HE NEVER LEAVES US
by
Sant Ajaib Singh Ji
August 12, 1977
Sant Bani Ashram
Sanbornton, New Hampshire
Those who turn away from the Satguru,
It is not good even to see their faces.
This is the bani of Sri Guru Amardas Ji Maharaj. Right from his
childhood he was longing to meet God. He always lived a very simple
life. He had only one pair of clothes, although he was a clothes
merchant. Many times he visited the Hindu places of pilgrimage, including
the River Ganges, but he didn't find any peace of mind there. But when
he met the daughter of Guru Angad Dev Ji, and heard Guru Angad's bani
from her, he went with her to Him. After taking initiation from Guru
Angad, he meditated on that and brought peace to his soul. He loved to
do seva, and he was full of humility. He brought firewood to the
langar, and cooked food also. Whatever seva he was given, he would do
wholeheartedly. Guru Angad Dev Ji was so pleased with his seva that He
made him His own form and gave him the authority to give initiation.
Now in this hymn Guru Amardas is telling us what He achieved from the
Path of the Masters. He talks of the advantages of meeting the Master,
and the disadvantages of becoming antagonistic toward the Master. He
talks about Naam: who gets Naam, and what the advantages are of
getting Naam. Lovingly He explains to us that only they get Naam, and
only they come into the Satsang, on whom God has been gracious. God
inspires them from within, and then they come into the Satsang of a
Mahatma; and the Mahatma creates the yearning to meditate on Naam
through the Satsang. Only when God is gracious can anyone come into
the Satsang. If God is not gracious on us, we will never come in
contact with the Master. Even if He lives in our neighborhood or He
takes birth in our own home, still we will not believe in Him. And the
Master will never say, "I am the Master," or "I can give you this
thing." Guru Nanak says, "If it is not written in our destiny, we will
not believe in the Mahatma or go to Him. Even if He is sitting next to
us, we will not believe in Him."
I have seen in the time of Master Sawan Singh that many Westerners,
foreigners, and people from different parts of India came and took
advantage of His presence and His work. But the people of the nearby
villages - Balsarai and Baraich - were always fighting with Him. The
Akalis of those places opposed Him so much that they would send some
of their men to take Initiation and then they would write the Simran
on the wall and say, "He is only giving knowledge of these few words."
Master Sawan Singh used to say, "If a dog passes through a cotton
field he cannot come out wearing a coat. If he shakes himself, only a
little cotton comes out." The knowledge of the words is not Naam. Naam
is the attention of the Master. Saints are almighty; no one can
deceive Them. At the time of Initiation, when They give Initiation,
They know everything. They see how much Karma the soul has to pay off
to the Negative Power. Those who come to the Master in this way -
playing tricks - get only the words from Them and not Their attention.
So here Guru Amardas is saying that it is not good even to look at the
faces of those who are going away from the Master after taking
Initiation from Him.
They get punished constantly, and when they repent,
They don't get the time back which is lost.
Now He says that even the Negative Power punishes them. It is like the
criminal being beaten by policemen before appearing in court. Then they
repent; but the time that has passed cannot be gotten back.
0 Hari! Keep your grace on us.
Now the Mahatmas, Whose eyes are opened, know it is all in the hands
of God-Their Satguru. Only He can bring the people to Them; only He
knows whom He has to bring and whom He has not to bring. That's why
Guru Amardas says, "Oh Satguru, if You are gracious, only then can
the souls remain attached to You."
0 Lord! Bring us in Your true Company,
So that we may have the essence of devotion in our heart.
Now He talks about that deed by doing which we can always be attached
to God. That deed is Satsang. In those on whom He is showering grace,
He creates the yearning to go into Satsang.
Paltu Sahib, Who has written a lot about the importance of Satsang,
says, "Run, run, oh disciple of the Fakir! Here there is the fear of
women and wealth." If you will not run away from these things they will
ruin you and then you will weep. These things have ruined even Siringi
Rishi and others who proclaimed themselves renunciates; they were
destroyed by women and wealth.
Siringi Rishi lived in the forest for a long time and he had been doing
meditation there. King Dasrath was childless, and the astrologers told
him, "If Siringi Rishi comes into your home and performs the Yajna (a
certain ritual), only then will you have children. But Siringi Rishi was not
ready to come into any village, and it was difficult to bring him into the
world to make him perform the Yajna. So King Dasrath announced that
he was offering a big prize to anyone who could bring Siringi Rishi into
his village.
There was a woman who accepted that offer, and she said that she
would be able to go and bring Siringi Rishi. She went to the forest where
Siringi Rishi was living, and she disguised herself as a lady sadhu, and
watched what Siringi Rishi was doing. She came to know that he was not
eating any food and was always remaining in meditation. But once a day
he would come to a particular tree and touch that tree with his tongue;
but he was not eating or drinking any other thing.
So at the place where Siringi Rishi was touching the tree with his
tongue, that woman pasted some honey. And on the next day, when Siringi
Rishi came and put his tongue on that part of the tree, he found the
honey there; and it was very tasty. Before that, Siringi Rishi had never
tasted honey. So when it tasted very sweet, instead of touching his
tongue once, he tasted it two times. On the next day, that woman pasted
some nourishing food there. In that way, Siringi Rishi started eating the
food which was pasted there, and as his body got strength, desires also
were awakened. He felt like enjoying lust; and the woman was there.
Eventually they produced some children, and the woman said to Siringi
Rishi one day, "You see, once we were alone here, only the two of us
were living. But now we have children and we should move to some place
where other people are living, because the forest is not a good place to
bring up our children."
So at that time Siringi Rishi had three children, and it was decided that
they would move into the city. So it was announced that Siringi Rishi
was coming to the city where King Dasrath was living and everybody
gathered there to have the darshan of such a great Mahatma. But people
saw that Siringi Rishi was coming carrying one child on his shoulder;
another in a backpack (like those in which the American people put their
babies); another was holding his finger, and last was the woman. So
when the people who were gathered to have darshan of such a great
Mahatma saw that he was coming with three children and a wife, they
felt very bad and they said, "Who will call him the Mahatma? This
Mahatma's condition is worse than the worldly people." When they
taunted Siringi Rishi, then he realized that he had been deceived by that
woman; and then leaving the children and the woman there, he went
back to the jungle.
So that's why Paltu Sahib says, "They have destroyed even people like
Siringi Rishi and others who were renunciates." Those who have left
these things and said they were renunciates, they didn't escape either. So
Paltu Das says, "Only he will escape from these things who remains
awake in the Satsang day and night." Because only he can escape if he
goes into a place where he is constantly reminded of his faults and his
mind is rebuked and he sees his weaknesses in front of him. That's why
Guru Sahib says here, "0 God! Shower grace on us. Bring us to Your
Satsang so we can remember You and do Your devotion."
The devotees who work according to the Gurumukhs, win the
favor of the Lord.
No matter how much devotion we do according to our mind and intellect
and according to our own will, and no matter how large a donation we
may give-none of those things count, because they can all be found in
the Vedas and Shastras. That's why Guru Sahib says here, "Who are the
devotees of God? Who are the beloveds of God? Those who are walking
on the path shown by the Gurumukhs."
They serve the Master, giving up egoism, and they die while
living.
Now Guru Amardas Ji says that those who follow the Path of devotion
shown by the Gurumukhs know they have to become free of egoism.
They know how to collect their scattered thoughts with the help of
Simran, and how to rise above and come to Tisra Til.
The one in whose body we are living is ruling over us.
Mahatmas make us understand that we are under the orders of the
government who owns the city and we are under the orders of God Who
owns this body. But there is another government in our body - lust,
anger, greed, and egotism, and attachment -and we are under its control.
If any soul wants to become liberated from this, that government
becomes very forceful with him and, becoming very hard, it makes him
do what it wants him to.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, "Sometimes coming as our friend, it persuades
us to do what it wants. And sometimes coming as our enemy, it
frightens us, and in that way we do what it wants." Sometimes these
passions come to us as our friend and they say, "What is wrong with
enjoying lust? What is wrong in doing all these things?" When we do them,
then they make us realize that these are bad things we have done: But
what can be done then?
Why should we forget Him Who sustains us?
Keep Him always in your heart.
We know that we need some power or current to run the parts of any
machine. If we do not give any power or current to that machine, those
parts never move. In the same way, our body also has parts: legs, ears,
eyes, etc. The Negative Power makes all of the body and fixes all of its
parts. But until the current or the soul, which is supplied by Sat Purush,
enters into it, its parts cannot operate. As long as that Power is working
in us, our friends and relatives love us, they kiss us, they appreciate us;
they are all very fond of our body. But when God withdraws the ray of
Light, or soul, which He has put in our body, and makes our soul leave
the body, no relatives or friends come and appreciate this body. The bad
smell starts coming from it and nobody wants to give any attention to
that. That's why Guru Amardas Ji Maharaj says, "Why are you for-
getting Him? Why are you not remembering Him, Who is the only
reason for glorifying our body?"
By getting Naam we get honor;
By believing in Naam we get happiness.
Now Guru Amardas Ji talks about the advantages of taking Naam:
because of the Naam we will be respected in the court of God. If we
don't have Naam, the messengers of death will come and give us trouble.
And then He says that after drinking Naam, to believe in Naam -that
means, to manifest that Naam within us-only in that lies our bravery.
Only They know how, through getting Naam, we can get real happiness
after manifesting Naam within us.
From Satguru we can get Naam - Only if we have good Karma
and His grace.
In the lines above, Guru Amardas Ji told us the advantages of Naam. He
said that only because of Naam, we will get repute in the court of
God; and by manifesting Naam within us, we will get the real
happiness. Now this thought comes in our mind: What is the difficulty
of getting Naam? What and where is that Naam? This question does come
up. So He says that Naam is not in any book, any holy scriptures, or
any place like that; it is not written in any particular language:
Hindi, Sanskrit, Gurumukhi, English or any other. That is an unwritten
law and an unspoken language. About it, Guru Sahib says, "That Naam
has created the whole creation; because of that Naam the Khands and
Brahmands (the divisions of the world) are existing. Who gets that
Naam? Only they get Naam on whom God is very gracious. The One Who
owns this body, He Himself has locked it and given the key to the
gurumukhs. Try any means, oh brother, on the level of the mind and
intellect: still you will not get the knowledge of the Naam which is
residing within you." But God, Who owns this body, Who has created
this body, has kept that Naam within us. He Himself has locked that
treasure within us and He has given the key to the gurumukhs - to the
beloveds of God or the Master. And no matter how much we search for
that Naam, doing all kinds of practices on the level of mind or
intellect - still He says that until we go to the gurumukhs we cannot
get the real knowledge of Naam: Because God Himself has made the
Gurumukh the treasurer of this Naam. The infinite bani is resounding
within us.
God has given this wealth also to the Saints. The reality is that
whenever God showers grace on the souls, He Himself comes down in
the form of a Master. Guru Nanak says, "God Himself takes the form
of a Sadh. Whenever He wants to shower grace on the souls, he comes
down in the body of a Sadh." Kabir Sahib says, "The Creator is speak-
ing through the human body. Without a body how could He speak? If
God had come in the body of a buffalo or cow or any other animal, how
would we understand His language? If He had come in the form of a
spirit or god or goddess, how would we see Him?" Until He takes up the
human body, we cannot understand Him, we cannot see Him.
No doubt He has the human body, but still He is more than man and He
is above all men. There are many people sitting in the Satsang. Some
of them are clever and some are not; but still they are all called
humans. In the same way, the Master has the human body, but He is
above the limits of man and He is above the limits of mind and matter.
Kabir Sahib says, "0 Kabir! We have the knowledge of our real Home and
we are bringing the message of the Creator." They have the secret
knowledge of the real Home and They come down here carrying the
message from God. That's why He says here, "We can get that Naam from
the Satguru." Who can get Naam? Only they can get Naam on whom God has
showered much grace and mercy. If God is not gracious on our souls, we
cannot get Initiation. There was one well -known instance of a man
named Bhagirath who came to Master Kirpal in Ganganagar in order to
take Initiation. Just as Initiation was starting, he told me that he
felt as if his body were breaking down and his clothes were on fire,
and he could not stand it. So I told him, "This opportunity will not
come again and you should try and sit here and take this Initiation."
But he said, "No, this is not in my control and I am going home." A
very muddy road led to his home, and one small bus used to run there.
So he sat on the bus and requested the driver to drive very fast so he
could get home as soon as possible because he was not feeling well.
And as he stepped into his home, he fell down; and he told his wife,
"Now I am going. And those who have come to take me, they have very
dangerous faces - I don't know whether they are going to punish me or
what. But I am also seeing one old man - the Master - with a white
beard. He looks very kind and is going to help me." Then he left the
body peacefully. His name was Bhagirath.
The next day when I came to know about him, I reported it to the
Master. And Master said, "It was not in his fate and God was not
gracious on him so he didn't get Initiation. Even though he came here,
was accepted, and sat here, it was not in his fate to get Initiation
in this lifetime." That's why he got up and left. But he was taken
care of by the Master. He had come in contact with the Master once,
and he will not go below the human body. Once again he will get the
human body in which he will get the perfect Initiation. So if God is
not gracious on us, even though we come to the Initiation, still we
can go back - God can take us back - if He has not written the
Initiation in our fate.
Those who turn their faces away from Satguru do not get any
rest and they remain in illusion.
Neither in the sky nor on earth do they get peace; always they
are born in the dirt.
Now Guru Amardas Ji is describing the condition of people who take In-
itiation from a perfect Master, but afterwards criticize the Master and
talk against Him. He says that those who are going away from the
Master remain in illusion and do not get peace in the sky nor on the
earth. They go on wandering from one body to another, and they get so
much suffering that sometimes they even have to come as insects of the
dirt.
There was an initiate of Baba Jaimal Singh who used to live in the
town called Dhariwal. After taking the Initiation from Baba Jaimal
Singh, he started talking against Him and slandering Him in front of all
the people. When he was criticizing Baba Jaimal Singh personally, Baba
Ji didn't mind that and He kept quiet. But when he started talking
against Swami Ji Maharaj, Baba Jaimal Singh's Master, Baba Ji couldn't
bear that. One can bear criticism of himself. But if Someone is
criticizing his Master, if he is a dear lover, he will never bear that and
will definitely do something. So Baba Jaimal Singh, because He couldn't
bear the criticism of Swami Ji Maharaj, made him leave the body.* This
is the law of the Masters: that anyone who criticizes his Master will
definitely get the body of a leper. In his next life, he did get the body
of a leper and he came to live in the leper colony at Taran Taran (a town
near Amritsar).
(*By manipulating his prarabdh or fate Karma. Masters have the power to do this,
although They do not ordinarily exercise it.)
Now this man was an initiate of Baba Jaimal Singh, and once the Saints
give Initiation, They definitely liberate the initiate, although if he
makes mistakes, They may punish him. But only Saints can liberate. So
Baba Jaimal Singh ordered Baba Sawan Singh (from within), "Go to the
leper colony at Taran Taran. There is one dear one there. Go and
liberate him."
When Baba Sawan Singh expressed his desire to go and visit that
leper colony, the dear ones around Him were surprised. They said, "Why
should you go there? The lepers are dirty and the flies are sitting on their
faces! Those flies will sit on Your body! They are suffering and You will
have to take on their karmas. They are very dirty and sick. You should
not go there! Why should you go there?" Baba Sawan Singh replied,
"No, I have to go there. Saints have to take on the karma of the world.
That's why I should go there." So when Baba Sawan Singh Ji went there,
He took a lot of sweets with Him, plus many shirts and pajamas.
He gave the sweets and one pair of shirt and pajamas to every leper who
was there. He was distributing those things with His own hands, and the
people came and took those things from Him. Some of them would look
into His eyes, smiling, and some people would not look into His eyes;
they would take their things and go away. Finally, there was one man,
who, when he saw Baba Sawan Singh as he was coming to take his
things, smiled and said, "Now You forgive me." And Baba Sawan
Singh said, "Yes, I have come here to forgive you."
When Baba Sawan Singh came back to the ashram, the dear ones asked
him, "Was there a secret behind going to the leper colony? Why
did you go there? Did that dear one know You?-The one who requested
You to forgive him, and You replied You had come to forgive him. Did
You know him? Had You ever been to that leper colony before?" So Baba
Sawan Singh replied, "Yes, there is a secret. He was a dear one of
Baba Jaimal Singh and in his past life he criticized Baba Ji's Master.
That's why he got the body of a leper. Now his punishment is over, and
Baba Jaimal Singh ordered me to go and liberate him. That's why he
said, `Forgive me.'" So only the Saints can liberate the critics of
Saints.
The deception of attachment has deluded the world.
Those who have met Satguru, Maya cannot come near them.
Creating this world, the Negative Power has thrown the souls into the
illusion of Maya. But this snare of Maya cannot do any harm to those
who are doing the devotion of the Satguru.
In our previous village there was an initiate of Master Kirpal named
Jagroop Singh. But after taking Initiation, he went away from the Path
and started eating meat and drinking wine. Once it so happened that
another initiate in that village accidentally ate meat and drank wine;
but afterwards he realized his mistake. When Jagroop Singh came to know
that he had taken meat and wine after Initiation, he taunted him and
said, "Either leave the Path, or don't eat and drink these things."
(Ordinarily people have this habit of finding fault with others; they don't
think about what they are doing or have done.) So that dear one replied,
"I did this by mistake and now I realize it. You should not taunt me like
this, because you also eat meat and drink wine; you have also made a
great mistake." So Jagroop Singh said, "Yes, I also have done that; but
it is not a mistake. I left the Path, and then I started eating that. You
should also leave the Path."
I was turning in my place and I heard this conversation. I said,
"Jagroop Singh, you should not talk like this. You say you have left the
Path, but Master has not left you. Definitely at the time of your death
He will come to take you. And then you will realize that this was your
mistake. At that time you will be so ashamed that you will not be able to
look at the Master. `You bring the promissory note and I can write on that
that you have left the Path,' you say. But in reality Master will never
leave you because when Saints initiate any soul they always stay with him
and They never leave him until the end of the world." So when I said
that, he said, "No, I don't believe in that; this is all bogus." After that,
whenever I would see him, he would say, "I am waiting for that day.
Whatever you said, it is all false." But I said, "No; wait for the time
and you will realize this."
Because he had made that mistake, he was given punishment on his body.
Before leaving the body he got sick. And once, it so happened that he
murdered a person and was sent to jail. It was while he was in jail
that he left the body. There were many locks and guards there, but still
Master appeared at that place to liberate him. At that time Jagroop
Singh said, "Now my Master has come. But with which face can I stand
before Him? How can I reply to Him?" But still Master came there.
Once Master has initiated any soul, no matter if he has done bad deeds,
still Master comes at the time of death to liberate them.
Because this thing happened, many prisoners who saw it were very
impressed. They understood the importance, the greatness of the Master
Power. They wrote us many letters that they would take Initiation when
they got out of jail. Master left the body and they are still in jail;
but still they have the desire to get Initiation.
Those who serve the Satguru are beautiful as they have
removed the dirt of egoism.
Now Guru Amardas Ji Maharaj says that those who are doing the devotion
shown by the Master, and those who have love for the Master, only
they have beautiful faces and they get much respect in the court of God.
In this world, people praise them. And people praise them saying they
are devotees because they are doing such good things.
Those who merge in Shabd become pure, and always remain in
His Will.
One who merges himself in Shabd, only he is pure, only he is holy.
Those who are doing everything within the Will of God, only they are pure.
Only You are the Lord, the Giver, You Yourself graciously
forgive and unite us with You.
Now Guru Amardas is praying to Almighty God. He says, "Only You
are the Giver; only You are the Emperor; You are Almighty God. Only
You can liberate those on whom You are gracious."
Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says, "0 God! If it were in our hands to
come to You by ourselves, then who would want to be separated from
You?"
Nanak says, "We are in Your refuge; liberate us as You wish."
At the conclusion of the hymn, still He prays to God and says, 0 God!
Whether You give us happiness or pain we are happy in that. Do one
thing for us: Make us free from the Angels of Death and from the
Negative Power; and take us to our real Home. Because ever since our
soul has separated from Shabd it has not experienced any peace, it has
not gotten any happiness.
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