The Reality of Drug and Alcohol

8/7/2019 The Reality of Drug and Alcohol

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TheReality ofDrugs and AlcoholSelections from the Teachings

ofSant Ajaib Singh Ji,Sant Kirpal SinghJi,

andBaba SawanSinghJi

SantBani AshramSanbornton,New Hampshire


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The Reality ofDrugs and AlcoholSelections from the Teachings

ofSant Ajaib Singh Ji,Sant Kirpal Singh Ji,andBaba Sawan Singh Ji

compiled by Doris Matthijetzand Paul Elliot

Sant Bani AshramSanbornton, New Hampshire


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The advice presented here is taken from Satsangs, darshan talks (intimatequestion and answer sessions), letters and other published sources, spanning agreat length of time. While the three Masters quoted here each presented Theirown viewpoint, They all aimed at the sam e goa l: to encourage T heir disciples byexample and precept to rise above all attachments of mind, body, and physicalenjoyments and by turning within in meditation to achieve the intoxication ofinner comm union with the universal God P ower. Here we are shown how d rugsand alcohol, because of their com bined effect on mind and body, have an extrastrong downw ard pull o n the soul.

T he selections have been annotated so that the original source is identified.The excerpts from The Teachings of Kirpal Singh, which is itself a collection ofbrief excerpts from many sources, are noted as to the page in the collected work;some of the excerpts have been taken in such as way as to combine tw o or moreseparate sources. In all cases readers are invited to read and appreciate thequotes in their original context when p ossible.

Th is booklet is part of a series, collections of writings by theMasters on specific subjects. Others include: How to DevelopReceptivity by Sant Kirpal Singh Ji, Sing the Praises of the Sat-guru by Sant Ajaib Singh Ji, and God Power, C hrist Power, GuruPower by Sant Kirpal Singh Ji.

For further information, please write:Sant Bani A shramSanbornton, N.H. 03269U.S .A.

Typeset at Sant Bani A shram, using Aldus Pagem aker 5.0Printed at The Sant Bani Press, Tilton, N.H., 1995


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Sant Ajaib Singh Ji:On the one side we want the Shabd to be open to us, and on theother side we are not ready to give up any worldly pleasures. Wewant to enjoy wine and all the worldly things; we do not want togive up any of those. But still we expect that Master should showerall His g race on us, and He should open the Shabd to us.'

W elcome , all of you are welcome. I am very pleased to see youall. David W iggins has told m e about all of you and I am very gladto know that you are attending the Alcoholics Anonymous meet-ings and doing the program in order to give up the bad habits inwhich you are trapped. You know that we get trapped in the badhabits only when w e fall into bad com pany.History is filled with many stories of great kings and emperors- hose who were addicted to any kind of addiction - ow theywere ruined because of their addiction. Once they used to be kingsan d empe rors and very rich people but because of their addiction-to anything, any kind of intoxication or any kind of addiction -they ruined everything, they lost everything and they became verypoor.Ever since this creation was created and ever since the greatRishis and Munis have come into this world, no Rishi or Muni, nogreat Saint or Master has ever said that you should get into anykind of addiction. Nobody has ever advocated the use of any kindof intoxicant. Everyone has always said that we should abstainfrom using intoxicants.


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4 Th e Reality of Drugs and AlcoholYou might have heard a lot of things from the counselors andfrom yo ur colleague s w hen a ttending the m eetings but I would also

like to say s om e more to you. First of all I would like you to know ,that when we use any kind of intoxicants or when we get addictedto any kind of addiction, it has a very bad effect, a very adverseeffect on the pow er of ou r thinking; it we akens o ur brain.

In the beginning when we get attached or attracted to any kindof an addiction we feel as if we are swinging in a very high spirit;we feel that we are going up very high. But later on, when thataddiction becomes a very normal routine thing, we ourselves starthating it.

You know that nowadays the governments all over the worldhave made so many restrictions and laws; they are trying to curbthis problem with the d rugs and intoxicants. And in many countriesthe people who deal in the drugs, both the ones who sell the drugsand those who consume the drugs they may even get the deathsentence.By getting involved with drugs and other intoxicants which areharmful to our body, w e not only ruin ou r body , but we also bring abad name to our country, because if you are addicted to drugs orother intoxicants w hich you should not be do ing, your children willalso follow the same pattern. In this way a new generation will beborn with the addiction. This will ruin your country also.One should be faithful to the country he belongs to and at leastfor the sa ke of the name of the country o ne should give up any kindof bad habit he might have that might ruin his body as well as ruinthe c haracter of the nation.

By intoxication I do not m ean only drinking alcohol, I mean theintoxication of anything, like using opium or heroin or any kindof drug, marijuana or things like that, or any kind of thing towhich you are addicted and which gives you false intoxication.


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Sant Ajaib Singh Ji 5One should try and give up all those kinds of intoxications.I will tell you from my own experience, it does not make anydifference whether one is a young man or an older man. Whenpeople com e to m e, if they have consum ed the drugs or if they havebeen using any kind of intoxication, it shows very clearly in theireyes. It doesn't take me long to understand and realize that theperson has taken intoxicants or that the person has been usingdrugs.Baba Bishan Das, from whom I got the Initiation into the firstTwo Words, always used to tell me about the intoxication and theaddiction. He used to say that when we get addicted to any kind ofintoxication, first of all we lose the money we have and then weruin our body; it brings a bad name to our family, and we becomethe cau se of disgrace to our nation, our family, and our com mu nity.He also used to say that a person who is addicted to any kind ofintoxication is no different than a donkey. The only difference isthat he does not have a tail, whereas the donkey has a tail; other-wise he is not different from a donkey. Because in the addiction,when you are using drugs and things like that, you do not knowwhat you are doing, you don't know what you are saying and whateffect it is going to have on other people.He also used to tell a very brief story about a donkey who wastrying to pick up some grass in one of the fields of tobacco, and hewas not touching the beautiful, big leaves of the tobacco there.Somebody went there and asked him, "0 M ister Donkey, why areyou not eating these big leaves and why are you picking up thesmall grass?"

So he said, "I have heard that those who use this tobacco, theybecom e a donkey in their next lifetime ; you know that I am alreadya donkey, and I do n't wan t to com e back as a donkey."On e wealthy person used to come to me and he was addicted to


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6 Th e Reality of Drugs an d Alcoholalcohol. He drank a lot and he wanted to give it up, so he used tocom e to m e. W e used to talk with each other and I would tell himabout all the bad qualities. So once he cam e to me an d said, "Well,tell me one bad quality of wine," because he was not convincedabout all the bad qualities that I had told him about wine. So I said,"Well, I have already said so much to you, but you are not con-vinced, so let me quote one co uplet of Kabir to you. Kabir said, '0Learned Ones, let me tell you one bad quality of wine. I do notneed to tell you more than one bad quality of wine. It turns a maninto a bea st, that 's all it has.' "At first when I used to talk to him and tell him how he waswasting m oney d rinking wine he would say, "Well, I am a very richperson and the money doesn't matter." And whenever I would tellhim about some other things he would not believe me, but later onwha t happene d? B ecause of drinking too much, his lungs went bad,he go t som e disease in the lungs, and his whole body became verysick. So finally he had to give it up and then he came to theSatsangs and later on he started follow ing the path.There is a lot which I can say on this subject, and you havealready heard so much about what the teachings of the Masters sayabout intoxication and ad diction to d rugs and other things. To sumup: Gu ru Nanak Sahib said, "The intoxication of opium , marijuana,and the other things- hen you take those things - t intoxicatesyou fo r a day or two -" (Eithe r it will g o away the next m orning orthe next day.) "But the intoxication of the Naam - f you taste itonce- t does n't go away ; it always remains w ith you."If you want to be addicted to something, work hard, go within,because you have already been given the Naam. Go within, workhard, give the intoxication of Naam to your soul.Get your soul addicted to the intoxication of Naam so that dayand night, your soul will alway s enjoy the Naam .


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Sant Ajaib Singh Ji 7So I would like to advise you only one thing in the end, that ifyou really love yourse lf, if you rea lly love your hea lth, if you really

want to progress on this Path, you should give up all kinds ofintoxication and all kinds of addiction you are into. You might haveheard all these kinds of things, so many times, from me, and fromgoin g to the meetings, and from the counselors, but I think that nowyou should repent and you should make up your mind that you willgive thisQuestion: When a dear one has a drin hn g habit what can we tellhim, or wha t can we d o to help change his habit?Sant Ji: You should lovingly advise him, you sh ould lovingly m akehim realize the condition of those who are addicted to such intoxi-cants. Usually you w ould have seen in the people wh o are addictedto drinking or smoking marijuana or using other drugs, how aftersome time their lungs stop functioning, and how it has a bad effecton their brain and their mind. They even lose their power of think-ing.

Nowadays in the shops where they sell wine in India, on thebottles of wine it is written that it is poison. Even after reading thatit is a poison, it is up to the person whether he should drink thatpoison or not.When I passed the "gyani" grade in the state high school inSangroor, over there I had a teacher who was very much againstdrinking. He had made a cartoon drawing of a tree which he calledthe tree of the sins. On the root of that tree he showed a bottle ofwine. He showed that the tree of sins was getting the nourishmentfrom wine, and he named the fruits which were on that tree: "theloss of money," "the loss of honor," and other fruits were called"the cause of starving," "the cause of poverty." In India we often


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Sant Ajaib Singh Ji 9who went there. So w e would arrest the drunkards and then in orderto teach them a lesson and show it to the other pilgrims we wouldhold them by their legs and make them walk using their hands. Andwe would take them all around the city and in that way we wouldsho w the other pilgrims: "This is the punishm ent that you will get ifyou are drinking in this holy place." So you see the condition ofthose peop le. No bod y bothered the pilgrims w ho were not drinking,and they did not get any punish m ent. But the drunkards had lost themoney from their pockets - hey had used their mon ey to drink-and afterwards they were getting this kind of punishment all daylong. In the end, after losing their money and their honor, theywould go back to their homes.

I would say that those who are addicted to the intoxicants, infact, they are getting the punishment for the bad karmas of theirpast lifetime, because their relations with their family members donot remain normal; they always have fights with their relatives.Their health does not remain good, they cannot think clearly, andalso they lose a lot of their money. Those who do not have thishabit, who are not addicted to any intoxicants or drugs, they havetheir good health, they are honored, they are popular among theirfamily, and ev en in their neighborhood they are glorified.

Last time I went to London I saw a poster there which talkedabout a person who had come from India. He drank wine day andnight, so much that his lungs were destroyed. His name was JagatSingh, so in that poster the heading was: "After drinking the wineso mu ch, now Jagat S ingh has surrendered to the wine."So if you have any relatives, any brother or sister who has thisbad habit, you do not have to fight with them. When they are notintoxicated, wh en they are in a normal state, at that time you shouldlovingly tell them the bad qualities and the consequences of beingaddicted to these intoxicants. You should tell them lovingly.


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10 The Reality of Drugs and AlcoholIf you will oppose them at the time when they are drunk, orwhen they are intoxicated with drugs, at that time they will notlisten to you. They will oppose you m ore.Guru Nanak Sahib says, "You should abstain from that thing,drinking which you lose your intellect, and which creates the gapbetween you an d Him . You shou ld abstain from such kind of intoxi-

cants."Guru Nanak Sahib says, "Those who drink that wine whichspoils your intellect and which takes you away from Him, theyalways remain addicted to it. But Nanak says those who are ad-dicted to that wine of Naam, it always keeps you alive and always

keeps you fresh."No Mahatma has ever inspired us and given us the teachings touse intoxicants and drugs and things like that. All the Mahatmashave alw ays inspired us to abstain from intoxicant^.^

Sant Satgurus do not apply any force on us, they do not imposeanything on us. They lovingly tell us through the satsangs that ifyou will give up your bad habits one by one and if you will go onliving up to the wo rds o f the satsang, and along with that if you willdo the meditation of Naam, then all these bad habits in which youare involved, you will get rid of them one by one very e a ~ i l y . ~Question: Master, h ow do you break a n a ddiction to either food,alcohol, or a drug, when it has taken over a person so m uch thatone feels helpless, even in the face of Simran, and rem embrance ofthe M aster, and you cry out for help but you feel helpless?Those w ho have a n addiction, those w ho have become the slaves oftheir mind, a nd those wh o have surrendered to their mind, only theyare addicted to things. But those w ho hav e pity on their ow n selves


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Sant Ajaib Singh Ji 11and have love for the Master, they can get rid of their addiction,because no addiction, no bad thing comes to you by itself; it is youwho go to them.There was an initiate of Master Sawan Singh Ji, who used todrink alcohol. On ce he told M aster Sawa n Singh, "Master, I cannotleave this addiction of alcohol because it does not leave me." Mas-ter Sawan S ingh Ji laughed and said, "Well dear one , tell me, doesthe alcohol not leave you , or do you not wan t to leave the alcohol?"M aster Saw an Singh said, "You see that the alcohol does not com eto you by itself; it does not say, "You come and drink me." It is youwho always go there; you go and buy the alcohol, and then youyourself drink it. Then how can you say that this alcohol does notleave you? So it is you w ho have to leave this addiction."M aster Sa wan Sing h Ji said, "Those w ho are addicted to alcohol,whenever they remember alcohol, only then do they get the desireto buy it and drink it." So if you want to leave any kind of addic-tion, just don't remember that thing, don't think about it. Then itwill not be difficult for you to give it up.

In the same way, when Babar, the Mogul emperor, came toIndia, he was in the habit of drinking the hemp. In those dayspeople b elieved that fakirs, saints, and so-called holy peop le, wereaddicted to some kind of intoxicants. And they believed that theyalways sat deep in meditation only because of using those intoxi-cants. This was the belief at that time. Usua lly, in order to encour-age the spread of drugs, the people who use them spread suchrumors that the saintly people are also addicted to the drugs. Butthat is not true.

Baba r had imprisoned ce rtain people including Guru Na nak, at aplace called Eminabad. They were making all those people grindflour in a mill. Then one of his people cam e and told Babar, "Yourmajesty, you have imprisoned one Perfect Saint along with the


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12 Th e Reality of Drugs an d Alcoholother peop le. Every bod y else is grinding by them selves, but there isone mill which is moving by itself, and that Sadhu, that perfectFakir, is sitting deep in meditation with his eyes closed, and he isvery much intoxicated." Then Babar realized his mistake, and hewent there.

When he saw Guru Nanak Dev Ji in deep intoxication, in deepmeditation, he said, "Master forgive me." Along with him he hadtaken a cup of the hemp drink, thinking that it would give moreintoxication to Guru Nanak. He offered that drink to Guru Nanak,and told him, "Master, drink this, because this will give you moreintoxication." Guru Nanak Sa hib smiled and said, "Look here Babar,I am not add icted to this hemp drink. I have the intoxication of theNaam. I have drunk the nectar of Naam. The intoxication from thishe m p drink will last only for one or two hours, but the intoxicationof Naam will last forever."The other part of the question says that even in the face ofSimran and remembrance of the Master, one cannot leave the ad-diction. Excuse me for using these strict words, but I will say thatthose w ho say this, are speaking nonsense and nothing else. Thosepeople who say this do not have any knowledge of the importanceof Simran. Simran gives you so much intoxication, Simran givesyou so much belief, that if you are doing the Simran sincerely andwholeheartedly, then you will not feel addicted; then you will notfeel the need of do ing any other addiction.When disciples say, "We cannot give up this addiction even bydoing the Simran" - hey do not try. They do not try enough togive up the addiction, and they do not do the Simran sincerely.Those who do not have any love for their health, who do not haveany love for their brains, only they say this and they are in a greatdece ption. They eve n deceive other peop le; and those wh o hear thateven by doing Simran we cannot give up addictions are also in a


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Sant Ajaib Singh Ji 13deep illusion. They do not have any understanding, any idea, howpowerful the Simran is. You people have this Simran of the fivewo rds given to you by the perfect M aster, behind which the medita-tion, hard wo rk, and sacrifice of the M aster is working . Th e Simranwh ich you have received is very high a nd very pow erful.

Th is is an incident from the time when I had only the Sim ran ofthe first two words from Baba B ishan Das. You may rem ember thatSunder Das , wh o was m entioned in Mr. Ob eroi's book also, used tolive with m e, and we both used to meditate a lot. There was anotherperson who used to come to see us every night. One day I wastalking w ith Sundar Das very loving talks about the Masters, aboutthe Path and both of us were very much intoxicated in the love ofGod. We w ere talking as if w e were drunk. When that person cameand heard us talking, he thought that maybe we had taken some-thing to m ake us intoxicated. H e just sat there, because w e weretalking about God in such a way which gave him the impressionthat we were not in our senses; so he sat there expec ting us to com eback to o ur normal state so that he could talk to us. He sat there foran hour or maybe more, but when he did not see any change in ushe left. He looked under the beds and every place trying to see ifthere w ere any em pty bottles of win e, but he did not find anything,so he went back to his home. Next morning he came and apolo-gized. He said, "Last night I came and I thought that both of youwere drunk, and I had terrible thoughts for you. Please forgive mefor this."

So you c an see that just by doin g the Simran of those two w ords,there was so much intoxication, that the other person felt that wewere intoxicated. And you have the Simran of five words, so justimagine how much more intoxication you can get if you do theSimran sincerely.

I was an eye-witness to that incident when Sunder Das burned


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14 Th e Reality of D rugs and Alcoholhis leg while sitting in meditation. He sat in meditation; he wasdoing the Simran; and he w as so much intoxicated by doing Simranthat he did not eve n reme m ber his body. Even though his leg fell inthe fire and burned, still he w as not aw are of it . When he cam e outfrom that meditation his wo rds were, "Today I have received m uchmore intoxication, much more interest, in meditation than I haveever received so far." So this is the meaning of doing the Simran.Dear one s, if you do the Simran s incerely, with all your heart, andwithout remaining aware of your body and other things, then youwill see how much intoxication you get. And when you are doingsuch Sim ran, then there is no question of an y addiction com ing andbothering you .

Regarding the people w ho say that they d o the Simran and theyalso use intoxicants, Guru Nanak Sahib says, "Their condition islike this: they say to other people, "I have not indulged with mycompanion, nor have I seen him any time, but still I call myselfmarried."

Everyone should give up the bad habits, but an addiction isbroken only if you want to break it, and only if you break it.Satsangis need good health, good bodies, because if your health isgood then you will be able to sit for a longer time in meditation,an d you will be ab le to concen trate better. A satsangi should under-stand the importance of the Naam, the importance of meditation.He should try his best to go within, and connect himself with theS hab d N aam as m uch a s p o ~ s i b l e . ~

W hy is the youth of today so addicted to drugs? Because they donot like to study, they do not like to do anything of the world, sothey find an escape and get addicted to drugs. Because they havelost their vitality, they h ave lost their pow er, from their childhood.Th at is w hy w hen they do not have that power in them, they do not


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Sant Ajaib Singh Ji 15like to study or do the worldly things. And as a result of that theyget addicted to the drugs, they find an escape through the drugs,and after that if you try to explain to them about the disadvantagesof drug s they will not understand it, because they have lost all theirenthusiasm and all their energy to do anything of the world.

This is my personal experience: In the villages we used to playtogether up till the age of twenty years old: the boys and girls usedto play together even at nighttime. B ut nobody had any thought oflust or anything like that. But nowadays you will find that a youngboy, a young child of even two years old, would know about lust.Why is it so? Because in the past times the parents would not evensit together in the same bed in front of the child, and there was noquestion of kissing or hugging in front of the child, and that is wh ythe children did not know anything about that. But nowadays yousee how free we are. W e go o n kissing, hugging each other in frontof our children, and whatever w e do our children copy us and theydo the sam e thing.There was an Udasi sadhu who lived in the gurdwara of our village.He used to drink wine and smoke cigarettes and do all sorts of things,but I did not know how bad they were because I was a young child atthat time. Since I used to see him wearing the colored robes I thoughthe was a good mahatma, and I used to go and spend time with him. Myfather knew about that sadhu and told him that he should not allow meto com e and sit near him. But he did not take any action regarding that.My father also tried to explain to me that I should not go there, but Idid not listen to him because I thought that he was a good sadhu. Oncemy parents thought of a plan to intimidate me and stop me from goingto that sadhu. I had gone to see him; he was sitting on the bed and I wassitting cross-legged on the floor. At that time he was smoking a ciga-rette and he was also taking snuff because he was addicted to that.I was sitting there when suddenly my father came from behind


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16 The Reality of Drugs and Alcoholand kicked me on my neck with his foot, and he hit me veryterribly. I started weeping and I started running because I wasafraid that he would hit me again. It was very quiet in the villagesince it happened at night, and as he was chasing me he m ade morenoise and beat me less; finally I came to my mother and requestedher to save me from the beating of my father. But she said, "No, Icanno t do anything today." Anyw ay I pleaded to her and she savedme from the beating, but that experience made such an impressionon m e that after that I stopped going to that sadhu .My fathe r had said to m e, "Why do you go there? Do you wantto learn smoking and other things which that sadhu is doing?" Butuntil I got that beating I did not understand that, but afte r my fathergave me that beating I understood and I stopped going to thatsadhu. At that time I did not understand why it was important form y father to give m e that type of punishmen t, but later on the resultbecame very clear to me. Then I came to realize what would havehappened in my life if I had continued going to that sadhu, if I hadstarted learning sm okin g and the othe r things which he was doing. Iwould have ruined my life. So after that I stopped going to thatsadhu, and later on, just remem bering that expe rience, that beatingwhich my father had given me, I never went to anyone wh o wouldsmoke an d do other things like that.6

In the present time the Negative Power has laid down so manysnares, so many traps to trap the souls. You know that in the univer-sities of this world you will find only a few teachers who havemaintained a very high, very pure character. And you would notfind many students who go to the universities or schools who alsohave the sam e kind of good character. When the student goes to theuniversity it is something new for him, but there he does not findany teacher who can leave a very goo d pure impression upon h im,


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San t Ajaib Singh Ji 17becaus e the teacher himse lf is not maintaining a very goo d charac -ter. And along with the studies there are drugs, movies and otherthings which are offered to the student, and the student gets con-fused. Moreover in the home, along with their studies they havetelevision, movies; they have magazines and many other thingswhich do not help them to build up character; in fact they destroycharacter. S o w he n peop le get involve d in all those worldly thingsthey get perturbed, confu sed, becau se they d o not find anyo ne whocan leave a very good impression on them. They do not find anystudents in the universities or in the schools who have maintainedgoo d ch aracter, or wh o allow others to maintain good character.'

Kali Yuga will spread the snares of hemp, tobacco, and op ium;People will reside within the ir limits, forgetting every thing else.N ow Kabir Sahib says that Lord Kal has com e in this age, and he iscarrying m any snares. He has broug ht the snares of the intoxicants,the snare made out of hemp, the snare of tobacco, the snare ofopium, and many other bad snares. And we are always trapped inone of those snares- e do n't have m eans to get out of that trap;and in that condit ion, how can w e spare any t ime for meditation?King Babar was addicted to hemp and opium, and somebodytold him that Guru Nan ak's eyes were alway s shining, and he wasalways intoxicated. So King Babar thought that he might also beusing some o f those intoxicants. Wh en K ing Babar met Gu ru Nanakhe offered him hemp, saying, "You use this because w e have madethis in a very beautiful way, and this is a very good thing to use."Guru Nanak Sahib replied, "0 King Babar, the intoxication ofhem p o r opium com es in the mo rning and goes in the evening; afterthe intoxication is gone, one feels very bad in the body. But theintoxication of Na am rem ains forever; i t never leaves."


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Sant Ajaib Singh Ji 19There was one good man who wanted to leave the city. First hewent to the door where the cow was kept, and the guard told him

that if he wan ted to get out, he had to kick the co w. He w as a goodman, a learned man, and he remembered that in the Hindu scrip-tures it is written that it is a grave sin to kick a cow , so he though t,"I will not go through this door- will go through another door."But when he had chosen another door, he saw that the prostitutewa s there. H e thought, "It is not good to enjoy with that wom an. Inthe Hindu scriptures it is written that that also is a very bad sin."Then he went to the third door and he saw that there was meatthere, and he decided, "This is the worst sin in the world - o eatmeat after killing the animal." So he decided to go through thefourth door.When he saw the containers full of wine, he thought, "What iswrong in drinking wine? It is made of mead and sugar and there isnothing w rong in that." So he drank the wine, and after drinking thewine, he got intoxicated, and you know that when the intoxicationcom es, one loses on e's intelligence, so he went m ad. After drinkingthe win e the desire came into his m ind to eat the meat, and when heate the meat, the desire of lust came to him and he enjoyed withthat wo ma n. A fter enjo ying with the wom an, he was still intoxicat-ed with the wine and he though t of going to the fourth d oor, and asyou know, if one is intoxicated with wine, he will always find theroad very narrow : even if the road is wide, still he will find that it isvery narrow. So, even though that door was very wide, still hethought it was narrow , and he kicked that cow many times, sa ying,"Why are you staying here? You are in my way."

So in that way he committed every sin after drinking the wine,and the next morning, w hen he realized what he had don e the nightbefore, he repented, and he thought that if he had gone through anyone of those doors except that wine door, he would have had only


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20 The R eality of Drugs and A lcoholone sin to his account; but because he first went through the winedoo r, and drank that w ine, he d id all the sins. S o all evils come afterdrinking wine.Once a man came to Kunichuk to see our Master, and he toldM aster that his doctors had told him that wine is a very good thingfor the digestive sy stem , and that af ter drinking wine, one c an havea very restful sleep, therefore he co uld not give up the win e and getinitiated. Master lovingly replied, "You just think that if in yournext life you could come in the body of a bullock, where you willnot find any good food and nobody will give you any digestiveaids, then how will you digest your food and have a good sleepthen?" W hen M aster explained that to him lovingly, he understood,and he got initiated, and he left off his drinking and other addic-tions.Master Sawan Singh used to say that meat and wine cannot doany good to the hum an body.

The soul addicted to intoxicants never crosses the ocean ofl i f e

Kab ir says, "Think it over and give them up. "Now K abir S ahib speaks in very strong words. H e says that the manwho is addicted to any intoxication, how can he progress in medita-tion? There is no question of his progressing in his meditation.Only he can be called wise who, giving up all this intoxication,meditates wholeheartedly on Shabd Naam.8

There is one more thing that I would like to tell you. It hasnothing to do with the Satsangs, but it has a lot to do with yourbody. You know that nowadays the wave of drugs is flowing, andeverywhere people are involved in the use of drugs. The people


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San t Ajaib Singh Jiwh o sell drugs say that if you use them you will be able to achieveconcentration of your mind, get relaxation, and things like that. Inthe temptations of those words, people start using drugs, which isvery destructive for their mind and for their body also. By usingdrugs , you w ill not get an y relaxation or concentration of the m ind,you will spoil your body and damage your brain and your con-sciousness. It can do much other harm to you. You have the Naamwith you; you have the Simran with you. There is no medicineother than the medicine of Naam which can bring relaxation to yourmin d, or help you achieve con centration of your mind. You shoulddo Simran because you have Sim ran, and it is the only thing whichcan help you achieve c o n ~ e n t r a t i o n .~


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11. Sant Kirpal Singh Ji:Every action has a reaction and flesh-eating involves contractingfresh Karmas and thus helps to keep the inexorable Karmic wheelin motion for we have to reap what we sow. We cannot have rosesif we sow thistles.The above prohibitions apply equally to all kinds of alcoholicdrinks, intoxicants, opiates and narcotic drugs, as they tend to dullour consciousness and make us m orbid.I0Question: Do those who take drugs such as LSD and have certainexperiences- re they valid experiences?Sant Kirpal: No , no, they are hallucinations. That's the death of thesoul, you follow me? The consciousness is lessened, naturally theywill have to go to the lower planes. That is all this intoxicationstarts, it is still more death to the soul. It is deterioration. Definitelygoing down to beastlihood. Even a snake is conscious but there aredifferent degrees. Man's consciousness is more. If you use suchlikethings your consciousness is affected. You will have to go to thelower planes."

The so-ca lled spiritual experiences, had under the spe!l of drugs,are misleading and are rather likely to affect your inner progress.Spirituality is a research into the realms of reality- he conscious-ness. D rugs, opiates and intoxican ts should not be partaken as thesewill not only affect your health adversely but shall be detrimentalfor your spiritual progress. Your should please leave off all suchdrugs and learn to live without their use. It is the result o f drugging


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Sant Kirpal Singh Ji 23which has resulted in this setback when you are to suffer fromserious pains. 2

It is amusing to note about the Utopiates (LSD, Marijuana, etc.)for producing hallucinations. You may please note that spiritualityis the science of the soul, and the soul is a conscious entity in thebody. The way back to God as offered by the Masters is one ofdeveloping inner consciousness with the aid of Holy Naam (theWord). All suchlike outer aids resulting in temporary hallucina-tions, as stated by you, are certainly a mockery for the divine grace.You can well understand the vast difference between having aconscious and wide awake approach to proceeding within and thatwhich makes recourse to these outer aids which are no less thanopiates creating sensational vibrations. You will recall that theobservance of a strict diet by avoiding all flesh food, intoxicantsand opiates, is a basic essential for inner spiritual progress, forattaining a refined state of mind. We have to develop conscious-ness, the divine attribute of sou l, and for the achievem ent of (inner)consciousness, inner and outer piety and chastity are very muchneeded. The drugs are equally harmful, and should be avoided,which dull the brain and cloud the mind with vague feelings ofdistrust and confusion.13


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111. Maharaj Sawan Singh Ji:The use of liquor is bad. It unsettles the mind, and an unsettledmind brings in its train all the evils which one in a normal stateavoids. 4

Suffice it to say, therefore, that people abstain from adultery,meat, eggs and intoxicants, particularly alcohol, and practice theSound Current, go in, turn out the evils and take charge of theirhouse, and thereby qualify them selves for observing the doctrine inpractice; which means tolerating the weaknesses in others on thestrength of the love and harmony generated by going within, andlifting them up more by example than by precept.I5

Have you come across a mother who would give poison to herchildren? Meats, eggs and alcohol are poisons, and he who usesthem will suffer. There is no escape from it. Go in and see withyou r own eyes what tortures the users of these have to bear, whe th-er initiates or non-initiates.

Those wh o indulge in these are disciples of senses and not of theMaster. Their attention works on the sense plane. All their talkabout the M aster, in o r out, or abo ut their spiritual progress is sham ."Quick little petition to the inner Master," is a huge deception. Theinner Master is not so soft and easy to reach! It is true He ismerciful, but i t does not mean that the wrongdoers and the way-ward wo uld escape punishment.The Saints do not hand over their initiates to Kal, but the ini-tiates have to suffer for their m isdeeds. Suffering purifies, and onlythe pure en ter the eye center.I6


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Baba Sawan Singh Ji 25On ce the G reat Master we nt to A mritsar for Satsang. It wa s Hiscustom to give a Satsang there on every Sankrant (the 1st day ofevery Hindu month). He was going to the Satsang Ghar on the

Majitha Road in His car, and the road was very crowded. Peoplewere going to the Satsang Ghar in cars, tongas, bicycles and rick-shaw s, and a very large number were on foot. He was at a distanceof about two furlongs from the S atsang Ghar when, on a turn in theroad, a man suddenly fell down in front of His car. The driverstopped the car, and the Great Master got down to see what hadhappened. A drunkard had fallen right in front of the car, butluckily he had escaped quite unhurt. The Great Master, with thehelp of a companion of the drunken man, tried to make him standon his feet, but he was too drunk to walk steadily. A number ofSatsangis who had gathered around helped him to get out of theway. When the Great Master left, the drunkard asked who was theSardar in the car. For the Great Master's majestic figure could notbut impress this peasant, even though he was not full in his senses.His companion, who was also half tipsy, told him, perhaps just byway of leg-pulling, that the people around said that He was God,wh o had com e to earth to save sinners like him.

"God He seems to be, and I want to go to Him to get my sinsforgiven," the peasant said, and after a few minutes he, with a half-emptied bottle of liquor in his pocket, reached the Satsang Gharreclining on the shoulder of his com panion.

The G reat Master was sitting in an easy ch air, relaxing H imself.We noticed this man only when he suddenly, with unsteady steps,tumbled down at the feet of the Great Master, placed his head onHis feet, and locked the Great Master's legs in his arms."You are God. Forgive me my sins," he begged .

"No, I am not God," said the Great Master, trying to release


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26 The Reality of Drugs and AlcoholHimself from his grip. "I am a sinner like you. Now get up, myson."

"I will not rise unless you say that you have forgiven me," saidthe peasant.The Great Master laughed involuntarily and with the laughtercam e His forgiveness.Manohar, the Master's personal attendant, and Jamadar Partap

Singh wanted to remove the man by force, but the Great Masterstopped them from doing so."Well," He sa id with a sm ile, "this is a strange way of gettingforgiveness by force."Th e drunkard began to w eep bitterly."Say what you like, but I won 't leave you r feet until you forgive

me," he said.Th e Great M aster laughed heartily and put both His hands on them an 's head. "Well, rise up, for you are forgiven, my son," H e said."All my sins? Am I saved from the hell fire?" asked the peasant,raising his head."Yes, y our faith has saved you," replied the Great Master.In the evening the peasant was found standing in the queue

waiting for Initiation. A few w ere rejected, but he was am ong thosewho were accepted."You will have to abstain from alcoholic drinks and animalfood s in the future," the Gre at Master told him. "Wine I can nevergive up. It is simply impossible for me," the ma n replied."Well then, prom ise on e thing, and that is that you never take itin my presence," said the Great Master."That I do promise, Sir," said the peasant."How do you earn your livelihood?" the Great M aster asked."By theft and robbery," was the surprising reply."That must be given up. You must choose some other profes-


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Baba Sawan Singh Ji 27sion," said the Great M aster."I do not kno w any othe r profession," the man told him."But you must start to earn your living in some other way nowthat you have been initiated," the G reat Master insisted.

"I cannot do anything else, and have never done anything else,"said the peasant."All right. Then promise me on e thing more- hat you will notsteal any more than you actually need, and that you will not takeanyo ne else with you when you go out to steal."

"That I promise with all my heart," the man replied. Beforeleaving he again fell at the M aster's feet. Th e Master again blessedhim by putting bo th H is hands on his head. After this, he com mittedtheft only once.Following his Initiation he went to attend the marriage ceremo-ny of a female relative who lived in Gurdaspur district, and whilethere he ran short of money. One night he entered the house of aBania banker and broke open his strongbox. Just as he had takenhold of a bundle of currency notes, the heavy upper lid of the ironchest fell on his arm, wounding him grievously and holding it fastas in a trap. All his cu nning and cleverness failed to get him out ofit. Whe n a fter a long struggle he finally gave himself up as lost, theGreat Master appeared before him. Helping the robber to free hisarm, He said, "Did you not promise me not to steal any more thanyou needed? N ow run aw ay to save your life, and leave everythinghere." After that the peasant never again committed any theft.

On the very first day of his return to his village, his boon com-panions approached him and asked him to join them for the usualevening drinking bout. At first he refused point-blank to join theirorgy. But they were determined to celebrate, as they said, the in-auspicious o ccasio n of his being saved from hell-fire by his misfor-tune in meeting a Saint. They opened their bottles of illicit liquor,


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28 The Reality of Drugs and A lcoholand offered him a jugful of it. But with folded hands he humblybegged to be excused. At this, one of his comrades, Balwant Singh,who was his second in command, took over the command of thegroup saying that since their regular commander had gone out ofhis senses, he would act in his place. As a warning, he told theM aste r's disciple that his arms and legs wou ld be held by two loyalofficers and he would then be laid flat on the ground with his faceupw ard. Another officer would hold his hand o ver his nose, and thecom mander himself would then perform the ceremony of emptyingthe jug into his m outh."Speak, prisoner! What have you got to say in your defense?"thundered his second-in-command."I submit," the robber chieftain replied. There was a loud hurrahand a shout of , "Victory for the illicit wine!" They all filled theirjugs and sang the bacchanalian song, "Who dies as long as liquorlives." Gangu (this turned out to be the name of the man initiatedby the Great Master) had just raised his jug to his lips when he sawthe Grea t M aster appear before him."Remember your promise, my son!" said the Great Master. "Assoon as you break it, I shall take back my pardon also." Gangustood up, flung the jug at the face of his second in command, andran out of the room, slam ming the door shut behind him.Soon he returned with a rifle in his hands. "You know what asharp shooter I am," he told his former cronies. "You also knowhow ruthlessly I can kill my own men for disobedience. Now stayseated as you are, and listen to me most attentively. The leastmovement will bring instantaneous death."His second in command started to speak, saying, "Sardar. . . .""No Sardar," he thundered and at the same instant pointed hisgun towards Balwant Singh.The silence of the grave fell instantly over the group in the


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Baba Sawan Singh Ji 29room . Then the robber c hieftain spoke. "Now listen, my brothers!"he said. "I have come in touch with a Satguru, one sight of whomhas changed my life. I have promised him never to touch wineagain, or to co m mit any crim e. This robber band breaks up tonight,never to meet again to commit any crime. Here are the keys of mytreasure chest. I do not see any one am ongst you who has the qua li-ties of a leader. Take these keys and divide the money in the chestequally among you. You will each get about five thousand rupees.With this sum each of you can start any business you like. Go tosome big city and settle down there. I do not think any of yournames are as yet known to the police. You can easily start a newlife. If any of you should be arrested and accused for any of yourpast acts, I shall see that you are properly defended and acquitted. Ihave now washed my hands of this entire affair. You can speaknow , if any of you w ish to say anything.""Sardar! We won't be able to live without you," said one. Thenthey all said the same thing.

"We will all live like brothers, but no longer as thieves andcriminals," said Gangu in a very loving tone. "But no," he contin-ued. "I am a proclaimed offender. The police are after me. I won'tresist them now and so I am sure to be captured some day. S o youshould all try to keep a way from me as much as possible. Associat-ing with me won't do you any good. One last word, and I havedone. At least once in your life go to Beas, and have the Darshan(glimpse) of the Great Saint who resides there. I won't mind it ifany of you go to the police and inform against me. But mind you,this will bring more trouble on you than on me." Saying this, heflung the bunch of keys to them and with folded hands bade themgood night and farewe ll. . . . I 7


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The R eality of Drugs and Alcohol

Notes

1. Ajaib S ingh, "Remaining in the Discipline," Sant Bani Mag-azine, May 1983, p. 3, (a Satsang given in Rajasthan, India, onApril 1, 1983).

2. Ajaib Singh, "Give Up the False Intoxications", Sant BaniMagaz ine , Octo ber 1991, p. 12, (a group darshan at Sant BaniAshram, Sanbornton, N.H., on July 24, 1990).3. Ajaib Singh, "It is Never Too Late to Mend," Sant BaniMagazine, Novem ber 199 1, p. 7, (a question & answer talk given inBom bay, India, on January 12, 1987).4. Ajaib Singh , "The Traps of the Negative Power," Sant BaniMagazine, June 1986, p. 7, (a question & answer talk given inRajasthan, India, on April 2, 1986).5. Ajaib Singh, "Meditation is the Only Means of ReceivingGrace," Sant Bani Magazine, October 1987, p. 27, (a question &answer talk given in Bangalore, India, on July 8, 1987).6. Ajaib Singh, "The Traps of the Negative Power," Sant BaniMagazine, June 1986, p. 5 .

7. Ajaib Singh, "The Traps of the Negative Power," p. 3.8. Ajaib Singh, "The Many Kinds of Intoxicants," Sant BaniMagazine, July 1978, p. 3, (a Satsang given at Sant Bani AshramSanbornton, N.H., on M ay 25, 1977).9. Ajaib Singh, "The Price of Happiness," Sant Bani Maga-zine, March 1987, p. 20, (a talk given before visiting the Under-ground Room in Rajasthan, India, on January 3, 1987).

10. The Teachings of Kirpal Singh, Ruth Seader, Ed., Volume11, Self-Introspection & Meditation, (Tilton, N.H.:The Sant BaniPress, 1975) p. 60.


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Th e Real ity o f Drugs and Alcohol11. Teachings, Vol. 11, p. 64.12. Teachings, Vol. 11, p. 65.13. Teachings, Vol. 11, p. 64.14. Saw an Singh, Spiritual Gems: Extracts from Letters to Seek-ers and Disciples, (Punjab, India: Radha Soami Satsang Beas, 1965),Letter #8 0, p. 1 18.15. Spiritual Gems, Letter #202 , p. 359.16. Spiritual Gems, Letter #84, p. 123.17. Con versation of Baba Saw an Singh excerpted from The Callof the Great Master by Daryai La1 Kapur (Punjab, India: RadhaSoam i Satsang Beas, 1975), p. 172-178. Also printed in Sant Bani

Magazine, July 1987, p. 2 9.

The Reality of Drug and Alcohol

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