Sant Mat and Visions

At this point a serious problem arises, one that plays a large role in the life of a Yogi: how are you to recognize a teacher to be competent and authentic? Faqir Chand was one of the most resourceful Sant Mat Gurus through his candid reports on the lowlights of Guru Systems. Indeed, he plainly demonstrated why even a 'vision' of a competent Guru by far is no guarantee for spiritual development.

Faqir Chand relates the story of a woman who had had a 'vision' of Sawan Singh and had gone to his Satsang, even though her husband regarded that to have been foolish. Upon her return her husband, who had been extremely set against it, beat and injured her upon. Faqir Chand explains the 'vision' in terms of psychology: it is not the guru who creates the vision, but most often one's own mind interacting between disciple and teacher. Thus, a 'vision' is very close to imagination, to a nearby hallucination, especially if it can not be easily integrated into the cultural, symbolic environment. The woman should have written Sawan Singh, asking for an official invitation. That would have calmed her husband down. The internal requires a symbolic correlation to the external. An extreme desire to see someone again can even evoke the same 'vision' as is the 'gaze-image' of a true teacher, who - just as a psychoanalyst - would rather keep his face hidden so as not to become an object of desire.1 Nevertheless, the existence of the scopic desire can never be completely denied. But an official statement gives a clear orientation to the whole.

 

1 Lane, D.C., The Unknowing Sage: The Life and Work of Baba Faqir Chand (1993). The author also describes the subject in several other places, stating that one can also have 'light' / 'sound' experiences without a guru. What is important, though, is how 'light' and 'sound' are combined. Nevertheless, Faqir Chand's story clearly shows that a psychological approach would have been better for all of the participants, without being detrimental about it.