THE JEWEL OF HAPPINESS
The Sukhmani of Guru Arjan
a commentary by
AJAIB SINGH
Chapter 2
THE SHADOW OF THE NAAM
O Sympathizer with the poor, Destroyer of pain,
Father of the orphans, Who resides everywhere -
Nanak says, "I have come under Your protection
with the grace of my Master."
Guru Arjan is praying to the Lord: You are the Father of the orphans;
You are the Remover of sins; and Your protection is always over our
head. No doubt You are within us always, but still You remove sins,
and You are always giving. There is water everywhere under the ground,
but whose thirst can be quenched? Only those who take out that water
by means of a well or in some other way. But those who take it out,
their thirst is definitely quenched. In the same way, there is no doubt
that the Almighty and Perfect Lord is within us; but after, separating
from Him, we have taken the bodies of insects, animals, and many other
forms of life. And until we go and unite with Him, we cannot realize
His Self, which is within us. He is residing within everybody; but
unless we go within and find Him, we cannot see Him.
O my mind! Where neither mother, father, friend,
brother nor son can help,
Naam will be helpful to you there.
Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj is talking about that time which we all
have to face, which comes to everybody. What time is that? Death:
when neither our father nor our mother, nor our brother or sister, nor
any relative of this world can go with us. Neither the wealth of this
world, nor any power which we have in this world, can come to our
rescue at the time of death. That is a very critical moment, when
nobody from this world can help us. At that time, and at that place,
who can help us? Only the Shabd Naam can help us; only the Satguru -
the Master Who has initiated us into the Shabd Naam - can help us
there.
When King Bhupinder Singh of Patiala left the body, an army was
guarding his palace; it was surrounded by soldiers. Every half hour
the numbers were counted and it was proclaimed how many soldiers were
guarding that place; and they were all armed. But the angel of death
came - nobody knew from which direction; and he was not the least
affected by the armed forces! No matter how many people were there,
none of them knew from where the angel of death came and took the
soul of that king away. So at the time of death, nobody can help us.
Those who love us, those who are our relatives, if they want to express
their love, the only thing they can do is to mourn after our death. How
can we expect those who don't even know from where the angel of death
comes to help us at that moment?
Hazrat Bahu says that there is one pain which is the pain of
separation from our loved ones, and there is another pain which is of
the grave - the place where one has to go and reside. He says that when
the soul leaves the body, it has both kinds of pain: of leaving our
mother and father and all our dear ones and friends; and also of going
into the grave. While a man is living in this world, he is making all
sorts of arrangements for his comfort - big houses, all sorts of furniture,
etc. - but when he has to leave the body, at that time he sees that there
is no comfort in the place where he has to go.
So we will have to travel on that path, we will have to go to that
place where nobody from this world can help us. Who will come to
help us there? Only the Master or the Naam which we have received
from the Master. Call Them friends Who go with you, and help you to
settle your accounts; only Those who help you then are your friends.
Where the most terrible angels of Yama may crush you,
There only the Naam will protect you.
When death comes to a non-satsangi, that person is very much afraid,
because the appearance of the angels of the Lord of Judgment is so
horrible - he may even lose control of his urine. But for an initiate,
when Yama's angels give you trouble, who will come to help you? The
Satguru, or the Naam which you have received from the Satguru, will
help you then.
Wherever there are many heavy problems,
Naam will liberate you in one moment.
The Master Power helps you even in this world; if you have any problems,
Master Power helps you. And since we do not know the path on which we
have to travel after death, then also, Master Power is the only one Who
can help you. You should not think that Master will have to hire a
plane or exert in any way when He comes to take the souls of the dear
ones. This is not the case. Just in a second He comes there, and He
attends to His duty: He takes the soul of the Satsangi.
If you want to see the Power of the Master and what miracles the
Master Power can perform, you should watch the death of a Satsangi.
When a Satsangi is leaving the body, remove all the non-satsangi people
from the room and then lovingly ask him, "Do you remember the form of
the Master? Is the form of the Master coming? Do you remember the
Simran?" And definitely he will tell you, "Yes, the Master has come to
take my soul up."
By doing numerous righteous deeds you will
not be liberated;
The Naam of God will remove millions of sins.
No matter how many charitable and virtuous things you do, still you
cannot cross the ocean of this world. Only if you meditate on Shabd
Naam can you go back to Sach Khand, your real home, from where your
soul has been separated. I do not mean to say that we do not get
any benefit by doing good deeds, such as giving donations and other
things; I do not mean to say that. We do get the benefit of whatever
good deeds we are doing; but the thing is that we still remain in the
world. What will happen is that if we are poor in this lifetime, in
the next lifetime we may get birth into a good rich family, and we may
become a rich person - or we may come back as a leader or a well-known
personality. If in this lifetime we are sweeping the streets, in the
next we may become a king. But still we remain in this world.
O my mind, meditate on the Naam of the Gurumukhs -
Nanak says, "Then will you get much happiness."
If you want real peace - real happiness - get Naam from a Gurumukh
and meditate on it.
Even if one becomes the king of the whole creation,
still he is miserable.
But one becomes happy by meditating on the Naam of God.
Even if one becomes the king of all creation, he will not find real peace,
real happiness, real contentment, in this world. You know the condition
of kings and great persons of this world - how much unrest they always
have. They have no lasting happiness; they have no peace of mind. They
can't even sleep - the doctors have to give them sleeping pills to make
them sleep. In the daytime, they are worrying about the world, and what
is happening around them; and in the night also they have no peace. So
Guru Arjan asks, "Who can get the real peace and happiness?" and replies,
"Only those who meditate on Shabd Naam."
Experience shows us that a person may be a king when he goes to
sleep, but not when he wakes up. Someone else who is more powerful
may seize his throne and in the morning the king may be made a slave,
or be shot dead. There is no happiness in kingship. If there is
happiness in this world, it is only in meditating on Shabd Naam and
going back to Sach Khand. In Sach Khand there is no unhappiness or
unrest; there is only peace. That is why the Guru says that there is
no happiness in becoming a king; the only happiness lies in going back
Home.
Even if one is tied by millions of ropes,
By meditating on the Naam of God he is liberated.
No matter if a soul has millions and billions of attachments binding
him to this world, if he is doing the meditation of Shabd Naam, they
can all be cut down. Guru Arjan says that even if one is tied up by
the angels of death, he can be untied if he takes shelter in the Master.
The many colors of Maya do not quench our thirst;
But by meditating on Naam one becomes satisfied.
Many rich people come to me who have an abundance of material things,
and one would think that they would be contented and happy. But their
desires never come to an end. They request me to shower grace on them,
and have mercy on them, because they want more and more riches - even
though they have all those material things already. I tell them, "You
should be contented - you have all these things," but still they are
not. Without contentment one cannot become a king. Wealth - Maya - does
not give us happiness; it takes it away.
Kabir Sahib says that the hut of a Saint is better than the mansion
of a rich person. Big buildings, even temples, where the Lord is not
remembered, are only fit for the fire.
Chajju Bhagat was a Saint in Lahore, and He did not have big
buildings and good places for His devotees to meet. Once some devotees
were coming to His place, and on the way they met some rich people
who valued big buildings. They taunted the devotees of Chajju Bhagat
saying, "If he is a perfect Saint, why doesn't he make big palaces? Look
at us! We have them!" So those dear ones replied, "That peace which we
get from our Master's palace" - they referred to His hut as a palace -
"we would not have even if we got the kingdom of Balkh Bokhara. Because
in the hut of Chajju Bhagat, people meditate upon Naam."
That road on which a man goes alone -
There the Naam of God assists him.
Who is our real friend on that path which our soul has to travel after
leaving the body at death? When our soul leaves this body, she has
to go alone on that path; so who is our real friend there? At that time
not even our body will go with us; only the Master will go with us,
and He is our real friend. When the soul leaves the body, after all,
the body doesn't have any importance; it is cremated. So when the soul
goes back, she has to go alone; and without Master, there is nobody
who can help her.
O my mind, always meditate on such Naam;
Nanak says, "By doing so one gets the highest
status of Gurumukh."
Because Naam is the only power which protects us; because without
Naam there is nothing which can protect us, and because we can get
high status in the Court of the Lord only by doing meditation -
therefore we should do the meditation on Naam: it is the only thing
which will go with us.
Even though a man may have millions and billions
of hands he cannot get liberation.
But by meditating on Naam, the Ocean could be
crossed over.
We only have two hands; but even if we had millions and billions of
hands, with all those hands and with all that power, we could not face
the angel of death if we did not have Naam. Only after receiving Naam
can we cross the ocean of this world; without it, no matter how powerful
we become, we cannot do it.
When numerous obstacles trouble a man,
The Naam of God at once protects him.
Kal and mind put many obstacles in the way of the soul. At the time
of death, when the soul is leaving the body, Kal may even come in the
form of the Master to take her, and he may even call in the voice of
the Master, "Come and follow me!" So that is why the Masters say that
at the time of death, or at any time when you feel that you are being
misled by Kal or the Negative Power, you should do Simran or the
repetition of the Five Names. If it is the form of the Master, it will
remain there; if it is of the Negative Power, it will go away, because
Kal cannot stand before the five charged words.
Man is born and dies in many bodies;
But by meditating on Naam he gets rest.
Saints give us initiation not because they think that we are very rich,
or very intellectual, or kings, or anything like that. They give us
initiation only because of the grace and mercy they have for all souls
in this world. It is just like a dog who wanders from door to door, asking
for food: in some places it gets fed, and in some places it doesn't. But
when it comes to the door of a very good man, that man thinks, "This
dog is a poor animal and it is starving; let me give it some food." He
does not give it food because he thinks that it is a mighty or strong
animal; he gives because he is gracious, and he has mercy on that dog.
Our condition is also like the dog. We wander from one place to
another - from one door to another - and finally when we come to the
door of a Saint, He gives us initiation only because He is gracious on
us. Saints know that many times we take birth in the world, then again
we go back, and again we return: sometimes in the body of a dog,
sometimes a cat, goat, horse - in one body after another we keep on
coming and going to and from this world. When we finally get this human
body, after wandering here and there, and we come to the feet of a Saint,
He gives us initiation in all His grace and mercy only because He is
gracious upon us. It is not because of our merits. It is only because
of Grace.
Sukhdev Muni, the son of Ved Vyas, had the knowledge of God while
he was still in his mother's womb, so right from birth he started the
devotion of the Lord. As he was leaving home, his parents told him
that he should stay there and do worldly things, because it was time
for them to do the devotion of the Lord. Sukhdev Muni told his parents,
"I have the knowledge of my past one hundred lifetimes; whatever I have
suffered in those lives, I remember it. I want to do the devotion of
the Lord now because I have finally got this human body once again; I
don't want to waste this opportunity."
He told them, "I remember that once I had the body of a donkey
and when I remember what I suffered in that body, I am compelled
to do the devotion of the Lord. I never want to go through that again.
I was owned by a washerman who used to put a heavy load on me and
take me to the river where he would wash clothes. After using me for
this, he would set me free; but at that place there was no grass or
anything to eat, so all day long I would wander here and there looking
for food. In the evening, the washerman would again load his burden
on me, and I would have to go back to his home, and do his work; but
still I had not received any food from him. This went on for years
and years, and one day it so happened that I became so weak that I
couldn't walk; when the washerman was coming back, I had to cross
a canal, and I sat there and couldn't get up because I had grown so
weak. The washerman had no pity on me; instead of helping me out
of that canal, he started beating me. Finally, since I could not get
up he took his load and abandoned me. Nobody else had pity for me
either; nobody showered any mercy or grace on me. Those who wanted
to cross that canal used me for a bridge. I had many wounds on my
body, and when crows saw those wounds, they came and started eating
my flesh and blood. Whenever I remember that life as a donkey, I
know that I must not waste this human body; I must do the devotion
of the Lord."
The soul is defiled by the filth of egoism,
and its filth is never washed;
But the Naam of God makes one lose millions of sins.
Our soul is covered by this dirt of our many births. From ages and
ages our soul has been covered up by the dirt of our ego. What is the
ego? That which makes us think, "I am an intellectual, I possess this
thing, I am so beautiful," - like that. The sense of I-hood - whenever
we think that something is our own - that is all ego. We are all
suffering from this sweet disease of egoism. And only by doing the
meditation of Naam can we get rid of this sweet disease; there is no
other remedy.
O my mind! Meditate upon, and dye yourself in,
the color of such Naam:
Nanak says, "It can be obtained in the company
of the Saints."
We must meditate on that Naam which has created the sun, the stars,
and all the divisions of the world; we must meditate on that Naam which
has made the whole creation. We cannot get Naam by ourselves; if Naam
were only a word, then a five-year-old girl could give it to us. But it
is not only the words; it is the attention of the Master Who is giving
us the Naam. That is why we cannot have the initiation into Naam by
ourselves. If we could, then what would be the need of going to Saints
and Masters? We can get Naam only from one Who has meditated upon it.
Guru Arjan says, "All my dealings are with the Master; I am in the
shelter of the Master. The Saints are my jewel, the Master is my support,
and when the Master gave me the precious gift of Naam, my illusions were
removed. What can the Lord of Judgment do, when Master has taken care
of all the accounts which I was supposed to pay? By the grace of the
Master, I have the supreme bliss; Nanak says, 'When I am dyed in the
color of the Master, my mind receives the supreme happiness.'"
I have often told the story of Sunderdas, an initiate of Baba Sawan
Singh, who spent a lot of time with me. He was very devoted to his Master.
Master Sawan Singh had told him, "Sunderdas, your wife will die, your son
will die, and because of that you will go mad; and in that madness you
will kill a person, and you will be sent to jail. But although you will
be sentenced to prison for twenty years, if you always speak the truth
you will have to serve only six years. Then I will come to take care of
you."
Everything that Master Sawan Singh told him came true. First his
wife died; and then, when his son died, he went mad. In that madness
he killed a man. When he was brought to the court, people said, "He
is a madman, so he should not be given any punishment; he did it only
in madness." But Sunderdas said, "No, I am not a madman. I have
murdered a person, and you should definitely give me the punishment."
He was a friend of the King of Faridkot, so the King thought, "This
old man has suffered a lot, and I will help him." He told the jury, "He
is a madman, and you should forgive him." Many other people requested
the judge to forgive him on the same grounds. But Sunderdas said, "I
am not a madman. I have done this murder, and I am guilty. If you don't
punish me, you are the mad one." When the judge questioned him further,
he said, "If you want to check whether I am mad, I will recite the Jap Ji,
and you see if you can find any fault in my recitation. Or else you
recite it, and I will point out your mistakes. Baba Sawan Singh had told
him he should always speak the truth, and that is why he denied that he
was mad.
So when he himself confessed, the judge felt that he couldn't do
anything, and he wrote in his decision that because of his confession
he was sentenced to twenty years. But he only served for six years,
because when India became independent, the Indian Government released
all the Indian prisoners; that was exactly six years later. He was still
a madman though, and he was wandering here and there in the streets
carrying bones. Once some children were stoning him because he was mad,
and I was coming from the other side; when he saw me, he fell down at
my feet and said, "Now I have received peace of mind."
He stayed with me until he died, and he became a very good man
with all his senses restored. A short time before he died, he told us
that he was going to leave, and said that whatever I wanted to bring for
his cremation, I should do it while he was still alive. So I did; and he
told me that if I wanted to commemorate his death - to distribute food
or anything like that - I should do it while he was still alive, because
he wanted to see it. So on our monthly Satsang we made very good food,
and all those who came there were filled with it; and looking at that
he said, "Yes, now Master is very happy because everything is happening
in His will."
Just one hour before he left the body, he was sitting there and said,
"Now all three Masters - Kirpal, Sawan and Baba Jaimal Singh - have come
to take me, and I am going with them." His old sister was there; she had
a lot of suffering; and he said, "Now the Court of the Lord is opened,
and I request the Masters to remove the pain from my sister, so that she
can also go back with me." But when his sister heard that, she at once
left the room, because she was still attached to the world and she didn't
want to go.
Sometime before this, somebody had asked him one day, "Sunderdas,
why don't you learn to ride a bicycle?" He said, "Why should I do that?
When God has given me legs to walk, why should I use them for learning
to cycle? I feel like breaking the legs of those who are learning to
cycle, because they are not using the legs given by God the way they
should be used." He was such an interesting man.
Once it so happened when he was being questioned on this cycle
business, one dear one asked him, "What will you tell the Lord of
Judgment when he asks you, 'Did you learn cycling?' What will you reply?"
He said, "Why should I bother about going to the Lord of Judgment?
I don't have to go to him. I will go to my Masters - Sawan, Kirpal and
Baba Jaimal Singh - because they will come to take me. I don't have
any concern with the Lord of Judgment."
According to his faith, and because he had such faith that the Masters
would definitely come to take him, they all came, and they took that
dear soul up. So I mean to say, by telling this long story, that because
he had faith in the Master, that the Master would come, and because he
didn't have any concern with the Lord of Judgment, the Masters did come
and They took his soul up. And this is why Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says,
"At the time of death, only the Naam which has created this world will
come to our rescue; and only the Satguru Who has given us that Naam will
come to help us." Nothing else of this world will come to help us, that
is why we should meditate only upon the Naam which the Masters have given
us, and we need not bother about the Lord of Judgment: because ever since
we came in contact with our Master, our concern with the Lord of Judgment
is finished. Now the Lord of Judgment is no longer responsible for keeping
the accounts of our deeds; now it is all in the hands of our Master.
That Way, of which the miles cannot be counted -
The Naam of God will serve as the provisions there.
Everybody has to travel a road or way after his death, and we have
no idea how long that road is going to be. We make all sorts of
arrangements when we are about to take any worldly journey; first of
all, we find out how far that place is where we are going, and how long
we will have to travel; we take money with us and food also. We say,
"This is what we are going to spend on the way." But when we die,
there is a journey in front of us which we all have to make; but we
don't make any preparations for that journey, because we don't know
how long it is going to be.
What is that which we can take with us when we leave this world?
Nothing. We won't be able to take our body, which is very dear to us
now; we won't be able to take our wealth; we won't be able to take
whatever name and fame we have gained in this world. All will remain
here. Only one thing will go with us: Shabd Naam. Guru Nanak says,
"When you go on the journey after death, on that journey you also
need something to spend on the way. What is that which you can spend?
What is that which you can take? Only your meditation on Shabd Naam."
Meditation on the Shabd Naam is the only thing which can be spent on
the journey after death.
The Way, which is pitch dark,
Will be lit by the Naam of God.
The journey after death is full of darkness; and our light - our
radiance - is not going to do us any good, because we don't have any
light. But if we have Naam, and if we have collected the earnings of
our Naam, that will work as a light on that path, and it will help us
walk on it.
On the Way where no one knows you -
There the Naam of God will be with you,
as a true friend.
When we come from America to India, we don't have any problems -
because we know people here. We meet the dear ones whom we know;
before coming here, we cabled our friends that we were coming, so they
come to meet us. On the way back also we tell our friends or relatives
when we will be back, so that they will be there to receive us. At both
ends we have people who know us and who are waiting for us, so we
don't have any problem. But the journey which we are going to take
after our death - as Guru Arjan says, "Who is there who knows us?" At
the end, after death, when we will have to take that journey, there is
nobody there who knows us. You know that one who has a proper ticket,
and all his papers ready, only he is allowed to go on a flight, only
he is allowed to go through all the authorities, and only he is allowed
to enter into any country. But if we don't have a ticket or papers,
nobody will allow us to go anywhere.
In the same way, when we have to leave this world, this home, and
go to another place, if we don't have proper arrangements - if we don't
know anyone, and if we don't have proper "tickets and papers" - nobody
will allow us there. The meditation of Shabd Naam is the visa we need
to enter that country.
We know that a visa can be issued only by a high authority. Ordinary
people cannot do it. In the same way, only the Masters can issue us a
visa for that place. Paltu Sahib says, "Whatever work is done in the
court of the Lord, it is all done by the Master Saints." Whatever work
is done in the court of the Lord, as far as liberating the soul is
concerned, is all done by the Masters.
The Way, where there is terrible and unbearable heat -
The Shadow of the Naam of God will be over you.
Master Sawan Singh Ji used to say that in the inner world, the Negative
Power has created many pillars which he always keeps heated, and they
are so hot that if we were to bring even one of them into this plane,
we would feel the heat throughout the whole world. He used to say also
that those who do not remain within their limits in this world - the
women who do not remain within their limits, and the men who do not
remain within their limits - are made to embrace that heated pillar,
and in that way are punished by the Negative Power. A person becomes
very happy when he is doing bad deeds, but when he is being punished
by the angels of death, it gives too much pain. When a person who has
done bad deeds is being punished by those angels, he feels thirsty and
asks for water. But there is nobody to give him water. If he has Naam
with him, however, he will get the shade of that Naam.
The fact is, though, that one who has Naam will never be allowed
to go with the angels of death; but those who are not accompanied by
Naam, they have to go with the angels of death and they get whatever
punishment they deserve.
O, my mind! Where the thirst will torment you,
Nanak says, there the Naam of God will shower
the rain of nectar on you.
When the angels of death punish a soul who has done bad deeds, they
ask him, "Why did you do those things?" At that time, the soul suffers
a lot. But if we have Naam, we do not have to go through that suffering.
If one has Naam, he gets a shower of nectar after death, which only
the soul can taste.
Kabir Sahib says that this body is like a pitcher which is full of
water - one day it will break. Those who do not have Master as their
protector are plundered on the way. Before they even get to the Lord
of Judgment, they are plundered. When a soul is being punished by
the angels of death, and feels thirsty and asks for water, the angels
of death say, "You can have water, but you will have to pay for it with
the good deeds which you have done." At that place, nobody takes your
bad deeds; only your good deeds are taken, because you only get the
benefit of your good deeds and you have to suffer the reaction of your
bad deeds. So his good deeds are given up to the angels of death, in
asking for water and things like that, and he is plundered along the
way. When he gets to the Lord of Judgment, he doesn't have any good
deeds left; so according to his bad deeds, because he is supposed to
suffer the reaction of his bad deeds, he is punished by the Lord of
Judgment also.
But if we have the Naam with us, and if we are initiated by a
Master, then we do not have to go through all this.
Naam is the only thing the devotees have to deal with,
And it resides within the Saints.
Whatever work the Masters are doing in this world, is regarding the
Shabd Naam. Where is that Shabd Naam? It is residing within the
Master. Guru Nanak says, "Whether They are sitting or They are standing,
whether They are asleep or awake, They are always resting in the Naam."
The Naam of God is the support for His servants;
Through the Naam of God millions have been liberated.
Some people seek support from their relatives, some people seek support
from their children - they expect that when they grow up they will give
them support - and some people even seek support from their parents.
But Saints and Masters - Those Who are the Beloveds of God, Those Who
are the real devotees of God - are always aware that the real support
is only that of Naam and that there is no support except that of God
and of Naam.
Saints are not the only ones who get liberation through the Naam.
Those who come to the Saints, and get Naam from them, they also can
get liberation, no matter if they are millions or billions in number.
History shows that many people have gotten liberation after getting
Naam from the Saints. But for that - Kabir Sahib says, "The love that
we had for the Master on the very first day we met Him - if we could
maintain that love for Him, what is the question of our own liberation?
We could liberate millions of other souls."
Saints sing the praise of God, day and night;
Saints earn the medicine of the Naam of God.
Saints and Mahatmas, the Beloveds of God, always sing the praise of
God. And they are aware that Naam is the only medicine - the only
cure - for all the problems of this world.
The devotees of God have the treasure
of the Naam of God,
Which is given to them by the Supreme God Himself.
Saints have the treasure of Naam. Who has given them that treasure?
The Satgurus, the Masters of the Saints, Who are one with the Supreme
God, have given the treasures of Naam as a gift to them, after showering
them with grace.
Their mind and body are colored in one color -
Nanak says, Such devotees get the divine knowledge of
discrimination.
The Saints' mind is dyed in the color of Naam; their body is dyed in
the color of Naam; they do not wear dyed robes or dyed cloth to show
people that they are dyed in the color of Naam, but it is still true that
their whole being is dyed in that color. Generally, people have this thing
in their mind: that only by wearing certain colored clothes can they
get God. Some people think that by wearing saffron-colored clothes
they will find God; some people think that by wearing rosaries and other
things they will find God.
Guru Gobind Singh says that by imitating we can influence the people
of this world, but in the end, the Negative Power will cut us with
scissors, as paper is cut. Even then he will not be content; ultimately
he will throw us into Hell -as we throw pieces of paper into the fire.
In order to teach a lesson to His disciples, Guru Gobind Singh once
put a skin of a lion on a donkey, and He left the donkey in a place nearby
His fort. The next day, when people went outside of the fort and saw that
there was a lion there, they all became afraid, came back into the fort,
and told the Master that there was a lion there. This went on for a few
days, and eventually everybody was sure that there was a lion outside of
the fort, and they all stopped going outside. But Guru Gobind Singh knew
that it was not a lion, because He Himself had planned it, and He said,
"All right; I will do something about him."
So after a few days, Guru Gobind Singh told the people to come along
with Him, and to bring guns and bows and arrows. He fired one shot, and
hearing it, that donkey who was wearing the lion-skin became afraid, and
he ran back to where the other donkeys were. When he saw his donkey
brothers, he made the same kind of noise as they were making. When the
person who was taking care of the donkeys saw that he was not a lion,
but really a donkey, he removed the lion-skin at once and again started
using him as a donkey. When the people saw that he was a donkey and not a
lion, they felt ashamed and said that they were cheated - because they
couldn't recognize it as a donkey - and it was very shameful for them.
But Guru Gobind Singh said, "Don't worry about that. I wanted to
teach you a lesson. I wanted to show you that even though you put the
skin of a lion on a donkey, he is still a donkey. In the same way,
though you put colored clothes on your body, you cannot change - your
being. Just by wearing colored cloth and pretending to be a great soul
- a great Mahatma - you cannot be a Mahhhatma. If you don't have love
for God, if you don't have devotion for God, if you have not done
the meditation, then you may wear colored clothes, you may do anything
outwardly to show that you are a Master, but still you won't be one."
For the devotees of God, the Naam of God
is the path of liberation.
For the devotees of God, the Naam of God
is the means of quenching their thirst.
Now we, the worldly people, do many repetitions and perform many
austerities and other kinds of worship in order to get liberation. But
the Beloveds of God, the real devotees of God, are aware that real
liberation lies only in meditation, the practice of Naam. Because they
know that, they meditate on Naam, and they get liberation from it.
The Naam of God is the beauty and color
of the devotees of God;
By meditating on the Naam of God
obstacles can never come.
The form of the Saint is the form of Naam; the color of the Saint is
the color of Naam. Whatever is of the Saint is of Naam; and one who
is doing the meditation of Naam, no obstacle can come in his way, and
nobody can stop his progress.
The Naam of God is the honor of the devotees
of the Lord;
The devotees of God get glorified by meditating
on the Naam of God.
I have seen many times that when people tried to garland Master Kirpal
in order to praise Him and give Him worldly respect, He always took
the garland and instead of allowing them to put the garland around
His neck, He would put it around their neck. In that way, He would
give respect to the people who wanted to give respect to Him. Many
times I have seen that when people wanted to throw flowers on His
head, He would not allow them to; instead He would take flowers from
the basket and throw them on the heads of the people who had come
to respect Him. The point is that Saints never give any importance to
worldly fame or worldly respect, because it is not going to go with us.
They don't give any importance to it, because They know that the real
fame, the real praise, is gotten at the Court of the Lord. That is why
they never allow people to give them name and fame, and they don't
give any importance to it: because this name and fame only remains
as long as this body is in the world, and many times it doesn't even
remain as long as that. The worldly people do not waste any time in
praising someone, and when they want to withdraw their praise and
start defaming, they don't waste any time then either. Many times we
have seen that one day a Master, or anyone, is appreciated and praised,
and people even print his words and pictures in the newspaper; but after
a few days, we find that the same person is being criticized by the
same people, in the same newspaper, and in the same magazines, and
those who respected him so much a few days before are criticizing him
now.
So this name and fame and all these things do not go with us,
because they are only a concern as long as our body is here; and
sometimes not that long. The Masters understand this, and They know that
the real name and fame, the real respect which we may get in the Court
of God, will only be due to our meditation of Naam, and that is why
They emphasize doing the meditation of Naam.
Union with the Naam of God is the enjoyment
of the devotees of the Lord;
By meditating on Naam, one never suffers
from any pain of separation.
People of this world are involved in pleasure, and for them, pleasure
is everything. They don't see anything beyond it. What is the pleasure
that the Masters have? Uniting themselves with Naam.
The devotees of the Lord always remain
in the service of the Naam of God;
Nanak says, "Even gods and goddesses worship Them."
Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says that even Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva,
the so-called creators of this creation, and thirty-three crores*
of gods, according to the Hindu mythology - even all these are
worshiping the One Who has connected Himself with Naam, has mixed
Himself with Naam, has absorbed His being into Naam, and has manifested
Naam within Him. All these gods and goddesses are worshiping Him. Even
the angels of death bow down in front of Those Who do the devotion
of the Lord.
(* 1 crore equals 10 million.)
The devotees of the Lord have the treasure of Naam -
In which the wealth of God has been given
to the devotees by God Himself.
If Masters have any real treasure, it is the treasure of Naam. God has
graciously given them that treasure, and it will never come to an end,
no matter how much wealth from it the Masters may give out to the
world. It will never come to an end.
The devotees of the Lord have the powerful
support of God;
The devotees of the Lord do not accept
any support but the Glory of God.
The Saints, the lovers of God, have only the support of God, and They
do not seek any other support.
The devotees of God are absorbed in God
as the warp and woof;
And being intoxicated by the Naam
are in Sunn Samadh (deep meditation).
Such lovers of God are absorbed in God as the cotton is absorbed in
the thread. The cotton itself is cotton, but it takes the form of a
thread; all its cotton-ness is in that thread. In the same way, God
and the Beloveds of God are absorbed in each other.
The devotee of the Lord, who meditates
on the Naam of God always,
Such a devotee becomes manifest and cannot
be kept hidden.
One who meditates on Naam twenty-four hours a day, who has merged
himself in Naam for always, cannot remain un-manifested. Even if people
want to hide Him, He cannot remain hidden - He always manifests. When the
sun rises, it gives light to all creation; it rises for everybody in this
world. There are some creatures, like owls, that do not believe in the
existence of the sun, because when the sun is risen they do not open
their eyes to see it; but even for them, the sun is risen. In the same
way, those Mahatmas Who are doing the meditation of Shabd Naam preach
Shabd Naam in this world. They manifest Themselves here and They preach
Shabd Naam. But there are many manmukhs (those who obey their mind) in
this world. For them, the existence of the Masters doesn't have any
meaning, because they can neither see nor understand the glory of the
Masters. For them, it doesn't make any difference whether the Master
exists or not.
Mahatma Chatardas says that once all the owls got together just to
discuss whether the sun exists or not. After thinking it over, they came
to the conclusion that, "There is no sun. Whatever people say about the
sun is false." The oldest owl, on reflection, said, "If there was any
sun, I would have seen it - because I am older than anybody else in
this court! But I have never seen the sun, so it is obvious that it has
never existed." One swan was listening to this meeting, and he said,
"If you want to see the sun, you should get up early in the morning
and see the rays of light which come from it; and then you will believe
that there is something which gives light to this world." When he said
this, the bats and other animals who also did not believe in the sun
started laughing at the swan and said, "He is lying. There is no sun!
If there was a sun, we would have seen it." So, looking at their
attitude, the swan thought it was better to keep quiet. And Mahatma
Chatardas says that this was a unique court in the three worlds - where
people did not believe in the existence of the sun. The oldest owl
is he who has read many books and has a lot of intellectual knowledge
and argues, saying, "I have read all these books and know all this, and
if God was within man, I would have gotten it; I have more knowledge
of God than anybody because I have read many books."
The devotion of God liberates many -
Nanak says, "With the devotee of God,
many swim across."
The Beloveds of God do the devotion, and They are liberated. Innumerable
others - you cannot even count them - get liberation by catching hold
of such Beloveds of God. All those who get Naam-initiation from Them are
liberated.
The Naam of God is the Parijat tree;
The singing of God's glory is the Kamdhenu cow.
It is said that there is a tree in the heavens called Parijat; go and sit
under it, and all your desires will be fulfilled. And it is said that
there is a cow in the heavens called Kamdhenu and if you drink her milk,
all your desires will be fulfilled. But if you are doing the meditation
of Shabd Naam, all your desires can be fulfilled without all that just
by meditating on Shabd Naam.
The story of God is the best of all stories;
By hearing the Naam of the Lord
all pain and sorrow vanish.
The story of Shabd Naam is the best story of all. The discussion of
Shabd Naam is the best discussion - because by hearing the discussion
or the story of Shabd Naam, and by meditating on Shabd Naam, our pain
is removed. What is the greatest pain? The pain of birth and death.
And only by hearing the Shabd Naam is this pain removed.
The glory of Naam resides in the heart of the Saints;
Due to the glory of Saints, all sins depart.
Only the Saints know the importance of Naam, and only They know the
glory of Naam. And only because of the Saints, the angels of death
do not come near the one who is protected by the Saint; because the
Power of Naam is such that the angels of death cannot come near one
who has It.
The fortunate ones get the company of Saints.
The meditation on Naam is the service of the Saints.
Only those with very good fortune have the company of the Saints and
Masters. And when we go in Their company, and when we start serving
Them, They tell us to do the meditation on Shabd Naam. And when we
start meditating on Shabd Naam, by Their grace, we start taking
advantage of being in Their company.
Kabir Sahib says, "One moment of Lord Indra is more than twelve
months of a well; and one moment in the company of a Master is more
than the Simran of fifty years." He says that if Lord Indra, who sends
rain to this earth, becomes pleased and showers rain only for one
moment, he can send more water in that moment than we could get from
a well if we took it out for twelve months continuously. And if we spend
even one moment in the company of a perfect Mahatma Who has done the
meditation on Shabd Naam, it will give us more benefit than we could
gain by sitting in our homes and doing Simran for fifty years.
There is nothing else equal to Naam;
Nanak says, "Only a few devotees of the Lord
get Naam from the Gurumukh."
There is nothing which is equal to Naam. No repetition of any mantra,
no worship, no reading of any holy book - not even performing austerities
- is equal to the practice of Naam. Buttt the question is, where can we get
that Naam? We cannot get it from any temple or mosque or any other
religious place. Earlier I have said that this Naam has made its
residence within the Saints, and we can get It only if we go into the
company of Saints, and only if the Saint is gracious on us.
Bulleh Shah was a Kazi - a priest - in a mosque of Lahore, and his
father also was a priest in the same mosque. Bulleh Shah was a learned,
intellectual man, and had read many holy scriptures and other books.
He had a lot of knowledge from the books. But it so happened once that
he met an initiate of Inayat Shah, who was an illiterate farmer. That
initiate told Bulleh Shah (because he knew he was a sincere seeker),
"O brother, why do you always shout so loud when you are calling God?
You should go and meet my Master, Inayat Shah; He will break the seals
of your ears so that you can hear the Divine Melody within you, and He
will make you meet that God Who is within you."
When he heard that, Bulleh Shah went to see Inayat Shah, and he
said, "Master, I have come here to know God. Tell me something about
Him. I have come here to realize my own Self, to realize God Who is
within me, and I want you to teach me that." Inayat Shah was a farmer,
and at that time He was transplanting onion seedlings. He was taking
them from the nursery on one side of the garden and planting them in
their permanent place on the other side. He thought, "If I give him any
examples from any of the holy books it won't do him any good, because
he already knows them all and he has not received anything from them."
So He said, "O Bulleh, what difficulty is there in receiving God? It is
a very simple thing. Just cut off your mind from the world and take it
towards God, just as I am doing with these onion plants: I am taking
them from one side and putting them on the other side. In the same
way, divert your attention from the world to God. It is a very easy
thing."
Often I have said that the coming of a lover soul to the Master is
like the coming of dry gunpowder in contact with fire. Master Sawan
Singh Ji used to say that if one wants to learn spirituality he has to
become like a five-year-old child, even if he has a master's degree.
Bulleh Shah has also said, "O brother, now stop reading all these books,
because one word of Love is enough for realizing Him."
When Bulleh Shah got dyed in the color of Naam - when he got
initiation from Inayat Shah - people opposed him, because he was a
Sayyed; and the Sayyed caste is a very high Muslim caste. Sayyeds are
venerated by the Muslims because they are thought to be very holy.
And Bulleh Shah's Master, Inayat Shah, belonged to a caste called Arain
which is considered very low by the Muslims. So when the people heard
that Bulleh Shah, who was a Sayyed, had become a disciple of an Arain,
they started criticizing him. But he didn't care. When people start
criticizing Sadhus, they become strong within themselves, and they say,
"It's all right if you criticize me, because my desire is to meet God,
and I will just keep doing this work." When people criticize a Sadhu,
they take on any sins or bad qualities that he might have, and give
their good deeds to the Sadhu. That is why when Bulleh Shah was
criticized, it didn't bother him; he accepted it as a blessing because,
in that way, people were purifying him.
In fact, he wanted them to criticize him more; so he gave them more
opportunities to do so. He went out and bought some donkeys, and started
living with them.* Because he belonged to that very high caste, when
people found out that he was living with donkeys, they said, "Look at
Bulleh! He has gone mad! First he left his high caste, and became the
disciple of a low-caste man; and now what is he doing? The donkey
business!" So people continued to criticize him.
(*Dealing with donkeys was not a proper occupation for a Sayyed.)
Then it so happened that a poor man's wife was kidnapped by a very
strong Pathan,** and that husband was told by some of Bulleh Shah's
opponents, "Go to Bulleh Shah, because he is called a great Mahatma;
beg him to help you, so that you can get your wife again." They were
playing a joke on Bulleh Shah; but when that poor man came to him,
he begged him to do anything which would bring his wife back. So Bulleh
said, "All right; go and look in that city and see if you find anyone
singing or dancing in the streets." So that man went and came back,
and said, "Yes, there are some dancers there." So Bulleh Shah went
there and joined them: he also started dancing. When people saw that
one who was once a Kazi, a very holy man of the city, was dancing
in the streets with ordinary dancers, they again started criticizing,
saying, "Look at this man - he has really gone mad! He is doing all sorts
of things which are bringing a bad name to his family and to the city
also." But he didn't care about that. So he danced and sang, saying,
"A Sadhu with donkeys is calling you from the Street of Mango; O wife
of this poor one, if you hear my voice, come and go back to your
husband. If you are sleeping wake up. O brother, thus the grain is
separated." He said that with a lot of attention - Godly attention
- so that the wife of that poor man wasss attracted by that sound, and
she came there. He told that poor man, "All right, now take her."
(**Pathans are war-like people of northwest India and Afghanistan.)
But people were surprised to see this also, and they again started
criticizing, saying "Look at this man! Now he is even attracting women!"
But still Bulleh Shah didn't care. Eventually word of the criticism was
sent to his father also, because he was a Kazi and a man of reputation.
He was told that his son was bringing a bad name to the family and a
bad name to the religion. The father of Bulleh Shah was a very old man
- he couldn't walk without the support of a stick - and he became upset
and said, "All right, I will go and teach him a lesson!" So with much
pain and hardship, he came to where Bulleh Shah was dancing and singing;
in one hand he was moving a rosary, and in the other he was carrying
his stick. When he came there, Bulleh Shah thought, "Today I should not
leave my father also. I should dye him in the color of Naam." So Bulleh
Shah gave him His attention, and when He showered grace upon his father,
his father also realized the glory of Naam. But before He showered grace
on his father, Bulleh Shah sang this hymn: "All life long this old man
has moved the rosary, but still he is not able to do anything. O brother,
now I will show him how the grain is separated!" So when He gave all his
attention to him, he also became intoxicated with Naam, and he started
dancing with his son.
So when all the people saw what had happened to both the father
and the son - that they used to be the holy people of that town and
now both of them were just singing and dancing without any worry
about their reputation - they started criticizing them both. But the
father didn't bother about the criticism, because he too was now
realizing the Naam. Instead, he sang this hymn: "The parents whose
sons are dyed in the color of Naam, how can they remain without the
color of Naam? O brother, today I have learned how the grain is
separated!" When Bulleh Shah saw that his father was also intoxicated
in Naam, and he was also dancing with him, all his fear of worldly
criticism and all his worrying about name and fame and worldly shame
went away; and both the father and the son, without bothering about
people's criticism, were dancing in the intoxication of Naam.
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