Surat-Shabd-Yoga

Mystical discipline in the Radha Soami
religious community, which stresses the
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Surat-Shabd-Yoga
joining (yoga) of the spirit (surat) with
the Divine Sound (shabd). The Divine
Sound emanates from the Supreme
Being and is always present. Most people cannot hear it due to their preoccupation with worldly things. With proper
training and devotion to a true guru
(satguru), anyone can eventually
become attuned to the Divine Sound,
and resonate in harmony with it. The
most important part of this path is contact with a true guru, since only a true
guru has access to the divine and is considered a manifestation of the divine
itself. Devotion to a true guru is the single most important factor in a person’s
spiritual development, and this spiritual
progress hinges on complete surrender
to the guru’s grace.
This metaphor of the Divine Sound,
and human resonance with it, has much
in common with the images used by
Guru Nanak, the first of the Sikh gurus,
and with the Nathpanthis before him.
The overwhelming stress on a guru
makes it possible for this religious
discipline to be practiced by just
about anyone, and most of the Radha
Soami followers are householders living
in the world rather than ascetics. For
further information see Sudhir Kakar,
Shamans, Mystics, and Doctors, 1990;
Lawrence Babb, Redemptive Encounters,
1987; and Mark Juergensmeyer, Radhasoami Reality, 1991.