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His Thought and Philosophy
(A) Concept of Supreme Being
Soamiji's Supreme Being is formless, indescribable, unfathomable,
endless and nameless. He is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. His
attributes are grace, mercy, love, light, bliss and peace. He is all pure
and all spiritual and as such far beyond the reach of mind and matter.
When manifested, He is known as Sat Purush Radhasoami and this name,
according to Soamiji, has been by the Supreme Being Himself who is the
ultimate and highest reality.
In his writings, Soamiji has often elicited the relation
of a devotee with the Supreme Being with the help of such similes as were
used by medieval saints and mystics. He did not challenge the existence
of the Brahman and His Avatars of Hinduism or the God of
Christianity or the Allah of Islam. He only contends that the region
of their origin are lower than that of Sat Purush Radhasoami and
are not absolutely free from maya; hence it would be wrong to conceive
any one of them as Supreme Being. According to him, Radhasoami is
the highest authority and the Lord of them all. No one except the sants
could conceive Him. The sants alone have the knowledge of the purely
spiritual region beyond the limit of maya.
(B) Concept of Creation
According to Soamiji, before the creation, the Supreme
Being was in a state of sunn samadhi- ellipsoid. Through His mauj
(divine will ) or inner vibrations, a spiritual current with a resonant
sound emanated from Him and created a spiritual grand division or the Nirmal-
Chaitanya Desh or the Fourth region. Beginning from Radhasoami pad,
it created first the Agam Lok, then the Alakh Lok and finally
the Sat Lok. He describes these regions as refulgent having pure
spirituality, bliss, love and peace. Radhasoami Pad- the highest
of these regions- is so infinite and fathomless, that it can not be styled
as a "Place". Soamiji considers the Fourth Region as indissoluble
because of its all- pervading spiritual attributes.
Below Sat Lok, Soamiji in conformity with the Hindu
concept, believes in the three regions of creation. One of the emanation
of Sat Purush known as Kal, who possessed mind and matter,
was provided with spiritual energy (adya ) which he required for
creation through the grace of Sat Purush. Kal with adya
(prominent spiritual energy) and with akshar purush (latent
spiritual energy) created Brahmand, the second grand division. Its
important regions are Sunna, Trikuti and Sahasdal Kanwal.
Spiritual components dominated the Brahmand but pure matter (maya)
was discernible there. Brahmand is seat of Universal Mind and the
five tattvas and the three gunas emanated from there. Kal
and adya, then, assumed the forms of Niranjan and jyoti
to create the third grand division known as And Desh or the three
sub-regions of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. In the end Pind
Desh was created which consisted of sixth ganglia and nine apertures
pertaining to the physical body. Soamiji propounds that the spirit entity
is encased in the Pind (material world and physical body) and has
thus fallen a prey to Kal's oppression and exploitations
(C) Concept of Surat or Spirit Entity
The spirit Entity has been described as surat by
Soamiji. It is an infinitely small unit of the Supreme Being; naturally
it has the same characteristic as those of the Supreme Being. Surat is
therefore a descendent of the highest region of creation. After traversing
through the different regions it has come down to the teesra til just
below the Sahasdal Kanwal in the physical body. Here surat
gets enmeshed in five tattvas, three gunas, mind and matter,
and the indriyas. It also gets chained in several bondages such
as that of property honour, position, fame family and kinfolk. The surat
in such a state is called jiva- which has to undergo the cycle of
birth, death and rebirth and assume various forms (chaurasi laksh)
in accordance with its insatiable desires and the load of karma.
The surat is thus rendered helpless in extricating
itself from these bondages. The feelings of pleasure, pain and suffering
increase so much that it forgets all about its return to its original home
and loses all consciousness about the reality of its nature.
(D) Concept of Salvation
According to Soamiji, surat can return to its original
abode after it has extricated itself from worldly bonds. This home-coming,
he holds, is true salvation. The surat would then be freed of the
pangs of worldly pleasures and pains and the cycle of chaurasi laksh.
It would, therefore, easily cross the jurisdiction of Kal and enjoy
eternal bliss and peace. Salvation is the ultimate goal of surat
and it can advance towards it only through its affinity with and attraction
for shabd. Shabd alone can guide the surat on its way back to higher
regions of creation and finally in reaching its eternal abode.
(E) Concept of Shabd
According to Soamiji, shabd (eternal sound-current)
is the first manifestation of the Supreme Being. It is the supreme energy
and the prime source of all creation. The resonance of the sound-current
is known as nam (holy name) which resounds in the inner self of all
jivas.
Shabd and surat both have the same attributes;
rather surat has an inherent attraction for shabd. Soamiji
holds that by following the prescribed inner practice (surat shabd yoga)
Surat can get attached to Shabd and after passing through
several higher regions, it can one day reach its final abode. The Santsatguru
of the time alone possesses the key to the secret of the shabd.
(F) Concept of Sant Satguru
While maintaining that Santsatguru is the manifestation
of the Supreme Being on earth. Soamiji confirms to the earlier sant
traditions and revives the ancient beliefs of Hinduism. He holds that
although the Santsatguru has assumed human form,yet he should not
be identified with a human being. In fact,he is the spiritual -current
personified and has come to this world with a mission to grant redemption
to suffering humanity. In his grace,the Santsatguru grants spiritual
progress and eternal peace and bliss to all those jivas who are
real seekers after truth and are keen on throwing away the shackles of
Kal and maya.
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