Reference: posted by: vejeestu on 7/8/00 to Kirpal Singh Satsang Club; Messages number 500-506
- Giani Ji This article from the Ocean of Grace Divine is by Bhagwan Singh Giani, one of the closest sevadars of Sant Kirpal Singh. I interviewed Giani Ji with Arran Stephens at his home in Sawan Ashram in 1986. An intelligent, interesting, humorous and kind hearted individual, the following is his short account of his many years association with the Master.
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Remembrance of the dear Master and the pangs of separation fill me with sadness. How a poor man, a sinner like myself who was floating in the world of the senses and struggling along, was picked up by Sant Kirpal Singh Ji is a marvellous thing in itself.From 1921 to about 1928 I was living in Amritsar, the place of the Golden Temple, the place of the Gurus. I was not a religious man by temperament, nor perhaps am I one now; but spontaneously and with devotion I used to pray: "Oh God, please take me to Your Feet, but suffer me not to have want of worldly things." In 1927 I married to a family of standing and religious background. They were living in Lahore, and at that time Bhapa [Elder Brother] Kirpal Singh Ji was also in Lahore. My marriage, and later on my appointment to a good job in the Government, took me to Lahore. I was residing with my in-laws, and there I met Kirpal Singh Ji who used to come to see us as often as three or four times a week. The satsangis there used to gather at the home of my in-laws and we used to listen to the beautiful and wise words of Kirpal Singh. He was about thirty-four and I was in my early twenties at the time.
As I have said, religion to me was nothing but going to the gurdwara, reciting the Gurbani and honouring one's day-to-day responsibilities. Kirpal Singh Ji would just talk. His words were very sweet yet penetrating. He was kind yet firm, and we all listened to Him. This went on for some time; and then at last I said, "Bhapa Ji, if You say that this Naam is so very good—give me some, I'll have it!" "Oh," He said, "yes, you'll have It, but not from me; Baba Sawan Singh will give It to you." I said, "Sir, all right." You see, even in those early days I had developed such devotion, awe and reverence for Him that I can't begin to explain. I was a naughty fellow, yet He had captured my heart.
So I started to go to Beas with Him to see Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Ji. I had the desire to be with Bhapa Ji on all four Sundays of the month. One Sunday He would give Satsang at Amritsar, one Sunday He would give Satsang at another station, and the last Sunday of the month was for going to Beas so that we could hear Hazur's Satsang and have His darshan. Master Sawan Singh had a big following, but I don't know why I couldn't get attracted to anybody else in His Sangat. I was attracted to Bhapa Kirpal Singh Ji as a girl is attracted to her lord. Wherever He slept I would slowly sneak in there, maybe in the room or maybe outside just to be near Him.
Around 1931 I was transferred to Quetta. One day I said to Bhapa Ji after a Satsang, "I have heard that the Master whom You take to be Your Guru is always present in the hills, in the mountains, on the high seas and beyond, and that He is Your protector and benefactor. As I am being transferred to a place full of these Pathans who may harm me, I now wish to take Naam." At this time I was a young man of about twenty-eight years old; quite a mischievious person. So I joined the line of those waiting to be given initiation. I do not remember what experiences I had at this initiation. Later on in the ministry of Master Kirpal Singh I saw so many things that I could never see during the ministry of Baba Sawan Singh. I was one of the thousands of ordinary people who could never have an opportuniry to go near Him. Perhaps I should say that during the period of twenty years that I had been going to Beas, from 1928 to 1948, I may have had the chance of touching the feet of Baba Sawan Singh, my Master, not more than four or five times. And that too was through the grace of Bhapa Kirpal Singh because I would sneak in along with Him, otherwise nobody would allow me to go in and see Him privately.
Anyway, when I came back to Lahore we would always come down to Beas with Bhapa Ji. One time I remember very vividly. It was summer time and we were sleeping upstairs on the roof; Bhapa Kirpal Singh, myself and one or two others. Early in the morning, about 5:00 or so, we got up and I said, "Bhapa Ji, let us go and do our ablutions and have a bath." He said, "Oh, I have already taken my bath." And then suddenly, just as if He had not wanted to say this, He said, "Yes, yes. I will accompany you outside to have a bath." The first bath that He was referring to was the inner bath He had taken—He of course had meditated during the night.
So during all those years from 1928 to 1948 Bhapa Kirpal Singh had already instilled in me some understanding of what He really was. I sensed that he would be the successor to Baba Sawan Singh right from the beginning, and saw that there was no one in the big Sangat at Beas who could match Him. It was a very easy thing for me to accept Him as the new Master; I was like a dwarf against a towering personality, and this awareness had bred in me a sort of fear lest I should displease Him in any way. The reverence was there, the devotion was there, and the fear also was there. I couldn't say "No" to Him at any time whatever He asked of me. I always tried to be near Him. He allowed me to come to His house; He allowed me to do small things for Him, which I was happy to do to please Him
There are one or two incidents before 1948—before He became the Master—that I would now like to relate. My brother-inlaw, a young boy of twelve or thirteen years, fell ill. Bhapa Kirpal Singh Ji would come to our house almost daily, tend him, look after him. One day in the morning He said to my mother-in-law, "Look here, look here. Now you must leave off all clutching for the child—he has to go." He then told my wife that the child would leave at 8:00 at night, and that He would return at that time. It so happened that at about 7:00 He came back and He remained with the child; then when the clock struck 8:00, He placed His hand on the boy's forehead, and he went smiling. BhapaJi then said, "All right. I will come again tomorrow when the boy is to be taken to the cremation ground." And to the cremation ground He did go. There were a large number of people. Somebody said, "Bhapa Ji, would You say a few words on this occasion?" He said, "Look here, this is a lesson before you all. You must know that this thing has to happen to you also. Be prepared for it. And if you have not prepared for it, think of how you are going to prepare for it." This was said in a very polite way, in a very loving way, yet in such a forceful way that everybody could not but weep over it. As far as I remember, this was as early as 1933.
You see, He used to love us like anything, and that is why our respect for Him grew every day. He was always a very noble person, a compassionate one, a man who was given to service. All these qualities had developed in the entire family of ours a sort of devotion to Him; we knew we had a person in Him who was always with us, ready to help us, and to take compassion on us. After all, what was I? I was just a sinner floating about and I cannot imagine any quality or any good thing that I had that could have possibly been an asset to Him, let alone for Him to eventually choose me to work so closely with Him.
Every day there was one incident or another which revealed that here was a man on earth whom you could really call God. All the attributes which can ever be given to God were in Him: He was compassionate, He was loving, He was kind, He was helpful. He had the heart of a householder; yet the love of the Master was a thousand times more than that of a mother. We say that the mother's love for her chlldren is immense, but I can tell you, really, that His love for His children was more than the love of a thousand mothers for their children. Such was He who trod the earth and is helping us even now with everything that we want to do.
One day at the end of the monthly Satsang at Beas— probably it was on the 31st of March 1948 when Hazur was very ill. Bhapa Kirpal Singh Ji announced to the Sangat that certain arrangements had been made at Beas for the administration, etc. and other such vague information. After Satsang was over, He went to His brother's house and I also went with Him. I asked point blank,
"Bhapa Ji, what You said in the Satsang was quite vague, and I want to have the correct meaning. I want to know exactly who is the person whom Baba Sawan Singh Ji has nominated as His successor, to whom He has given the Power to initiate."
This was my straight question; and His straight reply was in these few words,
"That work has already been entrusted to me."
So from that moment everything was clear to me. On 2nd April Master Sawan Singh left His mortal coil.
After the funeral rites and a brief stay with His son in Delhi, Bhapa Kirpal Singh Ji went up to the Himalayas at Rishikesh. He remained there, as everybody knows, for about six months. He came back to Delhi some time around December of 1948 and started His work. When Bhapa Kirpal Singh Ji was at Lahore, I was in Service there. Now He had come to Delhi, and I was also working at Delhi. My daily practice was to walk every morning to His place from my quarters which were about three miles away, attend for about an hour or so to the work, and then go to my offlce. In the evening about 4:30 or 5:00 I would leave my office, go straight over to the Master's, remain there for two or three hours, and then return to my home. The Master had started the work; but there was some confusion and people were not sure as to who was true Master. In this respect Baba Sawan Singh had shown many people where He was working by appearing to them in visions, in meditation, or by manifesting Himself during, the Satsangs of Bhapa Kirpal Singh Ji.
There was a bit of stiff opposition against the new Master doing the work, and the result was that we couldn't find a permanent place where we could hold Satsang. So the hunt was on to find a permanent place suitable for the purpose.
It so happened that the place we found, where Sawan Ashram was built, belonged to a member of Parliament. He came in contact with the Master, or the Master arranged things so that he should come in contact with Him, and this place was surveyed and accepted. While viewing this place, the Form of Baba Sawan Singh was seen along with the Master looking over the site. In June 1951 we started construction, and the first Bhandara of Baba Sawan Singh was celebrated at Sawan Ashram on 27th July— only about six weeks later.
The construction of Sawan Ashram was a scene to behold. Young ladies, old women, rich and poor, all offered their services and would go on working sweetly; and Master Himself supervised everything. In the lunch break, He would give everybody food and chapatis under the shade of a tree, rest for a while, and then again go on working. The work would go on till night-fall. You can imagine, the first buildings at Sawan Ashram were built in about a month and a half! My house was built next to the Master's bungalow.
One thing is very important. Master Kirpal Singh had left everything in Beas, and had to start everything from scratch. There was not much money about; and in 1949 we had a meeting where the people were happy to pledge money for the Satsang work, and as everybody knows the entire work for the Satsang was based on love; loving devotion, loving service and loving offerings. There was need for the work, and the money just came in.
During the construction of the Ashram which had been a barren site, there was a big pippal tree which had to be uprooted. During the felling of that tree, a boy by the name of Ramesh got almost buried under a big bough or the trunk of the tree and he was struck almost lifeless. He was unconscious, and was brought to Master's veranda. His mother came up crying and crying and crying. She said, "Master, if my boy dies, I will never, never forgive You." He said, "Don't worry, let us hope for the Master's grace." And you will be amazed that the boy shortly after, slowly regained consiousness; he is well and kicking, married now and is doing the Master's work in Panama where he met the Master on His 1972 tour.
From the beginning of the Master's Mission, I had the privilege to be with Him, or rather He allowed this poor fellow to be with Him, and do all the work of accounting and to attend to His local and foreign correspondence. This was such a pleasing job that although I worked about eighteen hours a day I was always feeling bonyant and happy. This work continued in the Ashram up to 1955, until Sardar Dalip Singh came here on retirement and took over part of, my work namely cash and accounts. My work for the Master continued; some part was given away, other work was increased. I remember having been with Master up to 1:00 at night and when I left Him and came to my house I felt so bouyant and happy that I can't explain it.
It was His compassion and love that He could not see anybody suffering. Once I fell ill and was in my house. Master got news of it and came to see me, sat by my side, and said, "Well, Gyani what has happened to you?" I said, "Sir, I don't know, but I can't get up." " Oh no, no, no. You've got nothing to worry about. Let me see what has happened to your back. Let me see." And He just put His hands over my back and talked about this and that. A little later He said, "Well, look here. I've got a lot of work lying over there, and you have to do it." And He went away. And you can imagine that within about two hours I was quite well and healthy with no pain, nothing of the sort; I went there to do the work and stayed there right up to midnight. Such was His compassion and love that we can't begin to understand it !
Every day there was one incident or another which revealed that here was a man on earth whom you could really call God. All the attributes which can ever be given to God were in Him: He was compassionate, He was loving, He was kind, He was helpful. He had a human heart; yet the love of the Master was a thousand times more than that of a mother. We say that the mother's love for her children is immense, but I can tell you really that His love for His children was more than the love of a thousand mothers for their children. Such was He who trod the earth and is helping us even now with everything that we want to do.
The Master had very kindly allowed me the opportunity, even during my service, to take leave and accompany Him on most of His Indian tours. In 1956 we went on a tour to the eastern side and were staying at that particular time at Varanasi (Benares), the holy city on the Ganges. It was raining heavily at that time. All of a sudden Master said, "Gyani, what about the Ashram? And what about your house?" I said, "Sir, it's o.k., it's o.k." Later I was to learn that at about 12:00 noon my son had been knocked down by a truck and was lying senseless.
The police had come and wanted to register a case but my wife refused to do anything, and said, "He will be all right; by the Master's grace. You can't help us much." Then the doctors came and were doing all they could. The people in the Ashram advised my wife to telegraph the Master to say that there had been an accident and that He should send me back to Delhi. My wife didn't agree. She said, "No, he has gone there and is with the Master. The Master knows all about this. His coming back here will not help the boy any more than the grace of the Master which can be had from there." On the other hand, after one or two hours, Dalip Singh got a telegram from the Master saying, "What about the affairs of the Ashram and of Gyani's house?" This was a thing which told everybody present that the Master was not unaware of what had happened. On that very night, Brij Mohan Sharma was leaving Delhi to join the Master, and he said, "What message should I give the Master?" My wife said, "Don't say anything about this incident, say everything is all right." He arrived, met the Master, but didn't tell Him anything. But later there was some murmuring between the satsangis about what had happened, and as one of the Master's workers overheard them he told the Master. He called for me. "Oh," He said, "Why didn't you tell me? All right, don't worry, he'll be o.k." He knew. And you can imagine that in a few hours the boy began to recover; in a few days he was quite all right. When I came back he was perfectly well again. The kindness of the Master cannot be expressed by any words of mine.
When the Master was arranging His first world tour in 1955, He asked me to accompany Him, which unfortunately I did not. For the 1963 tour He also asked me to accompany Him, which also I am sorry I declined. In 1971 the tour was almost fixed up and the Master was ready to go, but unluckly as you all know He fell ill, went to hospital, and had to be operated upon. The 1971 tour was therefore postponed. The dear ones from abroad were pressing for the Master to come and meet them personally because, you know, it was not possible for every initiate from the West to come all the way to India as it involved a lot of expense and time. The pull and prayers of the dear ones were really very strong, but the Master was not keeping good health Eventually a program was fixed for 1972. One day while sitting with the Master, He said, "Look here Gyani, my body is revolting, it is not co-operating. If I listen to my body, I can't make this journey; but the pressure of the dear ones from inside and from their letters is so much that I can't resist them. I can't resist them any longer. So we have to go." A program was fixed up. So four of us, the Master, Bhalla and Harcharan Singh and myself formed the party and we left on the 26th August, 1972.
Our first stop was in Bonn where we were met by Master's representative, Bianca Fitting. We remained in Germany, Italy and France for some time, and then went to London where Sant Singh and others were waiting for us. Then we flew straight to Washington.
"This tour," the Master said, "is for my children.
The first tour was for some dignitaries, and to start the Mission in the West.
The second was for the benefit of governments, and to consolidate the work.
But this tour is going to be for my children. I want to meet them, I want to be with them, I want to listen to their difficulties, I want to listen to them and talk to them, and meet them; my love for them is so much that I cannot resist going."You may have read the account of the tour given in Sat Sandesh. Suffice it for me to say here that although the Master was ill, He would work from 8:00 in the morning till 1:00 at night, and after retiring, His body would ache like anything; He could hardly get an hour's rest. And then in the morning He would start His work again, seeing people, giving His talks and mediation sittings, answering so many questions, always giving, giving, giving. The effect of this tour was tremendous. The Master's children had the opportunity to be very close with Him, speak with Him, live with Him in as near and dear a way as any child coming to see his father.
During the tour the Master was not unaware of the desires and the love of the initiates, the dear ones in India, just as the Master, when He was in India, was not unaware of the aspirations of the dear ones in other countries. Every week or ten days He used to be in contact with Delhi by telephone, sometimes for ten or fifteen minutes, listening to their difficulties; the Master was giving His love and His grace to all of them. When we were in California at Lucille Gunn's house, we received a tape recorded in Delhi and sent over there for the Master. That tape was from a dear one and told the pathetic story of how the people over in India were feeling His absence. The Master was touched to the quick; He was ill and we had a big program ahead of us. When we left for Mexico and after Mexico went to Panama, the Master decided to cancel the last part of His tour. The program for Africa and further East was cut short by several weeks, and we arrived back in Delhi at the beginning of January 1973.
Such is the story of a Perfect Man, a complete Man I should say, who came on this earth to remind us of and to help us go back to our Home; who gave us a solemn promise that the Master is always waiting for the initiates to come to Him. Unfortunate we are at this hour that we did not listen to Him, and did not do what He wanted us to do, and take that which He wanted to give us. We kept our bowl covered; the Nectar which He wanted to put into it did not find its way into our hearts. We are now repenting because He is not here physically and we can not now do anything.
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