Columnists

His Mark on My Soul ... The Way of the Sikh:
Letter & Spirit # 26

YUKTANAND SINGH

Translated from Bhai Vir Singh's ‘Gurmukh Sikhia’

Part XVI


On an early morning of April 1952, sitting on a chair in the garden at a dear gurmukh’s residence, Bhai Sahib said this in response to some questions:

When the haumai is removed, then Waheguru Himself comes and resides in a seeker’s heart. Where there is a vacuum, mere air spontaneously enters and occupies that space. God wants to reside in our heart but we need to make space for Him.

Waheguru yearns for his children to return to him, but we are so tangled and preoccupied with the world that we have forgotten this.

In one manner, naam is a practice. But naam is also perfection. Naam is living power. Thus, naam is a path as well as our destination. The path turns into its fulfillment with the help of singing of kirtan and pondering His praise.

Just as when a boy and a girl fall in love and they develop a special attraction and desire for each other. We need to develop similar love and attraction for Waheguru.

With constant naam simran we start to get random glimpses of Waheguru’s presence. Naam, then, becomes a living force, and we start to see Waheguru, who always sees us and listens to our prayers, as very close to us.

We cannot see Waheguru with these eyes, but we can feel the glimpse or reflection of His presence. Repeating Waheguru’s naam is a great boon and we receive it only from His own mercy.

Waheguru Himself makes us repeat His naam:

“Without worry, naam has come to abide in my heart” [GGS:798.9]

This is also a hint that repetition of naam must be accompanied by gratitude, thanking Him for making us repeat His naam. Naam simran is practiced with humility. Naam is greater and it is always more than what we have received so far.

Guru Arjan lived in naam. Despite being established in the perfection of naam, he prayed for naam at the conclusion of Guru Granth Sahib with these words:

“O Nanak, I will live when I am blessed with naam, then will my body and mind bloom” [GGS: 1429]

Talk of knowledge is cheap. But if tears well up in our eyes when we utter words like, ‘Dhann Guru Nanak’ (Glory be to Guru Nanak!) we should feel fortunate. We, then, have a priceless gift. When the Guru has taken you in his lap then we are bound to, eventually, have the gift of divine knowledge from Waheguru.

A mother does not just hand out money to a fakir. When the fakir asks for alms to bless her child, she waves the money over her child for blessing (folk lore) and then gives it. Similarly, Waheguru melts over Guru Nanak’s love and for this, gives us the gift of naam.

Every scholar of vedanta considers himself God-realized these days, but loss of even a couple of dollars easily disturbs him for a long time. It is easy to read some great book and call oneself a divine scholar but it is not easy to find true knowledge.

Love of Guru Nanak is a gift from Waheguru:

“In the Lord's service is the greatest treasure.
Serving the Lord, the ambrosial naam is fed into our mouth.
The Lord is my companion; He is with me as my friend.
During pain or pleasure, He is present wherever I remember Him
How can the poor messenger of death frighten me now?
The Lord is my support; the Lord is my strength.
The Lord is my friend; He is my counsel within my heart” [GGS:375.6]

Bhai Sahib explained this shabad. Waheguru’s living naam makes us aware of His presence, and then Waheguru is seen as our friend as well as the justice who sits in a court and listens to our complaints.

Then he mentioned this shabad: “My Lord was merciful to me in His court of truth. O brother, the true Guru abolished the fever; the whole world is now at peace. The Lord Himself protects his beings and creatures; the messenger of death had to close his shop” [GGS:620.9].

Bhai Sahib explained how Guru Arjan eliminated illness for the entire town with the power of naam, but he did not take credit for it. No other prophet has shown such humility. There is no limit to how proud of our Guru we can be.

When the living naam resides in someone’s heart, it cannot be kept secret. It reveals itself on the forehead of that person.

“When the secret jewel was found, it was revealed right on the forehead. O Nanak, how beautiful is that place where you reside, O my beloved” [GGS:1096.15]

Our Guru has taught us ‘sehaj vairaag’ or natural renunciation. Everyone loves their spouse, children and family. The Guru teaches us to change the direction of that love towards the Guru. This will generate spontaneous dispassion towards the world. Mere renouncing the world is against human nature.

When we die we cannot take anything with us. Our family and friends, all are left behind. Only naam goes with the soul. Just as an army officer is recognized by his uniform, those who wear the badge of naam are welcomed and they are respected in the afterlife. Even the messenger of death respects them.

Those who are not branded with naam, they have to face suffering. We should make our life worth-while by doing naam simran so that when we die, we will enter our Lord’s court with the mark of His naam on our forehead.

“nadri karam pavai nisaan” [Japji] - “Through His benevolent sight and through His mercy one gets branded with His mark.”

Let this teachings dwell in our heart and let us earn a lot of wealth through intense naam simran.

“Infamy is erased, we are honored in the world, and we are given a seat in our Lord’s court. Fear of death is destroyed in an instant, and we return home in peace and in bliss” [GGS:500.9]

March 19, 2013

read other articles in Columnists