O ne day Bhai Sain Dass Ji and Dhesa Ji were sitting in a secluded place and were involved in a dialogue:
Dhesa Ji— Sir, I had often heard the exhortation that we should meditate on the Name Divine and I have also known people being asked to contemplate. I have also chanted the holy word ‘Wahegurw’ very often. But since the day Guru Ji had blessed me and bestowed his grace and mercy on me, | have never been able to understand what it was, what had happened to me and what kind of a mysterious miracle it was?
Sain Dass Ji— Kabir Ji says: .
It makes all the difference how one worships Rama;
For, the same word is used for the person
And the same for the Mysterious Lord.
Everybody recites the Lord’s Name, as if it is just an ordinary utterance to be pronounced casually. But my dear friend, the same word - The Name Divine manifests the sense of the wonderment the marvellous (Kautakar). The word kautak is of Sanskrit origin which means, amazing surprising, astonishing etc. Therefore, the word of wonder, admiration or astonishment, thereby connoting something which takes you or transports you into the realm of the wonderment, the marvellous, a state almost incredible, a very unusual state of amazement of the wonderous, the miraculous and the extraordinary moods and states of experience in Bhai Gurdas Ji’s writings and I hope you might have read the stanzas of Guru Nanak Dev Ji in Asa-di-Var on the marvellous. You should try to learn it by heart. The essence of what Kabir Ji says is that though people recite Lord’s Name, they utter it as a sort of formality. But some utterances and recitation of Lord’s name are so unique, extraordinary and effective that mere articulation and enunciation of the Lord’s Name creates the sense of the marvellous, a state of bliss.
Dhesa Ji— | have often heard the word Vismad (the marvellous) being used and chanted everyday in a variety of contexts. But what it means, I have failed to understand so far.
Sairt Dass— This unique experience is of two kinds, one is quite spontaneous and intuitive and manifests itself very often almost naturally, whereas the other one is experienced as an exalted mood of mental concentration during a spiritual quest. In fact, it is a stage in a journey to Godliness, and it certainly is a higher and a sublimer state of the marvellous than the former.
The ordinary experience of the marvellous is created when one’s consciousness is struck by a spectacle of beauty and uplifted into the realm of the Marvellous and merges with the Marvellous and becomes one with it. One feels a spasm of delight as if one has experienced the touch of the infinite by plunging deep into it. When the experience is over the mind exclaims in joy ‘how wonderful” My dear friend this state of mind is rarely experienced in modern times. The modern man is overwhelmed by the worldly desires and mundane needs of life and is so harried by the cares and worries of life that he has lost the sensibility of experiencing such elevated moments of the ‘The Experience Marvellous’.
The second type of Marvellous experience is attained by that devotee of Lord whose mind (after having been purified and washedclean by the contemplation of Name Divine) while trying to reach for the immaculate touch of the divine suddenly experiences the ambrosial sense ofdelectation. Then the mind is muted and silenced and is lost and absorbed in the apprehension of this sense of delight. When one recovers from this and consciousness is regained then one feels imbued with the delectable ambrosia, as if absorbed and steeped in the world of the wonderment, the marvellous.
This is what happened to you on that day. Guru Ji by his power had performed the miracle. He lit the incandescent moment of spiritual experience and illumined you by the gift of ambrosial Name divine ‘Wahegurw’. No doubt you went on reciting and chanting the word like any other word, but you seemed to be experiencing a mood of rare delight and an
unusual sense ofexaltation. This experience of the ‘Marvellous’ is a divine substance, a gift of God, resplendent with His grace, and a favour reserved and meant for the devotee-pilgrim ona _ quest for the divine. |
Now I think you are in a position to understand and apprehend the import of the concept of Name divine as a kind of wealth, a capital stock. To receive it in charity is to be the recipient of His Grace, His generous munificence and His divine benediction. Thatis why in the Sikh Holy Book the Name Divine is referred to as Wealth (Dhan), Capital stock (Ras) and Charity (Dan).
Dhesa Ji— Doesn't it mean that those who did not have this vision of the Marvellous have failed and all their contemplation and recitation of God’s name was futile and meaningless?
* Sain Dass Ji— No my dear friend, contemplation of God’s name is not in vain. It is never fruitless. See how one of the great Bhakats (devotees) describes this:
The tongue which does not recite the Name of God
Ought to be cut into seven pieces.
But Guru Ji goes even beyond this when he says, “If the tongue does not utter the Name divine then it should be cut and chopped into count less but infinitismal pieces.” This proves one thing only that the Name of God should be recited and uttered orally by this tongue. Because the recitation of Name of God and its contemplation helps in purifying the mind and washing away its impurities. The wandering mind is directed to think in one direction Meditative-power develops the propensity and inclination to concentrate in a desired direction. The devotee in meditation should always remain conscious of the fact that he is reciting the Name Divine, that he is busy in contemplating the name of God, that he is a devotee of God, that God loves him and that God is supreme and immensely beautiful. If the devotee concentrates his thoughts on these qualities and essentials. when in meditation, his oral recitation and repetition of the Name Divine does not remain fruitless and cannot be called futile. In fact thorugh out the history of mankind, the enlightened and the great souls were those men
and women who in one form or another remembered God. To remember Him always and ever is probably the only thing to remember and it is the basic premise of spiritual quest. The sense of wonderment and the marvellous bliss which you experienced is the Grace of God (Die Gratia). This is the capital which we receive as a divine gift from the magnificent Lord. Imbibed thus the name is established and enshrined within. This is the live incandescent spark of divine wealth-given to us as the initial investment, which is nursed and nurtured increases and flourishes immeasurably. That is why Guru Ji says:
He who can imbibe and enshrine,
A particle of God’s name within,
Is beyond praise. |
Dhesa Ji— Bhai Sahib Ji, I have not keen able to understand the meaning of a couplet of Kabir Ji which I have just been reminded of. Utter thou the name of Rama,
But know how to utter;
For, the One pervadeth all, all over,
While the other is contained only in himself.
(Sri Adi Granth Ji 1374)
Sain Dass Ji— The meaning is that so many people recite ‘ the name of God, but they are oblivious of the significant idea behind it, which is; that when we meditate on the Name of God the main motive is to identify ourselves with Him during the process of meditation. This is the sole inward aim that we should not forget. The contemplation of the name of ‘One God’ when the mind or consciousness is concentrated only on One. But what actually happens is that the mind or consciousness cannot be concentrated. It remains dispersed. It wanders aimlessly, lost in mundane thougNts, fancies, imagimings etc. What was to be infused and incorporated within by constant meditation, repetitive recitation, and continuous enunciation of the One and only One Name Divine is dispersed into a multiplicity of thoughts and thus dissipated and lost in the end. The inimitable benediction of the Name Divine that you have received something unique and it will keep your inner self (consciousness) absorbed in and fixe on the
One (God). It means that one kind of meditation of God's name gets dispersed thinking and doubtful fancies whereas the other type of recitation leads us to identify and merge ourselves with the One. Therefore, in the context of the need for constant meditation which we have discussed, there is an imperative need for constant meditation on and recitation of God’s name for you.
Dhesa Ji— How come? How can it be?
Sain Dass Ji— Listen to what Guru Ji says about this:
All repeat God's name,
Mere utterance brings not attainment of God.
It means that mere utterence that is formal utterance or recitation of God’s name is very common. The God's name is used merely as a ‘Phatic communion’ very often instinctively when one is surprised, shocked or disturbed, when feeling nervous and afraid and most often when swearing and using oaths etc. Reciting and uttering God’s name in this manner will not make one a devotee of God's name. But this is also true that the very utterance of the name of God and its contemplation leads the spiritual quest of the devotee to fruitful consummation and glorious culmination, the ultimate reward, the attainment of God-head. It is possible only when the Name is bestowed and implanted within by the benevolence of the holy Preceptor and the Grace of Almighty God. Guru Ji (the holy Preceptor) and God blessed you with Grace and kindness, by bestowing on you the Name Divine and infusing it within you. Just remember the day you yourself told me the state of your mind you were in, when you were unable to concentrate your mind and you were not successful in concentrating and focussing it one any definite point. There - are many who are exactly in the same mental state of mind in which you were then? Let me inform you that your thoughts tormenting you by rejecting almost everything and your mind's insistence on neither this nor that was a kind of preliminary exploratory effort to keep yourself out of the reach of all temptation of evil. But you were not entirely successful despite the fact that you have had the benefit of being the holy company, of having rendered considerable service and of the
constant recitation of Gurbani (the holy word). But your untrained mind was like that of an apprentice or a novice and it needed atiny particle of God‘s name to be implanted within you to lodge there. The reception of Name Divine is thus like the receipt of a principal amount, the basic capital stock of the wealth of name Divine. The holy Preceptor Guru Ji says thus:
Every mouth utters the name of God But very few enshnine it and imbibe it within their hearts, Nanak says those who have lodged it within their minds Have attained and entered the gates to liberation.
You should not presume that oral recitation of God’s name is improper. In fact recitation implies the use of the tongue. Oral recitation impresses the Name on the human tongue from where it descends down to the heart and is implanted and enshrined, have to live and exist in this world, and living in this mundane world with its worldly relations and everyday affairs distracts the mind and dissipates it and the mundane living also pollutes the mind with earthly impurities. Therefore, the oral recitation of God’s name washes the impurities accumulated daily and then purified and cleansed thus, the mind is able to proceed with the mental inwards recitation of God’s name. You should also guard yourself against this misconception that as God’s name has been implanted in your heart and as it is enshrined there, so you can afford to relax and be lax in your spiritual efforts. You have got to be careful and cautious right from now. The spark of divine fire which Guru Ji implanted in your heart and is now lodged therein needs to be nursed and taken care of. As Guru Ji says:
Treasure of the Lord’s name, bringer of nine treasures, Have I secured tight by my scarf.
Just as wealth is not merely to be obtained, secured and to be kept secretly hidden, the wealth of Name Divine you have received is to be taken care of and is to be used and invested in profitable trade, and is to be enlarged and increased. You must not forget this. It is both to be recited orally by the tongue and
also to be kept enshrined within the heart, each reinforcing the other. Keep and maintain your faith in God. In this way this trade of remembering God, meditation on God will commence and as ifproceeds and flourishes all the subtle and gross impurities of the mind will be washed clean and purified. Ultimately the recitation of God’s Name will be transformed into an ambrosial delight. This life giving divine delectation will suffuse you all over and enrapture you for all the twentyfour hours. This ambrosial delight will increase and will ripen into a deep absorbing devotional bliss.
Dhesa Ji— My dear sir, since that day, Iseem to have gained tremendously. I feel a sense of joy. I have experienced the state of the ‘Marvellous’ and I have also tested the ambrosial delight. Now I have gained everything but I do feel meditation is a very difficult and tough exercise. The most difficult thing about recitation and meditation of God’s name is that it is not possible to sustain and maintain constantly the mood of deep and meditative delight. The mind gets irritated, exasperated and tired, becomes stubborn and refuses to meditate altogether. Then the tongue is used for oral recitation slowly to maintain the rhythm.
sain Dass: It is just for this reason that the devotees, Spiritual seekers, do not show any laxity in their meditation. Its steady flowing rhythm is not allowed to slacken. The third Guru Ji, the perfect Master and the great holy preceptor as he was, would always get up early in the morning, despite his old age andinfirmity. He would meditate and recite the Lord’sname while standing holding and leaningona wooden pegtosupport his infirm body. The wooden peg he used to lean on is still preserved as one of his sacred relics at Goindwal. Why did he make such an effort? It was to set and example before us so that we should lear how to meditate with complete, deep and intensive concentration so that we do not become slack, lazy and lethargic.
Make an effort and be blessed By meditating on the Lord’s Name.
Guru Ji's tough example was to keep the meditation a tough, enterprising, intensive, watchful and conscious effort at awareness.
We are bound to commit mistakes because as ordinary householders living the mundane life in the midst of worldly human beings, we are bound to attract a variety of impurities and get polluted. WE are not recluses who have renounced the world living mostly in forests and wildemesses. Our way is the householder’s way of spiritual attainment and in his spiritual quest because of his constant contact with the mundane world, many impurities will be accumulated. The mind will be distracted, irked and irritated. Therefore, to maintain and sustain the steady rhythm and flow of meditation the oral recitation is imperative. It removes the impurities, purifies the mind and helps in attaining the sense of ambrosial delight. The purpose of reciting Lord’s name is two fold one, to remove the impurities of the mind or to purify the mind and two, to create a sense of ambrosial delight. See what the holy preceptor says,.
By contemplation of Lord’s name is removed impurity of mind, And Name ambrosial in the hearts is lodged.
-4t remains that by contemplating the Name-Divine the mind is purified so that it can receive the Name-Divine the mind is purified so that it can receive the Name-Divine.
Therefore, if the mind is polluted only once it could be purified once for all. Then this blissful mood will be constant and could be sustained perpetually. But the mind is contaminated and polluted everyday and it loses the ambrosial favour of delight. Therefore, one has to meditate constantly and daily to cleanse and wash away the day to day accumulation of impurities. When it is pure again the mind will attain the pure sense of devotional and meditative delight. It is Guru Ji's command:
At the rise of the day one should sing Gurbani And meditate on Lord’ name all the time,
whether sitting or standing. Another commandment of Guru Ji is:
One should meditate while one is sitting, standing or sleeping
While on a road travelling, one should sing His praises.
Again Guru Ji says:-
Those who contemplate while sitting, standing or sleeping, Nanak says, their wishes are always fulfilled.
My dear friend, the recitation of ambrosial Name is the natural urge of the inner self to keep the mind in an elevated and exalted state.
Dhesa Ji— Does it mean that the spark of spiritual fire, the particle of Name-Divine implanted in my heart by Guru Ji will disappear?
Sain Dass Ji— No my dear, I wish such a time when you will be bereft of the particle of Name should never come. Iam going to tell you a method to cope with such an eventuality. Mind is clouded and obscured by impurities just as the sky is obscured by the dust haze. The sun does not disappear but we cannot see it. It becomes invisible because of the dust haze and we are certainly bereft and deprived of the sun’s warmth and light. Similarly we are bereft of the ambrosial delight and bliss of meditation when our mind is befogged and obscured by impurities. Therefore, you should not let your mind be contaminated and polluted, if it does get polluted, then you must wash it clean.
Dhesa Ji— How to keep the mind spotless and clean?
Sain Dass Ji— It will not be contaminated if there is Grace of God. There are certain evils which are an open invitation to all kinds of impurities and attract them naturally and easily. First is wrath the second is fear, and the third is worldly attachments.
-END-
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Bhai Sahib Bhai Ji Vir Sifgh'$ Work in English A Study of Bhai Vir Singh Ji's Poetry (Translated by Justice Pritam Singh Safeer) ~ Baba Naudh Singh Ji Part-| & Part-II (Translated by G. S. Talib) Bhai Vir Singh Ji : An Analytical Study (by G.S. Khosla) Bhai Vir Singh Ji : Poet of the Sikhs (by Prof. Harbans Singh & Prof. G. S. Talib Bhai Vir Singh Ji : The Sixth River of Punjab (Edited by Lt. Col. J. S. Guleria) Bhai Vir Singh Ji A Short Biography (Translated by Prof Harbans Singh) Bhai Vir Singh Ji Shatabadi Granth (Edited by Prof. Harbans Singh) Bijay Singh (Translated by S. Davinder Singh) Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and Its Context (Edited by Dr. J. S. Neki) Guru Nanak Dev Ji Chamatkar [Vol. |] (Translated by M. L. Mongia) Guru Nanak Dev Ji (Translated by K. S. Duggal) — : Nargas (Translated by Prof . Puran Singh) Navin Paniri Guru Nanak Dev Ji Part-l, Part-ll & Part-lll (Translated by Prof Surjit Singh Chawla), Navin Paniri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Part-1 fleneleie by Surijit Singh —_ _ Satwant Kaur r (Translated byB Bimal al Kaur)
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