Radha Soami Satsang Beas

I find the notion that reality is non-dual appealing. I used to be much more of a dualist, or transcendentalist, believing that something above and beyond the physical universe is where ultimate truth, beauty, and wisdom lie.

But increasingly I resonate with Wikipedia’s description of non-duality (though I don’t agree that Plotinus is a non-dualist):

Nondualism may be viewed as the belief that dualism or dichotomy are illusory phenomena. Examples of dualisms include self/other, mind/body, male/female, good/evil, active/passive, dualism/nondualism and many others.

To the Nondualist, reality is ultimately neither physical nor mental. Instead, it is an ineffable state or realization. This ultimate reality can be called “Spirit” (Aurobindo), “Brahman” (Shankara), “God”, “Shunyata” (Emptiness), “The All” (Plotinus), “The Self” (Ramana Maharshi), “The Dao” (Lao Zi), “The Absolute” (Schelling) or simply “The Nondual” (F. H. Bradley).

Recently I got an email from Mike, who shared some interesting thoughts about Sant Mat in general and the Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) branch of this religious philosophy in particular. I’ve included his message as a continuation to this post.

I was struck by Mike’s assumption that Sant Mat is a non-dual spiritual practice. Having been initiated into RSSB about the same time Mike was (1971), and being familiar with the teachings of decidedly non-dual mystics such as Ramana and Nisargadatta, I’ve never thought of Sant Mat in this fashion.

Ken Wilber is a modern non-dualist. In his magnum opus, “Sex, Ecology, Spirituality,” Wilber sums up his philosophy as: (1) the Many are illusory, (2) the One alone is real, and (3) the One is the Many. Thus reality is illusion, and illusion is reality.

Could be. Unity is what most of us are looking for in one way or another, and non-duality is even more of a piece than monism—which ends with a One that transcends the maya of Manyness. I like the non-dual wrinkle that ultimate reality is right here and now, not only far off in some other realm.

I just don’t see Sant Mat as being authentically non-dual. To the extent that it is, non-dualism is very much de-emphasized in comparison to the thoroughly dualistic aspects of the meditational and devotional practices I was taught.

For example: body, mind, and soul are considered to be separate and distinct. The goal is to leave body and mind behind, and become pure soul. “Heaven” (a.k.a. Sach Khand) is an actual place, another dimension of being, not a modification of present consciousness.

The guru is to be worshipped and obeyed. He isn’t merely an exemplar of what the disciple can become, but rather is thought to be a son of God who has been sent by the Creator to retrieve lost souls. While the highest manifestation of “God” in Sant Mat is formless, the disciple is supposed to rely on the guru’s various forms (physical, astral, causal) during a long spiritual journey from many to the One.

So there’s a lot of duality to be discarded in Sant Mat before attaining the nondual. Other practices such as Zen, Advaita, and Taoism take a much more direct route to non-duality.

Still, Mike correctly points out that if the overtly ritualistic and religious aspects of Sant Mat are discarded, you’re left with a spiritual practice that could indeed be viewed as falling into the non-dual camp. Of course, this could be said of anything: if you take away the fluff, you’re left with the essence.

What I wonder is, “Why not dive right into the essence, rather than spending time and energy wading through the fluff?” But that’s a matter of personal preference, as Mike says. For some people, during some periods of their lives, dualistic supports—authority figures, congregations, holy books, worship services—are needed.

Here’s Mike’s message:

Here’s some thoughts from Catherine, all the way from South Africa. Like me, she’s a Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) initiate. Also like me, she’s come to look upon this faith with fresh eyes.

I’ve shared several of her email messages below. They’ve been mildly edited, mostly to correct a few typos and inject some explanatory links. I’ve also generally Americanized her English, to keep my spell checker happy.

Many people who read this blog are familiar with the RSSB philosophy and practices. Many others aren’t. I realize that some of what Catherine writes about will elicit a huh? from the latter group.

But the broad issues she addresses should be of interest to everybody concerned with being churched vs. churchless; with accepting religious authority vs. choosing for oneself; with remaining firm on a chosen path vs. meandering off to greener pastures.

Click on the continuation link to read Catherine.

Howard and I are kindred souls. We’re of a similar well-aged Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) vintage, each of us having been initiated into this mystical meditation-based spiritual path over a third of a century ago.

We’ve also both come to view RSSB in a manner that seems heretical to true believers, but which seems eminently sensible to Howard and me.

Howard, who lives in Berkeley, and I have been carrying on an email conversation the past few days. He said it’d be fine if I shared his thoughts on the Church of the Churchless. I’ve mildly edited them, taking out only a few extraneous personal references and correcting some typos.

The two of us are alike in another way, as Howard pointed out:

Maybe you can use some of the things I have written to good use. Don’t worry about editing it in any way you like. I am like you. I just write things out to get them clear in my own head.

While most readers of this blog aren’t associated with RSSB, many are. So I decided to share almost all of what Howard had to say in his email messages, even though it’s lengthy.

I realize that his thoughts will be of most interest to fellow RSSB initiates, but his evolving take on spirituality and religious authority has its universal side as well.

The first part of Howard’s message is below. To read the rest, click on the post extension link. I’ve added some explanations of RSSB-specific terms in [brackets].
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Funny finding you here [at the Church of the Churchless blog]. I’m a satsangi [RSSB initiate] of thirty-five years and just now beginning to see I have been deceiving myself for most of them.

I was at the Dera [headquarters of RSSB in India] two years ago and someone at my table said “Brian Hines [me, the blogger] is having difficulty on the path right now.” I always want to talk to such people because I figure they are at least being real. I have had it with fundamentalist satsangis. Really, I just can’t listen to them anymore, kind of makes me want to gag.

Looks to me like you are just starting to understand the path. I still am quite fond of Gurinder [Singh, current RSSB guru], but primarily because the last time he came to Petaluma [RSSB center in California] and spoke I came to the conclusion that if a tape of his satsang [spiritual talk] had been sent to the satsang reviewing panel he would never be invited back again.

He is not a party liner, even though everyone tries to make him into one. Very few are willing to accept that most of what they hold on to is a fragile belief system that does not give them what they need. Gurinder calls them on this and it is refreshing. Not that anyone does anything about it, but at least it appears he is doing his job.

There definitely has been a shift to 2.0 Sant Mat. I can tell you about a personal exchange I had with Gurinder that you may like.

A few years ago at Dera I got up and said “I just don’t believe any of it anymore. None of it makes any sense to me. It used to feel so good when I knew all the answers and I could just look in my Sant Mat Recipes for Life book whenever I needed an answer. Now if someone asks me a question about the path I tell them to go talk to a seeker [someone interested in RSSB but not yet initiated]. They seem to have it all figured out while I have no idea!”

He told me that was real progress. That the people who seem to have it all together and look like they know what is going on are all faking it. He further said being in this state allows you to be open minded like a child. He said this is very important in order to be open to God. He also said that as soon as we adopt a rigid belief system we are cutting ourselves off from the spiritual world because now we can only see what our belief system filters and validates.

He also said spirituality has nothing to do with your beliefs but that it was more a matter of the heart and sincerity. He said it is the sincerity that counts and not the belief system. It does not really matter what you believe because beliefs are ultimately meaningless. God does not look at your beliefs. At the end he joked and said “When you meet someone like that who has all the answers, you really don’t know if you should be happy for him or feel sorry for him!”

For me it showed Gurinder as being more like a Socrates than a God-man. He also put responsibility for our spiritual growth on us rather than on a flimsy belief system. I also asked him about the four lifetime guarantee [that an initiate will only be reincarnated for a maximum of four more times before reaching God permanently].

He said there is no four lifetime guarantee and just to forget about that. Kind of blew a much comforting thought we all had right out of the water. He said this, I was at the microphone, he said it directly to me. He also said we need to take responsibility for our spiritual life in this lifetime because as far we know this is the only life we have.