Submitted by SHABDA - Preceptor on
The Essence of the Sant Mat Teachings of Maharshi Mehi Paramhans
The first point of importance in his teachings is to have a firm faith in, and love for, the Satguru. Without sincere devotion for the Satguru one can not make any progress in one's spiritual development.
Maharshi Mahi says that the whole universe is like a mirage. He advises us to withdraw our consciousness from it and to unite it with the Supreme Being. We should have love (Bhakti) for the Lord who is all-pervading and infinitely more besides: unmanifest, unborn, originless and unlimited.
Jiva-atma [the soul] is a part of the Lord in the same sense as the air within any pot or within a temple is a part of the open air. When this delusion [of separateness] is removed, the jiva-atma [soul] is no longer merely part of the Lord. Rather, it experiences being one with the Lord Himself.
Both the natures (para and apara [earthly and heavenly]) come into being and merge into the Lord by His sweet will. According to him no suffering is greater than the misery of the wheel of births and deaths. To escape from it one should have devotion for the Supreme Being.
All human beings can have devotion for God. One should remove the veils by external (association with the Saints [attending satsang]), and internal (Dhyan) meditation practices.
First of all, we should firmly practice mental repetition of the Name given by the Satguru, or any mantra as guided by him, and then firmly practice the mental Dhyan [contemplation, meditation] of his form (face). By these two practices we should make our ears pure, i.e. progress in spirituality to catch the Divine Sound coming from within and above.
For the jiva [soul] there are three veils: Darkness, Light, and Sound. These veils should be removed by the practice of 1) Dristi Yoga [Yoga of Light: Inner Seeing, Inner Light Meditation]; and, 2) Nadanusandhana [Yoga of Sound: Surat Shabda/Nada Yoga Sadhana: Inner Sound Meditation]. By their removal, Maya [illusion] will also be transcended and the practitioner will unite with God. We should have firm faith that by doing so, there will remain no dualism.
By abandoning hypocrisy, egoism, and greed, and by being innocent, we should serve the Supreme Lord by surrendering our all.
We should daily: 1) have association with the Sants [attend satsang of the Masters/Saints] or study their teachings; 2) daily practice meditation sincerely, and, 3) should give up adultery, intoxication, violence, theft and falsehood.
These are the principles of all the Sants and they all have confirmed them. These fundamental principles should be firmly remembered.
Last but not least, he says that the essence of all these principles is to serve the Satguru without whom nothing can be done, i.e. no progress in spirituality is possible at all.
