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rrFte ?:rue !l{ature of Man

The Greek and Roman Philosophers of ancient times have said:

"Your first duty is to find out who and what you are yourself'
Ever since man began to think, slowly awakening from the lethargy into which he
had suak, he has found himself drifting with the tides, helpless victim of a thousand
ills, driven by apparently blind forces, obstructed and harassed at every turn;
wounded and bleeding, heart-sick and weary; and it has been but precious little he
could do to change this situation.
Who bas not realised his failures and inability to cope with the thousand and one
enemies constantly besetting his way?
Truly the world is in a sad condition. Every man is not only sick, but he is lost in a
dense wood, a tangled forest, without path or compass, blind to the sun and stars.
He is not only devoid of sight, but also has no recollection of his original home or his
inheritmce. In this unhappy state, man wanders on from body to body.
Where is the man who can assert he is happy; where is the man who can claim
immuaity from disease, pain and passion? Man's moral strength is weak; of the
spiritual light, he sees no more than a feeble glimmering, a flickering candle here and
there in the pitch of universal darkness. The bulk of humanity has neither morality
nor spiritually and the entire humanity is ill, groping its uneasy way towards an
unknown destiny. This whole human race seems to be driven like slaves.
Man suuggles up and down the world in a fever of unrest, all the while crying for
something, he knows not what. There is no rest. From youth to old age, cares and
anxieaies multiply while death stands awaiting his day and hour. There is no
security.
Wealth. health, power, momentary pleasures pass in a flash and they are gone. Who
can say that he has not a single heartache or worry? At best, life offers only a few
pleasant sensations, a brief delirium of power, a mad moment of passion.
Last all, man faces that dark unknown at which he shudders and wonders, then
comes the lonely silence, the long silence, out of which no voice o( consolation
reaches those who are left behind.

Nevertheless, know that man was not created in jest or at random, but marvelously
made and for some great end:
Al~owp his earthly form in not everlasting, yet he lives forever, and though his body
is sensaal and earthly, yet his soul is lofty ~d Divine. By ~y and abstimmce he
.
.
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oL's' c ~ .e_'-,~

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rrfie

~me

;J{flture of Man

. purged f rom cama

t2J\.--'-ll~-~
.
he att.ams
. to the hi ghest, an d mstea
.
d ot" bemg
. a s1ave
1s
passiOns;
to the senses he becomes imbibed with Godly qualities.

When attaining that state, he finds his bliss in the contemplation of the Eternal Divine
and no longer in worldly delights. The Spiritual chemistry which operates this
change in him, like that lue which transmutes base metals into gold, is not easily
discovered.

Within your own home, within the body,

is a treasure of rubies, gems and jewels.
But the mind lost in illusion cannot find it.
A.G.M. 4:1179

Now the treasuries of God, in which this alchemy is to be sought, are the hearts of
Perfect Saints, and he who seeks it elsewhere will be disappointed and disillusioned.
God has sent on earth his Saints to unveil to man this mystery and to teach him how
to purify his mind from baser qualities by attaching it to the philosopher's stone - the
Shabd, the Music of the Spheres.

None attains Him without the Grace of the Guru,

and without the Shabd He is not obtained.
Pull your soul up to the skies within.
Listen to the Sound of the Word.
This alone is true practice.
Soami Ji, Sar Eachan 20:10
This mystery may be briefly described as turning away from the world of illusion
towanls the Eternal Truth, towards God. For this mystery to be unveiled, it requires:
First, The knowledge of self;
Second, The knowledge of God.
~

The knowledge of the self is the key to the knowledge of God. If :01 say "I know
myself" meaning four outward shape, body, face and character, and so forth, such
knowledge can never l.ead .t~ the knowledge of God.
~

The first step to self-knowledge is to know that yey are composed of an outward
shape, called the body and an inward entity called the soul.
The body of man has nine doors through which hjs senses function in the external
world of illusion. These doors are the two eyes, two nostrils, two ears, the mouth and
the two_ lower apertures; but what is more wonderful than these doors; man has a

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'The CI'rue 'J.{_ature of Man

tenth door through which his soul, with the help of the Saint, can soar and connect
with that everlasting Sound forever ringing at the eye centre, riding up on it to merge
into its original essence, the Lord. This is the true knowledge of the Self. Of this fact,
the one who has not been instructed by the Guru is completely oblivious, ignorant
and unaware; of this man, we can say, he did not attain self-knowledge, and is thus
blind of his true self and latent Divine qualities.

Within that body is hidden very wonderful fact known only by the spiritually
evolved: that the Creator has so constructed man that he is able, when the Divine Will
ordains and when man is properly informed and trained by the Saints, to connect
himself with the entire universe. Because of this capacity man is called a microcosm, a
miniature world or little world.
Man is in fact a replica of the entire universe on a very small scale, and for that reason
.
he is able to reach consciously the entire universe existing ootside of himself. It is ~v1 s.~
because man has in himself a definite particle which bears relation to every part of the
universe; and that is his soul.
Man does not ordinarily imagine that he is so remarkably endowed; and feels himself
to be separate from the rest of the universe. (:/l_9.Q:It.1'1..
The entire universe, called macrocosm, is present in a small version called microcosm,
within the body of man; and thus man is not isolated from the universe as he
perceives himself to be. When his faculties are awakened by the Saint, the Guru,
man's soul can then soar to the highest spiritual regions.
How little then does the average man realise his lofty and noble inheritance.
This marvellous microcosm has been offered.to the soul, not without Divine aim, but
so that through the knowledge imparted to him by his Teacher, man may take hold of
it and through it merge into his original Source.
To attain that aim, man must go inside of himself and thus awaken all his sleeping
faculties and liberate his latent powers. The exact process for this liberation to be
accomplished will be revealed by the Master to his disciple at the time of initiation.
The Perfect Master has accomplished this stupendous task, and is in a position to
guide his disciple to the same goal.
Mostly, man is entirely ignorant of this great gift bestowed on him by Divine Mercy.
During the long ages and many successive births in regions of coarse matter, man has
lost the knowledge of how to achieve that aim.

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fJ1ie tz'rue 9{ature of %an

Man has nowto re-learn the lost art from his Master and thus be able to regain his
lawful place in the seat of Bliss and Eternity.
This contact is established by means of concentrated attention at the point or centre
chosen under the direction of the Teacher.
This is the secret of all Yoga, of all union, and the objective of all spiritual exercises.
By concentrated attention at i:he third eye, the consciousness is awakened at that
centre, and from there it moves upward towards the higher planes.
Man is indeed the microcosm, complicated and wonderful in structure. In him is
hidden the sum total of the whole creation. How true is that, the greatest study of
mankind is man himself.
Thus each and every man, under the discipleship of a Perfect Saint, is able to detach
himself from the physical body while still living in that body in perfect health, and
connect with the Celestial Music eternally ringing in his eye focus, ride on it to higher
consciousness and attain the goal of human existence. This is called the knowledge
of the self.
We now come to the knowledge of God. The soul does not belong to the visible
world, but rather to the invisible abode of the Divine. It has come into this plane as a
traveller visiting a foreign land and will presently return to its native place. It is the
knowledge of this entity and its attributes which is the key to the know ledge of God.
Man must believe that God observes all his acts and thoughts. People only see the
outward, while God sees both the outer and the inner man. He who tmly believes
this, will have both his outer and inner being well disciplined and will entertain only
. pure thoughts and act accordingly. To know God is to love Him; the human
perfection culminates in that love of God when it conquers and wholly possesses
man's heart.
Jesus said unto him, Thou shall love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind.
Matthew 22:37
The wise man soon realises that God, manifested in the physical f01m of his Guru is
alone worthy of love; and if he loves Him not, it is because he does not know Him.
The first cause that produces love, is that man loves himself and the perfection of his
own nature. This leads him directly to the love of God, since II;lan's very existence
and man's attributes are nothing else .but the Gift of God; but for whose grace and
kindness, man would never have emerged from behind tjle curtain of non-existence

,!'

'
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%e. tEue 'l{fr,ture of Man

into the visible world.
Man's preservation and eventual attainment to perfection are also entirely dependent
upon the Grace of God. Were it not for God, man would have no existence nor

attributes at all; wherefore, then should not man love God, unless of his ignorance of
Him? Because of their ignorance the fools cannot love Him, for the love of the Lord
springs directly from the knowledge of Him.

The second cause of the love of man for God is that man loves his benefactor, and in
truth man's only benefactor is God; for whatever kindness he receives from any
fellow creature, is due to the immediate instigation of God. Whatever motives may
have prompted the kindness man receives from another, God is the Agent who sets
that motive to work.
The third cause of the love of man for God and the most important one, is that affinity
- that pull of the soul towards God - the striving of the drop to merge into its Source,
the Ocean.
My servant seeks proximity of Me
that I may make him MY friend and
when I have made him MY friend,
I become his ear, his eye and his tongue.
That servant is again dearest to me who
does not seek ME from fear of punishment or
hope of reward, but to pay the debt of MY deity.
The Koran

A disciple by devotion to his Teacher, his Guru, learns by humility through the Grace
of his Master, to annihilate this I-ness and when the ego falls from its pedestal to the
ground of nothingness, the mirror of the heart becomes clear of rust and reflects the
splendor of God.
The following allegory (teaching story) was originally written by Al-Ghazzali in his
book "Ihya-ul-Ulum", and copied by Rumi in his "Masnavi".
Once upon a time the Chinese having challenged the Greeks to a trial of skill in
painting; the Sultan summoned them both into edifices ooilt for the purpose and
which were directly facing each other, he then commanded them to show proof
of their art.
The painters of the two nations immediately applied themselves witll diligence to.

their task.

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'IFt-e 'Ime :A{g_ture of :Man

Everyday the Chinese sought and obtained from the King a great quantity of
colours, but the Greeks asked for nothing. Both worked in profound silence,
until the Chinese with a clamour of cymbals and trumpets announced the end of
their labours. Immediately the Sultan and his courtiers hastened to their temple,
and stood there amazed at the wonderful splendor of the Chinese painting and
the exquisite beauty of its colours.
Meanwhile the Greeks, who had not sought to adorn the walls with paint, but
rather laboured to erase every colour, drew aside the veil which concealed their
work.
Then, amazing to tell, the manifold variety of the Chinese colours were seen more
delicately and more beautifully reflected on the polished wall of the Grecian
temple, as it stood illuminated by the rays of the mid-day sun! ,....olt:.!; ~ c&Q')~ -t{

If you desire to rise above mere names and letters,

Make yourselffree from self at one stroke,
Like a sword be without trace of soft iron;
Like a steel mirror, scour off all rust with contrition;
Make yourself pure from all attributes of self,
That you may see your own pure bright essence!

~ '-

v..'l.

Rumi

When the mirror of the heart becomes clear of rust, it reflects the splendor of God.

~., [;,

The True Nature of Man

_________________________________________________________________________________

The True Nature of Man

(
)

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The True Nature of Man

_________________________________________________________________________________

(Godly qualities)

A.G.M. 4:1179

-
(Spheres).

(
)

Soami Ji Sar Bachan 20:10

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The True Nature of Man

_________________________________________________________________________________

(Self).

(Teacher)

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The True Nature of Man

_________________________________________________________________________________

(Bliss and Eternity).

(
) (Divine)

Matthew 22: 37
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The True Nature of Man

_________________________________________________________________________________

(Gift of God)

(benefactor)

The Koran

(teaching story) Al-Ghazzali

Ihya-ul-Ulum Rumi

Masnavi

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The True Nature of Man

_________________________________________________________________________________

Rumi

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