Q. What is God and how can we know Him?
A. God, as all the scriptures and the Saints have said, is nameless and unknowable. Then how can we know God? The answer is that Absolute is not knowable, yet makes Himself known by manifesting Himself as Light and Sound principle. Most religions tell us that the creation began from these primal manifestations. Now the Divine Light and the Divine Sound or Word may be contacted by rising above the physical consciousness. They exist in a latent form in all of us. Our goal must, therefore, be to contact them and develop them within us. To do this, we, through meditation, learn to withdraw our soul to its seat behind and between the eyes. Having once contacted the inner Light and Sound, we can progress towards their source, passing from plane to plane until we reach God.
Q. What is God? Can you give a simple answer that we can understand?
A. God is absolute. Nobody can ever know Him. God when coming into action, creates all beings, sentient or insentient, and controls them. Our physical bodies work so long we are in the body, but we cannot run away out of it through the open eyes, ears, nose and mouth etc. That God-into-action Power is called Word or Naam or Kalma etc. It controls our souls in the body. When that Power is drawn, our souls leave the body. Breathing goes out of the body but cannot remain outside. Some power pushes it back into the body. That God-into-action Power controls the whole of the creation. That is called God. God is the Supreme Law working in all creation seen or unseen. He cannot be seen or heard in His absolute form, but when He came into expression, He manifested in the form of Naam – the Divine Light and holy Sound principle. The lowest links of this Divine principle are available in the human body which can be experienced by rising above body consciousness with the help of the living Master.
Q. What is science of the soul?
A. There is one God, and only one way to Him, and for this we employ a complete and definite science, oldest of the oldest, most ancient and natural, which is the practical side of all religions of the world as borne out by all the scriptures. This subtlest of all sciences is called Para Vidya, which has a practical aspect and is the way back to God during lifetime. Nowadays this science is called Sant Mat. It is true nobody can know God. Past Masters cannot help, as man needs a living God Man to understand things which one cannot follow by mere theory. Therefore, a living Master is necessary to gain the practical side of this science. Unless the experience of past Masters becomes our own experience, we get nowhere. The fact of the matter is that God Power works on a chosen human pole. A living Master is therefore God plus man, God Man i.e. the mouthpiece of God. Guru, a word often used, is a corresponding word in Sanskrit language. A Guru in one who can remove the dark veil within and show us the real Light of God.
Q. Why are these teachings referred to as ‘science of the soul’?
A. In this age of science, spirituality, as well, has to be treated as a regular science, to make it acceptable to the people. But unlike other sciences, it is very definite and very exact. It yields verifiable results of perennial value. Its history dates back to time out of mind, to the hoary past, when man began to reflect within, on the meaning of life. It has ever been the natural urge in man to solve the riddle of life. Time and again sages and seers appeared, indifferent parts of the world, and gave out the spiritual experiences, which we have with us in the form of sacred texts of scriptures. We are indeed very fortunate to possess the fine records of those gifted persons, for they kindle in us the desire and longing to solve this most baffling problem and inspire us with hope that we too, like them, can unravel the mystery of life and solve the problem of human existence. Theory precedes practice. The practice leads to contact with the living link within. For this experience, the soul must temporarily disconnect itself from the body and senses and become a pure soul with no strings attached. Nanak tells us: Unless one rises to the level of God, one cannot know God.
Q. Can the disciple see God?
A. God is absolute, whom so far nobody has seen. When He came into being, God became Light and Sound principle. You can see His Light when your eye becomes single.
The light of the body is the eye; therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of Light. – Luke 2:34
And you can hear His voice when your inner ear is opened. The A.B.C. of the Masters’ teachings start when you rise above the body-consciousness. No one can rise above the body-consciousness by himself, he needs the Grace of a competent Master.
Q. How would you differentiate between the soul and spirit?
A. There is no difference between the soul and spirit, both represent the consciousness pervading the human body.
Q. If one could see the soul with these eyes, what would it look like?
A. Nobody can see the soul with these outer eyes and as such it is beyond the ken of human comprehension to know it. The soul is the enlivening principle pervading the human body and it can be realized within by introversion when the senses are controlled, mind stilled, and the intellect silenced.