THE JEWEL OF HAPPINESS
The Sukhmani of Guru Arjan
a commentary by
AJAIB SINGH
Chapter 18
WHO IS THE SATGURU?
Satguru is the name of Him Who has known Sat Purush,
Nanak says, The disciples are saved in His company by
singing God's praise.
Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj is describing the glory of the perfect Master.
He is asking, "What is the greatness of the Master? Who is the Master?"
And He Himself replies, "He who manifests the Almighty Lord within him
is called a Satguru." It is a law of nature, made by God Himself, that
no soul can reach the country of the Almighty Lord by himself. If we
are fortunate ones and, according to our fate, we come across a perfect
Master, then - after spending some time with Him and taking Naam from
Him - we can achieve liberation. In no way can anybody get liberation or
improve his life without going into the company of the perfect Master.
Master used to say that what a man has done, a man can do. God Himself
comes into this world as a human being, and He lives among us; and by
spending time in His company and by doing all that He tells us to do, we
also improve our life and become like Him, and go back to our real Home,
Sach Khand.
So here Guru Sahib says that He Who has understood the Sat Purush
is Satguru; and all the disciples who remain in His company get
liberation.
Satguru protects the disciple.
The Master is always gracious on the disciple.
Now He says, "What is the relation between the Master and the disciple?
The Master always remains gracious on the disciple and He always protects
the disciple." After giving us the initiation, the Master does not stop
worrying about us - He never forgets us until He takes us back to Sach
Khand. Master has to decide our future even after we leave this world. It
is in the hands of the Master, and it is He Who decides whether He has to
keep our soul in the higher planes, and after purifying us there, take us
back to our real Home; or whether He wants to give us one more birth.
Everything is in the hands of the Master; birth and death are in the hands
of the Master.
The Master removes all the dirt and bad qualities
of the disciple.
Through the words of the Master, the disciple
repeats the Naam of the Lord.
If the disciple is doing the meditation of Shabd Naam, according to
the instructions of the Master, Master removes all the bad qualities of
the disciple.
Satguru cuts the bindings of the disciple;
The disciple of the Master recoils from evil deeds.
What does Satguru do? Satguru cuts all the bindings, all the attachments
of the disciples. But when does He do that? He does that only when the
disciple turns his back on all the worldly pleasures and comes to the
Master. On our soul, first of all, is the attachment of the physical body,
and then there is the attachment of the astral and causal bodies. It is
like one case within another one. Satguru comes into this world, and after
making us meditate on Shabd Naam, He makes us free from these cages and
takes us back to our real Home. We know that if our body becomes pure, our
mind will also become pure, and the purer our mind is, the purer our soul
will become. And when our soul becomes as pure as the Shabd is, because
the Shabd is all-pure, it will take no time for our soul to withdraw from
this body and go back to the real Home; because the Shabd is always
present there in the body, and when the soul becomes as pure as the Shabd
is, then the Shabd Himself pulls the soul up. When our soul becomes pure,
there is no power in this world that can keep our soul in this body.
Satguru gives the wealth of Naam to the disciple.
The disciple of the Master is the fortunate one.
Only those souls who have good fortune come to the Master, and Master
gives them the wealth of Naam. The wealth of Naam is such a wealth
that cannot be stolen by any thief, burned by any fire, or drowned in
any water.
Satguru improves this and the next world of the disciple.
Nanak says, Satguru remembers the disciple with every
single breath.
The Master improves the life of the disciple in this world, and He
improves it in the other world also. He always remembers the disciple.
After giving initiation, not even for one second does He forget the
disciple.
The disciple who lives in the house of the Master
And obeys the orders of the Master,
Who after doing seva regards himself as nothing,
Who ever remembers the Naam of the Lord in his heart -
If the disciple comes and lives in the house of the Master, always abides
by the commandments of the Master, and fulfills his duty to do Bhajan and
Simran and does all the other things which the Master tells him to do -
even after doing all this seva, he should never become an egotist or think
that he is doing this; instead he should become grateful to his Master
that he has been given this opportunity to do this seva.
Who sells his mind to the Satguru,
Such a servant gets all his work accomplished.
What is the obstacle between us and the Satguru? Our mind is the only
thing which is coming in between us and the Satguru, and if we sacrifice
our mind to the Master - if we surrender our mind to the Master - if we
sell our mind to the Master, then all the works of such a disciple are
taken care of; when the disciple removes the obstacle of the mind, he
becomes one with the Master. If we sacrifice our mind to the Master, then
there is nothing left which can bother us. Everything comes to us if we
sacrifice our mind to the Master. Then our meditations also become
fruitful because we are not obeying our mind any more and all our other
works are also taken care of.
He, who while doing seva becomes selfless,
Achieves the Lord.
When we are doing seva, we must do it selflessly. If we are doing seva
without expecting anything in return, Master gives us a lot. Master always
gives a lot to all the disciples; but to those who do seva in this way, He
gives the highest status.
He, on whom God showers grace,
Such a servant obeys the instructions of the Master,
says Nanak.
This is a matter of great understanding. It is not in our hands to sell
our mind or sacrifice our mind, to the Master. It is not in our hands
to obey the commandments of the Master; it is not in our hands to do
anything. It is all kept in the hands of the Master. Only Master knows
which one He has to take back Home in this lifetime, or who has to be
given one more birth in this world, and who has to do what. Everything
is in the hands of the Master, and only He knows what is going to happen
in His Will. Master used to say that until our inner veil is lifted, we
may say that we are doing seva, we are coming to Satsang, we are sitting
for meditation, etc. But when our inner veil is lifted and we start
seeing clearly, then we know that we were not the one that was coming
to Satsang, or doing seva, or sitting for meditation; it was Somebody
else who was pulling us to the Satsang, making us do the meditation,
making us do the seva. Then, in the true sense, we start becoming
grateful to Master - we start thanking Master, saying, "O Master, You
were very gracious on us and we are thankful to You." Swami Ji Maharaj
said, "Everything is in the Will of the Master, and whomever He wants,
He makes a Gurumukh! Everybody is tired, is working very hard; but what
can anyone do if it is not in the Will of the Master?"
The disciple who understands his mind as the Master's
one hundred per cent
Comes to know the glory of the Supreme Lord.
It is the duty of the disciple to surrender his mind completely to the
Master; he should always understand that the mind belongs to the Master
and he has no right to use it. When we do this, then we get the true
understanding of doing devotion to the Master, and there is no obstacle
between us and Him. Then we get the real understanding of doing devotion.
He in whose heart dwells the Naam of the Lord
is Satguru.
Many times I sacrifice myself on such a Master.
The Guru says that only He is Satguru within Whom the Naam. is manifested;
and further He says, "I sacrifice myself many times on such a Satguru
within Whom the Naam. is manifested and, graciously, Who has manifested
that Naam within me also."
He is the giver of all treasures in life;
He is absorbed in the color of Parbrahm always.
Satguru is the owner of the treasure of Naam; He holds such a treasure
that never comes to an end. He is very gracious - He never stops giving
His wealth to those who come to Him - and He is always absorbed in God;
all the time He is one with God. Whenever He opens His eyes He is
functioning in the world; and when He closes His eyes, He is with God.
At one and the same time He is in the world and with God.
He is in God. God is in Him;
He and God are One - there is no doubt in this.
Saints have no doubts regarding God and their Master, because They are
absorbed in God; They are one with God. They are one with God as sugar
is in rock candy and the rock candy is in the sugar. "The dear one became
one with the Beloved as the sugar has become one with the rock candy."
He cannot be achieved by thousands of clever deeds;
Nanak says, Such a Master is obtained by good fortune.
No matter how much wisdom we have or how much cleverness we have, we cannot
meet such a Master Who has manifested God within Him, with the grace of His
Master Who has manifested Naam within Him - we cannot meet Him, we cannot
get any advantage from Him, unless we have the grace of God on us. If we
are fortunate ones, if God is gracious on us, only then can we come across
such a Master and get benefit from such a Master.
Lovingly, Guru Sahib explains to us that when the seeds of our past
good karmas sprout out, then we come across such a holy renunciate soul.
Nanak says, "After meeting such a great renunciate soul - such a Master
- the darkness of ignorance is removed and we awake from the slumber of
ages and ages. Those souls who come to the feet of the Master are very
fortunate ones." No matter how much one runs after the Master, unless he
is fortunate, he cannot get Him.
The darshan is successful; having it, one becomes pure.
By touching His feet, the purest deed is conducted.
We are successful only if we are successful in getting the darshan of
such a Satguru - such a Master. To bow down to such a Master is the
purest deed we can do on this plane. Guru Nanak Sahib said, "I will
never be satisfied even after looking at the body of the Master many
times. Those who have seen the Master with their own eyes have improved
their lives."
Meeting Him, the qualities of God are sung;
And one gets access to the court of the Supreme Lord.
When we go to the Satguru, He makes us do the meditation of Naam, and by
doing that, we get respect and honor in the court of the Lord.
Hearing His words, the ears get satisfaction-
The mind gets contentment and the soul gets consolation.
Hearing the words of the Satguru, our ears also get contentment, because
the sound of the Shabd is such that once we have heard it, our ears do not
like to hear any other music. The Inner Sound is so beautiful and so
melodious that it gives peace and contentment to our ears, and we find no
peace, no enjoyment, in any sound but the Shabd.
The Mantra of the perfect Master is everlasting;
He on whom He looks with His nectar-filled glance
becomes a Saint.
The Mantra, or the Word, of the perfect Master is never destroyed; the
Master is never destroyed, and the disciple within whom that Mantra has
been kept also is never destroyed; They are all immortal. No matter if
one is unfortunate and has done many bad deeds, if the gracious eyes of
the Master are upon him, he also becomes pure: the Master makes his life
pure and successful by making him do the meditation of Shabd Naam. After
coming into the company of the Saints and Mahatmas, many thieves and
dacoits and bad people improved their lives and became Saints.
His qualities are limitless, His value cannot
be assessed;
Nanak says, Whomsoever He desires, He unites
with Himself.
We cannot describe the glory of the Master, because He is limitless.
He is very gracious, and He can take anyone He wants to the court of the
Lord, because God has given Him permission to bring anyone He wants, and
has told Him that He will accept all those who come with Him, no matter
how they are. Guru Nanak Sahib said, "When God gives the treasures of
His devotion to any Mahatma, He never asks Him the account. He never asks
Him, 'Why did you bring this one and why didn't you bring that one? He
never says, 'This one is a sinner,' or 'This one is a good man.'" All
those who go with the Master are accepted by God and they are all forgiven.
Masters lovingly explain to us: "You should not look at your bad qualities;
you should not look at your past sins, and don't think that you are not
worthy of taking initiation. Ignoring all that, you should come to the
Master and take initiation. But once you have taken initiation and stepped
on to the Path, then you should not do those bad things which you have been
doing before. Improve your life, and then you can go back to your real
Home. Once you get initiation, don't look back and don't do what you have
done before."
Tongue is one, praises are many:
He is the True Being with perfect faculty
of discrimination.
We have only one tongue, and the greatness of the Master is such that
we cannot describe all His glory with this one tongue. Because He is
limitless and His glory is very high, we cannot describe Him in His
fullness.
The mortal one cannot reach Him by any words.
He is Agam, Agochar, and free from all desires.
We cannot reach the Almighty Lord by ourselves even if we have sweet
words or even if we are a learned or intellectual man. We cannot see
Him because He is unseen, and we cannot reach Him because He is
unfathomable. There is only one way of going to God, and that is, if
we are fortunate ones - if it is written in our fate - we may come across
the Master, and if Master is gracious on us, He may give us the Naam.
And by doing the meditation of Naam, and with the grace and the help
of the Master, we can reach the Almighty Lord.
He does not live by food, He is the enemy of none -
He is the giver of happiness,
No one has assessed His value.
Now He says, "How is God? God does not destroy anything. He does
not have enmity for anybody. He has only love for people; He gives
happiness, He gives peace, to people - and if we also become like Him,
if we also develop the attitudes and qualities which God has, then we
can also receive all the happiness and peace which God gives. We can
also become without enmity for others; we can also have the quality
of not destroying anybody and having only love."
Many devotees do the devotion,
And worship His lotus feet in their hearts.
Many devotees do the devotion of the Lord; many people perform one
practice, many people do another practice, many people just go on
praying to Him, and many people offer many other kinds of worship.
There is no reckoning how many, so that we can say, "This many people
do the devotion of the Lord." Many people in this world are doing His
devotion in one way or another.
I am always a sacrifice to my Satguru,
By Whose grace the Naam of such a God is repeated,
says Nanak.
Now He says that we can meet such a God Who does not destroy anybody,
Who does not have any enmity for anybody, and Who gives only happiness and
peace to the people - but we cannot get Him without the help of the
Master. "And that is why I sacrifice myself on my Master, because He has
made me meet such a God, and He has helped me in realizing such a God."
Some rare one obtains such a divine taste:
He who drinks this nectar becomes immortal.
Rare are the souls who get this nectar of immortality, but those who do
get it - this nectar of the Shabd - become immortal. Guru Amardas Ji
says, "The nectar that the gods, demons, man, and others are longing
for - I have achieved that with the grace of the Master."
Such a being never perishes,
Within whose heart this quality of the Lord
is manifested.
He who drinks that nectar of Shabd Naam becomes immortal; there is
nothing which can destroy him.
He meditates on the Naam of the Lord twenty-four hours
a day;
He gives the true teachings to His disciples.
Such Mahatmas are continually engaged in the devotion of the Lord; day
and night They remain in His remembrance, and are always absorbed in Him.
They Themselves are doing the devotion of the Lord, and that is why They
tell their disciples also to do the devotion of the Lord day and night,
and to remain in His remembrance: because there is nothing which can go
with us when we leave this world except the Naam.
He is not affected by maya and attachment;
He keeps one God in His heart.
Now He says that such Satgurus have no attachment in this world. They
are not attached to anything in this world, because their attachment
is with their Master.
(Within whom) in the darkness the Light manifests -
Nanak says, His illusions, attachment and pains vanish.
When we keep a lamp in a dark room, all the darkness goes away and any
doubts which we had about the things in the room go away; we can see
clearly because of that light. In the same way, when that Light gets
manifested within us, then all our doubts and illusions are cleared up.
God is sitting within us in the form of Light and Sound, and Master
lights the lamp of Naam within us; and when He does that, our inner path
is opened for us, our inner world becomes clear to us and we can see
everything clearly - if we have manifested the Master within us. Masters
never tell us to believe in them because of blind faith. They never give
us any blind faith. They say, "Come, do, and see!" Guru Nanak says,
"Within our body there is Light, and from that Light the Sound is coming;
and those who contact that Light and Sound, they commune with the Almighty
Lord."
In the midst of heat the coolness has been bestowed;
Brother, joy comes and pains flee away.
Our heart was burning in the fire of lust, anger, greed, attachment and
egoism. And our Master graciously showered the rain of Naam on this
burning heart and cooled it down; and now peace, happiness and
contentment have come.
The terrors of births and deaths are removed
By the perfect teachings of the Master.
When a Master gives initiation, our doubts and fears of birth and death
are removed. We never knew whether we would come back into this world or
not; but now, because the Master has given us initiation, we are sure
that we are not to come back to this world, and we know that one day we
will definitely go back to our real Home. A new hope has been developed
within us since we got initiation from the Master.
The fear has gone and one lives without any terror;
All the trouble and pain vanish from the mind.
By doing the meditation of Naam, the soul gets strength; the soul becomes
powerful and fearless, and the fear which we had of the Angel of Death
goes away; our soul becomes strong enough to prevent any fear from coming
to us. When the worldly people leave the body they suffer a lot; they
suffer a great deal of pain, and they always say at the time of death,
"Call Him, call Him, for help!" because they are having a great deal of
pain. But when an initiate leaves the body he does not experience pain.
Even when the animal of a satsangi leaves the body, he leaves peacefully.
And if a relative of a disciple leaves the body with the satsangi near
him, then he also does not experience much pain, because whenever and
wherever the satsangi is, the Master also is present there. Master always
helps even the animals of the disciples to leave the body without having
any pain.
The Master whose souls we are, has showered His grace:
Remember the Naam of God in the company of the Sadhu.
God, whose souls we are, showered grace on us, and He has become very
merciful to us.
Stillness is obtained and the illusions are gone
By listening to the praise of God with the ears,
says Nanak.
Now we are still, we have developed faith, and we are devoted to the
Master; when did all those things happen? Only when we started doing
the meditation of Shabd Naam.
God is without qualities, yet He is full of qualities.
His power has fascinated the whole world.
He is without qualities, He is full of qualities, and - sitting within
everyone - He has attracted everybody and He is controlling everybody.
This moving creation which we see with our eyes was not made by itself.
There is Someone, there is some Power, Who has created this creation.
And the things which are happening in this creation are not happening
by themselves. There is Someone Who is controlling it. Mahatmas call
that Power the Naam or the Almighty Lord, and They come into this world
only to unite us with that Power.
God Himself performs His plays;
He Himself knows His value.
We see many things happening in this world. There are many plays; there
are many creatures. God Himself has created all these creatures, He
Himself has created all these plays and happenings. All the things which
are happening in this world are being done by Him. And He Himself comes
down into this world becoming the Gurumukh. He Himself comes down,
becoming the Mahatma. Sitting within the Mahatma, He Himself tells us,
"There is some Power within you Who is waiting for you, and Who is the
main cause of all this creation, and if you will obey Me, if you will
follow Me, I can make you go within yourself, and make you see the One
Who has created you, and then you will understand the purpose of your
coming into this world." He is absorbed; He is present in every single
thing in this creation, in the same way that there is cotton in the
thread and at the same time there is cotton in the cloth also. You
cannot separate the thread from the cloth; you cannot separate the
cotton from the cloth. In the same way, you cannot separate God from
the creatures and the creatures from God. God is present everywhere.
There is nothing other than God;
The one God pervades and is present in all.
Satguru sees God in both enemies and friends, because God created
everybody.
He is contained in all forms and colors;
The enlightenment comes by the company of the Sadhu.
When did we realize this: That God is present in both enemies and
friends? The Guru says, "We realized it only when we went into the
company of the Mahatma." There was one disciple of Baba Sawan Singh
whom I saw many times embracing buffaloes, saying, "Sawan is within
this buffalo!" Many times he would embrace a tree and say, "Sawan
is present here, also." He used to say, "My Master Sawan is present
everywhere." Many great Masters had great meditator disciples who
saw their Masters in every single thing.
He infused His Power in the creation after
creating it.
Nanak says, I sacrifice myself on Him many times.
Now the Master says, "I sacrifice myself on such a God Who has created
all these creatures: insects, birds, animals, human beings, demons; and
after creating all these bodies, He has kept His own Power - the Power
of Shabd - within each of them. And only because of the presence of
that Power, are all those bodies moving. I sacrifice myself on such a
God Who has done such a thing."
In this section of the Sukhmani Sahib, Guru Arjan Dev Ji has
lovingly explained to us Who the Master is; what the qualities of the
Master are; and how we can improve our lives and liberate ourselves
from this world. Iron can float on the water if it is accompanied by
wood (for example, in a boat); in the same way, no matter how bad we
are, if we go into the company of the Master, we can also get
liberation from this world. Lovingly, He has explained to us how the
Master protects the disciple, how the Master remember's the disciple
every single moment, and how the Master showers His grace on the
disciples. Then He has said that we can come to such a Master only if
we have good fortune; only if it is written in our fate. And, in the
end, after creating all the creation, He has put His own Power within
them: Nanak says, "I sacrifice myself on such a God Who has created
such a creation."
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