From the book "Morning Talks", by Sant Kirpal Singh, 4 January, 1968

Available as mp3 at www.audio.sant-kirpal-singh.org

What do the Masters tell us when they come? They say that God made man. Man has got the physical body and the intellect but he is an ensouled body, a conscious entity, a drop of the ocean of all Consciousness. In the worldly way, we give food to the body. We have developed physically by having the right sort of food. We have got the intellect at the level of which we have learnt so many things, made wonderful inventions and obtained all sorts of information about this physical world and other outside things. This is the bread of the intellect. So by giving food to the body and the intellect, we have become physically and intellectually strong. But we are conscious entities. What food have we given to our souls, our very own self? Learning and outward information is only food for the intellect, not for the soul. The soul is a conscious entity and its Bread and Water of Life can only be something conscious. We must know our Self first. All Masters have been saying this from the very beginning. To know our Self is not a matter of feelings, emotions or drawing inferences. It is really one of rising above body consciousness by self analysis to know practically who we are. If when we know our Self and come in contact with all conscious God, that is the Bread and Water of Life for the soul. All worldly information and outer sciences, the libraries are full of them. If our brain becomes full of them, well, it is no Bread to the soul. It is bread and water for the intellect to grow. So the Bread and Water of Life for the soul is the conscious contact with God or the Overself. Who can give this? It is only such a human pole whose soul is fully divinized. Who has analysed Himself from the outgoing faculties and outward attachments. Who has known Himself by rising above body consciousness and has become the mouthpiece of God, who is all Consciousness.

God resides in every heart of course, no heart is without Him. He is the Controlling Power that keeps the soul in the body. At the present time, we do not know this because our soul is under the control of mind and outgoing faculties. We are identified with the physical body and outer environments so much so that we have forgotten our Self. Unless we know our Self, how can we know the Overself? The Master is a man like us, born the same way of course. He has the same body, outgoing faculties and intellect, but He has analysed Himself practically by rising above body consciousness. He knows Himself and has contact with the Overself. He has become the mouthpiece of God. He is competent to withdraw our attention from outside and from the outgoing faculties by raising it above the intellectual level and gives a conscious contact with the Overself, or God. Such a one is called a Saint or Master in the true sense of the word. The Masters have been distributing this Food of Life to the people whenever they have come to this world. The human body is the highest rung in all Creation. In the manbody alone can we know our Self and have conscious contact with God. The gifts that a Master can give, no son of man can do it. He comes to the world with a Commission from God. Masters have been giving out suchlike things in their own language from time to time. Those who come in contact with a Master really know, really see, what He gives. The gifts that a Master can give nobody else can give. What is that Power that gives this gift? It is the manifested God in Him. You may remember the story in the Bible of Christ asking the Samaritan lady for some water. Because of an inferiority complex, she thought that as Christ belonged to a higher level of life, why should He ask her for water, and so she did not give Him any. Christ then said to her, "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting Life". He also said, "I am the Bread of Life. This Bread of Life has come down from Heaven. Whoever partaketh of it shall have everlasting life".

What is that Bread or Water of Life? It is the God-into-Expression Power, which has two phases, one Light and the other Sound Principle. It is also known as the Music of the Spheres or the Music of all Harmony. All Masters who came in the past have referred to it, whether they came in one country or another. So suchlike Bread and Water of Life can only be given by a man who has become Word made flesh. He works at the human pole of course, but His soul partakes of the Bread and Water of Life. This is given by Him to others, for on spiritual health depends the life of mind and body both. Nobody on earth can give such a gift except He who has become a conscious co-worker of the Divine Plan, the mouthpiece of God. So this Bread of Life is already within us, but we cannot taste of it because the attention, which is the outward expression of the soul, is under the control of the mind. The mind is further under the control of the outgoing faculties and the outgoing faculties are dragging us into the outside world and to the physical body. We are so much identified with these things that we have forgotten our Self. Through the grace of the Master, we are given some experience to forget the world outside for a while, to rise above body consciousness and to open the inner eye, the single eye, to see the Light of God and to hear the Voice of God. Christ said, "You see things that the old Prophets did not see, you hear things that the old Prophets did not hear". So such a gift is given by a Master.

Outward knowledge of libraries of books or of the sayings of the Masters who came in the past will not make you a Master. If one’s brain becomes a library, you will have only outer knowledge of what the Masters said. When you drink water, your thirst is satisfied for a while, but you have not got the Water of Life. We are told that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. You have learnt about the apple that gives a tonic to the heart or to the brain. If one man takes it, he does not need any doctor. You have come to know about the Apple of Life but unfortunately you have not so far eaten it. Whatever we know or do is only at the intellectual level. The information in your brain might give you some intellectual satisfaction but it is not the Bread of Life for the soul. He who has contacted the God Power within Him is called Word made flesh. All masters say the same things, of course in their own language. The very Water of Life which is the source of all happiness, of all virtue, of all peace, can only be had from a Master. It will give you an everlasting life. It is better to be born in a temple, but to die in it is a sin. We simply attach ourselves to the casing of things but do not touch the kernel within. The result is clash between class and class, between country and country. This everlasting life can be had by drinking the Water of Life through a Word made flesh. If you give a tonic to the spirit, you will become spiritually strong. On our spiritual health, depends the life of mind and body both. This is what the Masters given when they come.

Guru Amar Das was asked what does the Master give. He said, "The Master gives collyrium through His eyes into the eyes of others and they see Light". Unless the soul is withdrawn from outside, from the outgoing faculties, and rises above body consciousness, the third eye is not opened to see the Light of God. Christ said, "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of Light". These have been the basic teachings of all Masters who came in the past. There are two sides to their teachings, one on the outer, the other on the inner. They have been giving the Bread and Water of Life. They were the mouthpiece of God. Christ said, "I speak as my Father moves me. Who has seen me has seen my Father". Suchlike statements are made by all other Masters. Guru Nanak said, "I speak what God makes me speak, I speak as it comes from above. I am simply a mouthpiece". Such a human pole at which God is manifest is called a Saint or a Master. He gives you such a gift which nobody else on earth can give you. No son of man can do it. No intellectual can give it to you. So this is what the Masters give when they come.

Although references to these facts are made in the books, pity it is that they are not explicitly explained in them. The references are made but who will interpret the true import of what is said? Only a man who has lived it can do this. He explains in a clear-cut manner and in very few words. You understand now what the Master gives? He is intoxicated with the Elixir of Life and whoever goes to Him also gets a cup of the same Elixir. The competence of the master lies in not giving theories or lectures, or explaining what past Masters said, but to give you first in theory and then a demonstration of the theory in a practical experience. This is really where the greatness of the Master lies. So this is the Bread and Water of Life, which the Masters have been giving in the past. The formations that resulted from their teachings were made for the purpose of enabling more people to have that Bread of Life. So long as the practical God-in-man or man-in-God was amongst them, they enjoyed that privilege. When the formations became devoid of such Personalities or human bodies at which God was working, these very formations became stagnations and stagnation results in deterioration. An intellectual can give you all of these statements by word but cannot demonstrate or give a cup of that Elixir, by giving some capital to start with. Many so called masters come with their propaganda, but they give only the theory. They tell you to repeat this or that mantra or words. That alone won’t do. Our master used to say, "Any little girl spinning a wheel can give you the five words. That means nothing, it is the demonstration which counts". The greatness of the Master lies in the fact that He is competent to give you some capital to start with, by withdrawing your attention from outside and raising it above body consciousness. He opens your inner eye to see the Light of God and to hear the Voice of God, maybe little or more. That depends upon each man’s background. But you must have something to start with. He who can give that Bread or Water of Life is called a Saint. This is why the Masters have been so highly spoken of in sacred literature, whether they belonged to one country or another. To meet with such a master is a great blessing.