Biography of Huzur Maharaj By Sant Das Maheshwari M. Sc. Personal Assistant to Babuji Maharaj Radhasoami Faith - Soami Bagh, Agra, India Radhasoami Satsang, Soami Bagh, Agra, India. Biography of Huzur Maharaj Copyright © 1971 by Sant Das Maheshwari All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the author. The Biography of Huzur Maaraj was brought out in Hindi by the undersigned in 1966, in two volumes comprising 750 pages, the first volume on the anniversary of the departure of Soamiji Maharaj, the Radhasoami Faith - Soami Bagh, Agra, India August Founder of the Radhasoami Faith, and the second on the day of the annual Bhandara of Babuji Maharaj, the firth Sant Sat Guru of the Faith. The Biography in English is now being presented on the auspicious day of Gurupurnima in 1971. Contents CHAPTERS. INTRODUCTORY ............................................................................... 1 SALUTATION ................................................................................... 15 TIME AND PLACE OF THE ADVENT OF THE SUPREME ......... 17 HOROSCOPES................................................................................... 25 THE FIRST MEMORABLE MEETING WITH SOAMIJI ............... 33 BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD .............................................................. 39 FAMILY HISTORY ........................................................................... 41 HOUSEHOLD LIFE ........................................................................... 43 IN GOVERNMENT SERVICE .......................................................... 47 Radhasoami Faith - Soami Bagh, Agra, India ESTABLISHMENT OF GENERAL SATSANG .............................. 57 IN THE SATSANG OF SOAMIJI MAHARAJ ................................. 65 SEWAS (SERVICES) PERFORMED IN THE DARBAR OF SM ... 69 HUZUR MAHARJ‟S LETTERS TO SOAMIJI MAHARAJ ............ 79 SOAMIJI MAHARAJ‟S LETTERS TO HUZUR MAHARAJ ......... 93 ARTI SHABDS COMPOSED BY SOAMIJI FOR HM .................... 99 SOAMIJI MAHARAJ‟S DEPARTURE TO NIJ DHAM ................ 107 SAMADH OF SOAMIJI MAHRAJ AND HIS BHANDARA ........ 111 RADHAJI MAHARAJ ..................................................................... 115 SAR BACHAN RADHASOAMI POETRY .................................... 121 PREFACE TO SAR BACHAN RADHASOAMI POETRY ........... 133 HIDAYATNAMA (ESOTERIC INSTRUCTIONS) ....................... 141 SAR BACHAN RADHASOAMI PROSE ....................................... 149 HUZUR MAHARAJ‟S SATSANG ................................................. 157 HUZUR MAHARAJ‟S DEPARTURE TO NIJ DHAM .................. 185 HUZUR MAHARAJ'S WORKS. ..................................................... 193 EXTRACTS FROM HM'S LETTERS TO SATSANGIS ................ 215 HISTORIC LETTER WRITTEN BY HM TO SETH SAHEB ........ 249 EXTRACTS FROM HM'S LETTERS TO MS AND BM ............. 253 SOME ANECDOTESRadhasoami OF GRACE, Faith - Soami MERCY, Bagh, PROTECTION Agra, India ....... 277 SHORT BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF SOME DEVOTEES . 297 APPENDIX 'A' ............................................................................... 339 APPENDIX B ................................................................................. 347 BIOGRAPHY OF HUZUR MAHARAJ 1 INTRODUCTORY 1. R Á D H Á S O Á M I is the true, real and Dhwanyátmak1 Name of the Supreme Being, resounding in splendid refulgence in higher spheres. This Name was given out by the Supreme Being Himself, when He made His advent in this world as Sant Sat Guru, the true supreme guide and preceptor in human form. 2. According to Radhasoami Faith, the entire creation is com- prised of three grand divisions; (i) Spiritual, (ii) Spiritual-material and (iii) Material-spiritual. (i) Pure spirit, uncontaminated with matter, exists in the first grand division. Here the Supreme Being reigns over entirely spiritual life. This is the purest possible form of life. It has no other desire but to love and serve the SupremeRadhasoami Being. Faith The - Soami joys Bagh,— the Agra, very India existence — of this purely spiritual life are derived from the Su- preme Being, who is the Ocean of spirituality, love and joy. Nothing relating to this division is known or has been known to the founders of any other religious creeds. It comprises of six sub-divisions and is called the Dayal Desh or the region of mercy. (ii) The second or Spiritual-material grand division, as its name indicates, consists both of spirit and matter. But matter here is comparatively speaking pure and is subject to, and under the control of, spirit. Life here is 1 See 'Varnatmak' at page 269 of the Glossary of Radhasoami Faith. [1] 2 Introductory very pure and, though clothed in pure material forms, spirit predominates. This division also comprises of six sub-divisions and is called the Brahmand or the region of Universal Mind and pure matter. (iii) In the third or Material-spiritual grand division, the matter predominates over spirit. Life is composed of spirits wholly clothed in coarse matter. Having entirely forgotten the higher abode, from which they originally sprang, the spirits here have acquired carnal desires and passions. This division also comprises of six sub- divisions and is called the Pind or the region of Individ- ual Mind and coarse matter. 3. The six Chakras or centres or ganglia of Pind or the material- spiritual division are:— First in the rectum Second Radhasoamiin the reproductiveFaith - Soami organBagh, Agra, India Third in the navel Fourth in the solar plexus (heart centre) Fifth in the throat Sixth in the pineal gland, also known as the Tisra Til or the third Til. It is the seat of spirit. 4. The six Chakras or centres of Brahmand or the spiritual-material division are:— First Shiva Lok or the sphere of Shiva Second Brahma ká Lok or the sphere of Brahma [2] Introductory 3 Third Vishnu Lok or the sphere of Vishnu Fourth Sahas-dal-kanwal, the sphere of Jyoti Niranjan Fifth Trikutí, the sphere of Omkár Sixth Sunn, the sphere of Rárangh 5. The six centres of the purely spiritual division, known as Dayal Desh or Sat Desh, are:— First Bhanwarguphá the sphere of Sohang Second Satlok or Sachkhand the sphere of Sat Nám Sat Purush Third Anámí Fourth Alakh Radhasoami Faith - Soami Bagh, Agra, India Fifth Agam Sixth Rádhásoamí 6. RADHASOAMI is the highest. There is no region above Radha- soami Dham2. This is the beginning and source of all. 7. All the old revealed religions have for their goal one sphere or the other comprised in the second grand division or the spiritual- material regions, which are subject to decay and dissolution, because matter is invariably changing, and the regions subject to its influence, however subtle they may be, sooner or later must and do undergo change. 2 Abode. Region. Sphere. [3] 4 Introductory 8. The deliverance of spirit from the bondages of mind and matter, the body and senses, and its gradual ascension and eventual entrance into the First or Highest Division, by the practice of Surat Shabd Yoga, is perfect salvation. 9. The Supreme Being, Radhasoami Dayal, is a boundless ocean of spirituality, love and bliss. The spirit entity is a drop from this ocean or a ray of the Supreme Sun and in essence is the same as the Supreme Father. Having descended from the Highest or First Region, the Surat (spirit) has in its present state become encased in material coverings and, in a manner, intermingled with matter and is in the Third Region, subject to the forces resulting from such admixture. It has thereby lost its innate powers of discrimination and intelligence, and has become subject to carnal desires and passions. As long as it remains in the second and third divisions where mind and matter exist, it cannot be free from future births in the lower or higher regions. It is only in the First or the Highest Division where mind and matter do not exist that there is no re-birth. There is everlasting conscious state of love and bliss. Radhasoami Faith - Soami Bagh, Agra, India 10. The seat of the spirit in the human body is at the top of Pind, viz., the sixth ganglion, reckoned from the rectum, and that of the heart is in the fourth ganglion. The main feature of internal practices (Surat Shabd Yoga) prescribed by Radhasoami religion is the concentration of the sensory current diffused in the body, at the seat of spirit and its subsequent exaltation to higher spheres in the manner, and according to the secret modes of practices, given out at the time of initiation. Concentration is effected by repetition mentally of the Holy Name RADHASOAMI and the contemplation of the image of the living Sant Sat Guru at the seat of the spirit, the sixth Chakra (ganglion) or the third Til (eye). Spirit is raised by hearing internally and intently the sound current of higher spheres. By concentrating at a particular point or aperture of Brahmand or Dayal Desh in brain and raising the spirit, communion is established with the sphere (macrocosm) which corres- ponds with that point or aperture in the body (microcosm). [4] Introductory 5 11. There can be no worship of the Impersonal Being as the imper- sonal and formless cannot be contemplated or conceived of. The contemplation of the Supreme Being as an infinite expanse is mea- ningless and impossible. The form of the Sant Sat Guru assumed by the Supreme Being reflects pure spirituality of Dayal Desh, and its contemplation is the contemplation of that pure spirituality. It is only that form that can effect purification, concentration and ascension of spirit. The