28 | Transcending mind and matter: The inner journey | Dr Harbhajan Singh

Dr. Harbhajan Singh explains how we can transcend the limitations of mind and matter, emphasizing the soul’s real purpose and the necessity of returning to our divine source. Drawing on the teachings of Christ, Kabir, Guru Nanak, and other competent Masters, he clarifies the difference between genuine spirituality and mere astral or mental phenomena. This talk reveals how the true Master Power, or Christ Power, resides within and guides us toward liberation from the cycle of birth and death.

This lecture was given in June 1991.

Transcript of “Transcending mind and matter”

Ages upon ages we are separated from God and everyone in the world is living a deplorable life. Masters do not take the outer life, but the inner life. So far the outer man is not perfect in deed, action and thoughts, he can never be good from within because the purpose of human life is to meet a good end. So for that purpose we must live with the higher values of life, it is a must. Otherwise, the problems increase more and more, rather those problems multiply.

This man-body is composed of intellect, mind and the soul. We are not even the physical body, nor the intellect, nor the mind. But we are the spirit, the spirit in this house, in this body. And the health of mind and body depends upon the health of the soul. Intellectually, physically we have developed a lot, you see it, there is no need to explain it. Everybody knows that the world is experimenting new and new things every day. But the inner man, that is led astray. So the position, the condition of man – the inner man – is getting deplorable every moment. Whenever Masters come into the world, they see the inner condition of man, not the outer condition. From the inner condition they know about the outer condition. They know, how much it is developed or how much it has gone down, how much it is identified into world. This is what all Masters did. Christ did it, all other competent Masters of the world did it, because we are not the body, we are the in-dweller of the body. We are embodied soul. Our purpose was to develop our soul, because we are (of) the same essence as that of God. And with mind and matter we are bound in this man-body and in this world and lose the golden opportunity of having this man-body.This much we know at the time of physical departure.

It is said, it is easy to live in the world, but it is very difficult to leave the world, because we have not learned the very important factor of human life, that is to leave it for all the times. Because you can live in this body for a certain time, for a certain period which you do not know. There is no affidavit written in your hand, when you have to leave it. If you have to leave it tomorrow, you do not know how to leave it and where to go. This is a very big problem, because we are not the body. Some power is working in the body, that is what we are. We are the spirit, and the contact of the soul or the spirit is everlasting. It does not die. It assumes  other forms – the astral body and then the causal body; and because we have not learned how to leave the body, that becomes a difficult task for man to overcome at the time of death.

Because once the chance is lost, one cannot even demand for one breath of life. He even cannot turn back to the physical body, because his time is finished. You cannot even think what to do and even you cannot be obliged by any force because you are bound to go and there is no way, because it is inevitable and everyone has to go this way.

Whereas we are having a wonderful house we live in. It is gifted from God. It is a true church. It is the true Bible. Everything is within and there is nothing that is without. So the body is a prototype of the whole creation. Whatever exists outside or whatever exists in the whole creation that exists in the man-body, but for simple reasons we are identified outside, for little, little reasons – little, little things. But we do not look back to the beauty of this holy body. In this body, our Father – the life of our life resides in us, without which we cannot live and without which we lose the golden opportunity and weep on what we did in our life.

If you understand and if you live up to that, you will certainly get a gift of life. Because I am not telling you something about any sect or about any religion, but I tell you the essence of religion, not about any rituals and rites, but I tell you about the very right subject, which was taught by Christ and all other competent Masters of the world.

You see that there are a lot of people, a lot of masters – I do not mean whether they are competent or so-called – who preach certain isms, but when competent Masters come into the world, they only work for God. They respect every religion, but their purpose is to let you know the very secret of your life. They say, “Go back to your holy scriptures”. What is in the holy scriptures? That are the experiences of those competent Masters who already solved the riddle of life. And they could help a lot of people to solve their purpose as well. Their teaching is with us. Their experience must become our experience. In reality, the teaching never changed. This is we people who change the teaching according to our wishes, according to our label, according to our outer mode of life. But the teaching has never differed. It remained as it was at the beginning.

So all the competent Masters, whether they came in the East or West, came at different places, at different time, they taught the same very truth with one opinion. And this one opinion exists in the holy scriptures and this exists in this holy body as well. Because there is a provision that existed in the beginning and till now and it will go on in the world forever. It will never change. So our purpose is to come in contact with that very teaching which all other competent Masters of the world preached. They lived with one opinion. There was no second opinion. Whereas there are thousand masters who so far came into the world and still are preaching in the world. They live with different opinions. Their opinions never tally with each other because they didn’t go to that very status. They didn’t come in contact with this real truth or the teaching which was the purpose of our human life.

What they did? They only preached (up to the level) where they could go. It is very easy to make friendship with the mind, everyone does. But if you want to know a little bit more, this mind will accompany you in the astral and the causal region also. Physical, astral and causal regions – all belong to the negative power. And there is no life. We certainly have to come back into the world (from there); either at an earlier or a later stage (and) are bound to meet birth and death again and again. Because whatever is going on in the world at present is very alarming because the teaching which is taught by most of these people, it is all negative. Competent Masters call them evil-doers. They are called evil-doers by the competent Masters. Kabir said that such masters only tell (teach) you this meditation which concerns only your mind and which fulfils your worldly wishes and makes you more emotional and egoist. It is only the mind, it is the mind-play. Because when you want some wishes (fulfilled), you have to be dependent. And this mind, this fulfils your wishes.

Mind, matter, negative power, maya – this is one and the same. Its play stands up to the causal regions. You have to transcend above, because so far you do not transcend above, you cannot follow the teaching of the Christ. As Christ told: “Where the world philosophy ends, there the religion starts.” So the world philosophy ends where the astral and causal regions finishes. Above, you must go there and then you can only see the truth – by your third eye, through your third eye, not with these physical organs. You have to shed off this physical body, astral body and causal body.

People everywhere in the world meditate. And for what purpose do they meditate? It is very dreadful. They put themselves into destruction. The end of such meditation is destruction, misbelieve, hatred and again attachment to the world. You cannot get rid of it. What is there in the world? When you meditate, some miracle appears to you, you stress upon,  you transcend these chakras, you are able to enter into the astral plane. There you can see much beauty. There you can see much light, but there you are affected with negativity. There are the miracles which are called riddhis and siddhis, means you can become a very big show maker in the world. But you will lose your life. And you will help all others to lose their life as well, because you are playing with negativity, with the negative, and you help others also to go back to the hell. This is the teaching of Kabir. This is the teaching of Guru Nanak. This is the teaching of the Christ. The heaven that exists in the astral plane, that was created by the negative power. There is the hell, there is the heaven. When we created wishes, these were fulfilled either from the astral power or from the causal power, but in lieu of that (thereby) we strengthened the hand of the negative power and he created the hell for us, he created the heaven for us. In the beginning, there was no hell, no heaven – as when there was no sin, there was no prison. So this is what we created for ourselves.

If even today, right now, we understand the purpose of human life, we must follow the path which was taught by Christ, which was taught by other competent Masters of the world and Sant Kirpal Singh. He gave that very experience to transcend you above the body consciousness. As Christ said: “Where the world philosophy ends, there the religion starts.” You have to get that very experience which happens of the time of death. Otherwise, you cannot live with the life. You simply spoil the show that is going on beautifully within, because there you can see the beatific vision of your inner beloved which you are miserably devoid of; and you cannot look back to yourself. It was – it is a wonderful house we live in and definitely we have to go within. Outside it is all attachment. There is no beauty as compared (with) the beauty of your own inner beloved that is within you. If you really come in contact with that power, you can see your own beauty with your beloved, the Christpower within.

This is a very important subject. I am not telling you about any new philosophies, as man is older than all the philosophies of the world. Simply we have to go back into the body, or you may say, before going into the body, we can go back to our holy scripture and get our answer from there –  what they tell and what we must do for it.

So this is a very important subject I am telling you because today’s subject is the competency of the Almighty Power. This (is a) very important subject. If really we know the competency of our Father, then we are saved, then nobody in the world can delude you, nobody in the world can adulterate you, because you are the son of the living God on earth. You are a conscious entity. You are not the body. You are the indweller of the body. And who is the indweller? The life of our life. He is supreme in the world and our soul, that is in the man-body, that is the indweller of the heaven, not of this earth. So man is considered to be the highest rung in the whole creation.

But we have become the slave of our senses and the outgoing faculties of the mind. Our soul at present is mind-ridden. Mind is controlling the soul. It is riding over the soul and whatever it likes, we do it happily. But alas, we do not know the consequences, which we have to bear in the end. So a time comes when this mind only dances and we look back to him and he does not care for us. What is his purpose? His purpose is to bring us back to the same way from where it descended. He will not allow you to go the very right way which Christ told (taught) or other competent Masters told about. So either he will take you to the hell or to the heaven, duly governed by the negative power. In the hell,the sinner lives there, it is a place for the sinner. And in the heaven that is in the astral plane, there are the pious egoists living. Both are equal. Both have to come back into this man-body and they have to suffer again and again. This is the condition of the modern man, you may say, the man who is not known about the real self, who does not know what he is.

If really you know what is what, you can also know about the competency of your Master, because your Master is not without you. He is living in you. The first thing arises: who is the Master? That is a must. If you understand who is your Master, then you definitely will approach to Him, because your soul, your inner self knows it from heart. From within it knows.

So far your soul is under the tentacles of mind, it is spreading everywhere, so soul gets no time to think over, because all the moment we are identified with the mind, and we do not attend to our soul. That is one problem. Even when you are sleeping, your mind is moving. It does not sleep. It remains active all the time, because it will never allow you to think about your right subject. So this is the purpose of the mind which drags you back into the hell and it is an awful or a pitiable condition man has to bear in his life.

You know, who is the Master? Master tells us: “It is no mesmerism. It is no hypnotism. It is no black magic, no spiritual healing. It is not spiritism. It is pure spirituality.” So Master tells us who does it. Everyone can do it. It is our turn to meet God. Whereas there are hundred thousand such masters who are doing black magic, spiritual healing, miracles. I tell you, this is from the astral plane. There is hardly any difference between the physical and the astral plane. There is simply much more beauty than this. There is much (more) light than in the physical, otherwise it is also a matter. When something, some wishes, some miracles happen in this physical world, it is just like a firework. It looks very good. But in a moment it is only a dust. So only the astral appearance mixes on the physical earth, and we say, “It is a miracle.” And we fulfil our wishes. Because it is all the trick of the mind. Mind is very active, it remains in the astral body, astral form, that is much more identified into the world.

More one is identified into the world, more one has wishes; his mind always remains active and so it remains all the moment astral mind. So a common man who has wishes, he has the astral mind and the physical body. When you create a wish, mind at once identifies and will show you the light, because it has access in the three worlds. To show you something, it is no problem for the mind. Mind and negative power is one and the same. So, one gets more emotional. All these things are possible, but these take us to the death trap. There is no safety. But they all claim themselves as a master. If you ask: “Are you a Master?” – “Yes, by the grace of God, I am a master.” All will claim like this.

If you go back to your holy scripture, what is written there? It is said, “No son of man can become a Master, no son of man can be a Master.” If Christ said: “I shall never leave thee nor forsake thee till the end of the world,” these words Jesus never told it; these are not the words of the Jesus. This was the word of the Christ, the Christpower which worked in Jesus. This Christpower told: “I shall never leave thee nor forsake thee till the end of the world.” So who is the Christpower? – Who has created the whole creation, and that sustains the holy body as well. We have direct and independent contact with that Power. That is the Christpower. And this Christpower lived before Jesus.

And moreover, this Christpower worked on different poles, on all the competent Masters in the world. So those (in whom) this Christpower worked, they would never claim themself as Master. Because they would always tell that He is the doer, only God is the doer. Nobody can be the doer in the world. So take it for granted that your Master is within you and not outside. He is the Master for the whole creation. He is my Master, your Master and the Master of all human beings. There is no second Master in the world. Go back to your holy scriptures. It is said, the radiant form of the Master that is in the body, that is our Master. He is the Christpower. He is the Masterpower. He is the Godpower. Do not believe anybody, believe only in Him who is in your body.

So how to meditate? Where to meditate? And who can guide us to meditate? This is a very big problem. That has befooled the whole humanity. Nobody knows where is the truth. The one who comes (as commissioned one), he says: “I am a borrowed servant of the Master.” He is sent into the world only to work as a borrowed servant of the Master. He is a borrowed servant (of) the Master power, but he does not have the borrowed word. He gets the word directly from Him. This Power sits in him and takes the work from him.

So today I am telling you the very right teaching which Christ told (us), which Guru Nanak told, which all other competent Masters of the world told, which is your essence of life, without which you are only living in the wrangling of the world, you are busy in the affairs of your mind, you have nothing to do with the reality that is within you. So far you are playing in the hand of petty things, you are not an awakened one, I tell you. You have to be awakened. And there is no way than to have it.

And today, if you understand something, it will be a turning point in your life. It will help you. You may try to forget, but you will not forget those words because these are given directly to your soul. It is the death of the mind. The words of an awakened person, these words I do not utter, this comes from Him. I do not tell these words. This is from that Power you must remember. Because the purpose of such persons is not to create any show in the world. They come into the world just to let you free from the tentacles of the mind and matter. That is their purpose. They are not bound, they are not chained in the world. They are not affected by the shackles of the world. And they also tell you how to get out of the shackles of mind and of the world. He wants to let you free. He says: “Go free.”

Because the purpose of human life is only to meet God. And everything in the world is a side issue. What do you have to do with the side issue? God bless you, you may live in this world (for) more than hundred years, but at the end you have to leave this body. How can you say that you are the body? You can never be the body. You cannot be the attachment, because you created attachment for yourself. God has not created it. God only sent you to solve the mystery of death, to solve the riddle of life, without which you cannot live with your Master inside. You have to live with your Master – you have to live with it and you have to do with it. To live and do according to His wish, that is the purpose of human life and that is the wish of the competent Master, the Almighty Power. He only sent you to do these two things: To live for Him and to do for Him. There is no second work. Everything else in the world is a side issue.

If you do not go beyond necessity, you would never create a reaction in the body. You would never make any reaction. So Master tells us how to remain unattached in the world of attachment. If you know how to remain unattached in the world of attachment, your boat may remain in the water, but the water will not enter into the boat, since you have learned it.