The following section contains the collected quotes from Satguru Sirio Ji and earlier Masters of Surat Shabd Yoga.
“In this world in order to achieve peace and happiness everyone is running here and there. As children we think that when we grow to our youth then we will be happier. But when we become teenagers we go further away from the peace and happiness because there are so many difficulties and problems at that age. When we are in our youth we think that older people have peace and happiness, but when we become older we find that we have gone even further away from peace and happiness. We do not have any peace or happiness even in our old age. When we are poor we think that rich people have peace and happiness, but if we become rich we find no peace and happiness from all the worldly wealth. If we are a low officer we think that if we become a high officer then we will get peace and happiness. But when we achieve high office, when we are promoted, even then we do not find any peace or happiness. When we advance in our position we lose our peace and happiness because “uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.” So Saints and Mahatmas lovingly tell us that you cannot find any peace and happiness from those worldly things. If there is any peace or happiness, you can get that only by going within and getting back to your Real Home.”
“The Master is always with His initiates working over their heads and He is never unaware of their inner longings and feelings. He helps to wind up the karmic debts so that they need not return for another earthly sojourn.”
“Masters tell us that if we have very good fortune, good fate, only then are we chosen by God Almighty for doing His devotion, and only then He sends us to the Perfect Master. If we have more good fortune then that Master accepts us and He connects us with the Naam. And if we have even better fortune, then we start believing in the Master and we start practicing the Path on which the Master puts us. So let us take advantage of this beautiful opportunity which our Beloved Masters have given to us to do the devotion. Let us all withdraw our attention from the outside and concentrate in the meditation.”
“The Master’s love for His children is unfathomable. Often the children are besmeared with dirt. He will not discard them or let them down, but will first clean them of the dirt and then will warmly hug them to His bosom.”
“If we could learn to withdraw at will from the body, while remaining in the body, we can then know the nature of our real self, the animating life-impulse in us. This has been the teachings of all the rishis and munis of yore and the spiritual teachers of the East and the West. It is all a matter of practical self-analysis. And it can be experienced directly and immediately with the active help and guidance of an adept or a Master of Para-Vidya or the knowledge of the beyond — the knowledge that lies beyond the senses, mind and intellect. It is a regular science of soul, knowing which, everything else becomes known and nothing remains to be known. We can then become a master in our own house, able to direct it as we like.”
“To achieve a degree of self-surrender to the will of the Master one must not look up to the deity in its abstract form but in its human form as the Master. For how else is one to know God’s will directly in order to surrender one’s self to it? What one may take as an intuition inspired by the divine may be really one’s own self speaking in disguise, and one may surrender to such seeming intuitions and therefore surrender to the self, the ego. However, if one has found a true Master (who is attuned to the Lord and is His mouthpiece) and obeys Him in all things completely and absolutely, he will surely destroy the ego and reach his heavenly home one day.”
“Often I have said that I got many opportunities to go to all the different societies and communities and religions, and I did almost all the rites and rituals which people used to do in India in those days. I went to different temples, mosques and other holy places. For me all the temples and religious places were the same: I did not hate anyone, I did not feel any difference between those holy places, because I was searching for God Almighty. And I performed austerities, I did the practices of water, I moved the rosary, I did all kinds of rites and rituals; but when I came to my beloved Master only then I realized that all the rites and rituals, all the outer practices which I had done, had no value in the Court of the Lord. If there is anything which finds a place in the Court of the Lord, it is the real meditation; and that is why when I realized the Reality I said, “O my beloved Lord, after giving up all the supports of this world, finally I have taken Your support. I have sought refuge at Your Feet and now you should shower grace on me and improve my life.”
“You will be glad to know that to sit in complete silence, reposing all in the gracious Master overhead, is what is necessary for the initiates, and all else is to come in its own time with His grace.”
“It is not true that so far no one has become successful in crossing this Ocean of Life. And it is not true to say that all the times, the jivas, the souls, have been wandering in this world, or in this creation only. All those souls who have gone to the perfect Master have easily been taken across. So that is why the Masters always come into this world, because They Themselves have gone across. So those who go to Him. They also take them across this Ocean of Life. Guru Nanak Sahib says that just as the rivers can go back to their origin only if they have the grace of God Almighty. in the same way, we also can go back to our origin only if God Almighty showers His grace upon us and only if we get attached to the Shabd. When God Almighty showers His grace upon us, only then we get the yearning, we get the encouragement to go to the Master, and the Master also connects us with that Shabd. So just as the rivers can go back to their origin only if God Almighty showers His grace upon them, in the same way our souls can also go back to our origin only if God Almighty showers His grace upon us through the perfect Masters Who have always come into this world.”
“One begins to do things in order to carry on with the higher ideal always before him or her, the fulfillment of which becomes an all absorbing vocation in one’s life.”
“Saints and Mahatmas, lovers of God, have always given out this truth to the world: that our soul is of the same essence as that of God, and after getting separated from the Almighty Lord she has come down into this world. Ever since she has been separated from Almighty God she has always experienced pains and sufferings. First of all the soul never tries to search for God Almighty from Whom she has been separated, and even if she tries to search for God Almighty she never does it at the right place. This means she never goes within herself – within our soul, within our Self, God Almighty resides – instead of looking for God Almighty inside, she goes outside to search for Him. She goes to the forests, to the mountains, and to the other places in search for God. But since He is nowhere outside, and is only within us, that is why she never becomes successful in realizing her goal. And as long as she is separated from God Almighty she goes on having the pains and sufferings. It is the same as when the water of the ocean gets the heat of the sun, it turns into vapor and goes back into the sky and joins the rest of the clouds. When it comes down on this earth in the form of the raindrops, it has to go through many different stages. It mixes itself with the dirt, the stones, and pebbles, and it gets kicked and knocked at many places. And it suffers a great deal until it gets the heat of the sunray again and goes back to the clouds from which it was separated. It does not have any peace unless it goes back to the clouds. In the same way, ever since our soul has been separated from God Almighty she has always experienced the pains. Unless she goes back to her Real Home, Almighty God, and merges herself in Him from Whom she has been separated, she does not find any peace or rest; she has only the sufferings and discomforts.”
“Masters do not tell us to leave our daughters and sons; they don’t tell us to throw away what property and wealth we have; they don’t even tell us to give up the honor and respect we have in this world. But they do tell us: “Whatever you have been given by God, you should be grateful for that; you should think that all the things which you have received are of God, and you should be grateful to Him. And, recognizing that these things are of God, you should use them and never let egoism come in your mind.”
“God Himself does everything and, residing within the people, He makes them work. He is the only One Who can do anything. Whatever He wishes, only that happens. When the disciples asked Guru Nanak, “When it is said that everything that happens, happens in the Will of God, and God Himself does all the things which happen, then why are the souls blamed that they are doing good or bad?” Guru Nanak replied, “As long as the souls really understand that it is all God working, they are not blamed.” But when they think that it is “I” who is doing and when the sense of egoism comes, then they are held responsible.”
“The relationship between the Guru and the disciple is not only just to give the Simran. The relationship of the Master with the disciple is very deep; it is very serious. He not only gives us Initiation, He not only gives us the Simran, but his job is to make us progress. His job is to take us back to the Real Home, and His relationship with us does not end in this world, it continues even when we go in the beyond.”
“Dear ones, the only way to end your suffering is by going within and doing the devotion, by connecting yourself with the Naam. Naam is the only thing which can put an end to your suffering; there is no other thing.”
“Fear is not good and should be discarded by giving your worries over to the ever present gracious Master-Power 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.”
“If we do Simran lovingly and affectionately, then without visualizing the form of the Master, the Form itself will come there and start dwelling within us. It is a natural practice. You know that if you remember anything, you will start seeing or feeling that thing in your mind. In the same way, if we do the Simran given by the perfect Master, lovingly and affectionately, then His form will start coming within us by Himself and we will have it. If we are making any efforts on our side, if we are trying to visualize the Form of the Master, then we won’t be able to be successful because we won’t be able to visualize the complete Form of the Master. Sometimes we may be able to visualize only the eyes of the Master, sometimes only His beard or turban; and in that way, our meditation will be disturbed and we won’t be successful. So it is better to just do the Simran lovingly, because if we will remember the Master lovingly He will start coming within us by Himself.”
“The reality is that God Almighty is the King. He comes into this world in the form of the Saints and Mahatmas and He lives among us the drunkards, the indulgent ones, the dirty ones. He lives among us and He lovingly tells us about His qualities and He always forgives us. He always takes us to God Almighty and He makes Him forgive us. So Saints and Mahatmas come into this world and They live among us. They assume this body which is full of dirt and filth. They do this only for the sake of the souls since They come into this world to take the suffering souls back to their Real Home.”
“If you sit for meditation making your mind quiet and emptying yourself of worldly thoughts, then there is no question of your will intervening in your meditation; you have already made your mind empty. If you sit with the desire that you want to go within, it is possible that the mind may make you lose this determination and attach you to some other desire of the world. Yesterday I described how our mind works like a competent lawyer. Sitting within us he goes on presenting excuses to us: sometimes he tells us in a friendly way, sometimes he comes as an enemy and frightens us; he tries his best to make us give up doing our meditation. So when we sit for meditation it is very important for all the Satsangis to remember the few things I often say before we sit for meditation: that you have to make your mind quiet, you have to make your mind empty of worldly thoughts, and you should not allow your mind to wander outside. You should sit there with your mind quiet, and concentrate.”
„It is worse to surrender than to be defeated. When you sit for the meditation every satsangi should say, “No,” to the mind and should tell his mind, “Now we are sitting for something very special, you should not ‘ bother me.” The mind should just leave you alone so that you can do your meditation. Before sitting in the meditation make sure you remember the five Holy Words and if there are any important works to be attended to before the meditation, like your work of the home, or the worldly work, finish all of them before doing the meditation. When you sit in meditation do not understand it as a burden. Everyday meditate regularly – do it with love and affection.”