A Spiritual Autobiography in Quotes & Pictures Dedicated to Sant Kirpal Singh

There are times when a human being, though perhaps not remarkable

in himself, encounters some extraordinary person or event

that infuses his life with great meaning. (J. Donald Walters)

Param Sant Kirpal Singh 1896-1974

I have found He whom my heart loves,

I have seized Him and will not let Him go.

I am my Beloved’s, and my Beloved is mine. (Song of Solomon)

The world is full of beautiful things until an old man with a beard

came into my life and set my heart aflame with longing and made it

pregnant with love. How can I look at the loveliness around me,

how can I see it, if it hides the face of my Beloved? (Persian song)

-1-

Our Father,

Who art in heaven,

hallowed be Thy name;

Thy kingdom come;

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread;

and forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those who trespass against us;

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

This picture hung on my bedroom wall during childhood.

I was born in the Bronx and raised in Yonkers, N.Y. in a loving Catholic family. I remember

having a fondness for Jesus, fearing God, and being bored at church and school.

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou amongst women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

-2-

I served as an altar boy at the Catholic Church I attended.

I believe in God,

the Father Almighty,

Creator of Heaven and earth;

and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord,

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended into Hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead;

He ascended into Heaven,

sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty;

from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.

Amen.

-3-

I reluctantly attended Catholic elementary school and Catholic high school.

The founding fathers in their wisdom decided that children were an unnatural strain on

parents. So they provided jails called schools, equipped with torture called education.

(John Updike)

Children are born optimists and we slowly educate them out of their heresy.

(Louise Imogen Guiney)

-4-

I remember the sacrament of confession being somewhat like a game of musical chairs.

Mortal sins would land you in hell for all eternity. This involved serious sins, like murder,

stealing, and a host of impure deeds.

Venial sins involved minor punishment and were not taken too seriously. A behavior such as

cursing or telling a white lie was considered a venial sin.

If you died with a mortal sin on your soul, before receiving forgiveness at confession, you

would have lost the game – you got caught standing when the music stopped – and would go

to hell.

Receiving forgiveness at confession meant that if you should die, you would go to heaven and

be with Jesus – you would have won the game.

As a young adolescent, I took this game quite seriously.

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned.

It has been ___ weeks (days) since my last confession.

The dreaded confessional booth

Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus,

while before Your face I humbly kneel and,

with burning soul, pray and beseech You

to fix deep in my heart lively sentiments

of faith, hope and charity;

true contrition for my sins,

and a firm purpose of amendment.

While I contemplate,

with great love and tender pity,

Your five most precious wounds,

pondering over them within me

and calling to mind the words which David,

Your prophet, said of You, my Jesus:

"They have pierced My hands and My feet,

they have numbered all My bones."

Amen.

-5-

In high school I would attend overnight retreats. The priests and brothers would have a

program designed to help us become better Catholics.

One good motivator that always seemed to get our attention was a lecture on the penalty of sin,

and the ultimate punishment – hell!

I don’t think the following excerpt from James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young

Man is too far off:

“Last and crowning torture of all the tortures of that awful place is the eternity of hell!

Eternity! O, dread and dire word. Eternity! What mind of man can understand it? And

remember, it is an eternity of pain. Even though the pains of hell were not so terrible as they

are yet they would become infinite as they are destined to last for ever.

But while they are everlasting they are at the same time, as you know, intolerably intense,

unbearably extensive. To bear even the sting of an insect for all eternity would be a dreadful

torment. What must it be, then, to bear the manifold tortures of hell for ever? For ever!

For all eternity! Not for a year or for an age but for ever. Try to imagine the awful meaning of

this.

You have often seen the sand on the seashore. How fine are its tiny grains! And how many of

those tiny little grains go to make up the small handful which a child grasps in its play.

Now imagine a mountain of that sand, a million miles high, reaching from the earth to the

farthest heavens, and a million miles broad, extending to remotest space, and a million miles

in thickness;

and imagine such an enormous mass of countless particles of sand multiplied as often as there

are leaves in the forest---drops of water in the mighty ocean---feathers on birds--- scales on

fish--- hairs on animals--- atoms in the vast expanse of the air:

-6-

and imagine that at the end of every million years a little bird came to that mountain and

carried away in its beak a tiny grain of that sand.

How many millions upon millions of centuries would pass before that bird had carried away

even a square foot of that mountain, how many eons upon eons of ages before it had carried

away all?

Yet at the end of that immense stretch of time not even one instant of eternity could be said to

have ended. At the end of all those billions and trillions of years eternity would have scarcely

begun.

And if that mountain rose again after it had been all carried away and if the bird came again

and carried it all away again grain by grain: and if it so rose and sank as many times as there

are

---stars in the sky, atoms in the air, drops of water in the sea, leaves on the trees, feathers upon

birds, scales upon fish, hairs upon animals---

at the end of all those innumerable risings and sinkings of that immeasurably vast mountain

not one single instant of eternity could be said to have ended; even then, at the end of such a

period, after that eon of time the mere thought of which makes our very brain reel dizzily,

eternity would have scarcely begun.”

I remember the priests emphasizing that at our age the most frequent occasions for

committing a mortal sin, and thus going to hell, would involve not dealing with our sexual

urges in a manner approved by the Church.

-7-

Urged by desire, I wandered in the streets of good and evil.

I gained nothing except feeding the fire of desire.

(Ansari of Herat)

O my God, I am heartfully sorry for having offended thee, and I detest all my sins because of

Thy just punishment, but most of all because I have offended Thee my God, Who is all good

and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more,

and to avoid the near occasion of sin.

Amen.

Full of the deadly sins and tormented by lusts of the flesh I cry,

Rescue me by Thy Grace, as best Thou may.

0 Great and Compassionate One! I am at Thy mercy,

With austerities and penances one cannot escape,

But with Thy glance of Grace, take Nanak out of the blind well.

(Guru Arjan)

-8-

In 1965 I was drafted into the United States Army. Everyone in my training unit went to

Vietnam except me. I had one year of college and knew how to type. I was stationed in

Orleans, France, eighty miles south of Paris, as a clerk typist. I chalked it up to good luck at

the time.

By the time I entered the army I had abandoned the religious beliefs and rituals of my

childhood. I would label this period agnostic hedonism (although I still had a soft spot in my

heart for Jesus).

“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man,

then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you,

for Paris is a moveable feast.”

(Ernest Hemingway)

O Lord, other men are afraid of You, but I – I am afraid of myself.

From You flows good alone, from me flows evil. Others fear what tomorrow may bring;

I am afraid of what happened yesterday. If You hold me responsible for my sins I will cling

to You for Your grace. I with my sin am an insignificant atom.

Your Grace is resplendent as the sun.

(Ansari of Herat)

-9-

Amsterdam – 1966, 21 yrs. old; enough said

O Lord! I have squandered my life, wounded my soul,

done everything in my power to delight the Evil One.

(Ansari of Herat)

My motto back then was, “You’ll never know how far you can go till you go too far.”

I also liked, “It’s not what you do but what you become that’s important.”

And, “If a little is good, more is better.”

-10-

1967 – the year I was discharged from the army

Mistakes in valuation can be committed in three ways:

1. In taking as important that which is unimportant,

2. In taking as unimportant that which is important,

3. In giving to a thing an importance which is other

than the importance which it really has.

All these falsehoods are creations of Maya.

(Meher Baba)

Defend me, God, from myself.

(Spanish prayer)

-11-

There is only one happiness in life,

to love and be loved.

(George Sand)

September 1970, Irene, me & George, Maidstone, New Hampshire

A little over a year since our marriage in 1969

(We met at a bar/dance club in 1967)

If destiny comes to help you, love will come to meet you.

A life without love isn’t a life.

(Rumi)

Love consists in this,

that two solitudes protect and touch and greet each other.

(Rainer Maria Rilke)

Love is the free exercise of choice. Two people love each other only when they are

quite capable of living without each other but choose to live with each other.

(M. Scott Peck)

The moment you have in your heart this extraordinary thing called love and feel the depth,

the delight, the ecstasy of it, you will discover that for you the world is transformed.

(J. Krishnamurti)

-12-

If God can be found through the medium of any drug,

God is not worthy of being God.

(Meher Baba)

Powder Ridge Music Festival – summer 1970

-13-

"No drug, whatever its great promise, can help one to attain the spiritual goal. There is no

shortcut to the goal except through the grace of the Perfect Master, and drugs, LSD more than

others, gives only a semblance of spiritual experiences, a glimpse of the false reality. The

experiences you elaborate in your letter are as far removed from reality as is a mirage from

water. No matter how much you pursue the mirage, you will never reach water, and the search

for God through drugs must end in disillusionment...

"To a few sincere seekers such as yourself, LSD may have served as a means to arouse that

spiritual longing…, but once that purpose is served, further ingestion would not only be

harmful, but have no point or purpose. Now your longing for reality cannot be sustained by

further use of drugs, but only by your own love for the Perfect Master, which is a reflection of

his love for you...”(Adi K. Irani, writing for Meher Baba, 1966? in reply to a letter from

(Richard Alpert) Ram Dass)

Psychedelics as an upaya at first seem to hold infinite promise. But as one works with them

further, one comes to realize the possible finiteness of the method. At this point, however, the

individual may have become so attached to the experience of “getting high” that he doesn’t

want to continue on his way by finding other methods. At this point he is being dishonest

with himself, conning himself. Such a tactic is a short-term strategy at best and usually

produces negative emotions.

(Ram Dass, Be Here Now)

-14-

Question: Master, most of us here, before we came on the Path, have taken drugs. Will the

fact that we have taken drugs adversely affect our spiritual progress?

Sant Kirpal Singh: Surely. I tell you, we are conscious beings. We have to become more

conscious. Anything which has gone to mar our consciousness - that will take you to the

lower strata of life. That is killing yourself, I would say.

Disciple: A lot of us became aware of the spiritual life through drugs...

Sant Kirpal Singh: Leave it, that's all. Don't take more poison, that's all. A little poison taken

can be...

Disciple: But our progress now will be affected by what we did before...

Sant Kirpal Singh: Only if you put in more time (in spiritual practices) these things will be

cleared. Put in more time. Don't leave off that effort. That's all right. Whatever poison you

have taken in your stomach can be washed out. But stop taking more poison, that's all. What

more is there? (The Light of Kirpal, page 179)

Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing

that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously.

And because all things have contributed to your advancement,

you should include all things in your gratitude.

(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.

When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

(Saint Paul)

-15-

Irene and I were given our Transcendental Meditation mantra at Yale University in 1970.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,

No man who has lived through a temporary spiritual experience is ever likely to forget it.

His days will be haunted until he sets out to seek ways and means of repeating it.

(Paul Brunton)

Today there is a great awakening beginning. Some have got the answer, some have not,

but the search to solve the mystery of life has been born all over the world. The day that

question arises in the mind is the greatest day of one’s life, for once it is born

it does not succumb until it is satisfied.

(The Teachings of Kirpal Singh, New Life in the World)

-16-

I was always a pretty good poker player and I won a bit of money playing poker in the army

(that was well spent - or not so well spent - in frequent trips to Paris).

All persons have to pass through the state of bondage but this period of bondage is not to be

looked upon as a meaningless episode in the evolution of life. One has to experience

being caged if one is to appreciate freedom.

(Meher Baba)

If we do something for a number of days or months, it becomes a habit.

Habit so formed should be unraveled.

(Sant Kirpal Singh, http://www.ruhanisatsangusa.org/reform.htm)

We cannot in a moment, get rid of habits of a lifetime.

(Mahatma Gandhi)

Habit, if not resisted, soon becomes necessity.

(Saint Augustine)

Building up character is building up of habits.

The changing of character is a changing of habits.

Habit is second nature. Character is first nature.

(Swami Sivananda)

-17-

-18-

-19-

-20-

-21-

In January of 1971 I was a senior in college. As part of a research paper, I was interviewing

students on the topic of personal spiritual experiences and their spiritual practices.

One individual mentioned that she was attending spiritual gatherings in the area where people

learned about meditation on the inner Light and Sound. My wife and I had been practicing

Transcendental Meditation so we decided to attend the next meeting.

At the time, I was not looking for a devotional path, but I was interested in a more intense and

demanding version of the mantra meditation that I was currently performing. I was not

looking for a guru and I was not particularly interested in changing my lifestyle.

The local satsang was held in the group leader’s home. His living room was darkened, so we

entered the room slowly and carefully, and sat on cushions in the middle of the room. There

were a few other people sitting on the floor. The feeling in the room was unlike anything I

had felt before. It had a mysterious, other worldly atmosphere. There were pictures of Kirpal

Singh all around the walls of the living room where satsang was held. When I sat down and

looked around at Master’s photos, I fell in love with Him immediately.

The first picture I saw of Master Kirpal Singh

His face was so beautiful I knew I was looking at the face of a God-man. I felt drawn to Him

- I couldn’t stop looking at His pictures. I call it instant recognition. I knew I wanted to be

His disciple more than anything in the world.

The group leader read from Master Kirpal’s writings and played a tape of one of Master’s

talks. I loved the sound of His voice. His words made so much sense to me. I had no doubt

that this was the Path for me.

At the end of the satsang, Irene and I approached the leader and told him we wanted to be

initiated. We applied the next day. We were told it would take three months for our

applications to be processed.

The waiting period was the longest three months of my life. I remember worrying that Master

might find me an unacceptable candidate or that He would die before accepting our

application.

It was our great good fortune that neither fear materialized, and we were initiated on April

24th

1971.

-22-

At the airport, waiting…

-23-

My friend, He looked, and our eyes met; an arrow came in. My chest opened;

what could it do? His image moved inside. I’ve been standing all morning in the door

of my house, looking down the road. The One I love is an herb growing in secret places,

an herb that heals all wounds.

(Mirabai)

My Beloved threw me a glance like a dagger today.

Since that moment, I am insane; I can’t find my body.

The pain has gone through my arms and legs,

and I can’t find my mind.

(Mirabai)

It sometimes happens that the currents of love irresistibly enter into the heart of a person as

the result of just one gaze into the eyes of a true Master. Even one glance from the Master is

enough to create in the seeker a feeling of intense love without passing through the stages of

association, intimate connection and emotional attraction. The Granth Sahib says that a true

Guru can achieve successful results for His disciples even by a single glance.

(Sant Kirpal Singh, Philosophy of the Masters: Love)

The world is full of beautiful things until an old man with a beard came into my life

and set my heart aflame with longing and made it pregnant with love.

How can I look at the loveliness around me, how can I see it,

if it hides the face of my Beloved?

(Persian song)

-24-

Between April of 71 and September of 1972 when Master visited the United States I had inner

experiences which confirmed for me the truth of this Path. I knew for certain that Kirpal

Singh was the real deal. It was with this certainty that a few friends and I drove to

Washington D.C. to see the Master as He arrived for His third world tour. Irene and I had

quit our jobs and decided to travel with the Master for the three months He was to be in this

country.

My first meeting with Master Kirpal Singh was the most unforgettable experience of my life.

I was waiting at Dulles airport with hundreds of other devotees. Most of us were young

people meeting Master for the first time. We formed two long lines in a special section of the

airport reserved for us.

After waiting a while in great anticipation, suddenly there was an audible gasp as Master

became visible. Imagine the scene as hundreds of devotees, seeing their beloved Master for

the first time, spontaneously uttered sounds of awe and amazement. He walked slowly

between the lines, alternately greeting awestruck devotees. I was midway down the aisle,

straining to get a look. People at the front of the line were crying loudly. After greeting the

Master, people milled around in a state resembling shock. The emotion in the room, and my

own excited anticipation, made my heart race like never before.

Finally, Master approached where I stood in line. I remember Him initially having His back

to where I was standing. He was greeting those on the opposite line. Slowly He turned and

faced me. Everything happened so fast, yet I can remember each event as if it happened

yesterday. We looked into each other's eyes for a moment, and then He was gone.

In that moment the world felt like it stood still; that moment changed my life forever. It felt

like He reached into my chest, pulled out my heart and replaced it with a longing and pining

that I cherish more than anything.

That first meeting was unlike anything I had ever experienced or imagined: Something

magical happened in that instant of our meeting.

I turned away from the line and doubled over. I was breathing heavily and crying

uncontrollably. Tears of love were flowing from my eyes.

One moment I was standing there fully composed, full of anticipation, very excited yet in

control. The moment after meeting Him, I fell apart. I had never experienced anything

remotely like it.

I remember being awed by His beauty and His power. His face was unlike anything I had

ever seen. Even though I had seen numerous pictures of Him, I was totally unprepared for the

extent of His beauty. It seems strange calling a seventy-eight year old man beautiful, but that

is the most accurate description I can find. He was simply the most beautiful sight I had ever

seen.

His radiation was overwhelming. Love poured from His eyes and surrounded His body. He

was this huge magnetic mountain of love, and we were helpless shavings of metal in His

presence. He was everything I had hoped He would be and a million times more.

-25-

“I’ve seen Him. I’ve felt His tug at my whole being. When I looked at His massive face an

implosion crushed the body and I stood dead as He passed. No emotion, but all emotions and

I gasped at the Cosmos but two feet away. The body was spent and breathed in tears but

awed in human wonder. I picked up the broken parts and left the airport.”

(A devotee’s experience at the airport)

One evening my wife and I attended an intimate gathering with the Master in Mr. Khanna's

home. There were a few disciples sitting in a small room. Master entered and sat on a small

pull-out bed in front of the room.

What I remember the most was His radiation. The best analogy I can make is sitting before

an open blazing wood stove. Something was pouring out of Him and you couldn't help but

feel it, actually feel this something emanating from His body and engulfing everyone in His

presence.

If I had to label that power the best I could do is call it love. I wish I could think of a better

word than love. The word is so overused, so trivialized. He deserves a better word, but love is

the best I can do.

I remember thinking, "He's human, yet He isn't. This is something so entirely different, He's

almost like a different species." I also remember thinking, “I wish this moment would last

forever.”

-26-

Another evening He gave a talk at a local high school. I remember uncontrollable tears of

love streaming from my eyes, my wife's eyes, and everyone's around us. At the end of the

talk people were acting dazed - there was a delirium of love. It took a few minutes for

everyone to regain their composure in order to leave the building.

I remember sitting in meditation one day while waiting for the Master to arrive for satsang. I

didn’t hear anything, but I smelled a sweet sandalwood scent. I opened my eyes and there

was Master walking by me on His way to the stage. Master did not use cologne and He

obviously didn’t use after shave lotion. I learned later that I had smelled the aroma of His

purity.

When He would walk through airports strangers would stop and stare. More than one person

asked “Who is that man?”

The emotional high of the first week gave way to a more subdued reverence. I was saturated

with the Master's love and attention. My little cup had been filled to the brim. For the

remainder of the tour I took motion pictures, and gazed deeply into His eyes every chance I

got.

After the tour was over, I remember thinking that I hadn’t had an impure thought the entire

time I was with Him. I remember His smile and His laugh. Always there was that

magnificent face and that tangible radiation.

There is no path greater than love. There is no law higher than love.

There is no goal beyond love. God and love are identical. (Meher Baba)

The world is full of beautiful things until an old man with a beard came into my life

and set my heart aflame with longing and made it pregnant with love. How can I look at the

loveliness around me, how can I see it, if it hides the face of my Beloved?

(Persian song)

-27-

-28-

-29-

-30-

Sant Bani Ashram; I’m circled in red

-31-

During Hazur's lifetime, He was once told of a man who had discovered the secret words

which the Master gives only at initiation on the Inner Path, and Hazur was asked what would

happen in such a case.

Hazur replied by giving an example of a dog who wanders through a cotton field, and asked if

that dog, by merely passing through the field, comes out with a suit on?

A person may by chance hear the whole of the Master's initiation, but how can he benefit if

the Master has not accepted him, and he received none of the Master's attention?

This whole spiritual science is of attention. A single loving and purposeful glance from the

Master is enough to lift the Living Force within a person.

(Sant Kirpal Singh, ruhanisatsangusa.org/hunger.htm)

“My first memory of our Master was in Washington. I still vividly recall that just before He

came through customs at the Washington airport everything was quiet. Then all the babies

started to cry. Then the Master came out and many of His bigger children started to

cry….The Master was giving a talk a few nights later. I was sitting at His feet. He seemed to

be constantly looking at me through His talk. My body was wracked with sobs as our eyes

were locked in mystic embrace. At last, at last, I was in communion with the Lord. God had

come down from the beyond and put on a body of flesh to take us back to His home. I could

only cry my thanks to Him for allowing me to witness such perfection. Nothing else was

wanted, nothing else could be added; all was perfect. It was real, the most real thing that ever

happened to me. Here was total happiness.” (Richard Handel)

-32-

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind, but now, I see.

When a true Master accepts a disciple, that person’s status changes.

We were lost wanderers whom not one befriended; accepted by the Satguru,

we were then recognized. He becomes an “accepted” soul, under the care of the Master.

(Sant Kirpal Singh, ruhanisatsangusa.org/gurumukh.htm)

O Lord - You have seduced me. I was seduced.

(Carthusian Monks)

"Before I made you in your mother's womb, I chose you.

Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work," says the Lord.

(Jeremiah)

He has awaited me for countless ages, for love of me He has lost His heart:

Yet I did not know the bliss that was so near to me, for my love was not yet awake.

(Kabir)

The holy Path of the Masters is open to one and all. It may, however, be understood that it is

due to the evolution of some rare noble karma of past lives that the inner yearning of the soul

gets strong for spiritual enlightenment and those dear ones who benefit from such chances by

putting in extra effort are put on the Path whereas others simply drift and have to wait

for some better future chance.

(Sant Kirpal Singh, Spiritual Elixir, 54)

-33-

I am glad to find that you are aspiring for spiritual progress. It is due to the evolution

of some rare noble Karma of past lives that one yearns for divine grace.

(Sant Kirpal Singh,

Letters to New York area initiates)

Sant Kirpal Singh & Irene

Birch State Park, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, 12/72

All those who are initiated into the Mysteries of the Beyond by a living Master were destined

to become His disciples. It is not a question of one choosing the Path or the Path

choosing the disciple, but rather one of the disciple’s background.

(The Teachings of Kirpal Singh, vol. 1 “The Holy Path”)

When I go from here let this be my parting word, that what I have seen is unsurpassable.

I have tasted of the hidden honey of this lotus that expands on the Ocean of Light,

and thus am I blessed – let this be my parting word.

In this playhouse of infinite forms I have had my play and here have I caught sight of Him

that is formless. My whole body and my limbs have thrilled with His touch who is beyond

touch; and if the end comes here, let it come – let this be my parting word.

(Tagore)

-34-

A person in whose heart love for the Master has been bestowed by God

is really fortunate, because love for the Master is the method by which we come to love God.

(Sant Kirpal Singh, Philosophy of the Masters: Love)

A Master is the manifestation of His Love and to love the Master is to love the Lord.

(Master Kirpal Singh, Philosophy of the Masters: Love)

O Master, what kind of love has been awakened in me? I am blessed with both the bliss of

meeting You and the pain of Your separation. The pain of separation has not left me, but still

the happiness of Your memory is incessant. I am suffering from the pain of separation,

yet I am so ecstatic. I am ecstatic and miserable at the same time.

(Mirabai)

That I want You, only You - let my heart repeat without end. All desires that distract me, day

and night, are false and empty to the core. As the night keeps hidden in its gloom the petition

for light, even thus in the depth of my unconsciousness rings the cry - I want You, only You.

As the storm still seeks its end in peace when it strikes against peace with all its might,

even thus my rebellion strikes against Your love and still its cry is - I want You, only You.

(Tagore)

You have taken me as Your partner of all this wealth. In my heart is the endless play

of Your delight. In my life Your Will is ever taking shape. And for this,

You who are the King of kings have decked Yourself in beauty to captivate my heart.

(Tagore)

As I walk through the beauty of this world praising Your name,

not to white rose, red narcissus, or lovely tulip am I drawn –

but only to Your face.

(Hafiz)

-35-

Just to see Thy face again, I once more took the physical form.

Thy face draws my heart out with its beauty.

Just to see that reflection of God I came again to this world.

Bhai Nandlal

Each who has seen Your beauty fine utters honestly, “I have seen the Divine.”

Everywhere Your lovers wait for grace, remove Your veil, reveal Your face!

(Ahmad Jam)

Love has come and it flows like blood beneath my skin, through my veins.

It has emptied me of my self and filled me with the Beloved. The Beloved has penetrated

every cell of my body. Of myself there remains only a name, everything else is Him.

(Rumi)

Reflection from Your moon-like face reaches the sun and lo!

the sun is brought low by it, O Beautiful One!

(Attar)

O Friend, I want Your Sustenance, O Beloved, I want to serve and obey.

It’s my duty to obey and follow You. My life, my soul, I bestow on You.

I heard the whisper of Your love once, I yearn to hear that invocation once again!

(Sanai Ghaznavi)

My soul is mingled with Thee, dissolved in Thee,

a soul to cherish as it has Thy perfume!

(Rumi)

-36-

O King of Beauty, turn Your gaze upon this beggar of Yours. Have pity on this forlorn,

helpless devotee of Yours. The heart of this poor one yearns and longs for Your life-giving

glance. With Your dark mysterious eyes fulfill his desire, make him dance!

(Hafiz)

I am bewildered by the magnificence of Your beauty and wish to see You with a hundred

eyes! My heart has burned with passion and has searched forever for this wondrous beauty

that I now behold! My arrow of love has arrived at the target. My soul is screaming

in ecstasy. Every fiber of my being is in love with You!

(Rumi)

O Lord, I, a beggar, ask of Thee more than a thousand kings may ask of Thee.

Each one has something he needs to ask of Thee; I have come to ask Thee to give me Thyself.

(Ansari of Herat)

The dagger of love has pierced my heart. My Master has bound me by the thin thread of love,

and wherever He draws me, there I go.

(Mirabai)

I am dancing only for my Master, all I want is to please Him and keep His eyes.

The gold chains I wear on my ankles are love of Him, my dancing dress is my faithfulness to

Him. I’ve stripped off shame and family custom to go to the bed of the Beloved.

Body and mind, Mira wears only the color of God.

(Mirabai)

-37-

Brethren, my rest is in my solitude, and my Beloved is ever in my presence.

Nothing for me will do but love of Him; by love of Him I am tested in this world.

Wherever I am I contemplate His beauty. O Thou, ever my joy, my life, from Thee

is my existence and my ecstasy. From all creation I have turned away,

for union with Thee my desired end.

(Rabia)

O Master, to find You is my desire, but to comprehend You is beyond my strength.

Remembering You is solace to my sorrowing heart; thoughts of You are my constant

companions. I call upon You night and day. The flame of Your Love

glows in the darkness of my night.

(Ansari of Herat)

How do I love Thee? Let me count the ways.

I love Thee to the depth and breath and height my soul can reach.

(Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

What madness has seized me because of You?

What is this tumult in my soul that You have instilled?

Because of You I am in a state of disarray.

It’s not my norm to behave this way.

(Attar)

-38-

The Last Physical Meeting with the Master

Master’s departure from Florida: About one or two hundred people went to have the last sight

of the Master at the airport. A chair was brought for Master and we all sat at His feet. No

words were spoken for twenty minutes. Master was just filling our souls with His Darshan.

A jet-set woman came by and saw the crowd crying and she ventured forward to Master and

asked Him, “Why are these people crying?”

Master looked her straight in the eyes and said, “Love.”

And the next thing she was crying with us. (Michael Ravens)

Irene and I spent three glorious, grace-filled months in the Beloved Master’s physical

presence. We said good-bye to the Master at the airport in Florida, not knowing that it would

be our last physical meeting with the Lord of Love.

After Master’s departure, we drove home to begin the next stage of our lives, forever thankful

for the unspeakable blessing we had just received.

I always tried to sit as close to Master as possible.

I’m second on right of dias with beard.

-39-

In 1973 it was my great good fortune to be selected by the Beloved Master to serve as group

leader for His Satsang. The following is an excerpt from the letter I received from Mr.

Khanna, Master’s representative in the U. S.:

I am pleased to inform you that on my recommendation, the Great Master Kirpal Singh has

graciously given approval for you to act as our group leader in New Haven, Connecticut.

This has been done in place of (the previous group leader who was moving).

You are authorized to distribute Master’s literature, sell books and conduct Ruhani Satsangs

according to Master’s instructions. All applications should be scrutinized to make sure that

the applicant has understood the teachings of the Living Master Kirpal Singh Ji. One should

study thoroughly Master’s literature and books and be able to abide by the dietary restrictions

and not to waver against any false propaganda. The applications in duplicate may kindly be

sent here for processing.

You are authorized to convey the instructions of initiation to the approved candidates in your

center.

It is a rare privilege to help in the vineyard of Great Master Kirpal Singh. Please send

quarterly reports in duplicate, showing your activities, satsangs held and any problems faced.

Hope you have already the charter for New Haven Satsang. That is still valid. Please abide

by the rules and regulations and send the concerning reports to Mr. Reno Sirrine as heretofore.

Please work conscientiously in a spirit of deep humility and self abnegation. All gracious

help and guidance will be forthcoming from Master Power working overhead. Kindly feel

free to consult the undersigned on any problem.

The Master conveys His love to you and wishes you to be worthy of the rare trust reposed in

you.

With all blessings in Master’s Name.

Sincerely,

T.S. Khanna

-40-

Friends, let those whose Beloved is absent write letters - mine dwells in the heart,

and neither enters nor leaves. Mira has given herself to her Lord.

Day or night, she waits only for Him.

(Mirabai)

O Master, You are so gracious. After all these years You still remember who I am:

the one who wears the dust of Your door like a crown.

Tell me, who taught You to be so generous to Your slaves?

O Holy Bird, please bless this Path I’m on, for I’m new to this traveling,

and it’s a long way I have to go. O morning breeze,

take my prayers to the Master, and tell Him that each day

I am on my knees at dawn.

(Hafiz)

Since I received Your gift of Love my task has become difficult, my Love.

Water pours out of my eyes; there is a fire in my heart, my Love.

(Attar)

The saint is a fragrant plant placed in the earth by God. The truthful take in His fragrance

and it comes into their hearts so that they long for their Master.

(Yahya Ibn Mu’Adh Ar-Razi)

-41-

When I stand before Thee at the day's end, thou shalt see my scars

and know that I had my wounds and also my healing.

(Tagore)

Let this be my last word, that I trust in Your love.

(Tagore)

Taken by Irene, winter 2012

Kirpalct@yahoo.com

For more booklets go to: kirpalsingh.org

(Spiritual Quotations for Lovers of God)