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Sat Sandesh The
Message of the Master January 1970
volume three number one. ________________________________________________________________ FROM THE MASTER The god-like
life: A circular letter The
Master’s Talk: Out of Bondage The
Master’s Message for christmas and
the New Year Guru
Nanak and His Teachings OTHER FEATURES Thoughts
on spirituality Bhadra
Sena Poems: A
Prayer Tracy
Leddy A
Diwali Wish Darshan
The God-like Life
A Circular Letter from the Master November
5, 1969 Dear Ones: In my circular letter of June 14, it was explained in
detail what is the responsibility of each and every initiate, the true meaning
of Initiation and the life to be led by one who wishes to progress on the Path. In continuation, I should like to say a few words on
“Sadachar” or the righteous life, without which one cannot sit in the quiet of
his own self and, with concentrated attention, pierce through the inner
darkness. To achieve true spiritual progress, one must lead “ the good
life,” I may even say a “God-like life, “ before much inner progress can be
made. At the same time, one must be
fully dutiful to regular meditations, as both are essential. To lead a good life without devoting time to
one’s spiritual practices will not raise the attention to the seat of the soul.
Similarly, devoting hours to meditation without eliminating bad habits and
cultivating good ones in their place, will not get one anywhere. Purity of life is essential for fruitful
meditations. What is “the good life?” It is to have good thoughts,
good words and good deeds. Sadachar is
a life of continued rightness from beginning to end. It is for each initiate to occasionally pause and introspect as
to how far he has succeeded in molding his life in accordance with the
commandments of the Master. We talk of
God, hear of God, and read of God, but we seldom practice God in our daily
life. It is the practice of the
Presence of god that matters and we can only have the awareness of this
Presence by leading a God-like life; there are no short cuts on the way back to
God. Truth is higher than everything but higher still is true
living. Truth and true living are not
exclusive of each other but go together; one supplements the other and their
combination forms the God-like life.
One who practices true living will always earn his living by the sweat
of his brow and feed himself and his family on rightly procured foods
consisting of fruits, vegetables, nuts, cereals and permitted dairy
products. Furthermore, he will be
honest and aboveboard in his dealings with others. These three aspects of conduct are indispensable aids to true
living. One can gauge his or her
spiritual progress by the measure of conscious control that he or she has over
their thought pattern. One who has in
some measure achieved this control will not be swayed or upset by outer
conditions, stressed and strains that his environment may place on him. If
one cannot rise above, be in full control of and handle with ease the
circumstances of his outer environment, he will never be able to succeed in the
way of Spirituality. So the important thing is to first learn to handle your
outer environment, consisting of your home and/or work life. We are to be judged by our actions and not
by our words. It is from the abundance
of our heart that all actions result, whether physical, emotional or
intellectual. The mind is an index and
reflecting mirror and it truly depicts one’s inner state. A measure of success in how well you are
succeeding in handling your outer environment will be a gradual awareness that
you are becoming the master of your own thoughts. It is to achieve this success
that I introduced the self-introspective diaries. How many really keep their diaries properly? Very few, if any, I am
sorry to say. If the diaries were to be
taken advantage of, you would see a change in your behavior, your mode of
thinking and consequently, you would progress spiritually by leaps and bounds. The purpose of the diary is to reflect your
own inner state, so that you know where you stand. It is a tool, which if used properly, will chisel you into a
receptacle fit for the manifestation of the Master within you. You should put just as much devotion and
attention into keeping your diary as you put into your meditations. The following points will give you the right
understanding on the sublime purpose behind and benefits to be had from keeping
the diary: 1. when,
at the end of the day, you recall your failures in thought, word and deed, in
which direction will your mind be turned? Naturally, it will go to the One who
has asked you to keep it. So keeping
the diary is also remembrance of the Master; you are saying something to
Him. If you remember Him, well, He
remembers you, and in time, you will develop receptivity to Him wherever you
may be. There can be no true spiritual
progress without receptivity, and the daily maintenance of the diary with full
attention and a true yearning to be freed from the lapses which are recorded
therein goes a long way to developing this receptivity. 2. In
the Christian religion, I understand that those who wish may make a confession
of their weekly, but generally not more often than once a week. But by keeping the diaries, you are making a
confession every day. Let your confessions
be honestly and openly recorded in the various columns, so that you know where
you stand and can take rectifying action.
The best and easiest way to cure your ills is to yearn to be free of
them and, as mentioned above, to have sweet remembrance of the Master at the
time you are filling in your diary. 3. Last
and just as important as the foregoing, keeping the diary should not be allowed
stagnate into a mere recording of failures, which tends to become mechanical if
done with little or no attention. The
true purpose of putting these failures down in front of you is to make yourself
aware of them so that they may be weeded out.
To weed them out, it is not sufficient to cut off one or two branches,
you must uproot the cause. Once you
become aware of a failure, you should be able to trace it to a certain
situation, and this situation will help you to identify the cause of the
weakness in you that has to be strengthened.
By and by, the very cause of the failure will drop off by itself. Another important aspect of “the good life” concerns
outer behavior, which should be natural to the society into which one is born;
no acting or posing is required. There
are some dear ones who believe that they should adopt the outer symbols of
dress and name that characterize the society into which the Master was born, in
the belief that this is pleasing to Him.
The life of the spirit does not call for conversion to outer modes of
living in name, appearance or apparel.
The Masters do not come to make or unmake social orders. Their mission is just to fulfill the law of
God, which is to redeem His lost children.
They simply ask us to convert ourselves inwardly, to be poor in spirit
and pure at heart. We should cultivate
true humility, which is neither servile nor assertive. These are the things that will please the
Master and make us receptive to the gracious Master Power working
overhead. If you live a life of
humility and simplicity, you will have peace of mind. After all, what is there on earth that belongs to you? Why be
attached to the vanities of the world when the treasures of divinity lie within
you? If you live for God, all things shall work out in your best interests, not
only spiritually but also materially.
This is the fundamental law of God and can be realized by all who will
practice true living. The reward of true living will be that you will become
receptive to the Master Power working over your head. No real progress can be had unless this receptivity is
developed. By receptivity a disciple is
cast into the same mold as the Master, but before one can become receptive, he
must have right understanding. His is
given either by word of mouth by the Master at the Satsangs conducted
personally by Him or through His writings in the form of the many books and
circular letters to those who live afar.
Right understanding by word of mouth
or through His writings constitutes only one third of the teachings of
the Master; the other two thirds are achieved through developing
receptivity. Christ said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that
abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without
me ye can do nothing.” The first sign that a branch is receptive to the
life-giving sap that rises in the body of the vine will be blossoms, and the
second by the fruit that it will bear.
If a branch cuts itself off from the sap, then . . . ? it will become
but a dead piece of wood fit only for the pruning shears of the gardener. The vine gets its food through its roots
which are intertwined and embedded in the nutriment-giving soil. Therefore, the branch that is receptive or
attached to the body of the vine gets the same food. Similarly, the Master’s roots are embedded and intertwined in the
Godhead. So the disciple who is
attached to or becomes receptive to the Master can not only be fed by the
life-giving sap of the Master but can actually pass through His roots until he
too becomes embedded or intertwined in the Godhead, and this can only be done
by developing receptivity. To attempt
to gain the Godhead without being receptive to the Master Power is fraught with
danger. Maulana Rumi says, “Do not go within without the Master, as
there are many dangers inside.” If one
should happen to rise above body consciousness without being receptive to the
Master Power, he will become hopelessly lost in the lower astral planes and
runs a great risk in being deceived by the many manifestations of the Negative
Power. There have been instances where
even great Rishis have fallen because they relied on their own power to carry
them over the dangers that abound in the inner regions. So receptivity is important for success in all phases of
life, both mundane and spiritual, and it can be achieved by following the right
understanding given above. First, one
must lead a God-like life; second, the spiritual diaries must be maintained in
the accurate way as already explained, and third, you must learn to develop
receptivity. If you succeed in the
first two, the third will follow of itself. With all love and best wishes, Yours
affectionately, KIRPAL SINGH The Master’s Talk: Out of Bondage
God is known as Sat
(ever-existing),and the world is Asat
(changing). In the Hindu holy scriptures it states that the world is all Asat,
and only the soul is Sat. Why is the
soul called Sat? Because it is made of one substance only, and that is All
consciousness. If anything is made of
one substance, there is no question of its disintegrating. Why is the world Asat? Because it is made of matter in
the form of elements, which in turn are broken down into atoms, neutrons,
protons, etc., and any admixture of substances is subject to
disintegration. Our body is an exact
copy of the Brahmand or the three divisions of creation, for we have three
bodies within us, corresponding to the physical, astral and causal planes. God has given us a body made of matter,
through which we are working in this world, which is also made of matter. At the time of death, we leave this body and
use the astral body which works in the next plane, sometimes know as the “other
worlds.” Ahead of this there is the
causal body. The purpose of these
bodily coverings is to enable us to work in all three worlds whenever we in the
right light and are going along in are so inclined, and if we feel like it, to
take off all three coverings and go into God’s lap. When we come to this world the greatest knowledge we can
have is that only in the physical form can we realize the Truth or God. How can we know God? He cannot be know
through the senses, mind, intellect or through the pranas (vital airs). If God is to be realized, only the soul can
do it. When can the soul get this
experience of realization? When it has freed itself from the mind and the
senses. What is the condition of the soul at present? The soul is
everlasting and cannot die, but because it has come under the influence of the
mind, it has become jiva (soul with
coverings), and as such it must therefore travel on the cycle of birth and
death. Furthermore, by the connection
with the senses and outer enjoyments it has identified itself with the body and
the world, so much so that it has forgotten its true self and God the
creator. We are the soul, in human
form: All consciousness, having a physical covering. In this human form we can realize God, but only when we first
come to know ourselves. As long as we
do not know who we are, we cannot comprehend what God is. Just consider, that this body is the temple
of God, and it maintains its glory while the soul is in it; but we are
imprisoned in the body-imprisoned! In the Upanishads the question is asked, “who is the maker of this wonderful body?”
It has got two eyes, two nostrils, two ears, mouth, genital and excretory
orifices, and yet the “indweller” cannot run out of it. The breath goes out, but it does not stay
out. Some power pushes it back into the
body. It is that power which we have
to know, and that is the power we call God. While we are with the body, it is glorious, and for how long are
we with it? For as long as that power keeps us with it. When that power leaves, we must leave also. This very same power is controlling all
levels of creation-there are innumerable planets, stars, etc. it is obvious
that they are all working with perfect rhythm and control and do not crash into
one another. When that power leaves the
different levels of creation, dissolution and also grand dissolution occurs. So all rishis and saints, no matter from which country,
caste or creed they came, have advised mankind in similar words. “Oh brothers, this body has been given to
you that you might know yourselves!” The upanishads and other scriptures state,
“know thyself.” There are many
different ways of doing so. Some people
just say, “I am not the body,” but merely repeating the fact does not give
knowledge of it. They are drawing
inferences that they are not the body.
They repeat, “This is my body, this is my mind; I am not the body, I am
not the mind.” “I have got intellect.” Such people should also ask themselves,
“If this is mine, can I take it off? Can I separate myself form this?” It is
one thing to feel that one is not the body, mind intellect and pranas, but has
one ever separated oneself from them? For example, this is my watch; I take it
off and leave it there. This is my
handkerchief, and I put it aside. This
is my book-I can place it where I like; and all these things, because they are
mine. This body is also mine. Can I take it off? Can I separate myself
from it at will? On death we do separate from the body, but if we could
leave it while living we would see everything with correct perception. As it is, we do not see things an
illusion. When we do not know
ourselves-what I mean is, the soul has to free itself from the mind and the
senses, and thereby know itself- if this does not happen, we have not done
anything in life. To see is something different, for it is not enough to
use the intellect by doing so, but one cannot get out of the
forgetfulness. That power which
controls us, whom we call God, also resides n this body with us, but to see God
is impossible unless we first know ourselves.
So you see, the question of whether we can or cannot see God is a very
specialized subject. Before going further into this talk, I want to explain
that this spiritual science is not any particular sect or religion. Whatever religion you belong to, I
congratulate you, and you should stay in it.
All religions are like schools into which we have been admitted. What was the reason for our admission? Was
it not to realize God? Naturally, that school is best from which more boys
graduate. Say that a certain school is
very well built, with beautiful playing fields and smart uniforms for the boys
to wear, but no boy graduates from that school- what is the use of that? How did all the various religions come into being? Always
when a self-realized and God-realized man came, who had analyzed himself from
the mind and the senses and had experienced the Lord. Just as I can see you and you can see me, so they saw God. Whoever came into close contact with them
became capable of seeing the same, after freeing themselves of the mind and
senses. I have just given an example
about my body, my mind, and, that one has to rise above this to experience the
Lord. In this way they became the ones who could see the Life Sustainer. When they left the world, the religions were
formed in order to keep their teachings fresh, but up to then they themselves
had formed no sect or religion. The real purpose of forming a sect was to enable everyone
to sit together to realize God, as that particular Master had taught them. Is that not so? Man is a social being, and
so the social organizations or sects were formed. However, when the sect were formed, customs, rites and rituals
were also introduced, and these come under apara
vidya or exoteric knowledge. All
this is useful as preparation of the ground.
If one’s deeds are good, then one will gain a reward. But the cycle of life and death will not
cease in this way. It can only finish
when one is able to see that “He is the doer and no I.” If a person continues
to consider that he is doing everything, then whatever he sows he will reap,
and good deeds will bring forth good fruit, bad deeds the opposite. Lord Krishna said that both these types of
karmas are like gold or iron chains which bind. So the subject is one of self-analysis in a practical
way, and when you have come to know yourself, then only will you see God. When we think that we see and understand
something, we really only see through the eyes of some past Master, by reading
his words in the scriptures. They all
say, “We have seen God.” Have we also seen Him? This is the question we must
put to ourselves. When you ask a small child, “who are you?” he gets
confused, opens his eyes and mouth wide, and tries to concentrate. He has some awareness of consciousness, but
as he grows older the sanskaras or
outer impressions have their influence on him.
Then he starts saying, “ I am Singh, Khan, Jones, Smith,”etc. Ask him who he is a few years later and he
will say, “ I am a Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Jain,” and so on . Isn’t that forgetfulness? A small child is
more conscious of his true nature. Who are we? We are conscious entities. All Masters in the past have said that we
should know ourselves and then think about getting to know the Ultimate
Reality. Whenever they come they tell
us, “Oh man, this body has been given to you through great good fortune.” The devi
and devta, rulers of the various
upper regions, are striving to get back into a human form, so how fortunate we
are to have that for which such exalted souls are yearning. Have we realized God? If so, it is good, but how many can
say that they do see, and can also make others see the Light of God? There are very few. We have merely bookish knowledge, or
knowledge through hearsay. A Master’s
greatness lies in the fact that He sees and can show others what he sees. How? He withdraws our attention from the
outer environments and takes it above the mind and the senses. He then makes us
realize that we are not the physical body.
This what is called an inner experience. Through the intellect we have been declaring that we are not the
body, but in truth we must see the
fact, and not just say so. We must
separate ourselves from the physical, astral and causal bodies. On rising above all three, one will know
that “I am the soul.” One is then capable of seeing the Controlling Power
called God. Even rising above the
physical body alone will bring the knowledge that “It is not I, but He who is
the doer.” It is most important to have this practical
experience. Our minds are like huge
libraries full of books containing the words of past Masters, throughout which
is written that this Master said this, that Master said that. No doubt, all Masters have spoken the truth,
and they wrote what they saw, but have we seen anything? Have we, in truth,
separated the Life form the matter? Words cannot fill an empty stomach. The food for the hungry soul is the Holy
Naam (God-into-Expression Power), and the food for the body is bread and
water. Food for the intellect is to read,
write and reason. Even those who
sincerely try to understand God through books are very few in number. So neither feelings, emotions nor inferences
will help us. There is some power in control, which is called God. Saints or Masters have called that power
Naam (Name). That Naam is the
Controlling Power or god-into-Expression Power. It is that power which is
upholding us and has tied us to this body.
The past Masters have expressed in the books the helping factors and
hindrances on the spiritual path. Such
books are most valuable, and we are blessed that we can read about their
experiences. However if you go to one
who sees, he will say, “Come, sit down and I will show you what I have seen,”
which is vastly different. There have always been very few such spiritual Masters in
the world at any time, and even now there are not many. However, the world is not without them. For feeding the intellect one can find many
masters. To be very frank, if a person has not broken free from the delusion,
how can he give Light to anyone? He will say,
“It is either this, or it is that”- but in truth, what is it? No one can
give an experience unless they are themselves connected. “. . . And no man knoweth who the Son is,
but the Father; and who the Father is, but the son, and he to whom the son will
reveal him.”(Luke 10:22) These are the facts about True Masters. They also ask, “How was your body made?”
Have you ever thought about it?
Just from one small sperm. And
what is the power that makes the form in the womb of the mother? The eyes are
made, nose is made, hair, etc.; everything perfectly made. Is there not some power doing all this? There must also be a power, a maker of this
world. Have we seen that power? Just
think, there are millions of stars in the sky and in what rhythmical control,
they are moving! There are some planets
which are seen by man only after the passage of five thousand years. To consider all this, one’s intellect
reels! These stars do not collide with
one another, for there is some power which is holding them in their correct
positions. The same power is holding
us. What is that power? The Masters say that you may want the answer
to this great mystery, and you will get it, but you have to know yourself first. Kabir Sahib, a past Master, said that there is no
difference between the soul and God.
God is all-consciousness, and the soul is a drop of that all-powerful
consciousness, millions of worlds were created. Our soul is also very powerful, but can it even make one small
city? What is the reason for this? We are micro-gods too, but we have become so
weak and helpless. We have come under
the influence of the mind and the senses, and all our power is scattered
outwardly. If we could but control it,
withdraw it, and release ourselves from the mind and senses, to become
single-pointed, then our soul would be very powerful. This is a practical subject.
We have got such power that we could give strength to others, but we
have become the body, we have become the senses and the mind. So all Masters have said again and again,
“Man, know thyself.” Both Kabir Sahib and Tulsi Sahib in almost identical
words have said that God and soul are one and the same. The soul is eternal-Surat or attention, is full of bliss, just as God is. It has the same quality as God- on a
miniature scale it is a reflection of God. I will give you an example to illustrate this. Many times we have helped to take dead
bodies to the cremation ground by carrying them on our shoulders, and have
perhaps lighted the fire with our hands, but even then we cannot seem to
realize that we also have to go. Why is
this? Because this body contains the reflection of God. If there is a big fool among other fools, he
will think there is none more clever than himself, because of that reflection
of god in him. Everyone is eternal in
himself because he is the same as God.
The Masters say that we are so much in God that our soul is in God and
God is in our soul. When we meet a spiritual Master, we begin to understand
what Sat or Truth is. He gives us an experience means that he
frees us from the mind and the senses and makes us see who we are –not through
intellect or feelings. First we should
know who we are. We are conscious
entities. We are the children of a lion
and have great strength but we have made ourselves weak and helpless. For another example: the rays of the sun do
not burn us, but if we pass them through a convex lens, those rays become
concentrated and can burn anything upon which they fall. So we have got that power of God, but it is
not concentrated. If it is concentrated
it can become the mouthpiece of God. All Masters have confirmed Guru Nanak’s words: “it is not I who speaks, but I say whatever
God makes me say,” They become the conscious co-workers of the Divine Plan, and
in all clearness see God doing everything, thereby knowing they are not the
doers themselves. We also say that we
are not the doers, but we do not see the fact.
It does not matter how often we declare this, for in the end we will
still feel that we are doing everything- we just cannot believe it. We must break this I-hood, otherwise we will
achieve nothing. Karmas or actions come under the heading of Karma Yoga,
which means being bound by our own actions.
How can we go through action without getting a reaction? Only when we
truly see that self is not the doer, but God is. It is useless to merely say, “I am not doing it? Deep in folds
upon folds of the mind we are thinking that we are the doers, and while this
continues we will have to continue to pay for your actions. If you sow a chili seed, the plant which
sprouts forth will bear hundreds of chilies.
Similarly, if you plant a mango sapling in the same ground, you will get
mangoes. Therefore the sharpness of the chilis and the
sweetness of the mangoes will come out from the same soil. Whatever you sow, you will have to accept
the similar fruit, and there is no escape for anyone, as long as we do not
become reactionless in action. Only
that person who enjoys the inner experience of the Holy Naam will come to see
that God is doing all, and not himself.
He will then be called neh-karma which
is to be actionless in action, as a conscious co-worker with the power of God,
in accordance with the Divine plan. One Muslim fakir said that the great wrong we have done
to ourselves could not even be done by one who is not only blind without eyes,
but blind in reasoning also. That wrong
is that we have forgotten the owner of this house-we, the soul, the indweller
of the body. That which is controlling
us in the body is called God, so God and soul are both residing in the same
house. When one starts seeing the
Truth, one’s I-hood will break away from one’s heart. We have forgotten ourselves in the Maya (illusion) of
forgetfulness, which started when we became conscious of the physical
body. This conscious of the body
quickly developed into acceptance of the body as our identity. From then on we regarded the world from the
level of the body. Now, the body is changing and the world is changing at
the same minutely slow speed. Having
decided that we are the body, we consider that this is the Truth and nothing is
changing. What a great
forgetfulness! The literate and
illiterate, the rich and poor, are all affected alike. For an example, a boat containing a number
of people is drifting on the river. The
speed of the boat and the water are both the same. One man gets out and stands on the shore. He shouts, “Oh brothers, come out quickly,
for the boat is drifting away!” The
people gaze at the water and at the boat, and think they are at a standstill,
so they shout back, “What nonsense are you saying? We are not moving at all!”
If only we would come out of our worldly “boat” and see that in truth we are
drifting away! The Masters tell us, “You are building castles out of sand,” for
they have seen the Truth and we only draw inferences. Those who have seen continue to admonish with such words:
“You are the soul, a part of God who is residing within you. Through the illusion of the body you also
became attached to material objects, and the result is that wherever your
attention is, so you become that. You
are under the influence of the mind and senses, are feeding the senses through
the outgoing faculties, and the more you feed then the harder the mind will
work and the more strength it will get.” As the mind is surrounding the soul, the soul must take
the consequences and suffer. It is true
that the soul never dies, but because it is tied to the mind it has to be
responsible. This knot has to be
untied, and then it will know who it truly is.
This human being is really both attention and awakened attention. Outward expression of soul is called surat –attention, or dhyan. There is no doubt that we have got this human form
through very high destiny. In this form
we can do that great work, and in no other form. What is that great work? To realize God. We know so much about the body: how to keep
it healthy and how it becomes sick.
There are many kinds of doctors attending on it. The ayurvedic practice is the oldest, then
unani came, and after that the allopathic system, homeopathy, etc. On how to
keep the body fit, our knowledge is vast. Intellectually, we have also advanced with amazing
strides. A dog has circled the world in
one and one-quarter hours. Across
thousands of miles we can hear and see things, through radio and
television. This is all due to the
intellect. In olden days, when blind
King Dhritarashtra could not see the progress on the battlefield during the Mahabharata war, Sanjay, an advisor, related
the proceedings to the king in his own palace many miles away. This proves that there was radio and
television in those times, but all that advanced science was destroyed in that
great battle, and the process of learning had to begin again. Day by day the
world is becoming smaller through the accomplishments of the intellect. A plane has been designed recently which can
reputedly travel from America to India in a few hours. You can breakfast in America and dine in
India. The question is, however, has
all this brought us any happiness? Most definitely not, and the reason? The third part of us, the soul, is extremely
weak. We are the true picture of
consciousness, but having lost our identity in forgetfulness we have become one
with the body, and regard all things from this level. The result is attachment! This human form is also known as an action ground. Christ said, “ As ye sow, so shall ye reap.”
All Masters have said the same thing in their various languages. Guru Nanak said, “This body is the field of
tomorrow-whatever you sow, you will have to harvest yourself.” Tulsi Sahib said, “ You will have to taste
the fruit of your actions in whichever way you plant them.” Those who have
solved the riddle have to repeat the same thing again and again, for Truth is One. All spiritual aspirants should think of this life as a field, and
should sow carefully whatever they desire to harvest. As I mentioned at first, there is no special caste of
creed here. We have taken the first
step-that is, we have entered a school.
I congratulate you for that, and no matter what thought has led you to
this step forward to realize God, you should now do your best to succeed. For good reason, this Ashram is called
Ruhani Satsang, which means a spiritual school. There is no need to change anything, either religion, name, outer
appearances, etc. Having taken the first step, the second should be to see the
true “doer” so that you may become action-free. Good actions will no doubt bring their reward, but you will still
be a prisoner. Perhaps some will go
into a Class A prison, some Class B, some Class C. Some might get the pleasures of this world, and some the
pleasures of the other worlds. Heaven
and hell will come again and again, for this circle cannot be broken unless one
gets out of the illusion. A woman saint, Sahjo Bai, said that all living species of
the land, sea and air are under the Law of Karma. Just look at the lower expressions of life; for instance, the
dog. Some dogs are starving, without
even a piece of bread, and some are looked after like princes with two or more
servants to care for them. See the life
of a camel: his nose is pierced and a rope drawn through it with which to
control him. in the deserts he is
pulled from place to place, be it very hot or very cold, and he has to suffer
all this. Take the donkey, who has so
much weight loaded upon his back, and is driven around by the stick. When he gets tired he is then pulled and
made to work. The whole world is in a
sorrowful state, all through the results of karmas. The human form, because of the soul within it, is the
highest in all creation, and is accepted as the form next to God. It is next to God, a part of God, having the
same nature, is itself a conscious
entity, and yet with all this it is full of misery. Having tied itself to the mind, the passions and attachments of
the senses are dragging it from one place to another. The pleasures of the world control the senses, the senses control
the mind and the mind controls the intellect.
This process is called kam
(passionate desires and other appetites). Kam also means work, and if we put
this desire or drive into reverse and become engaged in the opposite type of
work, then we will achieve the true peace of being. A true Master always prays, “Oh Lord, keep my intellect in Your
control.” At present the whole system is wrong, for the horse
should have been pulling the cart, but instead the cart is in front. The soul should be giving strength to the
mind as and how it wishes, but the mind, intellect and senses are stealing the
strength to the mind as how it wishes, but the mind, intellect and senses are
stealing the strength, with the soul a helpless slave to them. It is all
wrong. That is why Masters have advised
to “know thyself,” for it is the only way to cut evil from the root. Have you been able to control your senses
and make them do whatever you wish, stopping their action whenever you desire
to? Have you reached that stage? A certain piece of machinery has an electric
motor which is connected to the powerhouse.
There are many sections comprising this machine, and one can switch off
any section in a second. Similarly, we
should be in control of our being, and be able to switch off our whole
machinery if we wish to. Sometimes with our eyes open we do not see, and with ears
open we do not hear. Many people have experienced this. We may be sitting
deep in thought and someone calls once, twice, three times, but we do not hear
a word. At last when the person says,
“I have been shouting at you, why do you not hear me?” the reply would be
something like, “My attention was engaged somewhere else.” So this attention works wherever it connects
itself. If the attention is not in the
ears, we will not hear a sound. The
ears may belong to us, but if we do not give life to them, they are as
dead. Sometimes our eyes are open an
someone passes in front of us, but we do not see them. A person can sit down beside us, and after a
while get up and leave, and we would not even know they had been there. Anything might happen behind our back, but
we cannot see it because our attention is not there, our eyes are not directed
there. When we look in front of us with
attention, we can see. This all
indicates that we, as soul, are giving strength to everything. We can control ourselves if only we will withdraw
ourselves from the outgoing faculties, for the world is attractive only as long
as our attention is on it. If we
withdraw our attention and know what we are, we will then be able to see God
within us. The overflowing pen of God writes our fate according to
our present and past actions; so whatever seed we have sown will bear that kind
of fruit. If we can see the
God-into-Expression Power, that seed can be destroyed, even after sowing, by
being conscious of the Divine plan. There are many kinds of karmas or actions. One type is our everyday actions-that is,
the new seeds we are sowing. When we
got this human form it was through the prarabdha
or fate karmas. Some people are poor,
others rich-some are happy and some unhappy, and all this due to the prarabdha
or destiny of each. There are also
those karmas called sanchit which are
accounts of deeds in past lives upon lives, lying in store and hanging over our
heads. It is said that when King Dhritarashtra was asked what he
had done to be blind from birth, he stated that for one hundred lives back he
knew by yogic power that he had done nothing to cause such affliction. Then Lord Krishna gave him power by which he
was able to see that in the one hundred and sixth life back he had committed
that action for which he was now paying with his blindness. This shows us that the load on our head is
heavy with the karmas of life upon life.
We can only be rid of these sanchit karmas when we get a human form and
succeed in seeing the Reality within. Otherwise the account will remain and we
will continue to add to it. When the Masters come they wind up our karmas. How do they do it? By drawing a line across
the account and advising that in future one should cease further
transgressions. They advise the dear
seekers to adopt the way of true living; do not lie, cheat or steal, do not
take anything by fraud or squeeze anyone’s blood for self-gain. It is most important to be truthful. If you have read the account of the mahabharata, you will know that when the
five Pandav princes went to school, their teacher, Dronacharya, once gave them
the lesson that they should speak and live the truth. The next day four of the princes came to school, but the fifth,
Yudhishthira, did not attend. After
four or five days of non-attendance the teacher asked, “Why is he not coming?”
Word was sent to Yudhishthira who sent back the reply, “ I am studying the
lesson you gave me.” After many days he
came to school and reported, “I have learned this lesson about truth.” This is
really the way to learn. They say that
through his whole life he never told a lie. The Masters say that one should have true living, and
also lead a chaste life in thought, word and deed. All human beings are the temples of God, in which God
resides. All are His own children, so
we should never look down on anyone with hatred or dislike. Through their karmas, some people are
sitting on chair while others run around to bring chairs for them. Very often,
because a man is more learned or rich, or in authority, it goes up like wine to
his head and he starts to look down on others.
This should not happen. Masters also tell us that as God is residing in every
human being, we should do selfless service toward each other. If someone is physically sick, look after
them. If a person is starving or
thirsty or has no clothes, then share with them whatever you possess yourself. Through thoughts, words and actions we
should not be violent toward anyone. Thoughts are very potent. There is a story about King Akbar, who had a minister named
Birbal. Once, Birbal was telling the
king that thoughts are very potent, and whatever one thinks will affect other
person. The king’s head was uncovered
at the time. When Birbal saw a man walking toward them, he said, “Your
majesty, think something about this man.”
The king did not utter a word but in his mind he thought, “I would like
to shoot him.” When the man came near, the king said to him, “Speak truthfully
and you will be forgiven for whatever you say, but tell me, what were your
thoughts when you saw me?” The man replied, “The truth is, your majesty, that
when I saw your bare head I felt like smashing it with my fist.” This was the result of a thought. One should never regard anyone by thought, and even by
tongue no wrong should be spoken against any person. No harm should be done through actions. If we really want to realize God we should consider how unlikely
it is that He will appear to us if e are harming His children. Which father would? When Masters come they do not disturb the prarabdha
karmas, although in one way they do:they start giving food to the soul. To feed the physical form we have to eat and
drink. To strengthen the intellect we
read, write and think. All these words
are food for the intellect. The soul is
fed only with the Bread of Life, which is experience of the Beyond. With such food the soul becomes very strong,
and though unhappiness and sorrow may come it will not have so much
effect. If there is a thorny road to
travel and one puts on heavy boots, then one will not feel the thorns. Say there are ten people, and they get
beaten up physically. One of them is
very weak, and after a slight bating he collapses. The others admit they were beaten up, but did not feel it
much. Similarly, if the soul is strong,
happiness or unhappiness may come, but will not have any drastic effects. “Oh Supreme Master, what is the use of calling you my
Teacher, if my karmas have not been wiped out?” A guru’s work is to wind up the
karmas. It is also said, “What is the
use of going to a lion for protection when even the howling of a jackal can
frighten you?” A guru’s work is very important- such work that no one else can
take over. Only a true guru can do it,
because God works through him- because his soul has become one with God and he
has become the mouthpiece of God. There
is no difference between him and God. Perfect Saints always show us a way to lead our lives so
that we are freed from bondage, that we may never return again to this
world. They make us wear strong shoes,
that the thorns may not prick us on life’s journey. There are two kinds of Masters who come: one is called a sant or saint, the other an avatar.
Both work with the same power,
just as electricity can give us both fire and ice, even though the source
remains the same. The avatars explain,
“ Whatever there is more sin in the world, and righteous living is gone,
then I appear.” So you can see that the working of that power is
different. They are not bound by
karmas, but come only for a great purpose.
That is why they advise that one should not meditate on the outer form
of the Master but on the true form of the Master-Word made flesh. The avatars’ work is such that they
sometimes have to take a sword in hand to further their task of punishing the
wicked and upholding the righteous.
They must keep the world in proper balance. The saints say, “ Whosoever comes to me, I will connect
him back to God.” The difference between
saints and avatars can be further illustrated by taking an emperor who has a
viceroy ruling the affairs of on eof his countries, and a commander-in-chief
over the army. Both these men have
different ways of dealing with matters.
The viceroy will never order anyone directly but will say, “In the name
of the emperor, I order you to do this,” while the commander-in –chief will
say, “I order you to fire.” The latter
knows that he is under the emperor, but is in complete control of the army,
giving promotion or demotion, and will never allow anyone to go out of his
jurisdiction. The viceroy never orders,
but says that he is announcing the wishes of the emperor. Kabir Sahib says, “I know the Truth, but I have come to
tell you the wishes of my Lord.” So avatars improve the condition of the world
by giving punishment and reward, and saints give salvation. There are many prisons in the world, and
supposing a man visits one of them to give an uplifting talk to the inmates. He notices the lack of good food there, and
so makes arrangement for the food to be improved at his own expense. Another man also visits the same prison and
seeing that the prisoners’ clothes are torn and ragged, he kindly supplies
large quantities of new clothing for their use. A third visitor finds that the prisoners’ cells are dark and
unventilated, and so he volunteers to remodel the buildings to provide better
living quarters. All these things have
vastly improved the life of the prisoners, but unfortunately they are still
prisoners. Finally another man comes,
and he opens the gates of the prison sawing, “You are all free, I release you.”
Who do you think was the greatest benefactor out of all these men? When true Masters come, they release the soul from the
wheel of births and deaths. A perfect Master is not a small thing. He is the
supreme power, because God Himself is working in him. Though one can see that
the voice is coming from his physical form, it is not he who is speaking but
God in him. Kabir Sahib says, “Leave this world and go to Sat
Lok. That is your true home.” Swamiji Maharaj says, “Your true home is an
imperishable place, but you have tied yourself to this earth, which is merely
perishable matter.” He continues, “Go
to your own home—why do you want to stay where you do not belong?” We do not belong to this place. With great kismet or fortune, this body has
been given to us for just a few days.
It is the highest form in all the 8,400,000 species. During this life we must unfold the Truth
within us, and find some way of getting out of the body while living. Maulana Rumi Sahib has said that this human form is a
prison and we are all prisoners; that the body is alive, but we are the Life;
and that we should make a hole in the top of the prison and climb out! He is referring to the nine holes in the
body and the tenth which lies in between and behind the two eyebrows, to where
the soul withdraws at the time of death.
These Masters desire us to know that this is the only way out of the
body to realise the true bliss. Kabir Sahib says, “I have not seen anyone who has got a
body and who is happy.” Again, “The
mendicants are unhappy; the whole world is full of unhappiness. The ascetic’s sorrow is double that of
others. Hopes and ambitions—no one is
without them. Only a saint who has
conquered his mind is enjoying true peace and happiness.” Guru Nanak similarly says, “We are all true
students in one class or other, but we cannot get that bliss without conquering
the mind.” How can we win the mind around to surrender itself? This is a thing which we have to understand
fully before we can proceed further on the spiritual path. The mind is a lover of attractive and
delicious things. Guru Nanak explains
this by saying, “Oh man, you are eating a sweetmeat which is coated with
sugar,but is bitterly poisonous inside.”
The consequences are very bad and we come again and again to this
world. The real happiness is inside.The
more we search for happiness, the more unhappy we become. We are all
bliss. If we get any happiness at all
here, it is because for a short time we place our attention upon a certain
thing, and are with that thing itself, which plainly indicates that the
attention and the happiness lie within.
If we separate ourselves from the mind and the sense, all thes illusory
things will lose their meaning. This
separation, combined with the connection to the Lord within us, will bring true
and permanent happiness. Our attention is
on small and insignificant things, and when these are taken from us, we become
unhappy. Those who desire the permanent
happiness will only find it at the feet of the Lord. Where is God?
There is no place that is
without Him but He is most near to us in our own temple of the human body. We are in it, and God is also. The true cause of our misery is that God is
within and we are scattered outwardly.
Our very soul is a part of Him—His own nature, but the soul and the mind
are tied together. The poor soul does
not know how to unite himself, and so, more unhappiness results. The holy scriptures contain wise counsel on helping
factors and hindrances given by those who have not only untied this knot but
have realized themselves and God. We
can say that these scriptures are the past Masters speaking through books. Their words are invaluable, but to
understand them correctly we have to approach a true spiritual Master, for if
an intellectual man reads something he will draw inferences through his
intellect. I am placing before you, that
everlasting happiness is within all human beings, but the attention is on
things which are perishable. Through
the great forgetfulness, we are entrapped in attachment and cannot find any way
out. Such a heavy imprisonment—first
the world, and then this body! As I have related, we have to go out via the tenth door,
the knowledge of which we do not possess.
The beautiful soul has forgotten that God Himself is sitting at the
tenth door awaiting her, but the poor thing is frantically lost in the maze of
the other nine doors, and cannot experience her Lord. This body is in truth the real temple of the Lord. The outer temples have been made as copies
of this human temple, and in those we also light lamps and ring bells. They were made to remind us that the light
is shining brightly within us. He who
lights this inner lamp while living becomes the one who sees the Reality. That Reality, we can say, is God which has
expressed Himself, for the Ultimate God no one can see. He is Nameless and Formless, and is the one
with whom we must unite and become One. The God within is the God of all—Muslim, Hindu,
Christian, etc. All human beings are
one and the same. We may have labeled
ourselves variously, but first we are human beings, with the same soul, the
same caste, as God above. That religion is the highest into which more true
devotees of God are born, but in truth we are children of God. All Masters have said the same thing in
their own languages. The Muslim fakirs
have said in their language, that all human beings have got such a close relationship
with each other just like different parts of one body; and all are born in the
same way. When will man realize that to
have this human life is a golden opportunity, for in this form and in no other
form is it possible to know oneself and to know God. A Diwali Wish The Diwali lamps shine bright,
but
They shall
soon die out. O! Kindle the
lamp within, whose Flame
illumines forever. And this day
make free that wine, whose Fire knows no
abating. May Thy tavern
continue forever and Thou its
Cup-bearer! Darshan Guru Nanak and His Teaching
Kirpal Singh
This article was written by the Master at the request of the
Indian Government on the five hundredth anniversary of Guru Nanak’s birth, and
originally appeared in newspapers and magazines all over India Guru Nanak is not the sole monopoly of the Sikhs nor of
India alone. He belongs to all
mankind. He belongs o the world and the
world belongs to him. He bore witness
to the glory of one God, one brotherhood, one law, the law of human fellowship
and love. He came to reconcile all religions
and all faiths. He came to harmonise
all the scriptures of the world. He
came to announce the ancient truth in the common man’s language, the one wisdom
that is so eloquent in the teachings of all the prophets, the apostles, the
sages and the seers; and to show that one flame of love shone in all the
temples and shrines and sacraments of man. The love of God and the love of man were the very core of
the message of Guru Nanak. We need to
learn to serve the poor gently, quietly, unostentatiously, and to have
reverence for all the saints of the past.
This is the first great teaching of the Guru. When he went to Multan, the land of pirs and fakirs, the latter
sent him a bowl brimming over with milk, implying that the place was already
full of saintly souls and there was hardly any room for more. Nanak, who knew the implication in the offer
made, just took a jasmine flower and placing it on the surface of the milk
returned the bowl, meaning thereby that he would float as lightly as the flower
and give fragrance to all of them. The
true saints, as a rule, have no quarrel with anybody. They talk gently and work quietly in the service of God and man. He traveled far and wide unlike any other prophet who
trod the earth before him. he undertook
four long and arduous journeys on foot, each extending over a number of years:
one, to the north into and across and the snow-capped Himalayas where he met
the Lamas, the Sidhas and the Naths, the Tibetans and the Chinese; the second,
eastward into the modern states of United Provinces, Bengal and Burma; the
third, to the South as far as Sangla Dwip or the modern Ceylon; and the fourth,
to the middle-east countries fo Baluchistan, Afganistan, Persia, Arabia as far
as Mecca, and Jerusalem, Turkistan, Egypt, Turkey; all these journeys covering
well nigh 30 years in times when there were no satisfactory communications and
transport worth the name. Guru Nanak’s teachings revolutionised people in diverse
ways. His teachings are of great
interest today as they were in his own time.
The nascent Republic of India needs his inspiration in the task of
rebuilding the nation on a sound footing, for India is still bristling with
many problems and its freedom is yet far from complete. Guru Nanak came at a crucial time in the history of
India. The country, torn as it was by
factional fights, was fast slipping into the hands of the Mughals. We get a glimpse of the chaotic conditions
prevailing at the time from the words of no less an authority than the Guru
himself: “ Kings are butchers. They treat their subjects with gruesome cruelty. The sense of duty has taken wings and
vanished. Falsehood is rampant over the
land as a thick veil of darkness, darkness darker than the darkest night,
hiding the face of the moon of Truth.”
The Hindus and the Muslims were bitterly opposed to one another. The very semblance of religion had
degenerated into formalism, and the spirit in man was stifled and suffocated by
rites and rituals and by creeds and ceremonies. Too much importance was attached to the outer husk and shell at
the cost of the kernel within. Casteism
and untouchability were waxing like anything.
The people were losing faith in themselves. The political and the social conditions in the country had
reached the lowest ebb. The chaotic
conditions could not be more chaotic.
In the blessed name of religion, all kinds of atrocities were being
perpetrated by those in power, swayed as they were by incontinence, greed, lust
and immorality. Mistrust and hatred
were the order of the day. Both the
rulers and the ruled had lost all sense of shame and decorum. In such a dark hour of history, Nanak appeared to set the
house in order and to shape the destiny of millions of Indians. He went about preaching in the name of God,
asking nothing for himself, but anxious only to serve the people and save them
from degradation and downright damnation. Nanak saw the deep tragedy that was menacing the
country. He saw the world caught in the
pernicious web of suffering and woe.
Moved by the piteous cries of the helpless and the afflicted people in
their deep agony, he prayed for the
grace of God: "“ Lord the whole
world is being consumed in the invisible flames of fire. O save this world in this hour of
darkness. Raise all unto thee. Raise them in whatever and however a way
Thou mayest.” On coming in contact with
Babar, the Mughal king requested the Guru to ask for some favour. He politely and yet firmly declined the
offer saying: “Hear O King! Foolish
would be the fakir who would beg of kings, for God is the only giver munificent
beyond all measure;” significantly adding:
“Nanak hungers for God alone and he asks for naught."” Babar had great respect for all men of piety. Once, when he came to know that Nanak had
been put behind bars, he ordered
his immediate release. On request from
the king, the Guru gave his advice, called Nasihat Nama, in which he counseled
the king to worship God everyday and to be just and kind to everyone. He told him that the NAAM, the Sat Naam, the
holy Word of God or the Kalma, was a panacea for all ills of life, here and in
the hereafter. It was Kalam-e-kadim,
the most ancient song of God, singing in the heart of all, and could be heard only by the pure ones. “Be pure,” said the Guru, “and Truth would
reveal itself to thee. Have love of God
uppermost in thy heart and hurt not the feelings of His creatures.” Once, this great soul, great in humility and love of God,
asked a school teacher: “Sir, what have you learned?” The school teacher
replied: “I am proficient in all branches of knowledge. I have read the sacred lore of all the
religions. I know quite a lot of
everything.” Then Nanak humbly enquired of the school master what he had
actually gained thereby. In a passage
of exquisite beauty and wisdom, Nanak sang of the secret of true education: Burn worldly thoughts and their Ashes rub, And of these ashes make thine ink, And let the paper
on which ye write, Be the paper of faith; And write
thou the Name of God when put to school, he told Gopal Pandhe, his teacher to “make
the heart your pen, and with the pen of love write again and again the Name of
the Lord.” The current system of education in India ignores the
vital injunction “make the heart your pen,” and “make an ink of the worldly intellect.” Worldly attainments, of
whatever type, are not sufficient in themselves, if one does not know God. We need a system of education which includes
in its curriculum the eternal values of life.
We have instead a commercialised course of cramming books and
texts-made-easy, just for securing diplomas and degrees and getting jobs. The number of schools, colleges and
universities has increased in India and elsewhere but the moral fiber of the
so-called educated people has not grown by a millimeter. “What does it profit a man if he gains
possession of the whole world and loses his own soul?” Democracies have failed, but a democracy can live,
survive and triumph when two conditions are fulfilled: (1) When sectarianism
and fanaticism perish; and (2) when States bow in reverence to a superior law, the
law of fellowship and human sympathy, and above all to the Infinite whose Voice
rings from end to end “Children of the
Earth, ye all are one!” Nanak came to proclaim this two-fold truth. The real and lasting freedom cannot be achieved without
faith in solidarity and freedom of humanity.
How? By: (1)
Faith more than mere knowledge of books; (2)
Solidarity more than schemes of reform; (3)
Service of humanity more than anything else. Guru Nanak found the basic remedy for true solidarity and
the integration of man in the love of God and in the love and service of
God-in-man. Once when he came out of a
trance in the water, he explained: “There is n Hindu and no Musalman,” meaning
thereby that there was no basic difference between the two. God made man with the same privileges all the world
over. All are born equal. They come into the world in the same way
after a fixed period of gestation. Al
men have the same outer and inner construction in the matter of limbs and
various instruments and organs like hands and feet, lungs, live and stomach and
like. Everyday the human machinery
throws filth out of the body, one is first man and then takes on the outer
badge of one or the other specific social order or formation in which he is
born and brought up and these he accepts and adopts as his own-Hinduism,
sikhism, Islam or Christianity; Buddhism or Jainism, or any other “ism”- and
tries to solve the mystery of life, each in his own way. A man is man first and man last, besides anything else in
between. He belongs to the universal
religion of God with the hallmark of man based on birth and surroundings. The entire mankind consists of embodied
beings like so many beads on the string of a rosary. All, being equal in the sight of God, enjoy God’s gifts equally
and freely. None is high or low by
birth alone. Further, he is soul, a
conscious entity which enlivens the whole body. This soul, a drop of the ocean of all-consciousness, is of the
same essence as that of God. As such we
are all brothers and sisters in God, irrespective of our social badges. And then the same power, the Naam or Word or Kalma, keeps in order the entirely
disparate constituents of the body and then the soul; the one material and the other ethereal. On account of this controlling power, we
cannot run out of the wonderful house of the body in which we live, however
hard we may try. The outgoing breath is
pushed back and cannot remain outside for any length of time. Our body works as long as the life-principle
runs in the body. This process goes on
as long as the controlling power keeps the body and the life-principle
together. When that is withdrawn, the
spirit in us has perforce to leave the body.
So the whole machinery of the body is being run by the indwelling spirit
that we are. If we could learn to
withdraw at will form the body, while remaining in the body, we can then know
the nature of our real self, the animating life-impulse in us. This has been the teachings of all the
rishis and munis of yore and the spiritual teachers of the East and the
West. It is all a matter of practical
self-analysis. And it can be
experienced directly and immediately with the active help and guidance of an
adept or a Master of ParaVidya or the
knowledge of the beyond the senses, mind and intellect. It is a regular science of soul, knowing
which, everything else becomes know. We
can then become a master in our own house, able to direct it as we like. The same Naam, the Sat
Naam the Word or the God-into-Expression Power is keeping the whole
creation under its control. When this
is withdrawn, the result is dissolution or grand dissolution as the case may
be. This body is verily the temple of God in which we reside
and in which God also dwells. The whole
universe is the abode of God and God dwells therein. All this can be experienced at the level of the spirit with the
grace of a competent spiritual guide or mentor. As long as we do not perceive this unity of man,
physically, mentally and spiritually and by the same controlling power within
all of us, there can be no true integration and solidarity of humankind. A GREAT PREACHER OF PEACE AND HARMONY: One day, the Guru went into the river Ravi for a
bath. A voice came to him from the
music of the waters saying, “O Nanak! I am with thee. I have given thee my Name.
To this Name be thou dedicated.
Repeat my Name-Sat Naam. Mingle thou with men uncontaminated by the
world. Worship my spirit and
power. Meditate on my glory. And serve the poor and the needy as
thyself.” No sooner had he the call, he, like Buddha and Mahavira,
left his hearth and home to bring men nearer to God so that they might enjoy in
fullness the ecstatic bliss lying untapped within. People wondered why he was forsaking his wife and children. To their taunts the Guru replied: “I am leaving them to the care of Him who
cares for all of us. The world is in
the grip of deadly flames, and I go to extinguish and invisible fire which is
enveloping all mankind.” If we look critically with the eye illumined by the
Master, we will find that we are living in the holy hill of God. All places of worship have been made on the
pattern of the human body, the God-made temple for our worship. The Hindu temples are dome-shaped at the top
in the likeness of the human head. The
mosques besides the central and side domes have arches in the shape of
forehead. The churches and synagogues
have steeples, tapering upward in the formation of a nose. Again, the faithful in the various religions
believe that God is Light and Sound.
The symbols of this inner Light and Sound adorn all our places of
worship in imitation of the Reality within.
But eth true worship lies in opening the inward eye, the single eye or Shiv-netre to see the divine light and
in unstopping the inner ears to the hear the divine music, the Akash Bani or the Bang-e-Ilahi. The outer
performances, without having a glimpse of the spirit and Power of God ( the
Light and Sound principle), are just like a blind man saying, “God is Light,”
though he has never known what Light is.
The manifestation of the Jyoti
or Noor within is a vision of God, or
having a darshan, as it is called. All
this and much more comes through the grace of a competent Master. With this right perception and right understanding
there follow right speech and right actions all on their own. The Kingdom of God for which we so fervently
pray, day in and day out, will then actually come on the earth-plane. “It comes not by observation, Lo! it is
within thee,” say all the sages and seers. Guru Nanak wanted to reform religion-to lift it from the
formal and conventional to the simple and the practical. Etymologically the term “religion” comes
from the roots, re (back) and ligio or ligore (to bind). Religion
then is something that binds and unites the soul to Oversoul or God. When Masters come, those who meet them and
come into their close contact, derive the maximum benefit of getting their
souls linked with the manifested Light and Sound of God. The social religion come into being after
the Masters pass away. They are made, n
doubt, with a noble purpose, the purpose of keeping the teachings of their
Founders alive. As long as practical
men remain in the social orders, the followers continue to get the benefit as
before. Later on, for want of such
practical men, these social orders acquire rigid formations and the very
institutions set up with the noblest of intentions and best of motives, become
iron-clad prison houses and begin to stagnate and stink with hair-splitting
polemics in which the spirit gets lost under the mass of dead verbiage. The purpose of religious education is to draw out the
best in man and make him an integrated whole, physically, emotionally,
intellectually and spiritually. That
religion is the best which turns out more ideal persons with a harmonious
development in all their parts. The
highest objective of Sikh religion is to turn out Khalsas. A Khalsa is one
who witnesses within him the Pooran Jyoti
( the supreme Light of God in full effulgence). Similarly, a Hindu is one makes manifest in him the Jyoti of
Ishvara and listens to the unending and unstruck music of the soul (Anhad and Anhat Nad), the symbols of which he adores and worships
outside in his temples and shrines by lighting candles and striking bells. A true Muslim is one who sees the Noor of
Allah or the Light of God and hears the Kalam-e-Kadim ( the Voice of God, the
most ancient music or song ceaselessly going on within him). A true Christian likewise is one who bears
testimony to the Light of God and hears the Sound of God which transforms him
into an awakened spirit at the mount of transfiguration. Nanak put great emphasis on direct experience of the
divinity that lies within us; for mere
reading of the scriptures and observing the rites and rituals of worship, cannot
take the place of the Reality.
These are the elementary steps
but not enough in themselves. Nanak was
a poet-saint and a bard of the open secret, a preacher of the spirit and Power
of God enlivening the humankind. He
went from place to place, chanting the sacred “Name” and preaching the love of
God. He visited Hindu places of
pilgrimages, the Muslim shrines, and other holy places. “Closer is He than the
very lifebreath and nearer than the hands and feet.” As Laotse said: “Without
going out of doors, we may yet know (the essence ) of the world.” This essence
is called the NAAM, the Sat Naam, the
eternal Word. His life was dedicated to
preaching the practice of the holy Word.
He taught the people that in the holy Word was hidden a great healing
power which healed all the ills of life. He loved the Hindus and the Muslims alike. Speaking to the Hindus, he said: “Praise and
glorify God five times, as the Muslims offer prayers to Allah five times a
day.” Speaking to the Muslims he said: “Make the will of Allah your
rosary. Be ye a real Musalman after
renouncing your little self.” At this,
quite a few Muslims involuntarily cried aloud: “God is speaking to us in
Nanak.” Even when in Mecca he taught
the doctrine of strict monism or the unity of Godhead. Interpreting the wisdom of the prophet, he
uttered the name “Allah” with the same reverence as he did the name of “Hari.”
On seeing him, Shaikh Farid greeted Nanak with the words: Allah Hu or “Thou art Allah.” The Guru replied: “Allah is the only
aim of my life, O Farid! Allah is the very essence of my being.” All call on the one God by different names,
may be Ram, Rahim, Allah, Wah-e-guru
and like. There are many lovers of God, and He is the life-giving
force to all of them. Although bearing
the badge of different religion, all have the same ideal before them- to
worship the indwelling spirit called by so many names. “There is no caste,” said the Guru, “ for we claim
brotherhood with all.” Each one of his
followers was lovingly addressed as a Bhai
or a brother. All are “Bhais”
(brethren), whether kings or slaves, the rich or the poor. “No caste and creed counts in the court of
the Lord. He who worships Him is dear
unto Him,” said the Guru. He mingled
freely with the poor, the down-trodden, the outcaste and the neglected. He accepted the invitations from the poor in
preference to those of the rich, who, he knew, invited him for
self-glorification, and whose earnings were anything but righteous. He considered that there was no sin greater than the
spirit of separateness which went against the solidarity of life in the
brotherhood of man and worked for disruption in society. This prophet of unity and oneness saw the
higher harmony in all the faiths in the Rligion of Man-the worship of God and the
service of God-in-man. He wanted the
followers of all faiths to sit together as seekers after Truth, seeking
communion with the Almighty. The
highest religion teaches us to reverently study and experience in full
consciousness the living presence of God, as like-minded students in a
class. When questioned at Mecca as to
whether he was a Hindu or a Muslim, he frankly and fearlessly declared that he
was neither the one nor the other in particular because he discerned the spirit
of God in both. When asked which of the
two religions, Hinduism or Islam, was superior, he said: “Without good acts, the professors of both
the religions shall perish.” In one of
his hymns, he says: “ to him whose delusion of the mind is gone, Hindu and
Muslim are alike.” At Baghdad, the people questioned him as to which sect he
belonged; he replied, “ I have renounced all sects. I know the one True God, the Supreme Being who is on the earth,
in the heaven and in between, and in all directions.” On being further pressed
as to who he actually was, he replied: “This body, compounded as it is of the
five elements, is being illumined by the Light of God and is just addressed as
Nanak.” Again and again, he warned his disciples against the sin
of separatenes. In a beautiful passage he declared: “Numberless are thy worshippers and
numberless are Thy lovers, numberless Thy Bhaktas
and saints, who lovingly fix their thoughts on Thee. Numberless the musical instruments and the sound thereof and so
are Thy musicians.” In the course of his travels, he had with him two
attendants, one a Hindu and the other a Muslim: Bhai Bala and Bhai Mardana.
He poured his love to all, setting at naught all conventions, creeds,
castes, and color bars. He was a
brother of the poor, the criminal and the persecuted. His socialism was vibrant with love born of God and not atheistic
in character. Growing out of a vision
of God’s love, it flowed into the hearts of men as brothers in God. A new Indian nation can be built even now, but not in
blind imitation of the West. We must
accept the vital message of the seers, the prophets and the saints of the East
who are well conversant with the conditions of our society, and have a rich
spiritual heritage behind them. GURU NANAK - GOD-INTOXICATED: From a very early age, Nanak was fond of meditation. He would go to a forest and for long hours
sit there in rapt silence. He would
meditate on the great mystery indeed.
Where does life come from? How does it work in us? How does the great
Controlling Power sustain us from day to day? Is it possible to contact this
Power? These were the vital questions that he posited for himself. Nanak’s father tended to regard his son as
insane. One day he called a physician
to attend upon him. As the latter felt
the pulse Nanak said, “ O physician! I am not mad. I am only smitten with the pangs of love for God. They call me mad, but I am not. I am simply God-intoxicated.” Nanak was overflowing with the love and glory of
God. He radiated love of God to all who
came in contact with him. He was verily
Word-made-flesh and dwelt amongst us.
He opened the inner eve of those who came to him and enabled them to
witness the light of God within them.
He was the light of the world as long as he remained in the world. The light manifested itself in him and he guided the
tottering humanity with that light.
This light never vanishes but always remains in each one of us. We have to break the stone walls of our
passions and prejudices, of separateness and sectarianism, in order to have a
vision of the divine light in full splendor.
The Guru, like all other Maters, advised: “Kindle the light which is within you. Ye are the children of light.
Be ye lamps unto yourselves.” India and all other countries of the world
need heaven’s light for their guidance.
This was the universal call of Nanak to the whole humanity. He offered the water of life and the bread of life( the
light and the Nad) as food to the
starving souls of the people, having which nothing else remained to be
had. God is love, and love is God, and
the way back to God is also through love.
He was love personified, and inspired love in everyone. He always sang: Teach me how to live Immersed in Thy meditation, day and night. Grant, O Lord, that I may Never think of aught save Thee, And that I may sing of Thee Ever and evermore. Again: O my heart! Love God as the Lotus loves the water, The more it is beaten by the waves, The more its love enkindles: Having received its life from water, It dieth without water, O my heart! Love God as the Chatrik loves the rain drops, Who even when fountains are Full and the land green Is not satisfied as long as it Cannot get a drop of rain. And again: Whichever side I cast mine eyes, There Thou art! Parted from Thee, I crack and die. To reach God, teaches Guru Nanak, one must walk the way
of love. Love God alone, and if you
love others- your children and friends and relatives, love them for His
sake. Yearn for Him. Develop within you an intense longing for
Him. And when you feel restless for
Him, know that it will not be long before He will reveal Himself to you. He was the prophet of the “inner life,” and urged that
the inner should be expressed, not in creeds and dogmas, rites and rituals, but
in humble service of the poor and lowly.
And this service must be inspired by the love of God and Naam-the Spirit
and Power of God. Nanak says: O Man! How canst thou be free Without love? For the Word of God-the Naam Will reveal to thee the Lord within thee, And grant thee the treasure of love, Love-filled, let the seeker become The bridegroom’s bride! Filled with Bhakti, the disciple be dyed In the true color of love. Such a bride shall never be a Widow! For she abideth in the Satguru. On her free head is the jewel of love! And except the Bridegroom she Knoweth none. Awake! Awake, O seeker, Awake! Renounce the little wisdom of the “ego.” Love-filled, think ever of His Lotus-feet! Do as He biddeth thee to do, Surrender thy body and thy soul to Him! Surrender thyself, so mayest thou meet thy Lord! Guru Nanak was a true mystic, in communion with God, and
perceiving His all – pervading munificent grace. He exclaimed “Nanak sees the Lord in all His glory.” Intoxicated with the love of the Lord, he
remained in a state of perpetual ecstasy. Once Babar offered Nanak a cup of hemp. The Guru politely declined, saying: “O
Emperor, the intoxication of this substance is just of an ephemeral nature, but
I am ever in a state of divine inebriation under the powerful influence of the
Holy Naam.” For meditation, Nanak prescribed a regular course of
spiritual discipline for without it one could not progress on the path. The first is the devotion to Naam. In the opening lines of Jap Ji, the daily morning prayer of the Sikhs, the God-power is
termed as Sat Naam, or the Eternal
Truth. It is in the Name that the life
of religion is rooted. “Sow the
Name. Now is the season to throw away
all doubts and misgivings. Burn to
ashes all your silk and velvet fineries, if they take you away from the Name of
the Lord.” The Guru then sums up the qualities required of a devotee
on the spiritual path. Purity of
thought, speech and deed is the first prerequisite for the dawn of Higher
Life. Christ too said: “Blessed are the
pure I heart, for they shall see God.”
Purity is verily the key that unlocks the door of meditation, leading to
the mansion of the Lord. Secondly, one must develop patience and perseverance to
bear cheerfully whatever good or evil may befall, as a reaction to our actions. Thirdly, one must have control over one’s thoughts,
casting away all desires so as to ensure equilibrium of the mind. Fourthly, a steady practice every day of the presence of
the Living God by communion with the Word in full faith in the Master Power
above. Fifthly, one must live in holy awe of His presence,
stimulating one to untiring effort to achieve ultimate union with Him. And above all, one must love God with such an intensity as
may burn up all dross in us, leaving us free to proceed unhampered to His
Kingdom. AN IDEAL FARMER: A lover of freedom, Guru Nanak spent his early days in
the freedom of the farm and the open air of the countryside. As he grew older, he travelled far and wide,
exhorting the people to free their minds of conventional thoughts and
convivialities of life. On his return from his far flung travels, he settled down
at Kartarpur as a farmer. He was a true
son of the soil, a passionate peasant who had cultivated much harder things
than earth-the mind and the intellect, etc.
After “man-making” and “man-service,” he engaged himself in
land-service, for to grow a blade of grass and to raise a stalk bearing an ear
of grain was to him much better than the work of a mere priest or a
preacher. He set an example of hard
labor by bringing under cultivation the barren lands of Kartarpur for feeding
the poor and the needy on the produce thereof. He also set up at Kartarpur the institution of Langar or a system of free community
feeding, where both bread and broth were distributed freely to all according to
the needs of each. “Bread and water
belong to the Guru,” echoed the followers.
And the Guru said that the Beloved was in the people. His disciples came from far-off places like Baluchistan,
Afghanistan and Central Asia and included, among others, the Brahmins and the
Sufis, the high-caste Kshatriyas and the low-caste Chandalas, the Sidhas and
the Naths. Thus his following was a
conglomeration of all sorts of people, knit together in the bonds of loving
devotion to the holy cause and vying with each other in the labor of love for
the fallen and the down-trodden. Nanak,
their spiritual Father, now advanced in age, moved on foot every day, laboring
in the farms and singing hymns of Naam and breathing the benediction of love.
The Guru was picture of humility, and his followers in a spirit of
dedication worked as humble servants of the Lord, worshipping god without any
pomp and show, in the stillness of Nature. From Kartarpur spread the fire of the love of God and
love of man, all over the Punjab. Guru
Nanak’s face shone with the simplicity and serenity born of the saintliness in
him. he was a laborer, a tiller of the
soil, a servant of the poor and lowly.
The life at Kartarpur was a blend of willing work and worship, love and
labor, silence and song. On being asked by his father as to what was real farming,
Nanak replied: “The body is the field, the mind is the ploughshare, and modesty
is the life-giving water for the field.
I sow the seed of the Divine Name in the field of the body, leveled and
furrowed by contentment, after pulverizing the encrusted clods of pride into
true humility. In a soil prepared like this, the seed of love will prosper and
seated in the abode of Truth, I behold glory of God in the rich harvest before
me. Oh Father! Mammon accompanies no
man. The world is just deluded by the
glamour of riches. It is just a few who
escape the delusion with the aid of discriminating wisdom.” Guru Nanak had a deep-rooted penchant for silence. He frequently merged himself in the silence
of God, the Sat Naam the Eternal Word; in the silence of Nature, the silence
that shines in the starry sky and dwells in the lonely hill-side and murmurs in
the flowing waters’ the in the silence
of Sangat sewa or unostentatious
service of the community of the faithful and of the sewaks (servers) alike, who stayed with the Guru and whom he
always addressed as Bhais (brothers). THE WAY OF LIFE: He prescribed a methodology for achieving success in life. Absorbed in the Lord of Love the disciple grows in the sewa of Sadh Sangat, the selfless and loving
service of all. In such supreme and selfless service, many a Koda Rakhshas and Sajjan thug were redeemed during his ministry. He exhorted the people to earn their living through
honest and fair means. This was a rule
not for the disciples and the laity only, but even for real teachers and
preachers. He went to the length of
saying: “Bow not unto him who, claiming to be a Godman , lives on the charity
of others. He who earns his living with
the sweat of his brow and shares it with all, can know the way to God.” That which belongs to another is not to be wished and
craved for, much less grabbed, for it is as odious and noxious as pork is to
Muslim and beef to Hindu. He forbade people from encroaching upon the rights of
others. Those who thrive on ill-gotten
gains can never have a pure heart. Time and again he stressed the purity of heart through
virtuous deeds performed in the love of the Lord. It is only the deeds that count and not the religious hallmarks
that one may bear. The chanting of the Name of the Lord was a necessity but
with a pure heart and a clean tongue for without these all our prayers, however
loud and long, would never bear any fruit.
“it is the deeds alone that are weighed in the divine scales and
determine one’s place in relation to God.” It is with the alchemy of God’s love
that one can transform hardened criminals into men of piety. Nanak never advocated ostentatious renunciation as a
means of God-realization. He taught
that salvation was possible for a householder, as for any other person, through
proper rendering of his duties and obligations with faith in God. He believed in the efficacy of prayers not
only for all mankind but for animals, birds and all other creatures. He himself always prayed for peace unto all
the world under the Divine Will. Nanak emphasized developing the life of the Spirit for
all true men and women. Such persons
live not for themselves alone but for others. To live for
others is the highest norm, he alone
liveth who liveth for others. He defined a truly great man as one who renounced all his desires and cared not for the fruit
of his actions. The seeker after God was enjoined to cultivate purity of
heart above anything else. “He who is
so much identified with the body and is engrossed head and ears in the lusts of
the flesh, could never be picked up by the Lord as His own.” He who blesses others is blessed in return. A seeker after happiness must make others
happy. The Guru stressed the need of prayer. Where all human efforts fail, there prayer
succeeds. Sit in silence each day and
pray to God or God manifested in man, to draw you nearer to Him from day to day
and grant you the company of those who are dear to Him. LAST DAYS: The day came when Nanak was about to depart. In humility and love Nanak bowed to his
devoted disciple Angad, who had by now become a very part of his being, as the
name indicates. The latter was one in
spirit with his Master and the two were blended together in Him. The Guru then asked for his blessings and he
sang a song of vijay or victory at
the hour of his departure, asking all who were around him to join him in the
chorus. Sing ye my comrades! sing ye all! Sing now my wedding song. Sing ye the song of His praise. May I be a sacrifice to Him—the Beloved. The blessed day hath dawned, The hour of consummation draweth nigh. Come ye my comrades, come! And consecrate me with your blessings. Behold ye the Bride uniting with the Bridegroom. Many of the disciples shed bitter tears of sorrow and
grief. With deep agony in their hearts,
they inquired: “Leaving us, you go! What rites should we perform? Shall we lit
the customary earthen lamp when you depart? Should we cast your ashes and
charred bones in the sacred waters of the Ganges, according to the prevailing
custom?” To all these queries, the Guru characteristically
replied: Yes, light ye the lamp! The Lamp of the Name of God. Let my funeral rites be The remembrance of the Name of God. Know ye that He, the Lord above, Is my support, here and in the hereafter. Sing ye the Name of God! That shall be my Ganga and my Kashi. Let my soul bathe in the water of His Name! For that alone is the true bath. And offer unto me the grace of God, And sing ye the glory of god, night and day. The Hindu disciples asked, “Shall we cremate your body?” And
the Muslim disciples: “Shall we bury your body?” The Guru replied, “Quarrel not
over my remains. Let Hindus and Muslims
bring flowers and place them on each side of my body. And tehn let each do what they like. But see that the flowers remain fresh and green.” The Guru was
indifferent to ceremonial disposal of the body either by cremation or
burial. He only asked that the flowers
should remain fresh and fragrant. What
then were these flowers? The flowers of faith and love. It is in vain that the people look for the Guru in a tomb
or on the cremation ground. The Living
Guru is ever in the hearts of those who keep the flowers of faith and love
fresh and fragrant. He came for
all. He lived for all. His teachings remain for all. He founded no new sect.
He revered all religions. He
respected the saints of all times and places.
He taught no new creed. He
preached love, faith and noble deeds.
For him all the people were of God. In the Hindus and in the Muslims, he
saw the Vision of God in Man. In all
the nations of the world, he beheld an endless procession of the race of
man. To all countries and to all
people, he sang the song of Naam or the Holy Word. Nanak was the prophet of peace and good will, harmony and
unity. He was the prophet of Light and
gave Light to all for seventy long years (1469-1539). His work of loving service to humankind, as manifestation of the
Unmanifest, was carried on vigorously by his successors. Guru Arjan, the fifth in the line of
succession to Nanak, compiled the sayings of the Gurus in the Holy Granth, the
Bible of the sikhs; including therein the sayings of several other saints of
other religions as well as could easily be collected for the purpose. Thus in the holy book, he laid the
foundation of a great banquet hall and offered therein choice and dainty dishes
of divine wisdom coming down through the ages. This in a way serves as a model
for the World Fellowship of Religions. Love knows no reward.
It is a reward in itself.
Service and sacrifice characterize love. The last two Gurus—Guru Teg Bahadur and Guru Gobind
Singh—sacrificed their all in the service of mankind for the love of God.` Thoughts on Spirituality B Sena The
Deathless dwells in the heart of death, When Man bursts
his mortal bounds, The
Boundless stands revealed. Tagore All forms, all things, all objects, all phenomena are so
many manifestations, varied as they may be, of the spirit indwelling in the
heart of them. “Lifeforce,” say
Bergson, “is ever expressing itself through matter. The sensory phenomena are the visible formations of the
life-force, yet they are not the life-force itself. The life-force though immanent in all forms transcends them
all.” It is through the gross and the
material that we come to know of the life-force as ti works in and upon nature,
shaping with kaleidoscopic rapidity the warp and wood of life as we see it in
and around us. The enchanting colors
and the bewitching smell fo the roses, the freshness of the dew-fed verdure in
the garden are visible signs and symbls of the spirit of spring. The vast universe with so many solar systems,
inter-planetary relationships, earths and heavens, mountains and rivers, is an
interplay of spirit in matter, regardless of how gross or subtle the matter may
be. The spirit cannot but attract
matter and manipulate it as it thinks best, according to certain laws. Matter is to the spirit just as clay to a
potter who makes out pots, deep or shallow, flat or round, small or big,
according to his needs. There is a subtle relationship between spirit and
matter. If fact, matter itself is
nothing but congealed energy. The
spirit, on the other hand, is active energy, a life-force. By the law of affinity like attracts
like. The higher energy of the spirit
or the energizing principle cannot but act upon the hidden and dormant energy
in matter, activting it into what we call life-physical life, no matter at what
level. Everyone, man, beast, bird, insect, even herbs and
shrubs, have in them a seed-bearing fruit each of tis own kind which blossoms
forth in due time. Thus goes on the
wheel of life, up and down by the force of its own momentum lodged in the
innermost depths of each being and brought into fruition by the Oversoul or the
Spirit of God as it activates and quickens the dormant life impulse in the
center of each. So is the case
with man, but with a difference. Man
occupies the top rung in the ladder of life.
It given to him to be able to know his Self and to know his God. Both reside in the human body. But while He lives in us, we do not live in
Him. The tragedy of life is that the
individual self-consciousness sunders the individual from the cosmic
consciousness—all-pervading and all-permeating- the source of all life on all
the planes of existence, the eternal and the deathless principle, that outlives
all forms, colors and designs. It is only on the deathbed that something of the Reality
dawns as life is forcibly drawn out of the tabernacle of the flesh. “When Man bursts the mortal bounds the
Boundless stands revealed.” But does
this fleeting glimpse benefit us in any way? No. The spirit clothed in astral matter passes out of the physical to
the great deep from where it came. Is there then no way of God-realization? There is a way,
say the sages. Besides the involuntary
bursting of the bounds, there is a voluntary bursting of the bounds, there is a
voluntary way of disrobing the Boundless by a practical process of self-analysis
whereby one can, while in the body, rise above body consciousness, transcending
the bodily adjuncts. Those who are
initiated into the mysteries of the beyond have to pass through experiences
similar to that of death, but with a difference: for then one rises into higher
consciousness instead of sinking into unconsciousness; and then the vision is
of the Light of Life and not darkness as when clothed in raiments of astral and
mental material. This bursting of the
bounds is absolutely necessary for God-realization; and we can do it, and have
a vision of the glory of the Boundless in full awareness, with the help and
guidance of a Word-personified Saint. O
MASTER Unless my eyes gleam with Your light,
blind me. If Your words are not on my tongue, make
me dumb. Let me be still if not moving with you. Keep me kind and caring, even toward those
who wish me brought low, or keep me alone. Centered in You, this world can cause me
no pain. Strengthen that center, I beg you, for it
often wavers. Tracy Leddy. |