Here, the spiritual Master crystallizes what the spiritual journey is all about.
Everywhere I look, I find people trying hard to better themselves and the world around them. And yet people remain unhappy. Why do you think personal fulfillment is so elusive?
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj: When we start to talk about fulfillment, we find that with all the developments in the last thousand years, we still have not been able to find fulfillment for ourselves. We still live with a lot of stress and strain. We still have problem after problem that we face on a daily basis. These problems are not new in only our era. Humanity, from the beginning of creation, has been faced with challenges. When we start to think about achieving eternal peace and happiness—a state of perpetual fulfillment—we should turn to the lives of the great saints and mystics. We find in every age that there were great saints, mystics and sages who did find this eternal happiness and fulfillment for themselves. Facing many challenges, even persecution, they still lived in a state of peace and bliss, oblivious to their environment.
How can their example help us? Weren’t they special, even unique?
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj: They lived normal day-to-day lives in times which had as many problems as we have today, yet they were able to find happiness for themselves. When we read about such saints and mystics, we wonder if we can also find, in this day and age, the same happiness that they found.
Can we find the same happiness they experienced?
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj: Yes. Saints and mystics have always been asking us to go within. As we concentrate and come in contact with the divine Light and Sound of God through meditation, we will find that there is a change in our perspectives. We start to look at life from a new angle, from a new vision. We recognize that the Light of God which is in us is also in others. We realize that just as we can be one with the divine Light and Sound of God, others can be one with it, too. We start to look at others as our own brothers and sisters. Then, we start to treat others in a loving, giving, and peaceful manner. That way of acting reflects in our outer activities, such as in the way we talk to people and in the way we want to be caring and helpful to others. We want to make sure that the people with whom we come in contact are at ease, are happy, and are at peace with themselves.
I agree that when we become more peaceful, we treat others more peacefully. Why does contact with the divine Light and Sound cause such a transformation?
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj: Through meditation on the Light and Sound of God, we are coming in touch with the power of love. The Light and Sound of God are God into expression and love into expression. Contact with this Power fills us with love. If we can be receptive to that love and soak it in like a sponge, we will reach a condition described as being in a state of love with no change. We will be in permanent ecstasy.
Can you explain what you mean about the Light and Sound being “God into expression and love into expression”?
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj: It is said that when God wanted to bring about creation, a principle issued from God in the form of a vibration. This vibration resulted in Light and Sound. This power of God in the form of Light and Sound brought about all regions of creation. It is referred to in the various scriptures as Naam, Shabd, Kalma, and the Holy Word. Souls, drops of God, were sent to inhabit the world. Thus, we are in reality soul, a part of God, and have God’s attributes of all consciousness, all bliss, all Light, and all love.
Why don’t we recognize these qualities of all consciousness and all bliss within ourselves?
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj: The dreamer of this world is the soul. The soul, in its state of ignorance, thinks that the show we are watching here is real. But when it turns its attention to the spiritual realms, it realizes the true reality. The soul then sees that the only reality is the power of God of which it is a part.
I always thought that following a spiritual path would be difficult, but you make it sound easy.
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj: Many people have a misconception that spirituality is a dry path of strict discipline, rules, and difficult practices. They worry that they cannot measure up to a spiritual teaching because they do not feel they are perfect. The result is that many people, who in their heart of hearts want to experience God and the soul, end up avoiding spiritual practices for fear of not being able to live up to the teachings. The path of Sant Mat is a unique path because it offers another approach to finding God. Rather than being an ascetic path with harsh penances and difficult practices, it offers people a way to find God through the path of universal love.
There’s a saying that “Love makes the world go ‘round.” Is that what meditation’s about, connecting ourselves with love, and bringing it more fully into our lives?
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj: The path back to God is a journey of love. While there is a definite technique in meditation, one’s success depends on love. We meditate with a deep sense of having love for God and yearning to know God. When we receive initiation from our spiritual Master, he gives us our first experience of inner Light and Sound. As we meditate more and more, we experience love and bliss by coming in contact with the inner Light and Sound. The divine stream of Light and Sound has the power to cleanse our soul. The more we become absorbed in it, the more its love and divinity fills our heart. Slowly, the impurities of mind, matter, and the world are washed away.
Can you explain more about how to meditate?
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj: There are two meditation practices. The first is concentration on the inner Light. During this practice we silently repeat any Name of God we feel comfortable with. This repetition is called simran. While the repetition goes on mentally we gaze at the field of darkness lying in front of us. As we do so, the attention will automatically begin to collect at the single eye. As we meditate more, we will be able to see inner vistas, and the power of God will guide us beyond the physical into the higher planes. The second practice of meditation is listening to the inner Sound. We concentrate our attention at the seat of the soul and listen to the inner Sound Current. The soul is of the same essence as of God and the Sound Current. Thus, when it hears the divine Melody it is magnetized to it. The soul can then travel on the Sound Current through the higher realms.
So, meditation is not just about feeling peaceful inside. According to you it has a much higher purpose. Would you like to explain what this purpose is?
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj: Meditation can uplift our soul to realms in which we can find the answers to all our spiritual questions. We can journey to the regions that await us when we leave our physical body at the time of death. The burning question, “Where do we go after we die?” will be answered because we will have already journeyed there through meditation. Death no longer fills us with fear, for we see for ourselves that it holds more bliss, joy, and love than we can ever imagine. Ultimately, we reach the stage of merger with God and become all-conscious. It is at that stage of unification that our spiritual thirst is quenched. We no longer yearn for love—we become love itself.
As an international spiritual leader and Master of meditation, H.H. Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj affirms the transcendent oneness at the heart of all religions, emphasizing prayer and meditation as building blocks for achieving peace. He will be on tour in San Francisco (July 4 –5, 2010) and Los Angeles (July 7 – 8, 2010). For more information call (888) 248-3962 (San Francisco) or (800) 978-5778 (Los Angeles), or visit our website at www.sos.org.
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