Ahau, I only recently became aware of your last post. Sometimes I get an new post alert email to this thread but other times I don't.
Thanks for the reference to Judith. I am going to look her up as well , but do keep me updated on what you discover.
Recently I have come across someone called Franco Pier Marcenaro who is widely acclaimed for being a genuine param sant satguru. His master Kirpal asked him to bridge the eastern sant mat teachings with teachings of Jesus. When he was seven he had a visitation from Sawan Singh explaining his mission in life. Currently he is much esteemed world wide as a master of the highest order. He gets amazing results with light and sound experiences during imparting what he calls the Universal Meditation technique (surat shabda yoga) and there are many testimonials on his site of people seeing radiant form and hearing the sounds of the spiritual planes.
What I find really refreshing about him is his level of integrity , simplicity and purity, no control or manipulation or narcissistic display. He also doesn't charge any money and totally sustains himself by his work pension. He states that any master who charges is not a genuine master. His base is a monastery in Italy but travels the world imparting the teachings. He is at Schoolofspirituality.org. Lots of videos and can buy his books very inexpensive, not plagiarized as far I can tell.
As long as I am still at the stage where I'm not sure if I need a living master or not it wont hurt to find one as "perfect as possible"
Hi Chloe,
I very much appreciate the part where you talk about the testimonials of people actually experiencing things directly in their own consciousness. People who are always talking about money and outer things like the cost of lessons don't realize that the true path is within. The way you can tell if you are moving in the right direction in your own spiritual path is by how you are changing as a person. If you like the person you are becoming moment to moment than that's the best sign you are on the right path for YOU.
With regards to inner experiences, they are there to enlighten and provide guidance. It can be tempting to reach for anything that resembles easy miracles on the outside, but a true path requires dedication and focus to move forward. It's a bit like going to school: those students who do their homework will do well and learn good habits that will serve them later in life, while those who refuse to do their homework are always blaming others and wondering why their lives are not structured they way they would wish. They will complain about things like not having enough money without ever realizing the value of honest, hard work.
I think this is true of the posts in this thread as well. It's not difficult to see the motivations of those posting. Why are some people trying so hard in this thread to insult others? The truth is the truth, stating it with loving intentions is sufficient. People who stoop to personal attacks do so because they are insecure and some part of them desperately needs to be "right" or else they will have to face the fact that they are scared. They are scared because they realize they don't have the answers on the inside and don't like the way their own lives are heading. For me personally, I like to follow what I call the "trail of laughter". If there is love and joy in your pursuit, then it's a great sign. If you feel being taken advantage of and are not experiencing anything on the inner planes after giving a serious, honest effort, then of course that path is not appropriate for you.
Many people do not even acknowledge there is anything "real" other than the physical life. They deal in absolutes and want to categorize everything conveniently as true and false. But life isn't that way; everybody is at a different point in their journey so different things will be appropriate at different times (and different lifetimes!)
The true master is within. You won't know if you're following a Sat Guru until you meet him inside your own consciousness. It almost doesn't matter which outer master you pick if it leads to the results you want. But some people are not willing to do the work of centering and stilling their minds in order to attain these results, so "it must be my master's fault!" It reminds me of those students who would get their parents to complain to the school board about a teacher when it was the student who refused to complete assignments and would lie about it.
To summarize, the best way to know if you're on a true Light and Sound path is seeing the light and hearing the sound. I can testify that these words are NOT metaphors or some kind of emotional reverie. You literally see light and hear sound. It's something you can directly experience for yourself--it's not a hallucination or a drug-induced trip. After you do, it becomes impossible to question the veracity of your own personal spiritual practice. And once again, the point of a true path is NOT just to see and hear, but to learn, and become. Not so much that you are not already part and parcel of the divine, but rather a journey towards REALIZING what you already are.
