After Sant Kirpal Singh’s return to India again a very busy time began, and many official visits of well-known Indian personalities were waiting for Him.

Integration of Mankind Day

The anniversary of Baba Sawan Singh was celebrated at Manav Kendra on 31 March and 1- 2 April. Madame Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, sister of the late Prime Minister Nehru, former first woman President of the United Nations General Assembly, addressed the 2 April evening gathering.

Sant Kirpal Singh's welcome address: Today is specially commemorated to the Integration of Mankind, for which noble purpose all Masters have been forerunners, and it is no new aspiration. This Man Center, with all its aims and principles, is also not new. You can see there is no edifice here, either temple or other building of worship. There is simply the earth beneath and the sky overhead, and this is the biggest temple one can find! Then we all have the true temple of God – the man-body. "With the Guru's blessing, one sees that the temple of God is within." We will solve this mystery of life in the company of those who have already solved it. Our poor soul has retrograded to the level of mind and senses, and is therefore unable to do anything of its own strength – it has become an image of the world. Whatever actions we perform, we say, "Oh, we have done this, we have done that." This indicates we are at the mind and sense level. Being at this level, all we do will be from the same level. We can see this for ourselves, from our own actions. How then can we rise above on our own efforts? It is not possible. Many people have got some background, and they do see some Light; often they seek medical treatment, not understanding what it is. They need guidance, for understanding and for further progress – into the Beyond.

There is but one test or criterion to distinguish one who has solved this mystery of life. He must give a demonstration to show us how to rise above body consciousness; and the Third Eye must be opened to see the Light of God. Christ said, "Those that hear, hear not; and those that see, see not. " Kabir says, "This world is blind; If there were one or two I could make them understand, but all around I see only the blind." Who is blind, from the Masters' point of view? "He is not blind who has no eyes on his face" – that is not the real blindness: "He who does not see the Beloved is blind." "When he sees, he sings, and that song bears fruit." To first see and then sing praises is vastly different from singing praises by hearsay or bookish knowledge. Guru Amar Das, after more than 70 years of intense searching and performing many different practices, came to the feet of Guru Angad, and then only was he blessed with the true knowledge. What did He say in this context? "One who praises God without seeing is like a blind man." If a blind man describes the sun, we know that his description is intellectual, for he has never seen it. Do not believe until you have seen with your own eyes. It is the prayer of the imprisoned soul which cries out, "O Lord, when we are the image of the world, how can we see?" But in the human form we can awaken. The Upanishads tell us, "Awake, arise, and stop not until the Goal is reached." If so far we have not awakened, when do we think we are going to do it? Those who do wish to awaken are told by the Masters, "Develop love for God; be conscious." We say we can see only the world; living in its society, enjoying every minute – we are too involved and become identified with it. How can we love God unless we see Him? For that we are advised to "Take the Satguru's teaching." And who is the Satguru? The one who has experienced the Truth; the mouthpiece of Truth or God; the very image of the Truth, who knows the Sat Purush. This kind of personality can be termed a Satguru. "By meeting a Satguru, one sees." The third or single eye is opened; and how? "When you put your attention on the ineffable place beyond all outgoing faculties, you will see the Lord within." Focus your attention within the Shiv Netra – the Single Eye – and the eye of the Light will be opened. In these few words you have the basic teaching.

Sant Kirpal Singh

I am very grateful that on this auspicious occasion I am here among you all, and can also benefit from Maharaj Ji's talk (Sant Kirpal Singh), which was a very elixir of life. Maharaj Ji has started this Manav Kendra. Everyone who comes here should try to understand this oneness of all men, irrespective of religion, dress, food, and language, etc. These varieties can add strength; it is not necessary that each man should live exactly alike. What is necessary is a common yearning within all of us to uplift ourselves, and thereby uplift our country; and furthermore to thereby influence and uplift the rest of the world – to raise it from its fallen state. It is only possible to achieve this if each person looks within himself to find his weaknesses and endeavours to remove them.

I humbly ask you to spread what you are learning here, and the example you see here. This teaching should be spread everywhere so that in Maharaj Ji's lifetime He may see the success of his mission.

Excerpt from the talk given by Madam Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit

A visit from the Vice-President

On 13 April, the Vice-President of India, Shri Gopal Swaroop Pathak visited Manav Kendra. Sant Kirpal Singh spoke briefly, outlining the work being done at Manav Kendra:

"From my student days I have taken a deep interest in man making, man service, and land service. The highest of these is man making; then comes man service; lastly, land service. Regarding land service, there exists a principle that says to grow a blade of grass is more valuable than other patriotic endeavors.
.... I have written a number of books, including one on yoga, which is a comparative study of the various systems and in which I have shown the benefit of that yoga which gives a direct firsthand contact of the soul with the Oversoul – because this inner path is for all and everyone must go through it, sooner or later. ...
In the image of this body, temples, mosques and churches have been made-dome-shaped, nose-shaped, forehead-shaped. This place, however, is called Manav Kendra, meaning the place where man will be developed; and this is its work."

When the Vice-president replied, he expressed his strong approval of the principles Sant Kirpal Singh is incorporating at Manav Kendra, and congratulated all those who are fortunate in being even a small part of such an important undertaking.

Inauguration of the Fathers' Home

The Gov­ern­or of Ut­tar Pra­desh, H.E. ­Ali Ak­bar ­Khan, ­paid an of­fi­cial ­state vis­it to Ma­nav Ken­dra on 14 ­April 1973, to in­au­gu­rate ­the ­Fathers’ ­Home.

Instead of addressing you as Your Excellency, I would like to address you as elder brother, for this is the Man Centre. How did it all start? As a student I was very fond of reading books and I read many – mostly biographies. I have read the lives of more than 300 great men of the East and the West, and a liberal amount of literature on topical events. As a result of my readings, I arrived at the conclusion that man-making is the highest ideal of all. All the scriptures of the Masters say the same thing – that all mankind is one. Men are related to each other like the different parts of the body. If there is pain in one part of the body, then the whole body seems to suffer. Man is the very image of Love; and a true man is he who lives for others. To live for oneself alone, even an animal can do.

By this parallel study of the scriptures I could see that man’s form is the highest. The Persian poet Iqbal says, “Moses went to Mount Sinai to meet God.” Did he not know that God Himself was in search of man? Man’s status is next to God. All Masters who came said, “O man, become a man.” Man represents God on this earth. And what is he? He has a body, he has an intellect, but he is consciousness – the soul – which is of the same essence as that of God.

We have made great progress physically and intellectually, as we can see: man has reached the moon and is now thinking of reaching out to other planets. We can now travel around the globe in a matter of hours; we can hear and see from thousands of miles, through radio and television. With all this progress, we are still not happy. The reason is that we have ignored man’s third aspect. One Sufi Saint says, “O man, you have known so much about everything, but if you have not known your own self, you are a fool.”

So man’s most important aim is that he should become a man. Prophet Mohammed said, “I am His messenger – His son.” Other Masters said similar things. Kabir Sahib said, “O Kabir, we are the knower of that far away place, and we bring orders from the Most High.” They always say, “We are His children.” What is their work? They say that the people have forgotten God, and we have come to bring remembrance.

So these Masters come again and again to the world – that is, when they are needed. In the time of Kabir Sahib, there was a clash between Hindus and Muslims. Guru Nanak was His contemporary, and both raised the same cry. Kabir said, “I am neither Hindu nor Muslim; consider us both as one.” Guru Nanak said similarly, “Neither are we Hindu nor Muslim; Allah and Ram is the breath of the body.”

Guru Nanak was told that He wore the label of a Hindu, so how could He say He was not a Hindu? He told them that He was a puppet made of five elements, in which the invisible was playing – and that was He. This is the quality of man. So man is the highest of all; and in man’s form only does the Lord manifest. Here there is no temple then; just the earth beneath and the sky overhead. The true temple of God is the physical form that we carry about with us. Since the basic teachings of all religions are the same, we have started a library here in which will be kept the scriptures of all religions.

I have written a book on the Naam, or Word, or Kalma, in which quotations from different scriptures are given; and also ‘The Crown of Life’ which is a comparative study of the different systems of yoga. Apart from these I have written books on Saints and their teachings, and other books. There is intentionally no author’s rights reserved for the publication of these, so that these teachings which are a gift of nature may easily reach everyone.

Sant Kirpal Singh’s reference to his name and the deference given brought a beaming smile from His Excellency. Throughout his brief visit, he seemed to reciprocate the atmosphere of Sant Kirpal Singh’s abounding love. Stepping down from the dais, he mingled informally among the people, discarding all protocol.

He said, "It would be our great good fortune if through our service to man we could influence the hearts and minds of people to change their ways and live a life of righteousness and truth. This cannot be done fully by command or by law – our lives cannot be changed completely like that. Our lives can only be changed when the change comes through the heart; when we come to know the true spiritual path of life."