Basic Spiritual Principles from the Sant Mat Tradition

1. Ultimate Reality is beyond any beginning or end, infinite, beyond birth, beyond the senses, all-pervading yet beyond pervasiveness. It must therefore be understood as the Supreme Being. This Essential Element is known as the Lord of All and is the foundation of all things.

This Being is beyond both the inanimate and animate aspects of nature. It is without qualities and beyond qualities. Its nature is infinite, imperishable, all-powerful. It is beyond time and space, beyond sound and beyond form. It is the One without a second.

The Supreme Being is beyond the scope of mind, the intellect and the senses. This entire universe is powered by the energy of this Being.

This Being is not human. It has existence beyond the illusion (that the physical world is all there is), and there is nothing that exists outside of it. It is the Being which is eternal, existing from the beginning. Santmat considers this Being as the Divine Reality and this (knowing or merging with) Being is the goal of all spirituality.

2. The individual soul is an inseparable part of the Supreme Being.

3. The physical world of nature was created.

4. The soul bound by illusion (maya) remains in the cycle of death and birth. This is the cause of all suffering. In order to escape from this cycle of death and birth we must experience realization of this Supreme Being.

5. By practicing devotion through meditation, he practitioner consecutively transcends the realms of darkness, light, and sound which cloak the Truth -- the Divine.

6. Lying, stealing, intake of intoxicating substances, adultery, and violence (including harming other beings) are five things to be avoided.

7. Consider the following as the requirements to attain liberation:

• Trust and belief in the Divine.

• Commit to seek the Divine within.

• listen to the teaching of the spiritual discourse [satsang].

• Diligent meditation practice.

-- Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj, "The Harmony of All Religions"