The Greatness of Devotion (Bhakti) by Sant Ram Singh, and, the Mural of Huzur Maharaj Has Been Restored
"The greatness of devotion is that one does not have to go into the mountains or the jungle to do devotion. One can do the devotion in the comfort of their homes, or they can even do it outside in the jungle. Devotion can be done anywhere. It is a state of mind where one is always thinking about God Almighty, about the Master, and he is engrossed in that thought and that feeling towards God Almighty. Even in the midst of their households. Kabir Sahib talks about the greatness of devotion and on this path of Sant Mat, the first devotion one has to do is of the Master. Because Master is the first step for us to understand and go within. So what is devotion? What is devotion of the Master? The Master talks about three things: satsang, seva, and diyan bhajan. So these are the three teachings and sayings of the Masters. The devotion of the Master is to stay within the realm of these three practices. And one listens to satsang, does seva, and does the practice of bhajan simran even in the comfort of their homes. They continue and stay within the framework of these three pillars of this path of Sant Mat. When this is done, and one has love and affection for the Master, gradually one will draw the attention from the body and come to the eye center. When one does that, he manifests the radiant form of the Master and gets the darshan within." (Baba Ram Singh, August 2nd, 2024 satsang)
The Saligram mural at the Guru Ram Rai Darbar Sahib complex Dehradun has been restored! The updated version. (The old version is below.)
Saligram as in Huzur Maharaj Rai Saligram Bahadur of the Radhaswami Faith of India. The writings of Huzur are online, such as Radhasoami Mat Prakash (“Light on the Teachings of the Lord of the Soul”) - A Brief View of the Radhasoami Faith: Being a Message of Eternal Peace and Joy to All Nations : https://archive.org/details/radhasoamimatpr00unkngoog/mode/2up
Huzur Maharaj Rai Saligram said: "How can, then, the spiritual practices, prescribed by Sants, which are extremely delicate and subtle, be felt enjoyable without the concentration of mind and spirit? Just as the food comes in contact with the tongue at the time of eating, yet its taste cannot be enjoyed if the attention is elsewhere, so if the mind and spirit of the practitioner did reach up to the Form or partially come in contact with the current of Shabd, no joy and bliss can be experienced in Dhyan and Bhajan, if the attention is directed elsewhere, i. e., engaged in worldly thoughts. It is, therefore, very important that the attention is kept under control at the time of devotional practices. In other words, joy would be experienced only, if the attention is focused on Form and Shabd, otherwise one would achieve nothing at the end of his devotional practice and would feel unhappy."
"If, at the time of Abhyas [meditation practice], a Parmarthi [spiritual devotee] turns his attention upwards internally and tries to fix it on the Form or Shabd or any particular region, as prescribed by Sants, the currents of mind, spirit and sight would, unfailingly, flow upwards and as long as no other thought causes a disturbance, i.e., no contrary current is set in motion, the direction of that current would remain upwards and some joy and bliss would surely be experienced, in consequence of this abstraction and withdrawal of the spirit current, because the higher region is one of greater joy and bliss, than the plane on which the Spirit is normally located in the wakeful condition."
