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Spiritual development
­From ­letters by ­Sant Kir­pal ­Singh

Ro­man­tic ­life on ­the phys­i­cal ­plane ap­pears charm­ing. It ­has at­trac­tion, ­but is de­bas­ing. It ­leaves be­hind hor­ri­ble bit­ter­ness ­and a dis­like ­for ­life. ­Life on ­the high­er ­planes is ­more ro­man­tic ­and ­gives eter­nal ­peace ­and ­joy – so ­why ­lose a high­er ­and pur­er ­thing ­for low­er ­and de­bas­ing tran­si­to­ry ­things? ­One ­has, there­fore, to ­stick to ­one's prin­ci­ples ­and ­not vi­o­late ­the ­rules of pur­i­ty ­and eth­ics, ­and he ­who ­does ­this, re­ceives ­all ­the nec­es­sary ­help in ­his ef­forts ­and is great­ly benefited.

*
­The cas­u­al ­spells of de­pres­sion or dis­cou­rage­ment ­should be avoid­ed by sweet­ly re­pos­ing in ­His ­Will ­and Pleas­ure. ­You ­should ­please ­note ­that it is ­the neg­a­tive at­ti­tude of ­mind ­which of­ten ­brings ­forth ­such pe­ri­ods of anx­ie­ty re­sult­ing in ­vague frus­tra­tion ­and re­sent­ment.

*
­Fear is ­not ­good ­and ­should be dis­card­ed by giv­ing ­your wor­ries ­over to ­the ev­er­pre­sent gra­cious Mas­ter­pow­er work­ing over­head. ­Fear is al­ways ­based on ­some un­known ap­pre­hen­sion ­and ­one ­should ­look at it square­ly ­and ­then it ­will ­flee in no ­time, as it is a re­sult of ­your ­self-creat­ed frus­tra­tion.

*
­Ups ­and ­downs do ­come. ­Even ­the dark­est ­cloud ­has a sil­ver lin­ing. We ­must al­ways ­look to ­the ­bright ­side of ­things. ­Many ­good ­and nec­es­sary les­sons ­are de­rived ­from ad­ver­si­ties. ­These ­are in­deed help­ful.1

*
­You ­need ­not ­dwell ­much on ­your per­son­al char­ac­ter or im­pur­i­ties of ­mind. It ­amounts to ­self-­pity. Al­though it is a ­very hap­py au­gu­ry to be con­scious of ­one's ­short-com­ings, un­due ap­pre­hen­sion some­times ­breeds mor­bid­i­ty ­which ham­pers in­ner ­progress. ­Any mo­ment ­you ­feel de­pressed ­you ­should re­sort to ­the count­ing of man­i­fold bless­ings grant­ed to ­you by ­the gra­cious Mas­ter­pow­er. De­pres­sion ­and de­spair ­breed in ego­is­tic ­hearts. ­Ego is a hu­man ele­ment. It is an­ni­hi­lat­ed ­very slow­ly by med­i­tat­ing on ­sound cur­rent ­and ­light prin­ci­ples. Grad­u­al­ly it ­will ­dawn up­on ­you ­that ­you ­are a ­doll in ­the ­hands of Di­vine Pow­er danc­ing to ­His ­bid.2

*
­Your Mas­ter is con­stant­ly ­with ­you ex­tend­ing ­His pro­tec­tive ­hand ­and ­knows ­what is ­best ­for ­you. ­Trust in ­Him; ­shake ­off sad­ness ­and car­ry on stead­fast­ly. He is com­pe­tent ­and pow­er­ful. He nev­er ­fails ­His chil­dren.

*
Read­ing of ­books is a ­good ­thing. ­But ­their pur­pose is ­that ­one ­should ­mould ­his ­life so ­that ­the ­good ­about ­which ­one ­reads be­comes a ­part of ­his ­life.

*
­You ­ask ­about mu­sic. Mu­sic is ­not nec­es­sar­i­ly ­bad ­for spir­i­tu­al med­i­ta­tions, as prayer­ful ­hymns some­times ­prove ben­e­fi­cial in awak­en­ing ­the in­ner im­pulse. ­But out­er mu­sic ­feeds ­the ­mind, where­as lis­ten­ing to ­the ho­ly ­Sound Cur­rent ­feeds ­the ­soul, ­with ­which it is sur­charged as it en­a­bles it to ­have reg­u­lar ­flights to ­the re­gions of ­the Be­yond.

*
I ­note ­your in­cli­na­tion ­for ­golf ­and ­cards. ­The lat­ter ­game is harm­ful ­and ­you ­have ­done ­right to dis­con­tin­ue it. ­Please ­stick to ­your res­o­lu­tion ­and for­get ­all ­about it ­and do ­not ­dwell up­on ­past hap­pen­ings or ­try to re­cap­ture ­their pleas­ures ­for in ­that ­way ­the ­mind is ­fed sur­rep­ti­tious­ly. Be­side ­you ­should re­sort to ear­nest rep­e­ti­tion of ­the sa­cred ­charged ­Names ­with fer­vent ­prayer ­when ­and if ­your ­mind ­craves ­for it. ­Golf is a ­good ­game so ­far as ­its phys­i­cal re­fresh­ing as­pects ­are con­cerned. It is a ­good phys­i­cal ex­er­cise ­and if ­you ­can af­ford it, ­there is no ob­jec­tion to ­your con­tin­u­ing ­with it. ­You ­know gambling of ­the ­like is harm­ful. ­You ­will ap­pre­ciate ­that ­the ­mind is al­ready ­full of rest­less at­trib­utes – so feed­ing it ­with ­more of sim­i­lar dis­turb­ing ide­as ­will sim­ply ­mean add­ing ­fuel to ­the ­fire.

*
As re­gards smok­ing, ­you ­can ­stop it if ­you de­sire ­and ­are de­ter­mined. ­Where ­there is a ­will, ­there is a ­way. Less­en ­the hab­it grad­u­al­ly ­and ­one ­day ­you ­will ­find your­self ­free ­from ­this bur­den. Re­strict it to "af­ter ­meals" on­ly ­and ­then ­give it up. Mas­ter­pow­er over­head ­will be ex­tend­ing ­all fea­si­ble ­help in amend­ing ­your hab­it in ­this re­spect if ­you fol­low ­this ad­vice. If by ab­stain­ing ­from smok­ing, ­you ­feel ­any ail­ment, ­you ­can ­have re­course to ho­mo­e­o­path­ic med­i­cine i. e. "tab­a­cum" ­which ­will re­lieve ­you of ­all trou­ble. ­The hab­it ­must be stand­ing in ­your ­way of med­i­ta­tion in ­the ­form of prec­e­dence to smok­ing ­prior to ­your re­solve to de­vote ­time to med­i­ta­tion.

*
Keep­ing a dai­ly ­record or ­diary is ­the ­best meth­od to be­come con­scious of ­one's ­short-com­ings ­and er­rors. Erad­i­cate ­and up­root ­them ­and ­plan fu­ture ­progress. With­out ­such ­self-anal­y­sis ­and ­self-crit­i­cism no ­real ad­vance­ment is pos­si­ble.

*
I am sor­ry ­for ­the fam­i­ly dis­rup­tion ­caused by a mis­un­der­stand­ing on ­the ­part of ­your ­dear moth­er ­and ­dear hus­band. ­Such ­things do hap­pen some­times ­for test­ing ­the in­teg­ri­ty of spir­i­tu­al as­pir­ants. I ap­pre­ciate ­your ­calm at­ti­tude in ­the ­face of prov­o­ca­tion ­which ­will ­have a sal­u­tary ef­fect on ­their ­strained ­nerves. ­The gold­en prin­ci­ple to be ap­plied in ­such a sit­u­a­tion is to ­leave ­the ­place ­and al­low ­the at­mos­phere to be­come ­more fa­vour­a­ble ­for weigh­ing ­the se­quenc­es ­and ­the con­se­quenc­es. A tum­bler ­full of ­cold wa­ter ­when tak­en ­very of­ten ­helps to ­bring ­down ­the tem­per ­and ­should be re­sort­ed to ­and as­tute si­lence be ob­served. ­This is a ­tried med­i­cine ­for guid­ance, ­which ­may be com­mu­ni­cat­ed to ­both of ­them.1

*
It is in­cor­rect to ­think ­that ­you ­have mar­ried a ­wrong per­son, as it is strict­ly in ac­cor­dance ­with ­the Di­vine ­Plan ­that on­ly des­tined peo­ple ­are mar­ried to ­each oth­er ­for ­the kar­mic rea­sons. ­Two peo­ple ­are ­brought to­geth­er by ­the un­seen ­hand of ­God. ­Whom ­God ­unites, ­let no earth­ly pow­er dis­u­nite. ­You ­are ­one ­soul in ­two bod­ies.

*
If ­you ­have chil­dren, or fa­ther, moth­er, ­wife, hus­band, ­see ­the ­Light of ­God in ­them. He ­has unit­ed ­you in re­la­tion­ship, ­not mere­ly ­for an out­er ­bond ­but to ­see ­and ­serve ­God in ­them. If ­you do so, ­there ­will be no bond­age in ­your re­la­tion­ships. Bond­age oc­curs on­ly ­when ­the I-­hood ­steps in ­and ­the ­Lord is for­got­ten. So ­you ­can do ­all ­the ­world's ­work, ­but ­live ­like a com­pass ­whose nee­dle al­ways ­points in ­one di­rec­tion.

*
If ­you ­wish to ­have ­one or ­two chil­dren, ­well ­and ­good, ­but ­look af­ter ­them prop­er­ly ­and ­help ­them to be­come some­thing ­good. ­Set a wor­thy ex­am­ple ­for ­them, ­and re­main ­aware of ­the re­spon­si­bil­i­ties of par­ent­hood. Fur­ther­more, ­the ­whole fam­i­ly ­should ­sit to­geth­er ­and ­sing ­the ­praise of ­the ­Lord.

*
If ­the chil­dren ­make mis­takes, ap­peal to ­their fin­er in­stincts, ­with ­love ­and care­ful un­der­stand­ing. Los­ing ­one's tem­per, shout­ing, ­and tak­ing vi­o­lent ac­tion ­will on­ly con­fuse ­them; ­they ­will ­not ­know ­what ­they ­have ­done ­wrong. ­Take ­time to ex­plain, ­even ­three or ­four ­times, ­and it ­will even­tu­al­ly ­have ef­fect.2

*
­Our du­ty is to ­bring up chil­dren ­and ­make ­them ­ideal ­men – ­even bet­ter ­than ­you ­are. If ­you ­are to ­bring up a ­child, Mas­ters ­say, ­bring ­him up a ­Saint or ­bring ­him up a ­brave ­man, or a ­man ­who ­will ­help oth­ers. Bring­ing ­forth chil­dren ­who ­are of no ­use is tak­ing a bur­den ­for noth­ing. Ei­ther he ­should be a ­brave ­man, or he ­should be ­one ­who ­will be of ser­vice to ­all oth­ers. 3

*
Abor­tion is an un­nat­u­ral ac­tion ­and ­amounts to tak­ing of ­life. It ­should ­not be en­cour­aged ­for ob­vi­ous rea­sons of kar­mic ­debts.2

*
We ­must re­form our­selves be­fore we ­can re­form oth­ers, ­but un­for­tu­nate­ly we ­are al­ways anx­ious to re­form oth­ers. We ­should ­weed ­out ­all im­per­fec­tions, ­one by ­one, by ­self-in­tro­spec­tion ­and ­this ­will ­bring ­peace ­all ­around. ­Love beau­ti­fies every­thing ­and if we ­learn to ­love eve­ry­one, ­all ­our im­per­fec­tions ­can be ­washed ­away, es­pe­cial­ly by lov­ing ­kind ­words.1

*
­Why do ­you go by hear­say? ­One is ­led ­away by hear­say. ­First, ­don't be­lieve un­less ­you ­see ­for ­your ­own ­self or ­hear ­with ­your ­own ­ears. ­Don't be­lieve any­body. He ­may ­have ­some pur­pose be­hind – ­some self­ish mo­tive, ­some mis­chief. Be­lieve on­ly ­when ­you ­see, ­not on­ly ­see, ­but ­hear, ­too. See­ing al­so some­times mis­leads a ­man. Sup­pose a daugh­ter is sit­ting by ­the fa­ther. Peo­ple ­say, "Oh ­what is it – ­they ­are sit­ting ­both to­geth­er." ­But ­hear ­them – ­what ­sort of ­talk ­they ­are hav­ing. Peo­ple ­see ­from ­their ­own an­gle.4

*
As al­ready men­tioned, eve­ry cit­i­zen ­has an ob­li­ga­tion to ­the coun­try in ­which he re­sides. If ­that coun­try is threat­ened by an in­vad­er, ­then it is ­the du­ty of eve­ry ­man ­and wom­an, in ac­cor­dance ­with ­his or ­her men­tal ­and phys­i­cal ca­pac­i­ty, to pro­tect ­the in­no­cent peo­ple of ­the coun­try. ­For ex­am­ple, ­one ­could ren­der ser­vice in a ­non-com­bat­ant ­branch of ­the ar­my ­such as ­the Med­i­cal ­Corps ­whose pri­mary du­ty is to re­lieve ­the suf­fer­ing of ­the wound­ed, ­and ­the ­like. If a gov­ern­ment, ­for ­any ­cause, or­ders a gen­er­al con­scrip­tion of ­all ­able-bod­ied ­men to ­the ­armed forc­es, ­there is lit­tle ­that ­can be ­done. If ­one ­can hon­est­ly be ex­cused ­from mil­i­tary ser­vice be­cause of phys­i­cal dis­a­bil­i­ty or ­any oth­er val­id rea­son, ­then by ­all ­means ­this ­may be ­done. ­All ­Saints ­and Mas­ters ­have great­ly dep­re­cat­ed ­not on­ly ­wars, ­but ­all ­forms of vi­o­lence ­that ­bring suf­fer­ing to man­kind. ­These con­di­tions ­are ­brought ­about by ­man him­self, ­who, in ­his ig­nor­ance of ­the ­fact ­that ­God re­sides in eve­ry ­heart, ­will ­not al­low ­his fel­low ­man to ­live in free­dom ­and ­peace. ­All ­the ­dear ­ones ­who ­are ­obliged to fulfil ­their du­ty to ­their coun­try ­should ­have ­full ­faith ­and cou­r­age in ­the gra­cious pro­tec­tion ­and guid­ance be­ing ex­tend­ed to ­them by ­the Mas­ter­pow­er work­ing over­head.5

*
­When ­the dis­ci­ple ­lives an eth­i­cal ­life, ­this pro­vides a fer­tile ­ground ­for ­the spir­i­tu­al ­seed to ­grow quick­ly. ­All chil­dren ­are equal­ly ­dear to ­the Mas­ter ­and He ­wants ­them to blos­som in­to beau­ti­ful, lov­ing flow­ers emit­ting ­the ­deep fra­grance of ­God's ­love. ­And ­Master's ­love ­for ­His chil­dren sur­pass­es ­all ­things wheth­er ­they ­are jew­el­lery, ­gold or ­pearls. He ­wants ­His chil­dren to re­ceive ­such ­gifts of a spir­i­tu­al na­ture, so ­that by com­par­i­son ­the mil­lions of oth­er ­gifts ­made of ­gold ­and di­a­monds ­just ­fade in­to in­sig­nif­i­cance.

*
Spir­i­tu­al­i­ty is ­the high­est ­goal in ­man's ­life ­and it is al­so ­the ­most dif­fi­cult. On­ly ­those ­who ­are real­ly in ­search of ­the ­Truth ­should ven­ture ­forth to ­tread on ­this ­Path.1


1 ­from ­the ­book "Spir­i­tu­al Elix­ir" by ­Sant Kir­pal ­Singh
2 ­from ­the ­book "­The Teach­ings of Kir­pal ­Singh" ­vol. ­III
3 ­from a lec­ture ­held in Vir­gin­ia on 25 Sep­tem­ber, 1972
4 ­from ­the ­book "­Light of Kir­pal" – chap­ter 31
5 ­from a let­ter to ­all in­i­tiates dat­ed 6 Oc­to­ber, 1969