WHAT IS THE USE OF LIFE?
by
Sant Ajaib Singh Ji
The praises of God were not sung, you have wasted this birth;
Nanak says: O mind, love God as the fish does the water.
This is the bani of Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Ji, the ninth Guru of the Sikhs.
From his very childhood he was fond of Sant Mat. He dug a cave underground
in Baba Bakala and spent years meditating there. When Guru Hari Krishan, the
eighth Guru of the Sikhs, left the body in Delhi, he told the people, "In
Baba Bakala there will be Someone Who will guide you." So twenty-two
claimants for the Guruship from the Sodhi family went to Baba Bakala and
they each formed a gaddi or platform there.
There was one merchant named Makkhan Shah Labana, sailing in a ship doing
his business. But his ship was caught up in a storm and he prayed, "If there
is any perfect sadhu of the gaddi of Guru Nanak, He should save me from this
danger. And if this should happen I will donate five hundred coins in His
langar." When his ship was saved he came to Delhi and he asked about the
successor on Guru Nanak's gaddi. But people told him, "At Baba Bakala the
Power is working."
He went there and saw the twenty-two claimants sitting there, each with
followers praising them. They had become "masters" because of the pressure
of the parties who were following them. He was very surprised to see that
there were twenty-two of them. He wanted to test them, so he started giving
them five coins each. After giving five coins each to the twenty-two
claimants, he asked two ladies who were fetching water there, "Is there
anyone else who is a sadhu here?" They replied, "There is one, a madman,
Tegha, who is meditating underground; but he is not coming out."
So he went there and offered him the same five coins. But Guru Teg
Bahadur said, "You promised to give five hundred coins and now you are giving
only five coins." He took off his kurta (shirt) and said, "You see, I took
all the weight of that ship on my body and I did a lot of work for you, but
you are not keeping your promise. You are giving me only five coins instead
of five hundred." When this thing happened, Makkhan Shah recognized that this
was the real Master. So he shouted from the rooftop and waved a flag saying,
"Now I recognize the Guru! I have found the Guru!"
Makkhan Shah wanted to present the truth in front of the world and he
brought Guru Teg Bahadur out that evening for doing Satsang so that people
would know that He was the true one. The strongest among the twenty-two
claimants there was one Dhir Mal, and he could not bear that because his
business was suffering. So he came there and shot a bullet at Guru Teg
Bahadur. Now also, at the place where he shot at Him, still there is a mark
there; and I have seen that place with my own eyes.
He had so many enemies that He had to go away from that place. He went
to Assam and made a new sangat and preached the Naam there. Then He went to
Bihar in Patna and later He came back to Anandpur Sahib in Punjab where He
bought His own land and started preaching the Naam there also.
At that time in India the Muslim ruler, Aurangzeb, was very strong and he
was forcing all the people to accept his religion. Tearing down the temples,
he was making new mosques, and in that way he was giving a lot of trouble to
the Hindu people. The Hindu people prayed to all their gods and goddesses but
nobody came to their rescue. After trying all their gods and goddesses, they
came to Guru Teg Bahadur and begged Him to help them. The Guru said to the
pandits, "If any great Mahatma, if any great Saint will sacrifice Himself,
only then can the religion be saved." At this time the pandits didn't have
any answer to that. But Gobind Singh, the Guru's son, who was nine years old
at that time, said, "Who else besides You is a great Saint? You are the great
Saint!" Then Guru Teg Bahadur told the pandits to go to Aurangzeb and tell
him, "If you can make Guru Teg Bahadur accept your religion, all the other
Indian people will also accept your religion."
Then Guru Teg Bahadur Himself went to Delhi and with Him there were
three disciples: Bhai Matidas, Satidas, and Bhai Dayala. There the Emperor
told Him, "Either you show me a miracle, or you accept this religion, or you
become ready to die." Then Guru Teg Bahadur said, "Saints never show any
miracles." And then he added, "When death is going to come, then what is the
use of changing one's religion?" He didn't accept either condition but he
accepted death.
He was imprisoned in a cage made of iron, and before His eyes His
disciples were tortured. Bhai Dayala and Bhai Satidas were boiled in a big
container. Then Bhai Matidas was told, "Either you leave your Master or you
also be ready to die." They brought one saw and threatened to cut Bhai
Matidas's body into sections. But he said, "This is not that Guru Whom I can
leave; because this is God. If you want to have more grace on me, please
kill me before anybody else." And while Guru Teg Bahadur was watching, they
cut his body into two parts.
On another day, Aurangzeb collected all the people of Delhi together and
in front of them Guru Teg Bahadur was beheaded. At that time Nature was
unhappy and created such a storm that nobody could even recognize each
other. And taking advantage of that Jivan Singh (a disciple) got the head of
Guru Teg Bahadur and took it to Anandpur Sahib. The rest of the body was
carried by Lakkhi Banjara who was also a disciple. He burnt his own house,
because he was afraid that if he cremated his Master's body in front of the
people Aurangzeb would give him trouble. So he burnt his whole house in
order to cremate the body of his Master.
The bani which we are now taking consists of fifty-seven slokas or
couplets, written by Guru Teg Bahadur when He was imprisoned in that iron
cage, and sent by Him to Guru Gobind Singh. In this bani there is a great
yearning; this is a very beautiful bani written by Him to help us detach
ourselves from the world. He says, "If after getting the human body we don't
do the devotion of God, our birth will be wasted." Then He says, "How are we
to do the devotion of God? A disciple should have such a love for the Master
as the fish has for the water." You see, when the fish is separated from the
water, it dies. In the same way, the disciple should also have the same type
of yearning.
Why are you involved in the poison of worldly pleasures
and not becoming sad toward the world even for a moment?
Nanak says: O mind, worship God, and the snare of Yama
will not fall on you.
Now Guru Teg Bahadur says, "Why are you involved in the worldly pleasures?
Your mind will never be satisfied enjoying all the worldly pleasures. If you
will do the devotion of God then you will not have any fear of Yama, the
angel of death, and he will never come and trouble you." Saints say,
"Enjoying the five worldly pleasures your mind is not satisfied." When will
your mind get satisfied? He says, "Oh dear brother, dear friend, enjoying the
five evils - lust, anger, greed, attachment and egoism - you have spent your
life but still you are not satisfied! How much more will it take to satisfy
your mind?"
Your youth has gone and now old age has overcome you.
Nanak says: O mind, worship God - life is passing away.
Guru Sahib says, "Now your youth has gone and your old age has come and in
this way all the time is going away, but still your mind is not coming
towards God."
You have become old and are not aware;
the Negative Power is coming to take you away.
Nanak says: O foolish man, why don't you worship God?
Now when we are children we think in our old age we will do devotion. But
when our old age comes the Negative Power traps us in its trap. Because in
our old age we are not even aware of our own selves and after coming to that
state we wander here and there like madmen and there is no question of
devotion to God.
Once a child was doing devotions and one grown-up man asked him, "Why are
you doing the devotion of God now? This is the time for you to eat and drink.
The work of devotion is for the old people only; you are young." So he
replied, "Yesterday when I was looking at the firewood I saw that the small
sticks caught fire before the big sticks caught; and I am afraid that Negative
Power will come over me in my childhood and I will not be able to grow up.
Who knows what will happen to me in my old age?"
Wealth, wife and property, which you considered your own -
Nothing is your companion, Nanak says; take this as true.
Now Guru Teg Bahadur says, "Truly I am telling you this thing: you people
are saying, `This is my wife, this is my husband, this is my wealth, this is
my this and this is my that'; but patiently you should think that when your
death comes is there anybody or anything which will help you at that time?"
Those who do not know from where the angel of death comes and takes our life,
how can they help us? They can only weep for us and take us to the graveyard.
After that they cannot help us. Guru Sahib says, "He is the friend who helps
us in the crisis. He Who helps our soul at that place where our accounts are
going to be settled, is our friend."
The Saviour of the fallen ones, the Remover of Fear,
the Lord Who is the Friend of orphans
Nanak says: You should know that He always lives with you.
Now Guru Sahib says, "Naam is not only the knowledge of the Words; Naam
is that which liberates the sinners also." Moreover we become free from the
danger of the angel of death. And Naam is the Power Which removes all our
fears. Naam helps us and protects us in this world and in the other world
also. It protects us.
Kabir Sahib says, "When I got Naam all my sins were burnt away, just as
when a spark of fire is put in a big pile of hay it is all burnt." When we
are meditating on Naam we can be free from all our sins.
Sahjo Bai says, "Once I committed many sins, but when I came into the
refuge of Master all my sins were finished within a few moments." She says,
"Before I was ignorant; that's why I committed many sins; in that way I had
a very great number of sins to my account. But when I came into the refuge
of my Master He removed all my sins; in just a few moments He liberated me
from them."
You didn't love Him Who gave you body and wealth.
Nanak says: O foolish man, why did you leave your religion
and morality?
Now Guru Sahib says, "God has given you a body, God has given you wealth,
and God has given you a house to live in. But after getting all these things
and owning them you are not remembering that God Who has sent you into this
world. And when death comes only then you are weeping and wringing out tears
from your eyes; but you are not becoming grateful to that God Who has given
you all these things."
One Who gave you body, wealth, prosperity, happiness
and big houses -
Nanak says: Hear, O mind! Why don't you remember that God?
Now Guru Sahib says, "How beautifully God has made the sky and the earth
for you to live there and how He has given you sons and daughters and how He
has produced many types of foods and fruits in this world for you. But after
getting all these things you are not doing Simran, you are not remembering
Him. You want to control all the things of the world, and you are
understanding these things as apart from God and you are not remembering
Him."
God is the giver of all happiness, there is nobody else
like Him.
Nanak says: Hear, O mind! Doing His Simran, liberation
is achieved.
In search of happiness we are leaving our own country and going and
settling in other countries. In search of peace and happiness we are leaving
this earth and trying to go towards the moon. In search of peace and
happiness we are making big atom bombs. But instead of getting peace and
happiness we are creating unrest and are becoming unhappy. If there is any
real peace or real happiness a man can get that only after reaching his real
home. That's why Guru Sahib says, "Whatever He will wish, only that will
happen." Your worries will accomplish nothing.
O friend, worship Him remembering Whom liberation is achieved.
Nanak says: Hear, O mind! Daily your life is decreasing.
Guru Sahib says, "He through Whose devotion our soul can get peace and
through Whose devotion we can go back to our real home and through Whose
devotion we can get free from the cycle of birth and death - we should do
His devotion. And now much of your time has gone; but with what is left you
should do devotion."
The body is made up of five elements, know, O clever man -
Nanak says: From where it is produced, it will be absorbed
in that.
Now Guru Sahib says, "The body which we are seeing is made up of five
elements: earth, sky, water, air and fire. All the elements are each others'
enemies; it is only because of the Light of the Shabd that they work
together in the body. When the elements are destroyed - the earth is
dissolved in the water, the water is destroyed by the fire, the fire is
absorbed into the sky, and the sky loses its existence in Maya - Maya goes
into the Brahm, and Brahm goes into the inner soul of the universe and in
that way all this world comes to an end. Similarly, when our death comes
our body goes into the mud, our water also goes into the water, our air
also goes into the air, and fire also destroys this mud. From where we have
come we return."
God is All-Pervading: this is proclaimed by the Saints.
Nanak says: Worship Him, O mind, and thus you will cross
the ocean of life.
Now Guru Sahib says, "The God Whom we are talking about, through doing
Whose devotion you unite with Him, that God is not residing in any ocean,
neither is He residing on the top of any mountain; that God is residing
within all of you." This point we forget. What do we do? We keep pure the
places - temples, mosques, churches - which we made with our own hands. We
don't even take our shoes into those places, and we don't do any bad deeds
there. But what are we doing to the real temple that is made by God Himself
and in which God Himself is residing? We are putting meat, wine and all
other things in this temple made by God and we are doing very bad deeds in
this temple made by God. And now you can think that if we ourselves are not
even ready to sit at a dirty place and not even a dog will sit at a dirty
place, how can that pure and high God come and manifest within people who
are eating meat and drinking wine?
Saints and Mahatmas come into this world only to give knowledge of this
fact: that God is residing within all of you. Kabir Sahib says, "Just as
there is oil in the seeds and fire in the stone; in the same way God is
within you." If we can realize Him, we should. But what is our condition?
Kabir Sahib says, "The thing is lost somewhere and you are searching
somewhere else. That way you cannot find it." You consider that if we lose
anything in America, and if we go to India searching for it, we cannot find
it no matter how much love or devotion or effort we put in. We have to
search at that place where the thing was lost.
So Kabir Sahib says, "You take the help of that person who knows the
secret. The experienced ones, those who have traveled on that Path and who
have practiced it, they help us to do the same thing."
The Mahatmas explain also how the soul is covered by mind and how the
mind is covered by Maya. They explain that our mind is helpless because of
the organs of sense and that our soul, being controlled by the mind, is also
helpless; they tell us how we are to remove this cover. Saints and Mahatmas
tell us everything very carefully. And they tell us how, with the help of
Simran, we are to take up our attention and connecting it with the Shabd
Naam, how we are to remove all these covers.
One whom pain and happiness does not touch, nor greed,
attachment and pride can harm
Nanak says: Hear, O mind - He is the image of God.
Now Guru Sahib says, "Who is the Beloved of God? Only he is the Beloved
of God who is not unhappy in pain and who is not happy in happiness. Only he
is gyani."
Three people came to see a famous Muslim woman Saint named Rabia Basri,
and She told them to say something about God's will. The first person said,
"Whatever comes from God's will, we should accept that." But She said, "No,
in this there is some smell of egoism." The second person said, "Whatever
comes in God's will, whatever pain, we should happily accept that." But
Rabia Basri said, "You also have some smell of egotism; you are also an
egotist." And the third person said, "Whatever comes in the will of God we
should accept that without any hesitation." But She said, "You also have
some fragrance of egoism." So all of them said, "All right - you tell us."
So Rabia said, "Whatever comes in the will of God, whether it is pain or
happiness, a disciple should not even know if he was happy in the
happiness sent by God or unhappy in the pain given by God."
One to Whom praise and criticism, gold and iron, are alike,
Nanak says: Hear, O mind! Consider Him as the liberated one.
Now Guru Sahib says, "These Saints and Mahatmas, they are neither worried
about name and fame nor are they afraid of criticism. For them gold and mud
are alike." And then He says, "Don't understand them as the liberated ones
after they leave the body. They are already liberated ones. They are the ones
Who have will: whenever They want They can leave this world."
Once some people asked Master Sawan Singh, "It is written in Your
horoscope that You will live up to one hundred years of age. Is that true?"
Master Sawan Singh replied, "Yes, that is true. But if you will allow me to
do my meditation and to do my work sitting at one place without disturbing
me with your worldly problems, only then it is possible. Otherwise I may go
earlier." And it happened that He left ten years earlier.
One to Whom joy and grief make no difference and friend
and enemy are alike -
Nanak says: Hear, O mind! Consider Him as the liberated one.
Now Guru Sahib says, "One who is not envious and looking at other
people's praise or position, one who does not want to prevent others from
being praised and who is not angry with those who are very famous, one who
is not envious of others' name and fame - one who is having this quality,
he is the beloved of God. Only he is the devotee of God who has all these
things; he who is envious of other people is not the beloved of God." He
says, "For such people both enemy and friend are alike. And they are the
liberated ones even while living."
When Bhai Matidas, the disciple of the Mahatma Whose bani we are reading,
was being tortured, he told his Master, "If you give me the order, I can
raze the city of Delhi to the ground." But Guru Teg Bahadur said, "You look
into my eyes." And when he did that, through the eyes his Master drew a
curtain so that he could not use the supernatural powers which he had;
because He didn't want him to destroy all his meditation.
One who doesn't frighten others, and is not afraid of others
Nanak says: Hear, O mind! He is the fortunate one.
Now Guru Sahib says, "Blessed is that jiva or soul who has diverted his
mind from worldly pleasures and who has loved the devotion of God and who
is doing the devotion of God. On him God is very gracious."
One who has given up Maya and attachment and has become
sad toward worldly things,
Nanak says: Hear, O mind! Brahm dwells in him.
Now Guru Sahib says, "One who has taken his mind away from Maya and who,
after rising above the limit of Maya, has taken his soul and absorbed it in
that Oversoul, in God; you should understand that at such a place God is
manifested and at that place God is residing."
One who has given up egoism and has known the Creator -
Nanak says: He is the liberated one, O mind; consider this
as true.
Now Guru Sahib says, "Those who have taken out egoism from their heart" -
because egoism, you see, is a great obstacle - "those who have taken out
egoism from their heart, they have reached the door of liberation and they
are liberated." What is egoism? Egoism is that which we are thinking always:
"This is my country, my community, my religion; I am learned, I am an
intellectual man" - this is all our egoism. But if we have this disease
within us, the medicine for that is also within us. Guru Sahib says, "No
doubt this is an incurable disease, but there is some medicine for that."
When God is showering grace on the souls, and when they come in the shelter
of the Mahatma, and when the Mahatma gives them Naam and after that when
they are meditating on that Naam - that is the medicine which works on this
disease.
Destroyer of fear, remover of unworthy thoughts -
that is the Naam of God in this Iron Age.
Nanak says: One who repeats His Naam daily,
he succeeds in all his works.
Guru Sahib says, "All the ages have their own religion, and in the Kali
Yuga or Iron Age liberation can be attained only by meditating on the Naam.
And if we want to be free from the fear of birth and death, if we want to be
free from the fear of the angel of death, we should do the meditation of
Naam."
Guru Arjan Sahib says, "Kalyug is come, Kalyug is come; sow the Naam,
sow the Naam" - because there is no other way of emancipation or liberation
except Naam.
Swami Ji Maharaj also says, "In this Iron Age there are no rites and
rituals that can take us to liberation except meditation on Naam."
Bhagat Ravidas Ji Maharaj says, "In the Golden Age, Silver Age and Copper
Age, there were various religions and ways of emancipation; but in the Iron
Age meditation on Naam is the only way for liberation of the soul."
With tongue sing God's praise, with ears listen to His Naam -
Nanak says: Hear, O mind! That is the way to avoid the house
of Yama.
Now Guru Sahib says, "What should you do? Do Simran with the tongue and
with the ears listen to the Sound which is coming from Sach Khand and
resounding in your forehead." In that way we will be free from the fear of
the angel of death and go back to our real home - Sach Khand.
Mahatma Brahmanand says, "You have a tongue of your own, and Saints and
Masters have given you Simran without taking anything from you. What are you
waiting for? Why are you not doing Simran?"
One who gives up attachment, greed, self-love and egoism -
Nanak says, he himself gets liberation and also makes others
liberated.
Now Guru Sahib says, "Those who give up the attachment of this world,
those who give up lust, anger, greed, and egoism of the world, no doubt they
are going to be liberated; and they can liberate millions of others also."
Kabir Sahib says, "If the love of God is maintained as it was in the
beginning, as it was on the very first day, if that same love is maintained
throughout life, what is the question of his own liberation? Such a person
can liberate billions of other souls by giving Naam initiation to them."
Know this world as a dream and a play.
Nothing is real in it, says Nanak, except God.
Now Guru Sahib compares this world to a dream. Just as in a dream we feel
that it is real but, when the dream is over, there is nothing there - in the
same way, in this world also, after our life is completed there is nothing.
The dream of a night is of five or seven minutes or of one or two hours but
the dream of this life is of twenty years, thirty years, sixty years. Guru
Sahib says, "We are attached to the dream and that's why we are not doing
devotion. And because we are always spending our time in all the worldly
works, we do not find any time for meditation."
Daily, for the sake of Maya, man forgets his morals.
Among the billions, Nanak says, only few remember God.
Now Guru Sahib is describing the condition of the worldly people. He says,
"The worldly people are always wandering here and there, day and night, to
collect the wealth of this world, and they are always attached to this world.
But only one from millions and billions, only one from all this great number,
is attached to God and is wanting God."
Just as bubbles in the water continually come and go,
So it is with this creation. Nanak says, Listen, friend.
Now Guru Sahib is describing the condition of this world as a bubble of
water. Just as a bubble expands and, after a few moments, it bursts and again
it joins the water; in the same way this world also expands for a while and
after some time it is also destroyed.
Man is not aware of anything, being blind in the
intoxication of Maya.
Nanak says, Without the meditation of God, one is caught
up in the snare of Yama.
Now Guru Sahib says, "We have forgotten God and are intoxicated with Maya
and further we have the intoxication of wine. But what is the punishment for
forgetting God? The angel of death will come and will hang us. That is the
punishment for forgetting God."
One who wants happiness forever should take refuge in God.
Nanak says: Hear, O mind! The human body is precious.
Now Guru Sahib says, "If you want real peace and real happiness, go
into the shelter of the Guru; only that person is successful who has taken
shelter in the Master."
Those who run for the sake of Maya are foolish and ignorant.
Nanak says, without the meditation of God, life is uselessly
passing.
Now Guru Sahib says, "We are foolish and attached because we are
wasting our time collecting Maya. And we are wasting our human birth,
because only that moment is counted in which we have done the devotion
of God."
One who repeats His Naam day and night, consider Him
as the form of God.
There is no difference between the beloved of God and God.
Nanak says, Know this as true.
Now Guru Sahib says, "Truly I am telling you this: that one who is
doing the meditation of God always, day and night, who is united with God
and is absorbed in God, there is no difference between God and him."
Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj says, "There is no difference between
God and the beloved of God. It is just like the drop of water in the
ocean."
And Guru Nanak Sahib says, "There is no difference between God and the
beloved of God. Looking at His body you should not understand Him as
different from God." Because if that God had come to give us the knowledge
in the body of a cow or buffalo or any other animal, we would not be able
to understand His language. If He had come in the form of a god or goddess
or higher spirit, we would not have been able to see Him. Only man can be
the teacher of man. That is why, when God gives His knowledge to anyone, He
puts His heart and skill in some man and then He teaches the people. Kabir
Sahib says, "Brahm is speaking through the body. Without a body, how can
even Brahm speak?"
The mind is trapped in Maya, the Naam of God
you have forgotten.
Nanak says, Without the meditation of God,
what is the use of life?
Now Guru Sahib says, "Our mind is absorbed, involved, in Maya and we have
forgotten the Naam. Because of this our human birth will not be counted in
any way."
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