Man is older than all the philosophies of the world, because everything existed due to the man and for the man. So man is the highest rung in the creation, he is next to God. When God wished, then that Power came into existence, He created the man first and then ordered god and goddesses to bow before him, because God Himself manifests in man. It is said in all Holy Scriptures that man-body is the true temple of God. God lives in it, we also live in it. Both live in the human body.
Whatever we read in the Holy Scriptures has come out of man. Man is the source of all this knowledge. Every Saint has a past and every sinner a future. A Saint used to be like us. He solved the mystery of death and became one with that very Power that exists in us. He became a God in man. He became a God-man. As Christ said, "The word was made flesh and dwelled amongst us." So whatever exists in the Holy Scriptures that is in the man-body. But whatever is in the man-body that is not all written in the Holy Scriptures.
Man is the abode of all virtues, because he has a link with that higher Power that sustains the whole body and that sustains the whole world.
Man is the wonderful creation in the universe, in all the three universes. All holy places like churches, temples, mosques and gurdwaras, they are made of the shape of the human body: either they are nostril-shaped like temples and churches or they are dome-shaped (forehead) like mosques and gurdwaras. When Guru Nanak went to Persia there He met Khazi Rhukandin. Khazi Rhukandin enquired from Him as He is a great Saint, whether He has seen the house of God. He said, "This (body) is the house of God and therein,” He mentions, “It has twelve pillars.” This man-body has twelve pil¬lars: Six (main arm bones) and six (main bones) of the legs. – “It has 52 minarets.” 32 teeth and 20 nails. – “It has two windows (eyes) – above them this Power resounds in the holy body.” This is the place, where that Godpower resounds and we get power back into the man body.
So, from where we enter into the man-body, all the Masters say that there is a tenth door. When we enter into the church, temple, gurdwara, mosque, what do we do there? We light the candle, we light the tscherag we light the dibag or we light the jot; these are the other words, which all means a candle, a lamp. So there is no difference between the light, there is only distinction due to the language differences. And then the sound resounds within, which is that of the bell. When we enter into the church, we ring the bell. So these are the inward symbols that have been brought outside; and these churches are made out of these symbols of the human body. This light and the sound is within the holy body. So Bible, Guru Granth Sahib and all other Holy Scriptures tell us about the Light and Sound Principle, the way back to God. We have to enter into it; and when we enter into it, there we come in contact with the Light and Sound Prin¬ciple, and where does this Light and Sound Principle take us? – (To the place) From where the sound of the bell is coming. So our contact in the human body is constant and fresh all the moment, since we have come in the world.
So this preference is given to the man-body alone; to the human body to realize himself and to realize the Overself throughout the creation. This is what is written in the Holy Bible. It is our turn to meet God and all other things are side-issues. The human body is a gift from God, like in spring-season the flower blossoms and when there are flowers, there is a hope of fruit as well. So it is a fruit, it is a gift from God. This man-boy is the most precious thing in the world. Kabir says, "One breath that you take in or you take out, is a priceless thing. It has more worth than the price of three worlds." Because this world will not exist, but it exists due to us. But we can attain our God-hood, no other can get this God-hood in the world. So man is the highest rung in the creation and is loved by all species, god and god¬desses, avataras. It is said in the Holy Scriptures that millions of people come in the world and millions go. Some people take birth in the world, some die from the world, so there is coming and going process that continues forever. But there are very few blessed souls, who go back after solving the mystery of life and they are welcome from stages to stages. God and goddesses, the whole creation lines up to welcome such a soul. The glory that exists in the human body, is somewhat unique and we can see the beauty only when we go within, because it is a wonderful house we live in. There is no beauty in the world, which can be compared to the beauty that exists inside. The real thing is within, the outer is only a copy of it. The permanent thing is within and that which vanishes – that is outside. Even we are not the body, we are the indweller of the body, because it is a rare chance for a certain pe¬riod that is given to us, not for all the time. It is a time-factor, which is allotted to us, only for what purpose? To solve the mystery of death and not for any other purpose; because of the reason that man has come into the world maybe in many forms, but each time he got action and reaction to it. So we had the Pralabdh Kar¬mas to come into the man-body and we have to lose those karmas here.
This world is a shadow of reality. Masters say that it is a Maya. And what is Maya? Which is something different outside, but it is somewhat very different from inside. You may say, it is an illusion and we are constantly living in the illusion. From where does Maya start? – From the body, because if one forgets his home, he will forget it throughout the world, throughout his life. If we forget right from the man-body, if we do not know its real purpose, then we remain in that state throughout our so¬journ in this life. And Master says, “You are direct under the shadow, you are direct under the illusion.” Because we have the man-body, we have the physical-body and our contact is with the physical world. Both exist together, so we do not make any difference. Just you can say, when two trains drive to one direction at one speed, the rider therein takes it as fully stopped. So it is an illusion. Master says, "How to get rid of the illusion?" You just rise above the plane of senses, you rise above the body-consciousness, your Third Eye is opened. If you see the physical world with the astral-eye, natu¬rally your angle of vision will be changed. You go on the mountain, you see the city below and you are seeing each and everything, from where the smoke arises, how the whole work is going on. Even while travelling by plane, you see that big mountains look like mounts and rivers appear like little streams. So the angle of view is changed only when you leave the body and come above that level. When you rise above the body-consciousness, only then you can realize the difference, the difference of the relationship between our self and the world, because that difference is felt by everybody at the time of death. When one leaves the body, then this phenomenon comes before his eyes. When his Third Eye is opened and he is driven (away) from the man-body and has forever lost his contact with the world, only then he will understand this phenomenon for just a moment. And in that moment he cannot do anything, he simply has to weep over, what he has done in the world, for those mishaps he did to this human body. He has to repent over it. So what do Masters tell? Mas¬ters tell us the significance of this man-body and the purpose of this human body. The purpose of the human body is to solve the mystery of death, because death is our last enemy that we have to conquer in the world. You know, a king can conquer the whole world, but he cannot conquer this mind or he cannot come above the body-consciousness. You know Alexander the Great: his wish was to rule over the whole world and for this he determined his view. He couldn’t do that, but when his last end came, only then he said, "Why you didn’t say these words earlier to me?" Be¬cause his eye was opened, his angle of vision was changed and he could only realize in that moment that his purpose was not to rule over the world, but his purpose was to rule over his mind. And then he had to weep and go back.
We are the micro-ruler in this world, I tell you. And due to our mind everybody roams in this world, enjoys the world through the outgoing faculties of the mind and with which man is more and more identified into the world and beyond the world, and beyond his senses. When man goes beyond his senses, beyond his thoughts, he becomes a worthless person in the world; he loses his temper, he loses his wits, though he doesn’t recognize it be¬forehand, but that phenomenon he experiences when his accounts are put before him. He sees whatever he has done, because he simply loses this human body. He doesn’t lose the attachment, ego and chastity or you may say sexuality. All these things go with the soul, because these things came out of our wishes. And who gave that power? – The soul itself. We are not the body, we are not the mind, we are not the outgoing faculties of the mind, we are not the sense-organs, we are the soul in the man-body. We are that power, which is driven away at the time of death, when we have no more connection with this man-body; the power that is driven away from the man-body – that is what we are. And what is that power? That is the spirit. The whole subject that is written in the Bible, that is (the subject) of the spirit. The whole subject written in other Holy Scriptures is that of the Holy Spirit.
Everyone in the world is in search of happiness or the peace of mind. Whatever happiness we feel from day to day is our self-created. Out of worldly wishes, which we create or fulfil is the outcome of our mind through the out¬going faculties of the mind and that is not permanent. We want to have the ever bliss, a happiness for all the time. For that purpose we have to seek the higher values of life. And what are that higher values of life? We have to get rid of the illu¬sion, we have to know what is what. You know, to know it, for that purpose we have to come back into the man-body. Now we are identified outside. So far you do not come back into the man-body and you cannot rise above the body-consciousness from where you get the life. Your life is there in the body, but you do not know, where the life exists. If you reach that very point or that very centre, you will come in con¬tact with the everlasting bliss there. You know, now it is summer-season, today it is very hot. You can sit in the shadow of a tree, but you cannot hold of the shadow. While living in the man-body – it is also a shadow – you cannot hold this body, be¬cause it is not permanent, you have to leave it, but simply you can solve the mys¬tery of death. That is our purpose, the real purpose. Just like sitting under the tree you can get rid of the hot weather, similarly – while living in this man-body – you can get rid of the clutches of the negative power and that of the mind, and you can solve the mystery of death. And that is the real purpose of human life. This man-body is merely a shadow for some time, you have to rise above that shadow, no exception to the rule. All the Masters so far came in the world, they have one opinion, they rose above. Every Saint has a past and every sinner a future.
Now this man-body or each one of us has become a mere source of attachment. But for how long will it remain the source of attachment? We have to leave that! Our condition is like a monkey, who holds the branch very firmly, but the human pow¬erful hand takes him away from the branch of the tree. He is not proud of his own power, he is proud of that very branch which he holds. He tells this branch will not leave him, which is an illusion.
Kabir says that the condition of man is like a dog in the house of mirror, which barks at his own reflection and that is due to ignorance, that is due to the illusion, a very big illusion. That is what everyone is doing.
So let us think very attentively, leaving each and everything aside, because these things do not belong to us. Let us forget those things for a moment. We should think what we are, who we are. Let us try to realize ourselves. Everyone feels that we are not the body, we are the indwellers of the body; some higher power is working. Our contact is with that higher power. And I tell you, better to believe yourself. When you will believe yourself? When you become true to yourself, when you realize what is what. Only after that you can know something higher, or you may say, the higher value of life. For that purpose we have to analyze ourselves. And those who realize themselves, they can realize the God within, because realizing ourselves means, we are not the body, we are of the same essence as that of God and that God lives in us. After all, what is the fate of a man? Your friend was with you for some time and he is no more in the physical body; what has left him, and what is within you? The power which has left him is still working in you and you are no more his friend. And this is due to big illusion, we do not understand. First we must understand our existence into the world, it is just like a bubble in the water. And what is there in the bubble? There, the air is rising into the bubble. The air is rising into the water, when that slips down, it is no more a bubble, it is no more a drop there.
A noble man, whose horse was driven away by the thief, went to the temple in the morning and started praying to God, "Oh God, you blessed me! The way you blessed me, you must bless all human beings." One man, who was standing nearby, who knew that he was dependent upon the horse, he even used to feed his children out of the income of the horse, (he said,) "What nonsense are you saying?" He said, “Yes, I am saying right, because last night I was not riding on the horse. Otherwise, I could also have been driven (away) by the thief, so I must thank God.” Actually this is the horse and we are the rider in the body. If we do not get down of the horse, if we do not detach from the horse, the rider must know how to ride the horse and how to come down from the horse. Otherwise, if we do not learn, we will become a permanent a rider in this man-body. A time will come when the horse and the rider will both be driven away by the Yama, the angel of death. And this is an illusion.
In this man-body we have become the permanent rider and we have not learned how to leave it, because we do not know how to leave it and where to go. You know, why are people afraid of the death? Because of the agony they have to face, they have not known. If you know something then you overpower it, you ex¬perience something, you go into the laboratory and do the practical thing yourself, then you know what is what. It is a wonderful house we live in. You have to enter into the laboratory of the house, and then you can solve the mystery of death. All the competent Masters of the world did it and their fine records are with us in the form of Holy Scriptures and we bow down, but (in reality) we do not. We simply bow down, I tell you, but pity (to say), we misuse them, really, we misuse them, because we read, but we do not obey. So simply there is a reason to know those things, per-fectly and permanently, because these books will not give you the right aspect as you need it. Because there is a theoretical aspect of life in the Holy Scriptures, you need the practical aspect of life. Where you have to enter? You have to enter into the church (body). You have to read the Bible therein, and that is the church and there is the bible. The Bible came from within, it is placed in the church. So when you enter into it, there you can read the true aspect of life. How do you read it? – By analysing practically. So Master says, reading, writing, drawing inferences, all these are subject to error, seeing is above all. When you see a thing, then you trust the same thing. You know, when the sun rises, you see each and everything with its original condition.
We are afraid (of death) because of two factors: one – the man has not solved the mystery of death, because he has not learned how to die, and the second thing is that he doesn’t know where to go. If he learns those two things during his lifetime, he is reborn. Christ said, “Learn to die, so that you may begin to live.” If you want to get the eter¬nal life, the real life, if you don’t want to die, in this very life you have to be reborn, you have to die before death. And who is the Christian? Who takes the cross daily. What is to take the cross? At the time of death we take the cross. Our eyes turn into the Third Eye and then we are dropped down. You know what happens? We withdraw from below. Our spirit passing through all the chakras, reaches at the ganglion of the throat and from throat it goes at the root of the eyes, and from eyes it takes upward trend and when it takes upward trend, then it takes inward trend, when it takes inward trend, there is a cross.
When these two eyes take the cross, we are dropped down. That is what hap¬pens at the time of death. Everybody experiences it this moment, but that is very, very dreadful. All the Holy Scriptures say one and the same thing. It is not just like to make you more dreadful. Masters say, "Believe the testimony of the Masters," because they experience the problem of the man, because they come for us. They see from their own angle of vision, because they are the Word-personified Form, they live within us, they see our agony and they watch each and every action of us. They came for us. The father knows the problem of the child. He is our father and that father lives in us. So this is the commandment of that Power, it is not a human-made commandment. Whatever they say, it is a belief, it is a permanent thing.
Now to understand more about the mystery: We know that we have to come over here between the two eyebrows, here we leave the body, everyone has to come here. It is the seat of the soul, it is the Third Eye. Where the two eyes merge, there is the Third Eye. And what is that Third Eye? We shut our eyes, we look over here, our eyes are shut, we do not see anything from outside. But even then, there is some power that is seeing this darkness there. And that power, which is seeing the darkness, that is the Third Eye. You understand?
So the seat of the soul is composed of the Light and Sound Principle, there is Light, there is Sound, which resounds from here, that starts to open from here and we can get the power also from here. Our whole body, the power going through the senses that we also get from here. You know, your eyes are getting the power from here, ears, nose, mouth and touch below, they all get the power from here. I ask you, "Well, gentlemen, have you seen this man, who just passed by you?" You say, "My attention was somewhere else, I could not see him." Your eyes were open, but you still could not see, because you were inward, you were thinking something. You know, Newton was solving the mystery regarding science, he was fully focused here. Some drum-beater just passed by him. Someone inquired. He said, “No drum beaters have passed.” How loud they are! So we are getting all this power right from here and we are going back into the body. We are feeding all the senses in the body and only from that very place. So what are those eyes, ears, nose, mouth and touch below? These are the five senses. These are the outward expression of the soul. But when they invert within – what is this inversion? Suppose you went to some country. While sitting here, your attention goes there. So far your attention goes there, you are dis¬connected from that place. It is called tongue of thought. Because your soul waves are disconnected from the body and from that very source and you are sitting here, but you are disconnected from that place. So each organ has its own inversion. So there are five outward expressions and five inward expressions, these are ten expressions. Christ said in the Bible: "If you shut the ten doors of this temple, you can see the Heavenly Light." That is what all competent Masters said. The same thing was written by Guru Gobind Singh and in Guru Granth Sahib. The same thing is spoken by all the competent Masters of the world, in the Bhagawat Gita and in Koran, in every Holy Scripture, everything is writ¬ten in there, regarding these ten senses, ten doors. You have to close those ten doors.
One Master says, by doing so, with the help of the Master who helps you to close these ten doors of this temple, He will show you the Holy Light within, He will open your Third Eye. Christ said, "If thy eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." And this is an experience for which they come into the world, because it is not a subject, which it is in the hand of a man. Man has to learn it. Without the practical experience and without the help of someone, who has already solved the mystery of death, who has gone above the body-consciousness, no son of man can do that. You can do all other things, perform all other yogas. You know, throughout the world people are taught to do different yogas. But those very yogas which do not take you above the body-consciousness, the Third Eye is not opened, you do not die before death, you do not get the eternal life. Simply what will happen? By doing so, your attention is withdrawn back into the body. So those yogas which take us back into the body, they will take us again into the birth again and again, not one, but may be thousand times. There are different ways, but there is only one way to go back home. There is the only expression that can take you above the body-conscious¬ness. The importance of this yoga is supreme, because it will serve your purpose. It will not bring you back into the body, because you ride on the spirit, on the Current, with the Word, the spirit on the Word and go back home. But those yogas, which drive us back into the body, what will they do for us? We can fulfil lots of our wishes in the world, we can be a very important man in the world, we can teach that yoga to other people, but if you have not learnt the art of life, what is the use of doing all those things?
There were two persons. One was doing the yogas, Hatha-yoga, other yoga, many yogas he did throughout his life. So he thought he is very competent. He said, this is the only way one can realize himself. The other one used to surrender here (at the third eye), he was taught by his Master how to rise above the body-consciousness, his Third Eye was opened. He said the power of his Father is greater than that (yogas). He believed in his Father and the other one believed in his own power, because in all other yogas you don’t need a master, because this astral plane is open for everybody. You know, in the history a master and a disciple sat together for meditation. The disciple was more receptive and he could enter into the astral plane very easily. If you have to do all those yogas, you don’t need a master.
You need a Master who is competent in the mystery of the beyond (for to reach the true home of the soul). For that purpose we need someone, we need the help of somebody and that power is within. What is the Christpower? Jesus and Christ, they are two. Jesus was a son of man, on whose pole the Christpower worked; and this Christpower worked on different Masters throughout the world. Our contact is with the Christpower and there it lives in us, He has not left us. "I shell never leave thee nor forsake thee till the end of this world." These are the beautiful words in the Bible. Because this Christpower lives in us, in each one of us and that Christpower sustains the whole world. If it withdraws, the whole world will vanish in a moment, nothing will exist in the word. So macro-cosmos is in the micro-cosmos.
So these two Rishis told their own experiences, they went to Vishnu. Vishnu thought that he will be unable to solve their problem, he sent them to Brahma. Brahma heard them and he sent them to a force that carries the burden of the soul; it is a Shabad. There is a power that holds the earth. And they both put their question. He said, "Yes, I have a very big burden of this earth. You please just make it light and only thereafter I will be able to answer your question, otherwise not." The first one applied the fruit of ten thousand years of his meditation, nothing could happen. Then he gave the fruit of twenty thousand years. Lastly he gave the fruit of his whole meditation of sixty thousand years, as it is said in the history this earth moved a little bit above, but then later it again came on the head. He said, "Now you decide." – “What do I have to decide? The weight is still on my head. What I can decide for you?" So then the turn of the other one came, who believed his Father, who used to rise above the body-consciousness, he had solved the mystery of death and he was able to solve those problems for a lot of people. He had no ego, he had no attachment in the world, he surrendered to that very higher Power within. So he was the son of God. He gave only twenty minutes of his meditation, that meditation which his Master taught him to withdraw from the body and come in contact with the Light and Sound Principle and that contact which sustains the whole world. This Power that sustains the whole world – that also sustains the earth that he was carry¬ing on his head. So what happened? Slowly this earth moved up and stopped there. They asked, "Now you make the decision." – "A decision is already made, you are seeing, who is greater." Greater is the force that is working in us. Greater is that, if you withdraw from the body-consciousness. You withdraw from the body-consciousness, means, you withdraw from the world and you are also able to withdraw anyone from the world.
So we need a higher contact, which exists high in the body, it is a high point in the body. By coming up, your mind is stilled, your outgoing faculties are stilled and your intellect doesn’t work at all. Only then you can realize yourself.
And for that purpose, to reach to that higher level, you have to attain the higher value of life. And what is that higher value of life? That teaches you to self-introspect you. You start to know your short-comings, not only to know, but you learn how to overcome those short-comings. Everyone has short-comings. But as one is fully influenced by the mind and through the outgoing faculties of the mind, so we have become the part and parcel of those faculties.
And what is the problem? Even if we try to understand, we cannot understand.
So higher value of life teaches us all those factors and by knowing those, we can have the right understanding. By knowing about the right understanding, we can become a perfect man in the world. Who is the right person in the world? Anyhow, it is not a little thing, it is a great thing in the world, but this credit goes to the man and not to any other. Every man has this right understanding within, but he doesn’t make the best use of that right understanding.
You live anywhere, you become man. You are born in the religion, but you are not under the tentacles of the religion. You are living in the society, but you are not the prey to the effect of the society, you teach the society, you do not go behind the society. Your boat is in the water, but water is not in the boat. You must know, how to live in the world.
You know, what do the Masters do? They do not change the religion of any person. They do not come forward with any ism or sect, or any religion. They respect all religions, but they do not teach any religion, because their purpose is very unique in the world. They teach the essence of those teaching. They teach the essence of the teaching of that religion. They love all religions and they love all children residing in those religions. They have no hate for anybody. They have respect for all religions.
It is very difficult to know them, but you can know, when you follow. To follow them is a great blessing, I tell you, because they will let you know the art of life, you have to live there. Only by following their words and by relying on them, you can change into a new life.
You will remain in the world, like a swan, which remains in the water, yet it flies with dry feathers. A lotus-flower, which grows in the water, gets the nourishment from the water, but still remains above the level of the water, always. This should be the condition of the man, and that is only learned with the art of life, getting through the higher value of life, thus writing, thus getting the right understanding, and that is the subject and that will make us conscious.
You know, when you get conscious? When you rise above the body-consciousness, and consciousness is here and from consciousness you work in the body. Because this consciousness is misused by your mind, through the outgoing faculties of the mind, so you say, that whatever you do, it is right. It is manipulated, because it is misused and it is not your work, what you are doing. A right person, a Saint, a spiritual person, does the same thing, but He does in different way. He has a unique way to do that thing; that is a big difference.
So time finishes, thank you all.
Lecture given by Dr. Harbhajan Singh