6 February - Birthday of Sant Kirpal Singh
The destiny of a Gurmukh
Extract of a talk given by Sant Kirpal Singh in Hindi
­ hen a ­true Mas­ter ac­cepts a dis­ci­ple, ­that ­person’s
W ­Yoga, ­but it is a nat­u­ral prac­tice ­which ei­ther ­child or
stat­us chang­es. We ­ were ­ lost wan­der­ers ­ whom ­ not
­one be­friend­ed. Ac­cept­ed by ­ the Sat­gu­ru, we ­ were
­then rec­og­nized. He be­comes an “ac­cept­ed” ­ soul,
­under ­the ­care of ­the Mas­ter.
We ­all ­live in ­the hu­man ­form, ­but a real­ly ­true hu­
man be­ing is ­very ­rare. ­One ­who ­has com­pas­sion­ate
feel­ings ­for oth­ers, ­who is ­the ­very im­age of ­love – so
­much so as to be ­ filled ­ with noth­ing ­ else – ­ can be
­called a ­true hu­man be­ing. ­Such a be­ing ­has ­the pow­
er to ra­di­ate ­this ­love to ­the ­whole ­world.
­God is ­love, ­but we ­have ­not ­seen ­Him. How­ev­er, we
c­ an ­ see ­ the per­son­ifi­ca­tion of ­ Him man­i­fest­ed in
­some ­ true hu­man be­ing, ­ who is ­ the Pow­er of ­ God
work­ing on ­ earth in a hu­man ­ pole. ­ That per­son is
­love per­son­i­fied.
In ­the Gur­ba­ni it is writ­ten, “­The ­Guru’s pleas­ure is
l­ike a per­ma­nent spring­time.” ­When we re­ceive ­His
­gift, it is ­ like an ever­last­ing ­ breath of ­ spring to ­ the
yearn­ing ­soul, ­which ­then rev­els in ­the spir­i­tu­al sus­
te­nance. ­There ­are ­two ­kinds of de­vo­tion: ­one at ­the
­sense-lev­el, ­and ­the de­vo­tion of ­the Gur­mukh.
­Take ­the ­Lord’s ­name ­through ­the ­Guru’s ­word. The I-
­hood is ban­ished by ­the lat­ter, ­not by ­the for­mer. In ­the
­Gurmukh’s bhak­ti, ­the ­Sound is eas­i­ly aud­ible.
­ ou can­not be­come ab­sorbed ­into any­thing un­til ­all
Y t­ he Gu­ru? He is ­the ­Word ­made ­flesh. He man­i­fests
is ­stilled; ­for ­that ­the ­Naam is nec­es­sary. In ­the ­heart,
­the ­ Light is ap­par­ent ­ when ­ you ­ are ab­sorbed. ­ That
­Light, ­which is al­ready with­in ­you, ­then ­bursts ­forth
­into bril­liance. ­And ­into ­what ­should we be­come ab­
sorbed? ­ That in­tox­i­ca­tion of ­ God’s ­ Naam, ­ through
­the ­Guru’s teach­ing.
­ at ­Naam ­will ­take ­you ­back to ­God. It is some­times
Th
­called mys­ti­cism, ­and it is al­so ­called ­the Su­rat ­Shabd
1 U N i t y o f m a n - s a nt k i r pa l s i ng h
ven­er­able ­ adult ­ can equal­ly do. Oth­er prac­tic­es ­ are
­far ­too ­lengthy ­for ­this ­age. In ­Patanjali’s ­yoga, ­for in­
stance, ­one ­must tran­scend ­through ­six cen­tres, ­one
by ­ one, be­fore ­ one ­ can ­ catch ­ the ­ Sound. So it is a
won­der­ful con­ces­sion ­that ­God ­has giv­en in ­this ­age,
­that He ­has ­made it pos­sible ­for any­one at ­any ­age
to ­walk ­the Spir­i­tu­al ­Path. In ­the old­en ­days, a ­man
­had to ­spend ­many ­years at ­the ­Guru’s ­Feet be­fore he
­would be giv­en any­thing – in ­these ­days, ­who ­can do
­this? ­The Gu­ru ­must ­now ­first ­give some­thing, ­and
­then ­ the dis­ci­ple ­ learns to pur­i­fy ­ his ­ life. ­ You ­ will
be ­able to ob­serve ­that ­the ­more ­the Ka­li ­Yuga (­Iron
­Age) in­creas­es ­its ­force, ­the ­more ­grace ­does ­the Gu­
ru ­bestow – to ­save ­any ­soul.
He ­who is of ­one ­colour en­joys per­pet­u­al free­dom; He
­has no ­fight ­with any­one.
He ­has ­right under­stand­ing; he ­has ­full aware­ness of
t­ he one­ness of ­all ­life. He re­mains un­af­fect­ed ­through
­each pass­ing ­phase, ­while ­the rip­ples on ­the sur­face
of ­the ­ocean of ­life ­come ­and go. He ­works end­less­ly,
tire­less­ly in ­this ­field of ac­tion – ­yet is ­above ­the ef­
fects of ac­tion.
If he is a Gur­mukh, he is un­sus­cep­ti­ble to ­the vi­cis­si­
tudes of ­life; man­mukh is un­de­pend­able.
­The Gur­mukh is he ­who is ­one ­with ­the Gu­ru. ­And
Him­self in ­the Gu­ru ­and dis­trib­utes ­the ­Shabd. He
is ­not sep­ar­ate ­from ­the ­Shabd; He ­joins oth­ers to it.
­But a wor­shipp­er of ­the ­mind ­and sens­es – ­the man­
mukh – con­tin­u­ous­ly ­falls. ­What ­can be ­said of ­the
rish­is ­ and mu­nis of ­ the ­ past ­ who per­haps ­ fell on­ly
­once or ­twice, ­when we stum­ble at ­each ­step we ­take.
Whoev­er ­lives ­under ­the in­flu­ence of ­the ­mind ­and
sens­es ­will ­fall. ­You ­can com­pare it to ­the em­bers of a
­fire ­which, al­though ­they ­seem ­dead ­and ­are cov­ered
­with ash­es, ­yet ­ will ­ flare ­ into ­ life ­again ­with a lit­tle ­and ­not ­break it; on­ly ­then ­will ­all ­the vir­tues ­come,
­ reeze. ­But if wa­ter is ­poured on ­the ­fire – ­then? ­This
b with­out ef­fort. ­The pre­cious at­trib­ute of ­true hu­mil­
is ­what hap­pens to ­the Gur­mukh. ity ­will ­grow in ­his ­heart. ­Just lis­ten­ing to ­the ­Shabd
is a treas­ure of ­all vir­tues.
­Once Gu­ru Ar­jan ­ sent ­ one of ­ his dis­ci­ples to ­ stay
­ ith an­other dis­ci­ple in Gu­ja­rat, an In­dian ­state ­near Gu­rmukh be­comes ­one ­with ­the ­Shabd, ­which is Crea­
w
Bom­bay. (My Mas­ter al­so ­ sent peo­ple to me some­ tor of ­all; ­and ­all is ­His man­i­fes­ta­tion.
times, say­ing, “Go broth­er, ­stay ­near ­him ­for ­eight or
­ten ­days.”) So Gu­ru Ar­jan ­gave ­this dis­ci­ple a let­ter of ­All is ­the ­Guru’s or ­God’s ­play – in­side ­and out­side
in­tro­duc­tion in ­which ­was writ­ten, “­Keep ­the bear­er – ­for ­the Gu­ru is ­the ­Shabd it­self. ­When Gu­ru Na­nak
of ­this let­ter ­with ­you ­for a ­few ­days.” At ­the ­time he ­was ­asked, ­who ­his Gu­ru ­was, he re­plied, “My Gu­ru
ar­rived ­ and pre­sent­ed ­ the let­ter, ­ his ­ host ­ was ­ busy is ­Shabd, ­which is ­the Crea­tor of ­all.”
pre­par­ing a fu­ner­al ­bier, so he ­asked ­him, „What is
this for?“ The host replied, “O, it ­will be use­ful.” Af­ On­ly ­ when ­ you be­come a Gur­mukh ­ you do ­ know
ter a ­few ­days a mar­riage ­was ar­ranged ­for ­the ­host’s ­the ­Truth; ­this is ­the ­gain ­from ­the Gu­ru.
­son, ­and af­ter ­the cer­e­mo­ny at ­the ­bride’s ­house ­they
­were re­turn­ing ­ home, ­ when ­ the ­ son col­lapsed ­ and Whoev­er ­sits be­fore a ­God-re­al­ized per­son in ­all sin­
­died. ­ When ­ they ­ brought ­ the ­ body ­ into ­ the ­ house, cer­ity, in ­ his com­pa­ny he ­ will ­ come to under­stand
­the fa­ther ­went to ­his work­room ­and ­brought ­out ­the ­what ­the ­Shabd is, ­and ­what is ­the ­true ­gain ­from ­the
­bier he ­had ­made. In amaze­ment, ­the vis­it­ing dis­ci­ Gu­ru.
ple ­said, “­When ­you ­knew ­that ­your ­son ­was go­ing
to ­die, ­why ­did ­you al­low ­him to mar­ry?“ ­The ­host Gur­mukh ­knows ­the ­Lord of ­all kar­mas; in ­all ­four ag­
re­plied, “It is ­the ­give ­and ­take of ­the kar­mas.” ­The dis­ es he ­proves ­the teach­ing of ­the ­Shabd. The Gur­mukh
ci­ple con­sid­ered care­ful­ly ­and re­al­ized ­that ­when ­the ­sings ­the prais­es of ­Shabd in ­all ag­es.
­man ­had ­been mak­ing ­the ­bier, he ­had ­shown no sor­
row, ­and ­when ­his ­son ­was mar­ried, he ­had ­shown St. ­John ­tells us ­that in ­the be­gin­ning ­was ­the ­Word.
no re­joic­ing. ­Who ­then ­was he? He ­was a Gur­mukh, ­All crea­tion ­was ­made af­ter­ward.
­the mouth­piece of ­the Gu­ru. Gu­ru is ­the mouth­piece
of ­God, ­and he ­who re­spects ­the ­Guru’s eve­ry ­word Be­ware of ­ those ­ who de­clare them­selves Gu­rus,
­will as­sur­ed­ly ­gain sal­va­tion. ­But a Gu­ru ­like ­this is ­for a ­true Gu­ru ­will nev­er ­say ­this; in­stead, he ­sees
­found on­ly ­through ­great des­ti­ny. ­that ­ God is ­ the ­ Doer. Some­times it ­ might be ­ that
an in­tox­i­cat­ed ­man ­may mur­mur, “I am ­God, I am
­Now he ­ tells of ­ the man­mukh: He is a man­mukh ­God” – ­ that is some­thing dif­fer­ent, ­ but ­ there is no
­who ­does ­not ­know of ­the ­Shabd, and ­does ­not ­fear ­the com­par­i­son ­between ­the ­ocean ­and a ­drop ­from ­that
­Guru’s great­ness. ­ocean. ­The ­sun ­and ­its ­ray ­are in­com­par­able. ­When
­the ­ray re­aliz­es ­what it is, ­deep hu­mil­ity ­comes, ­and
­The man­mukh ­has no knowl­edge of ­the ev­er-ex­is­tent he is hum­ble. ­Such re­al­iza­tion of ­the ­Lord is ­like an
­God; ­but if ­you ev­er ­come to ­know ­what a Gu­ru is, ­overla­den ­ fruit ­ tree, ­ the ­ weight of ­ which ­ bows ­ the
­then ­there is noth­ing ­left to ­learn. ­The Gu­ru teach­es branch­es to ­ the ­ earth. He ­ sees ­ that ­ some Pow­er is
­this ­ with ­ love, ­ with per­sua­sion – aft­er ­ all, ­ they ­ are work­ing, ­and ­even if brick­bats ­are ­thrown at ­him, ­yet
­his chil­dren! If a ­child is cov­ered ­with ­filth, he can­ he ­will ­give ­his bless­ing. Shan­ka­ra ­said, “­There is no
not ­kill it. ­Under ­the in­flu­ence of ­the ­mind, ­the man­ dif­fer­ence ­ between ­ you ­ and me; ­ but ­ the ­ wave is of
mukh ­has lit­tle under­stand­ing; he ­does ­not ­obey ­the ­the ­ocean, ­the ­ocean can­not be of ­the ­wave.”
Gu­ru, he ­ does ­ not ­ live ­ for ­ the ­ Guru’s pleas­ure, ­ but
he is con­cerned ­with ­ his ­own ­will. ­The rea­son? He Gur­mukh ­does ­not ­die, he is ­not ­born. Gur­mukh is ­one
­has lit­tle or no con­nec­tion ­with ­the ­Shabd. ­When a ­with ­the ­Shabd it­self.
per­son ­gets ­the con­nec­tion, he ­should ­keep it in­tact

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 ­How ­can ­one ­who is ­one ­with ­the ­Shabd be ­born, ­and
­ ow in­deed ­ can he ­ die? He re­turns to ­ his ­ Father’s
h
­home, ­ and ­ does ­ not ­ come ­ back to ­ the ­ world. If he
­does hap­pen to re­turn, it is ­not as a pris­on­er ­but as a
doc­tor: a ­guide to hu­man­ity.
Gur­mukh de­fines ­ the ev­er-ex­is­tent, im­per­ish­able
­Naam.
He ­gives ­the ­right under­stand­ing; he ­sees ­and ­then
­speaks. With­out see­ing, an ex­pla­na­tion is ­like a ­blind
­man’s knowl­edge.
­ ith ­one ­Name, sal­va­tion ­swept ­the ­four ag­es. ­That
W
­Name is ­called ­the ­Shabd.
­ e ­ Naam Pow­er, ­ though ­ one ­ and ­ the ­ same, is
Th
­known by dif­fer­ent ­ names. O my ­ mind, re­peat ­ the
­one ­Name. ­When ­the Mas­ter ­gives ­the con­tact ­and
­opens ­the in­ner ­eye, ­what is out­side ­will be ­the ­same
as is ­seen in­side.
­ e Gur­mukh is in per­ma­nent ­peace ­and ­bliss. In ­his
Th
­heart ­does ­the ­Naam re­side.
So con­tact ­with ­him ­will al­so ­give an in­ner ­peace ­and
cool­ness. He is ­ the ­ Bread ­ and Wa­ter of ­ Life. He is
sat­u­rat­ed ­with ­the ­Love of ­God – is de­sire­less. ­The
­ups ­and ­downs of ­the ­world ­may ­come ­and go, ­yet he
nev­er wor­ries; ­even if ­his ­body ­breaks ­into piec­es, ­yet
­will he be ­whole. Dai­ly he ­leaves ­his ­body; he ­dies dai­
ly, ­and ­death ­holds no ­sting ­for ­him. ­Christ ­told ­the
peo­ple to ­take up ­the ­cross dai­ly. Mi­ra ­Bai ­says, “My
Be­loved is rest­ing on ­top of a scaf­fold (on ­the ­top of
­the skele­ton of hu­man ­body, at ­the ­Third ­Eye) – ­how
­can I ­meet ­Him?” ­How ­can ­those ­who ­are sit­ting at
­the ­sense-lev­el ­meet ­the ­Lord? A hun­dred ­wise ­men
­will ­think ­alike, no mat­ter ­what ­the dif­fer­ence in ­their
lan­guage or ­mode of ­speech. He ­who ­has un­rav­elled
­the mys­tery ­ can ­ give an ex­pe­ri­ence to oth­ers, ­ who,
by dai­ly in­creas­ing it, ­will be­come as ­wise as he. Do
­not ­all lov­ing fa­thers de­sire ­their chil­dren to be ­even
­more suc­cess­ful ­ than them­selves? ­ And ­ which ­ child
­will ­achieve ­that suc­cess? He ­who ­keeps ­the ­father’s
com­mand­ments.
Gur­mukh be­comes con­scious of ­the ­Truth it­self – un­
3 U N i t y o f m a n - s a nt k i r pa l s i ng h
touched by ­death, ­birth ­and re­birth.
He ­lives on an el­e­vat­ed lev­el, he fin­ish­es ­the ­give ­and
t­ ake of ­the chil­dren, he is ful­ly awak­ened ­and clear­ly
­sees ­the ­true con­di­tion of ­this il­lu­so­ry ­world.
Gur­mukh bhak­ti (­the de­vo­tion of ­the Gur­mukh) is ac­
cept­ed at ­Court. He is ab­sorbed in ­the ­true ­Shabd.
­ od ac­cepts ­his de­vo­tion, be­cause he is ­drenched in
G
­the ­Lord’s ­colour. In ­him, ­God ­has man­i­fest­ed; ­and
he ­lives in ­God. ­His an­gle of vi­sion is dif­fer­ent ­from
oth­ers: he ­has re­al­ized ­Truth it­self.
­Night ­ and ­ day he ­ sings (in ­ praise of ­ God), ­ and ­ goes
­with ­ease to ­his ­home.
Con­stant­ly ab­sorbed in ­the ­love of ­God, he ­can go to
­his ­true ­home ­any ­time he ­likes. ­While sing­ing ­the
prais­es of ­God ­here on ­earth, ­yet ­when he ­goes ­home
he is ­one ­with ­Him.
­ e ­true Sat­gu­ru re­veals ­the ­Shabd. Dai­ly do ­the bhak­
Th
ti, ­and ­keep ­your at­ten­tion on ­Him.
­ e Sat­gu­ru ­makes aud­ible ­the in­ner ­Sound, ­which
Th
is ­ above ­ the ­ five sens­es. ­ Bhai Gur­das Ji ­ says ­ that if
­one ­wants to ­hear ­the ­Sound, ­one ­must ­rise ­above ­the
­five ele­ments. ­And ­the ­more ­you tran­scend, ­the ­more
­will be re­vealed ­ unto ­ you. On­ly he ­ who ­ goes ­ high
­enough ­can ­know ­Him ­who is ­the high­est.
If ­you ­sing ­the ­Song of ­the ­Lord, for­ev­er ­will ­the vir­tue
of tran­quil­lity re­side in ­you.
­ e Gu­ru Sa­hib ­says ­that he is over­flow­ing ­with ­joy
Th
to ­take ­His ­Name. By ­His ­grace, every­thing blos­soms.
He on ­whom ­rests ­the Guru’s grace is perpetually in
bloom. “Mas­ter, we ­have ­You. We ­don’t ­need ­any oth­
er Mas­ter.”
“Mas­ter, we ­have ­You. We ­don’t ­need ­any oth­er Mas­ter.”

I am ­not Mas­ter, I ­tell ­you. ­God in me is ­the Mas­ter. I nev­er ­dream ­that I am

­the Mas­ter. I ­see ­some Pow­er help­ing oth­ers; ­all ­thanks go to ­Him, ­not me!

“­You ­don’t ­mind us call­ing ­You ‘­Master’, ­though, do ­You?”

­This is a mis­no­mer. ­God is ­the Mas­ter. ­There is ­some ­word ­for it, may­be

‘­Master’ or ‘­Teacher’ or ‘eld­er ­brother’ or ‘­father’. If ­you ­call me fa­ther, ­your

broth­er, or ­your ­friend, ­what dif­fer­ence ­does it ­make?

“I no­ticed ­the oth­er ­day some­one re­ferred to ­You as ‘­Maharaji’.”

‘­Maharaj’ ­means ‘high­est ­person’. ­That’s ­all. ­Words. ­These ­are ­words. Real­ly

­the ‘­Maharaji’ is ­that ­which is with­in me. ­That is with­in ­you, ­too.

(Deh­ra ­Dun, ­Sept. 15, 1970)

Birthday Message
Written by Sant Kirpal Singh, 1969

I am entering into the evening of my physical life after passing through the seventy-five
years of age with the grace of my Master (the Word made flesh) and find that the Word
– Holy Naam – is the stake of my life here and here-after, and so far each one of you whom
God has sent to me. That is the Bread of Life and Water of Life, which nourishes the soul.
On spiritual health depends the life of mind and body both. Without that our lives have no
worth as an elephant which has no ivory teeth; a well which has no water to give; a fruit tree
which bears no fruit; the earth which gives no vegetation without rain or water; or the night
which is without moonlight. This is the most important aspect of our lives. „What does it
profit a man if he gains the possessions of the whole world and loses one‘s own soul.“

While enjoying the bliss of Holy Naam, the mind – an agent of Negative Power – creeps in
stealthily to devoid us of the bliss of God-intoxication, considering that one is indispensa­
ble in whatever line he/she is placed. We are fortunate to have been selected to do certain
jobs in the setup of God‘s work, and each of such ones should feel thankful to God and put
shoulder to the wheel. The devoted children live in harmony with each other in the noble
cause of God. The Master is fully aware and has appreciation of each one‘s loving devotion
and sacrifice and doles out to him/her the loving intoxication to the capacity of each one of
them. Big and small wheels in a machinery have to play their own part, to keep the machin­
ery agoing smoothly by oiling with the fragrant oil of loving devotion. You must be careful
not to be deceived by the crafty machinations of mind by turning your face to the Master
Power, which resides in each one of you at the time of initiation and never leaves you here
and hereafter. This can be done lovingly by keeping his Commandments.

I wish to see you progress on the spiritual way and become ambassadors of Truth during
the evening of my life – sooner the better as time and tide wait for no man. Let us unite,
one and all, to loving embrace of the Master, forgiving and forgetting petty differences cre­
ated by the mind to retard progress and bring the blessings of the Master Power working
overhead.

I wish each one of you to join with me in the prayer in the words of Guru Ram Dass Ji and
Guru Arjan Dev Ji as under:

O Lord forsake not me, Thy slave.

Take me in Thy loving embrace: O Lord out of Thy old love.

It is Thy innate nature to purify the sinners; So heed not Thou my errors and sins.

Thou art the life of my life, my peace, my riches;

So burn down Thou, in Thy mercy, the curtain of ego that screens me off from Thee.

w w w. k i r pa l s i ng h - t e a c h i ngs . o r g 6
 Without water how can the fish abide? Without milk how can the child live?

Slave Nanak craves for the Lotus Feet of Thee,

O Lord, seeing Thy vision doth he gather the Essence of joy

As a last resort I go to surrender myself to Thee O Lord;

As I have come to Thy refuge, it is up to Thee to accept or kill me.

The clever sycophancy of the world, this I have cast all to the fire.

Now say the good or evil of me, I have surrendered myself (to Thee my God)

He who cometh, to seek Thy refuge, O Lord, him Thou protecteth in Thy mercy.

Nanak hath come to Thy refuge; O Lord, now keep Thou my honour.

O Thou Fount of Mercy, abide ever in my heart;

And awaken that intuition in me that I begin to Love Thee.

Always keep me in the holy dust of the saints‘ Feet that I apply it to my forehead.

Though most sinful, I may become purest of the Pure, by tuning with

the Music of all Harmonies and ever sing Thy praises.

That Thy will be sweet to me, and I be pleased with whatever Thou doest;

And whatever Thou givest I be satisfied and I wonder not about to knock another‘s door.

I may know Thee always nearer me and be the Dust of all in all humility.

In the company of saints all this can be achieved and we can have a Vision of God.

We are ever Thy children, O Lord, Thou art our Master and King

Nanak is Thy child, O Father and Mother, and in his is the Milk of Thy Name.

Yours affectionately, Kirpal Singh

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