Succession in 1974 and Kirpal Singh, by James Bean
Sant Kirpal Singh was born February 6th, 1894, and left the body August 21st, 1974. He was a spiritual teacher in the Sant Mat tradition of India. His books are even listed in the bibliography of the classic, Be Here Now.
After Kirpal Singh Ji’s passing in 1974 there was a legendary and controversial succession dispute with little evidence for many to go by at the time unfortunately. So, what lessons from history can we learn that can help us make sense of it and come to a healthy, spiritually affirming conclusion? With the article below my speculations are not intended to lend support to one spiritual group or another, in service to any particular guru in Sant Mat, but am only interested in examining the truth from a Sant Mat perspective, whether that happens to fit the narrative of any particular sect or not. And it’s not written to be a thorough account reliving past events, but my goal is to provide my take to readers who already are acquainted with this particular branch of Sant Mat and it’s history to some degree. Am not out to necessarily change minds. Older satsangis have their minds already made up generally. But, I do hope it’s helpful for new spiritual seekers reading various things on the web from different sources attempting to find a living spiritual path to follow, and spiritual practice to adopt, to make progress this time through during this life.
Most spiritual masters in Sant Mat have had more than one legitimate, duly appointed, spiritual successor after their passing. Soamiji had several. With Baba Jaimal there was Baba Bagga Singh of Tarn Taran and Huzur Baba Sawan Singh of Beas as his successors. I am of the view that Sawan Singh appointed multiple successors also, at least three. In addition to a successor for the Dera Beas there were a couple of other satsang centers in other parts of India. I’m sure Sawan had plans for those to continue. I’ve read the accounts of Kirpal Singh being sent by Sawan from the Dera to begin a new mission in Delhi. As for Kirpal Singh and succession… there were 36 individuals that claimed succession from him after 1974. Doubtful of course that the majority of those would be anything more than claimants. In a couple of cases we can “know them by their fruits”, so to speak, with major scandals and controversy part of their histories, so no evidence of legitimacy revealing itself in those situations. I know there are some doom-and-gloom websites from Europe “making propaganda” that say Kirpal left no successor, everybody’s fake, no answer, no solution, destination: emptiness. And there’s that negatively charged online plagiarized Anurag Sagar book with the blue cover making use of Ajaib Singh’s translation without giving the proper attribution to him and it adds a huge amount of negative material against all the main claimants… naming names… bashing them publicly, which is not normally done in Sant Mat as it goes against ahimsa etiquette. This Trojan Horse edition of the Anurag Sagar text with extraneous chapters hitching a ride, and other pessimistic websites seem to have been set up anonymously as sniper perches on the www. to say bad things about others without being linked back directly to any particular group as that would make that organization look bad, so such sites offer some plausible deniability. And, by the way, if one keeps searching, one will find an untampered with! translation of the complete Anurag Sagar (Ocean of Love in the tradition of Kabir and Sant Dharam Das) online, a free online book.
“What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” (Mark 10:9) Spiritual movements may divide up and go their separate ways, perhaps even by necessity, but becoming aggressive sectarian warriors is “all too human” and not to be mistaken for something divine. We need not take sectarian divisions all that seriously. Often sects create a “faith-based history” for themselves, but I find real history to be far more elevating and liberating.
Kirpal Singh said he would leave a successor and that the world has never been without masters. So I side with him on this key Sant Mat principle and not with anyone advocating a kind of “Church of Kirpal” as last master, or “seal of the prophets” as they say in Islam. There’s a group like that. People in this one particular group are taught they are being initiated by Kirpal Singh by hearing a tape recording of somebody else’s initiation that took place many decades ago! Kirpal Singh would never have approved of such a thing. That group with the tape recorder deeksha (initiation) reminds me of the orthodox Sikhs of several generations ago, no longer interested in a living Sant Satguru but looking to the past, ignoring the Living Ones in the present. Kirpal Singh said that the earth is “never without living masters”. The need for a living Satguru is central to Sant Mat. “The world has never been without a living Master.” (Julian P. Johnson, Path of the Masters) “Without the enlivening touch from the living Satguru, the soul cannot awaken from Its slumber and get attuned to Naam.” (Kirpal Singh) “We find in a Saint a living embodiment of selfless love and sacrifice. His appeal is universal and directed to the soul of man. The aspirants in thousands congregate around him and are benefited by his teachings.” (Kirpal Singh)
I’ve seen a copy of Kirpal’s Will which names Darshan Singh Ji. Yes, a decade earlier Kirpal Singh said he would not appoint someone from his own family, but masters can change their minds if they want to — they are the master after all, and not to be overruled by some committee or publisher somewhere, and so their last word is what counts. Most familiar with it don’t doubt the Will’s legitimacy, though of course many have never heard about this Will and already made up their minds long ago so any Will documentation from Kirpal Singh doesn’t count for them, never had any influence, didn’t come to light soon enough to impact people’s decisions back in 74. I do understand how the statement from a decade earlier about him not appointing a family member would have been confusing to some, as they had that quote in print but didn’t know about more recent pronouncements made before his passing, as illustrated by the Will.
Could Master Kirpal have appointed more-than-one real successor like those previous masters? Probably so, truth be told, free of sectarian bias. It is said that when Kirpal Singh retired from his government job he was replaced by four men. It certainly did require more than one individual to carry on with what had become a very large worldwide movement and mission: Ruhani Satsang, as it was called during those days. There have been a few of those successor-claimants with excellent teachings and a noble legacy, and that’s all we can go by in hindsight, as we never were in the room to personally overhear any appointments to serve as Satguru, Sadguru, Sadhu or in some capacity back there in 1974. Probably Kirpal Singh had a couple of real successors that did indeed receive orders from him, were telling the truth, in other words, though we are out of the loop, can’t know or verify this ourselves with the degree of satisfaction we might prefer.
My speculation above is based on earlier successions. I find sectarian claims of there only being “one-true master” and one living lineage on planet earth — total spiritual exclusivity, in other words — to never pan out, has never been historically accurate. From the time of Kabir to the living present there have always been multiple masters and guru lineages in the world, never just “one”.* We can be grateful for this. If there was only one tree in the forest and it happens to get Dutch Elm Disease, this would mean no more trees. And what a contrived, unnatural, and simulated make-believe world it would be to only have one tree or one species of tree. Safety in numbers and diversity is nature’s way of providing future generations with more trees. As with nature, the same with the family tree of guru lineages. If one dies out, good for humanity for there to always be a living master and path alive someplace else so the path lives on for another generation or two, how it’s always been.** Old branches fall away as new ones bud. New growth takes the place of the old. As Seneca said: “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”
“It is not necessary that there should be only one Master in the whole world or even in a single country. There have been different Masters in different countries at the same time, and even in the same country. Thus Guru Nanak and Kabir were contemporaries, and so also Dadu and Guru Arjan. But their teaching is the same at all times and in every country.” (Huzur Baba Sawan Singh)
“Another common misconception is that prophets, saints and mystics search for ‘new’ truth. Rather, what they do is to simply remove the layers of dirt — of accumulated misinterpretations — that have corrupted the truth. Then the living teacher will bring forth the very same truth in a new light. The original truth must repeatedly be presented to suit the current age.” (Swami Santsevi Ji Maharaj, Maharshi Mehi Ashram)
* The Opposite of “Not One Of Us” is “We Are All One”: In terms of Sant Mat history, there has never been a time during the last several centuries when there was “only one” Sant Satguru operating in the world. The reality is there have been multiple lineages of spiritual Masters contemporary with one another since at least the time of Kabir and Guru Nanak in the 14th century. Both Guru Kabir and Guru Nanak were founding gurus who appointed successors. These are guru lineages now spanning many generations. Generally speaking, we have had the various Sikh Gurus in one line, and the successors and devotees of Guru Kabir in another. Of course, it’s much more complicated than this, with the formation of many Nanak, Kabir Panths, and numerous Sant movements over the centuries. See my article:
https://medium.com/sant-mat-meditation-and-spirituality/3e803b92d51d
** There is No Vatican of the Spirit, A Reflection on the Impermanence of Spiritual Movements in a World of Samsara (Changes), By James Bean: https://medium.com/sant-mat-meditation-and-spirituality/there-is-no-vatican-of-the-spirit-d901d71ef4c2
