If a certain Person's company is praised, it means that He is wise; He is One Who knows the difference between that which is true and that which is untrue. In such company, one can also learn such power of differentiation and develop awareness. Such a Personality is the very image of the Truth. He is the Satguru, Whose soul, after gaining emancipation from the mind and senses, experiences itself and gains connection with the Ultimate Truth, becoming the very form of that Truth. He is then only termed a Satguru.
Guru Arjan Sahib said on this subject, "He Who knows the Sat Purush (Ultimate Lord) has the Name of Satguru." He is one with the True Lord. In such company alone, can the soul achieve salvation. Who sees the Lord praises Him. He whose mind's eye is open to see the Lord, he only praises the Lord. If a soul has not realized the Ultimate Lord, it means he is still at the mind and sense level, just like others who are asleep within and are the image of the world without. How can a sleeping soul give a connection with the Lord to anyone else?
What happens when one meets a Satguru?
Intellectual knowledge uplifts only the intellect. If you keep the company of those people who are involved in outer enjoyments which are experienced through the senses, then your senses will get heightened. On the other hand, in the company of One Whose soul is strong, your soul will be uplifted, and you will start seeing for yourself.
Many thousands of words have been written on the greatness of the Satguru and the wondrous things that happen to us in His company, the precious gifts we receive. From His very presence there is a magnificent charging emitting, surrounding Him and permeating the whole area. "That overflowing Love is colored with intoxicant; the true yearning is created in the Sadh's company." Masters are the overflowing cups of the Lord's intoxicating color - overflowing vessels of Love. Just by enjoying His company the yearning for God is born within one's being.
This human birth we accept so casually comes only with great good fortune. Why? "You have got the human form - it is thy turn to meet God." In the human form alone can God be realized - "No other action will be of avail." The soul cannot reach God through any type of actions; these only cause one's attention to become more dispersed. One can make the best use of all one's facilities, but what will really help us to realize the Lord? "In the Sadh's company, only contact the Naam." And, "Those who repeated Naam got salvation; O Nanak, their faces radiated with glory." Those who meditated upon Naam succeeded in that purpose for which they were born into the human body. Their faces radiate in the Lord's House. Through Their company many others also gain emancipation. "Gurumukh frees millions by giving a spark of Naam."
What is that which is called Naam? There are two kinds of Naam. First, God is Nameless and Formless and Soundless; but when the Absolute God became from One to many, He came into expression, and that God-into-Expression Power is called Naam. It sustains the whole of creation. It has been given many different Names by the advanced souls to help mankind understand. Some called Him "Ram" because He is vibrating everywhere (from the Sanskrit root "ramma" meaning perpetual vibration.) Some called Him "Wahguru," and there are many other Names, all of which we respect, no doubt. "I rejoice in all Thy Names." But, what is that Naam or Name which is the Naam? - "That Naam, repeating which you will cross the Ocean of Life." If every religion declares that it has such a Name, then how can one know which is the true Naam?
As a guiding criterion, we should remember that, while words are all right, it is only a contact with that true Naam that can give the sought - for salvation. That is the Power which the words describe - the Naam which links you to the Named. One must get the connection with that Naam. This is why meditation upon Naam is very necessary; for although one can gain a little peace from other practices, yet after a while the mind will start its racing again. One Muslim Saint puts it this way: that we are repeating mere names, when we should catch hold of the Named Himself, with Whom all names are but empty words of description. How can a person have peace by repeating some words in a parrot-fashion? If one repeats the word "Ice, ice, ice," can one thereby experience its coolness? Repeating the word "water" will not quench the thirst. How indeed can the spiritual thirst be quenched by the repetition of words or by repeating the various Names of the Lord?
Where then is the Naam which is Naam Power, which is God-in-Expression? "The Water of Life, giver of the nine pleasures of Amrit, is the Lord's Naam; It resides in this body." Naam is the giver of all kinds of happiness, and It resides in this human form. And so It is not a subject of outer manifestation - It requires inversion. Naam is intoxicatingly sweet and beautiful, and can be experienced above the senses only. And what indication is there that one has gained experience of Naam? "When in contact with Naam, the Light vying with millions of suns is manifested." You will experience the radiation of that Light. All you brothers, in whatever religion you are, do you experience the Light within your own body? If you do, then know you have got something. If not, you are merely repeating words and have no connection with Naam.
"The Lord's Naam is the Music of the Spheres." There is Music in the Naam - the Sound which vibrates from above. If you hear the Sound of the Lord within and see the Lord's Light, then know that you have got connection with Naam. It is experienced only above the senses. "In the company of the Sadhu, you receive the Imperceptible Gift." It is all in the hands of the Master, Who will simply present this Gift to the true seeker. Do you see how valuable is the company of a Satguru?
What is the difference between the Master and other men? Physically He seems the same as others, just like doctors and patients; but the doctor has studied anatomy. And similarly, those People are specialized Who have got self-knowledge and God-knowledge. However, They always say that They are men just like other human beings. Guru Nanak said, "In this form of man, Nanak is my name." But, whom will they address as Nanak? That is the point. Sometimes Masters do give an indication of what They are - in addition to man. "God's word, which comes from above, is given out as knowledge." The Guru is the mouthpiece of God. As the flow comes from God, so the Guru expresses it out. This is the principal difference. So seek the company of the Realized Souls Who are the very form of Truth, the mouthpiece of Truth. They are developed Souls, although They seem to be just like us.
The whole world is sleeping - rich, poor, intellectual, illiterate, alike. Why? Because they have no awareness of themselves. Each man's soul is at the mercy of the mind, which is itself at the mercy of the senses, which, in turn, are dragged around by the sense-enjoyments. We have become identified with the body and the world - we have forgotten ourselves. Those who pursue the intellect lose themselves even more than the others; for although the illiterate are lost in the senses, yet through intellect one can get more deeply involved in the senses and the intellect both. We do work through the intellect, and it can help us to understand the true state of affairs - which is that the soul is a conscious entity, and our greatest aim as human beings is to realize God. The soul must rejoin the Lord.
God is in every form. He is the sustaining Power in all life. Due to this, our soul stays with the body; but when He removes His sustenance, the body is finished and returns to its various elements. Furthermore, if He withdraws His Power from creation, then dissolution or grand dissolution occurs, in different degrees. There is nothing nearer to us than this Power of God, which is the very soul of our soul. "Our soul has become jiva (soul in creation) through connection with the mind, and so the sense-enjoyments drag it around. It has forgotten itself in this depth of indulgence."
The world is sleeping at the level of the mind. Mind is most powerful at the physical level where it takes our attention further and further into physical expression. Mind has stages also - physical, astral, causal - it operates in all three. It is not something simple. Many great sages have left this world crying because of the mind. So first we must learn to control the physical mind by withdrawing it from outer senses. You will find in some Eastern books the story of Habil and Cabil, and it is the story of the lower mind (Habil) killing the higher mind. Mind is a very strange phenomenon, and if it is controlled it will show the happenings of the three worlds. Remove yourself from outer distractions, and you will awaken unto your true self.
Has it never occurred to you that you must leave this world one day? Even in the presence of death, or accompanying the body to the cremation ground, do you never stop to think that you will also be in this position some day? We do agree that we have to go when reminded about it, but we then promptly forget the matter. It is a very sad condition we are in. Guru Arjan Sahib says, "Arise, awake, O traveler - why this delay?" Beloved soul, why are you sleeping? The sun of human birth has risen, and this is the time to awaken.
Listen now to a hymn of Guru Arjan Sahib, in which He tells us more on this subject. You may ask, "If we are sleeping, then how are we able to talk?" But do we not talk in our sleep? You haven't got the awareness, but you have the intellect; so try to understand. We are the soul, the indweller of the body. And we often say, "This is my body; I am soul," etc. As I have taken off my coat and placed it here, can you remove your body? Can you - rise above it and analyze yourself from mind and matter, separating yourself from the body? You would then see clearly who and what you are. Now listen to the hymn, which tells us how we went to sleep and how we can awaken.
Our outer awakenedness is busy coveting the wealth, property, bodies of others; and this creates impressions which are taken in and absorbed into one's being through the eyes. Remember, 83 % of all impressions we absorb enter into man through the eyes. Whatever you see is registered in you. This constant intake of impressions closes the inner vision more and more as the years go by. Furthermore, the impressions we absorb from outside are reproduced into our thoughts and dreams; and in this way a superficial life is built up. Up to now, you have never had the opportunity to dip inside yourself.
The ears are perpetually listening to the scandalizing and slandering of other people's characters. Their virtues are underrated and their faults exaggerated. If something is worth repeating, it should also be one hundred percent accurate. Otherwise, it amounts to slander. Test this fact for yourself. Just sit quietly and listen to any conversation going on around you, and you will find they consist of gossip, criticism, and scandal principally.
Fourteen percent of all impressions comes through the ears. Eighty-three and fourteen amount to 97 percent of all impressions through two senses alone - awake or asleep. All this attention going out, all these impressions coming in, and never a single glance inwardly toward one's real Self, which is in deep, heavy slumber, unaware of all this.
Mind is also asleep in this illusion. It has also become the form of the outer attractions, when awake and asleep both. What an accurate picture Guru Arjan Sahib is sketching! The Masters are constantly trying to draw man's attention to the true state of affairs. One Muslim Fakir points out that one should close the eyes and ears to shut out these impressions, and also close the lips. This renders the tongue out of action and it is then also impossible to eat anything. Whatever the method, we must stop these three kinds of impressions coming inside from without; and then we should invert within. The Fakir adds that if the Truth does not then awaken in you, you are free to ridicule the method. It is a very definite statement and a fair offer.
Only the Awakened Soul can help one to invert these rebellious senses and withdraw from the outer attractions. At present one sees outwardly only; but then with His blessing of inner vision, you will see within and the path will be opened for you. At present one hears only outer sounds, but one will hear the inner Music, the Sound of the Truth. At present you enjoy outer actions, but by inversion you will start to enjoy the delectable inner Nectar of Naam. "When that Nectar comes, this taste is no longer enjoyed." And who makes all this possible? "When the Satguru is met, inversion starts." If you die while living, you will solve the riddle.
Everywhere people are in the same condition - brothers, sisters, husbands, children, parents, friends. There is a sleeping state and a drunken state. And whereas a sleeping person can be awakened, what about he who is in the drunken condition? You can shout at him, but he is without consciousness and will not respond. These are hard facts; it is a very accurate picture of mankind. Even the few who try to find the cure in the scriptures are helpless, for one cannot awaken the consciousness by reading a book.
A little awareness of the predicament he is in comes only when he has lost everything he possessed. The house is unprotected; the thieves can get in, for the owner is in a deep sleep. You are the owner of your physical house, are you not? Know it or not, you are in a drunken state. And although you have been awakened innumerable times, yet you merely say, "Yes, yes, I am awake"; but this is only from outside and you promptly go to sleep again. You have never awakened from within. There is no answering reply from your true self. If the point does not go home, the whole thing is superficial.
The whole world's holy places have been made because of some enlightened soul. Millions of souls have been born in different places, and millions have died; but who remembers the coming and going of all these? And yet a single Awakened Soul can put a small place on the map. Hazrat Mohammed Sahib was born in Mecca. Millions of others have been born there before and since, and yet only He is remembered. Jerusalem is a holy city to the Christians because Christ was there. What about all the others before and after Him? The original purpose of going to a holy place was to sit at the feet of the Awakened Soul there, and to learn His teaching.
Leave your troublesome, busy home life for a little while and go to sit at the feet of some Enlightened Soul. You cannot awaken by merely taking a dip in some holy river. This is not the fault of the places of pilgrimage; they are what we have made them, places of enjoyment, holiday resorts, attractions to sightseers. Take Hardwar, for instance. This is a place where the great Rishis and Munis stayed, Guru Nanak Sahib also, and Guru Amar Das Who for many years visited Hardwar every year. What is the place like today? Some years ago I saw that two cinemas had been built there, and since then many more. In the evening especially, you can see nothing but eating, drinking, and people at large seeking amusement. There is nothing else. This is not the true purpose of making a holy place of pilgrimage. And what can a dip in a holy river do for you?
I once met a sadhu who told me he had walked from Amarnath to Rameshwar fourteen times. These two places are almost the northernmost and southern most points of India, respectively. Well, I asked him what was the condition of his mind; and he said, "Oh, the mind is the same. Actually, the mind is more inclined to disperse even further by such journeys, for it dwells on the different places and scenes and happenings, etc., here, there, and everywhere in the form of thousands of impressions which have entered the mind and go on revolving round and round. If one stayed in one place only, there would be fewer impressions.
Swami Ji says that thousands have gone on pilgrimage and thousands have performed practices of various kinds, but in the end they lost. The purpose of fasting is that the body should not be overloaded with food and should rest sometimes. Have you ever given your stomach a holiday? People go on pushing food down every hour, every half hour - this renders the digestive system ineffective and the result is one disease or another. The true purpose of fasting is to gain good health. To overload the stomach before a day's fast, and then reload it again after the fast is finished, accomplishes nothing but more moans and groans. If there is a little space in the stomach, and it is not completely filled up with food, then that space can be filled with the Light of God. There are many different kinds of fasting. For instance, one can fast on fruit and milk alone. But what happens? They start eating and drinking it by the kilos.
Food was made for man's needs - eat in moderation, and you will be successful. Only the food that is digested will give strength. We are ambitious for more consciousness, but overeating makes us lazy - we sleep longer. Some people are under the impression that they were just born to eat. You will remember, in the Puranas it tells of Food going to Lord Vishnu with the complaint that the people were eating him mercilessly, and what should he do about it? Lord Vishnu said that if anyone eats Food more than necessary, then Food should eat them! You can see this very result around you: the majority of people are sick, the cause of which is principally an excess of food in the system and irregular eating habits. One should take a little less than is necessary at each meal; that will give a buoyancy and aid one's efforts in becoming more awake. Furthermore, the health will improve, and one will be able to tackle a larger share of work. However, even if one goes to the extreme outer practice of fasting, what is the result? Swami Ji tells us:
Tulsi Sahib says, "Four, eighteen, nine, were read; Reading all this, yet the point was lost; Without contact of Surat with Shabd, one is like the chandool bird." The four Vedas, the eighteen Puranas, the nine Shastras - these are the ancient Hindu scriptures. But what is the use of absorbing the whole world's scriptures if they have no value in the light of one's purpose or goal? He says that one becomes like the chandool bird, which goes on imitating all the sounds it hears. No one ever got salvation through reading - understand this carefully.
The Upanishads tell us that the senses, the mind, and the intellect all should be stilled; and only then will the soul perceive. Reasoning is a help - for understanding - and reasoning is a bar also. The Vedas say, "The ignorant will go to dark regions at death; Those drenched in knowledge will go to darker regions." To still the intellect is most important, for that very intellect is at sense-level, and the mind is already asleep because of its connections with the senses. None of these outer practices can awaken the sleeping mind.
Taking a simple example, if a man owns a number of horses, and they are securely locked up in the stables, he sleeps without a care knowing that his horses are safe. However, if any night he has doubt as to whether the stable door is securely fastened, he cannot rest in peace. And then, if by chance the horses do get out and run away, he will do everything in his power to recapture them and bring them back. So the Negative Power does not interfere with the souls while they remain docilely in His domain, in which a web of sense-enjoyments is spread to trap them and bind them, and from which there is no escape.
Good actions therein bring rewards, and bad actions take the soul to the lower regions. The poor soul is bound to an ever-revolving wheel of existence in the various expressions of creation, and, therefore, the Negative Power is not the least worried. However, when the soul meets the Master, it is taught to rise above the senses; and the pathway of escape is opened up - through the grace and greatness of the Satguru Who is the pole of the Positive Power. When He sees that a soul is threatening to leave His Kingdom, the Negative Power becomes concerned and endeavors to keep the soul in His clutches.
Salvation, then, is achieved only through Para Vidya, which means the soul's knowledge of the Oversoul: and that is to free one's self from mind and senses, to have knowledge of self and knowledge of God. We must become infinite, for, "One as high as the High One will know Him." As high as the Lord Himself - Infinite, Inconceivable, Ineffable.
Indian mythology tells us that Lord Shiva is sitting in meditation; and Parvati, his wife, keeps feeding Him intoxicants. In this way, the soul is being intoxicated by the mind. When this intoxicant wears off the soul wants to awaken; but before it gets the chance, the mind again feeds it more intoxicant. The world's population is suffering from this drunkenness, and only those who are awake can see this condition clearly.
There is a cure to the condition: keep a spiritual diary, just as if you were in school doing your lessons. With the aid of this diary you can search out your faults and failings and note down your weaknesses. Slowly, gradually, these weaknesses will be weeded out. Along with this there is meditation. How much time do you put in? And through meditation, what progress have you made? In this way, you will yourself know where you stand with spiritual advancement and with ethical life alike. Without keeping a diary, interest and concern for these two important factors cannot be upheld. Following disinterest, meditation ceases altogether.
What else do I ask you to do? Only to keep your life pure and good, and to weed out the weaknesses. Then, food of the soul is your meditation; so meditate regularly. Do not feed the body until you have fed the soul.
Furthermore - to attend Satsang is like having a protective hedge around your meditation. It also increases the incentive to meditate. Attend the Satsang, even if your time is limited. Cancel some other appointment in order to do so, if necessary, for the benefits of Satsang are invaluable. All I ask you to do again and again is to be pure and chaste and keep your diary. Do you know of any means by which you will obey the Master's instructions?
There is a cure for our failures; but if you do not take the cure, then what is the cure for that omission? There is no cure for not doing anything. Sometimes you fight like dogs - when people see such behavior, will they not wonder what kind of teaching you are receiving? This brings disrepute upon the name of the Satsang. "A bad dog brings curses upon his Master." The pain in my heart is speaking when I ask you of any means whereby you will follow the commands. Having tried all means, in defeat I can only say that you should try for yourself and see how that invaluable gift will increase. If after doing what I ask you do not gain progress, then you may come and complain.
Start from today. Where there is a will, there is a way. You can find the time if you really want to. You have got the greatest of good fortune to be linked with a Personality Who is the form of the Truth.
King Janak was one soul who got something from Ashtavakra in those days; but each and every one of you has had experience from the very first day. If you don't continue it, how do you expect to progress? Attend the Satsang and have the advantage of a protective hedge around your meditation. I once asked Hazur Maharaj, "What are Your orders regarding Satsang?" He told me, "If you are very sick in your bed, but you can move then attend Satsang." Just note that He did not say that if you have the strength to walk, then attend Satsang. From this single instance, one can see how important it is.
"Master removes the veil from the eye; He gives the inner darshan; O friends, that Satguru is most attractive to me." The cause of not following the instructions is just laziness and concern for bodily comfort. Remember that this is the path of inner intoxication, so why worry about the body's comfort? Do not drift away on the waves of the mind; do the work which you have to do. When the lion wants to quench his thirst, he goes straight to the river. Become lion-like - you are soul, the entity of the Lord. Make the keen aspiration you had in the beginning into a reality. Leave the consideration of bodily comforts and the demands of the mind for the sake of that aim. Instead of obeying the mind, place the Master's commands on the altar of the Lord. "If ye love me keep my commandments." Would you not wish to obey the one you love? A true lover is more afraid of disapproval than he has consideration for body and mind. Go all out for your goal. "Listen to the Satguru's Sound - by rising above." Put all your attention, in full consciousness, upon that inner place, upon the Naam. The intoxications of the senses will start wearing off, and you will awaken to a new life.
God is already within you. He is Light - and the perpetual flow from the Beyond is going on. Connected to Him, the sins of the mind are gradually washed away. If you want to be a doctor, keep the company of a doctor. If you want to know the science of the soul, keep the company of one Who has mastered it - call Him by any Name you like. "Keep the Guru overhead, and live in His commands." Keep His word - above all else. He will never leave you until He has taken you to your True Home. Guru is not just a physical body, although we have respect for that body in which that God Power is manifested. He is that Power - call It God Power, Christ Power, Guru Power - and He is there to help you experience that manifestation within yourself. If but His single glance falls upon a person, that person is saved. Be obedient, that is all; do not ignore what He tells you. "Kabir says, such a server has no fear in all three regions." If one was aware of His presence constantly, would one be likely to sin?
I remember, Hazur once sent me an order. Sometimes it happens that if an individual is heading straight for his target, others create propaganda against him. Due to this type of propaganda, Hazur ordered that I should attend only the Satsang at Ravi Road Lahore, and should not visit anyone. I said, "All right, whatever are His orders." I got a lot of rest during those days - something like a servant who normally cleans twenty rooms being told to clean only one and leave the rest. I had more spare time, so I wrote the book "Gurmat Siddhant," a big book of over 2,000 pages. I strictly curbed all visiting; in fact, a relative's son died and I did not attend them at their house, but went only to the cremation. There was another case of a Satsangi dying, and he sent a message for me to go to him for the Guru's sake before he died. I had a strong desire to go, and the pain of sympathy was so great that I cried; but I had to send the message that I sincerely wished that he have full protection and all my good wishes were with him, but that I was helpless for I could not disobey the Master's orders. He died, and when Hazur came to Lahore, His widow complained that her husband had died in torment because of his desire to see me, and my refusal. Hazur turned to me and said, "Kirpal Singh, in this type of condition, you should go." From then on, when people summoned me to sickbeds, I would attend, and they would die. It became very difficult, but His orders were to go only wherever the person was dying.
Never ignore the Guru's commands. If you obey, you will have nothing to fear - here or in the Beyond. Hazur told us that if a person gets initiation and has to go into the hands of the Lord of Death, he should politely turn from both such initiation and its guru. Just giving some words - that is not Naam. The words given by the Satguru have a powerful charging; that is your protection. Guru is He Who brings Light into the darkness, and He remains with you forever. Hazur would say that if a five year old child is present, can you commit any sin before him? When you truly realize His constant presence, you will do no wrong. Also, be truthful before Him, not just when people are present in a hypocritical way. Remember, He is sitting within you; so hold the awe of Him in your heart and you will do nothing bad in His presence.
A disciple of Baba Jaimal Singh once told me that when Baba Ji gave initiation, He would tell the initiate, "Now I am residing within you, so do nothing to put me to shame. " Masters use many different ways to help the children keep Their commandments. This is the time for you to understand these things and live up to them. If you do not feel so inclined, then you will continue to lament, birth after birth. Only if you are fortunate enough to get the human birth again will you have another chance of doing this spiritual work. Those who have got the Naam - not only do they have the good fortune of the human life, but the inner path has been opened up for them. Work hard for your progress.
After the great Mahabharata battle between the Kauravs and the Pandavs - it is a very long story - they held a yug [a gathering of many holy men to perform various rituals until the Voice of God is heard] - the Ashav Med Yug - and at the completion stage no Sound of God had been heard. They approached Lord Krishna and told Him, "Our yug is a failure; what shall we do?" Lord Krishna said, "It is because no Realized Soul has been in attendance there." They protested and said, "But we have invited all the Sadhus and Mahatmas - how can that be?" He said, "No, you may have all the Sadhus and Mahatmas, but no Realized Soul is there."
Finally He advised them to approach a certain Sukrat Ji, and told them where to find Him. When they explained their desire to Sukrat Ji, He said, "Yes, I will attend your yug, but not until the fruit of 101 Ashav Med Yugs is given to me." They were astounded and cried, "But how can we give You that when even our single yug has been a failure?" But He was adamant, and so they went home. When they told their wife, Draupadi, she said, "All right, let me go." She was a queen and a very wise soul; but she forsook her carriage and went on foot all the way to Sukrat Ji, with sincere humility. She told Him that she had come to give Him the fruit of 101 Ashav Med Yugs, saying, "Maharaj, in the Shastras it is written that if you go to a Realized Soul in all humility, then each step you take gains the fruit of one Ashav Med Yug, so great is the value of this blessing. So you can take the fruit of 101 Ashav Med Yugs from my journey to you and give me what is left over." He was so pleased with Draupadi that He agreed to go, and the yug became successful. So you can see how rare and invaluable is the presence of the Realized Soul.
In the days of King Janak, there was only one Soul to give him the connection - Ashtavakra. In the days of the Kauravs and the Pandavs, only Sukrat Ji could make the Sound audible. To go to such a Master and to have His darshan gives much more blessing than the fruit of 101 Ashav Med Yugs. If you can find more than one such Soul, then the more fortunate are you. He is a man like us, but He is an expert in the Science of the Soul. God is All-Wisdom; wherever He manifests, that pole becomes His mouthpiece. That mouthpiece is called the Satguru. This Name is not given merely for wearing a certain type or color of clothing. Satguru is He Who has the highest degree in God.
There is a story of a King who held a bazaar, in which many beautiful and valuable things were displayed. He proclaimed to his people that each subject could select one gift from the bazaar for themselves, and that the bazaar would last from sunrise to sunset. Hundreds of people came and went away with their selected gifts. When it was almost sunset time, a young girl entered and wandered around the bazaar. She seemed a very simple girl, but inwardly she was very wise. Praising everything as she went around, she thought if the bazaar was so beautiful, then what must the creator of it be like? Meanwhile people advised her to select some gift before the bazaar closed. She walked to the very end of the bazaar where the King was seated on a dais. When he saw her approaching, the King rejoiced in his heart that at least one person was interested in him. "Gifts are loved, but the Giver is forgotten; the poor mind does not realize its error." Outwardly the King showed anger, saying, "Mad girl, why do you come here ? Go and choose something and take it home." Without any hesitation she placed her hand on the King's head and said, "Now tell me, O King, to whom do you belong?" He said, "Now I am yours." She asked him, "And whose is this bazaar?" The King declared it to be his; but she said, But now, to whom also does it belong?"and he had to admit that everything in the bazaar belonged to her, too, since she had chosen him.
We see everything in life with a superficial sense of value. If you give yourself up to Him, then God becomes yours, and so does all His creation. "If you become mine, then the whole world will be mine." True Masters are very rare, and the world has started ridiculing the words "Sadhu" and "Gurudom" because so many are acting and posing; and their teachings reach the sense- level only. They have themselves never risen above the senses, and they cannot take anyone above. When people learn this, they have no option but to turn to the scriptures, which feed the intellect only. Have mercy on us! Without the Master we cannot reach the Lord - it has never been possible, nor never will be.
A Muslim Fakir tells us that God Himself said that He is so great He cannot be absorbed - from the lowest depths to the highest peaks, in all the skies or all the earth; and even under the earth, the whole of creation is not capable of containing Him, so great is He - and yet He can dwell in the heart of His true devotee. If anyone desires Him, they should seek Him there.
That true devotee is a living pole - a human being in whom God is apparent. He is also in others but is hidden. "From the lowest, I became pure, brother." And how did the Realized Soul become pure? "Since I got the knowledge of the Guru's teaching." God is not far above in the skies, nor sleeping in the holy scriptures; He is already within you. Those holy books are records of how the Realized Souls found God, reading which a yearning or incentive to meet God is created in the seeker. But Naam is within man - the radiance of God's Light and the beauty of His Sound, the Music of the Spheres.
Just differentiate between the outer Naam and the inner Naam, and then get the connection. Those who live only for enjoyments cannot walk on this Holy Path, for one must cut away from all such expressions. Ethical life is a stepping stone to Spirituality. If you awaken, no dacoit will be able to enter your house; for if even a single person is awake in a house, the thieves will think twice about breaking in. Thieves like to find a house full of deeply sleeping people - some even administer chloroform to ensure that the people remain in deep sleep so that they can work at leisure.
If one were to try to describe what Spirituality is in a single word, one could say "Naam" or "Satguru. " Get connected to either, and your whole spiritual future is established. Maulana Rumi says, "Know that to be near the Realized Soul is to be near God." That is where God is manifested, and that Perfect Being will make the connection for you. Those who are connected should take the rare opportunity to make the best use of it. "Those with good karmas from aeons past get connected to the Lord's Naam."
The soul that has an accumulation of good karmas, which constitute the mercy received from God for many past ages, gains the special mercy of the Naam, which gives all-happiness, all-peace. How does one know one is connected to Naam? "In that house (body), the Unstruck Sound is vibrating." The indication of the presence of the Perfect Master in the student is the music of the Sound or the radiance of the Light - whichever is manifesting at the time.
This has been Guru Arjan's hymn. Merely listening to the words will not give you emancipation from this world - you must live up to what you have understood. If you have not obeyed in the past, then start from today: do your meditation; do not take any food until you have sat for a while. If you are not getting much experience within, then look to your diary; and you will find the reason or cause lying in your everyday life. Do not use harsh words to others - keep a sweet tongue in your head; that will solve many problems of life. You may remember that with a single bitter word, the great Mahabharata battle was started. The Kauravs were visiting the Pandavs in the palace of Draupadi, the Pandavs' wife. The floor there was so beautifully made that it reflected the light and gave an impression of a shallow pool. When the Kauravs picked up their long clothes to step through what they thought was a pool, Draupadi very mischievously called out, "Blind son of a blind father!" mocking the blindness of the Kauravs' father, King Dhritarashtra. The whole of India's civilization was destroyed in that great war, and you find similar things happening today on a smaller scale. So live up to the Master's teachings and make your life peaceful, and you will have success in every way.