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Even The Birds Sing His Praises:
The Way of The Sikh -
Letter & Spirit # 41

YUKTANAND SINGH

 

 

 

Translated from Bhai Vir Singh's ‘Gurmukh Sikhia’

 

 Part XXV-E


There was a Muslim milkman. He used to do naam simran by repeating, ‘Allah-Allah’. A qaazi once came to see him. The milkman taught the act of repeating ‘Allah’ to him also.

Doing the simran in this manner, the qaazi became selfless. So he put the Qur’an on the floor and, sitting on a chair, started proclaiming at the top of his voice that the Qur’an was hiding the treasure that he had found from the milkman.

The Lord’s naam is priceless; no one knows its value” [GGS:81.9].

 *    *   *   *   *

Another fakir (mendicant), while absorbed in love of his Master, pulled some wheat from a farmer’s land and fed it to a lamb.

At the same time, the farmer’s back was injured.

Someone asked the fakir why this happened to the farmer. The fakir said, “I had no hand in it. I never cursed the farmer. Rather, I feel that his hitting me was justified. But my Master had me in his embrace when the farmer hit me. The stick hit my Master who did not like it and thus, the farmer’s back was hurt instead.”

There is another lesson here: We must not test, tease, or disturb someone who is engaged in simran. His Master, whom that person is visiting, may be displeased with us.

*    *    *    *    *

Repeat ‘Waheguru’ naam with your tongue. It will naturally enter your heart. The haumai naturally becomes silent then.

When, by doing naam simran, we become nil, then a form of emptiness or a vacuum develops in our heart. Then Waheguru comes and resides in our heart. We are to give our own self to Him.

Since naam is a priceless jewel, one must reveal it only to someone who recognizes its value. Only a customer would be willing to pay its price. Hafiz has said that naam is given, not to common people, but to the rarest of the rare.

Being a lover is one of the qualities of Waheguru. He has created us humans to love Him. The ‘Brahma’ (a mythological deity ascribed the task of creation of the universe) is He Himself. Why would He need to create a separate Brahma?

We must never give up simran. Those who start to identify themselves with the Overself and give up simran, in reality they end up farther away from the Overself.

*    *    *    *    *

If learning naam from someone is not fruitful, then the teacher must be deficient. He must not have received proper naam himself.

Through naam we become pure and elevated. Whatever one finds through yoga, can be found easily through naam simran. The path of yoga may be shorter, but there is danger from various roadblocks. The path of simran is free of any barriers.

Gurbani says: “Accumulate the wealth of naam, worship the true Guru, and abandon all subversions. Dwell on the one who created you and nurtured you, and you shall be liberated. O mind, dwell on naam, the One and the infinite” [GGS:51.7].

In these words the Guru has crystallized for us the lesson that we need to live everyday.

Our Guru’s body was made of the five elements (known as air, water, fire, minerals, and space). Guru Granth Sahib’s body is also made of the same five elements. And the spirit within these two is also the same.

Our first job is to continue Waheguru simran. The second job is to elevate our conduct. Its method lies in keeping only the simran of the Lord as our aim. Simran will some day have us feel Waheguru. This makes the human feel elevated and free from all burdens.

Many others have practiced various painful disciplines. But their path remained tasteless. This happens due to the absence of a personal teacher.

A pundit (Hindu priest) once advised me to master the worship of Lord Krishna.

“Where is Lord Krishna?” I asked.

“He is present everywhere, as an impersonal being,” he replied.

I said that when Krishna gave the instruction recorded in the Bhagvad Gita, he was present in a personal form. Similarly, to succeed on the spiritual path, one needs a personal spiritual teacher.

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.”

We too need to meet some detached soul, who has been redeemed through Waheguru’s mercy. But such a person would be a spiritual teacher, not the Guru.

We often hear people claim that they have mastered the simran of their Guru (meaning that, their Guru is always available to them). But for Guru Nanak to reside with us, our heart has to be very clean.

As long as the mind is not clean, only some lost spirits will assume the role of one’s Guru. I have come across many such individuals who are under the influence of such spirits. Their state is actually worse than a common man.

On one hand, our Guru Sahib instructs us to seek the dust from a sant’s feet. On the other hand the sant is instructed to stay poor and humble.

Maintaining this balance is not an easy task. Our attention is mostly horizontal. But with naam simran it stands up and it finds its freedom. Then, it is not influenced by others.

When our heart is in tune with the one, then even the birds chirping appear to be singing ‘Waheguru-Waheguru’.

For us the word for simran is only “Waheguru”. It is neither “Satnam Waheguru” nor “Waheguru Ji,” etc.

 

April 17, 2014

Conversation about this article

1: Amrit (India), April 18, 2014, 2:48 AM.

Waheguru! Bhai Vir Singh ji's words fill one with bliss. Subject of Simran has been explained in the simplest terms.

2: Sangat Singh  (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), April 18, 2014, 5:30 AM.

"Chatrik mor bolat din raat ..." - "The rain-birds and the peacocks sing day and night, hearing the thunder in the clouds. Whatever the deer, the fish and the birds sing, they chant to the Lord and no other. Servant Nanak sings the kirtan of the Lord's Praises; the sound and fury of Death has totally gone away." [GGS:390.8] No other words are necessary. How lucky we are to have Guru Granth Sahib.

3: Yuktanand Singh (Michigan, USA), April 18, 2014, 10:39 AM.

I once came across an exquisite rendition of this shabad [GGS:1265.14] in the original raag on youtube. "Har junn bolat ..." by Bhai Jasbir Singh ji. Listening to it in absolute quiet, it took my breath away, as they say.

4: Sangat Singh  (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), April 18, 2014, 7:33 PM.

Yuktanand Singh jio, I have managed to trace the shabad sung by Bhai Jassbir Singh ji. You were right: it took my breath away. The site: http://www.raagionline.com/bhai-jasbir-singh-ji/har-jan-bolat-video_f901b221c.html A perfect complement to your piece.

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The Way of The Sikh -
Letter & Spirit # 41 "









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