Kirpal Singh (6 February 1894 – 21 August 1974) was a spiritual master (satguru) in the tradition of Radha Soami.

Kirpal Singh was born in Sayyad Kasran, Punjab, in what is now Pakistan. He lived in Lahore during the period of his discipleship and attained a high position in the bureaucracy as a deputy comptroller of military accounts.

He was the President of the World Fellowship of Religions, an organization recognized by UNESCO, which had representatives from all the main religions of the world. Beginning with the publication of Gurmat Sidhant, authored by him in the late 1930s and published under his Guru's name, during the period of his ministry he published many books and circulars that were translated into numerous languages.

The teaching of the Surat Shabd Yoga is a path of personal spiritual attainment under the guidance of a living spiritual master. The basic teachings consist in opening the inner eye or third eye to develop vision of inner light and inner sound. This is considered to be the power of the unmanifested Godhead coming into expression and is called Word in the Bible, and Naam, Shabd, Om, Kalma, and other names in the other scriptures. Kirpal Singh taught that the practice of meditation on the Divine Word, or the Yoga of the Sound Current (Surat Shabd Yoga) was at the spiritual base of all religions.

Life

From youth, Kirpal Singh had visionary experience and foreknowledge of events. He sought guidance from various sufis, yogis and mystics, but never accepted any of them as a master, and continued his spiritual practice and prayers for the guidance of a living teacher. In 1917, he began to see a spiritual form that he believed was Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh religion, or Sikhism. In 1924, he met Hazur Maharaj Sawan Singh Ji, the famous Saint of the Beas, in his Ashram on the banks of the Beas River, and in him recognized the luminous form he had seen during the seven previous years. Hazur initiated him into Surat Shabd Yoga, and from then on Kirpal Singh dedicated his life to the mission of his spiritual Master and to his practices, while married, with children and in a responsible government position. Baba Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj asked him to meditate six hours daily, a practice which he maintained throughout his discipleship, despite his life responsibilities.

From early the 1930s on, when Hazur was asked if he had a disciple who had made great progress, he cited Kirpal Singh. In the same years, on inspiration from his master, Kirpal began writing the "Gurmat Siddhant" ("The Philosophy of the Masters"), a two-volume spiritual work, in the Punjabi and Urdu languages. It was published, on Kirpal request, under the name of Hazur Maharaj Sawan Singh Ji. In the 1960s, it was published in English in five volumes. Ruhani Satsang published a number of books under Kirpal Singh's name that were essentially portions of Gurmat Sidhant.

On the morning of 12 October 1947, Hazur Maharaj Sawan Singh Ji entrusted his disciple Kirpal Singh with the work of continuing his spiritual mission. The next month, Hazur approved the project of the "Ruhani Satsang" (School of Spirituality or Science of the Soul) Kirpal presented to him. Hazur Maharaj Sawan Singh Ji died on 2 April 1948, following a brief illness.

After his master's passing, Kirpal went to Rishikesh at the foot of the Himalayan Mountains, where he spent the next five months in an almost continual state of samadhi, or absorption in God.

At the end of this period of intense meditation, Kirpal Singh received an inner command from his master: "Return to the world and bring my children back to me." He moved to Delhi, where people from Punjab were looking for refuge because of the division from Pakistan, and there began his spiritual and humanitarian mission.

Kirpal initiated over 80,000 followers

Ruhani Satsang

In Delhi, Kirpal Singh founded his new school of spiritual research and realization, called Ruhani Satsang (School of Spirituality or Science of the Soul), which would go on to have branches in many nations of the world. In 1951 he built the Sawan Ashram, in the neighborhood of Shakti Nagar on the outskirts of the city, where his spiritual talks (satsangs) were soon followed by thousands of people.

He began to have visits from western disciples. The first was Rusel Jacque, whose account of his six months at the ashram in 1959 (Gurudev: the Lord of Compassion) encouraged others to make the journey. At the beginning of the sixties, an average 40 to 50 disciples stayed at the ashram from three weeks to six months.

Vegetarianism

The vegetarian Sattvic diet was an important part of Singh's teachings. He recommended a simple lacto-vegetarian diet consisting of fruit, grains, nuts and vegetables with permitted dairy products for spiritual reasons.

These succession disputes ultimately led to the proliferation of satsangs without connection to any descendant of the Singh tradition. As of 2002, there were approximately 200,000 adherents of groups related to Kirpal Singh.

Available teachings

Kirpal Singh wrote an extensive collection of books on spirituality, including The Crown of Life (a comparative study of various religions and yogas); Prayer, Its Nature and Technique; Spirituality: What It Is; Godman (on finding a spiritual teacher or guru), and The Wheel of Life (on karma).

PDF versions of Kirpal Singh's books are available free online., as are MP3 recordings of many of his talks in English and Hindi / Punjabi.

Books by Kirpal Singh

  • The Coming Spiritual Revolution (compiled, edited and introduced by Russell Perkins) – New Hampshire, Sant Bani
  • The Crown of Life: A Study in Yoga – Delhi: Ruhani Satsang, 1961; Franklin, New Hampshire: Sant Bani; Bowling Green, Virginia: Sawan Kirpal Publications, 1980 ()
  • The Philosophy of the Masters. R. D. Ahluwalia, 1963.
  • Godman – Delhi: Ruhani Satsang; Franklin, New Hampshire: Sant Bani; Bowling Green, Virginia: Sawan Kirpal Publications ()
  • A Great Saint: Baba Jaimal Singh, His Life and Teachings – Delhi: Ruhani Satsang; Franklin, New Hampshire: Sant Bani ()
  • Heart to Heart Talks (2 volumes) – Delhi: Mr A.R. Manocha, 1975-6 (mentions Paul Twitchell)
  • His Grace Lives On – USA: Ruhani Satsang ()
  • The Jap Ji: The Message of Guru Nanak – Delhi: Ruhani Satsang, 1959; Franklin, New Hampshire: Sant Bani; Bowling Green, Virginia: Sawan Kirpal Publications, 1981 ()
  • Life and Death (combined edition of The Wheel of Life and The Mystery of Death) – Franklin, New Hampshire: Sant Bani
  • The Light of Kirpal – Franklin, New Hampshire: Sant Bani ()
  • Man! Know Thyself – Delhi: Ruhani Satsang; Bowling Green, Virginia: Sawan Kirpal Publications, 1983; Irvine, California: Ruhani Satsang Books ()
  • Morning Talks – Delhi: Ruhani Satsang, 1970; Franklin, New Hampshire: Sant Bani; Bowling Green, Virginia: Sawan Kirpal Publications ()
  • Naam or Word – Delhi: Ruhani Satsang, 1960; Franklin, New Hampshire: Sant Bani; Bowling Green, Virginia: Sawan Kirpal Publications, 1981 ()
  • The Night Is a Jungle and Other Discourses – Delhi: Ruhani Satsang; Franklin, New Hampshire: Sant Bani ()
  • Prayer: Its Nature and Technique – Delhi: Ruhani Satsang; Franklin, New Hampshire: Sant Bani; Bowling Green, Virginia: Sawan Kirpal Publications ()
  • Seven Paths to Perfection
  • Spiritual Elixir – Delhi: Ruhani Satsang; Franklin, New Hampshire: Sant Bani, 1967 ()
  • Spirituality: What It Is – Delhi: Ruhani Satsang, 1959, 1964; Franklin, New Hampshire: Sant Bani; Bowling Green, Virginia: Sawan Kirpal Publications
  • The Spiritual Path
  • Surat Shabd Yoga: The Yoga of the Celestial Sound Current – Irvine, California: Ruhani Satsang Books; Blaine, Washington: Ruhani Satsang, 2006 ()
  • The Teachings of Kirpal Singh (edited by Ruth Seader) – Franklin, New Hampshire: Sant Bani, 1974–6; Bowling Green, Virginia: Sawan Kirpal Publications, 1981 ()
  • The Way of the Saints (edited by Russell Perkins) – Franklin, New Hampshire: Sant Bani, 1976, 1989 ()
  • The Wheel of Life and The Mystery of Death ()

Notes

References

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Further reading

  • Avtār Singh Oberoi, Support for the Shaken Sangat, Sanbornton, New Hampshire: Sant Bani, 1984.
  • Dressel, Hilde, The Eternal Connection, Bowling Green, Virginia: SK Publications, 1994.
  • Dr Harbhajan Singh, Kirpal Singh - His Mission in the Golden Age - http://spirituality.unity-of-man.org/images/1991-01.pdf
  • Harbhajan Kaur, 1998, Nourished by Divine Love, Naperville, Illinois: SK Publications.
  • Jones, George Arnsby, 1965, The Harvest is Rich: the mission of Kirpal Singh, Delhi: Ruhani Satsang; New York: Pageant; Indore: Kirpal Sewashram, 2007.
  • Lane, David Christopher, The Making of a Spiritual Movement
  • Malhotra, Sharan, 1994, Divine Darshan, New Delhi: Wiley Eastern Limited.
  • Perkins, Russell, The Impact of a Saint, Sanbornton, New Hampshire: Sant Bani, 1980, 1989.
  • Portrait of Perfection, Sawan Kirpal Publications.
  • Sahai, B.M. & Rādhā Krishna Khanna, The Saint and His Master, Delhi: Ruhani Satsang, 1968.
  • Sena, Bhadra, ed, As They Saw the Master, Delhi: Ruhani Satsang, 1956.
  • Sena, Bhadra, The Beloved Master.
  • Sena, Bhadra, ed, Ocean of Grace Divine.
  • Stephens, Arran, Moth and the Flame.
  • The Third World Tour of Kirpal Singh.
  • Tessler, Neil, "Crisis and Renewal: Succession in Modern Sant Mat"
  • Unity of Man, "Kirpal Singh Biography" - https://www.kirpalsingh-teachings.org/images/pdf/Sant_Kirpal_Singh_Biography.pdf
  • Vidich, Andrew & Arthur Stein, eds, Heart of Compassion: the life and teachings of Kirpal Singh, Larson Publications.
  • Ruhani Satsang USA
  • Kirpal Singh Teachings
  • Kirpal Singh - His Life and His Mission
  • Kirpal Singh - audio and video files
  • Unity of Man: Be Good, Do Good, and Be One
  • Unity of Man: Spirituality - An Overview
  • Unity of Man: Conferences 1974, 1994 and 2007
  • Kirpal Sagar (Ocean of Grace) - Man Making, Man Service and Land Service