6. Let us reform Ourselves

The significance of Satsang has been explained on a number of occasions. This is a sacred place (sawan Ashram) and must be taking as such. Whenever you visit a Gurudwara of a temple, you do so with a feeling of reverence. If you go there without such a feeling and keep thinking about worldly affairs, what will you gain? The purpose of your coming here is love of God; his remembrance and communion with him. Come here with a clean mind and pure heart remembering the Lord. Then alone you will be able to derive full benefit fro satsang. The more attentive you are, the greater will be the benefit. Whatever you understand you must practice. Otherwise, the result is sorrow.

Swami Ji Maharaj has aptly explained the significance of Satsang. Kabir in a couplet says: The heart is somewhere else, but the body is with the Saint. How can an unbleached cloth be dyed like this? If you just sit quietly and attentively, even if you are not able to follow the Satsang fully, you will derive some benefit. By thinking about mundane matters, you no only harm yourself, but also spoil the atmosphere for others. We do not assemble here to make friends, but to establish a true relationship – the relationship with God that does not break even after death. It cannot be snapped during one’s lifetime. It is only because of our lack of understanding, false sense of ego and such other ideas that we are amidst this conflict. Where does this conflict lead us? To suffering.

There can be no salvation by visiting this place as a routine. The more you put your heart into the Satsang, the happier you will be. If you do this you will get something which is not available elsewhere. You have been asked to maintain a diary, but you remain adamant and do not do so. If we keep a diary, but you remain adamant and do not do so. If we keep a diary, regularly, we can become angels. We are not Saints, but have come here to become Saints. This can happen only if we put our hearts to what we understand here.

Swami Ji pointedly tells us: for years we have been having Satsang, at least now leave old habits.

If we do something for a number of days or months, it becomes a habit. Habit so formed should beunraveled. Bad habits – falsehood, deceit, enmity, intrigue, back-biting etc. should be discarded. It is to shed these old habit that we come to Satsang. If that is not done and we make only a show of it, then, what is the point of coming to Satsang?

We come to Satsang to form a such habits and adopt such ideas so as to forge a link with the truth (Sat), to give up negative ideas and to assimilate positive thoughts in our lives. The holy Koran says that even God does not care about a person who does not think of reforming himself. By reforming ourselves, we can change the whole world.

The worst of all bad habit is to criticize others. One must observe non-jury (non-violence) even in thought. All religions are good, but the observance of non-violence is the highest. Forget the past and discard all bad habits. Otherwise, we will only harm ourselves and remain entangled in the whirlpool of births and deaths. Thus, Saints lovingly exhort us to give up obstinacy now. Swami Ji says, how long are we going to deceive the Master? It is high time we get to know him. “Deceiving the Master” means that we think whatever we do (good or bad) is all right and that. He is not watching us. But the Master-power is always within us and is watching all our actions. The Master is not an ordinary human being. The Master is a divine Power manifest on a human pole. That Power is always watching us, although physically he may not be seeing us. So, recognize the Master-Power. The Master loves all, even those who may consider themselves as his to kill him, he will not wish ill of him. Why? Because of the Master-Power in him. If we recognize this Power in him, we must obey him, for he will never give us a bad advice.

Swami Ji reminds us that Satsang is done by the Master, who is not an ordinary human being. Then who is a Guru or Master? He is God himself. You should come here in His remembrance and go out remembering Him. Adopt whatever things are helpful to reach him and reject those which become obstacles. To reach God is not difficult, but difficult it is to become a man. Although we may appear to show great reverence and understanding, we consider ourselves to be wisest of all. That is why swami Ji Maharaj had said that we must leave our old habits.

Everyone judges things from his own level. Unless you concede someone as your superior and obey him, you cannot get anything. Anyone who has not attained a higher level will you take you downward. He who has not attained a higher level will unite all. All human beings are liable to make mistakes. If someone commits a mistake, forgive and forget.

Kabir says that is someone considers the Master an ordinary human being, he will get the lowest birth. The manifest God-in-him is the Master. If you consider Him a superior individual, you must listen to him. If you do not agree with him, he may not contest it and may say that he might have made a mistake. Even then, if he is blamed, it cannot result in happiness and will cause suffering. There is not an iota of doubt about it. The purpose of Satsang is to increase happiness within ourselves. When a soul gets a link with God, it will acquire all His virtues. The Master is full of compassion and washes our sins away. For example, a mother lovingly cleans the dirt off her child before embracing him. She does not harm him. We come to Satsang to become Saints. We can do so if we practice what we are able to grasp. Swami Ji, thus, very lovingly explains that we are committing a blunder if we see the Master from our own level. He goes on to say: Do not take the Guru to be merely a human being. He is the essence of the Lord.

The question now is: who is the Master? This is not a new question. Guru Nanak was asked this question. He replied that the word is the Guru or the Master and soul is the disciple. The Lord himself is the Master and our souls are his disciples. Kabir also gave the same reply when this question was put to him. When the soul establishes a contact with him, it is the human pole on which the Light of God is manifest. He can show Light to others. That is the only proof of his being the Master. Christ has said: I am the Light of the world, those who come to me shall never walk in darkness.

The Master’s word is the real Master. Those who obey what he says, achieve salvation. He can give us some experience of Light. If this is done, then there is no scope for doubt. Swami Ji says that the Master is the essence of God. That God Power working through the Master never dies. He also says, make the mind understand somehow, and contemplate on him with loving confidence.

Swami Ji means that somehow we will have to understand that the Master in whom the God-Power is manifest can give us the experience of that Power. This is the only touchstone to remove any doubt. Anyone can lecture, act and pose, but few can give the experience the Light within. Someone who can give this experience proves adequately that he has the divine Light in him. Then, whatever he says must be accepted. What he says is that we should have communion with God who is with us all and, therefore, we should love all. The mind may refuse to understand, but you will have to make it understand.

So it is not difficult to find God: it difficult to become a real man. Dr. Iqbal, the famous Urdu poet, once said that Moses went to Mount turn in search of God, but he did not know that God himself was in search in a real man. Baba Jaimal Singh Ji found. Hazur, My Master, in the murree Hills of Punjab? What I mean to stress in that mind will have to recognize the Master. Then only we will be able to obey Him. Otherwise, we will remain entangled in a maze of doubts and the purpose of human life and of coming to Satsang will not be achieved. Now swami Ji tells us, he discourses with compassion and grace. He is God Personified.

The Master's mission is to teach us with the compassion and grace. All are the Lord’s children. What is that Power which creates such compassion and love in him? It is the God Power which compels him to love all. He is love personified. He teaches love and spreads vibrations of love. His words are meant for increasing love. Swami Ji thus exhorts us to obey the Master. If we developed love of God, enabling us to see him in all and all in Him, there is no reason for us to come to this world again. When we forget the Lord, our ego naturally gets blotted and we are caught up in our conflicts. The karmic law is supreme –if you cause suffering, you will suffer; if you do violence, you will face violence and, similarly, if you usurp somebody’s rights, your rights will be usurped. Thus you will keep coming and going in this world. Hence the need to change ourselves. Saints always tech us with love, but if necessary, they may punish also to reform us. Swami Ji, therefore, says, the Master –Power works on a human pole. He will liberate you anyway.

So man is the teacher of man. The Master comes in a human form and becomes like us to teach us. He is a human being like us. God is hidden in us and is the only difference. Excuse me old Master cannot come back to guide us, although we can benefit by reading whatever they have said. The living Master, who has done it and you, can do it like wise by strictly following the principles. What are those principles/ they are:

truth and love of God. You should love all and ignore others mistake with love. Blood cannot be washed with blood, but it can be washed with the water of love. And swami Ji advices serve and worship Him. For he is not different from Guru Nanak.

Keep ready to serve. What is service? Obey his commandments and mold your lives according to his teachings. He says: keep your lives clean and thought pure. Never think ill of anyone. Adopt truth. Love all for Lord resides in all. We are fortunate to have this human life, and we should derive full benefit out of it by linking our souls with the over soul.

Now swami Ji tells us, he is kabir, he is sat Naam. Know all the Master's as him.

The Master Power has been working on different human poles. When one electric bulb fused, another replaces it, but the Power remains the same. People brought a sinner before Jesus Christ and asked him to punish the culprit. Christ agreed do so and asked the people what was the normal punishment for such crime. On being told that the accused should be stoned to death, he told the people that only those who have never committed any sin should throw stones at the accused. No one came forward. Then the Christ asked the accused to sin no more. So, try to recognize the Master Power which never dies. I shall never leave thee, nor forsake thee till the end of the world. Christ, the Master Power manifested in Him, said this and not the human pole of Jesus. The Master will explain with love, show sympathy and never at times shed tears, somehow to bring us on the right path. His aim is to ensure that we attain the truth. 

At least those who come to satsang and especially those who have been initiated by the Master should have love for others. Christ asked his followers to live with love so that others should know that they were associated with him. If we are able to remove even one man’s suffering by sweet words and sympathy, we have done a big service.

Swami Ji goes on to say, you can achieve your goal only through him. Cast away delusions and vanity.

Swami Ji now asks: what is your goal in life? To find God. You can find God through right understanding. Your real friends are those by meeting whom ignorance can be removed. What is the ignorant? God has made all of us alike. All are embodies souls. Soul is the means to removal of ignorant and to get the right perspective. So he pulls you out of delusion. You cannot succeed in your mission without him. Your life is mission was to realize God and not to lose yourself in materialistic pursuit and struggles. We continue to sow new seeds of karma, which we will have to reap. As you sow so shall you reap.

Do away with false pride and self-veneration and keep your mission in view. By doing so, not only you, but the whole world can be happy. Thus to find God is the real mission of our lives. Only God can fulfill this mission. Swami Ji has stressed this point saying that we should go and fulfill our own mission and not get entangle in the material world. Think before acting whether your actions will result in happiness or suffering. It is very easy to increase pain, but difficult to remove it. Love alone can wipe out sorrow. There is no other remedy.

Dhritarashtra once abused Arjuna’s bow, for which the latter had high regard. Arjuna stood up and aimed his arrow at Dhritarashtra. On Lord Krishna’s intervention, Arjuna said that he had taken a vow to kill anyone who abused his bow. Lord Krishna then asked him whether dharma (duty) should cause happiness or sorrow. Happiness, Arjuna replied. Lord Krishna then told Arjuna to ponder over the obvious result of his intention to kill Dhritarashtra.

What is Dharma and what is its test? Both Vyas, the author of the Mahabharata, and Christ were asked these questions. The common theme of their replies is that we should treat others in the manner in which we ourselves like to be treated. We have to decide, therefore, whether our actions will result in happiness or sorrow. Saints aim at increasing happiness. Obey them and you will reach the goal. Otherwise, you will go on groping in the dark as before.

A Saint or the Master is a lighthouse of both worlds. In association with him in you can get communion with God –the real goal of life. Swami Ji, therefore, entreat us: do not let go this opportunity. There is none greater than Him. 

We are very fortunate to have this human life. If we miss this opportunity (realize God), who knows when this opportunity will come again? Engage yourself in activities which can helpful to realize God. All otherworldly activities which cause self-veneration, cleverness and sense of ego are useless. It is hard to find a man who aims at all-round unity. It is the Saints mission to unite all. If you are able to find such a Saint, and you obey him, you can accomplish your mission. Swami Ji explains: if you miss this opportunity to follow the Master now, you will be deluded and remain entangled.

Human life is a great boon. You have been able to find a Master. If you let go this opportunity and fail to take advantage of his association by not obeying him, by not shaping your lives according to his teachings, the obvious result will be the endless wheel of life. For what you think so you become.

Bharat, after whom India has been named as bharat, was a king who renounced the world and became a hermit but he developed attachment for a deer. Consequently, he had to take birth as a deer. The Master only concern is to see us all happy. He tries to set fight our mistakes. His ideal is love for all. Swami Ji now emphasizes, you will never find such a Master, understand this once for all.

Why is gurudom in disrepute today? Modern Guru are generally political at heart. They have an axe to grind –to make money and get honor and respect. They are not concerned with the well being of the people. Their object is to impress the people by the hypocrisy, deceit and falsehood. You may be taken in by these methods. On the contrary, the Saint will talk to you frankly and lovingly and point out that you are making a mistake. He will make you see the difference between truth and falsehood. Such a Guru is a great blessing. Our soul at one time became separated from the Lord and to be reunited is the foremost mission of our lives.

Swami Ji warns us, by endless reading of scriptures and singing of hymns, do not inflate your sense of ego.

What are you proud of? Is it because you sing well, or you can exhibit your knowledge or you are a good orator? These things lead you nowhere. Ravana was said to be proficient in all the four Vedas and six Shasta’s. Still he is popularly shown with an ass’s head. Why? All his learning proved useless due to his wrong action.

Intellectual pursuit, cleverness, and indulging in tall talk is easy. It is difficult to control your sense, to rise above because consciousness, to keep thoughts pure and not to think ill of others, if we accomplish these, it is not difficult to realize God.

Swami Ji through his writings has been exhorting us for about one hundred years now that we show only superficial respect for the Master instead of respecting his teachings, in which lies our salvation. Saints do not spare anyone, including themselves. He goes on, it is this pride which has ruined our lives. It is this pride which is harming us now.

Swami Ji says that our ego makes us come to this world again and again. Do not follow your mind; follow your Master. This will bring happiness. Now Swami Ji says: I am explaining to you fully. This carelessness is not good for you. He adds, your carelessness is not good for you. He adds, your carelessness in failing to change your old habits or reforming yourself is harmful to you. Make haste in discarding deceit. Increase your sense of devotion.

Discared deceit. What is deceit? You say something and do something else. Only by doing away with hypocrisy can we increase our sense of devotion. Therefore, deceit and hypocrisy should go first. Then give up tall talk and inculcate humility. A person with such virtues will automatically get the Master's grace.

Swami Ji, therefore, now warns us: Even now if the mind fails to understand, you suffer the consequences.

If you refuse to listen, then what can be done? Even Saints cannot help you. In that case, you will be miserable and unhappy. He goes on: The negative Power rules over you and will not let your mind understand.

The negative Power will delude you. The compassionate Lord alone can save you from doubts and delusions. And further he says: one thing is clear, brother, that you are a man of no principle.

You have no principle in life. What can be done to such a person?

If you keep the Master’s association, perhaps your mind may gradually understand.

If your mind agrees, you go on making effort to reform yourself. What is true will always remain true. Even if your vision is clouded, the Master’s image will not be blackened. Try to understand gradually; do not despair. There is every hope that the delusion may ultimately disappear. To give up heart after making flimsy efforts is not the solution. The solution lies in reforming your inner self. Once you have satisfied yourself about the competence of the Master, then, you must persist in making effort to understand. Do not listen to your mind, listen to the Master. This will make you understand. now swami Ji finally warns us: The Master has explained fully that such souls will have to suffer.

The human pole on which the God- Power is manifest is called Radhaswami by swami Ji Maharaj. The Master explains that if you do not understand you will grope in the dark.

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