Children's Satsangs
at Sant Bani Ashram, New
Hampshire
during the July 1996
Tour
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JULY 21, 1996
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The last bhajan was Dhan Dhan Satguru, and Sant ji entered during the singing. Very good. I bow down at the feet of Supreme Fathers, Lord Almighty Sawan and Kirpal who have given us this opportunity to be in thier remembrance. You know that I am always very happy to come to the Children's Satsang because they are very innocent souls, and whatever you ask them to do, they do it with much interest. Once they start doing it, they will do it wholeheartedly and with much interest. So I am very happy that the children's Satsang is being done here, and I am very pleased to come here. I am very grateful to all the dear ones who have arranged for this, especially Connie Brown. She is the group leader, and she has arranged for the children's Satsang. You know that it is very difficult to teach the discipline to the children. But once you teach them, and once the children understand, then they will become disciplined. Even though it is hard, but still it is being done here and I appreciate the peace, the discipline, and the patience of all the children who have come here to the Satsang. I hope that during this program of the children's Satsang, this peace, this discipline will be maintained. The parents are also requested; they should also cooperate with the group leaders, and they should also take an active part in keeping their children in the discipline and they should also cooperate in coordinating this children's Satsang. Hamed. The children love the stories very much and they are very happy when you tell them the stories. I hope that everyday Russell Perkins will tell a story to the children. Russell Perkins: This is a story that Sant Ji tells, about an old woman who worshipped an idol, and she worshipped it so much that she got the God who was manifesting through the idol (she thought) to come to her house and visit her. So she expected that he was coming, and she got all dressed up, she prepared food for him, and she waited for him. but he came in the form of an old man, very poor, tired, hungry old man who came to the door, and knocked, and said, "Please, give me something to eat." She said "No, I can't. I don't have anything for you. It's only for the God. I am waiting for the God to come, and I don't have anything for you." He said "Please, please give me something?" But she said "No! No, I have nothing for you." So he went away. She did not know that he was the God to whom she had prayed. He gave her a second chance, and he came a second time, this time even more old, more hungry, and more lame than the first time. He again asked her, this time, for a cup of tea. She said "No, I don't have any tea. All the tea I have is being saved for the God. So, I have nothing for you, so go away, please." Then when the day ended and the God hadn't come, she thought, she prayed to him, "you promised me you would come, why didn't you come?" But he said to her, "I did come, I came in the form of those old men, and you did not care for me." Sant ji always says that if she had known that the God she worshipped was not in the idol, but in the living human being, she would have given the food to the hungry God who came to her, and not saved it for the stone idol. Pappu: All of you should remain seated, and should leave here only after the parshad is distributed. Sant ji walked slowly out of the hall, giving darshan with folded hands. |
JULY 22, 1996
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The children were singing Dhan Dhan Satguru when Sant Ji came in. Very good. The bhajans sung by the children are very good, they are very sweet, and very loving. And I am very thankful to dear Connie Brown for working so hard in arranging and doing the seva of the children's Satsang. You know that before this, she makes the initiated children sit for meditation, and then she arranges and she organizes the children's Satsangs. So, I appreciate her hard work and as I had said yesterday, that it becomes the responsibility of the parents also, to cooperate with the organizers. They should also work hard and they should also inspire the children, encourage them to come and sit in the satsang, and maintain the discipline and peace and quiet. Hamed. Now Russell Perkins will tell you a story. Russell Perkins: This is a story that has been told many times about Rabia, who was a muslim Saint that lived in Arabia many years ago. She lived not long after the prophet Mohammet, and Master Kirpal said she was one of the earliest of the Sufis, who were the great muslim Masters. In the muslim religion, every one is supposed to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their life. Mecca is the holy city of the muslims and considered by them to be a very holy place. So Rabia set out to make her pilgrimage to Mecca, but on the way in the middle of the desert, she came to a very badly hurt dog. She wanted to help him, but she didn't know what to do. She picked up the dog, and carried him in her arms until she came to an oasis, where there was a well. At the well, she found that the bucket that was there, but the rope had rotted away, so that the bucket was not able to be lowered down into the water. So she took off her outer garments, and tied them to the bucket, and to the windlass that the bucket was originally attached to, and lowered it, but it was not long enough. So then she took off all the rest of her clothes, and tore them up into strips, tied them together, and attached them to the bucket and to the windlass, and STILL, it wasn't low enough. She couldn't get it down near enough to the water. So then she cut her hair off, which had been uncut since birth, tied that to the rope she had made. And now, the bucket was able to reach the water. She got the bucket full of water, she washed the dog, cleaned up his wounds, took the clothes she had taken off and used them for bandages. But now, what could she do? She was a mess! It was not possible for her to keep going to Mecca. So it is said, that God spoke to her and said, "I am very pleased with you. As far as I am concerned, you have made your pilgrimage." And then he brought Mecca to her in the middle of the desert. She didn't have to go anywhere, it came to her. That is the story of Rabia and the dog, and how God is pleased with us when we see him in even the humblest of his creatures. Sant Ji walked out slowly, giving darshan. He touched the hands of one or two of the children this day. |
JULY 23, 1996
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The children are singing Dhan Dhan Satguru when the Master comes in. Very good. I hope that instead of running here and there, all the children will come on time and sit in the satsang. I am very happy to come to the satsang everyday because you know that children are innocent souls, and that whatever comes out from their mouth is very pure, very true, because it is the voice of their soul. Connie Brown is working very hard and I have much respect for her in my heart. In the morning she takes the children and makes them sit for the sound and then she brings them here and makes the arrangements for the children's Satsang. So, with the children, you have to become like them, and I have much respect for the hard work she is doing. As the children are innocent, but at the same time their mind is very swift. When they are sitting here they will play mischief, and touch somebody else in such a way like they may be disturbing others. So just like they are innocent souls, at the same time their mind is very swift. So dear children, when you sit in the satsang, you should be very quiet and very peaceful. You should not play the mischief, you should not go here and there. You should just quietly and peacefully sit in the satsang. When I see you sitting in the satsang quietly and peacefully, I become very happy, I appreciate that very much. And appreciating your love, Russell Perkins tells you a story every day. Today also he will tell you a story. Russell Perkins: This is a story that Master has told many times about a Master and a greedy man. It is said that the Master had spent the night with somebody, and he was walking. As He began to walk on that day, a greedy man asked him if he could go with Him, and the Master said yes. In the meantime, the housewife in the home where He had stayed, had made Him 3 stuffed chappattis for lunch. These stuffed chappattis are a very delicious kind of food that are very common in India. So the Master took the 3 stuffed chappattis and they went off, and they walked for about an hour, and then the Master had to do something (go potty). So he left everything, and the greedy man, and when he came back he noticed that one of the three stuffed chappattis was gone. So he said to the greedy man, "Did you eat that third stuffed chappatti?" The greedy man said "No, Master, no. I didn't eat it, nope!" So the Master said, "Alright." They went along for awhile, and they came to a place where the forest was being burned by a great forest fire. The greedy man got very scared. He said "What are we going to do? What's going to happen to us?" And the Master said "Well, it is possible that if we remember the God who made us and who loves us, that He will take care of us. So let us try remembering Him." So they did that. They walked through the forest and the fire didn't touch them. When they got through to the other side, the Master said, "Well, now, in the name of that God, who loved you and made you and saved you from the forest fire, Did you eat that third stuffed chappatti?" And the greedy man said , "No, Master, no. In the name of that God who made me and loved me and saved me from the fire, I did not eat that third stuffed chappatti." So the Master said "Alright." They walked along a while more, and they came to a place where the river was in flood. There was a tremendous torrent of water, and it looked as though they were going to be drowned. So the greedy man again got very frightened, and he said "What's going to happen to us now?" And the Master said, "Well, it is possible that if we remember that God who made us and loves us and saved us from the fire, then He may save us from the flood also." So the greedy man did that, and they walked through the flood safely, and were not touched. When they got through on the other side, the Master said, " Now, in the name of that God, who made you and loved you and saved you from the fire and the flood, Did you eat that third stuffed chappatti?" And the greedy man said, "No, Master, in the name of that God, I did not eat that stuffed chappatti." So the Master said " Alright." The Master was determined to make the greedy man tell the truth. He knew very well what had happened, but it was very important for the greedy man's spiritual salvation that he tell the Master the truth. So, using His supernatural power, He took some rocks and turned them into precious stones and gold and he made three piles. The greedy man got very excited. The Master said, "Well. This pile is for me, this pile is for you, and this third pile is for whoever ate that third stuffed chappatti!" Then the greedy man said "Master, in the name of that God , I swear I DID eat that third stuffed chappatti!" So he got the gold and the jewels, and he also told the truth to the Master. And then the Master was able to take him up and take care of him. Sant Ji slowly walked out of the hall, touching some of the children's hands as He went. Connie Brown: Please stay sitting down while Sant Ji leaves, please stay sitting down so everyone can see. Please remain seated. |
JULY 24, 1996
| The children are singing Dhan
Dhan Satguru when Sant Ji walks into the hall.
Very Good. This is very true, what Guru Nanak has said in this bhajan. Only those in whose fate it is written, and only those who are predestined to meet God Almighty, are given birth into the satsangi families. On this tour, I am very happy to see that the children, the young ones who were very young in my last tour, now they have grown up and they are doing a lot of seva, and it pleases me very much. So, this is all due to the grace of Lord Almighty Kirpal, and I am hoping that the plants which Lord Almighty Kirpal has planted, they will grow up, and when these children will grow up they will do the devotion of God Almighty, they will remain attached to His Feet, and in that way they will make their lives successful. Connie Brown has also been doing the seva of the children from the beginning, and I am thankful to her also for the seva. Now Russell Perkins will tell you a story. Russell Perkins: This is the story of the washerman's daughter, which Sant Ji has told many times. Master Kirpal also used to tell it, and Master Sawan Singh too. There was a king named Pipa who lived in a city, and he was seeking after God. He asked people where he could find a Master who would show him how to find God, and they told him, "Well, the only Master who is available to you right now and who lives in this place is a cobbler named Ravidas." King Pipa was very reluctant to go to Ravidas, because Ravidas was a cobbler, which was considered by Hindus in India to be an unclean thing, because they worked with the skins of animals to make shoes. The king was a king, and he was very high caste, and considered to be a very important person, and a cobbler was considered to be very unimportant. So he thought, "How will it look if I am a king and I go to a cobbler and take him as my Master! This is ridiculous!" None the less, he wanted to go see him. So one day, when everyone in the city was at a fair that was held outside, he went to see Ravidas. Ravidas was in his hut mending shoes, and when the king came in, Ravidas greeted him, and he gave him a drink. The drink appeared to the king to be the liquid that Ravidas was putting in his mouth and using to make the shoes with, and he was scared to drink it. So when Ravidas gave him the liquid, instead of drinking it, he pretended to drink it, but actually, he poured it into the sleeve of his shirt. It was a very big sleeve and it absorbed the liquid very easily. So when he went to go home, he thanked Ravidas, bowed to him politely, and went away. When he got home, he took the shirt off, and gave it to his washerman to clean. The washerman gave it to his daughter, who was 12 years old. Now in those days ( and still in India in some situations) people used to clean stains out of shirts and things by sucking them. Usually they spit it out, but the washerman's daughter, who was 12, was not very experienced, and she didn't realize that you were supposed to spit it out. So she sucked that stuff out of the shirt (that the king had put there) and she swallowed it. And when she swallowed it, she immediately left the body and went into the inner planes. Because what Ravidas had given the King was a very special kind of thing, it was not really a drink at all. It was the nectar from Sach Khand, in liquid form, and He was giving it to him to give him a very great gift of grace, because He was pleased that the king had swallowed his pride and had come to see Him in His hut. This was a very great thing for the king to do. So when the washerman's daughter went into the inner planes, it became obvious to the people around her that she had changed a lot, and they began coming to her and understanding her as a Master, even though she was very young. So when the king heard that another Saint had come up in his own palace, he went to see her also. And when he came into the room where she was she got up and greeted him, and he said, "No, no. I have not come as a king, I have come as a disciple, and I am interested to know what your secret is." The washerman's daughter said "I didn't stand up to greet you as a king, but as a benefactor, because whatever my secret is, it was in your shirt!" And when she said that, the king instantly understood what had happened! He realized the Ravidas had given that to him, but that because he had refused it, it had gone to the washerman's daughter. So he thanked her, and he went back to Ravidas, and apologised very humbly, and he said, "Can I have a second chance? Can I have it again?" And Ravidas said, "No, you can't have that again, because that was a one time thing, and the washerman's daughter got it. But I will initiate you, I will give you Naam, and if you work hard, you can have it that way." And the king did. He took the initiation, he worked hard, he became known far and wide as a great spiritual king, and he eventually became a Master, and told this story about himself. Connie Brown: Please remain seated while Sant Ji leaves. Please don't get up and move. We will pass out parshad, so it's important that you stay sitting down, please. Please don't get up. As Sant Ji is leaving, He touches many, many of the children's hand as He passes along. |
JULY 25, 1996
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Initiation Day As it was Initiation Day, and the Satsang Hall was being used for the Holy Initiation, the children graciously moved to the Children's House for their Satsang. The children were singing Dhan Dhan Sataguru when Sant Ji entered. Bot acha. Very Good. The bhajan sung by the children was very loving. I am very pleased to come here to the children's Satsang. Today instead of Russell Perkins, Connie Brown will tell you a story, and I hope that she will also tell you a very loving story. Hamed. (He laughs, lovingly) Connie is very surprised, and laughs. Unfortunately, Russell told my favorite story two days ago, but I think I will tell it again; about a traveller who met up with a great Saint. And the great Saint invited him to walk along with him. Before he left, he had had somebody make up 3 chapatis for him and he put them in his bag. They travelled on their way. As they were walking, everything was going fine and they had to stop to rest. While the Master Saint, went off, the man that was travelling with him went into his bag, and took a chapati. Later on in their journey, they were stopping again to rest and to have food, and the great Saint noticed that the chapati was not there, so he asked the man "Did you take this chapati?" and the man said, "No, I did not." Now, of course the Saint knows everything, so he knew that this man had taken the chapati, and he also knew that to save his soul he must learn to tell the truth. They traveled on, and they came to a big river. The river was very rapid, the water was flowing greatly, and they got into it in the middle, and couldn't get further. The man said, "Please save me, please. What should we do? We are going to die in this water!" And the Saint said, "Just remember God. If you remember God, you will be taken care of." And so the man did, and they made it through the water. Their journey went further, and they travelled on, and came into a forest. There was a big fire, and the man was sure they would be burned in the fire. And he said to the Saint, "Please, please save me. I don't want to die." The Saint said, " Remember God. If you will remember God, you will be saved." And so the man and the Saint got through the fire. Now again, after each of these events, the Saint asked the man, "Did you take the chapati from my bag?" . Of course, He thought that when the man realized how God had saved him, he would tell the truth. But none of these things worked. The Saint was determined to save this soul, so he did everything he could, and then in the end, he said, "I must do something to make this man tell the truth!" And so he got three bags of gold, and there was the Saint, the man , and a third bag of gold. He set them out, and He gave them each one, and the third one, he said, "This bag of gold will go to whoever took the chapati from my bag." Now this man, of course, saw that third bag of gold, and thought "I guess it's time that I tell the truth, because I really do want that gold." So he said, "Please, please, it is I who took that chapati from your bag. I should get that gold." Now we know that the Saints are loving, and they love us all very much. So, He gave this man the gold, and in that way, he taught the man to tell the truth, and that was His goal, to make sure the man would tell the truth. We all know that on the path of the Masters, Truthfulness is very, very important. That is the story. Thank you. Sant Ji got up, and touched the hands of some of the children who were sitting in the front row, and giving darshan as He left. |
JULY 26, 1996
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The children are singing Dhan Dhan Satguru when Sant Ji comes in. Bot acha. Very Good. My heart becomes very happy when I come to the children's Satsang. This morning, as you know, it is raining, so when we left the Satsang tent, it was still raining very heavy, and I thought that maybe Louis will take the car straight to the house. And if that happens, I was going to miss you alot, and I was thinking, that what would happen if Louis does not take the car to this place and take it straight to the house; because I wanted to come here and see you. Farid Sahib also said that, "The home of my Beloved is very far away, and on the way, the road is not very good, it is all muddy and dirty. If I don't go to see my beloved, my devotion is broken, and if I make the attempt to go towards my beloved, it is raining very heavily, and I may get drenched. " Further he says that "It doesn't matter if I am drenched. It doesn't matter if the road is not so good, but I'll go and see my dear one, I will go and see my beloved. Let God cause all the rain He wants to, but still, let me go and maintain my devotion." I am very thankful to all the dear children who have come here, even though it is raining, and I am very grateful to Connie Brown that she has made the arrangements for them to come here. I am very happy to come here and see all the dear children. Now Russell Perkins will tell you a story, because you know that children are very happy to hear the stories. Russell Perkins: This is the story of Ravidas, the same Ravidas whom we talked about the other day, who had a disciple who was a king. Ravidas had two disciples who were royal. One of them was King Pipa, but the other was Princess Mirabai, who later became Queen of Chittor. Mirabai loved Ravidas very much, and she was very sorry that he was so poor, because Ravidas was a very low caste man and a cobbler, as we said the other day. He didn't have much money, and he lived and worked in his little hut, and he mended the shoes. People brought him their shoes, and he would fix them. She felt very bad about this, so she went to see him one day, and she said, "Master, I wish that you could live in a better house, and have a better place to work in, in fact, maybe not need to work at all. I have brought for you a ruby, which, if you sell it, you will have millions of dollars, and you can do anything you want!" He said, "No, no, I don't want it." She said, " I wish you would take it as an offering from me, Master, because I have a lot of money, and it makes me very sad to see you so poor." He said, "No, I don't want it." She said, "Please, Master, take it for my sake, please." He said, "All right. You can leave it over there if you like." And she left it in a crack in the wall, where there was a little space. She went away, and six or seven months later, she was able to come back and see him again, and she saw that he was still in the same hut, still living in exactly the same way, and he had no more money at all. She said "Master, what did you do with the ruby I left you? Why are you not in better condition?" And he said, " Well, I don't know, it might be where you left it." She looked in the crack in the wall, and there was that same ruby, worth millions of dollars, that she had left six months before. Mira Bhai, was given a very hard time by her family, and her friends, and her religious advisors (clergy people, swamis, etc). They all hated the fact that she was a Princess of royal blood, and she had taken a Master who was a cobbler. They gave her a very hard time. They first tried to talk her out of going to see him, and then they tried to prevent her forcibly from going to see him, and finally, when she still kept on seeing Ravidas, and did her devotion, and refused to be pushed around, they began to try to kill her. Because they thought it was better to have her dead, than to bring disgrace on the kingdom, and the family. So they sent her a poisonous snake in the middle of a bunch of flowers, they poisoned her food, and in all that, she was very brave, and very calm, and she kept her connection with the Master, she did the Simran, and she was not affected. Nothing hurt her. Finally, she spoke to Ravidas about it, "Maybe if they knew you, maybe if they could meet you, they would like you better." He said, "All right, you can do whatever you like." So she arranged a big banquet, in Ravidas' honor, and she invited all the royal people, and all the Swamis and the main important religious people, all the people who were giving her a hard time, and her family and everyone. None of them wanted to come. But finally they agreed they would come if Ravidas would stay by himself, over in one corner. Because they didn't want to associate with such a low class man. Ravidas said, "Whatever they want, it is alright, tell them." So she agreed, and they came, and then at every table they found that Ravidas was sitting there! He had made hundreds of forms of himself, and every single pundit, every single prince, every single royal person that hated the idea of being with Him, found that he was sitting there at the same table with them. They could not escape Him. Everywhere they went, there was Ravidas. So, in that way, He showed the power of the Satguru. And Mirabai kept on going, and although she became a Queen when she became an adult, she also became a Master, and she is very well known in India, her hymns are sung everywhere, and Master Kirpal Singh very often used to comment on her hymns. Connie Brown: "Please don't get up while Sant Ji leaves. Let's watch Him as He goes. Please help the children not to run in the hall to get to Sant Ji. Please help them to sit if you're sitting near them. " On this day, the Master took His time going out of the Hall. He walked with both His hands at His sides, touching many children's hands as He went, and He paused about 6 times. |