afterlife, etc...

"Of all the places. the best one is where the Name (Naam) of the Lord resides." (Guru Arjan Dev, Book of Sukhmani, Adi Granth)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

We may find ourselves beginning our spiritual search with only questions, and not have anyone able to answer them. Or we may notice lots of religious or spiritual voices out there pretending to have the answers, and not believing them, not trusting them to be Sure Guides, Sources of Genuine Wisdom, Competent, Honorable Masters, Qualified Teachers. "Cut off have been My people for lack of knowledge." (Hosea 4:6)  

We may have had some spiritual experiences such as seeing inner light, colors, stars, or a bright light, or in the silence hearing a kind of sound of the silence ringing in the distance, or perhaps we have memories of such experiences when we were children, maybe at a very young age. If we remember these experiences and ask some religious authority, usually they will look at us funny, tell us, "It was nothing", dismiss our question and tell us to move along. We may walk away feeling like a heretic or weirdo, and for sure are not getting our questions addressed at all in those places. 

But instead of having our curiosity crushed by the Negative Powers That Be, telling us to go back to sleep, to forget, WHAT IF INSTEAD we  learn of someone who would be happy to answer our questions, is able to answer our questions, is conversant with Inner Experiences and Inner Space, and could introduce us to new dimensions, new possibilities, whole new worlds?

Today we explore: In Celebration of The Living Ones, Living Teachers, Living Masters, Living Mystics (Sacred books falling from the sky did not create the world religions and spiritual paths. Before there was “The Book” there was the author of “The Book.”); What the Living Master Shares with His or Her Students (with passages from the Gospel of Thomas, Sant Tukarama, and the Ramayana of Goswami Tulsi Das); also Inner Sound and Light Experiences Before Initiation; with satsang discourses from Swami Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj, Dr. Jagessar Das (commentary on the Bijak of Kabir), Santji (The Light of Ajaib), Sant Kirpal Singh (No New Faith, Mind That!) Hazur Baba Sawan Singh (Foreign Correspondence), Baba Ram Singh Ji (2016 Meditation Talk: The Ladder Of The Sound Current Connects The Soul Back To God Almighty), and we conclude with a Bhajan (Mystic-Hymn) of Baba Somanath.

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Satsang is a term that means association ('sang') with the Eternal Timeless Truth or God ('Sat'). Satsang means "association with Eternal Truth" as well as "association with God," and is to some extent comparable to "church" or "temple," but not in any institutional sense. A saying of Jesus in the New Testament provides a good definition of a Satsang meetup: "Where two or three are gathered in My Name, I Am there in their midst."

The format of Satsang can include: someone giving a spiritual discourse, instruction on putting the Path into practice, a video or audio of a Master (Sant Satguru) giving a talk, readings from the writings of the Masters, the reciting or singing of banis, bhajans or kirtans (hymns of worship composed by Sants), and silent group meditation. It's considered the greatest of blessings if it is a Master who conducts the Satsang in person (or in this age of live streaming, via the web).

The effect of Satsang is that of DIVINE REMEMBRANCE, thus, with such a spiritual boost, encouragement and support for the spiritual journey, those who go to Satsang are much more likely to stay-on-the-Path and put effort into their own daily spiritual practice at home. Thus will the life of the Bhakta (lover, devotee, disciple) become more and more God-intoxicated by imbibing the spiritual wine, the nectar of divine love.

Also Covered During This Satsang Podcast: People's Attention Drowning in a New Age Soup: In an Age of Junk-Food Spirituality and Endless Internet Memes, What Satsang is NOT -- Satsang is intended to be an oasis, a refuge from the agitations of the mind, maya/illusion, the labyrinth of the world (and astral plane);

Instructions for Holding Satsang, The Purpose of Satsang, Satsang Apart from Rituals, Subject and Scope of Satsang, Love and Service the Basis of Satsang, according to Sant Kirpal Singh;

Extracts from Letters of Huzur Baba Sawan Singh About Satsang ("The Less Organization, the Better");

Authentic Traditional Satsang Templates True to the Path: "For the subject of a talk, we may take up the hymns from any scripture, preferably from the Masters of the Sound Current. It may be supplemented by apt quotations from the parallel writings of other Master Saints. The Holy Gospels themselves are full of such material as may fit in with such a context. The illustrations from various Masters are essential so as to bring out the essential unity in the teachings of all the Saints." (Kirpal Singh, Instructions For Holding Satsang)

The Three Levels of Sat-Sang: The First Level of Satsang (Association with God), The Second Level of Satsang (Association with the Saints), The Third Level of Satsang (Association with the Writings of Sages and Saints), by Swami Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj;

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Explored today during this spiritual podcast, A Satsang Without Walls, A Sant Mat Satsang Podcast: The Book As Guru? Baba Bishan Das discusses a beautiful scripture from India known as the Adi Granth (Shri Guru Granth Sahib), a huge collection of hymns of praise and love (bhakti). Santji: "I went to Amritsar and bought three copies of Guru Granth Sahib. I had two other friends who were with me and for six months continuously, we three people read that book many times. We studied it and we worked very hard in order to find those lines that would say that 'there can be no Master after Guru Gobind Singh'. However, we did not find those lines and we realized that the statements which we believed in were not there. We came back to Baba Bishan Das and surrendered to him. We said, 'Baba Bishan Das, you are the true one. The words which we thought were in the book are not there. What you have said is true.'"

An Introduction to Santji/Ajaib Singh Ji;

Introduction to, The Light Of Ajaib Book;

The Many References to Sant Tulsi Sahib in, The Light of Ajaib;

Remembering God During This Life;

Getting Up Early to Meditate: Amrit Veela, the Hour of Elixir;

Even Meditating for a Minute is Counted: "Whatever minutes or seconds you are spending in His remembrance are all counted, and He keeps a good account of those moments, that time which you have spent in His remembrance. According to what one has done, He rewards them." (Santji) 

Always Meditate. Always Repeat the Names of God. Simran! Do the Meditation.

Initiates As Soulmates: When Man and Woman Agree;

Salvation is by Divine Grace. Our Spiritual Progress is By the Grace of the Masters. When the Student is Ready, the Master Shall Appear, As the Saying Goes.

An Old Friend Wearing a New Coat... Recognizing and Appreciating the Sant Satgurus.

To Bathe in the Dust of the Master's Feet;

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

There's a spiritual saying, an axiom of wisdom, that's been meaningful to millions of people spanning many centuries, scriptures, spiritual classics, languages, nations, and several world religions from West to East, East to West. This saying was quoted by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament but it's been a mystery as to what exactly the source was for his quote. Today, we find out the origin of this saying, and get to hear various versions of this saying as it appears again and again in so many ancient texts, traveling far and wide, passing through Jewish, Rabbinical... also many Christian Apocryphal Writings. A version of it is even attributed to Jesus, and by this I don't just mean in The Gospel of Thomas but in many other sources as well, and I will explore many of those as they appear in other early Christian writings. Other versions also turn up in Egypt, Ethiopia, the Mesopotamian region, in Gnostic, Mandaean, Manichaean scriptures, Suras of the Quran, a couple of Hadiths, and there's even similar versions to be found in the writings of Kabir, Guru Nanak, and other sources in India.

This wisdom saying is central to the spiritual journey as it pertains to The Spiritual Seeing and Spiritual Hearing Capacity of Souls, and being initiated into the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Master says, "I will Give You, What the Eye Has Not Seen, What the Ear Has Not Heard" - Solving the Mystery of an Ancient Saying... today on this Spiritual Awakening Radio podcast. I will turn this into a satsang and include related teachings from Kirpal Singh and others... on spiritual seeing and hearing that which is inconceivable to the average human mind, what has typically not occurred to the heart of man.

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Today we explore: A History of Simran Practice in the Sant Tradition (Path of the Masters, Panch Naam, Also the Five Names of the Sethian Gnostics), The Many Names of the One Nameless God (Anami Purush);

SIMRAN: Why Sant Mat Masters Teach That Repeating Simran Words (Mantras, Manas Jap) Is Best Done Mentally -- A Mental Chant Done "With the Tongue of Thought", by Swami Vyasanand Baba;

Readings from the Mystic Poetry of Guru Kabir, Sant Dadu Dayal, and Sant Namdev;

The True Spirit of Simran Practice is Love (Bhakti);

Readings from, The Light of Ajaib: Why Don't You Do Simran?

Readings from, The Light of Ajaib: Focus at the Eye Center, and Do Simran Constantly; 

"Remember the Supreme Father and repeat His Holy Name as often as you can day and night, whether it be for only a minute or two at a time, and then you will secure greater help and assistance from above." (Huzur Maharaj Rai Saligram, Pilgrim's Path -- RADHASOAMI, Excerpts from Letters To Initiates);

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

"Whenever feeling downcast, each person should vitally remember, 'For my sake, the entire world was created.'" (Baal Shem Tov)

The Baal Shem Tov is sort of the "Rumi" or "Kabir" of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), an example of a towering figure and great mystic of one of the schools of spirituality. The ending part, "For my sake, the entire world was created", is a variation of an ancient axiom of wisdom about how a certain number of saints being present keeps the world alive, tilts the balance toward the Light. A version of it even turns up in saying twelve of the Gospel of THOMAS: "The students said to Yeshua, 'We know you will leave us. Who will be our leader?' Yeshua said to them, 'Wherever you are, seek out Yaakov the Just [James the Just]. For his sake heaven and earth came into being.'"

Martin Buber elaborates and expands on this axiom in a way that includes us all: "Every person should know and consider the fact that you, in the particular way that you are made, are unique in the world, and no one like you has ever been. For if someone like you had already been, there would be no reason for you to be in this world." (Ten Rings: Hasidic Sayings, Martin Buber)

Here's a big picture view from the Sikh scriptures of India, the Adi Granth, Peace Lagoon translation: "It was for the sake of the God-conscious beings that our True Lord created this earth, and began this play of death and birth". 

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

The world presents us with infinite distractions to always keep us off-center, diverting our attention from our spiritual goals, seemingly never able to reach an oasis of peace and tranquility. And within as well, there are many obstacles intended to prevent the soul from making much spiritual progress during this life. This according to the Gnostics and the Masters is the great cosmic conspiracy of the ages to keep souls down, circling round and round on the wheel of transmigration with no apparent means of escape, no end in sight. And changing belief-systems, rituals and theologies, doctrines, or what icons are hanging on the wall won't help either, as these are all confined to the world of mortal minds and matter, just amounting to "rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic", as they say. According to the Masters, the way of escape, liberation and redemption for the soul is not visiting yet more physical temples made of wood and stone, or swapping old religious doctrines for new ones, which still are confined to the same lower planes of creation, but rather to "rise above body-consciousness", to learn the almost lost mystic art of "death before dying", discovering how to transcend body and mind during contemplative meditation practice and connect with that missing element of our existence: what it's like to be a soul or spiritual being! By following the meditation guidance of the Masters we will reach the seat of the soul, the third eye center hidden within us, access the Inner Light and Sound, enter the spiritual realms here and now, and begin our journey back to God. 

Friend? hope for the Guest while you are alive.

Jump into experience while you are alive!

Think... and think... while you are alive.

What you call "salvation" belongs to the time

            before death.

If you don't break your ropes while you're alive,

do you think ghosts will do it after?

The idea that the soul will join with the ecstatic

just because the body is rotten --

that is all fantasy.

What is found now is found then.

If you find nothing now,

you will simply end up with an apartment in the

          City of Death.

If you make love with the Divine now, in the next

life you will have the face of satisfied desire.

So plunge into the truth, find out who the Teacher is,

Believe in the Great Sound!

Kabir says this: When the Guest is being searched for,

it is the intensity of the longing for the Guest

that does all the work.

Look at me, and you will see a slave of that intensity.

-- Says Kabir, one of the founding Satgurus of Sant Mat

Today during our satsang podcast: readings from Sant Kirpal Singh (Prayer: Its Nature and Technique); the Gospel of Philip (Nag Hammadi Library); Swami Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj on finding the Light in the darkness; a letter from Hazur Baba Sawan Singh; Spiritual Consciousness (published by Dayalbagh University, Agra); a mystic Sufi poem on dying while living by Hazrat Sultan Bahu; a Sant Mat glossary definition of the word "Simran" -- the sacred repetition of names of God; and a Satsang Discourse by Baba Ram Singh titled, "Surat Shabd Yoga [Inner Light and Sound Meditation] Is The Only Study That Teaches Us How To Die While We Are Living."

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Baba Jaimal Singh, and other disciples of Soamiji Maharaj, were initiated in Soamiji's meditation room at his home in Panni Gali, Agra. 

"Swami Ji then began to instruct him [Baba Jaimal Singh] into the theory and practice of Surat Shabd Yoga, and when the instructions were over, asking the youth of seventeen to sit down for meditation, he left the room.

"As soon as Jaimal Singh sat down for meditation, he got lost in samadhi. The night came and passed away, the day broke, but he continued motionless, lost in the inner bliss he had discovered. Another day saw itself swallowed by the night, and the night saw itself replaced by another day, and yet the youth sat lost to the world around him.

"When some forty-eight hours had thus gone by, Swami Ji asked some of the disciples if they knew where the visitor from the Punjab had disappeared. 'We saw him two days ago at the Satsang,' they said, 'but we have not seen him since.'

"Swami Ji smiled and proceeded straight to the little room where he had left his latest disciple and which none had entered for two days. He placed his hand on Jaimal Singh’s head, and when the latter’s soul returned to the normal physical consciousness and he opened his eyes, he saw his Guru beaming at him. 'Do you, my boy, still doubt if your Master be a true Sikh or not?' He asked with a twinkle in his eye." (Kirpal Singh, A Great Saint, Baba Jaimal Singh, His Life and Teachings)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Sant Mat Radhasoami

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Sant Kirpal Singh: "As there are landmarks on earth, so there are landmarks in Time. The past and future are like sealed books to us: the one is in the limbo of oblivion, while the other is in the womb of uncertainty. It is only the LIVING PRESENT that is ours, and we must make the best use of it, ere it slips away through the fingers and is lost forever. Human birth is a great privilege and offers us a golden opportunity. It is for us to make or mar the same, for it is given to each individual to forge his or her own destiny as best he may." (Standing at the Crossroads of Time)

For the spiritual seeker and for satsangis, initiates on the Path of the Masters, the letters from the masters provide valuable spiritual guidance about the mystic journey of the soul back to God, meditation practice (Surat Shabd Yoga): mystical experiences of soul travel, inner Light and Sound, and living a spiritual way of life. 

Today, a Sant Mat Satsang Podcast consisting of readings from the letters of Sant Kirpal Singh (Instructions For Holding Satsang, Spiritual Elixir), plus also letters from Hazur Baba Sawan Singh, Baba Jaimal Singh, Huzur Maharaj (Rai Saligram Bahadur), and Maharaj Saheb (Brahma Shankar Misra). 

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Spiritual Awakening Radio (and Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts) with James Bean, heard on various community, public radio stations and the web, explores the world of spirituality, comparative religion, world scriptures and other books, East and West, God, meditation, out of body or near death experiences (inner space), the vegan diet and other ahimsa ethics -- education for a more peaceful planet.

"There can be no happiness for the soul, and no rest to the mind, so long as one does not meditate on God... If you wish to have light, both inside and outside, place the luminous gem of God's Name on the threshold of the inner door with your inner tongue, says Tulsidas." (Goswami Tulsi Das)

Sant Kirpal Singh once said that "Simran is the first step (or rung) of the spiritual ladder." Indeed, simran, the remembrance and repetition of Names of God, is the foundation for living a spiritual life according to this Living Path of the Masters. Reciting the name of God is meant to "actualize the aural [sonic] dimension of [God]'s very being in the mind or heart of the practitioner, an act that is ultimately ontologically transformative." This prayer of the Name allows one to Practice the Presence of God each and every day. Simran (Manas Jap) is also the first practice of Sant Mat meditation, making it possible to concentrate at the seat of the soul, also known as the third eye center, and begin one's spiritual journey exploring Inner Space, the Realms of Within. 

Segments of today's Sant Mat Satsang Podcast include: The One God Has Been Given Many Names; Simran is Intended to be a Bhakti Practice of Love not a Mechanical Mantra or Dry Practice; A Word About Vocal Simran; Helpful Guidance on Simran Practice, The Repetition of the Names; Simran Practice Correctly Done; and features readings from: Sant Tulsi Das; the Teachings of Hazur Baba Sawan Singh; Baba Somanath commenting on a verse of Guru Ramdas Ji, the fourth Guru of the Sikhs; Satsang Discourses of Baba Ram Singh Ji on Consistent Daily Simran and Meditation Practice; the Jap Ji (Morning Prayer of Guru Nanak: "Iik Ong Kaar Sat Naam" [Ekonkar Satnaam] ("There is One God -- Truth is His Name."); the book of Anmol Bachan by Sant Garib Das commenting on a verse from the Sar Bachan Radhasoami Poetry of Soami Ji Maharaj on How there is the One God Radhaswami (The Lord of the Soul) Manifesting at the Various Planes or Levels of Creation Not Five gods or multiple gods; also Sant Bani (Mystic Poetry and Hymns) from the Padavali of Maharshi Mehi Paramhans; Sant Ravidas (Raidas); Guru Kabir from the Adi Granth (Sikh Scriptures, Shri Guru Granth, Gurbani); and Sant Eknath of Maharashtra.

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Letters from Masters to their disciples, though originally written to specific individuals in the past, often have a universal quality about them, dealing with real-life struggles along the spiritual journey and so sometimes feel quite personal, as if they are addressed to us as well. Today's program features readings from the letters of Kirpal Singh, Sawan Singh, Baba Jaimal Singh, Soamiji Maharaj, Huzur Maharaj Rai Saligram, and Maharaj Saheb (Brahm Shankar Misra).

"You need not be afraid of discussing esoteric teachings of the Masters with others. Spiritually illumined do owe much to their less gifted brethren when you can instill faith and right understanding in them out of your own personal knowledge derived from the sacred books published from here and on personal experience gained by meditations." (Kirpal Singh)

"Stand on your belief on solid ground. Let not others' wayward opinions deflect you from the true path you are on. Let not promises of glory by anyone waylay you. Do not come to hurried conclusions, but use discrimination in all your undertakings. Stick to what is Real." (Kirpal Singh)

"The human body is like a radio receiver for listening to the Sound Current [the inner Sound during meditation]. When we tune in the radio, we begin to hear the sound. Similarly, when the Master (Sant Satguru) guides us within, we are able to hear the Divine Music. By adjusting the ‘dial’, we hear various kinds of Sound.” (Huzur Baba Sawan Singh)

"The escape is through the Sound Current." (Hazur Baba Sawan Singh)

Always Listen to the inner Sound During Meditation Every Day: "If you listen for ten minutes, or five minutes, or four minutes, or two minutes, or even one minute, with love and devotion, millions of sins and obstacles will be removed." (Baba Jaimal Singh)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Selected Quotes from Many Different Spiritual Masters, Mystics, Gnostic Gospels, Scriptures and Spiritual Classics -- A Sant Mat Satsang Podcast -- Spiritual Awakening Radio

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Valentine's Day provides an opportunity, an excuse really, to share these powerful, loving verses of the heart. The poetic words of mystics are directed towards God as the Beloved lover of their soul, yet their expressions are so loving, so blissful, and ecstatic that they are, at the same time, quite romantic and appropriate for Valentine's Day between soul-mates! I believe the soul-to-soul-mate relationship of romance is a kind of 'reflection' of the soul's relationship with God (soul-to-Oversoul), the ultimate pure love from the Ocean of Love. 

Today, two Spiritual Awakening Radio podcasts in one. We'll get to some passages from the ecstatic Gnostic poetry of Valentinus of Alexandria (from the Nag Hammadi Library of Egypt) but first... Valentine's Day Verses of Love from Rumi, Darshan Singh, Guru Amar Das, Baba Farid and Hazrat Sultan Bahu the Sufi!

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Today during this Satsang Without Walls, this online spiritual meetup, we explore the seven elements of spiritual practice (sadhana, meditation): 1) The Worthiness of a Spiritual Seeker; 2) The Mantra (Simran, Sacred Names) Imparted by an Accomplished Teacher at the Time of Initiation; 3) Without Essential Information No Successful Meditation! (Necessary Knowledge Prior to Meditation Practice); 4) Resolute Practice: A. Japa/Ajapa Japa: Recitation of the Sacred Name or Names given by the Master, B. Manas Dhyana (Mental Focus on the Form of the Deity or visualization of the form of one's spiritual teacher, Sant Satguru), C. Drishti Yoga (The Yoga of Inner Seeing -- Inner Light Meditation), and D. The Yoga of Sound (Inner Sound Meditation practice, Surat Shabd Yoga, Meditating upon the Sound Current); 5) Bhakti: Devotion -- "For the Love of God" as Steve Vai has said; 6) The Merits of Past Lives -- Favorable Winds of Change; and, 7) The Will of God: Divine Grace. Forgiveness overcomes the imperfections of the whole world and the cosmos beyond. The lower realms may be governed by law, karma, destiny, and the cruel hand of fate, but there is Divine Grace from Above that always seeks to bust into the worlds of time and space to liberate souls! 

Also today there are readings from: the Padavali (Mystic Poetry, Hymns) of Maharshi Mehi Paramhans (Padavali # 52: "O traveler! Seek the path that lies within you. You and your Beloved Lord reside in the same body"; The Need for a Living Master So We May Be Initiated into the Secrets of Spiritual Practice: featuring Saint Augustine's surprising quote from the Gospel of Thomas! (Saying # 52) on paying attention to "The Living One"; an observation by George Arnsby Jones on the need for the living "guidance of a spiritual adept"; on the role of the living Master according to Huzur Maharaj Rai Saligram in his Prem Bani Radhasoami, volume IV; a couple of recent Sant Mat Satsang Discourses of Baba Ram Singh on consistent daily spiritual practice (Simran, Dhyan, and Bhajan); a verse from the Gnostic Gospel of Mary Magdalene; a line of poetry from Darshan Singh's collection known as, Love's Last Madness; Swami Ram Bihari Lal's classic, The Way Out Is IN; and a reading describing the NDE-like (Near Death Experience or Out-Of-Body/OOBE type) meditation practice of Sant Mat according to Yogani Mataji from the book, Enchanted Land. 

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhaswami,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Within this temple of the human body, just beyond the field of darkness one sees with eyes closed during meditation, are vast oceans of Light, Sound and Love. Genuine Sant Mat is the spiritual Path of Love (Bhakti) as well as Inner Light, and Sound. It is absolutely essential for the initiate, the disciple, the satsangi, the seeker of spirituality, to be in touch with the Bhakti side of the Path. Huzur Maharaj Rai Saligram in his Prem Patra Radhasoami says: "All Sants, and Soami Ji Maharaj in particular, have, in their Bani [hymns], laid great stress upon engendering love. The idea is that the task can be accomplished quickly and easily with the help of love. Mere renunciation cannot afford so much advantage, nor can mere comprehension of the Faith confer such a benefit. All activities in the world are going on because of love and desire. If one does not have any feeling of love or he has no interest in a matter, he can do nothing. For the real spiritual welfare of their soul, it therefore behooves all Jivas [souls] to develop real love for the true Supreme Being." 

There are compositions of Guru Nanak, Sants like Kabir, Namdev, Ravidas, Dadu, Mirabai, Dayabai, Sahjo Bai, Tulsi Das, Paltoo Sahib, Surdas, Tukaram, Dariya Sahib, Tulsi Sahib, Girdhari Sahib, Surswami, Swami Ji Maharaj, Huzur Maharaj, Maharshi Mehi Paramhans, Baba Somanath -- so many great Saints of the ages, during each generation of humanity. Their mystic poetry and hymns (banis and bhajans) are such treasure-troves of inspiration. These are all voices speaking from that state of being or consciousness that we call "Anurag Sagar", the Ocean of Love, and "Sach Khand", the Timeless Spiritual Realm. These verses of the Saints read like poetry or psalms. Rumi poetry is similar. These Mystics of the East provide very beautiful and Bhakti devotional teachings, the Way of the Lover and the Beloved. 

"Sant Mat is not the path of information. This is the Path of Transformation." (Swami Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj)  "As the river enters into the Ocean, so my heart touches Thee." (Kabir)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

https://linktr.ee/SpiritualAwakeningRadio

Mystics have universally taught, East and West, that "the Light of God is within everyone", as George Fox, founder of the Quakers once said. If we can transcend cultural blinders that imply it is impossible for us to see spiritually, mystically or inwardly with the Single Eye, there is indeed hope for us to reunite with the Divine Light, right here, right now, in the present moment, see for ourselves and discover that "darkness is not really dark" (Psalm 139: 12). Once we are open to this possibility, then there is the potential of adopting a contemplative meditation practice that leads to the experience of the Inner Light. There is hope we might be able to temporarily transcend the world of the five senses during our meditations and finally begin our journey exploring the "New World" of Inner Space, the "Kingdom of the Heavens" that are within us, the Kingdom of the Light. "If one is whole, one will be filled with Light, but if one is divided, one will be filled with darkness... there is light within a Person of Light, and it illuminates the entire cosmos." (Gospel of Thomas) "If your Eye be Single, your whole body shall be full of Light." (New Testament) If the energy of our attention is scattered and dissipated into the world of the five senses, when we close our eyes we naturally see darkness, but if our attention or awareness returns to the Single Eye -- Third Eye, the seat of our soul -- Light shall appear. "Do not cease seeking day or night and do not let yourselves relax until you find the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Light, which will purify you and make you into pure Light and lead you into the Kingdom of the Light." (Book of Faith Wisdom, Pistis Sophia)

Hazur Baba Sawan Singh says, "The Masters come and They tell us, They initiate us and They tell us, about the different planes within. They tell us about what are the Sounds within, what are the Lights within in the different planes. They tell us about the path of how one has to transcend across these planes." Baba Somanath: "The darkness in the well of the world is driven away when the Self-Effulgent lamp of Knowledge sheds it Light... Rivet my attention at the still-point between the eyes [Third Eye Center], and show me the Light of Spiritual knowledge... Between the two eyes, be baptized in the Immaculate Light."

On today's Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcast a satsang format with the theme of finding the Inner Divine Light, exploring the wisdom of Plato, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Matthew, Gospel of Philip from the Nag Hammadi Library of Egypt, the Gnostic Book of Faith Wisdom (Pistis Sophia), the medieval Beguine Christian mystic Mechthild of Magdeburg from her spiritual classic, Flowing Light of the Godhead, George Fox, a Bhajan (Mystic Poem/Hymn) of Sant Namdev, Guru Nanak from the Adi Granth (Sikh scriptures), the Sar Bachan Radhaswami Poetry of Swami Ji Maharaj, Swami Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj from, Quintessence of Yoga: Secret of all Success, Swami Vyasanand from, The Inward Journey of the Soul (Chal Hansa Nij Desh: O Swan-Soul Return to Your Abode), Yogani Mataji of the Radhasoami Faith (Sant Mat), Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Ji, a long reading from selected Bhajans (Mystic Poetry/Hymns) of Baba Somanath on the Inner Mystic Light of the Inner Regions, Santji, and excerpts from the Satsang Discourses of Baba Ram Singh Ji.

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

https://linktr.ee/SpiritualAwakeningRadio

"Without love, there is no spiritual path.

The path lives in love.

With intensification of love, one comes in contact

with the True Sound,

And like a lotus in water, abides in its peace and bliss."

-- Sant Dariya Sahib of Bihar

"The Supreme Being Radhasoami Dayal [Merciful Lord of the Soul] is, the Ocean or Reservoir of Love, and Surat [the Soul], which is His particle, i.e., emanation or current, is also of the essence of love. Therefore, unless love is engendered in the Surat [the attention-faculty of the Soul], it cannot merge into its Reservoir. In other words, the practice of traversing on this path and reaching the Source (which is known as the practice of Surat and Shabd [yoga or meditation]) could never be performed properly or correctly carried on." (Huzur Maharaj Rai Saligram, Radhasoami Mat Sandesh)

"Love is that power that makes God break His own laws in order to serve the devotee. Love is that meditation or method that makes the impossible possible. That which is harsh becomes gentle; the enemy becomes friend; the weak become strong; the concealed becomes revealed. Even though it is said that it takes many lifetimes to realize the Divine, if a devotee performs sadhana [meditation practice] with true, unwavering devotion, then the Divine Will manifest at that moment." (Swami Vyasanand, The Inward Journey of the Soul)

"Without Bhakti [spiritual love] and devotion, nobody can swim across the vast and deep ocean of this samsara [sansaar, world of changes] even if one makes use of lakhs [thousands] of ways and means; but if one takes to the Word and develops love for Shabd [the Sound Current], one will one hundred percent go to his eternal abode." (The Essential Kabir, M.G. Gupta translation)

"How can one sit so still, repeat only holy names and think of God constantly? 'By falling in love,' Mataji answered serenely. 'Because when one is truly in love nothing but the beloved can enter one’s mind. So the secret of surat shabd yoga and of mysticism,' she goaded, 'is not necessarily practice and more practice, but love. To be so devoted to one’s Lord that nothing can stand in the way-this and nothing else is the truth of Sant Mat,' Mataji stressed." (Yogani Mataji, Enchanted Land)

"There never was or ever will be anything but love, expressing itself infinitely." (Sant Jnaneswar of Maharashtra)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

https://linktr.ee/SpiritualAwakeningRadio

There has always been a Living Mystic Path of the Masters operating in the world across the many centuries, across the ages of humanity. The Path of the Masters or Way of the Saints is in possession of the key that unlocks the inner door of spirituality: the embodied wisdom of qualified teachers, competent masters, that guide souls into developing their own meditation practice to successfully explore inner space, the path that ascends back to the Supreme Being in the Ocean of Love and Spirit. Here and there, from time to time since the beginning of time schools of spirituality have appeared as Lights in the darkness. Eventually they fade away, or sometimes get commandeered and transformed into more conventional earthly materialistic religions, with their sacred texts edited and their original saints declared to be heretics. As old branches of the mystic tree of life fall to the ground and turn to dust they are replaced with new living branches. "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." (Seneca) Such has been the history of the irrepressible saints and mystics on planet earth, this world of changes (samsara).  

Bawa Harnam Singh once asked Hazur Baba Sawan Singh, "'What difference is there between your faith and Guru Nanak's teachings?'

"'None at all', the Great Master replied. Nanak, Kabir, Dadu, Paltu, Tulsidas, Jagjiwan, Shams Tabriz, Maulana Rumi, Khwaja Hafiz, Mansur, Baba Farid, Mujaddid Al Sani, and all other Saints to whatever country, clime or religion they belonged, preached the same truth. The principles, the method, the teachings always remain the same, though the 'key' is transferred from one house to another after some time. It is said that 'God fulfills Himself in many ways lest one good old custom should corrupt the world'. At one time the 'key' to unlock the Inner Door was in the house of Kabir. Then it shifted to Guru Nanak, where it remained for ten generations. Then it went to Tulsi Sahib, from where it came to Swami Ji (Seth Shiv Dayal Ji). This is the law of nature. Change becomes essential after a certain period. You will find that the followers of such great Masters have totally forgotten their real teachings, though it has been only a few centuries since They departed from the world. The method of spiritual exercises, which was the essence of their faith during the time of the previous Masters, is quite unknown to their followers of today.'" (Hazur Baba Sawan Singh)

Today on this Sant Mat Satsang Podcast edition of Spiritual Awakening Radio readings from: Hazur Baba Sawan Singh, Swami Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj (Harmony of All Religions), Acts of Peter (New Testament apocrypha), Saint Isaac the Syrian, The Coptic Gospel of the Savior, The Book of Grace (Syriac), John of Dalyatha (Syriac mystic), The Apocryphon of James, and, The Apocalypse of Paul (from the Gnostic Nag Hammadi Library of Egypt), Bar Hebraeus (Book of the Dove, Syriac text), Acts of John (extra-canonical text), Simon of Taibutheh (Syriac mystic), Kirpal Singh (God Power, Christ Power, Master Power), Baba Ram Singh (from the satsang discourse: Once We Come To The Eye Center, The Progress Further In The Inner Planes Is Much Faster), Huzur Maharaj Rai Saligram (Prem Bani Radhasoami, Volume Four), and mystic poetry verses from Sant Namdev. 

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters,

James Bean

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Spiritual Awakening Radio

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

"God and Love (Bhakti) are one and the same thing... We should understand that Bhakti [Love] is the life or soul of the entire universe... This spiritual path and its destination is Divine Love….. The remover of difficulties is the one spiritual teacher who has given you the secret knowledge (spiritual guidance and experience)." (Baba Devi Sahab of Moradabad) 

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters,

James Bean

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Spiritual Awakening Radio

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

RUMI Says: "Everything you see has its roots in the unseen world. The forms may change, yet the essence remains the same. Every wonderful sight will vanish, every sweet word will fade, but do not be disheartened. The source they come from is eternal, growing, branching out, giving new life and new joy. Why do you weep? The source is within you and this whole world is springing up from it."

This satsang podcast edition of Spiritual Awakening Radio contains readings from many spiritual masters, scriptures, and poet-mystics of the East & West, including Gnostic passages from the Gospel of Truth and other writings of Valentinus of Alexandria.

"In the spirit I see all suspended,

In the spirit I know everything held:

The flesh hanging from the soul

The soul held aloft by the air

The air suspended from the ether

Fruits manifest themselves out of the Depth

A child emerges from the womb."

-- Valentinus, Summer Harvest

"I saw a newborn child, and questioned it to find out who it was. And the child answered me saying, 'I am the Word'".

-- Valentinus, Valentinus' Vision of the Word

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters,

James Bean

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Spiritual Awakening Radio

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com 

Bhakti is a Sanskrit word for love and devotion, and love is the quintessential truth of all religion, spirituality and mysticism. In the New Testament Saint Paul said that "love is the most excellent way." The Bhagavad Gita and the other world scriptures say the same thing. The mystic-lovers of history have taught that "God is an infinite Ocean of Love and each soul is a drop from that Ocean." By approaching simran (mantra, a spiritual exercise of repeating God's Name or Names), prayer, the singing of hymns, or meditation with an attitude of love and devotion (prem and bhakti), we elevate our consciousness. The practice of love brings us into harmony with the Supreme Being, our own true nature, and with all souls in creation.

Bhakti is the Path of Love; it is heart-centered, focused on the cultivation of love between the soul and the Oversoul, between lover and the Beloved. India's Nirguna Bhakti Sants (Saints) are madly in love with the Supreme Being, the Ocean of Love. Their relationship with the Supreme Being is that of Divine romance.

This is a translation of a hymn (shabd) by the 19th century mystic Sant Tulsi Sahib: 

"Whose soul is attached to the Word, revels

ever in cosmic flight;

Revels ever in cosmic flight, and realizing the

Lord, plays with Him.

The mystery of the Inaccessible and the secret

of the scriptures he unravels:

He reaches his Home within and its Essence

he comes to know;

In the lotus feet of the Beloved he sees

his true destination.

The happily married woman rejoices with her

Spouse every moment, O Tulsi,

For her soul is attached to the Word, and

revels ever in cosmic flight."

The compositions of Sant Tulsi Sahib are bhakti (devotional) in tone, and at the same time allude to the mystical experiences of the soul achieving cosmic flight by becoming attached to the Word -- hearing the Celestial Music of the Spheres during meditation. Through the Divine Word the mystery of the Inaccessible Plane (called by mystics "Agam Lok") is made accessible. Shri Tulsi described his experience of the Beloved Lord as a marriage consummated in mystical union. This merger of lover and Beloved is the final destination of lovers. Sant Dadu, a Master in the Guru Kabir lineage said of this oneness: 

"The lover is converted into the Beloved. 

That indeed is called true love.

Forgetting his own ego, he remains

absorbed in the One."

In their spiritual hymns of love and devotion (prem and bhakti) mystic-devotees sing of the power that the Spirit of Love has to transport souls back to the original Home of all souls -- the Ocean of Love and Compassion (Anurag Sagar). By approaching spiritual practice with love, we will be elevated in spirit to places beyond our wildest dreams! And for those who are skeptical of their own ability to experience the Way of the Saints, Swami Ji Maharaj said in one of his hymns: 

"It does not matter if your bhakti is imperfect.

Perform bhakti! Radhasoami [the Lord of the Soul]

graciously declares that you should perform bhakti

in whichever way you can. Fear not. He will grant

you the Treasure of Love. You will be a recipient

of the Gift of Love." 

(Sar Bachan Radhasoami Poetry, Vol. II, Agra)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters,

James Bean

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Spiritual Awakening Radio

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

I remember so well looking at my collection of mystic books and Nag Hammadi codices realizing I had reached a kind of dead-end, a sense that no further progress can be made without contact with a living version of those paths with us now in the Twenty-First Century, a living gnosis now, a living school of spirituality now. The actual spiritual practices, East and West, are typically never written down in old scriptures and mystical texts anyway, but remain private communications only between master and disciple. With past saints we can’t sit at their feet, ask questions, take notes, or learn from them the secrets of contemplative meditation practice. As wonderful as world scriptures and the writings of past mystics might be, they are no substitute for a living spiritual path with us now in the world today, or being mentored by living spiritual teachers in-the-here-and-now. Rather than a vain attempt to figure out the methods of meditation by randomly perusing through old writings and scriptures of those who have left-the-body decades or centuries ago speculating on what their meditation techniques might have been, in Sant Mat (The Path of the Masters) the methods of sadhana (spiritual practice) are directly communicated from one generation to the next via the Living Masters of the time.

"What shall I do? The world sees yet is blind -- 

It has forsaken bliss and runs after earthly pursuits.

It idolizes stones and slaughters divine beings,

Adores and worships that which has no life!

The living are sacrificed at the altar of the lifeless -- 

The world sees yet continues to waste precious life." (Sant Namdev)

"The musk is in the deer, but it seeks it not within itself: it wanders in quest of grass." (Kabir)

"During deep sleep we are unable to have any knowledge of this physical body; however, after waking up we recall this body, our relations and possessions. In the same manner, when we are in the three states -- awake, sleep, dreamless sleep -- we are unable to directly perceive our inner self and God. The Saints tell us that there is yet a fourth state, called the Turiya, which is above the others. In this state we can directly perceive our own nature and know the Divine." (Swami Santsevi Ji Maharaj)

"So, the path to do that is contained within this human life-form where, with the Teachings of the Masters, we leave the nine doors [of the sense organs] and come to the Tenth Door [Third Eye]. And with the Grace of the Master, we are able to see for ourselves our soul and Jyoti [the Light] within." (Baba Ram Singh)

"I wandered through the cosmos in search of the treasure but found it within me." (Sant Namdev)

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters,

James Bean

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Spiritual Awakening Radio

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Today, a short summary on the origins and history of this spiritual path called Sant Mat. Also explored:

The Mythological Origins of Sant Mat According to the Bijak of Kabir and the Anurag Sagar, another key Kabir Panth text;

The Influence of Gorakhnath and the Nath Yogis;

Saints of Antiquity During the Time of Krishna, Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, and Bhagavata Purana; 

On the Usage of the Term "Sant Mat" and the Tulsi Sahib Connection;

Who Was Sant Tulsi Sahib's Guru? There Was One Contemporary Living Master Named by Tulsi Sahib: Sant Dariya Sahib of Bihar; 

Sant Dariya Kabir of Bihar as the Reincarnation of Kabir;

The Panch Naam/Five Names Traced Back to Kabir/Dharamdasi Texts, the People of the Anurag Sagar;

Lineage Clarity. An approximate description of the direct Sant Mat lineage of Masters looks something close to this: Guru Kabir to Sant Dharam Das to Churamani Naam (Dharam Das's son) to Sat Saheb to Dariya Sahib of Bihar (and/or to one of the successors named by Dariya like Fakkar Das, Basti Das, Tika Das or Guna Das) to Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras to his successors... up to the living present.

During the Second Half of the Program, Mystic Poetry: Satsang Readings and Commentary: 

Kabir Bhajan Amritam -- Devotional Bhajans: Dharam Das Seeks a Living Master, and Kabir's Reply;

Songs of Kabir;

The Bijak;

Rumi;

Quote from the Shabd Pratap Ashram Website: "No mission is of greater importance to a person than the awareness of his own consciousness, the profound significance and purpose of his existence on earth and to find out the path for ultimate bliss, eternal happiness and cheerfulness i.e. the quest for truth."

The Spiritual Seekers Guide; 

The Kabir Book of Prayers;

Julian P. Johnson, Path of the Masters;

Baba Devi Sahib of Moradabad;

Mystic Poetry of Sant Tulsi Sahib;

And a Discourse Based on the Anurag Sagar (Kabir's Ocean of Love): "As long as the soul remains in the body, O brother, practice the Path of Shabda."

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters,

James Bean

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Spiritual Awakening Radio

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Today's podcast has the theme of "May Captive Souls Be Set Free, Go Within and Ascend", exploring the spiritual practices of Sant Mat that allow extroverted souls who have lost their true identity somewhere in time to go within, find their soul again at the seat of the soul, and begin exploring the Kingdom of the Heavens (Higher Planes of Consciousness), with readings (along with commentary) from: 

the Radhasoami spiritual classic, The Way Out Is... IN, by Swami Ram Bihari Lal, successor of Sant Garib Das of the Radhaswami Faith; 

The Essence of the Teachings of Mastana Ji, 1891-1960, another great disciple, successor and devotee of Hazur Baba Sawan Singh; 

a mystic poem of Sant Sahajo Bai: "Sahajo says: know the true Self, which time cannot destroy"; 

timeless verses of Meister Eckhart the great German mystic; 

The Book of Mirdad: "Let Time Revolve About You; But You Revolve Not With Time"; 

Saint Isaac of Nineveh the Syriac mystic on meditation and accessing the expanse above; 

satsang readings from the teachings of Hazur Baba Sawan Singh on the Methods of Withdrawing Within Oneself in Contemplative Meditation (Simran, Dhyan, Bhajan); also from Sawan Singh Ji on the importance and need for Initiation into the Mysteries of the Heavens by a Living One, a Living Master (Sant Satguru), which is when one fully learns and experiences the secrets of meditation practice, and receives the proper spiritual guidance about the ascension of the soul through the Inner Regions.

Also, I share from the Gospel of Thomas on Finding a Living One: "Seek to see the Living One while you are alive, lest you die and then try to behold that one -- and you will be unable to see." (Yeshua, Saying 52) Rather than attempting to figure out the methods of meditation by randomly perusing through the old writings and scriptures of those who have left-the-body decades or centuries ago speculating on what their meditation techniques might have been, in Sant Mat, the Path of the Masters, the methods of sadhana (spiritual practice) are directly communicated from one generation to the next via the Living Masters of the time.

Also during today's Sant Mat Satsang Podcast are readings from the satsang discourses of Baba Ram Singh Ji on being vigilant in tending to our meditations. "And when we sit for meditation, we should not consider it a burden because this is the true work for which we have come into this life and we should make the most of this opportunity." (Baba Ram Singh)

I conclude with some mystic poetry from: Songs of Kabir in the Adi Granth (Sikh scriptures); Guru Nanak Dev; John of Apamea -- another Syriac mystic; an otherworldly reading from the Canonical Prayer-Book of the Mandaean Gnostics; and finally from the Psalm-scroll of the Dead Sea Scrolls containing some mystic verses from the founder of the Qumran community known as "The Teacher of Righteousness". He's also sometimes referred to as "the Master".

"Over mere dust

hast Thou wafted Thy Holy Spirit,

and hast so molded that clay

that it can have converse with angels

and be in communion

with beings celestial.

Mere flesh hast Thou lit

with a Light everlasting...

My heart was amazed that thus 

the Word was revealed to one 

with ears unattuned, 

and that a wayward heart 

was able to grasp these things." 

In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters,

James Bean

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Spiritual Awakening Radio

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

The Purpose of Life: "With Swamiji there is no such thing as idle chatter; he talks of the impermanence of the body and the purpose of life -- attaining spiritual enlightenment to avoid samsara (endless rebirth). He reminds me that when I die nothing will go with me; I will have to leave everything behind, except the accumulated spiritual wealth of my personal sadhana [meditation practice]."

"In conversation with Swamiji, he suddenly bursts out enthusiastically with 'Brahma Muhurta!' This, I learn, is the time between 3;00 AM and 6;00 AM known as the most favourable time for Sadhana (one’s spiritual practices). During Brahmamuhurta, so called as it is considered the most auspicious time for meditating on Brahman (God), the mind is calm and less engaged with worldly thoughts, worries and anxieties. Also the atmospheric energy during this time is more charged with sattva (purity), increasing the likelihood one’s practice will go deeper, with the corresponding health and well-being benefits." (India: Glimpses Into Sant Mat Ashram Life: Rishikesh, Sanctuary of Sadhus, Sages and the Occasional Enlightened Master)

Egypt: Members of the Therapeutae order wore white like some Sikhs and Sufis: "... and being clothed in tunics of the most delicate texture, and of the purest white..." (Philo of Alexandria) In the case of most Gnostic groups, and the Jewish Essene sect, we only know them through their writings -- their teachings, not much else. In the case of the Therapeutae no collections of their writings have ever been found, but through Philo of Alexandria we have a fairly detailed description of their daily life and weekly format of worship. (Meet the Children of the Dawn: The Therapeutae -- The First Monastery Mentioned in History, an Ancient Spiritual Community that Once Existed Near Alexandria)

In Divine Love, Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters,

James Bean

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Spiritual Awakening Radio

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

The Search for A True Master: The Sat Guru, A Competent, Qualified, Genuine, Enlightened Teacher -- This Sant Mat Satsang Podcast is for the benefit of spiritual seekers and satsangis everywhere. Today: a compilation of articles, quotations, and observations about this most important of subjects for spiritual seekers: finding a true teacher (Sant Satguru, Living Master,). This is all about nobody being left behind. No detours and wasted decades. Life is short. We must choose wisely. 

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." (William Arthur Ward)

"It is the mercy of my Satguru that has made me to know the Unknown. I have learned from Him how to walk without feet, to see without eyes, to hear without ears, to drink without mouth, to fly without wings. I have brought my love and my meditation into the land where there is no sun and moon, nor day and night. Without eating, I have tasted of the sweetness of nectar; and without water, I have quenched my thirst. Where there is the response of delight, there is the fullness of joy. Before whom can that joy be uttered? Kabir says: "The Guru is great beyond words, and great is the good fortune of the disciple." (Songs of Kabir, satgur soi daya kar dinha)

"The question then is how to recognize an accomplished guru and one who is not accomplished, or worse, one who is corrupt. The difficulty is that most, being mesmerized by worldly attractions, judge gurus by outward and material achievements, which are a wholly inaccurate measure. The true gurus live a simple life and morally upright lifestyle; they stay away from the pomp and show of the display of power. For example, they do not have expensive cars and opulent mansions. They do not show favoritism among their followers... 

"Today’s inept gurus do not pay attention to the tradition of true Sants and are simply intent on increasing the number of their followers... These gurus praise their rich devotees; they are inaccessible to their underprivileged devotees. They even despicably exploit the poor... The false teachers themselves do not know the inner path nor understand the students' dilemma. They cannot tell if the student is making progress or going backward. The untrue guru has no way of knowing. In this way the student becomes unsure and confused on the path of meditation. This is fully the responsibility of the 'guru' to assist when the student begins to stray from the path of meditation." (Swami Vyasanand, from, Rules For Being Guru)

The leader of a spiritual movement must always be the embodiment of Truth (Sat Guru -- Guru of Truth). Without a competent Master, a spiritual movement will not be capable of being an instrument in the world for the Positive Power (God).

"Wisdom cannot be taught by one who has not attained wisdom... The way to wisdom is through a teacher who has seen wisdom." (The Upanishads)

God is the Ocean of Love.

In Divine Love, Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters,

James Bean

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Spiritual Awakening Radio

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com