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Preparing for the Hereafter ... The Way of The Sikh:
Letter & Spirit # 13
YUKTANAND SINGH
Translated from Bhai Vir Singh's ‘Gurmukh Sikhia’
PART IV
There are two men visiting the hill-town of Kasauli. One man brings a coat with him. The other one does not.
If the weather turns cold at the higher elevation, the one with the coat can use it to stay warm. In either case, he is better off than the other man.
Similarly, we must continue to repeat naam. After death, under all circumstances, we will be better off than those who don’t.
Bhagat Kabir has said it like this: “ka-ho kabeer akhar due bhaakh …” [GGS:329] - "Kabir says, continue to call the two letters (God’s name). If your Lord Master is there, he will accept you.”
If someone loses his keys, he keeps thinking about the lost keys at all moments, even when he's busy at his job. If only, somehow, Waheguru too could reside in our heart at all moments.
We feel the need for those keys, but the importance of naam is not understood until after we die. In this world the family and friends fulfill our needs. But in the afterlife only naam can do so.
“kinkaa ek jis jee-uh bsaavai …” [GGS:262] - “In whose heart He places just one drop of naam, that person’s worth cannot be
measured.”
We need to understand this: just as one small drop of semen turns into the source of an entire civilization, similarly, naam is the
nucleus that creates the divine presence within us.
The drop of naam is the rennet that transforms our mind. But as long as someone is ignorant of the utility of naam, he continues to neglect it.
Baba Prithi Chand (the eldest son of Guru Ram Das) maneuvered so many wicked and cruel acts against Guru Sahib because he did not have faith in naam.
Upon receiving naam you need to cultivate it. A gurmukh also lives within hukam in this manner.
Under the owner’s directions, a clerk is allowed to welcome the customers and offer them a drink. But if acting under his own will, he gives them his master’s gold from the shop, then he will be asked to reimburse it from his own pocket. Otherwise he would be
considered as dishonest.
“Nanak lay-khai ik gull …” [GGS:467] - “O Nanak, only one thing has any worth; all else is clueless talk of the ego.”
The details are given for the educated folk. The real issue is only one: God is.
This needs to be always held in our thoughts.
October 24, 2012
Conversation about this article
1: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), October 24, 2012, 11:16 AM.
Thank you, Yuktanand ji, for undertaking the translation of the much cherished, much awaited 'Gurumukh Sikhyia'. For those who wish to read in the original, the site is: http://www.scribd.com/doc/53319343/Gumukh-Sikha-by-Bhai-Veer-Singh-Ji
2: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), October 24, 2012, 1:22 PM.
"Prithi Chand maneuvered so many wicked acts against Guru Sahib because he did not have faith in Naam" ... If you have faith in the Guru and what the Guru says about Naam, then you begin to realize, as the Guru explains in the first place, that everything but Naam is of no value.
3: D J Singh (USA), October 24, 2012, 5:48 PM.
Preparing for the Hereafter ... How do we know that there is something beyond this present life? If you have lived a truthful life, why would God not accept you? Then why do we need to repeat the "naam" or praise God constantly?
4: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), October 24, 2012, 6:44 PM.
D.J. Singh ji, perhaps you may want to go to the following site: http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/10/07/proof-of-heaven-a-doctor-s-experience-with-the-afterlife.html This appeared in the Newsweek. There are well documented records of 'After Life.'
5: R.S.Minhas (Millburn, New Jersey, USA), October 24, 2012, 7:50 PM.
Within the context of this discussion, there is an awesome verse by Guru Nanak - [GGS:225]. It's sung beautifully by Bhai Harjinder Singh ji. Guru Nanak is amazing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6ThF-Lq1-E&feature=g-vrec
6: Sarjit Kaur (Bethel Park, PA, USA), October 25, 2012, 11:43 AM.
Sangat Singh ji: That article seems so jasoosi ... Gurbani gives a totally realistic and truthful message about the long, dark, smoky, extreme weather on the journey in the after-life ... if we are devoid of naam.
7: Jaswinder Kaur (United Kingdom), October 27, 2012, 12:01 PM.
It would be extremely enlightening if someone can provide us with the page numbers of the shabads that talk about afterlife in gurbani. I have heard it being said that Bhagat Farid's saloks are very revealing on this aspect.