ALL Masters have said that God is the Guru, the true Master. He is the Controlling Power within us. In the body we have got so many apertures, two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, a mouth, and two more below, but still we cannot run away out of it. Our breathing goes out, but cannot remain outside. Some Power is pushing it back into the body. That Controlling Power is called God. When that is withdrawn, we have to leave the body. So God is the true Guru and is the Controlling Power in each one of us. Where that Power manifests, that manifested God-in-man is called a Master. Not the son of man, but the son of man in whom He is manifested. So the true Master is God Himself. Not God Absolute, but the God who has come into expression, who is sustaining and controlling the whole Universe.

Guru Nanak was asked, "Who is your Guru, your Master ?" He replied, "The God-into-Expression Power, the Shabda is the Guru. My soul is His disciple." Kabir also said the same thing. He was asked, "Where is your Guru residing?" He said, "Beyond and above these outgoing faculties. If you come up there, you will find Him." That Power is the Controlling Power, keeping us in the body. So the true Master is the God-into-Expression Power that is controlling all the Universe. In which human body He is manifest, that body is respected. For the manifestation of God in Him, we respect Him, we love Him.

In the world the question arises as to whom should we love? God is love, our soul is also love, love is innate in our soul and naturally wants to be attached to somebody. Our soul is at present attached to outward things, to the physical body, to our children and families. What is the result? We have to come back again and again, to where we are attached. All things are changing, not stationary. So we should love somebody who is not changing. "O God, Thou art eternal, unchangeable permanence Thou art, we wish to be attached to Thee". Those who are attached to the changing panorama of life cannot see God unless they withdraw from it. The true Guru is the God-in-man, the manifested God-in-man. Whom should we love the most? He who is able to withdraw our attention from outside, drag us up and open the inner eye to see Him. God is Light. Who can remove the darkness when you close your eyes and manifest the Light in you ? He who is competent to do that is called a Sadh, Sant, Mahatma or Guru. He is not the son of man. We respect His body only for the reason that God is manifest there. God is also within us, but He is latent.

The God in Him is competent to withdraw our attention from outside, drag us up from the lower portion of the body to the seat of the soul within the body and open our inner eye to see the Light of God. It is a wonderful body, I would say, where God is manifest. To love Him is the first thing to get the highest aim of our life, which is to know God. He sees God and He enables us to see God within the body. Once you get something to start with, some capital, you can develop it from day to day and rise into Him. If you love somebody who is coming and going, you will have to come back. You will follow him. If you love somebody in whom God is manifest, where will you go? You will go where He will go. If He is not to return, then you are also not to return. He tells us that we have got this man-body, which is the highest rung in Creation. You are fortunate, but the highest aim before you is to know God. This you can do only in the man-body, which you have fortunately got, with the grace of God, and in no other body.

So this is your turn to see God, to meet God. All other things have to be paid off, such as debts of giving and taking, as a reaction of the past. If we just attach our souls to God, naturally we are not to come back. So if you love somebody, it follows naturally that you have to do what He says. Christ said, "If you love me, keep my commandments". This is thy turn to meet God. The man-body is the highest rung in Creation and this you have got by the grace of God. You should make the best use of it. What is the best use of the man-body? it is to know God, but to know God, we must know ourselves first. Self knowledge precedes God knowledge. It is not a matter of inferences or feelings, but is a matter of self analysis, of rising above body consciousness. When you know the Self, you become the knower of the Overself, which is controlling you in the body. The God-into-Expression Power manifests as Light and Sound Principle. When you withdraw from outside and rise above body consciousness you will see with the inner eye the Light of God, and hear with the inner ear the Sound or the Voice of God. One who is competent in these Principles is called a Master, Sadh or Sant. So the best thing is to love such a person in whom God is manifested. If you come across a Pole where that Powerhouse is connected, you come nearer to the Powerhouse. Maulana Rumi says, "When you come across a true Master, you come nearer to God, because God is manifested in Him". When you come to His feet, you get withdrawal by radiation. The more your attention is riveted in Him, the more you think of Him, the more you are drawn within. As your soul withdraws from the body, you see the Light of God. The highest ideal before us is to know God, but to know God we must meet with somebody in whom He is manifest, and who can also manifest in us the same God Power that is working within the body. He does not ask you to leave the world and go to the forest. He says remain in the world, pay off all debts, give and take, which you have to do as the reactions of the past. Pay off your debts sweetly and direct your footsteps to God. He who can guide you in that direction is called a Master. This is no reserve right of any outer religion. Masters have been coming in all religions. Remain anywhere you like, but meet such a Master in whom God is manifest, and who has the competence to make that Power of God manifest in you.

Such a man while living in the world and always thinking of God will naturally go to where God is. If you are attached to the world, you will have to come back again and again. The man-body is the highest rung in Creation and we are fortunate in having it. The best use of it is to know God. To know God, we must know ourselves first. It is a practical subject of self analysis, and can be demonstrated by someone who rises above body consciousness daily. So it is He whom we should love in the world. He sees that God resides in every heart and has respect for everybody.

KIRPAL SINGH

MORNING TALKS

November 2, 1967

http://www.santmat.hu/en/issue/morning-talks/14-true-guru-or-master