Columnists

Afloat:
The Way of the Sikh
Letter & Spirit # 33

YUKTANAND SINGH

Translated from Bhai Vir Singh's ‘Gurmukh Sikhia’

Part XXII

“I am dim-witted - I take sanctuary at your feet - please hold my hand and save me.” [Guru Gobind Singh, Shabad Hazaarey]

It is not appropriate to present yourself to someone in a manner that would make them pity you. Such acts promote a feeling of inferiority. When we bow (submit) to a worldly person then we feel inferior to that person.

But it is appropriate to regard ourselves as dim-witted when we are in the presence of Guru Gobind Singh, when we are praying to Waheguru. This does not diminish our value in our heart and it does not cause an inferiority complex.

Submission to Guru Granth Sahib brings us under the influence of gurbani. Our benevolent Guru has prohibited us from bowing to anyone besides Guru Granth Sahib or a gurmukh.

The Guru has said that bowing (submission) towards others is a serious mistake.

We see many paradoxes in our life. A fakir also faces a paradox: if he tells people about himself then he fails on the path but silence and holding back is not appropriate either.

Simran of Waheguru cleanses our mind. But what is the benefit of a clean mind if it is occupied by some fakir whose own mind is not yet clean? Thus, it is preferable that Waheguru whose Naam has cleansed our mind, makes it His residence.

There is little difference between the brain of a genius and the brain of a madman. Similarly, on the spiritual path, a small variation in some matters can result in huge loss. Thus, we should submit only before Waheguru, and we must not seek pity from others.

You have heard this tale before:

It is said that when Guru Nanak started accepting disciples and started to bestow them with naam simran, there was a man who adopted the Guru’s teaching and started cultivating the wealth of gurmat. But soon after he had become a Sikh, he died.

He had committed some sins before becoming a true Sikh, so he had to appear before ‘dharamraaj’ (the lord of death) who sent him to the ‘purgatory’ or ‘hellfire’ to pay for his sins.


When this Sikh was taken there, heavy rain started to pour in hell.

The agents of death were perplexed. They hurried back to dharamraaj. They saw that God himself was sitting there and it was raining on God also. God commanded dharamraaj to get that Sikh out of the hellfire and to send him to heaven.

God explained: “The True Guru, Nanak, felt the pain of the world and felt sorry for the people. He went to the world and gave my secret away to all his followers. The secret was that I dwelt in the heart of those who do naam simran. You sent this Sikh to hell. But when he repeats naam I am sitting in his heart and I feel the heat of that fire. I had to make it rain to relieve the heat.”

The dharamraaj immediately instructed his agents to never go near someone who has God dwelling in his heart.

“Nanak, (the lord of death says): 'O my agents, where the holy people are engaged in praise of the Lord of the universe and sing the kirtan everyday, do not approach that place, or else neither you nor I shall escape!' " [GGS: 256].

It is difficult to meet a fakir who has been emancipated by Lord God himself. There is a famous couplet attributed to Farid: “O Farid, get-up and leave, go and search the world. Coming across someone who is redeemed, you too could be redeemed.”

The hallmark of an emancipated person is that just as a flower floats on the surface of water, he or she lives in the world untouched by it. Such an individual is not drowned by the attachment or burdened by pride due to fame etc.

Such an individual is a mahapurush (a holy person).

Someone who repeats naam is a mahapurush.

Sometimes a verse from gurbani is stuck in our head. Repeating that verse all day is also equal to doing simran (jaap) of Waheguru’s naam.

Waheguru is infinite and thus His center is everywhere, because infinity’s center is everywhere. He is also centered inside our heart.

Simran of His naam awakens the perception of His presence within us. We then start to live a balanced life where we are steady, and we consistently enjoy His presence. Without having this as our center, all the other objects of our attention are in fact off-center and eccentric.

According to the philosophers, Kant for example, time, space and causality stand between us and the perception of reality. With the help of gurmat, we transcend time through naam simran, we overcome space through meditation and mental discipline, and we conquer causality when we recognize Waheguru as the doer and when we are aligned with His will.

This is how a man reaches close to the reality. The reality (which is Waheguru Himself) then pulls us into itself and makes us one with it. This generosity is due to His very nature.

July 18, 2013

read other articles in Columnists