A ­talk giv­en by ­Sant Kir­pal ­Singh – Chi­ca­go, Oc­to­ber 1972

­Dear brothers and sisters,

we are greatly fortunate that we have got the manbody. Manbody is the highest in all creation, next to God. Even the angels bowed down to the manbody when it was made. All scriptures tell us that due to the reactions of very good actions of the past, we get the manbody. So really we are very fortunate. Our good actions have fructified, and we have got the manbody as a result thereof. It is a golden opportunity in which we can pay off all reactions of the past.

And also we are free, within certain limits. All bodies other than the manbody are bound; they have got no free action there. In the human body we are bound to a certain extent, as a reaction of the past, and we are free also within certain limits. So if we are wise, we will pay off the old reactions, the old karmas, and go back home. So it is a time in which we can either go home or go back again in the wheel of life and death.

Be very cautious. This is a golden opportunity we have got. Try to understand how to pay off the debts which we have. You will find we are to be very cautious. Each thought that strikes us causes a reaction. Each thought, each word and each deed has to be accounted and compensated for in nature. Nature spares no man. "As you sow so shall you reap." No exception to the rule. Never think idly of anything. If you think idly of anything, even that has a reaction. The fifth Guru of the Sikhs says, "Be afraid of the sins we have done unknowingly." They will also have a reaction.

So every cause has an effect. We are to understand this principle, this law. If we understand this principle or Law of Karma, then we can come out of it and go back home. Otherwise we'll keep on coming and going and coming and going. So each cause has an effect. Every action brings about a reaction. Uproot the cause and the effect disappears. This has been done by the Masters who have transcended these laws. But all others are bound by the bonds of karma, which is the root cause of physical existence. Of course, these are very good actions, the reactions of which have given you the manbody. But still we have to be very careful what we do: either we are trying to go back down or back home.

So there are three kinds of karma. One kind is called Sanchit. "Sanchit" means "which are stored as yet," not fructified. So suchlike karmas, you see, from hundreds of births back, are just in store, not yet touched for reaction.

In India at the time of the Pandavas, there was one Dhritarashtra. He was a great yogi but blind from birth. Lord Krishna asked him, "You are blind from your very birth. What caused it? What karma have you incurred, the result of which you are blind from birth?"

And he told him, "By yogic power I know up to one hundred births back; and I have found no action the result of which I would be blind."

Lord Krishna, who was a yogishwar, just gave him help to go back still further. And he found that in his 106th birth back he had done the action which resulted in his present blindness.

Miind that there are akashic records, you see. Whatever we speak, whatever we think, that is recorded in the akash. Those who can read those records, they can give you statements made hundreds of births back.

Ever since we have left the house of our Father, ever since we have been sent to the earth, we have been coming and going. Action and reaction has been going on. Some has been paid off by Pralabdha karma. Pralabdha karmas are the karmas which are in fruit, which are fructified, and on which our present existence is based. First, we have got the manbody. That is the result of very high karma, good karma. Now also we are bound within certain limits unless those reactions are paid off, and the seeds of no further actions are sown. So pralabdha is the karma on which our present life is based. It is what is called "fate" or "destiny." Fate or destiny is a reaction of our past karma which is now in fruit.

The third class is Kriyaman, the actions that we do daily.

So as I submitted, man is free within certain limits and bound within certain limits. Just take the example of a boy who is flying the kite in the air. He may have, for instance, two or three hundred yards of thread with which he is flying the kite. But his father is at the back, keeping two hundred yards of thread in his control. He has allowed only a hundred yards of thread to his son; enough to enable him to fly the kite. So he can fly the kite only up to a hundred yards, not more.

So these karmas are of different natures. Some karma bears fruit very quickly; others, a little later; others, very long. Take the example of the courts. There are small cause courts, there are high courts, and there are privy council courts. Is it not so? Ordinary cases are settled in weeks or a month or so. Cases intricate take months to decide in high courts. And there are other cases of a very intricate nature; they take years to decide in privy council. You follow my point? So we incur action and reaction daily. They are bearing forth fruit: some quickly, some later, some still later. As in the case of Dhritarashtra I quoted you: he was reaping the fruit of karma incurred 106 births back.

Some of the Kriyaman karma we reap in this life; the remaining is transferred to the Sanchit karma. Karma is the cause of rebirth; and each birth is, in turn, followed by death. There the cycle of enjoyment and suffering results. Some are happy; some are not happy. So, "as you think, so you become." Ignorance of the law is no excuse, mind that. We say we don't know, but what we have sown, we must reap. Whether we sow good actions or bad actions – both are binding. Handcuffs or chains may be made of iron or gold; but they are equally binding. These karmic laws are difficult to understand; but if we follow what I am telling you, we can save our life, our coming down to the earth.

So fortunately we can learn how to pay off debts and come off this wheel of life. We daily sow seeds. They will bear forth fruit. Some are being fructified. Some are being laid in the Sanchit karma, in store. The store of our karma is great. So in this plight if we meet some Master who knows this law of nature, how to wind it up and liberate us from that law – he takes on the process of winding up all the karmas of the initiate. He takes over. It is a very difficult, very hard job, being a Master.

First of all, what does He do? He gives you a contact with the Sound Current within, by practising which the Sanchit or storehouse karmas are burned away. It is a great blessing: all Sanchit karmas are burned off. They will not fructify in future lives.

Then for Kriyaman karma, the karma that we do daily, he prescribes the maintenance of the diary. You see? Now mark the purpose for which the diary is meant. It has a very important work to do. He is enjoined to lead a clean life and weed out all imperfections in him by self-introspection from day to day. This he is instructed to do.

The Pralabdha karma is not touched. It is a result of that karma that we have got the present life. If Saints touch this, then the life will end; the very moment a Saint touches the Pralabdha karma, the life will end! So he does not touch it because it is the cause of the physical body, which would vanish due to interference in nature's law.

So a very small amount of karma remains to be tolerated by the initiate during the present life.

Now Sanchit karmas in store are burned away by coming in contact with the Sound. The more you come in contact with the Sound Principle within you, the Naam or Word, the two aspects of which are Light and Sound, your Sanchit karma will be burned away. Pralabdha karma is not touched. Kriyaman karma is just as I told you: for that he makes you to be very strict. Don't spare yourself. You should criticize yourself as you like to criticize others. And weed out day to day. Some of the remaining karmas are Kriyaman, you see; they are also polished down, softened down, by the Master, by the disciple's devotion.

Now, you see, when you sit by a Master the mind keeps silent for a few minutes. Mind does not make any trouble. You have no thoughts, as a result of the radiation of the Master. And the qualification of a Master is given as, sitting in whose presence your mind does not rake up any trouble for a while. As I told you yesterday, if you go to a man who sells scents he may not give you anything, but by radiation you get perfume. Similarly, in His presence, if you sit fully receptive for a time, your mind won't make all kinds of trouble. That's by radiation. And if you have a contact within? You see? Then the phial of perfume is given to you.

So Pralabdha karmas, you see, are not touched, because over them we have no control. They have to react. What has to come to pass must come to pass. No exception to the rule. There is, however, one possible way out: one may so mould and develop his inner self through the guidance of the Master-soul that he or she may not feel the bitter sting of the karma.

Just take the example of an almond or walnut when it is not ripe. You can put a needle through it. But when it is ripe, the shell is separated from the kernel, and if you put in a needle, it won't pass through the shell. Is it not so?

When you sit by the Master, He wants to give you a way up, to rise above body-consciousness; then even if all outer things do come up as a result of the Pralabdha karma, they don't have the pinching effect. That's the blessing of the Master. A child is to be operated on; the mother takes the child in her lap while the operation is being done. And the child is satisfied: he sits in the lap of the mother, you see.

Those initiated, those who are devoted to the Master within, they do get bitter results of reactions of the past, but they are not felt. If we rise above body-consciousness daily, they will not be felt. There is a case of one Abdullah, who was a devotee of Mian Mir in India. As a result of the Pralabdha karma, he was suffering very much but he rose above, back of the eyes. And the Master came: "Oh, what are you doing? You have sown the seeds. You must bear the result of that. Why are you sitting up there? Come down!"

But this is the Grace of the Master, if we follow Him. For the Kriyaman karma we are to weed out all imperfections through the diary. Those karmas which are in store, those are burned away the more you come in contact with the Light and Sound Principle. So recent karmas which you do daily, they are weeded out by self-introspection. Whatever remains that also is smoothed down by the love of the Master; the pinching effect does not remain the same.

So as I told you, it is like a walnut or almond: when it is not ripe, you can put a needle through; but when it is ripe, the shell is separated – you may try to put in a needle, but it won't pass. Similarly, it happens something like that, when you are concentrated at the back of the eyes. You find you can stay there – or you, at will, work at the level of the outgoing faculties. Then let all these things come! Man will die; man will suffer; we may be operated on; this and that. But how great a blessing you have got with you!

So for that reason, you see, what is required now? Is there another kind of karma? One is Kriyaman, another is Pralabdha, the third is what is in store – Sanchit. But there is another form of karma. This is called Neh-karma, karma performed without any attachment or desire for the fruit thereof. You see? This is superior to the other forms of karma, which are more or less a source of bondage. This type helps a little to liberate one from karmic reactions, from bondage. If you do some job without desiring any fruit, that won't bind you. This is one thing. But so long as the ego is there, how can you not? You won't feel that you are not the doer. You follow my point? So long as you are the doer, whether you are doing good actions or bad, even at your heart of hearts, you know, "I have done good actions," you see. That will bear forth fruit.

So Neh-karma or selfless karma comes up only when you become a Conscious Co-worker. You find also that in the yoga systems such as Karma Yoga it is taught that you can become Neh-karma – not to want any fruit. But how can you become Neh-karma unless you become the Conscious Co-worker of the Divine Plan? Unless you know that "He is the Doer; I am not the Doer"? So long as you are the doer, you'll bear the good fruits also – heaven, and other things in this life, too. So you will find it is only karma born of desire or Kam that leads to bondage. This is why, you see, that Moses taught, "Desire not"; that Buddha taught, "Be desireless"; that the tenth Guru of the Sikhs taught, "Don't have any desire for the result." The highest of all is to be Neh-karma. That is doing karma in accordance with the Divine Plan, as a Conscious Co-worker of the Power of God.

Now you find four kinds of karma. Present karma is taken care of by the diary. And whatever is left, if you are devoted to the Master, that is also smoothed down. Pralabdha karma is not touched; you have to bear the bitter fruits of that. But while sitting at the Feet of the Master, if you are following His instructions and rising above body-consciousness daily – dying daily – then outer pinching effects, bitter effects of the reactions of the past won't affect you, as in the example that I gave. Now you'll find how important it is to do your practices daily.

In brief, the Law of Karma is nature's stubborn and inexorable law from which there is no exception. Even the avatars bear the fruit of it – what to speak of men. It is said of Lord Rama that he killed the brother of the King of Ceylon by standing behind a tree; in our scriptures it is given. When the man died, he said, "Well, Rama, I did not have anything against you; why are you killing me? You will have to suffer."

So it happened that Rama in his next incarnation came as Lord Krishna, and that man whom he had killed took the form of a bhil (very low caste, almost a savage) in the jungle, you see. And Lord Krishna was lying in the jungle with his left foot over his right knee. And there was a star on his foot, you see, which is always on the feet of avatars or incarnations. The bhil hunter saw it and thought, perhaps it was the eye of a deer; so he shot the arrow and it hit the foot of Lord Krishna, and he died of that. Even avatars are not exceptions to the rule; what to speak of ordinary men.

Be careful! Every thought that crosses you, that reacts. "As you sow, so shall you reap."

That is the general rule for those who are on earth. You see? "As you think, so you become." It is from the abundance of the mind that the tongue speaks. Every action has a reaction, for that is nature's Law of Cause and Effect. One has therefore to bear the fruit of his actions; no exception.

Is there any remedy for this? Masters have got a remedy, as I just submitted to you. I quoted the case of Abdullah, the devotee of Mian Mir. In daily life, if you have to have an injection, you can withdraw your attention here (in the back of the eyes). "All right – now inject!" You feel much less pain. If you can withdraw your attention fully, that may be cut off.

So this is a very regular way which Master puts us on. It is only when one transcends the body-consciousness and becomes Neh-karma or action-less in action, like the still point at the centre of the ever-revolving wheel of life, that the stop is put to the motion of the great wheel of karma. If a machine is running, and they want to stop the wheel, they will insert something into it and the machine does not work. So the Law of Karma does not work in the cases of those who rise above body-consciousness accurately.

That is why Buddha said, "Be desireless." For desire is the root cause of human suffering – all suffering. Some die; some are born; some are sick; some are poor. Length of life, whether we are high or low, poor or rich – all this is based on the reactions of the past.

So what happens? The spirit sitting in the chariot of the body is steered blindly and headlong into the field of sensual pleasures by the five powerful steeds of the outgoing faculties, which are driven by the intoxicated mind. You see? So mind also has to be controlled. If something is given to the mind that is more blissful, more peaceful, than it is accustomed to through the senses, only then it can be controlled; not otherwise. It is because the reins of the intellect are dangling loose and the steeds are running fast, headlong, that we incur actions that result in reactions. We go on like anything ever since we have come down to earth from the Father. We have been on earth, we have been coming and going, coming and going, coming and going. The human body we have been having as a very great fortune. But we did not use it like the human body, because we did not understand the Law of Karma.

There are two karmic laws: one is the Law of Karma; the other is the Law of Grace. If you come to the Feet of the Masters, there the Law of Grace works, I tell you. Your present karma is also softened down – and they give a diary for that. The Sanchit karmas are burnt away by giving a contact with the Sound and Light Principle within you. And, while no power can withstand the Pralabdha karma, what the Master gives you is to rise above body-consciousness daily, so that the pinching effect is lessened. How fortunate we are! That is why it is said it is a great blessing to have a living Master. Don't you realize that? Even the incarnations undergo the law; they are not exempt from the law of cause and effect – what to speak of the average man.

These are things that are prescribed by the Master. Ever since they have been coming they have been telling us what to do. "Be born anew." You follow what is the basic teaching behind it? "Be reborn." I have been explaining to you in my talks what is meant by being reborn. One birth is into this human body, another is into the Beyond. If you are reborn daily – die daily, take cross daily – then? All these should naturally follow. Then you escape the effect of the wheel of life, of karma. Now do you see how important it is to do the practices as prescribed by the Masters? Masters don't spare anybody.

Guru Nanak says, "Look here, oh Master, what is the use of coming to Your Feet if the Law of Karma is not satisfied?" He gives an example: "What is the use of going to the feet of a lion if the jackals are still howling at you?" It is a great privilege to sit at the Feet of a Master, I would say.

So what is meant by being "born anew" is rising above body-consciousness – and that is also what is meant by being "twice born". And in ancient India these things were given to children of five, seven, or nine years, when they were initiated. What is learned in childhood, I would say, what is learned in the womb of the mother, that will last forever. We should be very careful how we bring up children, mind that – whether they are in the womb or outside.

So this is what is said: to be born anew, to die daily. "Learn to die so that you may begin to live." Then you will have everlasting life; you will escape – evade – the circle of births and deaths. You follow me? Very delicate point it is; but we must understand it and live by it. How is that done? By the Grace of the Master! If by the Grace of the Master we learn to die while alive, then you know the other law (the Law of Grace) is working, you see. When grain is poured into a grinding machine, those grains which are put in between the blades will be ground; but if some grains stick to the handle of the machine, they will be saved.

So it is said that it is a great blessing to have a living Master and to keep his commandments. That's the main thing. So "one has therefore to forsake the flesh for the spirit" if one is anxious to escape from the perpetual wheel of life on earth. I'm quoting from the Bible; there are similar quotes in other scriptures like that. But if one, under the guidance of a Master, learns the practical process of self-analysis at will and rises into the Beyond – death in life – the whole angle of vision is changed. The result is that after that one continues to live on earth without attachment. When you rise above body-consciousness daily, all your attachments are gone. You may have hundreds of thousands of dollars with you, or no money at all; you don't care. You won't try to usurp the rights of others; you won't try to squeeze the blood of others  – because you will know that you will incur karma, and you won't want those actions to go along with you. So when you rise above body-consciousness daily, the whole angle of vision is changed. You won't do anything unbecoming because you won't want to carry it with you – "ill gotten, ill spent." Christ said, "He that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me." You follow my point? "He that findeth his life shall lose it..." Just follow the meaning: very clear, very simple words. If you rise above outer life then you'll have everlasting life. "Learn to die so that you may begin to live." "He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." What life? The one outside which we withdraw from. You see? It is not dying, but withdrawing your attention from all outside and rising above body-consciousness. He said, if you do it "for my sake, you will find it."

Then again you will find that in the Bible it is said, "If any man will come after me" – hear, please, what he says – "let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." What is "taking up the cross daily"? The cross is the symbol of the human body standing with outstretched arms; we are to rise above it. Then we can follow him. Once we rise above our whole angle of vision is changed, as I said before: you won't torment anybody; you won't squeeze the blood of anybody; your whole outer contact with the world will be above-board, fair, honest.

How can we ever expect to be saved from the wheel of coming and going if we don't keep the commandments of the Master? Saying "we have got no time, we have this and that obligation" won't do; after all, we are sowing seeds further from day to day.

So, you see, "death in life" or "death in Christ" is referred to in the East as "fana fil sheikh" or "death in the Master." You see? "Learn to die so that you may begin to live." Death in Christ means withdrawing from outside and coming in contact with the Christpower within you. In Persian it is said as I told you: "Fana fil seikh". In the Hindi way, the Sikh Masters say, "Gur go tobee" – "Be one in the tomb of the Guru." As "I and my Father are one." The initiate who becomes one with the Guru and the Guru-in-Him, he is experiencing death in Christ or death in the Guru.

This can save us from coming and going, you see. The longer we go on sowing seeds, the more they will grow – they will bear forth fruit. Be cautious not to grow any. What is that by knowing which, nothing more is desired to be had? Coming in contact with the Godpower within you. And that is why all scriptures speak very highly of the Masters, those who are Word-made-flesh: because, as Maulana Rumi says, "If you sit one hour with the Master" – if you are receptive; not with your body sitting and you wandering outside – "that will give you an effect which you cannot have by a hundred years of penances." If you sit by someone who sells scents, you will get perfume by radiation – free. And if he gives you a phial of scent – if he initiates you into the Beyond – then? From the day you come to the Feet of the Master and He initiates you, He takes up the work of winding up all your actions – but only if we obey the commandments of the Master one hundred per cent.

So those Masters who are Word-made-flesh can immolate karma by a look; all the initiate's sins, karmas, can pass by the Master's look and word. Eyes are the windows of the soul. He whose soul is drenched with God, who is that Power made flesh, he is "the Bread of Life that has come down from Heaven." You see? Whosoever partaketh of it shall have everlasting life." And further – how can we eat this Bread? Eyes are the windows of the soul: through the eyes. By sitting in a receptive mood, forgetting all others, you feel peace, your mind won't rake up any trouble, all is quiet. If you go deep down in the depths of silence, you'll find the very silence becomes vocal. These are hard facts I am putting before you.

So in the presence of the Master, the karmas fly like autumn leaves before a wind, you see. For a time, no thought occurs in your mind: it's just subdued. And such actions react, mind that (in their own way): the moments you have got with the Master, say five or ten minutes, or a year, that will have reaction or not? That is also an action; but it won't react in the same way. No. The result of that time spent in that way is that you won't have mental troubles as long as you are doing it – and this is true whenever you are receptive, whether you are physically near the Master or away from Him. The physical presence, of course, cannot be underrated: You see for yourself. But those who are even living far away on the other side of the ocean while the Master is living on this side, can direct their attention in that way – just as you can hear someone's voice or see who is speaking from thousands of miles away, through radio and television. This is a law of nature; science is finding out laws of nature which are hidden. They are not finding them all, but they are trying.

So great is the power of retribution; and none can escape its fury – but it does fly in fear of death before the winding blast of the Word. Master uses the Word for this purpose by giving you a contact with It.

There are two ways to finish up the vast and limitless storehouse of karmas (and we have many still in store). There are two ways, and the first one is to allow them to exhaust themselves. But I have quoted you one instance, and there are others too, in which actions done more than a hundred births back reacted in being born blind in this lifetime. How long will it take? Millions of years it would take, and it would be quite uncertain then. The mind again goes on sowing seeds; there is no end to it. So one way is to exhaust the storehouse in due course of time, which is almost not possible.

The other way is to obtain from a Master-soul a practical knowledge and experience of the science of life, on the earthly plane as well as on the spiritual planes, too. And to work right now for transcension from one to the other, while there is still a chance and an opportunity of the human body – because we can do it only in the human body and in no other body.
Two ways. The first course will take millions of years to reach the goal and even then is quite uncertain because the mind again will go on sowing seeds which will bear more and more fruit. By adopting the second course, one seeks a competent spiritual Master who can wind up the karmic accounts of the bankrupt spirit. When such a Master takes in His own hands the process of liquidation of the endless procession of past karma, you see, we are very fortunate.

As I just quoted to you, one Sikh Master says, "Oh Master, what is the use of coming to Your Feet, if our karmas are not finished? What is the use of going to the feet of a lion if the jackals still howl at us?" When you come to a Master, what does He say? "All right – no more. Thus far and no farther." He says, "From today onward, are you taking the advice? Keep the diary; do no more. Criticize yourself as you would like to criticize others – and weed out." Simply saying, "I am a sinner, I am a sinner," that won't do. Be very watchful on every thought that accosts you. And come in contact with that Naam Power, a contact with which you have been given. That will give you more bliss and mind will, what you say, die.

When you get that nectar of life or water of life, and experience the bliss of that, the mind will leave off all outer enjoyments. Where there is no desire there is God, you see. What is man? God plus desires. And what is God? Man minus desires. And these desires are raked up by mind through the outgoing faculties. Very simple way, I think. You follow me?

So if we follow that, everything will come out all right. And first He says, "Do no more" – and puts him on the high road. You see, you've got high roads here where cars go fast; you've also got the high roads within you of Light and Sound. Go fast! There's no retardation on the way; you can go quickly back to your home. He gives you the high road Godward. He does not usually interfere with the Pralabdha karma, because in that case your life would end; but He gives you a contact with the spirit within you, which is the Light and Sound Principle; and that contact with the Holy Word also reduces to ashes all Sanchit karmas and unfructified recent karmas and finishes them off.

In Jap Ji, after Guru Nanak has given his instruction on the way of life, last of all He gives an example: When the hands, feet and body are besmeared, they are washed clean with water; when clothes get dirty and polluted, they are cleansed by soap.

But then He says: "When one's mind gets defiled by sin, it can be purified only by communion with the Word, which is given to you by the Master on the very first day. He gives you two things: first, to rise above body-consciousness, to die daily; second, to come in contact with the Word within you. He washes all sins of the past away."

Guru Nanak says: "Men do not become saints or sinners merely by words. But they carry deeds with them wherever they go. As one sows, so does one reap; oh Nanak, men come and go by the wheel of birth and death as ordained by His Will." In the Finale of Jap Ji He gives: "Our actions, good and evil, will be brought before His court. And by our own deeds shall we move higher or be cast into the depths."

It is two ways before you: one is to go up to your Father's home; the other is to go down. The human body is a junction, I would say. You can have your way back to God; or you can come back, that's all. But we can choose to go up only by understanding the law of cause and effect and acting up to our understanding. Then the Master looks to the winding up of our actions. We come to Him for that purpose, and His ways are two. First He admonishes, "Do no more." When our Master was here, you see, sometimes out of hundreds of people one person would stand up and say, "Sir, I have done this sin." Our Master would ask, "Well, is there anybody who can bear the brunt of that sin?" Who would dare? No. Then he would say, "All right. Do no more. And do it!"

On the very first day, you see, we are told, "Keep your diaries." You are fortunate, I would say. In the old days men used to sit by the Master for years. When they saw the vessel was clean, only then they put something in it. Now you get something on the very first day. Two things are given: rising above body-consciousness, and contact with the Naam within you. If you rise daily the outer pinching effect won't affect you, you'll become air-conditioned. Pralabdha karma also won't affect you so much as now; the angle of vision will change by rising above body-consciousness daily. Is it not a blessing?

Guru Nanak concludes the Jap Ji by saying: "Those who have communed with the Word, their toils shall end, and their faces shall flame with glory. Not only shall they have salvation, oh Nanak, but many more shall find freedom with them."

Not just one. So that is what is wanted, you see, to save us from the wheel of life and death. It is therefore of paramount importance that we should seek a Master competent enough to wind up the otherwise endless cycle of births, seek refuge at His Lotus Feet, and free ourselves of the bewitching influences of our actions, our deeds, which is the Law of Karma.

You have been given, of the two ways, the one way which is the only way back. That is, you've been given a contact with Naam or Word within you and you have also been given how to rise above body-consciousness daily, to "take the cross daily." "Those who do not take their cross daily, they are not my disciples." That is what Christ and all other Masters have said.

You should be very careful what you think. Sometimes in frivolous ways we say so many things, and that carries an effect. You have to be very self-disciplined: think twice before you speak; when you speak, just think whether it will do good or bad to others. If it is good, then give it out for the benefit of others; if not, don't tell.

So this is the Law of Karma, you see. If we understand it.... We have been, fortunately I think, put on the way with the Grace of God and the Grace of our Master. His Grace is working; with His Grace you all are being blessed with these things. Whenever Baba Jaimal Singh used to initiate anyone, he would say, "Look here, I am now residing within you. Take care for me! Don't think that I am not looking after you." That is the Masterpower within you. Don't deceive Him! Even if you deceive Him, He won't be deceived, you see. Be true to your own Self, this is what I always say. If you are true to your own Self, God is within you, the Masterpower is within you.

So this is the Law of Karma that is going on like anything, from which there is no escape, I tell you, for ordinary men or incarnations either – they also had to undergo it. It is only through the favour or Grace of the Master that we are saved. You know, incarnations also respect the Masters; Masters are their gurus. Lord Krishna had his guru, Ingris Rishi, who gave out this very way; Lord Rama had his guru, Vashisht. Well, to sit at the Feet of a Master is a great blessing, you see. He winds up all your actions of the past. We have simply to keep His commandments; nothing more. He does not want anything from you in return; He is pleased when you are saved. That is why our Master at the age of ninety was working for the good of humanity. In the old days He would have had to take rest; but now they don't rest, They go like anything – the more He saves, the better. They work under the orders of God, you see.

Now you see how blessed you are – how fortunate you are! First you have got the human body; further, you have something that will save you from coming and going. If you are attached to the Masterpower within you, where will you go? Why do we come back to the earth again and again? Because we are attached to the world. If we are really attached to the Masterpower within us, nobody will bring us back; we'll go where He goes. In very simple ways the Law of Karma works. You find now how blessed we are? We don't realize the importance of the boon we have been given.

So please, remain where you are. You are to keep up your diaries strictly, and find time daily to die. You see? "Take cross daily." Only sitting won't do – rise above body-consciousness daily, and come in contact with That. Not here alone, you see, but in the spiritual planes above, too. There are so many planes – macrocosm is in the microcosm.

Further guidance is also required. The more you are devoted to the commandments of the Master without and within, the sooner you'll reach your home. That's the ultimate purpose of having the human body; all scriptures say so. Even those Rishis of old whose souls enjoyed bliss in the higher planes, when they return to earth they select the human body: because in that body only you can go back home.

We do pity others: why don't you take pity on your own Self to save you from the wheel of coming and going? Charity begins at home, does it not? If we cannot have pity on our own Self and save ourselves from coming and going, what pity can we have for others? So have pity on yourself, that's all I can say.

You have got the golden opportunity of this human body. But once it passes out of your hands? Kabir says, "Who knows when you will get this human body again and be able to do this work?" So this is for very calm consideration, you see.

If you follow exactly, you are sure to go to God. You are not to come back. When you are under the control of a Master, then no lord of judgement can sit over you; it is the Master who takes all karmas in His hand to punish you or save you. That power has been given by God to His hand – Christ also owns it, and all other Masters say so. They are the God in them, that's the only thing; they are Word made flesh.

I hope you have followed what I have said about this Law of Karma. Try to! This is why all the great men say, "Think twice before you speak." Guru Arjan says, "Be careful of the sins you commit unknowingly." By frivolous talk so many things come up, you see – talk only when it is necessary. Quit talking in a frivolous way. Also see, if what you are saying is going to do good to somebody or harm somebody. Then I think you will be afraid of how many seeds you might sow.