Surat Shabd Yoga: Encyclopedia II - Surat Shabd Yoga - Movements and masters

Surat Shabd Yoga - Movements and masters

Adherents believe Surat Shabda Yoga has been expressed through the movements of many different masters. However, because a basic principle of Surat Shabd Yoga's tradition is the requirement for an outer Living Master to initiate followers onto the Path, those movements whose historical Satgurus have died and their successors do not purport themselves to be Surat Shabd Yoga Satgurus, usually are not considered currently to be Surat Shabd Yoga movements, either by their own leaders or by movements with current Living Masters.

The Sant Mat (Radhasoami) movement of Surat Shabda Yoga was established by Shiv Dayal Singh (1818-1878) in 1861 and named "Radhasoami Satsang" circa 1866. Soamiji Maharaj, as he was known, presided over the satsang meetings for seventeen years at Panni Gali and Soami Bagh in Agra, India, until he died on June 15, 1878. ^[3] Accounts of his guru and successors vary, although he did give verbal instructions on his last day as to how his followers should be cared for. ^[4] According to Radha Soami Satsang Beas, his guru was Tulsi Sahib of Hathras. According to Soami Bagh and Dayal Bagh successors, Tulsi Sahib ^[5] was a contemporary guru of the same teachings, but being a natural born Satguru, Shiv Dayal Singh himself had no guru.

After his death, six immediate successors carried on Shiv Dayal Singh’s teachings, including Huzur Maharaj Rai Salig Ram of Peepal Mandi, Agra, and Babaji Maharaj Jaimal Singh of Dera Baba Jaimal Singh, Beas. A chart of the larger successor lineages helps show the connections among many of the contemporary Sant Mat guru lines and branches. ^[6] More information on living masters related to Shiv Dayal Singh's lineage can be found in the Sant Mat article.

Sant Kirpal Singh, a Sant Mat guru, stated that "Naam" ("Word") has been described in many traditions through the use of several different terms. In his teachings ^[7], the following expressions are interpreted as being identical to "Naam":

• "Naad", "Akash Bani", and "Sruti" in the Vedas
• "Nada" and "Udgit" in the Upanishads
• "Logos" and "Word" in the New Testament
• "Tao" by Lao Zi
• "Music of the Spheres" by Pythagoras
• "Sraosha" by Zoraster
• "Kalma" and "Kalam-i-Qadim" in the Qur'an
• "Naam", "Akhand Kirtan" and "Sacha ('True') Shabd" by Guru Granth Sahib

Sant Mat also has notable similarities to the more contemporary Quan Yin Method of meditation promoted thought the spiritual teachings of Supreme Master Ching Hai. The somewhat controversial religious movement Eckankar is considered by many, including David Lane, to be an offshoot of the Sant Mat tradition. Dr. Reender Kranenborg, a religious scholar at the Free University in Amsterdam who specialized in new religious movements and Hinduism considers Maharaji/Prem Rawat's Elan Vital (formerly called Divine Light Mission) to be a Sant Mat derivative.

MasterPath is a contemporary American movement of Surat Shabda Yoga. ^[8] The founder and current Living Master, Sri Gary Olsen, contends that several historical figures are Sat Gurus of Surat Shabda Yoga as representatives for the eternal Inner Shabda Master. A few of these Living Masters of their times include Lao Tsu, Jesus, Pythagoras, Socrates, Kabir, the Sufi Masters and mystic poets Hafez and Rumi, the Ten Sikh Gurus beginning with Guru Nanak, Tulsi Sahib, and the Radhasoami/Radha Soami and offshoot Masters, including Shiv Dayal Singh, Baba Sawan Singh and Sant Kirpal Singh. ^[9]

Surat Shabd Yoga - Variations in movements

Although all movements of Surat Shabda Yoga will have common elements related to the basic principles, notable variations also exist. For example, before he died, the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, nominated the Guru Granth Sahib as the next and perpetual Guru of the Sikhs. Other movements continue to require a Living Master to initiate students into the Shabda. Movements also will vary in the names used to describe the Absolute Supreme Being (God), including Anami Purush (nameless power) and Radha Soami (lord of the soul); the presiding deities and divisions of the macrocosm; the number of outer initiations; the words given as mantras; and the initiation vows or the prerequisites that must be agreed to before being accepted as an initiate.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Movements and masters", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki