Reference: posted by: vejeestu on 7/4/000 to Kirpal Singh Satsang Club; Messages number 493-495
Next morning I found myself one of seventy or eighty people in a large room. There was a buzz of conversation, mostly in Hindi; but several people spoke to me in English in a friendly effort to lessen any feeling of strangeness I might have had as an alien in an apparently exclusively Indian gathering. There was a sudden hush as the Master entered, pausing now and again to chat briefly with some and giving me a kindly and courteous welcome. I was now able to look at him critically and calmly, noting his luminous eyes and fine carriage, and found nothing to detract from my impressions of our first meeting. He would be about seventy years of age, I thought, but obviously remarkably fit and vigorous; which I found afterwards, when I knew him better, to be an almost absurd understatement.
I had no notion of the purpose of this gathering and little dreamed of the quite incredible awakening in store for me.
The Master seated himself in an armchair at the end of the room and men and women squatted yogi-fashion facing him, the men to his right and the women to the left, and I in another armchair at the back.
Without any preliminaries he began talking in a very simple way, referring to the statement by Jesus that the Kingdom of God is within us, and asserting that this kingdom could be entered here and now.... God Himself in His absolute state could not be seen by man, but only through His primal manifestations of Light and Sound could He be realized, by the grace of a living Perfect Master or Godman. In the opening chapter of St. John's Gospel we have: "In the beginning was the Word." This Word created all the spiritual and spirituo-material worlds, from the highest realm of pure Spirit to the lowest, the physical universe.
The seat of the soul is at a point midway between the two eyebrows. It was through this center that the soul entered the body at birth and would leave it at death, and it is here that our first conscious contact with the Light of God would be made. All we had to do was to introvert our minds, still our thoughts, and focus our attention at this point between the two eyebrows, and watch and wait patiently, quietly, reposefully, without any strain or worry. Each of us, the Master calmly stated, would be given a "peep within," a conscious spiritual experience, each according to his or her spiritual development and receptivity.
It was a stupendous statement. Here in the simplest possible way, without any of the usual ritualistic accompaniments of an approach to God, was the promise that by the Master's grace our inner eye—the Third Eye—would be opened and we would see the Light of God. Only the power of a Godman, or the Word made flesh, could do it.
(Thought I'd mention that the author, L. Gurney Parrott, was 65 at the time of these events.)
As I tried to compose myself for the ensuing meditation, it is not surprising if for some time I failed to control my whirling thoughts. We were about to be given in a fully conscious and waking state proof, by personal experience, of an inner finer world; it would automatically show that death is not the end of the human personality and that "the bourn from which no traveler returned" could nevertheless be perceived and entered during life. I had no sense of fear, only a sort of stupefaction that almost inhibited thought; but I grew watchful and critical, and more than a little skeptical.
Yet here was a practical demonstration of the truths taught by all religions. I was conversant with the theory, and here was the practice, and more incongruous than anything else was the mere fact that I should be taking part in it. Could I be blamed for doubting? No one could feel less worthy than I to receive such a gift; it surely was not possible!
For some time so it certainly seemed, for nothing happened and the demon doubt reared again his ugly head. With an effort I dismissed such thoughts and resumed meditation, but not before casting a swift glance around to see if anything unusual was going on. But no, there they all were, sitting quietly with eyes closed. There was the Master sitting in front, motionless, gazing tranquilly across the room, the sunshine streaming in at the windows and the birds singing outside. I closed my eyes again.
And then it began. Slowly light came within and grew in intensity to a brightness greater than our sun, and shadowless. In that pure Light other manifestations presented themselves to my astonished and enraplured gaze about which it is not permitted to speak. Words indeed fail me and it is impossible to convey any idea of the glory of those scenes, or the supreme joy and happiness—nay, ecstasy—that coursed through me. Here was proof of immortality, a glimpse into that astral world to which the soul passes on relinquishing this body at death. There is no death; there is no death! My whole being sang it, every sense thrilled to it, for now I knew in truth and there could be no more fear.
The Master closed the meditation which had lasted for 45 minutes and: asked each person separately and privately what he or she had seen, explaining and commenting. Every soul there had received a spiritual experience, but all different as no two people have exactly the same background or development. Each received according to his or her degree of receptivity.
There was, however, yet another incredible experience waiting for us. In dismissing us, the Master told us to reassemble in about.an hour for another kind of meditation, this time for Sound, the Word or the Voice of God.
If I was dazed and almost stunned by the revelations of the first meditation, what could possibly be the nature of the coming one, I wondered. I was thankful to rest quietly in a corner to reflect upon this amazing session and to regain a composure so powerfully but happily excited.
We again assembled, the Master seated in front as before, the men and women squatting on the floor and I at the back of the room in my armchair.
The Master explained that the Sound Current, which St. John in the opening chapter of his Gospel refers to as the "Word," or Audible Life Stream, emanates from God and vibrates through the whole of creation. By it all the worlds, seen and unseen, were created and are sustained. With the Sound there is Light, and it is only through these two primal manifestations of the Godhead that the Supreme One can be known or reached. The Sounding Flame, or the Flaming Sound, is also known by the Indian name of Shabd.
This Sound can be heard only if a Perfect Master who has come with a special commission from God to lead souls back to Him connects them with this Celestial Music, this Shabd.
The original Shabd is One, and as it descended it created the pure spiritual region, then the lower spirituo-material planes of which there are four. It becomes five strains at the level of this material universe, but on the earth there are actually ten variants of this Celestial Music and we should hear
For some time nothing happened, but this time I waited patiently, with absorbed attention. Then came a continuous sound from the right side and soon swelled in an amazing crescendo, and continued unbroken for some twenty minutes. I may not give further detail except to add that at the end, after describing the nature of the sound to the Master and having his explanatory comment, I was filled with a blessed serenity and peace I had never known before. It is impossible to convey the joy and rapture experienced in this double cognition of a supersensual state.
Here was practical vindication of the Master's injunction in his book Godman (page 9l ): "Believe not the words of a Master Soul unless you see the things he tells about with your own eyes."
If the theory of religion had thus been practically demonstrated to me "in the laboratory of the soul," by whom had it been accomplished? Who was this apparently ordinary man who could give spiritual experience; who could open or raise the consciousness to a higher level to glimpse the spiritual world? Who was this man who "spoke with authority" and who gave so freely?
The Master asked me to come again the next morning, early, at eight o'clock, and as I taxied back to my hotel that evening, I suddenly realized that all my misery and sorrow had gone and I was brimming over with happiness.
I understood then as never before the words of Christ:
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
MATTHEW I 1:28When I reached my room, I switched on the light, and as I moved around I happened to blink or close my eyes momentarily. To my astonished gaze there stood the Master in his Radiant Form, as though made of light, smiling. I opened my eyes and closed them again, and there he was. I opened them, and he was still there, shining and wonderful, whether my eye's were open or closed. I did this several times in amazed wonder, putting the light on and off. It made no difference, and I cried aloud in joy and astonishment: "There he is, there he is! It is true, it is all true! Oh God! how wonderful!"
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