Radhasoami - History & Beliefs

[Jazz]

Something more about their belief system:

Radhasoami - Their Belief System

The principles of Radhasoami Faith are basically a true methodology of realizing the Supreme Truth - God, which is present in all individuals as Soul - this is the essence of God in man. In order to realize God in life the force of spirit has to be awakened by adopting the prescribed teaching of the Master of the Time. He is the only person in human form, "who", has realized the Truth - God.
The practical aspect of awakening the Spirit within through the aid of the Master is essentially the repetition of the Holy Name Radhasoami and contemplation of the Form of the Master of the Time and internally listening to the Holy Sound Radhasoami which is there in the Master of the Time. In order that a continuity should be maintained for the redemption of the Soul, Huzur Soamiji Maharaj - the Master of the Time ordained the recruitment of His NIJ DHAR in new Form on this planet who becomes the Sant Satguru of the Time after the departure of the Master. According to Radhasoami Faith the practice of Sumiran and Dhyan in the absence of True Master is not possible and the Supreme Master is essential. The advent of Huzur Soamiji Maharaj on this planet has brought in a continuation of NIJDHAR in human form of the Sant Satgurus after the departure of the previous Master.

The uniqueness of Radhasoami Faith lies in transference of NIJ DHAR that is the Name and Sound Current to the successive Master of the Time by the previous Master before the departure. Because of this unique internal transference of the Supreme Current the present Master is equipped with the entire Spiritual qualities and characters of His Master. He acquires the power to liberate the souls from the bondage of mind and matter in the lifetime of the true seeker. His discourses and compositions are remarkably in consonance with the features of previous Master's discourses and compositions. This is the remarkable feature of the Radhasoami Faith. Radhasoami Faith emphasizes that man should aim to develop his faculties of mind, body and spirit under the Guidance of the True Master only. By following His teachings, the life is enriched and the aim of the salvation of the soul is achieved in totality in lifetime.

 

[Sher Singh]

Re: Rathaswami - To be .... or not to be ?

naam is like a mantr or shabad where one can reach God. It's like Waheguru, u recite it. BUT YOUR NOT ALLOWED TO TELL ANYONE ELSE WHAT THE MANTR IS!!! i dont know why. Its all fake, all BS!

 

[gursidak]

Re: Rathaswami - To be .... or not to be ?

My question is .... What is naam, what are the main differences between sikhism and RS.

This means that one has moved away from sikhism to RS, or does it? ... and if it does, how can one remain sikh and RS?

Gurfateh

I would request that any knowledgeable soul before outlining the aforementioned 'differences' kindly brings out anything common, if there is. It would greatly help ignorant humans like me. Also, it would put the things in right perspective for us to understand the 'differences'.

Thanks in advance.

Guru Rakha

God Loves All

 

[Amarpal]

Re: Rathaswami - To be .... or not to be ?

Dear Jazz Ji,

Receiving Mantra is a practice of Hindus. The Guru tells the Mantra in the ear of the disciple. For each individual the Mantra is different and should be kept secret by the Guru and the receiver i.e. disciple.

In those hindu groupings which follow Tantras, it is given when the Guru (male of female) initiates the Sadhak or Sadhika, irrespectice of caste or sex.

In hindu groupings which follow Vedic practices, it is given at the time of Upanayan of the boys (not girls) of the three higher castes (Shudras are excluded) only by a male Guru. After the Upanayan, the boy is suposed to get his spiritual birth and is called Dvijanma.

In both these groupings it is called receiving mantra from the Guru.

I am not much familier with the practice of Radhaswamis and have no idea why they call it Naam.

We Sikhs have no such practice.

With love and respect for all.

Amarpal Singh

 

[vijaydeep Singh]

Re: Rathaswami - To be .... or not to be ?

Gurfateh

Well Radhswamis are nothing more but misguided offshoots of Nirmalas(Das is from Nirmala order).

Our Gurmantra is not a secret thing as of them.It is Wahiguru.Then they give more emphasis to ritualism like vegitarianism etc.

They use thier Mantra of Omkar Type and they do it by bringing it on their Trikuti (where bone of nose touches forehead).

As they do to get something.They have a human form of Guru to help them.

All that makes them away from Akal.Nival Buyangam Sadhana is useless ie get the hold of Cobra(Kundalini) type by breath are useless for us.

Only by mercy of Akal if Radhswamis come to our faith then only they can get light or as Akal wishes.

By considering (those who say that) Guru Granth Sahib Ji as not their Isht, Guru (True or divine or wished Guide of sprituality) In Any case we cannot consider them as Gursikh.There are many branches but in Punjab we have one led by Gurinder Singh Dhillon. But the main Branch of Agra calls them fake or naive.Thing to remember that this movement started from Agra.

Thier founder Radh Swami (Husband of Mrs Radha) was Shiv Dayal Singh a Sahejdhari Sikh and Nirmala and remained till death. His younger brother Brindaban is still respected amongst Nirmalas. After him Beas Branch was headed by Jaimal singh while Agra was founed by Rai Bahadur Saligram.That's how it started.

 

[drkhalsa]

Re: Rathaswami - To be .... or not to be ?

Dear Brothers
Gurfateh

I would request that any knowledgeable soul before outlining the aforementioned 'differences' kindly brings out anything common, if there is. It would greatly help ignorant humans like me. Also, it would put the things in right perspective for us to understand the 'differences'.

Dear Brother I would like to tell you what I know of them
these peoples all of their leaders are sahejdhari sikhs ( interesting fact !!) I mean everybody keep kesh and wear turban but their follower hardly care about it .
They don't believe in Guru Granth Sahib as the guide, instead they insist on living guru which guides them.
They initiate each and every person personally by giving naam and it has to be kept secret ( it is more like a psychological game used many times in human history ie creating little mysteries and then forcing the person to keep mystery secret to give it a sense of exclusiveness, and creates interest of person ).
Their follower are strict vegetarian and alcohol is also prohibited while tobacco is allowed or not taken care of
they also believe in one god but insist on living guru and their guru consider themself in same league as Ten Gurus of sikhs.
they use Guru Granth sahib with their personal interpretaion which suits them ( interesting fact )
they have their network of sewadar which keep hopes of the follower alive by regularly creating stories of small miracles in day to day life and this helps keep people sincere to dera of RS

While what I think of this dera ( RS) is that infact their is nothing bad they are doing they are just doing regular bussiness - every man does earn a living and they may also prove helpful to some families as they advise to leave alcohol and live simple life but the maximum they can offer any body is hopeful life with security that they have some special approch to god taught by their guru.

while know comparison with sikhism and moving from sikhism to RS
while what I think is it is just like small child going to school starting from nursery and going through all the grades and then graduation and then masters and phd
at each and every level of his study what ever he is taught is absolutely right fir that level only and as one progress one come to know of what was the limitation of previous level
similar is for sikhism , it was super boost formula devised by Akal Purakh help every body to realise akal Purakh in the best way possible ( teh focus here is to realise god not just trying to spend a peaceful life )
Now it is immposible for somebody who has done masters would feel any sense of attraction in going to Kindergarden class and learn abc
basically many of us dont undersytand what Sikhi is and get attracted to such things which are not wrong but actually dont serve the purpose of our lives
What I think is every thing is happening with Akal Purakhs grace so if he wants somebody to study in early grades of spitual education then he make such person seek such groups like RS and leave the super HIghway like SIkhi

 

[Astroboy]

(Excerpts from : Church of the Churchless: Radha Soami Satsang Beas)

The guru who initiated me in 1971 was Charan Singh. He died in 1990. Before his death Charan Singh appointed a successor, Gurinder Singh, who similarly had been initiated by him.
Charan Singh would give talks (or satsangs) to thousands of people. He'd sit on a high podium. Devotees would gaze spellbound at him, hoping to catch a glance (darshan).
The devotional attitude of Sant Mat initiates essentially is, "The guru is everything; I am nothing." We can imagine Gurinder Singh sitting in the audience while Charan Singh was alive thinking just that. He is everything; I am nothing.
Yet there came a day when Gurinder Singh found himself on the same podium, having been elevated to the status of guru. So now all the initiates are looking at him, thinking "The guru is everything; I am nothing."
But wait! How did Gurinder Singh go from being nothing to everything? At what point did this happen? Was it sudden or gradual? Did this transformation depend on the formal conferring of guru status, or did it occur in some other fashion?
And a more basic question: Did the change from nothing to everything even happen?
Do you see what I'm getting at? These are intriguing questions that I never gave much thought to back when I was one of those true believing initiates trying to be as nothing-ish as possible while I was in the presence of the guru.
I didn't spend much time musing on the fact that the guru once was a disciple, just like me. In the Sant Mat tradition a disciple is the humble servant of the guru. Yet what changes when a disciple becomes the guru?
Overnight, the servant becomes a master (in fact, this is what the RSSB gurus are called in English, Master). Even stranger, gurus often say that they are still nothing compared to their own guru, who is everything to them.
Yet that guru (Sawan Singh, for Charan Singh) generally has his own guru. And so it goes. So somehow all the gurus are both nothing and everything.
However, the disciples are just nothing. Unless they become a guru, then they're everything.

(Excerpts from : Church of the Churchless: Radha Soami Satsang Beas

 

[spnadmin]

You know NamJap ji, this is an older post. Looks as if the thread has been bumped up tot he top of the forum and I think it is good that it was. When I first read it I had no particular reaction except to share the amazement of the writer -- How did it happen? How does someone change from "nothing" to "everything?"

Today I had a different response. Today my question has to do with the guru/chela bond. I do not accept the master/student or guru/chela bond, as it is believed to be essential to spiritual growth in many of the dharmic traditions and sects. Such is the case with the Radhasoami. For me Guruji is the teacher, the guru --and I am only a student of Guruji.

It gets however complicated -- for there appear to be, within Sikhi, divided opinions on this matter. There are some who consider themselves Sikhs who have bonded themselves to a human satguru. What are those opinions, I wonder? Who does support the idea of a human satguru? Why? What are their experiences?

 

[Astroboy]

I kind of know that you've gone through these things, Narayanjot Kaur Ji. So here's another interesting thing being discussed. My, these guyz really know how to put the feelings into words, don't they?

The Master will save you from DEATH!

At Church of the churchless - Brian Hines has a post about cheating death. here's the link:
Church of the Churchless: How to cheat death -- without religion
Here, I am taking the same subject from a different perspective. Sant mat offers HOPE. In fact that is the whole point of sant mat. Why follow sant mat? Because if you do - the master will come at the time of heath and take you by the hand to some inner region and from there the master will help you until you reach Sach Khand.
How can anyone resist such an offer? If only it was true! Of course someone could challenge me and say how I know that it is NOT true. Perhaps I am just a cynic and a non-believer. Perhaps sant mat really does offer the truth and perhaps I am just deluded. And maybe santa claus also really exists.
Sant mat requires BELIEF - you must believe. If you believe - then you can convince yourself that the master will come at the time of death and take you by the hand. It's very comforting to know that you are taken care of. And sant mat also says - "You do not need to believe - just meditate and leave your body while living and get to the inner regions while you are alive - then you KNOW."
So sant mat followers will say that they do NOT need to believe - they will see with their own eyes.
Brian - in his posting says that we cannot know. The sant mat follower has to disagree because they will say that sant mat teaches that you can and will KNOW before you die.
Then there are the scriptures. Bulleh Shah says "Bulliah asaah marna nahin, mar javi koi hor." Translation: Oh Bulleh - I am not going to die - let another die (i.e. the body)
So will the master save you from Death? Each person will have their own answer.
What does it mean to be saved anyway? Who is going to be saved or not saved? The soul? and if it is not saved, then what will happen to it?
Saved means that the soul will go to Sach Khand and live forever with the big dude (Sat Purush). It will never take birth again (unless by choice to save others - i.e. help then to get to Sach Khand). Not to be saved means that the soul will be reborn in another body and will continue until it is saved. The idea is that nobody wants to keep on getting reborn because - well - because it's a lot of hassle I guess!
Okay - let's take a new scenario. Let's say that death is the END. No soul, no rebirth - simply the END. Now let's say that I offered you a SECOND CHANCE - that if you follow my special teachings and do my special mediation then you CAN have ANOTHER LIFE. Suddenly now you WANT another life - because it's better than NO LIFE.
Hmmm... this is getting interesting. If there is NO LIFE - then you WANT LIFE. And if you are going to be REBORN (in the charasi - cycle of 84 lakhs) then suddenly you WANT OUT and do not want to be reborn.
It's all just a mind game. The mind wants to WIN - whatever winning means. And all this meaning is created by the mind in the first place. The whole thing is a mind-trap. The mind wants something - it wants mukti - it wants to be saved - because it just likes to acquire things and to achieve things - so it wants to acquire GOD and it wants to achieve liberation.
When you realise the truth for yourself - all this just drops away. You no longer want to be saved. Does this mean that you will not avoid death? No - you will still live your life - and you will avoid death.



Church of the Churchless: Radha Soami Satsang Beas

 

[spnadmin]

NamJap ji

I honestly do not know what this/these people are talking about. In fact, some of the text in the quoted article is pretty disrespectful of the reader. Just would like to understand what our forum members think of the guru/chela relationship -- if they have any opinions or experiences, as per the Radhasoami experiences and doctrines.

 

[Mai Harinder Kaur]

Today, I have had cause to do a tiny bit of research on this group. Their Wikipedia article has a note that it is not neutral and seems to be an advertisement.

What appears to be their website is at:

Radha Soami Satsang Beas

I am astonished at how little information is really on the site.

Another site of interest is at:

Radhasoami Faith - Index

After reading all of these, I am still a bit puzzled as to who they are and if they have nefarious purpose vis-avis us Sikhs.

Will the wise members here please enlighten me?