Mahatma
Mangat Ram Ji: A Man of God
India is, and has been a land of saints since the
beginning of history. Gurudev Mangat Ram ji stands in this great tradition connecting
the past with our present and with the future of mankind. He was the most profound
advocate of the path of spiritual progress which leads to self-realization. The
very path was not propagated by Sh. Mangat Ram ji but by a number of spiritual
teachers like Vasisht and Patanjali in the ancient times and saints like Kabir,
Dadu, Guru Nanak in the medieval times.
Sh. Mangat Ram ji was born in a pious family in
village Gangothian Brahman of Rawalpindi (Pakistan) on 24th November
1903. He lived a life of immaculate purity. Prayers and meditation were the
reigning passion of him, right from the tender age of 3 to 4 year. The quest of
Eternal Truth or the Supreme Being went on increasing with years. No comfort
and no pleasure of the world lured this young seeker from the path of intense
love of God. His remembrance, His worship, His devotion, His meditation, His
vision, His glory, His grace and His service alone counted Young Mangat and
nothing else.
In the age of thirteen he realized self. He lived a
life of deep meditation, austerity and inward solitude. This twentieth century
saint, through his deep insight, revived the ancient “Samata” spirit of Upnishads. His philosophy,
the vision of life, was shaped through the divine inspiration he derived from
mining ancient wisdom.
Like Kabir or Guru Nanak Mangat Ram ji has
bequeathed to the people, a rich treasure of God-inspired Vani in simple,
lucid, current Hindi-Urdu language. The verses complied in a book called Granth Shri Samata Parkash which covers
about 1500 pages. To the seekers of truth the book provides a clear cut
guidance concerning the path of yoga, knowledge, detachment, selfless-service,
right-conduct, right-association, the glory of God, supreme joy of Samata and several related topics. In
addition, his utterances have been collected and published in Shri Samata Vilas (Prose) and this book has been translated in English. Shri Samata Vilas contains the saint’s
exposition on the various facets of Dharma, Current beliefs,rituals and means
of upliftment of individual and society.
In his
books, he basically laid down five cardinal principles which can help mankind
to achieve self-realization. These are: Simplicity, Truth, Selfless-service,
Right-association and Meditation. And as criteria for holy men, he referred to
five virtues, namely: Desirelessness, Humility, Detachment, Equanimity and
Dedication. All these virtues adorned every bit of the life of this great saint.
According
to this great saint God is the core of Universe. He is the life of Universe. He
is Eternal and free from joy and sorrows. From Him has emerged all creation and
in Him it abides. With in all beings He is present. He is complete with supreme
might. He is Peerless and Incomparable. He (though present in all beings) is
totally unaffected by the desire evil of desire or anger. Without Him there is
nothing and yet He is free from any attachment. One, who realizes Him, merges
in Him fully. By realizing Him, all worldly desires vanish and one attains
contentment. Without Him nothing has ever existed nor will ever exist. Vedas,
Upnishadas, Koran, Bible, and all holy books describe His glory and yet He is
indescribable.
Sh.
Mangat Ram ji always advocated reverence towards prophets, gurus and saints of
all religions. At one place in Shri
Samata Parkash this point is specially stressed. He points out that it is
the glory and light of the Supreme Being which is manifested itself through the
perfect souls and their teachings. Revelation of the Creator corresponded to
the mode of love adopted by men of God who achieved freedom and became liberators
for the people. They laid down principles with due regard to their environment
of time and place. There is no difference in the substance of their teaching.
He
believes that Ram Rajya is possible
only when there is moderation in desire (for the comforts of life). In other
words, there should be restraint from the life of ostentation and luxury.
People should be free from superstitions and their faith should be firm in the
Supreme-Self. There should be mutual affection among those serving the State
(rulers and bureaucracy) and the people. Those serving the country should be
impartial, free from greed and persons of high characters. Education should
promote values. There should be strict control on drugs (narcotics) etc. and
harmful articles of consumption. All business should operate within certain
norms and constraints of time. There should be separate schools for boys and
girls. To stress the same point, he says that the imparting of education should
be accompanied by character building. Everyone should get that type of
education for which he is best fitted. The rising wealth of state should be
used more and more for the spread of education. All people should have the opportunity
and assistance to rise to their constructive capability. Righteous principles
i.e. simplicity, truth, selfless-service, equality and love towards others
should be propagated to the maximum extents. Those serving the state should
have a high sense of responsibility and dedication to public duty.
On analyzing
the outcome of luxurious and materialistic life, the saint comes to the
conclusion that it is vanity and ego in man which compels him to make such
discoveries so as to establish supremacy by one stronger over the weaker or one
such country over the other and so on. Even if man extends his knowledge to
such extent that he may fully establish control over the natural celestial
powers such as the sun, the moon, the air and water etc. It is impossible to
get rid of the inner turmoil and turbulence from within the human mind. He,
therefore, opines that all right thinking men and statesmen of the world to
start the search for truth instead of their probe in matter. He believes that
the cause of concern for humanity today is not the achievement of scientific
knowledge or inventions but it is the devilish mentality of human mind which is
responsible for utilizing these for destructive purposes.
Mahatma
Mangat Ram ji left this mortal world on Feb.4th 1954. His last
message was “the mission of this body has been completed. Every seeker will
find his answers in the books (Shri
Samata Parkash and Shri Samata Vilas).”His teachings will keep on enlightening humanity
till eternity.
