Celebrate A True Birthday
- Translated from Hindi
We think that the day we come into this world is our birth.
In truth, it is a day of congratulations for those souls who have risen
from the lower species to the human birth, but for those who come from
a higher circle, birth into the world is like entering a prison. However,
it is a good prison for the latter, as they rule over all the 8,400,000
species.
In this human form, a man can realize God. When the people
gathered around Christ on the occasion, he said, "...except man be
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus, who was
a learned lawyer and much respected for his knowledge, asked, "How
can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his
mother's womb, and be reborn?" And Jesus answered, "...That which
is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the spirit, is
spirit...Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?"
The soul has to take birth after freeing itself from the outer prison to
enter the home of God. With great emphasis, Christ repeated, "Ye must
be born again." So, to be born in what is called a body, a physical
form, is like entering a prison. But, it is God's will that we come, and
He knows best.
From the physical level, one can say that February 6 is
my birthday, but I do not know about it. My parents told me this, so it
might be possible. Does anyone remember when he was born? I think you will
not find one man who remembers the event; all have just heard about it.
A man is born every day. Sleep at night is the younger sister of death--this
is what the Koran says. Every night man dies, and in the morning he is
born. Ever since we entered this physical form, we daily go through birth
and death. The only difference between this daily death and the final death
is that, because of our prarabdh or destiny karmas, the silver cord cannot
be broken until we have taken the allotted number of breaths.
So what is a true birth? It is to be born in a Guru's
(Master's) home, which frees us from this wheel of birth and death in the
world. When Guru Nanak was asked, "When did you finish your births
and deaths?" he replied, "The day I took birth in my Guru's home,
I ended my coming and going in this world." For most people, this
cycle never finishes.
My true birth was in May 1917, the day that I left my
body and traveled the heavens with Hazur (the Master's Master, Baba Sawan
Singh Ji--the Master met his Master and was initiated by him in 1924, but
seven years before this he started leaving his body and traversing the
higher regions with the radiant form of his Master). When I met my Master
physically and sat at his feet, the month was February; the day was Basant
Panchmi (a religious festival day which opens the season of the sown fields
starting to burst into bloom). I think, therefore, that this day you are
celebrating is not really a day for celebration. It was just a day when
the soul entered the world to perform some allotted work. A true birth
is when the soul leaves the body and travels to higher planes, and is able
to return at will.
Does celebrating a birthday mean merely to pay one's respects
to a person? Or to show happiness? Or to light candles, or to eat and drink?
No, brothers, it is not any of these. The true birthday is when you are
born in your Guru's home. One kind of birth is to be born in the physical
form, and the other, the true one, to be born above. We are confined in
a prison with nine doors! Forgive me, but can you tell me if this is a
birth or a prison? When we release ourselves from these nine doors, that
is indeed a birth.
If you want to celebrate a spiritual Master's birthday,
there is only one way, and that is to take up whatever He has learned.
That would be a true celebration. Whenever Masters come, people should
learn whatever They have learned.
When Masters come, what is Their work? They tell us to
"Know God," "Create a love for God," "Reunite
with God!", "Return to your true home from where you came."
This is Their work. To celebrate a birthday in the true manner, one should
revive the age-old teaching, which is still with us but has been forgotten.
Masters come with as much knowledge as God has given Them, and They, in
turn, give freely of whatever They have to lift the seekers to the same
level as Themselves. They tell us, "There is a God, and you can have
experience of Him." When? "You must be reborn. When you rise
above the body and become a conscious co-worker of the Divine plan--then,
there is something."
There was once a teacher who became an atheist. He wrote
on his door, "God is nowhere." One day, the teacher became very
ill and was on the point of dying. A child approached his house, and seeing
the notice on the door, read aloud, "God is now here." The teacher
heard this and replied, "Child, you are right." Why the sudden
change of heart? Because when one is dying, the soul withdraws to the place
between and behind the eyebrows. There, the knowledge comes that there
is some great power existing. It is either reasoned intellectually, through
inference, or, at the time of death, we become conscious of the power that
is controlling everything. Added to this, we might discover that we are
going along in life helplessly under the control of some power. The other
way is to die while living at will. These are the only ways of knowing
the truth.
What happens when one dies while living? At the actual
time of this death, what happens? Plutarch says that those souls who are
initiated into the mysteries of the Beyond have the same experience as
at the time of death of the human body. So God can be experienced. At the
time of death, a man goes helplessly without any choice. Unfortunately,
those who go do not return to tell us what happened. Through inferences
some conclusion can be reached, but it is better to have the actual experience.
When? When one has learned how to leave the body at will. You must be reborn.
Small, big, child or adult, learned or unlearned, rich or poor--all can
realize this great Truth.
The words of the Masters assure us that they have seen
God. It is true that there is also another statement which says that no
one has seen God at any time. Still, Guru Nanak said, "Nanak's Emperor
can be seen in all clarity." Christ said, "Behold the Lord."
Kabir Sahib said, "God cannot be seen with physical eyes, nor apprehended
by the senses. Kabir has seen Him through the grace of His Master, and
all His doubts are dispelled." Guru Arjan Sahib Said, "I see
the all-pervading Lord residing in the hearts of all creatures." When
Swami Vivekananda went to Ramakrishna Paramhansa, he asked, "Oh Mahatma,
have you seen God?" Ramakrishna replied, "Yes, my child, I see
Him as I see you." So God can be seen. I have told about three ways
of knowing this. One way is by inference--for example, there is a small
seed, which also has the same controlling power in it. You may sow that
seed in the soil, water it, and it will grow into a huge tree. That one
seed will give fruit by the thousands, so there is obviously some power
working there--the same Life which is working in everything. But when can
you actually know this? Either at the time of death when you will feel
that something is pulling you out of the body, that some great power is
taking you away; or you may die while living. Learn how to leave the body
at will. Then you will see and you will become a conscious co-worker of
the Divine plan, thereby qualified to say in all truth, "Yes, there
is something."
There is another aspect to the subject. You may have read
about this power in books covering the study of energy. When we see a wrestler,
who has controlled that energy in his body, we get a feeling of power just
by watching him. He radiates strength. By the same principle, when we see
a spiritual Master, we start to believe that there is a God just by watching
him. "The yearning for the resplendent, overflowing love of God comes
only in the company of a God-man."
"Only in this human life can you see God." He
who has learned something in this life will remain learned after death.
My Master used to say, "He who is without spiritual knowledge during
this life will be without it, even after death." Now, the question
arises--who can see? Who are we? We are embodied souls. Each individual
is a soul, a conscious entity, and that soul must experience God. God cannot
be known through the senses, the mind, or the pranas (vital airs); only
the soul can know Him.
Ail Masters have said that we are, in true fact, the soul.
Kabir Sahib says, "This is a particle of God--a drop of the ocean
of All Consciousness." Tulsi Sahib says, "The Supreme Being resides
in the fourth region." Man's form is made in the image of Brahmand
(the three divisions of creation). "Whatever Brahmand is, so is this
body; whosoever searches within will find it." In Brahmand there are
three planes: physical, astral, and causal. This comprises Brahmand. It
has been mentioned also that there is a Par Brahmand. So there is Brahm
and a Par Brahm or fourth stage beyond Brahm. In all three regions below
Par Brahm, action and reaction are working. One is sometimes rising, sometimes
falling. We are indeed greatly blessed that we have this form in the image
of the divisions of Brahmand, which Masters have described in Their own
terms in various languages: in Persian, these divisions are called Kaseef,
Lateef, and Lateef-ul-lateef; in Hindi, sthool, suksham, and karan; and
in English, physical, astral, and causal. He who can take off these three
coverings will realize the Truth, and, therefore, have true belief. Not
only will he believe, but he will see that "I and my Father are one."
Though we are a part of God, of Sat Purush (Primal Cause),
there is a difficulty. We have forgotten ourselves and have identified
with the body. Tulsi Das says, "Soul, the indweller of the human body,
is of the same essence as God; ever-existent, all wisdom, eternal bliss."
It is Truth, the figure of wisdom and bliss; just like God who is permanent,
unchangeable, and all wisdom. When people asked Guru Nanak about the soul,
he said, "The soul is in the oversoul, and the oversoul is in the
soul." So, God is residing in our soul, and our soul is residing in
God--all consciousness.
How can we know Him? By sitting beside a true Master,
and through practical self-analysis, learning how to rise above the body
consciousness. Then we become the seer. We are meant to realize God in
this human form. When spiritual or realized people come, they give the
love of God to us. They make us enthusiastic for God-realization. They
are drenched in God's color, and they distribute that color to the seeking
souls. They see God and They teach others how to see Him. "In the
company of Saints, I have seen God within." And They demonstrate the
process by giving a practical experience. "A powerful Guru draws the
soul up."
However, there are problems due to attachment and entanglement
with illusion. This illusion all started with the body, for since we came
into the world, we have been looking outward and filling ourselves with
the whole world's impressions. When the heart's reservoir was filled up
with outer impressions, we became the world itself, forgetting ourselves
completely and forgetting God. The true owner of the physical house had
come to rule but imagined that it was the body. With the soul in such a
vulnerable position, it was easy for the powerful influence of the mind
to take over. Unchangeable and permanent though it truly was in such a
complicated condition, the soul had become jiva (encased in all three coverings--physical,
astral, and causal), from then on subject to the experience of birth and
death.
The senses are like windows from which the soul looks
out to take the impressions from outside; and so wherever the senses drag
its attention, it goes without any control. This is how, from birth through
our whole life, we go on filling the heart's reservoir. We dream of the
world by day, and when we sleep we even talk about the world in our dreams.
So when can we realize God? When the soul forsakes the
companionship of the mind. It is actually a servant of the mind. It goes
wherever the senses drag it--the senses, in turn, being dragged by the
various outer enjoyments. All this amounts to the reason why we have not
returned to the lap of the Lord since we came here. If we had not succumbed
to these influences, we would be something other than what we are.
The Masters repeatedly impress upon us Their invaluable
advice. There is a story of a shepherd who found a lion cub and brought
him up with the sheep. He started eating grass and bleating "baa baa"
like a sheep. One day a lion passed nearby and was amazed to see the young
lion amidst the sheep behaving as one of them. He called him over and told
him, "You are the son of a lion." The cub replied, "No,
no, I am a sheep." With great concern, the lion took the cub to a
pond of still water, and pointing to the reflection, asked, "Do we
not resemble each other? Now roar like me." When the cub roared loudly,
the shepherd and sheep ran away in fear, leaving the lions alone--lords
of the countryside. The God-realized men say, "You are the children
of God--you are soul--all consciousness, but are under the control of the
mind (the shepherd) and outgoing faculties (the sheep). You are the giver
of strength to the mind and outgoing faculties but are being controlled
by them." We are all brothers and sisters in God but are in deep forgetfulness,
as if we are trapped in a well and cannot get out, going wherever the attention
goes, falling again and again.
Why do the Masters continue to come to this world? To
awaken the souls and take them back to their true home, because the soul
belongs in God. When the soul, realizing its imprisonment in the body,
becomes greatly afflicted and grieved with the separation from the Lord,
then its anguished cry rings out, "Where is God?" Ironically
it resides in that very form which is the temple of God.
"The man body flourisheth as long as its companion
is with it. When the companion leaves, unto dust it doth return."
The body can retain its glory only as long as we, the soul, are in it.
It was the very first companion we had when we came into the world, but
forgetting the Truth, we followed the illusion, and so mistook it for our
true identity. Now we have to suffer for our actions because we are attached
to the mind. Only by getting untied from this association can we become
free from the results of the karmas (reactions of the past actions). Rishis
and munis (holy men), have called the human birth karm bhumi (the
land of actions). In the Koran it is written that this is the field of
tomorrow. "Oh Tulsi, one tastes the fruit of whatever one has sown."
We are at the mercy of our actions and whatever we do
sets up an action-reaction. Good actions bring good reactions; bad actions,
bad reactions. In the Gurbani (sayings of the Sikh Gurus) it is written,
"Do not blame others, but blame your own past actions." Brothers,
do not blame anyone. You got this human form as a result of your prarabdh
karmas (destiny, governing this life's pattern); it is the good fruit of
your past. Whatever you have to give and take from the past lives must
be accounted for now. You have to take from some people and give to others.
Sometimes when giving something to a certain person, such warmth of love
swells up from within the heart, and yet on another occasion, one gives
with hatred and reluctance. This is reaction from the past. Someone is
rich, another poor. Some are masters, others servants. In all, there are
six things over which man has no control: life, death, poverty, riches,
honor, and dishonor. These are all beyond or control.
When I was working in my office, there was a typist who,
during the 1914-18 war, went to Persia. They wanted to create a new accountant-general's
post there, but because of the war, there was a shortage of qualified accountants.
So the typist, who had just arrived there with little knowledge of accounts,
was given the office of the new accountant-general. This clearly shows
that there was some impetus from past actions behind the event. We have
no control over this kind of thing--if one puts one's hand into clay, it
can turn into gold, and put into gold, it can turn into clay. For another
example, it sometimes happens that one very clever and experienced man
and an illiterate inexperienced man both start businesses, and the inexperienced
man succeeds where the experienced man goes bankrupt. This indicates that
the reactions of the past are making people go helplessly along in life,
with very little control over what happens. In Guru Nanak's Jap
Ji, it is written, "You have no power to ask or to give. No power
over wealth or state." Christ told us, "As ye sow, so shall ye
reap." However, in this human form, we can do that through which we
shall not return to the world again.
There are three types of actions: first, those which we
do every day; second, those through which we got a human form and present
circumstances; third, those which are in store and have not yet borne fruit.
During this human life we should make sure that we do not sow any new seeds.
Whatever was done in the past will have to be harvested. There is no escape
from that. Tulsi Sahib says, "Whatever has been made, is already made;
you cannot change it into something different. When Tulsi thinks of this,
his mind is at peace." Masters are never worried, for they can see
the laws working.
Now that our fate has brought us here, how can we make
the best of the human life? We should not sow any more seeds. Whatever
happens in life due to past actions should be borne with cheerfulness.
Happiness and unhappiness will come, but one should never be disheartened.
The great spiritual leaders also go through similar experiences, but without
suffering the pinching effects. My Master used to say, "You cannot
clear up all the thorns which you yourself have spread in your path, but
you can wear heavy boots for protection." The task of saving ourselves
from the reactions in store for us should be seriously considered, for
only in the human form do we have any chance of rendering them inactive.
The Saints who come--forgive me, but they also leave the body at death.
They also get riches or poverty, but they always avoid those actions which
will cause reactions.
One great spiritual Master, Ravi Das, was a poor cobbler
who lived on whatever he earned from his work. Mira Bai was a princess
and also a queen by marriage, but she accepted him as her Guru. One day
she was very sad thinking of her Master making shoes and living in such
a simple manner. So she offered him a very valuable ruby saying, "Master,
have a good house made with this, and live comfortably." The Master
refused to accept it, but on her insistence agreed, and told her to put
it somewhere. Finding no better place, she put it in a hole in the wall
which served as a shelf. On returning to him after about one year for his
holy darshan (the blessed glance from a Saint), she saw that he was still
mending and making shoes in the same small hut. She said, "Master,
I left a valuable ruby here for your use, what happened?" He replied,
"It must be where you left it."
God-realized people do not live on gifts from others,
but from their own earnings. If donations are given, they are used for
the benefit of the followers and the needy. Another great Saint, Kabir
Sahib, was a poor weaver although he had kings among his disciples. King
Abraham-Adham was one of his followers. Nevertheless, Kabir Sahib earned
his living by his loom. Great Masters like Kabir Sahib, Ravi Das, and others,
not only feed the soul with the Bread of Life, but will make the seeker
a conscious co-worker of the Divine plan. They release the soul from the
mind and senses and make it powerful.
On the spiritual health depends the life of mind and body
both. If the soul is fed with spiritual food, one becomes unaffected by
the reactions of life. How do the Masters give food to the soul? By pulling
it above its casing of mind and senses and connecting it with God. Where
is this God? He is the very soul of our soul. At present the soul is completely
identified with the body and the world and is scattered outwardly in many
directions. It has to withdraw from outer things and rise above the senses.
We have taken birth in this body which has two parts: one up to the eyes,
the other above the eyes. Although we have wandered very far from our true
home, if we leave the lower body and go to the upper part, we get nearer
the Truth. So a true Master raises the soul up from the body and opens
the inner eye to see the Light of God, which is the Bread and Water of
Life. The soul then starts seeing in truth that he is not the doer, that
the Lord within is doing everything; and he gains great strength.
Guru Nanak says, "I can do nothing of my own; but
only whatever are God's wishes. When Nanak starts obeying His orders, the
I-hood does not remain." By coming across a true Master, the accounts
are wound up in this way. Masters themselves ask, "Why do we have
to go to a spiritual Master?" and then reply, "Because he will
wind up the actions." The whole of creation is throbbing and resounding
under the beat of action. How does the Guru free the soul? How can we be
saved from the outer impressions when all the windows in the body are open
to receive greedily from outside? Masters sometimes give small examples
to help us to understand the facts. One Master said that if one is pushed
into a room full of black mascara, no matter how careful one may be, one
cannot escape from getting some black stains somewhere. Another Master
says, "It is a very peculiar situation--you have thrown a plank of
wood in the river and have made me sit on it, and now you tell me not to
get my clothes wet!"
Oh brothers, how is it possible to stay dry? The senses
are permitting the outer impressions to flood through them every day to
settle inside. How can one save oneself? The Masters say, "Make a
hole in the top and escape from there." This is the only way. You
must be reborn. One birth has been taken in this body, and now another
must be taken above the body where the Bread and Water of Life are available.
When one has become the conscious co-worker of the Divine plan, all past
actions, sanchit karmas (those in store), are erased--finished. If the
person who was tasting the actions is not there, then who is there to taste
them and be responsible? When there is I-hood, one must receive the results
of one's actions. A man may state, "I am not the doer," but within
the folds of his heart he cannot believe this, and continues to consider
he is doing everything, thereby holding responsibility for his actions
and the reactions to follow. If he becomes the conscious co-worker of the
Divine plan and knows that he does only that which God wills, how can he
be burdened by any action?
Take some seeds and roast them, then sow them in the soil--will
they bear any fruit? Similarly, all the kriyaman (present action) karmas
are erased for the future. Masters do not touch the prarabdh karmas, for
if they did, at the time of initiation the initiate would die. "He
who is afraid of life and death should sit at the feet of a Godman."
Tulsi Sahib says, "Some are unhappy through the mind
and the body, and some are perpetually unhappy. One way or another, everyone
has some kind of sorrow. Only a true disciple of a Sant is happy."
Who is called a Sant? "My Lord is fully awakened, for He Himself manifests
in a body and proclaims that He is a Sant." Our Lord is truly awakened
because to whichever house (body) He goes, He appears in there (in radiant
form). He who is the manifested God in man is called a Sadhu, Mahatma,
or Sant. To be clever or intellectual is not the criterion of a Master,
and even one who has mastered all the holy scriptures is not entitled to
be called either Sant, Sadhu, or Mahatma. Those who teach outer subjects,
likewise, are not necessarily true Masters. Then who is a Master? He who
has freed Himself from the mind and the senses, has realized Himself and
realized God, and has become one with God. He is the mouthpiece of God.
He truly sees the Reality, and He makes whoever is truly seeking see it
also.
The soul, as I have said before, is eternal, all wisdom,
and bliss. If it is all wisdom and full of bliss, then how is it possible
for it to have any unhappiness in this world? For how long will it enjoy
the outer tastes? We think that we are enjoying the enjoyments, but, in
fact, the enjoyments are enjoying us. The God of Food once went to Lord
Vishnu (part of the triune Lord of Creations Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva--the
Creator, Sustainer, and Destroyer, respectively) and complained. "The
people are eating me up brutally without any sympathy for me!" Lord
Vishnu said, "All right, if anyone eats you beyond his needs, then
you eat him up." Just think; what is the cause of all disease? Indigestion.
We enjoy, and enjoy, and enjoy until we are no longer capable of enjoying
anything. Then the enjoyments start enjoying us.
Because bliss is the quality of the soul, happiness lasts
as long as our attention is attached with a particular thing of interest,
but if we are taken away from that thing, then unhappiness results. So
where should we put our attention? "He who has a strong desire for
the heart's own never-ending happiness should get re-connected back to
God, who has ever been in existence. God is not in either birth or death.
How can sorrow come when He never dies?" One will get that everlasting
life, for Masters do not just use empty words, but actually make the connection
spiritually and scientifically.
The power that is called God is known by different names
for easier understanding by the different peoples. "No matter what
words are used to describe Him, I rejoice in them all." It might be
Ram, Ram; Allah; Waheguru; Khuda; one might read a whole hymn praising
Him, or only use Onkar, Sat Naam; one might go on reading books upon books.
To truly know God, however, we have to know Him for whom all these words
were created. "Everyone says God, God, but by just saying it you will
not become it. only by the Guru's grace can God manifest in you--only that
will bear fruit." If the all-pervading God manifests Himself in you,
then by just taking His name you will get intoxicated. That which we believe
is giving us satisfaction is not true; it is merely that our attention
is there and the enjoyment comes from that; so happiness is not in the
thing, but in ourselves. How can pure consciousness (the soul), get any
happiness out of matter? When a dog chews a bone, is there any sweetness
in it? But he cuts his tongue or gums on the sharp bone and tastes his
own blood.
Only when a man has become free from the mind and senses
can he truly understand all these things--when he starts realizing them
practically. Now, in our condition, what should we do? For instance, a
child leaves the shelter of the homestead to visit a fair for a day with
his parents. There is such a huge crowd of people there, but as long as
the child is holding his mother's hand he cannot be separated from her.
Masters have said, "I do not ask you to renounce the world; I only
ask you to remember the Lord in all you do." By quoting this, I am
not saying that you should leave life in the world and take the road to
the lonely forests. I mean that no matter where you are or what you are
doing, you should not forget God. It is possible that the child might be
inclined to leave his mother's hand if he could, but if the mother is holding
him firmly, how is it possible? You should dedicate your hand--surrender
it. If you have not seen God, then you can surrender yourself to one in
whom God is manifested--a God-in-man. With such surrender to the God in
him, His hand will always be holding you. You understand what I am saying?
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