Intro. to Shabda Yoga Meditation

[Guest guest]

James Bean jamesbean

SANTMAT Fellowship: santmatfellowship

 

Introduction to Shabda Yoga Meditation: Sant Mat

 

For some initiates of Shabda Yoga, inner meditation practice can indeed

turn into an NDE or OOBE-type experience complete with a tunnel, bright

Light at the end of the tunnel, beautiful Heavenly Music more enrapturing

and blissful than any music in this world, and can mean mystical journeys

through various heavenly regions or planes.

 

Swami Ji Maharaj and other Masters have mapped out Inner Space describing

various places in Inner Space. It's amazing really that so many mystics

and initiates of Sant Mat, Sufism, and earlier Gnostic Schools of Spirituality

could be in such agreement about what Heaven One is like, Heaven Two,

Heaven Three, Heaven Four, Heaven Five, etc.

 

The Goal of Surat Shabda Yoga, meaning, "the attention or spiritual

senses of the soul (spiritual seeing, spiritual hearing, etc.) becoming

one with the Stream of Inner Light and Sound," is to ride this Light-Sound

Current all the way back up to the One again, to pass through all the

various planes, merging in God in the highest Region. The Ultimate Reality

of the Masters is about going back Home again, to merge with the Beloved

Ocean of Love as the drop becomes one with the sea.

 

In the beginning stages, Shabda Yoga may resemble other forms of yoga

meditation, getting people centered and relaxed, but eventually it becomes

quite visionary as the Attention collects at the Single Eye/Third Eye

-- the Seat of the Soul.

 

Here's a link to some introductory meditation instructions given by Sant

Rajinder Singh:

 

MEDITATION INSTRUCTIONS: Developing Our Own Meditation Practice:

 

http://skrm.sos.org/meditaforevery_02.htm#STEP

 

The following is a description of the Voyage of the Soul into the

Worlds of Light, Sound, and Love:

 

Mataji immediately gave me a strong hug, welcoming me as if I were one

of her children.

 

Mataji exuded a sense of joy and happiness. We talked for more than three

hours about a variety of subjects, but I was most intrigued with Mataji's

experiences on the inner spiritual planes. I asked her what it was like

to leave the body. Mataji responded with a beautiful description of how

consciousness can be released from the mortal frame by attaching itself

to the stream of celestial music radiating from the top of the head and

beyond. To do this, she said, one first must be initiated by a genuine

mystic who has gained access to the higher realms. The practice itself,

although it may take years to master, sounds relatively simple. The body

should be kept perfectly still with one particular posture held for at

least three hours. One may choose a cross-legged position (like the yogis

in the lotus pose) or a more comfortable, relaxed position in a chair.

Keeping the back erect and the mind alert, one continuously repeats God's

name as given by his/her guru. This simran, as Mataji termed it, should

be done with one's attention centered behind closed eyes.

 

Coupled with this physical stillness and ceaseless repetition of God's

name, the next step is to contemplate the light within. At first, Mataji

pointed out, there will be only darkness but eventually light will appear

in the form of either small flashes or small star-like points. In any

case, one should focus on the radiance, keeping one's simran intact and

allowing the light to draw the soul inward. The third and most important

step, Mataji said, is to listen to the sound that issues forth from the

light. It is this internal music which will numb the body and allow the

consciousness to leave its ordinary dwelling. By riding this current

of light and sound, like a fish going upstream, the soul will be able

to go back to its original home. On the journey within, however, the

soul must be guided by a true master so as not to be detained in any

of the lower illusory regions. According to Mataji, what near-death patients

experience is only the beginning of a vast sojourn into great universes

of light, love and beauty.

 

Personally I was overcome with the profundity of Mataji's account. Although

it seemed plausible, especially given the findings of near-death patients

who have been resuscitated, the soul's journey in the beginning stages

appeared too difficult. How can one sit so still, repeat only holy names

and think of God constantly? "By falling in love," Mataji answered serenely.

"Because when one is truly in love nothing but the beloved can enter

one's mind. So the secret of surat shabd yoga and of mysticism," she

goaded, "is not necessarily practice and more practice, but love. To

be so devoted to one's Lord that nothing can stand in the way-this and

nothing else is the truth of Sant Mat," Mataji stressed.

 

I think this is perhaps what impressed me the most about Mataji. She

put on absolutely no "airs" about her attainment. She was down to earth,

personable, affectionate, and not self-conscious (in the bad sense of

that term) in the least. She was simply delightful and I found myself

won over by her graceful, natural charm.......Mataji said, with a smile,

"You are my maharaj, my guru." At first I was a bit thrown off. I reflected

to myself, "What could she possibly mean by that statement. I don't even

know how to get train directions from Delhi to Hoshiarpur, much less

know the inner secrets of the universe." Then it struck me and I understood

her meaning. Instead of seeing God in only one form, Mataji sees God

in every form, even in someone as completely ignorant as myself.

 

To Mataji, the beautiful saint of Manavta Mandir, there isn't just one

God and many sinful creatures, or a God of Light and a World of Darkness;

rather there is only one God manifesting throughout a myriad of forms.

(David Lane in, "Enchanted Land,")

 

In the Light and Sound of Bhakti,

 

James

 

 

 

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