The human body is a holy book of God. Study it! Search it! Those who rose above the plane of senses and realized themselves, they realized God. This is the highest ideal of all.

Sant Kirpal Singh

The coming spiritual revolution

This talk was given by Sant Kirpal Singh in Florida, 7 December 1972
Talk available as mp3 at www.audio.sant-kirpal-singh.org

 

Sant Kirpal Singh - Audio TalkDear brothers and sisters,

The people are crying for peace. How can we have it? Peace should start from our hearts. We should give out peace as prayed by Guru Nanak: "Peace be unto all the world over, under Thy Will, O God." And for this, naturally, there must be a spiritual revolution.

The world is already in revolution; but this revolution should be different. This revolution should not be of the body, but against the evil propensities of the mind which keep us away from God. This will be achieved if we give right understanding to the people at large, which will result in right thoughts. First comes understanding; then come right thoughts, which result in right speech, and right speech will result in right actions. The whole thing starts from right understanding.

So you will find right understanding first lies in recognizing that there is a Maker of the universe who is the Controlling Power and permeates all creation. This world did not come out of itself; there is a Maker, and scientists lately have come to this conclusion, that the whole creation is controlled by some Power which is conscious.

So this is the first thing: the whole world is the manifestation of God, no East and no West, the earth below and the sky overhead is His manifestation.

Guru Nanak went to Mecca. At night he was lying down with his feet toward the Kaaba, the house of God. The clergy-men over there rebuked him, "Why are you lying with your feet toward the house of God?" He politely told them, "Dear friend, I see God all around, there is no place where He is not. If you think there is any side where God is not, you may turn my feet that way." You see? So Masters say, "All is holy where devotion kneels." This is the first right understanding.

A great Muslim Saint says, "The whole earth is blessed because God permeates all. If my followers find the time for prayers they can sit on any ground anywhere and say prayers to God. No matter what way their face is –  because God is everywhere." The Koran, the Muslim scripture, also says: "God is everywhere." It matters little whether we face toward West or East; say your prayers where you are.

So this is the first right understanding: We are living in Him, have our being in Him, He is in us, outside us, above us, below us. Like fish we have our existence in Him. That is right understanding. And further: God made man with equal privileges, all born the same way, no high, no low; all have got the same outer concessions – eyes, ears, etc., – and all have the same inner concession: we are kept in the body by some higher Power which is the same for all. So this is right understanding: that we have this thing – God resides in every heart – and that all is holy where devotion kneels, all are born with the same privileges from God – no high, no low, no East, no West. And this will result in right thoughts.

On my last visit a meeting was called for the East and the West. Others who were visiting America attended this meeting, and I was also one of them. Each man told us where he was from. When my turn came up, I told them: "It is said, of course, that `East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet.' But there is no East and no West: the whole creation is the House of our Father. All countries are so many rooms in that House. It is we who made these things, on account of our want of right understanding." So this is one thing; if you have this understanding, what will be the result? Your whole angle of vision will be changed; you will see that we are all children of God, the same Father. The true Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man will be cemented. So this is what I mean by spiritual revolution – from Godlessness.

Kabir says, "Behold but One in all things." Guru Arjan says, "The visible and the invisible, all are His manifestation." Lord Krishna says, "He who sees me in all things and all things in me, he is my peer." So when Masters come, the first message they bring is, "There is God." They say, "We have seen God." With what eyes? The eye which sees God exists in everybody, and is different from the eyes of flesh and blood; it is called Third Eye, Single Eye, Latent Eye. So the whole world, they say, is His manifestation, and He resides in every heart; and as such, these physical bodies we are having are the true temples of God. So by right understanding, I mean that; if this is brought to the notice of people at large, then from this right understanding will arise right thoughts, and from them will come right speech and right actions.

Although we are wearing different labels of religions, all the same we are all one. These labels show only that we have joined some particular school to realize this unity. The ultimate goal of all religions is to know God; and to know God we must know ourselves first, because God cannot be known by the outgoing faculties, mind or intellect; soul alone can know the Oversoul. Like can know like. So God is one, though there may be many outer ways of worship, you see; but the ultimate, the inner Way, is the same for all. Rajab, a Muslim Saint, tells us, "The archers may be many, but the target is the same." And the Kingdom of God can come on earth; peace will reign supreme in the world, if some spiritual Master is there who can give us a demonstration of the inner Way – which will give us true peace and right understanding. No politician has ever been able to bring peace to the world, and harmony, and cooperation. But if their work were in harmony and cooperation with the spiritual Masters, peace would be achieved quickly.

When the Masters come they are conscious of God from the very beginning; even in childhood they are conscious of Him. Guru Nanak was sent to school to just have some education, and the teacher began to teach him, "One, two" The teacher proceeded further, but Guru Nanak said, "Wait, stop, wait – what do you mean by one?" A child of four or five years old! And Nanak said, "This one means there is one God." You see, he was conscious. Then he said, "What is He, that all this creation has come out of Him? He is eternal; the Maker of all creation; the ruling Power; He has got no equal – no enmity with anybody, no fear of anybody; He has come about of His own Self – no one is His maker."

Then the teacher asked him, "What is this? How can it be had?" He said, "With the grace of a Master; it is the gift of a Master." Further, he said, "I do not mean, when I say `God is one,' that He is one; I mean, this `one' stands for something else which is expressed as `one.' But He is neither one nor two. He is something, which can be experienced. We can go into Him, absorb into Him; that experience can be given by a Master, and he can give us a realization of that for which the figure `one' stands." And how? He said, "Burn away all your outer attachments; burn them away, and from their ashes make ink, and with your conscious Self go on writing the praises of God." As long as we are attached outside, we cannot know ourselves; when we know ourselves with our conscious Self we can see what He is. Kabir says, If I say "one," then the question of "two" arises; that amounts to calling Him names. God is neither one nor two; He is something, expressed by this word, "one." So, He is, within Himself something, which can be realized, not expressed in words.

Guru Arjan gives a reason for that – why we call Him "one." He says, "We are finite, O God, You are infinite; because we are finite, we can only measure with our finite scales." Is it not true? So the Absolute God cannot be seen by anybody, and nobody has seen Him so far – the Absolute God, Nameless God, Wordless God, which has not come into expression. That Power which came into expression, that is called "Word," that is called Naam; the outer expression of that Power is Light and Sound, and that Light can be seen, that Voice can be heard. That is why the Bible says, "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light on my path."

Every human being has a secret chamber within himself which is called the "closet of the body." That is higher than the mind and heart both, and provides mind with understanding to a certain extent, and the heart with feelings of love. This chamber is the Kingdom of God within us. This is the crest jewel, the pearl of great price. The Saints, when we come in contact with them, open this chamber by withdrawing all our attention from outside. The test of a true Master is the fact that in his company, the smallest realm opens up within us, and the Light, Divine Light, the expression of the God-into-Expression Power, is seen. Christ said, "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." Prophet Mohammed said, "The light of Allah is found where? In the human temples."

Why am I quoting these things? Because right understanding was given by Saints and Masters coming from time to time. Lord Krishna said, "I will give you divine light and you will see my glory within." Buddha said the same thing: "Every man possesses the bright mirror of illumination." This, all the Buddhas realized. Buddha further proclaimed that: "The way of the illumined ones is the growth of snow-drops behind the eyes;" and then Christ came, and it was as if a few crocuses opened their hearts to the winter sky. But now the time has come when we can have a rebirth; this is what Christ spoke of when he said that "the poor in spirit shall inherit the Kingdom of God."

So Springtime is upon us now; there will be more fragrant Saints, I would say now, who will come up and give us through the grace of God, a contact with the God-into-Expression Power. And this is the revolution, the spiritual revolution, which is coming up – an awakening all around.

Why are all these people coming, you see? In the past, these things were told in the ears of the disciples after a long time of testing. Now it is given out from open platforms; people are having it without distinction, whether they are ready or not ready, they are getting something. This is what is needed – the times have changed now. And Masters come from time to time to bring these things into the experience of others who are born as man, because in the human body only we can know God, and in no other.

So Absolute God, you know, is called Wordless or Nameless; when He wanted to be many, He manifested, and from the manifestation there were vibrations which result in two things: Light and Sound. This primal manifestation of God is called "Word" or "Name" (Naam) and is the cause of all creation. He is the Maker of all creation, Controller of all creation, and permeates all creation. This is why it is said in the Bible, "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God; all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made." The Vedas say the same thing: "In the beginning was Prajapati, with him was the Word, and the Word was verily the Supreme Brahma."

They use the word Prajapati for God, otherwise it is exactly the same words. Similarly, Guru Nanak and all Saints tell us that Naam is the Creator of all this universe. So this Power has been given millions of names by Masters and others; some call Him Swami, which means "Lord"; others call Him Agam, "incomprehensible" or "indescribable"; Sat Purusha means "eternal." There are many other qualitative names which go to express the Name of this Power. To differentiate between the two, these are some words given to denote that Power which is the cause of all creation, the outer expression of which is Light and Sound.

So Masters differentiate and clarify the whole position. Guru Teg Bahadur, the ninth Guru of the Sikhs, asked, "What is that Naam, the remembrance of which leads to Nirvana?" Again he said, "What is that Naam, the repetition whereof enables a person to cross over the world of thoughts?" So that Naam is the God-Into-Expression Power, the outer expression of which is Light and Sound. To describe that Power there are myriads of names given by Saints.

So this is the God-into-Expression Power, to contact which is possible only while in the body. Guru Arjan says, "A contact with Naam makes one self luminous – luminosity comparing with millions of suns." I am quoting only to show what the Masters really meant. We say "Ram"-Ram means, "permeating all." The word Ram describes what is permeating; but that which is permeating is different from the word used to describe it. So these words are used to express that Power which is the cause of all creation, which can be seen; not with the eyes of flesh and blood, but through the Third Eye or Single Eye which is opened by the Master.

So, by the grace of God, a true initiate prays, "O God, manifest the Divine Light of Naam within me." It is already there; "take heed that the light which is within you is not darkness." So all Masters have been telling like that. Kabir says, "There are myriads of names in the world, myriads; but none of them can grant salvation." There are myriads of names given to God but none of them grants salvation. And which is that particular Name (Naam) which gives salvation? The Primal Name is a hidden one, and a rare soul can know and realize it. That is the Power permeating all creation, the outer expression of which is Light and Sound, which can be seen by the Inner Eye, and can be heard by the Inner Ear which exists in every man. So you will find, through the grace of some Master who can open this new world within us, we see.

Take an example, you see, to understand the thing. Water is a liquid something, called by different names in different languages. In English, we say "water"; in Latin "aqua," in Hindi "jal" or "nir," in Persian "aab;" in Urdu it is called "pani." These are the words which go to denote that liquid something, by drinking which you can satisfy your thirst – not by repeating any of those names which denote that liquid. So the God-into – Expression Power is called Word, Naam, Kalma; He is the Creator of all, and has two aspects: Light and Sound. And when Masters come, they contact us with that Power within us, you see? They open our inner eye by raising us to some extent above the physical body and outgoing faculties; we begin to see.

That is why it is said, you see, "that Devotion to Naam is the only true worship." God is spirit; we can worship in spirit alone. Guru Amar Das says, "Everyone does worship but on the sensual plane only; so they get no results which end in salvation. But absorption in the Naam purifies the mind and bears fruit in abundance." You follow? Words are words; but what those words denote is a different thing; that is the Controlling Power of all creation, permeating all creation, and controlling us in the body too.

So, the body is the true Temple of God, in which we dwell, and also that Power which keeps us in the body. "By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, and aIl the host of them ... He spake and it was done; He commanded and they stood fast." That is what our scriptures say. Now do you follow what is meant by Naam or "Word"; or God? Christ said, "Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." So Masters say that there is God – very definite – Who is the Maker of all creation, permeating all creation; and further, they say that this world did not come out of itself, but is made by some Power which is conscious. So Masters tell us like that. Then it follows that all this manifestation is God's, because He is the Creator; there was nothing before Him. All this was made after Him and thus is the manifestation of Him.

Now, the question arises: Why can't we see Him? When the Masters say that they do see Him, why can't we see Him? They say, Because He is the subtlest of the subtlest: "Alakh, Agam." Try to understand by an example. The air appears to be all vacant – nothing there; but if you look at it through a microscope, what happens? What you see is magnified seven hundred times, and then you find that the atmosphere is full of microbes. So if our eye becomes as subtle as He is, or if He becomes as gross as we are, we will be able to see Him. So Saints tell us, "Well, strange enough: While God is with us in the body, we see Him not." "O Tulsi, every man is stark blind – Fie on a lifeless life like this." They see that the Light is within everybody. "Take heed that the light which is within you is not darkness." So Masters come to make people see who do not see. But it cannot be seen if it is not already there.

Kabir says, "The entire world is groping in darkness. If it were a question of one or two they could be set right." But he says, "Wherever I look, I see all are blind" – in the terminology of Spirituality. Guru Nanak said, "To the enlightened ones, all are blind." If a man who sees Him is there, and other people do not see Him – naturally they are spiritually blind. When you come to a Master, he makes you see. So in the terminology of the Saints, the word "blind" does not mean those who have got no eyes on the forehead, but those whose inner eye is not opened. The eyes of flesh see Him not, but the Master illumines the eye, you see, within. A worthy disciple begins to witness the power and glory of God within himself. When the Master comes, he opens the inner eye.

Why can't we see? Again, I would say, enveloped in darkness we strive for God by deeds not less dark; "for without a perfect man, none has found the way," nor can one do so. As I submitted yesterday, you know, we do need somebody to guide us in the outer ways-at the level of the outgoing faculties, mind, or intellect. And this is the Way which is where all philosophies end and true religion starts. So somebody is needed to usher you into the Beyond – to raise you above body consciousness and withdraw your attention from outside, and open your single eye to see the Light of God. Here such a person is required; there also you will need Him, to guide you further.

So, before one comes across a perfect Master, he cannot see; when he comes to the Feet of a Master, he begins to see. We are dead before coming to him, in the terminology of the Saints; when he gives a sitting, we become alive. When we come to him, we are deaf, spiritually deaf; when he gives a sitting, we begin to hear the Sound, the Voice of God. Jesus said, you see, "You see what the prophets and righteous men desired to see, but could not; you hear what they desired to hear, and could not." Are you people not most fortunate to have a living Master?

So, "body is veritably the true temple of God and the Holy Ghost dwells within it." Emerson says, "Tap inside;" President Truman used to say, when he was tired with his outer performances and duties, he entered into the "fox hole of the brain." The Vedas call it "Brahmrendra."

Perception, intuition and reasoning just help to understand Reality to a certain extent – not beyond. You are understanding all this, you see, at the level of the intellect; but seeing is believing. Seeing with one's own eye – the inner eye – that is an ingress we know little or nothing about. This is what the Masters give. Nanak says, "The blind know not the door," and Christ refers to it, "Knock and it shall be opened unto you." And, "Whoever hears my voice, I will sup with him and he with me." So we will have to revert to the third eye, the latent eye or the "Shiv Netra" within us. God said, "Let there be light." The result was what? "There was light." Genesis says so! And this is "the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world; that light is the life of man." Such light is within you. "Take heed that the light within you is not darkness."

All scriptures describe rays of Light vibrating with the Music of Life; they go hand in hand. The "Ringing Radiance," you might say; the Ringing Radiance emanating from the formless Absolute Existence when It came to manifest the world in its variegated colors and countless shapes and forms. Thank God! He has made all creation, and He is still not away from that. He permeates in the world. He permeates in all creation; He is still quite above all creation.

So This pervades all four grand divisions of the universe. Kabir says, I went to Mecca; on the way, God met me and began to rebuke me: "O Kabir, who told you I am residing here? Am I not in you? Why are you coming here?" If the One we are after resides in us, and we leave this body and go searching in outer things, can we ever find Him? At the most, they can give us an incentive toward our goal, that we should know God – nothing more. Places of pilgrimage, holy temples, they remind us that there is something, there is some God; they sing praises there.

Can we see God? Guru Nanak was put this very blunt question; he said, "Yes, God is pervading everywhere." Masters say what they see; they don't give any reason for it, because they are competent to give a demonstration of that – and let you see. He is nearer to you than your hands and limbs; the Hindu scriptures say, "He is so near to you – Nothing in the world is nearer to you. He is the very life of you." Kabir says, "Once I was in doubt, but really it is so; because when my eye was open, I really saw Him – then all my delusions have gone, all my doubts have vanished. I see Him everywhere."

This is one function of the Master. We confound him with the teachers of the world, with due respect to them all, at whose feet we have learned something. But this is something which begins where all philosophies end; when your contact with the physical body and your outgoing faculties are set aside. Shamaz Tabrez was asked, "What about God?" He said, "Don't believe unless you see God," you see. Masters also say, "Don't believe in the words of the Master unless you can testify yourself that this is so." You must have something to start with; it may be little, or more. How much depends on each man's background, but you must have something to start with. A man comes up and gives a very wonderful talk on business principles. It is very informative, but the poor fellows to whom the talk is given have no money to start with! So all teachers promise to go on doing this, doing that – "you'll have it after some time, you must be prepared, you must be ready, you'll get it at the time of death, be rest assured your life will be insured." Well, don't believe that. A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush. "Give your all and then you'll have everything?" No, I don't think so. You must have seen first. He does not want anything from you; he says, "I've come to give – it is God's gift – have it free!" Do you have to pay for sunlight, for air? Then why for the gift of God should we have to pay? That is the first thing, you see: Masters come to give – not to take. They stand on their own legs; and as Shamaz Tabrez said, "You should be able to see the Beloved within you with your own eye which you have got within; and you should be able to hear His voice with your own inner ear."

Now the question comes: How to open that eye with which He can be seen? He says, when you close your eyes, there is darkness. Look penetratingly into it; put your whole attention into it. That is knocking on the door, you see, and it shall be opened. You continue to look directly into that and you will find Light. Who will see that Light? Your very Self. You will find all Saints – Tulsi Sahib, Shamaz Tabrez – all say the same thing. "Sit down in meditation, nothing comes up for years and years and years; Tulsi says, How to penetrate this darkness? Sit at the feet of a Master – He gives you a boost, you see Light." Is it not wonderful? Is it not a miracle? What more miracle is required?

You see, unless a man rises above the life of senses, the inner Way is not open. It is you who have to see. That is why it is said, "Know thyself O Man, know thyself – who you are, what you are." What are we? Conscious entities. We have got attention. When the attention is diverted from outside and concentrated to our own Self, there you see the Light. Very simple. Do you see the common sense point of what is being put before you? He says further, Why do we not see Him? Because of the ramification of the mind. Ripples are going on in the subconscious reservoir of our mind. Until those ripples stand still, you cannot see Him. It is something like a pond covered with weeds. If you take out the weeds little by little every day, you can look in the water and see your face. And what are those weeds? Your body; body is the beginning of all delusion. We are having the body, and we are working at the level of the body. Body is changing every minute of life, being made of matter. All the world around is changing, since it is also made of matter, at the same speed at which our body is changing. As we are identified with it, this is an optical illusion; it appears to be stationary. How can we come out of that? This is the demonstration which is given by the Master.

If you are identified with the mind, outgoing faculties, and intellect, and you have recourse to the methods or practices which are concerned with those things, how can you rise above them? So rise above body consciousness; this is given out by all Masters. "Learn to die so that you may begin to live." Be reborn; be twice born. To withdraw your attention from outside and the body below, come to the seat of the soul in the body; this is called meditation. And meditation is the way back to God which can be had only in the human body, and in no other. All gods and goddesses hanker to have the human body, for this reason. So Kabir says, "O Man, why do you boast that you are the highest if you have not known God?" Your greatness lies only in the fact that you can see God. If you have not seen Him, how can you say anything? It is not a matter of only speaking, you see, giving long or tall talks.

Naturally, prayer arises from the failures of our own efforts – when all human efforts fail, there prayer succeeds. We pray to whom? A weak man prays to a strong man, or to God: "O God, we are helpless, we are stuck fast in this prison house of the body. How can we come out? It is locked on all sides. O God, send us someone who can take us out of the box of the body!" This is what Maulana Rumi, Swami Ji, Guru Nanak, and all other Masters pray. Someone asked Guru Amar Das, "How can you say what your outgoing faculties are?" He said, "Sit down and see." Sit down and see how your outgoing faculties are working. Then what happens? When your attention is withdrawn from outside, the body for all practical purposes is dead; you have got no feeling in the body. When you rise above that physical level, you see the Light of God.

If this is something you can do yourself, welcome you are; what more is wanted? Or go to the Masters, about whom we speak so much; if they can do it, well and good. That is why I have said, that a spiritual revolution is required; not at the level of body, but at the level of the evil propensities which have taken you away from God. Now springtime has come; the times have changed. The first thing required is a Guru or Master who has seen; who has seen and can make us see. Guru means the "light sprouts forth out of the most bleak darkness." That is the elementary criterion of a Master – not a lot of words: "you are not ready, you must be ready," this and that thing. In the old days, it was done like that; now times have changed. Who can sit at the feet of the Master for years? So they give you something to start with. Now maintain it: "Take heed that the light within you is not darkness."

So the first thing required is a Guru or Master. What is a Guru? "Word made flesh" is called a Guru; God has manifested Himself in a human body and called him a Guru. We respect him. The power house works through a bulb; there is light. But the power house can only work through a bulb which is not fused, you see. We respect the bulb, of course; but when it is fused, then another bulb is put on. That light coming through is the God Power, called the Master Power or Christ Power; that never dies, it goes on working from pole to pole to guide the child Humanity back to God. This is one thing that is required. It is said, "If you want to see God, go to somebody who has seen God. He who has not seen God, how can he let you see?" So now you see what is meant by "Master" or Guru as compared with the other teachers of the world, for whom we have respect as they teach us something of the outer world. How respectful and grateful should we be to such a man who gives us this!

Once it happened with our Master, you see – There was a Christian missionary at his place, Beas, who came to him and asked, "Look here, who is greater: Christ or your guru?" He very politely replied, "Look here, I have seen my Guru; I have not seen Christ. If you make him appear to me, I will meet with him too!" So these bodies leave; but that Power does not leave, that continues. There is food for the hungry and water for the thirsty; demand and supply is a law of Nature. The child which was born a thousand years back, a hundred years back, or now – God made arrangement for milk in the mother before birth; don't you think that will continue further? This is the law of Nature, you see, God's law.

The Master is the first thing required; second thing is true living. Ethical life is a stepping stone to spirituality. "Truth is above all and true living is still above Truth." We are all brothers and sisters in God, drops of the ocean of all consciousness; no high, no low; and that Power whom we worship controls us in the body. Don't have any hatred because you are a man of position, because you are a learned man, because you are a rich man. All are equal. Some are standing at the table; some are sitting in the chair; that is due to the reaction of past karmas.

Then comes chastity of thought. That defiles the whole body. You cannot expect God to manifest in a body that is full of filth. Then comes violence in word, deed, and thought. All this filth comes through the mind which defiles the human body. "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." You cannot expect God to manifest in a filthy home. He is there already; but He won't manifest. If a bulb is there with light within it, but it is covered over with black spots, can you see any light? So this is what is required: true living. And the third thing is, you know, they take you and give you the direct inner Way back to God. They don't touch your outer rituals, forms, labels, outer way of living; they allow you to remain in your own social bodies. There are so many – more than seven hundred. He is not going to make another new form! Our Master was once asked by some people, "Why don't you start a new religion?" He said, "There are so many wells dug up already, why should I dig up a new one? The water is already there; the basic teachings of all Masters have been the same. Why not take it?" He did not form any new religion. Masters come to maintain; they come to fulfill; not to destroy. They love all. When they come, they are not the monopoly of any sect or religion; not the monopoly of the East or the West. They come for all the world over – just as the sun rises and gives light to all the world over. They come for all. Their teachings are very simple and to the point, and are the most easy and most natural as compared with all other ways of yoga. They don't tell you to follow this ritual or that ritual, this form or that form, this level or that level; they simply give you a lift from the body, raise you above the body, and open your inner eye to see the Light of God. That is the capital they give you at the very first. After all, we have to leave the body; they give you a demonstration of how to leave the body.

If you have day to day regular practice, what do you find? At the time of leaving your body (at death) you are jolly; you will go smiling, because you know how to leave the body every day. All glory and beauty lie within you. They don't give you the outer ways of living, or rituals, or the customs of the various social bodies, because they are not going to form any new religion. They come only to bring the religion of God: the religion of love. So this is what they say: that God resides in you, and the Master is one who can withdraw your attention, give you something to start with, take you out of the delusion of the human body so you can see for yourself; you are not to wait till the end of your life. As I just suggested, a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush.

This is it, you see: there is God, and He can be manifested by the Word made flesh; not by those who are embodied as men but have not risen above body consciousness. We have respect for anyone at whose feet we have learned something; but this is what is truly meant by a Master – he who can give you God as a gift, excuse me, like a fruit given to somebody. So remain where you are. You have taken the first step; the next step is at the feet of someone who sees and makes you see; and for that, true living is required. But they don't want you to leave your outer customs or social bodies.