HUMILITY, MEEKNESS AND LOVE by Sant Ajaib Singh Ji This talk was given on July 11, 1980 at Sant Bani Ashram, N.H. and is the eighth in a series of fourteen talks on the Gauri Vars of Guru Ramdas Ji. ------------------------------------ He who criticizes the Perfect Satguru becomes a distressed one in the world. This world is like a big forest in which many creatures have come, have lost their home, and are wandering here and there very upset. Everyone is bothered by the five dacoits: lust, anger, greed, attachment and egoism. But the funny thing is that even though everyone knows that all these five dacoits are plundering them day and night, and there is no happiness with them, still people are letting them plunder them. These five dacoits have destroyed everyone's peace, but still people are allowing them to remain within them. So they are always being conquered by one of them. Someone is conquered by one of the five dacoits and someone is conquered by the other. We obey them because we understand them as our friends. You know that when you obey anger, you are upset. And when we obey greed, then also we are upset. And we already know about lust: when we obey lust, then how upset we are and how our peace is destroyed. When God sees the people in this world troubled by all these things, He sends Masters into this world to tell people what the things are which are bothering them and where those things reside. Soul has lost her power over mind ever since she got separated from the Sound Current. We can get our souls connected with the Sound Current only in the human body. Ever since our soul lost its connection with the Sound Current, it has been the slave of the mind, and mind is ruling over her. But in the human body, if we connect our soul with the Sound Current, only then will our soul again start ruling over the mind. For going within the body, the repetition of the Five Sacred Names given by the Perfect Master is the only means. No matter how many outer practices we do for going within, still they are not good, and they will not help us. They will not make us successful in going within. Showering a lot of grace, God comes into this world in the human body and gives His own message to the jivas. He comes and tells us, "God, who has sent you into this world, is calling you back. And you can go back to Him through me: Come on; I will take you back to your Home." But Kal (the Negative Power) deludes the souls and makes them resist the Saints, and prevents the souls from following the Masters' teachings. When Kal met Kabir Sahib, he told Him to give him His secret, and he would not bother His initiates and would let them go to the home of God without any disturbance. But Kabir Sahib knew that Kal was playing a trick on Him, and He was not deceived. Kal tried many other means to know the secret of Kabir Sahib, but Kabir Sahib would not give him the secret. In the end, when all his tricks had failed, Kal said, "Well, now I will give you a very hard time: You will teach people not to eat meat, not to drink wine, to be chaste, etc. And alongside your path, I will start another path in which I will teach people to eat meat, to drink wine, and not to be chaste. And fewer people will be attracted towards Your teachings because they are very difficult to follow. Many more people will come towards the teachings that I will spread. Now the men are eating meat and drinking wine. But seeing them, the women will follow them and even they will start eating meat and drinking wine. In that way, not many souls will come to You and You will not be able to liberate them." And further, Kal said, "I will create many religions in the world. And people who will be caught up in the bounds of the religions will find it very difficult to leave them, even if they want to." When Kabir Sahib first came in India, there were only two religions there, Muslim and Hindu. Out of both of those religions, there were only a few people who understood and came to Kabir Sahib. The others were against Him. Both religions were against Him. At that time, Sikander Lodi was the Emperor, and because he was advised to by the Kazis, the Muslim priests, as well as the Hindu priests, he tried his best to kill Kabir Sahib. Kabir Sahib was neither against the Muslims nor against the Hindus. But He was very much against the outer rites and rituals which both of these religions were practicing. And He used to condemn them, in very powerful words. Once His hands and feet were tied, and He was thrown into the River Ganges. But He did not drown. Once again His body was tied up and He was thrown in front of an intoxicated elephant; but instead of killing Him, the elephant started bowing down to Kabir Sahib. At that time the Kazis were in power: the law was in their hands and they made the decisions. So when the elephant would not step on Kabir Sahib's body, they told the mahout to encourage the elephant to step on Kabir Sahib. Three times Kabir Sahib escaped. They tried three times, but Kabir Sahib escaped all three times. It was a miracle, but the Kazi's mind was not softened. And instead of understanding and appreciating the truth, he became worse. So Kabir Sahib writes in His bani, "What fault have the Masters done that their hands and feet are tied, and they are thrown in front of elephants? The elephant doesn't want to step on the Master. Instead, he is bowing down to Him. But still the Kazi does not understand." We know that in those days there were only two religions where Kabir Sahib was preaching, and both of them were against Him and giving Him a very hard time. Nowadays there are many religions and communities, and most of them are always against the Master. Master Sawan Singh used to say that the condition of the world is like the condition of the sheep. You know that sheep always follow other sheep. If one sheep leads all the other sheep anywhere on the mountains, they will go there. Wherever the first sheep goes, the others will also follow and they will not realize what they are doing. Suppose the place where the sheep are kept catches fire and someone has mercy on the sheep and tries to bring them out. But if one of the sheep is again trying to enter the place, the others will also follow. They will not realize that they are going to their death. When Masters come into this world, they do not make us leave our religion. They do not make us leave the society or community in which we are living; because they respect all religions and societies. But the only difference between the teachings of the Masters and the teachings of the religions is that the religions keep us involved in the outer rites and rituals, whereas the teachings of the Masters do not. Guru Nanak Sahib said that the condition of the manmukhs is like the condition of that woman whose husband is far away in a foreign country, but still she is dressing up. Even though her husband is not with her, still she is dressing up as though he were with her. The manmukhs are doing the devotion of the Lord who is not with them, who is far away from them. In this way, they are not getting any glory in the world. And moreover, their devotion is counted nowhere. Guru Sahib further says that even if that woman makes a good bed and decorates it with flowers and waits for her beloved, if the beloved doesn't come there and if she is not with him, then what is the use of preparing for that meeting? When we go to the temples and mosques, and perform the repetitions and austerities, we do not realize God. Our mind becomes restless. And after doing all these things, when we come to the Masters, Masters lovingly tell us that God is nowhere outside, He is within you, and twenty-four hours a day He is always guiding you. Since our childhood, in whatever religion we are born, we know the teachings of that religion, and we believe only in that religion. So when we come to the Masters, and Masters tell us, "God is within you," we do not try to empty our mind of all of the thoughts which we had since our childhood. Instead of understanding and appreciating the teachings of the Masters, we start criticizing them. I was born in a Sikh family and I also used to say, "What is the use of following any Master other than Guru Granth Sahib?" But when I went to the feet of Baba Bishan Das, He told me, "This book is not going to help you. Whatever is written in the book, you should do that." When I told Baba Bishan Das about the things I thought were written in the Guru Granth Sahib, that there would be no Master after the last Master, and that the book should be taken as the Master - Baba Bishan Das denied that. He said that these things were not written in the book. At that time I was very confused, and I thought, "How is that possible? I have been reading this book since my childhood, and I have been believing that it is written because everybody says so. Why is it that Baba Bishan Das is denying that?" I was not satisfied. I went to Amritsar and brought three copies of Guru Granth Sahib. I had two other friends who were with me. For six months continuously, we read that book and we studied it, and then we realized that the things we were believing to be part of that book were not there. Then we came to Baba Bishan Das and surrendered to Him. We said, "Baba Bishan Das, you are the true one. The things which we were thinking were in the book are not there. And what you have said is true." What was the thing which I didn't find in the book? That was the thing which most Sikh people are believing: that it is said in the book that the last Master said, "After me there will be no Master; this book will be your Master." But Baba Bishan Das told us that we could read the book patiently and lovingly, and we wouldn't find these lines in the book. In order to find these lines, we three people worked very hard. But we didn't find those lines. Baba Bishan Das told us that those lines were written after Guru Gobind Singh; but they were not included in the Guru Granth Sahib: they were written by somebody else. When Baba Bishan Das told us that the lines which we were thinking were in the Guru Granth Sahib were not there, He said, "Let us suppose for some time that it is in the book. I will explain to you what that means. Even though it is not the writing of the Master, and somebody else has written that, still if we explain that in its real sense, in its real meaning, then also you will find that it is inspiring you and guiding you towards the Living Master. That couplet says that people say that it is written by Guru Gobind Singh but in fact it is not. It says, "When the timeless Lord ordered me, then I came into this world and started this Path (the Path of the Masters). Now it is the order of God to all the disciples, that they should take the Guru Granth as their Master. They should take Guru Granth as their Master and they should manifest the body of the Master. Those who have truth in their heart, will definitely get the company of the Master." Baba Bishan Das told us that it was the Master saying, "When God ordered Me, I came into this world and started this Path. And now whatever is written in this book, you should take the teachings of this book as your Master." Reading the teachings of this book, you should search for the Living Master, you should search for the Master in the body. Those who have truth in their heart, they will definitely come in the company of the Masters. Every single line of Guru Granth Sahib is inspiring you to go to the Living Master. When you go to the Living Master - if you have truth in your heart, you will get the company of the Master. And when you come in the company of the Master, He will explain to you what all these things mean. Master Sawan Singh Ji used to say, "The Sikhs have a very great wealth of spirituality in this Guru Granth Sahib. But it is a pity that they don't know what this book is telling them." We respect Guru Granth Sahib very much and have much love for it. I have been reading Guru Granth Sahib since my childhood, and I have found that in that book it talks about the importance of Satsang, it sings the glory of Naam, and it talks about the Perfect Master. In Guru Granth Sahib nobody is criticized and all the truth is presented as truth. Guru Arjan Dev compiled the writings of many Mahatmas to make this book. Master Sawan Singh used to say that the emperors of that time thought that this book was criticizing them, and was against their religion. So four times they studied this book just to see whether there was any criticism or not. But they couldn't find any. Still they gave the Masters a very hard time, those who wrote the banis, and the Master Guru Arjan Dev who compiled the banis of the great Masters. Master Sawan Singh used to say that in those days when this bani was written and compiled, the Master who did that was tortured. And now also those who are preaching this bani, those who are spreading the teachings of this bani, they are also harassed a lot. I have seen that when Master Sawan Singh would comment on this bani, then the Sikh people (those who were not initiated, of course) if they would listen to Master Sawan Singh commenting on the bani and realize what the bani was saying, then they would start weeping and they would repent. They would feel very sorry for wasting their time, and they would say that they had been reading the bani for a long time, but up until then they had not understood what the bani was really saying. So in this bani, Guru Ramdas Ji says that the ones who criticize the Perfect Masters are always troubled in this world. Hell is horrible and a well of pain. He is seized and carried there. Those who criticize the Perfect Masters, the angels of death take them to the well in hell. No one hears his cries and screams. In distress he weeps. If anyone commits a crime and goes to jail, even if he weeps and begs for help, nobody listens to him. They all give him a beating, saying, "Whatever you have done this time, you will have to suffer for that. And when you are released, next time don't do it." So when the angels of the Lord of Judgment give the critics a hard time, the critics weep and shout aloud. But nobody listens to them. Whatever they have done, they get the punishment for that. Kabir Sahib says that nobody can erase sins, nobody can say that he has not committed sins. When we commit sins, we may hide them here; but when we are presented in front of the Lord of Judgment, all our sins come out, and we have to confess that we have committed them. He loses all - this world and that. All his profit and capital is wasted. The critic has lost. The little bit of whatever he has earned in his life, he has lost that. And moreover, he has made his soul very dirty. He is made into the bull of an oil merchant, and every day, early in the morning, his master puts him under the yoke. The critic doesn't get the human body again; he gets the body of the bull of the oil merchant. The oil merchant covers the eyes of the bull, and all day long he makes him go around in a circle to run the machine, to take out the oil. And in that way, without leaving that place he has to travel a lot. He doesn't get any good food to eat or water to drink. Kabir Sahib says, "When you have four feet and the body of an animal; when you don't get any good food to eat; when you don't get anybody's attention; when you are not able to come in the shade by yourself; when you are not able to go in the sunlight by yourself: at that time, how are you going to sing the praise of the Lord and how are you going to do the devotion of the Lord? Your nose and ears will be torn up, you will be roped, and you will always remain a slave of others. At that time, how will you repent for the sins that you have committed? And how will you ask for forgiveness?" The Lord always sees and hears everything. Nothing is hidden from Him. God is not unconscious. He is conscious of everything. He knows who is doing good, who is doing bad. And even if we say that we are doing good or doing bad, God is not going to believe us, because He sees everything, crystal clear. He will decide what He wants to give us. He punishes people for their bad deeds and rewards people for their good deeds. Our mind deludes us so much that we think that God doesn't know anything, and that if we don't criticize people, if we don't find fault with them, God will not be able to know where they are failing and what faults they have. We think that by criticizing them we are making God know people's faults. Those who understand God as unconscious or ignorant are deceiving their own selves. They think that they are deceiving other people, but that is not true: they are really deceiving their own selves. God knows everything. Even without your telling, He knows everything, and is aware of all things. Masters have so much humility that even though They are great and have no faults in Their own selves, because They don't find faults in others - They are so humble that They always refer to Themselves as having many faults. Kabir Sahib said, "When I went to find a bad man, I couldn't find anyone outside. But when I looked within myself, I saw that I was the worst of all." It doesn't mean that Kabir Sahib was the worst person, that He was a bad person. He was a great Saint. He was the first incarnated Saint in this world and He came in all the four ages. But because of His humility He called Himself bad. Guru Nanak Sahib said, "My deeds are very low. But since I have taken refuge in You, 0 Lord, please save my honor." Guru Nanak Sahib also was a great Saint. It doesn't mean that He had really done low deeds: but every single word that He has written expresses His humility. I have seen both Master Kirpal Singh and Master Sawan Singh many times use very low words to describe themselves, very humble words. Even when Master Sawan Singh was opposed very much and people would put up posters against Him, criticizing Him, He never responded to those posters with criticism. He used to say that if anyone criticizes the Perfect Master - He who has done a lot of meditation, has stayed up in the night, and has worked very hard - He doesn't respond in criticism because He doesn't want to lose His quality. In His writing, Guru Gobind Singh also shows great humility. He says, "Those who will call me God will go to hell." He says, "I am a low servant of God and have come into this world to see the play of the world." Guru Gobind Singh even said, "After giving up all the doors, after leaving all the homes, now I have come to Your door, and I have caught Your hand. Because I have got hold of Your hand, please save my honor. I am Gobind, Your servant." God has sent Masters into this world with a lot of humility, a lot of meekness, and a lot of love. What he sows - that he reaps, as one has sown before. Whatever we have sown in our past life, we are reaping it here. And whatever we sow here, we will have to reap in our next life. Whatever we do in this lifetime, we will have to suffer the reactions of that in the next lifetime. On whom God showers his Grace, he washes the feet of the Satguru. Those on whom God is very merciful and gracious, they come to the Masters. And after coming to the Master, they develop so much love and faith and yearning for the Master, that even if they are told to wash the feet of the Master and drink that water, they will never hesitate to do it, but will understand it as their good fortune to be able to do that. Many times such souls on whom God is very gracious, become so overcome, so moved by this yearning, that they even move the Master. And Master is compelled to do anything that they want Him to do. Last time when I went to Bombay, one couple came to me and they wanted to wash my feet and drink that water. They brought a silver plate and requested me to let them do that. I folded both of my hands to them and told them, "Please forgive me, don't do that." When Master Kirpal came to my home, I also wept a lot and I also requested Him to let me wash His feet and drink that water. I told Him, "That water will bring a lot of peace to me; so you should allow me to do that." But He wouldn't let me do that. He didn't let me have that opportunity. And He involved me in talking and in the end He embraced me, and in that way He quenched my thirst. But Guru Ramdas Ji said that those on whom God is very gracious and merciful, they give up all concern about public shame etc. They come to the Master and forget about those concerns. Following the Satguru he crosses over as iron may float on wood. Now Guru Ramdas gives a beautiful example. He says, "If we put a very small lightweight needle on the surface of the water, it will not remain there; it will be drowned. But if we put thousands of tons of iron on wood, it will remain on the surface and can easily cross the water." In the same way, no matter how many bad deeds we have done, how many bad karmas we have, and no matter if we have not improved ourself, if we go in the company of the Masters, we can easily cross this ocean of the world by going in Their company. As the iron remains on the surface and crosses the water after taking the help or going in the company of the wood; in the same way, coming in the company of the Masters, we the sinners can also get liberation. Nanak says, "Meditate on Naam. Meditating on the Naam of the Lord, one gets happiness." What should we do? When we have taken initiation from the Satguru, whether we are sitting or standing, sleeping or awake, we should do our Simran. We should collect our scattered thoughts and go within. Outside our mind doesn't let us develop love for the Master, so just go within, just a little bit. Go within just a little bit and you will see how the flames of love are burning there. Now it is very difficult for us to go within, but if, with our efforts and with Master's Grace, if once with all our efforts and His Grace we go within, then it will be very difficult for us to come out. Those Gurumukhs who have met the Lord are the most fortunate ones. Fortunate and blessed are those who have got the Perfect Master in this lifetime. "In their hearts light is manifested, and they are absorbed in Naam," says Nanak. Master lights the lamp of Shabd Naam within us. And when we meditate, the light goes on increasing and there is light everywhere. This body is our temple in which the Light of the True One is present. A jewel is hidden in it which is taken out by some rare Gurumukh servant. This body is the real temple, real Gurdwara, and to enter in this body is the real and true religious act, because God has kept His light, His Sound, within the body. The Sound will stop ringing within us and the Light will stop burning within us only at the time of our death. From our birth until our death, both Sound and Light remain present within us. God has kept many other things within the body, all the seen and unseen creation which is created. We can see all that after going within. If we are in the physical body, we have the contacts of the physical world and we know about the physical world. When we go in the astral, when we start working in the astral body, we come in contact with the astral plane and get to know about the astral world. In the same way, when we start functioning in the causal body, we come in contact with the causal plane, and start to know about the causal plane. If we are in the physical body, Master also has taken up the physical body and He is sitting in front of us. He answers all our questions. He develops within us the yearning to go within. He tells us about devotion to God and doing the practices. When we withdraw from the physical body and start working in the astral body, Master also appears there in His astral form. And after that when we go in the causal body, Master comes there in His causal body. The form of the Master in the causal plane is the Shabd. When we withdraw from there and go to Parbrahm, Master comes in the form of the pure Shabd. As we go on progressing, as we go on withdrawing from one body and go in another body and as we go on progressing in the inner planes, Master also changes His forms. He appears within us according to our progress. When we see the position of the Master in the inner planes and how much respect He is getting, what His position is there, only then does the real love for the Master come within us. When the Lord who is within all is realized, then one mingles with the One. The One is seen, the One is obeyed, the One is heard with ears. Why do Masters put emphasis on doing meditation? Because they want you to go within and see the truth of what they are saying. Outside our mind is always deluding us and we always go by the experiences of other people. If a few people say that this Master is not perfect, our faith in that Master is broken. If a few people say that He is a good Master, He is a perfect Master, we start believing in Him. In that way, we are always in this position, up and down. That is why we are never able to make our faith strong enough in the Master. If we see with our own eyes that there is a horse, even if everyone else in the world says that he is not a horse, he is a bullock, we will not believe them, because we have seen that it is a horse. So when we manifest Master within and see Him within, only after that do we start seeing Him for what He really is. We start seeing that He is functioning everywhere. Only after that we start to do only His meditation, only His devotion. We start preaching only His Name and we start singing only His glory in the world: because now we know for sure that only He is pervading everywhere and only He is functioning within everybody. It happened with me also. When I was meditating in 16PS I was not seeing anybody. Many of my relatives were believing that Kirpal Singh had done some magic on me and that is why I was not seeing them and I was doing some things which I should not do. They used to come and say many things against the Master. But I would always tell them lovingly that I have seen only one thing and that is that by repeating the Name of Kirpal Singh many sinners have been liberated. That is why Ajaib Singh says, "You should never leave the support of Kirpal Singh." When I would tell them this, and they would know that I had so much faith in the Master, then they would leave me alone after feeling a lot of embarrassment. Once a woman came to me very sympathetically and said, "It seems that some ghost is controlling you. Let me take you to someone who can repeat some mantra and can remove that ghost from within you." I told her lovingly that within me such a Satguru is sitting who can heal people by repeating the mantra, but He is so dear and such a unique one that nobody can control Him. One evening when I was sitting in the remembrance of Master with tears in my eyes, I came out of the cave and was sitting outside. That woman came with her son and they taunted me and said that nobody else was paying any attention to me. She said, "I can take you for treatment." I told her, "I will not be treated by anyone except Kirpal. For me, I need only one medicine and that is the grace of Master Kirpal. If Kirpal keeps showering grace on me, that is enough for me." When they saw tears in my eyes they were very impressed and they were also moved. Nanak says, "Praise the Naam and your seva for the True One will become true (accepted)." All the happinesses are within those in whose mind the Lord dwells. Their faces are brightened in the Court of the Lord. Everyone goes to see them. Those who are doing the meditation of Shabd Naam according to the instructions of their Masters, they get all the elixirs. They get all the taste of all the nectars. And you know that the elixir of Naam is the greatest of all. When they have manifested Naam within, they have got all things. So when those who are doing the meditation according to the instructions of their Masters get that elixir within, God keeps many other things within them. God Himself inspires people to come to Him. One who does the meditation, and repeats the Name of the Lord twenty-four hours a day - such a devotee cannot remain hidden. Those who have meditated upon the fearless Naam have no fear. Those in whose destiny it is written, they serve the best Lord. He who meditates according to the instructions of the Master, rising above public shame and the threat of the people, he is never afraid of the people because his Master, his God, is protecting him. Those within whose heart the Lord resides, get the dress of honor in the Court of the Lord. They themselves cross with all the family, and after them they release the whole world. The meditators of Naam are honored in the court of the Lord. God gives them the real respect, the true respect. They themselves get liberation, and moreover, they become the cause of liberation for their generation, for their families. Even if all the people of this world follow them, they can all get liberation. Master Sawan Singh Ji used to say that one generation of the satsangi gets liberation; and of the satsangi who is doing meditation, a practicing satsangi, many generations get liberation; and many more generations of the Gurumukhs get liberation. Nanak says, "0 Lord, unite me with Him, seeing Whom I can live." Guru Ramdas Ji requests the Lord, "0 Lord, make us meet such a Sadhu, such a Saint, that after meeting Him, we may look at Him and have His darshan. His darshan is our life and we will not be satisfied even after having a lot of His darshan." The place where my Satguru comes and sits becomes glorious. Those creatures flourish whom my Satguru sees. The land where the Masters are born and the land where the Masters go and sit is the blessed one. It is worth worshipping. And the creatures who go to have the darshan of such Masters, they are also most fortunate ones; because when they go to have the darshan of the Masters, their mind gets peace. Blessed, Blessed is the father, Blessed, Blessed is the family, Blessed, Blessed is the mother Who has given birth to the Master. Blessed, Blessed is the Master who meditated on Naam. He Himself got liberation, and He released those who saw Him also. Blessed is the family in which the Master was born and blessed are the parents who gave birth to such a Master. Blessed is that Master who did the meditation of Shabd Naam after renouncing the worldly pleasures. What does God give to such a Master? God liberates such a Master and gives Him such glory that those who go to have His darshan are also made free in the Court of the Lord. "0 Lord, graciously unite me with the Satguru so that I may wash His feet," says Nanak. The True Satguru is the Perfectly True and immortal One in whose heart the Lord resides. Now again He requests the Lord, "0 Lord, make us meet such a Satguru, so that we may always remain attached to His feet, and we may always remain in love with Him." Master never dies, He only changes His body; because God is manifested in the Master. The True Satguru is the perfectly True One who has destroyed the poison of lust and anger. Satguru is the all-owner; He has controlled lust, anger, greed, attachment, and egoism. He has molded His life in a correct way. Those who have seen the Perfect Satguru have subdued their mind within. I am constantly sacrificing myself to the Master to whom I am devoted. The Gurumukh wins; the manmukhs lose. He says, I sacrifice myself on my Sat Guru who made my life. Gurumukhs win their body in this life. They utilize their body and go back to their home. The manmukhs always lose in this world. They are always obeying lust, anger and all the passions, and they never utilize their body. Gurumukhs take the profit, whereas the manmukhs even lose their capital. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEXT CHAPTER

BACK TO CONTENTS

HOME
 

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1