WALL OF FEAR

Kirpal Singh arrived at Tempelhof Airport, Berlin, on the afternoon of June 23, 1963. He was accompanied by his party from India, Baron W. F. von Blomberg, Mr. George Dewey, Frau Fitting and Miss Eileen Wigg, the Tour Secretary. Many of the Master's disciples in that beleaguered city were at the airport to greet him. He was welcomed by Pfarrer Wendelin Siebrecht, Director of the International Committee for the Defence of Christian Culture, who had come to the airport on behalf of several Christian groups in order to greet the Sat Guru. Kirpal Singh was driven to the residence of Fraulein Hilda Georg, a devoted disciple, who had invited the Master and his party to stay at her home while in West Berlin. Greeted by more enthusiastic devotees at Fraulein Georg's residence, Kirpal Singh gave a short discourse on spirituality.

He told the devotees that, in the Science of the Masters, there were only two types of knowledge recognized.
One type of knowledge is designated Apara Vidya and the other is termed Para Vidya. Apara Vidya consists of the reading of scriptures and the performance of rituals, ceremonies and the giving of alms, etc. These are the elementary stages of religious understanding. On the other hand, Para Vidya is the Science of realized truth: the Science of the Soul. The creation of interest in knowing our true selves and knowing God, and the living of an ethical life, are prerequisites of spirituality. For spiritual unfoldment we have to seek the guidance of someone who has realized that spiritual life. The main obstacle is that we do not know what we are and where we stand.

Our souls are under the bondage of mind and matter. We must learn the practical method of self-analysis and then to rise above body-consciousness. In doing this, we find that we are not the body, nor the intellect, nor the outgoing faculties. We know many things, but only intellectually. We must know ourselves and know God, and this we can achieve only by following Para Vidya, the science of realized truth, in a simple and natural way. This science can be followed by people of all ages. Unless we know who we are, and what our relation is with God and all creation, we cannot know joy and true peace.

On June 24, Kirpal Singh and his party were taken on a tour of West Berlin. Pfarrer Siebrecht conducted the tour and proved an extremely informative and helpful guide. When Kirpal Singh saw the notorious "Wall" between East and West, symbol in concrete and barbed-wire of man's inhumanity to man, he was deeply moved. Told of the unhappiness the Wall had brought, separating mother from son, husband from wife, brother from sister, and planting fear in the hearts of the people, Kirpal Singh made the following statement:

"It is the right of everybody to be free," he affirmed strongly. "We know that stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage. Birds fly freely anywhere. The spirit is free. Man the highest of God's creation, should therefore certainly be free. The inexorable law of nature is that all who do wrong must pay. Whosoever is responsible must pay for all cruel suppression of humanity; for all aggression. In the meantime, we of India, who have enjoyed the freedom of life and spirit, pray for those who do not enjoy their right of freedom. We know their situation, we do not forget them. All humans should have the right of self-determination as to where they wish to live. The spirit is all and the spirit will overcome!"

The great Masters, as beacons of God-power in the world, have always emphasized the concept of freedom in the highest, most spiritual sense of the word. During the World Tour, many Western leaders responded to the dynamic impulse given towards true freedom by Kirpal Singh, a modern spiritual Master. Although this response has been mainly a subjective one so far, it has been reflected in several positive efforts made towards freedom and goodwill in political and economic spheres. In the future, as present negative influences weaken and the world goes forward into a more enlightened age, humanity will direct its endeavors upward to the highest conception of freedom, transcending even moral and ethical teachings, and reach the highest spiritual planes of life.

At a reception held at the Berliner-Tegel by the German Foundation for Developing Countries, Kirpal Singh discussed the distressing state of affairs in the world which were caused in the name of religion. He told the gathering that all religious differences are the outcome of religious vanity and spiritual egotism. So-called leaders of many religious sects suffer from misguided fervor and narrow prejudices, and cannot take a detached view of any other religious faith. On the contrary, they see the rest of the world through the smoke-screen of their own biased opinions. They cannot tolerate anything which is not in accordance with their own rigid formularies and sectarian orders. While, in reality, there is only one world-embracing religion of love, based upon the fundamental truth of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, the forces of self-interest have carved out narrow sectarian principalities and have raised frontiers of hatred and antagonism, thus dividing man from man, class from class and nation from nation.

Later that same day Kirpal Singh visited the Right Reverend Otto Dibelius, Evangelical Bishop of Berlin, at his residence in Dahlem. Dr. Dibelius was extremely interested in the purpose and message of the World Fellowship of Religions. The response of the progressive and enlightened leaders of the Christian Church was always encouraging and heartening throughout the tour. The Master Jesus recognized the living soul within all men, and yet he was profoundly concerned with the reform of religious and social institutions. Like all Masters, however, Jesus recognized that men should become reformers of themselves first. In this spirit of their Master, the Christian leaders acknowledged the great mission of the President of the World Fellowship of Religions.

Many religious leaders were sympathetic to the message that Kirpal Singh preached; and Kirpal Singh, in turn, raised this feeling of sympathy from the plane of emotional sentiment to the plane of spirituality. He evoked the quality of compassion in many of the political, social, and religious heads—a compassion for the spiritual blindness and suffering of all humanity. Such a quality should be abundant in all who seek to serve their fellowmen in a just and tolerant manner. It is in the inherent nature of man that he looks for a leader to guide him. All social religions recognize this need. Seek for a leader with the eyes of the spirit as well as with the eyes of the flesh. Man can find a Living Master—a true Way-shower—in Sant Kirpal Singh Ji Maharaj. This is the Path to true service and liberation.

Kirpal Singh also visited the General Curate of the Diocese of Berlin at his residence in Wandstrasse. The ministers and prelates of the Christian Church were recognizing the transformation of modern society, and Kirpal Singh presented the necessary spiritual solution to the problems posed by this transformation. Since the days of the Palestinian drama of Jesus, there have been many changes made in the formation of human society. Man has made material progress and invented machinery which dispenses with human labor. He has created electronic computers which solve abstruse problems with incredible speed. Developments in nuclear science and astro-physics appear to promise an even more revolutionary change in the structure of human society. Man has conquered matter. The tremendous energies within the nucleus of the atom have been unleashed, and humanity swings like a pendulum between the creative and destructive poles of this terrifying release of power. Man must now seek the solution to his many problems within his own self.

Kirpal Singh gave several talks and meditation sittings whilst in West Berlin. His devotees and newcomers alike derived enormous benefit from the darshan—or blessed sight—of this great Master. German initiates of the Sat Guru now numbered several hundreds, and the number was growing daily. Many people, living in the divided city of sorrow, came to this Holy Man in order to receive spiritual food and solace in these difficult times. Many were shown, by experiencing the supernal strains of the Sound Current, that the spiritual realms were eternal and, therefore, far more important than the transient physical, astral and mental words. Here, in the city of West Berlin, the rule of the Negative Power diminished in the hearts of many as they responded to the message of the Master. Even with the global conflicts being fought out today, many have reached a point of consciousness where they realize that the super-sensible worlds are of far greater importance than the physical. Truly, there is no imprisonment or bondage for those who have found a Living Master, and have been initiated into the supreme science of spirituality.

Herr von Eckhardt, Secretary of State and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic, received Kirpal Singh at the Bundeshaus, Bundesallee, on June 27, 1963. The meeting of the Sat Guru with many political leaders in the West was of untold importance. Political institutions and social organizations are but temporal structures which stem from the separative nature of man's intellectual mind. They have their important part to play in modern society but the over-development of the intellect, and neglect of the soul, has led mankind to over-emphasize the importance of these institutions. If man's political and social organizations are not based on the well being of humanity, then they are built on shifting foundations. Man cannot change his sociological organizations—and hence his moral and ethical sense of values—unless he has consciously identified himself with the highest spiritual purpose and the highest interests of his fellow man. Only then will the faculties of man be used in a positive and creative manner, and the political and social organizations will be transformed for good.

After his visit to the Secretary of State, Kirpal Singh called on Herr Mullenburg, the Vice-president of the West Berlin Parliament, at his office. They discussed the World Fellowship of Religions, and then the conversation turned to the spiritual science which the Master had brought to the West. Kirpal Singh explained that, in spite of their tremendous material advances, mankind appeared incapable of organizing or constructing anything which, satisfied their inner needs. Whilst man does not attempt to develop the spiritual aspects of his nature, his technological developments are worse than useless. A. thorough understanding of his essential divinity is the one thing which will bring an end to the conflicts that assail modern man. Man has released the power that was latent in the physical atom. He must now release the power latent within his spiritual self: his soul. Once man has realized this truth, given out by all the spiritual Masters in the past, the present forms of governments, social institutions and churches will themselves undergo a profound spiritual change.

Herr Mullenburg asked Kirpal Singh what happened to people who have no time for meditation and prayer due to their busy life in politics. Were they doomed to some form of spiritual punishment? Kirpal Singh answered that all work done in sincerity and unselfishness for the cause of human betterment was God's work. Meditation and prayers to God for selfish reasons were as bad as working against God's wishes. People who work unceasingly for the good of humanity—even if their own inner development is thereby neglected—were much better off than so-called religious leaders who devoted their time to God's work for material profit, thereby misleading humanity in the name of God.

Herr Mullenburg was deeply touched by Kirpal Singh's words. He took the Master's hands and thanked him for taking so much trouble to explain the spiritual path. He said that Kirpal Singh had lifted a veil of uncertainty from his heart and planted a new ray of hope in him. He then asked the Master if he had seen the notorious Berlin Wall. Pfarrer Siebrecht, who accompanied Kirpal Singh to Herr Mullenburg's office, immediately answered Herr Mullenburg's question by stating that not only had Kirpal Singh seen the "Wall," but he had given a statement about it. He showed Herr Mullenburg a copy of the Master's message on the "Wall of Fear." Herr Mullenburg was so excited and enthusiastic about the message that he took the Master's hands again and pleaded with him to permit the message to be published in the West Berlin newspapers. The Master laughingly consented, and a secretary was called and told to have the message translated into German and released to the press.

That night Kirpal Singh gave a public discourse at the huge Students Hall of the Free University. The hall was filled to capacity, and the Master spoke on the outer and inner aspects of man. Again he told the students of the science of man-making and the five prerequisites of spiritual development:
 

1. The aspirant will be a true Ahimsa (a non-violent person), which is the highest
     of all laws of conduct.

2. The aspirant will live a life of truthfulness.

3. The aspirant will hold a high character.

4. He will have love for all, hatred for none.

5. He will live a life of selfless service for the uplift of humanity.


These are the five pillars on which the mansions of peace can be built. These five pillars are cemented by developing the spiritual contact within. The aspirant looks to the whole world as the house of God and the various countries as so many rooms therein. Governments may control the bodies of men, but they cannot achieve man-making. The hearts and minds of men must change, and that change must come from within. Out of the abun-dance of his heart a man speaks. His very words are charged with his inner thoughts and feelings. If he has love for all mankind, his words will be charged with love. Whatever comes from the heart, that will go to the hearts of people. This is the sole task of really spiritual men and not sectarian people. These spiritual men can achieve this goal, without which no good society can ever achieve freedom.

Shortly afterwards the great Master was to leave West Berlin. At the final meditation sitting his devotees gathered before him. He gave a message of hope for the city of Berlin, for the people of Germany, and for the people of the whole world. World problems will not be solved by transplanting racial groups and families to other parts of the planet. It is the realization that soul-consciousness —the true Self-—can be evoked under any circumstances and in any environment, that will lead humanity to shoulder the global responsibilities which all rightly share. The problems of humanity stem from common origins: negativity and ignorance. Through the knowledge of the Positive Power of creation, the Holy Naam, and under the guidance of a living Preceptor of the Supreme Science, the problems of humanity will be solved. There will be no more "Walls of Fear," physically or spiritually.