What Remains in the Room Baba Faqir Chand Speaks
Adapted from the words of Baba Faqir Chand 
I am a retired military man.
What I have realized after a long search
is that one must not think ill or do any harm
to anybody for personal gain. Second, one must have faith
in only one form,
it may be of any god, goddess or teacher.
Without form one cannot reach the goal. I am a disciple of Maharishi Shiv Brat Lal.
You have seen his statue there
installed in the hall. He is my spiritual father.
His father was Rai Sahib Salig Ram, who was a postmaster general.
Rai Salig Ram Sahib was the disciple
of Radhaswami Shiv Dayal Ji,
but I have got liberal ideas.  Now, after long experience of my life,
I feel that most of the sages of the past and present,
by keeping the secret truth hidden,
have been unfair and exploitative. They have taken undue advantage
of the ignorance of the people.
They have built their own big buildings.
They have made air conditioned rooms for themselves. I do not deny I receive donations,
but I do not use even a single penny of these donations.
My own son is well placed. He draws about
two thousand five hundred rupees per month. He works at Bhilai Steel Plant,
a big metallurgist
returned from Russia.
So I have my own means of living. I was born in a Brahmin family.
From my childhood I worshipped
according to the ideas of my parents.
From the age of seven years there was a craving in me
for something unknown
which I used to call
Rama, Krishna or God. Now I feel that the unknown
which I desired and sought
was peace, but at that time
I worshipped Rama, Krishna, gods or goddesses. When I was sixteen I joined the service.
I passed only my middle school examination.
My father was a constable in the Railway Police
and could not give me higher education. So I joined the communication service.
There I met inspectors and contractors of all types.
I was alone in the communication section.
In the society of those inspectors and contractors I took to wrong ways.
I ate meat for 6 months,
drank rum three times,
once even gambled and lost one rupee and a quarter
and once I went to a prostitute.
You understand
what I am telling you? In nineteen hundred and five
when the Kangra Valley
was ruined by an earthquake
my thoughts changed.
I had been married when I was thirteen.
After the prostitute I wrote to my father
that I had done such and such wrong things,
so please send my wife.
During that time
I was meditating on
the images of Rama and Krishna,
according to Hindu beliefs.
When I was at Baganwala Railway Station
as Assistant Station Master
Lord Krishna used to be with me,
whether I was working or walking.
Once I was going
and Lord Krishna walked ahead of me.
There was some cow dung
on the ground. That image of Lord Krishna
asked me to eat that cow dung.
I took a morsel of cow dung
and ate it. Now in no scripture is it written that an image
of Lord Krishna has told a disciple to eat dung.
So it was not the real Krishna
who asked me to eat the dung. Because I am a Hindu, and I had
this idea that the Lord takes birth
in the human form from time to time,
I began to pray to Him. I wept continuously for twenty-four hours
crying out to God
that I wanted to see Him
in the form of a human being. After a day a doctor was called.
He said that I had gone mad.
But that morning at four a.m.
the image of my spiritual father appeared to me
while I slept.
I believed that he was
the incarnation of Lord Rama. He was at Lahore at that time.
But now he is dead. There is only a tomb.
I went to him in Lahore
and he initiated me in the path. After about ten years I went abroad
in the First Great War.
I remained there without my family,
and did a lot of practice as is set out in our texts. I saw the light within and listened to the sound.
But I could not get peace, though I had happiness.
You understand me? I got happiness; I got bliss;
I got inward pleasure and miraculous powers. But not peace. Then I pestered my spiritual father
asking him to tell me about that thing
on the authority of which Kabir
had condemned all religions.
Because it is written that none
except the saints have realized the reality.
They have said that Rama and Krishna
were of universal mind and not of the real God.
These saints have further claimed that
Muslims have also not reached there
and the Christians too have not reached there.
So I could not understand that religious philosophy.
Once when I came on leave from Iraq
I went to Hazur Data Dayal Ji Maharaj
and troubled him with my love.
I followed him everywhere like his shadow.
At last he said, "See me tomorrow."
Next day, when I went to him,
he put one coconut and five paisa in my lap
and said, "I give you an order, obey me:
"The real master
shall meet you
in the form
of your disciples." There are different stages,
different colours and different sounds.
I had seen all.
But I was not satisfied with all this inward activity.
So he gave me this work
just to make me
realize the reality. When I came to this line as a guru
my eyes were opened. Why?
Because to those who regard me as their guru
and those who consider me as their master my image appears to them in their meditation,
in their dreams and even in a state of wakefulness
and guides them, whereas I
remain unaware of all this. You understand me, what I am telling you?
I want to be very frank with you.
You have come for research.
I am telling you my personal life. Daily I receive many letters.
Some people write that I went there in an aeroplane
to take a dying man;
some say that I come on a horse and others write that I come
in a palanquin at the time
of the death of a man,
whereas I do not go anywhere. All they see in meditation,
in dreams or in wakefulness,
proves to me that all we see inside
is only subtle matter or illusion. I think you are following me.
There is a student. He says that when he went
to the examination hall for a science paper
he did not know that difficult paper. He prayed to me. I appeared there,
sat under the desk, and dictated the answers
to those difficult questions.
The student got ninety-eight percent. The truth is that I myself
do not know science,
nor did I go
to his examination hall. About five days ago a lady sent me
two packs of apples and some other fruit,
along with a letter. She was having her bath
in a river in Kashmir. Suddenly a wave came and took her away for ten or fifteen yards.
She writes that when she was drowning I appeared there,
caught her hand, brought her out of the river
and said to her, "You have yet to do a lot of work." She writes to me in her letter
to let her know what work she is to do?
Now I neither went there to save her, nor
did I tell her that she has yet to do a lot of work. This is the secret which has been kept
so guarded by all the religions.
They have kept the people in dark.
They have exploited us; they have robbed us; they have cheated us and they have deceived us
by saying that they go,
whereas they do not go
or manifest themselves to anybody. They have admitted this truth before me—
My own spiritual brother Bhai Nandu Singh
agreed with me.
Now he is dead. So, from all these experiences, I have come to know
that whatever we see in the form of our ideal
depends on our own acquired perspective.
If one's mind is pure then the manifested ideal speaks truth. But if one's mind is not pure,
then the answer will be wrong
and there is every possibility that the ideal
may send you the wrong way of life. Now I listen to only one sound,
which is an unbreakable tune,
about which I cannot say any word.
It is what it is. But what does it give to me?
It gives peace and bliss.
At ninety two years
I do not care for the sound and light. Why? Because light is seen by "me"
and sound is heard by "me."
Then who is great?
Light or sound or he who sees and hears? This self of mine is the highest element
of consciousness in my body.
If it is not there, then sound is of no value
and light is worthless. Now, when I meditate
on light and sound, I try to find out,
who is seeing the light within
and who is listening to the sound within. Sometimes after two or three months
when I go into deep meditation
my "self" stands separated
from the Light and Sound.
There I lose my own entity.
I forget who I am.
I know nothing about God.
I know nothing about my guru
and I know nothing about my own self.
From all such experience I have come to this conclusion:
Who am I?—I am a bubble of highest consciousness.
That is what my realization is.
This is what I have gained.
Now what I feel
is that there is one
endless, highest element.
From it, when it moves,
sound and light come out
and from that light and sound
this creation takes place.
Cosmic rays and
many other types of rays
come out of this light and sound
and all this matter is made. So it is the Way
of that supreme power.
Everything is oozing out of it
and is merging back in it. There is self in us
and it moves us
to do this
or to do that. I ask myself, what have I attained?
Silence in the beginning
and silence in the end.
Whatever is happening, it is all the Way.
Every philosopher or saint who searched
inwardly for realization wrote their experience.
But their followers, in order to gain
fame and name and to collect wealth
kept this a secret.
Though to keep the secret
was necessary in those days,
it is not required now. Today humanity has been divided
into different sects and religions.
Every day there are conflicts in the world.
Hindus and Muslims are fighting and Arabs and Jews are fighting. Therefore, after realizing the secret,
I raised the slogan of Be Human. Why?
My spiritual father had told me,
"Before leaving your physical, frame change the teachings." So I have changed the teachings.
No one on this earth,
he may be Christ, he may be Kabir
or he may be anybody— none has the right to say
that he has understood the reality in all respects.
That power is bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger and bigger.
Our senses cannot reach there. This is what I have understood.
So I pass my life helping others,
serving the poor and preaching the truth.
I have three free hospitals here. To the general public
I preach the art
of living
a happy life. So what I myself practice
I advise others to adopt in their lives:
Always be optimistic.
Do not harm others for your personal benefit. Do not think ill of others.
This is one thing which I preach.
Also, if anybody desires not to return to this earth
for such people I have the open secret with me. When I am alone I ask myself,
"What have you gained?"
I have gained nothing
and I have gained everything. I have no desire to achieve now.
Because I have realized that I am
a bubble of highest consciousness.
That supreme power has created this universe. Thoughts we take from outside and some
bud out from within. Life is nothing but a dream.
There is only one truth, which is
always one and only one. After this realization I have peace.
Due to my past actions I am still alive;
I do not know how long
that power shall keep me in this body. I have a lone desire that after my death,
if I get anywhere, I may be able
to tell the world what happens to me after death.
This is my only desire. As I understand,
bubble will merge in the ocean.
Light will merge in the light.
But whatever I have thought and whatever I have said,
that will remain in this universe
because matter is never destroyed.
Whatever I say now shall remain in this room. Sometimes I think that
what I have understood so far may be wrong.
But I do not repent because
my conscience is very clear.
I never throw dust in your eyes
to get name or fame
for this short life. I do not care
for the position of preceptor. If at all I am wrong then
the responsibility lies upon the shoulders
of Hazur Baba Sawan Singh
and Hazur Data Dayal Ji. Why did they ask me to do this work?
They were great saints and had
a great insight. Did they not know
that I would speak the truth? I fear and my life trembles
at the thought of the harvest of deeds.
O! my teacher, I do not know
whether I am right or wrong. I challenge all the saints of the present
to denounce me if I am wrong.
I shall not mind. I only tell
what has happened or happens with me. The soul of woman and of man is the same.
Difference is only in the material form.
One soul comes in the form of a woman
and another as a man. Modern science is proving many old beliefs to be futile.
The angle of understanding is now different.
Educated people and scientists will not
believe blindly as we did in the past. You know, there are different kinds of brains:
If some accident occurs,
some people rush to that place to rob the victims,
some go there to give them food, some go there to give medical assistance, some other goes there to know the cause of the accident
and to thrash the person responsible for the accident,
and still some other people go there to find out
the ways and means so that such accidents may not occur again. The great brains come to this world
according to the desires and the needs of people.
All the great saints, such as Mahavira
and Buddha and others, come as the times demand. It is the Way.
I cannot say definitely, but this much I am certain
that when there is too much heat
nature automatically brings storms and rains. If it is too cold, then nature
automatically brings heat.
It is a natural process
about which only God knows. I do not claim that I am correct,
but I have spent my life very purely.
I have been true to my parents
and I have been true to my officers. I do not say that my search is final.
Truth is not known to anybody.
"As you sow, so you reap" governs this globe.
Everything depends upon your own thinking. My area is not too vast.
Only the educated come to me
and those who have spent their life
in meditation or worship. I know my teaching is not suitable for beginners.
But it is not in my power to teach ABC.
Only professors, teachers, doctors and judges
come to me, because they understand what I say. Every one of us is a bubble of consciousness.
But there is self. When this self goes away what remains?
Silence in the beginning and silence in the end.
Pass your life cheerfully. I do not know about myself,
how I would die.
Though at this age of ninety-two years
I am healthier than many. whatever I have realized,
if someone cares for it, let him care,
and if somebody does not care let him not.
If someone wants to read my books, let him read. I do not care. If somebody wants to give
for the help of the poor, let him give,
and if somebody does not give, let him not.
I have my own livelihood. I have my own home to live in. So, at this age
of ninety-two,
I surrender myself
to that supreme One. Perform your duty with compassion,
remain detached from the world,
recognize every creature as like yourself,
and attain the imperishable.
That is what I have realized.
I do not know what my end will be, brother.
You have come from America.
Whatever I have realized I have told you.
Leave aside the saints:
You put a wicked and immoral person
on the seat of a guru, develop faith in him,
his form too shall manifest
and help you like the great saints.
You are not helped
by any saint or guru,
but by your own faith and belief.
Live a happy life and don’t spend
more than your income.
Do not make offerings
beyond your capacity. Another thing for having a happy life
is regular meditation practice
without any break. It should be a part
of your daily routine like eating and sleeping. Also make daily offerings of one thing or another.
Do you know what our forefathers did?
They used to keep aside morsels for the cow,
the dog and the crow before taking their meals. It was their way not to eat
without sharing their food
with cow, dog and crow.
Do we follow their traditions? If you cannot offer any money
in lump sum, try to save daily
one paisa or two for offering
to the needy or the destitute. This will inculcate a habit of sharing.
The heart and mind
of one who gives,
become liberal and generous. If you are poor, you need not offer money.
Ladies, before cooking meals for the family,
should keep one handful of flour or rice apart.
After a week's accumulation of rice or flour, they should make chapattis of that flour
or cook the rice and offer it
to the sparrows, dogs and crows.
I tell these golden principles from the core of my heart.
They seem to be very ordinary things
but do not consider them ordinary.
They are the way to a happy and prosperous life.
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