By Andrea Grace Diem, Ph.D. (excerpted from ‘The Guru in America’) The evolution of religion is directly connected to the evolution of communication technologies.
To understand the limits of the latter is to also understand the limits of the former’s potential for growth. Thus all histories of religion are to some measure histories of human development, especially as it relates to the transmission of information.
That this is obvious is one thing (from speech to written words to printed books to radio to television to worldwide computer networks), but that it is rarely focused on in appraising how new religions develop is quite another thing altogether (and is something which should not be neglected in any history, religious or otherwise). The history of Radhasoami in the United States is a case in point. Because in many ways the growth of Radhasoami in countries outside of India has been hitched, for better or worse, to the advancement of technology. Even within Radhasoami circles this is well known, as evidenced in the Introduction to an in-house Beas Satsang publication entitled Dawn of Light wherein the author writes that the great advances made in communications have led to the world-wide spread of shabd yoga teachings, especially in Europe and North America. 1 At each stage where there has been a technological revolution, there has been in turn an influx of new initiates to the Radhasoami path.
To be sure, Radhasoami masters have not necessarily explained away such increased numbers to better telephone networks, but they have been well aware of how the evolution of the communication industry has led to new opportunities to advance the message of Sant Mat. Equally related to this, of course, are political regimes.
For example, when the Soviet Union officially banned religion, it had an amazingly chilling effect on the growth of new religions. Therefore it is not at all surprising to learn that Radhasoami had made very little headway there until the latter part of the 1980s. Today, of course, Russian society has seen a great increase in the number of new religions and new converts. Throughout the history of the United States, on the other hand, religions (including alternative ideologies) have generally prospered, perhaps due to America’s Enlightenment principles of tolerance and individualism coupled with a laissez-faire type government.
Specifically, Eastern religions have been quite successful in the United States. To fully understand the reasons for this several historical and political factors must be considered. First of all, a fertile soil for Eastern ideas was sown when Indian literary material became available to the West through the translations of nineteenth century British scholars, like Sir William Jones, Charles Wilkens and Sir Edwin Arnold. American Transcendentalists were attracted to these newly translated Indian writings and incorporated in their philosophy Eastern idealism with nature mysticism and Western individualism. A major step for Eastern religions occurred in America when Unitarians, many of whom were Transcendentalists, set up the World Parliament of Religions in 1893. Several Indian teachers, particularly Vivekananda and Dharmapala, were well received. Americans seemed to like what they heard: an appealing religious universalism, a non-ascetic orientation, and the idea that they did not have to leave their religion to appreciate or to be affiliated with Eastern thought.
Shortly after the World Parliament many Indian groups began to set up shop in America, including the Vedanta Society in 1894 and the Self-Realization Fellowship in the 1920s. But the doors to foreigners did not officially open until 1965, when L.B. Johnson rescinded the immigration laws set back in the earlier part of the twentieth century. Since the United States immigration policy has dictated to a large measure the numbers of foreigners who may legally enter the country, it has in turn determined how various cultures will impact on the American melting pot. With the revocation of the immigration laws immigrants began pouring in bringing with them their religious and cultural ideas. Among the immigrants were several well-known Indian teachers such as Yogi Bhajan and Swami Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada. During this time Radhasoami related groups also began to experience an exponential growth in their followings.
That the immigration laws were dramatically changed in the mid-1960s to the advantage of incoming Indians has no doubt had tremendous effect on shaping Americans’ views of things Indian. Today, naturally, almost every major city in the United States boasts of one or more Indian restaurants, which was surely not the case thirty years ago. As we see, there are many worldly realities, like communication and politics, that spiritual movements must come to grips with if they are to expand. Keeping this important caveat in mind will allow us to ground the history of Radhasoami, and other new religions like it, in an empirical context, one which allows us to see how a spiritual message can intertwine, albeit distinctly, with a purely material medium. Radhasoami Gurus in America The first Radhasoami guru to visit the United States appears to be Shiv Brat Lal, one of several successors to Rai Salig Ram of Peepal Mandi, Agra.
According to Dayal Yoga, In the year 1911 A.D., Data Dayal Shiv Brat Lal went on a tour of Japan, America, and other foreign countries. There also he spread the Gospel ‘in search of God and discoursed on physiology of the spirit.’ He did not rest. 2 Coincidently, it is also from Shiv Brat Lal’s lineage that the first bona fide American Radhasoami guru, Dr. Ishwar Sharma, emerged. Although Sharma was born in India, he lived in the United States for over a decade (working as a philosophy professor at several colleges and universities) and succeeded his guru, Faqir Chand (Shiv Brat Lal’s chief disciple and eventual successor), after he died in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the Fall of 1981.
Although much is known about Sharma’s ministry (he’s still living), there is very little information about Shiv Brat Lal’s visit to America and what impact, if any, it had on the spread of Radhasoami teachings among Americans. Shortly after Shiv Brat Lal’s visit, Dr. Bhagat Singh Thind, an initiate of Sawan Singh of Radhasoami Satsang Beas and an offshoot guru who did not acknowledge his Beas connection, permanently settled in America and preached a mixture of Sant Mat, Radhasoami, Sikh, and Occult doctrines. He was modestly successful in his venture and gathered several hundred disciples.
Bhagat Singh Thind also wrote a number of books with Radhasoami related themes, including his most famous treatise, Radiant Road to Reality. Surprisingly, it would be another thirty-five plus years after Thind’s initial visit when a Radhasoami related guru visited America. In 1955 Kirpal Singh, founder of Ruhani Satsang and long time initiate of Sawan Singh of Radhasoami Satsang Beas, visited several cities in the United States during his first world tour.
His visit, unlike his two predecessors, has been well documented and was very instrumental in spreading shabd yoga teachings throughout the country. It was also during this trip that Kirpal Singh initiated Paul Twitchell in Washington, D.C. Ten years later Twitchell formed his own group, Eckankar, which was primarily based upon the teachings of Kirpal Singh and Radhasoami. Today Eckankar is one the most successful new religions in America founded in the 1960s. The booklet, As They Saw the Master (Delhi: Ruhani Satsang, 1956), partially documents Kirpal Singh’s tour of the United States and elsewhere.
It also provides several intimate portraits of Kirpal Singh written by new initiates. Though Kirpal Singh did not attract large numbers to his lectures (in contradistinction with Vivekananda, for example), they were nevertheless well attended and his tour was quite successful in establishing a permanent infrastructure and network of satsangis. Kirpal Singh again visited America in 1963. This trip was even more successful than his first with hundreds of people attending his lectures. George Arnsby Jones’ book, The Harvest is Rich: The Mission of Kirpal Singh, details much of Kirpal Singh’s tour. The book also graphically illuminates how the Indian guru spread his message.
Concerning the Washington, D.C. Leg of the trip, Jones writes: During a twenty-seven day stay in Washington, Kirpal Singh gave a total of eighteen public talks. Some were given at private residences, others at the Friends Meeting House; The Sylvan Theatre; the Theosophical Society; the Perpetual Building; The Washington Post Building; the House of Inspiration, (Vienna, Virginia); the Wesley Theological Seminary (American University); Levering Hall (John Hopkins University); Brookmont Baptist Church; the Unitarian Church; and the Y.M.C.A. Eight further talks, of a more informal nature, were given at the residence of T.S. A press conference held at the National Press Club was attended by representatives of five leading newspapers.
While in Washington, Kirpal Singh made five radio broadcasts, which included a recording made for the ‘Voice of America’ in English and Hindi for retransmission in India. He also gave a broadcast on the nationwide C.B.S. Network and gave complete coverage of his spiritual mission in the world. He made two appearances on television, and his message of love and hope reached an even wider audience. Before the Master left Washington for Philadelphia, he was invited to the Capitol and introduced to a large number of Senators and Members of the House of Representatives. Senator Kennedy, in a long talk with Kirpal Singh, welcomed the aims and ideals of the World Fellowship of Religions. 3 Almost a decade later in 1972 Kirpal Singh made his last trip to the United States.
By this time he was well known in spiritual circles and many people, especially those in their late teens and early twenties, came out to see him. This trip, which at one stop saw nearly a thousand people gather to hear Kirpal Singh, is fully documented and photographed in the publication, The Third World Tour of Kirpal Singh(Tilton: Sant Bani Press, 1974).
The first Radhasoami Satsang Beas guru to visit America was Charan Singh in 1964. Charan Singh’s trip was even better received than Kirpal Singh’s, with the Beas guru attracting consistently larger numbers in his audience. This was primarily because Radhasoami Satsang Beas is well established in India and has had roots in America since 1911. Unlike Kirpal Singh’s trip, though, Charan Singh’s tour was not advertised. The Beas guru also did not publicly present his message the way that Kirpal Singh had done in 1955 and 1963. Indeed, Charan Singh’s one and only impromptu television interview on May 28, 1964 with a news reporter in Minneapolis, Minnesota, caused a bit of a stir because it was so unusual. A verbatim transcript of the brief interview and a full account of Charan Singh’s travel to America are outlined in the book, The Master Answers Audiences in America (Beas: Radha Soami Satsang, 1966).
Whereas Kirpal Singh utilized the media (he was not adverse to taking out newspaper and magazine advertisements), Charan Singh for the most part resisted it. The reasons for this are complex and stem largely from early Radhasoami history in Agra. Perhaps the chief reason is theological: there is a long standing belief in Radhasoami that there are “marked” souls and only those who are so marked will receive initiation from the guru. Thus, according to this argument destiny, not advertising, leads souls to Radhasoami. But even in groups which do not allow any formal type of advertising, like Soami Bagh in Agra, it is perfectly acceptable to publish books and circulars.
Hence, it may not be advertising, as such, that is disdained (a book is in many ways a form of advertising), but rather certain kinds. And it is here where the differences between Kirpal Singh and Charan Singh can be illuminated. It is also here that we can begin to understand the various ways that shabd yoga doctrines have been transmitted. When a guru or a group is new, and does not have an established following, it may be necessary to promote his/her (or its) teachings in ways that were previously thought to be too crass.
However, when the guru or group does find a niche, he/she (or it) may then outgrow the former methods of proselytization and assume a more staid or dignified approach. Clearly Charan Singh and the Beas Satsang did not need to vigorously promote themselves.
Charan Singh’s monthly satsangs at the Dera attracted tens of thousands of people and sometimes the numbers reached well over one hundred thousand. When he came to America for the first time, there were already several hundred initiates spread throughout the country.
In contrast, Kirpal Singh essentially started his ministry on his own after he disputed the transference of his guru’s mantle to Jagat Singh in 1948 at the Dera. Thus when he came to America in 1955, he could not count upon Beas affiliated satsangis to show up to his lectures. Even though T.
Khanna, Kirpal Singh’s general representative who lived in Washington, D.C., tried steadfastly to sway initiates of Sawan Singh to Kirpal Singh, only very small numbers of Beas satsangis switched over to Ruhani Satsang. Therefore, in several ways, Kirpal Singh was forging new territory when he came to America. For many Americans, he was their first introduction to shabd yoga teachings, and, as such, carried all the pros and cons that an innovative and charismatic leader brings with him. Charan Singh made his second and last trip to the United States in 1970, six years after his first visit.
Surprisingly the crowds that attended his lectures this time increased almost tenfold. No doubt there are a number of reasons for this, but one factor that seems pivotal was the baby boom generation.
Large numbers of disaffected youth attended Charan Singh’s satsangs, just like they had attended the talks of a host of other gurus, including the ever popular Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Charan Singh himself was well aware of this and commented that perhaps the youth were revolting against the hypocrisies of materialism and dogmatism. The largest crowd to see Charan Singh was in Pasadena, California, where over fifteen hundred people attended his talk.
This was a remarkable number at the time, especially since there was no public advertising allowed. That California should be the place to draw the largest crowds is not surprising. Since the early part of the twentieth century California has been a sprouting ground for alternative life styles. 5 Most Indian gurus have found their greatest success in California, including Paramahansa Yogananda of Self-Realization Fellowship, who permanently settled in southern California and died at the Biltmore Hotel in 1952. Kirpal Singh’s and Charan Singh’s trips to America were clearly the most visible and successful of any Radhasoami related guru up until the mid-1970s. Several other Radhasoami gurus visited America before this time as well. Outstanding among these was Faqir Chand, founder of Manavta Mandir in Hoshiarpur in the Punjab.
Faqir Chand made several visits to the United States, presenting informal talks, public lectures, and print/radio interviews on both the East and West Coast. Interestingly, he was also the first Radhasoami guru to die on American soil. During his fifth trip to America Faqir Chand stayed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Although he planned to fly to Los Angeles, California and present a series of talks sponsored and funded, in part, by John-Roger Hinkins of M.S.I.A., he suffered a cardiac arrest and died at the age of ninety-five.
His impact has been even greater after his death, primarily due to the efforts of his successor, Dr. Sharma, who has presented Faqir’s teachings in a Westernized fashion tailored for a Christian educated audience. Following Kirpal Singh’s death in 1974, there was a succession dispute which led to a major schism in Ruhani Satsang. Eventually several gurus emerged as claimants to Kirpal Singh’s ministry. Three of the most popular of these successors were Darshan Singh, Thakar Singh, and Ajaib Singh.
All three gurus have made several trips to America.
The SONIC SPECTRUM (c) November/December 1996 UNBROKEN CHAIN (PART 5): A LOOK AT GURINDER SINGH & RADHASOAMI SATSANG BEAS - by Sri Michael Turner Having taken a look at some of the current western Light and Sound paths, let us now turn our attention eastward to our predecessors and cousins in India and Southeast Asia. We will begin with, the largest Surat Shabd Yoga group on the planet, Radha Soami Satsang Beas, which is headquartered at Dera Baba Jaimal Singh, located in Beas, India. Founded by Baba Jaimal Singh, it took on real form during the 45-year mastership of Jaimal's successor, Hazur Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj. As I mentioned a while back, after Sawan Singh passed away in 1948, Sant Kirpal Singh Ji Maharaj left the Dera and founded the Ruhani Satsang in Delhi, India. The Dera however was given (by order of Sawan Singh's will) to Jagat Singh, another one of Great Master's main disciples. With it went the majority of Sawan Singh's sangat. Jagat Singh was a strong and capable master, who helped the sangat work through their grief over Sawan's death.
However, due to His advanced years and ill health, Jagat's period of mastership was short lived. He presided over the Dera for barely two ˝ years before shedding the body permanently on October 22, 1951. As His spiritual/literary legacy, Jagat left one fine book, a collection of His discourses and correspondence entitled, 'The Science of the Soul.' In one letter therein, Jagat Singh makes the following points to a Satsangi, 'Let me explain more clearly: We have first of all to concentrate at the eye center, between the two eyebrows, and repeat the five Holy Names at least two hours every day, if not more. Thus we withdraw our consciousness, which now pervades the entire body, up to the eye center.
Here, at this center, we contact that region which is ruled by Jot Niranjan, catch the next higher Shabd and reach Trikuti or the top of the Mental Region, i.e., the region of Karan or Causal Mind. From this region we pass on to the Third Stage where the soul is free from the three covers - physical, astral and causal - and, being rid of those dragging chains is strongly impelled onwards and reaches the Fourth Region or the Stage called ‘Sohang' in Sant Mat, and to which you have referred. Having shed these covers and realized its spiritual nature and its kinship with the Lord, the soul joyfully exclaims: ‘That am I' because it realizes that the two are of the same essence - one is the Ocean and the other is a drop from that Ocean. You will thus see that it involves no contradiction in any way. The Five Names are the Names of the Lords or Rulers of the vast Spiritual Regions which the soul has to cross before reaching Sach Khand.
Simran or Repetition of these Names, as directed, brings in concentration. But it is Shabd which will draw you up and take you from one region to another, right up to Sach Khand. You can hear the Shabd now, in your present state of progress. However, at this stage the Shabd will not be able to draw you up because the attention is still tied to the body.' And to another, He remarks, 'The Western mind is apt to expect quick results. However, it is not the work of months or even a year or two to be able to train the mind which has been accustomed to wandering outwards for numerous births in the past.
So long as the mind does not turn back and sit still in the 'Third Eye,' an individual cannot be said to have stood on his own legs and neither can he help others to any appreciable degree.' Before His death, Jagat Singh clearly delineated Charan Singh (Great Master Sawan Singh's grandson) in His will as spiritual successor and inheritor of the Dera. Though barely 34 at the time - one of the youngest men ever to assume spiritual mastership - Charan grew into the position quite naturally. If He had been allowed His choice, Charan would have never even considered the possibility of serving as Living Satguru. Trained as a lawyer in college, Charan had a bright future as a prominent attorney, and quite possibly a public servant.
Many of His influential friends tried to get Charan to run for public office. However, when Charan asked Jagat Singh about it, Jagat replied that it was not in God's plans for Him, and that His grandfather, Sawan Singh, would not have approved. So Charan let go of His secular ambitions and, when He was appointed by Jagat Singh's will to lead the Dera, He acquiesced as a matter of honor and respect for His grandfather.
He served as Living Sant Satguru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas for nearly as long as Sawan Singh, and saw its group of initiates expand exponentially. At the beginning of Charan's mastership, the sangat numbered around 150,000. When Charan passed away, there were 1,200,000, or nearly ten times as many as when He started.
Much of this was due Charan's extensive world tour schedule. He traveled the globe, much the same way Kirpal Singh did, expanding His itinerary to include Africa and Mexico as well. In addition, Charan Ji benefitted from having a stable organizational base - both in terms of number of students as well as long-term, relatively controversy-free, continuity, which could only have helped give it an outer sense of legitimacy. Maharaj Charan Singh wrote a number of books in His lifetime, mostly collections of Satsangs, questions and answers and correspondence with students. Outstanding ones include 'Light on Sant Mat,' 'Die to Live,' 'The Master Answers,' 'Divine Light,' 'Spiritual Heritage' and 'Light on St.
In 'Light on Sant Mat,' Maharaji makes a number of powerful points on spirituality. Following is just one example, 'We are all either making karmas or paying off karmas. Satsangis, by virtue of meditation and concentration at the eye center and contacting the Sound Current, develop a detached attitude and are also able to pay off their past karmas more easily. Their minds and brains, far from being deranged, are sharper, more acute and under control. You will appreciate this if you give the full time to simran and bhajan, that is, the repetition of the five Holy Names and listening to the Divine Sound within.' When Maharaj Charan Singh died on June 1, 1990, He appointed his Nephew, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, to serve as His successor. David Lane includes portions of the will in his book, 'The Radhasoami Tradition,' 'I appoint Sh.
Gurinder Singh Dhillon S/o Sh. Gurumukh Singh Dhillon as my spiritual Successor as ordered by Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj. He will be the Sant Satguru as well as the Patron of Radha Soami Satsang Beas Society. (May 30, 1990)' This appointment apparently came as somewhat of a surprise to many of the initiates, being that Gurinder had spent most of the late 1980's in Spain as a businessman.
In addition, Maharaj Gurinder Ji was only 35, with a wife and two small children, at the time of the appointment. However, the sangat quickly rallied around Him and gave Him their unwavering support. Since then, Gurinder Ji has undertaken several world tours, apparently making it a point to visit the U.S. Every couple of years, in addition to Central and South America, Europe and Africa.
As a result of this global outreach policy, as of this writing (December 1996) there are more than two million initiates of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (an 800,000 people increase since Maharaj Charan Singh's passing in 1990). The presentation of the Surat Shabd Yoga Teachings at Radha Soami Satsang Beas is fundamentally the same as with most of their eastern counterparts. A lacto-vegetarian diet is required (milk products only, no meat, poultry, fish or eggs permitted), sexual continence strongly encouraged, intoxicant and tobacco use strongly discouraged and a minimum of two ˝ hours per day of meditation recommended.
There is no tiered initiation structure, as we find in the western Light and Sound groups, just a single initiation into the traditional 'Panch Naam.' In this process, students are given the 'Five Holy Names of God' which are spiritually charged by the Living Master and give them access to all of the inner regions at a pace each individual can deal with. Initiates are instructed on the theory of the practice, the nature of the inner regions and the proper way of chanting the five Names silently, with the tongue of thought, while meditating on the inner Light ('Dhyan') and Sound ('Bhajan'). As far as I know, Maharaj Gurinder Ji has yet to publish any of His talks in book form, or release audio or video tapes of any of His Satsangs. From what I understand, He tends to feel that a wealth of material was released by His predecessor and uncle, Maharaj Charan Ji, and that to add His written and taped input would be pointless, glutting (if you will) a nearly saturated market. Copies of His Satsangs can be obtained, however, by subscribing to one of local periodicals, such as Radha Soami Greetings (P.O. Box 6289, Washington, D.C.
They can also provide you with information about Maharaji's tour schedule. Additional information on the work of Maharaj Gurinder Singh Ji (as well as the substantial catalog of books and tapes on Surat Shabd Yoga)can be obtained from R.S. Box 242, Gardena, CA 90247. Maharaj Gurinder Singh can be contacted directly at: Radha Soami Satsang Beas, P.O.
Dera Baba Jaimal Singh 143204, District Amritsar, Punjab, INDIA. PUBLISHER'S NOTE The Sonic Spectrum is published by SPIRITUAL FREEDOM SATSANG, a nonprofit religious organization. It is an independent journal for explorers of the Sound and Light of God, and is designed to facilitate an open exchange of ideas and perspectives about spiritual growth. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the beliefs of The Sonic Spectrum or any other spiritual masters or paths, including SPIRITUAL FREEDOM SATSANG. We welcome any and all submissions and will publish them as space allows. All rights reserved.
For subscriptions to The Sonic Spectrum (a $20.00 annual donation for 12 issues, made payable to SPIRITUAL FREEDOM SATSANG), as well as information about classes, seminars, books, audio and video tapes by Sri Michael Turner, please contact: SPIRITUAL FREEDOM SATSANG P.O. Box 42374 Tucson, Arizona E-mail: Usenet Newsgroup: alt.meditation.shabda.
Radhasoami History 3 Radhasoami History 3 Radhasoami, Beas Secret History, radhasoami, shabd Jaimal leaves no mention at all Sawan Singh is supposed to become his successor. In fact, in early editions of Beas Spiritual Letters it is written, ' He ( Jaimal )also said if there is anything to be asked or explained, then Chachaji Ji (Pratap Singh, Swami Ji's brother), should be resorted to ', as he lay dying. Then Jaimal said, 'the secret Shabd Currents in the neighborhood of Sach Kand will be revealed by Chachaji.' Beas has now deleted this from their books. This may be verified with Dr.
David Lane, whom has notes of early initiate found after his death at the Dera. These notes were the original basis for Beas saying this originally. It ties them directly to the Council and its president, Chachaji. But, Chachaji had excommunicated Jaimal just three days before his death and had chastised Jaimal for pretending to be a Guru. Again, this is now deleted from Beas books and there now appears a few lines saying Jaimal did say Sawan was to follow him in Beas books.
But, they are unreferenced to source and probably made up to replace the original version. We know the original version is correct and you will see why below. There is also the question of the Gurus at Taran Taran, whom say Jaimal left their first guru as his successor. How could Jaimal leave any successor, when as far as he knew, he was still under Council authority and their Guru? The registered letter from Chachaji could not have been received in Beas in 3 days. In Jaimal's last letters to Sawan, we find Sawan appearing a neophyte in sadhana.
In With the Three Masters, Beas, 1974, page 200, Sawan, after Jaimal's death, notes his conversation with Chachaji '.after 28 days argument I persisted in my refusal (to initiate), I was unfit for this duty and some sadhu should be sent from here to initiate. I submitted that I did not possess sufficient power. Therefore, when Baba Jaimal departed from this mortal world, for one year after that I did not initiate anyone.'
, and also qouted in The Radhasoami Tradition, Dr. David Lane 1992, page 106. RS Tradition book notes once 700 people were initiated by Sawan and only 2 people saw light. First hand experience at time of initiation by Sawan was called rare. So, again, we see no proof Jaimal left Sawan as a successor, but possibly just the opposite. If Jaimal was not a sant as he admitted, how could he leave a successor? And we will further see Jaimal's relationship with Swami Ji's family and most or all of Swami Ji's highest disciples, was a nightmare.
He appears overwhelmingly rejected. Off the Subject a Moment xxxxxxxxxx Notes xxxxxxxxxxx Note: Faqir Chand was endorsed by Sawan Singh as a legitimate Radhasoami master. Kirpal Singh witnessed Sawan bowing at the feet of Faqir's guru Shiv Brat Lal and the later returning the gesture.
Not many westerners have heard of Chand. Faqir Chand informed Sawan he was radically changing Radhasoami teachings to be more truthful with disciples. Sawan gave Faqir his blessing and endorsement in person. Faqir Chand stated in 'The Unknowing Sage'(linked off this site), that modern day Radhasoami masters had no power. He stated Radhasoami masters do not project their radiant forms, nor do they come for the disciple at death.
He stated this was deception on the part of masters telling their disciples this to gain a following. Chand stated he did not know where he would even go upon death, nor were the inner planes experienced in a particular order as generally understood. He asked these key questions to Charan, Kirpal, Sawan and his own Guru, whom had asked him to change the teachings. Chand meditated 80 years before he died and considered himself much advanced from these noted. He never met Salig Ram, or Swami Ji, as they came before him. We don't know if what he said can be applied to them.
Chand stated he had asked several Radhasoami masters and they all concured his observations were true. Chand stated a disciple could have a fake master and achieve the goal. Chand even inferred masters could be criminals and it was the disciples own belief that projected the so called radiant form. This is no surprise, being that Sawan was quoted as saying he could not be totally truthful, as he had too large a group. Note: The five names were common long before Swami Ji's day and were used by Tulsi Sahib and Kabir, also. Modern day Radhasoami groups use the classic squatting position covering their ears and eyes and listening to the sound current and viewing light. This classic position was taught from ancient times by kundalini masters.
But, kundalini masters use the opposite ear to listen to the sound initially. When it hits center, Radhasoami and classic kundalini match almost exactly beyond that point. The inner planes often match, but sometimes they are called by slightly different names. For instance, Maharaji’s (ex kid guru) group, his father was a Sawan initiate, also use the tongue in the roof of the mouth technique to taste nectar. Yogananda’s group uses same technique as Radhasoami, except as noted above. They also start by moving kundalini up and down the spine to get it going, before listening to sound and seeing light.
Some of Yogananda’s successors gave all 7 initiations. Yogananda's group uses an Om stick to brace the arms for light and sound viewing, RS calls the brace a paragon stick. Also, kundalini masters give all important transmutation of sexual energy techniques. Even Kirpal said not to bother meditating without chastity.
Hence, Radhasoami followers lack the all important methods of having sex, without losing energy. This may be why women in RS seem to move faster then men in sadhana. The problem with Radhasoami initiation, seems the incomplete nature of the first initiation, given without transmutation advice of a physical nature. And, sexual energy is key. Another problem, is that the last 6 initiations by kundalini masters of Paramahansa state are not available to Radhasoami people via their gurus. To make matters worse, kundalini has been associated with satanism and dangers such as mental illness. And, in modern days, some Beas associated groups, try to tell people that there is an energy down flow from a higher source and kundalini is raised only after clearing of the nadis.
But, concentrating on Tirsa Til is classic kundalini practice for taking energy up and there is absolutely no question Radhasoami in very modern days is kundalini yoga. Viewing the so called radiant form of the master is also classic kundalini of Paramahansa masters. It is absolutely clear that the two major groups of RS now in existence have masters with little to no kundalini ability. They may have absolutely no power at all, not spiritual, nor kundalini.
The fact may be, they couldn’t sock their way out of a wet paper bag. They simply were not properly trained to be able to admit their yoga is kundalini, because then people would ask the tough questions. Note: This writer has no affiliation with any kundalini people, or groups, and does not recommend. From Gopi Krishna's book Higher Consciousness (no page references available).
Note the references to inner light and sound: 'But it is important to remember that all these visionary experiences with shape, form, place, or time are but the figments of one's own imagination, rendered vivid and realistic by the radiant stream of kundalini. The gods and goddesses, angels and devils, heavens and hells, superhuman and subhuman beings, strange unearthly creatures, astral and mental planes, conditioned by earthly time, space, name, form, or figure, have no real significance, but are merely the creations of the subjects themselves through their active and glowing imagination. 'The higher state of consciousness, despite its enrapturing radiancy and the alluring sounds in the ears, is as void of visions and hallucinatory figments as the consciousness of a healthy, wise, and clear-thinking human being, who calls a spade a spade, and who views everything he comes across in sane perspective and proportion, always ready to distinguish reality from a dream or a hallucination.'
- Faqir Chand (Sawan endorsed RS Master)says 'So what I have understood about Nam is that it is the true knowledge of the feelings, visions, and images that are seen within. This knowledge is that all the creations of the waking, dreaming and deep sleep modes of consciousness are nothing but samskaras (impressions which are in truth unreal) that are produced by the mind. What to speak about others, even I am not aware of my own Self (in dreams).
Who knows what may happen to me at the time of death? I may enter the state of unconsciousness, enter the state of dreams and see railway trains. How can I make a claim about my attainment of the Ultimate? The truth is that I know nothing.' 'O man, your real helper is your own Self and your own Faith, but you are badly mistaken and believe that somebody from without comes to help you.
No Hazrat Mohammed, no Lord Rama, Lord Krishna or any God or goddess or Guru comes from without. This entire game is that of your impressions and suggestions which are ingrained upon your mind through your eyes and ears and of your Faith and Belief.' ( From 'The Unknowing Sage' linked off this site ) Back to the history. We know there are no records of Swami Ji, or his wife Radhaji, nor Salig Ram, his successor, ever meeting Jaimal face to face. Beas has to come up with some validation of their lineage to make it credible.
So, they choose the two people we do know met both Jaimal and Sawan. Swami Ji’s brother, Chachaji, and his youngest son Sudarshan were picked, because they were the most influential. Beas calls both Saints in print. Sudarshan was highly respected during his time and Chachaji was Council president. Beas infers Chachaji and Sudarshan endorsed a separate Beas lineage and that they both accepted Jaimal and Sawan as masters. Beas doesn't directly say this, but this is the impression one gets reading Beas and Kirpal material.
Radha So Am I Satsang Beas Books
The events you are about to read are documented factual history that both Beas and Kirpal were fully aware of when they published history books during the last 50 years. Maheswari was the greatest RS historian of all time, by light years.
Both gurus and historians alike have learned most of what is known of RS history from him. He is universally quoted and all documentation and original historical records are at Agra for viewing to this day.
He wrote over 100 RS books during his life, which were initially only published in sets of 1000, so very few people have had access. These events are also confirmed by the best living historian at this time, Professor Dr. Agam Mathur, whom wrote a comprehensive history on Radhasoami Faith and is ranked a world class historian. He was formerly Vice Chancellor at Agra College. Every historian is keenly aware of the events shown on the next page. Other pages follow with court deposition testimony from Sudarshan. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Quote, Ram Chandra ( deceased guru, not RS ), Complete Works, Vol.1,p.362.
'Generally people select anyone (guru) for the purpose without regard to his capabilities or worth. They are induced to do so mostly by persuasion or miracles displayed by those so called gurus to attract the ignorant masses. Disciple hunters are not wanting. They are as numerous as leaves on a tree. For most of them, gurudom is a very profitable job which can secure enormous income which they cannot otherwise earn.
Besides they command the highest personal service from their disciples. The ignorant masses thus fall a ready prey to these self seeking professionals. A petty miracle or ordinary display of something charming is enough to attract hundreds of these silly sheep to their fold of gurudom. A simpple threat of a curse upon one who happens to displease them, may bring thousands to abject submission. Not only this, but in order to ensure monopoly of their profession they declare that none but one belonging to the priveleged class has the right of being a guru. Sannyasins too, you will find these days in multitudes, posing as as mahatmas and professing to be jagat gurus - world teachers. Is it not a pity to find such professional imposters, who are a shame to the nation and religion, roaming about with complete impunity to cheat and defraud ignorant people, in order to serve their own selfish ends?
It is high time for the masses to open their eyes and see what havoc has been wrought by such persons. The popularly believed principle that a disciple can never break off the sacred conection with his guru under any circumstances, is also a cunning device adopted by those false gurus to make their position safe and secure, and is nothing but fraud. Their only function is to breathe a few mystical words into the ears of the disciple at the time of initiation. And give them his darshan once a year for realizing annual toll and tribute to him.'
H OT L INKS Kirpal in Sawan's 1947 will Complete will shown below Sawan thought Kirpal would stay at Beas!!! Kirpal Singh - In charge of the accommodation of Satsangi pilgrims to the Dera. Jointly responsible for holding Satsangs (sermons & preachings) and for spiritual literature. Jagat Sirigh, Jat of Varaich - In sub charge of all agricultural matters under the direction and control of S. Gopal Singh Latha - In sub charge of the accommodation and comfort of Satsangi pilgrims under the direction and control of S. Kirpal Singh - Julian Johnson death later in article.
Tinnitus or Sound Current??? Low level, broad band sound is used to facilitate tinnitus habituation. It was mentioned previously that 94% of the people placed in a very quiet environment develop temporary tinnitus. Silence actually enhances tinnitus and hyperacusis. Patients are advised to avoid silence and immerse themselves in a low level, emotionally neutral sound environment. The noises most often associated with Type 1 Tinnitus are a humming or a buzzing sound. The noises most often associated with Type 2 Tinnitus are typically buzzing, hissing, reverberating, echoing or humming in nature.
Tinnitus noises that result from type 3 include clucking or cracking, gurgling or whirring sounds. These noises are often aggravated or relieved by swallowing or blowing the nose since there is often a negative pressure in the ear. From time to time, many people often experience a ringing tone in the affected ear which comes and goes periodically, lasting a few seconds at a time. The Tinnitus caused by cochlear damage are many and varied and can include sounds of ringing bells, chirping sounds, sounds like cicadas, roaring, hissing and fluttering sounds. The Tinnitus caused by auditory nerve damage includes high pitched ringing bells, whistling, roaring and buzzing. The sounds associated with type 6 are usually drumming, pulsating, or a fluttering which is synchronous with the heart.
The predominant sounds are ringing, whistling, whizzing, and rushing (as of a waterfall.) Note: Even rats hear sound current!!! Jastreboff, P.J., Brennan, J.F., Sasaki, C.T. Phantom auditory sensation in rats: An animal model for tinnitus. Neuroscience, 102:811-822, 1988. The main paper describing the principle and the results of our behavioral paradigm for inducing and detecting tinnitus in rats. A look into the Beas Dera culture wakingnow 1/23/02 10:35 am 10052 Charan Singh liked to collect woman's jewelry.
German to english word list. A satsangi woman told me that once Charan Singh pressured her to accompany him on a satsang trip to a city in Rajasthan. When they reached there, he prepared to go to give satsang but told her to go and look for antique jewelry for him. She went looking and found some good deals from villagers who brought jewelry for sale in the market. When Charan Singh and his party returned from the satsang, a Dera official told her that he had seen her come with Maharaj Ji but had not seen her at the satsang.
She said she had some work to do, but did not disclose what the assignment from Maharaj Ji was. That secrecy of not disclosing any personal interaction with Maharaj Ji was part of the Dera culture to which adherence was necessary for all inner circle people. In a family if some members had an engagement with Maharaj Ji, they were expected not to disclose this even to their satsangi family members. This was a loyalty test used by Maharaj Ji to select the privileged ones. I myself have been a guest in a relative's home who told me they had an evening engagement and later at night talked of their Royal visit during which I had figured in some conversation. Did the Dera Plant Articles Posted on internet I believe it was in the 80's Charan had a newspaper article planted and the author described themselves as a traveler who happened across Dera and described it in glowing terms as an oasis and so on run by a benevelant so and so.I still have it somewhere. The writer was really the daughter of a Dera appointee who grew up there.'
Waking Now' knew the family also. ctd - Charan Singh, complete from site below. Smuggling of wrist watches by major rep David Lane asked for more specific information regarding the shuttling of personal items from England to Maharaj Charan Singh in the 1970's. During those days I was Secretary of the Cambridge England RSSB Sangat.
I was active in developing Satsang Activities and especially in organizing Satsang between Indian Satsangis and our Cambridge Group. Together with Kulwant Rai, I negotiated the renting of the Wembly Indoor Stadium, for example, for Maharaji's Darshan to the combined English and Indian Sangats. The European and Indian Satsangis were kept apart at meetings, partly owing to language differences and partly owing to cultural reasons.
There was a limited degree of crossing over between the two sangats by a few 'permitted' Satsangis. I, myself, was very active in the Indian bhandaras I was studying hindi and punjabi and wanted to adsorb as much understanding of the culture of my 'Master' as I could. When my wife and I held Satsang in a our home in village near Cambridge, we would listen to tapes of the Master with seated Satsangis spilling out of our living room into the grass of an apple orchard. These were 'bhakti-drenched' occasions and had a blissful, dream-like quality about them as they were happening.
I felt myself the luckiest of people, and my greatest good luck, of course, was that I had somehow managed to 'find' Sant Mat, which vouchsafed me life beyond the grave and gave assurance that one day I would eventually get answers to all my deepest questions about existence. I established a business manufacturing and selling scientific instruments in Cambridge. My work took me often to London, where I would meet with and often stay overnight with Mr. Mohinda who was an Indian man, about the same age as Charan, who had attended College with the Master and kept a close friendship with the Master. It was Mohinda, by the way who was the father of the girl, written about in another post here, who had obtained a full scholarship to Medical School in London, but was not allowed to take it up. Instead she was forced to marry a son of Professor Janak Puri, whom she had never met and move to Bombay.
The boy was picked out for her by Charan, who was the guest of honor at her wedding. During this time Mohinda was my very good friend.
He was a close friend of the Master and he knew thousands of wonderful stories and was a very warm person to people he liked. He supported himself with an Indian Handicrafts importing business in London. Whenever Maharaj Ji came to England, he would always stay with Mohinda in London. Before these visits, 'selected' Satsangis would be invited to come to Mohinda's house to do Seva. We would strip all the old wallpaper off, sand down the moldings, paint the wood work (one coat of primer, Jay and two coats of enamel), then we would re-hang the paper in the room.
Sometimes we installed new windows and doors and improved the overall facilities of the house. Those of us who were chosen by Mohinda for this work felt lucky and were willing to work until late, then sleep on makeshift pallets on the floor and continue our seva the next day. We were entertained by tapes of Satsang or the singing before Satsang, and enjoyed great meals. We were happy knowing that 'Our Master' would be using these very rooms, would see our wallpaper, and enjoy all the fresh improvements we had made. And so it happened that once after an extended tour that had taken Maharaj Ji through Greece, Paris, Frankfurt, Rome, maybe Holland and some Scandinavian countries as well, Charan came to London and stayed with Mohinda. He gave Darshan several times, held Satsang for the Westerners and for the Indians, and then 'retired' for a week with Mohinda. The two of them toured England together on an incognito basis, going to the Lake District and to the West Country.
At the end of this time Maharaj Ji gave Darshan again and took off for America for a long tour there. Several months later, I was staying overnight at Mohindas, and was also preparing for a trip to the Dera. Mohinda took me up to 'Maharaj Ji's room' - that is what we called it, since no one ever stayed in that room when he was not there-unlocked the door and showed me an amazing amount of boxes and bags of shopping. All of these things looked like what tourist often buy from Harrods and department stores when they travel in Europe. Mohinda said that it was so large because the Master and his party (Maybe Prof. Puri, wives, cousins, nieces, etc.) had been to so many European cities before he arrived in England. They had decided to drop off all the stuff at Mohinda's house.
It would be very cumbersome to take it all with them to America on their tour there. Mohinda and his relatives would bring it load by load into India every time they traveled there, and Maharaj Ji had said that Mohinda could send some it with any 'good' Satsangis who were traveling to the Dera. By 'good', I understood this to mean, reliable, upright people who would appreciate 'getting' this personal seva for the Master.
I was therefore overjoyed to be in a position where Mohinda would let me join in with his family members to carry the stuff back to India for Maharaj Ji. At that time I was such a 'believer' that the question of the legality or propriety of carrying someone else's gift items through Customs in India never entered my head. It actually 'astonishes' me at this moment to realize how infatuated I was that my mind did not even work at this ordinary level. I was being offered a privilege. Mohinda put it like this, 'If you have some extra space in your luggage, you can take some things with you when you go to the Dera.' There was no question of Declaring anything on Customs forms. It never arose.
We were taking personal things that belonged to the Master. This had nothing to do with Customs. Indian Customs was a disgrace. A typical 'Import Duty' ranged from 50% of the value of the item to 240% of its value. If I brought a new $300 tape deck into India and declared it, I would be assessed with paying a Duty of $720 to legally bring it in. In practice, the total duty was use to determine the amount of the concealed payment to the Customs officer. If you brought a tape deck with you, you would deliberately dirty it up a little, and pack it with your underwear.
If it was found you would say it was a cheap one, you had had it for years, etc. When the bill of $720 was presented to you, you would haggle it down to maybe $25 dollars (US cash) under the table. This was the reality. With regard to the watches, Mohinda told me that Charan liked to give watches as presents to family members as well as wear them himself. My impression they were not Rolex or Tag Hauer, but dress watches in the sort of range of price of $50 to $300 each. So I understood what to do with the Customs 'shake down artists' just as well as anyone else.
I would not let them try to 'shake down' my Guru. I must have been exactly the kind of 'good' Satsangi Mohinda and Charan were looking for. It was only much later when the glitter fell out of my eyes, when I became an 'ex-RSSB Premie' that the nausea set in. Only then did I realize that I had been seriously breaking the law and I could have got into big trouble. This man whom I had loved so much had placed me in danger and had shamelessly taken advantage of my and other satsangi's willingness to do anything for their Master.
I hope this will place the actions in the contexts in which they occurred. I agree that it shows remarkably bad judgment on Charan's part. If it helps remove the veil from some people's eyes with will have a beneficial anti-cult result. Bob, (ex Beas rep) P.S. Mohinda is still around. He is the person to interview to get the whole story - the big picture.
I wonder what his take on Sant Mat is now. I have just read the young student's post. He presents a totally accurate picture. The only thing he did not elaborate on concerning the 'gora' (white, non-indian) entering India is this. First, the Customs people were given instructions not to hassle 'respectable' looking goras.
And not to overly hassle the hippies - check them for drugs, maybe. But all Indian nationals are a different story. Thoroughly go through all their belonging. They know the 'rules' so the size of the bribe can be quickly calculated. Maharaj Ji's room in Mohinda's house was almost 25% filled with shopping.
That represents many many trips to get it delivered inside India. As your student indicated, no Indian would even blink for a second about the propriety of doing this.
My problem is this. I was led to believe that Charan was a God-man, a Perfect Living Master. If there were such a thing as a PLM on earth, then there is no way He can do wrong, by definition.
If a PLM steps on an ant, the ant gets human birth in his next life. Doing any activity that the PLM wishes is the highest SEVA.
If the Guru is a wonderful human being, a noble human being, a scrupulous honest human being, and he asks (either directly or by way of his friend) that you carry some of his things in your luggage, then you can use your discrimination, and decide whether you want to do so or not. If he is a PLM, you do not question anything. You want to be the kind of Satsangi that believes in his Master when all else have left.
Dera Radha Swami Live
You are rebuilding your platform as many times as you are asked to do so. So, the perfect Gurumukh will schlepp exactly as much Weetabix and gold watches, for his Guru as his Guru might require. Xxxxxxxxx Here is Charan Singh's diary entry regarding his discovery that he is the new guide in human form. This is from Treasure Beyond Measure, pages 14 and 15. While driving, suddenly my heart began sinking & I felt that Beloved Master Jagat Singh had left us. I could hardly drive & so requested father 2 take my place. On reaching Dera at about 1-30 P.M.
Next day, seeing so many Buses & Tongas people moving about in disordered manner, my doubts were confirmed & this sad news were delivered to me by Aman ji (Mrs. Kunda Singh) We at once left for the River Bank where His last rites were being performed. That place was about 4 miles from Dera & it was a terrible trial for father to walk all this distance. On the way, many people crossed me & some showed unusual respect, which of course irritated me. On reaching the spot, L. Dharam Chand from Amritsar matha tekya bowed with folded hands. I understood what all that meant.
I was shocked & surprised to find S. Bahadurji’s order for me. People surrounded me & one after another every body had his way. I hardly knew what to do. I never felt so bad & so ashamed as I felt then. I was feeling as if I had committed some henious crime of my life & I had been punished with the sentence of death & people have just surrounded me to see my execution.
It was terrible for me to spend three hours there. Destiny could hardly play a worse joke than this. I knew I was not what I was taken to be & yet I could not find any way out of this. Sciences reproduces spiritual experience The Neurology of the Spiritual Experience An essay in hypertext by Scott Bidstrup Hearing the Voice, Seeing the Vision The experience of the 'infinite sublimity' as Einstein described it, is an old one. Rock paintings in Australia, Africa, Europe and the Americas show clearly that the shamanic experience of the mystical goes back to the earliest times in human history.
And the experience of the mystical is a common one. Millions of Americans can describe 'out-of-body' experiences, many more can describe 'near death' experiences. Many more can talk about how, in a blinding flash of an all-consuming experience, they have felt, even seen the presence of Jesus, the Virgin Mary or of any other particular religious personality. They talk about how, in minutes, or hours, or even days, they had experiences that convinced them that God is real, Jesus or whoever else is real, and that there is no question but what there is a guiding presence in their lives. With all that testimony, the testimony of millions, how could science doubt the reality of the experience? For many scientists, the whole question of the 'god experience' was a matter they didn't want to undertake - not because they feared the outcome, but because they feared the difficulty of undertaking the research.
With a reductionist view, trying to explain an experience that was not reproducible in the laboratory made the whole investigation of the spiritual experience to be one that was far too difficult to research, and one that was unlikely to be reproducible to the extent that research could be published and verified. All that has changed.
Instant God Experience! Michael Persinger, working at Laurentian University, in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, has pioneered a method for inducing the religious, spiritual experience of the shaman. Without drugs, herbs, hypnosis or invasive surgery, he can quite literally flip a switch and induce the experience of 'god.' Using an ordinary striped yellow motorcycle helmet, which he has modified with electromagnetic coils, he can place the helmet on your head, connect the wires to a device he has constructed that generates the proper signals, and when the magnetic fields produced by the coils penetrate the skull and into the temporal lobes of the brain, the result is the stimulation of those lobes and a religious experience results. In common with the Hindu view that a confrontation with God is a confrontation with the self, the nine-hundred plus people who have undertaken the experience produced by Dr. Persinger's helmet have had some very profound experiences.
Four out of five say that they've had experiences so profound they would be life-changing had they not understood the mechanistic underpinnings of what they had experienced. Persinger's helmet work? It works by inducing very small electrical signals with tiny magnetically induced mechanical vibrations in the brain cells of the temporal lobes of the brain, located in the skull just above and forward of the ears. These lobes are the portions of the brain that produce the 'Forty Hertz Component' of the brainwaves detected in electroencephalograms. These mysterious 'forty hertz components' are present whenever you are awake or when you are in REM sleep. They are absent during deep, dreamless sleep.
What the 'forty hertz component' does is not well understood, but we know that it is always present during the experience of 'self.' We cannot have a 'me' experience without the forty hertz component being present.
What this means is that the forty hertz component is essential to our experience of self. We cannot experience our sense of individuality without it. It stands to reason, then, that if the forty hertz component could somehow be suppressed, the sense of individuality would be suppressed with it, and indeed, this is what Dr. Persinger's helmet does.
It turns off the forty hertz component and with it the sense of individuality which your brain uses to define 'self' as opposed to 'rest of the world.' When the brain is deprived of the self stimulation and sensory input that is required for it to define itself as being distinct from the rest of the world, the brain 'defaults' to a sense of infinity. The sense of self expands to fill whatever the brain can sense, and what it senses is the world, so the experience of the self simply expands to fill the perception of the world itself. One experiences becoming 'one with the universe.' But What About the God Experience? There are two temporal lobes in the brain, one on each side. The one on the left, in most people, is the dominant one, responsible for language, which becomes dominant when we first learn language as children.
The one on the right, non-dominant, contributes to the sense of self with constant communication with its opposite colleague. But being on the far side of the brain, sometimes the communications get out of whack, often as a result of stress or disease, and the forty hertz component falls out of sync.
When this happens, the result is that the normally silent right-hand sense of self becomes experienced as a separate presence by the left-hand sense of self. This is the experience of the God presence. There is an overwhelming sense of presence, an inescapable feeling that someone is there. But when the forty hertz component is deeply attenuated or entirely absent from, say, the left side, and there's no 'self' experience occurring, the feeling of unity with infinity is occuring with a sense of an overwhelming presence resulting from the continued operation of the right hand side, there is no way to describe it other than feeling that one has experienced the 'infinite presence.' Hence the God experience.
All of this has been verified not only experimentally with Dr. Persinger's helmet, but by use of high-tech brain scanning machines similar to the CAT and MRI scanners that many of us have experienced. And The Sense of Timelessness in Prayer and Meditation? Many deeply experienced meditators feel, when deep in meditation, an experience of transcendance of the here and now. They feel a sense of being outside of time and space. How is this experience produced?
We now know from the results of investigations using a brain-scanning technique called SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography), how these experiences arise. Researchers have produced images of the brains of Tibetan Buddhists who undergo deep, profound meditative experiences as the result of years of practice.
They have done the same with a Catholic nun, who, after 45 minutes of deep prayer, had her brain scanned to determine what centers were active and what centers were not. The results show that in both cases, the pre-frontal cortex, which controls attention, is highly stimulated. The subjects are clearly deeply attentive to their task. But the superior parietal lobe, the center that processes information about space, time and the orientation of the body in space, is suppressed, and is almost totally quiet. The result is that there is no sense of time, space or being in the world.
And not feeling 'in the world' leads to an 'other-worldly' experience. So it is not surprising that those who have this experience describe it as being in the 'spiritual realm.'
What About The Near-Death Experience? The near-death experience that is described by many patients who have been revived from life-threatening events contain elements of all of these and a few more. We have seen how the presence of the 'god' feeling arises from the result of a lack of communications between the temporal lobes. And we have seen how the sense of timelessness and infinite space arise. But what about the vision of the tunnel with the light at the end? And the sense of rising out of the body?
The sense of orientation is lost when the superior parietal lobe shuts down. The 'self' no longer feels anchored to the body, because the sense of self being in the body is lost, and one seems to be rising to 'heaven.' We now know that the vision of the tunnel is produced by the visual cortex being disconnected from sensory input, and beginning to shut down.
Same with the light at the end of the tunnel, which is an artifact of the brain 'looking' for sensory input it cannot 'see.' The visions of a beautiful summer garden or lovely mountain landscapes are the result of the memory centers acting on the centers of the brain that organize visual input into things we recognize, which is operating in the near-total absense of sensory input. All of these brain activities together produce the familiar being of light at the end of a tunnel, and the entrance into the beautiful summer garden. These experiences have a deep feeling of reality to them. This is simply because the centers of the brain that are producing the experience are cut completely off from sensory that would dilute the 'realness' of the experience. Hence, the subjects who report these experiences describe them as being so real they were not at all like a dream.
Indeed, they weren't. They were dreams undiluted from sensory reality. What Does All This Mean? It is clear that the meaning of the understanding of these phenomena are easily explained in detail through well-understood neurological processes in the brain. What are widely regarded as evidence for the existence of a spiritual realm can easily be explained by the material, the mundane. So in the light of that reality, what does the religionist have to say?
Those who have communicated their interpretations to me say that they remain unconvinced that this means any new. For most who write to me regarding my essays about the reality of a metaphysical universe, I have but one thing to say: your most powerful, persuasive evidence, namely your own powerful, personal experience, can now be easily and rationally explained, in all its features. No metaphysical explanation is necessary. Because no metaphysical explanation is necessary, your evidence is no longer evidence of anything metaphysical. So now, religionist, how do you prove your case?.
Books I recommend (which, if you wish, you can buy from Amazon.com by pursuing the links here): Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief, by Andrew Newberg M.D., Eugene G. D'Aquili Ph.D., Vince Rause. This book is a great explanation of the biology in this essay. Frequently cited by both religionists and atheists alike, this book explains the physical basis of the 'god' experience, without being a polemic against religion. At the same time, it also undermines the position that the experience of God is a purely spiritual phenomenon, without a physical basis.
While some of the book is wasted in philosophical musings, the explanation for the biology of religious experience is there, and is reasonably complete. The Mystical Mind: Probing the Biology of Religious ExperienceEugene G.
D'Aquili and Andrew B. This book is one of the more comprehensive books on the subject.
Rssb Beas
A complete and thorough explanation, it does not get lost in the arcanities of neurophysiology. If you can read Scientific American, you'll be able to comprehend this book.
It's one of the best around. The Demon Haunted World: Science As A Candle In The Dark is Carl Sagan's last book, and in it, he predicts the outcome of the research outlined in the books above years before the work was done. Its prescience is classic Carl Sagan. Above Source URL: Inner Experiences Persistent patterns of reported experience would be due to electrical coherence (Brazier, 1972) through which structures, typically not coordinated, display brief interaction. Systematic access to (1) infantile memories of parental images (perhaps even perinatal representations proprioception), and (2) images from before four to five years of age and memories for which there are no retrieval formats, could occur. Both would be attributed to extrinsic ('ego-alien') sources (Mahl, Rothenberg, Delgado, & Hamfin, 1964), and be incorporated within experiences that share similar neuroelectrical patterns. The former would be a universal source of God (parent surrogate) images while the latter would foster conclusions of 'previous lives' or 'other memories.'
Complex sequences are influenced simply by the numbers of structures incorporated into the TLTs. Since they are primarily positive experiences, the responsible neuronal aggregates should be near fields of reward neurons. To some extent, all of these experiences have been evoked, in a fragmented manner, by crude surgical stimulation (Gloor, 1972; Horowitz & Adams, 1970).
They include out-of-body experiences (mental diplopia), vestibular sensations (spinning through time-space), auditory experiences (rushing sounds, the voice of god or a spirit creature giving instructions), perceptual alterations (looking down a tunnel; bright lights), and peacefulness. Like direct cranial stimulation, the experiences may be perceived in a dream atmosphere. Since neuronal ensembles associated with the 'sense of self' are also recruited, TLTs have great personal significance whose privacy is protected. The hypothesis predicts that there exists a temporal lobe syndrome containing experiential aggregates that reflect its function (Ervin, 1975). Repeated, intense hallucinogenic TLTs should be followed by and reciprocal to delusions (Weinstein, 1970). Extreme and bizarre symptoms, such as circumstantiality, a sense of the personal (egocentric references; divine guidance), viscosity (perseveration), hypergraphia (diary writing), altered affect, and, of course, a dominating religiosity occupy one of the continuum. They would be evident as interictal behaviors in populations with various stages of temporal lobe epilepsy (Geschwind, 1983) or temporal lobe psychosis (Bear & Fedio, 1977).
Less severe displays, which are woven within the dynamics of borderline or 'soft' temporal lobe signs and do not involve disorders in thought processes, constitute the central region of the scale. Typical symptoms would include: early morning highs (0200 to 0400 hr.), d?-vu experiences, vibration sensations before sleeping, 'waves of energy permeating the body,' recurrent vivid dreams, intense meaningfulness after reading material about unusual or unexpected situations, feelings of unreality (depersonalization), peaceful at quiescent episodes of diffuse concentration, memory blanks, experiencing the presence of other beings, the special personal significance of chance events and the distortions in serial order of events (telepathic/precognitive experiences). They are normal responses; only their frequency or duration of occurrence and the degree to which they dominate the person's behavior predict the potential pathology.
A study was conducted on Transcendental Meditation (kundalini) by the German Institute for Youth and Society Here are some highlights of their findings:. 76% of long-term meditators experience psychological disorders - including 26% nervous breakdowns. 63% experience serious physical complaints. 70% recorded a worsening ability to concentrate. Researchers found a startling drop in honesty among long-term meditators. Plus a detailed examination of the history, culture, and secret teachings of the TM movement. Summary of Effects of TM Meditation (kumndalini yoga): Effects of the TM Program 1.
No specific or broad scale special benefits 2. Adverse effects in social relationships 3. Partially impaired mental faculties 4. Loss of self-determination and motivation 5.
Derealization and depersonalization 6. 'Ego-alien' and epileptic-like experiences 7. A high percentage of psychological disorders 8. Aggravation of preexisting mental illness 9. The onset of mental illness - Dr. David Lane, editor of Faqir Chand Unknowing Sage says However, while I agree that the disciple is really a chump to PROJECT all sorts of psychic junk upon a guru figure.
There is no getting around the REAL crux of the problem: The Beas Lineage has de facto nurtured a concept that the gurus are PERFECT MASTERS (God incarnate) and, as such, have the power to do anything. This is the real problem.
And Sawan, Charan, Jagat, and Gurinder are directly to blame for perpetuating this fraud. Everything else is merely a footnote.
That is why Faqir Chand argued that these gurus were robbers and thieves. What did they steal? The disciple's innocence, naiveness, projections, desires, love, good will, and hope. This is a much greater sin than stealing their property. - - xxxxxxxxxxx The Serpent Power, Aurthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe) 'The hearing of the nadi sounds is included under Pratyahara, and under Dharana the rousing of kundalini.'
Page 223, The Serpent Power, Aurthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe), Madras, 1964, 7th edition But, whereas the Jnana-Yogi attains Svarupa-Jnana by his mental efforts WITHOUT ROUSING KUNDALINI, the hatha yogi gets this Jnana through kundalini Herself. Buddhi itself becomes Laya and the Yogi attains the true unmodified state of the Atma, in which the Jivawho is then pure Buddhi is merged in Prakrti and the Brahman, as salt in the waters of ocean and as camphor in the flame. Kundalini as Mahamatrka-sundari has 51 coils, which are the Matrkas, or subtle forms of the gross letters or Varna, which is the Vaikhari form of the Sabda at the centers. Kundalini when with one coil is Bindu; with two, Prakrti-Purusa; with three Saktis. In the body, unmanifested Para-shabda is in Kundalini-Sakti.
That which first issues from it is in the lowest chakra, which extends upward through the rest as Pasyanti, Madhyama and Vaikhari-Sabda. Yoga therefore is the method whereby mental intellection and feeling and Prana are first controlled and then stayed. When the Citta, Vrtti, and Prana are stilled, then Cit, or Paramatma stands revealed. It supervenes without further effort on the absorption of matter and mind into the primordial Power (Sakti), whence they sprang, of whom they are manifested forms, and who is Herself as Siva one with Him who is Siva or Consciousness. The arising of such a state is called Samadhi. The experience is achieved after the absorption (Laya) of Prana and Manas and the cessation of all ideation (Samkalpa).
Until then there is that fluctuation and modification which is the mark of conditioned consciousness, with its self-diremption of 'I' and 'Thou'. KUNDALINI SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS by El Collie Many individuals whose Kundalini has been unexpectedly unleashed DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING, and the prevailing social ignorance about this multidimensional transformative process makes it hard to find medical or alternative health practitioners or spiritual advisors who recognize the symptoms, particularly when they are strongly physical.
Many people know that the risen Kundalini flings open gates to all sorts of mystical, paranormal and magical vistas but few realize it can also dramatically impact the body. A large percentage of our old Shared Transformation newsletter subscribers reported long bouts of strange illness as well as radical mental, emotional, interpersonal, psychic, spiritual and lifestyle changes.
Over and again we hear stories of frustrating, sometimes desperate visits to doctors, healers, counselors, etc. Who neither understood nor were able to help with the myriad pains and problems catalyzed by raging Kundalini. This letter is typical of the hundreds we receive from people struggling with strange symptoms and Kundalini illnesses: The following are common manifestations of the risen Kundalini: Muscle twitches, cramps or spasms. Energy rushes or immense electricity circulating the body Itching, vibrating, prickling, tingling, stinging or crawling sensations Intense heat or cold Involuntary bodily movements (occur more often during meditation, rest or sleep): jerking, tremors, shaking; feeling an inner force pushing one into postures or moving one's body in unusual ways.
Main article: Contemporary Sant Mat Movements are philosophy movements active in the United States, Europe, and especially India. These movements assert that shares a lineage with and contains elements of thought found in, such as. They further assert that Sant Mat also contains elements found in and has inspired and influenced a number of religious groups and organizations. They refer to this spiritual path as the 'Science of the Soul' or ‘’, meaning ‘teachings of the saints’. More recently it has been described as 'The Way of Life' or 'Living the Life of Soul.' It incorporates a practical system known as. Contemporary Sant Mat movements claim to incorporate a personal and private path of spiritual development in the common tradition of mystics past and present.
They discuss the irrelevance of rituals, priestly class, mandatory contributions, or compulsory gatherings. Contents. Introduction The basic teaching of contemporary Sant Mat, as described by its Masters, is that everything lies inside us and that God is within. The outside world is only an image or a reflection of the inner reality. So self-knowledge or knowledge of the higher self and God-knowledge (taken as a practical project rather than a theoretical inquiry) are the topics of Sant Mat. Describes as a synonym for, the of the, or more simply Shabd yoga, a meditation technique he asserts was taught and practiced originally in northern India. Singh writes that practitioners of Shabd yoga position the path as not requiring the physical torture of penance and austerities that marked many of the yogas and spiritual paths throughout the ages.
Thus it is sometimes called ' (easy) yoga. Widely accepted translations of the Indian term 'Sant Mat' are 'Teachings of the Saints' and 'Path of the Masters.'
These are both incidentally the titles of prominent works on the subject. Another commonly accepted definition of the term is found in by: Man is constantly changing or introducing new names and terminologies to describe this Science. The Masters were called Sants, and the nature of knowledge Mat, thus giving us the term 'Sant-Mat', which is at present mostly used to name the Path of the Masters. Other terms, such as Shabd Yoga, Surat Shabd Yoga, Sehaj Yoga, are also used to describe the same Science. In the Sanskrit language, the word 'Sant' means Master of the highest Order, and 'Mat' is a confirmed opinion or statement made by an adept after personal experience. The foundation of this Science, therefore, is the result of a critical study, minute investigation, and the lifelong personal verification of facts based on practical experience of the Self in man.
This experience of the Self is something that a competent Master is prepared to give to each individual who approaches him. Sant Mat, therefore, is the teaching, system and path of the Saints. However, terminology, names, and groups are not considered to be of any importance in Sant Mat: The Masters do not attach any importance to names, designations, or the fact that many religious sects, groups and circles, have claimed this Science as their own and named it after their leaders or founders.
They look upon these groups as schools where man — the noblest being in Creation — can study with other men as children of one and the same Almighty Father. Further information: Sant Mat (literally, 'school of the ') was a loosely associated group of teachers that assumed prominence in the northern part of the Indian sub-continent from about the 13th century. Their teachings are distinguished theologically by inward loving devotion to a divine principle, and socially by an opposed to the qualitative distinctions of the Hindu caste hierarchy and to the religious differences between Hinduism and Islam. Geographical reach Contemporary Sant Mat movements exist all over the world., the mission begun by at the turn of the 19th century, has its headquarters known as 'Dera Baba Jaimal Singh', near the river in since 1891. His Master had perhaps 500 initiates, and if one wanted to see the Master it was necessary to travel to his home in Agra. His lineage continues at Radhasoami Central Satsang, at Dayalbagh, Agra, in India. Baba Jaimal Singh had perhaps 2500 initiates and did not travel more than a few hundred miles from Beas while he was a Master.
Baba Sawan Singh did not travel outside of India, but is believed to have had as many as one lac (100,000) initiates, some of whom were foreigners. Did travel overseas and the present master, travels to nearly 90 countries. Today the, is leading the way forward and encompassing all the teachings of the saints. Visited Europe and the United States in 1955 and 1963, and Europe, America, and Latin America in 1972. The various spiritual leaders who claim to lead this movement now frequently travel all over the world. General tenets The most central tenet is the need to be initiated by a living Master or ('sat' meaning true and 'guru' meaning Master or Spiritual Teacher).
'Competent Master' is another common formulation: the Master must be competent in the sense of having been commissioned by God, not just a person who feels like working in the role of a guru: It is a sad affair that there are thousands of imitators, of false copies, but it doesn't mean that the world is devoid of truth and that a Master is not available to the people.It has always been a law that at least one complete master would be on earth to bring God's truth to the people. One such Master can benefit the entire world just as one sun can glorify and light up the entire world. 16 Technically speaking Sant Mat practice involves listening to the, also known in the Holy Bible as 'The Word' or 'logos' contemplating the, and (eventually) - a practice sometimes referred to as 'dying while living'. The principal intent is to awaken the Soul and unite it with God. Sant Mat is a practical and not a theoretical investigation. Contemporary Sant Mat movements claim to be different in a radical sense from other disciplines or kinds of knowledge which can be taught. It claims to be a meta-knowledge or method of going beyond knowledge and deprecates the mind and mental processes, at all times describing a dichotomy between the mind and the soul, in which the mind is only a negative copy or imitation of the soul.
The mind is to become still and quiet so that the soul can begin to experience itself. The soul has its own internal sources of knowledge, and when properly connected to its inner sources, no outer education or knowledge is required or desired. The second essential tenet is the mystical role of the Sound Current: Prajapatir vai idam-agree asit Tasya vak dvitiya asit Vak vai Paramam Brahma (from Vedas) In the beginning was (the Creator), With Him was the (the Word), And the Vak (the Word) was verily the Supreme. Proponents compare this with the verses of John 1 to assert their special use of comparative religion (seeking the common thread in all religions and esoteric phenomena).
Naam or Word, written by, explores this theme. It asserts that the Sound Current is the esoteric form of God which is available to human beings. The Guru, who is a human being, has merged with the Sound Current in such a manner that he is a living manifestation of it (the Word made flesh).
However, not just the Guru can achieve this, but all human beings are inherently privileged in this way Helping factors Beyond the two main tenets, Contemporary Sant Mat movements emphasize an ethical lifestyle and selfless service. They assert that these are not spirituality as such, but are necessary preparation for true spirituality to commence.
A self-introspective diary or daily diary tracking ethical lifestyle in five cardinal disciplines is sometimes recommended as a way to self-monitor one's own ethical condition. The five cardinal virtues tracked by the diary are Ahimsa or, Truthfulness, love for all regardless of caste, creed, wealth, or intellectual attainments (i.e., ), and finally the maintenance of a strict diet. Drugs and alcohol are also to be avoided, as is the company of worldly-minded people. Or Seva means devoting oneself to mental, physical, or financial service to the Guru, and the sangat (or devotees).
Mental service means keeping constant remembrance of God by means of repetition of the Mantra (known as ) or by other means keeping the Guru in mind. Physical service means doing some physical work, as in the situation where one helps dig a well at an ashram or gives a talk about the Master to the public. Financial service means giving money to the mission of the Master (to his organization) instead of spending it on oneself. The concept of Financial Seva is quite similar to as known generally in Christianity. Also, just as a very general rule, at least 10% of one's time should be spent in meditation.
Practices Contemporary Sant Mat movements assert that the 'Master' or is provided by God as the channel through which God manifests in the world - God is believed to be unknowable and inconceivable, so he has created Gurus as a way in which to be available. Only humans are capable of interacting with a Master, as other forms of life are asserted to be incapable of doing so. Teachers of contemporary Sant Mat movements claim to teach a spiritual path which is intentionally easier than others described in the ancient scriptures as it requires nothing more than sitting quietly and looking and listening within.
Specifics of this process include connecting one's soul or attention, called with the inner Current of Light and Sound of God, the. Adherents believe this Sound Current cannot be heard by the uninitiated; it is made manifest at the time of initiation. An essential component of the practice involves sitting still with eyes closed, with one's attention focused at the 'third eye center', located between and behind the two eyebrows, while (mentally) repeating one or more given by the Guru to the disciple at the time of initiation. This is called (repetition) and its primary function is to still the mind while remembering (or being connected to) the Guru via the mantra he provided.
However listening to the Sound Current by plugging the ears with the thumbs and listening at the right side or above is equally as important. Sound is considered to be the source of the Light, and to contain everything required. The concept of is also a common thread in contemporary Sant Mat movements' practices. Satsang means literally 'gathering of Truth.' These gatherings serve as the formal meeting place of the Master and his devotees when he is present in physical form, but also, more often, follow the tradition of early Christianity and take place in the homes of disciples or in any convenient location as times of remembrance of the Master and the need for meditation.
In contemporary Sant Mat movements, not everyone automatically qualifies for; many teachers require that prospective followers be spiritually “ready”. This was especially true in earlier times, when people made more time available. There are definite criteria for judging whether or not a person is indeed ready for initiation: they must be ready to eschew drugs and alcohol, lead a disciplined and chaste lifestyle, avoid spiritual healing and other forms of meditation, and commit to several hours of meditation per day. Sects There are many sects within contemporary Sant Mat movements, with different leaders and varying belief systems.
Examples include, and the. The work of provides a partial catalogue of various sects related to the Radha Soami Satsang Beas and attempts to study their formation from a socio-economic point of view. Has also extensively studied groups related to Radha Soami Satsang Beas. Other contemporary movements described as having a Sant Mat origin The of meditation promoted though the spiritual teachings of also has notable similarities to Sant Mat. The religious movement is considered by some to be an offshoot of the Sant Mat tradition.
Paul Twitchell, who founded Eckankar, was an initiate of Sant. The, founded by and succeeded by his sons Guru Maharaj Ji and, was characterized as part of the Sant Mat tradition.
See also. References.
Radha Soami Satsang Beas ( RSSB) is a philosophical organization based on the spiritual teachings of all religions and dedicated to a process of inner development under the guidance of a spiritual teacher. Radha Soami, a Hindi word, means ‘lord of the soul’ in English, satsang describes a group that seeks truth, and refers to the town near which the main centre (Dera Baba Jaimal Singh, Beas, India) is located in northern India. RSSB was established in India in 1891 and gradually began spreading to other countries. Today RSSB holds meetings in more than 90 countries worldwide. It is a non-profit organisation with no affiliation to any political or commercial organizations. The philosophy teaches a personal path of spiritual development which includes a vegetarian diet, abstinence from intoxicants, a moral way of life and the practice of daily meditation. There are no rituals, ceremonies, hierarchies or mandatory contributions, nor are there compulsory gatherings.
Members need not give up their cultural identity or religious preference to follow this path. Philosophy At the core of the RSSB philosophy is a belief that there is a spiritual purpose to human life – to experience the divinity of God who resides in all of us. It is through this experience that we will realize the truth of the concept that there is only one God and we are all expressions of his love. Central to the RSSB philosophy is a spiritual teacher who explains the purpose of life and guides and instructs members in a method of spirituality based on a daily meditation practice.
The present teacher is Baba Gurinder Singh, who lives with his family at the main centre in northern India. By performing the meditation practice according to the teacher's instructions, individuals can realize the presence of God within themselves. It is a solitary practice that is done in the quiet of one's own home. Members commit themselves to a way of life that supports spiritual growth while carrying out their responsibilities to family, friends and society.
To build on the primary spiritual practice of meditation, members are vegetarian, abstain from alcohol and recreational drugs, and are expected to lead a life of high moral values. A vegetarian diet encourages respect and empathy for all life and acknowledges that there is a debt to be paid for taking any life unnecessarily. Abstaining from intoxicants improves one's ability to concentrate and calms the mind during meditation. Members are encouraged to be self-supporting and not be a burden on society.
They are free to make their own choices in life and maintain any cultural or religious affiliations they choose. RSSB does not involve itself in the personal lives of its members. Radha Soami Satsang Beas lineage The Beas lineage is:. Master, 1884-1903. Master, 1903-1948.
Master, 1948-1951. Master, 1951-1990. Master, 1990–Present. Charan Singh, Spiritual Heritage, Beās: Radha Soami Satsang Beas, 1983, 1998. ISBN 9-107-1. Jaimal Singh, Spiritual Letters, Beās: Radha Soami Satsang Beas, 1998.
ISBN 81-8256-129-9. Johnson, Julian, Call of the East, Beās: Sawan Service League, 1936. (out-of-print). Johnson, Julian, With a Great Master in India, Beās: Radha Soami Satsang Beas, 1934, 1982, 1988, 1994. Kapur, Daryai Lal, Call of the Great Master, Beās: Radha Soami Satsang Beas, 1972, 1975, 1986, 2005.
ISBN 9-089-5. Kapur, Daryai Lal, Heaven on Earth, Beās: Radha Soami Satsang Beas, 1986, 1996.
ISBN 9-122-9. Labour of Love, 1995, Beās: Maharaj Jagat Singh Medical Relief Society. Love in Action, 1990, USA: Radha Soami Society Beas-America.
Munshi Rām, With the Three Masters, Beās: Radha Soami Satsang Beas, 1967. Sāwan Singh, Dawn of Light, Beās: Radha Soami Satsang Beas, 1985, 1989. ISBN 81-8256-028-4. Sethi, Shanti, comp, Treasure Beyond Measure, Beās: Radha Soami Satsang Beas, 1991. ISBN 81-8256-133-7 External links.
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