BOX OF RAIN: THE STORY OF HAZUR SAWAN SINGH (Part 2 of 2)
Michael Turner
For Explorers of God’s Inner Light and Sound
BOX OF RAIN: A LOOK AT MAHARAJ SAWAN SINGH (Part 2 of 2)
- by Michael Turner
© July 1996, 2010
Commenting on Sawan's spiritual mission, Sant Kirpal
Singh Ji notes,
"He revived the teachings of holy Saints
and brought them into the limelight. Like His
predecessors - Guru Nanak, Kabir Sahib, Tulsi
Sahib, Paltu Sahib, Soami Shiv Dayal Singh Ji,
Maulana Rumi, Shams Tabrez and others, He
pulled up the aspirants from their deep slumber
and put them on the Path of Surat Shabd Yoga
or 'Sultan-ul-Azkar’, which is the most ancient
and eternal Path leading to Reality and which,
being natural, is unchangeable from times
immemorial and will ever remain as such without
any modification whatever. His teachings are
esoteric and not exoteric. He taught:
'God is in every heart.
Spirituality is the common
heritage of the entire world
and humanity, and is not
reserved for any particular
country or nationality. The
be-all and end-all of spirituality
are the Union of the soul with
the Omnipotent Over-Soul.
Man is the room and crown of
all creation and nothing else is
greater than He. He is the
direct manifestation of God and
is the marvel of God's greatness.
In the twinkling of an eye, he
can rise to Heaven and come
back. The sun and the moon,
Paradise and Hell, the earth and
the sky are his playgrounds.
As is correctly said: 'In short,
thou art next to God.'"
Sant Kirpal Ji goes on to say,
"...Hazur unfolded the Divine mysteries
with such an easy and facile grace that His
words went home and penetrated deep down into
the hearts and made an everlasting impression.
This is possible only when a really competent
personage, with practical personal esoteric
experiences within, expounds the truth of the
actual spiritual experiments and has the
competency to infuse into the innermost
recesses of the brain - not only mere words –
but the results of His own vast spiritual
experiments, along with the pith of the essential
principles of them."
In "Spiritual Gems”, Great Master Sawan Singh commented
about the spiritual science of Surat Shabd Yoga and the role of
the Living Master,
"All Saints are Sons of God; their
mission is to make others the sons of God;
their method is the Word - Sound Current.
There is no other method. The difference
lies in the extent to which this Word has been
traced by its votaries. The Word is light.
It resounds throughout the whole creation -
material, mental and spiritual - within and
outside us. It is light and sound both. Sant
Mat connects with it as Sound. The lights
and sounds at the different stages of the
journey are already known to you. The
significance of the World will grow step by
step with experience . . .
(Christ's) Sermon on the Mount gives
his moral teaching and is the beacon of light
for the guidance of humanity. The strength to
live up to this teaching he derived from the
practice of the Word, the Sound Current. And
the higher the rise on this Current, the greater
the strength. There are many who excel others
in this field and go beyond their reach. You can
realize the truth of this statement if you work
your way up.
The physical, astral and causal bodies
are the cages, one inside the other, to keep
the soul from escaping and flying to its Home.
It is a parrot in a triple cage. When the cages
are cut off, it comes into its own and is free to
fly. This is freedom of man, to be attained in
human form while alive.
I doubt if light and sound vibrations
could be fitted in a mathematical equation. But
this is a fact: the Word gives out both, light
and sound. At this end, in the physical plane,
the light and sound are lost in gross matter.
On the finer planes - astral, causal and spiritual
- Sound is audible and Light is visible. At the
upper end, the Sound is the finest music -
unheard by human ears - and the Light is of
millions of suns and moons in one ray. Some
idea, just an idea, of the beauty and grandeur,
has been given to you in terms of sounds and
lights of this world. The Reality is beyond
description, and our mathematics is too poor
to solve even the problems of the physical plane."
In His "Brief Life Sketch" of Sawan, Kirpal also notes
Great Master's physical appearance (which is verified over and
over in the myriad of photos taken of Him),
"With the thoroughly realized spiritual
knowledge, Hazur was also full of physical
beauty: His well-proportioned bodily frame,
cyprus-like stature, resplendent, shining
face and forehead, immaculately-white long
beard, spotlessly-white head turban, and a mole
on the right cheek - all so lovely-attractive –
were the focus of myriads of longing eyes.
On His feet there was the Padam-Rakha
(or Lotus-line)."
As I mentioned earlier, Sawan was also a master teller
of parables. One story Sawan used to tell was about a Sufi
master who had two men before him applying for initiation.
One was a great scholar of religion and philosophy, the other
an illiterate peasant. He told these two men that he would
accept only one for initiation, and would therefore ask them
to perform one or more tests to see who was more worthy.
The first test he assigned was in giving each man a live bird.
He told them to find a place where nobody could see them
(including, I presume, each other), kill the bird, and bring
it back to him. The scholar, being a clever sort, spent some
time looking around until he found a wall by a field which
was deserted. He quickly broke the bird's neck and brought it
back to the master. The second applicant was gone much longer.
When he finally returned, the bird was still alive. When asked
why he had not done as he had been instructed, he replied to the
effect, "There was nowhere to perform the act. For everywhere
I went, God and, moreover, I, could see me do it. At this point,
the master dismissed the scholar and immediately took the other
fellow inside for initiation.
"Maybe you'll find direction
Around some corner
Where it's been waiting to meet you.
What do you want me to do,
To do for you,
To see you through?"
- Robert Hunter
Sawan didn't just tell these stories as allegories, either.
In one book, I believe it is "Call of the Great Master”, Daryai
Lal Kapur recalls a drunkard who is nearly run over by Sawan's
car while returning to Dera Baba Jaimal Singh. Sawan personally
got out of the car and helped the man to the side of the road,
made sure he was all right, then got in the car and went home
to the Dera. The drunkard (a "dacoit”, or common ruffian
or criminal) was overwhelmed by His kindness and asked who
the tall man in the spotless turban was. When informed that
He was a great saint who lived at the Beas colony nearby,
the man hurried there to meet him in person.
When he got to the Dera, Sawan was giving Satsang,
and the topic just happened to be about turning one's life
around, particularly the perils of constant inebriation and
living a life outside the law. In spite of the large crowd,
Sawan's gaze turned straight to this man and penetrated right
to his soul. The effect was so profound that, when Satsang
was over the man - still quite drunk - crawled to Sawan's feet,
wrapped his arms around them and begged for initiation.
Sawan, smiling, looked down at him and stated that the price
of initiation was quite high. The man said he would pay any
price. Sawan told him that the price was not monetary, but,
rather, one of changing his life. The supplicant replied that
he would do anything to receive just a morsel of God's grace
pouring through the Master's eyes. Great Master said, "Okay.
In addition to doing your meditation, you must also give up
meat and alcohol, and earn your living by honest means from
now on."
At this, the man became quite distraught. "I've been
drunk all my life," he cried, "There's no way I can stop now.
And since I've been an adult, the only way I've made money
is outside the law. How can you expect me to get an honest
job?" Sawan, beaming brightly, quietly told him, "I understand.
It's not easy to change one's habits. Promise me at least this
much that at least you will neither drink nor break the law in
my presence." The man quickly agreed to this and was granted
initiation.
For a short time, he kept his word, devoted regular
time to his meditation and avoided intoxication and lawless
behavior. Within a few weeks, however, he started hanging
out with his old circle of friends. One night, they were all
going to a wedding which had always been an occasion for
some serious partying and carousing. But as he was raising
the first glass of wine to his lips, a vision of Great Master
appeared before him. "I thought I told you not to drink or
engage in illicit behavior in my presence," Sawan said, looking
very stern indeed. "If you continue to do this, you will lose
all of the spiritual wealth you have accumulated through
initiation and the Divine Grace will be withdrawn. In fact, you
will accumulate further negative karma on an exponential basis
and soon be in prison."
Mortified by the realization that whatever he did, it
was always in the Master's presence, the dacoit threw down
the wine glass and said, in effect, "I'm outta here!" His
friends laughed, thinking he was just freaking out, and tried
to hold him down and pour wine from the jug into his mouth.
Somehow, he managed to get free from their pinning,
smashing the wine jug in the process. "Listen," he said,
"whatever you guys want to do is up to you. But God has
given me a chance to turn my life around, and I'm not about
to blow it! Here's the key to my strong box. Take the money
I've stashed in there and divide it amongst yourselves. If you
want to continue on as you've been doing, fine. But leave me
out of it."
Now, I would be remiss to not mention that this fellow
did end up getting arrested for a multitude of misdeeds.
It turns out, he was quite a notorious criminal in the area,
and in fact was renowned for having escaped jail several times.
But when he was imprisoned this time, he made no attempt to
escape, nor did he offer any complaint. For he knew the
Master was always with him. It wasn't a matter or speculation
or theory, but rather a matter of living reality. He knew
because he could see the Master's radiant form, and hear
His voice. And through this Divine Grace, he happily paid
his karmic debt.
This is an important point to understand. For while
the Master will at times intercede with Kal and the Lords of
Karma to lessen our karmic load, that is not His primary
purpose. Rather, through blessing us with Holy Naam
initiation, He lifts us up and teaches us to have equipoise,
inner peace and balance when our payments come due.
Once, when Sawan was a young man, he badly broke his
leg while on horseback. The break, and subsequent shock
were so severe, that His life was actually in peril. But
rather than panic, He simply placed His attention within,
did His simran and was blessed by the radiant form of His
Master, Baba Jaimal Singh (Babaji). Babaji told Him that
His karma - which had originally mandated death from the
accident - had been lessened to a simple broken leg and that,
furthermore, the sincerity of devotion would eliminate
any pain associated with the accident and he would be fully
mobile within a month.
Sure enough, coming out of meditation, Sawan found
that the pain had vanished. And the break, though certainly
inconvenient, was not horrific. Moreover, true to Babaji's
inner darshan, Sawan's leg healed in exactly one month and,
in fact was stronger than ever. This story has been retold
many times by satsangis who knew him and could personally
attest to the fact that, when walking the countryside or
climbing steep mountain trails, Sawan was always ahead
of the pack, often leaving the rest of the people in His dust
- even when He was well into His 80's!
Sawan Singh remained in excellent health until the last
couple of years of His life. In late 1947, He became quite
ill and, in October went to Amritsar for treatment.
Recovering somewhat, He returned to the Dera a few weeks
later and began making preparations for His transition from
this life. However, his health never did completely return.
Near the end, Kirpal Singh recounts one experience near the
end of Sawan's life here.
"In those very days, one night Hazur
- mentioning His inner esoteric experiences
- remarked: 'The Sun has risen high. Can the
people of Jullundur also see this Sun?' The
relatives and friends sitting nearby were
ignorant of this secret expression. The
opinion of the doctor in charge was also, like
the others beside Him, that Hazur's brain was
not working properly on account of His illness.
A little later at night when I went to see Him,
Hazur repeated the same question, addressing me:
'Kirpal Singh! The Sun has risen high. Can the
people of Jullundur also see this Sun?' I
replied, 'Yes, Hazur, the Sun has risen
high - and not only the people of Jullundur
but also those living in England or in America
who will traverse to inner planes, can see this
Sun.' Thereupon, Hazur said: 'Thou hast
correctly answered my question.'"
On the morning of April 1, 1948, Sant Kirpal Ji sat
with Sawan in meditation and prayed that Sawan's suffering
be alleviated. He recorded their final time together
as follows:
"After the prayer, when I opened my
eyes, Hazur's body was in a state of perfect
repose. Hazur's forehead was shining
resplendently. He opened His mercy-showering
lovely eyes, intoxicated in God's Divine Love,
and cast a glance at my humble self - both
eyes gleaming with radiance like a lion's eyes.
I bowed my head in solemn and silent adoration,
and said: 'It is all Hazur's own benignity.'
Hazur steadily kept gazing for three
or four minutes into my eyes; and my eyes, in
silent wonderment, experienced an indescribable
delight which infused a beverage-like
intoxication down to the remotest pores of
my entire body - such as was never before
experienced in my whole life. Then those
mercy-showering eyes closed, not to open
again."
Thus, in His 90th year, on the morning of April 2nd, 1948,
at 8:30, this brilliant Sun of Spirituality, after diffusing
His Light in the hearts of millions of the masses, disappeared
to rest below the horizon at Dera Baba Jaimal Singh.
Next month, we will take up the life of one of Hazur
Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj's successors, a spiritual giant in His
own right, and the primary source of Sri Paul Twitchell's
inspiration, Sant Kirpal Singh. Until then, remember,
"A box of rain
Will ease the pain
And love will see you through.
Just a box of rain,
Wind and water;
Believe it, if you need it.
If you don't, just pass it on.
Sun and shower,
Wind and rain,
In and out your window
Like a moth before a flame.
And it's just a box of rain.
I don't know who put it there.
Believe it, if you need it.
Or leave it if you dare.
And it's just a box of rain,
Or a ribbon for your hair.
Such a long, long time to be gone,
And a short time to be there."
- Robert Hunter
Baraka Bashad!
Michael
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