I come from a very poor family who lived in a small town. My father was a devoted man who was not accustomed to eating meat, eggs, fish, impure foods or drinking alcohol during his lifetime. Although he was not initiated by any Master, he had faith in Guru Nanak. He, along with my mother, read hymns of Guru Nanak during mornings and the afternoons; at night, they read his biography. In this atmosphere I grew up (being only child).

      By age twelve, I had read and understood well, the meaning of the Granth Asylum (rare sacred scriptures of the Sikhs). It was my habit, not to play with children my own age but to be by myself or in the company of adults, seated next to them, listening to them.

      My father passed away when I was eleven years old, I did not have any properties or other sources of income. My mother and I had to work hard to satisfy our minimum necessities. Simultaneously, I continued with my school studies and passed the entrance exams at the age of 16. My mother worked extremely hard to support me throughout.

      I entered the University and during two years I studied science, later I studied civil engineering and two years later I obtained the diploma, I then joined the armed services in 1952. I served during peace-time until 1955, but from October of the same year I determined to be absolutely honest from then on. With this determination, my life again became a conflict but I stayed with my ideals, by the Grace of God.

      There was once an incident in which, my then superior official, tried to harm me with premeditation, but the situation did not worry nor lowered my spirits, and later he requested my pardon. Due to this demoralizing lifestyle, my spiritual fondness was also developing at this time and during the next ten years. From 1955 to 1965 was a searching period to obtain internal peace.

      During this period I visited saints of different faiths, practiced different types of meditation and practiced Yoga, Pranayama, etc., I read the Granth Asylum several times, and also the Sacred Scriptures of all the religions that I could find; I observed the disciplines, I did impersonal services and devotions that cannot be detailed here; but I was not satisfied with all these, because my search was for an internal peace and these external actions could not help me.

      Back then I felt totally disappointed; but in November of 1965, I saw the Great Master (Sant Kirpal Singh), whom I previously did not want to consider: I listened to seven of His speeches in five days and had private conversations with Him until finally His theory convinced me and I obtained the initiation in a glorious and golden day of my life, on November 25th, 1965, in Jullundur, a secluded area of my residence.

      I did not tell anyone what had happened, but for three months I practiced, using the best form I could, only to prove its authenticity, and the results were so satisfactory I had to tell what had happened. Again I had to confront much opposition, since my old friends became my enemies. Having found the true path after an intense and prolonged search, I dedicated myself externally and internally to him and tried my best to more intensely advance in all possible ways.

      Following my Master's orders, I began to address Satsangs in 1968. Simultaneously, I began another plan of serving the government the minimum period of time to obtain a pension so that I could be able to fulfill the two purposes, to find myself without having to work for a living and to dedicate myself to meditation for the rest of me life.

      In 1969 I was granted a four months' leave of absence following the wishes of my Master and spent all this time with Him solely in spiritual practice. In addition to the official duties and that of my family, my Master asked, in February of 1971, to dedicate at least four hours to meditation and I was able to dedicate six to eight hours per day. During this spiritual effort, my wife never cooperated; she feared for her future. On the other hand, she was a very wise, noble, a good housewife, and a devoted woman, but she always wanted me to be more worldly, against my tendencies.

      She did not have children and always prayed to the Master so that He would give her one, but I prayed for the opposite indeed. Between all these circumstances I could progress satisfactorily but her mental condition remained unsatisfactory in spite of my best efforts to console her.

      On August 6, 1974, I was again persuaded by my Master to take leave of absence for an extended period and dedicate the time to meditation, I asked for the leave of absence on August 9, 1974 and began it on August 26 of the same year, after the death function of my Master.

      On August 18, 1974, at night, (three days before His death) my Master came to me, and in a peculiar way, gave me a few indications about my future work.

      I meditated continuously for fifteen months, until November 20, 1975. I had so many indications for the future, but I felt so mortified that I never thought I could dare to do this work.

      Finally in the beginning of February of 1976, since I had no other alternative, but to obey, I am here in front of you like a gratuitous server, only to serve the dear sons and daughters of my Master, and in no way as a Master, but as a servant.

      According with my plans that had begun ten years earlier, I find myself in a position that enables me to support myself and my family (my mother and my wife*) without having to work.

      I have a leave of absence for a year, and after that has been completed, I will be able to leave the service with all the benefits of pension, allowances, etc. as the laws of government have been set up with, and I will begin to give full-time service to the most elevated government, of who my Master is the Emperor and I will be the humblest servant.

Thakar Singh
February 7, 1976