A Journey through Aesthetic Realms
 
Path of Saints: Sant Mat Tradition of Light and Sound      
Halo peaceful viewers. Welcome to A Journey through Aesthetic Realms. Today, we will briefly explore the ancient Sant Mat tradition of Light and Sound.

Sant Mat is a time honored spiritual way that leads people to rediscovering their full potential as human beings. To know one’s true Self and realize oneness with the Creator are the goals of Sant Mat, meaning “Path of the Saints,” “Teachings of the Saints,” or “Path of Truth.”

One is able to get in contact with God by receiving initiation from an enlightened teacher and practicing meditation. The meditation technique, always offered free of charge, involves contemplating on God’s manifestations in the inner Light and Sound. In Sant Mat, it is taught that real inner experience through meditation is necessary to realize God, rather than theory and doctrines. In Sanskrit, “Sant” refers to a Master of the highest Order. To practice the meditation, it is important that one has a living Master.

The initiation, however, may take place with a representative. This is how this ancient spiritual way has been passed through a long lineage of enlightened Masters. The Sants of the past include Sri Swami Ramanand, or Ramananda, who lived the 14th century. He taught that one’s Divine identity does not depend on one’s social status. He accepted disciples of all backgrounds, teaching in the commonly spoken Hindi language.

Swami Ramanand had many disciples. One of the most famous ones was Sant Kabir, who is recognized as a great spiritual teacher and mystic poet. Another well known Sant was Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The Sikh Masters who came after Guru Nanak were also part of the Sant Mat lineage, the lineage of the Light and Sound. Most of the Masters teaching this method were centered in India.

Today in the modern world, countless people worldwide from various cultures practice and reap the benefits of Sant Mat, the saintly way of life. These benefits include increased inner peace, centeredness and inward strength, and clarity in solving problems. Through the meditation, one can develop greater respect, understanding, and love for all beings. Thus, a sense of service to humanity expands within the heart of a Sant Mat practitioner.

Meanwhile, one’s purpose in life becomes clearer through meditation and an ethical lifestyle. The practitioner should observe five precepts, which are Ahimsa or nonviolence, truthfulness, avoidance of sexual misconduct, love for all regardless of caste, creed, wealth, or intellectual attainments, and the maintenance of a strict vegetarian diet.

Drugs and alcohol are also to be avoided. The practicality found within these precepts and the meditation method earned Sant Mat the description, “science of the soul.” Mr. Kurt Young is an experienced American practitioner of Sant Mat. In an interview with Supreme Master Television, he explained the basic teachings of the Sant Mat path.

The basic teachings are that we as human beings are designed to really awaken in to our highest potential and to become one with God, or whatever source we wish to give that conscious name. And yet to do that we also have to mold our lifestyle in a way that is supportive of that, through a diet which is most conducive for sustaining health and also for keeping the mind more relaxed and peaceful, and that creates as little impact on the outer world as possible.

And that is namely the vegetarian diet. And of course, avoiding things that will tend to weaken or suppress our consciousness, such as drugs and alcohol or cigarettes and so on. So it’s a very practical lifestyle. And he [Param Sant Thakar Singh] also asked that people devote at least 10% or even more of their time to meditation, specifically on this inner Light

and this inner Sound. And in this way, we’ll be able to go through this world in a very comfortable way. Physically we’ll be more healthy, more relaxed, more peaceful, and also inwardly we will be able to grow in this direction. So it’s a very practical science, you could say. And yet, it is something that people can never understand through books, but only through experience.

When we return, Mr. Kurt Young shares his experiences on the journey to his own sainthood. We’ll also find out more about the Sant Mat spiritual group. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

Welcome back to A Journey through Aesthetic Realms. Mr. Kurt Young has been a devoted Sant Mat practitioner for over two decades and is a disciple of the late Indian Master Param Sant Thakar Singh Ji. He shared his experience of how he met his Master Param Sant Thakar Singh and came to practice meditation on the Light and Sound.

I would say the first thing was at my father’s funeral when I was 16. I looked above his casket and there was a ball of white light like a small sun. And I didn’t know what it was but it was almost living, almost… it was filled with consciousness. And from that day on, something changed in me, and I began looking and studying Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Sufism, esoteric Christianity, mainly in classes that I was taking in the boarding school that I was at near Santa Barbara.

One of the teachers that I was studying with in that class arranged for a great saint from India to come and actually speak at our high school, because some of his students had actually gone to India and met him and so on, and learned the meditations. So when he came and spoke at the school, I was sitting there frustrated because of the difficulty understanding his strong Indian accent. And after 20 minutes I finally stopped focusing on his words and just studied him as a man.

Immediately, I began looking around the room wondering, “What is this energy?” because I could feel a palpable energy of peace and love that my mind couldn’t understand. And next I began rubbing my eyes, because I thought that I was seeing things or there was something in my eye, because I saw this white light around his head. Ultimately, I went home, and I wrote him and asked him about my concerns with the vegetarian diet and so on and the lifestyle, because I was very much into sports. And he wrote back. And when I opened that letter it literally was like the rays of a sun were pouring into my face, but it was rays of love. And I just burst into tears and was overwhelmed in ways unlike anything I had ever experienced before.

So ultimately, he encouraged me… because as a child I had heard this inner Sound that would keep me up at night, it was so loud, and I didn’t know what it was. And I found out that this man was teaching a meditation that was concerned with this inner Sound and also inner Light.

Eventually, Mr. Young travelled to India and met Param Sant Thakar Singh. Through initiation, the living Master was able to establish the inner connection within Mr. Young, the spiritual aspirant, to his Higher Self. Thus, the inner Light and Sound of which he had glimpses since his youth could now be accessed permanently through daily meditation. Mr. Young had a deep and loving affinity with his Master.

There was a presence about him and a love and a peace that was unlike anything I had ever seen before. And yet there was a humility and a gentleness. I feel that so many people during the course of their own spiritual journey will find a particular Master that deeply touches them in their heart. And nobody can know who that Master will be, except that individual. And so in this case he was the Master that deeply impacted my heart in ways that caused me to serve his organization for 22 years.

So what did you do when you came back to America eventually?

Eventually, I began serving in the organization for Sant Thakar Singh, and ultimately began helping to organize his so-called missionaries or initiating representatives. And that was a process where we just trained people to convey the initiation process so that more people could learn the meditations and derive the benefits found therein.

Sant Mat was first brought to the West by Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Ji, who graced the Earth in the latter half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. During his youth, Hazur Baba Sawan Singh studied all world religions with an open mind. He taught that God is in every heart, spirituality is the shared heritage of humankind, and the goal of spirituality is the union of the soul with God.

He advised an honest livelihood and never accepted gifts from anyone. As his teachings gained widespread recognition, students travelled from Europe and North America to India to learn meditation under Baba Sawan Singh’s guidance. The lineage for contacting the inner Light and Sound has continued since time immemorial through various enlightened Masters.

Today, Supreme Master Ching Hai is a living Master who is also able to impart the way of the Light and Sound through the Quan Yin Method. Mr. Young wished to convey his greetings to Supreme Master Ching Hai.

Greetings Master Ching Hai. I just wanted to honor and salute you for the incredible work that you have done all over the world in lifting up the lives of countless people and making the planet a better place to live. So, I hope you are well in health and that your mission continues to blossom and flourish as it has been for so many years. So I send you my love and good cheer, and perhaps we’ll see each other someday down the road.

Supreme Master Ching Hai conveyed the following reply to Mr. Young’s greetings. “You’re always in my heart and the Master is proud of you surely. I love you so much Kurt. May God love you even more and bless you. Please continue to spread the enlightened way of Sant Mat to help the world.” Love love, CH

We appreciate Mr. Young for sharing your precious experiences on the spiritual path, and send you best wishes.

Good-hearted viewers, thank you for joining us on today’s A Journey through Aesthetic Realms, featuring Sant Mat, the Path of Saints.

May the teachings of the sages guide us all in the way of truth and goodness.

Now, please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television for Our Noble Lineage, after Noteworthy News.

Wishing your soul Heaven’s blissful light and melody.

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