It is morning time. A cool breeze is coming from the sea. Jhanda is sitting with eyes closed. He is doing breath control exercises. Sometimes, he heaves a sigh and his eyes open. He looks this side and that side. Again, he closes his eyes, inhales a long breath, holds it and then exhales slowly. His mind settles down. But after a little while, again heaves a sigh, opens his eyes and rubs his forehead with his hand. Much time went by, doing like this. The sunrays started coming. Jhanda got up.
Meanwhile, there was a knock at the door. Jhanda opened the door. One handsome young man with a royal touch wearing expensive silken clothes entered.
Jhanda: Welcome, dear friend. Welcome. Inder Sain: O Hello. How is life going on?
Jhanda: Fine. The world is in happiness, we are in devotion and we have a longing in our devotion. Let our longing remain for ages. Ifwe are unable to meet the Lord, at least the longing should remain.
Inder Sain: What you say is true. This longing should remain. At least we are seekers of the Ixrd.
Jhanda: At least the effort remains. When there is no longing, then the effort dies out. Then the mind gets lost in the worldly desires like other people. Then the mind keeps wandering in those desires. But if the longing is there and the effort continues, then at least one feels 'I am making an effort'. But the mind still wanders after worldly desires. But you tell, friend: You keep on saying that the time is near. Is it near? With the effort that we are making, we are not lost in the worldly entanglements but there is no realization as yet.
Inder Sain (with a smile): Well. Time is ripe. It looks like that. That is my belief. Now there are more signs. Like, before the rain it is sultry. Similarly, fake sadhus are arriving. Who knows this may be a sign of a true saint arriving.
Jhanda: O yes. What happened with the minister?
Inder Sain: Yes. It has happened as expected. The minister has got a son. He is now more inclined towards the tan trie sadhu. The minister himself is quite sensible but the misguided women confuse the mind. His wife says that this tannic is a real saint, whose pinch of ash has given us a son. She wants the minister to become a disciple of the tannic sadhu. The minister does what his wife tells him. He is also prompting the king for the same. But the minister's suggestion does not dent the king's mind. The king talks everything to me. When I tell him that these tannic sadhus are all fake and they have no knowledge of the true path towards the Lord, then, the king is satisfied.
Yesterday, I spoke to the minister also. I told him: Why you want to waste your precious lifetime. You follow the path of devotion. These tannic sadhus have no devotion. They go after superstitions or supernatural powers. Their devotion towards the Lord is a sham. The minister admits that he is going wrongly after the tannic sadhu, but again he follows what his wife says.
Dear friend, a woman is a man's companion and a good friend but when she is misguided, then she further misguides the man also.
Jhanda: You are right. It is rare that somebody is a seeker of spiritual knowledge and makes an effort to purify himself and go on the path of realization of the Lord. People do pray for the love of the Lord, but when it comes to worldly desires and material gains, they go after those rituals that may give some material gains or fulfill their worldly desires. There is hardly anyone who is not diverted from the straight path or who would leave the body to destiny, rein the mind and seek the Lord. It is really a difficult path.
Inder Sain: This is the first difficult task. Such fake sadhus know the demands of men and their weaknesses. They trap them by giving false hopes and extract money for their own self in this way. There is no one who has realized the Lord and has no wants for himself and would wish to put the real seekers like us on the true path of realization of the Lord.
Jhanda: O Friend! There are hardly any people who can judge the genuineness of a sadhu. Then, there are a few only who would follow a genuine sadhu. The truth is naked, bold and blunt. Who will like it? Believe me, I have roamed a lot and seen, that where there is a lot of following, there is more of hypocrisy. So, I have left wandering fruitlessly. Only in you, I have
found a true seeker of the Lord. So, I consider your company as a holy company. Rest, I keep praying and hoping that when the Lord is benevolent, he will bless.
Inder Sain: Brother! If one reads the scriptures and understands them and follows the guidelines, at least one doesn't get lost in the worldly desires. If realization is not there, at least one is not drowned in the worldly pleasures.
This running after worldly desires and succumbing to passions, even after reading and understanding the scriptures is like a man living as a beast. The mind is bridled and the rein is in the hand of passions.
Jhanda: Yes. The first thing is to judge the mind, then control the mind, then control the body passions and then follow what the scriptures tell us. This is the right path to tread.
Inder Sain: Yes. The first thing for a human being is to first become a man. We are all animals. Bhartari has said that man is an animal without horns and tail. What to do? Our instincts like hunger, thirst, etc are all similar to animal instincts. It is the animal instinct that has an upper hand in our body. Even in the sadhus and recluses the animal instinct is supreme. The worst thing is that the preachers of religion do not teach you to first control these animal instincts. Also, it is really difficult to control these animal instincts, very difficult. Man, without thinking, goes after the animal instincts. Only when man considers himself a man, only then he will feel the anxiety to control the animal instincts. But man does not consider himself a man. He does not analyze the mind. Man should analyze the mind and then control the mind as per the analysis. Then, he will realize, what is manliness.
Then only he should move ahead.
Jhanda: Yes. First one should develop one's character and do good deeds. Then, one should tread on the spiritual path. Evil company is very bad. The Lord may keep us away from evil company. It is a big suffering.
O yes! It is a hearsay that one saint is traveling in the country, about whom it is said, that nobody can understand whether he is a Hindu or Mohammedan. Some people feel uneasy and do not go near him. They keep themselves away from him. After he leaves, some people scrub the floor, the place where he sat.
Inder Sain smiled and looked towards the sky and said: Yes. I have also heard. Possibly, he is the one who has exposed Noor Shah's house of deceit.
Jhanda: Is it? This is a good indication.
Inder Sain: See! Wait! Who knows what is there in the invisible world and
what is there for us. If luck favors, the Lord may give us something from the invisible world.
After all this talk, Inder Sain left and Jhanda got busy in his work.
Mardana: O Master! We have come to a strange town. There are all Hindus here, but strange Hindus. No one wants to come near. Today is the second day, since we are sitting here. The town is nearby. If you permit, I can go and beg to fill my stomach.
Guru Nanak Dev: Mardana, you may go but why should you beg?
You go to the town. There is one person named Jhanda Baddhi. His father's name is Pakhar. Find out his address. He will himself offer you food.
Mardana bowed in respect to the Guru and went to the town. Whosoever came across, Mardana wanted to enquire about Jhanda's house, but somehow Mardana was not impressed by anyone so much that he would ask him Jhanda's address.
Meanwhile, one person came along who impressed Mardana. There were four more persons who were impressive and two servants also. Mardana looked at his face and unhesitatingly asked him: Lord Bless you, gentleman. Can you tell me Jhanda Baddhi's address?
The gentleman looked at Mardana's eyes and felt delighted. He said to his companions: You go. I will escort this Lord-loving gentleman up to Jhanda Baddhi's house and then come.
Then, his companions said: Why should you go all the way? We can do that.
Mardana: You may give me his address. You need not bother.
The person said: O Lord sent! This is my job. Please come.
Both of them walked together and then, he asked: Gendeman! How do you know Jhanda? Since when do you know him? You do not appear to belong to this state.
Then, Mardana replied: I come from Lahore (Punjab) and I do not know Jhanda nor I would recognize him. My master knows him. He has sent me.
The person who escorted Mardana up to Jhanda's house was Inder Sain, the holy friend of Jhanda. He himself came and escorted Mardana up to Jhanda's house. After introducing Mardana to Jhanda he left for his own house.
Jhanda asked Mardana with respect to sit down and said: Gentleman, from where have you come? What can I do for you?
Mardana: I belong to the land of five rivers. It is called five but actually
the rivers are seven. It is the land of seven rivers. The capital is Lahore. We stay near the capital.
Jhanda: It is my luck that you have come. Say, how have you come? We do not know each other before. Now only, we have met each other. You have come to my house. What service can I do for you?
Mardana: You speak very sweetly. It looks as if you are from our state and have met in another state. I do not know you but my master surely knows you that he has given your name and sent me to your house.
Jhanda: Is it? What is the good name of your master?
Mardana: Guru Nanak Dev, godly soul, whom some people call Nanak ascetic.
Jhanda: Guru Nanak Dev, godly soul. My stars seem to be shining that such a great person has remembered me. You have said he is a godly soul. I wish to fill your mouth with sweets. I have been waiting and waiting for a godly soul and now that he has found me and has sent you to my house, it is my good luck. It is really my good luck. But friend, don't mind if I say, it is the 'Un-enlightened Era' (Kalyug). Three-fourths of religiousness has already vanished and from the balance one-fourth another one-fourth is vanishing. It is all darkness. Either you find sadhus who for their own selfish motives keep a following or you find the tannics and sadhus who are idol worshippers only. They deceive people by giving them false hopes of material gains through their showy rituals. Following them does not clean the mind instead the mind becomes dirtier. I am telling you the truth, yes. Man's mind is already drenched in worldly desires. Now, when you do some sort of worship for fulfilling your desires, that amounts to increasing your worldly desires. So, what is the benefit? As such, I have come across just those bogus sadhus who are hypocrites and are deceiving people. I have not found anyone who is selfless, has no desires and is immersed in the love of the Lord and can dye others in the love of the Lord.
How could I find? My own mind is dirty. My effort is not sufficient. The Lord is the savior. When he is benevolent, then only we can find Him. Maybe he has bestowed His graciousness on me and come as a godly soul. I am fortunate. You don't mind what I said. If one's hands get burnt, then one becomes afraid of every spark. Excuse me. Forgive me, O saint. You are great. You are remembering the Lord. I trust you for whatever you have said. What I told you was my own experience and the happenings in general.
Mardana: One does not mind listening to the truth. Truth is truth. If there was no darkness on earth, then why the Lord would make the sun.
It is darkness all over. That is why the Lord has sent a prophet, who is traveling places to awaken the sleeping souls. See! Friend, I tell you a special thing about the prophet from the heavens. Wherever there are seekers of the Lord, doing ascetic practices of any type, may be meditation, or breath control or yoga or penances and austerities, he reaches there, and with his godly touch, awakens their sleeping souls and makes their efforts fruitful.
This gracious Guru tries to find those who are seeking the Lord even since their previous birth and have still not realized Him. Then, by his grace, he makes them realize the Lord. Like an intelligent chess player, if the chessmen are stuck on the board, then he makes them reach the end to win.
Wherever and in whatever faith anybody is, he picks up the faults, corrects them and gives his sacred touch and puts them on the true path of love of the Lord. You will say: Because, I am his servant, I have to praise him. Then, I am a singer by caste. In any case, I have to sing praises. But friend, I have now learnt the true path from him and now I sing praises of the Lord only. I am telling the truth only. The Guru has said: The Lord's name is the medicine for everyone. My praises have become divine by singing the Lord's name.
Jhanda: You are right. Your talk is sweet. The ears feel a pleasure in listening to you. Without the Lord's name one's speech cannot be sweet.
Won't you mind if I ask one thing?
Mardana: If you ask, I would love that.
Jhanda: There was a very big house of deceit, Noor Shah's house, on the way that you have traveled. Who has exposed that? We have heard about it, but we have not heard reliably from such a person who himself witnessed. You are traveling places. Do you know about it? Did you hear about it?
Mardana (jovially): You are asking whether I have heard or not, but I can tell you having seen with my own eyes and having experienced myself.
Jhanda: One trusts more if one listens from a person who has witnessed and experienced. It is my good luck. You must tell.
Mardana: Guru Nanak has exposed that house of deceit. I am the virtueless person who is sitting in front of you, who got caught by Noor Shah's hypnotism and mesmerism. Guru Nanak went to her house to free this worthless bird that I am, and his graciousness not only freed me from the influence of her black magic, but also freed all other people who were earlier influenced by her hypnotism. He was benevolent to Noor Shah also. He blessed her and
she came out of the darkness, in which she was living, in forgetfulness of the Lord. Guru Nanak blessed her with the Lord's name, and now she leads a holy congregation of the Guru-disciples who are all on the path of 'recitation of the Lord's name with love'. Noor Shah is now immersed in the love of the Lord, and she is now in ecstasy and rapture, and she is now guiding other people towards 'love of the Lord'.
Jhanda: You are so close to Guru Nanak by staying with him day-in and day-out. How did you get into Noor Shah's trap?
Mardana: Really speaking, I am actually from a lower caste. I have not done any ascetic practices. Earlier my company also was not with Lord loving people. I had no goodness in myself that would give me strength. It was the Guru who blessed me and loved me. I was a singer of cheap songs. He asked me to sing the Lord's praises instead, and then he liked the singing of my Lord's praises, and he made me his companion. I have no strength of my own. I move with his strength. Friend, I have a craze for music. I was hungry and I was looking for some food. She was able to cast her hypnotic spell on me by playing exotic music that charmed me. The singing of the Lord's praises with music (divine music) had charmed me. But here I forgot the Lord's praises and got charmed by the exotic music. In this way, I got trapped. I became an infant bird without wings. But the benevolent Guru freed this infant bird from the cage and gave the wings and I flew back in his refuge.
Jhanda: Sorry to interrupt you, but in a holy company, it is always good to understand properly what one has not understood.
Mardana: You are welcome to ask.
Jhanda: I don't understand the meaning of 'charmed by the exotic music' and 'charmed by the divine music'.
Mardana: Music is learning. Music is a skill and art that gives sensation in the mind and body. Music is a speech that is subtle than poetry. Music is a talent that has an effect that is subtle than the effect of an excellent sculpture in stone. When one sings a song, the mind goes after it. Music in which no song or poem is sung and is played exclusively as music is something that enthralls and captivates the listener's mind. Its magical effect gives a feeling of ecstasy and rapture. The mind is magically attracted to the music. Only those persons who have a sensation of music in them know which music will have what effect.
Generally, musicians know the name of the raga, the measure of the music or the measure of the tune. 'What measure' produces 'what effect' and 'what sensation', very few persons, who have sensation in them, would know.
My master knows this secret. He knows the effect of music. He knows that divine music can give a sensation to the mind and body. So, he sings the Lord's praises with music. That gives the sensation of the presence of the Lord in the mind and body. Then, he has written songs in praise of the Lord. They divert the mind towards the Lord, keep the mind away from worldly desires and passions, awaken the mind and immerse it in the love of the Lord.
The songs are such as when you listen, you get a sensation of the presence of the Lord in your mind and body and the mind goes into ecstasy. He knows which song should be sung in which raga so that it has the best effect. He is the master of that and I am only his copycat.
The songs that are praises of the Lord are hymns. Music without songs is just music. And Music that increases the passions of the body is making a precious thing as value-less.
When I said 'charmed by the divine music', I meant that the praises of the Lord sung with music give a sensation of the presence of the Lord in your mind and the mind rises above the earth and gets immersed in the love of the Lord. It also gives ecstasy to the mind.
But exclusive music attracts you to the feeling with which it is being played.
If the feeling effect is towards the Lord, then it is well and good. But generally the musicians and singers play and sing in a way that the feeling effect is towards the body passions.
So, if one forgets the good effects such as 'Love of the Lord' and listens to music with a carefree mind and leaves the mind in the direction of the music, then the mind will get absorbed in the feeling effect in which the musician is taking us, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Do you understand now?
Jhanda: Yes, now I have understood well. So, you got absorbed in the feeling effect of that music that was not towards the love of the Lord.
Mardana: I did not try to analyze what feeling effect it will give. The exotic music charmed me. At that moment she hypnotized and mesmerized me. Simple people think it is a miracle. But the persons who practice it do it for worldly gains. It is also called black magic. It is a vice.
Jhanda: I have seen the rituals of Tantrics and worshippers of Shakti. As you say, they are not helpful to a person on the spiritual path. Generally, they are meant for fulfilling worldly desires and amassing riches. They tend to
increase the bodily passions and pleasures. They dip you more in the worldly ocean and take you away from the spiritual path. What you have said is true. O yes! But how do they influence and control your mind?
Mardana: I do not know much about this, but my master said that when we lay our mind in front of an hypnotist and he influences our mind with his eyes or hands or speech towards himself, then after sometime we become semiconscious and we become servile to his wishes. If that person is free from worldly desires and indifferent towards riches, then he won't be selfish, but that is rare. Even if the hypnotist is not selfish, the fact remains that the mind becomes suppressed. With Raj yoga or Bhakti yoga or recitation of Name or Sahaj yoga, the mind becomes pure and is elevated.
Other people cannot influence such mind.
The person develops his individuality and becomes a strong personality. But in the former case the person becomes servile. But if somebody does it for curing some illness or some bad habits, then it is different.
Jhanda: Yes. It is true. The worldly desires are driving the human mind. They do not let you go on the true path. A person on the true path will be doing goodness to others. He won't go after his desires. But what you have said is very difficult to practice. We cannot do it on our own and you don't find a real sadhu. You don't find a true saint. True religious teachers are rare. After having considered everything, we have thought of one thing: To sit together and study the scriptures and keep away from vices. Sometimes, I sit in solitude in an effort to stop the mind from wandering. Sometimes, I try to deviate my mind from the worldly desires. Whether it is fruitful or not, but I do make an effort desperately.
Once, I thought I should become a recluse, but when I saw hypocrisy in the sadhus for making money, then I said 'no'. It is better to earn for food in an honest way, keep away from vices and remain in an effort to divert the mind away from worldly passions. At least the mind does not become dirtier.
Mardana: What you say is true. Treacling on the spiritual path is not difficult. But it is difficult also. If you understand the path, then it is easy. If you do not understand the path, then it is difficult.
Saying this, Mardana looked towards the sunshine.
Jhanda then realized: In my quest to know things, I have kept him busy in conversation. Quite a long time has elapsed since he came here. I have neither asked him to have food or water, nor asked him the purpose of his visit. This is not fair on my part.
Then, he said: O Lord-sent, I am sorry I have not asked you for food or water. In my quest to know things I have kept you busy in conversation. Now, you please have some food and tell any other service for me.
Mardana: Well, if I tell you the truth, then I would say, I came to the town for food only. I asked my master: Should I go to the town and beg for some food, because on seeing our dress people do not come near us. But my master said: There is no need to beg. The Lord will arrange. You will be served food with love. After telling this, he gave me your address and asked me to go to your house. So, my purpose was to have food or whatever available. But, why he has sent me to your house in particular, he only knows.
Jhanda: O friend! You are great. I have never come across any sadhu who is so straightforward and truthful. O, companion of the godly soul, it appears that the Lord has come to bless me. But, you tell, even he wouldn't have had food?
Mardana: I am a servant and a human being. He is my master and a godly soul. He is above hunger and thirst. He only knows what is the support, but he is not bothered. He says, there is a stage when the Lord's name nourishes the body. What do I know? Maybe, he has disciples in every house. They may be cooking food, putting it in a tray and saying prayers for him to eat. Maybe, their prayers are giving him the support. The Lord knows or he knows.
Jhanda: But, actually, he hasn't had food today. Isn't it?
Mardana: Not only today. He is living without food for the past two days.
Jhanda: Then, you do one thing. You have whatever is ready and for him, I shall come with you and take food there. I shall have my food after serving food to him.
Mardana: What you say is good. But how can I have food without his having food. Master has to be served first and then the servant can eat.
Jhanda: What you say is true.
Now, Jhanda who was in service at the king's palace, got some fruits from the garden and whatever cooked food was ready, he took and accompanied Mardana to where the Guru was staying.
Ill
Both of them reached the spot in the forest, where Guru Nanak was staying. Mardana, saying, 'Lord is great', 'Lord is great', greeted the Guru with folded hands and fell at his feet in respect. Jhanda also, after keeping the basket of food near his feet, bowed to the Guru and greeted him by uttering 'Your Holiness, Your Holiness'.
Then, Guru Nanak, the angel from the heavens, said: Come, Jhanda. Then, Jhanda said: Yes, Your Holiness, and kept the basket containing food in front of the Guru.
The Guru said: Jhanda, what have you brought?
Jhanda replied: Your Holiness, this is food. You have and your companion may have.
The Guru said: Jhanda, make it in three shares. One share, you give to Mardana so that he appeases his hunger and then sings the praises of the Lord.
Mardana said: O Master how is it fair that you don't eat first and I should eat first? Master is first and servant afterwards.
Then Guru Nanak laughed and said: O Mardana, you are hungry you eat. You are Jhanda' s guest. You eat first. Jhanda has come to me walking all the way. He is my guest. It is my duty to make him eat first. I will eat after that.
Then, as the Guru had wished, Mardana ate food.
Jhanda was astonished as to how much respectful the Guru is. But he did not understand what the Guru would give him to eat. He thought that after Mardana, then it will be his turn to eat and then the Guru will eat.
Jhanda was in this thinking, when the Guru said: O Jhanda, have you brought this food from your house?
Jhanda: Your Holiness, food has come from the Lord. Who am I?
Guru: The Lord, who has sent the food, do you know him?
Jhanda: Your Holiness, everybody knows that the Lord is there and He gives nourishment to everybody.
Guru: Have you known the Lord?
Jhanda (with astonishment): Your Holiness, I have known. That is why my mind is inclined to have the company of holy people.
Guru: If you have known Him, then why are you in despair? Being in despair is a sign of not knowing Him. A person who has known Him does not live in despair. Jhanda, you think minutely, you have not known Him.
Jhanda: I don't know, but I do remain in despair.
Guru: Where there is knowledge of the Lord, there is no despair. He is a living 'Supreme soul'. He is 'All knowing'. When the 'All knowing' comes in our mind and body, our ignorance goes. When there is no ignorance, there is no despair.
Jhanda: I understand.
Guru: Well, Jhanda, when you get up in the morning and deviate your
mind from wandering, then you do think of the Lord, but the rest of the day, when you are busy in your work, then your mind is engrossed in the work. You remember your work only. You do not remember the Lord. Jhanda: Yes, Your Holiness, this is true.
Guru: That means you do not know the Lord. When you sit in meditation in the morning, your mind is wandering all the time, and that wandering you are not able to stop. Sometimes you assume that 'Name Form' is illusory and you imagine a nameless formless god and make a desperate effort that the state of your mind may be without thought and feeling. So, that time goes in fruitless efforts. Daytime goes in worldly chores. Night goes in sleep or dreams. When do you remember Him?
Listening to the analysis of his mind and his busy-ness, Jhanda was bewildered and he started pondering. Then, he realized: The prophet from the heavens is telling the truth. The mind is mine, but he is telling the true state of my mind.
So, he said: What you say is true. I am boasting of holy company uselessly. I did not perceive my own hollo wness.
Guru: O dear Jhanda, if somebody has money in his cupboard and he does not remember the money all the time, then when the need for money will arise, he will be bankrupt. It is immaterial whether a man has money or not, when he is forgetful of the money. He has not remembered the money that he has.
Jhanda, with closed eyes, listened with all his attention, so that he understands properly.
When the Guru stopped talking, then with closed eyes only, he swayed his head and said to himself: He is right. Jhanda has not remembered the Lord who is living inside his body. He has not remembered at all. What is the remembrance that all twenty-four hours passed in forge tfulness? Sometimes only, a ray of remembrance may have come from the clouds after a desperate endeavor and sometimes even that vanished. As it is, I have not remembered Him. I have not loved Him. I have not understood Him. O ho! It is time lost. It is time wasted.
Guru: O dear Jhanda, don't get disheartened. The thirst for seeing the Lord and the devotion that you have in you, is commendable. The thirst will take you to the Lord. A person who hasn't the thirst and longing to meet the Lord is like a dead person. Thirst and longing has no meaning for a dead person.
Your mind is alive, that is longing and craving. The thing to understand is that you have not remembered Him and felt his presence.
Jhanda: How do I remember Him? How do I feel His presence?
Guru: The Lord is Infinite. He has no beginning and no end. We are finite. There are distances between the Infinite and the finite. We have to remove these distances.
Jhanda: How? Your Holiness, How?
Guru: Between the Infinite and the finite, one distance is that of time. We, who are finite, our time passes in moments. If we catch every moment by remembering the Lord every moment, then by catching every moment and remembering every moment, it will become a chain of moments. We may call it a chain of remembrance. This chain of remembrance will be incessant.
That means we have caught every moment of time and made a bridge over the river of rime. Thus the distance of time has vanished.
Jhanda: O.K. O.K. You have explained nicely. But Your Holiness, how do we practice it? That you must, further, explain. Because, my mind has been interpreting the scriptures in a different way. My mind did acquire knowledge but now I feel that I did not understand the scriptures properly. I could not know how to practice. That is why I have remained in despair.
Guru: The Lord is there. He is the true Lord.
Jhanda: Your Holiness yes. The Lord was, is and always will be.
Guru: 'He is there' is a feeling. This feeling is not in us. If this feeling gets into our body, then we get a sensibility in our body. But, we live in the time. Time is passing in moments. Our mind is wandering in these moments in the worldly desires and passions. So to say, our entire time is passing in the forgetfulness of 'He is there'. Now, we need to turn our mind from forgetfulness to remembrance.
Jhanda: How?
Guru: 'Lord is there'. This, we should remember in every moment. This, 'Lord is there' should not go out of our mind even for a moment. Then, this remembrance will become an incessant remembrance and we will feel His presence in the mind all the time. When, in every moment, we are remembering 'He is there' then, there will be no moment that we will be in forgetfulness. We will have an incessant feeling of remembrance.
In this way, have we not made a bridge over the river of time and got the Lord's touch? This will be an incessant feeling of the Infinite for the finite.
Jhanda: You are right. (Heaving a sigh) How you have brought out a pearl from the sea.
Guru: Then, you have to practice to remember 'He is there'. 'He is inside my body'. This remembrance will get into your mind. Then, this remembrance will get into your sub-conscious mind. A day will come when this feeling will become incessant. It will become a habit and the remembrance will become automatic. Then you may say: T have known Him. I have a feeling of the presence of the Lord'.
Jhanda: Holy persons or the pandits, by giving a discourse or by meditating a little, think that they have realized the Lord. Other pious persons also are in the same mistaken belief. Living in the forgetfulness of the Lord for twentythree hours and fifty-five minutes, and with mind wandering in the worldly desires, we say that we are holy persons, devotees of the Lord, we are pious, we are away from desires, we have realized the Lord, rest of the world is sleeping. Then we are ready to preach other people. I pity myself. I repent now.
Guru: Time is passing in moments, but appears to be flowing. It is flowing like a river. Similarly, when we remember the Lord in every moment, this remembrance in every moment will become a ceaseless flowing remembrance.
Like, when a person has the remembrance of his money, then only he can use the money for his comforts. Similarly, the remembrance of the Lord will become incessant and w ill give a sensation to the mind. This remembrance will go further deep in the body and settle in the sub-conscious mind and the sensation of the presence of the Lord will become incessant. This will give delight, ecstasy and rapture.
Jhanda: Your Holiness. I have understood, and I am delighted, but I am afraid that after sometime, this 'remembrance in every moment' may not remain. One doesn't get the sensation of 'remembrance in every moment' immediately on listening or understanding. But, by your blessings the sensation is there. I am afraid it may stop after a while.
Guru: O dear Jhanda, this is the real thing to understand. This is the real thing to tie to your mind with a hard knot. If somebody's mind is pure, then he will get this sensation of remembrance immediately on listening. This depends on the receptiveness of the mind. Certain persons get the sensation very quickly, but those are only a few. Those who have practiced a lot are like an earthen pot, wick and oil. The moment the flame touches they are lit.
But those who have not practiced much, or those who have become desperate they do get a sensation, but then they go into forgetfulness of the Supreme Lord. For them is another practice.
Jhanda: Your Holiness. That you must tell. I do not trust my mind that it will remain in remembrance, as it is now. My mind is weak. I consider my mind as strong and intelligent but it is not so. It is simple and weak.
Guru: Have you ever seen boys studying? How many times they repeat each letter or word? By repetition the word and its meaning goes into their mind and then it goes into their sub-conscious mind. Then they never forget.
Similarly, if we recite something again and again, it goes into our mind and then into our sub-conscious mind. That is our knowledge and it gives delight.
So, if something does not remain in the mind by remembering once, then we have to repeat it with the tongue and recite it again and again. Then it gets into the mind and further down into the sub-conscious mind. It means that to put something into the mind and the sub-conscious mind, the recitation of the same by the tongue is essential. As I told you, when we remember something in our mind, then it goes down into the sub-conscious mind.
So, it is evident that for remembering something, we have to recite it by the tongue. When, we recite anything by the tongue again and again, then it goes into the mind and then further down into the sub-conscious mind. This is certain. Our mind is such and everybody knows this. All the educated people have gained knowledge by recitation and repetition again and again.
So, dear Jhanda, if one is afraid that the remembrance of the Lord will not remain in his mind ceaselessly, then our tongue should recite the Lord's name and repeat it again and again. With this recitation by the tongue, the remembrance of the Lord will go into the mind and then into the sub-conscious mind. If you do not let yourself go into forgetfulness at all, then this name will settle in your subconscious mind and it will give an incessant sensation of the presence of the Lord.
Jhanda was holding his breath and listening with all the attention.
Now, he heaved a long sigh and mildly said: Ah ha! It is wonderful. I understand now. But, if you are not tired in explaining all this to 'me stupid fellow', then you please explain one more thing. I understand well that 'He is there' should remain in our remembrance every moment. If this does not remain in our mind that 'He is there9, sometimes, it is in our remembrance and sometimes not and we go into forgetfulness, then one should recite the Lord's name by the tongue. This practice of recitation will make
the remembrance incessant. I am really delighted to understand this. People who argue frivolously do not understand at all.
You have said that even stupid people like me can get the sensation of the Lord by recitation. Is it like this? (Swaying his head and looking towards the Guru's face, who made a gesture meaning yes) .
By recitation the name will settle in the sub-conscious mind. What I have understood is: Then, while sitting and standing, walking and sleeping, this sensation of the presence of the Lord will remain ceaselessly in the mind.
Your Holiness, then, when we are working or doing any chores, will they not disturb this feeling?
Guru: Dearjhanda, the Name gets into the other sphere of the mind, i.e. the sub-conscious mind or the inner mind. The work that you are mentioning is being done by the outer mind. It will keep on doing, but the sensation of the Lord's name will remain in the mind and the moment the outer mind is free from work, it will feel that a sensation is coming from the sub-conscious mind (Inner mind). Then the sensation will become incessant.
As such, those who are reciting the Lord's name, their tongue keeps on reciting day-in and day-out.
The temporary dirt from work is also washed quickly by the recitation of the Lord's name. Since the Lord's name remains in the sub-conscious mind while doing any work, and then after work the Name is being recited consciously by the tongue, the dirt that has come while working is first washed and then the recitation becomes incessant.
Jhanda: Your Holiness. You have said that the feeling of 'He is there' or so to say, the sensation of the presence of the Lord will become incessant. This sensation will be felt inside our body all the time.
Guru: When this sensation of the presence of the Lord inside our body becomes incessant, we feel elevated, as if we were in slumber and we have woken up now. We feel fresh and light. We will feel this happiness. This is called Super consciousness. The mind is elevated or so to say, our mind has become free from worldly entanglements and passions and become elevated.
Don't think this elevation as pride or ego. That pride is the ego in the mind. This elevation is rising from the effects of worldly entanglements that bind the mind, and getting the sacred touch of the Lord, as you are feeling
now. I hope you have understood the difference between the true elevation of the mind and the false pride due to ego. The worldly entanglements and passions make the mind dirty. The mind remaining dirty all the time, man cannot feel the true elevation. When the weight of the worldly entanglements, passions, greed, worries, etc on the mind, goes away by the recitation of the Lord's name, then the mind experiences this true elevation.
Jhanda: Your Holiness. Yes, I have understood. But one more thing I want to ask.
Guru: (made a sign) You may ask.
Jhanda: What you have said is that our mind is such that whatever we recite again and again, it will get into our mind. This, I understand. Whatever we remember incessantly that will become our feeling, always with us. This feeling will be our sensation and it will give us delight. This sensation will become incessant. It will become our nature.
Again you said, that whatever we recite again and again that would settle in our mind. That will go into our sub-conscious mind (inner mind). How does it settle in the mind? What is this sub-conscious mind (inner mind)?
Guru: This requires a close attention. Different religious men interpret the meaning of mind in different ways. I just want to make you understand one thing. I am not interested in deriving the meanings of every word, but since you have asked, you please now understand properly. We are not familiar with the organs inside our body. We know that the body is ours but we are not familiar with it completely. Man is familiar with the organs that think or see or hear or smell or taste. He is not familiar with the rest. Sometime we mistakenly come to believe, that this mind that thinks is everything, but this is not correct. There is another sphere of this mind, where whatever we think with this mind is stored. That is called the sub-conscious mind. We cannot feel this sub-conscious mind but it is there.
Jhanda: Then how do we come to know of it?
Guru: We can know a little bit from the inner inclinations. Like, if a man keeps drinking everyday for 10-12 years. Then the thought of his drinking is being stored in the sub-conscious mind. We may say the influence of the drinks is being stored in the sub-conscious mind. This sub-conscious mind shows itself in inclinations. The sub-conscious mind does not leave this habit so quickly. The influence of the drinks is settled in his sub-conscious mind. When a cold breeze comes, or when it becomes cloudy, or there is a smell of drinks or he sees a drinking bar, then an inclination to drink arises in his
mind. His mind thinks that it is bad and 'I should leave it'. But still the inclination is arising to drink. Now, from where is this inclination arising? This is a matter for thought. This inclination is arising from the thoughts of drinks stored in the sub-conscious mind for the past 10-12 years.
This needless inclination (coming against the thinking of the outer mind) is giving the knowledge of the sub-conscious mind that is hidden inside.
Then, in another way also we come to know of it. Whatever you do in the day at night you will see exac tly the same images or a little changed images of the same in dreams. Sometimes the unfulfilled desires of the day are fulfilled at night in dreams. All this the sub-conscious mind is doing because the outer mind is sleeping at night. The person while sleeping is not thinking, feeling and observing like a person while awake does. The outer mind is not awake. Now, who is watching the scenes in the dream?
It is the sub-conscious r. ind that is showing the scenes in the dream.
So, dearjhanda, the mird that is awake in the dreams is the sub-conscious mind.
Jhanda: O King of kings, ) ou have made me understand well. I have remained ignorant I have rf id everything but all that did not go into my mind. I could not interpret it properl /. Arour Holiness, I want to ask you that when we are busy in the worldly entanglements and desires, then quite often we do evil also. We are spending the whole day in the -vorldly chores for earning food and other necessities of life. In that case our sub-conscious mind will be filled with influences of all these vices and it will be like a pond of dirty influences. The inclinations that will arise will be the dirty inclinations of the vices. That means we have already spoiled ourselves. Now, how can good inclinations come from there?
Guru. O dear, this is the reason why the people who are doing good work get lost. These hidden inclinations take them away from the good work.
Jhanda: That means our salvation is impossible.
Guru: It is not impossible, but it is difficult and requires time.
Jhanda: Your Holiness. How?
Guru: As we have filled our treasure house of sub-conscious mind with bad influences, now we should fill it with good influences.
Jhanda: That is already filled. How will it become empty so that we are able to fill it again?
Guru: You go on filling : : with good influences. The bad influences will themselves go away.
Jhanda: You mean, if v A now fill it with good influences, then the bad influences will go away by themselves.
Guru: Like, if you put a bowl of dirty water in the rain outside, then the fresh rainwater keeps filling and the dirty water keeps going out and finishes. If we could empty the bowl, then the dirty water would have gone, but when we cannot empty it, then by putting it in the rain, the dirty water will finish. It is just an example so that it is understood easily and properly.
Jhanda: Now, you please tell what should we put in the sub-conscious mind that is already filled with dirty influences.
Guru: Goodness.
Jhanda: Do you mean kind deeds?
Guru: Pious thinking, sacred feeling, sacred words, pious deeds.
Jhanda: Even with the best efforts, I tell you from my own experience, it is not possible to think piously or have a sacred feeling or do pious deeds all the time. One can do a lot but still it is not possible 100 %. I am sorry to say that.
Guru: What you are telling is absolutely true. This is the problem that the inner influences of a man do not let him tread on the path of kind deeds. In the effort to get the inner influences out, one gets tired. On the top of it more dirty influences of daily life go in. Some dirt is washed. Some goes in.
That is why, depending solely on kind deeds, does not bring the required result. We have to do kind deeds. We have to have pious thinking. We must put a good effort in it. But something more is required, that may make up for the shortcoming. It is essential to imbibe good qualities in us.
But the problem is that the bad influences already stored in us do not get washed.
Jhanda: Your Holiness. Only you can solve this problem.
Guru: I have already solved, what I made you understand earlier.
Jhanda was now trying to understand the outer mind and the sub-conscious mind. He had almost forgotten the earlier discourse. On listening to the words of the Guru, he started recollecting from the beginning what he had understood earlier. After a good thought, he said: O Angel from the heavens. O beloved of the Lord. Be gracious and take me from today's conversation to the earlier conversation. I do remember a lot but I am not able to connect today's conversation with the earlier conversation.
Guru: Dear Jhanda, we have now seen and everybody knows that man is imperfect and his mind is full of vices. Goodness cannot come from vices. For that we have to see where the goodness is. All goodness is in the Lord. Without goodness we cannot wash the dirt of our mind. We cannot get salvation. We are full of vices and without goodness. All goodness is in the Lord. All good
qualities are in the Lord. Now, it is easy to understand further. Jhanda: You only tell.
Guru: 'Who has all the goodness' we should make Him live inside us. It will be putting the bowl of dirty water under the raining clouds. The torrential rain from the clouds will keep on filling it with fresh water and the dirty water will automatically vanish.
Jhanda: How?
Guru: Already, I made you understand that 'He is there'. We should remember this day-in and day-out. Or so to say, we should keep the remembrance of the 'All goodness Lord' in our mind. He is all goodness.
He is all kindness. As and when we remember the 'All goodness and 'All kindness', 'All sacred Lord' then all goodness, all kindness, all sacredness will come to us and the influences of these will get into our sub-conscious mind.
The more we remember Him the more these influences will go into our sub-conscious mind. Our sub-conscious mind will start getting filled with these good influences and the bad influences will start getting out. After sometime the sub-conscious mind will become full of good influences up to the brim. Then, all our inclinations will become good and our entire mind will be filled with the Lord's remembrance. The mind will get the sensation of the Lord and feel the presence of the Lord of both the worlds (the seen and the unseen).
Then, we will feel the ecstasy of the Lord living in our body. It will give a sacred rapture. Good and loving inclinations will come out of our sub-conscious mind that will be a help to our outer mind, as though we have a treasure of goodness in us. In this way, we will get the goodness of the Lord in us.
By remembering the Lord, our sins are washed and we feel the presence of the Lord in our body. His goodness comes in our body.
Then we can consider that the Lord's name has been embedded in our mind.
Jhanda: What you have said is that Remain in remembrance of the Lord. This will carry the influences of the presence of the Lord to our sub-conscious mind. The sub-conscious mind will get filled with the Lord's name. The Lord is all goodness and fountain of good qualities. His sacred touch (sensation) washes our sins. Like, the rising of the sun makes the darkness go. Similarly, by his living in the mind all sins will go away and all good qualities will come9.
Our soul will become pure and meet the Supreme soul.
Guru: O pious man, it is just that. Our mind is full of the dirt of the sins.
This can be washed only by the Lord's name. This is the doctrine.
One may understand it in any manner.
Jhanda: You are right. How should I remember the Name?
Guru: I have already told you in detail the practice for remembering the Lord. If you want to be told again then listen: It is beyond words to praise 'Name'..
Name is the medicine. Name is the cure. Name is everything. Name is something precious.
Very few people know its value.
So, first thing is to evaluate its worth from somebody who has recited the Name and has its sensation. Then, have trust in that. Then, love the Name. That means, start reciting the Name with love. Our body is a temple. This mind is a temple. We have to learn to have a dip in that temple.
It is like this: The tongue should recite the Name,
The mind should remain in remembrance of the Lord, The mind should sing the praises and goodness of the Lord, The mind should adore and love the Lord This is our inside dip. In this way, our outer mind becomes crystal and after sometime our sub-conscious mind also becomes crystal.
When the Lord's name gets into the mind, it gives a sensation of the presence of the Lord. Then one gets the Lord's touch and feels the ecstasy. So, pious man, all this is Name. Name is the salvation. Take refuge in Name. All fears and anxieties will go.
Jhanda: Ah ha! All what you have told is Name. I thought Name is just a name to know someone.
Guru: Name is knowledge. Name is Lord's name.
Name is the ocean of all goodness. Name is His form.
The Lord is formless but He reveals Himself in His name.
To remain in the Lord's touch is Name.
To remain in His touch and live in ecstasy and rapture is Name.
Whatever has been said regarding name, there is still much more to say. Name is a readiness and effort that is higher than doing kind deeds.
To bring oneself under the Lord's umbrella is Name. Like keeping the body in the sun if it is feeling cold, is to overcome the cold.
Similarly, keeping the dirty mind in the presence of the Lord always, is washing the vices of the mind.
To keep the mind in the presence of the Lord, to get the sacred touch of the Lord, to bow to the Lord, to divert the mind, to lean the mind towards the Lord, to remember the Lord, to recite His name. This endeavor is Name.
Jhanda's mind now fully understood everything. All his doubts had been cleared. He clearly comprehended and became sure that what the Guru had said was the absolutely right path. His mind was now full of love sensation on listening everything again and again. He got the sensation of the Lord's name in his mind and body. That gave ecstasy.
Now, he said nothing and got immersed in the love of the Lord.
Meanwhile, Mardana finished his food, went at a distance, washed his hands and mouth and came softly and sat near.
When the discourse stopped and he saw Jhanda in meditation.
Then, he softly told his master: Now, you have already been hospitable.
You have already served spiritual food to a spiritual seeker. Now, you please have food for yourself for your body.
The Guru smiled on listening this and said: O Mardana, wait.
To serve is more gain than to eat.
Time passed by, but Mardana felt restless in seeing the Guru staying without having food. He wished that somehow, the Guru should eat something.
When he asked the Guru twice or thrice to have food, then only Jhanda, who was meditating, realized: O ho! The gracious Guru hasn't had food up till now and me selfish, I did not stop having the spiritual food worth millions that he gave and I did not give him time to have food worth a few rupees.
Jhanda was now feeling the sensation of the Lord's name and was remembering the Lord. With folded hands, he said: O godly soul, please have food.
Guru: I have to serve this spiritual food to someone else first. Jhanda: Then, you please do not stay in this open space. Please come to my house.
On listening to Jhanda's request, the gracious Guru accompanied Jhanda to his house. In the conversation on the way, Jhanda understood that the Guru wishes to bless the name nectar to Inder Sain.
Jhanda also felt sorry: Why I did not call my friend earlier. He would also have listened to the holy discourse.
After reaching the house and making the Guru comfortable, he took permission from the Guru and went to call Inder Sain. He said to Inder Sain: A perfect saint has been found. Come, he is calling you. He won't have food till you come. Inder Sain was delighted to listen. Both of them walked back.
On the way, Jhanda narrated to him the whole story: The person whom you had escorted to my house is the rebeck player of the godly soul. From the talk and from the speech of Guru Nanak it appears that he knows us and has come here to bless us.
How does he know us? Since when does he know us? You may think. What I feel is that he has an intuitive mind. And he knows by intuition what we cannot know even by wisdom and knowledge.
Then, Jhanda narrated his conversation with Mardana and the discourse of the true Guru, as much as he remembered, to Inder Sain.
Inder Sain sometimes smiled, sometimes he had tears in his eyes and sometimes he would go in a trance.
Then, he laughed and said: When the Lord is merciful, only then a person can realize Him.
Talking to each other in this way, and explaining, wondering and in gratitude, both kept walking. When they reached the house, then Inder Sain bowed and fell at the feet of the Guru.
The prophet from the heavens Guru Nanak blessed him and said: Come, dear Inder Sain. Are you all right?
On having the glimpse of the Guru, Inder Sain got such an attraction as meeting a near and dear one after ages.
With great love, he said: It is your grace. You have been merciful. You are the savior. We have been meditating since long. You give us the light and remove the veil between our inner self and the Lord.
Guru: Whatever thinking we do is our knowledge of the outer mind. But we cannot realize Him with our outer mind. He is beyond the scope of the outer mind. This is the veil that we have ourselves spread in us. Inder Sain, whatever meditation you did and are doing is for the vision of the Lord. But the vision you can get when you go beyond the outer mind into the world of sensation. The path towards that is love and devotion.
Inder Sain: It is true. It is the devotion that takes you towards the Lord. But the minds are different. Jhanda is more inclined towards devotion. I am more inclined towards knowledge. But we are both holy companions. Both have been doing the same practice: To stop the mind from wandering.
We have been trying to meditate on the abstract. But it has not become fruitful. Sometimes the mind becomes without thought or feeling but that is for short moments only. For a few days, we did some tantric practice also, but the doubts and uncertainty remains.
Yes. One thing, I perceive sometimes is, that the Lord will be merciful and gracious. He will give us refuge.
Guru: Now, what is your wish? What do you want?
Inder Sain: I am longing to meet the Lord. I have remained in forgetfulness, I do not know, in how many births. I want salvation. You please be merciful and bless me.
Guru: If you want the true Lord, what offering will you give me? Inder Sain: Whatever you order. Guru: You give all you have.
Inder Sain: I give you all my wealth and house. I am at your feet with all my wealth and house. I will not stay in that house any more. Guru: Now, what is left with you that is your own? Inder Sain: One is this body. Guru: You give me this also. Inder Sain: O.K. Here it is, given to you. Guru: Now, what else is left with you? Inder Sain: This inner self.
Guru: This also you give because this is also something that you own.
Inder Sain: Here, it is given.
Guru: Now, you ask whatever doubts you have.
When Inder Sain asked a question, then the merciful Guru said: These thoughts that are coming to you and you are asking questions, come in the mind. It is the mind's job to think, ponder and have doubts. Since you have already given away your mind to me, it is not for you to think or have doubts.
When they heard this, then both of them were astonished.
Their thinking stopped. When a thought came, they felt it is not for them to think. In this effort they became peaceful.
Then, the Guru said: Whatever slight thinking and the ' I' (ego) in you is the job of the mind. That you have already given to me.
Saying this, his eyes spelled such a charm that the mind of both of them became crystal and the dirt of their mind was washed away. The veil of ego vanished. What they had not experienced before in their efforts, they experienced today.
Both of them got the sensation of the Lord in their mind and body.
Guru: Your money, body, family should remain with you. I do not require anything. I had only asked you to give me so that your ego (I and me) that is the veil between our inner self and the Lord may go and you may have the sensation of the real T that is the Lord. The T and me' (ego) does not go and that is the veil. Unless the veil is removed we cannot visualize the Lord.
I have shown you the T and me' as the veil. What is left now is our soul meeting the Supreme soul. That you have experienced now. Now, the ego (I and me) is out, do not let it come again, then the sensation that you have been blessed with will remain. Otherwise slackness will come again.
That is why recitation of the Lord's name is essential always. When the sensation becomes weak, then, with the recitation of Name it will become strong and this sensation that you have got today will remain.
So, you have to recite the Lord's name with all the love, devotion and attention.
Now, we go further. Next step is the soul merging with the Supreme soul.
Even when the body soul becomes crystal, it still requires subtle sensation of extreme love for the Lord to enable the body soul to merge with the Supreme soul. The body soul becoming crystal is not the goal. It has to further merge with the Supreme soul.
Here, the miraculous Lord's graciousness works. Some benevolence, graciousness comes from the Lord. This happens voluntarily by itself.
The body soul merging with the Supreme soul is not in our hand. This is benevolence from the Infinite. It is His grace.
I have explained this to you in a language that you may understand.
The nutshell is that our mind can rise only when it has love for the loving Lord. To love is to remember Him. To remember Him is to recite His name. The Lord is formless. He reveals Himself in His name.Jhanda has understood the entire procedure for Name and he has told you. With Name, the mind gets a diversion from worldly entanglements, the dirt of the mind is washed and it becomes crystal. The worries, fears and anxieties vanish. When the loving Name gets in your mind, the mind gets inclined towards the Lord. One gets a longing and leaning towards the loving Lord.
When one has that leaning, then the Lord's graciousness gives refuge. This is the goal. This is the attainment. This is the salvation. If one is not in the incessant remembrance and recitation of the Lord's name, but gets some knowledge, then that knowledge is not the real thing. That knowledge is of the outer mind only. That does not give salvation.
Only the sensation of the Lord's name, the love of the Lord, devotion to the Lord can reach you to the Lord.
The sensation of the presence of the Lord in your mind and body is the real thing.
So, love is the real thing. All else is the wisdom of the outer mind. Inder Sain: Jhanda has understood what you have told him regarding 'Name'.
I have also understood some from Jhanda and some from you regarding 'Name'. We are both delighted. All doubts have been removed and the Lord's love and remembrance is giving us ecstasy. Our mind is now detached from worldly desires and is engrossed in the love of the Lord. You have washed all our sins and put us on a path where the body becomes pure, the mind becomes pure, all bad infl lences vanish and the ego vanishes from the body, mind and intuitive mind.
Now, if the mind goes after worldly desires and passions, this will be ego, which is a veil. If the mind looks towards the Lord, then it will automatically be detached from the worldly entanglements. Then, the Lord's grace will give refuge.
That is the real devotion, the real knowledge. Any other knowledge is just a fabrication of the mind or so to say wisdom of the mind that cannot take you to the Lord. Then, you have said that for reaching the Lord, till the body is there, the mind and other organs of the body are there. Till the time one keeps on moving about, eating, drinking and working, the mind and other organs in the body are working. It is our duty to remain in the recitation of the Lord's name and the love of the Lord.
Love is remembrance and recitation Remembrance and recitation is love
In this way, while living in this world, we will become truthful, pure, comfortable, saintly and live in ecstasy. We will get salvation while living.
We will do the worldly chores but with a detached mind.
Our mind will be at peace and we will give peace of mind to others but it will be without ego. This is, what I have understood from your sacred speech and from what Jhanda told me after listening from you. It is your graciousness
and blessings that you have awakened our sleeping soul. Please correct any fault in my understanding. I beg your pardon for having learnt in my style and have taken liberty to repeat the same in my style.
Guru: You have understood properly. Both of you have been blessed by the Lord. Your mind is awakened now. See, you are getting the Lord's sensation in your awakened mind. But don't think that the awakened mind has to be insentient. It is very much sentient.
Both of them were sitting immersed in the love of the Lord. After sometime, Inder Sain recollected that Jhanda had brought me here saying: When you will come, only then he will have food. But I came and got busy in the spiritual talk and I forgot to serve him food. Then, he humbly asked the Guru to have food. The Guru had food and he gave food to both of them, who were enlightened now. They also had food. After eating food Jhanda went into trance as if he had lost consciousness of the body. He got so much immersed in the love of the Lord that he lost the feeling of the body.
Inder Sain also went into trance but it was not as strong as if he had lost consciousness of the body.
But both of them got immersed in the Lord's love.
Almost the entire night passed like this. When it was sunrise then, the Guru awakened them from their meditation and blessed them again.
News spread in the town that a prophet has come who has blessed King Sudhar Sen's nephew Inder Sain and also has blessed Jhanda.
Both of them who are learned saints have acknowledged him as a prophet.
Then, the people from the city and neighborhood started coming.
The Guru blessed everybody who came.
In this way, people came from far and near and the Guru put them on the true path. A holy congregation was formed.
People in large numbers started coming to Jhanda' s house. The Lord's hymns were sung every day and free food was served and the guru blessed the people with the Lord's name.
Now, the news reached King Sudhar Sain. The newly arrived tan trie sadhu who claimed he had supernatural powers and was close to the minister tried to misguide the king through the minister.
The king was bewildered. Many thoughts came to his mind. But he was very sensible. He thought: My nephew Inder Sain has all knowledge of religion. Even when he was young he was intuitive. He cannot make a mistake. He must have seen some miraculous-ness in the Guru.
In this thinking he asked his men: Go to Jhanda's house and bring the person whom Jhanda has made his Guru.
When the men came and gave the King's message, Inder Sain was present there. He told them: You go. I am coming to the king's palace and I shall talk to him personally.
The Guru looked towards Inder Sain and said: O, Why do you want to go? See to the Lord's will. Whatever happens is for good. Whose fear and whom to go?
Then, Inder Sain with folded hands, said: Your Holiness, The king is my real maternal uncle. And he is kind hearted. He is quite spiritual. He looks after his subjects well. He is very just. He attends holy congregations. It appears somebody has misguided the king with false stories. That is why I want to go and tell him everything, so that he may know the truth and he should himself come and fall at your feet. As we have been blessed, you bless him also. Our family and the state should live in happiness.
Then, the Guru said: O.K. You go. The Lord is with you.
Then, Inder Sain got up and went to the king's palace and related the entire happenings with Jhanda and himself.
He narrated the entire discourse given by the Guru. He explained how by the graciousness of the Guru, they have been blessed and they have got the sensation of the Lord in them.
The king on listening to that became engrossed in the love of the Guru.
He felt a sensation in his body and said: You take me to the prophet from the heavens. I want to have his glimpse. I also want salvation.
Whom you have praised so much, who is being respected in every house, whose name and words have a magical pull and love springs up, O son, you get me his glimpse.
Inder Sain: Then, the love that has sprung up in your mind, you take this mind full of love. You walk on foot. You take some gifts, come with humility and fall at his feet and get his blessings.
Listening to the suggestion of his nephew, King Sudhar Sain, although he was a king, he renounced his ego of kingship and came to Jhanda's house for the glimpse of the Guru.
In Guru Nanak Prakash is written:
The king walked bare footed
With a humble mind and full of love
With folded hands he greeted the guru
Then, lay prostate on the ground And fell at the guru 's feet The king would not get up
On seeing the king's humility and love, the Guru rubbed his palm on the king's back and blessed him with the Lord's name. The king got ecstasy and rapture. When the Lord's name went inside his body, he became exuberant.
Again, he touched the Guru's feet with love, had tears of happiness in his eyes and was all in gratefulness.
He was not satiated with the glimpse of the Guru. Then, he requested the Guru to come to the palace. The Guru went to the palace. The king served the gracious Guru with great respect and extreme love. The congregation also started coming there.
Jhanda also stayed there as also Inder Sain to serve the Guru.
The divine hymns were sung early in the morning and again in the evening. Daytime also people came. There were discourses and the people were blessed. The gracious Guru from the heavens stayed at the king's palace for almost a month, because of the extreme love of the king for the Guru.
At last the time came when the Guru wanted to depart. He had to travel more and bless more people.
Then, the king became restless. He cried and prayed: Please, you give my entire kingdom including elephants and horses to Jhanda. You take me along. I cannot live without you. As the fish cannot live without water, I cannot live without you. He had tears in his eyes and was restless.
On seeing the king's true love the Guru said: Remember the Lord always. I will always be with you. You offer sacred sweet with some money and pray.
I shall come and meet you.
He blessed the king and said: There are 17 states adjacent to your state. All will come under you. Your kingdom will become big. But you have to rule with honesty.
Then the Guru wanted to appoint a seat to Inder Sain. The congregation had become too big and somebody was required to guide the people to the true path of 'recitation of the Lord's name with love'.
But Inder Sain with folded hands said: Please give this seat to Jhanda.
You bless me that I remain immersed in the love of the Lord and be at the service of the holy congregation. And Jhanda and myself may stand by each other always.
The Guru was delighted and appointed Jhanda on the seat.
The Guru also told the king: Your kingdom will flourish but you must keep regards for Jhanda. I have made him an Ideal man.
Then the gracious and savior Guru took leave from everybody and departed.
The Guru's command to Jhanda and Inder Sain is repeated once again: The nutshell is that our mind can rise only When it has love for the loving Lord To love is to remember Him To remember Him is to recite His name
Let us also recite:
O Lord, O Lord, O Lord, O Lord
Starting with at least five minutes a day.
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