Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Another perspective on Sant Mat, version 2.0

Back in January I wrote about the seeming transformation of the mystical philosophy of Sant Mat into an updated version 2.0. I’m speaking not about Sant Mat in general but about the Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB, or RS) sect, for there are many contemporary Sant Mat movements and I don’t know much about the others. Recently I got an email from an RSSB initiate who described his own take on genuine Sant Mat, which is a lot closer to my version 2.0 than the traditional party line dogma. Like me, he’s got thirty plus years of meditation under his…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

I don’t go to satsang, yet I do

Satsang is a Hindu and Sikh term that means, literally, “association with truth.” It has lots of connotations, but in its most basic sense satsang is a meeting. I’ve been going to the satsang of our local Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) group for about thirty years. As the RSSB website says, “satsang” also means a group that seeks truth. So the satsang that is a group can have a satsang meeting where truth is discussed. A few weeks ago I stopped going to the meetings. I came to the conclusion that the boundaries of truth are a lot larger…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Reality

Theology vs. reality in the RSSB teachings

“Reality.” It’s one of my favorite words. Especially if you say it like Cartman would on South Park: Realitey. That gives it a certain Frenchy sort of snob appeal. But reality, or realitey, really isn’t snobbish at all. It’s the most down-home thing there is. More: it’s the only thing there is. The only real thing, at least. The Greeks considered that something can exist, yet barely be. In other words, there are degrees of reality. Generally we think, “it either is or it isn’t.” However, it could sort of be. And there could be something else with more beingness…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

More skepticism about Sant Mat

Periodically I get email messages from dissatisfied initiates of Radha Soami Satsang Beas. They’ve come to regard the RSSB (or Sant Mat) philosophy with considerable skepticism. Because I believe in the potential of a genuine spiritual science, which requires that the results of spiritual “experiments” be openly discussed, I’m pleased to share these messages when the author gives me permission. Bob did, so you’ll find his story below. It’s well written and provocative. I’m still a vegetarian and feel that I always will be. The idea of eating animal flesh after thirty-seven years of meatlessness turns my stomach. But Bob’s…
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Posted inPersonal/Stories Radha Soami Satsang Beas

In praise of divorce

Yesterday a friend told me that she found an old book of mine lurking in the shelves of Powell’s Books in Portland. Her email message said: Hey, Brian! Guess what I found at Powell’s today . . . an old copy of The Path of the Masters lurking in the Indian philosophy section -- instead of Sikhism. Since it was an older version smelling of mildew I just had to take a look -- and guess what I found inside, an inscription “To Brian . . . from Sue . . . 1970.” Sue was my first wife. We got…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Religions

Go ahead and believe

I’m a skeptic. That’s my nature. But if you’re a believer, more power to you. Skepticism feels right to me. Belief feels right to most people, since belief in a “God” of some sort is a decided majority opinion, particularly in the hyper-religious United States. I understand the allure of belief in a higher power. Faced with the uncertainties of life—death, disease, distress (to name a few)—it’s tremendously reassuring to consider that you’re being cared for and loved by God or some other manifestation of divinity. Such as a guru. In response to my “Who is the guru?” post, Nick…
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Posted inMystics Radha Soami Satsang Beas

Who is the guru?

I’ve been thinking about the four options concerning who Jesus was, according to biblical scholar Bart Ehrman: a liar, a lunatic, the Lord, or a legend. When it comes to a long-dead historical figure like Jesus, these options make sense. But what about a modern-day guru who is similarly proclaimed to be God in human form? I was initiated by such a guru, Charan Singh Grewal. I sat at his feet, literally. I had two personal interviews with him. I heard him speak many times. I saw him worshipped by tens of thousands of devotees as a divine incarnation. And…
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Posted inPersonal/Stories Radha Soami Satsang Beas Wu Project

Tracking the trajectory of my Wu Project

Here’s documentation of my first original quasi-spiritual insight. Today I dragged this piece of paper out of my “treasures box,” where I keep various memorabilia from my youth. I wrote the poem when I was 13 after gazing up at the stars one night from the backyard of our rural home in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. It goes like this: Look up to the heavens What is there? Tiny pinpoints of light But is that all? Look past the stars Into the blackness of the void. What lies there, waiting for man’s first faltering steps Into the…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Taoism/Tai Chi

Three laughers at the tiger ravine

Today I came across a scroll, painted by Bangaku, of “Three Laughers at the Tiger Ravine.” This anecdote explains their laughter. "This is an allegory in which three literati realize by accident that spiritual purity cannot be measured by artificial boundaries. One day the poet Tao Yuanming and the Taoist Lu Xiujing traveled to the Donglin temple on Mt. Lu to visit the Buddhist theologian Huiyuan who lived there as a recluse, vowing never to cross the stone bridge over the Tiger Ravine that marked the boundary of the sanctuary. After an evening together, Huiyuan accompanied his friends as they…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Religions

Religion should make us more humane, not less

It strikes me as strange that ardent religious devotees often act in ways that are less humane, caring, and loving than a regular person you’d meet on the street. The Mohammed cartoon riots are a good example of this, since normally people don’t kill or pillage if someone offends them. So if an action wouldn’t be acceptable in everyday life, it certainly shouldn’t be acceptable in the name of religion. Spirituality should make us better human beings, not worse. Unfortunately, often the reverse is true. I heartily agree with these comments by Valerie about a religion I’m well acquainted with,…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Sant Mat, version 2.0

I’m wondering if there’s been a new release of Sant Mat, a north Indian spiritual philosophy centered around the need to follow a God-realized guru. It certainly seems that way from the remarks of several Church of the Churchless commenters. Maybe version 2.0 has superceded the original Sant Mat that I was initiated into thirty-five years ago, and which I’ve written about in two books distributed or published by Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB). Though now I’ve been called “Beas’ most articulate critic” (and not only by myself), I still have a genuine fondness for Sant Mat, a.k.a. Radha Soami…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

Become spiritually stronger, not weaker

If spirituality doesn’t make you stronger, what good is it? Not much. Yet often people lean upon religion as if it were a crutch. Instead of walking on their own they hobble along, dragging the weight of dogma, ritual, and slavish dependence with them. Yesterday I got an email message from “Joe.” He said that I could share his thoughts if I cleaned up his syntax, English being his second language. I’ve done just that below. Joe makes some important points. He’s addressing himself to members of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), the group that both he and I have…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

Meditation isn’t dog training

In a comment to my “Be a spiritual rebel!” post, Stephen asked if anyone who reads this blog had been successful in meditating for 2 ½ hours daily over a two-year stretch. He wondered what happens after engaging in this much meditation. My initial response to him was: not much. Stephen, now that I have more time to reply to your query, here’s an elaboration based on not just two, but about twenty years of meditating for 2 ½ hours a day (following the mantra-based technique taught by Radha Soami Satsang Beas, or RSSB). For the other sixteen years I’ve…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Another soul says “RSSB not for me”

It’s always a pleasure to hear from a like-minded soul: someone who approaches spirituality with a scientific bent and isn’t shy about questioning dogmas that don’t seem to make sense. Yesterday I got an email from Cynthia, who is, like me, an initiate of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB). She shared what brought her to this spiritual path and also what has caused her to draw away from it. Below is the core of her message, mildly edited for clarity and readability. When Cynthia told me that it was fine to post her words, she asked me to make sure…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

Gurus and disciples—masters and slaves

I’m not attracted to being the slave of someone. Some people are. The Master/slave Conference is dedicated to “exploring dominant/submissive relationships.” Many websites and weblogs, such as Magdala’s Submission, are devoted to the M/s and BDSM lifestyle. All that is fine with me. Whatever turns you on. But melding dominance and submission with spirituality strikes me as strange. I’ve never been able to look upon God as someone who desires a Master/slave relationship with the beings He/She/It has created. Yet religious and mystical literature is replete with claims that God desires just that. Here are some excerpts from “Sar Bachan…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Religions Science

Doubt differentiates science and religion

Here’s a simple way of determining whether you’re scientifically or religiously inclined: how do you feel about doubt? If you’re opposed to doubt, or even, well, doubtful about doubt, then you’re a religious sort. If you’re open to doubt, then you’re a scientific type. I got to thinking about the pros and cons of doubt after thumbing through the August 2005 issue of “Spiritual Link.” This magazine is published by Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), an organization based in India that also is referred to as the Science of the Soul or Sant Mat. I came across an article titled…
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Posted inGod Radha Soami Satsang Beas

Is God really watching me?

The notion of a personal God who sees everything that we’re doing, and intervenes in our lives when He/She/It feels like it, seems increasingly strange to me. It just sounds too much like “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” He’s…gonna find out who’s naughty and nice…He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake! Also, for the sake of getting presents on Christmas Day. Just as believers in a personal God expect that they’ll be rewarded after death with salvation for being such a…
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Posted inPersonal/Stories Radha Soami Satsang Beas

How writing a book rewrote me

A few days ago I got around to looking through a bunch of unanswered emails. I came across a message in which someone asked me to elaborate on a quote from my July 14 post on “Filtering Reality.” An aside: it’s sort of ironic (or, some might say, karmic) how I began working on a book that ended up changing how I viewed Radha Soami Satsang Beas and, more generally, my whole approach to spirituality. Radha Soami Satsang Beas, or RSSB, is the India-headquartered spiritual group that I’ve been associated with for some thirty-five years. The “ironic” aspect of the…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Religions

Do you need to kill the Buddha?

Previously I’™ve written:

“If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him!” Buddhists are fond of saying. And not just Buddha: also Jesus, Mohammed, Moses, Lao Tzu, Guru Nanak, every spiritual teacher. And not just these people are to be killed: also the concepts that comprise the shell of their teachings. For only then can the kernel of truth be released.

But is this really the case? Below you can read an email message from a person in the United Kingdom who argues otherwise. He, like me, is an initiate of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, also known as “Sant Mat.” The “satsangs” mentioned in his message are meetings of this group.

These are special words, unfamiliar to most people. But the questions being explored here are universal. To what extent does an evolving skeptic or agnostic need to disassociate from a religious organization to which he or she currently belongs? Can you discern grains of truth anywhere you look and find a way to separate them from ritualistic, dogmatic, fundamentalist chaff?

If you’re a questioning Christian and want to relate this message to your own experience, you could substitute “church”€ for “€œsatsang,”€ “Christianity” for “Sant Mat,”€ “Christians” for “€œsatsangis,” and so on. For the issues discussed below are common to anyone who feels an urge to move beyond the boundaries of a well-defined faith.

In Zen master Seung Sahn’s book “Dropping Ashes on the Buddha” he tells a student:

Throw away teaching, throw away everything. If you say you are not attached to methods of practice, this is being attached to method. If you cut off your attachment, then your words (“€œthe real ‘˜I’ functions without thinking or talking”) are not necessary.

And also:

You say that you have no faith in your Buddha-nature. I too have no faith in my Buddha-nature. And I have no faith in Buddha or God or anything. If you have no faith, you must completely have no faith. You must not believe in anything at all…€But when you see red, there is red; when you see white, there is only white. You must let go of both faith and non-faith. Things are only as they are.

Seung Sahn is fond of saying things like “If you understand yourself, I will hit you thirty times. And if you don’t understand yourself, I will still hit you thirty times.” When asked “Why?”€ he will say, “It is very cold today.”€

Here’s a weather report from my British correspondent:

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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Religions

What are the odds?

Beating exceedingly long odds (1 in 146 million), someone in Oregon just won $340 million in the Powerball lottery. This got me to thinking, what are the odds of someone winning the God lottery? That is, of choosing the right religion or spiritual practice and enjoying a really big prize: salvation, enlightenment, heaven, gnosis, god-realization. I’ve enjoyed reading the comments to my previous “I’ve been fired” post. Some I agree with, some I don’t. This statement by Robert Searle (mildly edited for clarity) got me pondering probabilities: I am coming to the conclusion that the much despised term "blind faith"…
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