The beloved Guru again started his travels. He prepared to go southwards. In Puratan Janamsakhi it is written: He wore wooden slippers, had a wand in hand, a rope round his head, ropes around his arms and legs and a round mark on his forehead. Saido Jaat caste Gheo accompanied him.
From Kartarpur he came to Talwandi. He met Rai Bular. After blessing him he came to Sultanpur. Moving ahead from Sultanpur, he crossed the river Satluj and passing through Dharamkot, Bhatinda, Bhatner, etc., he reached Sirsa. It is said that this town was built on the dry bed of Ghaggar stream.
At that time, many sadhus and faqirs lived here who were known for their supernatural powers and had large followings. Even the Mohammedan priests practised concentration to get supernatural powers. Even now some Mohammedan priests practise concentration, but at that time the Mohammedan priests preached their religion on the basis of supernatural powers like promising a son to be born or promising prosperity or giving some signet to bring good luck or curing sickness. Meaning, by trying to fulfill their worldly desires and in this way impress the people and ask them to follow their Mohammedan religion.
To guide people to religiousness was not their aim. Their motive was to impress the people that they had supernatural powers and could help the people in their fulfillment of worldly desires, and in this way they were making money.In this way they were also fulfilling their desire that more and more people should start following the Mohammedan religion. Sirsa was an important destination for the Muslim priests. From here they could exert their influence in the neighbouring Satluj region and Rajasthan state.
On one hand, the sword of the Muslim invaders and rulers was there. On the other hand, the greed for fulfilling desires through supernatural powers of Mohammedan saints was influencing the country towards Mohammedan religion. The Hindu sadhus were busy in their Hath yoga. The Hindu pandits were trapped in their own ego and enjoying comforts.
The people were not educated and knowledgeable. There was no love anywhere. Nobody had any inclination to reach the Lord. The Life spark was non-existent.
That is why the beloved Guru:
(1) In a bid to reform the sadhus, pandits, practitioners of Hath yoga and the Muslim saints, used to put his foot down and change their old view points altogether.
(2) Sometimes h(_ would go to people committing horrible crimes and sometimes to gatherings of simple people and give a discourse and a spiritual spark to their mind.
(3) Sometimes he would go a long way travelling long distances to take out somebody from mistaken beliefs or to help someone stuck midway to reach the Lord.
Today, the beloved Guru has come to Sirsa. Here lived a multitude of sadhus and faqirs namely, Khwaja Abdul Shakoor, top most Pir Bahawal Haq, Shah Nawaz, Fariddudin, Jati Lai, Jalal Din, Lai Mati and many others.
These people were doing concentration and penances and were keeping fasts and were giving different types of signets to people and made them believe that they possessed supernatural powers.
When the sadhus and faqirs came to know that here has come a prophet who is bom in the Un-enlightened era (Kalyug), who spells magic wherever he goes, impresses everybody and dominates wherever he goes, then they decided that they should defeat Guru Nanak in concentration, dialogue and supernatural powers. With this aim they went and met him.
First, there was a discussion on meditation, Hath yoga and penances.
The Guru explained: If the mind is full of vices, and the body is selfwilled and headstrong, then some type of concentration might be useful to restrain the body and wash the dirt of the mind. But to undergo penances from beginning to end has no merit Don't weaken the body. To control the mind through stubbornness causes dejection and sometimes illness.
Jati Lai said: Can talking control the mind? The pandits read some scriptures and other educated people try to influence people with their wit But they themselves are in worldly desires, in greed, without character, without any yoga practice. Can the world gain anything by following them?
The beloved Guru said: I have not said that those who read something and talk are good. They are absolutely ignorant like hard beans. Those who are preachers or give religious lectures or religious guides, without a sensation of the Lord in themselves are all in forgetfulness of the Lord.
But similarly, those who are in penances and believe in controlling passions through stubbornness, they also are in ignorance.
Bahawal: When you are criticizing the meditative practicing penances, then the stupid people trapped in worldly desires and the educated people burning in desires, selfishness and envy will also criticize. The world will go astray.
For the seekers of the Lord, it will be fun only.
Guru: Well, whatever you say, but it is only if I say that the people in passions, desires and selfishness are good and the meditative are bad.
To the first category I say, get rid of vices. Do good deeds and sing the praises of the Lord and remember Him. To the faqirs doing penances I say, Get into 'love of the Lord'. Meditate on Name.
Faridudin: Talking is worth it when one can do penances and live in a higher state of mind and then one may say these penances have no value. If, self, one cannot get up in the morning and cannot do penances, is absorbed in the comforts of the body, reads a little and learns to argue and then starts making fun of those who are in hard practices and penances, it does not seem to be proper.
Guru: I have not said anybody is bad. Then?
Jalaludin: Then first you show us that you can do penances. We do not mean that you are absorbed in worldly desires. We know you are detached from these. But we will consider you a Guru if you do penances and then tell something that is higher.
Guru: O sadhu, concentration, penances and fasts, everything is for restraining the mind. Restraining the mind from vices, is keeping it in limit either by concentration of mind or by reasoning or by renunciation or by penances. The idea is to control the mind. The idea is not bad.
But for this aim in view we should try to find an easy way. Everybody cannot go the difficult and hard way.
Jalal: That is right. But you first keep a fast
Guru: To win over the needs of the body like hunger, sleep and thirst can be done in two ways. One way is stubbornness. Second is a relaxed way. To dp it with stubbornness is penances. In relaxation you reach a stage where the body soul gets immersed in the Supreme soul. Then sleep and hunger are automatically controlled.
Jalal: There is no need for going into details. Come. Let us sit on fast For forty days we shall eat one grain of barley everyday and not more than one bowl of water. You sit with us. Whoever is able to do this, he should say that there is something better and there is no need for this.
Guru: I have tried all practices, renunciation, concentration, penances and fasts. Recitation of Name is the prime practice that takes us to virtuousness and beyond. The right thing is the recitation of Name.
The right thing is to pray to the Lord for His grace.
The right thing is to accept the Lord's will as good.
At this time, Saido whispered in the Guru's ears: O Great Guru, why do you want to get into this worthless exercise?
The Guru explained: I do not want But if a child gets stuck in muddy water, and you want t ) take him out of it, then you have to get into the muddy water, to take him out These sadhus and faqirs are trapped in undesirable penances anc they have an ego that they are great practitioners of concentration and penances. Their ego will go only when they see that anybody can keep fasts but the grace of the Lord is something higher and is not influenced by these fasts and penances. When their ego is gone, only then they will sing the praises of the Lord. Then they will be blessed. Otherwise, they are living in the ego that they are the masters of concentration, penances and fasts. Their desire is for fame. They are going on the wrong path and guiding the people on to the wrong path. Jalal: Come. Let us sit.
It is said that with 40 grains of barley and one bowl of water all of them got into their rooms. The Guru was also allotted a room. Forty days passed. It was a summer month and water is a life support
In the Ayurvedic system of medicine, the practitioners cure diseases by prescribing fasts. In the same way, they had practised keeping fasts.
After spending forty days like that, they came out and then took another two or three days to become a little alert But everyone had become skinny and weak. But the Guru came out with a shining red face. He was the same as when he commenced his fasting.
Now, everybody was bewildered to see him as such and said: O Nanak, have you not kept a fast? Have you been earing something?
The Guru said: Were your guards alert or not?
Faqir: Yes, they remained alert
Guru: Then you take it from me that it is not the food only to keep you alive. But the love of the Lord's name can also keep you alive.
Real detachment is that the mind should not have worldly desires, but should be in yearning, love, hope, joy, and eagerness to meet the Lord.
This detachment is not despair. Detachment does not mean to be without support or in depression or in despair. Detachment is to understand the perishable world as perishable and to remain in the devotion, support and love of the always-living Lord. Get dyed in His love. Live in elevation, exuberance and ecstasy.
Farid ud-Din: Can this happen without Hath yoga and penances?
Guru: This requires Grace. This requires constant endeavor.
Farid ud-Din: God bless you. This is the truth you have said.
Guru: But I do not like those practices that are lifeless practices.
Jalal: What do you mean by lifeless practices?
Guru: Well, to get some supernatural powers you do concentration and penances. They are all lifeless practices. To practice hypnotism in a bid to influence the mind of other people is a lifeless practice. All those practices where your desires increase are lifeless practices. Because they take you away from the Lord, towards worldly desires which are lifeless.
Jalal: What about education?
Guru: Education is a grinding stone of the mind. It sharpens the mind. If you understand the scripture properly and act on it then the mind improves but otherwise it makes you greedy. If the education makes you greedy, then this also is lifeless.
Bahawal: Then what is the life-giving practice?
Guru: Name.
All together: God bless you. What do you mean to say? Are we all grazing donkeys? We are saying Name only.
Guru: No. Not at all, you say the Name only, but your mind is wandering elsewhere. You say the Lord's name but the mind is after worldly comforts, fame and supernatural powers. Your aim is T although your tongue says O Lord. This is saying Name without feeling the presence of the Lord in your mind. You have to recite the Lord's Name thinking that He is the creator, the saviour and giver of nourishment with a feeling that 'He is there'.
We cannot see Him because He cannot be visualized with these eyes. But He sees us. He is everywhere. So, we are always automatically living in His presence. We have to keep this in our remembrance all the time that we are living in His presence. Therefore, we should recite His name and not allow our mind to remain in forgetfulness at any time. The mind is wandering. It is slippery like mercury. It will not remain in remembrance. To turn it again and
Jalal: Why has your body not become weak by the body hunger?
Guru: I have not done concentration as you did. I was engrossed in the love of the Lord. Love is His form. I was engrossed in His love. He gives the nourishment. He keeps you alive with food and water. But He can keep you alive with His love also. We get nourishment from food and we get nourishment from water. But the breath automatically goes inside and keeps you alive and comes out.
Similarly, there is something subtler than breath that replaces food, water and air and keeps you alive. When our body soul is immersed in the Supreme soul, then some subtle elements give nourishment to the body. At that stage hunger and thirst do not come near you. When our soul gets engrossed in the Lord's name, then this subtle element nourishes the body.
I stayed dyed in the Lord's love. But you have stubbornly restrained your mind again and again and suppressed your hunger all these days. Your mind has not remembered the Lord. It was busy in making the body tough.
This is a penance and a body penance because the mind was busy in saving the body. It is better if you give proper food to the body so that the mind is free and relaxed to keep itself in the remembrance of the Lord.
Jati Lai: To see this marvel is an evident reality and our heads bow down to you. Is it true that you had no food like us?
Guru: You are practicing concentration and penances. This might have been useful for stubborn minds to some extent. It was not the aim.
Churning is done to extract butter. Churning is not the aim. If you keep on churning then the butter cannot be extracted.
From Hath yoga you should have come to Raj yoga. From Raj yoga you should have further come to Sahaj yoga. In Sahaj yoga you get a sensation where the human soul gets immersed in the Supreme Soul. Then automatically hunger and thirst don't bother you.
The Lord's nectar frees you from the small delights and immersion in the Lord's love frees you from small hunger.
But it is not easy. It is not in ones' hand. There has to be some grace.
Don't guide everybody in the wrong direction.
Shah Nawaz: Well, without renunciation, can one love the Lord?
Guru: To love the Lord is automatic detachment from the world. The marriage of a girl to a man is itself detachment from parents and parents' house.
With renunciation and despair from world the mind becomes dejected. This is not detachment This is getting into inferiority complex.
again and keep it in remembrance is our endeavour. The tongue should recite the Name.
The effect of this will be that the mind that is wandering will say: What is the tongue doing? Sometimes, the wandering mind will turn this side and feel what the tongue is doing. Then the mind will feel ashamed. Oh! I have to remember the Lord. I have to live in the presence of the Lord. Then the mind will try again and again and eventually start living in the presence of the Lord.
In this way, by constant endeavour the mind will remain in the incessant remembrance of the Lord. The recitation of Name will become incessant.
The mind will remain in remembrance ceaselessly.
In this way, when we will live in the presence of the Lord all the time we will be filled with ecstasy. When we live in His presence, His grace will come to us. Our individual soul will get a touch of the Supreme Soul. Our body soul will meet the Supreme soul. Then we will see the Lord inside us. We will also see Him outside in nature. We will see Him all pervading. We will always feel His presence and His touch, like Him, fresh, blossoming, exuberant, in ecstasy, always happy and enlightened, always in rapture.
This is the soul-awakening endeavour or the life-giving practice or whatever you may say.
Bahawal: Your discourse is very impressive and it is visualizing the unseen. We thought you are an ordinary sadhu but if I ask, will you tell? I hope you won't be too modest to tell the truth?
Guru: You may ask.
Bahawal: Have you done any yoga practices and penances and got enlightenment or have you come from the Lord with a message?
On listening to this, the Guru went into ecstasy. His face emitted a dazzle and in a soft voice he said: I was a humble singer but the Lord called me to His palace. He gave me the 'singing of His praises' and gave me a robe of honor. He gave me the 'Name nectar' to drink. Those who drink it from the Guru get ecstasy. I am distributing His Name and the praises.
Jati: That means you have come from the Lord and you have brought something. Be benevolent and tell us what have you brought?
Guru: Life spark.
Jati: What does that mean? Good deeds, good character, is this the Life spark?
Guru: As compared to animal life this is a life. But when compared to saintly life, this is not life, it is lesser and lifelessness. Jati: Where is the need for this?
Guru: The need is imperative. This is an essential foundation. This is what I am going to preach. What I am saying is an enlivenment in this life.
The acacia tree has grown leaves. You say it is a tree. I say, no. Flowers should grow, should blossom and should give fragrance. It should get loaded with fruits and the fruits should ripen and hang. You will say the tree has grown fruits it is over.
I will say, not yet. I say it should exude gum, from each and every branch, so much so that it should overflow. Then only the tree is complete.
Bahawal: But what is the shortcoming in us?
Guru: You are in supernatural powers. You want to show marvels. You believe in concentration of mind, but you do not have the pull of love in you. You do not ask the Lord for His love. Your mind does not get the sacred touch of the Lord like an electric current. You do not get the sensation of the Lord in you. Your soul does not get awaken-ness. Your mind is enticed by worldly desires. The magic charm of worldly desires does not go. You do not get exuberance and rapture of your soul. Your mind is burning with desires and passions and you are living in ignorance of the saintly living. Your mind is suffering because of greed. You do not try to cure your greed, but instead you make it greedier.
Don't mind, but I must say that despite your penances, remaining awake for nights, fasts, renunciation, controlling your senses, doing concentration and saying God's name you are still in the trap of worldly desires.
The love sensation, like the thunder of lightning has not awakened your sleeping soul. It has not killed you in the love of the beloved.
If there is some love in somebody, then you are not able to judge whether the Lord loves you or not.
If you come in devotion, then you try to become a lover of the Lord. You say you are a lover. In the process you call him an idol, beloved without mercy, hard hearted. Don't try to become a lover. Don't try to make the Lord a beloved. You become a beloved. Make Lord the lover.
Farid: We beloveds! Full of crimes, dirty, why should the Lord love us? Why would he become a lover of dirty people like us?
Guru: He is a lover. It is true. He is a lover from the beginning. We don't try to become beloveds. We are beloveds but we don't try to become one. It is true. The mother is a lover of the child before he is born. If the Lord were not a lover then why would he have created mankind? We don't become beloveds. This is our mistake. We should have a craving in us, a prayer in us. We should be keen. We should be in search.
Farid: What should we do that the Lord may love us?
Guru: We should become what He loves. We should get rid of vices, dirt, passions, maladies and ugliness in ourselves. He is a lover. We are not good enough that we may consider ourselves worthy of His love. We have to imbibe goodness in us.
Farid: What is that goodness that we should imbibe in us?
Guru: We should mend our estrangement with the Lord. We should turn our mind from worldly desires towards the Lord. He has said what He loves. That is His will. It has three branches: Truth, love and engrossment.
Farid: Whom we cannot see, how can we love Him?
Guru: Yes! Second mistake is your love for bodily passions. First, your mind gets absorbed in worldly passions, then you try to turn your mind towards the Lord, but the mind does not get out of the bodily passions.
From the very beginning, don't get into carnal love, like loving your wife for body passions or some beautiful woman or beautiful things or your son. Make your mind a beloved and imbibe qualities of a beloved. Get rid of vices. Make yourself worthy.
Then the Grace that is raining in torrents from the Lord will make your soul clean and fresh.
Why do we want to love? We have to make ourselves worthy of the love of the Lord, who is the lover always.
Lord is the Supreme Soul. The Supreme Soul loves the crystal.
Make your mind a crystal so that the Supreme Soul gets into your mind, heart and body cells.
Being a stone, don't try to become lovers. Be soft, be humble, wash your mind, let the dirt go away. Let it become a crystal. The Supreme soul is longing to give you its light and make you dazzle.
Don't become a lover of girls, boys, women, animals and riches. Become a beloved of the Almighty Lord who is a lover since the creation of the world.
You start praising Him. You are full of vices. Then your vices will go away and your mind will become crystal. Then the lover will be living in you and you will become a beloved. Your mind will shine like a diamond and you will be the torch-bearer of the Lord, and you will show heavenly light to other people.
Then you will enlighten the world. You will remove the darkness of worldly desires from everybody's mind. You will preach 'love of the Lord' and turn the minds away from the ocean of worldly fires. You will give a sensation of the Lord in their minds and awaken their sleeping souls.
You will put the awakened souls into the embrace of the all beautiful, all handsome, all love and all gracious Lord.
Yes, the duty of a man of God is to awaken the sleeping souls and join them with the Supreme Soul.
There is enough knowledge with the educated, although the people are in ignorance. There are enough of penances, Hath yoga and concentration with the sadhus and faqirs. There is enough of discourse, intellect, following, discipleship, pilgrimage, auspicious days, baths, charity, kindness, prayer, fasts, piousness etc., with the sadhus and mullahs.
But the life spark is not there. Everywhere hatred is supreme. The magic of worldly desires is very strong. The practice of religion, when it comes in the hands of ignorant people, becomes one more ring in the shackle of worldly desires. We have to break this shackle. This shackle, tied to the mind, has to be broken. You tell, whether this can be broken or not?
Bahawal: What you say is heart piercing and has a deep meaning. I have understood. But, this is grace. It doesn't seem to be self-practised. Guru:
It was night and dark, we put on the lights and lamps,
But the darkness did not go.
We burnt fires,
But the darkness did not go.
The moon came, got tired and went away,
But the darkness did not go.
The stars came, got tired and went away,
But the darkness did not go.
Look, the sun came, the sunrays came,
The darkness vanished,
As if there was never any darkness. Let us put our mind, heart and soul directly under the Lord's love rays. The darkness of the soul will vanish, as if there was never any darkness. Remembering the Lord is putting the mind, heart and soul directly under the Lord's love rays.
You make an endeavour, practice devotion to the Lord, become truthful, live in the presence of the Lord and turn your mind towards the 'love-grace' of the Lord. Then the grace will come. He is all graciousness. He is all goodness. He is all love. His form is love. He is all grace. But the direction of our mind is elsewhere. The life spark should come inside. We should become enlightened. This is my message. I have brought this love spark. If you have,
well and good, if not then you may take. I am showering this love spark in the name of the Lord.
After saying this, the Guru became quiet. It appeared as if he is getting immersed in something. The atmosphere became like that. All eyes closed. All were immersed, lost somewhere. After a few minutes the true Guru opened his eyes, his charming eyes, and said 'O Lord'. All eyes opened. Everyone's body became light. There was freshness, coolness, and exuberance in the mind. Everyone felt as if some unseen power in the form of love and ecstasy has got deep into the mind and body, and the mind has come out of its worthless concentration and is in elevation.
Guru: This is love of the Lord. You live in this love. Make others live in this love. The body cells and all nature is love.
Put the name of the Lord on every tongue.
Give the message of 'love of the Lord' to every ear. Turn every mind to the 'love of the Lord'. Make the minds blossom with the 'love of the Lord'.
Awaken everyone's sleeping soul. Everyone may have a sensation of the Lord in his mind and body. This is the message from the Lord.
In this way, the true Guru turned everyone's mind on the true path of 'recitation of the Lord's Name with love'. He stayed there for 4 months and 1 1 days.
Where he sat and gave the life spark, there a gurdwara has been built. By blessing each and every sadhu and faqir of the town, thousands who were following them were benefited. They were properly guided.
The Guru's command to the sadhus and faqirs is repeated once again:
'Put the Name of the Lord on every tongue' Let us also put it on our tongue: 'Waheguru, Waheguru, Waheguru.' 'O Lord, O Lord, O Lord' Starting with at least five minutes a day.
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