God alone is eternal, Guru Ji immortal, Only truth is free from constriction of time and place.
few days later, a traveller stopped at the village inn. He
was tall, slim and with a somewhat weakened face. He had some bottles of liquid medicines which looked like water. These he distributed free of cost to the villagers. He told them that he was a teacher by profession and during the summer vacation was doing social service of distributing free medicines. He invited the ailing to get the medicines from him. This man had been in the village for four days, but none from the village turned up to ask for his medicines. He was surprized and was at a loss to understand why this was so. He thought that either there was no sick person in the village or the people were not sure about the efficacy of his medicine. He saw that the people of this village were very regular in their religious duties. He - also saw that the Sikhs used to recited Gurbani moming and evening and the Muslims offered their prayers at the mosque regularly. He was offered meals regularly. Though he had been much respected and sought after in other villages, nobody in this village cared to know that there was a highly respected person in the village. In case he was of no use in this village he wanted to move on to the next village. One day he found the Baba all alone. He went up to him and said “Babaji, I wish to discuss something with you.” The Baba gave him a piercing look and said, “You are welcome.” The traveller said, “I have been camping here to help the people with my knowledge and stock of medicines, but nobody has come forward to avail himself of my services. My medicines are related to a new system of medicine called homeopathy. These medicines are
completely harmless and are good in all seasons. Even an overdose of these does not have any adverse effect. I do not charge any fee or price. Please ask the village people to derive benefit from my services. Perhaps the people think that I shall charge some fee for consultation and a price for medicines. I am a school teacher and I have come here to do social service.” The Baba said, “Your mission is laudahle, but! fee] nobody is ill in the village. Otherwise the needy would have approached you by now.” The traveller said, “It is surprising that nobody is ill in this village.” The Baba cleared his throat and said, “You may ask the people yourself. If anybody were ill, he would have approached you on his own.” This remark of the Baba led to the following detailed conversation between the two:
Traveller— Baba, do the people in this village take some herbs which keep them away from disease?
Baba— It may be that. The fact is that they breathe the open fresh air. They take water drawn from the covered wells and do not eat until they feel hungry. And they eat moderately. We have thrown the liquor shop out of the village. Ice, soda . and tea are not available here. We have cleared ail damp and marshy spots. Our streets are wide and clean. We have to work very hard, therefore we perspire profusely. We eat wheat and butter and drink milk and butter-milk. Ifwheatisin shortsupply, we take maize and gram. We lead a life of harmony and peace. Nobody from this village has ever gone to court. Our earnings remain with us. We have no need to go to lawyers, their agents and touts. We are quite safe from corrupt officials. Asaresult of : all this, we may not be rich, but we do not suffer from any want. We share our earnings with needy. Though this village has a majority of Sikhs, yet we treat Hindus and Muslims as our brothers and equals. Our joys and sorrows are common. Earlier we were notadeptin the upkeep of our cattle, but a well-wisher veterinary doctor has trained us in the art of animal husbandry. He has also told us how to build sheds and what to do with the dung. Because of his efforts, now the village is free from weeds and we have plugged all loopholes which used to contaminate the water in the pond. There are no stomach ailments ~
here now. We have a small grocery shop in the village. The shopkeeper knows the art of treating and curing common ailments. In case of need we call the doctor from the neighbouring village.
The traveller expressed surprise at this description of the village life. He said, “You are a rare breed.” The Baba raising his chin asked, “Which do you think is better? Should the people remain healthy and strong and in that case they will not need the help of men like you, or should they frequently fall ill so that medicine men get ample opportunity to help the needy?” The stranger stroked his chin with his hand and said, “Surely —
- that situation is better where men like me are not needed.”
The Baba said, delightfully, “Then you are successful in your mission. You may go to another village to help the needy there. Ido not think anybody in this village requires your services or help.” The traveller agreed with the Baba, but his curiosity was not Satisfied. He said, “Why do you bow before the Book?” The Baba was quick to reply, “How does this concern your profession?” The stranger said, “Besides helping the people with medicines, I also spread the message of God. f.believe, like you people, in the oneness of God and I am against idolworship.” The Baba said, “But why do you link preaching with your treatment of the sick?” 1 give medicine and also propagate the name of God,” the traveller said. The Baba gave him a serious look and said, “Well, then you are a doctor-cumpreacher. [ thought that you were only a doctor.” The traveller said, “I am not a professional doctor, Ijust try to help the needy.” The Baba said, “I understand that all grocers dispense medicines also, but to give medicines without the requisite training does not seem proper. There is a contradiction in your position. As you are a school teacher, learning and teaching are your professional duties, but to pose as a doctor does not behove you. It is not social service. Until one is fully trained in the art of medicine, one should not prescribe or give medicines, otherwise instead of doing good to others such a person actually harms others. You are not only posing as a doctor, you are at the same time posing as a preacher too. As we do not need
your medicines, similarly we do not need your preaching. We are very ordinary people and we have to earn our livelihood through very hard work. We are left with no time to waste in the intricacies oftricky arguments. We need just one benevolent and kind God and we trust that He exists and we have full faith in Him. We need to be guided by him who loves us as his own children and Guru Nanak Dev Ji is such a guide. We need a holy book which is written in a language which we can understand and that is our Granth Sahib. We need a holy man who can show us the night path leading to God and we have such holy men. So, friend, what is worth knowing is that we should work hard, share the fruit of our labour with the needy and pray to God.” The long statement by the Baba led to the following detailed conversation between the two:
Traveller— But here you indulge in idol-worship, which! oppose.
Baba— We do not believe in idol-worship. The idol of Buddha is called Butt (idol) but we have not idol of the Buddha. [was told by a doctor friend of mine that after seeing the idol of Buddha people from Persia coined the word Butt.
Traveller : (With surprise} May be you are right.
Baba— If your wife or your son falls ill, do you not pray to God for blessings for health and long life?
Traveller— Yes, we do.
Baba— Then your wife and son are dearer to you than is God.
Traveller— I have not followed you, Sir.
Baba— Itis like this. IfI feel cold, |shall love to wrap myself in a blanket. One rich man has blankets. I go to himand ask for a blanket. My liking is for the blanket and not for the rich man. That means that the blanket is more important for me that the rich man. 1! go to him to satisfy my need for a blanket.
Traveller— You are right. ,
Baba— Similarly, when our son is ill and all efforts prove worthless, we turn to God to come to our help. At that moment our son is nearer to our heart than God.
Traveller— This is right.
Baba— Then my dear friend, such people should not make the proud proclamation that they have trust in God only.
Traveller— Why?
Baba— Because when your son or your wife or your status or your money is dearer to you than God, then is it not idolworship? Besides God, love for anything else is idol-worship. God is the living soul. He is eternal and immortal. Love for anything else is idol-worship. What is not living or what is without a soul is dead. What is dead is an idol. An idol is a lifeless stone. Love for the non-living is idol-worship. Anyone who disregards the soul and loves dead matter is an idolworshipper. So, we are all idol-worshippers.
Traveller— But do you think we worship stone?
Baba— My dear friend, some people worship with hands, others worship with the mind. We aim at bringing the mind in - tune with the Almighty, so, the real worship is with the mind. Worship takes place where the mind is turned to the object of - worship. We worship that which we love. Take the example of the hoopoe who goes on striking his head at the tree diligently, but without devotion. Also take the case of the hunter who bows his head not in devotion, but with the purpose of hunting. similarly the willow reed continues saluting the passers-by. Though the actions of all these resemble those of worshippers, yet we do not acceptor say that these actions are worshipping.
-Traveller— Baba, did you study in any educational institution?
Baba— Yes.
Traveller— Where?
Baba— I was educated to love God and love His Creation.
Traveller— I have not followed you.
Baba— I am not speaking Greek, I am not talking in riddles.
Traveller— Please explain a bit more clearly.
Baba— I have been educated in the School of Love where I was taught to love my beloved Creator and His Creation.
Traveller— Who is your beloved Creator?
Baba— God, Waheguru is my beloved creator. He is ever in a blissful mood.
Traveller— For example.
Baba—- He is the Supreme Enlightenment, the absolute Truth.
Traveller— Where is He?
Baba— He is in His own form.
Traveller— How can you see Him?
Baba— When he is kind to me He appears before me and speaks tome inmyownlanguage.
Traveller— Show me what it is, what it is?
Baba— It is there in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji?
Traveller— It is right that this holy book contains divine knowledge, but why do you pay so much respect to it?
Baba— Because it contains divine knowledge, the knowledge of our beloved God.
Traveller— It is understandable that it contains divine knowledge and it deserves respect and reverence, but is _ paper enlightening?
Baba-— Are you bones and muscles or soul?
Traveller— soul.
Baba— If your body dies will you live?
Traveller— Yes, my soul will live.
Baba— Then it means that in fact you are a soul and your body is just a cover for your soul.
Traveller— That is night.
Baba: Your wife, your son and your dear ones must be loving your soul and also loving your body. Don’t they
Traveller— Yes, they do.
Baba— By your logic they should respect your soul and
pay no heed to your body. Traveller— How is that possible? The soul resides in the body.
Baba— Then my dear friend, similarly God has granted knowledge to me formy welfare and in my own language. How it is possible that I respect the divine knowledge but disregard its body? Irespect my body because it contains my soul and my
mind which are for my welfare. You see, | worship God and the knowledge given by him. 1 am limited but He is limitless. I am capable of fathoming neither Him nor His knowledge. He is very gracious because He gives His knowledge to me in a language intelligible to me and through a pure and lovingsoul. I am educated in the School of Love and I respect the body in which love lives. I worship Him, love Him and dedicate myself to Him. When I respect the enlightenment given by Him, it means I respect Him too. Sa, my dear friend, Iam a student of the School of Love and Ilove God and the knowledge imparted by Him. I do not consider my love for God and His knowledge idol-worship. It is worship of the beloved. I love Him in two ways: First, I practice what my knowledge of Him tells me, and second, I keep this knowledge with all respect in my heart. We are like moths around one light. In this village we are like - humming bees around a lotus and are devoted to our common destination.
Traveller— You are right, but do you love anybody else?
Baba— So, my friend, how can one who does not love any inanimate object, be accused of idol-worship? .
Traveller— No, I do not find that you love any inanimate object.
Baba— So, my friend, how can one who does not love any inanimate object, be accused of idol-worship?
Traveller— You are right, Baba. You look very simple, but you seem to be very deep. Where did you get your education?
Baba— I have got my education in the congregations where God lives. é
Traveller— Congregation? You mean by serving human beings? That means your worship human beings and not dead persons. arf
_ Baba—Ifsomeone asks me what is a congregation, I shall
quote my Guru Ji, who Says that the term congregation means the gathering of people who remember God: and repeat God's Name. That makes it a true congregation. Isn’t that worship of the soul?
Traveller— (Talking in a round-about manner} We also respect Guru Nanak Dev Ji, but you people call him your God.
Baba— God is unbom.
Traveller— Do you not call Guru Nanak Dev Ji God?
Baba— No.
Traveller— You call him neither God nor human being then what is he?
Baba— He is a God-like ie sit being.
Traveller— You are talking in riddles.
Baba— Without similes and metaphors we cannot understand the mysteries of the spiritual world. I give you an example. If we put a bit of gold into the fumace and it turns into ared ember, will you not say that it has all the attributes of fire?
Traveller— Yes, we shall say that it is fire and it has all the attributes of fire. é
Baba— Will you call it gold too?
Traveller— It is gold and it will remain gold.
Baba— Then how do you say that I talk in riddles?
Traveller—Can you illustrate this from human life or can you put your theory in practice?
Baba— Guru Nanak Dev Ji was a human being, as he lived - among us and like us he also faced the everyday problems of life. His woes and joys were like ours. He had relatives and: friends like anybody else. To this extent he was a human being. But he was much above human beings. He was the light of truth. He was never alienated from God. God lived in his mind, soul and body. He was internally one with God and he had completely devoted and surrendered himself to God; in other words he was God in the human form. He gave people the divine message and showed them the way and means to attain Him. He was all kindness and sympathy and he made the people Spiritually alive and taught them the blissful way of life. In brief he tumed human beings into gods. All this was God-like, as there was no difference or distance between God and him, one could see the beauty and joy of God in him. He was the reincarnation of the fountain of spiritual bliss. Is it possible to deny God in him?
Traveller— (After thinking overthe argument} Yes, he was a godly man, but you call him God. Don’t you.
Baba— We do not call him God as you think. Does the plucked flower, when planted in the flower vase leave the ~ branch bereft of flowers? Is there-any branch of a plant in the world wherefrom we pluck the flower and yet that flower | remains on the branch? God is God and in all conditions and situations He remains God. Guru Nanak Dev Ji was the medium . through which Hislight was made visible tous. The appearance of Guru Nanak Dev Ji does not deprive God of His Divine Essence.. In other words, it can be said that God is not bound by time and space. As gold becomes fire, fire does not become gold and fire - remains fire, similarly God became Guru Nanak Dev Ji, yet He remained God too. My dear friend, the problem is that when we talk of the spiritual world we feel limited by the bounds of time and space, whereas God, whom we wish to define, is above time and space. Therefore, because of our helplessness, we have to talk in similes, but our similes are based on our experience of time and space. Similes take us quite near to © understanding, but there can never be a substitute for spiritual experience. It is in this context that we consider Guru Nanak Dev Ji human being, but much above human beings and also the image of God Himself. That is why we say that Guru Nanak Dev Ji was God and also God-like. In this way God is not subordinate to time and space and at the same time by calling Guru Nanak Dev Ji God-like we are saved from the Charge of making or calling him God. It is disrespectful to say that Guru Nanak Dev Ji was an ordinary human being. He was certainly a human being, but he was one with God to such and extent that both the difference and distance disappear. Our Guru Ji was perfect from the very
beginning. God, however, does not incarnate. This is why, my _ friend, we call Guru Nanak Dev Ji a human being as well as God, . and we consider God free from and above time and space. When our Guru Arjan Dev Ji, Bhai Gurdas Ji and Bhai Nand Lal Ji called Guru Nanak Dev Ji the image of God, they had seen in him divine glory and beauty and had experienced his warmth and love. That is why they called him omnipotent and omniscient. At the same
time we have never said that God would leave His abode and live in the womb for nine months to be born as a human being.
Traveller: It is correct when you Say that God is free from time and space, but you admit that Guru Nanak Dev Ji was born and died like human beings. Anyone who is born is nothing but a human being and he lives in the shadow of his actions in the previous life. How can you call such a person an incarnation of God or God-like?
Baba— (Smiling) Friend, better you go to some town and meet some preacher who has ample time to waste on this type of exercise. | am a poorfarmer and [have to prepare the feed for my cattle.
Traveller— I regret that lam wasting your precious time, but you argue in a very lucid manner. Your logic is very convincing. Your arguments have removed the fog from my mind. I have wasted enough time in pedantic arguments and seen enough of pseudo-scholars, but none argues like you. Please clear my doubts.
Baba— Itis not easy to convince you with arguments; but . I shall try to tell you what I know. Have you ever been to a prison?
Traveller— Yes, a couple of times.
Baba— If you had not committed any crime, how rit why were you sent to prison? It is because as per the law of the land whoever breaks the law must be sent to prison. Without any crime or breaking the law nobody goes to prison.
Traveller— No, no. I just went there to see and preach to
the prisoners. | was sponsored by the government. | Baba— That means that even an innocent person can go or be sent to a place where ordinanily criminals go.
Traveller— Yes, it often happens so.
Baba— Then my dear friend, Guru Nanak Dev Ji and Guru Gobind Singh Ji came to this world where ordinary human beings with their record of deeds in the previous life are sent. They came to this world as you went to prison. Similarly they were not human beings yet they came to this world. They came to this world to see how the world was going and to preach and to show the right path.
Traveller— Your argument is quite convincing.
Baba— Not only you, rather many others, such as a jail Superintendent, the doctor, preacher, etc., pass through the jail gate through which ordinarily criminals and law-breakers pass. These people live and work inside the jail, but nobody considers them criminals or law-breakers. Similarly, Guru Nanak Dev Ji was not bound, like other human beings, by the deeds in the previous life, yet he came to this world of human beings. He was not a human being, he was God's image. As he was one with God, he was identical with God. He saw that the world was burning, and out of compassion came to save the world. Itisin this context that we consider him above the course of birth and death. Guru Arjan Dev Ji has thus lauded Guru Nanak Dev Ji:
Men who confer benefits on others, from birth and death are exempt.
such as he impart spiritual life, and grant devotion.
And with God unite us. —
Though Guru Nanak Dev Ji came to this world, yet he was not subject to birth and death. He was above time and space. He had come with a mission to show the light of hope to the people wandering in darkness of ignorance. Heis ever present. He puts the spark in our otherwise bleak life and turns our minds towards the realization of God. Thus he plays the role of bringing the lost children to the abode of eternal hope. Many such souls that are liberated from shackles come to this world for our benefit. How can we call these great souls ordinary human beings? They are free from the vicious circle of life and death. Their name, their memory and respect towards them and their love for humanity, all give us spiritual joy, and we - find them leading us along the road to liberation. Why do you look at Guru Nanak Dev Ji only from your rational angle? Try to look at him with our devotional attitude. All things revolve around their axles. Have you followed how Guru Nanak Dev Ji belonged to this world yet he did not belong to it? We must develop the faculty of understanding a person's attitude from his own angle.
Love is the axle around which we revolve. Look at us from this angle. Have you followed how Guru Nanak Dev Ji belonged to this world yet he did not belong to it? He was born of mother Tnpta, came to this world, and left it also.
Traveller— You are correct, Babaji. Now even from my angle, Guru Nanak Dev Ji emerges as God. |
Baba— That means it is clear to you now that Guru Nanak Dev Ji was both a human being as well as God-like. When we call him God, we do not make any contradiction regarding the entity of God. We do not make God subject to birth and death, neither do we preach idol-worship.
Traveller— Yes, now the whole idea and concept is clear to me. You have removed all my doubts. Your mission is pure living, love for God and service of humanity. You achieve these goals by following the road illuminated by divine knowledge. You are enlightened people, because you devote your soul to the Almighty and your body to honest, hard and fruitful work.