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The 'Paramhansa Advait Mat'
Book
page 15-30
The preachings of the perfect and true Master alone help and guide one in seeking liberation from the circle of eighty four lacs, in kindling the light of knowledge and removing ignorance; in refixing the attention (which had gone off the path during numerous previous births) on the right path; in realizing the real aim of birth and in infusing a new spirit in life. These preachings, in other words, are the precept of the Master, and are the nectarean sayings. By listening them and by acting on them man realises the aim of his life. Although the compliance of a single command of the Master can completely transform the conduct of human life, even then human beings have been suffering since times immemorial by following the dictates of the mind and the senses.After falling a victim to illusion and senses, one gets far more involved in enjoying the worldly comforts, such as status, wealth and carnal pleasures. Having lost the knowledge of the Reality, beguiled by the mind and the illusion, he has completely forgotton his real wealth the spiritual-knowledge. He does not even know the real aim of human life. Therefore, the guidance of the True Masters of the times, to put the man on the right path, has become imperative.
For the attainment of spiritual knowledge, it becomes essentially necessary for an aspirant to act according to Their behests. Their only aim is to put the wayward souls on the right path. Therefore, setting aside one's own will and accepting the will of the Master, and renouncing one's physical and mental power, knowledge, craft and pride,
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one must mould one's life on the lines prescribed by the Sadguru. Lord Krishna has preached the same in the Gita :
Here the Lord says that senses, mind and intellect are the seat lust, which veils knowledge through their media.
If one acts according to the advice of the Master, the veil of illusion will disappear. However, if he follows the dictates of his own intellect and mind, his spiritual power will be gradually weakened. Lord Krishna advises Arjuna to follow the path of knowledge, but also tells him to surrender his mind and intellect to Him. Then alone he would be able to achieve the aim of his life.
It is a point to consider that if one needs an expert and efficient teacher to acquire various kinds of worldly knowledges, will he not need the protection and advice of the Master to acquire spiritual knowledge? Traditionally, since times immemorial, even Great Souls and reincarnations acquired spiritual knowledge at the feet of their Masters. The progenitor of 'Shri Advait Mat' (Doctrine of Non-duality), Shri Paramhansa Dayal Ji, Who was Himself a fully realised soul and the Lord of the Kali-Yuga, got initiation from His Master. The saint, Sahjo Bai ji, has also emphasized the need of a Guru in the following, words:
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If God's grace is available, it is so good, and if it is not available, it does not make much difference. But without the grace of the Guru, the whole intellect and wisdom will prove futile.
The devotion to spirit, which is also called spiritual knowledge, cannot be acquired without the company of the Great Saints. This is called super knowledge. If we take into consideration the literal meaning of this word, it means: far far away'. In other words this supreme knowledge is beyond the scope of the organs of action and cognition, beyond all the senses and their vices, as well as beyond the power of the gods and goddesses.
Mundak-Upanishad (1/1/5)
It is the knowledge with the help of which the Immortal Braham God is realised.
This is the essential nature of human life. One acquires the knowledge of this Truth by treading the above mentioned path with the grace of the Spiritual Master. As only on being connected with the main electric current, the heater and the iron emanate heat, fan and refrigerator provide cool air; similarly, if one's heart is connected with Maya', he will find himself burning in the fire of lust, anger, avarice, attachment and ego and feel distressed and restless. But if he acts on the sacred and peace-giving advice of the Master, he will be happy; because, in reality a human being is Sat-Chid-Ananda', i.e. Existence, Knowledge and Bliss Absolute, and is a part of the Lord Supreme. It is recorded in Shri Ramayana:
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A human being is a part of the Imperishable God, Who is sentient, free from impurities and intrinsically a treasure of peace. Still he has been entrapped by illusion, and is tied up like the monkey and the parrot, who get bound themselves. (The monkey, after putting his hand in the narrow necked vessel, closes his fist. Since he does not open the fist, he cannot get his hand out. Similarly, the parrot is trapped in the pipe.) As the monkey and the parrot, although they are living beings, get tied up in inanimate things; even so, a human being, entrapped by 'Maya' cannot easily free himself. The living being and the lifeless thing, (animate and inanimate), thus, get tied up together. Although the knot of illusion is false, it is not easy to loosen it. Therefore, unless the living being connects himself with the living force of God, he cannot free himself from the cycle of birth and death and attain peace.
Saint Tulsi class Ji has expressed this very view in the Utter Kand of Shri Ramayana in the following way:
None can cross the worldly ocean without the help of the Guru, even though he may be like Brahma or Shanker. It means that once born in the world, one cannot gain inner peace by his own limited efforts.
Our scriptures and the sayings of the Great Masters reiterate this very truth that without the grace of the perfect Master, one cannot acquire the spiritual knowledge, because They alone are the possessors of this. knowledge. Parvati Ji, while discussing the importance of the teachings of the True Master, enlightens the Seven Rishis in the following way:
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(Balkanda)
When the seven Rishis advised Parvati to abandon her vow, she replied, "I shall not abandon the commands of Narada (my Master), even if Lord Shiva Himself asks me a hundred times to do so. Never shall I forsake the dictates of my Guru. In doing so, whether my house is habitated or ruined, I am not afraid. Because one, who has no faith in the sayings of his Guru, cannot attain peace and perfection even in dream."
From this, we infer that the sayings of a Spiritual Master alone are the source of peace, happiness and bliss. His sayings verily are the accumulated wealth of human life.
Although the son of Lord Brahma, Maharshi Narada, did not gain perfection unless he was initiated by the Guru. At the instance of Brahma, when he got himself initiated, only then he was able to realize the import of spiritual knowledge. Shukdeva, although a renowned 'Yogeshwara', was turned back from the heavens, only because he had not been initiated by the Guru. What is meant is that the Guru's precept is that panacea, by taking which mental diseases like lust, anger, avarice and attachment etc., disappear and one frees oneself from the wheel of the eighty-four lacs. This is that nectar which confers immortality on humans. Saint Tulsidas has written in the chapter on VANDANA' in the Ramayana:
I bow at the lotus feet of my Guru, Who is an ocean of kindness and God in human garb. His precept is like the rays of the sun to remove the utter darkness of attachment.
In other words, the teachings of the Guru transform the life of a human being. The great saints impart their valuable spiritual experiences through their sayings. For
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example, a single word of a Great Saint converted Valmikithe dacoit, into a Rishi'. The Divine Master of Bulla Shah said only the following words to him:
Oh Bulla Shah! lt is not difficult to discover the Lord. You have only to detach yourself from the world and attach yourself to the Lord.'
This advice of the Guru transformed the life of Bulla Shah completely. The new trend in him gathered momentum and the Guru's saying became the pivot of his attention, so much so that he became indifferent to the world and earned the title of a Saint' instead of Shah.' This gives us an evidence of how powerful are the words of the Saints. The teachings of the Saints are, doubtlessly eternal, peace-giving and beneficent.
It is said:
The saying of the Divine Master is like a lamp. Whosoever carries will never meander.
In other words, whosoever moulds his life according to the sayings of the Master, is never misled. In the path of Guru-Bhakti' no discrimination of caste, creed or sect is observed. Whosoever treads this path with implicit faith in and devotion unto the Master, is capable of realizing the real aim of his life. Saint Raidas, though a cobbler by birth, moulded his life according to the teachings of his Master, Swami Ramananda, and his name is listed among the Saints of the highest order. Shri Anath Das has also expressed the same idea: - -
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Spiritual knowledge is a valuable gem in the ocean of Bhakti. The Master's sayings are like the waves of the ocean of 'Bhakti' which bring forth this gem. The unenlightened ones become enlightened by gathering these gem-like sayings.
Another saint has said:
If you are eager to have the blessings of an Illumined Saint, then serve him faithfully, because this gem is not available in the treasures of the emperors.
In short, the teachings and the sayings of the Guru alone are potent in infusing new spirit in one's life, and by acting upon them the aim of life is realized.
Keeping with this age-old tradition, the great saints of SHRI PARAMHANSA ADVAIT MAT' have also made and are still making the nectar-like streams of their teachings flow. It becomes, therefore, imperative for all the followers, the protected ones and the seekers of the 'Mat' to lead their lives along the lines of the teachings of their Gurus. Their aim in view should be to tread the path of spirituality by renouncing the dictates of the mind and by adopting the sayings and teachings of the Sadguru'. Even the most ordinary persons get peace and comfort by having a dip in the sacred 'Ganges' of the preachings of the great Saints, which is ever-flowing. The more the intensity of the `Kaliyuga', the higher the (sin-destroying) capacity of
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this sacred Ganges'. Their nectarean teachings confer immortality on the people, The mission of the great Saints of this Mat' is the same which all the great teachers of 'SantMat' have been preaching since long. To make one believe that the Saints are the incarnations of God and to mould one's life in selfless service as preached by Lord Krishna, is the essence of the teaching of the saints, which is imparted here.
A peep into the history of every epoch reveals that the great souls, saints, reincarnations, divines and prophets, and godly persons of high order come, as per need of the time, to lead the misled world to the right path. While living in this world, they rejuvenate 'Dharma'. The main aim of their life is to remove wrong attitudes and shortcomings of the generation of their times, and to infuse new spirit in the disheartened and wounded humanity. They appear in the world like the sun to destroy the darkness of sin. As on the appearance of the sun darkness totally disappears replaced by light all around, and the insects, mosquitoes and other germs, which thrive in darkness are destroyed; so on the appearance of the greet Sours and the Saints, the vices of worldly attachment, sensual pleasure, ignorance and devilish temperament start disappearing, and the virtuous qualities establish their rule. These great Souls come to the world only when the worldly people start erroneously indulging in the lust and sensual pleasures mistaking them for the main aim of their life, and physical needs and worldly comforts are taken to be the life-giving panacea. Instead of adopting virtuous qualities of knowledge and spiritual growth as the life-line, they consider the vices of attachment, sensuous pleasure, ignorant aptitudes and selfish designs as the main props of life. As a result, these evil propensities rule their mind and people dance to their tunes. They become slaves of their mind and busy themselves allp24
the time in accumulating wealth and physical comforts. The spiritual bliss is put in oblivion. At such a time the Great Souls reincarnate themselves to root out the vices, fiendish attitudes and sins, to sow the seeds of nobility and truth, to spread the bright and shining light of virtues, to do good to the whole mankind and to restore them to their mental and spiritual health.
According to the infallible principle of Nature, God has bound the land, the sky and the whole world by an established custom. By a close observation of nature's phenomena, it becomes clear that nothing in this world is irregular. Since times immemorial the sun rises to annihilate the darkness of the night. Cool evening comes with light and darkness in its bosom to end the scorching heat of the sun. Rainy season to provide comfort to beings, animals, birds, approaches with thundering clouds the scorched and troubled human slow-moving streams and greenery. Spring beautifies the expanse of nature after the winter season. Newly grown buds on leafless plants start blossoming and the breeze coming from the mountains, makes the atmosphere fragrant throughout.
In spite of many social and economic revolutions occurring in each age, the Nature continues to hold fast to its principles.
History has recorded that whenever a human-being became a slave to the worldly filth and got himself scorched in the fire of desire and attachment, he forgot his real self being veiled by 'Maya'; and Truth, Righteousness, Virtues and 'Bhakti' were put in the background. Then the Greet Souls reincarnated themselves to set right the conditions of the world according to the needs of times. For example, Param Sant Shri Kabir Sahib Ji, Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji Sant Tulsi Das Ji, Sant Dadu Dayal Ji, Sant Sahjo Bai Ji, Sant Daya Bai Ji, and numerous other great personalities,
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who were embodiments of spiritual knowledge and devotion to God, appeared to meet the demands of times. They infused a new spirit in the almost lifeless world by preaching love, Bhakti, renunciation and spirituality and showing the path of self-realisation.
Lord Krishna says in the Gita:
Whenever there is decay of righteousness, O' Bharata, and rise of unrighteousness, then I manifest Myself. For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked and for the establishment of righteousness, I am born in every age.
Shri Ramayana also confirms the same truth as
Whenever righteousness declines; evil intentioned, mean and arrogant people increase and resort to indescribable unrighteous deeds. They torture the Brahmins, the cows, the godly persons and the land; then the All Merciful God appears in human form to console the righteous and to destroy the ignoble persons.
Lord Shiva tells Parvati regarding God's reincarnation: "God reincarnates Himself according to the need of the
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times to protect His devotees. Just as Lord Vishnu assumed Narsingha's form to save Prahlada and again became a barber for the sake of His devotee, Sena'; similarly God reincarnates Himself in every age, in every country and in every community (in the garb of the most venerable Great Soul). Sometimes He comes in the usual form and sometimes in special ones. Special reincarnations are perfect and all powerful and come at particular times to bring about special changes; and His usual forms are those of Great Saints and Perfect Masters. They come to warn the persons caught in the clutches of illusion; to comfort the troubled minds; to engage the selfish worldly people in the service of humanity, to rekindle the glimmering light of spiritual knowledge; to teach the people the art of self-realization; to infuse the sweet music of love into everyone's life; to establish everybody steadfast on the path of righteousness and duty; to free them from the worldly fetters and to make them an embodiment of Truth and happiness. There is no difference between Them and God for they are God personified.
A saint has said:
Whosoever wishes to be in the company of God, should be told to seek the company of Perfect Saints, because the company of Great Souls, who are the Masters of spiritual knowledge, is the company of God Himself.
These reincarnations of God appear in the form of saints to preach the real aim of human life to the suffering humanity by becoming the harbingers of righteousness, truth and knowledge. The saints have said:
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The sky is on fire, embers are falling from above. But for the saints, the world would have been burnt.
What is meant is that the world is burning in the fire of lust, anger, avarice and attachment every moment. If the saints had not showered the nectar of knowledge, this world would have been scorched in the fire of enmity and jealousy etc.
Though the Great Souls appear in every country according to the needs of the times, but India is privileged with an outstanding pride among them. The tradition of the Great Souls reincarnating in this country is centuries old. Our country has been the prominent source of spiritual knowledge and ~Bhakti' since times immemorial. On this sacred land, the Rishis, the authors of the Vedas and the Shastras were born, who spread the light of Divine knowledge. The Saints, Gyanis (scholars), Yogis, Siddhas-Sadhakas, and renowned devotees, who were the exalted scholars of knowledge and devotion, were born on this very land. Lord Krishna, Lord Rama, Maharshi Gautam, Shri Ved Vyasa and Brahmarshi Vasishtha reincarnated themselves in this very country to reveal the importance of devotion to God and made this country saturate with it. The various great saints, who have been referred to in this Grantha', also appeared in India at different times. All the four ages; Satyuga, Dwapara, Treta and earlier part of - Kaliyuga, are a witness to this immortal Truth. The entire world has been benefiting itself from this country. This is evident from the following sloka of Manu Smriti:
All the nations of the world used to build up their character by
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From this point of view it will not be improper to call India the guide and the teacher of the whole world. In the present scientific age, the credit for all the scientific comfort-giving appliances goes to the Vedas. Whereas the Vedas contain the importance of various sciences, soul and God, and the technique of Yoga, Atherva Veda' particularly, contains special instructions as to how to conquer Nature.
The names and the forms of the reformers and the saints of the world may have been different, but their aim has always been the same.
To set right the troubled conditions of the world by imparting spiritual knowledge and Bhakti' to the people, to arrange the spiritual advancement through Surat-Shabad Yoga (Yoga of sound and light); to show the path of Sewa' all this composed in one noble and high ideal is called Sant Mat' in the common parlance. Sant Mat' is the means to acquire spirituality and Bhakti. The saints are free from enmity, jealousy and rivalry. They are impartial and sympathetic to all. They uplift all, without distinction, through their nectarean teachings. The 'Vadas', the 'Shastras' and the Granthas' have confirmed it. The great spiritualists, while accepting this eternal truth, have said that they do not come to form a new sect or religion, but only to show the path, indicated earlier by the great reincarnations and the saints. This path is also called the path of'Surat-Shabad-Yoga'. The human beings, having been caught in the snare of Kaal' and Maya' (death and illusion) since innumerable births and, thus, separated from the Lord have been a victim of worries. To unite the conscious with the Master and to unite the soul with God is the lofty ideal of 'Sent Mat.' The same also has been the aim of the Vedas, the Puranas, the Shastras and the
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ancient Rishis and Munis.
From the first Sadguru, Shri Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj to Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj-the tenth Sadguru, all have been preaching this very technique of Bhakti. The same was conveyed by Shri Ram Chandra Ji Maharaj to Bharata and then to the people of Ayodhya, the detailed description of which is available in the Uttarkanda' of Tulsi Krit Ramayana'. This very thing has been preached by the Nabis and other great souls of different countries and cults. Jesus has said in the Bible: "Do not think that I have come to efface the writings of the great souls. I have come not to efface, but to renew them." The saints listen to the calls of the troubled humanity, and show them the path of God-realisation through Surat-Shabad-Yoga.
Their basic principles are the same, which have ever been honoured by all the reincarnations, great saints and Faqirs. From this it is evident that all of them have the same aim in view. Difference of names and forms does not create any contradiction in their aims and principles. Lord Krishana has Himself reiterated this very teaching, which has been in practice since times immemorial, in the Gita:
The blessed Lord said: 'I taught this Imperishable Yoga to Vivaswana, who taught it to Manu, and Manu further taught the same to Ikshvaku. Ths Divine Knowledge, handed down thus in regular succession, was known to Rajarshis (the royal sages). This Yoga, by
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lapse of time, O' Parantapa (burner of the foes), has been lost and forgotten here.'
Acting on this principle and with this aim in view, Shri Shri 108 Shri Paramhansa Dayal Ji Shri Swami Advait Anand Ji Maharaj, according to the need of the country and its conditions, reincarnated Himself in response to the piteous prayers of the troubled humanity. He made them taste the nectar of NAM' (sacred Mantra) and relieved the whole world from the clutches of miseries. His arrival made the land blessed. The Advait Mat' organisation, started by Him, is still spreading the message of His eternal 'NAM' to the people in every nook and corner of the country. The teaching of Shri Paramhansa Dayal Ji, in the common parlance, is the same, as has been that of the ancient spiritual teachers. Thus, according to the tradition of the Sant Mat' Shri Paramhansa Dayal Ji Maharaj benefited the people and maintained the age-old tradition.