THE SIGHT OF THE PERFECT MASTER
by
Sant Ajaib Singh Ji
This talk was given on July 6, 1980
at Sant Bani Ashram, N.H. and is the
third in a series of fourteen talks
on the Gauri Vars of Guru Ramdas Ji.
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The Satguru has the quality of the earth:
As one sows in it, such a fruit he gets.
The disciples of the Master sow the seeds of nectar
and get the fruit of the nectar from the Lord.
God is not the personal property of anyone; He belongs to every community,
He belongs to every religion, He belongs to every country. And everybody
in this world - whether he is man or woman, whether he belongs to this
country or that country, or whether he comes from lower class or upper
class - all have the right to realize Him. Masters are sent by God and that
is why they also belong to every religion. Masters make us understand that
Satgurus are like the earth: If you sow sugar cane in the earth or if you
sow chilies or if you sow wheat - whatever you sow, you will reap only that.
In the same way, whatever feelings you have for the Master, you get the
fruit according to your feelings.
Masters tell us, whatever karma you do you will have to suffer or
enjoy the reaction of that. Whatever you sow, that will be grown and you
will have to reap that. We cannot harvest sugar cane after planting
chilies. Nor can we harvest chilies by sowing sugar cane. Kabir Sahib
says, "If the farmer sows a useless bush and expects to harvest sugar
cane, he cannot do that; because whatever you sow, that you will reap."
But Satguru is the soil or ground of religion, and whatever you sow in
Him, you get that. Gurumukhs always sow the nectar of Naam in Him, and that
is why they get to drink that nectar of Naam. Farid Sahib says, "Sugar,
rock candy, honey and other things are very sweet, but Naam - the Name of
the Lord-is sweeter than this, and no other sweet thing can compare with
it."
Their faces are bright in this world and beyond,
and they get the true honor in the court of the Lord.
Guru Ramdas Ji says, "Those who do the meditation of Shabd Naam and make
their soul free from the clutches of mind, they live very happily and
comfortably in this world. And when they leave this world and go to the
court of the Lord, there also they are very welcome and God honors them."
In the heart of some is falsehood, and they continuously
practice falsehood.
As they sow such seeds, such a fruit they will get.
When the Satguru, the Jeweler, looks closely at them,
they will be revealed as counterfeit.
In the Sangat of the Satgurus, dear souls, loving souls, come, and
in addition many other souls also come just from looking at other people.
In the Mansarovar, or the pure pool, the swans go as well as the cranes.
Swans go there to search for pearls, but the cranes go there searching for
fish. But when they do not get the fish, they leave disappointed. So such
souls, those who are the slaves of their mind and the organs of senses,
even if they come to the Satsang of the Master, even if they spend a lot
of time there, still within them they have the quality of the crane and do
not accept the words of the Master as the loving souls do.
The sight of the Saints is the sight of the Perfect Jeweler; They can
very well see who is supposed to be in the Sangat and who is not supposed
to be there. So when those souls who are not supposed to be in their Sangat
come to their Satsang, they do one or another thing, looking at which only
the dear souls remain in the Satsang, while the other people don't have
love for the Master after that, and they leave the Satsang. Hazrat Bahu
says, "Bitter squash will never turn into watermelon, no matter if you take
it to Mecca, the holy place." In the same way, even if you go on putting
millions of tons of sugar in a salt well, still the water will not turn
sweet.
In Agra, in the Satsang of Swami Ji Maharaj, many "flies" - people who
were not supposed to be there - started coming. They would come to eat the
food and do other things, but they would have no faith in the Master. So
in order to remove those flies, once Swami Ji Maharaj took some water in
His mouth and spit that water on the food which had just been made in the
langar. For the dear ones it was a blessing, and they thought, "This is the
most fortunate day when the Master has `contaminated' all the food and He
has made this parshad." But those people who had no faith in the Master
were upset; they said, "What is the use of coming to this place where we
are fed contaminated food?" And they left. Some people used to say when
Master Sawan Singh was alive, "No use to go there because he will give you
dirty food to eat. And some people say now, that we do not bless the food
but contaminate it.* So Masters do such things to keep the flies out of
their Satsang.
(*According to Hindu religious law, to touch food in any way
by anyone of a lower caste than the person eating it is defiling
it. The custom of giving parshad by the Masters, many of whom
were of very low caste, grew up in the teeth of this law.)
Once Master Sawan Singh was giving Satsang in Shimla, and there came
some Akalis. (Akalis are a politically and religiously militant sect of
the Sikh religion.) They used to come there and oppose Master Sawan Singh
very much. When they came, the Satsang was going on. So Master Sawan Singh
welcomed them and told them that if they wanted to talk to him, he could
stop giving Satsang and see them. But they said, "No, you keep doing the
Satsang, and after the Satsang is over we will see you." After the Satsang
was over and when the time came to distribute the parshad, those people did
not accept the parshad, and they asked, "First you should tell us whether
this parshad, this food, is contaminated or whether it is fresh." So Master
Sawan Singh replied, "It is both. It is fresh as well as contaminated."
They said; "How is that possible?" Master Sawan Singh replied, "You see,
when you offer the parshad, after doing your worship - when you offer some
food to God and say, `Oh God, please take some from this and turn the rest
into parshad' - if God accepts that, it means that it is contaminated
because God has eaten from the same plate. And if God does not accept that,
it means that it is fresh. So in whatever way you want, you can understand
this." Then they realized that when a Master touches the food He is not
contaminating it, He is blessing it and they were convinced that Masters do
not contaminate any food. Master Sawan Singh said, "You can ask my sons: I
never made them eat with me from the same plate." A Master who has stayed
up all night and has meditated a lot, and who has earned the wealth of
spirituality by working very hard, how would he like to give this wealth of
spirituality to other people: By allowing them to eat from his plate, or by
allowing them to eat contaminated food?
In the same way, when Guru Nanak wanted to remove the flies, He disguised
Himself as a hunter, and he took some dogs with him and he had a sword in
his hand. He told his disciples to follow him; but when his disciples saw
him as a hunter, they felt very bad, and one by one they all left him.
Everyone went away from him except Bhai Lena, who was later on called Guru
Angad. When Guru Nanak asked him why he was following him and did not go
away like the others, he replied, "The other people went because they might
have something to do in the world, but I have nothing in the world which I
can say is my own, except You; You are the only thing which belongs to me.
That is why I am with You." Guru Nanak was so pleased with him that he
showered all his Grace on Guru Angad.
The Perfect Masters, those who have done the meditation, don't desire
many disciples. They are not in this world to collect many disciples. They
look only for the loving souls. Master Sawan Singh used to say, "It is much
better to have one faithful disciple than to have one thousand disciples
who don't have faith in the Master."
As we get the Perfect Master only if we are very fortunate ones; in the
same way, Master only gets a good disciple if He is very fortunate. If
Perfect Masters didn't get perfect disciples, then nobody could recognize
Their glory in this world, because you know that the worldly people cannot
recognize the Masters. Only the perfect disciples can recognize the
Masters. So that is why Guru Ramdas Ji Maharaj says here, "Master has the
sight of a jeweler, and when He looks at the people he knows who is good
for Him and who is not; who is supposed to come in His sangat and who is
not." That is why, when he wants to remove those people from his sangat
who are not supposed to be there, he does such things. And in that way,
he removes the flies.
They get always what they bring about;
they sound as God makes them sound.
Nanak says, "In both sides the Lord Himself works,
and daily He sees everything."
Within the Gurumukhs God resides, and manmukhs also are created by God.
God is the protector of both of them; God takes care of both of them. But
because Gurumukhs do the devotion of God in order to reach God, they get
the wealth of devotion of God and do reach Him. Whereas the manmukhs are
driven by passions and desire worldly things; therefore they get to enjoy
those, which lead them to hell. So whatever feeling you have when you are
doing the devotion to the Lord, you get the fruit according to that.
This world is like a big shopping center, in which everybody is either
selling his goods, or buying goods from the world. Everybody is doing
his work, whatever work he has been given, good or bad. Suppose one wise
man went to a shopping center with his son, and was called bad names by
someone who was selling things in the market. His son doesn't know what he
is doing, so he complains to his father: "Father, look at that man. He is
saying bad things to you. Why don't you reply to him?" But the father is
wise; he knows that those bad names are not good for him, and he is not a
customer of them. So he says, "Never mind, my son; let's go. Everybody in
this market is selling his things, but we don't want to take this, so why
worry about it? There is no need to pay any attention to it." Because that
father was wise, he explained to his son also, and he was not affected by
the bad things which were said to him in the market of this world.
In the same way, when Masters come They know what is good for Them and
what is bad for Them. And even if people criticize Them and say bad words
to Them, They don't respond in the same tone; They pay no attention to
that. Because They know that neither criticism of this world is going to
go with Them, nor the praise or honor of this world. The only thing which
will accompany us is the Naam of the Master and the devotion of the Naam
which we have done in.this world. Masters also come in this world, this
shopping center, and They also do many things; but They never accept those
things which are harmful to Them; They never pay any attention to any
criticism or any bad things which people offer to them.
Mind is one, and it can work in one side.
Wherever he is attached, he gets that place.
Someone may talk about many things,
but he only gets what he has at home.
You have only one mind, and you can make him do anything you want. If you
want, you can make him do the devotion of the Lord, and if you want, you
can make him enjoy the worldly pleasures. It is not possible for you to
criticize others and backbite others, and at the same time realize God.
You can do only one thing; either you involve your mind in criticism, in
doing bad things and enjoying worldly things; or you can involve him in,
or make him do, the devotion of the Lord. Guru Sahib says, "When the taste
of the devotion of the Lord comes, then the taste of the worldly pleasures
finds no place there." Mahatmas make us understand that God cannot be
realized by talking about Him, or by hearing stories, or telling stories
about Him. Whatever receptivity you have within you, according to that
you can realize God.
Master Sawan Singh used to say, "You go within and see the condition of
authors of books which are very popular in this world - go and see how the
Negative Power has tortured them. Because writing books and giving talks is
the work of the mind and the intellect." Just because we have read many
books, or written many books, it doesn't mean that God will open His door
to us, because all these works are of mind and intellect. We can make God
open his doors to us only by doing the practices which are shown to us by
our Master.
Master Kirpal often used to tell the story of the pundit, or learned
scholar, who came to Kabir Sahib carrying a lot of books on a bullock, to
debate with him. In those days they had no other means of transportation:
jeeps, cars, etc. So they had to carry their things on the backs of
bullocks, or other animals. So he came with all the books he had on the
bullock. And when he came to the house of Kabir Sahib, Kabir was not
there but his daughter, Kamali, was there. So he asked her, "Is this
the house of Kabir Sahib?" She replied, "Kabir's home is in the sky, and
the path which goes to Kabir's home is very slippery. Not even an ant
can go there. O Pundit, what makes you think you can get there with so
many books and a bullock?"
Nowadays in India, there are many universities. But in the olden days
there was only one university, in the city of Kashi. Those who graduated
from that university were greatly honored because they were supposed to
be very great learned people. Once it so happened that two scholars, after
graduating from that university, were on the way back to their home, and
had to spend the night in one farmer's home. When they arrived there, the
farmer welcomed them very warmly and allowed them to spend the night there.
Maybe to attend the call of nature, one of those scholars went out. So
the farmer asked the other scholar how learned the scholar was who had
just gone out. (You know that one scholar will never praise another; he
says, "He doesn't know anything, only I know.") So that scholar replied; "
Well, he doesn't know anything. He is a donkey. I am more learned than he
is." After some time, the one who had gone out came back; and the one who
was in the house went out. So the farmer asked that same question to that
scholar. And he said, "Well, I am the most learned man. He is a bull, he
is not a scholar." So the farmer kept quiet. And when the food was ready
and he invited them to eat, instead of serving them food for humans, in
one plate he had put some grass and leaves, and in the other plate he had
hay. They got very upset and said, "O farmer, why don't you bring the food
which we want to eat?" The farmer replied, "You said that he is a donkey,
so I have brought donkey food for him; and you said that he is a bull,
and I have brought the bull's food for him." When they realized they had
criticized each other and had praised only themselves, they felt very
embarrassed, and they left without eating. Master Kirpal Singh Ji used
to tell this story very often just to make the learned people understand
that by learning, by becoming scholars, you cannot develop humility; by
getting a lot of knowledge and becoming scholars, you just wrestle with
your mind and it doesn't add to your humility.
Kabir Sahib even says, "O learned one, you have come to meet me and
you are quoting from many books, but how long are you going to survive
by eating other people's leftover foods?" He explains: "People come to
the Master and quote from one book or another; they quote from the books
in which the experiences of the perfect Masters are written. But how long
are we going to survive if we don't practice those words in our life, and
if we don't mold our life according to that?" Only reading of the
experiences of the Masters will not do any good to us. Unless we practice
them, we will not be able to progress.
Master Sawan Singh Ji used to say that once a Master was walking, and
another man was also with him. Both of them saw that many animals were
coming: cows and buffaloes and sheep were coming, and a shepherd was
leading them. So the man who was with that Master became very happy, and
said, "Master, look at that! How many animals are coming!" Master was very
patient and said, "Well, there are many coming, but what have you to do
with that? Do you have any animal of your own in there?" He said, "No, I
have no animal there, but my uncle's cow is there." He replied, "Then why
are you worried about it? Why are you so happy? You don't have anything in
there."
So Masters tell us, we should first be concerned for our own soul.
We should know how far we go in meditation and how far we can withdraw
our soul. First we should worry about our own selves. Just by reading other
people's experiences we should not get excited. Reading is not bad, but
you should understand the meaning of reading also. You should read that,
and you should put that into practice: you should work for your own soul.
Guru Sahib calls that learned one foolish who has greed and egoism.
Mahatmas do not mean to say that reading is not good, or learning is not
good, or getting knowledge is not good. They say that it is good to get
knowledge, it is good to read (You see that now we are also reading this
bani). But they say that whatever you read you should understand, and you
should put that into practice. Only that reading is worthwhile which you
put into practice after reading.
Without the Satguru one doesn't get the right understanding.
Egoism does not flee from within.
The egotists have suffering and hunger
And they beg from door to door.
No one can deceive God and Master, because both of Them are sitting
within us. They know how much love we have for Them, and how much we are
pretending to be Their lovers. They know how true we are. That is why we
can never deceive them. That is why in the Satsang They say, "Be holy and
be pure." Because the more holy you are and the purer you are, the closer
you will come to God. The only way of making yourself holy and of purifying
yourself is Simran. Simran purifies our soul, and contemplation or dhyan
makes it possible for our soul to remain fixed at the eye center; and after
that the Shabd pulls our soul up. So Masters always say, "Keep your mind
involved in doing Simran so that your soul may get more purified and be
able to rise above."
He says, "Satguru meets only them in whose fate it is written from
the beginning."
As when iron is brought in contact
with the Philosopher's Stone,
Through that meeting it becomes gold.
Now Guru Ramdas Ji very lovingly explains to us that if we touch iron
with a philosopher's stone, it is turned into gold. In the same way, no
matter how bad we are, how many bad deeds we have done, if we come in the
Satsang of the Master, if we obey His commandments, and if we do what He
is telling us to do and everything that we are supposed to do, no matter
how bad we are, after coming in the Sangat of Master we can become good.
But Kabir Sahib says, "Oh Kabir, what can the philosopher's stone do if
the iron is rusty?" What can the Master do if the disciple is still obeying
the dictates of the mind and is involved in the pleasures of the organs of
senses? What is the fault in the philosopher's stone if the iron is rusted?
Oh Lord of humble Nanak, you are the Lord.
As it pleases you, you make things seen.
"Oh Lord, You are the Giver to everyone and you are the Protector of
everyone; and it is all in Your will. Whatever way You want You are taking
care of the souls." Some get the awareness of what they have to do, and
some do not get that awareness and are still wandering here and there. Some
people come to the Master and realize that now they are to do the meditation
and go back Home. Whereas some people come to the Master, but still don't
realize that it is their duty to do the meditation and go back Home.
The Lord Himself unites them with Him
who serve Him in their hearts.
They share the good qualities, and with the Shabd
they burn their bad qualities.
Now Guru Ramdas Ji describes the glory of the Lord. He says, "Oh Lord,
those who do your devotion, You give them a place in Your Home. And those
who manifest You within, and go to them who have manifested You within,
they also share the good qualities, and they also share the knowledge
about You, by going in their company."
The bad qualities are thrown away, and to whom God
gives the true qualities, (they) get those.
When we thresh the crop, we pay no attention to its cover or husk; we are
just concerned about collecting the grain. Or when we eat almonds, we take
out the almonds and throw away the shell; we just take the fruit and eat
that. In the same way, when we do the devotion of Shabd Naam, we put all
our attention on the inner fruit, and pay no attention to the worldly
pleasures and things. Because all these worldly pleasures seem useless
when we get interested in doing the meditation of Naam.
I sacrifice myself to my Master, Who has manifested
the good qualities, removing the bad ones.
He says, "I sacrifice myself for my brave Master, Who made me develop the
good habits within myself and leave the bad habits. It is only because of
His grace and mercy that now I can see what things are useless and what are
useful." For spiritual progress it is very important to have a pure mind.
Great is the Glory of the Great One:
Gurumukhs sing His praise.
When we rise above the rajagun, tamagun and satagun, and remove all the
vestures - physical, astral and causal covers - from our soul, then we are
able to meet God. And the Gurumukhs Who reach Sach Khand and become one
with God never say even a single word in Their own praise. When They utter
anything, it is all in the praise of Their Master, it is all in the praise
of God. And that is why They say, "I have no mission, I have no work to do;
whatever I have in this world, that all belongs to God. And in whatever
way God wants me to work, I am working in that way."
Guru Nanak Sahib says, "All the glory is to the Greater One. All the
glory is to my Master, Who taught me the Path of the Naam and told me what
was my work in this. So whatever I have done, whatever I have achieved, I
sing His praise; all the glory, all the credit, goes to Him."
Kabir Sahib says, "It is like a piece of salt, who went into the ocean
to see where it came from-to find its origin. And when it went there, it
was dissolved there, and now it doesn't come back to tell people what its
origin was."
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