Tashneet Kaur – Aree Bai Gobind Naam Mat Bisrae
by Bhau Ji
“When the mind is polluted, worship is not possible and Naam cannot be obtained”
But when we look around at the environment in the world, the following things will emerge and stand out in the daily life of the world:
- All are happy to receive but few find joy in giving.
- The learned who theorise are many but those who practice are few. Rare in the world is the man of knowledge who has character (practices righteous action) 413
- All are prepared to feed themselves but rare is the one who feeds (others).
- All are able to detect the defects in others but rare is the one who is aware of his own short-comings.
- All are prepared to criticise the short-comings of others rare is the one who bears the unbearable ( ignores what he sees and unhears what he has heard)
- All can speak harshly and superficially but rare is the one who speaks sweetly.
- All can talk ill (about others) but rare are the ones who feel happy on hearing others talk ill about them.
- Many are prepared to do bad, but few are those who are prepared to do good towards the bad.
- All are prepared to show anger against people but only a few will practice ‘Never ever allow anger to keep your company (instead) look deep down into your own heart.’
- All are capable of tying the knots of jealousy and doubt but only a few practice ‘Don’t keep ill will against others in your mind.’
- Many are prepared to cheat but only a few act honestly.
- Procrastinators are many but rare are the ones who discharge their responsibility and duty.
- All are prepared to poke fire. Only the rare one will put the fire off.
- All are prepared to hurt (break the heart’s mirror). Rare are the ones who will patch it.
- All can dampen someone’s high spirits but rare is the one who will uplift the ones with sagging spirits.
The thing is on all sides there is the pressure of negative worldly tendencies or vices. Trapped by the mind we are day and night we are living the life of “falsehood reigns supreme O Lalo”. In this way we can fool ourselves and people around us, but we can never escape from the razor sharp edge of Dharamraj. Under the influence of ego and stubbornness, we lose both this world and the next and again and again struggle in the cycle of coming and going. (births & death)
We do supplications (ardas) to obtain forgiveness for our numerous vices, but we are not prepared to forgive the faults of others even once. We are ever ready self-appointed judges to pass judgement on other people’s faults, but when someone exposes our faults, we take offence and express anger.
In creation everything is changing – only the Infinite Lord and His Hukam (will) is unchanging/ permanent.
In such a changing world, each and every being is undergoing a change and change takes place according to the environment and the society that we live in.
Whichever being is a manmukh (follows the whims and fancies of his mind) through the company of evolved souls he can become a gurmukh (one who follows the path shown by the guru without question.
As opposed to this, through keeping negative or bad company, man can slip from the level of a gurmukh to a lower mental level. That is why it is essential to protect oneself and abstain from baser tendencies or avoid negative company.
To protect oneself from the influence of negative company, it is advantages to keep the company of gurmukh pi-aa-res or spiritually evolved souls. By turning our back to the sun we cut ourselves from its virtues and instead replace them with the uncertainties of darkness. By facing the sun on the other hand, the sun’s virtues like light, warmth, life, joy etc. are easily accessible and the back is automatically turned towards darkness. Exactly in the same way by keeping the company of spiritually evolved souls, the baser worldly tendencies or the filthy of negative company gets lesser and lesser and in its place appears the urge, joy and encouragement to do simran.
- My friend hear the glory of the society of saints. The filthy is washed away, millions of sins are dispelled and mind becomes pure. 809.
- Through the saints society the Lord abides in man’s mind. Through the company of saints all sins flee away. Through the association of saints one acquires the immaculate way of life. Through the society of saints one comes to embrace love for the One Lord. 1146
- Standing up or sitting down meditate on God and enshrine affection for the saints company. O Nanak, when the supreme Lord abides in man’s mind, he is freed of his evil intellect. 297
- Abiding in the society of saints, all sins hasten away. If man is imbued with Lord’s love, then he is not caste into the womb (he is freed from the cycle of births and deaths.) 811
By keeping the company of spiritually evolved souls and by doing simran, our life undergoes a change and divine virtues automatically surface in the mind. We abstain from the filth of worldly vices and by guru’s grace, our worldly orientated life changes and becomes guru orientated. Gurbani has this to say about a guru orientated life :
- Those gursikhs are doubly blessed who hear the guru’s counseling with their ears. 590
- Blessed is that gursikh who serve the satguru by meditating on the Lord’s Name. Forever I pay my respects to that gursikh who lives by the Will of the Lord. 563
- The Guru’s disciple, who with every breath and morsel contemplates on my Lord God, he becomes pleasing to the Guru’s mind. – He on whom my master becomes merciful, to that disciple of his, the guru imparts his instruction. -Servant Nanak asks for the dust of the feet of that Sikh of the Guru of the Guru,who himself contemplates on God’s Name and makes others contemplate too. 305/6
On one hand divine virtues like
- truth
- law
- Naam
- love
- purity
- contentment
- mercy
- restraint
- forgiveness
- service orientated
- kinship
- faithful
- humility
- peace
etc. are present and manifest themselves in the divine world.
On the other hand, in the materialistic world,
- ignorance
- suspicion
- lust
- `anger
- greed
- attachment
- pride-ego
- fear
- selfishness / self-interest
- hatred / duality
- pain / conflict
-are vices that are in the forefront and exert a powerful experience.
To be continued
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Gur Vichar 