The Master, the Saint

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God is the "Divine Illuminant" who gives light to all. He is the divine light, which illuminates and expresses everything. Nothing can illuminate Him, not the sun, the moon, nor fire, nor wind. The "True Master" (Sadguru) alone, illuminates "The Illuminator." The Master is "The Greatest Illuminator."

We bow to the power behind the lamp, as it destroys darkness. The true Master reveals that which is hidden. He introduces us to our Self (Atman) and helps us to understand it. He destroys the darkness of ignorance, and unveils God. He illuminates God; therefore, we bow to the Master, in reverence. No one can bring God into existence. He is self-established, self-existent, self-luminous, and self-evident.

Even if one happens to be in darkness, no light or other instrument is required to see one's Self. All practices and contrivances employed for this purpose only lead one off the track. This goes to prove that we ourselves are God. We are the Truth (Paramartha), and Truth alone, can never be destroyed. We are Consciousness (Chit) itself.

God lends light even to the Sun. Only the Sadguru, and no one else, can reveal the Truth. The realized person (Dnyani), or "Saint," is in the form of Reality. It is only the one who approaches a Saint, and experiences His bliss, who becomes happy. Merely looking at a Saint cannot grant happiness. The purpose for which we have come into this world is fulfilled, and we attain "Liberation," when we find a true Saint. Liberation is the adornment of a Saint. One who seeks and expects happiness from others, is but a beggar. Only one who is completely devoid of desire, is truly wealthy.

Spiritual science (Adhyatma) is the science where the Self (Atman) is considered to be first, and foremost. A yogi is one who acquires that which is relevant, that which is essential, "The Truth." One who has washed off the dirt of illusion (Maya), and has become peacefully steady in the Self after attaining the clean and pure Truth, is a "Saint." Only the Saints have given up this material world and regard it as a mere illusion. This world is a battlefield where a struggle for survival goes on perpetually. A Saint is the one who chooses not to reside in this battlefield of the objective world.

Shri Siddharameshwar Maharaj from a talk given on January 7, 1933