was still a child. She has remained in the Dera, serving all the Masters and is still serving the present Master.
BIBI RUKKO
A devoted Satsangi of Swami Ji Maharaj and was in charge of the entire administration at the Dera (Beas) during Baba Ji Maharaj's time and even afterwards. She passed away at the Dera in 1930.
consisting of a copy of a letter written
by
HUZUR MAHARAJ SAWAN SINGH JI
Radha Swami is not the name of a religion. It is the name of the Creator of the universe, whom we also call Wahiguru or Akal Purush. Every Sat Guru has praised Swami. If in this world there is any highest region of spirituality, that is Swami. When a Saint has gained that region of Swami, He is called Param Sant. And there are numerous names of that Supreme Lord.
The sages who gained the region of Radha Swami lived in different nations and belonged to different religions, and have called Him by some name in their own language. Similarly, Guru Gobind Singh, in his book, 'Jap Sahib' had mentioned about twelve or fourteen hundred names for the Supreme Creator, which names are not found in any Veda or Shastra. In the same way other sages, in their own language, mention the names of the various internal spiritual stages. The sages of the Punjab or of India as a whole, named these regions in Sanskrit while those in Persia or Arabia used Persian or Arabic names for them.
In the same way Huzur Shiv Dayal Singh (Swami Ji), Param Sant of Agra, gave the name 'Swami' to the Supreme Creator and called the soul 'Radha'. There- fore, in His 'Sar Bachan'—Poetry —He has said that Radha was the name of the primal soul while Swami
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was the name of the highest region and Sound Current, called Shabd. Therefore, Radha Swami and Surat Shabd indicate the same thing. Radha (soul), Swami (Creator), Surat (soul), Shabd or Sound Current (Creator)—mean that the soul is to merge with the Supreme Creator, just as a drop which joins the ocean becomes the ocean.
Sant Mat is common to all the sages of the world who attain the highest region. It is a natural science. It is complete in every human being, no matter to what country, tribe or religion he belongs. When the Supreme Creator is One, and the structure of human beings is the same everywhere, then how is it possible that there should be a different way for Hindus, a different way for Mohammedans and a still different way for Christians?
The sages who went to the highest region had the same ideal or goal and, although their writings were in different languages, yet they were not bound by any religion or creed. They come to the world under the orders of the Supreme Being and their mission is not to create a new religion. Their mission is only to release the prisoners (bound in the cycle of births and deaths) by means of Shabd or Sound Current, and take them to the highest region.
If we read their teachings with care, then we shall find that they are above all religions; that they liberate us from the shackles of religion and give us everlasting Bliss. There is no doubt that the teachings are explained in some language or other, in their books, but the real Path on which they take their disciples is beyond speech and writing. As is said by Guru Nanak in the Holy Granth, "It is seeing without eyes, hearing without ears, walking without feet, working
without hands and dying a living death after recogniz- ing the Sound Current." This means that the Reality cannot be seen with these material eyes. It cannot be heard with these material ears. It cannot be explained with this physical tongue. It cannot be described.
The Word which gives Salvation is unwritten and unspoken. Or, in other words, it can be said that the Word or Sound Current is not contained in any holy scripture or any religion. The holy scriptures of every religion sing the praises of Nam or Sound Current and induce us to work on That, and they cite the advantage of Nam. And though there is a men- tion of Nam in them; yet the Nam itself is not in them. That Nam is within the human being. Says the Holy Granth: "Nam lives within the human body. It is the Immortal Creator. Nam is a Treasure and lives in the mind of Masters. Everything is contained within the human body. Those who seek outside are in error."
The teaching of the Masters aims to release the souls which have been imprisoned for innumerable ages and births, to free them from the shackles of religion and castes, to take them to Everlasting Bliss and to merge them back in their Source, the Supreme Being.
Now I speak about Swami Ji Maharaj: Swamiji Maharaj was born on 25th August, 1818, in Panni Lane, Agra City. His name was Shiv Dayal Singh and He belonged to a well-known family of Baikal Seth Kshatriyas which had migrated from Lahore to Delhi about two hundred years previously, and then had moved from Delhi to Agra. His father's name was Seth Dilwali Singh. His grandfather, Seth Malik
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Chand, was a Diwan (judge or some high officer) of Dholpur State. Bani (Granth Sahib) was read in His family from the very beginning. All the family members used to recite some portion of Guru Granth Sahib each day with great love and devotion.
In His Satsangs, Swami Ji Maharaj used to read the poems of Guru Nanak, Kabir and other Masters, of which the most prominent was especially Guru Granth Sahib. As Agra and U.P. people could not understand Punjabi language—and it is no exaggera- tion to say that the language of Holy Granth is so difficult that even Punjabis cannot understand its mysteries—therefore, many prominent disciples of Swami Ji Maharaj, both men and women, humbly requested Him to explain His teachings in their own language and easy terms. The result was that about three years before leaving the world, He dictated the poems called "Sar Bachan", in which the mysteries of Sant Mat are explained in detail, in very easy language. Yet, it is not easy for anyone to understand fully either the Holy Granth or the writings of Swami Ji Maharaj until he is initiated in the secret of the five shabds.
The Great Master, Tulsi Sahib, had given up the kingdom of Poona and Sitara, shortly after the year 1800 and had taken up His residence in Hathras, near Agra. His writings are very powerful and well known, and clearly describe the internal regions as well as the way of gaining them. He often visited Swami Ji Maharaj at Agra and used to stay with Him, and both were on very affectionate terms with each other.
Although the disciples of Swami Ji Maharaj reached to thousands in number, yet three of them were most prominent. They were Rai Bahadur Saligram at
Agra, Baba Garib Das of Delhi, and Maharaj Baba Jaimal Singh Ji in the Punjab.
Baba Ji Maharaj was born in 1839, in the Village of Ghoman. His father was named Sardar Jodh Singh and belonged to a Jat Sikh family. From His child- hood, Baba Ji was fond of the society of holy men and used to read Vedant with a Vedantic holy man, Baba Khem Das, who lived in His village and with whom He also read the Holy Granth. When He read it with careful attention, He found that the Holy Granth mentioned again and again the words 'Nam' and 'Shabd', also 'Five Shabds'. He also concluded, from reading this scripture, that the Shabd was not a song capable of being sung or played but was the Essence of all Creation. He began to inquire from Baba Khem Das, but as the latter was a Vedantist, he was not acquainted with the secret of the Sound Current and he expressed his ignorance on the point.
Shortly afterwards, Baba Ji's father passed away and He began to roam about in search of sages. He would go to every place where He learned there was some sage and would question that sage about the five Sounds, but none could satisfy Him. His quest led Him to Lahore where there were many Mohammedan and Hindu sages, and still He could not find the answer for which He was searching.
Becoming desperate, He went to Nankana Sahib (where Guru Nanak was born and passed his child- hood). While there, Bhai Mota Singh praised to Him one Baba Balak Singh of Hazro, Distt. Attock. When He talked with Baba Balak Singh Ji about the five Shabds—Baba Ram Singh Ji of Bheni Sahib (the founder of the Nam Dhari sect of Sikhs, who also believe in a living Guru) was also there, serving Baba
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Balak Singh. As Baba Balak Singh was a sage of a very clean conscience, he told Baba Ji Maharaj that his method was to repeat the word, "Wahiguru", but that he was not acquainted with the secret of the five Sounds. Thereupon Baba Ram Singh Ji told Baba Jaimal Singh Maharaj not to return empty handed when He had found such a great sage as Baba Balak Singh. On hearing this, Baba Balak Singh said, "No, He is seeking a very high thing. Do not dissuade Him. Let Him go and search for His high ideal."
Baba Ji continued His search and on passing through Nowshara, Peshawar, reached a village in the district of Mardan. While there He met with a Garanthi (one who reads Granth) in a Dharamsala. This Garanthi was an abhyasi (one who performs spiritual practice). When Baba Ji talked with him, the latter said that his guru had revealed to him the secret of two Shabds and that he was working on them, but the remaining three he did not know. Thereupon Baba Ji was very happy. Due to previous failures He had begun to believe that the five Sounds might merely be a fancy of His brain, but now He had found that His idea was correct. He then left the Garanthi, saying that the Almighty Lord who had arranged to give the Garanthi the secret of two Sounds would also arrange to give Him the secret of five Sounds.
From there He was starting home via Beas when He met a group of sadhus going to Hardwar. He accompanied them to that place of pilgrimage, met many different mahatmas and stayed there for several months but could not find that for which He was searching. While there, He came to know that there was a very old sadhu living by himself in a solitary place in the forest, about fifteen miles away; that
the sadhu never came to any habitation nor did he allow anyone to stay with him. He lived on whatever vegetation and fruit he could find in the forest.
Then Baba Ji went to him and found that he was a great devotee who was engaged in abhyas (spiritual practice) day and night, that he always remained standing and when he became tired he would use a piece of cloth to support himself. The two ends of the piece of cloth were supported by ropes, tied to the branch of a tree. When Baba Ji met him he threatened Him, asking Him why He came and telling Him that the place was haunted by tigers and bears, and they would devour Him. Baba Ji replied that if they did not eat the sadhu, why would they eat Him? On hearing this, the sadhu was pacified, began to talk in a better mood, and Baba Ji inquired from him about the five Shabds for which He was searching. The sadhu sighed and replied that Baba Ji was after the same thing which he was seeking and continued: "By doing 'abhyas' in this place I have acquired mira- culous powers, yet I know there is no salvation without the five Sounds. And through my internal vision I have discovered that a great sage at Agra, who had been engaged in solitary 'abhyas' for the last seventeen or eighteen years, has emerged from His secret place to teach the world. You should go to Him. My legs have become very heavy because I have remained standing for years. I shall come there, but sometime after you."
Thereupon Baba Ji left the place and went straight to Agra, but in His haste He had forgotten to inquire from the sadhu the name of the lane or quarters in which the Saint was living. Therefore, He searched in many temples and other holy places at Agra but