21 the Ancient Legacy

7/30/2019 21 the Ancient Legacy

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M o t h & t h e F l a m e

T h e A n c i e n t L e g a c y

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T h r o u g h o u t t h e a g e s

t h e l i n e o f G u r u s h a s b e e n i n e x i s t e n c e . Gu r b a n i

S pirituality has enj oyed numerous flowerings w ithin the worldsg reat religious traditions, underpinned by the i l luminations andre vel at ions of ind ividua ls. The Re a l i zed Bein g, in whose per sonthe fullness of mystic experience fuses with gnosis or spiritualk n owledge , appea rs in most if not all of these tradit ions. Su c h

ecstatic heroes embody a kind of theology of Light based on theirreceptivity to the Wo rd or Logos, the Naam, Shabd, Udgit, Kalma,or Sa ros ha, as the Go d - i n t o - e x p ression power is cal led in va r i o u slanguag es and tradit ions. As t he seeker makes pro g ress, he or shecom es to fa tho m the tr ue me ani ng beh ind the re ve l a t o ryutterances of saints.

Christianity and Islam, although not initiatory in their officiale xoter ic f orms , c ontain such streams. Althou gh t he g reat Churc h

att empted to subs titute its elf in the plac e of ind ivid ual pro p h e t i cinspiration, spiritual hermeneutics emerged from time to time inindi vi dual s li ke Mei st er Ec k h a rdt , Jac ob Boehme , Em m a n u e lSweden borg, St. T h e res a, and others .

Sufi and Shiite streams within Islam have acknowledged andh o n o red a divine anth ropomorphism manif esting in human form,

which draws practitioners tow a rd their own celestial assumption.Some of the brig hte st sta rs in the Sufi gal axy inc lude Ma n s u r,Sha maz Tab ri z, Ha fi z, Rumi , Naj mudd in Kubra , Mu e e n u d i nChisti , and Bulleh Shah.

In the Bud dhi st tra dit ion, In d i as Bod hi- dharma and Ti b e tsMi l a repa appear as fl ashes of ill uminat ion. The Jew ish Ba l s h e m t ovof Russia was a transcendent example of the mystic knowe r.Spirituality in India flourished under Mahavira of the Jains, inMira and in Ramakrishna Paramhans. It emerged in the ChineseMaster of Ta o, Lao Tsu, in the Persian prophe ts Zo roaste r andMani, and numerous others.


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As the Wo rd, Logos, or Tao is blind to outer labels, it oftenm oves across religious and family l ines. A keen seeker would payscant attention to the external religious form, nationality orgenetic race of the enlightened, just as the shape and color of abott le has little re l e vance to what is insideform being merely avessel to contain the essence.

As I am about to accompany the Master on his forthcoming tourof northern In d i as Pu n j a b, my hea rt pi cks up a beat . I have longcontempla ted the pee rle ss qua lity and vari ety of this re g i o nsheritage of spiritual sons and daughters, and their relationship tothe present dispensation.

Punjab actuall y means f i vewaters , and the fe r t i l e

p rovince is defin ed by theBeas, Ravi , Satluj, Chenab,an d Jhe lu m ri ve rs . Ar y a n ,Gr eek , Afgh an, Pe r s i a n ,Mo ngo li an, an d Tu rk i s har mie s po ur ed th ro u g hHimalayan passes into th i sr ich and fert i l e reg ion,br inging with them new

rel ig ions, idea s, and art s ,c ross -pol l inatin g loca lc u l t u re , cu stoms, and bloo d-lines. Despite invasions andt y r a n n y, the Pa th of theMasters took deep root herean d man age d to su rv i vep re va i l ing or t h o d ox ysf requent e ffor ts to restrai n or

eliminate it.

Si x t e e n t h - c e n t u ry India waswitness to two great spiritualteach ers of univers al scope: Kabir Sahib of Ba n a res, who camef rom a low-cast e we a ver family, and his con temporary, Gu ruNanak of the Pu n j a b. Th eir teachi ngs focu s on the perfe ct scien ceof inner Light and Soundas well as to outer expression in

Map of India 1910, John Bartholemew


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Kabirthe Weaver Saint(Authors rendition of a 19th century minature)


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compassion and selfless service to al l creation. Both Saints taughtthe l imitations of idol worship, rites, rituals, fasts, pilgrimages,and caste ism. They we re much more than social reformers as somehistorians have dubbed them.

The Sik h Sa i n t s : Nanak (1469-1539), considered Gu ru to Hi n d u sand Pi r to Muslims, was fir st in a line age of illumined Ma s t e r sk n own as the Ten Sikh Gu rus. Nanak tra veled widely on foo t,n o rth to Tibet, east to Chinas borders , south to Sri Lanka, and

west to Meccaan incredible feat, considering the absence of

trains, cars, and airplanes. His contemporary, Kabir Sahib (1399-1519), taugh t in and aroun d the pilgrimage city of Be n a res andwas also embraced by Hindus and Muslims alike. Although it i staught that Nanak was born spiritually perfect and had no need ofany Gu ru, his prolific writings proclaim t he need for such inalmost eve ry verse. Some bel ieve that in his youth, Nanake n c o u n t e red the grea t Kab ir Sah ib wi th sev eral other sadhu s whe rehe re a l i zed the True Barga in of lif e (Sa cha Sa u d a), although

Gu ru Nanak with his trusted companions,Ma rdana (playing the rebek) and Bala.

Painti ng by unknown Indian ar t i s t .


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t h e re is no exter nal proof other than the import ant and striki ngfact that t heir tea chings are identical i n eve ry important aspect.

Whether this historical issue will ever be re s o l ved is less import a n tthan t he fa ct t hat b oth l ived and sang the unity of the On eCre a t o r, of the One Divine Ligh t immanent in al l fo rms, re a l i z a b l e

within. Both spoke of the five spiri tual regions and of the f iveholy names. Both emphasized the importance of f inding a p e rfe cted livi ng teache r or Sa t g u ru . Both advocated the tra nsfor-m a t i ve power of satsan g, the receiv ing of ethica l and spir ituali n s t ru ct ion, and of medi ta tion on Sat Na a m or the True Na m e .

Although dialects differed, their terminology and cosmology we reidentical . Their original styles both found proli f ic expression ins a c red poet ry and song .

In the Sikh linea ge, An gad fo llowed Nanak, Amar Das fo llowe dAngad, and Ram Das followed Amar Das. In 1604 AD, the fifthGu ru, Arjan De v, comple ted his compila tion of the Adi Gra n t h o rGran th Sa h i b, comprising approximately 1,400 large pages inGu rmukhi script. This re m a rkable scriptu re contai ns the writing sof six of the Gu rus ( the prolific a nd beautiful verses of the ninthGu ru , Tegh Bahadur we re added lat er by the tenth , Gu ru Go b i n dSingh), al l of whom used the nom de plume Nanak. Thus theycame to be known as Nanak the First, Nanak the Second, Na n a k

the T h i rd, and so on . Inc lud ed in the Holy Granth are the ve r s e sof many oth er sa int s of real iza tion , belonging to var iou s re l i g i o n sand castes . By far the larges t select ion belong s to Kabir Sa h i b. Init, we also find the verses of Dhanna Jat, the farmer; Saina, thebarber ; Sadhna of th e butc her ca ste; Nam De v, the c alico printer ;Ravi Das, the cobble r; Shaykh Farid, a Muslim divine; Raja Pi p a ,a king; Ramanand, the Brahmin; Ramanuja, the Reformer; theblind poet-saint Sur Das; Trilochan; Beni; Bhikan; Jai Dev; andParmanand. One of the earliest original versions also contained a

hymn of Mira Ba i .1

The Tenth Gu ru, Gobind Singh included noneof his own, although he also was a poet and author of seve r a lbooks and plays.

In Gu ru Arja ns cour t we re many of In d i as grea tes t schola rs andmusic ians who spent years collect ing, sort ing, and copying ve r s e sby hand. Under his inspired guidance, each of the Granth Sa h i bsthous ands of verses was desi gnated one of thir ty-one diffe re n tclassical musical measures, or ragas, so that future musicians could


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k n ow which melody would be best suited for each verse . Ki rpalSingh re f e r red to thi s inc lusi ve scr ipture as a banq uet hall ofs p i r i t u a l i t y be cause of it s ri ch dive rs it y of Sain ts fr om al l ba ck -g roun ds , pre vai ling re li gions and pro f e s s i o n s .

The Sikh scriptures occupy a unique position in religious history.They re p resent not only the first delib erate att empt to pre sent theoneness of all religions, but are composed in a language that is sti l l a l i ve a nd not a thing of the past. Hence t hey have l ost none of their

pris tine freshness and have not been wholly buried under the debriso f theo log ica l interpre ta t ion. Being mainly in the form o f d e voti onal lyr ics , the ir appe al is not merel y expo sit iona l. T h e ysp eak of th e whole man , si nging of hi s probl ems, his we a k n e s s e s ,the vanity of the world and the eternity of the Absolute, beckoning

him on to greater and ever greater effor t, tow a rds his divin eh o m e . 2

Gu ru Arjan De vs fame as saint, schola r, and patron of the art ss p read far and wide. Even the emperor Akbar the Great (1542-1605) twice visite d Gu ru Arjan and became a pious admire r,donating a large tract of land surrounding Amritsar for his work .

A r j a ns great learning, humility, and universal vis ion endeared himto the masses, but also earned resentment from the narrow -minded ort h o d ox y. When the Gu ru was lat er fal sel y accu sed of

undermining Isl am and Hindui sm and brought be fo re Ja h a n g i r,the fanatic son and successo r of Akbar, he was asked to change the

Adi Gra n t h. Gu ru A rjan r eplied to th e emperor:

I re g a rd all, whether Hindu or Muslim, rich or poor, fr iend orfoe, without any hatred or part i a l i t y. . . . As to the era s u re of hymnsin the Granth Sa h i b, I cannot erase or alter even one iota. I am awor sh ipper of th e Im m o rtal God, th e Su p reme Sou l of the worl d .T h e re is no monarch sav e Him; and wha t He re veal ed to the

Gu ru s ... .is writ ten in the hol y Granth Sa h i b. The hymn s whi chf ind a place in i t are not disrespectful to any Hindu incarn a t i o nor the Prophet Mohammed, ble sse d be his name . It is cer t a i n l ystated that prophets, saints, and incarnations are the handiworkof the Im m o rtal God, whose limit none can find . My mai n objectis the spread of truth and the destruction of falsehood; and if, in

pursuance of this object, my perishable body must depart, I shallac count it grea t goo d for t u n e .


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The g entle Gu rus enemies concluded that he wou ld yield to noo rd i n a ry threat s, so the y put fet ter s on him and began to tor t u rehim i n var ious w ays. He was ord e red t o sit on re d hot- iron p lates,super-heated sand was poured upon his head, and boiling water

was spil led over his holy body. Not once did the Gu ru utter a cry

or beg for merc y.

When his fr iend, the Sufi Hazrat Mian Mi r, witnessed thist o rt u re, he wept and begg ed permissi on to use supernaturalp owers to bring down a r ain of fire upon his torm entors . Gu ru

Arjan repl ied that although it also was in his power to do this, theway of the Saints was in submission to the wil l of Go d .

I b ear al l th is t ort u re to set an ex ample to the Saints of th eTrue Name, that they may not lose p atience or rail at God i n

affliction. The true test of faith is t he hour of misery.He then uttered the famous wo rds,

Te ra Bhana Meeta Laga y.

Sweet is Thy Wi l l .

A fter the mart y rdom of Gu ru Arjan, Na n a ks d ispensationcontinued unabated through Hargobind (1595-1645), Har Rai(1631-1661), Har Krishan (1656-1664), and Tegh Bahadur (1622-

1675). The numbe r of their disciples steadily increa sed. Te g hBahadur als o re c e i ved a mar t y rs fat e at the hands of the fanati cAu r a n g ze b, the last of the Mu ghal emperors, who ord e red hisbeh ead ing. Be f o re his tenth ye a r, Gob ind Rai , the son of them a r t y re d Ni nt h Gu ru , wa s a lr ea dy ful ly Go d - re a l i ze d andcognizant of his divine mission.

Au r a n g zeb ruled India with an iron fist and forcibly conve rted allin his grasp to Islam. Thos e who resisted we re crushed or e nslave d .O ver the next three decad es the Gu ru infused courag e into the

t e r ro r i zed populace to ri se up, de fend and recla im thei r fre e d o mand dignity. Thus, in 1699, when tyranny was at its zenith, theTenth Gu ru established the Khalsa, or broth erhood of the Pu reOnes, to protect the weak and innocent.

Gobind functioned as both Saint and Avatar by exhorting hisf o l l owers to be Sant sipahi or warrior-saintschaste, fearless,ethical, fa ir, honest, a nd compas sionate. He created a nd orga nize d


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Gu ru Gobind Singhthe warrior/poe t/saint( w a t e rco lo r by un known Indian ar t i s t )


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a def ens ive arm y, and neve r took the role of an agg re s s o r. Heclaimed neither territory nor possessions won in battle, nor wouldhe al low his followers to loot, rape, or pil lage as was commonpracti ce. Among his fo llowers we re a larg e number of Mu s l i m s

whom he loved and respected, encouraging them to keep their

d i s t i n c t i ve customs, dre ss , and names . The Gu ru was ind efat igab lein his efforts to l iberate the people from hatred and superstition.He enjoi ned worshi p of one Su p reme Beingt he Akaa l o rTi m e l e s s t h rough daily medit ation, selfle ss ser vice, and a pristin ecode of ethics that has endured to the present time.

The achievements of the Tenth Gu ru we re ex traord i n a ry. He wasa prolific mystic poet and author of several important works;brillia nt genera l and militar y strat egist, master arc h e r, unde feat eds w o rdsman, and a compet ent spiritu al Adept who had fullyt r a versed the inner planes of creation. Tens of thous ands soughthis guidance and protection. Many maharajas and maharanis, eve nenemy soldie rs and Muslim genera ls like Budhu Shah, Sa i ye dKhan, and Sa i yed Beg who initial ly o pposed him on the battle -field, became his most ardent disciples. Historians have describedfamous bat tles wh en the Gu rus non -profe ssiona l army compris edof farmers and tradespeople beat back hardened armies ten timestheir n umber. They we re like Galahad s who declared , I have thes t rength of ten , beca use my hear t is pure .

I was present when a pacifist asked Master Kirpal how it waspossible for Gu ru Gobind Singh to have been a Master and alsotake up arms. Look here, he responded, if someone we re tocome here to kil l you, should I let them? I wil l be the first to layd own my li fe for yo u !

The punjabi word Si k h is the language equiva lent of theSanskrit shishya or d i s c i p l eo ne who le arns. The outer re l i g i o nand Sikh rituals only developed after the depa rt u re of the ten thGu ru . Sikhism is the most recen t of the major world re l i g i o n s ,

claiming approximately 20 mill ion adherents. The writings of theSikh Gu rus, Hindu Sai nts, and Muslim Divine s incorporat ed inthe Adi Gra n t h h a ve not yet been alter ed, but they have beeninadequately interpreted and translated by those who with noinkl ing of the inner way. The Gu rus themselves embodiedreligiou s to lerance and love, making no distinc tion between Si k hand non-Si k h .


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The hig he st rel ig ion is to ri se to un ive rsal Bro t h e rh o o d ;A ye, to consider al l cre a t u res your equals .

Conquer your mind, for victory over self Is vic tor y over the worl d .3

After Gu ru Gobind Si n g h : One of Sant Ki rp al Si n g hs many

s igni f icant contr ibutions to poster i ty was that he providedi m p o rtant, otherwis e miss ing his tor ica l link age between the Gu ru sand the spiritual l ineage of Sants of t he twentieth century :

Gu ru Gob ind Singh tra ve led wide ly, pene tra ti ng the Hi m a l a y a sin th e No rth and go ing to Deccan in t he Sout h. Dur ing h ise x t e n s i ve tra vel s, he met and lived wi th the ru ling fam ily of thePeshwas and initiated some of it s members into the innerScience. It is said that one Ratnagar Rao of the Peshwa family

was in itiate d and authori zed to carr y on the work by Gu ruGobind Singh . Sham Rao Peshwa, th e eldes t broth er of Baj i Ra oPe shwa, the then ru l ing chie f , who must have contac tedRatnaga r Ra o, showe d a re m a rkable apt itud e for the spi ritual

path and made rapid headway. In course of time, this yo u n gsci on of the royal fami ly se ttl ed in Ha t h ras , a town thi rt y - t h re emiles away from Ag ra in Uttar Pradesh, and came to be know nas Tulsi Sahib (1763-1843), the famous author of the Gh a tR a m a y a n a, the Sci enc e of th e inner Li f e - Princ ip le pe rva d i n g

alike in man and nature. The vita lampada of spirituality waspassed on by Tulsi Sahib to Soami Ji Shiv Dayal Singh (1818-1878).

The link betwe en Tulsi Sahib of Ha t h ras and Soami Ji of Ag rais li kely to be ove rlooked, but th ere can b e lit tle do ubt of thesame. From the manusc ript account of Baba Su rain Sing h, the

Je e van Charitar Soami Ji Ma h a r a j by Chac ha Pa rta p Si n g h ,and the book entitledC o r respon dence with Cer ta in Americ ansby Shri S.D. Ma heswari , we lea rn t hat Soam i Jis parents we rethe disci ples of the Ha t h ras Saint and frequentl y visited him athis home for his darshan, and attending discourses whenever hevisi ted Ag ra. It was he who nam ed thei r son , Shiv Daya l Si n g h(Soami Ji). Be f o re the birth of the eldes t child (Soami Ji), he( Tulsi Sahib) prophes ied that a great Saint was about tomanifest himself in their home; and after his birth, he told the

p a rents that they need no longer come to Ha t h ras, for the LordAlmighty had come in their midst.4


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The Ha t h ra sSaint took a kee n and li ve l yi n t e re s t inca s t ing the l i f e

o f Soami Ji inhi s own mold.He initiated the

young child at ave ry early age; and Soami Ji, onthe last day o f his life, told hisdisciples that he

had beenp ract ic ing t heinner Sc ience

f rom the age ofs i x .5

Shiv Dayal Si n g h( Soami Ji) of Agra

was the Master ofBaba Jaimal Si n g h( Baba Ji.) After Baba Ji attained realization, he returned t o thePunjab and settled on deserted land overlooking the banks of theBeas, where he spent a great deal of time in meditation wheneve rhe was not engaged in service. In due course, Baba Ji found hisg reat disciple in the person of a handsome young engineer by thename of Sawan Singh Grewal, and empowe red him to carry thespiritual torch into the twentieth century. Sawan Singh becamek n own as Ha z u r, th e Great Ma s t e r, and the s iz e of his fo llow i n gbecame enormous.

Soami Shiv Dayal Singh Soami Ji of Agra -1818 - 1878


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1. Max A . Mc Auliffe, The Si kh Re l i g i o n ( New Delhi, India: S. Chand & Co., 196 3).

2. Kirpal Singh, Crown of Life - A Study in Yo g a ( B owli ng Green , VA: SK

Publications 1985), p. 220.

3. Kirpal Singh, The JAP JI - The Mess age of Gu ru Na n a k ( B owli ng Green, VA :

S . K . Pub lic ati on s, 19 87) p. 113 .

4. In 1986, S ant Dars han Singh shared with me unique details on th e life of Sh a m

Rao (Tulsi S ahib ). Th ese we re his word s as I re c o rded the m:

Sham Rao Peshwa w as born in 1763, the crown prince of the Peshwa dyn asty, but,

like Ga utama Buddh a, he was in different to kings hip and the intr igues of court l y

l i fe; his heart was fi l led with detachment. On the evening before his coronation as

king, a great dust storm arose in answer to his prayers. He mounted his horse and

rode off into the raging storm, never to return, with orders that none should fol-

l ow him. He tr aveled wid ely, eventually settl ing in th e north a t Hathras where he

beca me know n as Dakh ani Baba (Sag e from the So u t h ) .

He w as also known as Tulsi Sa h i b, a s distingu ished from the earlier fiftee nth-

c e n t u ry Tulsi Das. In addi tio n to his fam ous Ghat Ra m a y a n a (Ramayana of the

Body), he wrote the Sh a b d a va li and Ratansagar(Th e Jewel ed Ocean ). T h e re is suf -

ficient circumstantial evidence that Ratansagar was named after his Gu ru ,

Ratn aga r R ao, who was init iate d b y Gu ru Gobin d Sing h Ji . His you nger bro t h e r,

Baji Rao the Secon d, who ascended the thro ne at Poona, gained great re n own for

his brav e stru ggl es and vict orie s aga inst the corr upt empi re. Be f o re Tuls i Sa h i bd e p a rte d this wor ld in 1843 , he pass ed the torc h to Soa mi Ji of Ag ra. Tulsi Sa h i b

stated that he was Tulsi Das in a former life, and because the latters Ra m a y a n a

was so greatly misund erstood and interpreted in a l itera l rather than a figurati ve

or allegoric al sense, he came back again as Tulsi Sa h i b. His Gh at Ra m a y a n a, espe-

cial ly the sections on Ba l k a n d and Ut t a rk ha nd , explain in detai l the true signifi-

cance of the s piritual all egory in such a clear manne r that th ere can be no ro o m

for equ ivo c a t i o n .

5. Kirpal Singh, A Great Saint: Baba Ja imal Si ngh - Hi s Life & Te a c h i n g s ( B ow l i n g

Green, VA: S.K. Publications, 1993), pp. 7-8.

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21 the Ancient Legacy

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