The Mystery Guru of Sant Mat History: Maharaj Girdhari Sahib
Release Date: 05/16/2023
Spiritual Awakening Radio
"Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth." (says Rumi) "You have ignored the Living One who is in your presence and you have spoken only of the dead." "Look to the Living One while you are alive, otherwise, you might die and seek to see him and will be unable to find him." "Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me. I myself shall become that person, and the Hidden Things will be revealed to that one." "I will give to you what eye has not seen, what ear has not heard, what hand has not touched, and what has not occurred to the mind of...
info_outline The Yoga of Happiness and BlissSpiritual Awakening Radio
Sant Kirpal Singh: "There lived in India Swami Shiv Brat Lal, a disciple of Rai Saligram [successor of Swami Ji Maharaj], who was advanced in spirituality but he gave out all these things about which I am now referring, in story form. He would bring out these very teachings of the Master in some novel like form in the Urdu language, of course, not in English. He did a splendid work, having brought out two, three thousand books, I think. Somewhere he takes the soul as a prince so that he may bring out a story with all these teachings given here. He did a very wonderful work. He has now passed...
info_outline Evolving SpirituallySpiritual Awakening Radio
"Life is a progression. We progress from childhood to adulthood, from simplicity to complexity, from ignorance to knowledge, from innocence to wisdom and from birth to death. It is the law of life. But there is also a progression from the external life to the internal, from the hustle and bustle of material life to the serenity and silence of internal life. It is in the latter that we experience the beauty of the Self and its connection with Divinity." (Dr. Jagessar Das, Doctor by Chance - Mystic by Choice, also translator of, The Complete Bijak of Guru Kabir, and other translations of Kabir)...
info_outline Kabir The Great Mystic: Spiritual and Ethical TeachingsSpiritual Awakening Radio
Kabir, the "Rumi" of India, one of the greatest Saints, Poets, and Spiritual Masters in the history of the world! Selections: Says Kabir: "Kal (time, ego, limited mental perception) has entangled people in illusions to such an extent that they have totally forgotten their Real Home." "Meditation will remove all your burdens; meditation upon Ram's [God's] name will become your support." "One after another, many births I took; many paths I followed to escape this relentless cycle. Only when I made my mind still did I obtain the state of lasting repose." "Just as the lotus blooms after getting...
info_outline From Darkness to Light Through MeditationSpiritual Awakening Radio
On the web you'll find a lot of talk about spirituality, yet so few rise above body-consciousness and get to experience that Sacred Inner Space for themselves. Reliable information is quite rare. There's so much discussion about "gnostics", "mystics", "sages of philosophy", "masters of the east", or "ancient scriptures" but almost nothing is ever said about the spiritual practices of these gnostics and mystics of the ages. Only with a Living Mystic Path, a Living School of Spirituality is one close to the Inner Circle of Masters and Students where this sort of Divine Path can be made knowable...
info_outline Overcoming Distracting Thoughts In MeditationSpiritual Awakening Radio
In Sant Mat spirituality meditation is successfully practiced when we keep the proper meditation posture, leave behind all our burdens, thoughts, worries, and worldly distractions behind, and focus all of our undivided attention on going within by way of the third eye center so that we may reach that Sacred Secret Place of the Most High where Divine Grace is flowing. Rising to THE PLACE WHERE GRACE IS FLOWING is a great way of describing the benefit of Surat Shabd Yoga - Inner Light and Sound Meditation - as being a kind of inner baptism or letting the waters of Divine Grace flow over the...
info_outline Requirements For Initiation Into Inner Light and Sound Meditation (Sant Mat, Surat Shabd Yoga)Spiritual Awakening Radio
The focus of the Sant Satgurus, the Saints of India (Santmat, RadhaSoami, The Path of the Masters) is not upon constructing earthly temples, building organizational structures, or temples of the mind. Rather, they guide their students into entering the Temple of the Spirit. The Portal or Doorway to this Temple is within, at the Third Eye Center. Masters say: "An intense longing to meet the Supreme Lord during one's lifetime is the first and foremost qualification for Initiation. 'Seek, and ye shall find', is the principle'" (Kirpal Singh). Being properly initiated into the secrets of...
info_outline The First Step on the Spiritual Path is Doing SimranSpiritual Awakening Radio
"Simran helps in the withdrawal of spirit-currents from the body. In Simran lies the seed that helps in the development of the soul." "Simran is a weapon against all dangers. It acts as a password to all spiritual planes. It gives strength and sustenance to the body and mind during trouble and affliction, and brings the soul near the Master." "The five holy Words are to be repeated mentally during meditation." (Sant Kirpal Singh) "I give you this advice only because if you will do Simran while you are doing any other work, when you sit for meditation...
info_outline Sufism, Sant Mat, and the Sound CurrentSpiritual Awakening Radio
Today I explore some key Sufi teachings compatible with the contemporary mystic or gnostic path called Sant Mat. The Sants and Radhaswamis of the living present highly value the mystic poetry and wisdom of Rumi, Hafiz, Rabia, Sarmad, Hazrat Sultan BaHU, Sanai, Baba Farid and so many other Sufi Faqir lovers of the Beloved, viewing them as being Saints of the highest order. Hear verses of Hakim Sanai on meditating the Mysteries of Creation, connecting with the Subtle Realms of dimensions beyond in what can be called Inner Space, the Kingdom of God within. I focus upon the Inner Sound Mysticism...
info_outline Syriac Mystics of Eastern ChristianitySpiritual Awakening Radio
"Truth and Love are wings that cannot be separated, for Truth cannot fly without Love, nor can Love soar aloft without Truth." (Saint Ephrem the Syrian) "Look at God within yourself, how 'God is Light.' For his Nature is a glorious, many-splendored Light. He manifests the Light of his Nature to those who love Him in all the worlds…" (John of Dalyatha, Syriac Mystic) "To be glorified art Thou, the Father Supreme, born of Thy First-born in the silence and tranquility of meditation." (Syriac Acts of Saint Thomas in India) "There is a silence of the tongue. There is a...
info_outlineOn the Origins of Modern-day Sant Mat: In the beginning there was one Sant Mat Path founded by Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras with Satsang centers in Hathras, Agra, and Lucknow. Sant Tulsi Sahib sent Girdhari Sahib to the city of Lucknow a few years prior to his passing in 1843. During the period of time between the passing of Sant Tulsi Sahib in 1843 and the passing of Maharaj Girdhari Sahib of Lucknow in August of 1860 -- that seventeen year period -- in addition to doing much meditation, Soamiji Maharaj also was affiliated with, attended and supported the Satsang of Sant Girdhari Sahib in the city of Lucknow.
Girdhari earlier had spent some time in Agra and gave Satsang talks at Soamiji's home. According to Seth Pratap's Biography of Soamiji Maharaj, after the passing of Tulsi Sahib, Soamiji Maharaj had Girdhari move into his (Swamiji's) other house, located in the city of Lucknow. This became a new base of operations, a headquarters for the Lucknow Satsang, very much like the family home at Panni Gali, Agra had served as the place of Satsang for the Tulsi Sahib Sangat there since Soamiji was a small child and even earlier. Another reason for Swami Ji to have a house in Lucknow was that sometimes Swami Ji traveled to Lucknow to attend the Satsangs of Girdhari Sahib.
Soamiji Maharaj, Sar Bachan Radhasoami Poetry, Hidayat Namah section: "For a long time the spirit of this faqir (i.e. Soamiji Maharaj Himself) sauntered and stayed there [Maha-Sunn, Great Dark Void] and then under instructions from the Teachers and Guides, moved ahead."
Sant Garib Das commenting on the above verse: "Soamiji in his Discourses has said that his surat descended into the dark regions of Maha-Sunn but could neither locate the bottom or the end of it nor did it feel it worthwhile to go down any further. Thereafter, his surat adhering to the signs as revealed to him by his Gurus ascended upwards. Here Soamiji says that it was the inner Mercy of his Satguru Tulsi Saheb and that of Maharaj Girdhari Das Ji whose Satsang he attended for a very long period of time." (Anmol Vachan)
Soamiji viewed Girdhari Sahib as Tulsi Sahib's successor, supported him, and attended his Satsang. Soami Ji Maharaj treated Girdhari Das as his Guru, as well as donated and "gave substantial material support" to his spiritual mission for "a number of years" according to, The Biography of Soamiji Maharaj, and according to Daniel Gold in, The Lord As Guru: Hindi Sants in the North Indian Tradition.
Professor Mark Juergensmeyer in, Radhasoami Reality observed: "Girdhari Das is described as being the 'chief disciple' of Tulsi Sahib, a term that would usually imply he was understood as his designated successor (Pratap Singh Seth, Biography of Soami Ji Maharaj, p. 108). After Tulsi Sahib’s death, Swami Shiv Dayal brought Girdhari Das into his house, treated him with love, and accorded him respect due to a pious Mahatma.'" (Pratap Singh Seth, Biography of Soami Ji Maharaj, p. 37).
RUMI's Ode to the Unknown Mursheeds, Sages and Guides
"In every age, God’s mercy and pleasure graces their (Saints') pure spirit and breath. The names of lakhs of (cloistered, secluded, hidden) majestic spiritual personages (Saints) whose heads are adorned and distinguished by His grace have remained unknown and unsung because they were the cynosure of God who (must have) felt envious of their spiritual grandeur (and chose to keep them obscure and unhonoured as obscure heroes are unsung)." (Jalaluddin Rumi, The Mathnawi)
Radhasoami,
James Bean
Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts
Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts
A Satsang Without Walls
Sant Mat Radhasoami
https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com