Extract of an evening Satsang by Sant Kirpal Singh

Question: In the book "Godman"you mentioned a few of the laws like the law of sympathy, the law of supply and demand, but most of what You talk about seems to be of grace. And I wondered if You could comment on how grace over-rides everything – the grace of the Master.

Sant Kirpal Singh: Repeat again, please. Repeat again. Not hurriedly, but you'll find in your own question understanding.

Question: Would You mind commenting about ...

Sant Kirpal Singh (teasingly): I'll mind, surely, but all right.

Question: The meaning of grace.

Sant Kirpal Singh: Grace?

Question: Yes, Master's grace.

Sant Kirpal Singh: Further, what do you want further? This could be so many things.

Question: And how it overrides these other things like the law of supply and demand, the law of sympathy, the law of Karma.

Sant Kirpal Singh: When you are a mother, your young child requires help. You help, you see. There is nobody to look after her. On cold nights she does not allow the child to lose any heat. She gives her own blanket to the child.

First He gives you food for eating, drinking, then many things come and go to help which are unasked for. With all your efforts you cannot even rise above. He comes to help you. You say, "How come?" This is from Him. No return. Grace comes. He requires no compensation, no return. Just as mothers always have pity, grace for the child, so is Master's love. With His little thought you weep like anything, do you follow? His very look is inspiring.

When you see somebody very happy, through eyes, they illuminate. The whole atmosphere will be charged, is it not? Grace is a matter of no compensation. For the matter of grace, as I told you, is as the child-mother relationship. So naturally (it is) that He takes you above the Law of  "As you sow, so shall you reap." For a while you rise above your body-consciousness; He raises you above your level of "As you sow, so shall you reap."

So grace – what does grace mean? Now I will tell you an example which comes from the Koran. One man left his hearth and home and went into the jungle in his very childhood. There was no water, no food. God made arrangements to quench his thirst by providing a fresh running stream for water which was always flowing. He used to drink that water, and bathe in it and do penances. All his life was spent in that way, you see. So ultimately he had to go. He was presented to God. This man had veneration for all, left his hearth and home, all enjoyments, all attachments, etc. God said, "Well, look here, we forgive you out of grace." He said, "I have killed myself, I left hearth and home. I remained in the jungle, have undergone all penances, with that you forgive me out of grace? I should be compensated, I've done so much." God said, "All right, tell me what you have done. I'll compensate." He kept quiet. To keep quiet means half consent, does it not? God said, "Well, look here, there was no spring of water for miles. Then one spring was raised there for you. There was a tree that gave one big full pomegranate, fully ripe, free. That was done only for your sake. Take it in compensation for all your penances."

Do you get the true message? Justice and grace are two different things, mind that. Justice and grace are two different things. He said, "All right, forgive me for any reason you like!"

So have you read Jap Ji? In the last part He (Guru Nanak) refers to the pure of heart having the key that unlocks the door to the Kingdom of the Lord – pure among us. It is not by force that you can have that thing. Forget yourself for a while like a babe. Babe has no self. If the inner eye is open that is the level we are at. We are not the doers, there is no self. That comes of itself. He would like everybody to become a King but cannot. For that all are crying in agony. You cannot entune yourself to God without grace. Not by effort, just grace. Look here. Yogis have taken hundreds of years to vacate the body, to leave the lower chakras. Hundreds of years! You get it the very first day. Is it not grace? Nobody can do it of himself: be released from coming and going. Because as you think so you become. If you sow the seeds, you'll harvest them unless His grace descends to you. So that is forgiveness, grace and compassion. Ordinary man lights up a heaven but there is darkness underneath. The lamps are burning and lighting down. The spreading light ends and there is darkness again. One law is justice and the other is grace: forgiveness and grace.

It so happened in my life that my wife had to come from an outside station and I went to receive her. She was in a multitude and at this point (a thief) cut off the pocket book from her. The police appointment for that purpose caught that man red-handed, excuse me. Now that policeman wanted me to report to the station. They called the complaint, you see. I told them, "Well, it's only money, it's all right. God forgive him." – "No, no, this should stop." They called him to go to the police station with my wife. You know these thieves are not attended properly. I told them, "I have to go to my office. I cannot stay here." – "All right, it will be five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen ..." Fifteen minutes passed, one half hour passed, an hour passed. They went to the superintendent in charge. "Well, I have to go. It is for their sake I have come." It was recorded. They were just trying to break that boy, striking him blows. "I have not committed, I have not committed ..."So the case came to the court. I was there and the policeman was there. I had to attend; my wife was away. She never attended. That man who had committed that thing was there and a relative was also there. Judge began the case. He asked, "Between justice and grace, which is greater?" I told him, "Grace is. Justice is not done in society." Then the men said, "No, no  it is not so." – "Excuse me, justice is never done. This is the right thing I am telling you." When grace descends, there is forgiveness. So I told him: "A greater man is he who, with right understanding, forgives. Look here, this man (the Judge) wants to forgive. He's advocated for this purpose, but they won't let him." So I attended the court. The judge was there. I told him, "Dear friend, if you could let him off for any excuse, you'd be a great advocate." First I had to talk with him. "Was there any complaint against him in any court before?" He said, "No." Then he said, "All right, let him off in the morning." Now what happens? Whenever I pass there, they all say, "Here, here, here he is." This you hear: Grace washes away all – everything. There is no compensation for grace. That's a good question.

I was once called as one of the jurors in the big court. That was a very easy case never seen before. It struck me: "Judge not others so that you may not be judged." I requested from the judge, "Will you kindly let me go? I am not to judge." He was also a Sawan Singh initiate. He who judges another man is never satisfied. He will go on. There are small courts, high courts, privy courts, it goes on four, five years. When wrangling goes on between two preachers, each man says, "I have the right to sow the seeds of righteousness," you see.

Now do you understand what grace is? Out of grace you are all forgiven. With Avatars there is no grace. Hafiz says, ultimately at the end, he came to know that the kingdom of the Saints is of forgiveness. With what I tell you to do, you can leave the body in minutes, in no time, to rise above body from the start – those whose inner eyes are opened to see the light of God. Is this not grace!

Look to your destiny, to our Master. It is very good of Him.

In my life once, on a Sunday morning, I was in the Satsang Hall. I had to give a talk. Just when it was about to start, I came to learn that the Master had come to Lahore. Now, I was of two minds; what to do? Should I start with Satsang, give a talk, or go to Master. So I decided, "I am ordered." I attended to His Satsang. That was at 12:00. Later in the afternoon, I ran up to the place where He was supposed to be, but He had returned to Beas. I could not decide whether I had done right or wrong. So I ran up by train, reached there by three or four o' clock. I related all this to Him and told Him, that I did not know whether I had done right or wrong. He said, "I am glad you've done your duty, I ordered you." Masters have respect for duty done without any consideration of whether you get anything in return or not. I had a young daughter who was sick. She died at night. I wrapped her up. Next morning I had to give a talk at Satsang, so I asked somebody to take care of the body and told him not to make a fuss about it. The people said, "What sort of man is He?" Truth is there; that was according to the teaching of the Master. His Word should be Law. It is the Bible truth: Master's Koran." If you stick to it, suchlike see in me their fate." Now do you follow what is meant by grace?

There are so many things. I got a telephone message from my wife. "Your son is dangerously ill – come at once."On the way I met another Satsangi who was very upset. "What's the matter with you? "He answered, "My son is sick. He has been sick for three weeks now."– "Did you have him treated?"– "I have got no money." So what did I do, I went to the son, called for the doctor, got medicine for him,  stayed there three, four hours and helped him with his son. Then I went to see my son. This is to "Love your neighbour as thyself."

An initiate is more than a neighbour also. Is it not so? It is a matter of living. Saying is something else, living is something else. Therein we see love. Now we'll find this is again very reciprocal. In that way we can say, "Oh Lord, we are grateful to You for you have given this secret not to the worldly-wise, but to the babes in whom there is no ill will, no doership, no compensation, no thought for return."
Yes, any more? That was a good question. If we only learn that much about it.

All right. God bless you. Go jolly.