THE TREE WITHIN THE SEED
by
Sant Ajaib Singh Ji
This talk was given on July 12, 1980
at Sant Bani Ashram, N.H. and is the
ninth in a series of fourteen talks
on the Gauri Vars of Guru Ramdas Ji.
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Those who are graciously united with the Satguru
will meditate on Naam like the Gurumukhs.
God is an ocean, and the Shabd - the Sound Current - is His wave, and
our soul is a drop of that ocean. The drop is water, the wave is also water,
and the ocean is also water. When we withdraw our soul from the body and
bring it to the eye center, this is the place from where we think, so when
we bring our soul there, we come in contact with the Sound Current, or the
Shabd which is the wave of the ocean which is God, and our soul climbs that
wave and goes back to God. Then our soul realizes that she was not different
from the Sound Current, and the Sound Current was not different from God,
all three were one and the same thing. And then she realizes that she had
lost her control over the mind because she had gotten separated from Shabd.
Because she got separated from God, she has become the slave of mind. When
the soul gets the human body, and does the devotion of the Lord, withdrawing
from all the outer things, and again connects herself with the Shabd, and
goes back to God, only then can the soul regain her control over the mind.
The seed of the banyan tree is very small, and the banyan tree itself is
a very big plant when it has grown to its extreme. But if someone were to
tell us that in this little seed the big banyan tree with its leaves and
numerous branches is hidden, we would not believe it. But when we sow that
seed in the ground and it comes out of the ground, and when we go on
nourishing it, and one day the tree grows big, then we realize that all
these things have come out of that little seed.
Guru Sahib tells us that God is in soul, and soul is in God. But we can
understand this secret only when we think over the teachings of the Masters -
only when we give up our own teachings, our own understandings, and follow
the teachings of the Gurumukhs.
Guru Ramdas Ji Maharaj says that when God showers grace on us, first of
all He brings us in the company of a perfect Master. And when the Masters
shower grace on us, they connect us with Shabd Naam. And when we do the
meditation of Shabd Naam, then we are convinced, we get the courage, and we
know that we are walking on the true Path.
They do whatever pleases the Satguru.
The Perfect Guru will make them dwell in His House.
If we obey the commandments of the Master and lead our lives according to
the instructions of the Master, and do our meditation on Shabd Naam, what
does Master give us? Master invites us and welcomes us into Sach Khand.
He takes us to our real Home, and gives us great honor.
Those who have the wealth of Naam within them,
He will remove all their fear.
Those within whom Master and Naam get manifested, they do not understand
this world as supreme. They understand their Master as supreme.
Ordinarily we do not accept the teachings of the truth, and do not follow
the path, because we are afraid of people's opinions, we are afraid of
public shame. Many times it happens that when we start doing the devotion,
our friends and relatives all taunt us and tell us that this is not our
time to do the devotion, this is the time for eating, drinking, and doing
the worldly things - and the time for doing the devotion of the Lord is when
one gets old. When people are taunted like this, they are intimidated and
stop doing their meditation. But Masters say that whatever work we are
supposed to do tomorrow, we should do it today, and whatever work we are
supposed to do today, we should have done that work in the morning. Kabir
Sahib says, "Whatever you are supposed to do tomorrow, you should do it
today! You should not postpone your work; who knows when Kal will come and
take you away?
Those who are protected by the Lord Himself,
What will the people do against them?
No matter at what time the Masters came in this world, and no matter in what
religion they came, they were always opposed and the people of the world
left no stone unturned to harass them. But those who have perfect Masters
over their head, and those who have the hand of the perfect Masters, God is
in their favor. No matter what the worldly people do to harass them, still
they cannot do anything, because God is with them.
Nanak says, "Meditate on the Naam. He will rescue you
in this world and the world beyond."
We should do the devotion and meditation of Shabd Naam. What reward do we
get? If we do the meditation of Shabd Naam, we are honored and praised in
this world, and when we leave this world, we go to our home in the court of
the Lord.
The Glory of the Satguru is liked
by the disciples of the Master.
Only the disciples of the Masters like the glory of the Masters. In the
Satsang of day before yesterday I said, "What is the status of the sikh?"
The status of the sikh or disciple is very high. Only he is called sikh or
disciple who reaches Par Brahmand and removes all the three vestures from
his soul. If we are the real disciples of the Master and anyone is
glorifying our Master, we will listen to him with love and we will
appreciate that. For the real disciples of the Master, that meeting is
not appreciated where they do not talk about their Lover.
Kabir Sahib says, "Master makes us meet the Sadh, and Sadh inspires us
to meet the Master. By obeying both the Master and the Sadh, we can get
the knowledge of the Agam Lok."
The Lord protects the honor of the Satguru.
It continually increases.
In the mind of the Satguru is the Par Brahm.
The Par Brahm rescues Him.
Within the Satguru, God is manifested, and that is why the Satguru always
goes on singing the praise of God. And because He always sings the praise
of God, God loves him; and He is as dear to God as the child is to the
mother. God always protects and takes care of the Master.
When Saints or Mahatmas initiate souls, they take their residence within
the initiates in the form of Sound or Shabd; and residing within them, They
guide them and help them. Even after realizing and knowing this, if we still
go on criticizing others, whom are we criticizing in fact? In fact we are
criticizing the Master who is sitting within them. Guru Nanak Sahib says
that one calls people good and bad as long as he is involved in the duality.
But when he sees within himself the fact that Master is present everywhere,
he does not say good or bad, because he has got the knowledge of the
Gurumukhs. Guru Sahib says, "Connect yourselves with the Shabd within and
then see whom you are criticizing, whether you are criticizing the Master
or the other people, and you will know whom you are obeying when you
criticize." Mind is the only one whom we obey, and it is he whom we have
made our Master, our prophet, and we are always following him, always
obeying him. And obeying our mind, we are making friends, we are making
enemies. And only because we obey the commandments of our mind, we say,
"He is good," or "He is bad."
If you go within a palace which has many mirrors everywhere, you will find
your image, your own self, everywhere. In the same way, when we take our
soul to Par Brahmand, when we go there, we see our own Self; and after that
we start seeing God; we start seeing our Selves everywhere.
The soul who has reached there-she is neither black nor white, neither
man, nor woman. The physical body and all these things are below that place;
only soul is there.
The Lord is the strength and support of the Satguru.
He makes the whole world bow down to Him.
Those who have seen my Satguru with love,
all their sins are removed.
Satguru always receives the strength of God, and always works because of the
strength of God. Whatever He has, that all belongs to God. His honor is the
honor of God, His glory is the glory of God. And further Guru Ramdas Ji
says, "Those who had the darshan of my Master Guru Amardas, the One Who was
one with God, all their sins were removed just by having the darshan of my
Master."
Guru Nanak says, "Those who have seen or heard about the Master, they
never go in the womb of the mother again."
Their faces are brightened in the court of the Lord
and they get a lot of glory.
Nanak seeks the dust of those disciples
who are my brothers.
Those who have done the meditation of Shabd Naam, God honors them and gives
them much respect. And Guru Ramdas says, "I long for the dust of the feet
of my friends, the disciples of my Master, who have seen my Master and have
followed the instructions of my Master."
I utter and praise the qualities of the True One.
The Glory of the True One is True.
Those who have tasted the true Nectar of the True One,
they remain satisfied.
Only those who know, relish the Nectar of Hari
as a mute person eats the sweets.
Now Guru Ramdas Ji says, "People come and say, `Show us your God, show us
how God is manifested within you.' But only those who have love and faith
in God, and yearning for God, can know how God or the Master is manifested
within, and how they can also see God working in Him." Guru Ramdas Ji says,
"If you ask a dumb man to describe the taste of the sugar which he has
eaten, he will not be able to do that. He has tasted the sugar, but he
cannot describe that; he has kept it within." In the same way, the Masters
Who have manifested God within Them do not show outwardly how God is
manifested within Them; They always keep God hidden within Them. But those
who act according to Their instructions, they can easily know how God is
manifested within Them.
Those who do the meditation of Shabd Naam, only they can know what the
elixir tastes like. Hazur Maharaj Ji used to say, "The work which one man
has done, others can also do that."
Those who have served the Lord through the Perfect Master,
in their mind congratulations are sung.
Within whom there are sores, they know the pain.
There is one special type of sore which people have on their back. Who can
know the pain of that type of sore? Only those who have had that. The one
who has climbed the cross, only he knows how much pain he is having. The
one who is sitting on the dais, how can he know what pain the one who is
crucified is having?
The Lord knows the pangs of separation.
I always sacrifice myself to Him.
Those who have done the meditation, they know how they have to bear the pain,
because meditation means we have to fight with our mind. Later on, when we
have to deal with mind himself, then we will know how we have to deal with
mind. But right now, we are dealing with the organs of senses, and we are
loving these things with which we have to fight.
Kabir Sahib says, "The unchaste people have spoiled the name of devotion
for the pleasures of their organs of senses; and they have wasted the
precious gem of the human body."
Those who have done the meditation, those who have worked very hard, have
left the body and gone to Brahmand, ask them how easy or how difficult the
meditation is.
Often I have said that the practices of the Path of the Masters seem to be
difficult in the beginning, but later on it is not so difficult. Now, it is
difficult for us to still our mind and keep it quiet and it is very difficult
for us to go within. But if we go on working on it, and if we go within,
after that, it will be difficult for us to come out.
O Lord, make me meet my Beloved. I will roll my head
on the ground for them (who make me meet my Beloved.)
To those disciples who work for the Master,
I am the slave of slaves.
Now Guru Ramdas Ji is making a request to the Lord. He says, "O Lord, make
me meet those dear ones, those lovers of my Master, of God, who are doing
their meditation day and night, and have become mad in the love of their
Master. I am the slave of those dear ones who are singing the praise of my
Master day and night."
Those who are dyed in the color of the Lord, their bodies
are filled with the color of the Lord.
We get ourselves dyed in the color of those people in whose company we go.
He says, "When we go in the company of those who are doing the meditation
of Shabd Naam, we also get inspired to do the meditation."
Nanak says, "Graciously make me meet the Master, to
Whom my head has been sold."
This body is full of faults. How will it become pure, O Saints?
By purchasing the qualities from the Gurumukhs, one can
wash off the filth of egotism.
Now Guru Ramdas Ji first puts a question. He says that this body has become
very dirty: It has been polluted sometimes by the dirt of lust, sometimes by
the dirt of anger, and sometimes by the dirt of egoism, greed and all the
other passions. How can we get all this dirt out of the body; how can we
purify this body? Then He Himself responds to the question. He says, "If we
get the Perfect Master, and if that Perfect Master showers grace on us and
gives us Naam Initiation, and if we meditate on that Naam given to us, only
then can we make our body pure and holy."
The soap cannot become dirty even though it has to deal with the dirt; it
removes the dirt without itself becoming dirty. In the same way, we cannot
pollute the Naam with the dirt of our sins. In fact the Naam removes the
sins and makes us pure.
Guru Sahib says, "The Truth never becomes old, and Naam never gets dirty."
Those who purchase the Truth with pleasure,
their merchandise becomes the True One.
Loss does not befall him to whom
the profit of the Lord is pleasing.
Now He says that those who have done the meditation in this way of the
Saints, have never been disappointed. Those who have gone within, have
always received the True Happiness. They have never got any disappointment.
We are not stable as long as we do not meditate on the Shabd Naam with
love and faith.
Nanak says, "They deal in the True Merchandise
in whose destiny it is written."
Who deals in the true merchandise of Naam, and who does the true meditation
on Naam? Only those who have been chosen by God from the Eternal Home. And
only those in whose fate it has been written by Almighty God that they have
to do this work, only they do this.
No one's speed of progress is fixed on this Path. It is not like one's
vision will be opened after ten, twenty or thirty years. There is no fixed
time on this Path, because it all depends upon our efforts and upon our
love. And Master always showers grace, so that is why it all depends on
our efforts and the love and faith we have for the Master.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, "When the disciple who has a lot of yearning and
longing for God, meets the Perfect Master Who has a knowledge of the Sound
Current and Who can initiate him into the Sound Current and take him above,
it means that the disciple was already good because he had the longing for
God; and when he met the Perfect Master, he became better."
Praise the Praiseworthy True One Who is different
from the others.
By serving the True One, the True One dwells within,
and the True Lord is the Protector.
Those who worship the True One, are united
with the True One.
Those who do not serve the True One are manmukhs,
and they become ghosts.
"True" means that which is never destroyed and always remains, that which
is permanent. And the Naam of God is the only thing which is the Truth,
because the Naam of God is the only thing which will remain forever. So
those who do the meditation, those who meditate on the True Naam of God,
they go back to God, and they become one with God.
Further, Guru Sahib describes the condition of manmukhs: Manmukhs are
those people who do not do the devotion of Shabd Naam. They come in this
world, they suffer in this world, and they go. Their condition is just
like the condition of the ghosts, who do not stay in one place but wander
in pain from one place to another.
They talk nonsense, like those who are intoxicated
with drink.
God has given this human birth for doing His devotion. But the manmukhs,
those who do not do the meditation of Shabd Naam, do not realize that; and
they always talk like the drunkards talk after getting so much intoxication.
They do not know what they are saying, they do not know what they are
supposed to say; they don't even remember what their Master told them, and
what is good for them and what is bad for them.
In this bani Guru Sahib explains to us very clearly the qualities of
the Gurumukhs and the manmukhs. Mahatmas say all these things so that we
may come to the Path of devotion in one way or another.
In the Gauri Rag, she who remembers her husband has
a good character.
She walks according to the will of the Satguru,
and makes the will her ornament.
What religion is good for us? Only that religion in which we get ourselves
connected with God.
The true Shabd is her husband whom she always repeats.
As the color of boiled "manjith" (saffron) is dark red,
So she gives her soul to the True One.
God creates the creation by Shabd, and God dissolves the creation by Shabd.
Those who do the meditation on Shabd Naam, they make their lives successful.
And when one does the devotion, the meditation of Shabd Naam, for him the
colors of the world die out because he is getting the color of Naam.
She who is in love with the True One,
is dyed in the true Color.
Falsehood and deceit do not remain hidden
even if they are covered.
We can deceive the world, we can deceive our own self, but we can never
deceive God, Who is sitting within us. How can we deceive the One who is
sitting within us?
Kabir Sahib says, "God is sitting in the window above, and looking at
everyone." In whatever way one is doing the devotion of the Lord, he is
getting the reward from God in that way. When we put the color of gold on
the thing made of brass or copper, and say that it is gold, it will never
become gold. We can deceive the people, but when we take it to the jeweler,
he will at once tell us that it is not gold. No matter if we go on telling
people that we are the True One, we are the Real One; our reality will only
be known when we go to the Court of the Lord. We cannot tell God that we
are the True Ones; we cannot make Him believe in us. He knows who is true
and who is not true. He always accepts the True Ones; whereas the false ones
are always rejected.
Those who are in love with falsehood, glorify it.
Nanak says, The Lord Himself is True, and He Himself
showers His Grace.
People are in love with garbage, with false things. And because they are in
love with the false, and they are attached to the false, they always lie,
and they say that they have become one with God. No one can become one with
God by reading a few books. When one has to fight with his mind, only then
can he know how difficult it is to become one with God.
Guru Nanak Sahib says, "If a woman has never enjoyed with a man, but still
she goes on saying that she is married, that she has enjoyed the pleasures;
just by talking about the pleasures, she cannot enjoy. Unless she goes to a
man, she cannot know what the pleasures are really like. In the same way,
if the soul has not left the body, and if the soul has not attached herself
to the Shabd, and if still the person goes on saying that he has become one
with God, that will never happen. Because by reading books, by talking, no
one can become one with God."
In the Sat Sangat lies the praise of the Lord;
In the company of Sadhus, the Beloved is met.
In the Satsang, the importance and the glory of God is explained. And only
through the Satsang Masters create within us the longing and yearning to do
the devotion of Lord. Masters tell us those things which have become a wall
between us and God; they tell us, "Lust, anger, greed, attachment and
egotism are deceiving you." And They tell us how to remove all these things.
Once there was a Master Who went to one place for doing Satsang. The next
morning, when he was leaving, one greedy man accompanied Him. The people in
whose house the Master had stayed the night made three stuffed chapatis for
His journey. There came one point when the Mahatma had to go to attend the
call of nature. So he told the dear one, "Dear one, you sit here and take
care of my things, and I will be back in a few minutes." So this man,
because he was greedy, thought, "Let me search through the bags of this
Mahatma," because he had heard that the Mahatmas always have a lot of
wealth, and he thought of getting some wealth from the Mahatma. So he
searched through the bags, but he could not find anything except those three
stuffed chapatis. And he was very hungry, and moreover he was greedy; so
without asking the permission of the Mahatma, he ate one of those three
stuffed chapatis. When the Mahatma came back, He said, "Okay, now let us
eat the chapatis which the dear ones have made for us." When the Mahatma
opened the bag, He was surprised to find only two stuffed chapatis there
because he was told that there were three stuffed chapatis, and he was
wondering where the third one had gone. So he asked that dear one, "Tell me,
where has the third stuffed chapati gone?" And he replied, "Master, I don't
know. I think they gave you only two, and I don't have any knowledge of that
third chapati." Master kept quiet, and He said, "It's okay, you eat one and
I will eat the other one."
After eating those chapatis, they started walking again; and they came to
a river which they had to cross. Mahatma was very confident because He had
faith in God and he knew that He would not be drowned. But that dear one
was very afraid. Even though he was accompanied by a Perfect Master, still
he was afraid. When he went into the river with the Master, he felt as if he
was going to drown. So he told the Master, "Master, I am afraid that I am
going to be drowned; do something for me. I feel like I am going to die
here." So Master said, "God has created us, and He will protect us. So you
should remember Him, and request and pray to Him so that He may save you."
So when that greedy man did the remembrance of God and prayed to Him, then
he was saved; and both the Master and the greedy one crossed the river
without any problem.
When they had crossed the river, the Mahatma thought that now this dear
one would speak the Truth because God had showered so much grace on him. So
He said, "Dear one, you know that God created you and He showered a lot of
grace on you; He saved you from this water. Now you should swear by the same
God and tell me who ate that third chapati." And he said, "Master, truly I
don't know anything about it. If I had known about it, I would definitely
have told you." Master was very patient, and He kept quiet. He said, "Okay."
He knew that sooner or later he would come around and speak the Truth; so
He did not become impatient.
Again both of them started walking, and they came to one forest which was
on fire. Master was confident and he was not afraid to go through that fire.
But the greedy man was afraid, and when they came near the fire, the greedy
man felt that the fire would burn him up. So he said, "Master, the fire is
coming, and we are caught in the fire; there is no way out, so what should
we do?" The Master said, "God, Who has created you and has saved you from
the water, now if you will again remember Him and pray to Him, he will
definitely save you. I have full faith in God, so you do that." So that dear
one again remembered God and prayed to Him, and he was saved from the fire
also.
When they were saved from the fire, Master thought, "Again God has
showered a lot of grace on Him, and now he should realize his mistake and
tell the truth. He should admit that he has eaten the third chapati." So He
said, "Dear one, you should remember how gracious God is on you. He has been
doing so many things for you; He has saved you from the water, and now from
the fire. And understanding the same God Who has created you and saved you
in both places, feeling His presence, you should swear by Him and tell me
about that missing third chapati." So that dear one said, "No, Master, I
don't know anything about it. I don't know who ate the chapati; I never ate
that." So Master was still very patient, and He said, "It's okay."
Again they started walking; and they came to a dense forest where there
were many wild animals. Two tigers were coming towards them. Masters,
because They have full faith in God, and they know that everything is in
the will of God, are never afraid of any circumstances. So Master was not
afraid, but that greedy man was. So he said, "Master, you see those tigers,
they are coming toward us and they will kill us and eat us. What should be
done?" So Master said, "You should remember God, because God has saved you
many times, and He has done a lot for you. If you will remember Him, He will
definitely save you. You should have faith in Him, you should be confident."
So according to the instructions of the Master, when he did that, when he
remembered God and prayed to Him to save him from the tigers, after some
time the tigers were not there; they had gone in some other direction.
Now Master thought, "It has been three times that this man has been saved
by the grace of God. Now he should realize that God is working everywhere,
God knows everything. Now he should not lie anymore, he should tell me the
truth." Master wanted him to speak the truth, so that he might get the
benefit of his company with the Master. Whenever Masters come in the world,
sometimes by telling us stories, sometimes by telling us directly, they
always try to make us truthful. That is why they do all these things. So
the Master told him, "Look here, dear one. Up till now you should realize
how gracious God has been on you. He saved you from the tigers, he didn't
let you drown in the water, he saved you from the fire, he gave you many
things. So you should swear by God, and tell me about that missing chapati."
So he said, "Master, truly if I had known about the chapati, I would have
told you in the beginning. Why should I keep telling lies?"
Master said, "Okay." He knew that he would come around. So he did one
more thing. He said, "Okay, dear one, it has been a long time that you have
been with me, and I would like to give you something. What would you like
to have?" He said, "Master, you know that I am very poor, and I would like
to have some money, some gold." So he said, "Okay, you collect some pebbles,
some stones, and I will turn them into gold." So when he collected some
stones, Master turned those stones into gold. He made three piles of it,
and said, "God has showered grace on us, and He has given so much wealth.
I will take one of these piles, one pile is for you, and the third pile is
for him who has eaten that chapati. So now you tell me the truth." So that
greedy man at once said, "Yes, Master, this is the truth: I ate that
chapati." Masters know our weakness; that is why They always do things so
that we may understand that God is Truth, God is present everywhere, and
Masters know everything. And moreover Master knows that only the pure mind,
the truthful mind, can do the meditation of Shabd Naam; that is why they
always try their best to make us truthful.
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