Maharaj Ji's words - "May your Love of the
Form, culminate in the Love of the Formless"
GENERAL-
Maharaj
Charan Singh Ji (1916–1990) was the Fourth Sant Satguru from India. He became
the fifth Satguru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) in 1951 following the death
of Sardar Bahadur Jagat Singh, and served until his death at the age of 73.
He was born in Moga district of Punjab, his father was Shri Harbans
Singh Grewal, the youngest son of Baba Sawan Singh Ji. He had two brothers and
four sisters. He was married to Harjeet Kaur Ji who was from a Royal Satsangi
family of Pisawa, U.P. He has three kids, two sons, Jasbir and Ranbir Grewal and
a daughter Nirmaljeet Kaur.
He was a practicing Lawyer at Sirsa,
Haryana. When his father died, he had to quit his profession and help in his
family Farm business in Sirsa.
His Satguru was Baba Sawan Singh Ji. His
successor and the present Satguru is Baba Gurinder Singh Ji, headquartered at
Dera Baba Jaimal Singh, Beas, Punjab, India.
He taught that, because of
our attachment to the mind and body, we have lost sight of our true self. By
using the ancient mystical practices of Sant Mat and Surat Shabd Yoga we could
be aligned with our higher selves.
He travelled to many parts of India as
well as rest of the world and spread Sant Mat there.
He started the
concept of the famous Seva known as 'Mitti ki Seva', which, was the levelling of
the earth. It was started when the Beas river started changing its course
towards the other side of Dera, as against earlier times when it flowed in front
of the Foreign Guest House. When the ground for Langar became small to
accomodate the growing size of the Sangat, he made another ground for Langar
where now nearly about 50,000 people can have langar together. He also built the
Dera colony and inspected every corner of Dera personally and got the houses,
Sarais, etc made. He also was the one to make the Dera Boundary Wall, which, was
not built earlier.
He did a lot of charity work by organizing various
blood donation camps, Annual Eye Camps at Dera where every year thousands of
people used to get treatment for cataract and got operated and after treatment
for free. He also opened charitable Hospitals where common man was treated as a
VIP, 'Baba Sawan Singh Charitable Hospital' which, is located at the NH-1, Grand
Trunk Road in 1980's, He also started another Hospital project for Sikanderpur,
Haryana, which, was known as 'Maharaj Charan Singh Hospital' completed in 1999.
Photography was his hobby, he loved his camera, he used to take
photographs of nature, flowers, people and everything. He was also fond of
travelling around the world. He used to love getting photographed with the
Sangat and Sevadars. He also liked travelling with his family and close friends,
his last trip was to Jaiselmer in 1990.
He gave Open Darshan to the
Sangat and used to sit for the entire day wherever the Seva took
place.
After his death in 1990, he was succeeded by his nephew, Satguru
Baba Gurinder Singh Ji.
TALKING ABOUT BHANDARA-
Bhandara means
free langar, where free food is served to everybody. Here every day is a
Bhandara, nobody is charged for meals. Call them Bhandaras, call them monthly
satsangs, it is same thing. They started from the Great Masters time because he
used to be in service for probably 11 years after becoming the Master. Being
still in service, He selected certain days and told satsangis and devotees, "I
will be here in Dera on these days for the satsang so people may come to hear
satsang." The rest of the time he was doing his job. The particular days when he
would be in Dera - that was always the last Sunday of the month. In between, he
might come if he got leave, but, on those particular days, he saw to it that he
would be there. The sangat knew he would be there so they would gather from all
the villages and cities to hear his discourses. So that is how the tradition
started, and it continued after he retired from the government service, and it
is being continued even today. People know that on these days I will definitly
be here.
ABOUT GROWTH OF SANGAT-
You see, the seed of a banyan
tree is very small. But, when the banyan tree grows, so many birds, so many
animals, so many people, sit under the shade of the tree. But to begin with, the
seed is very small. This foundation started with that hut that Baba Jaimal Singh
Ji built here. Now you can see the hut, how it has expanded.
DARSHAN TO
HILL PEOPLE-
A group of satsangis from the mountanious region of Kulu
were given a group Darshan during their visit to Dera. As it was raining
outside, the Guest House dining room was cleared and rugs were put down for
them. When Huzur came into the room, everyone spontaneously started crying, it
was one of those charged atmospheres which made your hair stand on end, so
intense was their love and devotion. Some of them were permitted to approach
Maharaj Ji to speak to him, but they could not say anything, they just cried and
cried and cried.
DARSHAN AT THE LANGAR-
Every bhandara, as the
crowds came into the Dera and ate the langar, Maharaj Ji made twice daily tours
of the entire area. He would walk from his house and then go from section to
section, ending in the hall where vast number fo chapattis were stacked. As he
moved from one part of the langar to the next, he would stop for a few minutes
in front of the groups of sevadars to give them darshan. The atmosphere would be
so charged, only a heart of stone could fail to be moved.
MISSING HIS
SATGURU-
Once during an evening meeting Huzur Maharaj Ji spoke most
lovingly about his own Master, Maharaj Sawan Singh Ji. Tears welled up in his
eyes as he recalled his relationship with the Beloved. "I would give my life to
see him again in his human form." he said.
By this incident, the Master
revealed to us that even though the Shabad Master is always with us in his
spiritual form, as human beings it is only natural to feel great love for the
physical form. On this coarse plane of material existance where the Shabad form
is inaccessible to us, it is the physical Master who teaches us how to go within
and get in touch with the Inner Master, he is the one who guides us with
infinite love, patience and understanding. In fact, it is only because, of our
love and trust in him that we are able to move forward and progress on the
spiritual path.
But it was only after Huzur Maharaj Ji's sidden passing
that we understood the pain and agony Huzur felt that evening. The shocking news
of the unexpected departure on the first of June 1990 turned our whole world
upside down, it may as well have been doomsday. How could he leave us orphaned
and alone? We were inconsolable.
With the years gone by, as initiated of
Huzur Maharaj Ji we still find ourselves in pain. Like Huzur, we too shed tears
when we think of our Beloved, his beautiful radiant face - if only we could see
him again.
Knowing well the grief we would go through, Huzur made sure
that we would not be left alone. He left us a precious gift - his most loving
discpile, the one who would take over the guidance and care of all his souls and
continue his spiritual work on this earth.
It is often said that
everything happens for a purpose and perhaps there was an important lesson
learned from the passing of our Master - that our attachment to the physical was
making us complacent towards our spiritual duty. Huzur often quotes Christ in
the Bible "It is expedient for you that I go away.. when I leave you it will be
in your interest." He explained again and again that the disciple must connect
with the Shabad within, that without the physical form, the disciple would have
no choice but to seek him within. In the end, the message is clear, that
Meditation and more Meditation is the only way to see him
again.
PHOTOGRAPHY - HIS GREATEST INTEREST -
In the last years of
his life, with his travels limited by security constraints and his schedule
leaving him so little time, he concentrated on photographing flowers. In
particular, he loved and photographed roses and took slides of them in
thousands. Once he was giving someone a slide show, someone asked him if that
was really how they looked. He explained "First I dress them up in all their
finery, and then I capture them in my lens." When his mother asked him why he
took so many pictures of flowers, he told her, somewhat philosophically, "They
dont ask anything of me - and they always smile."
LAST DAYS-
The
first hint of the momentous event that was to come in 1990 was in the previous
year when, Maharaj Ji fell ill. In April 1989, for the first time ever, he
cancelled a scheduled satsang programme.
In March 1989, he had called
together all his closest family members to join him on what was to be his last
holiday with his family. He squeezed those days into his schedule, driving
non-stop 10 hours journey back to Delhi to present himself to the overseas
sangat who were awaiting him there since Punjab had not yet been opened to the
foreigners.
He released the book 'Treasure Beyond Measure" just weeks
before he left. No book had been rushed through the press so quickly. Here, for
the first time a book was released that revealed the private face of Maharaj Ji
to the entire sangat. He took personal interest that every family member and
friend read the book. It put the record straight and in the open about the
difficulties a successor might face in his situation. Many who were close to
Maharaj Ji could not understand at that time why he should choose to publish
such a book. After 1 June 1990, it became eminetly clear.
When Maharaj Ji
returned from the Delhi satsang in March 1990, it was observed that he did not
appear interested in what was happening around him. When asked what the matter
was, he replied "Nothing interests me and nothing holds me here, my work is
done."
On 17 May 1990, he sent Madan Mehta, his close associate and
friend in all his photographic activities, a roll of film wrapped in a note
which read, "Madan, this is definitly the last, I have even taken out the cells
from the camera. Thanks. Love, Charan Singh".
Maharaj Ji delivered his
last satsang on 27 May 1990. That morning he felt cardiac pain, which later in
the afternoon became quite severe. He didnt consult the Doctors lest they should
ask him to cancel the satsang, which would have disappointed a huge gathering
number over 300,000 people. All through 80 minutes of the satsang he took care
to see that his voice, gestures and expressions would not betray the real state
of his health. The entire satsang was delivered in his usual mellifiluous but
forceful voice. To many, he looked usually radiant. This was the last occassion
on which the sangat saw him, yet little did one realize that he decided to leave
this world.
On 29 May 1990, he was not well enough to make his daily
visit to his mother, on 30 May 1990, he requested that she be brought to him. He
took her hand and placed it for some minutes upon his head, the blessings of a
mother to her son, and took her leave. She never saw him again. He also called
his other close family members and gave personal and specific guidance to each.
He asked his son to bring some of his personal funds to his room, and then to
each and everyone who had been employed in the household, he handed a gift of
money. To Dr. Joshi, he gave a clock that was not working at that time.
Ironically, the time showing on the clock was the exact time that Maharaj Ji
left his mortal coil two days later.
Unknown to the family, he called
the Dera Secretary, Shri S.L. Sodhi and some other senior satsangis. What he
said came as a terrible shock to them. He dictated his Will, appointing Sardar
Gurinder Singh Dhillon from Moga, Punjab as his spiritual successor, entrusting
him the power and authority to give satsangs and initiate seekers, and appointed
him as the patron of Radha Soami Satsang Beas Society and Maharaj Jagat Singh
Medical Relief Society, Beas. After the draft was complete, Maharaj Ji put on
his reading glasses and went through it carefully.
On 31 May 1990, he
commented to Dr. Joshi "This body is no longer fir for seva, so what is the
point of keeping it?"
When, around mid day on 1 June 1990, he finally
left his body, it was with the same simplicity that he had lived. He requested
those attending him to help him lie down - he said he wanted rest. Once he was
comfortable, he asked that they cover him with a sheet, turn out the light and
leave the room. The moment they reached the adjoining room, the line on the
heart monitor went flat and the alarms went off. Beloved, beautiful and
wonderous being, he had left his physical body - he had merged with the
Shabad.
His mortal frame was brought for darshan to the satsang compound
and placed on a specially prepared reclining dias in front of the platform from
where he had delivered satsangs for several decades.
On 2 June 1990, in
the early hours of morning, thousands filed past the bier - about 1,25,000
people reached the Dera to have a last look of their beloved Master. There he
was beautiful, serene as ever, the magnificiant white beard, and same benign
expression of tranquility on his face, and the familiar divine glow, which had
won the hearts of friends and foes alike. It was the start of a new beginning,
the light had merged, but another had been lit.
Consummate friend and
inseparable, divine companion, he is both the life giving Shabad that sustains
us, and he is the successor, with us still on the physical plane. Our Master is
at all times giving us his immeasurable perfection. It is a great, good fortune
to meet a perfect saint such as he in ones lifetime. When we view it from the
standpoint of total existance, life after life and aeon upon aeon, such good
fortune cannot be concieved. We can only marvel that any being can be so
blessed.
HIS LAST WORDS IN HIS LAST SATSANG
(27 May 1990)
Here
are the Last Wordings of our beloved 'Maharaj Charan Singh Ji' when HE delivered
His Last Satsang in Beas on 27th May 1990, these have been edited from the DVD
of His Satsangs which we get but, are there in the Old Cassette which, we have
at home.
After the Satsang was over, 'Maharaj Ji' took out a small paper
from the pocket of His kurta and read it as follows:-
"Sangat de agge binti
hai badi khushi naal apne ghara nu jaao, agla Satsang 29 July nu hovega, jinnane
vi aana hai badi khushi de naal aa sakde han, Radha Soami".
Books written
by Maharaj Ji -
1. Die to live
2. Heaven on Earth
3. Divine
Light
4. Quest for light
5. Light on Sant Mat
6. Light on Saint
John
7. Light on Saint Mathew
8. Spiritual Discourses
9. The
Path
10. The Master Answers
11. Thus Saith the Master
12. Teasure
beyond measure.
Books about Maharaj Ji-
1. With a living
Master
2. Legacy of love
3. Labour of love
4. Love in action
5.
Where Masters Walk
