Preface to the Seventh
Edition
Mrs Flora E. Wood, the Master's representative in Britain,
was born and lived in India for many years and learned of the teachings of the
saints as a young woman in the early 1940s.
She was initiated by Maharaj
Sawan Singh Ji and had the unusual opportunity to
experience a close, personal association with both her own Master and, in the
1960s, Maharaj Charan Singh
Ji. Back in those days-the 1940s and the early '60s-there were relatively few satsang is in the West, compared with the thousands who
have been initiated since then. And of that small number, only a handful were able to spend time at the Dera.
This book gives a first-hand account of those times when Mrs Wood and a small
group of companions spent considerable time with the Master in informal
discussions of Sant Mat and shared with him many
intimate moments. In conveying her experiences, Mrs Wood communicates not only
the teachings of the saints but also a little of how the Masters teach their
disciples through the example of their own purity and love for God.
Mrs Wood has slightly revised this edition and has
added an epilogue placing her account in a spiritual context from the vantage
point of some thirty-two years later. With the growth of the sangat all over the world, the intimacy of those earlier
days is no longer possible. But we also know that the true intimacy occurs
spiritually, when we meet our Master's Radiant Form inside. His physical form
is a means to that end.
In this account of a disciple's personal association
with her Master, we share her joy in his presence. It may remind us of the
union we all seek with our own Master, and how to go about making that union a
reality.
Introduction
The river Beas, with its
four companions-the rivers Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej-gives the Punjab its
name (panch aab, five rivers) as a province of
northern India. The Beas has held a significant place in the annals of India, both
spiritually and politically. Early in the sixteenth century Guru Nanak, one of
the greatest saints that India has produced, preached his message of Sant Mat, the Teachings of the Saints. Born at Talwandi, now known as Nankana
Sahib, he settled and preached at Kartarpur Bedian, which lies on the west bank of river Ravi at a
distance of about fifty miles from the present Radha Soami
Colony on the bank of the river Beas, which will figure so largely in the
following pages.
Over two hundred years before the birth of Christ,
Alexander the Great, at the head of his hitherto victorious hosts, came to the
banks of this waterway. Heavy clouds were gathering, and, before he could ford
the shrunken stream, the monsoon broke in a great storm of lightning and rain,
beating on the parched countryside and on the Himalayan heights nearby. The
water from a thousand hills and streams filled the river basin and overflowed
into the surrounding plain Alexander's tired foot soldiers could not move in
the thick clay morass, and this, aggravated by their long-standing homesickness
and discontent, led to mutiny. Alexander, that great conqueror, had been out generalled by a river-the Beas. He turned back and a year
later died on his journey homeward.
On the banks of this same river in the last years of
the nineteenth century, Baba Jaimal Singh, the
disciple of a well-known and loved saint, Soami Ji of
Agra, had chosen, after thirty-four years as a devoted follower of his Guru, to
serve his novitiate of mastership. In those days the
countryside was sparsely populated and farmed by widely spaced villages, whilst
the area around the river itself was a wilderness of scrub broken up by clefts
of eroded clay. Undisturbed, he sat meditating for long hours at a time, as do
all true Masters before taking up their great responsibilities. In the tree
above him, he had secreted a bundle of chapatis and
at long intervals he would arise and, taking one of the sun-dried unleavened
cakes, would soak it in water, eat it and return at once to his devotions. It
is said that he foresaw this spot becoming the nucleus of a spiritual activity
which would radiate across the world.
He built a rough shelter from the rain and it was
not long before he had a growing band of disciples. A well was sunk and
buildings commenced in a modest way. The colony we know had started its course.
Subsequent to this, his successor Baba Sawan Singh Ji, after his accession to mastership,
improved the colony to house the ever-growing number of his devotees. At his
death in 1948,.Sardar Bahadur
Jagat Singh Ji, who followed him, and later Maharaj Charan Singh Ji, continued to alter and enlarge the
existing site to cater to the periodic influx of literally thousands of
disciples who come for instruction in Sant Mat-the
philosophy they teach.
During my last visit to the colony, the idea
occurred to me that a record written at the time and whilst events were fresh in
the mind, might be of interest to the other British and Indian members of our
party from England Other satsangis who had not
visited Beas might also share with us, vicariously, the blissful days we spent
in our benign Master's company.
Since that time it was suggested that I enlarge this
account to include earlier reminiscences: of how I met the Great Master, Maharaj Sawan Singh Ji, who
initiated me; of how I was attracted by his teaching; and of the Dera in the days when I first studied Sant
Mat.
The observations in the following pages are
naturally inadequate reactions, of a purely personal nature, to rare and
precious moments in the company of our beloved Satgurus
Here I am reminded of a story about a little boy who, in the garden of his
cottage home, was playing with an old copper jug. It was a brilliant spring
morning, fragrant and dewy, full of vital colour and sound, the drone of
insects and the wild sweetness of bird song He sat for a long moment with a
singing heart gazing into the sun-filled golden depths of his jug and thought
with the unformulated loving thoughts of childhood, of his mother lying ill in
the cottage in a comparatively dark room, and his heart suddenly ached to be
able to convey some of the peace and beauty of the garden to her, for her
comfort. He lay in the grass and thought: "If I leave the jug with its lid
open for a little while, it will be full to the brim with sunlight." After
some time he closed the lid and carried it carefully indoors to his mother and
said: "I've brought you in some sunshine." But when he opened the
jug, all was dark and cold within it, and sadness filled his heart.
Please give me your indulgence if my jug seems empty
and inadequate.
Contents
Preface
to the Seventh Edition |
vii |
Introduction |
IX |
PART I |
|
EARLY
MEMORIES: 1940-46 |
|
Early
Memories |
3 |
Meeting
My Master |
11 |
Elizabeth
Bruce Johnson |
14 |
Satsang |
16 |
The
Inner Journey |
19 |
Dera Friends |
24 |
Initiation |
25 |
A New
Life |
29 |
Problems |
30 |
PART II |
|
THE RETURN: 1961-62 |
|
The
Return |
37 |
Soul
Growth |
41 |
Partings |
63 |
Marking
Time |
68 |
The
Master Returns |
70 |
Transport |
73 |
Dera Reunion |
110 |
Shopping
Interval |
115 |
Holi |
116 |
Shoti |
117 |
His
Will |
122 |
Karma |
134 |
The
Inner Sanctuary |
140 |
Little
Satsangs |
142 |
April
Bhandara |
144 |
Taking
Leave |
148 |
EPILOGUE |
151 |
Addresses
for Information and Books |
157 |
Books
on this Science |
163 |










Item Code:
NAK607
Author:
Flora E. Wood
Cover:
Hardcover
Edition:
2003
Publisher:
Radha Soami Satsang Beas
ISBN:
8182561361
Language:
English
Size:
9.0 inch x 6.0 inch
Pages:
186
Other Details:
Weight of the Book: 350 gms
Price: $29.00 Shipping Free |
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