Seek the Path Within You

Death Before Dying (Meditation) During Life - Param Sant Tulsi Sahib, Saint of Hathras:

In this life the concept of salvation all

describe;

To meet the Lord by dying while living,

none discloses.

They all speak of the goal of salvation after

death;

How to attain it while living, no one says.

Were they to reveal the method of attaining

release while living,

Then alone would Tulsi be convinced of

their words.

Who speak, after seeing with their own eyes,

And teach the method of salvation during

life,

Are of the stage and stature of Saints,

For they reveal the quintessence of the soul.

(Ghat Ramayan of Sant Tulsi)

*NOTE: “die while living” or “death before dying”: a popular saying used by Sants and Sufi poets espousing the view that rising above body-consciousness or soul travel during meditation practice is a preparation or rehearsal for the afterlife. Hazrat Sultan Bahu: “Let us die before dying, O Bahu, only then is the Lord attained.”

"People in general, and the priests in particular, speak of the state of salvation after death, on the basis of scriptures. Tulsi Sahib points out that these people have no right to make such assertions. Only those who have experienced salvation during their lifetime, namely, who have gone through the process of dying while living, are competent to make such claims." (commentary from the book, Tulsi Sahib - Saint of Hathras) 

Seek the Path Within You

O traveler! Seek the path that lies within you,

You and your Beloved are in the same body;

Your Beloved is pervading everywhere, but is not being perceived.

Those initiated by the master are able to recognize Him within their bodies.

O traveler! If you wish to go alone on the path of the Lord,

Look for the path within and do not delay;

The four spheres of darkness, Light, Sound and Soundlessness —

They all lie within the temple of your body.

You stepped down to the darkness, but your Beloved is in the Sphere of Soundlessness;

Now you again go back to the Sphere of Soundlessness through the Tenth Door.

Pursuing the inner Light and practising the Yoga of Sound,

Listen to the orchestration of Sounds and closely watch the dazzling Light,

And go along the path where the five Sounds resonate;

Ascend up as you get drawn towards them.

Never imagine that there are other means of going to the Sphere of Soundlessness,

Without the Yoga of Vision and the Yoga of Sound.

Says Mehi, going along this path alone

Is the secret path to Divinity, as revealed by the Saints.

Catching the most subtle one amidst different Sounds,

Go along the solitary path lying within your body.

-- Maharshi Mehi