Sant Mat

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Sant Mat means “way of the sants ” or “path of the masters” and is a synonym for Surat Shabd Yoga . It was taught, among others, by the gurus to which Sikhism also refers.

The teaching of Sant Mat

The "teaching of the saints" is a Hindu reform movement that was brought into being in 1861 by Shiv Dayal Singh (1819–1879), who is regarded as the personification of the highest deity Radhasoami . According to the teaching, a divine sound and sound current should be used in meditation to wander the soul into cosmic spheres, which enables spiritual perfection. In all religions - which is often the view of more recent Hindu groups - an ancient knowledge is contained that was rediscovered by Sant Mat. According to the teaching of Sant Mat, a living, perfect Master is a prerequisite for spiritual practice. The movement was almost extinct and only became more popular again through Kirpal Singh .

Sant Mat’s practice rests on three pillars:

  • Satsang with the living perfect master ( Satguru , literally "true teacher")
  • The meditation on the inner light and the inner sound (fivefold name of God)
  • An ethical life, the selfless service and a vegetarian diet includes

A “Sant”, saint or master of Sant Mat, sees himself as a pure tool of divine will, divine wisdom and divine love. God, who exists as pure energy at a very high level of consciousness, is enabled through the soul of a perfect Master, who exists at the same energy level, to come into contact with people and to act in the world. The living perfect Master frees the souls assigned to him from the suffering of material attachment and leads them back to God.

Position of people

The following key statement was made by Kirpal Singh at the Unity of Man conference in 1974 as a call to humanity:

I would like to ask all of you to spread what you have heard here everywhere you go. It calls from the roofs so that happiness and peace may come to earth. I pray to God, and you pray with me, that He will give us His special grace and make arrangements for us to have a first-hand experience of Reality. The ideal that stands before us is: We are all one!

Those who claim to love the invisible God but show neither consideration nor love for their visible fellow human beings are on the wrong path.

Different groups

Due to disputes over Shiv Dayal Singh's successors as the “living master”, the movement has split into numerous groups. In Germany there are the controversial “Holosophical Society” (also: Sant Mat Meditation, formerly: “Kirpal Ruhani Satsang”, led by Thakar Singh , since his death in 2005 by Baljit Singh ) and the “Science of Spirituality” (formerly: Sawan Kirpal Ruhani Mission, led by Rajinder Singh ). The Eckankar community also invokes Shiv Dayal Singh.

Sant Mat and other religions

Sant Mat regards existing religions as the legacy of a deceased competent master. At the time of the respective master's work, God had spiritually redeemed the seeking souls and thereby adapted the spirituality to cultural and climatic conditions. After the death of the competent master, the adaptations of spirituality made at the time of the master's work were fixed in writing and dogmatized by their followers. In this way, in the course of time, recommendations originally inspired by God have become contradicting dogmas, with all the difficulties that can result from them.

The spiritual task was transferred to another person after the master's death, but this mostly happens in secret. Therefore every religion has a true core and a living competent master can help every seeker to connect with the original essence of all religions.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Way of the Masters . Selection of texts by the spiritual teacher Sant Kirpal Singh.

Web links

Commons : Sant Mat  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Germany and Austria

International