The Gift of a Human Birth
We are not this body. Nor are we our thoughts, actions or feelings. At our core is our truest identity: our soul. The mystics describe the soul as being a drop of the divine ocean and of the same essence as the supreme Lord himself. Our Master tells us that the soul does not belong in this transitory world. Its home is the realm of eternal truth and bliss.
Through this physical form we became associated with the mind and the senses. The sense pleasures of the world distracted the mind and gradually the soul’s luminosity was dulled by the weight of those distractions. The soul, encased in a physical body, became increasingly attached to the creation with each passing life. As a consequence, our souls lost their purity and forgot their true purpose.
The mystics explain that it was not intended for us to stay in this creation permanently. We were meant to return to our spiritual source and reunite with our Maker. With the passage of time we lived and died in many different life forms before we attained the gift of a human birth. This human form is precious because it is only in this form that we can ultimately return to the Lord.
When our soul first descended into this realm, the mind became its constant companion. The mind follows the senses, and the senses in turn follow the objects of our desires. The mind constantly seeks out what it perceives as better: more wealth, more status, more power, more material possessions – all in pursuit of happiness. Under its influence we are led further and further away from the Lord. Our souls, however, have become restless, and we yearn for spiritual fulfilment and divine love. The masters have taught us that the mind can be a deadly foe, but when properly disciplined it can become a useful servant.
Mystics throughout the ages have advised us that the Lord resides within this human body. We do not need to look outside of ourselves to pursue God. All that we need is already within us. We are advised to turn our attention inwards, redirecting our thoughts to the pursuit of the divine. There we will find the peace and contentment our souls yearn for.
Getting a human birth is the first step in our journey back home. Being reminded of our purpose and true identity is the next step. God, in his infinite wisdom, knew that this was not a task we would be able to accomplish on our own. He took mercy on us and sent saints and mystics to this earthly plane to awaken us from our stupor of ignorance.
The full understanding of the gift of our human birth and how to access the knowledge of ourselves and our purpose unfolds only when we take refuge in the company of an authentic, contemporary master. He reminds us that we are pure soul, not this physical being which is so influenced by our mind and senses. Once we start following the teachings of the Master, we begin to realize that the true purpose of this human birth is to merge our soul back into the Lord within. Through the guidance of our Master, we learn how to unlock the door to this precious treasure.
For those who earnestly seek the truth, the masters share with us life’s greatest treasure – the gift of Nam. Mystics across different times, religions and countries came to reveal this one common truth: that this Nam – the dynamic aspect of the Lord himself, by means of which he has created all that is, and by means of which he sustains it still – can be found within. The method of meditation given to us at the time of our initiation is a technique called Surat Shabd Yoga. Through its practice, we merge our consciousness into the Shabd, and by its power rise upwards through increasingly subtle spiritual regions towards the Divine One.
This is a path of self-realization and ultimately God-realization. This is a simple path but not an easy one, which is why the masters, after blessing us with initiation, continue to guide us, taking us under their protection and bearing responsibility for us, until we reach our final destination. The immeasurable wealth that we attain when we unite with the Lord makes even precious gems pale in comparison. Through love and devotion, we can realize the divine light of the Lord.
The practice of Surat Shabd Yoga connects our soul to the Lord when we contemplate on his Name, thereby helping to awaken our love for the Lord. It is Nam, the Word of God, that sustains the whole universe and is the manifestation of the Lord’s creative power. As the Lord’s emissaries, true saints are Nam in human form. Being God-realized, they are in the unique position of knowing how to accomplish this goal and can teach their disciples to do the same.
Taking refuge with a spiritual master and practising the meditation technique he teaches is the only way to escape the cycle of birth and death. By attaching our consciousness to the Shabd inside, our store of karma is gradually burned away. Only when the store of karma has been eliminated, can the soul enter the realm of pure spirit. Our inner journey culminates in our merging with the supreme Lord.
The practice of meditation, as taught by a true master when he bestows the gift of initiation on us, is simple to understand but harder to put into practice. The first stage of the journey takes us up to the third eye, the point just above and behind our two physical eyes. The second stage is from the third eye to the highest spiritual region. It is only once we can open the third eye that the second stage can commence.
Our attention is constantly scattered as our thoughts flow out into the world through the nine apertures of the body. The mind resists our numerous attempts to focus. We are advised by the masters to use the mind’s natural tendency to dwell on worldly things and do simran instead. To prepare the mind for when we sit at our chosen hour, we can do simran throughout the day when engaged in tasks that do not require our full attention.
Practising constant simran will keep us in a spiritually charged atmosphere, making it easier to concentrate at the eye focus at the time of meditation. Dhyan is a gift from the Master that he will bestow upon us when the time is right. In bhajan, we endeavour to listen to the Shabd that is constantly reverberating within. Once connected to the Shabd, we are swept up within its light and sound, traversing the wondrous inner regions with our Master at our side, until finally we are carried to the feet of the Lord.
In this day and age, it is easy to get bogged down by the stress and routines of our lives. Those of us blessed to keep the company of a living master must reflect on the gifts we have been granted. These gifts, both of a human birth and of Nam, open our eyes to the truth and purpose of our existence. We can live within this creation, but not stay attached to it, looking past the illusion to the treasure within.