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Satsang on
Prem Patra Radhasoami
Volume 5, Discourse 23
by
Michael Turner
(Author's Note: The following satsang took place on September 12,
1999, and began with a reading from Prem Patra Radhasoami, Volume 5,
Discourse 23, by Rai Saligram. This reading was followed by Shabda
Meditation, a short discourse and group discussion. As you will
probably notice, the talk does not strictly follow the reading, but
rather has a life of its own. This is frequently the case with
satsang. I like to use readings from other Shabda Meditation masters
as a launching point for inspiration and discussion. Sometimes there
is great focus on the reading itself; other times the reading inspires
all sorts of other thoughts, as if it brings other themes to the
surface, which themselves turn into knew themes. This particular
satsang follows the latter course. I hope you find it inspirational,
and believe you will find it enjoyable. Love and Blessings in the
Holy Spirit, Michael.)
******************************
PREM PATRA RADHASOAMI - TEXT
"Correct your erring mind. Eradicate its satanic tendencies. Apply
yourself to the holy feet of Radhasoami. Be humble before the Guru.
Then you will arise upwards and obtain bliss.
1. In this world we have all forgotten the True Supreme Being and
It's Nij Dham, which is their real home. They are tied to various
objects and living beings and are deluded. They see that people are
dying and all objects are being destroyed, but they hardly think of
their own death. They never think where they would go after death and
whether they would be happy or not.
2. People have to stay in this world for a very short period. But
they make all kinds of efforts for procuring happiness and removing
unhappiness. They know that the Spirit entity is immortal. But they
do not care at all to find out where they would go after death and
whether they'd be happy or miserable there. Day by day they get
entangled in the world as objects, family and kinsman. They perform
all sorts of actions for their sake.
3. This delusion and illusion cannot be removed without the Satsang
of Satguru, for it is there the secrets and mysteries of the Supreme
Being, His Nij Dham, the Path and the stages thereon, are revealed,
and a clear exposition is given of the creation of the three worlds,
which are within the region of Maya. It is emphatically stressed in
Satsang that he, who remains entangled in the region of Maya, will not
be saved from births, deaths, pains, and pleasures consequent upon the
assumption of bodies. This is possible only if a man has a strong
yearning for the Darshan of the Supreme Being Radhasoami Dayal and for
reaching his Nij Dham, and performs the Abhyas of proceeding thereto.
4. Being misguided and deluded by ascetics, priests and hereditary
gurus, the worldly people indulge in calumniating the Sant Satguru and
his Satsang. For the sake of their livelihood, honor and gain, these
professionals do not like that anyone should join the Satsang of
Sants, know the secrets and whereabouts of the True Supreme Being, his
home and the method of gaining access there and perform these
practices.
5. The above class of people are agents of Kal Purush and have been
assigned the work of looking after this world. He who associates with
them and accepts their advice, will remain within the bounds of Kal
and Maya and wander again and again in the world.
6. One desirous of joining Dayal Mat (religion of Dayal, the
Merciful) and securing an abode in the region of Dayal Purush (the
Merciful Lord), should keep oneself aloof from the company of those
who preach Kal Mat (the religion of Kal), which includes the wor****p
of idols and relics, pilgrimages, fasting, Hatha Yoga, Buddhi Yoga,
Prana Yoga, Bachak Yoga, etc. Such a one should search for and find
out the Sant Satguru's Satsang and join it. One will then learn the
real secrets of the True Supreme Being and the True Path.
7. Besides these agents of Kal, a man's mind and senses are also
emissaries of Kal. They are wholly inclined towards the world and
it's pleasures. Their tendency should be curbed with the help of Sant
Sat Guru and his Satsang. Yearning for meeting with the true Supreme
Being should be engendered in the mind. The mind and senses should be
chiefly engaged in finding the True Supreme Being. The affairs of the
world, avocation and the care of body, family, etc., should occupy the
second place.
8. Without the Satsang and Grace of the Sant Satguru, the senses and
mind will never behave properly. Therefore, the first essential is to
seek the Sant Satguru and his Satsang. Then one should join it with
humility and love, listen to and ruminate upon the discourses. In
this way, the propensities of Kal will gradually be overcome. And the
mind will somewhat apply to the Holy Feet of the Supreme Being,
Radhasoami Dayal.
9. As one hears in Satsang the secrets and whereabouts and the
im****tance of Radhasoami Dayal again and again, one will realize the
necessity of endeavoring for true Parmath. By grace, one will be able
to perform Abhyas to some extent and realize it's bliss within
oneself. Thus, one's yearning, love and faith in the Holy Feet of
Radhasoami Dayal, and Sant Satguru, will be developed. Humility and
dependence will be increased.
10. Within the augmentation of love and humility, progress in the
Abhyas of Surat Shabda Marg will be made by the grace of the Sant
Satguru. Internal experiences of grace and mercy will be had. The
mind and spirit will ascend and obtain bliss and joy. It is then that
the Jiva will be able to appreciate to some extent the grandeur of the
Sant Sat Guru, His Satsang and initiation in grace and mercy. Love
and faith in the Holy Feet will increase day by day. In this way, one
day the Surat will reach the highest region and its task will be
completed. In other words, it will attain to supreme and everlasting
bliss. Having the Darshan of it's true parent, the Supreme Being
Radhasoami Dayal, it will rest in His Holy Feet and get absolute
freedom from recurrent births and deaths and consequent pain and
anguish.
****************************
SATSANG
Michael: Talking about the pleasures of the world and trying to focus
your attention, I was mulling this over a while back. Think about
when you were a kid. There's a time in your life, when we didn't have
adult habits and interests. There's this point in when you're a kid
and you're not interested in ***, you're not interested in drugs, or
alcohol, or any of these adult things. It's a time when "The
Rescuers" and "Mary Poppins" are really cool."
Student: Or toys.
Michael: Yeah, toys. You know, you have fun. You have toys, watch
cartoons and play with your friends; you make skateboards and go
hiking and build forts and stuff like that. It's a really beautiful
phase. And so there is a time when you're not obsessed with all these
adult matters that just get our attention running all over the place.
That is really sort of the stage of innocence that we want to aspire
to get back to spiritually. It's not this pious thing, this
sanctimonious thing, this, you know, "I'm going to be a good spiritual
person instead of a bad, worldly heathen person." You just want to
remember what it's like fun without all these bizarre things that have
negative connotations.
One of these days, we will have a video party for the sangat and rent
Mary Poppins. It is so uplifting. It's superb movie. I saw it five
times when I was a child, and then I didn't see it again until it was
on television recently. I had almost forgotten how wonderful it is,
and how it makes me smile.
Student: What do you think of that T.V. show, "Touched by an Angel"?
Michael: I actually don't watch much T.V. on Sundays. I like what
I've seen.
Student: It's a good show, except it's a little unrealistic because
whenever she says, "I'm an angel sent by God," people don't laugh at
her. That's the only unrealistic part.
Student: That's because she glows. If she said that without glowing,
then she'd probably be laughed at.
Young Man: "But she does say that once every episode, "I'm an angel
sent by God..."
Michael: I think it's wonderful that this show is on T.V. A lot of
people love it, and it's great for families trying to find something
for the kids to watch on a Sunday night. Some shows like "The
Simpsons" are adult shows and should be on at 9:00 p.m. or later,
after you have put the kids to bed. I personally enjoy "The
Simpsons," but I wouldn't want my kids watching it.
Student: It's dark humor.
Michael: "Yeah, it is. There are times I watch it and really enjoy
it, and there are times I watch and think, "Whoa, this was really
strange." "Touched by an Angel" on the other hand is wonderful TV show
for families.
Of course the challenge of a show like this is that they're writing
how they think a real angel would be. There have been some great
movies on this same subject, such as "Here comes Mr. Jordan" or its
remake "Heaven Can Wait," or "The Bishop's Wife," in which Cary Grant
played an angel, or "Michael" with John Travolta. This theme has been
addressed many times, and the fact that a show like this is on TV is
very wonderful.
Student: Love and forgiveness is the main theme in "Touched by an
Angel."
Michael: Yes it is, which is so im****tant. There have been some
other great family shows over the years, like "Little House on the
Prairie"or "The Waltons" which offer similar themes. It's wonderful
family programming.
Student: I grew up on family programming.
Michael: Oh, yeah. I grew up on "Bonanza," "The Big Valley,"
"Gunsmoke," all kinds of good shows. I'm glad it's there.
Student: Shows were a lot different when I was younger. They didn't
have a lot of violence.
Michael: I know what you mean. It used to be that violence was more
implied than actually shown. My wife and I were just watching a movie
called "Kid Gallahad," which had Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart and
Edward G. Robinson. In the end Bogie is trying to kill this boxer who
didn't throw a fight like he was supposed to, and he shoots somebody
in order to get back to the locker room. But all you here is a
popping sound and a fellow suddenly runs in and says, "Hey, somebody
just got shot!" That's all you need to know. You hear a popping
sound or you see a shadow or the silhouette of a dead person, like in
the "Thin Man" movies, and that's all you need to see. That's all the
information you need to know. You don't need to see it in graphic
detail. The point is made.
Okay now, let's move back to "Prem Patra." One of the things I like
here in this reading is the way that Rai Saligram points how Satgurus
since the beginning of time have dealt with pundits. Real mystics,
people who have had the God-realization experience, will start
explaining Parmath and the path, and somebody who's really smart, who
is really well read, is going to challenge them on it. They will say,
"How do you know you're right? How do you know your experience of God
is real? Who made you "Sri?" Prove it. It says here in this book
yada, yada, yada. And says is this other book, 'yada, yada, yada' and
what you're saying is different. Sup****t your position. Convince
me."
And what you will find is that no matter what you say about your
experience of God, soul and the Holy Spirit, somebody can (and will)
have a different opinion - which is why this world will always be full
of errors and challenges. There cannot be a total heaven on earth.
Satgurus always deal with this. True spiritual seekers always deal
with this. That's one of the reasons the prophets and saints advise
us not to get into serious discussions of spirituality with people who
aren't receptive, because if they're not into it, the conversation
turns into the equivalent of a coffee house debating society. They
will just get in your face and start challenging you and asking you
all these questions and the next thing you know, you'll be scratching
your head wondering yourself if your inner experiences are really
valid, because the person challenging you will make some really good
points. You know? You have to realize that working from the mind is
always going to leave you in a realm of doubt.
That's why I always try to stress the Shabda over everything else,
although occasionally I'll go through phases where I will open a book
and the theme will be all about the im****tance of the Satguru or
Master. And I tend to feel strange talking about that because it
sounds like I'm trying to promote myself as a guru and find people who
will pump me up and... I feel weird about it. But the logic of the
Shabda is the one thing that I think makes sense to anybody. I mean,
talking to Americans about Masters is a very, very touchy subject,
because we have such a bad history of cults, plus we're a Judeo-
Christian culture that doesn't have a tradition of Gurus and Masters.
India has a several thousand year tradition of Gurus. Whereas in the
Christian Church they believe there is one and only one Son of God,
and they have all of these injunctions to "beware false
prophets,"which is actually very wise and good advice.
In the East there is a tradition of "Avatars," who some consider as
high as Jesus. And when you start really studying the path of Shabda
Meditation (Sant Mat), you find that the Living Master is considered
the equivalent of Jesus Christ walking on earth in some fa****on. If
you read below the surface, it's clearly implied. And this is a very
strange thing for many people to deal with in the west, and even more
so for peers and family. Way before I started talking teaching I kept
wondering, "If you are a Living Master in America, how do you explain
it to your family? How do you explain to your friends, to the people
you went to high school with, you went to college with, that you are,
in a sense, the second coming? I mean, that's basically what they're
saying.
Student: You can't explain it.
Michael: You really can't and, if you're lucky, people won't lock you
up. I mean, it's a very touchy subject. Look what happened to Jesus
when he told his peers he was the messiah. And so to me, when you're
expressing this Path, you have to start with the most basic part of it
and that's the Shabda. This is a very different perspective from a
lot of other teachers, including a lot of teachers of the Rai Saligram
line. They say the Master is more im****tant than the Shabda, because
you have to find a Living Master to find the Shabda.
I do think having an awakened teacher is a cornerstone of it. But I
also think, at the same time, the Master is almost incidental. It's
necessary, like having a light switch. But it gets taken too
seriously and too weirdly, and people start getting all uptight about
it. It becomes a spiritual competition of this Master vs. that
Master, etc., and people just start playing the spiritual equivalent
of U of A versus ASU: "My Master's bigger than your Master, which gets
old really quick. Personally, I think the Master is here almost like
a mechanical device. A human being with this consciousness to throw
the switch and to guide you.
Student: Anybody who gets into that kind of competitive talk with
anybody else has got an ego problem. I have no problem with you being
my Master. I don't know anyone who could do it any better. I have no
concept of what you should be, Michael. None at all. You are you. My
Master. I accept that. It's just that simple. I've got no problem
with anything like that, with you holding onto a regular job or
anything like that. You're my Master. You were the one who gave me
the five names and ... I did wait four years...
Michael: I appreciate that."
Student: That was your advice. I have no preconception of that. I
mean, I was a Catholic. I still am a Catholic in the respect that was
the way I was brought up, but I don't even think my mother practices
the Catholic religion, anymore."
Michael: Was there a lapse of faith?
Student: Yeah. Now, I have a sister who says that Jesus is the
thing. I mean, every other word out of her mouth is "Jesus this,
Jesus that" and I keep thinking to myself, "I wonder who was God
before Jesus showed up?" I don't argue with my sister. I never want
to burst her bubble because she is really into it.
Michael: Well, I was raised a Presbyterian so I can relate to the
Judeo-Christian heritage. In terms of this concept who was God before
Jesus, if you look at the Christian faith, Jesus is considered to be
the one and only begotten Son of God, the one time God has come here
in direct form. Before him came prophets like Samuel, Joshua,
Ezekiel, Isaiah, Eliza and Elisha, and wise kings like David and
Solomon. But these were all fallible people. King David had some
real problems, King Solomon had some real problems. Jesus, on the
other hand was a one-time deal. He was God-incarnate, the Christ, the
Messiah.
But then there's this question of what happens to all these people
before Jesus. I mean, are they just out of luck? I believe that, in
some churches, you can pray for souls that have come before you, kind
of like intercessory prayer, to redeem those souls who weren't
baptized in the Christian faith. Otherwise, there is this whole bunch
of people born before Jesus, who died in say 5 B.C., who are out of
luck.
Student: Yeah, in my old church, if you're not baptized they say
you're going to a place called "limbo."
Michael: The thing is, I appreciate anybody who is really into their
faith. The more I look at the world, the more negativity I see (which
seems to be increasing), I praise the Lord and thank God that there
are people who are into any religion. If you are a devout Pentecostal
or a Catholic or Episcopalian or a Jew or a Buddhist or Moslem, and
your faith is leading you to put more attention on God, and live a
more spiritual life, a kinder life, a more considerate life for other
human beings, then it is a good thing.
Student: In my case, my Catholic upbringing eventually led me to this
path. I can't really say it was bad, it was a good Path. I'm just
into anything really logical. I mean that makes really good sense, as
to what it does and where it will lead you, that type of thing. You
know, you could believe it, without having a tremendous amount of
faith, because it makes common sense to you to do it.
Michael: That is why some people refer to Shabda Meditation as a
"Science of Spirituality," because you discover your true nature and
God within the laboratory of your own being. You don't have to take
anybody else's word for it. You simply sit down and commune with the
Word, the Holy Spirit. You meditate on the inner Light and Sound, and
see what fruit it yields. That's the long and the short of it. It's
a really beautiful thing, because it is directly experiential.
I feel people for who have left any religion and who have been
traumatized by it. It's not easy. I'm also impressed by the number
of people who are really devoted to their church and stay with it.
For instance, they are Catholics and they love the Church and they
love Pope John-Paul with all their heart and all their being. They
believe he is the Holy Father, the direct linear descendent of St.
Peter and St. Paul, who were commissioned by Christ to keep the Church
going. It's a beautiful thing and it gives many people faith and
hoper I say, absolutely right on. I think having even a little speck
of religion into people's lives on some level is a good thing.
Student: Don't do to somebody else what you wouldn't have them do to
you. Basically, that covers everything. Basically, if you're doing
something to somebody else, you think to yourself, how would I feel if
this person was doing this to me? And basically, you have a whole
different outlook on exactly what it is you're going to do during life
and stuff like that if you have any conscience. I try not to step on
anybody's toes.
The funny part of it is, my two daughters go to this place and every
time they go there for some reason or another somebody there irritates
them or does something and they're going to see the manager. This had
also happened at another place. I go into these places and everybody
is so nice to me and everything else and the only thing I can think of
is it has to be their frame of mind. You know, it doesn't hurt to
smile at somebody or open the door for them and let them go through.
I mean, it doesn't cost me a nickel to do that.
Michael: One of the things you find with Spirit is that when you
relax with it, you become like bubble that expands and there is a
relaxed flow going through you. And so people will just kind of relax
and be in the flow. And when you get stressed, your bubble contracts
and other people's bubble contracts, too. It's an amazing thing.
Student: Yea, a rough outside instead of a smooth outside.
Michael: Yeah. It's just a matter of the energy field around you.
You relax into the flow, traffic goes better, everything in life goes
better. This is something people just learn over time.
Student: But I notice that I have probably a big difference about me,
too. It's how people accept you. It's not this idea that I feel that
I'm spiritual. I just feel that I have something that makes me better
than I used to be and am easier to get along with. You know what I
mean? I just find it's not hard to smile at a person. There's an old
saying that courtesy is contagious. And basically, in respect, it is.
Michael: Exactly. Honey versus vinegar. I always say smile at
people and say, "Thank you," wherever possible. Say "Thank you"
silently with your heart. Let love pour through you. It is a very
good thing.
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