ON REALITY AND FALSEHOOD
by
Sant Ajaib Singh Ji
(1926 - 1997)
This talk, the tenth in a series of
commentaries on the "Asa Ji Di Vars"
of Guru Nanak, was given in Jan. 1987
at Sant Bani Ashram, Village 16PS, in
Rajasthan, India,
Every day, the bani of Guru Nanak, Asa ji di Var, is presented to you.
Saints and Mahatmas come into this world because They have been sent by
Almighty God; and They live Their lives according to the principles laid
down by God Almighty Himself. And only those chosen souls who have the
yearning to do the devotion of God and to realize Him come into the contact
of the Saints and Mahatmas Who are sent in this world by God Almighty.
Other people remain without taking any benefit from Them; they just spend
all their time thinking about it, and even if they are born close to the
Mahatmas, they cannot take advantage of Their coming into this world.
It is not necessary that the family members of the Mahatma take advantage
of His coming. Many times they don't; and other people who live far away
come and take advantage of Him. Neither is it true that only rich people
can be benefited by Mahatmas. Many times the rich stay away from the Masters,
and poor ones from far away come and take advantage of Them. For the
Masters, it does not make any difference if one is rich or poor: They see
everyone alike, and They have love for everyone alike.
The area where Guru Nanak Sahib was born is now in Pakistan, and it is
called Nankana Sahib; but it used to be called Rai Bhoi Ki Talwandi. Rai
Bhoi was very prominent there - he owned the whole area - and right from
the beginning, from Guru Nanak's childhood, Rai Bhoi recognized Guru Nanak
as one who was sent into this world by God Almighty for some special
purpose. So he had a lot of love, appreciation, and devotion for Guru Nanak
Sahib, while the parents of Guru Nanak did not recognize Him and did not
appreciate what He was doing. His father was against Guru Nanak Sahib: he
was always worried because Guru Nanak would not get involved in worldly
pursuits, and he would wonder, what is going to happen to him? So Rai Bhoi,
who was very rich, would say to Guru Nanak's father, "Look here, Kalu Ji,
you should not worry about this boy. If he is the cause of any harm or loss
to you, tell me and I will pay for that loss; but you should not tell him
anything. When the time comes, he will be doing the work for which he has
been sent; and you should not worry about him. Let him do what he wants
to do."
One day Rai Bhoi asked Guru Nanak Sahib, "Master, God Almighty has given
me worldly riches. He has given me name and fame and glory and everything
of this world; but give me such a teaching that I may realize the truth and
my mind may get peace, and I may know that all the things which are in this
world are not going to go with me. Give me that real knowledge, so that I
may realize the truth." So, answering this question of Rai Bhoi, Guru Nanak
Sahib composed the hymn which is going to be presented to you now: listen
to it carefully.
False is the king, false are his subjects;
False is the whole world.
Very lovingly, He explains to Rai Bhoi that the king is garbage or false,
and so are his subjects. In fact, the whole world which we see with our
eyes is false, or unreal, or garbage. You know that those things are
ultimately false which do not have any form of their own selves and which
do not exist forever. In Sant Mat, all the things which we see with our
eyes in this world, which will finish their existence one day, are all
called false, or unreal. In this hymn the word "kur" is used, which means
"garbage." Just as a deer feels thirsty, thinks that it sees water, but
when it gets there, finds that there is no water, but a reflection of the
sun or a mirage; then sees another mirage, and goes on running for water
but never gets it - in the same way, in Sant Mat it is said that all the
things after which we are running, and all the things which we think are
real, are in fact not real, but false; and they can be called "garbage."
False is the palace, false are high buildings;
False are those who dwell in them.
In the Ramayana it is written that King Ravana lived a very long life,
studied and gained as much knowledge of the world as was possible,
collected a lot of gold and other riches, and made many high palaces -
high-rise buildings like those that exist nowadays. It is a very ordinary
thing to see high-rise buildings today, and in those days also King Ravana
made many of them. But he left everything here; so here the Master says,
"All palaces and buildings are unreal; they are false. And those who dwell
in them are also false and unreal: because they will not live there
forever."
Bhagat Namdev Ji says, "Ravana made Lanka, his country, out of gold.
But foolish Ravana! - What did he take when he left?" Kabir Sahib says that
Ravana had one hundred thousand sons and one hundred and twenty-five
thousand grandchildren, but when he died there was no one in his home to
burn a lamp in his memory.
False is gold, false is silver;
False is the wearer.
Now He says, "Gold is garbage: it is false. So is silver. And those who
beautify themselves by wearing gold and silver are also false; they are
unreal, because they will leave one day."
False is the body; false are the clothes;
False is limitless beauty.
This body is also false, it is unreal, it is garbage, because we are not
going to live in it forever. It is like a rented house which we will have
to leave one day. And all the beautiful clothes and ornaments, which we
wear on this body, they are also garbage: they are unreal, they are false.
And those who wear all these clothes and ornaments are also false and
unreal, because they will have to leave them all one day, and leave this
world.
We people are proud of our beauty. We have the ego of our being
beautiful. But Guru Sahib says, "On the bones, there is flesh, and on the
flesh, there is skin, and He has painted you on your skin, and that is what
has made you beautiful; and you are proud of that?" But you know how, when
old age comes, that beauty goes away; and when we die, what happens? If we
are buried, we become mud; and if our body is burned, we are reduced to a
handful of ashes. So that is why here Guru Sahib says, "Why should you be
proud of such a thing which you are going to lose one day, and which is
going to be reduced to a handful of ashes?"
False is the husband; false is the wife;
(All become) fed up and get destroyed.
Now He says, "The husbands are unreal and the wives are also unreal. All
the love which they have for each other, and all the fights and disputes
which they have with each other, that is all unreal and false." Because we
do not know, up until now, how many times we have been made husbands, and
how many times we became wives. And we do not know how many more husbands
or wives we are going to make. We left everything behind; and in the
future also we are going to leave. Nothing is going to be here forever.
That is why He says that everything is unreal.
False is attached to false;
The Creator is forgotten.
Now Guru Nanak Sahib says, "You see, O dear ones, this is a very surprising
thing: garbage is attached to garbage, unreal things are attached to unreal
things, and after getting attached to the unreal, we have forgotten the
Reality; we have forgotten the Giver. We are attached to the gifts, but we
have forgotten the Giver."
With whom should one become friends? -
When the whole world is passing away.
Very lovingly now, He explains to Rai Bhoi, "Whose name should I mention to
you? Whom should I say that you should go and be friends with? Because
everyone in this world is going to die one day. All those who are born into
this world will have to leave one day, and everything in this world is
unreal and false. Except for God Almighty Himself, nothing remains in this
world forever. Everyone comes into this world, spends the night - just like
we spend the night in a rest house - and goes next morning. So whom should
I say that you should make friends with? - except God Almighty."
False is the sweet; false is the honey;
Boatloads (of humans) have drowned in the false:
Now He says, "Even though garbage is very bad, still people are attached
to it so much, that they think it is as sweet as honey; and because of that
attachment, millions and trillions of people in this world have drowned
in this ocean of life."
Once there was a pundit in the court of a king, and he used to read
books and give sermons in that court. One day after he finished his reading,
he noticed the princess there, and he felt attracted towards her: he started
thinking, "What can I do to get this beautiful, charming princess?" Since
he was only a pundit, he could not do anything, but still he went on
thinking about it. He went to his home and thought about it the whole night,
and next morning when he came back to the king's court to do his work, he
was very sad; and the king asked him, "Pundit Ji, why are you so unhappy?"
He said, "No, your majesty, I am fine"; but because the king insisted, he
finally said, "Your majesty, the reason for my unhappiness is such that
you will not be able to bear it: I am just an ordinary pundit, and you are
a great king, and it does not look nice for me to tell you all these
things." But when the king insisted, the pundit replied, "Your majesty, I
have looked in your horoscope, and I have come to know that after a few
days, a very bad time is going to come on you, and you are going to lose
everything; and it is not good for me to see all that, because I am your
servant, and if you are going to be suffering so much, how can I bear that?
That is why I am sad."
Now the king believed in that pundit, so he asked him, "Is there any way
to avoid that bad time? Can we remove that suffering?" The pundit said,
"Your majesty, there is a way to do that, but it will be very difficult for
you to do. And that is why I don't want to mention it to you, because you
will not be able to do it." But the king said, "No, you should tell me,
and I will see if I can do it; I will do it!" So the pundit told him,
"Your majesty, you should make a big wooden box in which you should put
your princess, along with all her dowry and whatever you were going to give
for her wedding. Also you should put enough food for a couple of days, and
then you should throw that box in the river. If you will do that - get rid
of your princess - then that bad time will not come, and you will live
happily."
The king wanted to live happily, so he did everything the pundit had
told him. After that box was thrown into the river, the pundit told his
friends, "A box is going to come, and it may have a lot of wealth. So
you should help me try to take it out of the river." They went there and
took it out, and the pundit's friends wanted to open it right away, but
the pundit was very clever, and told them, "No, we should not open it
now, because it is possible that somebody will come here and catch us.
We should hide it in the forest, and maybe after two or three days, we
should come and open it; and then whatever we get, we will share among
ourselves." So, his friends believed in him and went.
After they all left, a king came hunting in that forest and he saw the
big box lying there, and he wondered why someone would hide such a
beautiful box there in the forest. He was curious, so he opened it; and
there he saw that beautiful, charming princess, and was also fascinated
by her. Then the princess told that king everything that the pundit had
said and done. The king realized that it was a trick of the pundit to get
the princess and he took her along with him. Previously he had caught a
bear, so he left that bear in the box in the place of the princess. He
also took all the gold and other riches. Now after the pundit and his
friends had left the box in the forest, the pundit could not control his
lust, and he thought, "If I go with my friends to open that box, they will
want to share everything which is in it, and that won't be good. So I
should go now and fulfill my desire with the princess." So he went back,
and happily opened the box. But the bear who had been put in the box was
very angry, and as soon as the box was opened he killed the pundit.
So the point of this story is that the pundit, even though he was
reading the holy scriptures every day for the people, and even though
he knew that everything in this world is unreal and false, still he was
attached too much to those false and unreal things, so much so that he
was drowned in this ocean of life: he was killed, just because he was
attached to that which was false and unreal.
So, that is why Guru Sahib here makes a prayer in front of God
Almighty: "O Lord, whatever I see in this world, except for your Naam,
is unreal, false, garbage; everything in this world except your Naam is
untruth."
Nanak says this prayer: Except You,
it is all false.
One can know the truth only
if his heart is true.
Now Rai Bhoi told Guru Nanak Sahib, "Master, you have explained to me
very clearly and lovingly that everything in this world is unreal and false;
but now you should tell me how one can get to that Reality which is never
destroyed, which is never created, and which is permanent in this world."
So Guru Nanak told him, "First of all our heart, our inner self, should
be clear, should be clean, should be pure. And then we should have the real
desire and yearning to realize that Reality, that Truth." Because God
Almighty, that Truth, is sitting within us, and He does not need any
witness: He can see everything very clearly. We do not need to present
any excuses or evidence: we can deceive ourselves, but we can never
deceive Him Who is sitting within us. So that is why He says, "First of
all, your inner self should be pure; then you should have the real,
sincere desire for realizing that Reality, that Truth, and only then you
can realize It."
Saints and Mahatmas set an example for the satsangis: They are like
models for the satsangis, to show them how they should live their lives.
They tell them, "Earn your livelihood with honest and sincere means," and
They say that we should maintain loyalty with our companions: husbands
should be content with their wives, and the same order applies to the
wives also, that they should also be happy and content with the husband
they are married to. Saints and Mahatmas do not condemn marriage; They
are not against marriage; but They do lay a lot of emphasis on
maintaining our marriage.
Thus the dirt of the false is cleaned
And the body after bathing becomes pure.
When we make our body, and mind, and our inner self pure, and when we do
the meditation of the Naam, and that Naam is manifested within us, then
It removes all the impurities, all the dirt, all the garbage, all the
unreal things, which we have been allowing to accumulate on our soul
from ages and ages, from our many past births. The manifestation of the
Naam within us removes all dirty things from within. Naam never gets
dirty, Naam is always pure, and when the Naam is manifested within us,
Naam makes our inner self also pure.
One can know the Truth only if he loves the Truth.
(If one) becomes pleased by hearing the Naam,
only then he reaches the Door of Liberation.
How can we manifest that Truth, that Almighty Lord, within us? He says,
"First of all, we should listen to the sound of the Shabd, Which is all-
pervading, Which is everywhere in this creation, Which is emanating from
Sach Khand and sounding at our eye-center: we should come in contact with
that Sound and we should listen to It. And in order to be able to listen
to It, we need to make our thoughts pure: because if our thoughts become
purer, our mind will become pure; and the purer our mind becomes, the
more our soul becomes pure, and then we will not have any difficulty in
getting in touch with that Sound Which is coming from Sach Khand and
sounding at our eye-center." So that is why here He says, "When you
listen to that Sound Current Which is all-pervading everywhere in the
creation, then that Truth which is God Almighty will manifest within you.
Then you will have such a love with Him, that even though you might want
to break your love with Him, you will not be able to: you will not be able
to forget Him, once you have developed so much love and devotion for Him."
One can know the Truth only if he knows
the way (and means):
Now he says, "We can recognize the Shabd Naam, the Reality, the Truth,
only if we know the way by which we can go within. And in order to know
about the Path, in order to be able to go within, we need to go in the
company of such a Being Who Himself has done this thing: Someone Who has
traversed that Path, Who can Himself go within, and Who can take us there."
By preparing the body - if One sows
the seed of the Creator.
When we make our body pure; when we rise above worldly pleasures, sensual
pleasures; when we make our mind pure by making our thoughts pure; when
we give up thinking and desires and fantasies of worldly pleasures and
worldly things - when, in other words, we prepare ourselves for doing the
devotion of God, then, when Master sees our condition like this, He at
once sows the seed of Naam within us. You know that if the land is
prepared, it does not take much time for the seed which is sown there to
become a plant; in the same way, when God Almighty sees that our body is
pure, our heart is pure, and that in our mind we do not have any desires
of worldly things, He sows the seed of Naam within us, and then we become
successful in the Path of the Naam. Master Kirpal Singh Ji used to say,
"The coming of a renunciate soul, a yearning soul, a good dear soul, into
the company of the Master, is just like bringing dry gunpowder into the
company of the fire." As it explodes instantly, in the same way, if a
dear yearning soul, a renunciate soul who has become pure, comes into the
company of the Master, that soul goes right up.
One can know the Truth only if he takes
the true teachings -
Now He says, "We can recognize Almighty God, and we can get that Reality
or Truth, only when we take the true teachings: when we withdraw our
attention from outside and attach ourselves inside. Only then we can
realize Him."
(And if) he is gracious on creatures
and does some good deeds and donations.
Saints and Mahatmas do not teach us to criticize any community or religion,
and they do not tell us to comment about the practices of those religions
and communities. They do tell us the Reality, the Truth, and They always
inspire us to get the Naam initiation, and meditating upon that Naam, to
go within and see what the Reality is. When we do the meditation of Naam,
then grace is created within us by itself, and the desire to donate and to
be helpful to others is created within us by itself.
And at that time we also get the understanding of who is worthy of our
donation, where our donation should be made, and who is capable of handling
it properly. Masters are neither hungry for our donations nor for our name
and fame, because They earn Their own livelihood to maintain Their lives.
But they do tell us, "If God Almighty has showered grace on you, and
graciously has given you some worldly wealth, then you should be prepared
to help those who need your help; and if you feel that someone can make
the best use of your help, you may help him." Regarding grace, we people
do not understand what being gracious on others really means. Usually we
are burning in the fire of jealousy, but outwardly we are thinking of
doing good to others. In a way we are trying to shower grace on them, when
we are not showering grace on our own selves.
Guru Sahib says, "First of all, shower grace on your own self, because
your house is being plundered by the five dacoits. First extinguish your
own fire within you, and only then you should try to extinguish the fire
of other people's homes."
Tulsi Sahib says, "Grace is the root of religion, and sin is the cause
of going to hell. O Tulsi, as long as you have life in your body, as long
as you have breath in your body, don't give up showering grace."
One can know the Truth only if he makes his soul
live in the place of pilgrimage -
Now He says, "We can recognize that ultimate Truth, which is always present
in this world, and which can never be destroyed, only when we remove the
physical, astral, and causal covers from our soul, and reach the Daswan
Dwar, the tenth door, and bathe in the Pool of Nectar which is there.
Unless we go there and bathe in that Pool of Nectar, we cannot recognize
God Almighty." Kabir Sahib calls that place as Prayag Raj. Guru Amardev Ji
calls that place "the real temple of God," or the real pool of nectar which
is in our body. So unless we rise above all these three covers and remove
them from our soul, and go into the Daswan Dwar and bathe there, we cannot
recognize the Truth.
(And) after asking from the Satguru,
if one sits there.
By bathing in that Pool of Nectar, the karmas which we have had from ages
and ages, from birth after birth, are all removed from our soul. He says,
"We can reach that place only with the help of the Saints and Mahatmas,
only with the help of the One Who has made His residence there." So we
cannot reach there unless we go in the company of the Master Who has made
His residence there. When we reach there and bathe in that Pool of Nectar,
our soul starts sleeping towards the world, and is awakened towards God.
Truth is the medicine for all (diseases);
It removes sins and it cleans.
Now Guru Sahib says, "Naam is the only medicine which can remove pain and
suffering." Just as, by using soap, we remove dirt from our clothes - in
the same way, by applying the soap of the Naam, we remove all the sins and
the dirt from our soul.
Guru Sahib says, "The whole world is suffering, the whole world is sick,
and Naam is the only medicine; without applying this medicine of Truth,
everyone is suffering."
Nanak says this prayer (to Him)
Who has the Truth with Him:
I beg for the dust (of Thy Feet) -
if I get It,
I'll put It on my forehead.
Now He tells Rai Bhoi, "What do I ask from God Almighty, and what should
one ask from God Almighty if one gets the opportunity?" He says, "I ask
Him for the dust of the feet of such a Saint or Master Who has become one
with God Almighty." He says, "If I meet Someone Who has become one with
Him, I would put the dust of His Feet on my forehead."
Eagles, crows, and other creatures, do not know how far the cuckoo bird
can go, and from where the cuckoo bird comes. Only the cuckoo birds know
the destination and origin of cuckoo birds. In the same way, how can we,
the worldly people, know the glory and importance and power of the
Mahatmas? Only the Mahatmas know what the Mahatmas are.
We should give up falsehood and greed
And with one mind meditate upon the Alakh.
Now Guru Nanak Sahib tells Rai Bhoi, "If we give up our greed for garbage,
our greed for all the unreal and worldly things, and if, becoming pure in
our mind, we do the devotion of that Almighty Who cannot be reached, Who
cannot be seen - if we do His devotion, only then we can realize Him."
Whatever we do, (accordingly) we get such fruits.
The reward which we get from doing the devotion of the Lord, from serving
God Almighty, is that God Almighty Himself manifests within us, and sitting
within us, He gives Himself to us; and we can have that only by doing His
devotion."
If it is written in our fate from before,
Only then we get the dust of Their feet.
Now he says, "If God Almighty has written in our fate, that we are supposed
to go to the Master, and if it is written in our fate that after getting
the initiation, we are supposed to do the meditation, only then can we come
to the feet of the Master, and only then can we get the opportunity of
touching the dust of the feet of the Master."
(Otherwise) because of our little intellect,
we lose the (benefit of) seva.
Dear ones, it is very easy to do seva or service: because the jivas,
looking at other jivas doing seva, are easily able to do it. But it is very
difficult to maintain it.
He says, "We, the people of low intellect, do seva." We may even do the
seva of doing the bhajan and simran; we may do the seva of the langar; or
we may do the other sevas for the Master and His children, looking at other
people doing it. But when we do seva, we do it for two reasons: first, we
do it with a worldly desire in our mind which we want fulfilled. If it is
fulfilled, then another desire is created in our mind, and in this way we
go on creating desires within ourselves. If that desire is not fulfilled,
then we stop doing seva. On the other hand, if we do not have any
difficulty with worldly desires, what happens when we do seva? We become
proud of it; we allow ego to come within us, and in that way, whatever
seva we have done, we lose its benefit - just by allowing a little bit
of ego to come in our mind.
So Guru Sahib has lovingly explained to us many aspects of the Path in
brief, emphasizing that everything belongs to God and we should not be
proud of anything, but should devote ourselves to His devotion.
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