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Posted on Jun 26th, 2009 by SantMat_Mystic_(James)

The Mark of Recognition of a Sant Satguru

Posted on Jun 25th, 2009 by SantMat_Mystic_(James)

The Mark of Recognition of a Sant Satguru



Radhasoami Reality:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Radhasoami-Reality
{Radhaswami Dayal ki Daya Radhaswami Sahai:
"Grant Merciful Radhasoami Thy Grace and Protection"}

(See notes below for all the mystic-terms used here such as Sat Lok, Shabda Swarup, Shabda Guru, and other words of the Masters.)

From, "Catechism of the Radhasoami Faith" (Prashnottar), by Huzur Maharaj

Q. 39. What is the mark of recognition of a Sant Satguru?

A. 39. The first mark of recognition is that the saints can only be those who have their Abode in Sat Loka and who teach the path of the Shabda (Word, Sound Current) and point out its Secret and who are themselves Shabda Swarup within.

Secondly, when any devotee or a deserving seeker appears before Them, his spirit and mind may of themselves begin to concentrate and get elevated and enjoy the bliss thereof.

Thirdly, Their discourses are very precise, deep and effective and the listener may get satisfied and convinced according to what he deserves and the stage at which he is.

Fourthly, in case anybody begins to have faith in Them without argument, They grant him some internal experience and bliss.

Fifthly, They live according to what They teach.

Sixthly, They take care of Their Satsangis internally and externally.


Mystic-Terms of the Masters --- Notes:

Sant Mat: Teachings of the Saints or Masters; Religion of Sants, Radhaswami Faith; Surat Shabd Yoga,

Sant: (1) Good, virtuous, pious; excellent; steady, respectable, venerable; a pious or venerable person, a saint, (2) Embodiment of Truth. A special and beloved Son of the Supreme Being. One who has access to the purely spiritual regions beyond Brahmand and Par-Brahmand.

SAT: (1) Eternal Truth -- That which really is, entity, existence, essence, the self-existent or universal spirit; reality, fact, truth, essence, cream, marrow, (2) Immutable Truth, (3) Imperishable, Real, Eternal, Changeless, (4) Absolute and Immutable, (5) Sat Purush; True Being,

SatGuru: True and Perfect Spiritual Guide

Sat Lok: True Sphere, Heavenly Region, Above Time, Pure Spirit, Home of the Soul,

Shabda or Shabd: (1) Sound; Voice; Word; Name, (2) A song, a hymn, (3) Prime manifestation; the sound which accompanies the current of energy,(4) Word, Name, internal voice or sound, (5) Shabd is the cause and sustainer of the whole creation, Its force and vitality permeate the whole creation. Its currents are giving life to the body and all sense-organs. It is present within all. He, who meditates and diverts his attention inwards, in accordance with the teachings of Sants, can hear the sound, accompanying that current, and by its contact realise its bliss. (6) The regenerative spiritual current, (7) Force or energy, when it becomes kinetic or active, produces sound, which is called Shabd or Naam or Name, (8) Emanation from the Supreme Being -- God,

Shabda Swarup -- Shabda Guru: Inner Master, natural character or appearance, true countenance or form of the Sant Satguru, Spiritual Form, Holy Form,

Satsangis: One who attends Satsang: associate or follower or disciple of Sant Sat Guru; one who, having full belief and confidence in the Sant Sat Guru and His words is practising Surat Shabd Yoga under His immediate direction, and having traversed some distance is pushing upwards; A Sadhu or Satsangi is he who has traversed some distance and is engaged in the performance of the spiritual practices with love and ardour, and is to get access to Daswan Dwar and Sat Lok. (mostly based upon, The Glossary of the Radhasoami Faith)

The Savior said, "And there shall be others of those who are outside our number who name themselves bishops and also deacons, as if they have received their authority from God. They bend themselves under the judgment of the leaders. Those people are dry canals." (Apocalypse of Peter, The Nag Hammadi Library in English, online at Gnosis.org)

As a friend Neil Tessler from Vancouver says: "There is no Vatican of the Spirit." He specializes in writing about the politics of Guru-succession in India, suggesting that ALL spiritual movements decline and turn to dust sooner or later. It's just a matter of time. TRY AS THEY MIGHT, SPIRITUALITY CAN NOT BE INSTITIONUALISED. Groups usually undergo a process of gradual decline, dispensing with a crucial mystical principals or techniques every so often. Living in a world of forgetfulness and spiritual slumber, how soon we forget. The decline is so gradual, that sadly, most in a group over the decades of their short human lifespan do not even notice, or would rather not be mindful about such matters. Only looking back years or decades later, the lucky ones not completely intoxicated by social status or "group-think" might perhaps come to see the occasional wrong turn after wrong turn a spiritual group has made, all in the name of progress and good intentions of course:

building bigger buildings
with less meditating going on
in the, noisier, bigger buildings;
getting busier without, yet
not getting as far within;
an overall reduction
in the percentage of the population
having inner mystical experiences,
and all in the name of what...........
saving the world by becoming less spiritual? less true to the ideals of the Path?

Life-changing, transformative, inner experience, a close encounter of the God-kind, is what the "world" really needs, not yet more branding, photo ops and marketing campaigns.

All of these great teachers of days gone-by have generally reaffirmed for their generation, the same basic truths and inner experiences. I do like my friend's phrase: "There is no Vatican of the Spirit." I find that to be a useful if not ironic way of putting it. Spiritual movements come and go. Schools of Spirituality and mystics are replaced by polyester prophets parasitically interpreting the past inspiration once breathed by others. Living Saints are sometimes eventually replaced by CEO's of religious companies riding around in very expensive rickshaws of the rich and famous who seemingly are incapable of composing their own inspired poetry or prose like their predecessors. Ghost-writers don't count! All of the organisations associated with mystic-paths at present, rest assured, will meet the same fate as those of past generations, eventually being replaced with vibrant gatherings in diverse locations (if they haven't been already), new budding branches of the Living Mystical Tree of Life to replace the old, same as always -- thank God.

A famous Saint from Hathras, India by the name of Tulsi Sahib used to sleep in the trunk of a tree at night. Read that somewhere. I find that to be absolutely charming as it reveals that Tulsi did not live in a mansion of opulent decadency with four or five Porsche's in the driveway (back then it would have been elephants I would imagine), an image that would have suggested a contradiction between the teacher's lifestyle and his teachings. If I ever travel to Hathras, it will not be to visit the samadh containing Tulsi's ashes, but to that tree that Tulsi once slept in, or one like it, and to the places where he spent much time in meditation.

There is no permanent Institution or University of Mysticism, but a decline-renewal process, a continuous pattern of Masters leaving older groups, movements, ashrams or real estate, and emerging in new locations to begin again, to reboot, to reset, to renew the mystic-path on Planet Earth, to keep the torch of spirituality burning bright for another generation or two. Spirituality is the Impulse of Life from the Great Life, the Universal Soul -- God -- that we as soul are intertwined with, not golden temples, or idols made of wood and stone. The history of Essenes leaving Jerusalem, John the Baptist leaving Qumran, Thomas heading East, Valentinians moving out of Roman cities to create Egyptian spiritual communities in the desert, Tulsi Sahib moving from Poona to Hathras, and so it goes and always has been, an observable pattern of breaking with the past, a time-honored tradition of crisis and renewal, reaffirming one's mystic-path, making a fresh start in new locations, remaining free to exist in genuineness and authenticity without a hierarchy of scribes and an ever-growing caste of Pharisees running the show, surrounding the Master, blocking him from our view. There has never been an Institution of Gnosis. There is no Vatican of the Spirit. Seneca said: "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." Viva the Revolution.