Sar Bachan (Poetry) Vol. 1 Excerpt – Shiv Dayal Singh (Soamiji Maharaj)

Hidayatnama (Esoteric Instructions, Bachan 21 of Sar Bachan Poetry, Volume One) by Swami Ji Maharaj/Sant Radhasoami Sahib)

REVELATION GIVEN OUT IN THE COURSE OF TEACHINGS IMPARTED ABOUT THE VALUE OF ASSOCIATION WITH, AND SERVICE OF, THE PERFECT GUIDE, AND ABOUT THE DIFFERENT GRADES OF ADEPTS, AND INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT THE PRACTICE OF SHABD, AND THE SECRETS OF SHABD MARG (YOGA), WITH DETAILS OF THE STAGES ON THE JOURNEY TO THE HIGHEST REGION.

This discourse is meant for those who are desirous of finding the Supreme Being, and who are true seekers and want to know which religion is the highest and which path is the most sure and direct. They should minimise their worldly attachments. In other words, leaving the care for wealth, wife and children to fate they should give paramount importance to the company of saintly persons. And out of saintly persons, the company of that Adept should be adopted, who is a practitioner of Surat Shabd or of Drishti (sight), that is to say, who is conversant with the technique of the Yoga of Surat Shabd, has perfected the practice of withdrawing the spirit currents from the pupils of the two eyes, and of uniting them, and who performs the practice of raising the spirit, by hearing, internally, celestial sounds. In case an Adept of this class is not available, they should search out one who performs the practice of ‘striking the solar plexus with Name’ (repeating the Holy Name in a particular manner at the heart centre), or one who performs the practice of ‘breath control’. The company of such a person would also purify the heart, curb evil propensities and confer some inner joy. But the ascension of the spirit can be achieved through the practice of Surat Shabd Yoga alone. It behoves the seeker to develop love and devotion for such a personage, to perform His service with zeal, to solicit His attention and kindness by rendering service of all kinds with body, mind and wealth, and to gaze at His eyes continuously for an hour or two, without letting the eye-lids close, as long as possible. The duration of this practice should be prolonged day by day. Whenever He casts His benign gaze on you, your heart will be purified. When, in His grace, He initiates you into the secrets and methods of the practice referred to above, your spirit will begin to catch hold of the celestial sounds. You should perform this practice daily, twice, four times or as many times as you find time. If your mind gives rise to delusions and wanderings, prayers should be offered to Sant Sat Guru and the practice should be performed with greater effort. Guru’s kindness and your application would certainly result in progress day by day. It is not proper to be hasty or impatient, because haste makes waste, and is characteristic of the devil.

Whatever is achieved gradually is beneficial, and whatever is acquired pronto does not last, because such an acquisition is the gift of Satan. Whatever is obtained from the Merciful Guru endures. All this refers to external modes of devotion. The inner state and the stages to which Sants have access are described below.

When your eye turns inward in the brain and you see the firmament within, and your spirit leaves the body and rises upward, you will see the Akash in which is located Sahas-dal-kanwal, the thousand petals of which perform the various functions pertaining to the three worlds. Its effulgence will exhilarate your spirit. You will at that stage, witness Niranjan, the lord of three worlds. Several religions which attained this stage and took the deity hereof to be the lord of all, were duped. Seeing the light and refulgence of this region they felt satiated. Their progress was stopped.

They did not find the guide to higher regions. Hence they could not proceed further.

At the apex of this Akash, there is a passage which is very small like the eye of a needle. Your Surat (spirit) should penetrate this eye. Further on, there is Banknal, the crooked path, which goes straight and then downward and again upwards. Beyond this passage comes the second stage.

Trikuti (region having three prominences) is situated here. It is one Lakh Yojan in length and one Lakh Yojan in width. There are numerous varieties of glories and spectacles at that plane which are difficult to describe. Thousands of suns and moons look pale in comparison to the light there. All the time, melodious sounds of Ong Ong and HOO HOO [HU], and the sounds resembling thunder of clouds, reverberate there. On attaining this region, the spirit becomes very happy, and purified and subtle. From here onward, it becomes cognizant of the spiritual regions.

After having enjoyed the bliss of this region for some time, the spirit goes up one crore Yojans and reaches Sunn, the third stage. Mohammedan Faqirs (Saints) have called it “Lahoot.” It is indescribable. Here, the spirits enjoy great beatitude. The refulgence of this region is twelve times that of Trikuti. Pure pools of ambrosia, called “Mansarovar”, abound here. There are innumerable flower pots and gardens.

Spirits, like beauties, dance at various places. There are pleasing and sweet victuals, all savoury and fresh, and sonorous and musical strains can be heard everywhere. All this bliss can be experienced by the spirit only when it reaches there. It cannot be described. At every place, fountains of nectar are at play, in other words, pools of nectar are overflowing and streams of nectar are gushing out. How can one describe the splendour and decoration of this region? There are platforms of diamonds, beds of emeralds According to some it is equal to one thousand Kos or two thousand miles and plants of jewels, all studded with rubies and precious stones. Bejewelled fish, swimming in pools there, display their beauty and ornamentation and their glitter and sheen attract attention. Beyond this, there are innumerable palaces of crystals and mirrors, in which spirit entities reside at their respective spots, as allocated by the Lord. They witness and exhibit ever changing revels. In Hindi, they have been described ”Hansa Mandlies”. The decoration and embellishment of these regions can be appreciated only by seeing them. The entire creation there is purely spiritual. It is free from material constituents. The denizens, there, are spiritual and free from physical taints. Full particulars of these regions are known only to Sants. It is not meet to describe them in greater detail.

Having sojourned there and having enjoyed the glory thereof for a very long time, the spirit of this Faqir moved on, in accordance with the instructions of the Guides. After traversing five arab and seventy five crore yojans upward, the spirit entity effected ingress into the bounds Hahoot and witnessed the panorama of that region. There an expanse of ten Neel is enveloped in darkness. The depth of this dark region cannot be fathomed. The spirit went down one kharab yojans, still the bottom was nowhere to be found. Then the spirit turned upward and proceeded on the path chalked out by Guru. It was not considered advisable to go down right to the bottom of this region This region is calledra Maha-sunn. There are four extremely subtle sub-regions there, the secrets whereof have not been revealed by any Sant. There are prison cells for the condemned spirits ejected from the court of the True Supreme Being. Although these spirits are not subjected to any trouble and they perform their functions by their own light, yet, as they do not get Darshan of the Lord, they are restless. However, there is a way of their remission also. Whenever Sants happen to pass that way with spirits reclaimed from the lower regions, some of these spirits fortunately get Their Darshan. Such spirits go along with the Sants who very gladly take them to the court of the Lord and get them pardoned.

The spirit, thereafter, went to Hootal Hoot, which, in Hindi, has been described as Bhanwargupha. There is a rotating swing here which is all the time in subtle motion, and the spirits ever swing on it. All round, there are innumerable spiritual islands from which the sounds of “Sohang Sohang” and “AnaHOO AnaHOO” rise all the time. Spirit entities playfully and rapturously enjoy these sounds. Other characteristics of this region cannot be reduced to writing, as they can be realized by the spirit only when it reaches there by performing Abhyas [the meditation practices]. Hence it is necessary to continue the practice of this mode of devotion and it is called the Shabd (sound) practice. Do not give it up.

Having witnessed spectacle of this region, the spirit entity proceeded upward and went on ascending. Whiffs of scents of various kinds and sweet fragrance of sandal were enjoyed by the spirit and the melodies of flutes were heard, while it proceeded onward. On crossing this plane, the spirit entity reached the outpost of Sat Lok, where melodious sounds of “Sat Sat” and “Haq Haq” were heard coming out of the Bin. On hearing this, the spirit penetrated further rapturously. There rose to view silver and golden streams full of nectar, and vast gardens, each tree thereof being one crore-Yojans in height. Crores of suns and moons hang from them as flowers and fruits. Innumerable spirits and Hansas sing, chatter and play on those trees like birds. The wondrous beauty of this region is ineffable. While enjoying it, the spirit entered Sat Lok and came into the presence of Sat Purush.

Now as regards the glory of the person of Sat Purush, each hair of His is so brilliant that crores of suns and moons look pale in comparison. When such is the refulgence of each hair, how is it possible to describe the glory of all His hair, and where are the words to describe the beauty and glory of His entire person? How can one describe His eyes, nose, ears, face, hands and feet? They are all nothing but refulgence, even to describe them as oceans of refulgence does not give even the remotest idea.

The expanse of Sat Lok is one padam Palang, a Palang being equal to Triloki in vastness. Hence it is difficult to imagine the stupendous vastness of Sat Lok. There dwell spirit entities called Hansas who enjoy the Darshan of Sat Purush, hear the music of the Bin and partake of ambrosial food.

After witnessing the glory of this region, the spirit proceeded to Alakh Lok and got Darshan of Alakh Purush. The expanse of this region is one sankh and each hair of Alakh Purush has the effulgence of arab kharab suns.

Thereafter the spirit entity went on and attained Agam Lok, which is Maha Sankh Palang in expanse and the magnitude of the person of Agam Purush equals a crore Sankhs. The forms of Hansas of this region are amazingly wondrous, and the state of esctasy and bliss that obtains there passes description. The spirit entity sojourned there for a long time and, on going beyond, it got the Darshan of Radhasoami, that is, Anami Purush, and merged in Him. Radhasoami Dham is boundless, infinite, endless and immeasurable. It is the Nij Sthan, the special resting place of Sants (Faqirs). That region is the Ultima Thule of all Sants and all speech and description end here. I also conclude here.

So great and exalted is the status of Sants (Faqirs). Hence, how can the followers of all those who stopped at the very first stage, calling it limitless and boundless, be convinced of the existence of these higher regions? No one but Sants and perfect Faqirs knows them. Only those who have met Sants and Faqirs can be convinced about the existence of these regions, provided that they have faith in Their words. Neither the Prophet nor Vyas and Vashishtha knew of these regions. Hence no Hindu or Muslim can believe in their existence. It is not desirable to tell them about this, because they are faltered by the teachings of the prophet and Quran, and Hindus are slaves of Vyas, Vashishtha and the Vedas. They cannot even tolerate hearing these words. As such, communication of this revelation will do good only to those persons who have faith and belief in the words of Sants and who accept that the status of Sants is exalted above all and that Sants are, in fact, the creators of Khuda and Parmeshwar (God). For this reason, this secret should not be divulged to any one until and unless his faith and conviction have been ascertained as conforming to what has been stated above. (Soami Ji Maharaj)